Okay, so still trying to find a solid idea for Willow's personality. She's a bit more silly in this, so tell me what you think of that. I also skipped some parts that I deemed unimportant, so also let me know if that was a bit better than writing out the entire episode.

Goal to get next update: 100 votes and 50 comments? Can we do that?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A week.

It had been a week since Willow got any real sleep. How could she? Her mate decided that she would be safer without him.

Of course, they weren't physically apart, but they might as well have been. Dean had noticed the strain between the two and offered to take the couch so Willow could have her space from his brother. He also gave his brother an earful as he considered Willow a close friend, but not even he could sway his brother.

Willow sighed as she leaned against the hood of the Impala, looking out at the night sky. She had parked in a grass field off the highway to get some fresh air. Dean had offered anything she needed to get passed this. But, she didn't know what she needed.

She knew Sam loved her, though her insecurities would always be there, whispering in her ear. She's gotten better at standing up to them, but with the recent events, they were slowly taking over her mind.

Of course, he doesn't love you.

You knew this would happen. Why are you upset?

You thought if you changed he would care for you?

He pitied you. Just like everyone else.

How could someone ever love a monster like you?

No matter what you do, you know what you truly are.

Willow's eyes squeezed shut as she tried to imagine Sam's comforting voice, telling her she would be okay. It didn't block out the voices, but it gave her enough strength to ignore them.

Willow hiccuped as she held in a sob, reaching to her left and grabbing her bottle of Jack, taking a swig of it. Though she preferred bourbon from time to time, she found that the bastard father's water was a comfort of hers. A corrupting safe haven.

She let out a sigh as she took a big gulp, setting it down beside her once more. She stared up at the starry night sky and moon, which would be full in a few weeks. She didn't even want to think about what this full moon would be like without Sam to help her through it.

Don't be mislead, she had perfect control. It's just when she holds off the shift, she always feels a constant weight on her mind and exhausts herself trying to hold her wolf back. But, with Sam, she completely forgot about that weight and felt as if the full moon was never occurring. She felt human.

Willow shook her head of thoughts and grabbed the bottle, standing up and walking to the driver's seat. She better get to the motel soon. After all, they were on a case. And she needed her sleep. However little that may be.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

"So, what's it like? Being an FBI guy?"

The brunette woman gave Dean bedroom eyes as she walked into the room. She wore a tight sleeveless white shirt with her hair flowing over her shoulder and a black skirt. She held the documents they needed in her hands, but Dean had obviously gotten distracted.

Dean leaned against the counter in the lobby as he gave her a dramatic look. "Well, it's dangerous, you know. And the secrets we got to keep-- oh, God, countless secrets. But, mostly it's-- it's lonely."

She nodded her head dreamily. "I so know what you mean."

Dean nodded. "Yeah."

Willow walked out of the hall in her FBI suit (which consisted of a tight white button up, a black blazer, a knee length black skirt and black heels) and spotted Dean, rolling her eyes as she walked over. She grabbed Dean's shoulders roughly and pulled him away from the woman. "Sorry to interrupt, but can you tell us more?"

The case they were working was a woman, Helena, who had robbed the jewelry store she worked at, killed a co-worker, then killed herself. It seemed better than nothing so they decided to check it out.

Dean cleared his throat as he grew serious. "She killed herself."

The brunette shrugged. "The cop said she dropped the hair dryer in the bath and fried herself. They should know, right?"

Dean held back a snort. "Yeah. Well, thanks, Frannie. I think that's all I need."

Frannie's eyes widened in slight panic. "Really? I mean, 'cause I've got more. You know, if you wanted to interview me... sometime in private?"

Willow rolled her eyes. "Sure, you do."

She nudged Dean away, not noticing Frannie slip him her number, and walked over to Sam who was talking to the manager.

"So, you never saw the security camera footage yourself, then," Sam concluded as they joined the conversation.

The manager shook his head. "The police-- they took all the tapes first thing."

Dean groaned. "Of course, they did."

Sam looked back at them and they all sighed.

***

Pulling up in front of a one-story house, Willow ran a hand through her hair as Sam checked the address.

"This is it," Sam confirmed. Dean nodded, taking the key out of the ignition.

"Freaking cops," he groaned as he exited the vehicle.

Sam rolled his eyes. "They're just doing their job, Dean."

"No, they're doing our job, only they don't know it. So, they suck at it."

Willow rolled her eyes as she got out and walked to the door with the brothers on each side. "Quit your whining, I already have a headache."

Dean slipped her a quick glare before nodding to his brother. "Talk to me about this bank."

Sam wracked his brain quickly. "Uh, Milwaukee National Trust-- it was hit about a month ago."

"Same M.O. as the jewelry store?" Dean questioned.

Sam nodded. "Yep, inside job, longtime employee, the never in a million years type. Dude robs the bank, then goes home and supposedly commits suicide."

"This guy, Resnick, was the security guard on duty?" Dean questioned. Sam nodded.

"Yeah, he was actually beaten unconscious by the teller who heisted the place."

Dean winced. "Oh, god."

Willow shrugged as they neared the door. "It could be worse. I mean, he could have lost his balls or something."

Dean rose a brow at her. "What goes in in that head of yours?"

Willow giggled while Sam shook his head, knocking on the glass door.

"Mr. Resnick!" Sam called. "Ronald Resnick."

They waited for a few moments before the porch light came on, the light of God blinding them.

"Son of a--" Dean groaned as he squinted.

Willow let out a small whimper as her eyes were more sensitive, Sam instinctively patting the small of her back in comfort.

A plump man with shoulder-length curly brunet hair made his way to the door.

"FBI, Mr. Resnick," Sam called.

"Let me see the badge," the plump man ordered.

Expecting this, Willow already had hers in hand as Sam and Dean dug in their coats for theirs. They all pressed it to the glass. The man looked it over, but still seemed reluctant.

"I already gave my statement to the police."

"Yeah, listen, Ronald, just some things about your statement we wanted to get some clarification on," Dean explained as they put their badges away.

"You read it?"

Dean nodded. "Sure did."

"Come to listen to what I got to say?" The man gestured to himself in disbelief.

Willow gave him a reassuring smile. "We wouldn't be here if we didn't."

Ronald seemed to believe them, but he had a different determination in his eyes. "Well... Come on in."

***

They had gotten the information they wanted. After a discussion of "man-droids" they received copies of the security tapes from the bank. They were now back in the motel room and in regular clothes. They had went for dinner and now were ready to look at the footage in greater depth.

"Man, that has got to be the kicker, straight up," Dean sighed, looking at the wall with all of their leads, an open bear in his hand. "When you told that poor son of a bitch to-- what did he say, Will?"

Willow sat at the table with a glass of jack in her hand. "He said 'remand' the tapes he copied."

Dean pointed at her as she took a sip. "That's right. 'Classified evidence of an ongoing investigation'? That's messed up."

Sam rolled his eyes. "What are you, pissed at me?"

Dean shook his head as he took a seat beside Willow. "No, I think it's just a little creepy just how good of a fed you are."

Willow shrugged. "I thought it was hot."

Sam scoffed with a slight blush as Dean rolled his eyes.

"He's right, though. We could have at least eased his mind a bit. He did a lot of the work for us," Willow added.

Sam held back a laugh. "Man-droid?"

"Except for the man-droid part." Dean shrugged. "I liked him. He's not that different from you and me. People think we're crazy."

"Yeah, except he's not a hunter, guys," Sam countered. "He's just a guy who stumbled upon something real. If he were to go up against this thing, he'd get torn apart. Better to stay in the dark and stay alive."

Willow turned to Dean and she nodded, "He's right, too."

Dean glared at her. "Whose side are you on?!"

Willow pursed her lips as she raised her arms in surrender.

Sam rolled his eyes and paused the video where the suspect's eyes reflected against the camera footage, scoffing, "Shapeshifter. Just like back in St. Louis. Same retinal reaction to video."

"Eyes flare at the camera," Dean stated.

Willow shook her head. "Those things are so annoying. We're skipping the part in the episode where Sam tortures me, right?"

Dean gave her a look. "Did you already forget the author caused unnecessary conflict between you guys in the last chapter?"

Willow's jaw dropped. "Oh, yeah, that's right."

"Look, if this shifter's anything like the one we killed in Missouri--" Sam started.

"--Then Ronald's right," Dean finished. Will nodded as she walked over to the table, looking at the blueprint of the city, Dean tracing a pattern on it with a red marker. "All right, we know that they like to lair up underground, preferably a sewer. All the robberies have been connected so far, right? Through the, uh, sewer main layout."

Willow leaned over and looked at the transparent sheet with the route and the locations of the city. "There's one more bank on the same sewer main layout. Odds are, that's their next target."

***

That night, they made their way to the City Bank of Milwaukee. They dressed as security guards to gain access to the camera footage, claiming to check on some glitch that spread through the grid of the city.

"We'll be out before you know it. Just a routine check."

"Okeydokey."

The security guard left with an oblivious grin, closing the door behind him. Dean gave a childish smile.

"I like him. He says okeydokey," Dean stated. Willow gave a small chuckle as Sam made his way to the computers.

"What if he's the shifter? Smell anything, Will?" Sam asked as he took a seat. Willow and Dean followed in suit.

Willow shook her head. "He's clean. Mr. Okeydokey will be just fine."

Dean nodded in content. "Good. Now, let's find the real shifter, follow him home, and put a silver bullet through his chest plate."

Sam adjusted the camera and they watched the security footage for a good while. Dean couldn't help but zoom in on the security guard from before.

"Looks like Mr. Okeydokey's... Okeydokey," he smiled. Willow shook her head but said nothing, knowing he was proud of himself.

"Maybe we jumped the gun on this, guys," Sam reasoned. "We don't even know it's here."

Willow nodded. "That's true, but there is a pattern. We will follow every lead until every chance is zero percent possible."

Sam gave her a look. "Have you been watching Death Note? Again?"

Willow gave a sheepish smile. "Maybe."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Maybe we should just go to the sewers and..."

He trailed off, raising a brow as Dean zoomed in of one of the female staff's behind. Dean was gritting his teeth, Willow giving him an unimpressed look.

"Peeping Tom, her eyes are up there," she deadpanned. Dean gave her a glance as he zoomed out.

"I was getting there."

Sam pursed his lips. "Oh, yeah?"

"Yeah."

Willow shook her head and looked back at the camera. "Uh, guys." She pointed to one of the screens.

Dean zoomed in to see one of the clerk's eyes flashing against the camera. "Hello, freak."

"Got him," Sam stated as he pushed himself out of his chair, Willow following in suit as they made their way to the door.

"Guys."

They turned to see Dean still seated and looking at the screen for the exit. There was a man discretely chaining the door closed so no one would be able to exit.

Dean scoffed. "Hello, Ronald."

~~~~~~~~~~

Okay, let's back up a bit. The three hunters had found Ronald and tried to convince him to stop his hostage situation. He agreed that he would allow Dean to help him if everyone else went inside the vault. Now, Willow was in a locked vault with many hysterical civilians and Sam breathing down her neck. It didn't help their awkward situation, but she also knew he was doing it to keep her from wolfing out on the overly talkative blonde that was fantasizing about Dean.

Then, the power went out. No A/C, no light, no witnesses.

"Has your brother always been so wonderful? I mean, staring down that gun. And the way he played right into that psycho's crazy head, telling him what he wanted to hear? I mean, he's like a real hero or something."

Willow continued to stare at the door, her mind going a mile a minute. "No light, no witnesses," she repeated.

Sam sighed, pressing his chest against her back, knowing his body heat would provide comfort. He then held her hand from behind and rubbed his thumb over her soft skin. "Little one."

Willow shuddered at his husky tone, the one word successfully calming her down. Suddenly, the door opened to reveal Dean behind it.

The blonde smiled. "Oh, my g-- you saved us! You saved us!"

Dean didn't even acknowledge her. "Actually, I just found a few more. Come on, everybody. Let's go, let's go."

The blonde's face dropped as more employees and customers entered the cell. Willow looked behind Dean to see Ronald there.

"What are you doing?"

"Sam, Willow, look, Ronald and I need to talk to you," Dean all but ordered.

The ex couple complied and walked out, Dean locked the vault behind them.

"It shed it's skin again. We don't know when. Could be in the hall, the vault."

Sam sighed. "Great."

Willow turned to Dean. "Can you take me to the skin? It's a long shot, but I should be able to get some kind of scent off of it."

Dean furrowed his brows at her. "I thought you couldn't track shapeshifters because they had no real scent."

She nodded. "I can't. But I can try to find the scent of the person he's dressed as if I know what room he was in. It's a long shot, but it could work."

Dean nodded. "Okay, then one of us will go with you. We'll stay here to keep looking."

"You know, guys, Dean is wanted by the police. So, even if we do find this damn thing, how the hell are we gonna get out of here?" Sam pointed out.

Willow smirked and gave a small wink. "Leave that one to me, darling."

Dean nodded. "Yeah, one problem at a time. All right, I'm gonna go with Will to the skin while doing a sweep of the whole place, see if we can find any stragglers. Once we get everyone together, we'll match the scent and play a little game of Find the Freak. So, here. I found another one of these for you."

He handed his brother a silver letter opener. He glanced to Willow. "What will she use?"

Willow rose a brow, her eyes flashing amber. "Don't worry, I can handle myself against the clown."

Sam seemed hesitant, but nodded.

"Now, stay here. Make sure Ronald doesn't hurt anybody, okay? Help him manage the situation--" Sam cut Dean off with a scoff.

"Help him manage? Are you insane?"

Dean paused as Ronald looked over at him. He gave the man a reassuring thumbs up, easing Ronald to watch guard again. "Look, I know this isn't going the way we wanted."

"Understatement."

"All right, but if we invite the cops in right now, Ronald gets arrested, we get arrested, the shifter gets away. Probably never find it again, okay--" Dean was once again cut off by Willow yelling, "Ron!"

The brothers looked over to see Willow pulling Ronald out of the light of the window, thumping him upside the head for his idiocy.

Dean chuckled, turning back to his brother. "Ron's game plan was a bad plan. It was a bit of a crazy plan--" Sam sighed as he pursed his lips. "--But right now, crazy's the only game in town, okay?"

Sam didn't answer. Willow shook her head and began to make her way to the halls.

"Come on, Dean. We can argue later."

Dean's jaw clenched, but followed after her to lead her to the skin.

***

They made their way through the halls, Dean quickly ditching the flashlight as Willow could see in the dark, and it would attract less attention from the police and the shifter. They dodged windows and doors until they made their way past the control room, which was closer than the office with the skin.

"Hold on," Willow paused, taking a whiff of the air. Dean gave her a look.

"What, something here?" He asked. Willow rolled her eyes.

"Obviously if I said to stop."

She ignored Dean's eye roll as she moved into the room, the smell growing stronger in the center.

"What does it smell like?" Dean asked.

Willow sighed, looking up at the roof. "You're not gonna like it."

She turned around and saw a coat rack by the door. She grabbed it and began to poke the roof tiles with it. Dean looked up as well.

"The tile is moved slightly," he observed. She nodded.

"Yup, and it smells like--"

She was cut off by the roof giving out and something falling to the ground. They backed away quickly to see it was the dead body of a dark male. "--Death."

They quickly made their way back to see the security guard have some kind of chest problems, the same dark male holding onto him. Dean made his way over and quickly noted their findings to Sam. Sam nodded and walked over.

"You know what, Ronald? He's right, we've got to get this man outside."

"Come on, man. I got you." He leaned down and grabbed the guard, the dark male inputting, "I'll help you."

"Uh, I got him. It's cool," Sam shook him off.

He led the guard away as Dean and Willow stayed with the shifter. The three were stuck in an intense glaring contest.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a second?" Dean offered.

The shifter chuckled. "You're the one holding the gun, man."

He wasted no time in knocking the two into the door of the vault, running away.

Ronald wasted no time in running after him as the two hunters gathered their wits. "Stop, get back here!"

Then, there was a gunshot.

~~~~~~~~

Ronald was dead. And it was their fault.

Willow tried to shake the guilt out of her heart to focus on the situation at hand. Yes, it was there fault, but one life was better than tens of them. It was a harsh reality, but at least Ronald died a hero.

Willow made her way through the halls with Sam as Dean dealt with the guard. They were making their way up the stairs when they saw the shifter had shed it's skin again. Willow sighed, kneeling down to try and pick up the scent of who he picked next while Same called Dean.

"Slipped his skin."

"What?"

"Yeah, bastard shifts fast, a lot faster than the one in St. Louis. Willow is working on the scent now."

"Oh, god, it's like playing the shell game. It could be anybody again."

"I think most of the employees are in the vault by now."

"All right, you search every inch of this place. Willow? Can you hear me?"

Willow nodded, leaning into the phone. "Loud and clear, boss."

"Follow the scent to see if you can find anymore dead bodies. I'm gonna go round everybody up."

Dean hung up and Will stood at attention. "All right, the scent leads downstairs so I'll follow it there."

Willow pushed past him, but Sam caught her arm. She looked at him in confusion. "What's up?"

Sam gulped thickly. "Look, I know you can take care of yourself better than most, but..."

Willow smiled slightly at his unspoken words, leaning forward and kissing his cheek lightly. It was times like this she was glad she was so freakishly tall. "I'll be back before you know it, Moose."

With that, she took off.

~~~~~~~~~

Willow confidently strides through the halls of the bank, wanting the shifter to hear her and know she was coming for it. She wasn't scared of this poor excuse of a shifter. Any monster than hurt innocent humans tarnished the reputation of the good ones out there. She knew she was no better, she just hoped that her hunting the bad was good to make up her penance.

But, on the other hand, she couldn't deny her urges. Her urge to hunt, to feed. To taunt. She was just glad she can channel that energy to something other than humans. Besides, stalking a shifter was much more fun.

She paused when she heard the scream of a woman and grunts from fighting. She made her way to follow the sound as she knew it was the brothers, when she heard a smash of a window around the corner. She stopped abruptly, looking around and quickly jumping high enough to reach the roof tile, hiding inside the ceiling.

She peered down to see it was members of the S.W.A.T. team entering, and silently cursed to herself. The FEDs were here, she just knew it. She sighed, knowing Dean and Sam could handle themselves, she quickly snatched up three of the S.W.A.T. team members into the roof without a sound, knocking them out instantly. She better get to work on their escape plan.

***

Dean sighed as he kneeled down to the body of the shifter, going to make his way to pull the letter opener out when a flashlight was cast on him.

"Freeze!"

He turned to see a S.W.A.T. member pointing the gun at him. But, then he realized the clothes were a bit big on the man.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Dude, really?"

The gunman pulled his visor up to reveal a cheeky looking Willow. "Scared you, huh?"

Dean couldn't help but chuckle. Another gunman came up behind her who he recognized as Sam, who was holding another uniform.

"Come on, we don't have all day," Sam ordered, throwing the clothes at him.

Using the cover, they made their way to the parking garage that was about half a mile away from the bank. They entered the Impala and took off their helmets, sighing.

"We're so screwed."

Willow couldn't help but agree with the older brother.

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