He stood there at his daughter's grave with her killer. "I don't want to be like you." He said to the man, staring straight at the tombstone. "I was going to kill you. I wanted to; I hate you that much. But I'm still Rachel's father. I couldn't protect her from you." He said and choked back a sob. "But I can protect others, make her proud of me." He said and looked over Alec's shoulder and nodded. "That's one thing I can do."
Alec turned around at the sound of guns cocking "Alright, where's your buddy, White?" He asked, figuring it was finally going to happen. He was going to die and it would be over. No more music, no more regrets.
Mr. Berrisford turned to go. "White? I don't know a White. I do, however, know a Lydecker. A mutual friend, I'm told." He said as he walked away. He didn't want to be caught in that, so he didn't walk away at a slow pace as Lydecker came out behind a large mausoleum.
"494." He said as he approached the surrounded transgenic. "It's time to go home."
"The name's Alec." He said, feeling the panic welling up inside. Adrenaline pumping through his veins. He examined his options, looking for his best chance of escape. "And I am home. You can go to hell."
"Alec?" Lydecker said, with a bit of a chuckle. "You've been hanging around 452, or Max, right? And this is your home? A cemetery? If you insist, but I'd rather take you alive. Now come quietly, or we'll tranquilize you. I've given you an order, soldier."
"I don't take orders any more. Manticore is history and I'm not one of your kids." He moved cautiously back, taking in everything around him before making his move. With lightening fast reflexes, he grabbed for Lydecker, figuring that was his best option for making it out of there alive. He didn't have a chance without a hostage and he knew it.
Lydecker waited until he was grabbed. Then took out the taser and shocked Alec at full power until he was released. "You forget, I trained you." Lydecker said. "Everything you know, I taught you. Manticore is not history. Renfro, regrettably, had to....resign. Grab him. Keep him sedated."
Logan looked up and smiled. "Hey," his tone was soft, eyes adoring, "you haven't been by for a couple of days." He said. "Everything alright?"
"Dean's completely better now." Max said, leaning against a chair. "You know, it's just everything. Dean, White, even Alec. He's having a complete meltdown since Rachel Berrisford died."
"I can't imagine that would be easy. Do you think he really loved her?" He asked, it would explain a lot about Alec if he did. Although it would surprise him on some level. He supposed he didn't really see Alec as… a complete individual. He worked hard on that two dimensional veneer, and there were days that Logan completely bought it.
"He loved her." Max said. She'd seen Alec at the comatose girl's bedside. Those were real tears. "I thought ten years at Manticore was bad. I still have nightmares about it. But what the rest of them went through after my unit left.....I think I had it easy." She said, thinking about what Alec had said. "But he wants to be alone. So we've left him alone. Not fun thinking of things to distract Dean and Sam, but he needs space. He's got a lot to face up to and deal with."
"When I thought you were dead…" Logan began, then stopped, shaking it off. "Yeah… time on his own is exactly what he needs right now. Grief isn't something you can help him process." That and he wasn't comfortable with all the time she and Alec had been spending together because of the Winchesters.
"He doesn't want my help anyway." Max said with a shrug. "So anything new on their father? Or their mother for that matter? I'm telling you, these kids are brainwashed to a high degree. Dean denies that he feels pain, both of them coat all the doors and windows with salt to keep ghosts out...."
"Okay,
that's a bit odd." Logan said as he led the way to his
computer room. "I didn't find out anything good. At least not
after their mother's death . Before then, their father came from a
good family in Lawrence, Kansas. The sort of guy you want your
daughter dating. Served in Vietnam, came home, married his
sweetheart. They were together several years before Dean was born,
medical records say there were two miscarriages, but no signs of
abuse. Then one night
she dies in a house fire." Logan
said. "It was in Sam's nursery. But somehow didn't hurt the
baby. Now how she could die in that fire, in that room, and
Winchester still be able to get both boys out unharmed? It makes
no sense."
He
started pulling up the police and school records he had found. "It
seems after that, Winchester went a little nuts. Started dragging
the boys around all over the country. Sometimes staying no more
than a couple weeks in a single school. There are arrest reports
for Winchester, most with alias but it's the same man. Same prints
and same face. There were two separate occasions where a social
worker was sent out to the hotel they were staying in, because a
teacher reported
neglect of some sort. Usually what they call
overparentalization in Dean's case. But they could never
substantiate anything. They left town immediately in both cases."
Max skimmed over the records. "Oh, I believe it." Max said. "They got out of Manticore and came here to Seattle. Within a week, Dean had an apartment, money and clothes for Sam. He definitely puts Sam first. And Sam is taking his father's absence a little too well, but when Dean was hurt, the kid freaked worse than when he found out about no public schools. He said Dean takes care of him, and Dean took care of their dad. It was weird. Like that was normal or something. Even I know better."
"I know… they don't act like having him gone is anything new." Logan said. "And remember that Sam didn't want to go to a family out in the country because it would be too much like a foster home. How does a man with this kind of criminal record, and obvious instability wind up in the CIA?" He asked.
"I'd say it's a logical jump. Insane to CIA." Max quipped. "Well, how'd he get out of all his legal messes? Anyone helping him out behind the scenes? Some connection or something? What's his CIA record look like? Is he an up and up agent, or something more like it's a big fat cover for some defense department gig like, oh I don't know, Manticore?"
"No one helped him out of his problems until after the boys disappeared. He usually broke out or they figured out he wasn't the slime bag they were looking for." He said. "For a year he was all up and down the northwest coast, filing missing persons reports, actively hunting for the boys. Then he came back to Seattle, and all was quiet. Got a job, stayed in one place, has another son, David, no record of birth or birth mother. Started with the CIA in 2000, and apparently has been the ideal CIA operative ever since. Not that I would consider that any sort of character reference."
Max sighed and looked over the records. "Another son?" She shook her head. "Not sure how the boys are going to take that. Maybe I should go talk to him, or observe him or something. Do we have a recent address on him?" She asked.
Logan nodded. "Yeah. Not far from where Ames White's family lives." He said, and wrote out the address. "It's their father's property. But he is listed as out of the country. Who knows if that is accurate or not? Either way, I don't think these kids can take too much more in the way of bombshells. And reading this history … maybe they are better off where they are."
Max scowled. "They probably have neighborhood potluck dinners together." She said. She had to think how she'd do this. "They're asking about what we're finding out every day. So far I've stalled and said that we've run into dead ends. They're not stupid kids though."
"Tell them the truth, that as far as the records show, the only John Winchester of the correct age we can find is working for the CIA and currently listed as out of the country." Logan was good at spinning things. Telling the truth the right way was how Eyes Only had to operate. It was his most powerful weapon.
Max nodded. "That should work for a while." She said. "I gotta blaze, promised the boys I'd let them run free for a bit tonight." And with Alec needing space or whatever, that left her as the sole person to bring them out.
"Have a good time. You need me to swing by Joshua's and drop anything off for you?" He asked. He had learned to like Joshua once he had gotten past the limited verbal skills and saw that there was a strong intelligence in there underneath the fluffy puppy exterior.
"Just some books for Sam." Max said. "Thought I caught Dean reading one of them, but don't mention it." She said with a grin. "Thanks." She said as she left and headed for the first payphone. Then thought better of it, guy was CIA after all, and headed three sectors over and broke into a house to use the phone. Normal neighborhood, owners probably at work, and called John Winchester's number.
"Winchester residence." A middle aged woman's voice came over the line "How can I help you?"
"Yeah, I need to talk to John Winchester." Max said, making sure she left no fingerprints on anything. Bad enough she knew this house was going to get raided in about an hour. "It's about his sons." Making sure to stress the plural.
"One moment. I will see if Mr. Winchester is available. May I tell him who's calling?" She asked, already setting things in motion to track the call, as she walked toward Winchester's office, phone in hand.
"Not important. Don't waste time, I know the call is being traced. He wants to talk about his sons, get him on the line." Max said, staring at the clock on a wall, watching the seconds tick by. "Seriously, lady, don't waste my time."
She covered the phone for a moment and a mans voice, like the purr of big cat, came over the line. "You have word of my boys?" He asked, trying to keep the hopefulness down. He had gone through this all years before. False hope, dashed dreams, broken heart. They were important to him. They were all he had left of their mother. He wanted them back.
"Yeah, Agent Winchester, I have word of your boys." Max snapped. In no way reining in her inner bitch. "They're fine. They're healthy, happy and adjusting. Totally recovering from what you put them through as kids, somehow." Watching the clock. "Or they're dead, a failed Manticore experiment. Evil business that, dealing with genes and stasis. Nice touch, missing persons reports. What's the reward for giving you their remains? What are you going to do with them? Clone them?"
"Now
you listen to me." He said. "I'm not a man you want to
play games with. If you are thinking of ransom demands or some
sort of black mail because you think you know something, you are
in over your head. But if you know my boys where abouts, you have
to tell me. I need to know now if they are okay. I know my son was
injured in an altercation...
tell me about that injury."
He had to be sure that he was speaking to someone who might
actually know about the boys.
That pissed Max off. John winchester wasn't the one up all night nursing Dean through his fever. He wasn't the one doing the dressing changes and pushing the medicine. He wasn't the one calming down and distracting little Sammy. He was, however, the one that convinced Dean that it didn't hurt. That admitting to pain made him less of a man in his father's eyes. And the kid was only fourteen.
"He's fine. Nasty infection set in that shoulder, but we took care of it. You'd be proud of him, spouting off that pain was a phantom of the mind. His well being has nothing to do with you, and you have no part in it. You have those poor kids brainwashed to such a point that Dean hid an infection until he nearly died!" Max snapped. "And if you think I'm letting an insane person like you near them again, then the sky is purple and pigs are flying out of your ass."
"You can't keep me from them." John said. "It's out of your hands. Thank you for telling me that Dean is alright, but their brother and I are seeking them out, and we will find them. They are my sons. MY sons." He said, the old anger coming out in his voice. "Getting in my way is the last place you want to be, little girl."
"Listen up, old man," Max snapped. "You're not getting near them. I know a thing or two about so called parents like you. They're better off far away from them. You come for them, you have to deal with me. And some others. Might break a hip trying. Just keep to yourself and rest assured that they're fine and safe. Which is more than they could say when they were with you. What with the midnight moves, Dad in and out of jail, social workers coming all the time..."
"And how do you think you are going to prove any of these allegations?" He asked her bluntly. "Do you really think anyone is going to believe that those boys are the same boys that I had all those years ago? No... they are going to believe that they are who I tell them they are. And I will have documentation to back it up. My boys will back me up. You know that, don't you? That's why you are pulling this little grandstand."
"I'm not grandstanding. I called you to feel you out, see what kind of man you were." Max said. "I'm the final judge, the nice obstacle to them. They're good kids, they really are. And you don't deserve them. By threatening me and everyone else, you've proved you're nothing but a control freak monster. And you're not getting them. I know a thing or two about monsters, and I wouldn't wish one on any child. Be content with the one son you've got, 'cause that's all you've got." Had the conversation gone better, if she had somehow liked the man, she might have arranged a meeting. Or at least a call. But as much as the boys wanted to find their father, she didn't feel the least bit guilty about blocking the road.
"You're one of them, aren't you? One of the test tube creations. Not even a real person. Just some hodge podge of DNA created by a crazy old man that lost his faith. So what's your designation, X5?" He demanded.
That was a moment of clarity for Max. Not that anything made sense, but it was if she could finally clearly see all the jumbled puzzle pieces scattered about. "452, bitch." She snapped. "Give White my best." She said before slamming down the phone and getting the hell out of there.
John howled in rage, knocking everything on his desk to the floor. "Get White on the line and tell him to get his ass over here, yesterday!" He ordered. "And get me any information you have on transgenics 494 and 452." He said before stalking out of his office and into his rooms, before sitting down and resting his head in his hands, crying.
When the sun had come up, Lydecker gathered his company. Not as big as it once was, but slowly growing. The intercept signal that White had sent out to trap his kids had been intercepted by Lydecker and his men. He'd managed to save a good number of his kids from White. Which made him relieved as he stood here and looked out at them. X5s, a few X6s, one or two X7s.
And finally, another one of his kids had come home.
He was currently strung up from a pole, barely conscious. Lydecker wasn't taking chances until 494 had been reindoctrinated.
"Company!" He called out, and they snapped to attention. "This X5 is a deserter who must be taught the error of his ways so he can rejoin us in his right mind. Your task today is to teach him the meaning of pain. Until he finally succumbs to our mercy and lets us help him."
"Yes sir!" They called out in unison.
"You have rope. You have rubber bullets. You have your hands. In an orderly fashion, please welcome 494 home."
Alec adjusted his position. "Well, this is sweet and all but I really gotta pass." He managed to get out as he fought against the drugs in his system. He needed to think, needed to pull himself together and find a way out of this. "Come on Dad... Let's go get a beer or something and let the kiddies go back to class."
"494 has been corrupted by the outside world." Lydecker said. "The world I tried to protect you all from. Do you remember being out there? Being scared and alone? You're not alone here, you're not scared any longer. You have your unit. He needs to be reminded about the power of a unit, he's lost his way." He said with a sigh. "494, this might hurt. But really it's for your own good." Reindoctrination was always this way.
"My name is Alec. There is no 494." He said and closed his eyes, breathing through the pain as they took turns inflicting pain. What was it that Dean kept saying? Pain was a phantom of the mind. Right then, Alec was pretty sure it wasn't a phantom at all. But very real and very substantial. "You're not sheltered in here. You're used. Every last one of us was used. You're nothing but a number to him and you know it."
"Alec was a name given to him by 452. You all remember her. She was part of the unit that deserted you. That ran." Lydecker said. "You all remember the precautions we had to take to make sure that wasn't repeated." Even if they didn't experience it, it was rumored. And legendary. "We don't respect deserters here. We don't accept their view points. Your designation is 494. If you need proof of that, I can get a couple of mirrors and you can look at your bar code again. You are a soldier, you were an officer here. Respected. Feared. What are you now?"
"Alec McDowell." He said. "I'm not going to kill for you anymore. You may as well put me down now. Get it over with. I will not break." He could feel the welts rising on his body. Even his advanced healing couldn't keep it at bay with the constant onslaught.
"You will." Lydecker said. "Gag him. Once he's unconscious, bring him to Psy Ops."
He wanted to stand his ground. Wanted to look forward, staring down all the transgenics that came to attack him. But the drugs, the pain, the trauma of Rachel's death, all combined sapped his will, and when Lydecker mentioned Psy Ops, his blood ran cold.
"No!" He yelled and struggled against the chains, clenching his jaws down tight to prevent the gag being inserted. He was oblivious to the pain as he struggled and fought to be free, one of the links of chain stretched.
"You pushed me to this, 494." Lydecker said with a shake of his head, drinking coffee out of a travel mug from an amusement part. "Reinforce that chain once he's quiet."
"You sick son of a bitch!" He managed to get out before they were able to force the gag into his mouth. He had no intention of being quiet, not any time soon. Adrenaline overrode the drugs in his system and he continued to struggle until his body simply couldn't struggle any longer. Even then, exhausted, and in pain, he wouldn't let himself drift into unconsciousness. Every second he kept his eyes open, every blow that he endured standing there, was another that he was not back in Psy Ops.
Lydecker watched, drinking his coffee, until finally 494 was overcome and fell into unconsciousness. He lasted longer than Lydecker thought he would. That was a good sign, surprisingly.
"So close." He said, shaking his head as he ordered the company to back off. Unconscious, bleeding, swelling in different parts, it was then that the chain restraining the transgenic finally snapped, and 494 fell into a crumpled, unconscious pile at his feet. "Take him."
Sam folded his arms across his chest and glared at Max and Logan. "No... something has happened. He wouldn't ditch us like that. Not Alec. If he was going to be gone a long time, he would have said good bye."
"Maybe you two didn't know Alec as well as you thought you did." Logan said carefully. "He's very good at letting someone see what he wants them to see. He's going through a difficult time right now, and he needed some space."
"Okay, maybe you two don't get along because of Max, but he wouldn't just cut out on me and Sam." Dean countered.
"Max doesn't have anything to do with this..." Logan attempted.
"Yeah, whatever." Dean said and Max shook her head. She knew that whole relationship fraud was a bad idea.
"Alec could be in trouble some where and you wouldn't know. Just cause you don't think he cares but he does, and you don't abandon people you care about. Even if you don't like them sometimes." Sam said.
"I'm sure he is just taking some time to get away for a while. Someone he knew and cared about died and he isn't dealing with it very well. Maybe he figures it's better for you two if he keeps his distance." Logan offered.
"Then this is the worst time for us to keep our distance!" Dean said. "Are you an idiot? I really mean that. Deep down, are you that much of an idiot? He needs us. We're, all of us, we're all he has. You guys can't find my dad. That really upsets me. I'm not dealing with it very well," especially with all the Impala sightings, "but if I pulled away, you wouldn't let me."
Dammit, Dean had a point, Max thought. "Okay, we'll find him then. And knock some sense into him."
Sam nodded. "It's been two weeks. Where do we start looking?" He asked, getting into the mind set of the hunt. It was old familiar territory for the boys. Sam had still been stuck on research detail at the tender age of ten but he knew how it was done. Hunting down Alec wasn't going to be that different from hunting down anything else to Sam's way of thinking.
Dean took over. At the ripe old age of fourteen, he had a better grasp on research and tracking. "Well, where hasn't he been? He hasn't been to work. He hasn't been to his apartment. He hasn't been to Crash, and there's no sign of him on the black market." He said. "So if we were Alec and feeling hurt and all, where would we go?" He said and sat back. "Or was he taken? I'm just saying, those guys that shot me? They knew who Alec was, and they didn't seem to like him very much."
"Did Alec have a place he went to?" Logan didn't know Alec well at all. He had actively made a point of not knowing him really. "Okay... how about we reverse this... where was the place anyone saw him or knew where he was?"
"That night at Crash when the guys outside the bar tried to kidnap him." Sam said, looking at both of the adults as if that should tell them he was in trouble on its own. People had been trying to kidnap him after all.
"That was Berrisford. And I'm not sure they were trying to kidnap him or just give him a beat down." Max said.
"The dad of the girl that died? The one Alec loved? Then don't you think we should talk to him and see what he knows?" Dean said, as if the adults should have thought of it first, and he was embarrassed on their behalf that they didn't.
"I keep forgetting they aren't hunters too." Sam said, seeing the look in his brother's eyes. "I don't know... if someone were to hurt Dean, on purpose or not... and I wanted to hurt them, I don't think I would stop just cause the funeral happened. I mean, that would make me even more upset."
"Fine, I'll go talk to Berrisford." Max said, holding her hands up.
"I'm coming with you." Dean said. "You might not ask the right questions." He'd seen his dad at work plenty of times.
"No." Logan said. "That's not a good idea. Especially not if you think he had something to do with Alec not being around." He wasn't willing to admit that he was in trouble just yet. He rather liked the idea of him having just... gone away. "That could be dangerous."
Sam actually scoffed. "You don't know what dangerous is." He said honestly. "Dad and Dean have taken on a lot worse than a guy with a mad on for someone else. They're heroes."
Dean beamed with pride at being compared to his father. While Max winced. What she knew of John Winchester, he was no hero. "Dangerous is waking up in a burning lab twenty seven years out of your time. Dangerous is being hunted for unknown reasons. This? This is an interview." Dean said.
"Fine." She said. She could watch out for Dean. "Sam, stick with Logan until you hear from us, okay? Won't take long."
Sam looked at Dean to get a nod before answering. "Yeah okay, I can do that." Dean was the authority in his life. Max was great and she was trying to help them, but she wasn't in charge. Not when Dean wasn't sick.
"We'll be here." Logan said with a sigh. Well, there went plans again. All on account of Alec. Again.
Soon Max and Dean were standing on Berrisford's door. "We'd like to see Mr. Berrisford." Max said to the housekeeper.
He was a tired looking man, eyes still rimmed with red from grief. "Please come in. I don't have much time to spare for you. What can I do for you?"
Max was about to speak when Dean jumped in. "We're looking for my brother. Well, he's not really my brother, but he takes care of me and my little brother, who really is my brother." He said, putting on a heartbroken lost face. It wasn't much of a stretch. "I know he went to the funeral of your daughter, and I'm really sorry for whatever he did, but he's all I got left in the world, and I'm really worried about him and I'm hoping you know where he went after. We haven't seen him, and I didn't know who else to ask, I know you hate him, and have every reason to, but he's all I've got."
He'd been taught well by John. Acknowledge the other person's feelings. Lay on some guilt. Don't discount the facts. More guilt. Lost boy look always worked well.
"I'm sorry that you have lost your family, to the point that you have to depend on that man." He said, his eyes showing the compassion he felt. "Your friend isn't coming back. I know that isn't what you wanted to know but sometimes closure is better than...waiting." He looked down. "He went back where he came from."
Max was shocked by how good Dean was at this. But she was even more shocked by Berrisford's confession. She paled. "What?" She said, dark eyes wide in a pale face. "You....sent him back....to where he came from?" Oh this was not good.
"That's right. His handlers came to pick him up. I'm sorry for the sorrow this causes you, but you are better off without him. Even if it doesn't feel like it right now." He got to his feet. "I'm sorry." He said shaking a little, holding his own tears back. "I really can't do this right now. Can you find your way out?"
"Yeah....sure....." Dean said numbly as Berrisford walked away and disappeared into a room. He looked at Max with wide eyes. "I....so....Manticore? I thought you destroyed it?"
"I guess I just chopped an arm off a Hydra." Max said. "We have to get back." They returned to Logan's quickly. "Manticore has him. Manticore's rebuilding and it has Alec." She told Logan.
"What?" Logan said, stunned by the news "I … " what could he say? I'm sorry? We'll find him? We'll finish off Manticore? None of it changed anything or would be truly reassuring.
Sam looked at Dean and moved to stand next to him. Dean looked traumatized by the idea of it all. Truth be told, Sam needed the reassurance as well. Not only was their friend in serious trouble, but the shadow of Manticore was now over their own heads once more.
"Get ahold of Lydecker. He's gotta be ready to come onto the radar." Max said. "Son of a bitch." She paced a bit. "We need to find out where Manticore would have its installation."
"What are you going to do?" Dean asked, an arm around his brother.
"I'm going to break him out. What else?" Max said with a grin. As if she were merely going to the store for bread.
"I'll see what I can find out." Logan said, moving toward the computer room "But first things first, we need to find everyone that Alec could reveal their location, and get them into safe houses."
"Alec wouldn't betray us." Sam said.
"No, he wouldn't betray us on purpose, but Manticore has ways of finding things out. It's just to be on the safe side." Logan said, soothingly. He didn't think Alec could withstand the constant onslaught of torture. He didn't know of anyone that could really. Not if they really went at it. Alec had enough information in his head that he didn't see how they wouldn't.
"We're fine." Dean said. "Concentrate on finding where Manticore is so we can go get him."
"Dean, there's no we. You can fight, I give you that. But you're not going in." Max said.
"When Logan finds a place, we'll talk about it then." Dean said firmly. Sounding much older than fourteen. "Right now, that's the plan. Find Manticore."
Logan sighed. "It can't be too far away. They are trying to recapture the transgenics that escaped. They won't want to travel far before containing them." He started searching the databases he had access to, calling in contacts, and sending out feelers for Lydecker. "Why don't you two go over and warn Joshua for us? So he can pack up and Max can get him to someplace safe later tonight."
"We'll try." Dean said, knowing Joshua wasn't going to want to hide anymore than them. "Come on, Sam, we can get something to eat on the way."
"We can't afford a war on two fronts, Max. I'm all for getting Alec out of there." Mostly because of the information in Alec's head that could bring just about everyone down. "But we can't afford to bring them all down on us just yet. The last time he turned Seattle into a police state, it was a nightmare for everyone, not just you."
"Okay, let me rephrase. Alec knows you're Eyes Only. He knows where a good amount of transgenics are. He knows where Dean and Sam are." Max said. "Do I really need another reason to get him the hell out of there? Besides the obvious reason that they're torturing him?"
"I'm not saying don't go in and get Alec. I'm saying we can't afford to let everyone out this time. We can't afford to bring that all down on our heads. We'll keep track of it, and once we have White and his men dealt with, then we can think about Manticore. Besides, maybe they will distract each other for a while."
"Fine, I'll just go in and get Alec." She said. "I'm going to start staking out some bases and new warehouses outside the city. Call me if you find anything." Logan didn't understand. He lived in a penthouse and fought for justice and everything else. But he still lived in a penthouse. The thought of leaving anyone in Manticore made her stomach twist.
But Alec couldn't accept it. He wouldn't. To accept it would mean he had to betray everything and everyone he had come to believe in and care about since being freed of Manticore. It wasn't in Alec to betray anyone. Not any more. Not for them. It didn't matter if Max had asked about him or gone looking. They weren't telling him anything he didn't know. He still wouldn't tell them anything, and he would never submit because submission would be the death of who he was, forever.
Lydecker nodded and the man started in another direction.
"Where are the Winchesters? They're not safe out there, from their father. We can keep them safe. We did keep them safe. Where are they? You know they're in danger. Where are they? We can keep them safe. You know their father is dangerous. Every moment they're not here, is a moment that their father can get them. They're in danger. Where are they? Don't you want them to be safe? Do you want them in danger?"
Alec had only to remember the stasis chambers to stave off the emotional response, to remember who it was he needed to protect Sam and Dean from. Manticore had stolen their lives for 27 years. How could that be any better than John Winchester?
He tried to struggle, but couldn't. He couldn't move, couldn't look away, couldn't escape the blinding pain in his head no matter how much he tried. He had survived this before. They had said it had been a month. He had survived six before. With much less on the line. He could do this. He could make it through this. Or so he told himself.
So tired, so very tired...
"It hurts. I know it hurts." He said hours later. "It can all be over, no more pain. All the pain will go away. Just tell us what we need to know. We need to know this, you know this. You know. You know they're different. You know you're different. You don't belong out there, you belong here. With us. Just tell us what we need to know and I'll make all the pain go away. Just tell us. And it can all go away."
Little movements. Small little movements. Things that looked like little more than squirming. That was how he had managed it. It had taken patience that no one would have attributed to Alec. Not those that knew him as Alec anyway. People looked at Alec and saw the facade, not what lay at the core beneath. Wounded little boy and terrifying soldier all rolled up into one very confused and, at the moment, pained package.
But it was the small unnoticed movements that allowed him to get one hand free. That was all he needed, one hand. All he wanted. They could do with him what ever they wanted once he was done, and he prayed that it would be death, the real death, not the death of the soul they were trying to force upon him.
He waited, patient, ever so patient, gathering reserves even as it felt as though his mind and body were trying to explode with the pain. When the scientist came close bent in to speak to him in that droning placating voice, Alec moved. His hand snaked up and closed about the doctor's throat, clenching ever tighter.
The scientist gagged and tried to breath, both hands trying to release the grip Alec had on his throat. With little success as he turned blue and flailed harder.
"That's it, 494." Lydecker said from the wall he was leaning on. "Snap his neck. It's easy to do, you know that. And think of the relief you'd feel for five minutes." The man was human. That made him disposable in this program. "It's in you, you know it is. A killer. Highly trained soldier with no conscience. No soul."
Lydecker was actually quite proud of the fight Alec was putting up.
If Lydecker had kept his mouth shut, if he had moved to save the man, Alec would have done exactly as the man had told him. He would have snapped his tormentor's neck. Instead he let him go and knocked away the laser, pulled the gag from his mouth. "My name is Alec, and I'm not a killer." He knew there was no escape to be had in that moment so he didn't try any further. He wouldn't even get off the table if he tried, so he lay there glaring at Lydecker. His head ached but the relief at the absence of new pain left him weak, and gasping.
"Take him back to the tank." Lydecker said. Sensory deprivation. "If he wants, he can join us for drill in the morning." He looked at his watch. "Sixteen hours of nothing. Sleep well, 494." Alec? There was no Alec. There was only 494. And the sooner the transgenic realized that, the easier his transition would be.
The weeks had drug by into nearly two months and Logan had lost any real hope of finding Alec. Lydecker had kept his silence, but his presence was felt as even more transgenics were disappearing. There was a tension between he and Max that made it hard to focus on anything else.
He looked up hearing the door open and close.
"Anything?" Max asked when she came in. "I'm serious, anything? It's been two months. If we're going to find him and have him be Alec, we have to find him soon."
"I'm doing the best I can." Logan said sharply, not meaning to but he was getting tired of being reminded that they had to find Alec. He was certain that it was already too late as it was. "I'm trying to track down anything that could indicate a base. They learned from the last time you know. They are hiding themselves better."
"So you've got nothing?" Max asked. She paced a bit. That was not good news. "I'm going on a road trip, I'll find the installation one way or another." As a last resort she was willing to let herself get caught as bait.
"Give me another day or two. I'm tracking electricity use, and food deliveries. Sorting out which of the locations would be likely. Don't go off half cocked and get yourself hurt or captured trying to save Alec of all people. You are going to wind up with both of you imprisoned by Manticore."
"What do you mean by that?" Max demanded. "Alec of all people. Because you don't like him, or whatever, that makes him less worthy of being saved? Would you be holding on for two months if I were in Manticore right now, being tortured by Psy Ops and reindoctrinated?"
"I'm not delaying this, if that is what you are implying. I don't hate Alec I just think he gets you into a lot of trouble. I am trying to figure out where he is. But it takes time to track down a super secret military installation. I'm good but I'm not all knowing or psychic."
"Then I'll find a psychic." Max said. "I gotta go check on the boys. I'll call you later."
"Max." Logan sighed. He hated that Alec was coming between them and he wasn't even there. "Fine. I'll talk to you later." He said and turned back to his computer. He needed to find some answer to give her, before she got herself into serious trouble.
"Later." Max said. She wasn't able to move Joshua from his house. Because it had been his father's house apparently. So the Winchesters were back with Joshua, which made it easier for her to check on them. She picked up paints, chocolate, and some soda and headed over there. "Hey Sam." She said with a smile. "How's it going?"
Sam shrugged. "It's going. Joshua said Dean smelled like Alec when we came in today and now Dean is all depressed, 'cause it reminded him of Alec, and when Dean is depressed, he is cranky and a pain to be around. "
Max gave Sam a tight smile. "Tell you what, bring the M&Ms to Dean, with the soda, and maybe he'll feel a little better. I've got some paints to bring to Joshua. Where's he at? The living room?"
Sam nodded about Joshua. "Yeah , okay. It won't make Dean feel better, but he will be eating them so at least he won't be snarking at me." Sam said as he marked his place in his book and took the peanut M&M's and a can of soda up to Dean's room.
Max watched him go and went to where Joshua was. "Okay, you've got more black, white, some shade of red and a bunch of blues." She said, laying the tubes down on his table. "So, Joshua, what did you mean that Dean smells like Alec?"
"Dean... smell like Alec." Joshua said as he put the paints away. "First time meet, smell like gun powder and blood. Then infection and medicine. But now, smell like... Alec," he said, "like Alec smells like Alec." Not cologne, not from environment, but the actual smell that is Dean, smelled exactly like the smell that was Alec.
"Is that normal?" Max asked. "That two people smell alike? Joshua, you've got the nose, not me. So I'm a little dumb sometimes."
Joshua shook his head. "Not for people. For clones. Clones smell the same, people smell a little alike. Dean and Alec smell the same. Dean and Sam smell a little alike."
Max sat down and stared at Joshua. "Holy shit." S he said. "Dean and Sam smell a little alike because they're brothers. I get that. Dean and Alec...is it possible that Alec's human DNA came from Dean? That Sam and Dean, who were in Manticore for years in stasis before any of us were created, they're basically the building blocks?"
Joshua nodded. "Yes... very possible. Boys strong, healthy, smart. Good choice. Makes boys family." Joshua said with a grin, and a bit of a laugh.
Max smiled widely for the first time in two months. "I think they already were before we knew this." She said. Family was what you made of it, she knew that. She made her own family, she had to, she really didn't have a 'true' family. So she had made her own. All of them had.
Alec closed his eyes, and let the darkness envelope him. It was soothing now. It had been maddening before, but now it was comfort and it was solitude. A place where the pain went away, and his thoughts were his own. What few he allowed himself.
He had fewer dreams now, waking or otherwise, when enclosed in the tank. He kept his mind blank, pushing aside thoughts of home or the boys. Better to lose that part of himself than betray those he cared about. It wasn't Manticore that was eroding away what was left of Alec. It was Alec himself, choosing the only form of escape he had available to him.
Oblivion.
Lydecker finally called Logan. He'd let the man wait. He knew his research had made its way to Logan. So he just let it simmer. And 494 had only confirmed what he knew, that 494 was hanging around with 452. Making 494's absence a worry for Logan, if only what it would mean for 452.
"You got my research?" His voice came over the line.
"I did. That's interesting, to say the least. I've been trying to get ahold of you for a couple of months now." Logan said. "What can you tell me about the new Manticore activity?" The idea of Manticore being around in some form or another since ancient times was not exactly comforting.
"You should be asking me about old Manticore activity." Lydecker said. "Or, actually, how Manticore got started. Why it was started, in its official form. Why we made transgenics. What else is out there. You shouldn't ask me stupid questions, I'm not a patient man."
Lydecker's tone when dealing with Logan had changed and that sent off alarms in Logan's head. "Okay… tell me about that. How it got started, why you made transgenics." He said. The man had a reason for wanting him to know what was going on now, when he could have told him all these things earlier. That meant an agenda.
"I didn't make the transgenics. I was involved in picking desirable traits, but I'm not a scientist." Lydecker said. "Sandeman is a scientist. Or was. He's missing. Anyway, not important. The important part is his history, his past. Figure that out, you'll have your answers. Meanwhile, I suppose it hasn't escaped your notice that I'm calling my kids home. It's past their curfew, leave is over."
"Yeah, well it isn't going over very well. You know how well it went last time you tried to call everyone home. It's not going to go over any better this time." He knew better than to ask about Alec. He would be told what Lydecker wanted him to believe not the truth. "This time, I think she really might just kick your teeth in."
"It's going over well, actually." Lydecker said. "They're soldiers, Logan. They're not delivery boys, or cat burglars. They're soldiers. It's what they were created for, it's what's deep down. You know that as well as I do. And with them being hunted right now, they're safer at home, don't you think? Though they do have more skills than, say, a fourteen year old boy and his brother."
"Why did Manticore have the boys?" He asked, although he bristled at the implied threat to the kids. He'd get them far away from Lydecker if he had to, even if they didn't want to go. He might be able to deal with Alec reverting back to his training, but he wasn't going to let them get their hands on a couple innocent kids.
"Everyone says science and religion are mutually exclusive. They're not." Lydecker said. "They were safe at Manticore, and the world was safe. I'm not the bad guy here, Logan. No matter what propaganda your girlfriend has spoon fed you. I'm offering you amnesty for Max for the boys. You need to think long and hard on that one, I'd guess. Don't give me an automatic answer. But you can't keep those boys safe forever. And it's not me that you're keeping them safe from. Remember that."
"What's your definition of amnesty ?" Logan asked. "Putting two kids into stasis? Torturing Max until she complies with what you want? As I am sure you have done to Alec by now." Logan said. "Your track record isn't giving me any reason to think they are any safer with you than anywhere else. Bad guy or not."
"Then you need to research, don't you." Lydecker said, dryly. "I was willing to just write off Max. And the boys were never harmed when they were with us. They were perfectly healthy, weren't they?"
"Of course they were harmed. They were kidnapped and kept in stasis for 27 years. They should be grown men with families of their own right now. They aren't some science experiment. They aren't transgenics. They had a father, and a life. I'm not going to let you take their lives from them again."
"And what do you know of their father?" Lydecker asked, with a hint of a chuckle in his voice. "Really know about him? If you knew, you wouldn't be lip servicing me now with your noble, but wrong, ideals. If their father gets his hands on them, you're going to wish you took me up on my offer."
"Why don't you tell me, instead of dropping cryptic hints and expecting me to cave on the strength of your condescending tone?" Logan said. "I know he is bad news. Beyond that, why don't you enlighten me?"
"You're supposed to be a smart man. You figure it out." Lydecker said and hung up.
Logan swore and dialed Max's number, when she answered. "Can you come over here, now, with out the boys?" He asked. "Lydecker just called me." He wasn't going to tell her until she got there that he was willing to forget about her and leave her alone in exchange for the boys. At least not over the phone… probably not until she returned with Alec… however and whenever that was. He knew her. She would be too angry to let it go.
"Yeah, sure. I've got a favor to ask anyway. I'll be over." She said and said good bye to Joshua, and headed over to Alec's apartment. "Typical." She said. For all that military discipline he liked to brag about, his place was a pigsty. And he didn't seem to understand the concept of laundry. Which was great for her, actually, as she grabbed the shirt he'd worn to Berrisford's that night and headed over to Logan's. She handed him two shirts. "This is Alec's. It's got blood on it. This is Dean's, also with blood on it. Can you do me a favor and get someone to run a DNA test on them? I think they have more in common than a tendency to bleed."
Logan frowned "Yeah, I can have that done. " He said. "More in common. You think they are came from the same genetic makeup? That would explain a few things." And not just Dean and Alec's similarities. "Lydecker called, wanting the boys. He said some very cryptic things." He said and relayed the conversation with out mentioning that the colonel was willing to let her go in exchange for the boys. It wasn't an option anyway. "But the only way Dean would have the same geneticsas Alec would be if he was used as the original donor for him and Ben, and Lydecker is looking to get his donors back."
"Joshua said he and Alec smell the same. Not like the same, the same." Max said. "Would make sense. Which means there might be an X5 walking around with Sam's genes as well. Really creepy when you think about it. Dean's kinda adopted Alec as a big brother, when he's really kinda like Alec's dad. So Lydecker's behind Manticore's revamp, huh? And he's getting all cryptic. Again." She leaned back in the chair. "Well, what do we know? We know Manticore had the boys. We know Alec and Dean have genetic similarities. We know Dean spouts the same so called wisdom as White, taught to him by his father. We know his father is nuts. We know Lydecker is nuts. So where's that put us?"
"This puts us needing more information on White and what he and Winchester are into. Meanwhile, I managed to get a break before Lydecker called. I can get you into the base, I can't get you out again. That you are going to have to do on your own." He said.
"Then that's what I'll do." Max said, relieved. At least there was some good news. "Thanks." She'd go in, get Alec, and get out. Anyone that wanted to come with her, was more than welcome to. And she'd try not to blow the place up this time.
