Despite Dean's heavy jacket, Dani was shivering while she waited for him to re-emerge from the cave.

And waited.

Her damp rear-end felt cold as she sat on a big rock under a tree. It had been the only reasonably dry place she could locate without moving too far from the cave. Patience had never been one of her strong points, so when her nerves started to contribute to her tension she finally got up and moved over to the base of the cave-in. "Dean?"

No response.

Maybe he couldn't hear her. She moved up a little, closer to the opening. "Dean? Hello?"

She continued up towards the hole. "Dean?!!! What's tak-"

Dean's head suddenly appeared out of the opening and she jumped back, startled. Staying true to her form of late, she slipped on a loose rock and fell hard on her butt. "Ouch. Damn!"

Dean shook his head as he moved towards her. "Jesus. You just can't seem to get a break, can you?" He dropped the duffle bag and reached down to help her up but she was already pushing herself off the ground, cursing all the while.

"Son of a… Hey- wait. We may have gotten a bit of a break after all. Look what I tripped over." With a click she flicked on the re-discovered flashlight.

"Right on. I grabbed the candles, but they were going to be a pain in the ass to walk with, even with the rain gone." He looked up to the surprisingly clear sky above him, seeming to ponder the quickly appearing stars. "Although... I'm starting to think maybe you should keep falling down. We seem to get lucky every time."

He laughed while he watched her rub her tender butt and glare at him through the flashlight beam. Her expression was a billboard for impatience."Oh yeah? Well how about you take over that duty for a while? I'm tired of playing the the good luck klutz."

Dean slung an arm over her shoulders and gave her a quick squeeze, smiling. When he spoke, it was in a Barry White baritone. "Anything for a lady."

She couldn't help but laugh again- the guy was definitely a charmer. And it warmed her heart to think that he didn't seem to be holding a grudge about what she'd said earlier. In fact, he seemed to be back to his flirtatious ways, and even if that was just some sort of coping mechanism he had, she was more than willing to go along with it. She was surprised to find herself immensely relieved... and then she felt totally undeserving. But whatever- his banter had somehow kept this whole awful situation from being even more terrible and she was truly grateful to him.

His voice broke into her thoughts. "So… What now? Judging by your reaction to me heading back into the cave earlier, I'm thinking you don't want to take shelter from the night in there." He wrapped the blanket around his shoulders and looked at her in question.

She shook her head decidedly in the negative. "No, I really don't want to go back in there. What if there was another cave in?"

He merely looked pensive, not responding right away.

"Dean? What are you thinking?"

He looked back at their former prison, chewing the inside of his lip in thought. "Well, I've actually been wondering… Just a sec." Taking the flashlight he started to move around the cave, above and below. Dani waited below, uncertain what he was trying to determine, but certain she wasn't ready to go back inside no matter what he discovered.

After a lot of trudging around, he finally returned to her. "That's interesting."

"What?"

"There's no sign of any vehicles up there. Not above or around the cave entrance."

"Yeah, I wouldn't think so. I haven't noticed a road around here. Although I guess there could be one near by... if we're lucky."

He nodded, but he didn't seem that interested in her comments. "And there are no tool or shovel marks. No signs of explosives."

"OK?" She really wasn't sure where he was going with this.

"Not a single footprint." He seemed to be waiting for her to catch up with him, but she still didn't understand.

"I'm not sure I know what you're getting at."

Dean suddenly missed his brother. They usually didn't have to explain things to each other, or at least not after a few introductory facts like the ones he'd just provided. Then again, he and Sam had to do a lot of unorthodox thinking on a regular basis. His idea of probabilities and the doc's might be a little different.

"OK, it's like this. Somebody kidnapped us, and then threw us in that cave. And then we were sealed in… how?"

Realization finally dawned on her. "Right… How did they close the cave without tools or explosives? It's not like you can plan an act of God like a cave-in."

Dean nodded grimly. A seed was sprouting in the back of his mind, but he left it be for the time being. "I mean, there's not even a track up there. I doubt they trained some local Yogi and Boo Boo team to push down that wall of rubble."

"But maybe that means that the person who kidnapped us never meant to seal us in at all. Maybe that really was just a random coincidence… just bad luck. I mean, they left us supplies didn't they? Maybe we weren't supposed to be trapped."

Dean was more than a little skeptical about that line of reasoning. In his experience, coincidence was usually the last explanation. "Seems to me the odds of a cave-in randomly hitting the exact cave where someone dumped us are pretty slim, don't you think?"

"OK, fine. But… so what exactly does all that mean then?" She could feel discomfort emanating from him now, and it disturbed her when she began to register that she seemed to be the cause.

He sighed heavily and looked back at the cave, the seed of doubt starting to sprout a little more. "I don't know, really. It's just… weird."

Although he was trying to act like in the end it was no big deal, she could still feel his unease reverberating around her and it was putting her on edge, especially when they had just seemed to be getting comfortable with each other again. "Dean, I… I just don't see how this is important right now. Shouldn't we be trying to find a way back to civilization?"

He finally nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, that's what we need to do. Unless you want to wait until morning to-"

"No. I just… I want to go home."

She was afraid that she'd sounded like a petulant child, but she couldn't help that right now. She could feel that something subtle but important had changed between them again and she couldn't figure out what or why... and it was making her feel more than a little distressed. On the surface he was acting normally, but she couldn't help but sense this new underlying wariness. These sudden changes to their "relationship" (such as it was) were starting to wear her down.

What did I do?

Dean trudged down the slope of the hill, limping on his sore shin. Once he reached Dani, she gave him another reprimanding look. She'd already argued with him before he'd climbed the slope but she was tired and irritable and felt like complaining some more."You know, it really would have been smarter to send me up to that point to look around."

"Probably, but I'm fine. No harm done."

His tone wasn't terse exactly, but it still bothered her. He was definitely treating her differently. She sighed inwardly and placed the blanket back around his shoulders.

It was a small gesture, but Dean was all too aware of it.

Something had been troubling him, and he'd thought it wiser to put a halt to the closeness that was developing between the two of them... at least for the time being.

And every ounce of his being was telling him it wasn't necessary.

When he'd realized they probably hadn't been sealed in to the cave thanks to "natural causes", he'd begun a little sorting in his mind. Why had he and Sam come to Albuquerque in the first place? Sam's visions involving the Archer twins. What had all of Sam's prievious visions been about? The yellow-eyed demon and the other freaky power kids. Although Dani hadn't revealed any special "powers" to him, it didn't mean they weren't there. None of the others had looked unusual, except maybe Max, but that had had nothing to do with his abilities. He was just a weird looking guy in general.

So what did it all mean? As much as he knew he had to admit the possibility of it, he just couldn't bring himself to believe that Dani had anything to do with their current predicament. At least not intentionally. He was usually a pretty good judge of people, and nothing about her said dangerous to him. He'd taken into account that he might be somewhat influenced by his own growing attachment to her, but even so... He had a pretty good record when it came to picking the bad guy, and his instincts were telling him it wasn't her.

So then, who or what had trapped them in this cave? He thought he had an idea or two about that as well...

Dani was trying her hardest not to read Dean and so far it seemed to be working. She decided to get back to the task at hand. "So, what did you see up there? Any lights or signs of life?"

"Not really, no. It's not that late yet so people should still have their lights on, so... I don't know. I think we should just keep heading in the same direction- east. We'll stick with your theory on these mountains being to the west of the towns and keep going. What do you think?"

Momentarily surprised by the fact that he seemed to want her opinion, she just stared at him blankly. "Uh, yeah. That sounds good. Lead the way."

As they wandered along throught the darkened desert-like terrain, Dani stayed close to Dean as he manned the flashlight- she'd had enough of tripping and falling to last a lifetime. And even despite the cold and her unease about what was obviously bothering Dean, she still couldn't help but be extremely aware of the virile specimen next to her.

"How's your leg?"

"Not bad." Truth be told, it was aching constantly but he was trying to focus his thoughts elsewhere. Unfortunately, they currently seemed to be bouncing between his suspicions about the cause of the cave-in and an unrelenting urge to grab Dani, pull her close to him and-

"Maybe we should stop for a moment so I can check the bandage? Make sure your stitches aren't tearing?"

He almost grunted "no", but he couldn't help recognize the gentle concern in her voice and he squirmed inwardly. He knew he should be keeping his distance until he had all this kidnapping crap sorted out but... he just couldn't seem to stay cold to her. Deep down he knew she was as much of a victim here as he was and trying to keep things business-like with her was just too hard. And he could tell she'd sensed the change in him and it was making her uneasy. He couldn't keep this up- it just wasn't fair to her.

He stopped and shined the flashlight between them. "I think it's OK, but it wouldn't hurt to check it out. It'd be dumb not to take advantage of free doctor's services."

He grinned at her and she suddenly felt like weeping. It was such a small thing, really... but it felt as if a huge weight had been removed from her shoulders.

She risked a small smile in return. "Who says my services are free?"

Sam flicked through the sites on the internet. Officer Dalton had given him a few local tourist destinations that might fit the bill but it was too dark out for him to try to pinpoint the correct one right now. He'd opted to try to check them out online and narrow his search for the morning.

From his vision, he knew that the girl would be there sometime late in the day- he remembered the sun had been dropping below the horizon in his vision. Still, once he'd found the right place, he intended to be there early- he'd wait there all day if he had to, in fact, because he knew she was the key to finding Dean.

And he also hoped that maybe this time... maybe he would finally be able to prevent a tragedy from one of his visions from happening.

Dean's leg had looked OK, but since they were finally drying off a bit, Dani had put on a clean bandage anyway. And now they were once again wandering through the rough terrain hoping to catch a glimpse of humanity and possible rescue.

Dean felt like a jerk, but he knew he had to get to the bottom of things. The only way he knew how to do that at the moment was to somehow subtly probe Dani for information, but "subtle" wasn't usually Dean's modus operandi. He usually left that stuff to Sam.

But Sam's not here.

"So, Dani... we got some time to kill. Why don't you tell me some more about yourself." He slowed his pace a bit and looked over at her. "So, you're a twin? What's that like?"

"Well... I'm sure my experiences are probably a lot different than most twins, to be honest."

"Right, since your parents died when you were young." He didn't know how to sugarcoat these things so he just kept going. "If you don't mind my asking, what happened to them?"

"Well, apparently we were at a summer cottage and there was a fire. Our father managed to get us out, but he died when he went back in to get our mother."

The hair on the back of Dean's neck stood up. "A fire? Wow, that's... that's too bad. I'm sorry."

"Thanks, but like I said, we were just babies so..."

"Yeah, I remember. Um, when you say babies... exactly how old were you?"

"6 months old to the day, actually."

Jesus. Guess Ash isn't perfect- he missed them in his list.

"Wow. That's awful. I'm sorry." She didn't reply so he went on. "My mother died when I was little too. Sam was just a baby but I was 4 so I still remember her a little."

"You were just a little guy. That's so sad, Dean. I'm sorry. That would be so hard for a little boy." She rubbed his shoulder absently and he felt a little warmth encircling his chest. "Still, I almost envy you. I have no memory of my parents at all. If it weren't for photographs, I wouldn't even know what they looked like."

They both seemed to contemplate that for a moment as they walked on in silence. Dean felt the urge to grab hold of her hand but he refrained. They'd strayed away from what he'd been intending to get to the bottom of and he tried to refocus himself.

"So, why don't you and your sister get along?"

"Oh boy... Where to start?" She laughed slightly. "I guess... Well, we're just very different, that's all. We've always had very different interests and... priorities."

"How so?"

"Uh, I guess she was always more of a..." She strained to not be unfair to her sister. It wasn't her fault they were different. "... social person. She likes to be around a lot of people all the time, and she dates a lot and, well... you know. She's just more of a partier than I am."

"And what are you like then?" Dean's mouth rose up on one side and she shifted uncomfortably.

"Well... you know. I'm... not a partier."

Dean laughed. "OK, we've established that. So what's important to you if it isn't all about having a good time?"

Her head came up at that last comment. "Hey, I never said I didn't like to have a good time."

She probably shouldn't have looked over at Dean then because he flashed her his most lacivious smile and she felt herself both amused and vaguely turned on in an uncomfortable sort of way. "You know what I mean."

He laughed, but then he urged her on. "Alright, but what interests you, Dani?"

"Well, I was always more into school when we were growing up. And I liked doing sports. I mean, I never won any gold medals but I enjoyed the competition and the teamwork."

"A sporty nerd. That's hot."

She laughed and whacked him on the arm. "Goof."

He smiled at her again and she melted just a little bit. And then he continued.

"So, you really don't get along? Like, do you fight a lot, or...?"

She furrowed her brow slightly. "Well, not usually. We just dont have much to say to each other. When we get together, it's usually for a purpose- some business thing we have to sign for the firm or something. I come when necessary, but that's about it. And she's never come to Boston in all the time I've been there."

"Hmmm."

"Are you really interested in all this or are you just trying to make conversation?"

He shrugged innocently. "Both."

"Well, how about we discuss something else."

"Hey, whatever you say. Makes no difference to me."

"Good. I'm sure we can find something far more interesting to talk about to pass the time."

Dean tried to look as unconcerned as possible, but now he was wondering if she really just didn't feel like discussing her dysfunctional family, or whether there was a lot more animosity between she and her sister than she was letting on. Unfortunately, now was not going to be the time to figure that out, unfortunately.

But he'd have to figure it out eventually, and the sooner the better. He had a sinking suspicion their lives might depend on it.

The night wore on and they continued to walk through the desert-like landscape, speaking only occasionally, mostly because they were both bordering on exhaustion.

Dean figured he could keep going for a while longer, but he feigned the occasional need to stop to rest his leg so that Dani could get some rest. He couldn't decide whether he admired her determination or was annoyed by her stubborn-ness. Either way, they soldiered on in the darkness, hoping for a sign of life.

Dani was so tired that she'd stopped noticing her tired legs. She'd known that Dean was really only taking a break for her benefit, but at that point she'd been more than willing to go along with him. They must have been walking for at least 8 or 9 hours by now, she figured. Surely the sun would be up soon and they'd be able to get their bearings a little better? She was quickly reaching her breaking point.

She stumbled over a rock yet again, but before she could try to recover, Dean had his arm around her and was propping her up. He didn't say anything this time, having learned his lesson after the last couple of times he'd asked her how she was doing. And for some reason, this brought tears to her eyes. She tried to wipe them away discretely, but Dean must have heard her slight sniffle and he aimed the flashlight below her chin and looked into her face. She tried to look normal but he saw right through her.

Dean stopped walking and, looking at her with concern, he dropped the duffle bag and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close.

The tears streamed down her face. "I'm sorry Dean. I don't know what's wrong with me."

He squeezed her a little closer and stroked the back of her hair. "I know what's wrong with you. You've been knocked out, kidnapped, trapped in a cave with a stranger, banged around, underfed, and now we've been walking through the desert for about 10 years. You're hungry, you're sore and you're exhausted." He leaned back to look into her face, which was somewhat visible in the starlight. 'That about cover it?"

She sniffled gratefully and a smile crept out through the misery. "Yeah, I'd say that pretty much covers it." She loosened an arm from his hug and wiped at her cheeks. "Although you missed one thing that you usually also point out."

One side of his mouth quirked up. "Oh yeah? What's that?"

"Handsome stranger. I believe the normal line would be, 'You were trapped in a cave with a handsome stranger.'"

His smile widened and he laughed softly. "You're right. I can't believe I screwed that up."

Maybe it was the exhaustion, but she couldn't seem to control herself and she placed her hand to his cheek and stroked a finger along his jawline. She could feel it suddenly clench underneath her fingertips. "Yeah, I can't believe you forgot that. I sure haven't."

His jaw moved under her hand again as he swallowed deeply.

Then she leaned in to kiss him softly.