Chapter 3

The dogs ran ahead, out of the brothers' sight when they picked the scent up again. Dean and Sam pushed forward, making their way through the trees as they listened for their partners, picking up yips and yelps that echoed back down to them. They hadn't hiked far when the sounds changed to excited howls.

"They must have found something," Dean huffed to Sam as he tried to pinpoint the location of the dogs. "That way."

"Don't hurt me," a shaky male voice begged as he backed away from Fred and Barney. He was barely standing as his legs wobbled and his body trembled.

"Boys, stand down," Sam ordered the dogs, snapping his fingers, when they were closer making them yelp once and sit back on their haunches with their tongues hanging out as they stared at the guy.

"Help me!" the hiker cried out as he stumbled toward the brothers. He would have fallen if Dean hadn't quickly grabbed him and eased him to the ground.

"Take it easy buddy," Dean told him jerking his pack off and pulling a water bottle out and opening it for him. He noticed how he held his left arm tightly to his chest and saw how pinched and in pain he looked. "My name's Dean and that's Sam. We're here to help you and the others. What's your name?"

"Eric," he grimaced as he got his breath.

Are you hurt?"

"I think I broke my arm," the hiker explained after gulping mouths of water.

"Where are the others?" Sam questioned looking around for signs of the other hikers.

"You've got to help them," the guy said pointing the way he had come and tried to get up only to be held down by Dean.

"We will; can you tell us what happened and where they are," Dean asked him as he pulled out the first aid kit.

"We were climbing a hill, and the rocks began to give way under our feet. We lost our footing and fell and were swept back down the hill. I slammed into a tree and that is the only thing that saved me. Jeff and Troy couldn't stop and went over the edge. I barely made it down. I don't know what happened to them. I think they went over the cliff. You've got to find them," he begged.

"Okay, first let's look at that arm," Dean told him, nodding to Sam and silently communicating for him to call for help. "I'm not going to lie to you, this is going to hurt." Dean took a knife and cut the sleeve of the guy's shirt out of the way to get a look at his arm.

Sam stepped away from them and began to talk over his comm.

"W-2 reporting to W-Base. Do you read me?" Sam said.

"This is W-Base, W-2, what's your status?" John's deep voice answered him.

"We've found one hiker, broken arm, scrapes, and bruises, but otherwise okay. The other two hikers were swept over the side of a cliff. Have not made contact with them yet. We'll need our climbing gear brought in and transportation out for this one. There's a small clearing about two miles from our location. Think you can get a copter to drop Asa and Charlie with our gear there?"

"Give me your coordinates and I'll get on it."

Sam pulled his GPS out and flipped it on before answering.

"Okay, we are at 37 degrees, 8'19'N and 92 degrees 50'25'W. The clearing is northeast of us. Have them contact me when they get there, and I'll fire off a flare so they can find us."

"Alright son, they're getting the gear now and hopefully they'll be in the air shortly."

"Sammy, you stay here with Eric, and we'll go look for the others," Dean told him as he immobilized Eric's broken arm. "Sammy will look after you and we'll find your friends."

"Keep in touch and no daredevil stunts bro," Sam told his brother. He knew how Dean could be on a rescue thinking he had to do all the dangerous things to save someone.

"Me?" Dean asked innocently making Sam roll his eyes and huff annoyingly at him making Dean smirk. "Boys, seek!" Dean commanded the dogs who headed the way Eric had come.

"What were you guys doing out here anyway?" Sam asked Eric as he squatted beside him and looked him over to be sure he wasn't going into shock.

"We were trying to find this hidden plateau that was supposed to be amazing," Eric told him in a weak voice.

"And you thought that was a good idea?" Sam chastised him shaking his head. "Help is coming, and we'll get you some medical attention."

"Do you think…Could my friends be…" Eric gulped, afraid to say what he was thinking. He looked pleadingly at Sam for an answer.

"My brother is one of the best in this field. He'll find them and do what he can for them if they are injured. We'll just have to pray they're not seriously injured." He didn't want to come right out and say they could be dead.

Spn

Dean stopped when the dogs growled and started walking around in circles like they had lost the scent. He surveyed the area and noticed what looked like a rockslide that ended at the edge of a cliff. Being careful, Dean shooed the dogs back and crept toward the edge, being wary of the loose rocks and debris.

Small rocks fell over the side as he squatted to get on his stomach and inched forward to look over the edge. He scanned the ledges and crevices below spotting a guy on a small ledge unconscious. He had an arm and leg dangling over the side and one wrong move would send him over. Further down, the other body of the hiker was lying face down in the rubble. He couldn't tell if either were alive at first until the one on the ledge moved slightly.

"Hey, hey! Don't move or you'll fall!" Dean yelled down to him as he quickly checked the cliff on both sides looking for a way down. He didn't think he had time to wait for the others to get there with their gear. "Barney, go get Sam. Bring him back here," he ordered the dog who barked once and took off back the way they had come.

The guy moaned in pain as Dean made his way across the edge of the cliff to the other side that was closer to the hiker. He dropped his pack and pulled out his climbing gloves to protect his hands and goggles to protect his eyes, putting them on. He shook out his body for a moment and drew in some deep breaths before easing his lower body over the edge, being careful of loose rocks.

Dean's feet found foot holds and he shifted his weight, checking his hand holds as he slowly lowered his body down the cliff. One foot slipped and he clung to the rocks listening to the falling debris and swore out loud as he pressed hard into the rock wall. It took him nearly twenty minutes to inch his way to the tiny ledge the guy was laying on. He took a carabiner out of a pocket and anchored it into a crack and then slipped a strap around the guy's waist so he could loop it into the ring to keep him from falling any further.

"Mmmm…Wh…" the guy began mumbling as he tried to move.

"No, lay still," Dean told him as he tried to check him out for injuries. He saw blood on the side of his head and on his hands. "Do you understand me? Don't move," he insisted tapping the guy's cheek to get his attention. "You fell and are stuck on a little ledge."

"Jeff…" Troy suddenly cried out trying to turn until Dean stopped him before he took them both out.

"Don't worry about him right now. Help is on the way. If you'll lay still, I'll see if I can get down to Jeff. Do you understand me?" Dean quickly wrapped gauze around his head to stop the bleeding from a gash. His hands were scraped and bloody but not bad.

"Hurt."

"Yeah, I know. I've got you anchored so you won't fall, but don't be moving around any."

"Help Jeff," Troy begged as he tried to focus on Dean as his vision swam and he couldn't focus.

"I'll see what I can do." Dean studied the side of the cliff and moved down the small ledge when he saw some natural hand and foot holds that would get him almost down to the bottom. He would have to do a little fancy climbing to make it the rest of the way down and hoped he didn't slip.

About halfway down, a familiar voice called down to him.

"Holy crap Dean, are you nuts?" Sam chastised his brother when he saw where he was. "Stop right there and let me get a line down to you dumbass," he insisted.

"I have the other hiker anchored off above me, think you can take care of him?" Dean called back up, sputtering when small pebbles fell on him, and he looked away. He felt something hit his arm a few minutes later and wrapped a hand around the rope.

"Yeah, Charlie and I will get him," Sam replied.

Dean used the rope and rappelled down to the bottom without any problems. He made his way to Jeff and felt for a pulse first, sighing when he finally found a weak one. He began to check him for injuries, knowing he was in bad shape with broken bones and probably internal injuries.

"Sam do you read me?" Dean spoke into his comm.

"Yes, what do you need?" Sam replied.

"This one needs to be air lifted out of here and taken to the trauma unit for immediate medical attention or he's not going to make it."

"I'll let base know and get the chopper up here."

There wasn't much Dean could do for the guy since he was afraid to move him and cause more injuries. He found Jeff had a broken leg, probably ribs, head injury, and other scrapes and bruising. He wasn't sure if there were internal injuries or not but thought there might be. He kept checking his breathing and pulse as he waited for the chopper to come with a basket to get the hiker out of there.

Dean turned toward the cliff when he heard the cascading of rocks and dirt nearby and looked up to see a small figure coming over the edge and knew it was Charlie going down to aid the hiker trapped on the ledge. He looked back at the injured hiker once again hoping they were in time. The team had lost people over the years, and it never got any easier.

When a victim was lost, the team went over every step of the mission to see where improvements could be made, or steps changed to improve their outcome. Sometimes, there was no saving every victim and they dealt with this each in their own way.

A/N: Reviews/Comments would be great. NC