How did he let himself get talked into shit like this? He didn't want to be here, had no good reason to be where he was and wondered why he continually allowed himself to be talked into doing shit he didn't want to do by a sniveling brother who always got his way!

He groused, kicking at rocks. Okay, that wasn't fair. He could have flat-out refused and there was nothing Sam could have done to make him come. Truth be told, he'd been looking forward to beating on some fugly and…he frowned, wait, was that rock rolling and bouncing back at him? It was! He brought his head up, and stopped to look around. Oh, hell, the trail had started to steadily incline...that meant...he was going uphill. Well shit, he'd had no freaking clue Sam was leading him up a mountain! Way to pay attention and get yourself killed, Dean old boy.

Sighing, he shifted the weight on the bag slung over his shoulder and moved on. Ow. He hid the wince and concentrated on keeping his step even. A suspicious Sam was a dangerous Sam and if he got an inkling Dean's shoulder was twinging, he'd be subjected to Dr. Sam's bare-all humiliating examination in the middle of the wilderness.

Yeah, in front of these two newbies, Dean snorted, tripping over a root, not gonna happen. As far as he could tell, this group of five hunters knew one other, had hunted separately, in pairs, in threes, and as a group. Sam had quickly attached himself to the youngest of the group. Why? A mentor? Odd. Help the 'youth' along? Doubtful. Teach them the rules? Hardly.

No, there was another reason, another motive and if his shoulder wasn't thumping along with the beat of his heart, giving him a headache, he'd care enough to figure it out. Sam was sneaky and manipulative, but only when he had Dean's best interests at heart or thought he knew best. Course, Dean could be sneaky and manipulative as well when he wanted – needed – to be.

The hunters, who they'd had the dubious pleasure of meeting as a group yesterday, hadn't been thrilled to see them arrive at the entrance to the hiking trail that morning at daybreak. They hadn't willingly shared their information either but once it became evident the brothers would not be going away, they'd grudgingly shared their plan. And based on what little information they'd shared, it was a stupid plan. Dean knew it, Sam knew it, Dean knew Sam knew it and yet, here he was, tromping on an ill-used path up the side of a mountain. Dean suspected Sam had a plan of his own, but this group of hunters wasn't the type to listen to advice or take being told they were wrong well, let alone losing lead on this job.

He sighed, whacking a branch out of his way.

Power, strength, authority, and leadership; that's what made him a damn good hunter and a formidable foe, and yet here he was, stomping uphill on a chilly, windy day with an aching head and twinging shoulder, following blindly because he didn't care enough to take an active role in the hunt. His usual instinct to take charge, to lead, to make a plan, to understand exactly what they were doing, where they were going, and what they were hunting, was tucked away on this hunt, safely secure in the knowledge Sam knew everything they needed to know – even if the jerk wouldn't admit it. Although, he paused, he still failed to understand why Sam was so hell bent on going on this hunt; why he was content to join and follow and not question another hunters order.

Dean stumbled and drew up short, mentally smacking his head. He kicked himself as realization barreled into him: Sam would never willingly or knowingly wade head first into trouble unprepared or risk Dean's life by doing so blindly. No, Sam knew exactly what was going on. That was why he hadn't argued or protested or disagreed when the self-elected 'leader' of the group announced his plan to split up and send the unwanted Winchester's off with the less-experienced-newbies of the group on what was undoubtedly a wild goose chase.

And….huh, not only had Sam instantly agreed to split up, he'd accepted the decision to be pawned off on the youngest, most inexperienced duo of the group without comment, almost gleefully, like he'd wanted to be alone with them. Now that there was just plain weird, for as much of the hunt and plan Dean had bothered to absorb, the action was where the other three hunters had dispersed to. It was like Sam had no interest in the hunt...almost like his interest was in...these two hunters.

"Dean, come on." Sam called impatiently. "Step it up."

Dean flipped him off but he didn't pick up his pace, in no hurry to get where they were going; which apparently, was up the side of a mountain in search of some ancient Native American burial ground. Oh yeah, like Dean was going to set foot on sacred ground and disturb it in anyway. Now, where was he...oh right, now what was it about these two wanna-be-hunters that interested Sam?

Sam let Dean trudge on at his own pace. He well knew how Dean felt about being on a job with other hunters they weren't taking lead on. Let him pout and drag his feet. Sam didn't care about the hunt anyway and once he got the information he sought, he'd invent some excuse or cause a fight or fake an injury and they'd all return to their cars without ever setting foot on the burial grounds.

"So, fairly new to hunting, huh." Sam remarked.

"Huh." the two young hunters exchanged a glance between them. "What makes you say that?" the more outspoken of the two asked.

"So, ah…..Billy, right?" his target. "How'd you meet up with Nate and the others?" he referred to the other three hunters who, while on the same hunt, had gone in a different direction. He chatted easily, leading the conversation to territory he wanted it to go. He merely took his time getting there, not wanting to raise any suspicions he was actively seeking another hunter they knew. "Yeah? So, do you always hunt with Nate or have you hunted with others?"

"Learning a lot from Nate." Billy said. "He used to hunt with a guy who's retired now. Old dude taught him a lot."

"Old dude? Our dad knew a lot of hunters back in the day. Most have passed on though. Father Jim, Bobby Singer, Rufus, Travis and Martin…." he trailed off, waiting to see if any names would be volunteered. "Retired? Not dead?"

"Yeah, everyone knew Bobby Singer. Dunno, think maybe O'Riley's old enough to have taught him a thing or two." Billy said. "And yeah, he's still alive. He no longer hunts but he still helps out with research, you know? He knows his shit. You call him up, he'll tell you everything he knows about whatever you're calling him about."

"Tanner O'Riley?" Sam said. "Hell, I know him…haven't seen him in ages. He's still alive, huh?" and he should know that, would if he and Dean didn't deliberately isolate themselves as much as possible from the active hunting world.

"Yeah, he's holed up in Nebraska."

And he wouldn't be hard to find, Sam mused, hell, he bet he even had the old man's number.

"…..since Garth…."

"Wait." Sam shook his head. How had the conversation gone from O'Riley to Garth? "Garth went and got married. He doesn't have anything to do with the hunting world anymore."

"No." Craig, Billy's sidekick spoke up. "We used to call him, now we call O'Riley when we come up against something that has us stumped."

The conversation went on. Sam asked a few questions, gave some answers and eventually brought the conversation around to recent hunts.

"We heard about a haunting out in Ames, Iowa, a couple weeks back." Sam said casually. "But before we got there, we heard from the local Sheriff that the case had been settled. One of you guys?"

"No." Billy said. "Probably Dom."

"Dom?" giddy, Sam kept his tone casual. "Haven't heard of him."

"Yeah, he's known as Junior, but he hates that name. His dad's a hunter too but they don't get along so well." Craig said. "He likes to take on cases that are known spirits and ghosts. His favorite job, dunno why."

"Huh." Sam already knew that, hence why he was there. He hadn't expected to actually find the laying-low hunter but thought to meet hunters who knew him and would have information about him. "You'd think he'd be here." he swiveled his head around to make sure Dean was still lagging behind. "You know, what with a haunted spirit and all being suspected here."

"Kinda surprised he's not. I know Nate called him but guess he didn't get in touch." Billy said. "Come to think of it, dunno when I last heard from him."

"Better than a month, I'd say." Craig said. "He's probably laid-up somewhere with a busted leg or something and too embarrassed for anyone to know."

Not yet, said Sam silently, but soon. Damn soon. Broken leg, broken arm - at the elbow, broken wrist - opposite arm, broken jaw, broken ribs - plural, smashed toes, ten broken fingers, see how well he wiped his ass with both hands in a cast. Oh yeah, Sam had it all planned out.

"Yeah." Billy was saying. "He's a known hot head. Charges in all hopped on his know-it-all-ego. O'Riley goes way back with Dom's old man, so he took Dom under his wing, you know? Since he and his Dad are on the outs."

"How much further?" Dean called from behind. "I'm hungry."

Now having information he needed – pay a visit to Tanner O'Riley in Nebraska – Sam was willing to call it quits on this ill-advised, waste-of-time hunt. Let the hot-headed-we-don't-need-no-help-Nate-led group of hunters handle the problem that probably wasn't even on the sacred burial grounds. Not even God knew what protected those graves and no matter how much research and studying of lore Sam did, it would never be enough. There were undoubtedly more talismans and amulets and totem poles then he knew about and no shortage of spells protecting those grounds and he had no intention of setting foot on them or allowing his brother to do so either.

The answer to solving the recent deaths did not lie on this mountain. And Sam strongly suspected that Nate was well aware of that.

"Me too." Craig pulled up and slung his backpack to the ground. "Could go for a sandwich."

"Don't mind him, he's always hungry." Sam said. "But sure, I'll check the map." and devise a convenient fall over a log resulting in a slightly sprained ankle, that while minor, would be too painful to continue on, requiring Dean to help him back to the car. It wouldn't do anything to prove to the other hunters their abilities to do the job but Sam never intended to cross paths with them again. He'd do his best to convince Billy and Craig to return with them, but he wasn't going to put a gun to their head and force them. If they didn't understand Sam's perfectly reasonable explanation of why they shouldn't disturb ancient Native American burial grounds, then their stupidity was their problem, not Sam's.

Already munching on a granola bar, Dean plopped his ass on the ground beside Sam who was perched on a fallen tree log, map across his lap. He guessed Dean assumed he was looking for the burial site, plotting easiest access, when in fact he was plotting the shortest course back to the car.

"You hear that?" Dean asked after a moment. "Sam? Hey." he smacked Sam's knee. "Yo, dude."

"What? Do I hear what?" Sam brought his head up to drink from a bottle of water. "I don't hear anything."

"Yeah, nothing." Dean replied quietly. "Not a cricket, not a tree frog, not a bird. There's not even a breeze. Do you see a leaf moving? We should get out of here Sam. We don't belong here."

"We're good." Sam huffed absently, focused on the map. "Shush."

"We shouldn't be here." Dean stressed. "We don't enough about what we're hunting Sam." he paused, stretching his back and sitting up straighter. "Or do we?" he peeked at the map but Sam folded it up. "Sam. Why are we here?"

"You're right." Sam capped the water and shoved it back into his bag along with the map. "Let's go back."

"That's it?" Dean questioned. "Just like that? We leave? What about the Bobbsey Twins?"

"What about them?" Sam shrugged. "I'll tell them the truth. Nate sent them up here on a false trail to keep us occupied. They can either go back with us or go on without us. Their choice. And yes, I will warn them about the dangers of trespassing on that land."

"What the hell is up with you?" Dean studied him, his look calculating as he weighed the situation. "What's going on Sam? You think Nate would send them up here into danger like that?"

"No. I doubt he knows about the burial site. He probably thinks it's just an old cemetery. It didn't take me long to realize they don't rely on research."

"We can't just leave them up here."

"What's your problem now?" Sam asked impatiently. "You want to go back, I say we'll go back and you're pissed!"

"I don't know why we're even here." Dean argued. "Mentor? You? To those two?" he scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Really? You aren't making any sense Sam. If you knew this hike was bogus, why are we here?"

"You're whining has taken any peace I found and crushed it, so fine, let's go."

"Just like that?"

"Yup."

Dean pushed to his feet. "I haven't figured you out yet, but I will. You're up to something and when I…..." he stopped. "Where are dumb and dumber? Where'd they go? Sam, where are they?"

"Hello, I dunno. They were right there eating a hoagie." he sighed. This wasn't going as planned. "Billy! Craig!" Sam yelled. "Hey, catch up!"

"You see? This is why I don't want anything to do with hunting with other hunters. I don't want the responsibility and now we gotta waste time looking for them."

"Yo! Guys!" Sam shouted, turning in a complete circle, searching for their trail. "HEY!"

"What do you know about this hunt Sam? Whose burial grounds are these? Which tribe? And don't give me no shit. I know you know or we wouldn't have come out here."

"You don't need to worry about it." Sam snapped. "I got us covered. The grave they seek isn't up here."

"Then why the fuck are we?" Dean cut in, tone dripping with disgust. "Sam, what bug you got up your ass now? What the fuck are you up to?"

"...and I never had any intention of disturbing those grounds." Sam continued irritably. "Guys! Come on, quit screwing around!"

"Sam!" Dean warned. "Not in the mood. What are we up against if we go on those grounds and disturb those graves? And when did you find all this out?"

"We're not going to dig up any graves." Sam informed him. "And I researched it last night while you watched your movie….oh, that's right, you fell asleep."

"So, this land is protected by spirit wards. Nice." Dean announced, shaking his head. "With what?"

"Poison." Sam admitted. "The way to avoid being…"

"Why are we here Sam?"

It all happened so fast, Sam couldn't remember the order of events that rocked his world. He'd never intended for anyone to get hurt and later, much as he wanted to lay blame, if it were anyone's fault, it was mostly his own. He had a one-track mind when it came to Dean and everyone else ceased to exist. He hadn't paid close attention to Billy or Craig and had lost track of what direction they'd take themselves off in.

He added Nate to the list of those who most needed a serious beat-down.

Before he could react, Dean ran around and past him, and with a flying leap, crashed mid-air into Billy, a tackle so hard, it took them both to the ground, preventing any more digging. But it was too late. The sky darkened and the air whipped and swirled, soon howling as leafs on the ground spun in frenzy. The air sparked, lighting up as bright as exploding fireworks and branches on the trees twisted and danced, twigs became fingers, reaching, clawing….grabbing. The force of the sudden wind drove Sam backwards and he dropped to all fours, crawling forward and reaching for his brother's ankles in a desperate attempt to drag him away from the disturbed ground.

"What's going on?" Billy shouted, staggering to his feet, Dean held to the ground by Sam's hold on his ankles. "Craig!" not having Sam's prior knowledge of what they were dealing with, neither Billy nor Dean knew to stay as close to the ground as possible and Billy was thrown off his feet by an unseen force. He landed on his back with a thud and he didn't move again.

Sam put the two young hunters out of his mind and concentrated on dragging his brother from the danger the ancient grounds presented. He'd not only studied the map while they'd been taking a break, he'd sought out symbols carved into trees and on rocks. The grounds might be centuries old, but not all the marked trees were. That meant descendants of the original tribes kept the burial site protected and their charms and spells were strong.

"STAY DOWN!" he ordered, yelling to be heard over the howling wind. He tightened his hold on Dean and tugged but Dean had grabbed Billy and refused to let go. The combined weight of two grown men was too much for Sam to drag. "DEAN! LET GO."

"I've GOT him!" Dean yelled back. "What the FUCK's going on?"

"They violated a ward! Stay as LOW as you can!" Sam scrabbled and scrambled, wiggling Dean backwards. He began to chant, and though the winds subsided, they didn't completely abate. The air and earth around them somewhat settled but failed to go completely silent, still it was enough for Sam to gain precious ground.

Dean knew when to obey Sam and he did so now, scooting backwards on his belly with the strength of Sam's pull. Billy was a limp, dead weight but Dean refused to let go. After what felt like an eternity but in reality was a mere moment, Billy was abandoned on the grass and Dean was sprawled in Sam's arms and Sam was having a hard time letting go.

"You ok? Let me see! Lemme….dammit Dean….did you break…..you did…which one? What ward did you break? It's important! Tell me! Did you see anything? What did you see?" frantic, Sam urgently felt his brother up, down, and over, resisting Dean's half-hearted attempt to pull free. "Dean! Did you see anything?" he fired the questions rapidly, not pausing to allow Dean time to answer. "Are you hurt? Dean talk to me, it's important."

Instead of answering, Dean ceased trying to pull away and slumped in Sam's arms, letting his head bob against his brother's shoulder.

"SHIT! DEAN!"