Mae realized she has spent so many days holed up in a motel room or wasted that she had not had the chance to appreciate how beautiful the mountainous desert country was or how quaint this part of St. George looked. Old brick and adobe style buildings, mission style architecture. Outside of the historic city center, it was likely more contemporary and suburban.

She signed. Distracting herself wasn't working. At least not any of the ways she was trying to distract herself. She felt like she could hardly focus on the right thing. This job should have been easier. It should have made more sense so there was something she was missing. She let her eyes shift to the back of Dean's head as he drove. Mae she should just let the brothers figure it out. Frankly, she was a liability none of them needed.

More importantly, she knew she shouldn't be out here. If she wasn't safe at the motel, she certainly wasn't safe in the wide open. Even with the brother's in tow, she didn't feel totally comfortable. Dean had been insistent that they go out, survey the area while it was still daylight, just in case they could find a clue. Mae wasn't sure they would find anything significant or important and even possibility didn't outweigh the risks. It certainly didn't need all three of them.

Dean pulled up to the curb and stopped the car. He turned off the car and got out. With a final steeling breath, Mae opened the car door and slid out. She wouldn't speak it aloud and she would try to keep it off her face but she was certain Dean knew her discomfort as if it were his own. Ever since leaving the motel with the Winchester brothers, she felt off.

She scanned the area as she stepped out of the car, part habit and part paranoia. Whatever was wrong was unclear, just a feeling that she couldn't articulate or pinpoint the source of yet. It wasn't the first time she felt it and she was certain it wouldn't be the last on this job, if they didn't solve things soon.

Something was watching her, she suspected the kitsune but shuffled the feeling to the side of her mind because she couldn't rule out that nothing was wrong. They didn't have any real trail. Their only plan was luring the thing out of hiding and catching it when it was vulnerable. She had the easy job, she supposed, because once it attacked her to mimic her form or drain her energy or whatever it was doing, it was Sam's turn. Hopefully. It was possible that the thing could go after Dean.

Mae knew she would be powerless to help them so whoever it tried to attack next, the other brother would need to spring into action. For the moment, her eyes felt keener, ears sharper, all her senses were hyper focused. She could hear the scrape of her boots, the boys' boots on the side walk. She wished she'd brought sunglasses as the sun seemed far too bright. Her new clothes felt too stiff and itchy. Even her blood seemed to rush though her ears harder.

Dean looked back at her, waiting for her to join him, concern obvious on his face. She shook her head but wasn't able to articulate anything more. The wave of dizziness hit her fast. her vision swam, bluing and crossing before it went black. Mae thought it might be different if she had been conscious when it happened but it wasn't. She barely had enough time to think that thought before everything was dark.

Before the thought even processed through his mind, he bolted for her. He caught her, just before she would have hit the pavement. Had he turned away from her, she would have dropped like the dead weight she currently was in his arms. For better or worse, it was slightly less concerning this time. He knew what to expect, despite not anticipating this development at all. A tiny voice in the back of his mind tried to argue that she had just fainted. But he knew better.

"C'mon babe." He knew it was pointless to ask but couldn't help but try to get her to say something.

He cupped her face and slid his hand up to use his thumb to gently push her eyelid up. Her eyes were rolled fully back. He pressed fingers to her neck, checking for a pulse, and then rested his head on her chest briefly to listen for her breath. She was completely unresponsive, but she was otherwise seemingly okay. Just like before, no repetition of her name or calls for her to wake up got through. A pat to her cheek and the short jostle to roused her did nothing. All he had was the reassurance that she was still alive but that did little to assure him that she was genuinely safe. What the hell happened to her when this was happening to her.

It wasn't possession but he knew it couldn't be healthy or good for her. He would have to be satisfied with knowing she was alive. Now, he didn't have spare time to think, to say anything more before he heard Sam curse and take off at a full sprint away from him. Watching his brother dash away from him was the only time he took his eyes off Mae. in the few seconds he had to assess, he had no idea why. If he was being honest, knowing what Sam was doing wasn't his chief concern right then. figuring that out would need to come later because he wouldn't leave this situation if there weren't a good reason. There had to be something Sam deemed more important than knowing that Mae was safe. He had to trust that for now.

Dean shifted to scoop the redhead into his arms, pressing her closely to his chest as he freed a hand to open the back door of the car.

A plump older woman leaned over Dean's shoulder a bit. "Is she alright?"

"Low blood sugar," he tossed back to the all too concerned passerby.

Hopefully, he thought, the lady had seen enough to know whatever happened to Mae came on quickly and could easily be a medical condition. Aside from Sam running, it could have been something concerning but explained by totally normal reasons. He heard no more inquires or protests as he placed Mae's limp form in the backseat. Dean paused just a few more minutes to gently brush the hair out of Mae's face.

She really did look peaceful, pain free and unworried about what was happening right now. She said she didn't know what had happened when she out like this and he hoped that was true. Dean weighed the options; stay with Mae and make sure she was safe or follow Sam and make sure he was safe. Last time Mae was out like this, she was relatively unscathed. Sam wasn't as lucky so, locking the doors, he took off in the direction he had last seen his brother.

Sam knew what was coming next when he heard Dean's footsteps stop, then race, and he found Dean crouching next to Mae's slack body. That wasn't what clued him into what would happen next. No, that was the fox that appeared to leaped through Mae That's what caused her to crumple to the ground. It paused for what felt like minutes but was likely only seconds. Then, the mostly solid fox took off the opposite direction from Mae and Dean but right past him.

Sam knew the only reason he could see it was because it had attacked him, not in the same way it seemed to attack Mae though. He knew his brother couldn't see it. Maybe Mae could, if she was conscious, but for now, it was up to him to figure out where the hell it was going and maybe stop it. Did the kitsune know he could see it? It had to figure it out when he took pursuit after it. The fox was fast, faster than he anticipated. Sam had to dodge other the few pedestrians on the street as well as several shop displays.

He was going to catch the thing but he had no idea what he would do with it. How had Mae stopped the last one, the tried to recall as he sprinted after it. She had cut off the tail and destroyed the den. They didn't have any idea where the den was but if this kitsune was from the same litter or family as the one she had hunted before, maybe there was no den. Unlike Mae, he didn't keep a handy blade on him at all times so he would have to capture the thing, maybe find a way to incapacitate it, and get it back somewhere they could deal with it permanently. They would have to worry about the possibility of a den afterwards.

The only thing he knew for sure was that Mae wouldn't be okay unless he stopped the kitsune. He also knew that he was throwing himself in danger too. It occurred to him, only after he had started after the fox that it was possible this was a ruse to lure him somewhere to finally take him out. The typical kitsune seduction plan hadn't worked. Well, it hadn't worked that well but if it had picked a different form, perhaps he wouldn't have resisted. Or if it had used Mae's stolen form but in a different location, maybe he would have been incapacitated long term.

None of those thoughts slowed him though as he rounded a corner between two buildings and found himself in a blind alley. He cursed under his breath, "Shit."

He was transfixed to the spot as he watched the fox turn back to him, eyes locked on his and shift seamlessly to a near perfect version of Mavis Singer. This Mavis differed in two ways he was certain of; she had no tattoos and tails that fanned out behind her legs. Den would know if there were other differences but to his view, the tail was the biggest and most noticeable.

The notion of propriety crossed his mind briefly. Mae, the fox Mae, he corrected was completely nude. And while he knew this wasn't really Mae, it seemed inappropriate to see her this way. He didn't stare long because she seemed to demand his eyes meet hers.

A lump of sheer terror lodged in his throat because, despite every other instinct, the screaming of his body to run the other way, the adrenaline flooding his brain, he knew he would so whatever she asked. She could lure him to her again, just like before, and he wouldn't stop her. He couldn't resist the lure. He wondered if she had taken any other form if he would have even fought it.

The feeling she was able to inspire in him wasn't just lust. It was something comforting, relaxing, almost like the feeling just before dropping into a soundless, dreamless sleep. The promise what there, if he would just give in. He was beyond tempted. Sam didn't know how long they stood there, the kitsune letting him think and stare. He was trying to fight it but knew the longer they stood there, the less he would be able.

Any plan he had before about being able to seize it, capture it and take somewhere to deal with it later seemed like a complete joke at this point. And he had been worried about not having a blade on him. A naked woman would have been a harder situation to explain, especially one who looked just like the other unconscious woman he and his brother had with them. But clearly, that didn't matter now that he had no power to do much of anything.

It was a full fifteen minutes before the kitsune made a startled shift, breaking eye contact with Sam. He heard the scuffing footfalls of someone running past him, then turn back to approach him. He blinked and the kitsune transformed again. The fox cast him one last glance over his shoulder before it took off straight up over the wall and onto the roof of the building.

Even if he had his full faculties back under his own control, there were no hand holds or a fire escape in this alley to make it easily up the two stories.

"Sam? What's wrong?"

When his brother put a hand on his shoulder, Sam finally snapped out of the trance entirely. "Did-tell me you saw her."

"Saw who?"

Sam's eyes were still fixated on the roof, wondering if it might reappear, even to pop its head over the edge to see if he had left or not. "The-the thing, the kitsune, it looked like...it turned into Mae-"

"What?"

"It..." Sam shook his head, trying to make sense of what really happened. He felt like he was in a dream state since he took started following the fox. "It's gone."

Dean stepped in front of his brother, a hand on each shoulder "You sound like you are too."

"Uh, yeah, I..." Sam move his hands up, knocking free of Dean's hold and scrubbed a hand over his face. "Is Mae...is she with you?"