None of them actually slept. Kathleen dozed off once or twice for a few minutes, but she would soon wake up again. Eventually it was time to get up and get ready. They would be heading to the area of the last attack, hoping the werewolf would show its face again. They loaded their weapons with silver bullets.

"I have to admit," Kathleen said, "I'm a little nervous on this one. I only hunted a werewolf once, and I never came face to face with it. The lunar cycle ended before I could catch up with it."

"Just stay close," Dean said. "Don't do anything stupid."

Kathleen rolled her eyes. "You know, I'm getting really tired of you calling what I do stupid. I've been hunting on my own for..."

"Oh, please don't give me that speech again! All I'm saying is think about the fact that there are two other people with you before you act."

The last attack happened in a public park. By the time they got there it was pretty empty. They walked around, checking bushes and trees, listening for any noises that sounded like a wild animal. When they came up empty-handed they met under a tree away from the lights.

"What time was that last victim attacked?" Dean asked.

Sam checked his watch. "Right around this time."

"Do you know where, exactly?"

"Guys," Kathleen said. "Look over there. Those look like bright copper eyes to you behind those trees?"

They looked at a line of trees across the park and immediately saw what she was talking about.

"Definitely," Sam said. "It's not looking over here though."

"No, it's not," Dean said.

They tried to follow its eye line. It was on a walking trail a few yards away. That walking trail turned through the trees, leading straight to the werewolf. A female jogger rounded the corner as they watched.

"Oh, come on," Dean said, "what woman in her right mind jogs alone at night?" Sam and Kathleen both gave him an odd look. "What?" he asked. "Am I wrong? It's insane."

Sam turned to Kathleen. "You go try to stop her from going into the trees. We'll go around the other way and get behind the werewolf. Maybe we can sneak up on it and get close enough to shoot it."

"Be careful," she said as she headed towards the woman. When she got closer she saw that the woman was wearing earphones. Dean was right... incredibly stupid. She'd have to get into the woman's line of vision. Kathleen ran faster to get ahead of her a little, then waved her arms. The jogger stopped and pulled out her earphones, looking around a bit anxiously. Kathleen stayed far enough away as to not make the woman nervous.

"I'm sorry," Kathleen said, "I didn't mean to scare you. I was wondering if you'd seen my dog. I was walking him and he got away from me. I've been looking for the last fifteen minutes and I just can't find him."

"No, I haven't. I'm sorry. What kind
of dog is it?"

"It's a Yorkie."

There was a rustling in the bushes a few feet away and they both looked.

"Could that be your dog?"

A deep growl followed.

"That's not my dog."

Kathleen backed up and instinctively pulled the jogger behind her. She suddenly heard voices, a yelling in the distance, and she soon realized it was Sam and Dean.

"Run," Kathleen said. The woman stood there with a dumbfounded look so Kathleen pushed her. "Go!" The woman took off running in the opposite direction. Kathleen pulled her gun just as the monster leapt at her. She fired a shot. She was sure she hit the thing, but it kept coming and knocked into her. It hit her with so much force that she flew a good ten feet backwards before a tree stopped her. She hit the ground and tried to get up, but stumbled back down. She saw the monster charging toward her, then heard gun shots. The creature slowed, it's body jerking, then turned away from her. A few more gun shots and the werewolf fell to the ground. She realized it was dead, and as the adrenaline wore off the park started to spin in front of her eyes.

"Guys," she called out. She put her hand to the back of her head where it was throbbing, and it came away red. "I think I may need a doctor."

Sam and Dean ran toward her. Sam picked her up as Dean ran to get the car. That was the last thing she saw before she blacked out. When she woke up in the hospital she had no idea how long she had been there. There was no one in the room with her. She fumbled to find the call button for the nurse's station. A nurse came in a couple of minutes later.

"It's good to see you awake," the nurse smiled at her.

"I came in with a couple of guys... are they still here?"

The nurse nodded. "In the waiting room. Been there the whole time."

"How long is that?"

"About nine hours."

"Can I see them?"

"The doctor should really see you first... but I guess it would be okay for one of them to come back. Is one of them family, or a boyfriend?"

She really wanted to see Dean, but she wasn't ready to take the step of specifically asking for him in a crisis. She wasn't ready to rely on him that way.

"No, they're both just friends."

"Okay, we'll let them decide who comes back." She smiled as she left the room.

A few minutes later Dean opened the door and poked his head in. When he saw that Kathleen was awake he smiled and came in the room, closing the door behind him.

"How you feelin'?"

"Okay. You lose the toss?" Dean gave her a confused look, so she continued. "You got stuck coming to check on me?"

He waved her off. "I wanted to come back. Sammy wanted to come back too, but mostly because he was worried I would pick a fight or something."

"You mean over how it was stupid of me not to run away from that werewolf?"

"Did I say that was stupid?"

"Not yet."

"Not at all. You got that jogger out of there. If you had run too it could have gone after her. You saved her life... that's what we do."

Kathleen looked surprised. "Thanks."

"Getting hurled into a tree wasn't too bright." She started to roll her eyes and Dean laughed. "I'm kidding!"

"Very funny."

He came to the side of her bed and put his hands on the rail, which was lowered. "You had us worried for a while. The doctor said there was some swelling, but he wanted to see if it would go down on its own."

"I'm guessing it did?"

"Yeah, it did. We've pretty much been waiting for you to wake up... took you long enough."

She let out a slight laugh. Dean stared at her.

"You know, if you take a picture it'll last longer," she said.

He smiled and slowly leaned down toward her. Her smile faded as he got closer. He let the tip of his nose brush hers.

"Do you want me to stop?"

"No," she whispered. It was all she could get out. Her nerves were on edge. She was scared and excited. He gently kissed her lips, just pressing his against hers. He didn't want to scare her off or make her uncomfortable. He was pulling away when she parted her lips and kissed him back, putting her hand on his cheek.

He let her pull away first, then looked into her eyes. "You really had me worried."

"What happened to me letting you know when I was ready?"

He backed up a little. "I didn't mean to push you."

"No, it's okay. I'm glad you did it. I've been wanting to for a while now, and I don't think I would have ever worked up the courage to do it." She took his hand and held it in both of hers. "Thank you for being so patient with me."