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Chapter 2
Alec discovered another thing they had in common the night he got bored at Crash and sauntered into Sam's house without knocking, uninvited, like always.
There was a low murmur of voices (Sam and a female - ho-ho, way to go, Sam!), a gasp, two chairs being scraped back, and the cock of a gun. Thankfully, his reflexes allowed him to disarm the petite brunette easily and unload the gun before Sam could even choke out, "Jody, stop!"
The woman, some years older than Sam and fairly attractive (though still armed to the gills, Alec's trained eye informed him), continued to gape and him and look flustered. That was a pretty usual reaction around him, but the gun and the fighting stance? Unusual unless she'd known what he was, which she probably didn't…which brings us back to what the brunette, Jody, was saying now.
"Sam, he's…" She looked at Alec, then at Sam again.
Sam's scars made his expression hard to make out, but Alec was pretty sure he was still on the tall human's good side. Pretty sure. "Yeah, I know," he said quietly.
Jody turned wide eyes to the insanely tall man. "Sam," she said firmly. "What are you doing with that thing?" The last word was spit out.
Alec flinched. "I'm not a thing, lady. And I don't exactly relish having weapons pointed at me, even nice ones like this piece." He lifted the gun he'd confiscated from her. "Antique, right? Late 1960s. Nice." He made a show of admiring it. It annoyed her. He smirked.
The woman bristled. Sam put a giant hand on her shoulder and pushed firmly. "Sit down, Jody. Alec. I can explain. I swear. No one is going to hurt anyone, not in my house. Are we clear?" He looked to both parties.
Alec shrugged and lowered himself down gracefully in a chair. "Hey, she's the one who attacked me first. I'm game if she is, Sammy. Besides, I'm dying of curiosity here."
A muscle in Sam's uneven cheek moved. Alec had learned to recognize that as a smirk. "It's Sam to you, kid. Jody?"
Jody had tracked the young man's movements with a wary eye. "Fine." She sat stiffly in her seat. "Talk."
"Lemme get him a drink first, then we'll talk. Okay?" Sam shuffled out of sight to the kitchen.
Alec nonchalantly watched Jody glare at him. In the other room, the ancient refrigerator's door squeaked shut and Sam stumped back into the room, bearing a cold beer in the hand unencumbered by his cane.
"Wow, you didn't kill each other while I was gone." Sam's voice was tinged with sarcastic amusement.
"Sam," the brunette said dangerously. Alec raised an eyebrow at Sam and took a swig of his drink. He pushed out one of the empty chairs with his leg and plunked both boot-clad feet on the wobbly seat.
"He's not a demon," Sam began.
Alec's other brow joined its brother high on his forehead. "Come again? You think I'm…" He scoffed. "You're nuts."
Sam was looking at Jody. "He passed the holy water test. He passes it every time he comes here. He passed the salt line and he's not a shapeshifter."
Jody's face was troubled. "Then what…?"
The older man cut her off. "I'll get there. I need to tell Alec what's going on too." He turned to the Transgenic who was still pondering what Sam meant when he said he passed the holy water test every time. Did that mean- ? He eyed his beer suspiciously. Then he glared at Sam.
Sam looked apologetic. He pulled the look off pretty well, considering all the ruts and marks on his face. Alec thought the look must have been close to a superpower before all the scars.
"Alec," he said in a voice to match the expression. "I've kind of been keeping something from you."
"Uh-huh. That's pretty obvious," Alec said, deadpan. "You've been spiking my beers, for one thing."
Apologetic turned into sheepish. "Yeah. Old dog with an old habit," Sam hemmed. "What I meant was, I've been telling you about my brother Dean, right?"
Alec nodded. "Only since the first night I met you, yeah. What's your point?"
Sam dug in his pocket for his wallet. He opened it and pulled out a ragged and creased piece of paperboard. He looked at it for a moment with heavy-lidded eyes and sighed. "Here." He handed it over to Alec.
Alec took the crumbling photograph and froze. "What the- ?" He sputtered. "This? This is- this was Dean? Dean your dead brother?"
Steady hazel eyes gazed at him sadly. "When I told you that you reminded me of him, I meant it literally."
The beer plunked down on the table as Alec stood. "I- You- Just stay away from me, okay?" His eyes were hard, angry.
Sam knew that look well. It was the way Dean had looked when he found out about what he'd been doing with Ruby all those years ago. Betrayed. Damn. He felt guilty. "Alec," he started.
"No," the younger man said. "Just- no. You lied- you- " He took a deep breath and licked dry lips. "You didn't tell me the reason you liked me coming over so much was because I look like him," he snarled and threw the old yellowed photograph down on the table.
Alec couldn't believe he'd been duped by this pathetic Ordinary. Here, he'd thought that the guy wanted him around for his own sake, but no, he just liked looking at the familiar face and remembering his brother. Dean. Dean and Ben. Two men whose shadows he'd never be able to step out of. He stormed out of the room, intending to go home and drink himself silly. Not like he'd damage his liver or anything.
Sam went still halfway through standing. "No," he said softly, "Alec, stop. It's not like that. You're a great guy. You are. You." He walked out into the hall, where Alec had stopped, rigid with tension.
"Alec," Sam said to Alec's back. "At first, yeah, it was because of that. But I get that you're not him. And that's okay." He sighed. "This is why I didn't tell you. I was afraid you'd think I was a creep or something." "And not come back again," ran silently through both their heads.
The Transgenic remained turned away from Sam, head bowed. The slight rise and fall of his back as he breathed was the only movement he made.
"Alec," Sam tried again, "I'm sorry I didn't tell you. But it's been so long since I've had family that I got kind of used to it and I didn't want to scare you off."
'Family,' Sam had said. Alec's breath caught. Family. Was that how…? No, no, the tricky bastard was just trying to manipulate him into staying. But…no.
Alec's silence was discouraging. Sam stared at the slim figure. The young man still carried less muscle mass than Dean had ended up having, but he was nevertheless just as (or maybe much more) lethal. He wondered if it would be unadvisable to reach out and touch him, just on his shoulder. With Dean, a simple shoulder pat would have sufficed, but this kid wasn't Dean. He was a genetically-engineered killer. But he was also capable of feeling; guilt, love, anger, envy - he'd confessed that he'd felt them all. And now he was feeling betrayed.
Sam sighed. "I'm sorry," he said softly, really meaning it, and slowly limped back into the room so as to give the kid more time to get his feelings and thoughts straight and under control. Jody raised her brow from her position leaning against the wall, hand on her hip, listening to the exchange. Sam shook his head.
Alec heard the shuffling and taps of the cane that meant Sam was on the move. Moving away from him. He breathed and thought for a moment. "Sam?" he said, voice nearly breaking. He turned around. "You really mean that?"
This time it was Alec talking to Sam's back.
Sam nodded and swallowed. "Yeah. I am sorry. I'm sorry I didn't tell you."
Alec huffed. "No, not that. That's not what- " he cut off. "You know what? Never mind. I'm outta here."
"No," Sam stopped him, turning to face the younger man. "No. What did you mean?" He looked into the green eyes trying so hard not to look vulnerable. "What did you mean, if not that? I do like having you around, just for you. Not because- "
"You said 'family,' Sam," Alec interrupted. "That. Did you mean that?" This was the moment. A 'yes' or 'no' could make or break him. "Or were you just trying to get me to stay?"
Sam stared at him, mouth hanging open. Did the kid really - shit. He'd always talked about friends, fellow soldiers, coworkers, but never had he described anything close to resembling a real family. Did he- ? "Yeah," Sam said quickly, seeing Alec's face fall at how long he'd paused. "Yeah, I meant it. I mean, for all we know, you could really be family, right?"
Alec heard Jody shift a little. She was hidden from his view by the edge of the wall, but he knew she was still there, listening. "I guess," he shrugged, not wanting to seem too eager, too happy.
He cleared his throat and arranged his face back into a carefree expression. "So," he began, "who's the broad?"
Sam felt his eyes roll reflexively. This 'broad' could draw her weapon faster than most male hunters he's seen. "This is Jody Mills. She's a hunter." He stepped away from the doorway to let the younger man pass into the room again. If he wanted to.
Alec hesitated for a moment before moving. His shoulder brushed Sam's chest as he walked by him.
"Well, helloooo, Jody," he purred. "We got off to a bad start. I'm Alec."
