This is an AU set at the beginning of the present season, but the end of season 12 didn't end the way it did in the show. Sam and Dean did not make it to the cabin in time for Jack's birth, but show up after the fact, Cas and Lucifer have disappeared and Crowley did not die. Just know that everything will be explained in a few chapters, just not right away. And there is a mix that includes the present timeline and flashbacks. The flashbacks go back to season five and will bounce around throughout the seasons. This chapter only has flashbacks from season five.

The bigger change is that I've added Jensen's characters from Dark Angel, Alec and Ben, but that's all that's in here from Dark Angel, so you don't need to know anything about the show. I just really like his characters and wanted to throw them in the mix. If you do know Dark Angel, then just know that Alec and Ben are not adults in this and I'm not planning on bringing anyone else from the show into this.

It's complicated and I don't know if anyone is going to like it or not, but I had to put it out there. If you find it interesting at all, then please let me know and I will keep going. If no one is interested or if everyone hates this, then I'll take it down and that will be it. So, hopefully you enjoy this crazy little AU that I've come up with.

So, now that I'm done rambling, here it is...

Chapter 1

Present

"What do you think did this?" Alec asked, looking up at him. Alec was crouched down at the edge of what looked like an explosion. Sam scanned the area, trying to find whatever caused the blast that was powerful enough to knock over trees and rip up the ground. And the blast was huge; he could barely see the trees on the opposite side of the perfect circle. The only thing that was unaffected was the stream that was nearby, which didn't even have any debris in the water.

"I don't know," Sam finally mumbled. He took a slow step around Alec, tentatively testing the ground. Alec stood up and started forward, but he quickly pulled his nephew back and steadied him when he swayed. "Hey, we don't know if the ground's stable yet…"

Alec rolled his eyes, "Worry wart." His uncle always worried too much about him, his whole family did actually. He was a magnet for trouble, but he was still an X5 so he could handle it. He didn't like being babied for so long, even if he did give his family a scare.

Sam scowled back and defended, "Alec, we don't know what did this. We need to be careful if we're gonna keep going."

"We should just call Dad and tell him to come back," Alec grumbled. He was bored; he was hoping to get just a little excitement after finally talking his way out of the motel. It had been a lot of work convincing his Dad that he was ok enough to just walk around for a while. His Dad was the world's biggest worry wart, followed closely by his uncle.

"Dean's already searching the area," Sam said with a sigh. "Stay here, ok?"

"Seriously?" Alec whined.

"Yeah, seriously," Sam said, trying to hide his smile. Alec was sounding more like himself now, which made him and Dean both feel better. They had nearly lost Alec, which had scared them both half to death. "You're barely back on your feet. You're lucky you got to leave the motel…" He didn't want to think about that argument; it had lasted almost an hour until Dean had finally caved, but no one could say no to Alec's puppy-dog-eyes.

"This is so stupid," Alec complained as he walked away from him. "I'm 17 now! You can't bench me for every little thing! And I'm fine!"

He ignored his nephew though and took slow steps into the clearing. The ground seemed stable enough, just a little charred. He had no idea what had caused this, but there was no way he was going to tell Alec that. His nephew was being even more of a brat than usual. It didn't help that this was the first thing he'd gotten to do since they had taken down the Brits a few days ago. Hurt or not, he got antsy if they made him sit around for too long. Dean had finally decided Alec could help him check out where the blast was as long as he didn't let him actually do anything. This was just to help him feel like he was doing something.

He made it to the middle of the clearing, but there was nothing to suggest what could have done this. He almost thought this could be an angel or a demon, but he'd still never seen anything that could damage this much land at once.

He turned in a circle, but there was nothing. There were no footprints or any kind of trail; it was like it had just appeared out of nowhere, destroying everything else.

"Uncle Sam!" Alec yelled, his voice small because of the distance. "Dad called!"

"Ok!" Sam yelled back. Maybe Dean had found something that could explain this. Or, he was checking up on Alec, and now his nephew was acting like Dean had found something so he'd come back. Either way he needed to find out what was going on. He walked back to Alec and asked, "What'd he say? Did he find anything?"

Alec shrugged, "He said he found something, but he wouldn't tell me what it was."

"Is he coming to get us?" Sam asked. They both started walking back to the road, since he figured Dean was going to come get them. He was kind of surprised they had split up in the first place since Alec was barely back on his feet. It was a big step for Dean, letting Alec come with him after what had happened.

"What do you think?" Alec sarcastically asked back.

Sam barely pushed Alec shoulder, making him laugh, "You're a brat."

"Don't ask stupid questions that you already know the answer to," Alec quipped.

"Brat," Sam grumbled.

"Here, see if these will fit," Dean said, passing over some of Alec's clothes. He'd been driving around, looking for whatever had caused what looked like a blast, when he saw a teenager, about his boys' age maybe a little older, walking down the road completely naked. He'd pulled over and stopped the kid to see what was going on.

The kid frowned at him, and then looked at the clothes in confusion.

"C'mon kid, you can't walk around naked," Dean said. "Just try them. If they don't fit, we'll find you something else later."

He finally took the clothes and slowly examined each article. Alec was going to be pissed that he'd given a stranger some of his clothes, but he'd get him more clothes later.

"You know those are Alec's, right?" Ben asked softly, concern coloring his tone. His brother hated sharing, especially since they didn't have much to begin with. Alec had no problem stealing his clothes though, he just wouldn't reciprocate. And he would throw a fit when he found out Dad gave away some of his clothes to a stranger.

Dean nodded to Ben and said, "He can get over it. I'll get him more."

"He's gonna be pissed…" Ben muttered, turning away from him.

He shrugged, but he didn't say anything to that. He knew Alec would be pissed, but he was already pretty unhappy about the lockdown he'd put him on. He didn't want Alec out of bed, but he couldn't ignore the puppy-dog-eyes. He'd sent Alec with Sam since he was pretty sure the blast was clear of any threats since whatever caused it was probably on the move. He was surprised that Ben didn't throw a fit about being away from his brother though. The boys would rarely split up unless he and Sam were going to split up. They thought he and Sam needed protection even though they were the adults. He wanted to keep his boys safe, but they wanted to keep him and Sam safe too.

"Are you lost? Where are your parents?" Dean asked. The kid finally started to pull on the clothes he'd given him, so it wasn't so awkward to talk to him.

"Parents?" The kid asked, cocking his head to the side.

"Yeah, parents," Dean repeated. "Your mother and father."

"Father," the kid said with a smile.

"Yeah, where is he?" Dean asked.

The kid looked pointedly at him and said, "Father."

"He thinks you're his father," Ben said, trying to hide his smile. His Dad was really funny sometimes. It was obvious what the kid was thinking, but his Dad just didn't want to catch on.

Dean scowled, "No. I'm not your father." He looked around for a second, and then finally decided to change directions. "My name's Dean. What's yours?"

"Dean," The kid said, smiling again. Ben chuckled, but turned away so the kid wouldn't see.

"No, that's my name. I'm Dean and this is my son, Ben," Dean said. This kid was starting to annoy him; he needed to call Sam so he could deal with this.

"Father?" The kid asked.

"No kid, I'm not your father," Dean grumbled. "What do I call you? Do you have a name?"

The kid looked like he finally understood and said, "Jack. I'm Jack."

"Ok, Jack," Dean said, "Jeez, that was like pulling teeth."

"Pulling teeth?" Jack asked.

"It was really difficult," Dean said. Ben laughed, and he really wanted to smack his oldest upside his head so he would knock it off, but he didn't. He was just glad Alec went with Sam since this would be ten times harder if his youngest was here. "You wanna tell me what you were doin' out here, walkin' around naked?" Jack didn't answer him, and he was about at the end of his patience. "Never mind. Just stay there, ok? I'm gonna make a call, and then we'll go for a drive." He looked to Ben and said, "Watch him." Ben nodded, and he was thankful his son was serious again. He could always count on his boys to take things seriously when they needed to.

Jack smiled at him, but he just raised his eyebrows and shook his head. He didn't know what the kid's deal was, but Sam would know what to do. If they could get some answers out of him, then they could take him wherever he needed to go, but he didn't seem to know what was going on, so this was going to be difficult. If they couldn't get anything, then they'd have to take him back to the motel with them, but then maybe Mom would know what to do.

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Sam's number, but his phone started beeping like his number was disconnected. He pulled his phone from his ear and frowned, but he shook his head and dialed Alec's number instead.

"Alec's phone, Alec speaking," Alec answered.

"Hey Alec, where's Sam?" Dean asked.

"He's in the middle of the circle of doom, where I wasn't allowed to go since it was apparently 'too dangerous'," Alec said sarcastically.

"Listen to your Uncle," Dean finally said, trying not to laugh. "Besides, you're lucky you got to leave the motel."

"I'm fine," Alec growled.

"Alec, you got shot and you nearly died. You shouldn't even be out here with us," Dean pointed out.

"I'm still standing, and Uncle Sam had a lot less recovery time after he got shot and checked himself out of the hospital," Alec said.

Dean sighed; he needed to drop this argument and get Alec onto something else, otherwise they would argue forever. "Tell Sam I found something," he finally said.

"What'd you find?" Alec immediately asked.

"Well, I'm coming to you, so you'll find out soon," Dean said.

Alec huffed, but then said, "Fine. But hurry up, because I'm bored outta my mind."

"Ok kiddo, I'll be there soon," Dean said with a smile. He hung up and turned to look at Jack, but he jumped when he saw the kid was so close to him. He put his hands on the kid's shoulders and made him take a step back so he'd have more space. "Personal space, alright kid?" Jack nodded and smiled at him again. He didn't know what the deal was with all the smiling, but maybe once they got him talking, they'd figure it out. "I thought I said to watch him," Dean grumbled to Ben.

Ben shrugged, "I'm still watching him."

He rolled his eyes; he forgot sometimes that Ben could be just as ornery as Alec. "C'mon, we're going for a ride."

He walked over to the backdoor and held it open for Jack as he got in, while Ben sat shotgun. It didn't take long to get back to the place he'd dropped Sam and Alec off, and he was happy to see both of them standing on the side of the road when he got there.

Alec scowled when he saw someone in his backseat, and he immediately moved to his window and motioned for him to roll it down. "Who's this?" Alec asked in annoyance.

"Chill Alec," Dean said. Maybe he should have warned his son that he'd picked up a kid. Alec wasn't the best with surprises, especially when they might threaten his family. "This is what I found."

Sam bent and looked in the window to see who he and Alec were talking about. "You found a kid?"

"Yeah, his name's Jack," Dean said. "That's all I could get out of him."

2010

Dean led the way to their motel with Sam trailing behind him. He was still mad at his brother, and he didn't feel like talking to him. If he talked to him, then he would start yelling again. His brother hadn't listened to him, and the result was the start of the apocalypse. But Sam knew he was mad at him, so it wouldn't do any good to keep yelling at him.

He stopped short once he got to their room, and slowly pulled his gun from the back of his pants. Sam copied his motion, so they both had their guns raised as they slowly approached their door which was partially ajar.

He motioned to Sam that he would go in first, and Sam nodded, easily accepting whatever he said to try to get back on his good side.

He counted down from three, and then kicked open the door. He quickly scanned the room for whatever had broken in there, but he froze completely when he saw the little kid sitting in the middle of his bed. But that wasn't even the weirdest part. The weirdest part was the little kid had his looks; his eyes, his freckles, and his blonde hair.

"Hi," the little kid said. "My name's Alec." He looked back at Sam, who just shrugged back to him. Neither of them had any idea what to do with this little kid. "Sam and Dean Winchester, right?" Alec asked when they didn't say anything. "I've been looking everywhere for you guys. You're really hard to find, you know that?"

"Look kid-"

"Alec," the little kid interrupted. "My name's Alec."

"Alec," Dean amended. "How did you get in here? And how do you know who we are?"

"It's not rocket science to pick a lock," Alec said. "And I know who you are because you're my DNA donor."

"Your DNA donor?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I'm your clone," Alec said with a wide smile. He was a cute kid, but Dean just then noticed that he was filthy. His cheeks were dirty and his hair, and he was wearing what might have been a hospital gown at one point, but was so filthy, it was hardly recognizable.

"How long have you been looking for us?" Dean asked in concern.

"Since I escaped," Alec said.

"Escaped what?" Dean asked.

"Manticore," Alec said matter-of-factly. "They didn't hide their information as well as they should have. Or they shouldn't have trained me so well in breaking and entering." He'd been looking forward to this day for a long time. It was mainly just a pipedream, but now it was a reality. He was looking at the only person who had given him hope of something better. Now he just hoped his donor wouldn't freak out and kick him to the curb.

"When was the last time you ate something?" Dean asked, noticing how scrawny Alec looked. His cheeks were slightly hollow and his eyes were slightly sunken. He definitely needed to get this kid something to eat.

Alec shrugged, "I found something in the dumpster the other day."

"Sam, go get him something to eat," Dean said. "I'll get him cleaned up."

"Seriously Dean?" Sam asked. "You find out you have a clone and the first thing you want to do is clean him up and feed him?"

"He's just a little kid," Dean argued. "We'll ask him more questions after he's had something to eat." He walked over to Alec, tucking his gun away as he went, and then said, "C'mere and we'll get you cleaned up."

Alec frowned at him, but stood up in the middle of the bed and moved towards him. He picked up the little boy, who weighed less than nothing, and carried him to the bathroom. He shot Sam a look on his way to make sure his brother actually went and got the kid some food.

Dean grabbed one of the white washcloths and ran it under the warm water. "You're filthy, you know that?" Dean asked, trying to wipe off some of the grime from the kid's face.

"It was a long walk to get here," Alec said.

"Where did you start from?" Dean asked.

"Wyoming," Alec stated.

Dean's eyes widened, but he decided to not go into it. Instead, he focused on getting the dirt off of Alec's face. The little boy scowled as he wiped off his face, but he didn't pull away from him. "Do you want to take a shower or a bath?" Dean asked, once he could clearly see Alec's pale features.

"Shower," Alec said. "We always take showers at Manticore."

"Well, you're pretty dirty for a bath anyway," Dean said with a chuckle. He liked this kid, and not just because this was his clone. "How old are you?"

Alec shrugged, "Nine, but not an old nine. I just turned nine a few weeks ago. That's what my file said anyway." Finding his file had been the turning point. He had a goal for when he escaped. He knew if he found his donor, he might have a chance at making it. And, with a DNA donor on file, it meant there was more out there besides Manticore. It wasn't just a fantasy that helped him get through the day, but it was real. He only wished he'd known sooner, and had saved himself some pain.

"Oh," Dean said, unsure of what else he could say.

Alec smiled, and then asked, "How old are you?"

"I'm 30," Dean said. He got the shower running to warm it up, and then reached for the filthy gown Alec was wearing. "Alright kiddo, arms up." Alec chewed his lip, but then shook his head no. "C'mon, we gotta get this off so you can get clean." Shit, he just now thought about what Alec would wear. Sam was already gone, so he'd just have to wear one of their t-shirts until they went out again.

"Promise I won't get in trouble?" Alec asked quietly. He didn't want to look weak, but he couldn't properly defend himself right now. Dean might freak out, and scared people couldn't be trusted. They did things without thinking to save themselves.

"Yeah, I promise you won't get in trouble," Dean said. "I want you to get clean, so this has to come off." Alec raised his little arms up and he pulled the shirt over his head, leaving him in just some dirty underwear. He frowned though when he saw a filthy pad of gauze taped to Alec's side, and what looked like darker dirt leaking under the edged. And his sides were dark with bruises. Maybe Alec really was telling the truth that he'd escaped from somewhere. "What's this?"

"You promised I wouldn't get in trouble," Alec pointed out. Tears started to pool in his eyes, but he quickly blinked them away. He didn't know what he expected, but he'd hoped this would work. He couldn't go back, so this had to work. He should've known though that this was a bad idea. He'd just popped up, unexpectedly. Why would Dean drop everything to help him? He didn't even know him.

"You're not in trouble," Dean quickly reassured. "I'm just asking what this is." He started to reach out for the filthy gauze, but Alec pulled away.

"It's nothing," Alec said. He should just leave. Take off before this got more complicated, before he got too attached. Dean wouldn't understand and he'd just get hurt if he stayed. Part of him wanted to leave, but the other part wanted to stay. He'd never felt connected to anyone at Manticore, but now he felt like he belonged somewhere, which didn't make any sense because he didn't know Dean and Dean didn't know him.

"Let me look, ok?" Dean said, reaching out again. Alec didn't move this time, so he carefully pulled the gauze away from what looked like a bullet wound. He scowled; the wound was still leaking out blood and from what he could see, it looked like it could be infected. He wouldn't be surprised if it was, since Alec was covered head to toe in dirt. "Alec…someone shot you?"

"I said I escaped, I never said it was an easy escape," Alec said. The little boy was trying to cover up his fear with humor, just like he would do. "Besides, they didn't actually shoot me…it just ricocheted and hit me while I was running. I'm way too fast for them to actually shoot me."

Dean huffed out a laugh and shook his head. He ruffled Alec's dirty hair, who instantly smiled back at him. "Turn around for me, ok?" Dean said after a moment. Alec turned, but his face fell when he didn't see an exit wound. He also saw a tattoo of a barcode on the back of the kid's neck, which made him feel sick. Someone had done this to a little kid, his kid. Alec turned to face him again, but looked scared when he saw his face. "Hey, everything's ok," Dean reassured, forcing a smile. "But we're either gonna have to go to the hospital or I'm gonna have to get that bullet out of you…"

"I can do it," Alec said quietly. "I was going to do it before you got here, but I couldn't find what I needed…" It would be uncomfortable, but he didn't want to put this on Dean. He was really just surprised that Dean was taking this so well. He expected the ordinary to be freaked out that he was a clone and then even more freaked out when he saw he was hurt. No matter how much he thought he should run, a bigger part of him wanted to stay. But he still didn't want to make Dean do this.

He was shocked to hear this little kid say he was going to dig out a bullet by himself, and he was so matter-of-fact about it. No kid should be this calm about being shot and offering to take care of it himself. He needed to protect this kid, and try to make this as painless as possible. Someone had already hurt Alec, and he didn't want to make it worse. "No Alec, I'll do it," Dean said, rubbing Alec's little shoulders. "You lay down and I'll get what we need, ok?"

Alec nodded, so he got up and ran to the Impala to get their heavy duty first aid kit. It hit him when he was down at his car that he had a little boy now. Clone or not, this kid was his. He could feel his chest tighten in panic; he could barely keep himself and his brother alive, how was he going to keep a little kid alive? He didn't even know how to take care of a little kid.

He let himself panic for just a minute, but then he pulled himself back together. His kid was hurt and he needed to take care of him. He knew what to do for bullet wounds; it just felt wrong to be patching up a little boy. But he had to do it, and focusing on something he knew how to do seemed to help him a little.

He ran back upstairs and found that Alec was lying on the bathroom floor, waiting for him. The little boy looked up at him with trusting eyes, causing his heart to swell. Sam looked at him like that, like he could fix anything and that he was always safe with him. He really hoped he didn't screw this up.

"Alright kiddo, let's get this bullet out, and then you can get cleaned up," Dean said, kneeling down beside the little boy. He reached out to press against Alec's side to make sure he didn't have any broken ribs or anything, but Alec pulled away from him again. "Alec, I gotta check you over…"

"It hurts," Alec whispered.

His heart clenched, hearing Alec's admission. He didn't want to hurt Alec, but he had to do this so the little boy would heal. "I know it does," Dean soothed, running his hand through Alec's hair. "But if I get the bullet out, then it won't hurt as much."

Alec clenched his jaw and nodded. He really didn't want to do this, but what he said was true and Alec couldn't go around much longer with a bullet still in him.

"I'm going to pour some antiseptic over your side, and it's gonna sting," Dean said, trying to walk Alec through what he was going to do. Maybe it would be better if he knew what was coming. "And then I've gotta make a cut, which is going to hurt, but I need to be able to get the tweezers in there, which is going to be the most painful part. It's going to hurt a lot, but as soon as I find the bullet, then it'll be done. That's gonna be the hardest part, but then it's easy sailin'. I'll just stitch you up, and then you can shower."

"Then what?" Alec asked softly.

"Well, then Sammy will be back and we can eat," Dean said.

"Then what?" Alec repeated. He felt pathetic; he couldn't even ask what he really wanted to know. He was afraid of the answer so he couldn't just ask. No wonder he was always in trouble at Manticore; he was weak.

Dean frowned slightly, but then said, "Then you can go to sleep."

Alec looked a little scared when he asked again, "Then what?"

"I don't know…I guess we'll get breakfast when you wake up?" Dean asked more than said.

"You're not gonna kick me out?" Alec asked. He had to just get to the point now since it seemed like Dean was never going to catch on to what he was really asking. He didn't want to leave. He had nothing in this world and no one and he didn't want to be alone anymore. He wanted to keep this feeling of being connected to someone.

"No Alec, I'm not gonna kick you out," Dean reassured, finally understanding what Alec was afraid of. "I'm gonna take care of you, ok?"

"Ok," Alec whispered.

"He looks like a completely different kid," Sam said, as he walked back into the motel room.

Dean nodded as he looked down at the little boy sleeping against his side. Alec had conked out right after he had showered. He'd had to carry Alec back to the main room and put him on his bed, but then he'd decided to just stay with Alec since he didn't have anything else to do anyway.

Alec was wrapped around him with his face pressed against his side. If he wasn't already attached to Alec, then this would have sent him over the edge.

"We're keeping him, aren't we," Sam guessed. He knew that look on Dean's face, and he was a little surprised to see it there so soon. They didn't know how to take care of a little kid and with the apocalypse now in full swing, it was too dangerous for the little boy to be around them. Everything would be gunning for them now, and they probably wouldn't even be around long enough to really take care of him. But he knew his brother, and he knew this kid was blood. Dean took family very seriously, so he shouldn't be surprised that his brother wanted to keep the little boy that looked just like him.

"He's mine," Dean quickly defended. He didn't even know why Sam asked that. Of course they were keeping him. He really doubted the kid had anywhere else to go, and he'd looked so scared when he'd asked if he was going to kick him out. He would do everything in his power to keep Alec safe.

"You really think he's your clone?" Sam asked curiously. He couldn't even imagine clones existing, let alone looking just like his brother. This wasn't their normal gig, and it freaked him out a little bit to see a miniature version of his older brother.

"It doesn't matter if he's my clone or my actual son," Dean said. "He's my kid. I know he is."

"How did they even get your DNA?" Sam asked.

He shrugged, "I don't know…but if he's nine, then I was what? 21 when he…um…happened? I did a lot of shit for money, and I know I donated blood and whatever else I could to get us by while Dad was hunting."

Sam looked like he was about to get mad, but he nodded, and then asked, "What are we going to do about everything else?" He knew Sam was asking about what they were going to do to stop the apocalypse, but he really didn't know. He knew it was their job to stop it since they were the ones to start it, but Alec was his responsibility now too and he didn't want him to get caught up in this.

"I don't know," Dean said honestly. He really hadn't thought about what all had happened since they had first walked into the motel to find Alec.

"I'll call Bobby," Sam said. He walked over to his bed and dropped off a bag of food and another bag before he walked back out.

Dean grabbed the other bag and peeked inside to find some clothes. He smiled; he owed Sam for this one. "Hey kiddo, can you wake up for me? Sammy brought you back some food and some clothes," Dean said. Alec was currently wearing one of his t-shirts, which was big enough to completely cover him, but he knew the little boy would be more comfortable in some real clothes.

Alec gasped suddenly and shot up, but he quickly grabbed his side and fell back onto the bed. Dean had been too surprised to stop the little boy from moving, but he rubbed Alec's shoulder and ran his hand through the kid's hair to try to comfort him.

"Let's try that slower, ok?" Dean asked. He helped Alec sit up slightly, and then leaned him back against the pillows. "Stay put and I'll get you something to drink."

Alec watched him closely as he stood up and got him some water to drink. He could tell the kid was smart; he took in his surroundings quickly, and kept his eyes on what could be the biggest threat. Whoever Manticore was, it had trained Alec to be a soldier. He'd noticed the perfect posture and observant gazes, he just couldn't figure out why someone would train a nine-year-old to be a soldier. It was sick to even think about, especially since the bruises on Alec's sides had come before the bullet. Someone had been beating on the little boy, and that made him sick to his stomach with hate. He wanted to kill whoever did this, but he knew that wasn't the priority right now. Right now, he had to take care of Alec.

"So, how'd you find us?" Dean asked as he settled in next to Alec again. Maybe he could get more answers now that Alec was a little more comfortable around him.

Alec took a sip of water, and then said, "I knew your name from my file, so I hacked into a computer at the library and read everything I could about you. Did you really rob a bank?" He found Dean fascinating. At the library he'd hacked into police records as soon as he saw that Dean had robbed a bank. Everything in there was a contradiction. There were eyewitnesses claiming that Dean was the bad guy, that he had robbed the bank and took hostages, and one case where he tortured and killed someone. But then there were testimonies from people claiming he had saved them, that he was a hero, not a killer. He wanted to know everything about his DNA donor, but at the same time he didn't want to freak him out, and he definitely didn't want to get in trouble for asking too many question. He wanted to know, but he wanted to test the boundaries first.

Dean chuckled, "No, not exactly…"

"How come it said you died?" Alec asked, his voice sad. That was one thing he couldn't let go. His hope had nearly died when he'd read that. His only hope was dead; he'd been too late in escaping. If he had escaped sooner, then maybe he could've prevented Dean from dying.

He hesitated on this one. "That's pretty complicated," Dean finally said. He didn't like how sad Alec sounded, but he didn't know how to explain that Henriksen faked their deaths for them a couple years ago. His life was a complicated mess, and he didn't know if he should really be dragging Alec into it. But Alec didn't have anywhere else to go. "If you thought we were dead, how come you kept looking?"

Alec shrugged, "I didn't have a plan B so I kept looking. You use funny names as your cover, so that's what I looked for. I kept on the move though since you stayed in South Dakota a lot, but I looked every night to see if I could find any of your names…"

"You kept track of the names?" Dean asked.

Alec nodded, "I have a good memory, so it was easy."

"So, you looked for the names we use, and even though you thought we were dead you found us," Dean said.

"One of your names popped up in my search, and even though I thought it was a long shot, I found the motel and broke in and I found your picture in your bag," Alec said.

Dean smiled, "You're a smart kid, you know that?"

"I know," Alec said.

"So, are you hungry?" Dean asked after a moment. Alec looked up at him and nodded, so he reached for the food bag and looked inside. "You want a hamburger, chicken nuggets, or both?"

"Both," Alec said.

Dean chuckled, "Alright, we'll go with both."

He started unpacking the food and Alec had just started eating when Sam came back in. "Bobby's on his way, he should be here in a few hours."

"Alright, maybe he'll know what to do," Dean said.

"Ok, so let me get this straight," Bobby said, adjusting his hat. "You boys set Lucifer free, appeared in a plane, and then found a kid in your room. Am I missing anything?"

"He's my kid," Dean corrected. "He's not just some random kid." He didn't like hearing Alec mentioned as just some random kid. He was his kid, and nothing was going to change that.

"And he found us," Sam said.

Alec had fallen asleep again right after he'd finished eating. Dean hadn't minded; he wanted to make sure Alec was ok, and he needed his sleep. The little boy refused to leave his side, which he found really cute. He felt good knowing someone wanted to stick with him.

"Who's his Mom, and where is she?" Bobby asked. "Does she know where her kid is?"

"That's where this gets a little complicated," Dean admitted. "He said he's my clone." He knew Alec was hiding something concerning him being his clone, but he didn't ask him that yet. He wanted to make sure Alec was comfortable telling him things, but first the little boy needed to get used to him. Alec had answered all of his questions, but he'd gone into greater detail on the easier questions, and had been shorter with the harder questions. He would just have to work his way up to really getting to know Alec.

"Your clone…" Bobby muttered.

"That's what he told us," Sam said.

"You do know kids lie, right?" Bobby asked.

That got him mad. He knew kids lied, but he also knew Alec was telling the truth. He was scared and desperate, but he'd never lied with anything he had told him. "He was shot," Dean said. "I dug a bullet out of him in the bathroom, his sides are bruised like someone's been beating him, and if you saw what he had been wearing and how dirty he was, you would believe him too."

"Whatever his situation was before this, it was bad," Sam said. He hadn't known about the gunshot or the bruised sides; hearing that just made it even more clear that Alec needed to stay with them.

"So, you're keeping him," Bobby said to clarify.

Dean scowled, "Bobby, he's my kid! Of course I'm keeping him." He didn't like that that kept coming up as a question. Why wouldn't he keep him?

"Alright, calm down," Bobby tried to placate. "I'm just checkin'." He walked over and sat down on the arm of the sofa, and then asked, "Now that we've got that cleared up, what're we gonna do about Lucifer?"

He and Sam shared a look before Sam said, "We haven't really thought about it…"

He knew Bobby was about to blow up so he cut in before he could. "We've been a little busy in case you haven't noticed. Yesterday I didn't have a kid and now I have a nine-year-old to take care of."

"He's nine?" Sam asked. He must not have caught on that'd he'd already told him this. Sam was still adjusting to Alec, and so was he, but he'd already accepted that Alec was sticking around.

He chuckled, "Yeah, he said he's nine, but not an old nine. Just turned a couple weeks ago."

Sam laughed, "He's a funny kid, isn't he?"

"Well yeah, he's mine," Dean said. "Course he's funny."

"Boys, what did Castiel say about Lucifer and the apocalypse?" Bobby asked to get them back on track.

Sam shook his head no, "Chuck said he blew up…"

"That's no help…" Bobby muttered.

"We'll figure somethin' out," Dean said. Bobby gave him a funny look, but he didn't care. Alec snuggled against him, and he automatically ran his hand through his hair to comfort him. Alec settled again, and he smiled; the world might be ending, and it had seemed hopeless, but that was before Alec had come into his life. Now, he had a kid. He had someone who looked for him and wanted to stick with him. He had a reason to fight, a reason to try to beat the Devil so Alec could have a chance at life. He wasn't going to give up like he had wanted to on the plane, or even when he had found out that Cas was gone. He was going to fight, and somehow, they were going to win.

More soon?