Chapter Fifty-Two

When Dean and Alyson made it to the car, the first thing Dean did was get the first-aid kit out of the trunk. He needed something to do, and she needed her wound cleaned.

The anti-bacteria cream he used only seemed to irritate the bitemark worse.

"You might get better results with a rabies shot," Aly said.

"That's so not funny," Dean said. "This is serious, Alyson."

"You think I don't know that, Dean!" She yanked her arm away. "I am freaking out here, okay? I don't wanna be a werewolf. I don't wanna be bad."

Aly seemed to want to say other things, too, but she was keeping them to herself at the moment.

"You're not gonna be bad. We'll find a way to deal with this, okay? We'll figure somethin' out."

"What? Locking me in a cage every month until I change back? I don't think werewolves can be housebroken."

Dean slipped her injured hand onto his open palm – half because he wanted to comfort her and half because he hadn't finished bandaging her up.

"I should've been able to stop this," he said.

He should have left Alyson in the car. She was good at this hunting thing, but she'd yet to make her first kill. For her to have to go against someone she actually knew . . . it had been too hard and shocking.

"You were unconscious, Dean. You literally had no control over this."

"Right."

Once they were in the car Dean took out his phone so he could call Sam. He needed to know his brother was okay.

"Hey, you okay?" Sam answered. He sounded worried – probably because this was the first time he had contacted Sam since leaving him with Madison that morning.

"I'm okay. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why? I've been here the whole time."

"You didn't notice anything strange?"

"No. Why? What's wrong?"

"Well, I have bad news and worse news." Dean took a deep breath before continuing. "Madison's the werewolf."

"What? That's impossible. She's here in bed, asleep."

"Well, she must've left sometime during the night because I know she was out. She came to Kurt's apartment. He's dead, and . . . Sammy, she bit Aly."

There was a brief silence and then, "What? But that means . . ."

"I know what it means."

"Well, don't worry about it. We'll figure something out. We'll help her."

"Yeah. Okay. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that we're, ya know . . . alive. And to see if you were okay."

"I'm okay."

"'Kay. I'll see you in a bit. Aly's gonna rest back at the motel."

It was a testament to how bad Aly was feeling that she didn't complain.

"Hey, uh . . . Jack is there."

"Oh, we so don't wanna deal with him right now."

"He tried calling Alyson, but she didn't answer, so he called me. I told him where we were stayin'. Should I not have?"

"No, we need to talk to him, anyway. Family drama for Aly."

Things were silent on the way to the motel, but once they got there and saw that Jack was indeed waiting for them, Dean felt like yelling at the guy.

He seemed concerned for Aly's wellbeing, at least, but when he reached for Alyson's bandaged but still bleeding wrist Dean pushed her behind him.

"Don't touch her. You don't get to do that."

At first Jack just seemed surprised by Dean's behavior, as he had never been outwardly aggressive to him before, but after the initial shock wore off Jack became angry.

"Well, I don't know who you think you are, but I am her father. I think I deserve to know what happened."

"No, you don't. You've been lying to us from the moment we met you."

"What're you talking about?"

"You were dead," Aly said softly. "You died in June."

Jack's jaw tightened. "How do you know that? Who told you?"

"It doesn't matter," Dean said, pulling Aly closer to his side. "The only thing that matters is that you didn't."

"I didn't . . . I just . . ." Jack was no longer angry. "I would never do anything to hurt her."

"You already have." They moved around him. "And we don't have time for you right now."

"Wait. She won't turn."

Both Dean and Alyson stilled. Aly had tensed and grabbed Dean's arm. Dean was just wondering if he'd heard Jack right. Did Jack really know Alyson had been bitten by a werewolf, and if he did . . . how did he know?

"What d'you mean?"

"You know what I mean."

Aly began tugging Dean toward their room. They couldn't talk about what they needed to talk about in the parking lot. Jack began to follow them, and against his better judgment Dean allowed it.

"How did you know I was bitten?" Alyson asked Jack. "I mean, what, are you psychic now?"

"No. I'm . . . I get flashes sometimes. Or . . . words sometimes. I . . . didn't want you to know. You weren't supposed to find out."

"Why? It's not like I would care about that. Sam's sort of psychic, and I'm far from normal."

"I'm more worried about how you're alive right now," Dean said. That was the more important thing, in his opinion.

"I was brought back," Jack said simply. "A deal was made, but not with a demon. That's all I can tell you."

Jack huffed out a breath. "Literally. I don't have a name, and I never saw him. All I got was a voice. He had the power to keep me alive. You were never supposed to find out I had died."

"And the deal?" Dean asked. "You're working for someone evil, obviously."

"No. He saved my life."

"No, he made a deal with you," Aly said. "Which means he can take your life too. He's holding your life over your head. What did he want?"

"He doesn't mean anyone harm – he hasn't hurt anyone to my knowledge. He's not evil. He just needed my help setting things in motion."

"What things exac –" Aly started before plopping a hand over her mouth and rushing toward the bathroom.

Dean began to follow, but Jack grabbed his arm. Dean pulled away, refraining from hitting him. This was not the time.

"She'll feel better once she empties her stomach. The werewolf venom will hit her like the stomach flu. She'll get a fever and she won't be able to keep anything down, but she'll get it out of her system."

Worry filled Dean at the mention of Alyson's sickness. How long would this last?

"She won't turn, though?"

"No. The venom will stay in her system for a few days, but she'll be fine."

"And I believe you, of course."

"I wouldn't lie about this."

Dean went to the bathroom, where Aly was dry-heaving over the toilet. She hadn't eaten since that morning, so there was nothing to come up aside from bile.

Dean knelt beside her, offering comfort in the form of a hand pulling her hair back from her face.

Once through heaving, Aly sat back to catch her breath.

"We have to get to Sam," she said. "We have to figure out what to do with Madison."

"Um . . . we're going to kill her. That's generally what we do with werewolves. Especially ones who go around biting people."

"I could've been a werewolf, Dean. Were you gonna kill me too?"

The way she'd asked him, he knew she knew he never would've gone through with it, but answered anyway.

"You wouldn't have killed anyone. You . . . we would've kept you locked up or something."

"Well . . . whatever. Just let me brush my teeth and then we can go. I don't wanna stay here with Jack."

"Well, he can't stay here. He might not be here when we get back. And as much as I don't want him here, he still has things you need him to talk about."

They stopped by a 24-hour gas station to get some medicine to fight a fever and some Pepto Bismal for the queasiness.

Alyson hadn't spoken to Jack since they'd gotten in the car. Every time she opened her mouth she felt like vomiting. Maybe that was God's way of telling her that she should leave it alone for now.

"So . . . you see flashes and hear things sometimes," Dean said. "Did this happen before you died."

"No. These things come from whoever brought me back. It's his way of communicating, I guess." Jack sighed. "Look, it was a mutual thing. I wanted to see Alyson again, and he needed someone to get close to her. Someone that you would let get close to her. I was to train her."

"For what?" Alyson risked speaking.

"Well, to be a hunter, and to help you control your power."

"If this guy wanted to help Aly train so badly, why didn't he come to her himself?"

"If some strange . . . being . . . came around to train her, would you have let him within fifty feet of her?"

"No." Dean parked in front of Madison's apartment building. "I have a hard enough time letting you near her."

"Yeah, well, lucky for me, it's not your decision," Jack snapped.

Once out of the car, Jack and Dean faced off with each other. Alyson hoped they didn't start fighting. They had bigger things to work on at the moment.

"Lucky for you, you're daughter's a good person. Anyone else would've told you to take a hike."

"Guys, stop," Alyson said. "We have a werewolf to deal with."

Dean, being smart and caring more about what she wanted, decided to follow her. Jack didn't seem to like that.

"Oh, that's right. You two are inseparable. You're attached at the hip. It's Dean, Dean, Dean. Why're you so special?"

Dean and Alyson had turned back around. He was smirking.

"It's 'cause I'm so awesome." He sobered quickly. "I don't know, okay? I ask myself that all the time."

Alyson, though she felt awful, still felt anger flow through her. Anyone could tell Dean had issues with himself. Dean even hated himself sometimes. Jack had no right to comment on it; he was just being mean at that point. Alyson didn't appreciate it.

"Don't pay attention to him," Alyson said and grabbed Dean's hand. "He doesn't know what he's talking about."

She knew the tension between Dean and Jack was far from over, but the difference between them was that Dean actually took into account what Alyson wanted. He was leaving it for now.

Sam was the one who answered the door to let them in. They found Madison tied to a chair in the living room. She appeared hysterical. There was a cut on her temple close to where Alyson had hit her.

Sam didn't know about Jack yet, so Dean didn't want Sam to have any more suspicions than he normally did.

"We need to talk," Sam said. He led them to the kitchen. They could talk without Madison hearing – assuming she didn't have supersonic hearing. "She says she had no idea what I'm talking about."

"She's lyin'," Dean said.

"Or maybe she really doesn't know she's changing. Ya know, maybe when the creature takes over, she blacks out.

"Come on, dude. She ganked her boss and her ex-boyfriend. That doesn't sound rash and unconscious."

"Yeah, but what if it was, Dean?" Sam asked desperately. "I mean, what if some animal part of her brain saw both those guys as threats? The cop too."

"What, are you the Dog Whisperer now?"

"Dean, I'm with Sam on this one," Alyson said. "I mean, that could've been me. What if it had been me?"

"But if she can't control it, more people are gonna die," Dean said. "It doesn't change anything."

"There may be another way," Jack said, speaking for the first time. "There's an old legend about a cure. You, uh, kill the werewolf that bit her and, like a sickness, it'll go away."

"It's worth a shot," Sam said, hope in his voice. Then his face fell. "Wait. She bit Alyson. That means –"

"No," Alyson said, knowing where Sam was going with this.

Madison did not have to die to cure her, though Alyson felt warmth fill her at the fact that Sam was willing to choose her.

"I won't turn."

"But you were bitten."

"She can't be turned into anything dark or evil. It's against her nature. Werewolf, vampire . . . won't work. She can't be fully possessed either. A demon would die before being about to take her over. That succubus . . . Alyson burned her out."

Dean sighed in annoyance. "Aren't you full of fun facts to know and learn? Maybe you should write a book."

Then, back on track, he said, "Even if what you say is true, we don't know where to start looking. I mean, the puppy that bit Madison could be anyone, anywhere. It could've been years ago."

Sam shook his head. "No, I don't think so."

He began walking towards the living room.

"Wait," Alyson said, following him. "What d'you mean? Why don't you think so?"

"You'll see."

She hated that answer. Why couldn't he just explain himself? Why couldn't everyone explain themselves?

"Madison, when were you mugged?"

Sam knelt in front of the woman in question, but she looked defiantly back at him. She had no intention of answering him.

"Please. It's important, all right? Just answer the question."

"About a month ago."

"Did you see the guy?"

"No. He grabbed me from behind."

"Did he bite you?"

Madison looked at Sam for a long time before answering. "How did you know that?"

"Where's the mark?"

"O-on the back of my neck."

If she'd been bitten only a month ago then she'd never changed before this full moon cycle. She probably really didn't know what was going on. She had no control over any of this.

"Where were you at the time?" Dean asked.

"Walking home from a friend's loft."

"Let me guess, not too far from Hunters Point."

Madison nodded hesitantly. Sam and Dean exchanged glances. Hunters Point was where the other murders had happened. If . . . if Madison had only just changed, then she wasn't responsible for those murders.

The other werewolf, the one that had gotten Madison, was still out there.

Alyson followed Sam and Dean as they left the room. Jack followed her.

"So, what're we gonna do?" Dean asked. "We can't just let her bust loose, but she's gonna turn tonight."

"You go to Hunters Point," Sam said. "I'll stay with Madison."

"And if she gets loose?"

"Then I'll shoot her, okay?" Sam snapped. "Just look for the thing. Maybe we can save her."

"What do we do until then," Alyson asked. "We can't just wait for her to turn, can we? I mean, she's gonna get hungry, she's gonna have to go to the bathroom. We can't keep her tied up."

"That's exactly what we're doing," Dean said. "What else can we do?"

"Nothing," Sam answered. "But even if we save her, she's gonna be traumatized for the rest of her life."

Sometimes Dean hated his job. This was one of those times. They had to keep Madison, whom he believed was completely unaware of her night time wanderings, tied up in her own living room. She hadn't tried to shout – maybe because of the gun he'd taken out and placed beside him on the table.

Alyson was curled up on the couch, having thrown up again after trying to keep medicine down. It obviously hadn't worked. She had developed a low-grade fever and she was growing weaker and weaker.

Dean didn't want to have to leave later, but Sam would be the best of them to stay with Madison. And Aly. She definitely wasn't coming along this time. No way.

That left Jack. For one, he wasn't leaving the man with Alyson. And two . . . Dean did need someone to back him up. He'd pick anyone over Jack, but he was his only choice. Plus . . . he and Jack had things to discuss.

"Please let me go," Madison said. "This isn't real. You know this isn't real."

She began to cry. She had been doing that off and on for a while and Dean understood why she was, but there was nothing they could do for her.

"We're not gonna hurt you," Sam said. "We're tryin' to help you."

Alyson groaned then. Dean saw her looking at Madison with distress. Dean knew Alyson hated seeing people upset or in pain. Add in her own illness and she was more than miserable.

"You okay?" Sam asked her sympathetically.

"No. I feel horrible. I am hungry, but just the thought of eating makes me nauseated."

"Maybe you're pregnant."

Sam got glares from Jack, Aly, and Dean.

"Don't even joke, dude," Dean said.

"It could happen."

"Sam, I'm gonna smack you when I get better."

"Listen to the sick girl," Dean suggested. "Or she won't be the only one threatening bodily harm."

That night, at Hunters Point, both Dean and Jack got hurt, but it wasn't by the werewolf. They worked out some of their frustration on each other.

To Dean's credit . . . he did not throw the first punch. Okay, he did, but Jack had pushed him first. As childish as that sounded, Dean was glad he hadn't started it.

"Ya know, Aly values honesty. When a demon attacked her mom, it really helped that we told her the truth. Every lie you tell her, the further she's gonna push you away."

"Techincally, I didn't lie. I didn't mention me dying. Not the same thing."

"Really? You're gonna play it that way?" Dean could play dirty as well. "Okay, then. Technically, you don't deserve to even be within speaking distance of her. You abandoned her when she was ten and then faked your death when she was fourteen. The truth is I've probably spent more time with her in the past year than you have in her whole life. I know her. I don't know if you ever will."

That was when Jack shoved him into the wall of the ally they'd been walking down. There were women around – prostitutes or drug addicts – but they fled once Jack showed his anger.

"She's my daughter," Jack seethed.

Dean shoved him away. "Then start acting like it."

Okay, so maybe Jack threw the first punch, but Dean landed the first punch. Flesh hit flesh. Dean was fairly certain he hadn't broken anything on Jack's face, but there would be swelling around his eye later.

Jack landed a blow hard enough to split Dean's lip and another to make Dean's nose bleed.

Dean was able to push Jack far enough away to be able to speak.

"Dude, what's your problem?"

Jack fought again, but with less enthusiasm than before and Dean barely had to move to deflect his blows. The frustration had blown over, it seemed.

A scream filled the air and both Dean and Jack put their issues away to run in that direction. The scream had been distinctly female and, given the people who usually frequented this place, it didn't surprised Dean that a woman was in distress.

He just had to figure out whether the attacker was human or not.

"Guns out," Dean said only to find out that Jack was right there with him on that one.

They flew by trash cans and trash heaps, by newspapers spread out as beds or blankets, by people with needles in their hands or arms – people who had no idea what was going on, who had paid no attention to the scream. They had learned to mind their own business.

Dean and Jack finally came across a woman who seemed to be being assaulted. Werewolf or not, that was not okay.

"Hey!"

The one doing the assaulting quickly looked up. Definitely not human. He had fangs, electric eyes, and claw-like fingernails.

Dean didn't hesitate to shoot the guy in the chest, and as the bullet hit its mark, the man flew backwards, narrowly missing falling on the woman he'd been attacking.

Jack checked the woman over while Dean went to check out the now fully human wolf. Dean realized he knew this guy. He'd seen him at Madison's – this guy was her neighbor. He was probably the one that had bitten her. He had made Hunters Point his hunting ground and Madison had happened to be walking home that way . . . she hadn't been killed, though, because this guy had liked her.

"W-where? I'm . . ."

He had no clue, then, like Sam had said. The wolf took over and the human was out for the count it seemed. Dean had no clue what to do – the guy had to die. It wasn't like he wouldn't change again if he survived.

Dean was vaguely aware of the woman running away – without a thank you for saving her life – and of Jack coming up to them.

Jack leaned down over the man and began offering words of comfort. He told the man how none of it was his fault – not that he knew what Jack was talking about – and that he didn't deserve to die this way but he would be okay.

Where was the angry man from earlier? And why didn't Jack allow Alyson to see him this way? Even if he kept things from her, Alyson deserved to know that her dad could be kind even if there was nothing he could gain from it.

Bach at Madison's apartment Alyson and Sam were holding off a frantic werewolf-Madison. Sam had given the command not to shoot her unless she had to.

"Really?"

"Yes, get her to the closet."

Sam and Madison had a brief but intense staring match, which ended with Sam being knocked to the ground. That meant Alyson had to get her to the closet on her own, but she was in no condition to wrestle with a werewolf. At least she knew she wouldn't change if she happened to be bitten again.

Alyson distracted Madison by pulling the woman's hair. It earned her a glare and a growl.

Alyson backed up slowly. "Come on, Maddie, can't you catch me?"

Madison gave chase and Alyson soon had her crashing into the coffee table. Alyson noticed that Sam had gotten up and was now making for the closet. That was what she needed.

Alyson quickly lured Madison to the open door and grabbed her to shove her in, after which Sam slammed the door.

The entertainment center moved from its place against the wall to the space in front of the closet door. Alyson realized she'd done that with her mind only when a brief but sharp pain shot through her head.

She fell to her knees then and Sam quickly followed her.

"Whoa, hey, you okay?" he asked. "Do you need anything?"

"No, I'll be fine. Just give me a minute."

"Let's get you back to the couch."

Once sure that the closet door and entertainment center would hold, Alyson allowed herself to be moved. To be fair, it didn't sound like Madison was trying to use the door knob. She was just scratching a lot. Maybe the wolf in her didn't know how doors worked.

Alyson noticed the blood on Sam's face then. Madison had scratched him. He didn't even seem to notice the pain, and they had to be stinging at least.

"You're hurt," she said, reaching up to try and heal him, but he stopped her.

"I'm fine. You need to rest. You can fix me up later."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, Alyson. Rest."

Sam had a tone that he only used with her. It was the same tone Dean used with Sam. She assumed older siblings always had it reserved for their younger ones. She knew he saw her as a younger sister – he'd said so himself.

He was half-amused and half-annoyed all because she had tried to heal him when she had little-to-no energy. It probably wouldn't have worked anyway.

When Dean and Jack finally got back the first thing Alyson said was, "Wow, what did you do to each other?"

Dean put a hand over his heart and pretended to be offended. "Who said we did anything to each other? Maybe it was the werewolf. Which we found and took care of, by the way."

"Mm. Okay. And it wasn't the werewolf because if it had been, you would most likely have scratches, not bruises."

Dean grinned. His girlfriend, always the logical one – even when sick with a fever and the stomach flu. He loved her brain. He loved her.

"We settled a few things," Dean said. "Anyway, I knew you hadn't eaten – or couldn't eat anything heavy, so –"

He pulled out a pack of crackers and a 7-Up from a bag he'd brought in. He and Jack had stopped by a gas station on the way to Madison's place. He was hoping if she ate something she may start to feel better.

Sam, who hadn't been in the room when they had arrived, came in now. He had a square piece of gauze on his right cheek. No blood had seeped through, so Dean assumed he was fine. But he still had to ask.

"What happened?"

'Just a scratch. No big. Aly can take care of it when she feels better."

"Okay. Um, I guess we're staying here tonight. We can keep watch outside tomorrow."

"Sure. I mean, it should be over now, right?" Sam asked.

"Here's to hoping," Alyson said. "I like her."

"She thinks we're all crazy," Sam said. "She's gonna wake up tomorrow in that closet and not know what to think."

"When she sees the damage she's done to her closet, I think she'll believe you," Alyson said.

"About that," Dean said. "Is she asleep?"

Sam shrugged. "She stopped trying to get out about an hour ago. Maybe she wore herself out."

"Maybe she's human again," Jack suggested. "If we got the one that turned her, and if the legend is true . . . maybe she changed back."

Dean hoped so. Madison seemed nice enough, but more importantly Sam seemed to like her. He didn't want to have to take out a girl Sam liked.