Okay, well. The end of the semester sucks. It seems as I cross one thing off my to-do list I add two or three more. Anyway, with only a few days of classes left I was finally able to sit down and bang out a new chapter. Looks like with finals coming up and then a crazy summer, I might get another chapter done this week or next week, and then I'll probably be updating sporadically. Plus my muse keeps changing ideas on me, so the outline for this fic has changed a lot since its first inception, so where things go is kinda in the air right now. Anyway, enough of my rambling, enjoy and please review!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2: Caught In the Act

Shocked, and unsure of what to say, Dean's pace slowed as he neared the counter. He immediately recognized the young woman whom Sam was chatting with. "Gina, well I gotta say, never thought I'd be seeing you again." Dean quickly put up a wall, not exactly wanting to talk with the first girl who broke his heart.

Gina easily picked up on Dean's hurt, and even though the situation was out of her hands, blamed herself. "Dean, please don't be like that. I never meant…" She broke off, not wanting to break down in public. "Look, it was a long time ago and I'm sorry. Now, do you want something to eat or not?"

Sam quickly jumped in before things really got started, "Um Gina, why don't you give us a few minutes." Dean sighed and rolled his eyes, knowing exactly what that meant. Sam wanted to talk.

"Yeah, sure, whatever," and with that, Gina retreated back into the kitchen.

Dean turned to Sam and shrugged, "What?"

"You come face to face with the girl who's haunted you for eight years, and you're asking me what?" Sam couldn't believe his brother.

"Haunted? Come on Sam, spare me the Doctor Phil crap."

"Okay, bad choice of words, but you can't tell me you're not happy to know she's alive. You could at least be nice to her."

"Seriously Sam, knock it off." Dean wasn't taking any chances. He wasn't about to open up when he knew in a few days he'd never see her again.

The boys began to look over the menu; they were both starved, and were soon interrupted by the petite brunette waitress Maggie. "What can I get you?"

Sam raised an eyebrow, "Um, what happened to Gina?"

"Oh, Reggie? Her shift's over soon and she said she wasn't feeling well, so she's taking off. You like her or something?"

"Or something." Sam turned to Dean. "You're just going to let her leave again, or are you going to do something?"

"You're a pain in the ass," Dean muttered as he got up and then exited the Diner. He jogged around the building to the parking lot in the back and found Gina pulling on her jacket as she walked across the lot. "You running' away again? Did I miss something," he yelled to get her attention. Gina stopped and spun around, revealing the helmet she had in her left hand. "Wait, that bike is yours," Dean asked, eyeing the lime green motorcycle across the lot.

"Don't look so surprised. Got to admit though, I didn't see this coming. With the impression I got inside, I thought you hated me, which, I wouldn't blame you if you did. Heck, I'd hate me too."

"I don't hate you…" Dean paused, trying to think of something to say. "Hey, why don't you stay and have lunch with us."

Gina looked down and stared at the pavement, "I don't know, you really want to open that can of worms?"

"No, but, maybe we just forget all that, and simply have lunch. Please? It's the only way I can shut Sam up." Dean smiled.

Gina smiled back as she gave it some thought, what the hell, and then the two walked back inside. They moved to a booth and spent the next hour chatting. The boys gave her their usual "road trip" story, while Gina too lied about what she had been up to. She made up a story about her father getting a job in Europe and that now she was going to school here in Liberty Springs. As they finished lunch the boys asked for directions to a moderately priced motel. After a short silence Gina offered the boys her apartment. "My roommate recently moved out, so there's an extra bedroom, and the couch is comfy too. Why pay for a room when you can stay with a friend for free?" As much as he didn't want to, Dean agreed, not being able to shake the word free from the front of this mind. Gina then showed the boys out the back of the Diner, hopped on her bike while the boys got in the Impala, and drove them to her apartment.

They entered through the front door of the duplex. Gina had the ground apartment and the door opened into the living room. The kitchen was visible in the rear, and the two bedrooms were off to the right, with the bathroom in between. "You two can fight over who sleeps where, but the front bedroom is the one that's open. But like I said, the couch is comfy too. Anyway, I've got some extra blankets in my room that you can grab later if you want them. Now um, I've got a project to do, so I've got to meet with my partners. Feel free to hand out, I'll be back later." Gina grabbed her laptop and a few books from her room, placed them in a backpack, and left for her study group.

Sam and Dean took this opportunity to retrieve the past weeks newspapers from Gina's pile of recyclables to see if there had been any other attacks. Beyond the attack on the teens two nights ago, the only thing they found was that Gina's neighbor in the adjoining apartment found their Scottish Terrier mauled but still alive a few days ago. This warranted further research, so the boys took a trip to the library.

First they started with local history, trying to find if it was the first time this had happened, or if it was an annual event. After nearly two hours of digging through over 150 years of history the concluded it was an isolated incident. Next, they need to find out why it was here, so that involved researching everything they could find on werewolves and other hell hounds. Sam took the werewolves, while Dean took the hell hounds. Sammy's books were piling up fast, but every book that Dean needed seemed to be missing. A few books corresponded with Sam's list, but after striking out an eighth time, Dean went up to the librarian. The librarian quickly scanned Dean's list and sent him to the back corner cubicle, where she said a young blonde was using them. Dean strolled around the stacks and found the girl who was busy using the books. "Project with partners huh? Looks like lonely research to me."

Gina jumped as Dean startled her, "What are… Um, yeah, about that, we uh… needed some more info."

Dean picked up one of the books she had opened in front of her. "You're researching," he read the title on the page," black dogs?"

"Um, yes. It's for a, uh, European Cultures class," she answered, snatching the book back.

Dean grinned," You never could lie well on the spot."

"Okay, so what if I lied. Wait a minute, how'd you find me anyway? What are you doing here?" Gina was turning the game around on Dean.

"Me, uh, looking for a good book." Dean's grin grew wider, as he was hoping to melt her with his charm.

"Nice try, looks like we've both got secrets to share. Why don't we take this back to my place." Gina gathered her things while Dean went and got Sam.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Like it, hate it, think you know what's going to happen? Let me know, I'm always open to constructive criticism.