Chapter Thirty-Six: Heart
Alec was practically bouncing as he paced around the motel room. His eyes were bright from the thrill of the hunt they hadn't even started yet. He sat on the bed, cleaning their guns just to have something to do. Sam was taking forever checking out the body. He should've just told Alec to go with Sam. He was energized just at the thought of hunting a werewolf.
"Alec, you gotta stop pacing," he said.
"Shoulda just let me go with Sammy," Alec sing-songed back to him.
"Sit your ass down," he grumbled. Alec plopped down next to him, making the mattress bounce. Alec just laughed when he glared at him. He couldn't help his smile a moment later. If Alec's laugh wasn't so contagious…
He looked up when Sam walked in, but then rolled his eyes when Sam chuckled, seeing Alec trying his best to annoy him. Sam gave them a brief rundown of what he'd found at the morgue as he changed out of his suit.
"This lawyer guy the first heart-free corpse in town?" he asked.
"First man," Sam said. "Over the past year, several women have gone missing. Dead bodies all washed up later in the bad, too deteriorated to draw firm conclusions."
"But no hearts?" he asked to make sure.
"No hearts," Sam confirmed. "They were all hookers working Hunter's Point. Now, cops are trying to keep things under wrap, but they're looking for a serial killer."
"And the lunar cycle?" he asked. Alec was almost vibrating from trying to sit still. He pushed him over, rolling his eyes again when Alec dramatically fell over.
"Mm-hmm," Sam said with a nod. "Yeah. Month after month, all the murders happen in the week leading up to the full moon."
"Which is this week, right?" he asked.
"Hence the lawyer," Sam said as he sat down in one of the chairs, straddling it instead of turning it to face them.
"Awesome," he said, sharing a smile with Alec. His little brother jumped up and blurred to start packing up the guns.
Sam watched Alec in amusement, "You rubbed your geekiness off on him."
"I'm sorry, man, but what about 'a human by day, a freak animal killing machine by moonlight' don't you understand?" he said with a chuckle. "I mean, werewolves are badass. We haven't seen one since we were kids. And Alec gets it."
"Totally get it," Alec said. "Plus, me and dogs don't get along well, remember?"
"Ok, Sparky," Sam teased. "And you know what? After we kill it, we can go to Disneyland."
Alec cocked his head to the side curiously, not knowing what Disneyland was. "Ignore him, kiddo," he said, messing up Alec's hair while he was standing still enough to do so. "You know what the best part about it is? We already know how to bring these suckers down." He held up a silver bullet, "One of these bad boys right to the heart."
"What's our next move?" Alec asked, eager to get going.
"Talk to the girl who found the body," Sam said.
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His nose twitched when they walked into the apartment. It smelled…funky. They weren't in a great part of town, and Sam and Dean didn't seem to notice anything, so he didn't mention it.
They went up to Madison's apartment, and she reluctantly let them inside after Dean spun the story that they needed some more information. She was pretty, and she gave Sam an extra look as he walked past her. He frowned when he saw another man in her apartment. They were pretty sure she lived alone.
"I don't understand," Madison said. "I already gave my statement." He hid his smile since they heard that a lot when they were trying to get some answers on the hunt.
"Right, well, we just need to verify a few things," Sam said.
"This is my neighbor, Glen," Madison introduced. "Glen, this is Detective…"
"Landis," Dean quickly filled in. "And Detective Dante." Dean patted Sam on the back, purposefully leaving him out of the introductions.
"And that is…" Madison looked over at him, which was surprising. Most of the time if Dean didn't introduce him, whoever they were talking to just ignored him.
"Kid brother," Dean said, reaching over to mess up his hair. "Teacher work-day."
"I see," Madison said. She sounded like she didn't really believe Dean's explanation.
"Well, I guess I'll leave you to it," Glen muttered as he stood up.
"Ok. Thanks for the casserole," Madison said.
"Oh, how thoughtful," Dean said, earning an annoyed look from Glen.
"Just call if you need anything," Glen said before he left.
"He's sweet," Madison said once the door was closed again. "He came over to check on me. Have…have a seat."
Sam and Dean sat down at the kitchen table with Madison, but he walked a little further into the apartment to look around.
"You must be pretty shaken up," Sam said. "You were Nate Mulligan's assistant, right?"
"For two years, yeah," Madison said with a nod. She didn't sound all that upset that her boss was dead, but maybe he had been a crappy boss.
"So, you knew all about him?" Dean asked.
"Probably knew more about him than he did. Nate was…" she looked down and smiled just a little. "He was nice."
"But," Sam guessed.
"Nothing, really," Madison said. "I…He had a few scotches in him, and he'd start hitting on anyone in a five-mile radius. You know the type." He smirked when he noticed Dean giving Madison a very interested look.
"Yeah. I do, actually," Sam said.
Dean rolled his eyes and got serious again, "Did, uh, did he have any enemies?"
Madison frowned, "What do you mean? It sure looked like an animal attack."
"No, yeah, we're just covering all the bases," Dean quickly explained. "Anyone that might have had a beef with him…a former client, an ex?"
She looked up for just a second. It was so quick, if he would've blinked, he would've missed it. But he wasn't the only one who caught the look. "What?" Sam asked gently.
"Well, this is embarrassing, but my ex-boyfriend, Kurt…"
"Kurt have a last name?" Dean asked.
"Mueller," she said. "After we broke up, he went kind of nuts. He's…well, he's kind of been stalking me. He got it in his head that something was going on between Nate and I. He showed up at my office."
"What happened?" Sam asked.
"Kurt got into it with Nate, threw a punch before security grabbed him. I was lucky to keep my job," Madison said.
"When was the last time you saw Kurt?" he accidentally let slip. He was just supposed to be the kid brother tagging along. He wasn't supposed to ask questions. He forced himself to keep his gaze away from Dean. He really didn't want to screw things up.
Madison looked over at him like she was trying to figure him out, but then said, "A few nights ago. Actually, the night Nate died. We were all grabbing drinks at this bar, and Kurt showed up."
"And?" Dean asked.
"Nothing. It was…like he was watching me. Then he was gone," Madison said. "To tell you the truth…he scares me."
They asked a few other questions to make it seem like they really were following up before Dean thanked her and told her that they'd be in touch. Madison walked them out, giving Sam another look before she shut the door. He didn't think his brother noticed, but maybe they'd have to come back to ask her more questions.
"So, what do you think?" Dean asked once they were outside.
"Stalker ex-boyfriend? He hates the boss. And he was there that night," Sam replied.
"Think he's our dog-faced boy?" Dean asked.
"Well, it's a theory," Sam said with a shrug.
"We've had worse," Dean agreed. "What do you say we pay Kurt a visit?"
"A face-to-face visit? Or a breaking and entering visit?" he asked.
"Depends if he's home or not," Dean said with a smirk.
They walked back to the Impala, but he could've sworn he saw someone duck out of sight from the corner of his eye. He looked around, drawing Sam and Dean's attention. His brothers waited, looking around to see if they could spot what had set him off. He still didn't see anything, so he sighed and shook his head no.
Dean found out where Kurt lived and drove over to his apartment. They knocked a few times, but when there was no answer, Dean picked the lock. His brothers were about to walk in, but he pulled them back. Something wasn't right. Dean drew his gun and nodded for him to go ahead. The hair on the back of his neck stood on end; something was in here.
He kept his gun ready as he slowly walked inside. Sam and Dean followed him, checking corners as they went. His brothers stopped at the fridge, and he covered them as Dean looked inside.
"Anything?" Sam whispered.
Dean closed the fridge again, "No, nothing but leftovers and a six-pack."
"Check the freezer. Maybe there's some human hearts behind the Haagen-Dazs or something," Sam muttered.
Dean opened the freezer door, but he went on alert again when he heard something deeper in the apartment. He took off, hearing his brothers coming after him. He heard some scraping, and then a crash. He made it to the balcony just a second too late. There were claw marks down the wall of the building all the way to the ground.
He scanned the area to try to find it, but he couldn't see anything. But his blood ran old when he heard the gunshot. Without thinking, he jumped over the balcony railing. His brothers both yelled in surprise, and he knew he was going to be in serious trouble for this one, but he had to try to help. He used one of the other balconies to slow his descent, and then landed on his feet, bending his knees to lessen the impact.
He took off running in the direction of the gunshot, but he slowed to a stop when he found the policeman's body. He'd been mauled, and he was too late to do anything.
He flinched when his older brother suddenly grabbed him, but Dean just pulled him into a tight hug. "You can't do stuff like that," Dean breathed. His brother held him back at arm's length again to look him over. "Are you hurt?" He shook his head no, unable to meet Dean's gaze. "Alec, talk to me."
"I was too late again…"
Dean pulled him in for another hug, holding him close. "I'll call 911," Sam said.
"You scared the shit out of me," Dean said, letting him go again to mess up his hair to tell him that he wasn't in trouble.
"You're really ok?" Sam asked.
"I'm fine," he said.
Dean crouched down next to the dead police officer. "I'd say Kurt's looking more and more like our Cujo."
"Dean, if he's out here, we better check on Madison," Sam said.
They ran back to the Impala, and he knew his brothers were watching him to make sure he wasn't limping or anything. He'd told them before that he could do things that they couldn't. Dean knew more of what he could do than Sam did, but they both tended to freak out if he did something they couldn't. That jump hadn't been too high. He'd jumped from higher up before without breaking anything, but Sam and Dean couldn't have made that jump.
Dean drug him over to the front seat once they were at the Impala. He didn't argue since his brother was still freaked out.
They ran back up to Madison's apartment, and Sam knocked on the door. He looked over when the door across from Madison's apartment opened.
"What's going on?" Glen asked.
"Police business, Glen," Dean said just as Madison opened the door.
"What is it?" Madison asked.
Sam glanced over at Glen, and then said, "Well, maybe we should talk privately…"
Madison let them in again, without question this time. She walked over to the kitchen and poured coffee for each of them. He didn't like coffee, but he took the mug when she passed it over to him. He was sitting at the kitchen table with Sam and Madison this time, even though he wanted to get up and watch out the window. Dean stood by the door and took a sip of his coffee.
"Has Kurt been here?" Sam asked.
"Not exactly," Madison hedged.
"What exactly does 'not exactly' mean?" Dean asked.
"Well, he was outside last night. Just…looking," Madison said. "Just looking at me." Sam and Dean shared a look. "Has he done something?" Madison asked, seeing his brothers' look.
"We're not really sure," Sam said.
"It's probably nothing, but…we just don't wanna take any chances," Dean said. "In fact, one of us should probably stay here with you. Just in case he stops by." Madison's gaze drifted over to Sam again. "Where does he work?"
"He owns a body shop," Madison said.
"You mind grabbing that address for us?" Dean asked. She nodded before she got up and left the room.
"Alright, you and Alec go. I'll stay," Sam said as soon as Madison was gone. He chuckled to himself since Sam was just as interested as Madison was.
"Forget that," Dean argued. "You go after the creepy ex. I'm gonna hang here with the hot chick."
"Dude, why do you always get to hang out with the girls," Sam practically whined.
"'Cause I'm older," Dean stated. His oldest brother took a drink of coffee and smiled.
Sam just looked at Dean for a few seconds, but then said, "No, screw that. We settle this the old-fashioned way." He watched with interest now as Sam stood up and took Dean's coffee cup and set it down before he raised his fist and set it on top of his open palm. Dean looked really serious as he copied Sam's stance. They hit their fists on their open palms three times, and then Dean stuck two fingers out like a motion of scissors, while Sam kept his fist. "Dean, always with the scissors."
"Shut up, shut up," Dean said. "Two out of three."
Sam sighed but got back into his stance. He laughed when they made the same motions and Dean growled in frustration.
"Bundle up out there, alright?" Sam teased.
"Maybe Alec wants to stay with the pretty girl," Dean tried.
"Nope, I wanna try to catch the guy," he said with a big smile. Dean sighed again and rolled his eyes before he headed out the door.
"Be careful," Sam said to him.
"Don't have too much fun," he teased. Sam messed up his hair on the way by. He caught up to Dean before he could get too far ahead and asked, "What was that game you and Sam played?"
"Rock-paper-scissors," Dean said.
"I'm guessing Sam did rock since you clearly did scissors. Twice," he said with a smile.
Dean gently pushed him over, "Yeah. And rock beats scissors."
"Scissors would beat paper," he guessed.
"And paper beats rock," Dean continued.
He frowned, "That doesn't make any sense. How would paper beat rock? A rock could tear through the paper."
"It doesn't necessarily have to tear through something or crush it to beat it," Dean said. "The paper covers the rock. If you can't see the rock, then how are you gonna use it."
"I'd just move the paper," he said.
"That's the rules of the game, kiddo," Dean said with a smile.
"It looked like Madison was more interested in Sam anyway," he said after a moment.
"Yeah?" Dean asked.
"She kept looking over at him," he said. "Did you lose on purpose 'cause you knew Sam liked her?"
Dean chuckled, "Yeah, let's go with that."
He smiled a little; even though he knew Dean was joking, he still thought it was possible that Dean had set it up so Sam would stay with Madison.
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He was still at the kitchen table, watching as Madison went through her mail while she sat on the sofa. He smiled in embarrassment when she looked up and caught him watching her.
"Um, do you wanna sit on the couch?" she asked with a smile.
"No. No, no. I'm ok," he quickly refused.
"It's more comfortable," she tried.
"Ah, I'm fine," he said. He should've just let Dean stay here. He didn't know what to say. He never did. She got up and left the room for a minute, but then came back with a basket of laundry. He sat back when she suddenly dumped the laundry on the kitchen table. He blushed when she pulled up a lace thong. They teased Alec about his inexperience with girls, but he didn't have a lot more than his little brother. They were both inexperienced compared to Dean. "You know, I think I will sit on the couch." He caught Madison smiling as he sat on the sofa. He almost breathed out in relief when his phone rang.
"Let me guess," Dean said on the other end of the line. "You're sitting on her couch like a stiff, trying to think of something to say."
"Did you find Kurt?" he asked. He definitely wasn't going to tell Dean he was right.
"No, he hasn't been at work all week," Dean said. "But because I'm good, and I mean really, really good, I got a line on where he might be." He was just about to ask his brother where, but Dean spoke before he could. "What's she wearing?"
"Bye Dean," he said before he hung up.
Madison walked over again and sat next to him on the couch. He was trying to figure out a way to move without being rude when she turned on a soap opera. He grimaced; Alec loved these stupid shows and watched them all the time.
"I saw that," Madison said.
"Saw what?" he asked.
Madison smiled, "Ok, this is the deal, my house, my TV. I never get to watch my show, so suck it up."
He decided not to complain. It wasn't one of the shows Alec usually watched, so he didn't know anything that was going on. Not that he watched soap operas with his little brother, but he was usually in the room when Alec was watching them.
Even though he wasn't interested in the show to begin with, it was easy to catch onto what was going on, and he found that he was caught up in it after just a few minutes. No wonder Alec liked these shows so much. He was almost disappointed when the credits played.
"Wait, so, so Kendall married Ethan's father, just to get back at him?" he asked.
"Yep. And now she's set to inherit all the casinos that were supposed to go to Ethan," Madison said.
"What a bitch!" he said, and then laughed. Madison laughed too.
"Admit it, you're hooked," she teased.
"No, no, no, no, no. I wouldn't say I'm hooked," he said. She giggled; he was really starting to like her. "You know, can I ask you a question? It's…it's a little personal."
"You've seen my entire underwear collection," she said. "Go ahead."
He smiled a little and nodded before he said, "Ok, um…well, you're…you're clearly smart. I mean, your house is full, is full of great books, you know? And you're independent…"
"Uh-huh."
"What were you doing with Kurt?" he asked. The guy seemed like a complete loser. She was way out of his league.
"I don't know," Madison said after a moment. "I mean, it's not like he introduced himself, like, 'hi, I'm possessive and controlling and I like to punch people. Wanna be my girlfriend?'"
He chuckled, "Yeah, well, I guess we all make mistakes."
"Yeah, well, mine's wanted by the police," she said. "You wanna know why I stayed with him? Really?" He nodded. "I was too insecure to leave."
"I find that hard to believe," he said. "I mean, you don't really seem like the type."
"Yeah, well, some stuff happened. My life changed, I changed. For the better, I think," she said.
"What happened?" he asked.
"Well, for one thing, I got mugged," Madison said.
He looked at her in surprise, "And that's supposed to be a good thing?"
She laughed, "I know, it sounds strange. And don't get me wrong, it rattled me. But…then it hit me. I could keep feeling sorry for myself, or I could take control of my life. I chose the latter. First thing I did was tell Kurt he had to go."
"Smart move," he said.
"Apparently," she agreed. "Everything else just opened up, blossomed. It's all been wonderful, really." He wasn't so sure about that, but he just shrugged. "What? Doesn't everybody think that being a victim of random violence is the best thing that ever happened to them?"
He chuckled again, "Yeah, not so much. You're…unusual." Oops, he hadn't meant unusual. She was unusual, but there had to be a better word. She was unique, special, strong, any of those would have been better than unusual.
"Unusual like…" She pointed at her temple and circled her finger around in the sign for 'crazy'. "Unusual?"
"No. No, no, no," he quickly replied. "Unusual, like…impressive."
"You think so?" she asked.
He started to answer, but then his phone rang again. He gave Madison an apologetic smile, "Sorry…" She shrugged that she didn't mind, so he answered, "Hey."
"I found him," Dean said.
"Good, don't take your eyes off him," he said.
"Oh, yeah, my eyes are glued," Dean said.
"Where are you?" he asked before Dean could hang up.
Dean cleared his throat, but then admitted, "Strip club."
"You took Alec to a strip club," he hissed, turning away from Madison slightly.
"Dude, relax," Dean said. "He's barely looking at the girls." Dean chuckled, and then said, "He did blush when one of them walked over to him."
"Dean," he said with a sigh.
"Look, Sammy, I gotta let you go," Dean said before he could keep going. "I, uh, I don't wanna…don't wanna miss anything."
Dean hung up on him, and he shook his head. He couldn't believe Dean had taken their little brother to a strip club. He knew Alec was probably fine, but seriously? Alec was 18 at most, and even if he'd seen it all before, he was still a kid.
"Everything ok?" Madison asked.
"Um, yeah, fine," he said. "Dean's just a little reckless, that's all."
Madison nodded and went back to watching TV. He felt a little more comfortable around her now, but he still couldn't find the right thing to say. He stood up and looked out of the living room window, watching as the moon rose in the sky.
"So, um…I'm gonna turn in," Madison said after a while.
He turned toward her, "Ok, yeah. Well, I'll be here." He hoped she wouldn't be uncomfortable with him sticking around.
"Ok," Madison agreed.
"You know, if you hear anything, I mean, if you wake up, just…just call out," he said, fidgeting with his phone.
"Ok," Madison said again.
"Ok," he agreed. She smiled slightly before she went back to her room. He sighed to himself once she was gone. Dean always knew what to say, but he just didn't know how to make moves like his brother did. Maybe once they'd found the werewolf, then he could make a move. It felt wrong to flirt or anything while he was trying to protect her.
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"Sammy's all worried about you going to the strip club with me," he said as he and Alec stood on the street outside of Kurt's apartment.
Alec chuckled, "I've seen it all before. Sammy worries too much."
"Still, you are a kid, technically," he said.
"Says you and Sam," Alec argued. "For all we know, I could be 19 by now."
He was about to point out that with that logic, he could still be 17 since they just didn't know, but before he could say anything, he heard glass shatter. He looked up to Kurt's apartment where the light had been on before, but now it was off.
"What the…" he said with a frown.
He and Alec ran up to the apartment and busted in. Alec beat him inside, and he let him go first since his hearing was better than his own. They ran into one of the back rooms, but they both froze when they saw a woman over Kurt's mangled body. She turned towards them, growling, and his eyes widened when he realized it was Madison.
He was still registering the fact that the werewolf was Madison, when she suddenly sprung at them. Alec moved before he could, tackling her out of the air. There were snarls, hisses, and growls as Alec wrestled with Madison on the floor. He lined up a shot, but he couldn't take it since he was afraid of hitting Alec.
His little brother cried out in pain, but it was cut short as Madison threw him through a wall. She turned on him before he could shoot her and shoved him into the opposite wall. Things were fuzzy, and he'd dropped the gun, but she was still close enough that he was able to slash her arm with his knife. She growled in pain before she took off, going through the open window.
Everything went back a minute later.
He could tell it took a while to come back to consciousness. His head was pounding, but it could've been worse. He walked over to where he'd last seen Alec, concerned since his little brother wasn't already next to him. He breathed out in relief when he saw Alec was already coming around on the other side of the wall he'd been thrown through.
"You ok?" he asked, wincing at the sound of his own voice.
"We gotta warn Sam," Alec said.
He helped Alec up, frowning in concern when he saw blood on Alec's shirt. "Is that yours?" Alec winced at the movement and nodded, putting his hand against his side. He was bleeding pretty badly, which meant he probably needed stitches. "C'mon, I'll stitch you up at the Impala." He got his phone out as they slowly made their way out of the apartment.
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"Dean, you ok?" he asked in greeting when he saw Dean was calling.
"Yeah, now that I'm conscious," Dean grumbled. "The werewolf knocked me out and took a swipe at Alec. Sam…it's Madison."
"What?" he asked in disbelief. He wanted to question his brother more about his and Alec's injuries, but he couldn't believe that Madison was the werewolf.
"Yeah, awesome job of keeping an eye on her," Dean snapped.
He walked over to Madison's bedroom to see that she was sound asleep. He thought she was maybe naked in bed, but lots of people slept naked. It was a little weird to sleep naked with a stranger in her house, but that didn't make her a werewolf. "Dean, I've been here the whole time. She's in bed, asleep."
"Well, she wasn't an hour ago," Dean said. "Check her right arm below her elbow. I nicked her with a silver knife."
He hung up just as Madison woke up. She smiled at him and said, "Morning." She sat up and frowned when she realized she was naked. His heart dropped when he saw the cut on her right arm. "Um…where are my pajamas?" He shook his head as he left the room. This couldn't be happening. "Sam? What's going on? Where are you going?" He could hear her following him, but he just walked over to the front door and locked it.
"I'm not going anywhere. And neither are you," he said.
"What? What are you doing?" she asked, slowly stepping back.
"You're going to get dressed," he said. "I'm going to tie you up until my brothers get here. If you turn into a werewolf or try anything, I'll shoot you."
"What? A werewolf? What are you talking about?"
"Just do it!" he yelled.
He hated himself as he made her get dressed, and then tied her to a chair. She was afraid of him now, and she had a right to be. He had his gun out, standing guard to make sure she didn't go anywhere. She could probably break out of the ropes, but he was ready and willing to shoot her. He couldn't believe she was the werewolf. She could've killed his brothers.
"You're psychotic. The whole 'I'm a cop' trip. God, I am so stupid," she said, watching him closely.
"Well, I guess neither of us are who we said we were, huh?" he said.
"Sam, you're sick, ok? You're imagining things. Monsters don't exist, not really," she said.
"You know what? Save the act," he said.
She started crying, but he tried to ignore her. "It's not an act! I am not a werewolf! There's no such thing! It's all made up, alright? Th-they're not real! You know they're not real!"
"No?" he asked, pointing at the cut on her arm. "Then where did that come from?"
"I don't know! Sam, God, you need help," she said desperately. "Please, don't do something that you're gonna regret. I'm not what you think I am. I'm not."
He turned away from her. He couldn't stand seeing her like this. He knew she was a monster, but she put on a good act. Thankfully, there was a knock at the door a moment later. He opened it and let Dean and Alec come in.
"How you doin'? My head feels great, thanks," Dean said to Madison. His older brother was clearly pissed off. And Alec was glaring at Madison, so he wasn't much happier.
"We've gotta talk," he said to his brothers, bringing them to another room. He could still see Madison, and he was pretty sure Alec could get there in time if she tried anything. "You ok?"
"Fine," Dean grumbled.
He looked at Alec expectantly, but he just nodded back. "She says she has no idea what I'm talking about," he said.
"She's lying," Dean said like it was obvious.
"Or maybe she really doesn't know she's changing, y'know? Maybe…maybe when the creature takes over, she blacks out," he said.
"Like a really hot Incredible Hulk," Dean said sarcastically. "Come on, dude, she ganked her boss and her ex-boyfriend. That doesn't sound rash and conscious."
"Yeah, but what if it was, Dean? I mean, what if some animal part of her brain saw both those guys as threats? Hell, the cop too," he said. There had to be a reason. She didn't seem like the type to kill people.
"What are you, the Dog Whisperer now?" Dean asked.
"Look, man, I just…I don't know, there, there was something in her eyes."
"Yeah, she's killing people!" Dean said.
"But if she has no control over it-"
"Exactly," Dean cut off. "She can't control it. Even if she's telling the truth, it's not gonna change anything."
"I'm not putting a bullet through some girl's chest who has no idea what's happening," he stated.
"Sam, she's a monster, and you're feeling sorry for her?" Dean challenged. "Alec's not even feeling sorry for this one, are you?"
"Not even a little," Alec grumbled. He looked at his little brother again, noting the way he was keeping his arm close to his side. Dean had said she'd taken a swipe at Alec.
"Maybe I understand her," he said. "Look, there might be another way we can get the job done without having to waste her."
Dean sighed, "Are you thinking what I think you're thinking?" He walked over to Dean and got Dad's journal out of his jacket. Dean didn't look happy, but he didn't try to stop him either.
He quickly flipped through Dad's journal until he found what he was looking for, "Dad's theory…'lycanthropy might have a cure if you kill the werewolf who bit you, severing the bloodline.'"
"MIGHT have a cure," Dean emphasized. "Meaning 'who the hell knows'?"
"It's worth a shot," he stressed. He'd been hoping Alec would back him up on this one, but Madison had attacked him, and he'd told them he didn't like dogs.
"We don't even know where to start looking, alright?" Dean said. "I mean, the puppy that bit her could be anyone, anywhere. It could've been years ago."
He frowned when the pieces suddenly clicked together, "No. I don't think so." He went back to the living room where Madison was tied up. "Madison, when were you mugged?" She stared at him, refusing to answer. "Please. It's important, alright? Just answer the question."
"About a month ago," she reluctantly replied.
"Did you see the guy?" he asked.
"No. he grabbed me from behind," she said.
He took a deep breath, and then asked, "Did he bite you?"
She looked back at him in confusion, "How did you know that?"
"Where?" he asked instead of answering her.
"On, on the back of my neck," she said. He slowly set his gun down so she could see before he moved behind her and shifted her hair to the side to see a bite mark on the back of her neck.
"Oh, that's just a love bite," Dean said. "Believe me, that could have been a lot worse. Where were you at the time?"
"Walking home from a friend's loft," Madison said.
"Let me guess…not too far from Hunter's Point?" he asked, and she nodded. He went with his brothers back to the other room and closed the door. "The same place where those other murders happened. I'm telling you, it's a werewolf's hunting grounds."
"Maybe, but that doesn't mean it's gonna be out there tonight," Dean said.
"Or that killing it will cure her," Alec added on.
"It's the right time of the lunar cycle," he said. "Look, I know it's a long shot."
"Hey, you're forgetting something," Dean said. "Maddie's probably gonna turn soon, alright? We can't just let her take off to an all-you-can-eat buffet."
"I'll stay with her," he stated.
"By yourself?" Alec asked incredulously.
"And if she busts loose?" Dean challenged. He didn't say anything. "Sam?"
"I'll do it," he said.
"Sam." Dean shook his head, clearly not believing him.
"I'll shoot her, alright? But Dean, I need you to go out there. At least go look for the thing," he said. "Dean, please. We can save this girl." He looked at his brother, silently begging him to at least try. Dean had always done anything he could for him. He needed his brother to do this for him.
"Fine," Dean finally agreed.
He nodded and Dean started to leave, but stopped when he realized Alec hadn't moved an inch. "Alec, you go with Dean. He needs backup," he said.
"This is stupid," Alec said. It was so rare that Alec argued with them that he knew he needed to pay attention. "We already know she's a werewolf and you wanna stay here alone with her?! She took me and Dean out with no problem! She's stronger than me, so if she wolf's out, then she's gonna break through those ropes. And you wanna stay here without backup?"
"Alec, I'll be ready," he said. "And I'm faster than you think."
"You still shouldn't be without backup," Alec stated.
"But Dean shouldn't be without backup either," he said. "At least here, I already know where the threat is. Out there, it could come from anywhere. Please? You gotta go with Dean."
"Alec, c'mon kiddo, Sammy can take care of himself," Dean said.
"This is stupid," Alec said again, but he followed Dean out of the apartment a moment later.
He walked back into the living room where Madison was, wishing things could be different. But maybe this will work. It was a long shot, but it could work. "Please. Just let me go," Madison begged softly, tears falling down her cheeks again.
He pulled up a chair and sat in front of her, "Look…I know you're scared. I also know that there's no way in hell you're gonna believe me. But I'm doing this because I'm trying to help you. I'm not gonna lie, alright, the odds aren't exactly in our favor. But if this goes the way I pray it does…I'll untie you, and I'll walk out that door, and I'll never come back. You'll live the rest of your life. And I'll just be a bad memory." He blinked away the tears, just hoping this would work.
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"How's your side?" he asked as he and Alec walked along Hunter's Point, trying to find the werewolf.
"Fine," Alec muttered. Alec was scanning the area like an expertly trained soldier, but it was hard for him to see him as anything other than his little brother. "You think this will really work?" Alec asked after a moment.
"Not really," he admitted.
Alec stopped and looked at him, leveling him with a glare of accusation, "Then why are we even doing this? Why aren't we with Sam?"
"Because, Sam asked me to do this," he said. "There are times when I know it really means something to Sam, and I'll do whatever it takes to do what he wants. If I didn't think he could take care of himself, then I would've had you stay with him. But he can take care of himself, and he thinks this can work, and I want it to work." Alec still didn't like his answer. "Alec, there are some things that we just gotta let Sam do, even if we don't like it."
Alec sighed, but he did nod that he understood. His head shot up a moment later though, hearing something that he couldn't. It took him a second longer before he could finally make out the sound of someone running.
He and Alec took off in the direction they could hear someone running, but then a woman screamed. Thankfully, Alec stayed with him instead of taking off. They ran up to find a werewolf dragging a screaming woman across the pavement.
"Hey!" he yelled. The werewolf looked up at him, giving him the perfect target. He shot the guy three times in the chest, making him collapse to the side. The woman quickly got up, looked at him and Alec, and then took off the other way. "Hey, don't mention it!" he called out. Alec walked over to the werewolf and nodded for him to come over. The guy wasn't dead yet, but he was surprised to see that it was Glen. He was coughing up blood as he slowly morphed back into a human.
"It happened…again," Glen wheezed. "Where am I? H-help me…Oh, God. Oh my God."
Glen coughed some more, so he crouched down next to him, unsure what to really do. "Alright, easy, Glen. Just take it easy," he said. Glen wheezed one last time before his eyes glazed over and he died.
He took care of the body, while Alec called Sam to make sure he was ok. He was itching to make sure Sam was ok himself, but he figured if Sam was in trouble, he'd hear about it real soon.
"Sam said she turned, but he was able to shut her into a room," Alec said once they were both in the Impala again, heading back to Madison's place. "He said he's ok."
He nodded, "Good."
"Guess we won't know if it worked until tomorrow," Alec muttered.
"Hey, sorry your first werewolf hunt wasn't as fun as you hoped," he said, glancing over at his little brother.
Alec shrugged, "It just got complicated."
"I know," he agreed.
Sam met them outside and got into the car, ready to wait it out and see if Madison would change. He was glad Sam looked to be in one piece, even though he had some scratches on his face now, and Sam looked relieved to see them too.
"It was sort of sad, actually," he said, giving Sam a rundown of what had happened with him and Alec. "Glen had no clue what was going on." He fiddled with the radio, and then asked, "Hey, why do you think he turned Madison instead of just killing her in the first place?"
"I don't know," Sam said with a shrug. "I mean, he kind of seemed to have a thing for her."
"Maybe his primal instinct did too. Maybe he was looking for a little, uh, hot breeding action," he said. He glanced over at Alec, expecting a chuckle, but his little brother rolled his eyes.
"Yeah. Something like that," Sam muttered.
He waited for Sam to say something else, but he didn't, so he prodded, "So?"
"So what?" Sam asked back.
"Speaking of Madison…"
"Oh, whatever," Sam grumbled.
"Don't 'whatever' me, man, you liked her," he said. "Maybe, uh-"
"Dean, she thought I was a stark-raving lunatic," Sam cut off.
"You saved her life," he said.
"Yeah, but she doesn't know," Sam said.
"We've got a visitor," Alec said. "Might have to move…she probably called the cops."
He looked over to see Madison walking out to their car. He rolled down the window, really hoping she hadn't called the cops. He wouldn't blame her if she did, but it would make things a lot more complicated.
"You know, for a stake-out, your car's a bit conspicuous," Madison said. "What are you still doing here?"
"Honestly? Uh, we're pretty sure you're not gonna turn tonight, but we've gotta be 100%, so…you know, we're…lurking," he said.
"I know this sounds crazy," Sam added.
"Sure does," Madison agreed, but then said, "Well, if we're gonna wait it out…we might as well do it together."
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He was shocked that Madison let them back inside her apartment. He thought she would never want to see him again after what he did. He sat near her on the couch, while Alec stood by the window, watching Madison closely, and Dean stood near the kitchen.
"You were telling the truth, weren't you? About everything," Madison said. "What you did…it was to help me."
"Yeah," he said.
"I did all of those horrible things…when I turned," she said.
"You didn't know," he tried to soothe.
Madison took a breath and looked at the three of them, "So, when will we know for sure? Moonrise?"
"No, I don't think so," he said. "You turned middle of the night last night. I think we've gotta hang in until sun-up."
"So, I'm guessing you guys aren't really cops," Madison said after a moment.
He looked down and smiled a little, shaking his head no. "We're hunters," he said. "We go around hunting…monsters, ghosts, anything supernatural we can find."
"That sounds like a hard life," she said. She looked over at Alec, taking note of the way he was watching her. She looked back at him and whispered, "He's a hunter too? He so young."
He winced since Alec could definitely hear her, "Yeah. He's not so thrilled with the plan…You kinda cut him up at Kurt's apartment."
"I'm sorry," she said to Alec when he looked over at her. He just went back to watching out the window. At least he wasn't watching her anymore.
The hours seemed to pass slowly while they waited to see what would happen. He really hoped killing the werewolf who had turned her would break the curse. He'd never heard of it working, but that didn't mean it wouldn't.
He and Madison talked while they waited since there wasn't anything else to do. Alec barely moved at all, and Dean only laid his gun down on the table at one point, which wasn't really helping.
But then the sun finally came up, and he smiled in relief. "Does…does this mean it worked?" Madison asked.
"Yeah, I think so," he said.
Madison sighed and threw her arms around his neck, hugging him close. "Oh, God, thank you. Thank you so much." Dean cleared his throat after a moment, making her pull away and laugh a little. "You too, Dean. Thank you. And you, Alec."
"Aw, don't mention it," Dean said with a smile. His brother looked between them, and then went over and gently grabbed Alec's arm. "So, we're just gonna head back to the hotel and…watch some Pay-Per-View or something." He shook his head as Dean practically pushed Alec out into the hallway, and then pumped his fist in the air as he left.
"That was smooth," Madison said with a laugh.
"He means well, but…"
"You mean, he thinks you're gonna get laid," Madison guessed.
"Look, I-"
"It's ok," she said.
"No. I know I scared the crap out of you, alright? I-I mean, I tied you to a chair," he said.
"That's right up there with me scratching up your face," she said.
"There's just no way…we could go back, you know? Before it happened," he said.
"You're right. There's just no way," she agreed, right before she kissed him.
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"C'mon, let me see," he said. Alec had been moving gingerly since they'd gotten back to the motel. His little brother had practically passed out as soon as he was laying down. Alec carefully took off his shirt, but he frowned at the bruising down his sides. He was hurt worse than he'd said before. "Alec, this is worse than just needing some stitches."
"I'm alright," Alec forced out.
"You went through a wall," he said. "And you told Sammy that she was stronger than you. You gotta be honest with me here, what all hurts?"
"I just fractured a couple ribs I think," Alec finally admitted.
He just stared at his little brother for a few seconds. "What did we agree on?" Alec refused to look at him now. "Alec," he growled.
"No hunting with broken ribs," Alec said, before he quickly added, "But they aren't broken. They're just fractured."
He shook his head as he stood up and walked away from his little brother. Normally, this would be where the yelling started, but he knew better than to yell at Alec. He'd been pissed when his little brother had jumped over the balcony, but he hadn't yelled then. Alec knew he shouldn't do something like that, but he hadn't been hurt, so he'd let it go. But this…he couldn't let this one go. Alec needed to tell him when he was hurt. He couldn't hide stuff like this from him.
"I'm sorry," Alec said, his voice small.
"I can't say that it's ok," he said. "That rule is non-negotiable."
"You and Sam both needed backup. Fractured ribs barely mean anything to me…for a while at least," Alec said. "I don't have to sit out because of them. It hurts now, but it didn't hurt earlier."
"Yes, it did," he argued. "You just shut it out."
"Dean…"
"I just want you to be honest with me. You should've told me you were hurt worse than just the scratches," he said. Alec shook his head no, so he slowly sat down again, "Why not?"
"You guys needed backup, and I wasn't hurt that bad," Alec said. "At Manticore, they probably wouldn't have even stitched me up. I would've probably been in trouble for getting hurt in the first place."
"You're not at Manticore anymore, kiddo," he said, even though he'd said this more than once.
"I know…"
"You can't keep this stuff a secret. I know it was part of your training. You had a crap childhood, and secrets were safer than telling someone you were hurt, but you can't do that anymore," he said. He sighed when Alec still wouldn't look at him. "I'm only a little mad," he said. Alec finally looked up at him again. "You're grounded, which means you're benched for the next hunt. I don't care what it is, you're out of it. I'll take you to Bobby's house if I have to. But you gotta understand you can't hide injuries."
"You'll come back for me, right?" Alec asked.
He smiled and moved to sit next to him again. "'Course I will. You're a pain in the ass, but you're my pain in the ass little brother."
"Damn straight," Alec said with a tiny smile.
"Now, get your ass back in bed. I'm gonna get you some ice, and then I'm changing those bandages," he said.
"I'm still not hurt that badly," Alec tried, sounding more like himself again.
"I don't give a rat's ass. You're staying in that bed until I say otherwise," he said. "You're lucky you didn't break your neck going through a wall like that. You probably had a concussion too…" Alec didn't get under the covers, but he did stay where he was, so that would have to be good enough. He headed for the door to go get Alec some ice but stopped when someone suddenly pounded on the door.
He shared a look with Alec; this couldn't be good. His little brother slowly got up from the bed and pulled on a new shirt, while he went to answer the door. He was shocked when he saw Sam on the other side. "She…she turned," Sam panted, trying to catch his breath from running.
"What?" he asked.
"I couldn't grab her in time," Sam said.
Shit. It hadn't worked. He knew what that meant, but he wasn't sure Sam would accept that. "We'll find her, Sammy," he reassured. He turned to grab his coat, but then shook his head when he saw Alec was getting ready to go too. "Nuh-uh," he said. "Grounded means you stay here."
"You said I wasn't grounded until the next hunt," Alec said.
"You have broken ribs." How was he going to get it through Alec's head that he couldn't hunt hurt?
"Fractured ribs," Alec corrected. "Plus, it's daytime. She's not a wolf anymore. I'm not hunting, I'm helping you track down a girl."
"Dean," Sam said impatiently.
He sighed, "Fine. But if you take off or try to fight anything…"
"I'm grounded. I know," Alec said.
He shook his head as he followed his brothers outside. "I already called Bobby," Sam said as they walked out of the motel. "He doesn't know anything. Except he knew severing the bloodline wouldn't work. That's everyone. They all say it's impossible to reverse it."
"How come she didn't turn when we were with her?" he asked, trying to avoid what they needed to do for as long as possible.
"Dean…"
"So, what, you put her to bed and then she wolfed out? Maybe she's gotta be asleep to turn," he said, thinking out loud now.
"What the hell does it matter, Dean?" Sam snapped. "Look, we've gotta find some way to help her, some legend we missed or something."
"If there was, don't you think someone we know would've known it?" he asked.
"Well, then we have to look harder!" Sam said desperately. "Until we find something."
"Sammy, I don't think we've got a choice here anymore," he said as gently as he could.
"What?"
"I hate to say it," he said, and he really did hate it. He wished things could be different. "She's a sweet girl, but part of her is-"
"Evil?" Sam asked.
He sighed, "Yeah."
"Yeah, that's what they say about me, Dean! So, me you won't kill, but her you're just gonna blow away?" Sam challenged.
Before he could argue or tell Sam he was right, his brother's phone rang. He looked over at Alec since he knew his little brother could hear who was on the other end of the line. "Madison," Alec whispered.
"Madison, where are you?" Sam asked quickly. "Well, do you see any street signs?" Sam was quiet for a moment, but then said, "Alright, hold on, Maddie. We're coming to get you. Just stay where you are."
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"I don't remember anything," Madison said. She was sitting next to Sam on the sofa, while Dean stood nearby, and he stayed by the window. He knew what they needed to do, but he wasn't sure if Sam would go through with it. They all knew what they had to do even without Dean's gun resting on the table in front of where Madison and Sam were sitting. Madison looked up at Dean and asked, "I probably killed someone last night. Didn't I?"
"There's no way to know yet," Dean said. He could tell his brother didn't really want to do this, and he knew Sam didn't want to do it. He tried not to look at Madison. He didn't really want to kill her, but he would do it if he had to. He'd rather do it instead of making Sam do it.
"Is there something else we can try to make it go away?" Madison asked.
"We'll find something," Sam said, grasping for anything that would help. "I mean, there's gotta be some answer, somewhere."
"That's not entirely true," Dean reluctantly said. "Madison, you deserve to know. We've scoured every source. There's just no cure."
Madison looked back at Sam, "Is…is he right?"
Sam's jaw clenched as he stood up and turned away from her. Why did this stupid hunt have to get so complicated? He'd been looking forward to hunting werewolves, but this wasn't what he'd imagined.
"Well, we could lock you up at night, but…you bust out, and some night you will, someone else dies," Dean said. "I'm sorry. I am."
Tears slipped down Madison's cheeks silently. He had to turn away when he recognized the look in her eyes. She knew she was going to die, and she accepted that fact. He'd seen that look too many times. Madison breathed out after a moment and said, "So, I guess that's all there is to it, then."
"Stop it," Sam said, his voice thick with tears. "Don't talk like that."
"Sam, I don't wanna hurt anyone else. I don't wanna hurt you," Madison said. She slowly stood and picked up Dean's gun. He started to move since he was worried she would try to hurt Sam or Dean to try to get herself out of this, even though she knew she was going to die. But she walked over to Sam and held the gun out to him.
"Put that down," Sam whispered.
"I can't do it myself," she said. "I need you to help me."
"Madison, no," Sam refused.
"Sam…I'm a monster," Madison said. He looked over at Dean, wishing there was something they could do. Dean just barely shook his head no to him, so he looked away again in defeat.
"You don't have to be," Sam said. "We could find a way, alright? I can. I'm gonna save you."
Madison let out a soft sob. "You tried. I know you tried. But this is all there is left," she said. "Help me, Sam. I want you to do it. I want it to be you." He wanted to rush over there and take the gun himself. Sam shouldn't have to do this. She shouldn't ask him to do this. But…if he was in her shoes, would he want someone he knows to do it, or would he want a stranger to kill him. He'd hate to put that kind of thing on Dean, but he'd want his brother with him at least.
"I can't," Sam said, shaking his head no.
"I don't wanna die. I don't," Madison stressed. "But I can't live like this. This is the way you can save me. Please. I'm asking you to save me."
Sam shook his head no again. Dean walked over and carefully took the gun back from Madison. He frowned when Sam walked out of the living room and over to the kitchen, and Dean followed him a moment later. He didn't want to be alone with Madison, so he went to the kitchen after his brothers.
"Sam, I'm sorry," Dean said. Sam was trying to hold back tears, avoiding looking at Dean's gun.
"No, you're right," Sam choked out, tears staining his cheeks. "She's right."
"Sammy, I got this one. I'll do it," Dean said. He almost offered to do it instead of his brothers, but Dean shot him a quick look, silently telling him no.
"She asked me to," Sam said.
"You don't have to," Dean said.
"Yes, I do. Please," Sam said. His brother held out his hand, and Dean reluctantly handed it over. "Just wait here." He took an involuntary step forward, wanting to help somehow. "Alec, please," Sam said. He stayed where he was, but only because Sam asked him to. He almost broke though after Sam started back to the living room but glanced back at him and Dean with tears streaming down his cheeks.
He held his breath as Sam walked into the living room. He couldn't see what was going on because of the kitchen door, but he could hear Sam's staggering breaths. Madison said something too soft for him to hear. There was another moment of silence, and he thought maybe Sam wasn't going to do it, but then a gunshot rang out. He'd been expecting it, but he still jumped. Madison was dead.