Seeing Double

Chapter Ten

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The nocturnal life of the forest carried on around them as though nothing of any great significance had occurred, unaware that the existence of one Alec McDowell, or X5-494, had just been torn right off its foundations.

Alec wasn't sure how long he lay with his face pressed into the damp earth; he was tail-spinning, only the warmth of the bodies on each side of him and the solid weight of Dean's arm anchoring him.

The brothers were talking over his lowered head, but he couldn't be bothered to decipher the words. He was scared of Manticore... terrified... but right now, sight of the imposing buildings would have been a massive relief.

"C'mon Alec." Dean's voice, mere inches from his ear, broke through the fog.

He allowed himself to be hoisted upright, suffered the indignity of being brushed down, didn't even protest when mud was thumbed off his face in the beam of the torchlight. He felt oddly numb, detached from reality. Now that was a joke, because he was detached right enough, detached or just plain nutty.

They were half-way back to the Impala before he found his voice.

"Do I seem crazy to you? 'Cause I think it's the only logical explanation."

There was a snort beside him. Sam. "Logic! Can't put too much faith in that."

"Yeah? Well see, there's no other explanation. Everything I can remember, it's not real."

Alec's pace quickened as his subconscious urged him to run away. He was pulled up short when Dean dodged in front of him.

"Easy, slow down there. Look at me; you want to use logic, use it. You're here, right? Well you're proof."

Alec blinked, confused.

Dean elaborated, his voice steady, reassuring. "You're all amped up, yeah? So prove it. If you can show us some Superman mojo then it's all true, right? And that'd mean you're just kinda in the wrong place. And that we'll fix, somehow."

Alec ground his palms into his eyes. Of course. His commanding officers at Manticore would not be impressed at their super soldier's powers of analysis. That sickness must have scrambled his brains. The situation had just been accurately assessed by an Ordinary. Except Dean didn't really come across as ordinary, no more than Sam did.

Time to get a hold of himself. "Okay," said Alec firmly, raising his chin.

Dean's eyes crinkled, he bit his lip, eyes glinting with the reflected light of the full moon.

"What?!" said Alec, puzzled.

"You look like a freakin' panda!"

"Oh, yeah." Muddy hands. Alec swiped at his eyes quickly with his cuff before anyone could wipe his face for him. Enough was enough. He wasn't used to this brusque sympathy. Actually he wasn't used to having any sympathy at all.

He led the way back to the Impala, not bothering to use a torch. He could see pretty well in the dark so perhaps at least he hadn't been imagining all his enhanced senses.

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A few miles away from the Manticore site that wasn't, Dean stopped the Impala.

"We need to sleep," he said, his voice gruff with weariness. "Sleep, eat and then Alec here can show us his awesome super powers."

He slid down in his seat before anyone could comment, crossed his arms and shut his eyes. Conversation over.

"I'll sit up front," Alec offered. "I don't need much sleep anyhow."

Sam nearly turned him down, but thought better of it. He was really too tall to sleep in the passenger seat with a bad shoulder. He stretched out in the back and was asleep before Alec stopped shuffling.

It seemed he'd only been asleep for a few minutes when an incoherent mumble jerked him awake. Dean was shifting restlessly, the sound of his breathing increasingly distressed. Alec was already unfolding from his position by the door and he reached across to Dean, the moonlight bright enough that Sam could see the worried frown on his face.

Sam opened his mouth to warn Alec that a sleeping Dean was one that shouldn't be approached too closely, but it was too late; Dean's fist was already in motion, aimed with sickening speed at Alec's face. The blow never landed. Alec moved, too fast for Sam's eyes to follow, ducking his head out of the way and catching the fist in his hand. He said something quickly to Dean, so low-voiced that Sam didn't catch the words despite his proximity. Dean didn't awaken fully, blinking slowly at Alec and mumbling something back. Then, to Sam's intense surprise, he subsided against the door and closed his eyes again.

Sam raised himself quietly to a sitting position. Alec glanced back, shrugged a little and slid back down. After a while Sam drifted back to sleep, his brain fumbling over the fact that his brother had just uncharacteristically accepted reassurance from a virtual stranger.

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Max popped her head around the door frame. "Hey big fella! Whatcha doin?"

Joshua lounged in his tatty armchair; he raised his head slowly. "Hey little fella." He sounded miserable.

Max scanned the room quickly. Nothing seemed out of place, or rather everything seemed as out of place as usual. Joshua's canvas of Alec was in the centre of the room, an array of open tubes and dirty brushes scattered over the little table in front of it.

She smiled warmly at Joshua. "Still not finished that, huh?"

"No. No medium fella to paint now."

"What? Has Alec not been callin' on you?" She fumed inwardly. It was typical of Alec to forget to call on Joshua when he knew she would be tied up for a couple of days.

"Medium fella gone."

She felt a spark of irritation. Alec hadn't shown at work either. Most probably he was with some girl, or girls. "He's probably just doin' some personal stuff. He'll show up in a coupla days."

Joshua shook his head mournfully. "No. Alec gone. Big fella not sure where he is."

"Hey Joshua." Max reached up and cupped his face for a moment. "Alec is a big boy. He can take care of himself. Okay?"

Joshua nodded, sorrow in his eyes. "Little fella stayin' for some mac and cheese?"

"I'm sorry big fella. I gotta get to work. I'll call back later, okay?"

Max threw a leg over her bike, pushing down the tiny shoot of concern that was trying to take root. When she got hold of Alec she was going to slap him upside the head, hard.

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Sam didn't wake again until first light. Easing himself back upright in the grey dawn was a slow business; his shoulder had stiffened and would definitely benefit from the application of some ibuprofen gel as soon as they passed a pharmacy.

Realising that, for the first time in weeks, Dean had only woken him once with his nightmare ridden ramblings, Sam peered over the front seat. He grinned, biting back a chuckle. Alec and cat DNA, maybe it was true after all. Dean could sprawl with the best of them when he wanted to, but Alec had taken it to a whole new level. He was lying on his back, angled in towards the seat back. One long arm and leg trailed off the edge of the seat while his other boot was propped up on the edge of the door glass. The side of his face was squashed into the leather of the seat back, with the top of his head wedged into Dean's hip. The resemblance to the arrogant sprawl of a feline was unmistakeable.

Despite his best intentions, Sam snorted. Dean's eyes snapped open immediately, focussing in horror first on the muddy boot on the Impala's door panel and then on the head almost in his lap. There was brief pause and then an outraged yell of "Dude!"

Alec rolled up in one fluid movement, his back hitting the opposite door and his wide, sleepy eyes fixing on Dean in amazement.

Sam collapsed on the back seat, shaking with laughter.

Dean peered around Alec, getting a good view of the muddy boot prints on the Impala's door panel and window. His eyes narrowed to slits.

"Now might be a good time for you to demonstrate your superpowers, 'cause I'm tellin' you, anybody does that…" He jabbed a finger in the direction of the mud for emphasis. "…is gonna get punched!"

Alec's gaze slid to the side; his eyebrow lifting as he saw the offending prints. Dean launched at him across the width of the Impala but Alec already had the door open, rolling out backwards and bounding to his feet as Dean catapulted himself through the passenger door in pursuit.

Alec crowed with delight, his face lighting up with youthful enthusiasm. He retreated a little, bouncing around as though he was in a fighting ring. He made a beckoning gesture to Dean with his hands.

"C'mon then! Let's see how Ordinary Me can do against the all improved model!"

Dean growled something incomprehensible and leapt forwards, his fingers slipping off the edge of Alec's jacket as he blurred. Sam blinked, his expression of shock mirrored on his brother's face.

"Sonofabitch!" Dean adjusted his expectations and plan of attack rapidly, automatically slipping into hunter mode. This wasn't the first unexpectedly fast and powerful being he'd faced. He walked forwards slowly, lightly balanced on the balls of his feet.

"So… these awesome genes of yours, all you can do is run off faster?" He smirked at Alec, echoes of the same youthful enthusiasm bringing a glint to his eye and a curl to his grin.

The game was on and for a while it seemed the playing field was level. Two different techniques, transgenic speed and strength versus monster fighting experience. Kicks and punches rapidly turned into a full on wrestling match, a tangle of identical limbs. Sam hovered on the periphery, ready to leap in and use his greater bulk to bring a stop to things if, or when, it got too serious. Hopefully it wouldn't escalate to that level; he could see no way of interceding without sustaining at least a minor injury.

Dean was far faster and stronger than he should have been. Alec struggled, not wanting to cause injury, but finding it difficult to restrain himself given the pressure he was under from the older Winchester's attack. After a few minutes of lightning fast blows being exchanged, he released his full strength for a moment, enabling him to flip Dean over and onto his back. Alec dropped down on top of him, forearm in position in a good choke hold and for what would ultimately be a fatal strike. Pain flickered briefly on Dean's face and Alec relaxed the pressure immediately, feeling a little shocked that he'd given in to his natural instincts so completely.

Dean caught the look in his eyes at the same instant as the pressure against his throat eased; he reacted immediately, flipping and restraining Alec in one swift move, his full body weight pinning the younger man to the ground as he stared at him from a distance of a few inches.

Alec grunted, not resisting. The fight was over and whether he'd conceded victory or not, as the loser he was trained to expect immediate and brutal punishment. Dean pulled up slightly. The vicious blow was coming. Alec flinched, adrenaline pulling the color from his face. He closed his eyes, waiting.

The expected blow didn't come. Dean's breath puffed warm against his face and Alec lifted his eyelids cautiously, wondering at the cause of the sorrow dragging at the other man's face.

"I'm not gonna hit you, kiddo. I wouldn't hurt you." Dean's voice was gruff. He rolled away and onto his feet, reaching down to haul Alec upright. Alec rose smoothly, confusion and relief mingling on his face.

Sam cut through the awkwardness, slapping them both on the back. "You're fast!" He grinned easily at Alec, showing his dimples.

Alec's mask of good humor slipped rapidly back over his features. He relaxed his stance and dipped a nod at Dean. "And you're a lot faster than you should be. Not bad for an Ordinary."

"Ordinary!" Dean huffed. "Dude, I am far from ordinary!"

"You both look like freaks to me." Sam's smile took any sting out of the words. "How 'bout we get some breakfast?"

"Yeah." Dean rubbed gingerly at his ribs, eyeing Alec with new respect. "And then Superboy here has some cleaning to do."

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"What's up, boo?"

Max lifted her head to find Original Cindy peering at her, a concerned frown on her face.

"Nothin'." Max shrugged.

"Sugar, don't front. You can tell Original Cindy. You been outta sorts all mornin'."

Max sighed. "It's Joshua."

"Doggie-dog?"

"Yeah. He's kinda upset. Alec hasn't been by in a few days."

Original Cindy pursed her lips. "Mmm. Come to think of it, I ain't seen your boy for mebbe four, five days now. You think he's out cattin' around?"

Max shrugged. "I'll ask Normal later. Anyone knows what's goin' on with his golden boy, it'll be him. And Alec's not my boy."

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