December 9th at 11:45am

Don had been standing by the door when the three men had walked in. He had been idly looking at some of the candy while Dean tried to weasel some information out of the cashier. 'When was the last time he had eaten a candy bar?' Don thought to himself. It had been awhile, he knew that. He had just been about to pick up the Snickers bar when he felt an arm snake around his throat and pull him back. Before he could react a gun was shoved into his temple.

"You do it and I'll shoot him!"

Don was facing Dean who had his gun pointed straight at his head. Bobby had also yanked out his gun and was aiming it at one of the other men. For some reason Don didn't feel confident that Dean would listen to the threat.

Dean had caught a glimpse of the man coming in but hadn't been too worried about who it was until his brain registered what was going on. When he whirled around with his gun pointed straight at Nick's head he found himself looking at Don. Nick was using him as a human shield. Dean saw Don wince when a gun was jabbed into his temple. He looked over at Bobby who had his gun out and was pointing it at one of the other men; Dean caught his eye and could tell that the older man was giving him the reins.

"Shoot him, I don't care, he's not with me." Dean said. The chance that Nick was going to actually buy it was slim to none. He had to try though.

"Did they come in together?" Nick asked, directing his question at the woman behind Dean.

Dean turned around to see the woman nod, she looked entirely too comfortable for having five guns being waved around in her store. "They're looking for Tom, said they were FBI agents." The woman said.

"It's not good to lie Dean. People get hurt that way." Nick said.

"Where the hell are my brothers? I swear if you've hurt them I will kill you." Dean said.

"Put your guns down and we'll go see them." Nick said. "That means you too Bobby. Nice to see you again."

Bobby didn't say anything but kept his gun straight and his eyes on the two men. He was here for Dean and while this situation most likely wasn't going to end well he would follow Dean's lead, no matter where that took them. The Winchester boys were like his sons, he would die for them.

"Put the guns down or he will die, Dean. He's of no use to me and you know I won't hesitate."

Dean stared at Nick, it was all he could do not to charge at the man and kill him with his bare hands. There was little chance that Seeth and Sam were unharmed. His main worry was Seeth. Nick didn't know Seeth couldn't heal himself any longer and had probably taken no time in roughing his youngest brother up. How rough is what mattered.

"No. I told you, I don't care." Dean insisted.

This was getting old. Nick didn't want to shoot his hostage. It wasn't that he cared about the man, he cared about the twelve thousand dollars he could get. Dean showing up was an unexpected but welcome surprise. Bobby and this guy showing up was an added bonus. He was expecting to be able to get thirty thousand for Dean and Sam. When Nick only paid him twelve it was disappointing but he was willing to accept it because he knew he could get Dean eventually. He knew he could count on Dean to search for Sam and Seeth until he found them. Now he was going to be able to make at least fifty thousand. However, he didn't know if he could get twelve for Bobby. The man was getting up there in his years. If he shot his hostage then he wouldn't get paid for him and the total he could make would be much, much less. He had to try something else.

"Bullshit Dean. If you don't put that gun down I will kill him and then take out my frustration on Seeth. If you do put the gun down though I might be willing to actually let Seeth recover from round one before wailing on him again." Nick knew that using Seeth was going to work.

Dean shifted to his other foot and flexed his hand around the gun. It was too tempting, way too tempting. His mind was going into overdrive at the moment. If he gave up there would be no way to help Sam and Seeth but at least he would be with them. Together they might be able to come up with a plan. Nick was acquiring too many people, there would six of them. They would be able to get away easily working together. So Dean slowly lowered his gun onto the counter behind him and out of the corner of his eye he saw Bobby do the same. It didn't surprise him when he heard his gun being picked up, cocked, and pointed at him. This whole town was crazy.

"Al, grab some rope from over there and tie their hands behind their back." Nick said, still holding the gun to his hostage's temple.

December 9th at 12:00pm

Charlie looked at Sam. He could see some blood on the other man's shoulder and ankle. Charlie had asked if Sam was okay and he said he was. That was about the extent of their conversation, the car ride was silent. They both knew they were screwed. His body automatically tensed when he felt the van come to a stop. Sam didn't move, he just looked down to the floor. Charlie had a feeling the sudden depression was more from the result of knowing they were being taken away from Seeth rather than from his compliance or the injuries.

"You, out first."

Charlie saw Paul pointing at him but didn't register it at first. He didn't want to be separated from Sam; he didn't want to be alone. He wouldn't know what to do.

"Don't make me tell you again."

Charlie looked to Sam who gave him a slight nod. Hesitantly Charlie climbed out of the van; it took him a while considering his hands were still cuffed behind him. He felt a little better when his feet where on solid ground, at least he hadn't fallen.

Charlie flinched when Paul grabbed his cuffed hands but was thankful that he didn't put the chain leash back on the collar. There was an old, large barn about twenty feet away and that's where they were headed. Paul briefly let go of his hands to open the door but quickly grabbed them again and shoved him through. Inside the barn looked like any other. Not that Charlie had been in too many barns but he could make an educated guess. There was tractor, some farming equipment and a couple of horse stalls. Paul led him over to one of the stalls and released his hands yet again. This time Paul shoved aside a very large tack box. Charlie wanted to be surprised when he saw a metal trap door in the floor but for some reason couldn't bring himself to be shocked. After becoming a slave Charlie didn't think much else would. Paul inserted a key into a large padlock and lifted the door.

"No one come out!" Paul shouted and then to Charlie he said, "Come here."

Charlie stepped forward, not wanting to get in trouble and was relieved when Paul took his cuffs off. But who had he just been talking to?

"Your number is 241. Remember it. Now get down there."

There were steps leading down to a lighted room. Someone else was down there, more slaves? Charlie tried to reassure himself that at least it wasn't dark and there wasn't a putrid stench coming out of the basement. He slowly walked down the stairs. Only when he reached the bottom did he dare take a look around. There were faces staring back at him, lots of faces. Without counting Charlie had to guess there were at least forty other people down here. They were all looking at him, not moving or talking, even amongst themselves, just staring back at him. Vaguely Charlie heard the metal door slam down.

That's when the people started moving. Charlie stayed where he was at and scanned the rest of the room. It was large, about 3,000 square feet. Cot like beds lined the whole perimeter of the room. There were about ten doors spread throughout the basement. A couple of tables and a few chairs were in the middle of the room. Other than that the room was plain, concrete walls, concrete flooring.

Most of the people had gone to the cots, a few were sitting at the table talking in low voices and Charlie noticed two people playing with an old chessboard. One girl came towards him.

"Hi."

Charlie looked her up and down. The girl was about his age, maybe in her late twenties. She had dirty blonde hair and green eyes that had been dulled by the life she lived. She wore an old pair of sweat pants and a plain hoodie. Both were holey and had been washed a few too many times. Charlie could tell she was trying to be friendly and there was a small smile on her lips but there was fear in her eyes, she looked defeated, her shoulders were slumped and even under the baggie clothes Charlie could tell she was too skinny. She wasn't overly filthy but probably hadn't had a bath in a couple days. Bathed and fed she would have been beautiful.

"Hi." Charlie finally managed to croak out, after his evaluation of the girl he had gone back to looking around the room. He tried to look at her but his eyes kept darting around.

"My name's Tina." Tina said to him. The man in front of her was nervous and scared. Who could blame him? Still, he was handling it a lot better than most people did when they first came down here. "Come on over this way, the cot next to mine is empty, you can have that one."

Charlie hesitated before he stepped down the last step. He looked down at the floor, stepping down would be like accepting he was a slave, that this was real and not some crazy dream. He didn't want to but managed to work up his courage and taking that final step he followed her.

No one looked at them as they walked past. There were a few hushed voices throughout the room but most of the people were just lying on their cots, staring at the ceiling. He sat down on the cot that Tina pointed at and folded his legs Indian style. "Charlie, my name is Charlie."

Tina smiled at Charlie. She liked him, he was nice, innocent. Her smile turned into a frown for she knew that he wouldn't last in this place. "Keep your head down, stay quiet. They'll leave you alone as long you behave." Charlie would never survive a punishment, let alone a hunt.

The change in subject was a little abrupt but Charlie didn't know what else he would expect her say. "What, what do you guys do around here?"

"We mainly work in the fields. Winter time is the only time we don't work steadily. There is always work at the house to do, that's where I work usually. But it's only a handful of us that work there during the winter, everyone else just lies around."

"What about food, or the bathroom, where do you guys use the restroom or bathe?" Although the room lacked décor it didn't smell, for which Charlie was very happy.

"Those are bathrooms. We take turns getting a shower. You get one every three days." Tina replied, pointing to the doors along the wall. "And we get fed twice a day. We can't work if we don't eat. The food isn't stellar but it's edible."

Charlie followed Tina's hand, looking at the ten doors again but not really seeing them. This was all so unreal. He was a slave, how could that be? He reached up and touched the collar lightly, he had forgotten about it until now. He also noticed that Tina and everyone else were wearing one.

"You'll get used to it." Tina said when she saw Charlie touch the leather. Winter was the worst, the leather rubbed against the already raw and dry skin, some people would even bleed a little.

Charlie managed a little smile for the girl. Tina was trying, he could see that, but nothing could make this situation any less horrifying. Where was Don? Why wasn't he here? Charlie would give anything to see his brother again. Don would know what to do; he would be able to find a way out of this. "Aren't there more of us then them? Haven't you guys tried to escape?"

Tina let out a little laugh. "Yes, to both questions. Rick is the owner; he's got a wife and four children. Then there's Paul, he's what you would call the slave driver. Besides him there are ten other men. A lot of people have tried to escape, most are killed. They're the lucky ones. Some of them, especially if they're good workers, are beaten into submission. If they don't die from that they are put back in the field. No one tries to escape a second time. Charlie you must obey, don't cause trouble. It's better for everyone if you just listen and do what you're told. You're not the only one who gets punished if you misbehave."

The fear in her eyes shone through strongly now. Charlie had hit a nerve. "Have you tried to escape?"

Tina looked down at her hands in her lap. "Once, when I first came here. I was a runaway. I was sixteen and I thought I was in love. Being a teenager I thought I knew everything and my parents were just buffoons who didn't understand. So I ran away with my true love. He left me in a roadside motel two weeks later. I had no money, no phone, no car. I couldn't bring myself to call my parents, I was sure they would hate me for it. So I started hitchhiking. One day a man picked me up, said he would give me a job and a roof over my head, as long as I wouldn't mind a little bit of manual labor. Next thing I knew I was here. A week after coming here I decided to run, I made it to the tree line before I was shot in the leg. That was the beginning of hell. Ever since then I've learned to just blend in, it's best." Tina looked back up at Charlie, tears in her eyes, threatening to spill over. "Not all slaves are as lucky as us. You were at Tom's; most slaves live like that their whole lives."

Charlie was really scared now, he had been afraid before but now he was terrified. He couldn't live like this. He clung to the thought of his brother, Don wouldn't stop looking for him, any minute now he could come charging down those steps, ready to bring him home. He had to, Don had too. Charlie wasn't use to labor, he wasn't use to being beaten or yelled at. Charlie thought of something. "Tina." He was almost afraid to ask. "Tina, I had a…a friend come with me. They said he would need to be broken in, what does that mean?"

December 9th at 12:15pm

Two hundred and ninety three, that's how many holes were in the one tile of ceiling hanging directly above his head. He had woken up about two hours ago with a massive headache. His body was sore but nothing hurt too bad. A sharp contrast to the last time he had achieved consciousness. When he had tried moving not only did his vision swim but he found he couldn't. His hands and feet were strapped down to the bed he was lying in. He was able to rotate his head and was slightly disturbed to see an IV running into his arm, probably a morphine drip, which would explain the numbness. No one had come in to check on him so he had decided that counting the holes in the ceiling was fun.

"You're awake."

Seeth turned his head to see an old woman coming through the door, he started to have trouble breathing. He wasn't necessarily afraid of her, in fact he kind of liked her. She had been one of the only people to ever be kind to him. Mary had said his life numerous times when he was a child. His father, Seeth shook his head, no not his father, Nick, had spent a lot of time at Tom's. Whenever he got beat up Mary would help keep him comfortable until he healed the next day. But the fact that Mary was here meant they were at Tom's. He had been hoping that it had all been a bad dream, that Dean had tied him to a bed as some sick joke but deep down he knew that he wasn't safe any longer. Everything he had been afraid of was coming true.

"Relax, its okay. Your father and Tom are busy with some new slaves; they're really putting up a struggle. Your dad won't be in here for a while."

What Mary had said was meant to comfort him but all it did was make him even more terrified. He had heard the some muffled thumps and some shouting but he had tried to brush it off. "Is it a brown haired man, really tall and skinny? And a curly dark haired man, early thirties?" Other than his hair and age Seeth really couldn't remember much about Charlie.

"No, one of them is in his fifties, another in his late thirties, early forties, and the other one is in his twenties. The one in the middle has dark hair but it's not curly. The other two have light brown hair."

That was a little more comforting. At least Sam and Seeth were okay. He looked back up to the ceiling; he wasn't really in the talking mood.

"You'll be okay. A few of your ribs are cracked, none are broken though. Your gun shot wound is a little infected but that should clear up in a couple days. Thankfully there is no internal bleeding, but you'll be sore for a while. You had a bad fever but it's gone down with the medication. If you keep taking the pills you should be fine."

"Thanks." Seeth said. He wasn't used to this; he was used to being able to just bounce back. Damn, why did they have to kill that demon? "Do you know what happened to the two men that I arrived here with?" Not only had he failed to stay away from Nick but he had gotten his brother hurt, after all Sam had done for him.

"They were sold this morning to Rick. It could have been worse." Mary knew that one of the men had been his brother, she had heard Tom and Nick talking.

"I guess." Where was Dean? Why hadn't he come yet? Maybe Dean was sick of him. They fought a lot and he was moody, always challenging Dean. Maybe Dean thought this would be a good way to get rid of him. But Sam was here too. Shouldn't he at least come for Sam? Seeth knew Dean loved Sam more than anything.

"I would untie you and give you something to eat but Nick said not too, although he did mention coming in to check on you. I'll try to convince him to bring some food when he does."

Seeth nodded his head in response and then looked away, he didn't want Mary to see the tears in his eyes.

December 9th at 12:15pm

Don had put on the brakes when they had opened the door to the basement. Up until then he had been pretty cooperative but when he caught a whiff of the stench that came rolling up out of the basement door he refused to go down there. As an FBI agent he had seen and smelt a lot, criminals weren't always the cleanest people. He had also smelt a body after it had been roasting in the hot L.A. sun for three days but that had been nothing compared to this. He had let Dean take the lead as the belligerent one but he wasn't going to follow when it came to this. So when the man behind him tried to force him down the stairs Don had quickly ducked and pulled away from him. The sudden action worked to his advantage and for a moment he was free, well, besides the handcuffs. When the man who had been holding on to him went to grab him Don kicked his legs out from him.

Dean smiled in vindication; he knew Don had it in him. For a brief moment he felt Nick's grip on his upper arm loosen. Dean took the opportunity and elbowed Nick in the side. With Don as the distraction Dean was able to hit home and hit hard. He heard Nick let out a grunt behind him and saw him bent over. Dean brought one leg up and kicked Nick in the face. Dean couldn't describe the satisfying feeling he had at the moment. He looked over to check on Bobby but saw him being shoved down into the basement and the door being shut. Four on two, they could take them.

Don bent down low and made a sweep with his leg, knocking a second guy to the ground. He quickly stood up and kicked the man in the head, two down, two to go. He was about to lash out at the man approaching him but a sharp pain to his back immobilized him. The guy he had just knocked down must have been quick to recover. Don fell to his knees and before he could dodge it another punch landed in his face. Now he was on the floor. When he tried to get up a foot on his chest slammed him back down. It was then he heard Dean cry out.

Dean had been about slam his foot down on Nick's head but the man had quick reflexes. Nick grabbed his foot and twisted hard. Dean bit back a cry but couldn't maintain his balance on one foot with his hands behind his back. He landed heavily on the ground. He saw Nick spring up and he tried to do the same but he was too slow. A hard kick slammed into his stomach. Dean let out a small gasp and doubled over. Another kick landed in the same spot. Dean curled even further in on himself but it didn't help. Nick drove his heel into Dean's side, causing Dean to expose his midsection a little. A quick succession of three, hard kicks caused tears to spring into his eyes. It was on the fourth kick that Dean screamed. He didn't hear any snapping or cracking but it hurt like hell and Dean wouldn't have been surprised if something inside had ruptured.

"Stop it!" Don yelled. His voice surprised him just as much as it did the other men in the room. He saw Nick's attention focus on him. The hate and anger in the man's eyes were so strong. How could a father do this to his own son? Nick strode over to him and sneered. He saw the man's foot rise into the air, directly above his head.

"I won't pay for damaged goods."

Don had to blink when he saw Nick's leg come down next to him. Another man had just walked in. 'I won't pay for damaged goods? What the hell is that supposed to mean?' Don thought to himself.

"Then take them away because I will kill Dean right now."

Don looked over at Dean when he heard the man's name. Dean was on the floor gasping for breath. Anything he was managing to take in was quick and shallow. Don looked back up at Nick and the new man. They didn't seem to notice Dean's struggle to breathe.

"Let's put them in their cages, then I'll look at them."

Don was hauled to his feet, two men grabbing his arms. As much as he didn't want to, especially now that he had heard this new man talking about cages he allowed them to lead him downstairs. The smell was overwhelming and the light was too dim to make out specifics. What Don could see though he didn't like. There were miniature jail cells, fifteen of them. Bobby had been locked into one furthest from the door. Don was shoved into one that was in the same row but they were separated by one cage. There was concern in the older man's eyes. He saw that concern grow when Dean came down the steps.

Breathing had started to get easier until they forced him down the steps. Even though he was able to breathe he didn't want to. He saw Bobby and Don were already locked away, cuffs still on. This wasn't looking good. What was going on? Dean had heard parts of what the new guy had said but hadn't been able to make sense of it. He was too busy paying attention to his ribs which were on fire. There was also a sharp pain stinging him in the side where he thought he had felt something explode but the pain was subsiding, still hurt like hell though. He was shoved into the cage closest to the door, one in between him and Don. Dean landed on his back and couldn't bite back the cry as pain shot through his side. He forced himself to stand. He didn't want to stay on the ground, the smell was worse down there.

Tom looked between the three men. All were in good shape and seemed like they could work hard. But the older one probably wouldn't sell, not enough years left in him. Tom decided he would keep him and use him for hunting. The younger two were difficult but lucky for him he knew someone who liked a challenge and needed some new slaves. "I'll give you five thousand for that one and ten thousand for the other two."

"What? No, you gave me twelve for the last two."

Both Dean and Don perked up over Nick's last statement. They glanced over at each other, each sure that it was their brothers that were being mentioned. Then what they heard sank in, it sounded like they being sold. But that couldn't be happening. No way.

"What the hell did you do with my brothers?!" Dean yelled, staggering over to the front of the cage.

"Where are they?" Don demanded. He had stayed quiet long enough, he wanted to find Charlie now.

"Look, he's too old to sell for any decent money and the other two are going to be difficult to break, I won't be able to sell them for as much either. Besides, it's not like there's anywhere else you can take them." Tom said completely ignoring the two new slaves. He loved having the corner on slavery; he always got what he wanted. No competition was good for business.

Nick looked over at Dean who was fuming. The boy might very well have been able to rip the bars apart. It was almost worth the loss of ten thousand to keep Dean around and punish him; he had had so much fun last time. But he still had Seeth, and from what Mary had said Seeth would be ready to abuse in just a few days. Then Nick would have someone to take his frustration out on. "Fine."

"Good, come on upstairs, Rita has some lunch prepared." Tom said.

Is there an episode of Numb3rs where Colby and David got together after work and shared beer in a parking lot or something? Or am I just making it up in my head? I could have sworn there was an episode and I've been going through my DVDs but to no avail.

Thanks for all the reviews and thank you to my beta ALEO, she's absolutely amazing.