The six of them hiked through the forest. First was Roy, their paid guide. Then Dean, Hailey, Ben, and Sam brought up the rear with Abby's hand in his. Keeping up with the group was a struggle for him with his sister trying to run off in every direction there was a wild animal like a chipmunk or a rabbit. Or with her tripping over as many tree roots as she did. He was surprised she didn't trip over every root.

"Abs, we need to stay on the trail."

"But I wanna pet the bunny," Abby said. She tried to walk toward it again, only Sam wasn't letting go. She figured he would be easier to manipulate than John or Dean in this scenario. But found out quickly that he wasn't that easy to sway.

"Listen to Sam, Abs," Dean ordered from ahead. His voice gave no room for arguments. He'd heard every attempt Sam had used. One of which included carrying her in his arms or letting Dean handle her if she didn't listen.

Maybe her balance was getting better, or she was becoming more aware of her surroundings. He didn't really know. But maybe she wasn't trying to keep up with everyone because she had been in trouble for climbing on top of the car while he and Dean thought she was still asleep.

All he could think about was how much easier things would have been if she hadn't forced her way into this part of the trip. Abby tugged at his arm. He was moving too fast for her little legs to keep up. Any other time, even as a search and rescue, he would have taken his time with her. But he was hellbent on finding their father in a timely manner, so his patience was a little on the thin side.

"Roy, you said you did a little hunting… What kind of furry critters do you hunt?" Dean asked, mocking the guide who more than likely held a different definition for the word. Not theirs.

"Mostly buck, sometimes bear," Roy replied, casually.

As Dean passed the guide, he couldn't… no, he didn't want to stop himself. He was having fun with the play-on word. "Tell me, uh, Bambi or Yogi ever hunt you back?" He was taken by surprise with Roy's actions, yet he managed to save face. "Whatcha doing, Roy?"

The man grabbed a stick, poking at something buried in the leaves. SNAP! The metal sound made everyone stop. Even Abby put a halt to her silent fight when she saw how close Dean was to the contraption.

Most were annoyed by the arrogance, none more so than Hailey who felt he was wasting their time. Like he wasn't really there to help her find her other brother.

"You should watch where you're stepping. Ranger." Now it was Roy's turn to mock. He dropped the stick and continued on the path.

"It's a bear trap," Dean added. He started walking again. The bear incident weighing upon Hailey's mind. In this area, a forest ranger would know to look out for something like that. Hell, even a hunter would have known.

"You didn't pack any provisions," Hailey noted when she caught up with Dean. "You guys are carrying a duffel bag. Y-you have an infant with you. You're not rangers."

"First of all, she's not an infant she's seven."

"Because that makes it better," Hailey said sarcastically.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, she wasn't supposed to be here. She would have been in the motel room had we not found her falling on the roof of my car this morning… feels like a longer story than it is."

"It doesn't make me feel better. It makes me think you're irresponsible." She grabbed his arm before he could say another word. "So, who the hell are you?"

Ben walked past his sister with Sam and Abby close behind. Sam looked to Dean, possibly hoping his brother would take a turn with Abby since she's started fighting him again. She'd fallen a few times, but any wounds that might have been there later when he intended to look at them were gone. They were minor scrapes so he figured they'd be fine until they set up camp for the night.

Dean took Sam's cue, reaching for the little girl's hand, silently telling Sam to go on. He didn't really want to, but he followed Dean's wordless order, feeling his brother's eyes on him for a spell.

Abby's will to fight died quickly when she felt her hand in Dean's. Normally she didn't mind. He was basically her guardian for two years. But with her last weeks' worth of stunts, she wanted to be with Sam. Sam would talk to her when she was in trouble. All she'd get from Dean were silent glares until he was ready to speak calmy.

"Fine. Sam and I are brothers. Abby, here, is our kid sister. And we're looking for our father. He might be here, we don't know. I just figured that you and me, we're in the same boat."

"Why didn't you just tell me that from the start?"

"I'm telling you now. 'Sides, it's probably the most honest I've ever been with a woman. ...ever. I don't even tell Abs everything. Do I, Abs?"

"You said we'd find Daddy soon," Abby replied, glaring up at him. The adults found it cute since not many ever took a child's stink-eye seriously.

"See. So, we okay?" After a bit of hesitation, Hailey agreed. To respond to her criticism of his failing to bring food, he pulled a big, half eaten bag of peanut M&M's. "And what do you mean I didn't pack provisions?" He put his hand in the bag, removing a few for himself before lowering it for Abby. She took a handful, then quickly dropped them back in the bag. They'd been on this hike for hours so she should have been hungry. And this was something that never happened. Abby never turned down chocolate.

Chasing animals, or at least trying to, wasn't the only reason Sam was so far behind when she was with him. She did have a much smaller bladder than the adults, so she was behind a tree every couple of hours.

"Now, I know there's something wrong. You don't turn down chocolate even if you're sick… How's the leg?"

"What leg, DD?"

"What do you mean, what leg? The one you fell on this morning. What leg?" he let go of her hand.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she sassed. Abby turned around to catch up with Sam. She started running only to-

"Watch out for the…" too late, "… tree." It all happened so fast. First, she lost her footing. He couldn't really fault her for that though. The terrain wasn't very smooth or level. Anyone could have lost their footing on that path. There were warnings all over the place from the rangers to the guide, to the map on the ranger's station wall. And if that wasn't enough, there was Roy and their surroundings.

She'd lost her footing. Her ankle twisted outward, a direction it wasn't meant to turn. Abby then caught herself with a tree that had rough bark. She'd gained several splinters in the process.

"Abs!" Dean yelled from where he stood. He ran up to her. His protective mode was never turned off, but it had gone down a bit until now. "You catch up with everyone while I take a look at this," Hailey nodded before following Dean's request.

He looked around, searching for some sturdy sticks he could use to build a makeshift brace for Abby's ankle. Tears of pain flowed down her cheeks. She may not have known much about the supernatural world, but she knew better than to scream and alert whatever was out there of their location.

"Straighten your legs," Dean said so he could compare for swelling. Abby did as he told her, crying that the movement hurt.

She didn't have to do everything he'd said. There was definite swelling. Before having her try to stand, he checked her palms. Her slivers had already disappeared and were replaced by scabs. Dean lifted her onto her feet only for her to crumble to the ground. That settled it. He was carrying her the rest of the way, and he didn't have time for her to walk and keep up with everybody.

Even more time had gone by. It was still light out, but that was going to change soon. Roy was still leading the way with Dean and Abby bringing up the rear this time. Dean only taking short, five second breaks whenever he heard a whimper of pain coming from his back.

Some of those stops included asking if she wanted any more M&M's. She would shake her head, though her stomach would betray her every time. They hadn't packed anything to eat since they hadn't intended to bring their sister with them and everything they'd bought for her would have spoiled if they brought it along.

Dean watched from the back as Sam pushed his way ahead of everyone, even Roy who told them they'd made it to the ridge.

"What coordinates are we at?" Sam asked.

"Thirty-five and minus one-eleven," Roy gave the GPS coordinates.

Dean came up behind Sam who was ever so watchful of their surroundings. His eyes searching both high and low for something that probably wasn't even in the area anymore. Both brothers had their ears trained for any noise that didn't belong to the group.

"You hear that?" he asked. The only sounds he heard was the rustling of leaves underfoot, and Abby's breath that was warming his back as she got flush up against him to keep warm. Her jacket, shoes, and pants weren't enough to keep her body heat.

"Not even crickets," Sam replied. "How's the ankle doing?" He'd noticed the homemade brace and asked about it earlier during one of their stops.

"It's definitely broken. Tried getting away from me an hour ago."

"It hurts, DD," Abby added in a daze. The only way to keep even a little of the pain away was to sleep, which was what she'd been doing about three hours after she fell. With the position she was held on Dean's back, she couldn't reach her ankle, which was a good thing because like any kid her age, she just had to touch it.

"I know, Shortround… We'll get you the good stuff when we stop for the night. When we get out of here, we'll get that ankle set." Dean started to shuffle the kid's weight on his back. It was tingling. "Need you to take a turn for a bit."

"Lost the feeling in your back?"

"That was hours ago. I think the circulation cut off. Now, get her off me."

Sam let his guard down just enough to chuckle at his brother's almost desperate plea for a break while Roy disappeared after announcing that he was going to have a look around.

Dean knelt down to avoid jostling her leg. She took advantage of finally being able to reach the source of the pain. Neither brother was paying much attention to her at that moment other than to know she was still there. Once she was off his back, Dean stood and stretched, shuddering as the blood began rushing through the vessels once again. And the heat disappeared, making the area where Abby was cold.

The glow in her hand went unnoticed. Roy wasn't looking toward anyone from the group. Hailey and her brother, Ben, were looking for their other sibling, the reason they were all out their in the first place. And Sam and Dean… They were looking and listening for something else entirely. No one would have noticed the glow coming from the child's hand. A glow that only seemed to show itself in times of pain, even if it wasn't her own.

"All, right, Kiddo. Sammy's gonna take you from here."

"I got her," Sam said. He hadn't put her on his back yet, only supporting her until their brother was standing and could lift her up.

"You shouldn't go off by yourself," Sam warned as if his word would be heeded.

"That's sweet. Don't worry about me," Roy snarked as he watched the little girl climb onto Sam's back with Dean's help. He pushed his way between the brothers to retake the lead, waving his gun with every step.

Winchesters three waited for brother and sister to catch up, protecting from behind. They were going to have to stick together if they were to find the missing sibling.

They soon came up to a shredded and abandoned camp site. It was hard to tell how many tents there really were. One tent big enough for three people. Small whisps of smoke still billowed from a fire that had died two days before. Only Sam and Dean didn't think it was a Grizzly attack. That was assumed by those who weren't in the know.

Hailey removed her backpack, calling for her missing brother. Sam, who was closer, had to run up to her, trying to stop the sound coming from her mouth. The action was doable, just awkward with an injured child on his back.

They would have brought Abby to the hospital, but the group was far too deep in the forest by the time of her injury to turn back. All were going at such a pace that when they reached the camp site, they'd made a two-day trek in one.

"Why?" she didn't understand why they shouldn't try to draw attention to themselves. Neither brother wanted to give the real answer, so the closest to the truth was their best option.

"Something might still be out there," Sam replied. He was looking around.

"Sam!" Dean called him over to look at something. Sam knelt down to set Abby on the ground. Whatever their brother found, it probably wasn't something for young ears. So, he asked Hailey and Ben if they'd watch her. Keep her off her bad ankle.

Abby watched as her brothers knelt to the ground. They'd been away from her for what she felt was quite some time. It was only a minute, and the week before wasn't as traumatic, but the forest was eerie with the lack of natural sounds.

She listened as she came closer to her brothers. Hailey and Ben were more concerned with finding their own missing sibling than keeping an eye on a stranger's kid sister. So, no one questioned the fact that was walking around on what all, including Abby, thought was a broken ankle.

The site's previous occupants had been dragged from the campsite. Tracks were left behind for a spell, vanishing into thin air.

"I'll tell you what, that's no skinwalker or black dog," Dean said.

"What are those?"

Their backs straightened at the sound of the group's youngest voice. Head's snapping up.

"You left her with Hailey, right?"

"Yeah."

"Fire pit?"

"Uhuh."

"Still there?"

Sam turned to see Abby right behind them. Hailey was still at the fire pit with her brother. He clicked his tongue before replying. "Yep."

"DD! What's a skinwalker?" to her a black dog was just that. A black dog, so it wasn't even a question. But he wasn't about to tell a little kid who could barely handle a ghost driving his car what a skinwalker was.

"Nothing you need to know about and what are you doing walking around?" Dean asked before telling her to sit down so she wouldn't aggravate her injury anymore than she already had.

"I wanted to be with you and Sammy?" she shrugged, choosing the option that was going to annoy him and remained standing.

"On a broken ankle?" Sam questioned, taking his turn to tell her what to do. She wasn't budging.

No was an unacceptable answer for Dean, and since they weren't in the car or motel room, this wasn't the time for her silly antics. So, he picked her up and carried her to the fire pit, and plopped her butt on the ground.

"Stay," he said as he went to the side Hailey and Ben were on. She held her brother's broken and bloodied cell phone in her hand. "Hey, he could still be alive," Dean consoled the crying woman as best he could. Sam and Abby were the only ones he knew how to comfort in such times. But the job required acting skills that he'd perfected over the years.

Abby did not stay as instructed, but went over to Sam who was taking it all in. He gave her a quick smile when she slipped her hand into his before recalling her injury.

"Sammy?"

"Yeah?"

"I wanna walk?"

"Your ankle?" he reminded. "You broke it."

"It's not broken any more," she quipped. If he wasn't confused before, he was now. Calls for help didn't give him time to dwell on her remark. The group ran in the direction they thought the voice was coming from, though it seemed to come from many locations. Only no one was there.

There was confusion even after Sam practically ordered everyone back to camp. Supplies were missing. Whatever this was, it was smart enough to cut them off from emergency contact.

All began collecting supplies for the night. The tents were still standing, though they wouldn't be protecting anyone from the elements well as brand new ones would. They stayed close to camp, gathering firewood.

Sam and Dean had gone off to their own corner to talk. Abby stood in front of Dean. His arms draped around her neck until Sam started talking about something he'd seen both in the forest and in John's journal. That was when he covered the girl's ears, as if that ever worked.

"Great, so we know what this thing is, and that guns and knives will be useless…" his voice was muffled, but not enough to make her temporarily deaf. "Are we really going to ignore the elephant in the forest? How is this kid standing and walking on a broken ankle? She was still in pain an hour ago."

"I don't know, Dean… But we can add it to the list of things to figure out when we find Dad. In the meantime, we do what we do."

"Keep an eye on her and hunt."

Things had changed from a search and rescue to all capable hands on deck in a matter of seconds.

"It's getting late. This thing is a good hunter in the day, but an unbelievable hunter at night. We'll never beat it, not in the dark. We need to protect ourselves," Dean said to the group, knowing it was going to be harder with a child around.