Turns out, Rachel had been right. The way to kill a kitsune was to remove its tail. Simple.

"The problem, though, how do we find it now?" Dr. Adams said.

"You think it's left town?" asked Sam.

Dr. Adams, who was sitting in front of the computer, facing the main room, shrugged. "I'm not sure. The fact that it broke pattern to begin with makes me think it might be focused enough on my daughter to risk staying for a bit."

Dean frowned. "What do you mean broke pattern?"

"It stayed after his first victim died," he replied. "After Alan, it should have moved on to the next school, the next professor. Instead, it stayed."

"Maybe it didn't kill Alan," Rachel said.

Dean turned. She was curled on the couch next to him, still wearing his shirt. There was a book in her lap, and her feet were pressed against his thighs, ultra casual-like.

Part of him wanted to pull her feet onto his lap and hold them. The other part wanted to pull her feet onto his lap and crush the with the book he was reading. A third part wanted to drag her by her feet to her bedroom and finish what had been started earlier. The fourth part was screaming what the hell was wrong with him, Rachel's father was sitting right across from them and Dean knew that he hadn't taken his eyes off the two of them since he'd found Rachel wet and in Dean's shirt.

He was so fucking screwed.

"What do you mean he didn't kill Alan?" said Dean. "He fit the pattern."

"Maybe. Maybe not." She turned the Bambi eyes on him, looking all the more vulnerable because of the angry burn on her neck. "What if Alan just got sick? Maybe he was weakened by the kitsune, but then got naturally sick and died before it could get all the energy it needed. Maybe it was hanging around to find someone who could tide him over."

"And then it met you," Sam said. "And you were completely untouched and, therefore, pretty much stuffed full with the energy it needed."

"Dude." Dean shot a look at his brother, but Sam just rolled his eyes.

Rachel moved and put her feet on the floor.

Dean missed the warmth.

"You know, whether or not he did kill Alan, Kit broke pattern to be with me." She leaned forward, elbows on her knees, eyes on her father. "So, maybe I can get him back."

"You want him back?" Dean grabbed the back of her shirt--his shirt, technically--and tugged her back. "Are you insane?"

She closed her eyes, shaking her head with a sigh. "No, I'm not." Her eyes opened again. "And I don't want him back. I mean, I'll be the bait. I'll call him and tell him it was a mistake. That I want him even knowing what he is."

"I don't know," Dr. Adams said. "It's rather risky."

"I won't let him do anything to me. But I was reading in this book that sometimes, kitsunes helped those that they were with."

"Help?" Dean said warily.

"Like, scholastically. They helped give their lovers this burst of mental energy and help them achieve something really great. I could say that I want him to help me do that. That he can feed off me, slowly, until I've done something to make a name for myself. I think he'll do it." Then Rachel shrugged. "Of course, it doesn't really matter whether or not he does, because you'll be hiding in the wings ready to help me cut his tails off."

"I don't like it."

"I agree with Dean," Rachel's father said. He sighed. "Unfortunately, it's our best chance right now."

Rachel nodded. "I'll call. Guys? Maybe you can put the cot away and move the car. I want him to think I've kicked you out."

Dean glared at her.

"No problem," Sam said.

She stood and went to her bedroom.

"How can you let her do this?" Dean demanded of Dr. Adams.

"I don't let my daughter to anything, Dean," he replied mildly. "She does what she wants. I'm certain you've noticed that."

"Yeah, but you're her father. You should have some control."

He blinked, surprise flitting across his face. "She's twenty-one years old, Dean. She's an adult, living on her own. I can hardly tell her what to do."

Dean threw his hands up. "Of course you can tell her what to do. You're her father. Tell her that this is a fucked-up way to get this thing and you're not going to allow it."

"Now see here," Dr. Adams started angrily, but Sam cut in.

"It's how we were raised," Sam said quickly.

Dr. Adams looked at him.

"Our father was in the Marines, and he raised us as if we were. We follow orders. Well, Dean follows orders," he corrected with a lopsided smile on his face. "I have a problem with the whole thing, but it's just how we were raised. So, Dean wanting you to order he around doesn't have anything to do with her being a girl or being young or anything. It's just how he thinks. You don't like her plan, you have the power to override it."

"I see. Well, Dean, that may be how you were raised, but my family doesn't double as a military unit. We're primarily scholars, not hunters. Our lives are different."

"But you go after things."

"When they present a problem. But, again, we deal mostly in ghosts. From what Rachel's told me, your fare tends to be more dangerous." He shrugged. "If we hunted as your family does, maybe I would have developed the authority to order her to do as I want. As it stands, I don't. And, honestly, I think she's right. I don't like the idea of her using herself as bait, but if we want to stop the kitsune before it moves on, then we need to entice it back. We know it likes her and we also know that it didn't get what it wanted from her. Therefore, we gamble."

"With her life?"

Dr. Adams cocked his head. "Do you distrust you and your brother's skills so much?"

Dean gritted his teeth together and stormed from the room. Under his breath, he muttered, "Go to hell," but he thought, under the circumstances, he probably shouldn't actually say it. So far, Dr. Adams didn't know that Dean had been kissing his mostly naked daughter a few hours ago, and if and when he did, Dean thought it probably best that he not antagonize the man too much.

"So, anyway," Rachel was saying when Dean entered her bedroom, "Dean's gone. He won't be back." She turned and gave a roll of her eyes and smile when she saw Dean. "I know what you are, and I don't mind. I mean, I think that even if you are a fairy, we were good together. You knew me better than anyone, and I... I want to give it a chance. Give us a chance. Especially since I know that you can help my career. Help me achieve greatness and make a name for myself beyond my parents' name. So, please. Please come over. I'll be at my apartment waiting for you. Please come. Okay, so. Bye. I hope you come. Um. And I..." She hesitated and chewed on her lower lip. "I mean, I just..." Again, she stopped, and uncertain look on her face.

Finally, she took a deep breath, her hand tightening on the phone and blurted out, "I love you." She hung up quickly.

"You mean all that?"

"What do you think?"

"I don't know," he said, shaking his head. "There's times recently when I don't know what's an act and what's real. You're too good at pretending to feel things you don't."

She didn't like that, as obvious by the expression on her face. Rachel crossed her arms over her chest. "What do you mean?"

"I just mean... like when we went to visit that woman this morning. You seemed devastated by the professor's death, and then, as soon as we left, you were fine. You were about to sleep with Kit, and now you're professing your love for him, so..."

"It's an act," she said shortly.

"Is it?"

"You think I want to have my life drained?"

"No, of course not. I just... that seemed a little sincere. I'm worried about your ability to do the job." He moved closer to her. "Are you going to be able to kill this thing?"

Rachel frowned and worried her lower lip.

"Crap," Dean swore. He rubbed his eyes, feeling a headache throb behind them.

"This is complicated, Dean, so just shove it!" she snapped. "Kit is the first guy I've ever almost slept with, the first guy that's ever wanted to sleep with me."

"That's fucking bullshit and you know it, Rachel. Guys will sleep with anything, especially if it's both beautiful and has a brain. Don't blame the guys for not wanting to be with you." Then he realized what he said and quickly added, "And don't blame yourself. There's nothing wrong with being a virgin."

"Oh please." She snorted. "I'm twenty-one years old and have never had sex. Making out with Kit with no shirt on is the furthest I've ever gotten with a guy. Can you honestly tell me that isn't completely pathetic?"

Crap. No way he was doing this. No fucking way.

He glanced at the door to make sure it was still closed. "Okay, this goes no where. Never leaves the room, you understand?"

She blinked at him, looking startled, and said, "Um, yeah. Doesn't leave this room."

"Okay." He guided her over to the bed none too gently to the bed and shoved her onto it. "Okay," he said again. He ran his hand over his hair. "Okay, so. So, I like women. I like flirting with them and fooling around with them and they way the smell and all that. And I like sex, like, a lot. Okay? You got that?"

"I never had a doubt in my mind about any of this," she told him.

"I've only slept with four women."

Her mouth fell open. "Uh. That I didn't... Four?"

Dean nodded. "The first was a girl I met in high school. We were at a party, we'd been flirting for a few weeks, there was an empty room..." He shrugged. "The thing was, it wasn't all that great."

"It was your first time."

"No, I mean, the sex was good, but the fact we never spoke again made it kind of meaningless. After that, I just stuck to fooling around with women, not letting it get too far."

She raised an eyebrow. "How far did it go?"

"Well, far enough that some people define it as sex. So, yes, farther than you. Even farther than you and Kit were this afternoon."

"Did you come?"

"Do we need to get into this right now?"

Rachel sighed gave him an open palm gesture indicating he should go on.

"Then, a few years ago, after Sam already left for college, I fell in love with this girl. I thought she was it. You know, the one, so I told her everything. And Cassie didn't believe me and dumped me."

"I'm sorry."

"Doesn't matter," he said shortly. "Anyway, Dad and I left town and there was this bar. There was a girl at the bar, one thing led to another, and, after, I never saw her again. Fucking her didn't make me feel any better, and it just seemed easier not to get that involved."

"More involved than one night stands? Twenty-minute tumbles, even?"

He shrugged. "It's easier to run out and stop evil if you're not naked and in a compromising position. And, anyway, it's safer right? You never know what you're fooling around with."

"Please tell me you're talking about succubae and not actual women," Rachel said.

Startled, Dean looked at her. "What kind of ass do you think I am? Of course I'm talking about demons and shit. Christ, Rachel."

"Sorry."

"Whatever. Anyway, I stopped fucking because, really, driving across the country with your father doesn't make it easy anyway, and then once I got Sam back, I've been too twisted around with everything to even want to. And then Cassie called me."

"What did she want?"

"Her father had been killed by a possessed truck--don't ask--and she suddenly believed me. So, Sam and I went to help her and we hooked up again." He sat next to Rachel, feeling suddenly tired.

"This was recently?"

"A few months back." He rubbed his neck, which was still aching a little from the day before. "Anyway, I was hoping... I thought..." He sighed. "I called her a couple weeks ago. She's seeing some guy. It's serious. She's known him forever, he asked her out. She's thinking marriage."

"Ouch."

He cleared his throat. Her comforter was soft and had flowers embroidered on it in ribbon; the ribbon felt good under his fingernails. "Yeah, well. I guess she's right. What kind of future do I have to offer her?"

"She's an idiot."

"She's not an idiot." He turned, bringing one leg onto the bed so he could face Rachel. "She's smart. Pretty, and deserves more than a life chasing ghosts and scamming credit card companies. And before you say anything, it was her choice, okay? She didn't want me."

Rachel narrowed her eyes and cocked her head. She looked completely confused. "Yeah, I know. That's why I think she's the idiot for giving you up. But, can I assume that, after you talked with Cassie, you got with girl number four?"

He nodded. "Although, depending on what you want to count as sex, it may have been closer to girls four, five, six, and seven. But I only fucked one girl. So, in conclusion, no, I don't think you're pathetic."

"Well. Thanks, Dean, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm still the least sexually experienced person I know."

"And that doesn't mean that you should throw your life away on the first thing that gets you into bed."

"I'm not going to let Kit kill me, Dean. It won't come to that, I promise." Tears suddenly stood in her eyes. "But Kit was the first guy that I was in the same place at the same time with, you know? So, yeah, this is hard."

The phone rang.

"Don't answer," Dean said. "We can do this another way. Even just tell it that you'll meet him somewhere."

"But we're all here." She sniffed, wiped her tears away, and picked up the phone. "Hello?"

Dean watched as her breath caught. A flush went over her cheeks, and she looked away from Dean.

"I didn't plan that, Kit, I swear. I know what you are, but I didn't then." She swallowed, listening. "I just know that you're something called a kitsune. That you seduce scholars. That you can help them in their careers. And I also know." Her voice caught, and this time, Dean knew she wasn't acting. "I also know that you were the only guy I've ever been ready to sleep with. And that I love you and I don't care if you're not human." A tear fell from her eye. "I just need to see you again. Please." She bit her lip.

Dean clenched his fists in his lap, restraining himself from tearing the phone from her.

"Tonight at seven. Here. That's good. No, I swear, they're gone. It'll be just you and me." She smiled. "Yeah. I'll see you then."

"So," Dean said after she'd hung up. "Seven?"

"Yeah." She wiped her eyes again. "I'm sorry."

He shrugged. "I guess we should get out there. Help Sam and your dad finish packing everything up."

"Yeah. You're probably right." She hesitated, then laid back. Her eyes felt shut and she heaved a sigh.

"Okay. Maybe I should go help them."

"It'd probably be best."

Dean kicked off his shoes and crawled next to her. "Ah, they can handle it. It's been a long day, and I don't think you should be left alone."

Rachel rolled onto her side and opened her eyes to look at him. "You're a true gentleman, Dean."

"Never been accused of that before."

"Well. Then, you're a true hero."

"Now that's more like it."

Her machete was on the couch, underneath a blanket. There was a large hunting knife sheaved at the small of her back, courtesy of Dean. There was another strapped to her thigh underneath her flowing skirt (once again, courtesy of Dean, only Rachel wasn't had lied to her father about who'd put it on her). She'd put on a dress and make-up, lit some candles to make it look real.

Dean, Sam, and her father were all hidden in the bedroom. Dean had wanted to be somewhere in the main room, but there was no good place to hide.

"You need to get a better place," Dean told her before retreating to the bedroom.

"Yeah, well, the rent's good. And the owners never care if I'm late with the check."

"Which reminds me, your grandmother said that two weeks is a little much and to get the check to her soon," her dad said. He kissed the top of her head and whispered, "Be safe."

There was a knock on the door. Rachel took a deep breath, trying to slow her heart, then opened the door.

He looked exactly the same. Bright red hair, blue, blue eyes, creamy skin. He was just... beautiful.

This was going to be so much harder than she thought.

"You look good," Kit said after stepping inside. He glanced around, very obviously noting the absence of the cot and pull out couch. "You're not hurt?"

"No. I mean, it was like a first degree burn. That's all." She held out her wrist. "See."

Kit took her hand and kissed the burn. "I am so sorry. I would never for the world hurt you, Rachel. I swear."

Oh God. Oh shit.

She pressed her hand against the knife on her thigh and thought of Dean.

"So." Kit dropped her hand. "What are we going to do?"

Rachel gestured to the couch, but he shook his head.

Damn. She needed to get him further away from the door.

"I want to give this a shot," she said. She went to the couch and perched on the arm. "I like... I mean, I really think I'm in love with you."

"What about Dean?"

"Dean's gone."

"But that doesn't mean..."

"No, it does." She ran her hand through her hair, which was loose around her face for once. She didn't like it like this, but Sam and her father had both said it looked great. Dean had just shrugged. "Dean was never going to be anything serious. He doesn't settle down, wouldn't know how. And that's good for him." Her palms were sweating. "You're here. And you'll be here for me, right? Or are you going to move after you're done with me."

Kit crossed to her and took her hands. "It's been years, centuries, since I've been with anyone your age. I've grown rather cynical. Ever since coming over here, I haven't found anyone I felt I could really be with for a long time." He knelt in front of her and put on hand on her knee. "And we can be together for a long time. We can get married and have kids and it would be wonderful. And I can help you make a name for yourself, if that's what you want."

Rachel frowned, tears pressed behind her eyes again. "But I thought... I thought you just fed off people's life energy until they wasted away."

"Sometimes. If they're older, yes. I give them a few good months. But not with you."

"Who are you to decide?" She stood and moved around him. If he would only sit...

"Time and again, through the centuries, I have been told by people who are lying on their deathbed that they have rather gone out while they still felt alive than spend months or years feeling their bodies slowly die. I find people worthy of feeling that supreme happiness one feels when they first fall in love and give them that again."

"And then kill them."

He sat. "No. Do I use their energy, yes, but I'm not a murderer. And I would never hurt you. I love you."

Fuck. Shit. Damn it, why did he have to be so perfect?

"Well, I just... I think..."

"Rachel?" Kit stood, concern. "What's the matter."

Dean was right. She couldn't do this. She couldn't...

"I'm sorry," she said. "I can't. I lied. I'm..."

"You..."

Her bedroom door opened. Dean and Sam emerged, Dean with a shot gun, Sam with a puppy.

Kit hissed and backed away. "How could you?"

"I had to. You can't go around killing people."

"Let the dog go, Sam," Dean ordered.

"Rachel, the door," her father said.

Rachel wasn't quite sure what happened. One moment, she was standing next to Kit, watching as Sam put the squirming, growling, barking puppy on the ground. The next, Kit had grabbed her and burst into flames, reverting again to fox form.

"Rachel!"

She didn't even know who shouted. She couldn't see anything but the flames all around her, obscuring her vision, washing over her skin. Hot, so hot, it burned, except ... except, it wasn't burning and Kit held her and she could feel fur against her skin, hot and spiky, and there was a tongue on her neck and a damp nose nuzzling behind her ear.

"I do love you," Kit said, his voice a low growl.

Rachel looked into the fox's dark blue eyes. "Yeah. Me too."

She pulled herself away and tugged her skirt over her thigh. The puppy had Kit by the ankle, distracting him. Rachel pulled her knife free. She stepped around Kit and brought the knife down onto where the five tails sprouted from his body.

There was a scream. A flash. A hot, scalding burst of blood.

She fell backwards, the world spinning too fast. Then, Dean's face.

Then. Nothing.