The Morningway Agenda

by strange oblivion

AU crossover with The Dresden Files. What if John lost Dean and Sammy after the events seen in flashback in Something Wicked? What if Mary was a Morningway? How would the lives of Dean, Sammy and Harry Dresden be different? This is AU on all accounts

4. Chapter 4

One year later...

Melissa Sutherland waited for her appointment with the illusive Dean Winchester. The last few meetings she had were with his vice president. She wasn't interested in merging with his vice president, so she had insisted on meeting with the man himself.

"Mr Winchester will see you now." His secretary said as she showed the way to Dean's office.

Which a year ago, had been his uncle's. Over the last year, he'd really learned the ropes of the business. And some ropes he was still learning. Thankfully, his uncle's old vice president agreed to put off retirement to show Dean, and support him. Some of the board meetings were tougher than hunts he still went on.

But even the corporate world couldn't change Dean down in his core. He figured it was his company now. He was the majority stockholder, and after him a chunk of stocks belonged to Harry and Sam. Who were more than happy to let him vote in their stead as needed. Of course the profits from Harry's stock were rolled back into the company, because Harry refused to touch it, no matter how much Dean tried to convince him to.

At twenty four, he knew he was the 'young whippersnapper' (as one rival called him) in the shark tank, but he also used that to his advantage, changing the direction of Morningway Enterprises more toward the youth market (anyone under 55 in the corporate world) more than it had been. And the results were phenomenal. So right now, all his critics were quiet. Too busy swimming in the money he made them.

But mergers, buy outs, all that tedious stuff, he let Donald deal with. It was boring and his answer was always no anyway. There was one that wouldn't take no for an answer. At least not from Donald. So he was forced to set aside time for some woman, probably old enough to be his mother, and unattractive to boot, to fail to convince him into anything.

"Mr. Winchester." His secretary said, opening the door to the office. "Ms. Sutherland." She said as she showed Melissa into the large, windowed office. From here, he could see all of Chicago. He'd kept his uncle's desk. Got a new couch. A new table, and definitely a computer.

"Mr. Winchester." She said as she extended her hand. "It's nice to finally meet you." She was a young woman. Just a few years older than Dean. She was dark complected, with large dark eyes, but her hair was honey blond and was pulled back neatly. She was a small woman, but she carried herself as though she were in control of the world around her and was comfortable with that.

"Call me Dean." He said as he shook her hand. She was the type of woman, physically, that he'd take home for a night of fun. Not the kind that usually walked into his office for business. "So why, exactly, were you not taking Donald's no?" He asked with a grin. Might as well get that out of the way. His pants could be charmed off easily. But the business, nope.

"Would you in my place?" She asked as she took her seat. "I'm Melissa by the way. I think our two corporations would do well with a merger. It's mutually beneficial." She said and presented her case.

Dean listened. "Sure, from your view point, it's massively beneficial. But, from mine, not so much. See, your corporation is barely called that. Morningway Enterprises would swallow it whole." Dean said. "So you wanted the answer straight from me? No merger. Morningway Enterprises gets nothing out of the deal other than having to buy a bigger table to accomodate yourself and your other majority stockholders if we did a merger. I'll offer you a good price for the whole as a take over, though."

"Meaning my family's business disappears under the major banner of Morningway, my stock holders lose more than they gain, and I just get to go through life as a pampered princess from the short term profit. " She laughed softly. "You're charming, but not that charming."

"Yes I am." He said with a grin. "Okay, the business can keep the name, and...let's say...forty percent of the profits from that individual business. My final offer. I mean, look what you gain. Dividends as long as the company is profitable, research and development from Morningway...and the stock holders have an option to buy in. My final offer, you're cute but...okay, you're that cute."

"I think we can work with that." She said, planning to rectify that situation later. But first things first, after all. "You think I'm cute?" She asked, having never heard that one in an official meeting before, but he was young, inexperienced, even if apparently good at the job. After all Morningway hadn't lost any ground in the last year. That said a lot.

"Great, I'll have my legal courier your legal." Dean said with a chuckle. "Don't start, I'm not the first guy to tell you that." He said with a grin. Not when they looked like her, that was for sure.

"No, you're not but I have to admit it's the first time its come up over a business deal." She said, smiling at him. She liked the way he grinned. She liked just about everything she saw, had long before their meeting. It was part of the reason for the meeting, not that she planned on him finding that out.

"Even my ego has to admit that it might have something to do with most of the other CEOs being old enough to be our fathers, so them saying that comes off as just plain creepy." Dean said with a laugh. "Luckily, none of them have called me cute, yet."

"Oh I am sure they have called you quite a few things this past year, none of which would be cute." She said. "I remember my father taking his business associates for dinner and drinks." She told him. "Usually avoid that... you know... old men with way too much imagination and all... with you, I might make an exception."

"Our favored establishments are probably different." He said, thinking of the bars he liked to frequent. "But if you're up for an adventure, I think I could change your mind on drinking with business associates."

"I'm up for an adventure. I can venture out into the real world. I just have to be careful about what I touch. Usually restaurants are alright. So long as I don't touch the light switches or anything."

"I don't usually go to the high tech places. I deal with that enough here." Dean said with a laugh. Since he was able to be more hands on than his uncle, he was. Helped him learn. "So don't worry about that. Also, don't wear that." Meaning her business attire, even if she was hot in it. "Where do I pick you up at?"

Melissa raised an eyebrow. This was going to be easier than she thought. She took out her business card and wrote her personal information on the back. "Pick me up at 7." She said as she rose to her feet. " Don't be late."

He took the card, noted the address and the neighborhood. "Wouldn't dream of it." He said with a chuckle. Evenings and nights he had no problem with. It was when people expected him to be places before noon that he tended to drag his feet and get cranky.

Melissa left the office and headed from there to a little shop she knew about on the wrong end of town. One that shielded itself from the council and operated so far under the radar that most didn't even know the address existed much less the business within.

She was there less than 10 minutes, knowing what she came for and leaving before any other customers could walk in. She, too, operated under the radar. Normally sending others to gather her supplies, but this time she needed to make sure there were no mistakes. anything less than premium stock would have it all unravelling and the council down on her head before Winchester could say hello.

Dean finished the business for the day, and went home. Where for a moment, he felt normal, weirdly enough. People old enough to be his grandfather weren't trying to condenscend to him, and Morgan wasn't crawling around (because Harry wasn't there).

Contrary to popular belief, he was neither a stupid nor a clueless man. Women like Melissa tended to act like the old men. Condenscending. Unless they wanted something. And with women, one could never tell. A merger of a different kind, purposely use him to impregnate them, the list went on.

So it was with well hid trepidation mixed with equal share curiosity that he pulled up to the address at 6:59 and rang her doorbell, dressed like a normal person for once. Jeans, black biker boots, dark tshirt under a dark flannel with the cuffs rolled and pushed up past his elbows.

Melissa had done her research on Winchester, and came down stairs in a casual dress. It still cost more than most people made in a month, but it was comfortable. Dressy enough to go anywhere that didnt require a reservation, casual enough not to stand out in lesser establisments.

She was waiting in the library going over a few files, when the house keeper led him inside. "Hi."She said with a bright smile. "Prompt. I like that."

"Ooh, glad I passed the first test." He said with a chuckle. "Come on. I leave all that work stuff at the office. This is not a working dinner."

"Even better." She said as she rose and grabbed her purse. "Dont worry.. no cell phone hiding in there to interrupt us. I promise." Mostly because it would fry in her hands.

"That's such a cop out." Dean said. "Seeing as you probably can't use one." He had his cell phone though. The board didn't have it though. Donald did, strictly for emergencies. Then there was Sam and Harry. And a few sources he was cultivating on the hunt. "Come on, I'll show you how those outside the guilded cage have fun." He said, for he'd done his own research on her after she left. The normal businesswoman, born into a bit of money. Never seen outside the socially acceptable places, normally the kind he never set foot in. But he led her back to the Impala, still his pride and joy.

"I didn't know you were into classic cars." She said with a smile. "It gets to be a choice with you, me it's a necessity. That doesn't mean I don't appreciate them though."

He smirked. "So I'm still capable of some surprises then." He said as they got in. "Had this car since I was sixteen. Was my dad's before me, and I think he might have gotten it new, or near new at least." It's what he had to remember his father by, and besides, it was a kick ass car. He started the engine, her magical tendencies not interfering with it at all as the radio came on, his normal music. Which was younger than the car at least.

"It's very well preserved, which is amazing considering I can imagine you actually use it instead of storing it in a garage somewhere. So where are we going?" She asked.

"Bar down by the docks I know." Dean said. "It's called Moonshack. Well, actually it doesn't have a name, some waitress who's been there forever named it that once and it stuck." No fancy electronics or anything like that. TV above the bar, old fashioned jukebox, and good beer.

"By the docks." She said. "Well this will definitely be an adventure." She laughed. "Can't say I have spent much time down there. But I will trust your judgment."

Dean grinned. "And here you had me thinking you were a smart girl." Dean said with a chuckle. Trust his judgment? If Harry or Sam were here, they'd crack up laughing right now. Like the doubled over trying not to cry type of laughter.

"It's not like I can't take care of myself or find an antacid if your judgement is off." She said turning her attention outside the window. "Don't have much experience with this adventuring thing, usually play it safe. Safe hasn't turned out to be as ... safe as one might think. So I can give the other side of life a try for an evening."

"Yeah, preferably the non magic side. Got enough of that growing up." He teased. "So, if we play any bar games, none of that telekinesis crap or anything. Because it would be cheating."
She grinned at him. "I would never cheat." She said with a laugh. "When someone is expecting it." She added playfully.

He laughed at that part as he turned off onto the docks. Not a very well lit neighborhood by any means, it exuded a rougher atmosphere than one would find at a country club (Dean had inherited his uncle's membership...and had yet to step inside), but he knew the roads and knew the neighborhood. Most of the regulars at the bar thought he had the same name as a big shot, not that he was that Dean Winchester, which was refreshing.

"Okay, point taken." He said as he pulled into the pot hole filled parking lot carefully. "Here we are." He said as he led her into the bar. It was a normal bar that normal people went to. Populated by blue collar workers for the most part, men who made their living with their hands and their backs.

She wasn't uncomfortable with the neighborhood. In fact had been here just that afternoon, but she had never come here before. She stepped closer to Dean, but not enough to appear timid. It was a delicate balance with this one. Too much in control of the world around her and he would lose interest, too weak and he would lose interest or grow suspicious. "Something smells incredible."

"Those would be the ribs." Dean said as he guided her to a free table and signaled the waitress who knew him. Every once in a while, he liked to be in familiar territory, especially when he was figuring everything else out about the situation, or trying to.

Wendy, a buxom bottled blonde approaching middle age swung by the table. "Dean, it's good to see you honey." She drawled out. "And you've brought a friend." She said with a chuckle.

Melissa smiled at the waitress, oh yeah, she was going to have to rein Winchester in. But there was time for that later. "Hi." She said with a friendly smile. "I have never been here, so I will leave the ordering to you... with the exception of one thing... I like stout."

"Okay." Wendy said and jotted that down on her pad. "We've got ribs, burgers, wings and pizza. On the side is coleslaw, fries or potato salad."

"Wendy, you know what I want." Dean said. "And a burger with fries." He favored the draft beers they served here. Probably made out in the shed in back, but they were good.

"Sounds good." Melissa said and eased back into her chair. She wondered if he were trying to scare her off, with the trip into the lower income side of town, as if it were a test. She figured he would enjoy these sorts of places, just hadn't expected him to bring her to one.

Then again this was one of his regular haunts, perhaps that was a good sign. "I haven't had a good burger in a long time."

"Well, Bill makes one of the best around." Dean said. Regular haunt? Funny phrase, and if he had heard her say it, she would have laughed. He started coming because sailors were by nature a suspicious bunch. And being right on the docks, this place was a haven for sailors. Helped with his other job. And the food was good, which kept it in his mind. Wendy arrived quickly with their drinks and went off to put the order in. "So, what made you agree to come?"

"I like attractive men who have no reason to be interested in my bank account or my wand. " She told him honestly. "You fit the bill, and I was in the mood to be adventurous."

He chewed on his bottom lip as his green eyes lit up with amusement. "So it never occured to you that I'm a person behind the incredibly handsome face?" He teased. "Wow, what's the word for a femalel chauvinist?"

"Oh now! It's not like I went straight to the sexual harassment." She said teasing back. "I thought I would save that for later."

"I'm supposed to feel flattered that you didn't pinch my ass?" Dean said with a grin as Wendy brought over their food. "Hey, Wendy, I don't even think she checked my ass out."

"Guess they don't make girls like they used to." Wendy said with a roll of her eyes and a wink at Melissa. "Holler if you need anything."

Melissa laughed. "Ah... the role reversal." She said. "Damned if I do, damned if I don't." She said as she picked up the ketchup for her fries. "Tell you what... I'll pinch your ass after I find out if the man behind the smile is worth taking home or not."

"Oh, well, now you're assuming I want to go home with you." Dean said. "I do have standard you know, despite what you may have heard." He just measured his standards differently, was all. "What kind of boy do you think I am, anyway, lady?"

"No one says you have to." She said, eyes smiling. "And I don't think you are any kind of boy at all. Don't much care for boys... or girls... I like my partners to be all grown up."

"Well, hopefully not too grown up." Dean said. "Not packing any blue pills yet, no AARP membership, no handicapped plates. Staying as far from all that as I can for as long as I can." The whole idea of Viagra was an insult to his masculinity, in his mind.

"Anyone that grown up would remind me of my grandfather." She said "I like em somewhere between legal to drink and midlife crisis." Truth be know she liked them pliable and submissive, but that usually came later.

He laughed. "Damn, and I thought I had flexible standards." He said as he took the ketchup and smothered his fries in them and drank his beer. It was an enjoyable meal, she made him laugh. Which was rare these days, it really was. But Bill started signalling that it was time for closing, basically by yelling 'everyone get the hell out' so he could clean up and go to sleep. So he paid off the bill, left Wendy a tip and led her out of the bar.

"This was fun." She said as they walked back toward the car. "I'm going to have to remember this place. When my car is out of the shop. Don't know that I want to have someone drop me off here in a limo. just seems a bit... over the top ya know."

Dean laughed. "Most of the people in there don't even know what I do for a living. A limo would definitely throw them off." Dean said. But they were good people, reminded him of the type of people his father hung out with before he hung out with hunters.

"Yeah... sort of ruins the feel of the place to throw off the regulars. Not to mention it's just rude to show off." She said with a shrug. Or attract unwanted attention from those in the neighborhood that weren't there to have a good meal.

He nodded his agreement with a chuckle as he unlocked the Impala. "Come on, I'll take you home." He said. It was near two in the morning after all.

"You picked me up.. I sort of assumed that you would take me home." She teased. "Or is that something I should arrange to do myself next time?"

Next time? Huh, that would be a first. But, maybe.

"Depends on how badly you fight with me on any given moment." He teased back. Not that he would do that, strand a woman in that part of town, especially a woman that couldn't even call a taxi for various reasons. She said she could take care of herself, but very few people could take care of themselves against everything that part of town had to offer.

"Are you fun to fight with?" She asked, not really planning on there being much in the way of argumentative behavior. She wouldn't tolerate it. Which was why she was being on her own best behavior at the moment.

"I'm on my best behavior right now." He said with a smirk. "But yeah, I'm a ball to fight with." Gets the blood flowing in all the right ways, at least that was his experience.

"I'll keep that in mind." She said with a slight purr to her tone. "Although I think I will still prefer it when you laugh. Makes the dealing with each other in those normal everyday business type settings a bit difficult if we go around fussing and fighting too much."

He gave her a look. Dealingn with each other in normal everyday business type settings? She just sold him the company. But he grinned. "Aw shucks, lady, I'm just a corn fed Kansas boy trying to make it the big city is all." He said, affecting a midwest drawl.

It was her turn to raise an eyebrow. "Hmm... right." She said. "Some how I doubt there is anything so simply defined about you." He was going to be a handful. She could tell that already.

He rewarded her with one of his patented smirks. Or at least they should be patented at any rate.

"Yeah, maybe not." Dean said. "That'll be interesting for you to find out. Only so much you can learn from interoffice gossip and the financial pages."

"There are things you want to know about a man you wanted to go into business with, and there are things you want to know about a man that you have just gone to dinner with." She said. "Office gossip and financial pages do just fine for the former... the latter... well that takes a bit more study."

"That's all right. I didn't even bother looking up the inter office gossip on you. I prefer field study myself." He said with a grin as he manuevered his car around the pot holes.

"Really." She smiled a little, nibbling on her lower lip thoughtfully. "And what is it that your field study has told you?"

"Further research is possibly required when my grant comes through." He said with a chuckle as he drove back toward her neighborhood.

She laughed. "You'll have to keep me apprised of your grant situation." She said. "Further study is an option at this point."

"Always good to hear." He said as he pulled into her driveway. One thing led to another, and they soon resembled horny teenagers past curfew more than successful businesspeople.

"You wanna take this upstairs? Or into the back seat?" She asked, coming up for air, definitely liking where things were going. If the delivery was as good as the lead in, she was going to be a very happy woman indeed.

"I'll walk you to the door." He said, getting out of the car. The crisp night air felt good, that was for sure. He kissed her again at her door, making himself pull away. "I'll be in Tokyo for the next week. Call me." He said with a grin. Ball was in her court.

"Alright" She said with a smile. "You wanna give me your home number or do I call and make an appointment with your secretary?" She didn't want him to leave, but she wasn't going to worry about it. He had left her an invitation to call - which was a good sign.

"Oh even my secretary doesn't have my cell number." He said. Because he didn't want to be bothered with the not so emergent emergencies. If it was really necessary that Dean be contacted, Donald would do it. So he wrote his cell number on the back of his business card and handed it to her. "So she's pretty useless as a social secretary."

"Ah... wisdom and looks. Fortunately I don't have the option of a cellular leash to be hounded by." She told him. "So I will give you a week or so and I'll give you a call."

He chuckled. "Sounds good." He said and headed back to the Impala. He had to be at the airport in one hour. Did he like flying? Hell no! He hated it. But at least the long flights, like to Japan, he could take a sleeping pill and sleep through the entire thing.

Melissa spent the next week preparing. Life was going to change dramatically. She instructed her people to delay the sale of the company. She wanted her hooks in Winchester before he had his hooks in her father's company.

The time passed quickly for her. Everything was ready, all she needed was Dean. But she waited. He had gotten back into town on Monday, it was Thursday before she picked up the phone and called.

She got his voice mail, but he returned the call the following evening. He was out on a hunt once he got back from Japan. Now he was in his den, in his boxers, cleaning a wound on his thigh before he was going to stitch it up.

"Hey." He said when she answered. "Got your message."

"You said to call you. How was your trip?" She asked, as she settled into an over stuffed chair and draped her legs over the arm, using the other as a head rest.

"It was great." He said, meaning his 'other' trip. Japan was, well, Japan. He didn't much like Japan. Way too formal. And the deal with the raw fish was weird. "Glad to be back in the land of red meat though." He said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I bet." She said. "So, you up for some of that red meat?" She asked. "Dinner perhaps?"

"I'm really not up for going out." He said with a chuckle. What he did when he wasn't in the office wasn't a secret to the council or their ancillary members. He was sure he was on some sort of 'watch' list in fact because of it. But he still had a thigh wound he was threading a needle for. "I could be persuaded into firing up the barbeque though."

"Sounds like fun." She said. "When would you like me to come over?" She asked. It would have been easier at her home but that was fine. She could make do at his easily enough.

"That depends." He said, a cheeky tone slipping into his voice. "Do I have to put pants on?"

"Oh I think pants are optional." She said. "So long as you don't have those ... milky white dead whale legs but it just doesn't seem likely."

He laughed at that. He didn't do shorts as a wardrobe choice, but he did swim regularly. It was encouraged by his uncle. Promoted flexibility and endurance. And it was an activity when he was younger that didn't encourage him to start a fight. "Well, you know where I live." Everyone who was anyone knew where the Morningway estate was.

"I'll be there in 20 minutes." She said. "See you then." she hung up and went to put on something more casual. If he was talking barbeque it was likely a jeans and tank top kind of evening. Sometimes she wondered that he had ever been raised in that house. Then again, look how Dresden turned out.

True to her word she was ringing the door bell 20 minutes later, a 6 pack of Irish Stout in hand. BBQ just wasn't a wine occasion.

The housekeeper led Melissa through the expanse of the mansion to the backyard, where Dean hadt he grill heating up, steaks on the side waiting. He'd decided to dress anyway, though he favored his right leg just a tad. "Hey, you made it." He said with a grin. He decided he liked her better in completely casual clothes, if she had to wear any at all.

She smiled at him in return. "Well you know there were a few close calls along the way. Since I'm so easily distracted and all." She teased as she set the beer down on the table. "Hmm... steak, you weren't kidding about the red meat. You know what they say about red meat right... that whole increasing testosterone thing."

Dean laughed. "Don't forget I'm playing with fire too. Red meat, beer, fire...yup, think I earned my man card this week." He said as he threw the steaks on. "I've got making up to do. They tried to feed me sushi and rice for a week."

Melissa laughed at that. "Oh as if anyone could take away your man card." She said. "I don't mind sushi so long as it doesn't involve fish. Sushimi is vile... I don't eat much fish even when it's cooked. "

He laughed. "So I hope you're hungry, because I know I am." He said as he let the steaks cook and went back over to the table and balanced an ice pack over his sweatpants clad thigh. This was what sucked about hunts. The after effects!

"What happened?" She asked, taking a seat near by. "Or are you just into cold?"

"Angry, tormented spirits turned into poltergeists and a nice sharp knife collection in the house, never a good mix." He said with a chuckle. "Just gotta ice it for the night. Some guys collect stamps, or baseball cards. I collect scars. So much better at story time."

She laughed a little then. "And just think.. how many girls out there could you honestly tell that to? Well you aren't in an emergency room or hobbling around like your leg is about to fall off so either you are different than every other man on the planet I have met, or it's not that serious a wound. Funny how the little ones hurt so much, isnt it?"

"Oh I'm completely different from any man you've ever known." He said with a chuckle. "Besides, go to the ER? And tell them...what? I got stabbed by a poltergeist I pissed off? Doesn't matter what I tell them, tomorrow in the papers is 'Morningway heir knifed in an abduction or assassination plot.' "

"Yeah that's just what you need. A serious scandal. So how long have you been going off and dealing with the not completely departed? Or was it something you came upon by accident?"

"Since I was about four. Took a...well...break...when my dad died. Got back into it when I was sixteen." When he got the Impala and found all the weapons in it. And his father's journal of everything John knew about the supernatural up until the day he died. "Keeps me out of trouble."

She laughed a little. "I shudder to think of what you would consider trouble if that is staying out of it." This was getting better by the second... but then again... she needed a merger with the Morningway line. She could put up with a few things.

He laughed as he finished the steaks up and heaped them onto a platter. His cook had whipped up afew other things (slowly learning, much to his dismay, that his new employer would hardly ever be requesting fancy French dishes) and set them out. "I told you I was hungry." He said as he pulled a few steaks over onto his plate. "So is this the part where you lie and say you're a perfectly behaved young lady?"

"Heavens no. If I were would I be here with every intent of molesting you?" She asked as she served herself, and then handed him one of the bottles of beer.

He grinned. "Planning on getting me drunk and taking advantage?" He said with a laugh. "Now there's a first. Course, I'm better sober you know."

"Good to know..." She said and with a grin took the remainder of the six pack off the table.

"Ooh, that's harsh. You think I'm a lightweight and a six pack will do me in." Dean said. "Now I'm all insulted and everything, after I made dinner and all."

She laughed. "You were the one that said I was trying to get you drunk." She said. "If you're good, I'll put them back on the table." She teased.

"I'm very rarely actually a good boy, but put 'em back on the table anyway." He said with a smirk. "Besides, it's my painkiller of choice."

"I didn't say if you were a good boy, now did I?" She said but put them back anyway.

"No, you didn't." He said with a laugh. "Which is good, because I have no intention of being one." He said as he ate his steak. Hey, after surviving Tokyo, and the plane trip back and forth, if a beautiful woman wanted to 'molest' him, he was definitely game.

They bantered back and forth, both keeping it light intentionally. Banter lead to other things, which lead to articles of clothing trailing from the terrace to Dean's rooms.

Melissa was careful of his leg, but that didn't slow them down, as they played at wrestling for control. Giving and taking pleasure, heedless of time or the world around them.

Dean's leg either stopped bothering him, or he just forgot about it. For after a while, he didn't even feel an ache in it. Not that he slept, but his leg had little to do with that as the housekeeper picked up the tossed off clothes with a sigh.

She never had to do this when Justin Morningway was her boss! She doubted sex ever crossed the man's mind, so perhaps his nephew was making up for that now as she folded the clothes and left them outside Dean's bedroom door as the sun came up. She supposed, from the noises she heard inside, that they'd want a hearty breakfast and went to alert the cook.

Melissa purred in satisfaction and snuggled for just a moment as she watched the sun come in through his window. "I suppose you have to go in to the office today."

Dean turned his head and looked at the clock. "Yeah." He said with a chuckle. "Actually should have been there a half hour ago." But Donald would hold down the fort, it was no secret Dean wasn't a morning person. Basically because of activities like last night.

"Hmmm... then I suppose I should get up as well. " She said sitting up and stretching. "You can have the shower first since you actually have something to do this morning." She said running her hand down his chest.

He chuckled, and thought about sharing the shower, but he was already past the time when he could gracefully glide into the office without being attacked and tackled by department heads and the like that he had already kept waiting. And he did need a shower. "Thanks." He said. "You know, seeing as it's my shower and all." He teased as he got up, stretching as he padded off to the bathroom to get cleaned up for the day.

Melissa rose and pulled on the clothes that she had managed to come into the bedroom with, and looked down at the bed. Sex was such a messy act. She wondered that he engaged in it with a witch in the first place. She gathered the various samples she needed and tucked them away.

She found the rest of her clothing outside the door and was dressed and tying her shoes when Dean came out of the shower. "I'm gonna clean up at home. I just remembered Legal is bringing that paperwork by this morning."

"Your legal department is sloppy." Dean said. "My people delivered it the morning I left. Or you're just stalling me." He said as he found some clothes to pull on with a chuckle. "I'll give you a call later." He said, with perfect sincerity. It was his usual line. But who knows? Last night was a ball, he just might at some point.

"This was my father's company. There are department heads that want my scalp for selling. I think they are hoping I will change my mind. Either way the papers will be signed and back to you this afternoon." She said and laughed softly at the line. "Does anyone actually believe you when you say that?" She asked, no accusation in her tone, just amusement. She was playing it casual still.

"Ouch. That hurt." He said. "Just for that, I should call you every hour on the hour." He said with a laugh as he found his boots and pulled them on, tying them as he chuckled. "You know, at least until your legal department issues a restraining order or something."

She laughed. "Somehow I can't see it." She said as she made sure she had all of her things, pausing to pick up one of her earrings that had come off on the pillows, and put it back in. "I will be pleased if you call." She told him leaning in to kiss him good bye. Not the tender sweet kiss of a girlfriend. More the hungry kiss that promised something more for later. "But I won't hold my breath." She winked at him as she headed for the door.

He chuckled as he watched her go, and finished dressing. Then he went to grab breakfast, which the cook had made on the go for him, as he was late already, and tore off toward Morningway Enterprises. "Hey Donald." He said with a smirk. Sure, he was wearing a shirt, it covered most of the 'damage,' but there were a few red spots on his neck that were deepening in its red color as time went on. "I miss anything too important?" He knew he didn't. There was a reason everything 'important' was scheduled for afternoon.

"Nothing yet. We are still waiting for word from Sutherlands. Do you want us to write it off as a bad idea?" He asked as he handed over the reports that needed Dean's perusal.

Dean flipped through the reports as he walked. "Not yet. I've got it on somewhat good authority the documents will be on their way this afternoon. If they're not here by four, write it off then." He said. "She seems fairly sure about selling."

Donald raised an eyebrow. "You've spoken with her recently?" He said looking pointedly at the marks on his neck. Not the usual bruising he came into work with. Certainly not the usual tooth prints. Those at least would raise eyebrows and not questions. "Well then I will prepare for the added paperwork the purchase will bring about."

"Wouldn't be a bad idea." Dean said with a smirk. "Hey, how's Harry's account doing? Has he touched any of the money in it, yet?" He knew Sam did, sparingly, but at least he acknowledged it was there.

"Not at all. I stopped by to see him the other day. He actually has the word Wizard on his store front. Your uncle is spinning in his grave."

"Probably." Dean said neutrally. "Come on, there's no listing for demon hunter, don't see me hanging a shingle out." Dean said, shaking his head. Seemed the easiest way to get himself in trouble was for Harry to do that.

"That is because somewhere along the way Justin managed to teach you a little common sense." Donald said.

SNDFSN

Melissa went into her study, and pressed the hidden latch to allow her to enter into her workshop as she liked to call it. Such an innocent name for it really.

Workshop.

Words were funny things.

Enthralled. Enchanted. Captivated.

All such innocent sounding words in the modern era... to those that didn't know what they truly meant. Then again most people didn't know that there had ever been such a word as Thrall... or that it meant slave.

She took most of the componants she had gathered earlier, saving the rest in a jar for later if needed.

She started the concoction brewing. It was almost like making a potion. She started with Tequila as a base. Added a young woman's first cries of passion, and the ashes of an empassioned love letter. She had scoured antique shops and estate sales for the right one... a soldier during the civil war, writing to his beloved. She added a length of heavy chain, and the ashes of a slave's heart. Another ingredient that had cost her a small fortune and a great deal of time to get. She threw in the samples she had taken from Dean's bed, and watched as it boiled and bubbled into a thick goo as the hours passed.

She removed it from the fire and and added the last ingredient, holding her wand above directing the power into the pot and watched as it turned from sludge into deep rich honey colored amber.

She poured this into molds, one of a wand, and that of two rings. The wand she locked away in her vault for safe keeping. In case he got out of line in ways that his new found, over whelming love for her couldn't control. The rings she made to look worn, old, and put them on a chain around her neck for the time being. Then made her way out of the shielded workshop and went upstairs to busy herself with inconsequential things, while she waited.

Dean listened to his department heads drone on, until all he was hearing was 'yah yah yah yah.' Finally he looked at them all. "Out. Everyone leave, go away." He said, waving them out as he propped his feet up on the desk and reached for the phone. And when she finally picked up, he grinned. "Told you I'd completely harass you today." He said with a chuckle.

"So you did." She said with a smile. "Missed me that much, did you? People are gonna talk, you know." She said, with an affectionate tone. She was surprised at how quickly he contacted her. But she was definitely pleased.

"So you should have your legal department start the papers for the restraining order now. If they're as on top of that as they are about the sale papers, by the time I earn them, they might actually be ready to file." He said. "I could weird you out, ask you what you're wearing, but I'd rather know what you're doing later."

"I had planned on swimming, maybe skinny dipping in the hot tub... funny thing about skinny dipping. It's not as much fun alone. What are you doing later?" She asked in return.

"Once the papers from your guys come, I think I'll cancel every single appointment I have for the afternoon." He said with a laugh. "That's the great thing about being the boss, no one here can really tell me no."

"Then I will have to tell them to hurry up. What do you want for dinner tonight? I'll let the cook know to have it ready."

"Anything but raw fish or snails." He said with a laugh. He wasn't a picky eater, as long as it was cooked. He liked his steaks well done, and his fries crispy. That was about the level of his pickiness.

"I think we are good to go then, since you couldn't pay me to eat those things either." She said. "So... I will see you when you get here then." She liked how things were progressing. "I'm gonna get off the phone and nudge legal so that the papers get to you before the restraining order does. " She teased.

"Good idea." Dean said. "Talk to you after that." He said as he hung up the phone and told his secretary to cancel everything for the afternoon as he waited for the courier.

The courier arrived within half an hour. He had simply been waiting on Melissa's call to head out the door.

Dean looked over the papers, called in his lawyer and had them notarized. That was that, Melissa's father's company now belonged to Dean. So he pushed it out of his mind, it wasn't important. Definitely didn't deserve front and center in his thoughts, which were quickly becoming occupied no matter how much he tried to pull his thoughts away.

Before he knew it, he was leaving the office and headed over to Melissa's, and was on her front steps.

A middle aged woman with a gentle face opened the door. "Mr Winchester?" The housekeeper asked. "Miss Sutherland is expecting you. " She said with a smile as she led him inside the home, and out toward the back terrace.

Dean followed her out and grinned when he saw Melissa. "Now, this is a tease on your part, you know." He said. "I was promised a naked woman, and you're fully clothes."

"Again...some things just aren't as much fun alone." She said with a smile. "Don't you prefer to unwrap your presents yourself?"

"Thought I did that last night." He said with a cocky grin. "But hey, at least I fed you first." Weird, that. He 'bought' (more or less, he did buy the food and the charcoal) dinner first. Every once in a while he could do something normal.

"Dinner will be ready soon. Would you like a beer and maybe a tour?" She asked him as she set aside the book she had been reading and walked toward him.

Dean had other things on his mind than a tour, most definitely. They never did get to that tour...

TMATMATMATMATMATMA

Bob watched Harry. Back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.

"Harry, do stop pacing. I'm getting tired just watching you, and I'm a ghost." He said with exasperation.

"It's not like Dean to not show up." Harry said as he settled into his chair, fingers steepled in front of his face. "He should have been back from that hunt a couple of days ago too."

"Perhaps he was wounded. And is seeking refuge in a sorority house." Bob said. "If I were in a sorority house, I wouldn't answer your calls either. Women are infinitely better to...talk...to."

"Talking. Yeah that's what Dean does with women, he talks to them." Harry said. "Or he could be injured and wondering why no one knows he is missing yet." Harry didn't like that Dean went hunting alone.

"Then call the estate and see if he's arrived home. Or the office to see if he's there, hung over." Bob said. "Must I do all the thinking here?"

"I don't know... you seem to do all the bitching." Harry said with a faint chuckle. He picked up the phone and dialed the estate, where the house keeper told him that Dean had indeed returned from his hunt, but that she hadn't seen him since he had left for work earlier.

Then Harry dialed the office, but Dean wasn't in, and had apparently left early from work.

"There, you see? Your brother is acting like a normal young man of his generation. And there are times when I think you could take a page from his book. Or at least his black book. When WAS the last time you went out with a woman besides Murphy?"

"I don't go out with Murphy, and if you implied that I did where she could hear you.. we would both be toast, ghost or no ghost." He said and shook his head. "I go out just fine, I just don't see any need for you to watch." He didn't really date much. Every once in a while a young woman would catch his eye for an evening. But not often. Harry still too keenly felt the weight of Morgan's sword as it was poised over his head.

"Well, that's a shame." Bob said. "It would do you some good you know. But you see, he's fine. Probably enjoying the company of a woman right now, and they're most likely not talking philosophy or criminal justice."

"Yeah." Harry said and started to put away the extra set of dishes he had set out in preparation for Dean's arrival. "I need to get back to work anyway." He added. "Murphy needs this stuff ASAP."

"She needs everything ASAP, that one." Bob said. "It wouldn't hurt for her to relax once in a while either. You two suck the joy out of life for fun, you realize."

"She has people breathing down her neck is all. Besides, not like there is a whole lot else to do right now." Harry wasn't one to go out and socialize as Bob would have him do. Not anymore.

He picked up the file and looked at the crime scene photos again. He had intended to ask Dean for his help on this one, but it was probably best he didn't. This looked pretty hairy.

Bob was about to comment when Murphy came in, and barely managed to disappear in time. "What do you have for me?" She asked. No, she demanded.

"You're not gonna like it, Murph." He said and poured her a cup of coffee indicating that she sit down. "What do you know about... werewolves?"

"Dresden, give me a break." Murphy said as she drank the coffee. She lived on the stuff. "Um...Michael Landon, Michael J Fox, think there was a sequel with the brother of the Family Ties girl...so you're saying it's...werewolves."

"Yeah, just not sure what kind yet." He said and began to explain the differences between a loup garou and a hexenwolf, and about a half a dozen different types in all. Some created with magic, some created by virtue of surviving an attack with the wrong sort.

"Wonderful." Murphy said. "You know, one of these times, I'm going to bring you a case, and you're going to say Murphy, it's a normal thing. Not something like this. One day, it will happen."

"Murphy... if it was a normal thing, you wouldn't bring it to me." Harry told her. "Hey, you hungry? Made extra for dinner tonight, was just about to sit down and eat."

"Sure." Murphy said. "Okay. Werewolves. So what do we do about them? Silver bullets or something?"

"Not that simple." He said. "Most of them die like everyone else. Regular old lead will do fine. Loup Garou... the nasty ones... well those require silver... inheirited silver. Can't just be something you get at a pawn shop and melt down into bullets. " He told his friend as he dished up two plates of food and sat down to join her once more. The evening wasn't a total loss. It was all work, but it beat spending the time alone.

"Well, I got plenty of lead." Murphy said. "So how do you know which one it is? Wait until you see them? Harry, they're not leaving eye witnesses."

"I know. Are the attacks limited to the full moon?" He asked, because the other wolves could change at will, not bound by a curse and the changes of the moon.

Murphy sighed. She didn't follow the phases of the moon closely. "Get me a calendar." She said, most had some sort of symbol which showed which phase the moon was in at any given time. She went through the file and wrote down the dates of the attacks as Harry got her a calendar. She marked with a check the days that had attacks. "No, they don't follow the moon pattern."

"Regular old lead will do. When you arrest them you have to be careful. They can turn at any time. Some of them have a charm they wear, others will have a pelt from a wolf made into something else to help them change. And Murph... some of them don't actually change... some of them are like the stories of the Berserkers out of old norse legend although those are more bear than wolf.. but that's neither here nor there. You gotta be careful."

"Do you ever have any good news?" She asked with a chuckle. "Dresden, I'm always careful. I leave the reckless stuff to you." She said as she ate. She'd been a cop so long, not even the crime scene photos could make her lose her appetite.

"What? I said you wouldn't need grandma's silver to kill the thing. With werewolves that's about as good as it gets." He said with a grin.

"I hate my grandmother's silver. I would have used it anyway." Murphy said with a laugh. "Okay, so where do I find them? Doubt they're going to leave flyers saying 'werewolf massacre tonight at the park' or whatever."

"That is the hard part. But these kinds of wolves don't have to kill. These bodies are there for a reason, and chances are they are connected some how to each other and to the wolves. Find that connection and it's a good start."

"Oh. Right." Murphy said with a wide eyed nod. "Because the crime library is just overwhelmed with information on the inner workings of a werewolf's mind. Okay, one step at a time. Ignoring the wounds, is there anything symbolic about the bodies? Positioning? Victim type?"

Harry looked over the pages again and got up went to get a book that looked as old as Bob, and looked through its fragile pages with a light touch. "This is not good."

"Want to share with the class?" Murphy said as she helped herself to another cup of coffee. "I hate when you say that."

"I don't know if your wolf is a wizard or not... but someone involved in this is... or thinks they are...and not the bright and shiny let's help our fellow man and the cops type of wizard either." He sighed. I am so screwed, he thought, if Morgan catches me sniffing around this case and there is black magic involved, I am history.

"Okay." Murphy said. "So there's possibly a second person involved in this. My night keeps getting better."

"Possibly second, possibly one in the same. But.. yeah... I'm sure if you figure out the connection with the victims, you'll have your man." Harry wanted to wash his hands of it. Let it go before he got himself killed. But this was Murphy, one of the few constants in his life. He couldn't literally toss her to the wolves.

Murphy nodded. "Well, that's something." Murphy said as she made some notations. On what to look for in the connection between the victims, if there was one. Sometimes crimes were random. the only connection between them might be that they were all in the wrong place at a very wrong time.

Harry took out a well used map of the city and opened it up. He took a pencil and marked down all the locations of the deaths and looking over the pattern there, finding a central location.

"You got something?" Murphy said, recognizing the look on Harry's face. Even if she didn't fully understand half of what came out of his mouth, at least he was helpful.

"Not sure, but it's something worth checking out." He said. "Centralized location between all the deaths. Animals hunt locally. In their own territory and these people are definitely animals when they kill. Which works as a theory if the wizard and the wolf are one in the same. "

"So, how do I fill out the paperwork?" Murphy asked with an amused look. "Request a stakeout for a werewolf...that's not exactly one of the multiple choices I'm offered. Do I call animal control?"

Harry laughed. "You already did." He said, and if he could get hold of Dean it would be a lot easier. "I'll take care of it, don't worry."

"Don't worry?" Murphy said with a laugh. "Yeah, okay. I'll try, how's that? You know, this dinner needs cheesecake. Know a spell for that one?"

"No." He said. "But I know a great place to go get cheese cake." He told her with a smile.

"Now you're kissing up to me." She said with a chuckle. "Come on, let's go get cheesecake so I can figure out how to pass werewolves off as official police business." At this rate, she was nearly going to go for a career change, to a speech writer for a slimy politician or something!

He grabbed his jacket and walked to the door holding it open for Murphy. "Believe me if I knew a spell for cheese cake, I would be sitting on easy street."

"Yeah, you would." Murphy said with a chuckle as they headed down the street to a coffee shop. "Oh yeah, next time your cousin comes to the station looking for you, tell him to completely bypass booking. Because he distracted Michelle for two hours." She said. Had happened a month ago, but it had seriously jammed things up.

Harry laughed. "Yeah he has that effect on women. " He said. "Dean was supposed to come by tonight, but I suspect he is batting those eyes at a woman instead."

"Hey, whatever keeps him from being underfoot." She said with a chuckle. "You should work on that cheesecake spell though."

"I'll give it some thought although something as addictive as cheese cake might be considered black magic to mass produce." He said as he opened the door to the coffee shop he liked to frequent when money was good.

Murphy had to laugh. "Okay, so making cheesecake readily available is a no no, but some wizard, who is either the werewolf or teamed up with one, doing some hinky things involving death and mutilation gets a free pass?" She asked.

"No... he shouldn't be getting a free pass, but sometimes people are so good at hiding the evil that they do, that there is no way to prove that they do it until they get cocky enough to make a mistake."

"Sounds like our two worlds aren't so different." Murphy said with a sigh. Sometimes it felt like she wasn't even making the smallest dent. Like a drop of water in the ocean.

"Unfortunately people are people the world over. A little magic just makes some things a lot easier... others not so much." He said as a nearby lightbulb fizzled out.

"You're right. And I like my microwave." She said with a laugh as the light bulb died. They got their cheesecake and a table.

"I miss microwaves." He said. "But that's fine. I like what I am. So how are things going, Murphy, really going?"

"They're going." She said with a shrug as she ate her cheesecake. "You know, normal. I'm the department joke of course, but they don't comment when I get cases solved. That sort of thing."

"Yeah, most people don't want to believe... and if they did they'd freak even more. Not everyone is cut out to know... ya know."

"Oh believe me, I know." She remembered a time when she didn't know, and strangely, it was a comforting time. A whole lot less to be afraid of and to be on the watch for.

Harry, like Dean, had very little memory of the time when he didn't have knowledge of the world that most ignored around them. "I'll call Dean and get him to help me on this one. We'll get it taken care of."

"Thank you." Murphy said. She wanted the killings to stop. And her department couldn't do it, as much as they believed to the contrary. But there was a small piece of them that knew that, else she never would have been able to contract out to Harry.

He chatted with Murphy over things that didnt matter for awhile, letting the dark mood and talk of werewolves pass. Then he walked her back to her car. "I'll call ya tomorrow." He said before going inside and picking up the phone to try Dean's cell phone once more.

Dean answered, finally. And in a cheerful mood at that. "What's up, Harry?" He asked. He never did get around to eating dinner. Then he remembered. "Oh shit, sorry man. Kinda got...caught up...you know." It wasn't the first time Dean had lost track of time with a woman. It was the first time, however, that he hadn't answered his phone.

"Yeah I figured." Harry said, trying not to let it bother him. He was a little sensitive where the boys were concerned. They were his family now, and it was rough considering how much they loved Justin. The last year had been touchy all the way around. "Murphy seems to be having some werewolf trouble." He said getting to the point, letting it slide. "You want in? "

"Hell yeah." Dean said. "Sounds like fun. Know what kind or not?" So he knew what to bring.

"Looks Hexen Wolf-ish at the moment. Not moon based, deaths take place around a centralized area. Not sure of anything else yet, except I think there might be a wizard involved somewhere. So, I'll be hooking you up with one of my shields."

"Dude, no wonder you called. Wizard? Black magic? You go near it, Morgan will be all over you." Dean said. "Sure, where we going to?"

"Can;t ignore it either. " He said. "Cause then I'm condoning it." He laughed at the tightrope that was his life. His own doing really. He could have just laid down and died. That would have suited Morgan and the council just fine. One less Morningway to deal with. "Meet me over at my place. We'll go over the file Murphy dropped off see if you pick up on something I missed."

"Sure, be over in a bit." Dean said and looked at Melissa as he hung up the phone. "Gotta go." He said. "My cousin needs some help." It wasn't a secret in the magical circles that the non magical Morningway descendant had his own way of doing things to cause the Council headaches.

"Dresden isn't in trouble again is he? I don't want you going off and getting killed by the council because of him." It was also no secret in the magical circles, the highly placed magical circles, how Justin Morningway died. The council made sure of that.

"Well, if I don't go, then Harry gets in trouble. If I do go, he doesn't. Me? Eh, not so worried." Dean said as he reached for his clothes. "Probably won't take long."

"Okay." She said, stretching as she watched him dress. "I'll be waiting." As much as she wanted to forbade him to go, she couldnt. for one it would take time for her power over him to grow that strongly. For another it would be suspicious if he suddenly stopped rushing to the aid of his family. "Hurry back."

"Do my best." He said as he finished. He leaned over and kissed her, nearly changed his mind, but headed over to Harry's. "Okay, dude, whatcha got for me?" He said as he came in.

Harry pulled out the file, and the notes he and Murphy had made in their own pow wow session. "So what's her name?" Harry asked with a smile, figuring he might as well beat Bob to it. The ghost would be wanting details that Harry could do without knowing however.

"Melissa." Dean said with a grin as he took the notes and started to look them over. "She's something else, gotta tell ya." He said with a chuckle. "Hey, Bob, I'm gonna talk about my sex life. Wanna come out?"

Harry laughed, not at all surprised when Bob made an appearance. "Okay, so tell us about this Melissa that has you turning off your phone, and missing dinner with the family."

"My phone was on. I just chose not to answer it. Hands were a little busy, I tell ya, she's insatiable. Doesn't need a break or anything. Never mind that I just took over her father's company and she still went out with me. Twice." Dean said as he went through Harry's fridge for left overs, sharing some explicit details for Bob's benefit, poor guy.

"You went out with a girl... twice?" Harry asked and looked at Bob raising an eye brow. "She must be something. Melissa huh... and you even know her last name since you took over the company... and your eyes are... different. You've got it bad."

"You're insane. There's nothing wrong with my eyes. And I know lots of girls' last names." Dean said as he made himself a sandwich. "So when do you want to do this?"

"Deftly changing the subject, avoids the real question, oh yes, bad indeed." Bob remarked.

Harry nodded in Bob's direction. "How many of those girls have you gone out with twice?" He asked as he grabbed his jacket and stuffed a drum stick in the pocket with one hand while reaching for the hockey stick with the other.

"Dude, you need both of them?" Dean said with a chuckle. "I was only planning on packing one gun. Might have to go for the whole arsenal at this point." He was avoiding the question, definitely. But that was okay.

"There is a wizard involved practicing black magic. Yes I need both. " Harry said. "And you haven't dated anyone more than twice since high school, have you?"

"See you later, Bob." Dean said as they walked out to the Impala. Because Dean refused to ride in the Blue Beetle if he could help it. "Dude, you're obsessed. So, black magic. Should I go for kill or go for tranqs?"

"Tranqs." Harry said. "Less paper work for Murphy that way." He said with a grin. "And more fun for Morgan. I swear that guy lives to take heads. Think he saw Highlander once too often?"

"Dude, that guy has an unnatural fascination with beheading." Dean said with a chuckle. "But fine, for Murph we'll keep it down to a dull roar. So, Murphy. You know, you should try. She's got some serious MILF action going there."
"MILF?" Harry asked, not up on all the lingo. "And she's just a friend. Sometimes men and women, really can just be friends." Bob was always at him to try for Murphy, but it just didn't seem right.

"Mother I'd like to.." Dean said with a chuckle, knowing Murphy had a daughter. "Come on, never thought it, not even once?"

"No." Harry said honestly. "I don't see Murphy that way. We're friends. That's where I need her to stay. " He wasn't celibate by a long shot. He had lovers. Not that Bob would be satisfied until he had something steady. "And don't you think about her that way either. It would just be... weird."

"Weird? I'd be dead. She'd shoot me. She's already waiting for me to end up on the wanted list you know." Dean said with a laugh. "Don't worry, your friend's virtue is safe from me." He said as he parked the Impala at the spot designated on the map in Harry's hand. Dean got out and went to the trunk. He'd inherited everything in the trunk from his father, and his father had an arsenal in here the army would be jealous of. It had taken him a bit, but he'd gotten all the guns back up to working order, though he had to have some of the knives replaced. "Okay, tranqs." He said, digging through the rocksalt, buckshot, iron and silver bullets until he came to the tranqs and loaded them up. "Let's do this."

"Right." Harry said and drew out the drum stick, and then took off his shield bracelet and snapped it on Dean's wrist. He had the pentagram around his neck. It would be enough for him. "So tell me about this girl you stood me up for."

"Man, I hate this thing." Dean grumbled about the shield bracelet. "I have my own protections you know." But he shrugged as they carefully moved into the woods. "What do you want me to say? She's cuter than you are. Hell yeah I'd stand you up for her. So many good points. She's cute, she's fun, she's smart, and not only is she NOT related to me, but she's willing to get naked for me too."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know ... but that won't stop all the spells out there. Some of them it won't do a damned bit of good against." Of course the same could be said of that shield bracelet... then again it had stopped bullets once. "Just say thank you and tell me something non sexual about this woman of yours. Like... is she girlfriend material or is she repeated lay material?"

"Fine. Thank you. She has brown eyes and lightish brownish golden type colored hair. Nonsexual enough for you?" Dean said as he scanned the woods, looking for trails. He could track with the best of them.

"That's all you know about her?" Harry asked as he followed Dean, letting him handle the tracking. That didn't sound right. Not for how into her Dean seemed to be. Maybe he was wrong and it was just a sex thing. He did say she was something else.

"You said nonsexual, remember?" Dean said with a wink as he followed some tracks he'd found. Eyes peeled, all senses on alert...he might not be magical like everyone else in his surviving family, but some things you didn't need magic for. Just training, and he had had plenty of that.

"Oh, so she isn't anyone all that special then." He said with a nod, figuring now that the girl was just another of his conquests. "How's Sam doing?" Harry asked. "Last I heard Jessica was moving in with him."

"She's plenty special." Dean said as he carefully cleared away some underbrush. "Yeah, I talked to him two days ago, Jess scared the shit out of him when she started bringing home paint and fabric samples, and asking him to pick which one he liked." Dean said with a chuckle. "Sammy's getting domesticated already."

Harry laughed softly. "Not even old enough to drink legally yet and he's already domesticated." He shook his head. "Well at least there are two bachelors left in the family to take up the slack. Not that Sam was ever really confirmed bachelor material."

"Nah, Jessica had him whipped in ten minutes flat when he was nine." Dean said with a laugh as he hushed Harry up and raised his shot gun to be ready. "I think I hear him."

Harry nodded, wand at the ready. He didn't know if the wolf was the wizard or the wizard was controlling the wolf. Either way it was going to be dicey if the wizard were in the vicinity.

Dean crouched down and made sure his gun was ready. Tranq loaded, it had been a while since he'd used tranqs actually. And saw the hairy creature prowling, then lunging for him. He shot the tranq, then another. The creature slowed, allowing Dean to reload and shoot him again. And still the wolf kept coming, dropping at his feet.

Harry moved forward then, speaking the words of the spell, and aiming the drum stick at the creature. A band around its waist glowed and Harry removed the wolf skin pelt from the creature, allowing it to revert to human form. "Don't suppose you have Murphy on that phone of yours?" Would still have to find evidence to link the man to the killings but that was more Murphy's purview .

"Yeah I do." Dean said. He had it to call Murphy in times like this. He dialed up Murphy and waited for her to answer. "Hey, it's Dean Winchester, I'm here with Harry, we bagged that wolf of yours." They chatted about it for a bit. "She says hi." He said to Harry after he hung up. "And she'll be over with some cops to take possession of him and all that. So is he the wizard or are we still looking?"

"We're still looking." Harry said with a frown. "Which means this may not be the last murder." He told his cousin. "I've still got to ferret him out. But," he said handing over the pelt. The last thing he wanted was to be caught with the damned thing in his hands when Morgan started sniffing around. "I am handing this over to you for safe keeping."

"Safe keeping?" Dean said as he took it. "Can't I just burn it?" He asked. It would get rid of a lot of problems, that was for sure.

"Yeah, but I want to see if I cant come up with a spell to trace it back to the original source, but you know what morgan will do if its in my hands."

"Dude, why don't we give it to Morgan and let him do the hard work?" Dean asked. "I mean, seriously, if this wizard guy's into the black arts, you need to be as far away from it as possible. Especially when Morgan finds out. And he will, because he's your own personal stalker."

"Morgan doesn't do anything the council doesn't tell him to do. He says and I quote, he isn't my pitbull."

"Oh, okay." Dean said. "So we'll just try not to get you mixed up in this, because the council will tell him to go all MacLeod on your ass."

"And if I don't get mixed up in it, the next time this guy does something he comes knocking at my door because we all know all black magic originates with me." He said rolling his eyes.

"Have I told you lately how glad I am NOT to be all magical and crap?" Dean said with a laugh. "Because if I haven't, I'm really really glad. Okay, so we'll wait for him to wake up and interrogate him. Did you bring snacks?"

"No, I had dinner." Harry said. "It was a good dinner too." Had to rub it in that he had been stood up after all.

"Dude, I said I was sorry." Dean said with a shake of his head. "I'll catch drive through on the way home then. Since you're going to be a brat and all."

Harry laughed. "No you're not. You're still spitting canary feathers."

"You seriously have to get off your animal fascination. Drag me out here for a dog, and now you're making cat references." Dean said. "Maybe you just need to get laid. Bob's got a point."

"Dean... I get laid plenty. I just don't announce it. Bob isn't interested in how often I get laid, he is interested in whether or not he can watch."

"Okay, okay. Fine." Dean said with a chuckle as the wolf started to wake up. Well, human now. "Looking for this?" Dean said, holding the pelt and keeping it out of reach. "We got some questions for you."
The man pushed himself up and eased back on his haunches to stare at the two of them, something still very feral in his eyes. "What questions?" He asked, looking between the two men, then locking eyes with Dean.

Dean wasn't looking at the man. He wasn't that dumb. He was staring at a point on his forehead, but he saw what the man was trying to do. "Okay, soul gaze. Nice move. Completely rookie though. Call Morgan, Harry."

"Or he's gone too feral and is trying to assert dominance." Harry said with a shrug and sent up a spell to summon Morgan. Either way, probably wouldn't hurt to get Morgan in on it, even though it meant he had to deal with the man's accusations.

Dean waited, with his bootclad foot at the man's throat, for Morgan to appear. And like always, he wasn't happy about being summoned.

"Dresden, I am not your pitbull." Morgan said.

"Werewolf." Dean said. "Nasty bugger." He tossed the file to Morgan. "Either he's the wizard or he's working for one. Kinda sucks to be you, doesn't it? Means there's another one that flew under your radar." Meaning his uncle, who had been practicing the black arts for...no one really knew how long, except for Bob, and he wasn't talking.

Harry handed over the pelt. "What is it you do again?" Harry asked, glaring at Morgan. There were times when he was content to twitch and hope the man just walked away but those times were fading into a distant memory. "I was under the impression that black magic was something you wanted to investigate."

Morgan took the pelt and the case file, looking it over, glancing at Harry as he did. "And this is none of your doing?" He asked, his tone quite clear that he wouldn't believe him anyway.

"Dude, if it was, do you really think he'd ask me to help him track down the werewolf?" Dean scoffed.

"It would be a good cover." Morgan said.

"Oh get over it, Morgan." Harry said, having had enough. "Generally black magic isn't equated with a werewolf. It would not be a good cover, it would be a rookie mistake. You don't want to do your damned job, that's fine. I'll do it for you."

"Now, now boys. Can't we all just get along?" Dean said with a smirk.

"Shut up, Winchester." Morgan snapped. "Fine, I'll take the werewolf into custody now."

"Thank you." Harry said and turned to walk away. He was sick to death of Morgan and his suspicion. Some days he just wanted that damned Doom of Damocles to be enacted and get it over with. If the council had been half as interested in black wizards as they claimed, his father would still be alive.

Dean waited until Morgan had the man under control then caught up with Harry. "Dude, now there's a man who has to get laid. Maybe we should buy him a hooker for his birthday."

"No woman deserves that." Harry grumbled. "And you and Bob really need to ... find a new obsession."

Dean laughed as they headed back to the Impala. "Well, I get it too much some would say, and poor Bob can't get it at all. I don't know, if I find an amorous ghost and it's female, I'll send her Bob's way."

"You do and they can live with you." Harry said with a laugh. Then tilted his head a little. "Or we can ship them out to Sam."

"Ooh, Jessica would not go for that one." Dean said with a laugh. "She's housebreaking Sam, not sure she wants to housebreak Bob and a girlfriend too."

"House breaking Sam. You know you would think the way he was raised he would already be house broken... but then this is Jessica. The girl is Better Homes and Gardens all the way."

"She's a diehard Martha Stewart minion. I'm still gathering intel on that woman. Martha I mean. I swear she's a brainwashing demon." Dean said with a chuckle. "Okay, here we are." He said as he pulled back up in front of Harry's place.

"Thanks for the help. Come on in... I got an extra beer with your name on it." He said as he got out of the Impala, a car that thankfully was old enough he couldn't destroy.

"Nah, I'm gonna head back to Melissa's." Dean said, completely unaware of how absolutely out of character it was for him to say anything resembling that. "Let me know how the Morgan thing works out."

Harry paused a moment. "So when do we get to meet your Helen of Troy?" He asked. Dean was sending up alarm bells. But he didn't want to assume, and humiliate the man if it was just a case of love at first sight.

Dean chuckled. "Probably soon." Dean said. "Course that means you'd have to clean yourself up and come to that fundraiser." Morningway Industries did an annual black tie ball for charity, their uncle had started it. Dean always went, even if he snuck right back out after having been seen to be present. Now...he might stick for most of it.

"And here I thought we were family." Harry said with a chuckle of his own. "And here you are wanting to put me in a penguin suit with a lot of people staring at me. Thanks... love you too."

"Dude, if I have to go, you're going. I'm dragging Sammy back from California for it too. You two can bitch together." Dean said with a chuckle. "Besides, it's good publicity for everyone right? Looks good for the company, that sort of good works looks good for Sam on his grad school applications, and being a charitable person with photographic evidence might get you some luck with the ladies."

"I don't need help in the romance department, and certainly not with the blue blooded gold diggers that would be at that party." Harry pointed out. "But if that's the only way to meet this woman you are smitten with, I'll go."

"Hell yeah. It's called blackmail dude." Dean said. "So might want to start getting cleaned up now."

Harry scowled playfully. "Go on, get back to round 2, thanks for the help tonight." He said.

"You're welcome. It was fun." Dean said with a laugh as Harry got out of the car and he drove back to Melissa's and let himself in. Then let himself back into her bedroom, where he spent the next couple of days.