NOW

A small cemetery in a small California town

Dean heaved the shovel out of the grave and clambered up, clearing it by inches before he heard the rattling hiss of salt pouring out of the box. He smiled to see Sam focused on the task of covering the corpse with the mineral.

"Wanna do this the quick way?" Dean asked. "So we're not out here all night waiting for the fire to die down?"

Sam studied him for a long moment, then gave a put-upon sigh. "This isn't as much fun for me as it is for you."

"I know. I wish it could be, but-"

"But I was asleep the first time, so I'm stuck in the back seat now." Sam nodded. "Okay. Let's get this-" His eyes widened. "Dean!"

Dean whirled and grabbed the shotgun in one quick motion, firing before he even finished the turn. The spirit vanished in a hail of rock salt and a flurry of screams.

"Time's up," Dean said. "Ready?"

"Do it!" Sam shot back.

With the free hand, his left hand that wasn't holding the shotgun at the ready, Dean curled his arm close to his body.

And snapped his fingers.

Were anyone else living around, they would have seen a flare of energy - bright in the dark night. They would have seen Sam arch, his head falling backward and his hair kissing his shoulders, before vanishing completely.

They would have seen Dean - still on his knees - flare brightly before the energy pulse died out. They would have seen him calmly lay the shotgun down and slowly rise to his feet.

They would have seen a very different Dean Winchester standing beside the grave.

The sudden visibility of wrists and ankles showed he'd gained two inches in height. The face was the same, except the jade eyes were now slanted and there was a single birthmark on the left side of his face, by his nose. The hair whipping around his ears in the wind was a brilliant shade of red.

His eyes suddenly went golden-red - the colour of fire - from corner to corner. His right hand rose to his waist, pointing at the open grave, fingers splayed out as if he were reaching for it.

The spirit reappeared, shrieking.

"Good riddance," the altered Dean snarled, in a voice that was a few notes higher. A pulse of fire surrounded his wrist and shot out from his hand into the grave.

The corpse burned to ashes in a matter of seconds, the spirit wailing as body and ghost immolated together.

The altered Dean lowered his hand, cutting off the fire and leaving a smouldering pile of ash. "Yeah," he said as if in answer to an unspoken question. "It's done."

Another flare of energy, and the brothers stood shoulder-to-shoulder. Dean, physically, was back to normal. Sam blinked, seeming disoriented for a second. Then he wordlessly grabbed a shovel and started refilling the grave.

Dean joined him in his task, and they were walking back to the Impala a mere half hour later.

Neither of them spoke. What they had become was still too new for words.

This still seemed like a dream.

THEN

Mega Comics Industries, New York City

Four Days Earlier

Dean glanced at the clock as he sipped his water. The costume he wore had long since begun to chafe. The worst was the wig that simulated fire and the contact lenses that turned his eyes golden-red from corner to corner.

The superhero 'Elemental Fire' was a new one, and there wasn't anyone else dressed as him at this Halloween party. The man who ran the comic book company had been attacked by a spirit that seemed to like to attack at 4 AM.

Chimes rang out. 4 AM. Perfect.

As if on cue, the spirit attacked. It tore through the room, coming up short when Dean shot it with rock salt. When it reformed, though, it hissed into his mind, You are the one, then. You will bear my curse - my gift. You will forever be who you appear to be.

Dean screamed as the creature passed its hand into his body. There was a horrible pressure in his head and a flare of energy that temporarily blinded everyone at the party.

A continent away, in an apartment in Palo Alto, a flare of light woke Jessica Moore. She rose onto one elbow, reaching for her boyfriend and finding the bed empty. "Sam?...Sam? Where are you? Sam?"

The spirit was gone - exploded into oblivion by the expenditure of energy it had blasted into Dean.

Dean was still on his knees, trembling from head to toe. He pulled the wig off and frowned as bangs fell into his eyes. He brought up a shaking hand and tugged on the brilliant red locks, wincing as his scalp pulled. "What the hell?" he breathed.

You tell me. Where the hell are we, Dean?

Dean felt his eyes widen. "Sammy?" He spun in a circle, climbing into a crouch as he did so. "Sammy, where are you?"

I was asleep...beside Jess...at home. Now I'm...I don't know where I am. I can see everything, but I can't see you and I can't move and...and it all went dark!

Dean gasped. He'd closed his eyes to try to triangulate Sam's voice better. He opened them. "Better?"

Yeah. What-

"Sammy, I think you're seeing through my eyes." He shakily gained his feet and stumbled to the restroom, pausing in front of a mirror. "Oh my G-d!" he burst out, in perfect unison with his brother.

Dean's eyes had become slanted. He had gained a birthmark by his nose that seemed all too familiar. His hair was longer and brilliant red.

"Sammy..."

Omig-d. Dean...we've fused!

"Like the hero I'm dressed as."

Dean?

"He's...two people...and when they're fused into one..." He slowly raised a shaking hand, trying very hard not to think about the fact that the fingers seemed longer.

Dean, what are you doing?

"Testing a hypothesis." A thought. A mental nudge of a mental switch.

And the hand burst into flame.

NOW

The party had been on October 26th. Driving cross-country took a little longer than expected, as they stopped several times to learn their new abilities and limits. Sam kept in touch with Jess, letting her know he was with his brother who had unexpectedly needed him and was heading home.

They found Dean was in control of their body, but Sam was the voice of reason. "Nothing's changed there," Sam had quipped.

They had needed a trigger for the change, or it was slow and painful for both. Dean had come up with snapping the fingers of his left hand as the trigger. Sam could also use the same trigger to trip the change. If they used the trigger, it was nearly instantaneous and pain-free.

To Sam's delight and Dean's initial terror, they found they could fly when fused. When Dean realised that he was in complete control of their flight and could land safely at any time he chose, his fear vanished. He didn't think he'd ever enjoy flight, but at least the thought of it didn't make him physically ill now.

Palo Alto came into view around 11 PM November 1st. Sam smiled to see it and guided the Impala onto the familiar streets. Dean had flown earlier and was still a little dazed from it, so Sam had taken over.

"Still looking forward to that interview?" Dean asked conversationally as Sam turned the car onto their street.

"I am. Be nice to actually be in law school after I've worked so hard to get here," Sam replied as he parked and turned off the car.

Dean slid into the driver's seat as Sam got out. "I'll try to not get into any trouble where Gemini is needed while you're in there."

Sam smiled. Gemini was what they'd named their 'other self', as he was a blend of the both of them. "I'll keep that in mind. Where are you gonna be?"

"I saw a motel down the road. I'll stay there tonight and we'll talk about the future after your interview."

"Fair enough." Sam tapped the door and watched Dean drive off. With a sigh, he turned to go inside.

He really hoped Dean would stick around. With this Gemini thing, it would be advantageous for them to stay close to each other.

With that thought foremost in his mind, he closed the door behind him.

Dean got room 110 at the Stanford Arms Motel and walked inside, dropping his duffel onto the bed by the door.

The clock ticked midnight. It was now November 2nd.

Sam found a plate of cookies and smiled, heading into the bedroom. He heard the shower run and fell onto the bed, eyes closed.

Life was so good now. He had Jess and he had Dean back and they had Gemini now and-

He froze as something fell onto his face. Frowning, he opened his eyes.

And screamed.

Jess was above him, her lacerated belly dripping blood onto him. As he watched in frozen horror, screaming her name, fire began to roll from behind her onto the ceiling.

Where he got the presence of mind to do it, Sam would never know. But as he scrambled backward onto the bed, feeling the heat and seeing the flame, part of him realised he could control fire.

But not alone.

And his left hand's fingers snapped.

Dean had fallen asleep the instant he hit the bed. He was asleep when Gemini leapt into existence.

It was Sam who stood from the bed, hazel eyes unnaturally huge in his pale face that was suddenly birthmarkless. It was Sam whose now-short red hair was barely ruffled by the wind the fire was creating.

It was Sam's eyes that flared golden-red as his hands rose above his head. It was Dean's voice in his head that instructed him, showed him how to pull the fire into his own body and dispel it harmlessly.

And it was Sam who caught Jess after the fire was gone and she tumbled into his arms.

It was Sam's eyes that Jess smiled into and it was Sam's cheek that she touched with trembling fingers. It was Sam whose ears caught her whispered, "I love you...always..."

And it was Sam's hot tears that spilled onto her body as it slowly cooled in his grasp.

Dean stepped out of Gemini and called 911, reporting a breakin and murder, and attempted arson.

Once the cops were finished with them, and the coroner's van took Jess's body away, Dean gripped Sam's arm. "You can't stay here. Not with the cops-"

"Gimme ten to get my bags together," Sam said, his voice trembling. "Mind if I crash with you at the motel?"

"I'll go get the Impala."

When Sam reappeared, he put the duffels into the trunk and turned grim eyes to Dean. "All this power - and I couldn't save her."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. This wasn't your fault." His jaw twitched as he looked over at the flashing lights. "Someone - or something - did this to her."

Dean nodded slowly. "We'll find out what."

"And it'll pay." Sam took a step backward. "Dean-"

Dean held up a hand. "I'm with you. Gemini, remember? What affects one-"

"Now affects both," they said together.

Then Sam turned to glare into the trunk as both their right hands laid on the open lid. "We've got work to do."

Together, they slammed the trunk closed.

SPN GEMINI SPN

Fully intending to tell their father about Gemini, Dean called him the next morning.

Only to get his answering machine.

Huh. That was strange.

Periodically through the day, he'd continue to call. With the same results.

The next day, Sam added his attempts to call.

Nothing.

The day of Jess's funeral, their father called them and left an EVP-filled message. The woman's voice on it wailed that she could never go home.

The brothers waited another few days, hoping their father would call back. When he never did, they took off to his last known location.

Jericho, California.

Gemini was only needed once in that case - when the ghost possessed the Impala and literally ran them off the bridge. Neither of them would ever be able to accurately say which of them did the left-hand snap, but Gemini soared back onto the bridge and blew out the Impala's front tyres, stopping the murderous car.

Once she had been towed to a shop, it was only three hours' work for Dean to install her new tyres.

After it was over, and Sam deciphered the co-ordinates in the journal their father had left, they were driving toward the destination when Sam asked, "Hey, Dean? Are we gonna tell him about Gemini once we find him?"

"I'm not sure, Sammy." He sighed. "I love him. G-d knows I love him. But we're different now."

"Yeah," Sam sighed. "And we're so different that we might end up on the wrong side of his guns."

Dean shuddered. "How about we just go on and we cross that bridge if we ever get there?"

Sam smiled. "Sounds good to me." He closed his eyes. "Wake me up when it's my turn to drive."

Dean waited till Sam was asleep, then he smiled.

Sam still didn't seem to know what Dean was doing to him.

The first time they'd fused, nearly ten days ago, Dean had sensed something off in Sam's blood.

Every time they'd been Gemini since - except for the time when Sam had been in control - Dean had subtly been burning the impurity away. Just a few more times, and Sam would be cured.

It didn't matter that Dean didn't know what it was.

He would make his little brother well.

Because what affected one - now affected both.

The Beginning...