Typical Disclaimer: This story has the typical violence you'll see in the show along with all the angst. I try not to get too off character or too violent, but I'm giving it a mature rating just to be on the safe side.

I of course own nothing and get nothing but the satisfaction of writing the story and hopefully making it enjoyable for others as well. Comments are always welcome, good or bad. Thank you to everyone and I hope you have been enjoying it.

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"Dean, you need to take the rear and Sam can take point in front of me," Kim was actually being serious but for some reason that phrase ran through her mind in the most alarming way. She dropped her head trying to focus and get the blush off her face, but the light snicker she heard from the boys just made it worse. She had never had so much trouble staying focused and serious about a mission than she was having this time.

She flexed the muscle in her hurt shoulder, causing a sharp pain to radiate slightly. Taking a deep breath, she regained herself and brought her attention back to the matter at hand. "Michael, you'll stay between us …" that was it, they all started laughing.

They moved through the woods as best as they could as the sky darkened and the woods became pitch black, Clouds had moved in and covered the moon's light as they had unloaded their gear. Kim stopped Michael, who she was using as a pack mule, as she put the gun she was carrying into her belt and pulled out several large glow rods. She handed one to Dean and one to Sam, then handed two to Michael, since he wasn't going to be using any weapons. Retrieving her gun she whispered, "This time I want to be able to see clearly and hit my mark. So when they attack, if you can, break the rod and drop it so we can shed a little light on them."

They walked around for what seemed like hours. Michael was panting, his apparent load taking a toll on him. He may have been in good shape doing light exercises and eating right, but he was not use to traipsing through the woods with a pack of supplies. He was more accustomed to library research, praying, studying, etc. "We should take a short break," Kim whispered.

Michael put the bag down and sat next to it. Dean and Sam kept watch and Kim knelt down by Michael, "you doing ok, Junior?" She smiled lightly as he frowned at her and mumbled, "I'm not a junior, but yes, I'm ok. Just a little winded maybe." Kim nodded and dug through the bag for a bottle of water and handed it to him. "Sip lightly, but don't drink too much too fast though. It'll make your stomach upset." He nodded and took the water, drinking it as instructed. As they rested Kim realized that it had suddenly become quite … too quiet in the woods around them.

Kim tensed up, she looked over at Dean, her light shining low to the ground. He had a frown on his face and when their eyes met she could tell they were thinking the same thing. They both looked over to Sam; he was next to the tree looking around with a frown very similar to theirs. She whispered softly to Michael, "something's up, get ready."

Sam and Dean tensed; both still had a gun in one hand and the glow stick in the other. Michael had one of the sticks each hand and hovered them over the ground ready to break the chemical pieces inside so they would give off their soft yellow glow. Kim had her gun in her good hand and stayed protectively next to Michael. They sat for several minutes without a sound heard except for their breathing. Kim could hear them, sneaking softly in the woods around them. They were keeping their distance though, just moving in a circular motion around their little camp.

Michael's breathing became a little more erratic as fear began to creep inside him. Kim set her gun down on the ground and placed her hand on his shoulder. At first he'd jumped, but as she squeezed lightly, then patted his shoulder, he relaxed a little bit. Then they attacked. They jumped up, using a few trees to come at them from above, their claws digging into the bark, but giving away their positions before they reached their targets.

Dean and Sam had already begun to fire as the third came in at Kim. She only fired once before she had to quickly roll out of the way. Michael cracked both of the sticks as he threw himself backwards onto the ground to get out of the way. The soft yellow glow began to brighten the woods around him.

Dean's area was still dark, but Sam's stick was beginning to glow brightly as he continued to shoot at the werewolf. It was moving with remarkable speed as it leapt down onto him. Sam dodged around to the other side of the tree he had been leaning against and the werewolf hit bark only, growling fiercely as it hit the ground hard and without its prey. Sam used the tree to swing himself back around firing off several more rounds into the werewolf's chest. He smiled with satisfaction as it crumpled to the ground.

Dean broke the stick against the tree but nothing happened. He didn't have time to curse as much as he wanted to about it because he was cursing about the werewolf coming at him. The shadows created by the other lights were screwing up his aim and he couldn't tell if his shots were missing or just in the wrong place. All he could see was the dark shape clawing at the trees as it propelled itself at him. He back peddled as the werewolf came down hard on him knocking him back and to the ground. They rolled a few feet and skidded to a halt. Dean couldn't catch his breath; the impact with the ground had knocked the wind out of him.

The werewolf landed where Kim had been sitting. As the light in the area brightened the werewolf looked straight at Michael with hungry eyes. Michael's eyes met the werewolf's and he couldn't move, fear froze him as it stepped closer. It hesitated only a moment as it inhaled sharply, raising its head slightly, and narrowed its eyes.

Kim rolled onto her hurt arm and cried out in anger as pain shot through her shoulder and down her back and arm. She straightened herself up as the werewolf stepped towards Michael. It reared up slightly as it prepared to pounce, and Kim began firing into its back in hopes it would go through to the heart. It must have worked because the werewolf let out a piercing growl that turned almost into a wail as it crumpled on the ground at Michael feet.

The werewolf on Dean regained its stance and prepared to take its well earned kill only to find the other two hunters turning their attention and bullets on it. Howling in anger and annoyance it quickly jumped into the wood and ran as fast as its four limbs would take it. Cursing, Dean got himself to his feet and thought about going after it.

"Don't bother. It moves too fast," Kim indicated her shoulder, "and you're more likely to run into something that wont get out of your way than you are to catch up to it."

"So the last one is just going to get away?" Sam grumbled as he joined the others near the pack.

"Not much we can do until the next lunar cycle." Kim smiled mischievously towards Sam and then Dean, "I'll be here next month, will you?"

Dean was still flustered that his had gotten away, "stupid glow stick … this sucks out loud."

"Well, we have time to recuperate and research the actual people who were the werewolves, so maybe we can find a connection," Michael offered. "Then we can go after the man instead of the beast?"

Kim nodded, "good idea Michael. See, I knew you'd come in handy for something."

Dean chucked lightly, "keep him around so you'll have your own trusty side-kick geek boy with you." Sam just gave Dean a mock glare before smiling himself.

"Ok, lets get out of here before the park rangers come tracking down the noise." Kim stood up and tucked her gun into her belt, offering a hand to Michael to help him up.

"You know, something's strange," Sam frowned as they headed back towards the truck.

"What's that?" Dean asked from behind him.

"Why did the werewolves come after us? I mean, the park rangers are walking the trails and aren't as likely to be walking in a group of four, so why us?"

"Maybe they were ticked off that we killed their buddies?" Kim suggested.

"Yeah, but that leads us back to why they're hunting in a pack to start with and why they would care about what happened to one of the others." Sam pointed out.

"Nothing about this hunt has been normal to say the least," Kim reminded them.

The trip back to the motel was quiet. Dean had insisted on driving and while he and Kim had another one of their stand-offs about it, Michael had climbed into the drivers seat and started the engine, thereby ending the argument and sticking both Kim and Dean in the middle seat to glare at the back of his head. Sam had just laughed as he'd quickly jumped into the passenger seat next to Michael. "We have to go back and kick this things butt if for no other reason than Dean doesn't have a scratch on him," Kim griped, eliciting laughs from the other occupants.

As soon as they reached the motel the split up to the respective rooms to clean up. After checking up and changing Sam's bandages, Dean pulled out the laptop and started working on the links between the first two men found shot. It was time to get some rest until the reports were out about the identities of the next two men they were sure to find in the park eventually, especially after an anonymous tip regarding gunshots was called in by Michael.

Kim woke with a start and rolled over to see the clock's bright red light showing 1:56 PM. She'd slept longer than she intended and wasn't sure why no one had come to wake her. They should be able to get some information about the other men by now, so she put her shoes on and headed to Michael's room. She heard a few noises, things being dropped and closed, before Michael opened the door.

"Everything ok Michael?"

"Uh … yeah, sure. I was just changing the bandages. You ok?" Michael was a little flushed and Kim frowned slightly.

"I'm fine, just slept longer than I wanted. The boys still asleep?"

"I believe so, I haven't heard from them. But I did get the names of the other two people, one of which was a woman, by the way." Michael stepped into the room and went to the laptop.

It didn't matter to Kim if one was a woman or not, they were werewolves and needed to be disposed of. "Ok, so what did you find out about them?" Kim moved into the room and sat down in one of the chairs opposite Michael.

"Well, the connection I've come up with is a big fat nothing. They don't work together, they don't live together, and they don't really hang out in the same social circles. At this point we have nothing that links them other than they're hunting in a pack in the park."

"Go back to each of their medical histories. Find anything on them that relates to dog bites. That'll at least let us know when they were first infected. There should also be some kind of report on where it took place. Maybe that will be our link." Kim stood up and headed for the door, "I'll go wake the boys and let them know what we've got so far."

"Ok, maybe have Sam come see me when you do." Michael smirked.

"I don't think so."

"Kim, he's a good researcher, I could use his help."

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Kim, I may be getting ready to take vows and become a priest, but I am human and I do understand those types of needs. You're young, beautiful, and the only thing around you even coming close to a relationship is the old farts at the church and the young boy you're training. So you've got parental figures and a sibling figure. You have no partners in your life and you need something like that. I mean, tell me, have you ever been in love with anyone?"

Kim almost snarled, "Exactly when do I have time to have a relationship? Do you think relationships are just another even in my day? How naïve are you? My life is hunting. I kill or get killed. There's no romance, love, or family involved. No one knows what I do except other hunters and the priests. It's safer that way for everyone around. No emotional ties to cloud judgment or distract me from what I have to do." Kim opened the door to the motel room, "welcome to my world, Father to be." The closed a little harder than she'd really wanted, but she didn't have time for his psychology crap.

When she reached the boys room she hesitated and listened. While it was extremely soft, she could hear the distinctive clicking of keys. Someone was working on the laptop. She reached up and lightly knocked on the door.

After a second, Sam opened the door, "hey Kim." He stepped back to let her come in, "how are you feeling? How's the shoulder?"

"It'll be fine, thanks." She spoke softly, not sure if Dean was awake, but she heard the water running in the shower and assumed he was.

Sam saw her looking around the room, "he's in the shower." Kim nodded.

"Michael's been doing some research but hasn't found a link between the individuals yet. I'm having him check medical records now to see if we can determine an original attack location for each of them."

Sam nodded and sat back down at the laptop, "I've been trying to find a connection as well."

"Michael suggested that you two get together. Maybe the two geek boys can pull something up working together," she smiled lightly.

Sam smiled back, "that's not a bad idea." He began packing up the laptop as the water in the shower stopped. He walked a little closer to the door and called out, "hey Dean, I'm heading to Michael's room. Kim says he's looking for info and we're going to brainstorm together to see what we can come up with."

"Alright," was Dean's reply from behind the closed door.

Sam grabbed his stuff and headed out, smiling lightly as he closed the door with Kim still in the room sitting at the table reading some of the papers he left behind.

Dean walked out of the bathroom in his towel and froze, "oh, hey Kim. I didn't realize you were still here."

"Don't mind me, I'm just reading some of the papers that you boys printed out. You're research techniques aren't that bad." Kim didn't look up; she just continued to read the paper.

Dean hesitated for a moment and started to grab his clothes and go back into the bathroom to change. He watched her as she read through the papers and appeared to be completely ignoring him. So he shrugged, dropped his towel and started getting dressed. He kept glancing in her direction just to see … maybe hoping she would … if she was checking him out. Please just one sign that she's actually interested in me and has a pulse somewhere in that body! He thought miserably to himself as he finished getting his clothes on.

Kim's focus had left the paper in front of her the moment he'd stepped out of the door. She was blessed with excellent hearing, so she could hear the quickening of his breath and he tried to casually get dressed. She was also blessed with excellent peripheral vision, so from the corner of her eye she was able to make out the curves of his shoulders, chest, waist, legs, and everything in between. While the lighting wasn't perfect and she was only getting a peripheral view, her imagination was able to fill in the rest. She heard his light sigh of disappointment and almost smiled, but she kept her professional mask on as she waited for him to join her at the table. Now was not the time or the place to suddenly get a crush or have her hormones take control.

Actually, when she really thought about it, now was probably the perfect time … if she'd been a normal hot blooded woman, but she'd learned a long time ago that she was not normal and could not act as such. She sighed inwardly to herself as Dean came over to see what she was reading.

Michael heard the firm knock on the door and smiled as he went and opened it for Sam. He glanced behind Sam and smiled again when he noticed that Kim wasn't there.

"What?" Sam asked as he set his laptop up on the table next to Michael's.

"I guess it depends. Did she stay in your room with Dean or go back to her own." The sparkle in Michael's eye made Sam laugh lightly.

"Uh, she stayed in our room reading some of the things I'd printed out."

"Mmmmhmmmm," was all Michael said as he sat down in front of his laptop to start looking for a connection again.

"Should I go get them?" Sam suddenly had an urge to protect them from doing something.

"Of course not," Michael looked up and noted the worry in Sam's eyes. He smiled, "don't worry Sam; it's nothing to worry about."

Sam's frown deepened, "is there something I should know?" Sam's instincts were screaming that something might be wrong. Not that he would care much if Dean and Kim actually did something while he and Michael were researching, but it was something about Michael's demeanor that made him slightly nervous.

Michael examined Sam's expression for a moment, "there's nothing wrong Sam. I'm supposed to evaluate Kim during this hunt. I was supposed to convince her to try a little fun time by taking her to a bar or something to take her mind off her normal job so she can relax. At least once the werewolf was killed. You boys seem to be the perfect diversion instead."

Sam chuckled lightly to himself and shook his head, "you have to admit that the tension between those two is pretty funny."

"While I'm not sure that Dean is the right kind of diversion for her," Michael coughed lightly, "I think anything might be good. According to Father Marcus she doesn't do anything except workout, practice, study, and hunt. He's afraid she might be getting too detached from …" Michael paused as if he were at a loss for words. "Well, anyway, I think that even if she doesn't do anything at all with Dean, she's at least feeling something other than a need to kill stuff." Michael smiled as he turned his attention back to the laptop.

Sam smiled and, even though he still had a strange vibe about Michael, he turned his attention to the work at hand.

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Kim left the table and headed for the door, "I need to go and workout some. I'll be back in an hour or so."

Dean jumped up and wanted to grab her arm but the hurt one was closest and he didn't want to grab it. Instead he just said, "Whoa, wait a sec," and when she paused he moved to stand in front of her. "You know if you need a workout …" the smirk on his face could have charmed almost anyone.