Summary: Dean makes a shocking discovery about Sam.


Tears in the Rain

Chapter two

I hurried from the lobby onto the street. The diner was only a couple of blocks away so I dodged the rain as best I could by keeping under the building overhangs and shop canopies. The streets were already starting to fill with sellers and buyers making the going painfully slow, but a few strategic shoves and mean looks soon had a path clearing before me.

It wasn't as if I had to be anywhere in a hurry but I wasn't keen on getting my leather jacket wet. The rain was pretty acidic these days and I didn't fancy it being peppered with tiny little holes. Not only was a leather jacket pretty damn impossible to come by, this one belonged to Dad and I loved it, so maybe I'd have to start behaving like one of the locals and buy myself an umbrella.

I grabbed a newspaper from a nearby stand and tossed my last few dollars to the seller, a tall gangly kid with a mop of brown hair, who reminded me of Sam except he looked as if he could do with a good meal inside him.

"Hey Dean," he said with an accent I'd never been able to place, "have a nice day."

I nodded and forced a smile as it was far to early to be perky, and tucked the paper inside my jacket. I continued my dodging and weaving until I spotted the familiar 'Tiffany's' sign flashing over the door of the diner. It automatically opened for me as I approached, and I eyed my favorite spot, a little cluster of tables by the window. I pulled out a seat so I would have a good view of the door, just in case, preferring my old habits to die hard – and not me. I slumped into it with a sigh reserved only for the hung-over and spread the newspaper before me and tried to focus. It was time to look for some work. Maybe today I'd get a bit of luck but there didn't seem to be many ads aimed at an ex-cop, ex blade runner. A few security jobs here and there but nothing that appreciated my awesome talents.

I made eye contact with the waitress, she smiled and was soon hovering over me, iPad in hand.

"I'll have my usual and a piece of that pie sweetheart," I said nodding in the direction of the counter. She tapped down my order and then eyed me with suspicion.

"And how will you be paying sir?" she asked with her usual mock classy air.

I pulled a card from my inside pocket. She took it, turned it over and over, giving me a scathing look before reading the name printed on the front.

"Thank you Agent...Ford...that'll do nicely," she said before swiping it across her pad in one quick movement. "You know Dean...one of these days..."

"Yeah...but not today huh Lisa?" I smiled at the way her eyebrows knitted together into the cutest frown as she returned my piece of plastic.

She rolled her eyes but my own never left her pretty face until she turned to go, and then they dropped to ogle her barely covered tight ass and watched it wiggle its perfect way to the kitchen. Like I said, the place had a very nice view.

I scanned the usual pages to see what was on offer but had only gotten to Admin and Cleaning when Lisa returned.

"Here you are sir," she said, a tray balanced expertly in one outstretched hand as she passed me a plate with a sizeable piece of warm apple pie and cream and followed, more importantly, with a large cup of steaming hot strong coffee.

"Thanks...looks awesome," I smiled at the face looking down at me, " and so does this," I said as I put the cup to my lips and let the aroma waft over me and then took a sip. The best coffee in the city, made with the finest Colombian beans, which Lisa put aside especially for me. She knew what I liked.

With another gulp of the liquid nectar, I felt my head beginning to clear.

Another customer came in and Lisa's glanced over to him and then back to me. "I get off at nine tonight...so I'm all yours...if you want."

Oh, I did want. "I'll be here," I said, and barring all disasters and life threatening injuries I would be. Lisa was getting to be the high point of my life these days, not only did she squirrel away coffee beans for me that were meant for the rich Corporate morons, she had the most flexible body of any woman I'd ever met. Her hands could massage away the stiffest of limbs and body parts, and the things she did with those soft lips of hers; beautifully decadent, wet and eager...

"Hey Winchester!"

Fuck! Can't a guy be left in peace to have a bit of a porny daydream or two. I recognised that voice; like nails scratching on a blackboard. The voice of Bryant, my ex-boss who I hoped never to see again.

He glanced over at Lisa and smirked. "Thought I'd find you here."

I frowned and felt my whole body stiffen as I forced myself to look at him. Yeah, he was still the self assured ass-hole he always was.

"You're looking like crap, Dean."

"Right back atcha!"

He was still smirking as he nodded to the newspaper. "How's that going?"

"Never a dull moment," I replied - as if he cared.

"That good huh? Well if you're interested, I've something for you. A special contract."

"I quit, remember? I don't do your dirty work any more."

"Well this is a one off...and I thought you might want first dibs at it."

"First dibs? Since when did you become a boy scout?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah...you've a smart mouth Dean...it'll get you into trouble one of these days."

"Nothing you can say will get me back into all that...killing. I'm done.

"Not killing...retirement. Skin jobs aren't human...and you're doing humanity a service."

"Yeah I'm a real hero. Well in case you didn't hear, I quit."

Bryant pulled out a chair and sat down opposite me.

"So...heard anything from Sam?"

That got my attention, and him saying something like that could go either way. He could be lying on the floor with a fat lip or I could ignore him and treat him like scum-bag he was. I was feeling mellow. Lisa had that effect on me, so if he was lucky it would last a few minutes.

I gave him a withering look instead, ignoring it he pulled the familiar regulation information pad from his pocket.

"I like you Dean, so let's just say I'm offering this job to you as a friend. Three Nexus Six replicants and a human collaborator have gone rogue, hi-jacked a shuttle, killing all on board and it's been discovered abandoned off the coast. Three nights ago one of them was spotted trying to break into the Tyrell Corporation headquarters in the city."

"Why would they do that?"

"No idea...and I don't really give a shit. But there's five hundred thousand dollars on the table to retire them all. So if you want it, it's yours."

"Man, that's a lot of zero's...you must be desperate. Still not interested. What about Rufus...he's your best man now isn't he?"

"Not exactly...been hooked up to life support this past week."

Damn...I really liked the guy.

He offered me the info pad. "Just take a look."

I took the thing and stared at the screen, flicking through the mug shots and profiles of the androids one by one.

Castiel: Combat model -optimum self-sufficiency. Probably the leader.

Meg: Trained for an off-world kick-murder squad.

Jessica: Basic pleasure model for the military.

As the fourth and last one scrolled into view, I felt as if I'd been sucker punched and gasped for air; my throat felt dry, constricted and painful as I tried to swallow.

Sam Winchester: Human, former Blade Runner turned terrorist.

"What...the...fuck?" I finally managed to curse because staring back at me was my pain-in-the-ass little brother.

"Sam's been taken hostage?" was the first thought that wormed it's way into my brain.

Bryant stared at me and shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"I'm sorry Dean...according to our intel Sam's not a hostage...looks like he's one of them and joined their band of merry killers."

I leaned over and grabbed my ex-boss by his already crumpled jacket lapels and pulled his face close to mine.

"Well your intel's wrong pal. No way would he do that!"

"Maybe you're right," he replied quietly and frowned as he eyed my hands gripping his jacket.

"Maybe it isn't Sam at all; he could have been cloned."

As if that would be better, the moron. I released him and he tried to smooth away the additional wrinkles I'd caused to his jacket. He looked completely unperturbed.

"Either way," he continued, "he's under the same order as the others...to be shot on sight."

And then for one brief moment I thought he'd developed a crumb of compassion.

"Dean...you okay?"

Oh yeah, I was awesome. The idea of tracking my own brother down and retiring him filled me with all kinds of feelings. None of them good. But the idea of someone else getting the contract and doing it instead made me feel worse.

But that brief little interlude of caring was soon overridden by his need for a quick answer.

"For this kind of reward I can easily get someone else but they don't have your magic, and anyway, didn't think you'd want someone else taking Sam down."

I forced a laughed. "Yeah, you're all heart."

"So...last chance. You want it or not?" Bryant held his hand out for the pad but something inside of me just wouldn't let it go. I squeezed it so tight I thought it would crack.

"Yeah...I'll do it," I said with a heavy heart. "I'll do it."

Bryant nodded his acknowledgement and waved at his driver who'd leapt out of his seat to open the passenger door for him. Bryant made a dash through the rain. "Let me know when it's done," he shouted through the window and the Police spinner hovered for a moment before pulling up vertically from the street and was gone.

I felt empty and confused. I read through the data over and over before staring at Sam's face again. Just like old times, all the information for the job was on the pad, except this time I wasn't sure I was up to it.

"Lisa? Bring me another coffee," I called out. I had some serious thinking to do. "Any chance of getting an early break?" I added, as I was also in need of some serious comfort.

~~o~~