AN: Thanks for reading and reviewing every single chapter, tylee17! Here's your new one.
Chapter 4
Sam allowed himself a "What the hell!" before recovering and pointing the shotgun at the…shapeshifter.
"Whoa. Okay." The thing put his, no, its hands up in the air in a gesture of surrender. Sam was too preoccupied gaping at the familiar features barely visible in the light coming from the street to notice the girl moving quickly to his left. With a swift movement, she disarmed him with ease.
"So, what is he? X3? I thought X5s were the first ones who looked normal. Nah, he looks waaay older than any X-series would. What do you think, Max?" The younger version of Dean smirked and put his hands down while turning to his companion.
"What are you talking about? Those are types of Transgenics. We're not Transgenics!" Sam really wished he had silver bullets in his gun right now, instead of regular ones.
"Then why does he look like him?" the dark-haired girl, Max, said, pointing at the still form of Dean then at young-Dean.
"Mmmmh." All three of their attentions turned to Dean. Sam glared at the others and kept an eye on them while crouching down next to his brother. His still too long but now slightly graying hair dipped into his eyes. "Hey Dean. Dean. Open your eyes for me, bro." Green slits appeared. "That's it. A little more, Dean."
Dean grimaced. "Smm?"
"Yeah, it's me. I'm here." Sam tapped his brother's cheeks.
Dean's eyes fluttered open and a frown furrowed his brow. "You 'k?"
"Yeah, doofus. You're the one who took a header into a brick wall. Idiot." Sam grinned in relief. "Think you can get up?"
Dean blinked. "Shuddup, Sammy." He grunted as he shifted himself into a sitting position with Sam's help. "Kids okay?"
"Yeah, we're fine."
Wait a minute. That voice. Dean's head shot up, making him regret the sudden movement. His jaw dropped. Crap. "I think I hit my head a little harder than I thought, Sammy," he groaned.
Sam helped his brother stand. "No, he's real all right. I think he might be one of those Transgenics. They thought you were one."
"'We' are standing right here and can hear you very clearly. If you're saying you're not Transgenics then we want to see the backs of your necks, just to make sure." Max seemed to be pretty bossy.
"I'll show you mine if you show me yours." Dean wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at the shapely brunette and grinned.
Max groaned and rolled her eyes. Not this one, too. Sighing, she turned around and lifted up her long brown hair. The black lines it had hidden from view marked her as a Transgenic. Turning back, she said, "Happy? Your turn."
"Nope. Wanna see his, too," Dean replied, glancing at the young man.
Still smirking, he said, "I don't usually do this on the first date, ya know."
Max apparently did not have a whole lot of patience. "Alec, just show him, so we can get out of this alley. It's not safe to stay in one place for so long."
Alec rolled his eyes and pulled down the back of his collar as he turned, exposing the barcode tattoo, barely visible in the dim light.
Sam and Dean gaped. "Holy shit," they said in unison.
After a moment Dean let out a little laugh. "Guess they knew what they were doin', huh. 'Cause they chose to clone the handsome one, not the geeky one."
Sam glared at Dean. "This isn't funny. You two," he said, pointing at the Transgenics. "We need to go somewhere private to talk. You know something about that ghost. You knew him, didn't you?" He frowned as something surfaced in his mind. "He looked just like you and my brother."
Alec shrugged and shot a glance at Max before speaking. "Correction, Max knew him. I didn't. He was just my genetic clone," he said in a nonchalant manner. "And you're right about finding somewhere private to talk because I don't feel like advertising what I really am, and besides, it looks like your buddy there isn't doing so well." He was right. Dean had paled considerably and was starting to sway.
"Whoa." Sam caught Dean as he slumped down. Looking at the two Transgenics, he said, "You know somewhere we can go? We've got some stuff that will protect you from spirits so that ghost that was after you won't be able to get in."
Max scrunched up her brow in confusion. "Wait a minute. I thought you killed him. You know, with the whole shooting him with this shotgun dealio." She held up the saltgun she'd confiscated from Sam.
Sam shook his head, heaving Dean up as he did so. Oof. Too many cheeseburgers Dean."No, I just shot him with rock salt. Ghosts really don't like salt. He's gone for now, though."
"Oh. That's what's in this gun? Salt? Huh. Okay." Max looked at Alec as she said, "We've got a friend with some extra room who'll probably let you crash at his place."
Alec raised a brow. "Logan?"
Max nodded. "Yeah."
"Okay. I'll need directions." Supporting Dean, Sam started to lead the way to the car.
Alec hurried after him. "Hey Sam. So say I saw this ghost before and I swung a pipe at him and he disappeared. Why would that have happened? I mean, there wasn't any salt nearby or anything." He interrupted himself. "Wow! Is this your car? Nice." Alec examined the shining black muscle car with interest.
Sam answered automatically. "It's Dean's. 1967 Chevy Impala. About the pipe, I would say that it was probably made out of iron. Ghosts don't like that either, but it has to be pure. Not mixed with anything. To get rid of the ghost completely, you need to salt and burn its bones." Sam hefted his unconscious brother into the front passenger seat. "So Max and Alec, right? Get in the car."
Alec glanced at Max. "You think it's safe? These guys seem okay, right? A little crazy, maybe, but okay."
Max nodded. "Neither of them has a bar code. I saw the back of their necks when they were bending over. Totally bare. Which means we could take them on if we really need to, and besides, they seem to know what they're talking about."
Arriving at their decision, they shrugged and got in the back seat without any more ado.
They drove in silence for a while, Dean's music providing enough of a distraction and the blurred light from the street reflecting off the glistening sides of the car, but Alec could never keep his mouth shut for long.
"So do you guys do this for a living or something, 'cause the pay's gotta by pretty lousy, considering most people don't believe in ghosts."
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Dean had regained consciousness in the car.
"I'm good, Sam. Lay off."
Sam hovered around his big brother. "Dean, you could be concussed. You passed out, for chrissakes. Let me help you."
Dean waved him off. "No, back off, Sasquatch. I'm a Winchester. I think I can handle getting out of the car by myself. I've been doing it since I was three. Besides, I'm fine!"
Alec chuckled as Sam muttered something about stubborn jackass brothers while keeping within arms reach of the older man.
"Now we know where you got the 'I'm always alright' syndrome from," Max whispered to Alec.
"You think we're really related? Like I was cloned from him or something? That's kind of a creepy thought. Does that make me a Winchester? Like the gun?" Alec considered the idea, cocking his head to the side and pursing his lips. "Cool."
Max shook her head with a thoughtful expression. "It's not that weird. Apparently, I was inspired by Lydecker's dead wife. A reward for good behavior or something."
Alec guffawed. "Lydecker's dead wife? Forget Dean. Now that's creepy." Alec got a smack in the back of his head for that. He didn't mind, since he knew now that he wasn't seeing things that aren't really there. Life was good.
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AN: I'm kinda proud of this chapter. Alec and Dean have some snarky things to say that I think are in character, Max is exasperated and impatient, and Sam's properly worried as usual. I know, poor Sammy comes off as kind of mean at first, but he's just apprehensive of things that seem even remotely supernatural, aka something looking like your brother at age 22. What do you think of Oldchesters (hehe new word?) interacting with our favorite Transgenics? Hopefully still hot.
