Mae felt shaky but was unsure if it was the effects of the kitsune, the alcohol, or Dean. She closed the bathroom door softly and braced her hands on the counter. Absolutely everything in her body, mind, and heart was betraying her. It would be so much easier if Dean didn't provoke all of these feelings in her. She scrubbed her face with her hands before turning on the sink so she could splash cool water on her face. After taking a few breaths and straightening her borrowed clothes, she exited the bathroom.

Mae had to ignore the concerned looks from the boys. There was nothing she could do to reassure them and focusing on it would only make her more uncomfortable. Now, together again, again, they traded the information they had and tried to come up with something they hadn't already thought about. Three minds were supposed to be better than one. But they were all running on empty at that point and, in lieu of new information or finding, they didn't have much to go on. In some ways, they had too much of what they didn't need and too little of what they wanted.

Dean's instinct was to leave, not because he wanted to abandon the job but because he knew, deep down, he couldn't keep Mae safe. Maybe if they put some distanced between these locations, it might stop. Then he and Sam could finish it without her. They were chasing their own tails and hampered by their inability to predict how this creature would act. Maybe Mae was right, and this was a kitsune she hadn't accounted for or known about. His gut said they needed to look for what else might be behind her missing days and the possibly related cases. He feared the worst.

They all knew something was missing but what that might be remained elusive. Now that it was night, he and Sam had been up for close to 24 hours. They would all need sleep. After yet another review of the facts, Mae was getting antsy, shifting in her chair more, roughly brushing her hair away from her face.

"I don't know Red, maybe you aren't involved at all."

"Are you trying to write this off because you think I'm not involved? Or because you don't want me to be involved?"

"I'm trying to make sure we don't waste out time just because you think something awful might have happened. If you were involved, you were involved, and we deal with it. Until then, this is just a weird thing we need to investigate."

Dean fixed her with a hard stare, daring her to argue with him on this point. However, perhaps because it was late, perhaps because he hadn't been watching the exchange between the pair, Sam spoke, earning him an equally sharp glare from his brother.

"What about here?"

"What about here?" Dean responded. "No one's dead here."

"Yet." Mae added. "C'mon, the pattern fits. And you don't have a better theory."

"It seems like we have a better trail here. Someone might even recognize Mae, which could be what we need. Or...it could be problematic." Sam interjected.

Dean's expression didn't change but his eyes darkened as he thought about the possibilities. After several moments, he sighed. "Yeah, fine, you're right."

"Okay, so we'll talk to friends and family tomorrow, try to figure out where those guys have been, what they did, and if that take that next."

"It'll be slow goin', we can't leave Mae on her own. No offense."

She shrugged. "I get it. Nothing new has happened though. I think if someone is with me, and I've got some new clothes," she added, "It should be fine. I can still pull my weight. But it's not like we can do much more tonight."

Sam's eyes narrowed. "Hey, do you have any of your books on creatures and stuff in your car?"

"Yeah, I think so," Mae nodded but her lips pressed together in confusion. She paused, habitually reaching to her side to tuck her hand in the pocket of the jacket that should have been hanging on the back of the chair. But it wasn't there, and she remembered Sam still had her keys. She sighed. "In the trunk. Take whatever else you think we might need."

Mae didn't watch him but tracked the almost soundless fall of his feet as he crossed to the door, opened it and, after an unexpected shiver at the cooler air drifted into the room, listened to the door close softly. She didn't look back to Dean either and could feel his eyes on her. If they kept talking, they'd only end up fighting. She let her eyes close, slumping back in the chair with a sigh. there would be almost nothing that would keep him quiet if he wanted to talk though.

"Mae, this could have happened to any of us."

She made sure to keep her tone low and even and kept her eyes closed. "That's what I've been saying. I don't know that it was full on a trap but...it was something. I'm willing to admit I might have been careless but I'm not about to let you blame me for not listening to your stupid ultimatum on staying put."

"I wasn't...I'm not trying to guilt you." he frowned, and she thought he looked sadder or perhaps more remorseful than he should have, "I don't want you to blame yourself."

Again, she sighed. "Jobs go south. We fuck up. I might have fucked up this time...and all I can do now is try to make it right and make it stop."

"Yeah, okay. I was...trying to make things better."

"It'll be better when it's over." It sounded harsh, even to her ears, "I mean this job, not...you know. And, if I haven't said it, I appreciate you dropping whatever you were doing to help me here."

"Frankly, after that weird call, you couldn't have stopped me."

They let the silence fall between them again, until Sam returned at any rate. He hadn't completely raided the trunk but had brought in about half of the books and a few more weapons. Was he that worried, she wondered? They were well armed already and if this were a kitsune, all they would need would be blades. She hadn't been in the practice of using the rock salt ammo, despite it being a brilliant idea so she hadn't tested it with the first one. It wouldn't kill one, but it might slow it down.

Mae stretched, stood, and stretched again. She was weary. And cold. It wasn't a particularly cold night, but she didn't over analyze. Instead, she decided it was easier to try and sleep. Last time she napped, nothing bad happened. Another two or three hours was better than nothing. They could rotate.

While she stretched, Sam set the items he retrieved down on the table. Mae anticipated that Sam would sit down and get right to work. Instead, he brushed his hands off on his jeans and announced, 'Well, I'm gonna grab a quick shower."

She thought for a moment about diving back into the research. But what more was she going to find right now? She made her way to the bed, assuming she and Dean would once again share.

"You wanna fool around while Sammy's not in the room?"

"Dude, no!" Her face was turned up, partially in confusion. Most of it eased when Dean laughed at her reaction, but her lips remained turned down. "Why are you being weird?"

"I'm just trying to ease the tension. Lighten up a bit." Dean stood now too, taking the chance to clear off the table of empty containers and dirty cups. He threw the trash away and placed the dishes in the sink before taking a moment to straighten his gear.

"It's late."

"In that case, we should figure out our sleep schedule. We all need at least a little sleep. So, what, we take shifts?"

"I'm not that tired," Mae lied. But she knew the boys hadn't slept since she called Dean and they were both just on the edge of exhaustion. Awake over 24 hours now. They all needed sleep. Shifts would have been enough to allow all of them short bursts of sleep.

"Just...can you just go along with this for once?"

"I don't recall you trying so hard to get me into bed." Sarcasm dripped from her words.

She expected a little smile but didn't get one. "You look like shit, Mae. Really, if you've been awake for days, then you've been living pretty rough in between. You're pale and you've got dark circles under your eyes. You're gonna start getting punchy and useless to us. You need to sleep too, okay? That quick nap wasn't enough."

Her instinct was to smooth her hair, try to fix her wild look but she stilled her hands. She didn't want it to bother her. Since it did, she didn't want to show it. She wanted to change into something...more comfortable. Rather, something her own. The borrowed clothes reminded her too much of Dean, smelled too much like Dean and while she didn't mind that, it suggested that she was safe and could let her guard down. And she couldn't, even in their relative safety now. She should have asked one of the boys to bring her something else to wear or venture out with one of them to pick something up herself. But for tonight, she'd sleep in the sweatpants and button down.

"You ready for bed?"

Mae's brow crinkled in confusion, finding the question odd, given the fact that she had turned down the cover and got in bed. "No, I was gonna build a fort."

"Fine. I was going to give you a choice of which side but if you're gonna be snarky..." he reached over her, and grabbed her left wrist, snapping the metal circle of the handcuffs she hadn't noticed him holding or retrieving. Then he brought both over her head and latched the free side to one of the slats of the headboard.

Her eyes shifted between the man and the handcuffs before finally setting on him. "You can't be serious."

Dean shrugged. "We all gotta sleep and if you're getting out and going on a... fox rampage, at least this will slow you up, if it doesn't stop you."

With a light tug, she tested the cuffs. The link around her wrist was secure but not tight, giving her just enough freedom to move without pain but not enough to be considered completely comfortable. "What if I have to pee?"

"Well, you can either wake me up or..."

She huffed. "I hate this idea."

"Like it's the first time you've been handcuffed to a bed."


There hadn't been much conversation once Sam came out of the bathroom. He found his brother and Mae both in one bed. She lay on the left side, Dean on the right, and Mae was cuffed to one of the wooden slats of the bed. He couldn't quite describe the feeling of the room, a little tense, a little awkward but not distinctly uncomfortable, aside from the sharp scowl on the woman's face.

Dean clicked through channels on the tv, not settling on anything long enough to even assess what it was. Mae shifted, sliding down further into the covers before she turned on her side. The light on the nightstand between their beds had already been turned off and he didn't bother to turn it back on as he got in bed. There was no need to ask what the plan was, once he noticed the handcuffs. It made things easier, for all of them to sleep, hopefully through the night, rather than switch off between the two of them.

At least this way, if something tried to take Mae or she transformed, they would hear something. Nothing was ideal about this so he didn't push and he didn't question. He only hoped that it would be an uneventful night. From the bed, Sam reached over to the lamp on the nightstand on the other side of the bed and turned it off. He rolled, turning his back to Mae and his brother. After a few minutes, he heard the click of the last lamp turning off, leaving the room illuminated by the blue-white glow of the TV and the low sound of whatever was playing. His mind didn't loop him through overthinking that night. Almost as soon as his head hit the pillow and his eyes close, he was asleep.


The room was nearly silent when Mae woke. She hadn't realized she had fallen asleep. It was dark but she wasn't sure how long ago Dean had turned off the tv. She could barely hear both men breathing. She lay in that near silence, trying to make out the rise and fall of Sam's form to see if it seemed like he was asleep. She waited what seemed like hours before she whispered to Dean. "Are you awake?"

Her voice was soft enough that she would not wake him if he had fallen asleep. A part of her hoped he too had drifted off but somehow, she knew he was still awake, fighting that languid draw to unconsciousness for reasons neither wanted to dwell on. It was, as she had noted before, unusually easy to fall asleep with him next to her. She always felt more... complete with him near.

Was that the right word, she questioned. She always questioned the word but not the feeling even though she didn't know how she could feel that way. To her, there wasn't such a thing as soulmates, just people who were better suited to you for however long you were with them. Maybe that was only an hour. But that's not true with Dean and she'd be damned if the word soulmate didn't seem to suit the way she felt.

"Gotta pee?" He must have been just on the edge of sleep, his words spilled out with a slack mouthed ease.

"If I said yes, how would you know it wasn't a trick?"

He grumbled something that wasn't quite a word before he opened his eyes. It was dark and he could barely make out the form of her with her back to him. He tried to determine if it was a trick or not. He hadn't thought of it. No matter what he had proposed earlier, he had an impossible time thinking of her as anything other than Mae. He hadn't really thought that she was possessed, transformed, or anything else. But she could be. No matter he thought about her, she might not be herself.

"I guess I wouldn't."

"Me either. I think I'm me. I don't think I'm possessed, and I don't think I've been turned. But...you know, who knows."

Dean sighed, rolling over, towards her now. "Yeah."

Make closed her eyes, trying to picture him now for some reason. the way his face would seem younger, maybe softer, as he relaxed to sleep, curled on his side, with his chest not touching her back but close enough for her to feel his warmth. "If I have been turned, how the hell do we know when I might transform. It doesn't work like a werewolf. I don't think. I mean, this isn't tied to a full moon and..." Mae trailed off at Dean's low chuckle, a question hanging in the air.

"I forgot how annoying you used to be when you start thinking out loud." He smirked imagining the pout on her pretty face, "None of us have that answer Red, certainly not tonight."

The comment wasn't unkind. She thought she could hear the smile in it, and it made a fraction of the tension leave her frame. Her voice raised, just a little above the hushed tones they shared. "I'm not-"

"I get that not having the answers is making you nuts. But none of us can figure it out right now. So... try to sleep until we have something we can deal with."

"I'm not tired," she whispered again.

"I am."

She huffed again but turned to lay on her back, not quite finding a comfortable place for her cuffed arm. Soon after Dean grumbled and shifted a bit closer to her, elongating his body along hers. He started to stroke a hand down her face but catching himself in the moment, he let his fingers drop from her skin. "I forgot how chatty you get. So, get on with it."

"I didn't say anything."

"But you want to."

"No. You're right. There's nothing more we can do tonight with what we know so we might as well try to sleep. And I can't be left on my own right now, so I'm stuck here with you, like this. And it's weird."

"It's not weird." He believed his own words. It felt normal to share a bed with her.

"Yes, it is."

He frowned. "We've seen weirder."

"You're totally cool with...everything?"

"I mean," he sighed, "I'm not handcuffed but..."

Mae shook her head and pressed her lips together. "Nothing gets solved tonight, you're right. I'll let you get some sleep."

He thought they could ignore talking about both the case and them. "I'm sorry I pushed you into this."

"You didn't push me into anything. I just couldn't keep driving Bobby and me crazy waiting for you. He's the one who suggest this job anyway. I just... ended up here."

"Maybe. Maybe not."

"It's a moot point. We're here and like I said before, if you're going to try to make me feel bad about this, then I don't need your help."

"I... I don't know how to keep you safe. And I don't know how to deal with that."

"I'm not asking you to keep me safe. You...can't. I'm pretty sure I can't keep you safe either. So... I guess we're stuck like this."

"I don't believe that." Did she want to fight about it? He thought they had covered things well enough and long since agreed that they wouldn't and couldn't agree on this point but for him, having her physically close again made his questions and concerns seem less important than they had even a week ago. "Even if you're right, I have to try and maybe you'll put up with me while I figure it all out. But right now, there's something nasty out there that needs hunting so let's do that first."

"Even if it's me?"

Quiet filled the room, with all the unsaid realities of that his answer and all the unasked questions. When Dean finally did answer, his voice was low, even in the whisper. "Yeah, even if it's you."