Uploaded exactly one week later! Take that procrastination!

Ive updated for all my lovely reviewers who just put me over the seven hundred mark yesterday. Ily guys T.T

Not sure when the next update will be as I refuse to do this through my phone again. Seriously it's a pain in the ass.

So, purely based on reviews I received on the last chapter I take it everyone's happy to see Harry finally taking a step forward and kicking some ass. Well, so am I! You'll be seeing more of it, but in moderation, so don't get too bloodthirsty yeah? I'm still working on my fight scene writing.

Also, I'm seeing a lot of 'Woo! Gabriel's alive' reviews. Makes me wonder what you guys are gonna do when I stop saving people. Eh, we'll find out.

The Winchesters were waiting for them when they popped into Bobby's salvage yard. Dean especially seemed anxious. He was sitting on the steps watching thin air and twitching.

When Harry and Gabriel materialized he jumped up from his position and strutted forward. Clearly he'd been waiting on them.

"Is she okay?" Dean demanded with no preamble.

Harry blinked. "Who?"

"Baby, is she okay?" Dean demanded again.

"We just saw that there was a 'gas explosion' at the hotel where everything went down." Sam butted in looking apologetic. "Dean's been worried about the Impala."

Harry shook his head.

"Thanks for the concern about us." Gabriel spat with annoyance. "We're fine. It's not like we just saved your asses or anything."

Dean had the humility to look slightly abashed, but he was still staring at Harry with a sort of pleading.

Harry relented drawing his hand out of his pants pocket. He opened his fist to reveal a small black car in the center.

Dean's eyes grew large before he snatched the matchbox sized vehicle from the wizard. "What happened to her?"

Sam was looking at the car in curiosity. It was obvious he had a million questions brimming just beneath eh surface that he wanted to ask about the miniaturized car.

"I shrunk the car to bring it here. It was a much simpler process than turning it into a portkey, and I doubted you wanted to take a bus to get to it." Harry said placing his hand back in his pocket and raising a brow. "I think the more important issue here is that you call your car 'Baby'."

Sam snorted in amusement, but his curiosity came barreling out now that his mouth had opened. "So all the stuff in the car? Is that shrunken too? Like the weapons in the trunk? How did you do it?"

Harry turned to the inquisitive brother. "One question at a time motor mouth." He said and motioned for Dean to place the car on the ground. "If you'll set that down I'll return it to its normal size and end your panic attack."

Dean looked caught between desperation to return the Impala to proper size and suspicion for the man who'd changed it in the first place. For all he knew Harry would do something even worse, like turn it pink. In the end logic won out. After all, who would turn it back if not Harry. He placed the small car on the ground and backed away when signaled by Harry to do so.

In front of their eyes the Impala expanded until it was once again its normal size.

Dean proceeded to circle the car checking for damage. Sam seemed more fascinated by what he'd just seen than worried about the car.

"You realize if that car so much as blows a tire in the next month he's going to blame you right?" Gabriel asked amused.

Harry shrugged. "He can try to find something wrong with it, but the repairing spell I cast pretty much returned it to the best shape it's been in, in years.

"So, what happened?" Sam asked, taking his eyes from the car. "The camera footage they were showing was insane. You could barely tell there was a hotel there. It just sort of looked like a smoldering pit."

Harry fidgeted uncomfortably.

"Lucifer got his ass handed to him." Gabriel said happily. "And I nicked this." Gabriel disappeared for half a second before he was back and holding the vial he'd liberated from Lucifer.

Harry froze at the sight of it. He eyed it with a critical gaze.

"What is that?" Sam asked not really seeing why Gabriel sounded so pleased with himself.

"Mind control drug number sixteen." Gabriel supplied with a smirk. "It's the mystery goo Lucy used to trap Harry."

Sam did a double take on the inconspicuous glass tube. "So we get rid of it?"

"No." Harry shook his head. "I wouldn't doubt Lucifer has more of the stuff hidden somewhere. Tossing this would be inadvisable. We take it and have someone figure out what it is. Then we work up some sort of counter for it. We might have gotten lucky this time and snatched it from him, but there's no guarantee we could duplicate the act and I'm pretty much useless while it's around."

Sam was nodding. "If you want Bobby and I can take some and see what we make of it, but we're not scientists so I'm not sure how much we'd actually be able to figure out."

Harry nodded. "Feel free." Harry said nodding toward the vial but not moving any closer. He glanced about before raising a quizzical brow. "Where is Castiel?"

"Searching for Adam." Sam responded. "We haven't been able to find anything yet. Castiel doesn't know how to remove an angel from a vessel either. So we're a bit stuck on that front."

Harry nodded. Unfortunately he couldn't think of anything that would force Michael from Adam's body either.

"So I take it you're the one who leveled the hotel?" Dean cut in finally accepting that his car was in good shape. Harry was actually surprised he hadn't started the damned thing to make sure Harry hadn't screwed up the engine. "I've never seen an angel pull that kind of mojo so I doubt it was feather brain over here."

Harry shifted again eyes not meeting either of the brothers'. The action was somewhat telling.

"You didn't mean to, did you?" Sam asked wide eyed.

"Anybody else think it's a bit chilly out here?" Gabriel cut in mock shivering. "I could do with a coat. What about you guys?"

"No, I didn't mean to." Harry finally admitted shooting a Gabriel a look that said 'cease and desist'.

"So, what? You get emotional and stuff blows up?" Dean summed up tactlessly.

"Essentially, yes." Harry said eying the older brother with some malice. "So don't push your luck."

"Did anyone else make it out alive?" Sam quickly switched topics. "I mean… I'm not the biggest fan of pagan gods with the whole eating people thing, but they seemed to be on our side for the most part."

"Once you get passed the whole 'wanting to kill us' spiel." Dean added.

"I'm not sure. I believe at least Ganesh made it out. I'll have to find a way to contact them all. It shouldn't be exceedingly difficult." Harry said lost in thought. He was going through his mental list of contacts trying to figure which ones would be best at locating the gods.

"So…" Sam started awkwardly, unsure how to phrase his question. "Out of curiosity… your… 'god' name…?"

Harry blinked. "Ah, oh… Nergal is the one the others like to tag me with. I'll admit, it's not the only moniker I've picked up over the years." He eyed the curious Winchester. "It doesn't mean much. Not to me anyway."

"Right…"

"I'll think I'll head off now." Harry said before turning to Gabriel expectantly. It took a moment for the angel to remember why Harry wasn't simply disappearing.

"Oh, right." Gabriel disappeared in a rush of wings taking the vial with him and freeing Harry from its paralysis. Harry disappeared a moment later.

"Well, at least he warns us."

Ganesh proved to be incredibly easy to get in contact with. Apparently he'd had his feelers out trying to find Harry as well, most likely to see if the wizard had died in his pissing contest with Lucifer. Both were happy to hear that the other was alive.

All together Ganesh had managed to save a whopping total of three gods from the hotel… including himself. It wasn't an impressive number, but he hadn't had a whole heap of time either so Harry supposed three was better than zero.

Ganesh had described to Harry the carnage he'd stumbled upon in the halls after fleeing the ballroom. He'd found Odin and Isis dead outside, Isis only identifiable by the dress she'd worn that night. And Mercury had been slumped across the front check in counter.

Harry wondered what the place would look like to the muggle police once they'd dug their way through the ruins… if they did.

Harry scheduled a more secretive meeting between the survivors to be held later that month. No one was obligated to attend, but somehow Harry doubted that they would forgo the opportunity, if only so they could complain.

As it was, Harry was currently sitting at his desk flipping through a magazine that had been placed there by his new secretary. The new woman, Jenny, had failed to bring him any of the paperwork he usually rifled through during his down time. He wondered if this was just because she had no idea what she was doing, or if she had filed it all herself somehow. Either way, he was a bit irate not to have something to fill his time with now.

His lack of distractions was pulling him back toward the topic of 'Bela'. She stilled laid dormant within him, and he'd yet to decide if rebuilding a body for her was a good idea. He was still settled firmly on 'maybe'. He'd like to think that bringing her back would put her solidly on his side, but the lucrative theif had a habit of changing sides half way through the game, and while she posed no real threat he could save himself trouble later on by simply not bringing her back in the first place. Alas, choices.

His phone rang breaking the uncomfortable silence that had descended in the room. Harry grabbed the device and stared at the displayed number. "Hello." He answered.

"Harry? Hey!" called an excited, but clearly strained voice.

"Jo?" Harry blinked. "I don't remember giving you this number."

"I got it from Sam." She said before removing the phone from her face and yelling at someone. "Anyway, I'm on a hunt right now. There's a whole heap of werewolves here, and we could use a little help."

"Who's 'we'?"

"Well, mom's here, and two other hunters we ran into down here." She said almost casually. "We really could use an extra hand."

"What about the Winchesters? They're always happy to play hero for a damsel in distress."

"They're on the other side of the country doing who knows what, but they said they wouldn't be free for a few days unless it was absolutely necessary."

"It sounds necessary."

"Nah, we've got you." She said happily. "Besides, in the time it takes them to get down here the moon probably won't be full anymore."

"So it'd be hard to track werewolves. Right…"

"So can you lend a hand? I'd appreciate it."

"How many?"

"From what we can tell? At least six." Jo answered sounding a bit awed by her own response. "I've never seen anything like it. Most of the werewolves I've heard of were lone hunters, but these seem to have some sort of pack mentality. It's crazy. It also means it's super hard to catch them off guard."

"You could always ID them while they're transformed and take them out while they're human." Harry suggested.

"We can't get close enough to ID them at night." She said with a sigh. "We really could use the help."

Harry heaved a sigh. "Give me the location. I'll be there as soon as possible."

"Great!" Jo said enthusiastically. She rambled off their motel address and then disconnected, probably to tell the others the 'good' news.

Harry's mind was caught on trying to figure out who the other hunter could be. He didn't know many who went as far South as Florida. It was a pretty sparse place as far as hunts go. Not really a place to find anything big. Florida was much too sunny and flat for most monsters. There was the occasional vamp nest or wandering chupacabra but not much else to interest a hunter.

Harry chucked the magazine he was reading into the bin. He may as well go and help the Harvelles. It's not like there was anything momentous happening here, and the thought of a werewolf pack was intriguing. It hadn't been uncommon with the werewolves of previous Earths but this incarnation of the species had struck him as rather less intelligent than their predecessors.

Harry didn't waste time. He apparated back to his house and picked out a few of his less nice suits and found his way into a rarely used armory. He grabbed two pistols there and a vast array of silver bullets. He could kill werewolves without the bullets. All that was really required was dismemberment, but the mess attained afterward usually wasn't worth the effort. So he holstered two standard issue glocks and covered their presence with his jacket.

Done arming himself and packing Harry turned on the spot and found himself in Florida next to a sleazy place named 'Harbor Inn and Motel'. It seemed the Harvelles were no more exclusive in their rooming choice than the Winchesters were. Harry found room number seventeen and gave a sharp rap at the metal door. The door swung open immediately to reveal a disheveled looking Jo.

She sighed in relief and lowered her pistol. "Glad you showed up." She said stepping back and allowing him through the door. He stepped over the standard devil's trap and entered the decently sized hotel room. Ellen nodded in his direction from her place on the second bed.

Harry glanced about. "So, where are the other members of your merry band?" Harry asked as Jo swung the door shut.

"Well one of the guys, Garth," Ellen started. "Went to get more bullets. The guy's a terrible shot; spent all his rounds hitting thin air. It's a miracle the cops didn't find us."

"We just got back ourselves." Jo said moving around Harry and picking up a clip to start loading it. "We figured we might as well restock on supplies since we needed to be here when you arrived anyway."

"I feel like I've heard the name Garth before." Harry hummed. "So who's the other guy?"

Jo and Ellen shared a look. "He said his name's Roy, but we're not sure if that's an alias or not." Ellen supplied. "He doesn't seem like good news though. He's a bit too eager to jump in for the kill if you know what I mean."

"Trigger happy, honestly it's an attribute I associate with most hunters."

Jo looked like she wanted to argue, but Ellen just seemed pleased by the announcement, like someone was finally siding with her on an issue for once. Harry queued on to that fact immediately. It was something that had caught his attention throughout his ordeals with Ellen and Jo in the past. Ellen seemed to have an issue with Jo choice of career, and they seemed to bicker about it all the time. They must have had one of their little spats recently for Ellen to be that glib about someone agreeing.

Three knocks sounded on the door before it opened to reveal two men. One was of average height with a muscular build and a face that seemed to have a permanent scowl etched into its features. He might have been in his mid thirties. It was hard to tell as the scowl made him seem even older. The other was a slightly taller gangly man in maybe his mid twenties that easily could have passed as a teenager.

The shorter man sized Harry up and seemed to come to a conclusion he didn't like because immediately drew his firearm and leveled it in Harry's direction. The taller man leaped back in surprise, eyes going between the gun and Harry not sure if he should intervene.

Jo gasped a bit and made to move in front of Harry but Ellen held her back.

"Roy, was it?" Harry said eying the gun with little interest. "You wouldn't happen to know an Addam Setcher would you?"

Roy didn't bat an eye at the question. "If I did?"

"Nothing…" Harry said meeting the man's eye. "You just seem to have his 'shoot first ask questions later' logic down to a 't'."

"Put down your gun down Roy." Ellen chastised. "Harry's here to help. You got a problem with that the door's behind you."

Roy lowered his gun hesitantly but he didn't put it away. Instead he toyed with the trigger nervously as the taller, skinnier man passed him.

"Name's Garth." Garth offered his hand smiling goofily. "Glad you could make it."

Harry stared at the hand for a moment before looking up and meeting the kid's eyes. "Pleasure." He didn't take the offered hand.

Garth didn't seem disheartened in the least by Harry's blow off. "So, now we've got five. That's almost even numbers." Garth declared happily. "I still think I could've taken them alone."

Harry glanced over at him in surprise. "You thought you could handle six or more werewolves on your own?"

Garth nodded.

"How are you not dead?"

"So, from what we figured out yesterday and today…" Jo pulled out a map of the town. "They're meeting up at this park." She pointed a large park just off the center of town.

"And the victims?" Harry asked not having had a chance to grab a paper on the way over. "Have you linked the anger killings yet?"

"Well, that's the thing. We can't seem to link any of the killings to anyone through anger." Jo said pensively. "No jealous girlfriends or cheating husbands. Not even a 'sorry I sneezed too loud at your parent's dinner party' fight. Most of the victims were single, male, and in their twenties. They even had similar looks, thin and dark haired."

Harry blinked then his eyes narrowed. "Did you ask me to come as bait?"

Jo shifted nervously. "Only if we can't take them out some other way. They didn't go after Garth."

"Did you ask Garth here as bait?" Harry asked a bit more surprised.

"What? No!"

"We just met. I was down here working the case already." Garth said. He sounded like he was trying to puzzle out their reactions. "I've was here last month too, but I couldn't find anything."

"I take it they didn't go after Roy either? Probably put off by his surly attitude." Harry quipped.

Roy looked ready to shoot Harry then and there consequences be damned.

"No, they didn't." Ellen agreed making no comment on Harry's reason.

Harry nodded. "So the question is, do we pick them off individually or in a group?"

"If we could get positive ID's and then nab them individually that would be best." Ellen conceded. "But I don't know how doable that is and we're running short on time."

"The full moon ends tomorrow night… so plan B." Harry nodded. "We wait for them to gather and then strike."

Ellen and Jo nodded and Harry was sure he heard Garth mutter something about 'Garthing them'. Whatever the hell that meant.

Ellen checked her watch. "We should get going. We're losing moonlight."

"Right, division of labor."Harry said eying their forces. "Ellen, do you have an issue working with the delightful Roy?"

Ellen shook her head but her eyes kept flicking to Jo.

"I work alone." Roy countered.

"Then why are you here hotshot?"

Roy didn't offer a reason, but neither did he leave.

"Jo, you'll go with Garth. The two of you can watch the park. If there's any sign they're starting to gather move a safe distance away and give me a ring." He turned back to Ellen. "You two can follow me. I'll play bait this once."

Jo looked ready to protest, but Harry shook his head in her direction.

"I doubt there'll be any action on our end." Harry offered quietly as the group split, a sort of reassurance. She only half bought it, but she held her tongue on the matter.

Ellen confronted him as he left the room. "Why split me and Jo up?"

"Not so much because it's you and Jo, I assure you. I don't think that scrawny kid could win a fight with a wet blanket let alone a hunter with a gun. I'd much rather someone I trust have an eye on him, and I wouldn't trust Roy with a quarter let alone some kid's life." Harry explained.

Ellen seemed to accept his explanation and moved away to say her goodbyes to Jo, probably including a lengthy lecture about being safe. When they split and went their opposite ways ten minutes later everyone was carrying a gun and moving determinedly.

Harry's group reached a more inhabited part of town. There were a few bars around here and drunks waiting for cabs seemed to be a prevalent adornment of each corner. "If you see me pull my phone out that means you need to meet up with me. Either Jo has called or my cover's been blown somehow." Harry explained their signal. Then Harry split from the other two and they made their way far enough behind Harry not to be easily noticed as a trail if one of the wolves showed up.

Harry meandered down one reasonably lit road and onto another always keeping a steady pace and looking about like a lost tourist. After about ten minutes of aimless wandering he turned more purposefully down a darker side street. This one seemed abandoned, not even a homeless person scavenging in the alleys. It was the perfect place for an ambush if the werewolf cared to attack. Harry tried to keep himself from tensing. Instead he stopped for a second to stare at a number on a building as if checking the address against some mental map.

There was a scuffling sound across the street which Harry diligently ignored for half a second before turning like any scared human would do in the dark, but there was nothing there. A slight shift in light caught Harry's attention. A rat scuttled across the pavement. Harry rolled his eyes and continued down the street.

Another hour and a half and walking up and down streets proved fruitless. Harry's phone vibrated and he pulled it from his pocket and recognized Jo's number. He flipped it open. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Jo replied quickly. "But we just caught sight of two of them moving toward the pond in the middle of the park."

"Right. Try to keep an eye on them, but stay out of sight. If what you said is correct there are still four more heading in your direction and you don't want to be in their way. We'll be there as soon as possible." Harry said. "Give me your closest landmarks. Text me new ones if you have to move."

Harry spotted Ellen and Roy approaching and he waved them over as Jo prattled off a few of the prominent areas they were near. Ellen and Roy picked up their pace now that Harry had acknowledged them.

"What happened?" Ellen asked when they were close enough to talk normally.

"Jo called." Harry said slipping the phone back into his pocket. "They've spotted two of the werewolves in the park. She thinks they're getting ready to meet."

Ellen nodded. "Let's head over then."

Harry nodded his agreement and they made for the park.

It was hard to see in the unlit park. Harry was surprised Jo had recognized the werewolves at all.

The closer they got to the center, where the pond laid, the more light installments they found though. Eventually they reached the public bathroom next to a set of pavilions marked '2c' that Jo had designated. Jo stood up from behind some nearby bushes and waved them over with a finger over her lips. They must be close to the wolves.

They three made their way over and ducked into the bushes as well. Jo silently pointed out a small group of almost patient looking people standing near the edge of the pond. They didn't seem overly 'wolfy' and Harry was starting to question if Jo had simply flagged the wrong group and called them here for nothing. Sure, the four people standing there weren't talking and they kept twitching at random intervals but they could be addicts waiting on their dealer or something. Then one of the women, quite suddenly, dashed forward inhumanly fast. She struck at something on the edge of the water and came back toward the group holding a struggling duck.

Together, the group ripped into the small animal until the retrieved the heart from its chest then they waited. No one ate the heart it just stayed there in the woman's hands. The rest of the body was tossed to the side haphazardly for some child to find the next day.

"Well, that was disturbing." Harry said eyes wide.

"That's an understatement." Jo replied just as quietly. "Why's she still holding the heart?"

They didn't have to wait much longer to find out. Another of the wolves showed up soon after and the other four seemed almost cowed in its presence. The woman offered up the heart she'd retrieved. The new man took it sniffed it once then handed it back. The woman happily tore into it now. It was consumed in seconds.

"You were right…" Harry said with wonder. "They're exhibiting pack behavior. I've never seen the like in this breed of werewolf."

"This breed?" Roy whispered back harshly.

"Not a story I'd like to get into." Harry told him flatly.

"How do we Garth them?" Garth asked.

Everyone stared at him like he'd grown a second head. "'Garth' them?"

"Yeah, it's my word for getting the bad guys. I Garth them." He said with a smile.

"Right…" Harry refocused. "I can put up a containment field," He eyed Roy and Garth. "Don't ask. It'll keep them from running off. Then all you'd have to do is go in guns blazing and shoot the buggers down."

"Sounds like a plan to me." Ellen agreed. Jo nodded as well. Roy looked ready to pull a gun on Harry again.

"Let's do it then." Harry said focusing. He concentrated on the area around the werewolves. There was a sickly green shimmer in the air and then it faded to nothing. "It's up. About five feet on every side of them. It'll keep them in but you're trapped once you're in too so make it count. I can release it if I have to though so try not to take too many risks."

The others nodded. Roy seemed to be putting priorities in order. First off seemed to be killing the werewolves while he had the chance. He was sure number two was 'shoot Harry in the head'. This was why he disliked hunters.

Jo, Ellen, and Roy charged forward trying to get within the barrier before they'd lost their advantage. Garth stumbled upwards staring at Harry. "Dude, what are you?"

"Not the time Garth." Harry replied focusing on holding the barriers as the other three broke through to the other side.

Ellen took her first shot at the leader, then all hell broke loose.

Garth shoved Harry sending him tumbling into a tree. He hadn't been expecting the sudden attack. Unfortunately this meant he lost concentration on the barrier. He whipped in Garth's direction only to see the guy struggling with the sixth, missing, werewolf. Garth had saved him from being chewed on by the thing. In return, he was now pinned to the ground struggling to keep its claws or teeth from lodging in his chest.

Harry whipped out his gun and took three shots. Two hit the heart, the other ripped in one side of the thing's skull and out the other. The werewolf hit the ground convulsing in its death throes.

Without checking on Garth Harry immediately turned back to the others. Two of the werewolves had fled. Another lay dead on the ground. Roy was fighting one, and the last going back and forth between Jo and Ellen. Both women were shooting this one that Harry would have to describe as the alpha of the pack from previous interactions. Bullets didn't seem to be deterring it much, but they were keeping it confused enough that it hadn't taken a bite out of either of them yet.

Keeping note of the bigger threat Harry bounded forward and released a burst of stunning magic. It hit the large male square in his chest and he seemed to almost fight through it before he collapsed. Harry turned to Roy only to see the man had taken out his werewolf and was panting above it trying to catch his breath.

"What happened?" Jo asked somewhat shaken.

"Yeah, what happened to you barriers Gandalf?" Roy cut in.

"The sixth werewolf showed up." Harry offered nodding in Garth's direction where he was nudging the wolf to make sure it was dead. "Garth knocked me out of the way and I lost focus on the barriers. It looks like two escaped."

"Is this one dead?" Ellen asked nudging the one near them.

"Not yet." Harry said rubbing his temples. There'd been a bit of magical backlash when the barriers broke. It had given him a headache.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Roy asked and without further acknowledgement unloaded six rounds in the man's head.

There hadn't been much talking as they grabbed all their stuff and headed back to the motel. There hadn't been a lot of time to talk either. Shortly after Roy's display sirens could be heard heading their way and that wasn't something any of them wanted to stick around for.

The night was fading into day when they reached the motel so the group split up each drifting off to their rooms. Garth offered Harry the spare bed in his room. Harry had only taken up the offer so he could browse police files while the others slept.

He'd been going over some of the cases that had led the four hunters here when Garth's radio scanner picked up something interesting. It had been spouting out nonsense all morning, but if Harry wasn't getting his codes mixed up there was a new victim found somewhere off Murberry street.

Harry glanced at the clock. It was only eleven am. They'd gotten back to the motel around four thirty. He threw a look over to the sleeping Garth. He'd let the kid sleep a bit longer before waking him. He was going to need a 'partner' if he was going to pull off FBI after all and Roy was definitely out. Then again, maybe Ellen would pull of the FBI agent look a bit better. Garth was a bit too… happy to be taken seriously.

Harry gathered up his jacket and made his way for the Harvelle's room. He gave a sharp rap on their door and waited. The door was opened promptly by a tired looking Ellen.

"Have you slept at all?" he asked noticing her bloodshot eyes and the stacks of paper behind her on the only table in the room.

"No." she replied turning back to the piles and leaving Harry to decide if he'd come in or not. "Have you?"

"Well, no." Harry admitted. "But I don't require as much sleep as you do."

"Why are you here?"

"Interesting call came over the scanner that Garth has wired up in his room." Harry said eyes taking in the papers. It seemed to be research on both werewolves and the people who had been ID'd last night. "Another victim."

"They had time to kill someone else?" Ellen said disbelievingly. "What did these werewolves take energy shots or something? There was only an hour til sun up when we left that park."

Harry shrugged. "Regardless, I was going to go see if the police figured anything new out. I doubt it…"

She glanced at the table and then the bed longingly.

"It's fine." Harry interrupted as she opened her mouth. "I'll take the skinny kid. He'd probably complain if I left him here to investigate anyway."

She nodded.

"You should get some sleep." Harry eyed her. "You're not going to be much use if you're tired when the fun starts. After all, someone has to provide the natural charisma that binds us all together."

"Don't try to charm me Potter." She said plopping back into her chair with a laugh.

"Charm you? Never." Harry said with a huff closing the door to their room behind him.

Kevin Trent apparently hadn't been expecting anything big to happen when he went out to retrieve his mail at three that morning because he was wearing only a robe and a pair of ridiculous cartoon character covered boxers.

He'd been found six feet from his door with his chest torn open, just like the other victims. He fit the profile as well; medium height, dark hair, Caucasian.

The police had found nothing new about the crime. It almost seemed there was a level of precision to the events. Like the kills had been consciously planned out, something that wasn't normal with werewolf attacks.

Harry knelt next to the blood stains on the pavement outside of the man's door. Garth was busy talking with the police. Harry pushed an envelope to the side with a pen. Underneath sat another envelope, this one with a hand written address. It looked like it contained a card of some sort. Harry ignored it and stood. He'd seen all that was possible to see here. They needed to make their way back to the hotel and devise another plan with the Harvelles.

"And you're sure you didn't see anything weird?" Garth was talking to one of the neighbors now. He must have said something odd because the woman looked on the verge of telling him to shove off.

"Weird how?"

"I don't know, like some chick ripping in to your neighbor's chest on the front lawn." Garth said accusatorily. The woman took a step back eyes wide with shock.

Harry grabbed Garth's arm as he passed and kept walking, tugging the kid behind him. He let go once they were on the other side of the crime scene near Ellen's truck. "Nice job kid, very suave."

"You think?" Garth said sounding genuinely happy.

"No." Harry said shaking his head. "You have got to work on your conversation skills."

Garth's face fell as he got in the passenger seat.

Harry had been wrong. When Garth learned that he'd almost been left behind that morning he'd brushed it off easily. To Harry that spoke volumes about the kid's personality. He must have been used to being shunned by people. Harry almost felt sympathetic. But the kid was still a walking disaster. He was a whole barrel of awkward.

"So, uh…" Garth said taking off his jacket. "I never got to ask. What are you?"

Harry glanced over at the kid. "Worried you're going to have to 'Garth' me, as you seem to call it?" Harry asked with an internal laugh.

"Er, well… I mean…"

"I'm like nothing you've ever seen before." Harry admitted honestly. "And, no I don't run about sacrificing babies and kittens or eating people. So really you shouldn't work yourself up kid."

"Oh, good." Garth said with a grin staring out the windshield. "I wouldn't want to kill you."

Harry sent him a bewildered look. "Pardon?"

"Well, you helped us out and all. It would suck to have to turn around and Garth you."

"Right…"

Silence filled the cabin.

"So are you a Jedi or something? Can you use the force?"

Harry heaved a massive sigh. Why had he expected that to be the end of the topic?

"No, I'm not a Jedi Garth. Can you drop it?"

"Oh… right." Garth turned back to the front again. A few seconds passed in silence. "Well, are you Shaman then? I met a shaman once that could-"

Harry switched on the radio and gave Garth a pointed glare. He held up his hands and mouthed 'right, shutting up'.

The rest of the ride was uneventful, though Harry had no doubt that it only remained that way because of the music blaring through the cab. They pulled up outside of the hotel just a few minutes later and Harry quickly turned off the vehicle and climbed out.

Garth trailed behind him as he made his way to the Harvelle's room again. He knocked and this time the door was opened by Jo. She smiled as she let them in and closed the door. "I heard you guys went out impersonating feds. I thought that'd be below you." She said laughing in Harry's direction.

Harry shrugged and held the keys out in Ellen's direction. "Thank you for letting me borrow your car."

"I still don't know why we didn't take mine." Garth said with a frown.

Harry shook his head. He wouldn't be caught dead in Garth's pinto. "Did you find anything out?" he asked eying the papers they'd been pouring over while Garth and Harry were gone.

Jo grabbed a paper from her side of the table that had an address hastily scribbled on it. "I snagged a wallet off of one of the wolves that escaped last night. We ran some check and came up with her current address."

"So we can scout her place tonight." Ellen added. "We can also try using you as bait again."

Harry shrugged.

"Where's Roy?" Garth asked taking a seat next to Jo.

Ellen shrugged. "He hasn't shown back up. Maybe he finally bailed town."

"I wouldn't put any money on it. My luck isn't that good." Harry said nonchalantly.

Roy showed up about an hour and a half before sundown. He looked like he'd been catching up on his beauty sleep while the others did the work.

They split into groups again Roy and Ellen staking out the house and Jo and Garth following Harry this time. Ellen had pulled Harry aside and explained that she'd rather her daughter be where she was less likely to get hurt. Harry had conceded even though he'd rather two people capable of wielding a gun be watching his back if he was risking his ass and they knew what a lousy shot Garth was.

So here they were repeating what Harry had done the night before with a different group. They'd chosen different streets this time in hopes of having a bit more luck.

Harry walked lightly but with a determined set like someone with a destination who'd simply lost their way. He stopped several times to check street signs or building numbers. He even moved into residential areas once or twice before looping back to the more commercial areas. There were just more places for someone, or something, to hide on the winding roads of the city.

Two hours passed. Then four. There was no call from Ellen, which meant there'd either been no activity on their end or they were too busy trying to keep up and not give themselves away to stop and make phone calls.

Harry's phone gave two short buzzes. A text from Jo. Then she'd spotted something? He pulled the phone and read the message. 'Two block behind on right.'

They had spotted something then, and it was close. Harry continued to meander while texting back. 'Move in carefully. Make sure it's the target before shooting.' He slid the phone back into his pocket and started to whistle a listless tune like he had no care in the world.

It was as he was rounding the next corner that something struck him as odd. A shoe sat next to the wall completely innocent looking. He looked up.

"Fuck!" he cried out as the second werewolf bounded from the shadows of a catwalk. It hit him like a bag of cement and he went down, rolling with the beast into the street.

He could hear Jo and Garth's pounding footsteps as they approached, but there were others as well. Ellen and Roy. They must have followed the second werewolf here.

The rolling ended with the wolf on top of Harry pinning him. Harry held it at arm's length as it clawed and bit at him. "Fuck… off!" Harry grunted pushing magic into the shove and sending the thing flying back into the building it had jumped off of.

Jo was rounding the corner with Garth beside her. There seemed to be a skirmish back the way they had come also.

Garth saw the thing before Jo did and let three shots fly, but missed widely. It bounded forward and swiped throwing him bodily into an alleyway where Harry heard him connect rather forcefully with a wall.

Jo dodged a blow aimed her way just in time.

Harry fired only managing to nick the thing as it twisted in his direction. He bit back a curse as the gun decided to jam. He threw it to the side reaching for the second and sending a blast of his magic to keep the thing back and away from him and Jo.

Jo got off a shot while Harry was fiddling with his uncooperative guns and hit the thing dead in the chest. It reeled back and slammed into the building before going still. The werewolf's claws and teeth retracted making him seem perfectly human again in death. Jo sent Harry smirk, but froze.

Harry turned toward her and raised his hand but not quickly enough. The second werewolf that Ellen and Roy had been fighting apparently escaped. It stood behind Jo now, and before Harry could do anything it grasped Jo and ripped into her neck.

"Jo!" Harry screamed letting loose bullets from his gun now that it was free. He was running towards her as the thing twisted.

Harry could see Roy and Ellen running. He saw Ellen balk at the sight of the werewolf tearing into her daughter. Roy leveled a shotgun. The blast tore through beast and girl alike and sent Jo careening away from the thing. Harry, close enough now, caught her as she crashed into him and his back hit the wall.

"Jo!" Ellen screamed, horrified. "You shot my daughter!" She screamed at Roy.

"She was already bitten!" He screamed back. "I did you a favor!"

Harry's anger bubbled up and he let forth a rush of magic sending Roy flying into the building on the other side of street. He didn't get up.

Jo gasped in his arms drawing his attention back and killing his anger somewhat. "Shit." He said eloquently surveying the damage.

"Is it that bad?" she joked half heartedly.

Harry didn't answer. Ellen came sliding up next to Jo eyes filling with tears already as she looked down at her little girl torn to shreds for the second time in her life.

"H-hey." She breathed roughly face pale. "I'm gonna be alright, right?"

Maybe she hadn't been joking.

Ellen sobbed harder gripping her tighter. Harry shifted uncomfortably from where he was pinned under Jo. "Of course you a-"

"No." He said looking the girl full in the eyes. He would not lie. Lying wouldn't save her. "I can't stop this."

A few tears leaked from her eyes, but she wiped them with her free hand weakly, steeling herself. "So I'll die?"

"Or become a werewolf." Harry said morosely.

She shook her head. "Not that…" she said before meeting Harry's eyes.

"I can't stop the virus. If it sets in…" Harry said not really wanting to share this. "and you die… then… you go to purgatory. The resting place of monsters. I don't know where you'll go as a human, but trust me you don't want to go to purgatory."

"You sound like…" Jo stopped face contorting in pain. "Like you're speaking from experience."

"I am." He answered soberly.

"And you can't stop it?" Jo asked eyes pleading.

For the first time in what felt like an eternity Harry felt remorse; true and deep remorse… "No."

"Kill me." She almost whispered. "Before it can set in…"

Ellen choked back a sob. "No, baby." She said gathering Jo closer but bumping her wounds in the action. Jo gasped. "Not again… not again."

Jo grabbed her mom's arm and pulled her close. "I love you." She said brokenly. "But you can't stop this."

"Don't…" Ellen caught Harry's eyes and begged.

"Let's be realistic." Jo said smiling wanly. "Either way I'm dying. I don't think I'm walking away from this one mom. Even the angel in our pocket says so…" She paused and screwed her eyes up in pain for a few moments so she didn't see Harry's reaction to her words. She'd never know how close she'd come to guessing what he was. "I'm dying mom… I might as well do it while I'm human."

Jo opened her eyes pushed herself up just the slightest bit and planted a kiss on Harry's cheek. Harry stared back nonplussed. "I wish I'd gotten the chance to know you better." She said leaning back, breath catching as she jostled something painful, and closing her eyes. "I'm ready." She said quietly though she shook with fear and pain.

Ellen grasped Jo's hand tightly and in that last moment she tried to be strong for her daughter.

Harry trained his eyes upon the girl and muttered two words that rarely passed his lips. "Avada Kedavra." Green light enveloped Jo for but a second before fading. Jo went limp in their arms her last breath escaping peacefully.

Ellen broke down entirely pulling Jo to herself tightly now that it could no longer cause her daughter pain.

Freed from the weight of Jo Harry pushed himself up nearly falling back when he realized one of the bullets Roy had used to shoot at Jo had ripped through his own leg. The pain hadn't registered even now as he stood on it, but the muscles still needed repairing.

Harry let his magic heal it until he could move and he hobbled over to where Roy was just now coming around. The man was pushing himself up using the wall as support. Harry rushed forward and slammed Roy back into the same wall he'd caused the man to hit earlier. "If I ever, and I mean ever see you again, I will kill you." Harry swore eyes flashing. His voice was cold and Harry saw Roy's fear clearly. "In fact, if I ever hear you've shot anything ever again you'll regret the day you crawled out of your mother's womb." Harry threw the man away from him and Roy hit the ground hard.

He wouldn't kill him. He wouldn't sink as low as the human whose actions he'd condemned. He hissed breath after breath through his clenched teeth trying to calm himself, but there was too much pent up aggression. He wanted to punch something. He should have punched Roy.

Instead he moved to the alley where he'd seen Garth fly. He needed to check. There would not be two deaths tonight.

Garth was visible when he first entered. He was laying on his side unmoving, but for the rise and fall of his shoulders and chest. Just knocked unconscious then. Harry let out a sigh of relief. He nudged the sleeping man twice then drew back and waited as Garth groaned into consciousness.

The thin man sat up rubbing his head. "What'd I miss?"

Harry wanted to laugh. He could feel the hysteria building, but he swallowed it back. Losing composure would do nothing for anyone. "A lot." He simply answered moving away. He reached the end of the alley and rested his back against the wall eyes locked on Ellen.

She was still sobbing holding Jo tightly to her. Harry had never been good at dealing with crying people. Women in particular he found difficult. So he maintained his distance. Garth joined him after a few minutes, but said nothing as he too gazed upon the scene before them.

It wasn't until the light started to return to the sky that Ellen forced herself to stop crying. She said nothing as she passed Harry and Garth carrying her daughter in her arms. Harry offered nothing. He was sure any words he could offer were unwanted at the moment. Instead they watched her turn the corner and disappear, a woman broken with grief.

Do you hate me?

Some of you legitimately might. No death threats yeah?

'til next time

~Kanathia