Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural, The Winchester Brothers, or the Impala…Suddenly my life seems meaningless…Oh, I have Marie though  And I live in the locations depicted.

p.s. Reviews make my world go 'round…and keep me from ending the story before we get to the smutty bits.

We're almost done with setting up the story and should be getting down to the nitty-gritty case work stuff soon! Anyone else excited? Yeah, didn't think so…

~*~*~

Marie and Dean both watched with wide eyes as Sam shoveled more pasta into his mouth. Marie was aghast because she had never seen someone eat such big bites and Dean was slightly horrified because he never expected his brother to start acting like him.

"Easy Samantha, don't want to choke"

Sam's response was lost in the mumble behind the moving mass of noodles. Marie laughingly swirled more pasta onto her fork "I guess he likes my Etouffe?"

Sam nodded emphatically before the Dean's cell went off.

Marie watched him leave the room curious as she stood and began clearing plates.

~*~*~

Dean was digging in to his third piece of pie as he went over what Bobby had told them on the phone. "…So it seems that the residence have reported hearing strange noises, dogs barking at nothing, cats disappearing, livestock missing with strange footprints leading away from the pens, foul smells…."

"Like Sulfur smells?" Sam wondered as Dean shrugged "…I don't know dude, Bobby just said 'foul'."

Marie pulled her laptop closer to "Well. I've found a few preliminary reports; seems to be described as a large, lumbering shadow." Her mind went back to the spirit bear she saw the night her now wrecked Escort was hit by the Impala. "Of course, that automatically narrows down the baddies."

Sam yawned "Well I'm beat. I'll start researching in the morning. Maybe leads will pop up by then…check a few of the Urban Legend and Lore sites and see if anything similar has happened in the past."

"I have a couple books in the library about Florida lore that might be helpful." Marie closed her laptop as she turned to the oldest Winchester, "Hey Dean, mind taking me to the mall in the morning?" Before he could even open his mouth to protest she smiled sweetly "I'd take myself but it seems someone wrecked my car."

~*~*~

Dean was about ready to hand Marie the keys to his precious Impala if it mean she would just leave the department stores.

He was tired of flirting with the over-made-up-way-too-skinny bimbos. He had smelled every perfume on the counter (and was pretty sure his sense of smell was now shot). He (heaven help him if anyone ever told Sam) sat through a mini-facial at the Spa. He had sampled food from every cheesy fast food place in the food court (even though the Cajun, Chinese, and Japanese vendors all had the same food). He had been kicked out of the home improvement department, twice. And he had been threatened by Mall Security for riding escalator banisters backwards. He was tired, had fun, and wanted to go home now.

"Sorry Dean, sheesh" Marie's voice was muffled behind the dressing room curtain "We've only been here 3 hours…you make it sound like it's been all day"

Dean stomped his foot "I'm bored!"

"Guess you should have paced yourself."

He made a face, mimicking her words

"Dean Winchester!" she slid the curtain open and stood, clad in a very tight and revealing dress, with her hand on her hip "Don't make faces at me!"

Dean's jaw dropped "Uh…." He blinked a few times, trying to recover "How'd you know?"

Marie laughed, smirking at his reaction "Psychic." Feeling a little emboldened, perhaps by the dress and perhaps by the fact that she had been the envy of every woman they passed in the mall –Dean carrying her bags and looking every part the bored boyfriend. She leaned in close to him, pulling gently on the lapels of the worn leather jacket he was wearing.

"I can think of something you haven't done today."

"Yeah? What's that?"

She let her eyes flicker from his chest to his face before she turned and walked into the fitting room, extra sway to her step. Looking over her shoulder she smiled suggestively at him "Helped me with my zipper."

Dean's face paled and for a moment he was rooted in his spot, half expecting to wake up with mall security yelling at him for sleeping on the beds in housewares…beds…no Marie, tight blue dress….Marie and beds…Marie in bed, god.

Dean wondered what fates had decided to smile upon him as he stepped into the dressing room and pulled the curtain shut behind him.

He'd never admit his fingers were trembling as the reached for the zipper hanging from the back of the dress, but they were. She held her hair the side and gently bent her neck away from him, to make sure it didn't get tangled. Dean wanted nothing more than to kiss the side of her neck that she had left exposed.

He watched every millimeter of skin that was exposed by the zipper as he slid it down to the small of her back. And he was almost sad when the zipper –and the expanse of her back, stopped.

"Thank you Dean." She whispered, snapping him out of his reverie.

She turned to face him again "Let me just slip my clothes back on and we'll go."

She kissed his nose before turning away and dropping the dress, standing there in her bra and boy shorts –yeah, Marie was going to be the Death of Dean Winchester yet.

~*~*~

Dean popped the top on a beer and took a long swig "So, any leads?"

"Yeah, a couple" Sam smiled at his exhausted brother "I've been researching all day." "Yeah?" Dean smirked, "Well she took me into the shoe department of every store in the damn mall, beat that!"

Sam laughed as he accepted the beer his brother offered. "I was going over all the lore and urban legend sites." He started cautiously "And I think we could be dealing with a Chiye-tanka." "Big Foot!?" Dean looked over at Sam incredulously. "No way Sasquatch..."

"Well. It fits. I mean look at the lore about foul smelling ape-like creatures. The Honey Island Swamp Monster in Louisiana, The Arkansas Monster, The Momo, The El Campo Ape Man, Orange Eyes, Agropelters, Winsted Wild Men, The Devil Monkeys in Choctaw folklore…

"Yeah and next you'll want to go hunt Nessie." Dean shook his head as he brought the beer bottle to his lips.

"You wouldn't have to go to Scotland. You could just check out the Devil's Lake Monster, The Lake Norman Monster, The Flathead Lake Monster, Old Greeny in New York, Wallawa Lake Monster, Bear Lake Serpent, or you could go to my old backyard and visit 'Charlie'."

Marie took a breath, done ticking off crypological lake monsters as Dean continued to look at her wide-eyed, beer still resting against his open mouth. "The thing is that with a few exceptions, Agropelters included, those 'mythological creatures' you just listed don't intentionally set out to harm anyone Sam. I think we may just be dealing with a really pissed off skunk ape."

Sam pursed his lips "Makes sense."

"Well whatever this thing is we need to figure out how to kill it and get rid of it…before it graduates from offing fido to offing people."

Marie wasn't sure she agreed. There were things in Florida that had been there long before the land was overdeveloped but the eldest Winchester didn't seem to be in the mood to listen to reasoning along the lines of 'just let it be' as he finished the last of his beer in one gulp and started flipping through her lore books.

~*~*~

The clock had just struck midnight as Dean began to rub his eyes, pushing away the stack of books and plate of half eaten pizza, "You're telling me that there is nothing anywhere on how to kill these things?"

Sam shrugged "I've been surfing the net since you got home at six. I can't find anything."

Marie sighed from her position on the couch "You shoot them. Just like anything else." She stood "Though no one has ever killed one, at least not when it's been recorded. They're said to live in underground dens and store carrion they've stolen from alligators or the bodies of the livestock they've killed…and yes Dean, Fido too."

"You know this how?" Dean was pretty shocked as Marie pulled one of the books out of his stack and flipped to the page. "Part of it's in there…but part of it I just figured out myself."

"And you didn't tell us this hours ago because…"

Marie smiled sweetly at him as she leaned across the table, resting her weight on her palms "Why Dean…" She batted her eyelashes as Sam looked on amused "You never asked."

"Alright," Dean leaned in so that his lips were near to hers "What else do you know about these things."

"Well." Marie stood quickly and turned to start pacing the room "I think they actually have two types of 'stink'. I think they smell like carrion because they store dead animals in their dens to eat and I think they also secret a 'musk' smell like their name-sake skunks or basset hounds to ward of predators." She winked at Sam "They're omnivores like most members of the ape family. And I don't think they're really all that dangerous…just looking for stable sources of food. They've been known to invade rookeries and eat nesting birds, they eat berries and nuts and vegetation…but if there's nothing there and no habitat for them to forage in I think it is plausible they'd turn to livestock and pets. But it that really the Skunk Apes fault? I mean, isn't that our fault for encroaching on their territory?"

She was interrupted by the unmistakable sound of a shot-gun cocking as she looked up at Dean "Beautifully put Pocahontas but I still see this thing as a potential menacing monster. Wendigos are ancient but you don't see me letting them go."

Marie sighed. She hadn't meant to make Dean mad "I'm only saying that it wouldn't hurt to see this from the Skunk Ape's perspective. I mean, they're not Supernatural monsters Dean. I highly doubt they live forever. They're just another type of species. You wouldn't go to another country and exterminate all the monkeys even though they break car antennae and steal fruit from market vendors."

Sam laughed "She does have a point. So Marie, what do you want to do first?"

"Well." She smiled "I say first let's get some camera equipment and night vision and see if we're really dealing with mini-bigfoot. It could just be a rogue bear."

"And if we are dealing with a Skunk Ape?"

"We'll cross that bridge if and when we come to it Dean."

Sam yawned "Well I'm all for turning in." He closed his lap top and trudged off in the direction of the guest room "Night."

Marie watched Sam go and then turned back to Dean before suddenly laughing.

"What?" Dean looked confused as she tried to stop enough to speak "I'm sorry. It's just…you look pretty ridiculous standing there in the middle of my living room holding a shot gun."

Dean rolled his eyes "Well excuse me." "Don't be that way Winchester." Marie took the shotgun from his hands and cleared it before laying it back down on the table.

"You know." Dean smiled at her "That was pretty damn hot."

"What?" "You holding my shotgun."

"Mmm…" She bit her lip as she stood closer to him "Know what else would be hot?"
He shook his head 'no' "Me driving your impala."

He laughed as he leaning in closer "Fat chance."

She smiled "Can't blame a girl for trying. Guess it's night time." She saw Dean glance apprehensively at her small couch. "You know I was thinking about the sleeping arrangements."

Dean looked at her quizzically "I understand you have to take the couch just because Sam doesn't fit but that couch isn't very comfortable so…if you promise to behave…I've got a King."

Dean could have sworn she was an Angel "Lead the Way Sweetheart!"