"Page, I'm sorry, following Dean around may be enough for you, but I'm not satisfied with this at all."

Sam's words rang around in my head and I swallowed hard. This was...the worst week in the history of my life. Really. Sam and Dean had gotten into a blowout after a cryptic phone call from their dad, and Sam had a fit and left to go to California in search of answers. Leaving Dean and I in a psycho town in search of a ravenous scarecrow on a yearly murderous rampage. I rolled my eyes. A year ago, I would never have had to say that sentence, and if someone had suggested to me that I would have? I would have laughed them off the face of the Earth. But here Dean and I were in the Burkitsville Community College, talking to one of their professors about Pagan Ideology. Dean had just asked him a question, which I had been too deep in thought to pay attention to, but I snapped back into reality when the professor answered.

"It's not every day I get a research question on Pagan ideology," he said with a grin, glancing between Dean and I and shrugging.

Dean grinned and tilted his head to the side as he shrugged. "Yeah, well, call it a hobby," he said as he looked at me, and I grinned too.

"But you said you were interested in local lore?" the professor looked from Dean, to me, since that was what I said.

I nodded and looked up at him, smiling a little. "Mmhmm," I replied, running a hand through my hair and sighing. I was distracted. Sam was gone, and I barely knew Dean. And Sam had left without saying goodbye to me. And when Dean and I called him earlier, all we had done was fought. I asked him to come back, and he said no, and blah, blah. All that. But, it was all I could think of. The fact that, maybe, my best friend was gone for good.

The professor laughed and shook his head at me, glancing between Dean and I again. "I'm afraid Indiana isn't really known for its Pagan worship..."

Dean looked at me, and frowned as he noticed the distraction on my face, that I hardly seemed to be into the conversation. "Well, what if it was imported?" he asked with a shrug and a smile. "You know, like the Pilgrims brought their religion over. Wasn't a lot of this area settled by immigrants?"

The professor nodded and shrugged a shoulder. "Well, yeah," he said nonchalantly.

I decided, in that moment, that I was done moping about Sam not being there. I had done everything in my power to keep him sane over the years, and make sure that he knew that I was there for him, and he thanked me by running off on a hunch. So, I'd try my best to be helpful to Dean, though my heart was hardly in it at that point. I piped into the conversation. "Like that town near here, Burkitsville. Where are their ancestors from?" I asked with a shrug, rushing to catch up to Dean and the professor.

The professor looked at me and raised an eyebrow, concern spreading across his face. "Uh, northern Europe, I believe, Scandinavia," he nodded in affirmation when he finished.

Dean nodded and looked at me. "What could you tell us about those Pagan gods?" he asked.

He shrugged. "Well, there are hundreds of Norse gods and goddesses," he told us, leading us to his classroom and shrugging a shoulder.

I nodded in understanding. "Right, but, like...we're actually looking for one. One that might live in an orchard..." I shrugged and followed behind the professor, into the classroom.

The professor grabbed a book from a shelf and started rifling through the pages. "Woods god, hmm? Well, let's see," he said.

I paid close attention, and Dean was, too, over my shoulder, and we both put a finger on a page when we saw a picture of a scarecrow with a bunch of farmers standing around it. I spoke up. "Wait, wait, wait. What's that one?" I asked as I looked at the professor, then to Dean.

The professor shook his head and started to turn the page. "Oh, that's not a woods god, per se..." he shook his head, but neither Dean or I would let him turn the page.

Dean started reading. "The V-Vanir?" he asked if his pronunciation was correct, and when the professor nodded, he kept going. "The Vanir were Norse gods of protection and prosperity, keeping the local settlements safe from harm. Some villages built effigies of the Vanir in their fields."

I raised an eyebrow and kept reading, running a hand through my hair. "Other villages practiced human sacrifice. One male, and one female..." I pointed at the picture, then looked at Dean. "Kind of looks like a scarecrow, huh?"

Dean nodded, but the professor looked unamused. "I suppose," he said.

Dean shrugged. "This particular Vanir that's energy sprung from the sacred tree?" he asked.

The professor started to become slightly annoyed. "Well, Pagans believed all sorts of things were infused with magic," he told us, rolling his eyes a bit.

I nodded in understanding and looked at Dean. "So," I looked back to the professor. "What would happen if the sacred tree was torched?" I asked, watching as Dean nodded in intrigue, looking at the professor for the answer. "You think it'd kill the god?"

The professor laughed. "You kids know, these are just legends we're discussing," he chuckled a little.

Dean nodded and offered a hand for the professor to shake. "Oh, of course. Yeah, you're right," he smiled a little.

I shook the professor's hand, too, and smiled. "Listen, thank you very much..." I put a hand on his shoulder. "You don't even know how much you helped," I told him.

"Glad I could help," he replied, and Dean and I headed for the door.

Dean opened it first, and I watched with a look of shock on my face as the sheriff appeared on the other side and knocked him in the head with the butt of his rifle. "Dean!" I shouted, but before I could do anything else, the professor had broken a vase over the back of my head, and I was out cold on the floor, with Dean.

I came to in an orchard, and it was dark. And I was alone...and tied to a tree. "Shit!" I whispered. "Dean? DEAN? ARE YOU HERE?" I called out, looking around. But I couldn't see too far. It was too dark.

"I'm over here! Page, are you okay?" he called to me. I couldn't see him, though, because the tree was too far ahead of me.

I swallowed hard and looked around. "Yeah, yeah, all things considered..." I told him. "So...how do we get out of this?" I asked, fought against the ropes. But they were too strong.

I didn't hear anything from Dean for a second, but when I did, the words weren't exactly comforting. "I...don't exactly know," he told me. "Can you see it?"

I looked around for the scarecrow, which was the only 'it' Dean could be talking about. "No, I can't. I'm at the wrong angle. Oh...god...wait. I see something! DEAN, WATCH OUT!" I screeched. The shadow I saw was coming from the tree line, straight for Dean.

"Dean?" I heard a familiar voice coming from close to Dean, and for a second, my heart rose. Because I knew the carrier of the voice. But after that, it sank again when I realized that Sam and I were not exactly on the best terms. Especially after we called him and he was in the train station with a woman.

Dean, however, sounded ecstatic, and understandably so. "Oh! Oh, I take everything back I said. I'm so happy to see you," he shouted, and though I couldn't see anything, I could only assume that Sam was untying Dean. "Come on. How'd you get here?"

"I...uh...stole a car..." Sam sounded sheepish, and I tried not to smile. "Where's Page?" he asked, and I forced my face to go grumpy.

"Haha! That's my boy!" Dean laughed proudly, then peered around the tree. "She's right here. I'll get her. You keep an eye on that scarecrow. He could come alive any minute."

"What scarecrow?" I heard Sam ask, and Dean stopped in his tracks, glancing at the perch, and then turned around and hurried to untie me.

I saw Sam come around the corner, and I tried not to look at him. If I looked at him, I'd fall all over myself and apologize to him. And he had hurt me, so why in the hell did I need to apologize? I stood up when Dean untied me, and avoided Sam's eyes. But they caught mine, and I almost immediately felt horrible.

Dean broke my train of thought, however. "I don't mean to break up the happy reunion, but we have a sacred tree to torch," he told us, then nodded toward the edge of the woods.

Sam had been staring at me, and I was close to saying something to him, but thankfully, Dean's words hit me first, so I followed him, in a run, to the edge of the woods. Dean had explained everything to him, from the scarecrow to the sacred tree, and Sam was just starting to piece two and two together. "Alright, now, this sacred tree you're talking about..."

Dean nodded. "It's the source of it's power."

Sam raised an eyebrow and shrugged a shoulder. "So, let's find it and burn it."

Dean looked from Sam to me and shook his head. "Nah, in the morning. Let's just shag ass before Leather Face catches up," he shrugged, and we kept going until we reached a clearing.

I breathed deeply, so glad that we were out of the woods, but my joy was cut short, when my eyes fell upon the sheriff, and a few of the other older people in town...and a bunch of other townspeople, who were closing in on Sam, Dean and I. I nodded back toward the woods. "This way, guys..." I said, but when I turned to walk back into the woods, there were about four of them in my way. I swallowed hard and looked at them, trying to be reasonable. "Please, just let us go, okay?"

One of the people was about to object and attack us, but when he took a step toward me, the freaky scarecrow drove it's sickle into his abdomen and started to drag him away. I leapt back, since he was within reach of me, and I felt Sam's arms around me. I should have fought against him. I should have. But I didn't have it in me, and I just clung to him with all I had in me. We started to walk away, but we heard something. Something like a scream, and we all turned around, and kept looking around. "Wh...what was that?" I asked.

Dean shrugged and nodded away from the insanity. "Let's get out of here..." he told us, starting to walk away.

I pushed away from Sam and rushed up to walk alongside Dean. I wasn't ready to talk to Sam yet. The ride back to the hotel was silent, and I lay down in the bed, watching as Sam sat at the kitchen table, not even getting ready for bed. Part of me wanted to say something. Just because I always had, and Sam would do the same if it were me. I paused. Sam would do the same for me. I sat up and dangled my feet off the edge of the bed. "Sam..." I whispered, standing up and walking toward him.

He turned and looked at me, sadness falling over his face. "Yeah?" he asked in a soft tone.

I nodded out the sliding glass door and bit my lower lip nervously. "We need to talk...up for a walk?" I asked, hoping he wouldn't turn me down. He nodded and stood, and we made our way out the sliding glass door. I sighed deeply. "Sam, I--"

He held a hand up and looked at me. "Wait. Let me go first, please..." he swallowed hard. "I...you know, there were a few reasons why I came back. And..." he swallowed hard and ran a hand through his hair. I'd only seen Sam look this nervous a couple of times before. The first one was prom night, on our drive to the school. And the second one was when he first met Jess. I remembered that he could barely say anything the way he meant, and he was just so nervous and gawky. Right now, he was just about that bad all over again. "The main reason I decided to come back? Was...because I didn't want you to be mad at me...I came back for you..."

I stared at him and shock befell my face. "...really?" I asked, and watched as he nodded. "I was...so mad. I mean, I thought that I was being abandoned by the only person who I'd always been able to count on you know? But, like..." I shrugged and shook my head. "I tried to stay mad at you and when I saw you, it just...went away," I told him. It was true, too. The second I'd seen his face, whatever anger I'd been feeling, it just...went away. Faded out and changed to just...a feeling of hurt. But now even that was almost gone. I smiled and stood on my tip-toes to kiss him on the cheek, only, this time, I think my subconscious was screaming at me, because I felt my lips meet his, and...God, it felt right. I stood back flatfoot and looked at Sam, my cheeks turning bright red.

I looked at Sam, who's cheeks were equally as red as mine, and bit my lip. "Uh..." I wasn't sure exactly to say. Of the years that we'd been friends? We'd never...kissed one another. Well, we had. But we were nine years old and it was under the slide at recess because we were dared to. This was the first time I'd ever actually...wanted to. And the fact that Sam hadn't said anything...it wasn't making me feel any better. "I'm...sorry..."

And, before I could even think to say anything else, Sam had leaned down and pressed his lips to mine. An innocent, small gesture, but it made me feel less like an idiot, at least. I simply smiled at him, waiting for him to say something else.

Hey, guys. This would be Lizi. I'd like to toss out a huge thanks to all of you who have reviewed this fic. Your feedback? Is really appreciated and to me, feedback is sort of what makes me keep writing. So, yeah. I'm not even close to finished with these two. Got quite a few more ideas in me. )