Both Dean and the cop, Kathleen had told me to try and stay calm. But it was impossible to stay calm when your best friend had been taken captive by...god, I didn't even know what. Dean, Sam and I had been getting ready to leave a bar, Sam and I waiting outside for Dean, who, in true Dean fashion, had drank himself to the bathroom. So, we waited outside. Which was awesome. Because it meant more kissing. It was strange that our friendship had turned into that, but it had, and I wasn't going to change it for anything. However, Dean took forever in the bathroom. Fifteen minutes, which, with Dean, usually meant he'd found himself at the bar again. Sam sent me in to find out what was taking him so long, and of course, once again in typical Dean fashion, I found him shamelessly flirting with a busty blonde. And before we could even walk out, he insisted on getting her number. I rolled my eyes and walked outside with him. But...when we finally got back outside, Sam was nowhere to be found, and their dad's journal lay open on the hood of the Impala. We looked and asked everywhere for Sam, but he was...nowhere. It was like he'd disappeared.

We sought out the help of a police officer, Dean called himself Officer Gregory Washington, and I got stuck with the sorrowful name of Detective Prudence Blanton. And the deputy who'd agreed to help us, a kind woman, sort of by the books, Deputy Kathleen Marshall, had fallen for it, hook line and sinker. Thankfully. So, there I sat in the back of her car, following a lead to God only knows where. After a long, looming silence, Kathleen was the first to speak. "Okay, the next traffic cam is fifty miles from here, and the pickup didn't pass that one, so…"

Dean bit his lower lip and nodded his head. He felt guilty about this, I could tell. And it was making him nervous. I felt bad, but I was more worried about Sam than Dean at the moment, especially considering we had no idea where Sam was—other than that it was in a fifty mine radius of where we were right then. "So, it must've pulled off somewhere. I didn't see any other roads here..."

Kathleen shrugged and showed Dean a look of uncertainty. I could tell that she wasn't sure she could trust us—and rightfully so, especially considering we'd so successfully pulled the wool over her eyes so far. "Well, a lot of these backwoods properties have their own private roads," she told us.

Dean sighed. "Great."

I was silent, mainly because I couldn't think of anything to say. I watched Dean for a second, and sighed sadly. Was the stupid cage that they put in police cars not in my way, I would have reached up and put a hand on his shoulder, but I simply glanced in the mirror at him, and we shared a worried gaze. My eyes wandered from Dean to Kathleen, who seemed to be staring intently at her computer. Maybe she had information on Sam! I sat up straight and tried to get a glimpse at the computer screen, only to have Kathleen narrow her eyes slightly. "So, Gregory, Prudence?"

I saw out of the corner of my eye as Dean turned to look at her, and did the same. "Yeah?" I finally spoke up. I figured I'd been silent for long enough, and the dubious look on Kathleen's face...was telling me that it was a good idea.

She glanced at me, and then back at Dean. "I ran your badge number," I think Dean practically dropped a brick out of his ass in that second, which was okay, because I probably had, too. "It's routine when we're working a case with state police. For accounting purposes and what have you," she shrugged a shoulder and then glanced back at me.

I nodded my head and smiled securely. "Mmhmm..." I said, trying to hold back the fact that I was freaking out on the inside.

She pulled the car over to the side of the road and looked back at us. "And, uh, they just got back to me..." she crossed her arms and glanced at the computer screen again. "It says here your badges were stolen..." she chuckled lightly, and I glanced at Dean, who looked surprised. I mimicked his reaction and looked back at Kathleen. "And there's a couple pictures of you guys, too."

Dean and I glanced at the computer screen, and my heart sank. Gregory Washington was a large, African-American male, and Prudence Blanton was, well...she looked like her name sounded. Bland and pasty, with dull brown hair and flat blue eyes. Dean, on the rare occasion that he should have just shut up and let me do the talking, spoke up. "I lost some weight..." he chuckled lightly and pointed at me. "She got one of those extreme makeovers...and color contacts. And...I have that Michael Jackson skin disease..."

Kathleen pushed a button and locked the back doors. "Okay, would you step out of the car, please?" she asked Dean with an annoyed glance.

I closed my eyes and thought for a second. I couldn't let this happen. We had to find Sam. Whatever that was...it couldn't kill him. "Look, look, look," I called to her, watching in amazement as she stopped. "If you wanna arrest us, that's fine. We'll cooperate, I swear..." I saw out of the corner of her eye that Dean was scoffing and glaring at me, but I shot him a glare in return. "But, first, please—let us find Sam..." I pleaded with her. But she was unwaivering in her duties. And I was rapidly losing hope.

She glared at me. "I don't even know who you are. Or if this Sam person is missing."

I felt tears coming to the corners of my eyes and I put my hands together in a pleading gesture. "Look into my eyes and tell me if I'm lying about this...please..." I felt the lump in my throat rising.

She scoffed and pointed at the computer screen again. "Identity theft? You're impersonating an officer!"

Dean spoke up, finally. Thank God, because I was running out of ideas. "Look, here's the thing. When we were young, I pretty much pulled him from a fire," he told Kathleen, his eyes starting to glaze over. He was either a really good actor, or, for God's sake, Dean Winchester had feelings. "And ever since then, I've felt responsible for him. Like it's my job to keep him safe. I'm just afraid if we don't find him fast—please," I heard his voice begin to break, and looked over at Kathleen. "He's my family."

She shook her head, though for a second, she looked...like she might have believed him. "I'm sorry. You've given me no choice. I have to take you in..." she told us. I leaned back in my seat and felt one of the tears making their way down my cheek, and I glanced up at Kathleen again. She was...staring at a photograph on the visor of her car. I glanced at it. It was of her, and a man, and they were both smiling. They looked...too much alike to be married. I frowned. "After we find Sam Winchester..." she added to the end.

I stared at her, and then watched Dean turn around to look at me. I wasn't sure what to do from there, but I figured, choking out a , "Thank you," was a good place to start. I ran a hand through my hair as she re-buckled her seatbelt, and we took off again.

We were all silent on the ride back to town. And when we went to get coffee too. I stood close to Dean, taking a slight bit of comfort in the fact that his arm was around me. I guess the Winchester men were really good at that, it was just...one of Dean's more subtle traits. We walked out of the coffee shop, and Dean's arm was still around me. I leaned into him and got opened the back door of the cop car when we approached it. Dean cleared his throat and spoke up. "Hey, Officer? Look, I don't mean to press my luck..."

She laughed and rolled her eyes. "Your luck is so pressed," she said. I couldn't help but laugh at that, either. Dean cast me a glare, and my laugh turned into a simple smirk.

Dean laughed a little and nodded. "Uh..." he nodded and continued speaking. "Right. I was wondering—why are you helping us out, anyway? Why don't you just lock us up?" he asked her. And I wanted to smack him. Just like Dean, to always look a gift horse in the mouth and never think that there may be consequences to his actions.

I expected her to turn around and slap the cuffs on us, but...she paused and bit her lower lip sadly. She was actually going to answer him. "My brother, Riley, disappeared three years ago," she said sadly. "A lot like Sam. We searched for him, but—nothing. I know what it's like to feel responsible for someone, and for them—" she trailed off and looked at the pavement before her. "Come on. Let's keep at it."

Conversation was pretty lacking on the search through the fifty mile stretch of road, but that was mainly because we were all staring out the window. I was about to freak out and say something about never finding him, when about fifty feet in the distance, I caught sight of a small turnoff. "Wait, wait, wait—pull over here. Pull over!" I said. She obeyed, and we got out of the car, getting out and heading for the woods. "It's the first turn-off I've seen so far..." I told them."

Kathleen nodded and looked from one of us to the other. "You stay here, I'll check it out..." she said.

And both Dean and I took a step forward to object, but Dean, as usual, was the one to speak up. "No way," he told her, glancing from Kathleen to me.

Kathleen stopped walking and glared at Dean and I. "Hey," she spat. If looks could kill, Dean and I would both be dead, buried and decomposing at that moment. "You're civilians. And felons, I think. I'm not taking you with me."

I shook my head and my eyes pleaded with her. "You're not going without us, either," I told her.

My face rose when she sighed heavily, as though in defeat, and rolled her eyes. "Alright. You promise you won't get involved?" she asked Dean, then looked at me. "You'll let me handle it?" she finished, to which Dean and I both nodded. She extended a hand toward us. "Shake on it," she said to Dean first.

Dean shook her hand and my jaw fell agape when I saw her slap a pair of handcuffs on him. "Shit..." I whispered, and glanced over my shoulder, taking off in a run for the woods. I had a plan. As soon as Kathleen was a safe distance away, I'd come back out, free Dean and we'd go assess the situation together. I followed the beaten path a little ways and then rushed off, hiding behind a bit of brush, to see Kathleen cuffing Dean to the door handle to her car and locking it. Pretty ingenious, actually. I watched her walk away, saying something about finding me and locking me away.

I heard Kathleen saying something about taking me in, and laughed a little. Dean scoffed and pulled on the cuffs. "This is ridiculous. Kathleen, I really think you're gonna need my help!" he shouted after her as she started to walk away.

"I'll manage. Thank you," she said, and started to walk away. I rolled my eyes and watched her start down the path. She made it past me, and I waited until she was out of sight, before sneaking out of the woods and walking back off the path, toward Dean.

As I approached, I heard Dean mutter, "I gotta start carrying paper clips."

I laughed inwardly and reached into my pocket for something, anything to use to free him. Change. No. Gum, no. I smirked when I caught sight of the bobby pin and approached him from the other side of the car, watching him trying to stretch out and grab the antenna of the cop car. It was...kind of sexy, actually. Had I not been so wrapped up in Sam, I probably would have...no. No, I wouldn't have. "Would a bobby pin do?" I asked him, a sly grin on my face.

I swear, he leapt about three miles into the air and stared at me like I was the second coming of Jesus. He got a relieved look on his face and nodded his head. "Page Marie Fabrizzio, have I ever told you how absolutely ecstatic I am to have you along with us on this hunt?" he asked me as he watched me lean down and start to pick the lock. "When did you learn to pick locks?" he asked, still staring like I was some godly being.

I laughed a little and shrugged as the lock opened. "Ecstatic? No. I thought you were the one who said that I would only slow you down?" I smirked and opened the cuffs, watching as Dean grinned at me. "I do pick up a thing or two watching you and Sam do your thing..." I told him with a grin.

I was about to say something else, when I heard the screech of a pickup truck in the distance, and Dean and I rushed off down the trail. When we were sure we were a safe distance away, we slowed down to a speed walk. "Hey, Page?" Dean asked me. "You know...Sammy's really lucky?"

I raised an eyebrow at Dean and shrugged a shoulder. "Why do you say that?" I asked him. Yes, Dean and I had become quite good friends over the past few months. But this was the first compliment I ever recalled him giving me. So, I was slightly weirded out.

Dean shrugged and grinned at me. "I know how you feel about him, Pagey..." he said, and I blushed. Partly because no one had called me Pagey since...Dylan. And it squicked me out. But also because I thought I was relatively certain that no one knew how I felt about Sam. At least I had been until then. I didn't say anything, just let Dean keep talking. "You'll be good to him. You care so much about him...and everyone that you come across, really. Hell, you took a bullet for me, essentially. Page, you and Sam should be togeth--"

Before I could think of anything to say, I'd stood on my tip-toes and pressed my lips to Dean's cheek. I smiled at him. "Thanks, Dean. I...needed to hear that. Really. You're sweet," I told him, and watched as his face turned red. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone..." I stuck my tongue out at him.

Dean grinned at me and shrugged a shoulder. "Of course. I want to see my brother happy, and you're great...for Sam. You and he have been through so much together, and...you could make...Sam...really happy..." he told me. He was acting kind of...weird. Even for Dean. But when I was about to ask, Dean pointed into the distance at a small shed. "Hey...what's that?" he asked, and we both rushed toward the area. As we neared the shed, I looked for a window to peer through, but when we didn't see one, we stood back to the door on either side and listened for any noise. It was a dilapidated shed, but not so much that we could hear what was going on inside. I looked around and pointed at a house nearby. Dean nodded. "You go check that out. I'll check it out in here."

I nodded and hurried toward the house, turning back and glancing over my shoulder to see Dean opening the door and going into the shed. I continued toward the house and walked up to the door, opening it quietly and entering. It was dark. Really dark, actually. I grabbed a flashlight from my jacket pocket and started to look around. The room was covered in shelves each of which housed jars and bottles full of...body parts? "Ew..." I whispered and grabbed one of the containers from a shelf. God, what was that? I didn't even want to know. I shuddered and put the container back in place, then continued to look around. There were a ton of Polaroids on a wall...and upon closer examination, I found that they all were of the same thing, essentially. A group of people surrounding a corpse as though it were a hunting trophy. "Freaks..." I said quietly.

I headed toward a flight of stairs and climbed them slowly. I heard the sound of an old record in the background, along with the sound of a butcher knife coming from the other room. What in the hell had I gotten myself into? I breathed deeply. I was trained for this, and Sam had done a damn good job training me. I looked around the room for something—anything I could use as a weapon and leaned down when I saw a thick wooden pole. I took it in my hand and peered around the corner, watching as...god, an old looking man was chopping something up. I didn't even want to know what. He went to turn around, but I quickly whirled back around the corner and headed to the living room instead. I saw a tray of keys on the other side of the room and walked slowly and carefully toward it. As I was reaching to pick it up, I saw...oh, God, what was it? A jar of...teeth? I didn't touch it, but stared at it for a second, in absolute horror, until I heard the floor creak behind me. I jumped and turned around, preparing to hit whoever it was, but...it was a little girl. I breathed a sigh of relief. "Shh. It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you..." I told her calmly.

She smiled a toothy smile, and I noticed, upon looking closer, that her teeth were rotting away. I suppressed a shudder, only to hear her say, "I know," and stick a knife through my jacket, virtually pinning me to the table. "DADDY!" she screamed.

I shook my head and tried to calm her. "No...no, it's okay...I..." I stopped dead when I heard two sets of footsteps coming up the stairs. "Fuck..." I whispered, when the two large men came into view. I screamed, hoping that Dean would hear me from the shed. "DEAN! SAM! KATHLEEN! ANYONE! DEAN!" I shouted, but before I could get anything else out, one of them grabbed me from behind and put his hand over my mouth. The smell of his hand was...a mix of gasoline and dirt, and I fought against him as much as I could, throwing an elbow back and connecting it to his rib cage, then heading for the stairs again, only to be cut off on my way there by something heavy hitting me on the back of the head. And I don't remember anything after that.

Until..."Come on, let us hunt her. She'd make a really pretty trophy..."

"And she's a fighter, too...sure would be fun to hunt..."

I opened my eyes, and felt a searing pain in the back of my head. I tried to bring myself back into the real world and when I heard the word hunt, that did it. "Hunting? What the hell?" I scoffed, trying to move, only to realize that my hands were tied behind my back. "You...hunt people?"

"You ever killed before?" the man I'd seen in the kitchen asked me. I shook my head no, figuring the more I cooperated, the less likely I'd be to be killed. "I've hunted all my life. Just like my father, his before him. I've hunted deer and bear—I even got a cougar once. But the best hunt is human. Oh, there's nothin' like it. Holdin' their life in your hands. Seein' the fear in their eyes just before they go dark. Makes you feel powerful alive."

My jaw was agape, and I felt bile rising in my throat. "That's disgusting...you are fucking disgusting!"

He laughed and took a step toward me. Fucking creep was going to try and defend himself to me? Like that would actually work. "We give 'em a weapon. Give 'em a fightin' chance," he told me. Right. Like that made it okay. "It's kind of like our tradition passed down, father to son. Of course, only one or two a year. Never enough to bring the law down, we never been that sloppy."

I scoffed and looked around the house. "I'd definitely call this sloppy."

He glared at me and got down in my face. "The cops around here sure are pretty. You a cop?" he asked me, a worried look on his face. I shook my head no, and he kept talking. "Only reason I don't let my boys take you right here and now is that there's something I need to know..." he grabbed a poker to stoke the fire and turned around to walk toward me. I had a witty comment about incest, but decided not to use it, since he was advancing on me with a stoker, and it was...burning. I glared at him and waited for him to ask his question. "Tell me—any of the cops gonna come lookin' for you?"

I laughed. "You think I wanna fucking tell you that?"

He scoffed at me and put his hands on the arms of the chair, standing right in my face. "You think this is funny? You brought this down on my family. Alright, you wanna play games? We'll play some games. Looks like we're gonna have a hunt tonight after all, boys..." he looked at his sons and laughed a little. "And you get to pick the animal. The boy or the cop?"

Well...I hadn't expected that. I didn't say anything at first, but I saw him bring the stoker closer to me, and felt it burning against my skin, through my shirt. I shouted in pain, and when I was about to choose, I heard the door fly open. And there was Dean. "DEAN!" I shouted.

Dean took a couple steps forward, only to be grabbed by one of the guys and shoved into the wall. And the father spoke up again. "Lee, take the boy. Don't let him out, though. Shoot him in the cage."

I gasped and shook my head. No, they...they gave the others a fighting chance. "What? I thought you said you were going to hunt him. You have to give him a chance!" I shouted.

"Lee, when you're done with the boy—shoot the bitch, too..." he told the guy before he left the room. "Better clean this mess up before any more cops come runnin' out here."

I struggled against the ropes and panicked. "Sam...no..." I shouted.

Dean looked at me and I watched as the father grabbed another chair, tying him next to me. Over the next few minutes, we heard a gunshot, and my heart sank as I choked out a sob. "You hurt my brother, I'll kill you, I swear. I'll kill you all. I will kill you all!" I heard him shouting as they were tying him up.

The father shouted out. "Lee!" he called to the guy he'd sent to kill Sam. But after a few seconds, he didn't respond. "Jared, you come with me. Missy, you watch them now..." he told the little girl, who had been silent the whole time, but took a step toward me, and held a knife up to my eye as they walked out of the room.

I let her menace me, because out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dean...working to untie the knot that they'd tied around his wrists. I felt tears streaming down my cheeks and looked at the girl. She smiled at me, then breathed in my face, and I think she was going to spit on me, when Dean hauled back and hit her over the head with the jar of teeth. She fell onto my lap, and I watched Dean pick her up and put her in a closet, shoving a metal beam through the door handles to keep her there. He came up to me and knelt in front of me. "You okay, Page?"

I nodded my head, and when he untied my wrists, I threw my arms around him, crying. "Sam...he's..."

Dean bit his lower lip, and we stood up. "I don't know...it's...taking them an awful long time..." he said as he nodded toward the door. "If anyone can survive that...Sammy can. Want to..."

I nodded, and we headed toward the shed, nervously awaiting what was to come. If I lost Sam, after all we'd been through together...Christ, I didn't know what I'd do. I looked at Dean, who had an ecstatic look on his face, and I followed his gaze until I saw..."SAM!" I shouted and ran up to him, wrapping my arms around him, ignoring the burning pain in my shoulder from where they had burned me. I was just...glad that Sam wasn't dead. "Oh my God...I thought they..."

He pulled back from the hug and leaned down to press his lips to mine, holding my face in his hands. "No. I won't let them tear us apart that easily," he promised me, smoothing a hand over my hair and fixing it. I looked over my shoulder and saw Dean talking to Kathleen, then took this chance to stand on my tip toes, burying his lips in mine, to the point that I just kind of...lost the world. I didn't care when I heard Dean whistle in the background. I didn't care about any of it. I just wanted to be in Sam's arms right then. He closed his arms around me and returned my kiss, and all I could do was melt into him.

God, I loved the feeling I got when I was with him. Something I never wanted to end. And today reminded me that maybe, it was fleeting, and maybe, I couldn't wait forever to tell him how I felt. But, God, just the thought of it put my stomach into knots, and I realized that I couldn't do it. Not yet. I wasn't ready. I couldn't lose what we had, just because I wanted more. I stared into his eyes and smoothed his hair back again, before we turned and walked back toward Dean.