Thank you to everyone who has been sticking around for this story. I finally had a bit of inspiration but unfortunately Roy, Johnny and Mike aren't in this chapter much. I promise I'll do better on the next one!

Thanks again.

Susanne

"Have you had any trouble with double vision lately?" Rachel asked. She was sitting at the kitchen table with Nick. It was about eight o'clock in the morning. Mack and Booth had stayed awake all night watching the monitors while the rest of them bedded down for the night.

"No. Why?" Nick asked. The two of them were eating some cold cereal with powdered milk. Not the most appetizing way to start the day but it beat starving.

"I don't know. Twice now I've see both the floor I was walking on and my parents' carpet back home superimposed over each other. It only lasted for a few seconds. Part of me is hoping it means I'll be going home soon," Rachel stated. She was careful to not lift her eyes from the bowl of soggy cereal in front of her. Oh, how she wanted to go home!

"I haven't experienced anything like that. Even when I appeared here I was just suddenly standing on the street. What were you doing before you came here?" Nick asked. The thought was intriguing.

"The last thing I remember at home was going to bed. Then I woke up on the streets of LA," Rachel responded. A shiver passed up her spine at the memories of those first few desperate hours.

Further discussion was interrupted by the arrival of Spencer. The tall young man was walking a little stiffly as he made his way along the hallway. His hair was messy, his large brown eyes were still a little sleepy and his complexion was a little less pale than the day before.

"Morning," Nick and Rachel chorused almost simultaneously. Rachel was relieved to see him up and about.

"Would you like some cereal?" she asked as she stood up to put her dish in the sink. Rachel had suddenly lost her appetite.

"Cereal would be fine," Spencer answered as he slipped into the spot she had just vacated. The trip from the bedroom had been a slow one. The biopsy marks were feeling particularly sore and stiff today. He was grateful that they had someplace to lie low for the day. The young genius figured Sam was going to be feeling about the same.

Happy for something to do, Rachel reconstituted some more milk and filled a bowl with the slightly stale cereal. She pulled a spoon out of the drawer and carried the bowl and utensil over to the table. Rachel set them down in front of Spencer and made a hasty retreat toward the living area and the monitors.

"How did you sleep?" Nick asked. He was concerned for the younger man. There wasn't much meat on his bones for them to have been taking samples of. He could see that Spencer's face was still pale and his brown eyes had a bit of a haunted look to them. Nick could imagine pretty much anything humans could do to each other. It came with the job but the thought of it happening to the man in front of him infuriated him.

"Fine," Spencer said, not bothering to look up from the bowl in front of him. He was slowly spooning the wet food into his mouth. It took more strength than he thought he had to just chew it and swallow. "How about you?"

"As well as I could given the circumstances," Nick replied. "I'm too used to my own bed."

"Yes, I have that problem too," Spencer said. In actual fact, the BAU agent spent more time sleeping in hotel room beds than his own. It was an occupational hazard. The BAU flew all over the country to help solve crimes. Spencer wasn't even sure he could pick his bed out of a line up.

"What are we going to do now?" Nick asked somewhat rhetorically. He knew Spencer had about the same information as he did. He didn't really expect an answer because he didn't have one.

"Well," Spencer said, suddenly feeling a little more like his usual self. "We could stay here until the agents upstairs get tired of looking for us or they find us. We could also try to sneak out at night while there are fewer agents about. I don't think either plan has a very high probability of success."

"I've been thinking," Nick stated, looking at the younger man intently. Reid had finally lifted his head and was studying the CSI as well. "There are a lot of supplies in here. Do you think they brought them all in by the hatch? It seems more likely that there is some kind of a service entrance that they later buried or dismantled. Maybe we can find it."

Spencer was completely floored that he hadn't come to the same conclusion himself. It just proved to him that he was not functioning at one hundred percent. "The most likely place for something like that would be at the back of the shelter or the front. We've seen the front, maybe we should start in the back."

Suddenly the food didn't seem quite as important as Spencer pried his protesting body out of the seat and set off to follow Nick. It felt good to be doing something proactive about their situation instead of simply reacting as things happened.

The back of the shelter didn't yield any signs of an entrance. Spencer was beginning to give up hope when Nick found the tank room. Opening the door, the CSI led the way as they entered the large room. Spencer found the light switch and flicked it on so they could search easier.

"Well, things aren't looking all that positive right now," Nick said as he gazed around the cement room. He missed his flashlights. The CSI was used to always having a flash light in hand when doing a search. He felt decidedly naked without them. The tank took up most of the area of the room except for the scaffolding that ran from one side to the other. The scaffolding ran above a large valve and some very large piping.

"What's that?" Spencer said as he pointed into the far corner of the ceiling. The light didn't reach it properly but he could swear he saw the outline of a trap door. The corner was one of the few places the tank wasn't below.

"I'm not sure," Nick replied as he padded over to the area in question. In the dim light he could barely make out the lines of a large trap door. The door itself was just above the scaffolding before it turned into stairs to reach the floor. Quickly, Nick climbed the nearest set of stairs and tried to reach the door but he was just about three feet short.

"Are there any ladders in here?" Nick called down to Spencer who was hovering below him. "I can't reach it but I think you're right. There seems to be a trap door here. A large one."

"I'll go see if I can find one," Spencer said as he headed out of the room. Outside the door he just about ran into Dean and Sam who'd exited the bedroom and were headed toward the kitchen.

"What's up, Spencer?" Sam asked. His voice was tired and his eyes even more so but at least he was vertical.

"I need a flashlight and a ladder," Spencer said, nearly out of breath. His weakness was starting to catch up with him. "Nick thinks he's found a service entrance in the back of this room."

"Really?" Dean said eagerly. He desperately wanted to get out of this hole. He turned to his brother. "Will you be okay if I go look for the things Nick needs?"

"I'm fine, Dean," Sam responded, scorn dripping from every word. Sam loved his brother but he really could be too damned over protective sometimes. The headache had diminished during the night. Now all Sam really had to contend with were stiff, sore muscles from having the biopsies taken.

"You sure?" Dean asked. He was hesitant to leave his brother alone. He could see the frustration on Sam's face but he couldn't help it. It was the way he was wired.

"Go," Sam growled as he headed down the hallway. All he really wanted at the moment was breakfast. Anything that didn't move too fast would do he was so hungry.

"I'll look for the ladder and flashlight. You should maybe go get some breakfast too. You look a little worn out," Dean suggested. He really didn't want to have to deal with the younger man any more than necessary. Spencer kind of freaked him out. The boy was far too smart for Dean's liking. Besides, he really did look like he could use something to eat. Reid was far too skinny as well.

"Sure," Spencer said, the wind taken out of his sails. He wasn't too sure how he was going to get the ladder to Nick in the first place. He was still feeling far too weak for that. But it felt kind of like he was being shuffled to the side. Not a very logical reaction. Clearly Dean was the one to be the most help to Nick. "He's in the tank room."

"Yeah, I kind of got that but thanks," Dean responded as he headed for the storage room. It seemed like the most likely place to find a ladder. He left Spencer in the hallway. Suddenly, feeling very tired Spencer headed back to the kitchen. Maybe his cereal wouldn't be too mushy by now.

In the storage room, Dean found a six foot A ladder and a large flashlight. Shouldering the ladder, he caught hold of the flashlight and left the room.

"Where do you think that thing goes?" Dean asked as he climbed the scaffold. Nick was standing below the dim outline, staring up at it intently.

"I'm hoping it'll lead beyond the cabin, out in the woods somewhere," Nick responded, hiding his surprise at finding the elder Winchester standing beside him and not Spencer.

"Well, let's find out," Dean said as he set up the ladder and handed Nick the flashlight. After all, it was Nick's discovery. He should be the first one in.

"Well, here goes nothing," Nick said as he climbed the ladder and turned the flashlight on. Sure enough, in the incandescent beam he found the distinct edges of a door. Also in the beam he saw a recessed handle. Reaching up for it, he carefully pulled it down.

The inside of the door was pitch black but by shining the beam upwards, Nick could clearly make out metal rungs leading upward for the first five feet and then the tunnel seemed to branch off. "I can't see where it ends," Nick said to Dean was he pulled away from the hole. He didn't want to take the chance that sound would carry upstairs. "I'm going to have to go up inside it to find out where it goes."

"Let's not just rush in there all willy nilly," Dean said. As much as he hated to admit it, there were others among the group who were better equipped to deal with the agents upstairs. Besides, he didn't want to leave Sam down here alone if he could help it. "Let's get the others together and come up with a plan."

Nick hesitated. He really wanted to find out where this went. He was starting to feel a little claustrophobic again. But he recognized the logic in Dean's suggestion. Besides, he didn't plan on going up there unarmed. The CSI had the feeling the agents wouldn't hesitate to shoot at them.

"Okay," Nick said. "Let's get everyone together."

Ten minutes later, all of the group were gathered in the kitchen. Roy was looking a little blurry but Johnny was very much awake. Bob, Mack and Booth hung to the back of the group, closest to the monitors, just in case.

"So, what's going on?" Booth asked. He'd been too busy watching the monitors to pay attention to the others. He knew the threat was going to come from above, not below.

"Nick and Spencer found a trap door in the tank room. We need to go check it out," Dean informed them.

"What?" Mack and Booth demanded at almost the same time. The two of them had thought they'd checked every nook and cranny of this place since they'd climbed down here. They hated to think that they might have missed something.

"Come here," Nick said. As a group they trooped to the tank room and the ladder on the scaffolding.

"I'll be damned," Bob breathed. Hope was beginning to dawn on him again.

"I'll go up there," Johnny offered immediately. He was a fireman and was used to climbing around in ducts. There was more than once that he'd had to rescue a trapped cat or child. He wanted to get Roy and the others to the hospital as soon as he could. Even after a good night's sleep Roy was still groggy and not quite himself. Johnny was becoming very concerned about him.

"You need to stay here with the injured," Booth said. He knew the fireman was used to being a man of action but he would do more good making sure everyone was ready to move when they had the chance.

"I'll go," Mike volunteered. He was feeling useless. Johnny didn't really need him to help with Roy and the others and Booth, Mack and Bob had taken over the monitors. Mike too was a fire fighter and used to being in the thick of it, even being an engineer.

Mack had climbed the ladder and was shining the flashlight inside. "I think we're going to need two teams of two. The tunnel ends in a T. We need to see what's at both ends of it as fast as we can."

"Sounds good to me," Booth said as he glanced around at the others. Dean was hovering by his brother, clearly indicating he didn't want to be involved. That left Mike, Mack, Rachel, Nick and himself. Glancing at Rachel out of the corner of his eye, Booth decided to leave Rachel. She would be of more help to Johnny anyway.

"Okay. I'll take Mike. Mack, you take Nick. We'll keep silent and return to the top of the T in half an hour. That should give us lots of time to find out where this thing leads," Booth instructed. He just assumed the others would follow. A quick look passed between Mack and Bob before Mack nodded his acceptance. Mike and Nick didn't bother checking with anyone else. Rachel disappeared for a few moments while the men checked their weapons before heading up.

"Here," Rachel said, handing over three more flash lights. The last thing they needed was for them to get lost out there.

"Thanks," Booth said, looking a little chagrined. Why hadn't he thought of that? "Everyone ready?"

Three heads nodded and then Booth and Mike were climbing up the ladder and into the tunnel.