Chapter 3

Mavis was good. She was professional, to say the least. At least for the profession she was pretending to have. She acted very much the special agent. So much so that if he didn't know her, Sam would have pegged her for FBI or law enforcement. He thought it suited her much better than it did his brother or himself.

Mae kept and oddly calming face, a relaxed but firmed visage. Those big eyes however, they were the thing that made Sam think she could be a little too young or a little too soft. Maybe she was the soft sort. It had been years since they'd spent any concrete time together. So maybe she was a kinder, gentler hunter. Her eyes seemed to hold some sort of power that made even miserable people feel more at ease. Just like it had for the first two sets of parents they had visited and this one last on the list.

He was relieved that he didn't need to be the one who got people to open up. It was sort of fun not being 'good cop' for once. Not that the situation called for 'bad cop'. Although he suspected that even if it did, Mae would do it better. Maybe she was simply a very good actor. This might have been the act and bad cop might come more naturally to her. Being a lone hunter, and a woman at that, could very well leave her being much more hardened than he was giving her credit for. As kind as her face was, he knew she probably wasn't all that sweet and tender.

But real or fake, their sensitivity was the right angle for a grieving mother. Much better than Dean's which could seem somehow artificial. It wasn't that his brother was unsympathetic, he was, he just didn't always have a way with emotions. Mae on the other hand guided the mother through the fear and sadness to the answers they needed without even betraying that they were looking for a monster. It would have been weird to see her act otherwise.

Even as kids Mae had been able to make people believe what she wanted them to believe. It had always been kind of fun to watch. Back when they had been partners in crime, Mae had been able to get his tough as nails father to give in to her requests. An extra slice of cake or staying up past their bed time, she usually got her way. Dean claimed he had a puppy dog look. Well, he'd learned it from Mae. But, as she claimed, she only used her power for good. Mostly.

He had to hide a smile as he thought back on the past. There had been some fun times occasionally, particularly when he and Mae would conspire on something. Even with the trouble they could have gotten into, she was level headed, despite all the similarities she shared with his brother.

"Ma'am, any details you might have for us about where Anne-Marie or any of the children in the neighborhood might have been playing or exploring would be extremely helpful. Any… local legends that might attract young children?"

There it was. Sam had marveled the first time, watching her work but now was back mostly because he knew she didn't need him to jump in. The mother sniffed and Mae offered a kind smile along with a tissue. "Take your time, ma'am."

Their interviews didn't hold some kind of magic key to the puzzle. They didn't leave with much new information. Every town had its 'local legends' that weren't always founded in the supernatural. A strange old woman became a witch and a dark old forest hid a multitude of stories. Nothing that suggested the duende. But all the kids had been playing in or around the woods. Sam glanced at his watch, knowing Dean was probably crawling out of his skin but gave the man credit for not calling him every 5 minutes to check on them. Mae let out a tiny puff of breath as they got back to her car.

"We're gonna need a map." She said, resting her arms on the roof a moment.

Sam gave a little laugh. "I think we have one back at the motel."

"No, I mean a topographic map. We have to get a better idea of the terrain."

"Uh, why?"

"Because, we're going to have to search the woods. We know what we're looking for, we need to know where and what to expect."

"The woods?" Sam's face was more than skeptical as if she had told a joke he couldn't quite believe. "Mae, this whole place is woods."

"I read the tourism brochures too. Doesn't change the fact that it's where we need to go. Unless you've got a better idea."

And Sam's face scrunched with thought, eyes darting a moment. Finally, he relented. "We're gonna need a map."

The television was on, but Dean wasn't watching it. He was spending the majority of his time shifting his impatience between his un-moving cell phone and the passing minutes of his wristwatch. Mae and Sam should have been back by now. Canvassing the victim's families never took this long when he and Sammy worked a case, right? Mae should have gone to the morgue; she was the one with the closest thing to a medical background. He wasn't sure if she had ever used her EMT training, but it was useful information to have and know in their line of work. But he wasn't about to let her know something he didn't.

Knowing Mae, she was probably sitting on the hood of his car, waiting for him to find her smirking with that smug smile on her face. Bitch. He got up and paced. Well, little Miss Smart Ass had another thing coming. He would not give her the satisfaction of allowing her to think he was anxious. Or perturbed. Or even remotely interested in her. Not that he wanted to be with her. Sam went with her because he also knew he couldn't be civil with her alone for that long.

God, he wanted to be with her. It was madness, shear madness. He was some kind of masochist wanting to spend any amount of time with a woman who drove him to the edge of insanity. It had only been what, two days? After three years and a whole hell of a lot of unexpressed anger, she was back. For two days. He would have rather had someone file down his teeth than think about her.

Mavis Singer had occupied a large part of his life once and he had assumed she would always be around. When she left the first time, he understood. He would have rather she stay, and he had to admit, he thought about finding a way to stay with her. He'd been 18 at the time and could have, perhaps should have branched out on his own but he couldn't very well leave Sam and his dad alone. He had no real choice but to agree that it was best she stop hunting and go her own way.

He thought maybe they could keep things going but after a few calls back and forth, he realized that Mae wasn't going to change her mind. At least that he understood, considering how badly she'd been hurt. Anyone might have made the same choice to move on and start over. But less than a year later, she did come back. Recalling how hopeful that made him feel then, how hopeful it still strangely made him feel, he felt foolish again. But that liaison lasted only a week before she left. Again, he could almost understand that.

Mae being happy wasn't something he'd wanted to stop. He had only wanted, hoped, to be a part of it. Because she made him happy. She made the job feel easier and she made him feel like a better person. If he stopped thinking about their history there, it just felt bitter sweet.

But then he saw her again and his foolish heart thought maybe she was there for him. Even if she wasn't, even if she was just there to get back into the game, it should have been a happier reunion than it was. From the start, she was distant and evasive, almost as if she didn't like him in any way, shape or form. She didn't act as if they were good friends or if they had. He still didn't know what had changed. But then...well, he wasn't ready to keep thinking about it. About what he had seen. When they parted ways then, it wasn't bittersweet. It was painful. That was the same thing he felt now. That time, less than the time they'd spent together now had brought that sharp blade of reality harshly against his throat.

Dean closed his eyes. He was not going to rethink this whole thing. He was going to stay angry with her. He was going to spend his time thinking about how she was screwing up the case or how he would work it better. He could almost keep his brain quiet with those lies. Despite the veritable tornado of memories and feelings in his mind, he wouldn't show it to her. He wouldn't let her know that his thoughts of her wove back and forth like a drunk driver through his mind. Loving her, hating her all mainly left him with an uncomfortable dissatisfying ball in the pit of his stomach.

A sharp sigh escaped his lips as he heard the distinctly metallic clang of a car door followed closely by another. Finally! They took their sweet ass time. "So…?"

He almost jumped down Sammy's throat the moment his little brother opened the door. Dean wan anxious but only because he had to sit and hang back. His part of the job hadn't taken long. The remains that had been found weren't many, but all of the kids had been missing toes. And that lent more than enough credence to Mae's theory. He had wanted her to be wrong out of pride. Although, part of him had to admit he was a little proud that she was so as good as she was. "What did you find?"

"Aside from more of those weird looking mud people imprints? Not much. Mae has a theory."

"Of course, she does. She's a fuckin' answer key." Dean scoffed at the notion of the redhead's superior hunting skills.

"Dude what is it with you and her?"

She wasn't even in the room this time and his brother had already ramped up the antagonism... or whatever it was. "Nothing alright? Just… drop it."

"Yeah sure but if you one of you ends up killing the other, I am not helping get rid of the body."

Dean flashed that enigmatic wide smile of his. "Sure, you will."

Sam lifted one shoulder in a half shrug. "Where is Mae?"

Sam cast a glance over his shoulder towards the green mustang. Mae was buried in the hatch, her long legs the only partially visible part. "She's bringing in supplies."

Dean leaned to the side as if he might be able to catch a view of her. His hazel green eyes snapped back to his younger brother. "You didn't offer to help?"

It was a strange question coming from the man had spoken with bile about the woman just breaths before. "Yeah, I did. She smacked me and told me to see if you need to be changed by now."

Sam didn't mind annoying his brother just a bit with the woman's words. "Dude… I can't stand that woman. I don't know what I could have possibly done to deserve having her around again."

He paced away from his brother and the door, wondering again what the hell was taking Mae so long. "Want me to make a list?"

Oh, Dean was going to smack Sam for that. "What you're on her side now?"

"There are no sides here Dean. If you haven't noticed, Mae's just trying to work this case. You're the one who keeps flying off the handle."

Genuine surprise colored his features and he paced back to Sam. "Me? She does it too. You have a thing for her Sammy? That why you can't see just how annoying she is?"

The elder Winchester was swinging wild and Sam knew he should calm him down before Mae did come to the room. "No! It's clear to me now that you're both crazy and if you don't kill each other, I just might. I don't get why you can't just accept her help."

"We don't need her help." Dean sulked but Sam wasn't about to point that out.

"Maybe we don't but with it, we got to an explanation pretty quick and I don't know about you, but I like working with her. She's good. I enjoy not getting weird looks from people when we go out. She lends credibility to this whole thing."

Dean hit back with his least childish argument, he would claim. "She does not. Why exactly are you so buddy buddy with the enemy now Sammy?"

"For the last time, Mae isn't the enemy. She's another hunter. And since when is she the enemy. She was and is a friend. Now I don't know what happened between you two while I was off a school, but she seems willing to let it go, why can't you?"

Dean didn't want to rehash it on his own, let alone with his brother. Maybe he would give him some explanation about what had changed between the two of them. It wasn't just his imagination playing tricks on him when he thought back. But he just wasn't ready to say the word aloud. "Did she tell you?"

From Sam's perspective, Mae and Dean didn't just act alike; they were two halves of the same whole. But he could come up with a number of reasons that they would end up fighting or couldn't make whatever kind of relationship there were trying to have work. "No, we just did the job. But you don't seem to be able to stop talking about how much you can't stand her."

He raked a hand through his hair. There was no way he was going to get in to this, particularly with his brother. "You… you have no idea what happened okay? So, don't act like you know because whatever you think happened, I promise you it isn't what's happened."

"Whatever I worked out? What does that mean?"

"You think I slept with her and then… treated her like all the rest?"

Sam didn't want to say it aloud but that was what he assumed happened. He only shrugged his agreement. "Well it's not what happened at all."

"So then—"

Whatever Sam was going to say was cut short by the clank of the trunk shutting. The taller Winchester tucked into the room, making way for Mae.

"What the hell is that?" All of Dean's attention was on the willowy redhead as she dropped the heavy looking bag beside the table.

"It's good to see you too Sparky." Her reply didn't do anything to assuage what she would call his 'cross armed pissy-ness'. A soft huff preceded her answer. "Supplies."

Mae's tone was crisp, just this side of standoffish. Sam could recognize it now as her 'working' tone, the one she used with a certain air of authority. The younger brother assumed that under other circumstances, namely the absence of Dean, her back might not have been so stiff and her face might not have been so tight. They hadn't spent a great deal of time together, but she wore her feelings about Dean on her sleeve.

She crouched, unzipping a side pocket of the bag and retrieving the map and some markers along with her trusty notebook. Setting them on the table, she straightened.

"Supplies?" Dean asked with a sarcastic laugh. "What, are you moving in here?"

Her eyebrow arched as her eyes passed around the motel room. "Here? I have a little more class than that."

That was it. Dean snapped. "Class? You? Lemme tell you something about class little miss-"

"It's for the hunt." Sam interrupted, stationing himself between the pair. They definitely needed to kill something, and he was just hoping it turned out to be the goblin rather than him or each other.

Jaw tight, Dean stared at her a moment longer before backing down. "The hunt? You mean you two geniuses know where this thing is?"