"It's a good plan, Dean, I just..."

"Just what, Bobby?"

Dean and Alice set up shop in a cheap motel, preparing for their ambush. If all went well, their hunt might be over before nightfall. Alice sharpened a silver blade with the utmost care while Dean disassembled and cleaned the colt.

"Do you have any idea at all how hard it is keeping a seven year old's eyes off the road?"

"It's actually super easy," Dean sighed. "Just download some games onto your phone and let her play with it while you drive. She'll go all zombie on you."

Allison would have hated the suggestion. She didn't want Mary zoned out on devices her whole childhood, but Dean reasoned that once couldn't hurt much.

It's for a good cause, Auntie Ally, he thought to himself, sending the sentiment out like a prayer into the aether. Maybe she was watching them from somewhere up on high. Maybe she would get the silent message in a bottle. Maybe she wouldn't judge him so harshly.

"Look at that," Bobby chuckled. "I ever tell you that you don't make a half bad father, boy?"

"Yeah, yeah, only after you've had your coffee," Dean scoffed. "You ready?"

"Sure."

"Got me on speaker?"

"Not yet."

"Ok, well..."

"You're on. And..."

Dean waited a moment while Bobby walked back into earshot of Mary.

"Give me that address one more time, Dean," Bobby said loudly. "I've got a pen and paper right here. Shoot, you know what? Mary, say hi to your Dad for me. He's gonna give you something to write down for me while I take a look under this hood to see what's been knocking around in there."

"Ok. Daddy?"

"Heya, sweet pea," Dean smiled. "Whatcha been doing?"

Alice watched him out of the corner of her eye while she refined the edge of the blade. The way he smiled talking to his daughter stirred strange feelings up from somewhere near the bottom of her heart. His green eyes gleamed and crinkled and the weight of the world slid off his shoulders while she watched. Mary made Dean happy in a way that was mournfully familiar to Alice. He looked complete talking to her.

Alice couldn't help remembering a time when he used to smile at her like that. Sadness knocked, whispering jealous little tidings into Alice's ear. She wished she could still put a look like that on Dean's face, but she'd been replaced as the best part of his life. She had her chance and she blew it. It was all she could do to sigh and turn her attention back to the knife in her hand. She supposed there was solace to be had in the thought that Dean had found his last true love. Mary would never hurt him the way Alice had, the way lovers hurt each other. The love she and Dean shared was pure, unadulterated by the drama and convolution that had poisoned what Alice and Dean used to have. Mary was everything Dean really needed. Someone to protect, someone to cherish. Someone he could lose himself fighting for.

Alice tried to be happy for him, but pettiness stopped her short of sincerity. She could never fully kill the part of herself that wanted to be that person for him. It was a relief when Dean finally hung up the phone, sighing heavily as he tucked it into his pocket.

"Well, the trap's been set," he sighed. "Think he'll bite?"

"Absolutely."

"You're so sure."

"I know this son of a bitch. We've been circling each other for almost... god it must be nearly five years now," Alice realized. "He won't rest until he has what he considers to be his."

"Mary. You say you know him so well... what the hell does he want with her?" Dean asked.

"Wow, you really have stopped hunting, haven't you?"

"Bobby's the only hunter I stayed in contact with, and we don't talk about that world," Dean explained.

"It shows. There aren't many shifters left these days, Dean. I made it a personal mission to exterminate them. Since I have the inside track and all... the alpha is getting desperate. He's one of few. Hell, after you raided their rally point looking for Mary, he might actually be the last one. Sandy and Mary notwithstanding, of course. My guess? He needs Mary under his wing to make sure she follows in his footsteps."

"You mean he wants her to carry on his long line of of homicidal maniac shifters."

"That's my best guess anyway."

"Well he can't have her."

Dean finished reassembling the colt with a click and a snap. He stood, posture determined and imposing.

"You about ready to roll?" he asked.

Alice nodded silently, wiping the burr from the edge of her blade and putting it back in the ankle sheath where it belonged.

"Let's do it."

The address Dean had given his daughter was in Sioux Falls, an abandoned house he learned about from Bobby. The surrounding neighborhood was run down and squalid and quite a few someones had done them the courtesy of breaking into the house for them. Dean and Alice entered through a busted back window and took their places in the vacant, dusty central room. Dean had told Mary that Bobby would be bringing her to meet them there. The shifter was already in the area. He would show up expecting a fight, but the hunters were as ready as they could be.

"Think he'll show his face without knowing that Mary's here first?" Dean said. He was starting to have serious doubts about their plan.

"He'll know that we're here, he'll assume we don't know he's coming," Alice ventured. "Not to mention that I'm a vendetta to him at this point. Knowing that I'm here? He'll show up just so he can gut me."

"Sounds personal."

"Only for him. From his perspective, I was slaughtering his children. From mine, I was an exterminator taking care of a pest problem."

Alice shrugged while Dean regarded her with a newfound fascination. Looking at Alice was a little like staring through the looking glass. She was a snapshot of something he used to be, someone still wholeheartedly living the life he'd turned his back on years ago.

"And after you took care of all the shifters?" he prodded. "Then what, start picking off the next breed of monster, work your way down the list?"

"You know better than to ask me that," Alice rolled her eyes. "Or have you been out of the game so long you forgot? I'm not gonna waste my time worrying about what I'm gonna do tomorrow. Not when my odds of dying today are so high."

"You're not... you haven't ever..."

Dean took a few minutes to gather his thoughts and word his next question carefully.

"Don't you ever get tired of the hunt?"

"Nah."

"Seriously?"

"Dean, hunting is my one true love. If I wasn't hunting, I'd probably be serial killing," Alice chuckled. Still, the words she intended as a joke fell a little flat, devoid of the humor they needed to be funny. They felt closer to a confession. "What about you?"

"I'm good."

"You never miss the chase? The thrill of the kill?"

"Never."

"You're lying."

"I'm not."

"Sorry, Dean, I don't believe you," Alice shrugged. "You and me? We're made of the same stuff. And the bloodlust? Sure, sometimes it hibernates and... gives you room to breathe. Sometimes it stays asleep for long enough that you can tell yourself it's gone. But you and I both know it always come back, sooner or later. There's always gonna be a day when you wake up with that itch in your fingers and that red in your eyes. That... empty, raging hole deep inside you that just wants to be fed."

Dean opened his mouth to snap at her, but closed it again. As much as he wanted to tell her she was wrong, he couldn't silence the voice that told him she was right. The voice reminding him that secretly, shamefully, he'd enjoyed torturing the shapeshifter who eventually told him where to find Alice. The voice that recalled to him the satisfaction he'd felt when he watched Micheal die. A hundred dead monsters would agree with Alice. So would a few dozen humans.

He couldn't bring himself to contradict her.

"So, you'll keep hunting til it kills you?" he asked instead.

"That's the plan."

"Hm. I think you outta give civilian life a spin before you go out," Dean said. "You never know, it might surprise you."

"Uh-huh. I'll just retire all my knives and settle down. Get a crappy nine to five, wake up and go through the motions like a wind-up toy. Spend my nights wishing I could blow my brains out just like all the other faceless Johns and Janes who come and go without ever moving anything more than the dust it takes to bury them. Sounds like the life."

"That's not what I mean and you know it. You can still live on your own terms, just... you know what? Never mind."

"Dean, I... look, I appreciate the sentiment," Alice sighed, realizing her sarcasm had been a mint too sharp. "You got out and somehow, it seems like you're pretty happy with your new life. It's nice of you to want the same for me, but... I'm as happy as I'm ever going to be."

"If you say so," Dean sighed skeptically. He knew she was lying, to himself and to her, but he was done trying to get her to admit it.

"Hey."

Alice caught Dean's gaze, eyes sparkling with a mischief that confounded Dean.

"Want to make me happier?"

"What? How? I'm not gonna let you stab me," Dean said, rolling his eyes.

"I am stabhappy, but... ah, you know what, never mind."

"No, what?"

"Nothing."

"Seriously, Alice-"

"You know, it's too late now, but I just had an even better idea than this plan of ours," Alice announced, cutting him off.

"Shoot."

"We could have just given Mary the colt and waited for the alpha to catch up to us," she shrugged.

"Alice, why..."

Dean let his face fall into his hands.

"How is that any different from using her as bait?" he demanded.

"'Cause she has all the power in that scenario!" Alice explained. "She's not sitting there like a worm on a hook relying on us to save her in time."

"That's a terrible idea!"

"Why?!"

"Alice, I don't want my daughter to have to shoot something!"

"She'd enjoy it," Alice said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "Hell, between you, Danny and whatever part of me she managed to inherit, I'm honestly shocked she's as sweet as she is."

"You're awful. You're just... you're terrible, Alice," Dean scoffed, struggling to keep the amusement out of his tone. He had to admit that the thought of his little girl pulling the trigger on the thing that kept trying to abduct her filled him with savage satisfaction. He pushed the feeling aside, morality and good parenting instincts stepping up to overshadow it. He would protect Mary from being pulled into that life as ferociously as he protected her from the monsters that defined it.

"Yeah, well-"

Alice fell silent as a low creak sounded from the back of the house. She and Dean snapped to attention, sharing a tense glance. Dean drew the colt, headed for a doorway and motioned for Alice to take the other. They separated, stalking from room to room on high alert. Dean's heart pounded, sweat collecting on his brow as he remembered the last time he'd gone head to head with this monster. He'd been helpless then, hopelessly outmatched, unarmed for all intents and purposes. Now, his cautious movements were full of determination. Today would be the day he ended this. Today, he would secure Mary's future. Today, he would avenge Allison's death.

Room after empty room left him frustrated. He relaxed his posture with a groan, letting the colt fall to his side. The sound that triggered their hunt must have been nothing more than the old house settling.

A short cry and the sounds of a scuffle shattered Dean's disappointment. Adrenaline flooded him as he dashed toward the noise, colt high and at the ready. He burst into a bedroom to find Alice and a man he didn't recognize wrestling on the floor. Dean took aim, but stopped short of firing as the pair rolled, the chaos of their struggle making it impossible for him to line up a good shot.

"Alice! Move!" Dean barked.

She and the shifter looked up at the same time, realization crossing their features at the same time. Alice tried to push away from her nemesis, but he moved faster than she could, slamming her head into the floor hard enough to daze her for a few seconds. It was all the time he needed to stand, hauling her up with him and positioning her in front of him with a silver blade at her throat and a twisted savagely in her hair. A shield.

Dean cursed as he realized he'd tipped his hand.

"Now that..." the shifter panted, nodding toward the colt in Dean's hand, "... I haven't seen in ages. Where did you dig that up from?"

"Got it on loan from some friends."

"Dean!" Alice hissed. Her hand flew up, struggling to pull the knife away from her neck. The stronger shifter snarled and all but ignored her scrabbling efforts. "Stop talking and shoot the bastard!"

"I don't have a shot!" Dean yelled. He started to take a step to the side, but the alpha cut him off, breaking the delicate skin above Alice's pulse in warning, still unfazed by her best efforts to free herself from his grasp.

"One more step and I gut the bitch!" the alpha snarled.

"Boy, did you ever pick the wrong play, asshole!" Alice all but laughed.

"Alice, shut up, I'm not shooting you!" Dean groaned, misinterpreting her meaning.

"I don't expect you too."

Dean was puzzled for a few seconds while Alice's expression changed. She swirled something around her mouth, spitting out a gob of bloody, slimy flesh.

"What the-"

Alice interrupted Dean by ditching her host, manifesting to the right of the alpha.

"Hey, buddy," she laughed, throwing a punch that connected solidly with the side of his head. In his arms, Sandy shrieked, the silver blade flashing before her eyes as her alpha flailed, struggling to figure out what was going on. He released his daughter, who fell to the floor and started frantically crawling away. The alpha turned to Alice, realization overtaking his expression as what was happening began to register with him.

Dean took his shot and the alpha doubled over, clutching its stomach as Dean advanced. Alice took her place behind the shifter, turning the tables by aiming a savage kick at the backs of its knees. It fell to the floor and she seized a handful of its hair, pulling it up to face Dean as he took aim one last time.

"This is for Allison, you son of a bitch," he sneered.

The final gunshot was deafening in the confined space, drowning out Sandy's shrieks. She scrambled to her feet, clutching her nicked neck as she made a run for it. Alice released the alpha, letting his body fall to the floor with a heavy thump as outside, neighbors clamored and called out, trying to find the source of the shots. Dean holstered the colt with a look of satisfaction that Alice knew well.

"So, you wanna tell me again how you don't enjoy killing these evil bastards?" she said.

"Only in the healthiest way," Dean admitted with a little shrug.

"Psychopath."

"You gonna get your host, or what?"

"Sure. Meet you at the car?"

"Yeah, we gotta beat it before the cops swarm this place."

Alice caught up to Sandy just outside the back door. The shallow slice on the shifters neck had already stopped bleeding. She and Dean fled the scene, evading the descending authorities by the skin of their teeth. The suspense of uncertain escape only served to escalate the adrenaline fueled high of victory. As they flew through the alley, sirens blared up ahead. Dean grabbed Alice and pulled her with him as he flattened himself against the fence line. Police cars raced past the mouth of the alley, bathing them in red and blue lights and assaulting their ears with shrill wailing that quickly faded.

"Good call," Alice commended him. They sprinted again and almost made it back to the impala before another wave of cars flew past, too close for comfort this time. Alice knew from experience they wouldn't all take the same route, and their alley was just wide enough to attract cars looking for perps. She seized Dean by his jacket and pulled him aside a second before a cruiser split off from the pack. She put her back to the fence and pulled him flush against her as the car made its way toward them, slow on the confined side street.

"Play it off," she muttered, breathless from their mad dash. "Act natural."

Dean caught her off guard by crushing his lips against hers as the car rolled past. The move took her so by surprise that she almost had a hard time following her own directions. Still, she managed to regain her wits and thrust her blood-covered hands under his jacket, hiding them from view of the police. They both struggled to breathe through the kiss as their hearts pounded in chaotic tandem, so hard each could feel the others through their ribs. The police car disappeared through the back of the alley and they broke apart, ensuring the coast was clear before they closed the distance to the impala.

"That was natural?" Alice asked with an amused smirk as they jumped into the car. Dean shrugged, unable to stop himself from grinning as the relief of safety washed over him. It was a struggle to drive slowly as they headed back.

"Your fault. You know another way to act natural in an alley with a woman pinned between you and the fence?" he demanded.

Alice put her hands up in surrender.

"You're right. My bad. Guess we both have questionable instincts."

Silence fell between them as they made their way back to the motel. They were both too busy catching their breath, calming their pounding hearts for conversation.

"Time to pack up and blow out of town," Dean announced as they parked. They were both giddy, electrified from the thrill of battle and the rush of their quick, roaring success of an escape.

"I'm a step ahead of you. Everything's bagged."

"Grab it and run?"

"Sure. You get the stuff, I'll wipe for prints."

"You're just as paranoid as ever," Dean scoffed. "Do you even have fingerprints anymore? Couldn't you just... I don't know, shift them off?"

"Wow. Mind, blown. I never thought of that. I'm totally doing it."

"I can't even tell if you're making fun of me anymore," Dean growled as they rushed into the room.

"I swear I'm not! It's a great idea!" Alice laughed. They bumped into each other hard, Dean on the way to the bed to grab the bags, Alice on her way to the nightstand to start wiping. They both stumbled, Dean grabbing Alice's arms as much to steady himself as to steady her. She got ahold of his shirt, righting herself just in time to avoid falling.

"Sorry, I-"

"My bad, I just-"

"We need to-"

"Yeah."

"Uh-huh."

"Take a breath, calm down a little," Dean suggested.

"Yeah, I'm shaking."

Alice held her hands up for him to see.

"It's been years since I finished up a hunt," Dean confessed. "I forgot how good it feels."

"It's a hell of a rush."

"You can say that again."

"You're still as good as ever," Alice assured him. "Impressive, you know? There aren't a lot of hunters can get out of the game for seven years and jump back in like they never left."

"Yeah, well, it helps to have a good partner filling in the gaps," Dean said humbly.

"We always did make a good team."

He realized he was still holding her arms and let them go. Alice cleared her throat and straightened his shirt and jacket, crumpled and crooked from her grabbing them.

"Yeah," he agreed.

"Shame it's just a one-time thing."

"Yeah."

Dean's clothes were perfectly straight, but Alice's hands lingered on his chest. His heartbeat was steady under her palms, still faster than normal despite the fact that it should have settled into a regular rhythm by now. Her heart was still pounding too, even as the adrenaline drained from her system. The buzz of triumph still vibrated just under the surface of her skin, culminating in a light high that left her floating. She met Dean's gaze and saw all the same emotions she felt shining through his bright green eyes, shared between them. He didn't look at her like he had a few days ago. She looked for the grudge he'd harbored, the reservations, the mistrust, but she couldn't find them. Something fluttered at the bottom of her stomach, sending an electric tingle coursing through her veins that was distinct from the thrill of adrenaline.

Her hands crept up of their own accord, sliding around to the back of his neck as she stepped closer and pulled him down. She leaned in close enough to hear his breathing as it became shallow, close enough to feel his light exhalations against her lips. She stopped herself with colossal effort, biting her lip and closing her eyes as her heartbeat boomed in her ears and her blood burned.

"Sorry," she murmured, just loud enough for Dean to hear. Her hand slid off his neck and she patted his shoulder lightly. "Sorry, force of habit."

"Old habits die hard," Dean agreed quietly. She waited for him to pull away, unable to bring herself to do it. Being this close to him was intoxicating, addictive.

Dean hesitated. Self-control had never been Alice's strong suit. She displayed more restraint in the last five seconds than in the entirety of the time he'd known her. Dean reminded himself how bad he'd gotten hurt the last time they went down this road. He reminded himself of Alice's betrayal, reminded himself how dangerous she was, trying to dissuade himself from leaning down and kissing her again. He reminded himself that as tempting as it was, as bad as he wanted her, the high wasn't worth the pain.

The reminders proved unhelpful. The Alice that stabbed him in the back nearly a decade ago was all but gone, replaced with someone older, humbler, if no less jaded. Experience had tempered her wild nature just enough to make her dependable, cooled her hot temper just enough to make her rational. She was still as dangerous as ever, but danger drew Dean like a moth to a flame. Alice was still everything he wanted, still everything that made him fall for her the first time around, only this time, she had a working conscience that stopped her from taking things too far.

Like now. Alice knew seduction was a step too far in a partnership they'd agreed would be strictly business. Kill the alpha shapeshifter, part ways. That was the deal. Of course, that was before Dean got to know the new Alice.

Dean didn't want to get burned by her again. He didn't want to take another chance on Alice Smith. He didn't want to risk letting her under his skin just so she could betray him again, but she was tantalizing, dangling in front of him like bait on a hook. Her lips were so close to his, cold hands managing to sear his skin through his shirt. Dean's breath trembled as he leaned down slowly, skittishly. Alice was still a wild card, but kissing her felt like coming home.

Dean's lips against hers shocked her into inaction for a second, but she recovered quickly. She moaned into his mouth as they moved together. This was an old dance, but the steps were familiar. They came back like a nostalgic melody, smooth as an old favorite, every move wired deep in muscle memory. Dean's breath hitched as he pulled her closer, tasting cigarettes, strong black coffee, and a hint of her fruity gum. Dean hated cigarettes, hated kissing women who smoked, but found that, strangely, it wasn't a bad taste on Alice. She'd always tasted bitter and the bite of tar that lingered behind her teeth seemed fitting, if no less unpleasant.

"Dean!"

His fingers laced through her hair even as he let her pull back to meet his eyes.

"This is my fault," she said apologetically. "I shouldn't have-"

"Don't ruin the moment," Dean begged.

"You know you don't want to do this," Alice sighed. Her eyes dropped to her feet.

"You know, I really think I do."

"I don't want to do this."

Dean's brow knit with confusion and dismay.

"What-"

"If you're walking away tomorrow, I can't do this with you," she clarified. "It's one thing to say good-bye after a hunt, but if we... if I..."

"So I don't walk away."

"Dean, I..."

She pushed away, disentangling herself rom his grasp and turning her back to him, arms crossed over her chest.

"I can't lose you again, ok? Last time we did this, it ended so-"

"That was a long time ago."

"It's not gonna work out."

"It could."

"It won't."

Alice chuckled to hide the fact that he was starting to annoy her. Dean was intentionally ignoring the reality of the situation. He was thinking with his heart and his downstairs brain.

"Fact is, you have to go home to that little girl of yours. I'm not gonna stop hunting so I can play house with you. Our lives... Dean, we're in two different worlds now. Neither one of us is going to change."

"I don't need you to play house with me," Dean growled. He pulled her shoulder, spinning her around to face him again. "We could make it work. Just because it's two different worlds doesn't mean we can't meet in the middle. If we want. If you want."

Alice couldn't deny that it was a tempting prospect. She missed Dean. She'd spent the last seven years missing him. The thought of having him back, of things going back to the way they'd been before...

"Dean, it's a bad idea."

Dean had a hard time swallowing the reality that Alice was the one trying to talk him down from a bad idea. Despite the gravity of the discussion, it was ironic enough to make him chuckle a little.

"Look at you, being all reasonable. This takes the cake."

"Don't get nasty because you know I'm right."

Dean knew she was afraid of the same thing he was.

"I won't hurt you."

"What are you, some kind of idiot?" Alice laughed.

"I'm serious, Alice! I promise!"

"Never promise someone you're not going to hurt them," Alice scolded him, giving him a playful little push. "Life is too messy to keep a promise like that."

"Well what can I promise?"

"Dean-"

"No, seriously Alice, what? What do you want?! Don't forget, you started this!"

Dean's voice rose along with his anger.

"It was a mistake!" Alice snapped, tone turning sharp as one of her treasured knives. "Or don't you remember? All I do is make mistakes!"

There it was. At long last, Dean glimpsed a mad little light, a manic fire that sparked behind Alice's mismatched hazel eyes. It was the light her eyes used to have all the time, the one he'd been watching for while they worked together. This was the old Alice. Her anger broke through her carefully cultivated facade of discipline as she shouted at him. Her loss of control excited him, like gasoline poured on the quietly smoldering embers of his dormant desire. He craved the fire he saw in her eyes, longed to drink it down and let it consume him. Let her consume him.

"Get out while you can, Winchester! 'Cause the mistakes only get worse from here on out, and I can't handle you judging me because I can't-"

Dean couldn't stop himself. He grabbed her roughly, one hand on her waist pulling her against him while the other clutched the back of her neck, fingers digging into her hair as he kissed her. Secretly, shamefully, Dean loved that he could still break her open after all these years. Alice was like him, a hard exterior that hid deep wounds that never stopped bleeding, never fully healed. She was still angry and he felt it in her response to his aggressive, desperate display of long repressed passion. Even as she kissed him back, all tongue and teeth and hissing, half-voiced curses, she pushed his chest, trying to shove him away.

"Dean, I SWEAR if you-"

"Shut up!"

"Dean, we-"

"Alice, shut up!"

Dean was half-begging, tired of hearing her reasons. Alice was still fighting, still aware of what a bad idea this was, how much it would hurt if it went sideways, how wrecked she would be in the wake of another disappointment at Dean's hands. She couldn't take any more heartbreak, but in the moment it was all but impossible to think of anything but how much she wanted him. His lips on hers, his hands in her hair, his quick, excited breaths blending with hers and blurring the line between them. She could feel that he wanted her just as badly and it was driving her crazy. When Dean left her all those years ago, he left a hole in her heart in the shape of his. Now, he slid back into place like he'd never left.

"Oh, fuck... fuck it."

Alice gave in, helpless to her own hedonism and Dean's persistent passion. She embraced his fire and melted in his arms. They fell apart together.