Dean entered the dance hall, trying not to look as self conscious as he felt. There weren't many people around and he headed straight for the room at the top of the stairs he'd been told to go to.

As he walked in the room he saw a young woman, with long dark brown hair, at the other end doing some stretches. He couldn't help but grin appreciatively at the sight. As she turned round he quickly turned the grin into his most charming smile and walked towards her.

"Are you Dean Anderson?" she said abruptly, before he could say anything.

"Yeah, I am. You must be Cara." he said, still smiling. She rolled her eyes.

"Brilliant deduction, Sherlock. So you're the amateur I get stuck with for the final? Well, I hope you're a better dancer than you look." she said, eyeing him up and down.

Dean raised his eyebrows. "You always this pleasant or am I getting the special treatment?" he said dryly.

She glared at him. "Look, this stuff happens to be important to me. Getting saddled with someone who looks like they've never danced before in their life is not my idea of good news. So excuse me for not being all happy & shiny."

Dean held his hands up. "Hey, look sweetheart it's not my fault that your regular partner tripped over his own feet, so you might not want to take it out on the replacement ok?"

Cara shook her head. "Oh I'm sorry, I didn't realise you were sensitive." she said, going over to the window ledge and grabbing a bottle of water.

Dean stared at her in disbelief, wondering just who he'd pissed off this time to get landed with this gig. As he watched Cara drinking he frowned as a thought occurred to him.

"You know you remind me of someone. That chick, the one from that teen thing about Superman when he was a kid. Oh, what the hell is her name? Begins with a K, I think."

Cara turned to look at him. "You mean Kristin Kreuk, from Smallville." she said and Dean clicked his fingers.

"That's the one! Not that I watch it, I mean I just saw an episode once. You know, changing channels." he said and Cara rolled her eyes.

"Gee, you know you're the first person who's ever said that? This is so exciting for me." she said dryly.

Dean quirked his eyebrow. "Okaay – how about you tell me all the things I can say without pissing you off and we can take it from there?"

She smiled brightly. "Sure, you got a postage stamp handy? I can write them down for you."

Dean took a deep breath and counted to twenty in his head. It was a good job he hadn't brought any weapons with him.

Plastering a fixed grin on his face he turned back to Cara. "Look, whether you like this or not you're stuck with me for this thing. Just like I'm stuck with you. So why don't we just get on with this and save the witty repartee for another time, ok?"

Cara seemed about to say something, but then changed her mind. She let out a slightly frustrated breath. "Fine. Just do what I say, don't screw this up for me, and we'll get along famously."

Dean shook his head. "Wow, you're being nice to me already. Careful, I'm not sure I can handle so much fawning all in one go."

Cara just glared at him and Dean rolled his eyes.

"Alright, alright. What do you want me to do? Ma'am." he said, smirking slightly.

Cara ignored the jibe, and put the water down, going back to the stretches she'd been doing when Dean walked in.

"Just be here on time tomorrow morning and we'll start going through the routine. We've only got less than a week to get it ready." she said.

Dean held his hands up. "Ok, well when you make it sound so attractive how can I refuse?"

Cara ignored the sarcasm and just accepted the answer as a yes. "I'll see you tomorrow then – 9am sharp. We've got this room booked all day."

Dean gave a fake smile. "Well alright – lucky me."

Cara dismissed him with a wave and Dean shook his head as he turned round and left the room. As soon as he was outside he looked round to see if anyone was about. Seeing the place was deserted he quickly took the EMF out of his pocket and switched it on. Heading down the long corridor he moved it from side to side, alternating between watching the readings and looking out for anyone who might be around.

At first there was nothing but then, just as there was a sudden temperature drop, the EMF went wild.

"What the.." Dean didn't get a chance to finish the sentence as he suddenly felt something shove him in the back, hard.

He stumbled, almost dropping the EMF, and put his hand against the wall to steady himself.

"Alright, well you're just pissing me off already." he said to the air in general, turning round in all directions to see if he could see anything tangible. He wished he'd brought something with him, preferably a shotgun full of rock salt.

Torn between wanting as much information as he might be able to get from the spirit, and knowing that he was pretty helpless without any weapons on him, Dean decided that he'd be better off going and fetching Sam and coming back after the place was empty. At least now he was inside the building he could check out the layout and the alarm system. A voice in his head that sounded an awful lot like Sam told him to get the hell out of there, so he turned round and headed back down the corridor.

He was at the top of the stairs when he felt the next shove and he almost fell, only his quick reflexes as he grabbed the bannister saving him.

"Oh, I don't think so!" he said, holding on firmly as he started down the stairs. Unfortunately he was still halfway down when he was shoved again, twice this time, and he finally lost his footing.

Although it was only half a dozen stairs he could still feel about a million bruises springing up as he bounced off each step and he wasn't able to stop himself before his head connected with the wall at the bottom.

"Hey. Hey, can you hear me? Oh for crying out loud, what the hell is it with me and men who can't stop falling over their own feet?"

Dean recognised Cara's voice, noting that she sounded as happy as ever, and as he managed to open his eyes he saw her face hovering a few inches above his own.

"Ok, you mind giving me a little personal space here?" he managed to get out, and she pulled back slightly.

"Oh, it lives. Please tell me you haven't broken anything, I really don't have time to find yet another partner."

Dean bit back a groan as he tried to sit up. "You know your concern is truly touching." he said and Cara did have the grace to look a little contrite.

"I'm sorry, it's just this has already happened to me once and I really need to do well on Friday." she said, holding out her hand to help him up.

Dean winced a little, but despite some slight dizziness nothing seemed permanently damaged.

"Well, looks like it's your lucky day. Nothing seems broken." he said, rotating his neck and grimacing as he heard it click.

"That's great." said Cara and Dean rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, you're still stuck with me." he said and Cara smirked.

"Lucky me. At least let me drive you home. I wanna make sure you get there in one piece."

Dean shook his head, wincing as his brain reminded him that wasn't a good idea.

"There's no need for that, I think I'm old enough to find my own way home." he said.

Cara shook her head. "Oh no, I'm not gonna take no for an answer on this. My car's just outside." she said, grabbing hold of his arm.

Dean decided he really wasn't in the mood for arguing but he did pull his arm away, earning himself another glare.

Cara's driving was as scary as her personality and Dean was thankful that the Motel was only 5 minutes away. He kept his eyes half closed most of the way, partly because his head was pounding and partly because he really didn't want to see what was coming.

Finally, much to Dean's relief, they pulled into the Motel parking lot.

"You might want to think about a career in Nascar if the dancing thing doesn't work out." he said dryly as they screeched to a stop.

Cara smirked. "Oh don't tell me a little speed scares you?" she said and Dean just shook his head as he got out.

"Dean!"

Dean looked up and saw Sam heading towards him at speed, the Motel room door open behind him. He'd obviously been looking out of the window.

"Oh great." muttered Dean, knowing what was coming.

"Friend of yours?" said Cara, standing beside the open door on her side of the car.

Dean shot her a grin. "Sort of. That's my brother." he said, just as Sam reached them.

"What the hell happened?" said Sam, his face creased with concern as he reached out towards the gash on Dean's head, just below his hairline.

Dean batted his hand away. "Dude, I'm fine. It's no big deal ok?" he said.

Sam raised his eyebrows. "Right, it looks like no big deal." he said and Dean glared at him.

" Do NOT make a fuss Sam." he hissed, so only Sam could hear him.

Sam rolled his eyes but let it go for now, noticing that they had an audience.

"Hi." he said, acknowledging Cara for the first time.

She flashed him a grin. "Hi. I'm Cara." she said.

"I'm Sam, Dean's brother."

"Ok. Well I'll leave him in your capable hands then. Try and make sure he doesn't kill himself before tomorrow would you?" she said.

Sam's lips twitched. "I'll do my best." he said, earning himself a whack on the arm from Dean.

"Don't encourage her, Sam." he said and Cara smiled sweetly.

"You might want to get him checked out – he was out for a few minutes." she said innocently and Dean glared at her.

"Oh, now you're helping me? That's great. Here's a thought - please don't." he said and Cara's smile just got wider.

"Don't forget – 9am sharp." she said as she got back in the car.

Dean gave a vague wave as he stepped out of the way before she pulled away, tyres screeching.

Dean shook his head at her driving and turned back to see Sam watching him with an expectant look on his face.

"What?" said Dean, trying to look innocent and Sam raised an eyebrow.

"Knocked out?" he said calmly and Dean shrugged.

"It was only for a minute, Sam, don't get all girly about it." he said firmly, heading back towards the Motel room.

"Right, I forgot – it's girly for me to actually give a crap about your health." he said as he followed his brother.

Dean rolled his eyes. He really wasn't in the mood for a Sam-lecture right now.

"So will you at least tell me what happened?" said Sam, shutting the door behind them.

Dean shrugged off his jacket and dropped down on his bed with a sight groan.

"I got a little up close and personal with our friendly ghost." he said.

"You saw the spirit?" said Sam, sitting down on the other bed and leaning forward.

"Not saw exactly, just felt. I was taking a sweep of the top corridor with the EMF when the temperature dropped and the thing went wild. Next thing I know I'm getting shoved around like a pinball. I was coming back here to get you when it caught me on the stairs." he said.

"How far did you fall?" said Sam, practically radiating concern.

"Not far. I was halfway down already. It's fine Sammy – really. Just a few bruises." said Dean, softening as he recognised that Sam was only worried about him.

Sam sighed, appeased for now. "Alright. Well, it doesn't look like that needs stitches. Why don't you get cleaned up and I'll go grab us some food." he said and Dean shot him a grateful grin.

"Sounds good to me. Nothing healthy, ok? I'm gonna need all my energy to deal with psycho Flashdance in the morning." he said, getting up and heading towards the bathroom.

Sam chuckled as he grabbed his jacket. "I'll see what I can do." he said as he left the room, making sure he locked the door behind him.

By the time Sam came back with a suitably greasy offering for his brother and a slightly healthier alternative for himself, Dean was out of the bathroom and feeling a little better.

He looked up from the TV as Sam came in and easily caught the bag he threw at him.

"Hmm, that more like it." he said, inhaling the aroma as he opened the bag like a man who hadn't eaten for a week.

Sam took off his jacket and sat on the other bed, opening his own bag of food.

"So what's the plan?" he said, taking a bite out of his chicken burger.

"Well, I thought we could go back later tonight and do another sweep of the place. Preferably armed this time in case Casper makes another appearance." said Dean, talking with his mouth full.

Sam grimaced. "Dude – chew with your mouth closed, would you?" he said and Dean rolled his eyes.

"I was hoping to check out the alarm system but I didn't get a chance so we'll have to wing it." he said, making no attempt to hide the food in his mouth.

Sam shook his head disgustedly, wondering at what point his brother would actually grow up, and went back to eating his own dinner.

"How long do you want to leave it?" he said, keeping his gaze fixed on the TV this time.

"I reckon about midnight should be late enough. There's no houses that close so we should be able to get in round the back without being seen." said Dean, crumpling up the empty bag now he'd finished eating.

Sam glanced across and looked incredulous. "Man, did you actually chew any of that or did you just inhale the whole thing?" he said and Dean shrugged.

"I was hungry." he said and Sam shook his head.

"You should get some rest for a few hours. I haven't forgotten you were knocked out you know." he said firmly and Dean looked like he was about to protest, but seeing Sam's determined look he gave in.

"You are such a worrier." he said, but he lay down anyway. His head was still throbbing but there was no need to let his brother in on that.

He'd only had his eyes closed for a few moments when he felt something nudge his shoulder.

Opening one eye, he saw Sam standing beside his bed holding out a cup of water in one hand and two Tylenol tablets in the other.

Dean opened the other eye and pushed himself up on one arm, reaching out and taking the tablets and water.

Swallowing them quickly he gave the glass back to Sam and flashed him a grateful smile.

"Thanks Sammy." he said softly and Sam just smiled, knowing better than to make a big deal of it. He was just glad he knew Dean well enough to know what he needed, even if he'd never ask for it.

"Wake me up when it's time." Dean mumbled as he shut his eyes again and Sam watched him for a moment before sitting back on his own bed and turning down the volume on the TV.

He wasn't happy that Dean had encountered the spirit on his own first, nor was he happy he'd gotten hurt already, but he supposed it could have been worse. Vowing to keep a more careful eye on his brother anyway, whether he liked it or not, he settled back to wait.