A door opened off to the left of them and another man walked in stopping short when he saw the scene. He reached for the gun on his waist, but wasn't quick enough. Ree threw a knife into his shoulder and shot him with a tranquilizer. A surprised look crossed his face as his eyes rolled back and he collapsed in a heap. Ree quickly tied him up and slapped a dressing on the wound. She turned to face her sister who still had her gun trained on the other man.

"Sis, listen." she said softly.

"He did this, he has to pay."

"He will, but not this way."

"You better listen little girl, I am not someone you want as your enemy." the man sneered as he wiped the blood from his mouth. All the pent up anger and rage reflected out of her eyes turning them deep, stormy, penetrating, blue; making eye contact, he began to feel a shiver of fear course down his spine. Natasha's finger began to tighten on the trigger, her thirst for blood too great.

The echo of two gun shots vibrated off the walls of the room only to die down to total silence.

Chapter 14

In two strides, Sam was by Natasha's side. He looked down at the man lying on the floor and let out the breathe he was holding. A pale, sweaty face started wide eyed at him. There were two bullet holes in the floor, one on either side of his face. Sam could see little pin pricks of blood where splinters had imbedded in his face.

"You did the right thing." Sam said only where Natasha could hear. She leaned her head back onto this chest and closed her eyes willing the intense, mind controlling rage to slink back into the closet. She closed and locked the door as she took in a couple of deep breaths slowing her heart rate down.

"He doesn't get off this easy." she decided. Taking a syringe out of her jacket pocket, she leaned over and injected it into his leg. He cringed painfully trying to shield away from her. "Sis, bind and gag."

"You got it." she answered pulling out the zip ties and a gag.

Sam looked around the room and made a bee line for a roll top desk off to the side of the room. He started looking in the drawers for any pertinent information. He found one locked and took a knife to jimmy it open and found zip lock bags with driver's license and a personal item from previous victims. Some were wedding rings, school rings, watches and necklaces. He found Dean's license and his ring and stuck them in his pocket.

"Bingo!" he called to the girls. Natasha glanced over to see what he had found and sucked in a deep breath.

"Oh my God! How long have they been doing this?"

"Years." Ree replied holding up a medium size blue book. "This is a ledger of all the people they kidnapped and hunted. Part of it is in some kind of code, but I should be able to decrypt it."

Sam grabbed his bag and began to pull items from it. He threw a couple of small rugs out of the way and began to draw symbols on the floor.

"Can you go look in the kitchen for a metal bowl of some kind?" he instructed Natasha. She nodded not sure what he was doing, but wanted to help.

"What are you doing?" she asked returning with a metal bowl.

"I'm going to send some help to Dean. I'm going to summon any spirits that have not crossed over and see if they will help us." he said throwing things she was not even sure what they were into the bowl. The last thing he added was his own blood. Sam placed all the licenses and personal items inside the circle before mumbling a Latin incantation and threw a match in the bowl igniting the contents. Natasha watched with interest as the air grew cold and shapes began to appear in front of them.

Sam watched the spirits of the slain men flicker in and out before becoming solid. They all looked at him coldly.

"I know you were kidnapped and wrongfully killed. I summoned you for your help. My brother was taken and is being hunted. The men who did this to you are out there; will you help my brother and seek your revenge so this will stop before others are killed? Then you can move on knowing your deaths have been avenged."

"We will help." one of the spirits communicated and nodded to the others. They disappeared leaving Sam and the girls alone in the room.

"Let's go get Dean." Natasha told Sam. "Ree you know what to do here."

"Will do, be careful." she told Nattie. She grabbed Sam and kissed him before they headed out. She started to work on the two laptops she had found in the desk.

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Dean's internal clock woke him before Brody could. He quickly got up and stretched, rolling his shoulders and moving his stiff muscles to get the blood flowing. They ate the last of their food and drank the last of their water before starting their hike to the river.

"Ready?" Dean questioned Brody as he slung his pack over his shoulder.

"Let's do this." he replied waiting for Dean to lead the way.

The sun had barely begun to inch its way up into the morning sky as darkness was being driven back for another day. They navigated the animal trail Dean had found heading for the river. The going was easier now and he set a quick pace toward the river that could be seen sparkling with the new dawn approaching.

They continued on in silence wanting to conserve their energy. The sun had almost made its appearance when Dean led them out of the woods. He could hear the rush of the water as it pounded on the rocks creating a lingering roar in the air. He pushed on toward it, anxious to head downstream and to end this meaningless killing.

The water was cold and invigorating as Dean splashed it on his face and let it trickle down his neck. He scooped up a handful to sip, quenching his parched thirst. Brody was doing the same, but not as neatly. He ducked his head into the water, drenching his long hair. Rising up, he shook his head letting his hair plaster to his head. They filled their water bottles and followed the river toward the helicopter's landing site.

Dean spotted the clearing through the trees. He stood behind a boulder and listened to the noises around them trying to determine the location of the ones hunting them.

"Let's stay in the trees and circle around to the other side. If I'm right about these bastards, there's probably a tracker, a guard and two paying pricks."

"Do you have a plan?"

"We take out the strongest first. Hopefully they will be split up and that will make out job easier. My brother is on his way, but I say we finish this." Dean ran his fingers through some black mud and streaked it down his face.

"We finish it." he nodded doing the same with the mud.

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They made their way into the woods and circled the clearing as quietly as a ghost. Dean found tracks and a discarded gum wrapper heading the way they had gone the previous day. Dean dropped his pack by a tree and covered it with leaves motioning Brody to do the same. He wanted to be ready to fight without any hindrance. They began to stalk their prey with the knowledge and skill only seasoned hunters knew.

Almost an hour later, Dean froze and listened intently to the noise the wind was bringing their way. He could just make out voices up ahead of them. He motioned for Brody to break off right and he continued straight ahead. Neither hunter made a noise as they neared the unsuspecting prey.

Two men were arguing loudly in a small clearing just ahead of them. Dean and Brody squatted behind rocks and brush waiting to see the outcome of the fight. There was a little shoving and the men stalked off in opposite directions.

Dean gave Brody hand signals to follow the less threatening one and he would take the other. He nodded that he understood and slunk off after the man. Dean went in the other direction after the bigger man. He drew his knife and followed parallel with the angry man who stomped off, cussing out loud to no one. The man stopped at a rock outcrop and stuck a cigarette in his mouth lighting it before drawing a deep lung of smoke.

Moving up behind him, Dean made ready his attack. Sensing danger the man turned as Dean threw himself at the enemy. They went down in a tangle of arms and legs as Dean delivered painful punches to his opponent. The man recovered enough to elbow Dean in the face opening a cut on his cheek. Dean kneed him in the gut throwing him off.

Jumping to his feet Dean circled the adversary waiting for the next attack. The man lunged at him, slashing with his knife forcing Dean to back up. He blocked the strike and threw an upper cut making him stagger backward. Dean moved in throwing another punch driving him back again. The man jerked a knife out of his belt and stabbed Dean in the shoulder. Dean gritted in pain and gave one more adrenaline induced punch sending the man stumbling back and over the edge of the cliff. Dean staggered to the edge and saw his broken body on the rocks below. Wincing in pain, he pulled the knife out of his shoulder and headed back toward Brody's last position.

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Dean broke through the trees into the clearing to find Brody coming from the other direction carrying a hunting rifle. He was scuffed and dirty, but not injured.

"You've been hurt." Brody cautioned seeing the blood.

"I've had worse." Dean commented taking off his jacket and flannel shirt. "Can you tie this for me?"

"Right." he answered taking the shirt and making a pressure bandage for the wound. He checked the cut on his cheek wiping the blood away with a strip of his torn shirt. "Ok. You're good until we can get medical attention."

"Let's find the other two and end this." Dean grumbled letting Brody help him with his jacket much to his dismay. Brody found signs leading off to higher ground, so they began to track the remaining two.

The trail led up to an empty mesa. Both men scanned the area around the mesa looking for the thing out of place. Brody pointed to the right where he saw the glint of something shiny just in the tree line. Dean looked closely and could make out the outline of a man dressed in camouflage. They made a wide circle around him coming up on his blind side. Dean whistled getting his attention and Brody knocked him out with the butt of his rife. Dean grabbed the would be hunter's weapon as Brody jerked the man's belt off and tied him up.

As Dean and Brody started back a figure stepped out blocking their way. Both men drew up short as they started at the gun being pointed at them.

"Well this is an interesting turn of events. Never had a prey take out a hunter." he sneered taking a step closer. Dean and Brody stood still trying to decide how best to handle the man. Dean was weak from blood lose and didn't want to get Brody shot. The wheels in his head turned, trying to think up a plan that would get them both out of this alive.

Dean's and Brody's eyes grew big as figures began to appear behind the man. The man frowned at their reaction until he caught movement in his peripheral vision. He turned quickly to be confronted by spirits of previous victims. He shot at them with no effect. The man screamed as two of the spirits grabbed him tossing his gun aside. He struggled between the two spirits trying to break their hold to no avail.

"Your brother summoned us allowing us revenge so we can rest." one of the spirits told them. The man was drug off disappearing along with the spirits.

Brody stood there in shock, while Dean smiled, that's my baby brother. They looked up as a helicopter flew overhead.

"That's probably my brother, let's go." Dean urged Brody as he headed back down the hill. Brody silently followed with no idea what had just happened. He didn't even know what questions to ask.

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Sam and Natasha jumped out of the copter and looked around trying to decide where would be the best place to start looking for Dean. They were getting ready to head into the woods when two figures stepped out of the trees. Sam squinted as he tried to determine if it was Dean or not.

"Hot Rod." Natasha cried out as tears rushed to her eyes and trailed down her face. She plowed into him with such force he nearly tumbled. She wrapped him in a bear hug so tight he thought he was going to pass out. His knees started to buckle and he moaned in pain as Sam got there in time to help Natasha support him. She pulled back and saw how pale he was and then saw the blood.

"Dean!" Sam breathed a sigh of relief and then saw the blood on his jacket. "Crap, you've been hurt."

"Hot Rod, how bad?" she asked trying to pull the jacket open.

"I'm fine, knife wound, may need a couple of stitches." he huffed out. Dean felt darkness trying to creep into his mind as he fought to not pass out.

"I know the Winchester mean of 'I'm fine'." she admonished putting his good arm around her shoulder.

"Sam, Dean's brother." Sam said to the guy standing beside them holding out his hand. "That's Natasha."

"Brody, nice to meet you. How did you know where to find us?"

"Let's just say we have some friends who owed me favors." Natasha hinted as Sam helped her get Dean to the copter.

"Where's Ree?" Dean asked looking around as he tried to get into the back of the chopper. Sam and Brody man handled him in and strapped him down. Sam could already see his eyes getting glassy and knew his brother was trying to hide how hurt he was.

"She's at their headquarters doing what she does best. Come on let's get out of here and get you some medical attention."

"What happened, you went to the restroom and you just disappeared."

"I saw Brody being beaten up by three men and went to help. Didn't see the fourth one, they drugged me and we ended up being human prey."

"They were using girls to lure guys out so they could be kidnapped. We found over twenty driver's licenses and a personal item from each kept as souvenirs back at the cabins."

"So that's how you summoned the spirits of the other victims."

"Yeah figured we could us all the help we could get."

"So you're telling me those were other victims, dead victims?" Brody asked slowly.

"Hate to break it to you, but things that go bump in the night are real." Dean muttered as his head lolled to the side and he lost his battle with consciousness.

"How do you know about this stuff?"

"It's kind of our job, we're hunters." Sam said looking back at Dean. "Dean, you with us?"

"He passed out, pulse is still strong and he's breathing ok." Brody assured him as he checked his vitals.

"Medical training?"

"Military, that's probably the only reason we survived, that and your brother. He's a badass."

"You don't know the half of it." Sam smiled happy to have his brother back.

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Ree was waiting for them when they landed. Once she saw Dean's condition, she assembled a make shift stretcher and they carried Dean back to the SUV. He wavered in and out of consciousness, but seemed to be stable. Sam headed back to Silverthorne where they were going to lay low until Dean was able to travel.

"I'll go get us some rooms." Natasha said hopping out of the SUV and heading for the hotel office.

"Do you need to contact anyone that you're ok?" Sam inquired to Brody.

"No, pretty much on my own now." he mumbled as exhaustion of the last several days started catching up with him.

"Hang around with us. I know Dean will want to thank you."

"Ok, I got us a suite and a single beside it." Natasha explained as she handed Brody a key card.

"You didn't have to do that."

"Yes, I did, you helped bring my guy back, I owe you more than a room for a few days." she insisted.

"Thanks, I won't turn it down." he said getting out of the SUV and accepting the card.

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Natasha and Sam managed to get Dean into one of the bedrooms and on the bed. Ree brought in the medical kit and placed it beside him. Brody took a seat on the couch glad to be alive.

"Need help?" Ree asked her sister.

"No, why don't you and Sam go get us some food and beer, I'll take care of his wound."

"Sounds good." Sam answered pushing Ree out of the room. He could tell she wanted to be alone with Dean. "Brody, why don't you go get a shower and some rest. Here, these may be a little big but they're clean. We're going to get some food." Sam told him pulling some clothes from Dean's bag and handing them to him.

"Sounds like a plan. Wake me in a few." Brody replied pulling his tired body up and heading for the room next door.

"Will do." Sam told him as they followed him out the door.

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