Dexter woke up the next morning, the remnants of a bizarre dream lingering in his mind. His face held a look of confusion as he sat up. He looked across the room at his dresser and was shocked to see the strange green wooden mask resting there. Dexter stood quickly and went closer to it, unsure of what to do next. Staring transfixed, his phone rang breaking him from the spell. It was Deb.

"Hey Deb." he said upon answering.

"Was last night for fuckin' real Dex?" was the tired and confused response from his sister.

"What do you mean? I don't remember anything from last night..." he stated slowly, realizing that fact for the first time.

"Well, haul your ass over here this fuckin' minute. I gotta know if it was all some crazy, fucked-up dream."

"Okay. Be there soon."

He ended the call, taking a deep breath before looking back at the thing he had thought was just a part of some barely remembered dream. But he didn't usually dream, which was just one more reason to be leery of it. He dressed in a hurry. Passing the dresser on the way out, he debated on bringing the artifact with him. Not even a second passed before it was in his pack and he was out the door.

Pulling into Deb's was a different experience this morning. The sand leading up the beach to her sliding doors was a moderately deep trench that stretched well into the distance. The plants on her patio looked damaged, many of the taller ones were broken off at the top as though a major wind had blown through. The upper branches were broken. He had the faintest memory from the dream about being here...

"What happened to the plants?" was all he was able to say when she stepped outside.

"You did. Well, that is unless someone slipped me acid or some shit before I slept last night..."

"Acid?" He tried to recall more of the dream but the details remained elusive.

"Yeah. I don't even know where the fuck to begin telling you about last night..."

Flashback to the previous night

Sand flew and wind gusted as a blur zipped down the beach, a trench left in the sand after it passed. Considering the time, nobody was out to see what was capable of moving so fast. Deb was just coming out of her house and onto the patio, unable to sleep after a bad night of wrestling with what Dexter was... and how she felt for him. She was just in time to see Dexter, mask firmly fixed to his features, screech to a halt, the rest of his body acting like a cartoon spring before becoming still. The wind created by his speedy approach died down quickly but not after doing lots of damage to the plant life that called the patio home. Debra was frozen, feeling that something was very wrong but knowing it was her brother standing in front of her. His face was hidden in shadows, the once clear night had clouded over some in the time it took to reach his destination.

"Deb." was all he said at that moment, his voice a slightly higher timbre that was smoother than he had ever spoken. Out of instinct and just on the off chance of something unexpected, she had tucked a firearm into her shorts' waistband. She saw him take a step forward and drew it, no idea why except a gut reaction. But this was her brother... right?

"Dexter? Wh- what the fuck are you doing here?"

He took several steps forward, too quickly, and without even time to know what she had done, she pulled the trigger. She knew she hit. Center mass. The shot would have killed anyone not wearing kevlar. But he just took another step forward, full exposure to the fleeting moonlight and picked it off his chest like a bug. He stood there looking at it between his fingers, Deb frozen in place by a confused whirlwind of thoughts in her head.

"You shot me Deb." was all he said. But she didn't hear that. The only thing she could take in first was his face. It was completely green. His cheekbones, his chin, were much more pronounced, his lips a deep red that didn't look at home. All his teeth were perfectly square and even, and an astonishing white. But his hair was the biggest shock. It looked exactly the same, the length, the style, except it was an outrageous burgundy color. When all this was processed in what felt like hours to Deb but was actually only about a minute, she realized she had shot him. And he wasn't even bleeding...

"Jesus fuck Dex, what the fucking fuck?" was all she could muster. He just smiled at her with those perfect toony teeth. Dexter started bouncing up and down in place like a kid who really wanted something. Big goofy grin plastered on and gunshot forgotten, he rushed forward, lifting her off the ground in a bear hug. He twisted his body back and forth with her still squeezed to his chest for several seconds before she gasped out "Air."

He set her down and stepped back, resuming the bouncing on his feet he had been doing shortly before. The smile never left his face as he started a kind of chant. "Deb. Deb. Debbie. Debra. Deb Deb Deb." She nearly screamed back "WHAT?!" He then said in an exuberant tone "I missed you so much!" as he tried coming in for another hug. She just put her hands up between them and he stayed in place. The look on his face fell dramatically. Deb instantly felt bad, even though she never believed she could possibly hurt his feelings. But she was just too weirded out to apologize. His smile returned, brighter than ever before blurting out "I want to go see Harrison!" That shook Deb out of her thoughts, grabbing his arm before he could take off. "Not like that you're fucking not! You'd scare then shit out of him!" This time his features actually sagged. His bottom lip puckered and trembled before twin streams started pouring out of his eyes. He sobbed "But... I... want to see... my son!" A large puddle started quickly forming at his feet and Deb was frozen once again. What in the name of fuck was going on here? This all seemed... like a deranged cartoon. Both were brought out of their individual feelings and thoughts by what sounded like prison break alarms and flashing red lights... that were coming from Dexter's watch! "Gotta go." was all he said before bouncing away like a giant pogo stick. She just stood there is shock, sitting down to process. A few minutes later, the sun started to show over the horizon.