Disclaimer - please see earlier chapter.

As it took so long to get the last chapter up, I thought I'd put two up at once.

The drive was quiet. John barely said two words as Alec looked out the window watching the scenery change. Neither man seemed to want to make the first move, until Alec saw the sign, the sign about the place he had heard about, where it had all begun.

"Here? Why are we going here?" Alec asked as they passed the battered 'Welcome to Lawrence' sign.

"If you don't believe us, then you'll believe her," John replied.

"Who?" Alec asked as they drove on.

"You watch your mouth round her, not that it will do any real good," John replied, not giving out any more information.

They drew up to a little house, which looked like it had seen better days.

"John, I think I've been pretty damn understanding, so why the fuck are we here?" Alec said coldly as they both got out of the truck.

"Because he should have brought you here the minute he found you," the little figure at the front door of the house yelled. "And you watch your mouth in this house, boy, or I will tan your hide with a spoon."

John smiled as she walked away. He turned to Alec. "That is why we're here."

"Who's that?" Alec asked.

"That is Missouri, and before you ask, her hearing isn't that good."

"Then how did she hear what I said?" Alec asked, his lip curling into a smile. "You're not going to tell me she read my mind?"

John started to walk up the path. "Yeah, she did."

"Great," Alec muttered, following on behind. "Just what I need, another person to screw with my brain."

John headed straight to the back of the house as they went inside, leaving Alec to close the front door. Alec milled around the hallway, not sure what to do, falling back on his old standby of making mental notes about what in the place he could easily get rid of if he had to. He picked up an old figurine.

"Put that down right now," she said as she moved toward him. "Wouldn't get you much, anyway."

Alec did as he was told, shoving his hands in his pockets after putting the ceramic cat back in its place. The gray-haired black woman eyed him, weighing him up, taking her time walking around him.

"You got a problem?" Alec asked after a second.

"At least he doesn't have a tail," she said to John, who had joined them. "What's he got in him? Cat? Dog?"

Alec smirked. "Cat. Panther, actually. As for the tail, that's the X-3s. Don't have enough feline in me for that."

"Who said I was talking about you getting a tail from one of those? You could have gotten one from the one you came from." She reached up and pulled his face closer to her, examining it more closely before letting him go. "Bird in there too, I think. See it in your eyes."

Alec swallowed. No one had ever guessed by looking before. She took a step back, turning to John.

"You should have brought him here sooner."

John nodded. "I know."

Missouri turned back to look at Alec, shaking her head, while she addressed John. "Trust that boy of yours to find some way to leave a bit of himself behind."

"You know Dean," John replied.

"Yes, I do," Missouri said firmly. "Never could take the easy route, could he?"

"He's gone, Missouri, him and Sam are gone, and nothing you say will change that."

Missouri shook her head. "I told you what is, John, they ain't died, and if you don't want to believe it anymore then that is your business. Ellen still believes it and don't tell me she don't and don't take that tone with me, John Winchester, I known you too long for that as it is."

Alec looked at the little woman in front of him; he hadn't seen anyone talk to John like that, even Ellen.

"This ain't funny, boy," Missouri said pointedly before the surprised Alec had a chance to react. "You should have been told long ago, but at least you're here now. At least we can get things done right, now."

"You're supposed to get me to believe in all this crap about spirits and shit?" Alec asked.

She walked over to him, clipping him around the head. "I told you to watch your tongue."

She turned to John. "You go do what you have to – it's about time you went to see the place. Leave him with me, shouldn't take too long."

John nodded and started toward the door. He looked at Alec for a second before he headed out of the house.

"Where's he going?" Alec asked as he found himself face to face with the strange little black woman, who looked a more than a little frail.

"Well, come on then, I don't have all day," she said, turning and heading toward another room.

As they entered the reading room Alec went to help her sit down, but she shook him off. "I ain't dead yet, boy!"

"Right," Alec said.

"And don't you think that. I may not hear as good as I used to, but I still know what is going on," she said as she sat down. She pointed to the chair across from her. "Sit down."

"What are you going to do?"

"What else? I'm going to give you a reading," she replied. "Why do you think he brought you here?"

"I don't know. So you could tell me that what Billy said was real?"

"You are going to believe what you want until you're ready, and anything I tell you won't change it," she said, taking hold of his hand.

"Where did John go?" Alec asked.

"He's doing something he should have done years ago," Missouri replied. "Time the man made peace with it. Not that it will do much good, she can't talk to him, went years back, saved her boys and went. Though, you never can be sure. A little of her might have stuck around if she knew about you… or the other one."

Alec pulled his hand back. He hadn't told John about Ben. There were only a few people knew that Ben was his twin, and he doubted that John had heard it from Max or Logan.

"How did you…?" Alec asked, quickly scanning the room, half expecting White or the cops to appear. "Who told you?"

"You told me, minute you walked in the door," Missouri said, peering at him. "Don't worry, you're not like him."

"Damn straight I'm not! I'm not going to go the same way. I'd take myself out before that."

She smiled. "Why should you? You got what he didn't have."

"And what is that?"

"Purpose, you got a reason to be here. You got people who care about you, and you care about them. You're not going to let them down, you shouldn't worry about that."

"Right, Alec the screw-up, not let anyone down?"

"You keep talking like that then you will."

"Okay, you got my attention," Alec replied.

"I had your attention when you walked through the door."

Alec shifted in his seat, getting more comfortable in the old armchair. "Fine, you had my attention when I got here."

Missouri nodded. "Good, now we can get started."

"So, what do you want me to do?" Alec asked. "Is this like a therapy session or something?"

"Will you relax, child, this isn't like one of those roll calls they made you do. You don't have to do anything."

"Really, because, you know, in the movies they read cards, or hold hands, or light candles," Alec said, smiling. "Do you have one of those guide things to help you tell me my fortune? Like an apache medicine man who got killed by the cavalry a couple of hundred years ago?"

"Boy," Missouri said firmly.

"Yeah?" Alec said

"Shut up."

Alec peered at her for a second, "You wouldn't happen to have any relatives out West would you? Grand daughter? Niece? Second cousin?"

"Excuse me?"

"Never mind."

John stood looking at the vacant lot. The house that had once stood there was long gone; the only recognizable feature left was the bare-branched old tree, which had died long ago. It seemed fitting in a way: that nothing seemed to flourish on the land, not since that night.

The people who lived in the house never stayed for too long, getting out as soon as they could, although there were no reports of anything supernatural in the dwelling since Sam and Dean had cleared the house, when they had been saved by Mary's spirit.

"This where it happened?" Alec asked as he walked up to the side of the pick-up where John was standing.

John didn't reply.

"Shit happens. You couldn't have saved her," Alec said.

"I know that, didn't take me long to realize that," John replied.

"Why are you here then? You got Ellen now, and Billy and Molly; how does torturing yourself over this help?"

"You tell me," John said.

Alec didn't say a word as John continued. "You hardly talk about your friends in Seattle, barely know anything about them apart from the few stories you told Billy, and the ones I met. Thought it was habit at first, training you had. Trying to keep them and us safe, less we know and all, but I'm not stupid, I know something happened. You don't keep people at arm's length like you do unless something happened. "

"That's different," Alec replied.

"Why?" John said. "You been working your way through the county and beyond since you came."

"So what? They know exactly what is going on. I never promised any one of them anything."

"Exactly," John said, turning to Alec. "Dean, he worked his way through every piece of skirt he could get his hands on because somewhere in his head he was convinced that everyone was going to leave him; you, it's different and I'm not just talking about some of the ones you go home with."

"Have you got a problem with that?" Alec asked defensively.

John shook his head. "Nope, it's your business, and even if I did, got no right to say anything."

"I like sex," Alec replied. "When did that become a crime?"

"Didn't say it was, did I?" John said. "Way I figure, you must have been burned pretty bad by someone."

Alec took a second. "Good try, we're talking about you here, not me."

"Sure," John retorted. "And you just didn't change the subject either."

"Fine, be like that, let it eat you up inside," Alec said. "How long has it been anyway – 40 years?"

John nodded. "It's not that I could never have saved her, Alec, it's that I couldn't kill the thing that did it to her."

Alec didn't know what to say as John continued. "I got close, even did a deal with the bastard. I failed her, Alec. I failed Mary, I failed the boys, and now they're probably dead. That bastard is still alive and I'm standing here. God, I hope they were killed outright that night and that yellow-eyed son of a bitch hid their bodies as another way to torture me, not have them where I was or somewhere worse. Because no way in hell are they still alive, not after all this time, someone would have heard something. The boys… if they…they would have gotten away, somehow."

"You did a deal? What deal?" Alec was confused.

John didn't say a word.

"John, what deal?" Alec asked. He'd come this far; he needed to know.

"At the time I thought it was the only way. Sammy needed him more than me, but what the hell could I expect? Truth is, Dean was more a father to Sam than I ever was. Without Dean, after what happened to Mary, I don't know what would have happened. He was the heart and soul of this family, kept me and Sam going, he grew up too fast because of it. So, I made the deal with the yellow-eyed bastard I'd been hunting since the day Mary died," John explained. "And thinking about it now, I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

Alec was still confused. "Is that what happened? You did a deal for Dean?"

"He was dying, and it was my fault; I'd put him in that position. So, for the first time since he was four-years-old, I became the father he needed me to be," John explained. "I found a way to make it better."

"Jesus, John, from what Logan said, the state you were in, I'm surprised you're still alive."

John turned and looked at Alec, his lip curling into a smile. "After being cremated, so am I."

"Cremated?"

"We'd better get back. Knowing Missouri, she'll expect us back for supper," John said, getting into the pick-up truck.

"John, what did you mean by cremated?"

"Am I going to get a name?" John asked, starting the engine as Alec got into the truck.

"You didn't answer my question." Alec said.

"And you didn't answer mine," John replied. "Guess we are both going to be a wanting."

Alec bit his bottom lip. "Rachel, okay, she's dead. She was the daughter of a target, and now she's dead because of me. They wanted her to be collateral damage, but I couldn't handle it and I tried to get her out, but she's still dead. Happy?"

John switched off the engine, turning to face Alec. "Look, son, you tried, and at the end of the day that is all you could have done, and I'm guessing you played the price for even trying to get her out."

"Doesn't make it right."

"Alec, you've been through shit I don't want to imagine, made to do things you should never have had to do, and if I'd known you existed I'd have been out there in a heartbeat."

"Pop, you don't have to say this."

"No, I do," John said. "I would have wanted you out of there. Not that this life is much better; we were always on the road, you deserved a home, as did Dean and Sam. Mary would have wanted that for them, for all of you. You were just following orders."

"I don't think that answer has worked since the Nuremberg trials," Alec said sarcastically. "Orders or not Rachel is dead because of me, because of the bomb I planted, and there is nothing you can say that can change that."

"She change you?" John asked.

Alec didn't answer, to which John nodded. "Remember that, remember the person you were when you were around her. That is what she left you with. Makes it easier to work out what person you want to be when you are ready to move on."

"That work for you?"

John shrugged. "Kind of."

Alec let out a chuckle.

"What?" John asked.

Alec shook his head. "Nothing."

"What is going on in that head of yours?"

"It's just I can't picture it."

"Picture what?" John asked.

"I'm sorry, I can't… Nothing, forget it," Alec said, dismissing John with a wave of his hand.

"You finish what you're saying," John said firmly.

Alec took a breath. "Don't take this the wrong way, I know genetically speaking that she's my 'mother', but I can't picture it."

"Can't picture Mary? I showed you photos of her."

"No, it isn't that. From what you say she was real nice and all, and the pictures, yeah, can see why you'd go there, but it's…" Alec said seriously. "I can't picture anyone putting up with your stubborn ass other than Ellen."

John smiled. "She's something, her and Mary both. Count myself lucky that either one of them let me through the door. Though, it was a close run thing both times."

"Right," Alec replied.

"Sure. There I was just out the service, barely a nickel to my name, Mary just out of school. Her father hated the sight of me. Always did think I was her way of acting out."

"Kids… what you going to do?" Alec said, smirking.

"With Ellen, lot more water under the bridge," John said. "To be honest, wake up every morning surprised she hasn't kicked me to the curb."

"She mentions it now and again," Alec said, smiling.

"What about you? Anyone in Seattle missing you?"

Alec scowled. "Not in the way you mean."

"They got a nasty habit of calling you at all hours."

"Does everybody in that house have nothing better to do than listen at my door?" Alec asked. "No, I just get a call when someone wants to bust someone's chops about something."

"Really?"

Alec shrugged. "Yeah, I'm the one gets the call when everyone else has told her to piss off or told her to go to sleep."

John raised an eyebrow. "And you are doing 'her' a favor, listening to 'her' day, then?"

Alec looked at his watch. "I'm sure that that friend of yours said that she was going to put dinner on the table about now."

"You got a knack of changing the subject, you know."

"Maybe it's genetic?" Alec said. "So, the being cremated thing?"

John shrugged. "Not much to tell. I sold my soul for Dean's life, died 'cause of it. Knowing the boys they would have burnt the body."

Alec ran his hand over his face. "Why is it that I feel like I'm the only sane one in this family? And I'm the genetic freak."

John let out a laugh. "Keep hold of that feeling, kiddo, it gets a lot stranger from here on out."

They stayed overnight, Missouri making them breakfast. Alec gave the two friends time to talk by clearing up the dishes. He came back into the dining room to find John and Missouri talking animatedly.

"John, it is too soon, you can't do it to the boy," the little woman said. "He ain't like the other two, you can't order him around like that, not him; he's had enough of that."

"I'm not ordering him, he's got a choice," John replied. "But he deserves to know the whole thing instead of us telling him tales of things he don't understand. If he is going to decide anything, I'm going to show him what he is deciding about."

"What I'm deciding about?" Alec asked. "John, you got me to come here, but I'm not going anywhere else without an explanation."

John sighed. "Dealing with Sam was easier."

It turned out that some campers had been disappearing in the Minnesota woods; one of the sort-of regulars at the Roadhouse had taken the job thinking that it was a Wendigo or some other sort of demonic creature. John explained that he planned to go up that way.

"You won't believe what we tell you, maybe you'll believe your own eyes," John had said flatly.

Alec knotted his brow. "You're not going to let this go, are you?"

Missouri looked between the two men before fixing her glare on the younger man.

"Child, go with him. Even if you don't believe us at least you'll be keeping him out of trouble."

Alec didn't know what to say – women – was he always going to be owned by them?

As they put their things in the back of the pick-up, John and Missouri said their goodbyes. From the look of the woman, Alec guessed that it would probably be the last time the two old friends would see each other.

Missouri came around to the other side of the truck to say goodbye to Alec. She brushed his hair out of his face. He hadn't had it cut since he had been at the Roadhouse, not since he realized that to get his barcode lasered meant that he had to go two towns over, and regular break-ins in a place that size would definitely be noticed.

"You got a soul, child," she said seriously. "A good one. You remember that."

"I will."

"You take care of yourself and you take care of that old fool," she said, nodding in John's direction. "You hearing me?"

"Loud and clear," Alec said with a nod.

John watched the scene before she turned her attention back to him. "You tell Ellen and the babies to be safe, and tell her that girl of yours is too much like her momma to learn any other way than the hard way."

"Ellen will love that," John replied.

Missouri tutted. "Well, she isn't going to argue with me on this now."

John was quiet for a second before lifting his head and looking his old friend in the eye. "Only seeing as you aren't going to give her the last word."

"Damn straight I'm not," the little woman said, smiling.

She turned to Alec, giving him a hug. "Now don't you worry, you'll be fine."

"Didn't know I wasn't going to be," Alec replied with a smirk on his face.

Missouri raised an eyebrow before adding, "And if that girl in that rat's nest is half as special as you think she is then she'll come round. You just got to be patient."

Alec looked confused as he got into the truck. John started the engine.

"What was that about?" John asked.

Alec shrugged. "I got no idea."

John grinned as he put the truck into gear. "Got no one in Seattle, then?"

"Seriously, that just proves it that this is bull, because if it wasn't, that woman's antenna is screwy," Alec replied in his own defence.

"Really?"

The hunt wasn't exactly what Alec expected – it was more like a cross between a military operation and a police investigation. Not the bunk of orange-jacketed weekend warriors hiding in the woods.

John had told Alec to wait while he and Jacobs, the hunter they had met up with, conned information out of the citizens of the tiny town. On the third night, Alec found himself heading toward the woods just before dawn. It was at this point Alec started to feel nervous.

"Don't worry, kid, we'll look after you seeing as it's your first time out," Jacobs said reassuringly as he spotted that Alec was itching to get his hands on one of the weapons in the extensive kit that John seemed to have sequestered in the back of the pick-up. Alec was impressed, as well as a little freaked. Unless you knew where you were looking, John could probably have hidden anything in that truck.

They said that they would probably be using flare guns as fire was the best way to be sure that the thing would stay dead. Alec picked up a Glock, carefully examining it, getting used to the weight of the gun in his hand. It felt natural, like it hadn't been more than a couple of days since he had held one.

"Here," John said, sensing Alec's anxiety, handing the younger man a pearl-handed Colt.

Alec looked at it. "Nice."

"Take care of it," John said simply as he continued to look through the weapons chest.

"You had it long?" Alec asked, double-checking that the magazine was full.

"It's not mine," John said, not looking up, though Jacobs did. The other hunter looked straight at Alec.

Alec stilled. "Dean's?"

John didn't answer, instead beginning to pack up.

They ended up in an old mine shaft, the older hunters thinking that this was the 'Wendigo's' lair and that it would be more vulnerable there. Alec thought that it was the perfect place for someone to go 'Hannibal Lecter' on local campers, and what they would find was some nut job nibbling on someone's spleen.

The thing came out of nowhere, lifting Alec clean off his feet; it took all of Alec's strength and speed to get free. It confused the thing. It wasn't too sure what it was facing; the meat wasn't supposed to be able to do that.

Its hesitation gave Alec the time he needed to get behind the fugly bastard, going into automatic pilot, snapping its neck, which wasn't easy at all.

After the thing went down, Alec stood before it, too scared to move. He took a breath, which seemed to allow his brain to take the time it needed to reset. He squatted down to examine the back of the thing's neck – there was no barcode.

Alec shook his head; that didn't make any sense. Joshua was the only one without a code. He felt the gray skin for the possible telltale laser burn, but there was nothing: no code, no mark, it wasn't there.

"Hey, John," Jacobs cried. "The kid's brought the thing down."

Alec looked up as Jacobs came over to him. He wasn't sure what to say.

"Jesus, Alec, what the hell did you do?" Jacobs asked.

"I…" Alec said not sure how to continue that sentence; instead, he turned to look at John, whose face didn't seem to express any emotion at that point.

Jacobs slapped Alec on the back. "It's okay, kid, first time out is always the hardest."

Alec's attention snapped back to the man beside him.

"We'd better burn it," John instructed.

Jacobs stood up. "You're right. Better be safe than sorry."

They fired a couple of flares into the corpse, lighting it up like a Roman candle.

"Well, I guess that's it," John said, putting the last of his things in the back of the truck. "You staying here?"

"Couple of days, just to make sure," Jacobs said as Alec stood silently. Jacobs turned, putting out his hand. "You did good, kid, remember that. Damn bastard won't hurt anyone else again because of you."

"Yeah, makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside," Alec deadpanned.

Jacobs slapped Alec on the back. "I like you, kid. Chip off the old block." Jacobs turned to John. "Your boys would be proud."

"I guess this is kind of real then, isn't it?" Alec asked, to which John nodded as they prepared to leave.

"And Dean and Sam, they did this?"

John nodded again. "The boys were raised into it."

Alec exhaled loudly as he tried to take the information in.

"You believe now?" John asked.

"Can I get back to you on that?" Alec replied.

John smiled as he turned on the engine. "Sure."

"Can I ask one thing?"

"Go for it."

Alec swallowed. "Ellen's first husband?"

"Bill," John said as he put the truck into drive. "Job went bad. Ellen knows everything. As you would put it, it went FUBAR."

"Define FUBAR."

"I broke cover sooner than I was supposed to, Bill got the worst," John said sincerely. "He was holding his guts in when I got to him."

Alec looked at John, who had stopped talking. He wasn't sure what to say. He knew what had probably happened next; he'd been part of actions where the same thing had been done. Not that he had drawn the short straw on those occasions. "Better quick. Cleaner."

"She didn't see it that way, not at first."

Alec shrugged. "She wouldn't, but you do a job, you take your chances."

"Look, Alec, you don't have to be part of this."

"Why do you say that?"

John glanced over at Alec before answering the question. "Dean and Sam; never gave them a choice about this. I should have and I didn't, expected them to follow my lead and not question it," John said. "I know I was a bastard, Ellen's told me that more times than I can count and she's right. Molly's heart ain't in the fight, which is good, she's a bookworm, she can do more good that way, and as for Billy…"

"Even if he wasn't, would you risk it?"

John shook his head. "Couldn't do that to Ellen. It'd kill her."

"She'd kill you more like it," Alec replied.

"True," John said, smiling. "Anyways, you don't have to be part of this if you don't want to."

Alec didn't say a word.

"I saw your face when he said about this being your first kill."

Alec shook his head. "Pop, I'm fine, just took me off guard when he said it, that's all."

"Sure it did," John said.

"I think I'm okay with killing it. It was eating people, needed to be put down," Alec replied. "When it comes down to it, considering the people I have taken out, I think this is one of the few times I can actually say it was for the best. Not that I'm saying that I believe in the hocus-pocus bull; Mr Gray-and-scary could have been an old school reject from a failed genetic project, and talking as a top of the range model I have seen some prize genetic screw-ups."

John sighed. "Well, I suppose it's a start."

Logan was abruptly awoken by his cell phone going off. He bolted upright and went for the phone. In his barely conscious state he almost sent everything else on the bedside table flying.

"What's happened?" Logan said agitatedly, trying to get hold of this bedroom lamp as he answered his cell.

"Logan, buddy, how's life treating you?" Alec asked.

"Alec?" Logan said, slowly realizing who was on the other end of the phone.

"Yeah, it's me."

Logan sighed. "This better be good, it's 5:30 in the morning."

"Really?" Alec said, in a way that Logan knew Alec was sitting on the other end of the phone with a grin on his face. "The sun's up here."

Logan lay back down, his phone still to his ear. He resigned himself that it was going to be one of those days. "Alec, what do you want?"

"I missed you," Alec said sarcastically.

"Be serious."

"Seriously, can't I miss you?" Alec asked.

"Your sense of humor needs a tune-up," Logan said. He was too tired for this.

"I'll have you know, I'm still the life and soul of the party."

"Sure you are, Alec," Logan replied. "If you're bored why don't you call someone else?"

"Why would I do that if I need to ask you a question?"

"What question is that, Alec?"

"Okay, I'll get the point Mr Grouchy… actually, how's things there, and I really mean how's things – not the bull Max lets me in on."

"Alec, everything is fine: Terminal City is fine, White is quiet at the moment, and Mole hasn't threatened to try to kill Max in about a week."

"Right, and how are you and her?"

"Alec, I'm tired," Logan snapped. "What is it?"

"Whoa, aren't we touchy. Okay, just a quick question, do you know of any projects from before Manticore?"

"What? Don't you know?"

"Sure, Logan, they told us right between brainwashing 101 and unarmed combat."

"Alec, it is early, can't this wait?"

"Not really. I have to be quick: Billy tends to listen at doors. So, do you know or not? Were there any projects before Manticore?"

"Sure, I think so. Manticore would have had to build on technology that the government would have already known about. I don't think that Sandeman would have been able to go to the military without having some idea of what he was trying to do."

"I'll take that as a yes, then," Alec replied, satisfied with the answer.

"Why do you want to know that now?" Logan asked.

"Is it possible that some of these experiments… well, could it be that they got dumped out in the big bad?"

"It's possible. I suppose they could have been. Why? Alec, have you seen something?"

There was silence for a few seconds. "Nah, it's nothing. Thanks, Logan."

"Alec, did you ask them about what I told you?" Logan enquired. "About Ellen and Molly?"

"Yeah, I did," Alec replied, trying to think fast. He was having a hard enough time with the hunting thing himself; he didn't need Logan to think he was a screwball too. "Ellen's first husband, Bill, well, he took off. She didn't hear from him again, and she didn't have the cash to look for him. She did put the word out with some of his friends – they heard nothing either."

"And Molly? Did you get an explanation about the fire?"

"Wasn't her. Turns out that the guys found her at the side of the road on the way back from some job they had in Washington, doing what, I'm not too sure, but they didn't know how to contact the authorities without it looking like they had grabbed her from somewhere. Thought if Ellen dropped the kid off it would look better with the cops, but with what happened, Molly getting hurt and all, Ellen just held on to her."

Logan thought for a second. Alec's story was a little too rounded for his liking. "Are you sure that's all?"

"Yeah, totally," Alec replied. "Look, Logan, I really do appreciate what you did looking into this for me."

"Alec, you okay?" Logan asked tentatively.

Alec sighed, "I'm still me, Logan."

"Sure you are."

"Logan, I talked it through with them. They haven't told me everything, but they're more open about stuff now."

"And John's injuries?"

"I figure that's his business – if he doesn't want to talk about it then I'm not going to ask."

"Alec, you've got a right to know."

"Why?" Alec asked. "The guy's got a right to some privacy. Doesn't need to be reminded he fucked up somewhere along the line all those years ago. Anyway, if they tell me everything then I've got to tell them everything, and I'm not doing that."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, duh – don't think they need to know about everything I've done."

"That was Manticore, and they know about that."

"They don't need the details or know about the fact I had a twin I never met that went looney tunes probably wouldn't go down too well, would it?"

"You haven't told them about Ben yet?"

"Nope, and I don't plan to," Alec replied. "He's dead, Logan, and I really don't need the aggravation of dealing with the fallout from Ben yet again."

Logan tutted. "You are playing a dangerous game there, Alec."

"I'm being careful. Anyway, I figure I'm pretty safe; the only person outside Seattle who knows about him swore she'd never tell and I believe her."

"Who did you tell?"

"Well, I didn't exactly tell her, but she promised to keep her mouth shut."

"What do you mean 'you didn't tell her'?"

"Long story. But, Logan, thanks," Alec said, before hanging up the phone.

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