AN: This is a long chapter. Well, long for me anyway. There's a lot of fighting in this one, which I hadn't originally intended but I had a slight disagreement with my brother and my housemate so I had to let out my frustration somehow. Please R&R, AT.

XXXXXX

Oasis Plaines, Oklahoma

The next morning Sam woke up first, as usual. It was strange to have a room all to himself and he would never admit it to either of them, but he'd actually gotten up, twice, in the middle of the night and poked his head into first Dean's room and then Isabel's. Stranger still was that he couldn't explain why he had the compulsion to. He just told himself he couldn't sleep and there was nothing else to do but walk around the empty house.

He showered, changed and then stayed in his room, making as little noise as possible; figuring they all needed a good sleep in. He checked the police scanners and picked up something about Lynda's house, but before he could get the gist of what had happened, he was distracted by the sounds of Isabel yelling outside his room. He got up and walked out of the bedroom onto the hallway. She was standing outside the bathroom, huffing and puffing.

"Hurry up Dean!" She yelled as she pounded on the door. She turned to Sam "Half an hour he's being in there, Sam! What the hell is he doing?"

"I'd rather not know" Sam said turning around and heading towards the kitchen "I've picked up something on the scanner, at Lynda's house"

"Larry's sales manager?" Isabel asked curiously.

At that point the bathroom door opened and Dean stood in front of them in a cloud of steam, a self-satisfied smile on his face. A towel wrapped around his waist and another on his head.

"That shower is awesome!" He said to Sam and Isabel.

"Clearly" Isabel cut dryly in as she pushed past him "I thought you might have dissolved in there"

"We have to go to Lynda's house" Sam said to Dean.

"You guys go. I'm gonna take an awesome shower" Isabel said, pushing Dean out and shutting the door behind her.

XXXXX

She was sitting in the lounge room a few hours later playing solitaire on Sam's computer, and berating herself for being so incapable of handling her boredom that she'd eaten the three Snickers bars she found in one of the bags, when her cell rang. It was Sam with a job for her. He wanted her to locate someone at the nearest college who might know something about anthropology. She rolled her eyes at his abstract request but was sucking so admirably at the card game that she complied anyway.

"Where are you, just out of interest?" She asked "Isn't Lynda's house just around the corner?"

"We're coming back from the woods"

"Woods?" She asked, still searching through the net on his computer "You've been gone for hours. I'm bored out of my mind here, which reminds me, I ate all your candy bars"

"What candy bars?" Sam asked.

"Oh...uhh...tell Dean I ate all his candy bars" She said "What the hell are you two up to anyway? What happened with Lynda?"

Sam hesitated a moment "Lynda's dead" He said quickly "Listen Bel, we really need to find someone at the college"

She was quiet for a second as she let the fact sink in "Why do you need to talk to an anthropologist?"

"We followed Matt into the woods and found some strange bones" Sam explained "Human bones"

"Eew, that's pretty gross" She said "Here we go! Found a professor at Oklahoma State in Tulsa" She said "Only about an hour and a half from here. Two hours tops"

"OK, find out if he's free to see us this afternoon" He said "We'll be there in half an hour to pick you up, be ready"

She scoffed at his order "Yes sir" She said sarcastically.

XXXXX

An hour later she was in the car with her cousins on the way to the college. She listened to them quietly as they told her what they saw at Lynda's house and what Matt showed them in the woods, shaking her head. This was starting to get really weird and she had learnt enough lately to know that that did not bode well.

"Spiders?" She asked with an involuntary shudder. She wasn't really afraid of spiders, but hated them all the same, just for being so disturbingly creepy.

"Yeah" Sam said.

"Think Matt might be involved?" She asked.

"I don't think so, but something or someone's summoning these insects"

She sighed "First the hook man, now spiders…seriously, why doesn't anyone summon kittens or teddy bears?"

Dean shuddered visibly "Ugh, I hate cats" He said.

"What do you mean by that?" She looked at him with wide eyes "You call me kitten all the time!"

"That's different" He explained "I use it as a term of endearment"

"Hmm, right" She said slowly, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.

She sat back in the seat and watched her cousins closely as not another word was said for the next half an hour. They were quiet. Too quiet. Something had happened between the two.

"What's up with you two?" She asked, not beating around the bush.

Sam turned to her in surprise but she caught Dean's warning glare at his younger brother and read it clearly; it said 'Sam, keep your mouth shut'

"Nothing" Sam said unconvincingly.

"Yeah right" She said with a snort. Sam couldn't lie to save his life. She wondered how he ever figured he could be a lawyer "You guys had a fight"

"A heated discussion" Sam corrected her, looking at Dean "About how my father didn't approve of my life choices"

"Your life choices?" Isabel asked confused.

"Yeah, like going to college and leading a normal healthy life" Sam said sarcastically "Apparently, I should have been happy to be his little soldier or employee forever!"

"What?" Dean cut in indignantly at this point as he parked the car in the college parking lot "Dad never treated us like that!"

They stepped out of the car and Isabel watched nervously as her two cousins argued. She was admittedly no stranger to family arguments, but it was strange to finally not be a part of one and just be a spectator.

"Yeah, he never treated you like that! You were perfect" Sam yelled bitterly at Dean "He was all over my case, you don't remember this?"

"OK, maybe he had to raise his voice a few times, but sometimes you were out of line" Dean said, defending their father.

"Yeah, like when I said I wanted to play soccer instead of learning bow-hunting" Sam countered sarcastically.

"Bow-hunting's an important skill!" Dean argued.

"What's bow-hunting?" Isabel asked quietly, but neither Sam nor Dean seemed to have heard her, both being too engrossed in their argument. She looked from one man to the other in apprehension. She'd never seen them fight like this. She didn't like it.

"Stop defending him" Sam yelled back "He's not here! He left, Dean"

"He didn't leave!" Dean said, though even he didn't sound completely convinced "Something's happened to him, Sam"

"Do you really think that Dean, or would you rather think that?" Sam asked lowering his tone, knowing he was hitting a nerve "You can't stand the idea that doesn't want to be found!"

"Something happened Sam" Dean repeated fervently.

"He didn't tell you he was going, for how long or even where! He hasn't even left a message on your phone" Sam said with uncharacteristic cruelty "Face it Dean, he left!"

"He wouldn't do that! He wouldn't turn his back on his family" Dean said, unwilling to believe Sam might be right, even though the thought his dad might be deliberately eluding their attempts to find him had crossed his mind.

"It wouldn't be the first time" Sam said with a sideways glance at Isabel. Dean turned to her briefly.

"Keep her out of this, Sam"

Isabel looked down at her watch uncomfortably. She wasn't particularly thrilled about interrupting their little squabble, especially knowing that no matter what she said it would inevitably redirect the fight towards her. However, the appointment they had with the professor was for almost half an hour ago, and this heated discussion looked like it could keep going and going, because both her cousins had valid points, and all these thoughts had obviously been in the back of their minds for some time now, patiently waiting to be allowed out.

"I think you guys need to resolve this before you continue on this cross-country 'where's John' tour" She said finally.

"Isabel, stay out of it" Dean warned her, not wanting to be derailed from this conversation with Sam.

"No, I won't" She said "You've dragged me into this. It was supposed to be a holiday, a road trip. Now suddenly I'm part of your X-files field trip, which is fine, by the way, but don't tell me to stay out of it like I'm just a tagalong!"

"This is about our father!" He yelled gesturing to Sam and himself.

"You've got to face the fact Dean, that wherever your dad is, he doesn't want to see you or talk to you yet" She said, as diplomatically as possible, which was always a difficult undertaking for her "It may be hard for you to accept, but don't take it out on Sam"

"You're gonna take his side on this?" Dean asked angrily.

"Sides? What sides?"

"Should have guessed" Dean continued bitterly "You've always hated our dad, you'd want nothing more than for us to hate him too"

She looked at him witheringly "Yes Dean" She said dryly "Out of everything in this world that I could possibly ask for and have, that's what I want"

"You don't know him Isabel" Dean said darkly, but his voice had lost its heat "You don't really know our dad"

"I'm not saying I do. I'm just asking the both of you to please stop tip-toeing around what's really bothering you and resolve this because I'm running out of patience, and by patience, I mean Prozac" She said marching up the steps to the building "and we're late, by the way"

"She's right" Sam said.

"No, she's not" Dean argued "She wasn't there when we were growing up. She doesn't know"

"She's right about us needing to resolve this" Sam said "We're not going to get anywhere closer to finding him arguing like this"

They looked at each other for a moment before finally following Isabel up the steps. They put their tension aside as the Professor examined the bones they'd found and informed them about the relocation of the local Indian tribes and the possibility that it might involve one of their burial grounds. He pointed them to a nearby tribe, and specifically their chief, Joe White Tree.

The drive up to the Indian tribe was shrouded in silence and thick tension from all three of them, as if they were all hesitant to speak for fear of setting another argument off.

Unlike Larry Pike and the college professor, Joe White Tree did not buy their story so readily and saw right through their fake student façade. He did however, tell them about their history and how the cavalry raided their village and on the sixth day the chief laid a curse that no man would come to their land, and nature would rise up against them, and on the night of the sixth day no one would survive.

"If the deaths first occurred from the spring equinox then the sixth night is tonight" Sam said as they tried to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

"Whatever that curse is bringing, it's going to Oasis Plaines and not tonight…" Isabel said a she looked at the already dark sky. The sun had set, and twilight was fading "…but now!"

"Matt and his family are still there" Dean said as he concluded the Pike's house would be the site.

"We have to get them out" Sam added.

Dean dialed Larry's number, trying to trick the man into believing there was a gas leak in his house and he needed to leave, but the realtor wasn't so easily fooled this time.

"He didn't buy it" Dean said frustrated as he flipped his cell shut "We have to get to them now!"

"But it's already dark, the curse could strike any second, Dean" Isabel pointed out.

"That's why we have to go now!" He said fishing out car keys from his pocket as he looked at his cousin "Isabel, you stay here. Sam, let's go!"

"What?" She asked in alarm "You're leaving me here?"

"Yes, like you said, the curse could strike any second. It's too dangerous" Dean said already heading for the car "Stay here and we'll come get you as soon as we take care of this"

She turned to Sam who was quietly chatting to Joe. He looked up at her as he walked past her and followed Dean towards the car "Joe says it's OK for you to stay"

"No!" She yelled after them "You can't just leave me here"

Dean turned around to face her and took a deep calming breath "Do you want to come with us?" He asked as patiently as he humanly could.

"No, I don't!" She snapped back.

"Then what the hell do you want?" He hissed angrily at her.

"I don't want you to go! Any of us!" She said in frustration "Oh my God Dean, we've already had this argument"

"Yes we have, so why are we having it again?" Already tense from the argument earlier that afternoon and now anxious about the Pikes, meant this was not the time for her to test his patience, which he could feel was very rapidly evaporating.

"Why do you have this stupid need to always play the hero?"

"You didn't complain when it was you we rescued from that demon, did you?" He asked viciously as he moved closer to her "Should we have walked away then, huh? Should we have left you there to die?"

"Dean!" Sam yelled in disbelief at his brother's out-of-character coldness. He stepped between Dean and Isabel, holding Dean back. He pleaded to both of them "Cut it out, you two"

"That's not fair" She said looking at Dean, furious and wounded. How dare he use that against her! "Anyway, that was different"

"Was it? We didn't risk our lives just because you're family and we love you, we did it because you and those girls needed help!" He said heatedly "Someone somewhere has to be willing to help!"

"Does it always have to be you?" She asked "Why the hero complex, Dean?"

"That's it!" He yelled back furiously, pushing Sam aside as he closed the distance between himself and Isabel.

He looked down at her darkly, his eyes flashing in searing anger and his jaw and fists clenched. She swallowed and took a deep shaky breath, but stood her ground. Chin raised, defiant, bracing herself for whatever was coming.

"Dean" Sam pleaded again, but Dean either ignored him or didn't hear him.

"Let me ask you something Isabel, and I promise I will do whatever you say. Just answer me this…Do you want to leave Matt and his family to this curse? Do you want to walk away and leave them to die?" Dean asked her, his voice not as loud but no less angry "Say the word Isabel, and we're out of here. We'll just read about it in the papers tomorrow"

She looked at him incredulous "You're going to dump this on my shoulders?"

"Yes, I am. Because, I don't know what else to do and I've just about had it with you!" He growled viciously, as he pointed a finger down at her "I feel like no matter what I do or say I end up running into a brick wall when it comes to you. So you decide Isabel, that way, whatever happens tonight, you can live with it! So what do you want to do? Want us to leave? Your call"

"I…I" She stammered unsurely as she thought of the young boy and his parents, alone in the house, not knowing what was coming.

"It's not so easy to walk away, is it?" He turned around angrily and stormed off towards the car.

"Wait Dean!" She yelled running after him as the shock from his passionate outburst wore off "Dean, please"

He turned around tiredly "What?" He snapped.

"Don't go off like this" She said in a gentler tone than earlier.

"Like what?" He asked impatiently.

"Like you're angry" She said.

"I am angry!" He shouted "You make me angry!"

She took a deep breath and decided to just let him be "Just…please be careful" She pleaded finally.

He nodded slightly at her "Stay put" He said tersely, walking up to the driver's side and jumping into the car. He slammed the door shut and stared ahead, avoiding her eyes. He was still mad at her.

She turned as she felt a hand on her shoulder. Sam was looking down at her sympathetically, yet slightly disapproving.

"You two really know how to hurt each other" He said shaking his head sadly.

"Sometime I think you guys see this stuff as just some big wild adventure" She said desperate for him to see her point, even if Dean couldn't "It's not Sam, you are seriously risking your lives out there and you may be used to that but I'm not and…with all the people we've lost…if anyone knows how fragile life is, it's us"

"Of course we know that Bel"

"People keep dying, Sam" She said desperately "People we love"

"Isabel" he started.

"I know you guys think I'm a bad person" She said, her eyes filled with tears.

"Hey, no one thinks that Bel" Sam said firmly as he looked into her eyes.

"Yes, you do. You both do. You think I'm self-centered and selfish, and you know what? I am! But I don't care! I mean, I don't want anything to happen to Matt and his parents, I really don't, but they're not my family, Sam. You are"

"We'll be fine Bel. I promise" He said reassuring her as her insecurities rose to the surface "We'll get Matt and his family out of there, and we will come right back. Please wait for us here, and then you and Dean can talk this all out"

She nodded reluctantly and smiled slightly as he placed a kiss on top of her head. He jumped in passenger seat of the Impala and Dean wasted no time in driving off, sparing only one glace towards Isabel's figure in the rearview mirror, wiping tears from her face. He heard a sigh from Sam.

"Don't you start with me" Dean said in irritation, though his tone was faintly laced with remorse.

Sam looked at him in surprise "Huh?'

"Oh please, like you're not going to rip into me for making her cry?" He asked pointing a thumb towards the back of the car, and the reservation they were driving quickly away from "You're not going to lecture me on how that whole thing was my fault?"

"No, I'm not" Sam said "You were right back there. A little harsh perhaps, but you were right"

"Why didn't you say something?" Dean asked, now angry at Sam "Why not back me up?"

"Because it wasn't the right time to have an argument Dean" Sam said "We need to focus on this and right now I'll bet all you can think about is the horrible things you just screamed at each other and all the ways in which you were right and she was wrong"

"Wow" Dean said with raised eyebrows "I thought you'd take her side"

"Again with taking sides? Dean, we're not children" Sam said "I'm just able to see things through her eyes too"

"And?"

"And she's just worried Dean" Sam explained "She's just worried something might happen to us. After everything that's happened, can you blame her?"

"You're right" Dean said nodding in agreement with his brother "Lets just focus on what we need to do"

XXXXX

After all the yelling, and crying and worrying Isabel never thought she'd be able to sleep. Yet fifteen minutes after lying down on Joe's bed, which was more comfortable than it actually looked, she drifted off and didn't open her eyes again until her cell rang the next morning. She sat up instantly and ignoring her aching neck and back muscles, pulled her cell phone out of her purse and answered it. It was Sam. Everything had gone well, everyone was safe and they were on their way back to pick her up. Too sleepy and disoriented still to ask questions, she just uttered a groggy "Thank Christ" and "Get your asses back here now", before hanging up and getting up from the bed. She looked around the small room. Joe, who had slept on the couch, despite her protests, was nowhere around. She decided to step outside.

She wasn't surprised to find Joe was already up, sitting on the porch by the door and pouring a hot cup of tea into a wooden gourd. He handed it to her with a slight smile which she returned. She accepted the tea and sipped on it slowly as she took a seat on one of the wooden chairs next to the old man.

"Thank you" She said gesturing to the tea "It's great"

He nodded graciously and poured himself a cup. She looked up at the sky. The sun had already risen and the rays were streaming through the foliage around them. The morning breeze was cool but it was helping her to wake up. The tea was also quickly making her more alert. She looked at her watch. It was almost six.

"The boys OK?" Joe asked finally.

"Yeah" She said in relief "That was them just then. They're coming to pick me up"

"They are?" She couldn't tell if it was a question or not.

"Yeah" She said slowly "Why?"

"Big fight last night" Joe pointed out.

"Yeah, but they wouldn't just leave me here just because we had a fight" She said wondering if that's what Joe was insinuating.

Joe laughed softly "I hope not, that couch is not that comfortable"

She laughed and looked at him with narrowed eyes "Did you just make a joke, Joe?"

"Fighting is good" He said looking at her seriously now.

"Good?" She asked suspiciously.

"Fighting means you love, you care" He said solemnly "No caring, no fighting"

"I guess" She said.

Part of her wondered if Joe was the wisest man she'd ever met and the other part wondered if he just suffered from senile dementia but his words still carried weight because he was an old Indian chief. She guessed he was kind of right, at least about last night. It was true, if they didn't care, they wouldn't have had that fight. If she didn't care or love her cousins, then she would have just let them go without throwing a tantrum.

They sat in silence for a few more minutes until she saw the Impala slowly make its way up the dirt road towards them in the distance. She took a deep breath and stood up, handing the empty gourd back to Joe.

"Thank you for everything Joe" She said bending down to place a kiss on the old man's cheek "I'm sorry we lied to you"

"Tried to lie" He said "Tried"

She laughed and nodded "I'm sorry we tried to lie to you"

"Don't use up all your apologies on me" He said with a nod towards the approaching car.

"Right. Well, don't worry, I've got lots to spare" She said with a smile "I hardly ever use them"

"Take care Isabel"

"Bye Joe"

She waved at him and ran towards the car, reaching it just as Dean parked it. She jumped in the backseat quickly and looked at her cousins.

"You guys OK?" She asked.

"Yeah" Sam said "Everyone's fine"

She looked at Dean "Dean?"

He looked at her through the rear view mirror, as if it was easier to deal with her reflection "Yeah?" He asked warily.

She reached around the seat to wrap her arms around his neck, using one of her hands to tilt his head to the side so she could place a kiss on his cheek. She sat back in her seat, but still kept her arms around him, leaning forward in her seat.

"I'm sorry" She said to his ear.

He grabbed one of her hands in his own and gave it a gentle squeeze "Me too"

"I want you to know that I think what you guys do is absolutely amazing" She said sincerely, looking from Sam to Dean "but I still wish you didn't have to do it and…I'm not apologizing for that"

"That's OK" Dean said giving the back of her hand a light peck with his lips "I wish we didn't have to do it either"

"So" She said sitting back on her seat and clapping her hands together "Where to now?"

"What do you mean?" Sam asked with a grin as Dean pulled out onto the road again "We're going to Graceland!"