Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing. Well nothing recognizable anyway which include The Winchester family, Pastor Jim, Caleb, Superman, Evil Knievel or the Hardy Boys. I will lay claim to Jesse, Angel, Don, Eric and Shane.

Author's note: Thanks to lynxlan for betaing the following story. And just as a reminder I know nothing about medical stuff so you won't find anything accurate with the recovery of all of the hunters. But I tried to make it believable.

Now on with the story.

Trust and Faith

By infinite shadow

Day 12 December 16

Don quietly walked into Eric's room with an armful of candles. He put one down on the boys desk and lit it. Then he continued around the area until the area was bathed in flickering candle light. He looked over at his son who was sitting by his bed reading a Hardy Boys' mystery book out loud.

Eric stopped reading and met his gaze and shrugged. "I ran out of things to say," he said.

Don smiled. "I think it's a great idea. Do you need more light? I can pull out the lantern from the camping gear," he offered.

"No it's ok. This flashlight is working fine enough," Eric said.

"Just like most nights?" Don asked.

"You knew about that?" Eric asked. He figured his father ever knew that he would stay up late and read a Hardy Boys mystery with his flashlight under the covers.

Don just shook his head and gave a wry smile. "I'm your Dad. I still know everything," he said.

"Yeah, right," Eric said matching his father's smile.

Don laughed. "Let me know if you need anything," he said and at his boy's nod he left the room.

Eric reached over and pulled the covers up a little higher around the sleeping boy. A few hours earlier the doctor had announced that he was happy with the boy's core temp and stopped the boys from warming the small body. But insisted that they add more blankets to the bed in their place. Neither teen wanted to leave the child alone and they were still taking turns sitting with him.

Eric brought his book back up and began reading again. He heard the blankets shift slightly and he looked over to see Dean slowly wake up.

"Hey there's the man of the moment," Eric said softly as he put the book down. "How are you feeling?"

Dean blinked at him trying to figure out who he was. When he couldn't figure it out he slowly looked around the room. Nothing was familiar.

"Hey it's ok. You're safe here. I'm just going to get the doctor, ok? Hang tight buddy," Eric said softly. He got up and walked out of the room and into the kitchen.

"Hey who started the party without me?" He said and three faces turned to look at him. "The little boy's awake."

They all got up and went back into the room.

Dean's eyes widen when room filled with people he didn't know. He pushed back in the bed slightly trying to sit up but he didn't have the strength to move yet. He couldn't figure out how he'd gotten there.

Don sat down beside him on the bed. "Hey there. How are you feeling big guy?" He asked.

Dean just looked at him. He was supposed to be doing something he just couldn't remember what it was.

The doctor was standing beside the bed with a mug in his hand. "Young man you are suffering from hypothermia. Thanks to this gentleman here you will live to play another day."

Dean scowled at him. What was with that ridiculous accent. When was the last time he actually got to play? Really play without having the responsibility of watching over Sammy at the same time.

"Hey," Don said to get his attention. "We need to get some water into you. I'm going to help you sit up, all right?"

Dean took a really good look at the man. He felt like he was an excellent judge of character and the man looked ok. He nodded.

"Ok," Don said. He pulled the covers back slightly, put his hands under his arms and pulled him up slightly. The doctor moved the pillows and Don guided Dean to lie back against them. Then he tucked the blankets back around him.

"You will slowly drink all of the sweet water that's in this mug," the doc said. "Do you think you can hold the mug?"

Did he think he could hold the mug? Seriously who was this guy? Dean thought and nodded. Of course he could hold onto a mug. Who was this clown?

Dean pulled his arm out from under the covers and went to take the mug. He paused and stared at his hand as it began to shake.

"You know that's ok," Don said quickly. "Why don't you let me help you with that, huh? I'm sure you're still really cold."

Don waited as Dean put his arm under the blanket and he pulled the heavy material back over the boy. "Just take some small sips, ok?" He coaxed as he brought the mug up to Dean's lips.

When Dean had gotten a few small mouthfuls of water into him Don smiled and pulled the mug away. "Good job buddy."

Dean scowled at him uncomfortable with the man's praise. He made it sound like he'd just figured out how to tie his shoes.

"Can you tell me what your name is?" Don asked.

Dean looked around him and found four faces staring at him. He was seriously getting uncomfortable with the staring contest.

"Hey," Don said gently trying to get the boy's attention back to him. "Can you tell me your name?"

Dean cleared his throat. "Dean."

"Well Dean it's nice to be able to talk to you. Do you remember what happened over the last couple of days?"

Dean looked away as he tried to think back. It was fuzzy. He knew he was supposed to be doing something. Suddenly he realized he was alone. Sammy was almost always with him.

"Sammy?" he said as he looked at the man sitting next to him. "Is he here?"

Don shook his head. "No. We only found you."

"Who is this Pastor Jim?" the doctor asked.

Dean looked over at him and closed his eyes as he relaxed against the pillows. "He - he's looking after Sammy. Sammy's ok."

"Sammy's your little brother, right?" Eric asked. "I got one of them too."

"Only by five minutes," Shane said as he smacked Eric across the shoulder.

"Boys I think maybe you should go make some coffee or something," Don said.

Dean watched them leave the room and turned back to Don. "Is my dad here?" he asked softly.

"No," Don said softly. "We only found you. You were wandering down a back road. Can you tell me what you were doing out there?"

Dean blinked a few times as he slowly began to remember. A truck. Jesse's truck. He'd been looking for Jesse's truck. He was supposed to get the satellite phone and call for help

"It's ok if you don't remember. It'll come to you," Don said gently.

Suddenly Dean sat forward. "You have to help them," he said his eyes wide with fear.

Don put a hand on his upper arm. "Easy big guy. It's ok. Who needs help? Your Dad?"

Dean was breathing heavy now. Panicking that he'd wasted too much time. "You have to help Dad and Jesse."

"We will buddy. Just relax," Don said as he gently pushed Dean back onto the pillows. "We'll help them I promise. Take it easy."

"No! It's been too long," Dean said his voice wavering. "They're going to die out there!"

"Hey no one's going to die if we can help it. We'll get to them I promise. But you need to calm down enough to give me the details so I can help them, ok," Don said and watched as Dean took a few steadying breaths. "Where are they Dean?"

"We were camping and hiking. Dad used to be in the Marines. I kept asking him about his time and what he did when he was serving. So he thought it would be a good idea to take me on a survival hike," Dean started coughing.

Don brought the mug up to his lips and let Dean take a few sips. "So you, your Dad and Jesse were out in the snow camping."

"We were on the mountain and we found this cave. So we went in to explore it," Dean said then paused for a moment to make sure he was clear on the story his Father told him just in case something went wrong. "Dad and Jesse were further in the cave than I was. They were checking it out to make sure it was safe. I heard something behind me so I started to turn around and something hit me. The next thing I knew I was waking up tied to the wall by a chain.

"Dad and Jesse were on the other wall. They were," Dean paused for a moment looking away from Don. "They were covered in blood. I was so cold and scared. I just wanted to be beside my Dad. I tried to stand but I couldn't seem to do it so I pulled hard on the chains and fell to the ground. I guess my wrists were too small for the … the…" Dean paused again looking for the right word. When he couldn't find it he looked up at Don as he pulled his arms out from under the blankets and encircled one hand around his gauze wrapped wrist.

Don nodded. "Your wrists were too small for the restraints they'd been put into. Dean were you about half way up the mountain?"

"Yeah I think so," he said slowly. "It was an awfully big mountain."

"Yeah. Mountains usually are," Don said and stood up.

"Give me a moment. I'll get some gear together. The boys can stay and we'll go," the Doc said.

"No. We'll need one of them. Especially when there are two injured men," Don said.

Dean felt exhausted from telling what happened. He was watching the exchange between the two men and trying to hold back the tears. He was sure he'd taken too long. He pulled the covers closer. It was still cold even under all of the blankets.

Don looked over at him and his expression softened. "Hey it'll be ok."

"They looked really bad. There was so much blood," Dean blurted out before he could stop himself. "They couldn't move away from the wall like I could."

"We'll bring them back, ok? Eric will be staying with you and when the phone lines are up you can call your mom, all right?" Don offered.

Dean looked away. He wished he could talk to her right now. He'd give anything for her to be here right now. A tear slipped down his cheek and he wiped it away angrily. Hunters didn't cry.

"Hey now what's that about?" Don asked.

"Mom's dead," Dean said softly. "Dad and Sammy are all I have. Now they'll be taken away."

"Why would that happen?" Don asked.

"We get watched by social services. They almost took me and Sammy away from Dad in March cause he didn't have a job and Sammy got hurt on the playground," Dean said.

Don nodded. He'd had his own run in with social services. It had taken him three weeks to get his children back all because of an accident in the back yard.

"Dean I've taken my boys out into the country in the snow to hunt. Bad things can happen when you're that far away from civilization. Bad things can happen to the most careful of people. No one is angry or upset," Don said softly.

"This is quite clearly a case of someone interfering in a family camping trip. Maybe you could have been better equipped but I think that you and your family would have done fine if you had not been interfered with. That will be my recommendation if the social services come and talk to me," the doc said. "You will not be taken from your family young man if I have anything to say about it."

Dean looked at the overwhelming man and blinked at him a few times. He couldn't figure the pompous man out but if he was going to help his family then he figured he was ok.

"Now then. Let us gather up the required equipment and get going. Those men have been out in the cold long enough. Time for them to come in," the doc said and left the room.

"Ok well looks like you'll be here with Eric. He'll look after you until we can get back ok buddy? Just take it easy and concentrate on getting better. You'll need to re-hydrate and start to eat to get better. Eric will take good care of you while we're gone. If you need anything just ask him and he'll help you," Don said.

"Want to go with you," Dean said as his eyes began to close.

"You did a really great job Dean. Your father will be really proud of you," Don said. "But what you need to do now is to get better. Get some sleep. We'll be back as soon as we can."

Dean looked up at the man and sighed. Dad didn't want him coming back up the mountain and Dean wasn't sure he ever wanted to go out in the cold again. "You sure you know where the cave is?" Dean asked then yawned.

"Pretty sure," Don said. He'd played in those caves as a child and remembered the biggest one had rusty chains hanging from the walls.

"Don't go the way I did. I fell off the mountain," Dean said and let his eyes close. He was too tired to keep them open any longer.

Don brought the blankets back up around the child as he shook his head. Dean had survived a run in with a crazy man, fell off the mountain, then hiked through deep snow and dense forest to find help for his family. It was a miracle he was even alive. Don stood up. Beth would have said he was a Christmas miracle and he would not have argued.

0000000000000

Caleb pulled out a shopping cart and lifted Sammy up into the seat. He pushed it down the isles finding the five items from Jim's list plus a few other things. By the time he turned down the cereal isle the cart was almost full.

"Ok squirt. Which one?" Caleb asked as he held up a box of Lucky Charms and a box of Corn Pops.

Sammy smiled and pointed at the Lucky Charms box.

"Well that was easy," Caleb said as he tossed the box into the cart and put the other one back on the shelf. He checked off Raisin Bran Cereal from the list and smiled. Sammy definitely had better taste in cereal than Jim did.

They went around the store for another bit before they came across the pop and chips. Caleb threw in four bags of potato chips and a couple of bottles of Coke. Then they made it to the cookie isle.

"Hey Sammy what kind of cookies do you like?" Caleb asked as he tossed in a package of chocolate chip cookies into the cart.

"Oweos," the tyke said.

Caleb raised an eye brow at him. "Oreos? Double Stuffs right?"

Sammy nodded.

Caleb sighed and put two of the package into the cart. "Well that takes care of Dean and your Daddy. Now which one do you like?"

"I want Orweos," Sammy said.

Caleb rested his forearms on the handle of the grocery cart bringing him face to face with the child. "C'mon Sammy every boy has a favourite cookie. Chocolate chip? Peanut butter? Maybe the sandwich ones? You know the ones with the bit of jelly in the middle?"

Sammy didn't say anything he just looked at Caleb.

"Hey it's cool that you miss your big brother and your daddy. But not allowing yourself to have any fun doesn't help you any. Anyway I know that Dean would be pissed at you if you gave him this much trouble," Caleb said and smiled at him. "It's just cookies kiddo. Which ones do you like?"

Sammy looked up and pointed at the chocolate covered digestives.

"Now that wasn't so hard, was it tiger?" Caleb asked as he straightened up. He grabbed a couple of packages and tossed them into the cart.

"Could we get something for Angel?" Sammy asked.

Caleb looked at him and found his resolve against the puppy eyes breaking. "Sure. Next up the puppy isle."

0000000000000

The Doc pulled Eric aside. "Dean is going to be fine. Just make sure that he drinks and try to get him started on some light foods. Change the gauzing every once in a while. Make sure he's comfortable," he started.

"Yeah yeah Doc. I got it. Don't worry I got it all under control. Who do you think looks after Shane after he pulls his Superman routine off the garage roof, or does an Evil Knievel with his bike. I know a whole lot of first aid and what I don't know can be found in the library of medical books that dad purchased just because of Shane," Eric said. "I get this is serious, but I got it covered. Really."

The Englishman looked at the teenager for a moment. "Good to hear. If you ever consider a career in the medical field let me know. I'll let you shadow me for a few weeks so you can get your feet wet without costing your father a small fortune in University tuition."

Eric smiled at him. "Thanks Doc. But I think I want to be an author."

"Well if you ever come to your senses you let me know. In the mean time get back to your charge. I expect to find him up and running around by the time I return," the doc said.

"Hey I never said I was a miracle worker. All I said was I could look after the guy. Geez," Eric said and hurried back to his room.

"There you are," Don said as Eric came back into the room. "You sure you got this covered?"

"Yeah no problem Dad. Shane was like a primer for this," Eric said with a grin and ducked as his brother took a half hearted swing at him.

"What's a primer?" Shane asked as he shoved some things in a back pack then he left the room.

"You sign him up for the special ed classes yet?" Eric asked his father in mock seriousness.

"Be nice to your brother. He is slower than you after all," Don said and winked at Eric.

"HEY!" came an indignant shout from another room.

"Do you need anything or have questions before we take off?" Don asked turning serious.

"No. I'm good Dad. Doc says he's well on the mend and if I've got questions I'll consult the library. If I need help I'll contact Jake on the short wave. I've got it covered. Now go be a hero and get his family back," Eric said.

Don shook his head. "When did you become such a smart ass?"

"The day I was born. How long will you be gone?" Eric asked.

"If the weather holds a day. If it doesn't it could be a couple of days," Don said. "Are you sure you're ok with this?"

"Yeah now get out of here," Eric said.

Don gave him a smile and a quick hug then left.

Eric sat on his bed. "Looks like it's just you and me sport," he said softly to the sleeping boy.