Background:

Sam is from a world where in the pit he fought Lucifer for control and won. Because of the time stretching effects of Hell he managed this in time for the other characters of the show to be alive, but in the time he was gone Dean was killed permanently. An angelic/demonic war devastated the earth and destroyed humanity. To get away from it all Sam takes a chance and throws himself into an alternate universe where he never existed and people are split between being alphas and omegas. In an attempt to prevent anything like the war that destroyed his world Sam bonds with the new universes version of Dean.

Chapter 1

The night is, honestly, mostly a blur to Dean, the heat and, he suspects, his own mind's self-protection conspiring to keep it a haze. But he doesn't need to remember to know, all he needs is the way the alpha's scent calls to him, the way it speaks of dually of safety and want. More than twenty years of pretending he himself was an alpha, more than twenty years of keeping himself safe from them, and it's all disappeared, all burned away in a single blurry evening that, if Dean is honest with himself, he never wants to remember. He knows the outline of it, there's no need to ask for the details; some alpha in a bar managed to smell out that he was an omega, kidnapped him, waited for his heat to start, and last night – when it did – claimed him. The bit still raw and open on his neck tells him that much, tells him he broke and asked for it at some point, there's no good in bringing back the memories of how exactly the stranger made him beg for it.

Dean can sense the alpha in the room with him. Can sense the stranger silently watching him; the anger, humiliation, and fear he feels having to battle the immediate rush of peace, contentment, and safety the omega inside him feels at being watched over by his alpha. This is why Dean hates being an omega; the idea that he can be hurt and still want the alpha that did it, still need him, is sickening. Dean's seen enough abused omegas in his hunts to know what mated omegas are like, and even the few times he's seen them actually want to go – to protect the the kids, ti's always to protect the kids – omega law is not kind. Deans's determined never to be one of those omegas, never to let his omega instincts overrule his own emotions, his own common sense, his own hunter's instincts. And somehow the combination of those last few thoughts drives home the helplessness of his new situation. There are two reasons to want an omega: a completely submissive fuck, and kids. Neither one is something Dean wants to be a part of. And the fact that it's Dean lying here, that the stranger abducted him, is saying some nasty things about the alpha. There has to be a reason the alpha resorted to this, that he couldn't get an omega to bond with him willingly; and Dean has to wonder how much of a sadist his new alpha is, has to wonder how badly he'll be hurt before he gets away, has to wonder how he'll survive afterwards, hurt and with his status as an omega obvious.

The whirl of thoughts, and fears, and plans is cut through by a voice. One Dean can instinctively tell belongs to his alpha from how his inner omega pays attention immediately.

"I can tell you're awake."

Sam could tell he was awake the moment it happened. So long living in each other's pockets, from motel room to motel room, had long since taught him to recognize every one of his brothers tells. But this wasn't his brother was it? This wasn't the man who had sold his soul to save Sam's life, this wasn't the man who had practically raised him, this wasn't the man Sam had loved no matter how much he struggled against it, this wasn't the man he'd overcome Lucifer – while possessed by him in the pit – to get back to. No, this wasn't his brother, just a similar man who bore the same face.

Half of him wanted to let that be enough, wanted to pretend that this man was the one he loved, could heal the broken places in his soul. The other half of Sam? Well, the other half hated him, wanted to hurt him for having the face of the man he loved but not being the man he loved. There was too much, too many raging emotions, so Sam let the coldness of the archangel take over, let it protect him from the pain of being here with his brother's doppelganger. Sam had let the man fein sleep long enough. He'd hoped to give the man some time to calm before they had to talk, but it seemed instead that the doppelganger had only gotten more agitated the longer Sam had left him.

"I can tell you're awake."

Knowing that the game was up Dean opened his eyes, looking over at the alpha seated in a chair next to the bed. He was tall and strong in a way that had Dean's inner omega ready to show its throat and submit to the other man, be protected by him. Dean hated it. He had stupidly long hair – by Dean's standards – and an open, honest looking face that seemed made to have people trust him – Dean would even bet there'd be dimples if he grinned. That face was expressionless now though, eyes cold and dispassionate, leaving no clue as to the other man's thoughts. It was the same expression he'd worn last night Dean remembered with a flash. He'd shown no emotion then either, clinical and disinterested as he'd worked Dean over to gain the "consent" needed for a mating. Maybe his new alpha was a sociopath? Dean cleared his throat – more for show than anything else – and said in the most sarcastic and snarky tone he could manage:

"Don't suppose some clothes are in your plan for me?"

The alpha just looked at him with the same blank eyes, then – rather past the point when it was creepy Dean thought – looked away for a moment and gestured to one of the doors.

"There's a bathroom through there, and some clothes that should fit you in the closet."

With that second glance and gesture the alpha stood – still just as blank – showing Dean that he had actually underestimated the man's height – he was a giant! With that the left, leaving Dean to blink himself out of the shock and decide that a shower and clothes actually did sound like a good idea right now. Just as soon as he had searched the room for anything that might help him to escape.

Sam slumped back against the door as soon as it had closed, the cold he had clung to for control dissipating now that he had left the doppelganger's presence. He wasn't sure how he was going to deal with this. He hadn't wanted to bind himself to this world's version of Dean, but he knew that it was necessary. As this Dean's alpha he had the rite to veto any deals Dean tried to make, demon or otherwise. No deals meant no righteous man in hell, meant no breaking of the first seal, meant no freeing of Lucifer, meant that the war that had destroyed Sam's world wouldn't happen here. So yeah, he had good reason to bond to this Dean, but he certainly didn't like it. The bond had his emotions all out of whack, had him wanting things he'd thought he'd buried long ago, and brought up memories he'd rather avoid for the rest of his life. But he knew that none of that was the fault of this Dean – he knew that – and he refused to punish the man for things he had not even the knowledge of. He'd have to stay dispassionate around Dean, have to keep his emotions locked away to prevent himself from superimposing a dead man onto the stranger he was bonded to. With a sigh Sam heaved himself up off the door. First step in separating his emotions and treating this Dean with as much kindness and dignity as he could manage? Food.

By the time Dean exited the shower the scent of some sort of soup had permeated the air, getting his stomach interested and reminding him that it had been a while since he'd eaten and being well fed would be a boon in any escape attempt. The omega inside of him whispered that food would build his stores of energy in preparation for having kids and how he would love his alpha for taking such good care of him. Dean ignored it. The omega inside was happy, but Dean was confused. He'd found nothing in the rooms to help in an escape attempt – not that he had really expected to – but what really confused him had been the apparent kindness of the alpha. The room was comfortably furnished, the shower was spacious and warm, the clothing was of good quality, comfortable, and in styles he liked – probably the strangest part about all this. So far Dean had seen nothing to tell him why it was him bonded to this alpha, nothing to tell him what had turned all others away to have the alpha desperate enough to resort to kidnapping. It left Dean's omega happy, and Dean himself constantly trying to figure it out and waiting for the other shoe to drop and everything to become clear.

A knock on the door interrupted his silent contemplation.

"Hey, if you can hear me there's food if you want it, just come to the kitchen."

For lack of any other way of getting answers to the many questions circling in his head – and yes, also from hunger – Dean exited the room allowing his nose to guide him to the kitchen.

Published: March 18, 2013