"None of this solves the problem we're up against. Until we can find this thing, if we can find it…" Mae sighed. They weren't going to figure out the kitsune's motivations, not in time. They could only hope that this was yet another measure to get closer to doing whatever if had planned with her. It didn't make sense to her, but she was certain it would make sense when they were finally able to take it down. If it didn't get them all fist.

"You want to bring the fox trying to kill us here?"

"I'm not sure we can stop it. It's clearly been here. If it's got this kind of bead on me, maybe we can use that against it. Maybe we can use that cord to pull back and bring it here. "

"Meanwhile, Sam is… God knows where."

Mae worried her lip between her teeth. She flopped back against the bed, defeated. "Dean, I'm still out of ideas. We don't have enough time to wait for reinforcements and Sam... well, we just don't have enough time. So, yeah. We try to bring it back here and kill it, however we can."

He laid down next to her, turning his head to take her in. She was right. He didn't want to admit it, but she was right. Perhaps not about the solution but about their situation. They didn't have the luxury of starting over but they were still missing a key piece about how this creature was operating. They might never know exactly what was going on.

Taking her hand in his, he pressed a kiss to her knuckles. "We'll put a stop to this."

"However you have to."

Dean frowned, she was sure of it, even without checking.

"You might have to Dean. You know that. Think about this like a hunter."

"And you think a hunter would kill an innocent person to stop a monster from killing other innocent people?"

"Depends on the hunter. And what makes you think I'm innocent?" Her question punctuated with a snort that told him whatever answer he might give, if it wasn't no, was wrong.

"You aren't hurting people." He countered.

She gave a huff of a laugh. "I killed a kitsune. If something killed your mate or relative or someone you cared about, wouldn't you go after it? Maybe you'd even torment it. You're thinking about all those things and the only thing stopping you from tearing up this city to find your brother or kill the kitsune is me. It's driving you crazy not being out there."

"Yeah, yeah it is. But are you so eager to… just let this happen? With this killing you or using me to kill you? Did you set out on this hunt to prove me wrong about—"

She scoffed. "Don't get full of yourself there, sweetmeat. It's not like that. I'm being realistic."

"It's not the first time. You're pretty quick to play the 'let me die' card."

It would have been easy to get lost in the aimless path this calloused thumb traced in the palm of her hand.

"Dude, is this really the time where we evaluate my mental health? No. I'm not giving myself up. I'm just…I don't like to fuck up and if I have to pay the price for that, fine. I need to…" She puffed out her cheeks with a huff of air. "to figure this out and find a solution. Whatever happened to get me in this situation…"

"And maybe it's just evil."

"Yeah. Maybe. Maybe."

"That's not who you are. You're not the sort of woman to just give up. You're maddening stubborn. Even this goddamn conversation, where you're committed to a terrible outcome is just you being stubborn."

"I'm not–fine, I'm stubborn but that's not my point. My point is that you can't think of me like someone you…whatever you feel about me. You have to look at this objectively and if the solution is to let this take me or do whatever it plans, then you need to take advantage of this to put a stop, to stop this kitsune."

He huffed and there was a hint of anger she thought she sensed when his hand tightened around hers before letting it drop to the bed. The bed creaked as he sat up. Mae didn't open her eyes, still distrustful of what she might see. But she frowned.

Dean's thoughts were unclear to her. Maybe he was mad at her finally. Or maybe he was just mad at being powerless in this situation. Maybe he was preparing himself, maybe he was obstinately committed to saving her over stopping any further damage. He couldn't possibly be thinking straight, worried about Sam as he was and fighting the possibilities in him mind of what might have happened to his brother. Mae followed him by sound until she heard the bathroom door close. Not enough time, too much time. Not enough information, too much information. None of it came together and again, probably not for the last time, she went through everything she knew, trying to figure out what she was missing. Nothing and everything.

Then, she felt a dizziness come over her, like she hadn't eaten all day. Maybe it was just low blood sugar. Her eyes snapped opened and darted around the room, looking for something, anything that was out of place. She braced against the unknown, her mind jumping between certainty that it was the kitsune coming for her and knowing it was the beginnings of yet another hallucination. Or whatever it was doing to her. She sat up.

The knock at the door made her jump. She whipped her head towards the bathroom door. Stuck between the two doors, she swallowed hard, pushing down the trepidation. With more time to think, she might have wondered if the feeling was more fear or excitement, but she knew both existed in the breath she forced out. She looked back at the door, leaning down to pick up her carelessly discarded shotgun. It could have been anyone, maybe the manager or someone else staying at the motel. It could have been her imagination. Both were logical assessments. And yet, she was sure she was somehow being watched and the kitsune knew she was, for the time being, alone.

The gun wouldn't do much, she was pretty sure. It might have been better loaded with something other than rock salt rounds. She huffed, trying to ignore the sudden dryness in her mouth. Had this been what happened the first time she went up against this kitsune? She could see how getting black out drunk might have made sense on some level, if she wasn't able to trust her own instincts or they were being used against her.

"Dean." The whisper was unintentional. If she could have, she would have spoken louder, she might have even screamed. But only the whisper escaped as a spiral of fear crept down her throat and tightened in her stomach.

Walking towards the door, she balanced the shotgun in one hand while she shifted to unlock the door and throw it open. Quickly, she stepped back, until she felt the bed against the back of her legs. She didn't stumble and the weapon didn't shake as she held it now with both hands. She wasn't sure what she wanted to see more–no one at the door, a fox or a fox stealing her face, or Sam. She wasn't sure which she expected more but seeing Sam now, she let out the breath she had been holding.

She stared at the man, not willing to take her eyes off him again. Mae didn't trust her eyes yet, but she was thought if she closed her eyes or moved, he might disappear again. If he was there at all. If she had ever seen him since he went missing. He didn't say anything. He didn't move. They locked eyes though and she wasn't sure if he was pulling her in or she was pulling him in but there was no doubt in her mind that given enough time, she would have gone with him. Or the kitsune. The kitsune would have taken her, she thought. But it didn't. Why?

The younger Winchester brother stood in the doorway awkwardly and too long. Long enough that confusion and curiosity overtook the fear. Mae swallowed, feeling suddenly worried. "Sam?"

He didn't answer. He was possessed. Or being controlled. That changed the possible solutions. The most important thing right now was to keep Sam with them, in the room. They did not have a great number of options to do that, since he stood between her and the exit. Dean was still in the bathroom behind her. Perhaps he could bolt through the adjoining room and come up behind Sam. But he wasn't superhuman quick and it could cause Sam and the kitsune to bolt again.

As tired as she was, she couldn't work out the how, why, or the end game of such a plan. Had Sam always been the target? There wasn't time to ponder as she heard the door behind her start to open. She wasn't going to turn her attention away from Sam, although her mind briefly played with all of this as some sort of trap, and that perhaps it wasn't Dean. But he spoke.

"I just don't get why you're so willing to–"

She pictured him skidding to a halt but knew his steps simply stopped with his words. She imagined the first wave of relief washing over Dean's face on seeing his brother washed over his face before the worry ratchet back up upon taking the rest of the scene in.

"Mae? What…Sam?"

"Possessed."

"You sure?"

"Nope. But if he's not he just has to do something normal and he won't get shot."

Bluster. She hoped Dean knew the cold and flat tone in her voice was only meant to convince the creature possessing Sam that she wouldn't think twice and didn't try to interfere. Too much could happen if any of them acted without thinking. They had to keep Sam safe, kill or at least trap the kitsune, and keep it from harming anyone else in the vicinity, including themselves. They had to stay sharp and non-emotional.

Of course, she hadn't figured out how to do that yet. The first step was keeping Sam here, luring him into the room where it would be easier to keep it. At least for the time being. She could have lunged, tried to tackle him. Sam had size and muscle mass over her, although she wasn't certain he was stronger than she was; he hadn't spent as much time hunting as she had. While she was strong and in a fair fight, might have been able to take Sam, definitely if she were cheating.

She wasn't up against Sam this time; she was up against a kitsune who's powers weren't something she totally understood but could seemingly knock her out with the blink of an eye. If she tried to rush and tackle him, there wasn't anything saying that she wouldn't lose consciousness midair and come crashing down unceremoniously on the motel carpet.

It could have killed them, all of them, without a second thought, in a heartbeat. Well, it might have taken its time, but it could have killed them at any number of points, if it just wanted them dead. That all three of them were still alive was a good sign. At least that's what she had to tell herself.

She wouldn't look away from Sam, not this time but she wasn't sure that she was in sync with Dean enough yet to signal him to what she wanted him to do next. Even if she could, she wasn't certain that he would be successful. As soon as any of them moved, everything would shift from this practically frozen moment into high speed. They were too close for combat, too far away to secure the exits. There were no good options.

The seconds took forever to tick by, and she would have said the three of them stood at the impasse for at least 5 minutes. In reality, it was less than a minute before Sam–the kitsune who broke the silence. "Not here to hurt you. Just to get your attention."

It spoke with Sam's voice, but it was forced and awkward, as if it hadn't been a very long time since it had tried. Mae didn't lower the gun, but she was intrigued. The actions of the kitsune had been relatively non-violent so far. It seemed to be feeding occasionally, not enough to kill the victims but enough. And, though they were confused and concerned, Sam, Dean, and herself had not been harmed or injured. So far. Mae had noted the lack of death and specifically violent death as an oddity that she couldn't explain. It was one that contrasted with the previous kitsune but at the time, the significance only stood out as something that made no sense. But, she wondered, they had been thinking about it all wrong.

The men who had fallen ill hadn't died and were recovering so far. Aside from a hospital bill and the time lost, there was little other harm, not when compared to what a kitsune was capable of doing it them. And the men were not clear targets, no more or less obvious targets or reason to target them outside of convince. If all that were true, they truly had this creatures motivations wrong. If it weren't out to attack people directly, perhaps the attacks were really about them–her. To maneuver them into this situation. That might have been good news for everyone but them. It might have been quite bad news for them, but it felt like progress. If she had more time to think, she would have questioned more why she felt like the kitsune was telling the truth, but she still felt like it hadn't lied yet.

"Okay."

Mae was sure she could hear Dean's jaw tighten as he gnashed his teeth. He said nothing though.

Sam didn't move inside either. He looked down instead, his eyes fixed just in front of his feet. The creature seemed to understand well enough but was unable to move. Was that Sam's doing? Perhaps he had just enough awareness or control to help them out. If the kitsune couldn't move, then it meant they could at the very least exorcise it. A glimmer of hope.

But then the kitsune continued not to move. If Sam were in control, wouldn't he step inside the room, help them get closer to ending this? And then her eyes slid down to where Sam was looking. The salt line. It was habit to refresh them, and she hadn't thought they were so simply effective. When they laid their trap, they had purposefully broken the line to the door or her room but not the one between them.

If that's what was keeping the kitsune at bay, the line in the boy's room must have been disturbed, ever so slightly. When then went to look for Sam, it didn't register but that must have been how it got in. Now, with a solid like, it was trapped. So, maybe Sam could control it or maybe the salt could keep it in one place. Either were better than nothing.

She heard Dean shift behind her but couldn't risk looking and as she willed the kitsune not to look up either. He moved quietly to the side, towards the door to the adjoining room. Good, Mae thought. If her assumption was right, he was moving to cut off the exit. If she could keep the kitsune distracted long enough, perhaps he could go unnoticed. Or he was about to significantly screw things up, if that was even possible. It was a mistake, she knew, to assume she had control over the situation. Whatever this thing planned wasn't something she could fight. It wasn't something any of them could fight; they could only hope to get the upper hand for a moment and in that short time do the right thing to get the kitsune to leave Sam and stop it for good.

Any real sense of time was gone. It felt as if interminable minutes were passing, when it was really only seconds. As she edged forward, her heartbeat was painfully rapid, yet each beat echoed in her mind. About two feet from the door, she stopped. She kept the shotgun trained on Sam's chest, though she wouldn't use it on him, possessed or not, even loaded with salt rounds at such close range. Slowly, she slid one foot forward, balancing easily on the other leg.

She continued to slide her foot forward, eyes locked on Sam's face, even as he stared down at her foot. When she reached the salt line, she drug a foot over it swiftly, breaking it, then quietly nearly jumping back to put needed distance between them. If it had been Sam, just Sam, she would have interrupted the nod as a gesture of thanks. He stepped inside the room and Mae pushed down the instinct to swallow the lump in her throat or let her hands shake now, though she knew neither mattered. But, for some reason, the kitsune seemed unable or unwilling to kill her or possess her. Or leave Sam.

As he took another step in the room, Sam he jolted forward and then stiffened.

"Keep it movin' pal."

Mae allowed a small smile to creep over his lips and closed her eyes for a second, hearing Dean behind his brother.

"I will not run." Came Sam's labored voice.