Chapter 26

Intermission, Day 7

What did I just do? I feel so damned guilty even though I completely have every right to do it. I'm pacing the floor and yelling at myself. Why did you have to turn into that asshole again? You were doing so good… your family was back… your life made sense… you had meaning… Fuck. Who cares anyway, right? Tess was going to rip me a new one, but she would understand. In the end. After she tried to kill me. I chuckle thinking of all the ways she was going to punish me… Had to fight down a hard on at the last thought. A call comes in.

"Yo." I look up and see a panicked Dean. My heart stops cold. "What the fuck is going on?"

"It's Tess… oh goddess, help me. Please. Rick please." I can see the fear and damned with the consequences, I portal to his dimension right in front of him.

To the left of the room is a strange woman held to the wall with massive knives through her arms and legs. She is bleeding and begging to be released. Dean looks like shit, but evil shit. He has another blade in his hand which is soaked in blood.

"Rick. I can't do this. Not without killing her too quickly. You need to find out where Tess is." My face goes blank as I stare back at the girl pinned to the wall. She whimpers as I approach. I'm sure I look even more menacing then Dean looked right now. Torture? Yeah, I got this. Especially if I need info to get to her.

"Alright… we can do this one of two ways… You tell me what I need and I'll let you go. If not, then I will torture you for days until I get my information. Don't tempt me. Had a really shitty week and I need a nice release." I watch her eyes widen as she starts to spill out everything.

"Alright… for goddess sake… please. I took her place and put her in the basement. She's down there now. I didn't hurt her at all. I just wanted to be her. I was supposed to… to…" She starts to blubber and I can't understand a word she's saying. I smack her across the face, partially to snap her out of it and partially to get out my own anger. She straightens up and talks clearer. "I was told to assume her form and cause such a ruckus that the planet would never consider inviting back another alien. I was given… a device… and it worked… I looked like her and sounded like her. Then I was given a drug…" She's starting to sob again but I can understand the jest of it.

"Dean, she drugged you… That would explain the weird alien tech warning I got off of Tess's device. I was trying to track down what it had picked up… but things got in the way back home…" I turn to a horrible thought. What if this could have been prevented if I had just checked in after getting the warning? Fuck!

"You got a warning?" Dean's voice was low and dangerous. I didn't buy in to what all the other guys said about Dean. I knew he had a darkness. I saw it on the beach when I asked for his help to attack. He fucking scared me!

"It was just an alien tech warning. I was checking it out. From what she told us, it could have been from the mechanics used to make her look and sound like Tess. It could have been from the drugs… hell, it could have been from an electric device that is only found on your fucking planet! Don't yell at me right now!" I can see Dean's eyes go dark and wonder what had happened before he called me. I walk over to the nearby bed as Dean leans into the girl, listening as she gives a location. Under the pillow is a small device used to send out sonic wavelengths. It could have been used to keep Dean off kilter to not question what was going on. I toss it to him.

"What's this?"

"If you are beating yourself up, it was placed close to disorient you. Keep you off guard so you didn't focus on differences. Don't want to know what snapped you the fuck out of this… This shit is impressive."

"Told her I would give her anything; especially my children." I go cold and slowly look into Dean's eyes. He was testing me. I felt a chill pass over me. Fuck, what would he have turned into without Tess? "She got confused… A couple of knives made her façade disappear. She gave me a place. Put it in your portal device and let's get her now." His voice was low and silent. I put in the coordinates and run through.

The sight before me is horrid. I pull Dean with me as we set to work taking the chains off her wrists and ankles. Tess was fucking suspended from the fucking rafters in a basement. Her eyes were closed and her lips were dry. She was too pale and cold to the touch. Dean carried her and yelled back that she was responding to him. I zip through another portal and grab a syringe full of medicine that I knew would jump start her healing. Dean holds her still as I inject her. Fuck, she has to get over this first hump here. She's been without food or water for too long. It's obvious that no one came in to check on her. She was all alone down here. Fuck, that's her worst fear…

Dean carries her through the portal as I follow. While he lays her in the bed, I walk over to the woman still attached along the wall. She is begging for me to release her since she gave me what I needed. As I look over at Dean, I wink to him and pull out the knives holding her in place. She screams out as Dean grabs her by the hair and drags her out of the room. I follow close behind while she is asking me why I lied.

"Honey, I didn't lie. I released you. Too bad you weren't fast enough to get away from him. You wanted Dean… well, you got him. The real him." She screams as Dean raises her off the ground by her throat. I see that grin spread as he asks me for a knife. I toss it to him. No way was I going to get in his way. Never really been a fan of torture. I'll always say I am, but I just can't… Dean however…

"You fucked me. You lied to me. You made me… tell you things… things I've kept hidden… you made me…" He squeezes his eyes shut. "I made love to you. I've never made love to… never… and you've ruined that which I hold most precious…" I watch as his face goes blank. This is it. The knife appears in a flash and slits across her neck. The blood gushes along her body as Dean laughs. "Fuck Rick… If Tess was here… you would have gotten another three way." He laughs again but I'm not sure I want to know the reason. Nothing about this moment would make me think Tess would have gotten aroused. But then again, I'm starting to wonder if I really know the true Tess. As I look at Dean, I know he does.

"Shit Dean." This was all I could get out before he lifts the body and tosses it into the fireplace. The smell of burning flesh catches in my throat as I leave. Fuck.

I walk back into the bedroom and see that the serum has already started to work. I hook up an IV with fluids and take her stats. Shit, I'm no good with this crap. If I wanted to be a medic I would have learned. Dean takes over, running efficiently. Backing away, I notice how mechanical all his movements are. He must have done this many times over.

"She'll be alright. We got there in time. I can take over from here. You go back and make sure that things are damn safe for her return. I'll keep her here and try to figure out who on this planet would dare to do this."

"Remember, this was done with alien technology. Whoever it is, they used what they hated or feared the most. They had to have come into contact with an alien to get this. Start there. You're lucky you got a psycho bitch who fucked things up. Otherwise this would have gone south fast." I want to remain there until she wakes up. I want to ask Dean a thousand questions. I feel like an outsider right now.

"Rick. Thanks. I called and you came right away. I was a mess. What you saw… I don't want that to… what I said… I…" I walk over to Dean and place my hand on his shoulder. The stress of the evening finally gets to him and with one shudder, he starts to cry. Man, been there myself. I remain quiet and leave the hand on him, let him know he's not alone. My flask goes to him as he downs the contents.

"Fucking bitch. And I mean the one in the bed. I was fine being a grumpy ass old fucking son of a bitch alcoholic drug addicted asshole. Then she comes around and shits on my parade." I hear Dean chuckle.

"Yeah. I was doing just fine in my little hole killing people for pleasure…" Wow. That was a new one. I remain quiet. "Fucking Mack paired us up. And then guess what? She has a dark side too. I pulled her down Rick. I grabbed a hold of her and drowned her. In a way, that helped me get out too. But yeah, I was miserably happy in my hole."

"When Tess went back in my timeline… I had sent her to a club that I knew I would be performing in. She interacted with my band. And me! She fucked me and I never forgot her. Even with the mind wipe, I remembered that one night with a girl I couldn't picture in my head. Spent my life looking for her. Fuck. Would have been much better without that!" Dean laughs and straightens up.

"Man, we are pathetic."

"Yup. So, how are you going to handle things?" I hear Dean exhale and shudder again.

"With Tess? With the truth?"

"Naw, with Beth. Do you still want to be with her? Cause this is the point where you need to figure out what you want and set priorities. Don't wanna see my daughter get hurt." Dean looks at me.

"Rick. I love Beth, I really do. Tess is… complicated to say the least. I'm not a fool. She's got enough on her plate to add me. And I'm not one to wait around to see when my turn is going to be. I've got a great thing with her now. No one will get hurt. She knows I want this to continue with Beth."

"Ok. But if Beth ever catches you two… she'll hurt you and then I will."

"What do you mean?" Dean gives me the cold stare. He thinks I'm stupid?

"Seriously? I know you two fuck. I know you watch sometimes. I know you two started to share arousal. Not a fucking idiot Dean. My bond seems to let me in on things. Not sure if I care in the end. Mack will. But… fuck. If he doesn't change his ways, she will be over him and his chauvinistic attitude fast. In the short time since Kat'Rin's death, she's already changed."

"Yeah. Listen, I don't want to get into a full conversation with you about what I feel. But know I will never hurt Beth on purpose."

"I know. It's the accidental I'm afraid of." I walk over to the side of the bed and lean down. She's out cold. I kiss her on the forehead and I feel a slight stir from our bond. At least she is recovering. That's good. I look at Dean and create a portal on the opposite wall. "Don't fuck up Dean. Come talk to me not Mack." I see Dean nod his head before I exit.