08:43AM.

I walked out of the convenience store and headed over to where Dean was putting gas into the Impala, Sam sitting in the passenger seat on his phone, the way he had been for the past half hour. I'd given up paying attention to whatever it was he'd been doing. Dean nodded at me as I got closer to them, grinning as I threw him a candy bar. "..so, I figure we'd hit Tucumcari by lunch, then head south, hit Bisbee by midnight." He was saying. I nodded slowly, not particularly interested, climbing into the backseat with a sigh. I looked up as Dean frowned at Sam, who also didn't seem to be paying any attention to him. "Sam wears women's underwear.." He added lightly, raising his eyebrows for some kind of reaction.

"I've been listening," Sam muttered in response, never taking his eyes from his phone. "-I'm just busy."

Dean raised an eyebrow. "Busy doing what?" He pressed, a curious frown on his face.

"Reading emails." Sam said flatly.

I glanced up at Dean and shrugged, not thinking anything of it. "Emails from who?" He asked, not seeming satisfied with the answer.

"From my friends, at Stanford."

Dean laughed dryly, shaking his head slightly. "You're kidding, you still keep in touch with your college buddies?"

Sam nodded. "Why not?"

"Well, what exactly do you tell 'em? You know, about where you've been, what you've been doin'?"

"I tell them I'm on a road trip with my brother and sister." He answered simply. "I tell them I needed some time off after Jess."

"Oh, so you lie to them." Dean said lightly.

"No. I just don't tell them.." Sam paused. "-everything."

"Yeah, that's called lying." Dean said, looking at him through the open window. "I mean, hey, man, I get it, tellin' the truth is far worse."

"So, what am I supposed to do, just cut everybody out of my life?" Dean shrugged nonchalantly. Sam scoffed, shaking his head. "You're serious?"

"Look, it sucks, but in a job like this, you can't get close to people, period."

"You're kind of anti-social, you know that? Both of you." He said, rolling his eyes and returning his attention to his emails.

"We're not anti-social at all, are we, Maxie?"

I laughed and shrugged. "I dunno, if you think about it- we kinda are."

"Nah, people just can't handle our awesome, that's the problem."

"Yeah, Dean, that's the problem." I answered sarcastically.

"God-" Sam suddenly muttered, I thought more to himself than to us.

"What?" Dean pressed.

"In this email from this girl, Rebecca Warren, one of those friends of mine.."

"Is she hot?" Dean cut in with a smirk.

Sam ignored him. "I went to school with her, and her brother, Zack. She says Zack's been charged with murder. He's been arrested for killing his girlfriend. Rebecca says he didn't do it, but it sounds like the cops have a pretty good case." He said, a note of disbelief in his tone.

"Dude, what kind of people are you hangin' out with?" I asked him, raising an eyebrow.

"No, guys, I know Zack. He's no killer."

"Well, maybe you know Zack as well as he knows you." Dean countered.

"They're in St. Louis. We're going."

Dean chuckled, shaking his head. "Look, sorry about your buddy, okay? But this does not sound like our kind of problem."

"It is our problem. They're my friends."

"St. Louis is four hundred miles behind us, Sam." Dean argued.

Sam only looked at him, his expression fixed with a small frown until Dean sighed heavily, shaking his head and sighing in defeat as he climbed back into the car, turning it around and driving back in the direction we'd just come from.

St. Louis. Rebecca's House. 03:31PM.

Dean pulled up the Impala outside of Sam's friend Rebecca's house. We climbed out of the car and made our way towards the front door, Sam reaching out and knocking lightly, waiting a few seconds before it was opened. "Oh my god." She grinned as her eyes fell to him!"

Sam smiled down at her. "Well, if it isn't little Becky."

"You know what you can do with that little Becky crap." She smiled as she stepped forwards and hugged him.

"I got your email." Sam said, looking down at her sympathetically.

"I didn't think that you would come here." She said lightly, looking behind him at me and Dean.

Dean took a step forwards, holding out his hand to her. "Dean." He introduced himself. "Older brother." He smiled. "And this is Max, little sister."

"Hi." She smiled brightly at us.

"Hey." I smiled back.

"We're here to help." Sam continued. "Whatever we can do."

Rebecca nodded slowly, stepping aside. "Come in."

We headed inside, Dean closing the door behind himself. "Nice place." He commented, looking around the house slowly.

"It's my parents'. I was just crashing here for the long weekend when everything happened. I decided to take the semester off. I'm gonna stay until Zack's free."

"Where are your folks?" Sam asked her.

"They live in Paris for half the year, so they're on their way home now for the trial." We followed her into the kitchen. "Do you guys want a beer or something?"

Dean went to answer but Sam got there first. "No, thanks. So, tell us what happened."

"Well, um, Zack came home, and he found Emily tied to a chair. And she was beaten up and bloody, and she wasn't breathing." She began to cry. "So, he called 911, and the police, they showed up, and they arrested him. But, the thing is, the only way that Zack could've killed Emily is if he was in two places at the same time. The police, they have a video. It's from the security tape from across the street. And it shows Zack coming home at 10:30. Now, Emily was killed just after that, but I swear, he was here with me, having a few beers until at least after midnight."

"You know, maybe we could see the crime scene. Zack's house." Sam suggested.

Dean nodded. "We could."

Rebecca frowned. "Why? I mean, what could you do?"

"Well, me, not much. But Dean's a cop."

Dean laughed slightly. "Detective, actually."

"Really?" Dean nodded at her. "Where?"

"Uh, Bisbee, Arizona. But I'm off-duty now."

"You guys, it's so nice to offer, but I just- I don't know."

"Bec, look, I know Zack didn't do this. Now, we have to find a way to prove that he's innocent."

"Okay. I'm gonna go get the keys." She turned and walked away down the hallway.

"Oh, yeah, man, you're a real straight shooter with your friends." Dean muttered to Sam once we were alone again.

Sam shook his head slowly. "Look, Zack and Becky need our help."

"I just don't think this is our kind of problem." Dean replied.

"Two places at once? We've looked into less." Sam said, looking down at me. "What d'you think?"

"I dunno, I mean, maybe he's right, Dean.. It's worth looking into." Dean sighed in defeat, not saying anything.

Zach's House, 4:05PM.

"You're sure this is okay?" Rebecca asked Dean as we stopped outside of her brother's house, looking apprehensive to go inside.

"Yeah. I am an officer of the law." He answered, shooting a look at Sam as he did.

We headed inside, looking around slowly. There was blood everywhere, the furniture slightly out of place and the house a mess. "Bec, you wanna wait outside?" Sam asked. I turned to see her still standing on the porch steps outside.

Rebecca shook her head. "No. I wanna help." She ducked under the police tape at the door and walked further inside

"Tell us what else the police said." Sam pressed.

"Well, there's no sign of a break-in." There were tears in her eyes as she spoke. "They say that Emily let her attacker in. The lawyers- they're already talking about plea bargain." She looked around the room, tears falling down her cheeks. "Oh, God.."

"Look, Bec, if Zack didn't do this, it means someone else did. Any idea who?"

Rebecca shook her head slowly while she thought about it, then looked like she'd remembered something. "Um, there was something, about a week before. Somebody broke in here and stole some clothes- Zack's clothes. The police, they don't think it's anything. I mean, we're not that far from downtown. Sometimes people get robbed." Sam walked away somewhere, Dean moving to the open front door, seeing the neighbor's dog which was barking loudly. "You know, that used to be the sweetest dog." Rebecca said, looking over his shoulder.

"What happened?" Dean asked.

She shrugged. "He just changed."

Dean narrowed his eyes and looked over at me. "Do you remember when he changed?" I asked her.

"Uh, I guess around the time of the murder." Dean looked from her to me as he turned away, nodding at me to follow him.

We headed over to Sam who was standing in the hallway of the house, looking at one of the photos on the wall. "So, the neighbor's dog went psycho right around the time Zack's girlfriend was killed." He told Sam.

"Animals can have a sharp sense of the paranormal." Sam stated, his mind seeming elsewhere.

"Yeah, maybe Fido saw something."

Sam looked at him, raising his eyebrows. "So, you think maybe this is our kind of problem?"

"No. Probably not. But we should look at the security tape, you know, just to make sure."

"Yeah." Sam agreed.

Dean looked up as Rebecca headed over to us. "So the tape. The security footage- you think maybe your lawyers could get their hands on it, 'cause I just don't have that kind of jurisdiction." He said.

"I've already got it. I didn't wanna say something in front of the cop." Dean only laughed at that. "I stole it off the lawyer's desk. I just had to see it for myself."

"Alright." He muttered in response. "Well, let's get back and check it out then." He said lightly, turning and making his way to the front door.

Rebecca's House, 4:45PM.

I dropped down beside Sam on the couch, Dean sitting on the arm rest beside me. Rebecca stood behind us, watching the security tape playing on the tv closely. "Here he comes." She said. The tape showed Zach entering his house.

"22:04, that's just after ten." Dean said. "You said time of death was about 10:30?"

Rebecca nodded. "Our lawyers hired some kind of video expert. He says the tape's authentic. It wasn't tampered with."

I looked up at Sam who frowned slightly at the TV. "Hey, Bec, can we take those beers now?"

"Oh, sure." She said, turning to head out of the room.

"Maybe some sandwiches, too?" He added.

Rebecca rolled her eyes. "What do you think this is, Hooters?" She said as she left the room.

"I wish." Dean muttered, looking up at Sam. "What is it?"

"Check this out." He rewound the tape to the part where Zach walked past, pausing it at the part where he looked directly at the camera, his eyes looking silver.

"Well, maybe it's just a camera flare." Dean suggested, not looking concerned.

"That's not like any camera flare I've ever seen. You know, a lot of cultures believe that a photograph can catch a glimpse of the soul." He said. "Remember that dog that was freakin' out? Maybe he saw this thing. Maybe this is some kind of dark double of Zack's, something that looks like him but isn't him."

"Like a Doppelganger." I said.

"Yeah. It'd sure explain how he was two places at once."

"Guess so." Dean muttered.

The next day, 08:25PM.

I looked up as I saw Sam and Dean climb out of the Impala further down the street, smiling at the woman I'd been talking to before heading towards them. "What happened here?" Dean asked, looking around the street filled with other people and police officers.

"Apparently this guy tried to kill his wife, tied her up and beat her." I said, looking between them. "I uh, I also talked to the patrolman who was first on the scene, he heard this guy, Alex's story. Apparently the dude was driving home from a business trip when his wife was attacked."

"So, he was two places at once." Sam stated.

"Exactly." I nodded. "Then he sees himself in the house, police think he's a nutjob."

"Two dark doubles attacking loved ones in exactly the same way." Sam said slowly.

"Could be the same thing doing it, too." Dean suggested.

Sam frowned as he thought about it. "Shapeshifter?" He shrugged. "Something that can make itself look like anyone?"

Dean and I both nodded. "We've got two attacks within blocks of each other. I'm guessin' we've got a shapeshifter prowling the neighborhood." Dean said.

"Let me ask you this- in all this shapeshifter lore, can any of them fly?" Sam asked, looking around slowly.

Dean shook his head. "Not that I know of."

"I picked up a trail here. Someone ran out the back of this building and headed off this way."

"Just like your friend's house." I said.

"Yeah. And, just like at Zack's house, the trail suddenly ends. I mean, whatever it is just disappeared."

I groaned as my eyes fell to the hole in the road, leading down to the sewer. "Well, there's another way to go- down."

Sam and Dean turned, following my eyes to the road. Dean smirked, punching me in the arm. "Sewers, Maxie, your favorite."

I looked up at him and glared. "I swear to god, if we have a repeat of what happened in Ohio, you will be getting stabbed in the face."

Dean only laughed, shaking his head. "Chick has to spend a couple of hours in a sewer and she holds it over you forever."

"A few hours was six hours, Dean. And it's your fault we got stuck in there in the first place."

Dean shrugged. "Least dad got a laugh out of it." He smirked.

I rolled my eyes, looking up at Sam who only shook his head. "I don't even want to know." He said lightly, turning and heading towards the Impala.

I leaned against the edge of the trunk while Dean looked through his weapons. "Well, one thing I learned from Dad, is that no matter what kind of shapeshifter it is, there's one sure way to kill it."

"Silver bullet to the heart." Sam muttered.

"That's right." He grinned, handing me a gun.

Sam looked down as his cell phone rang from his jacket pocket. "Hello?" He answered. "We're near Zack's, we're just checkin' some things out." He said to whoever he was talking to, I guessed Rebecca. Sam frowned a little while he listened to whatever it was that she was saying. "What are you talkin' about?" He listened again, scoffing. "Why would you do that?" He paused again, opening and closing his mouth slightly. "We're tryin' to help." His face fell a little at her next comment. "Bec, I'm sorry, but-" He didn't get another word in before she said something else and hung up the phone.

Dean looked from me to Sam, who looked disappointed. "I hate to say it, but that's exactly what I'm talkin' about. You lie to your friends because if they knew the real you, they'd be freaked. It's just, it'd be easier if-"

"If I was like you two." Sam finished for him.

"Hey, man, like it or not, we are not like other people. But I'll tell you one thing. This whole gig, it ain't without perks." He smirked as he held out a gun to Sam, who shook his head as he shoved it into the back of his jeans.

We climbed down into the sewer, looking around slowly. "I bet this runs right by Zack's house, too. The shapeshifter could be using the sewer system to get around." Sam said quietly.

"I think you're right. Look at this." I turned so see Dean crouched down, a pile of what looked like mixed up blood and skin on the ground in front of him.

"That's gross." I muttered.

"Is this from his victims?" Sam asked as Dean pulled out his pocketknife and held up some of the skin with it.

"You know, I just had a sick thought. When the shapeshifter changes shape- maybe it sheds."

I pulled a face. "That is sick." I said. "Trust you to think of that."

Dean dropped the bloody skin back to the ground and stood up straight, turning to us. "Right, let's find this thing and kill it."

We headed through the sewers for another fifteen minutes, finding nothing. "I think we're close to it's lair." Dean suddenly said.

"Why do you say that?" Sam asked curiously.

"Because there's another puke-inducing pile next to your face." I looked over Dean's shouder as Sam turned to the side and saw another pile of blood and skin right beside his face.

"Oh, God!" He took a step back, a disgusted look on his face.

Dean looked back at me and smirked a little. We walked further on, seeing a bunch of clothes scattered around the place. "Looks like it's lived here for a while." He commented.

"Who knows how many murders he's gotten away with." Sam muttered, turning back to us. Sam's eyes went wide. "Max!" I turned quickly, finding myself face to face with a guy. He held up a fist and punched me hard in the face, sending me falling backwards into Dean. He grabbed a hold of me before I hit the floor before taking a step forwards and being punched in the face himself. He fell to the ground as the shapeshifter turned and ran away from us. Sam shot after it but missed.

Dean pushed himself up, a hand on his arm. "Get the son of a bitch." He muttered. Sam turned and ran after it, closely followed by me and Dean. We chased it out of the sewers and onto the street, coming to a stop and looking around quickly.

"Alright, let's split up." Sam said, looking between us. We both nodded, the three of us taking off in different directions.

I headed down an alley, my gun hidden under the side of my jacket, looking around slowly. It was about twenty minutes later by the time I got back to the Impala, looking around the street slowly without seeing Sam or Dean anywhere. "Awesome." I muttered, looking around helplessly, I didn't know what I was supposed to do from here. I sighed and reached into my jacket pocket for the spare key I had to the car, opening the door and getting inside, pulling out my phone. I called them both, not getting an answer. "That's just awesome." I sighed, dropping down my phone to the seat beside me.

30 Minutes Later

I was about ready to give up, I had no idea what to do anymore, I was running out of places to look for them. I'd checked every bar, the motel room, the sewers, everywhere- and found absolutely nothing. I turned a corner, deciding to head back to the motel room when I saw Dean walking down the street ahead of me, his back facing the car. I slowed down, rolling down the window as I got closer. "Dean!" I yelled. He turned slowly, frowning slightly as I pulled up beside him. "Dude, where the hell have you been? I've been looking for you and Sam for ages."

"Yeah, we uh- I don't know where he is.." He paused and shrugged. "I think he went back to Rebecca's place." I frowned at that, figuring that whatever was going on they'd had some kind of an argument over something.

I glanced over at him as he climbed into the car in silence. "Well," I pressed. "-did you find the shifter?"

"Yeah," He muttered. "-it was in the sewers, shot it in the heart- it's dead."

I narrowed my eyes slightly. "Really?"

"Yeah, really." He said flatly. "What, don't you believe me or something? Go take a look if you want."

I shook my head and started the car again, heading back to the motel room. I walked inside first, leaving Dean to close the door behind himself. I pulled the gun from the back of my jeans and placed it down on the table, pulling off my jacket and tossing to one of the beds. "Man, am I glad that hunt's over." I muttered.

Dean looked over his shoulder at me. "Why'd you say that?"

"Man, you know shapeshifters creep me out, you never know who they are." I said lightly. "I mean, what is it you call them, 'friggin' genetic freaks'."

"Genetic freaks?" He repeated slowly, more to himself than to me. "Hm, maybe.. I mean, evolution is about mutation, right? So, maybe this thing was born human but was different. Hideous and hated. Until he learned to become someone else." I frowned, absolutely no idea what he was talking about. "You know, everybody needs a little human touch now and then.. It's so hard to be different." I looked over my shoulder for a second, Dean's back was to me, his attention fixed on something outside the window. "It's funny. I kind of understand him." He continued. "He's all alone- close to no one. All he wants is for someone to love him.." His tone was vague, distant. "He's like me."

I paused. "What did you just say?" Before I'd even had the chance to turn around, I felt something hard slam into the back of my head, sending me crashing to the floor unconscious.

Motel Room, 11:01PM.

I blinked open my eyes to find myself tied up to a chair, Dean leaning against the edge of the table in front of me, a hard glare fixed on his face. "Where's Dean?" I mumbled, trying to ignore the throbbing pain in the back of my head.

The shapeshifter smirked, shaking his head. "Silly girl, I am Dean." He said, taking a step towards me and slapping me hard around the face with the back of his hand.

I groaned and looked back to him. "What the hell have you done with my brother?"

"Dean's dead." He said simply. "I'm your brother now."

I shook my head slowly, refusing to believe that. "You're sick." I tried to sound confident, but my voice came out as more of a whisper.

He scoffed, nodding slowly before punching me hard in the cheek. "You're the sick ones." He said coldly. "I swear, the more I learn about you and your family- I thought I came from a bad background."

I raised my eyebrows at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

He stopped suddenly, grabbing his head in pain for a few seconds before he relaxed again. "He's sure got issues with you two. I mean, Sam got to go to college, and let's face it, you were always Dad's favorite, you could've gotten away with anything.. You see, deep down, I'm just jealous. Sam's got friends, he could have a life. And you, fair enough you're in this life now, but in the back of my mind- there's this constant fear you're gonna up and bail just like he did. And then there's dad," He scoffed. "-hell, I did everything he asked me to and he ditched me, too. No explanation, nothing, just poof. Left me with your sorry ass.." He punched me in the face again. "But here's the difference between you and me, Maxie, I know I'm a freak. And sooner or later, everybody's gonna leave me-"

"Oh for Christ's sake, shut up." I cut him off.

He narrowed his eyes at me. "You know, I can see everything in his head.. Everything he knows about you, every thought, every memory- it's all up here." I looked away, trying to tug my hands free, feeling the ropes cutting the skin of my wrists. "He uh, he thinks your crazy.. he's terrified you're gonna go off the deep end."

"Shut up." I muttered.

"He isn't going to save you this time, Maxie." He smirked. "And he's going to have to live with that."

I paused and raised an eyebrow. "Hm, I thought you'd already killed him?"

The shifter laughed. "No, I'm not going to kill him- you are."

I blinked. "Excuse me?"

"Haven't you worked it out yet? I guess Sammy really is the brains of this operation, huh?"

"Man, do you like the sound of your own voice." I muttered.

"Dean's going to kill you, and then you're going to kill him." He grinned, pulling out a knife and smirking down at me. I whimpered slightly as he dragged the blade over the skin of my chest, just below my neck, feeling the blood escaping the cut. "Wow, you really are insane, aren't you. Tell me, Maxie, how did it feel to be possessed? How did it feel to watch yourself killing your brother? Beating him to death while he took it, refusing to fight you back." He said as he dragged the knife over my arm. "He's lucky to still be alive." He said, pulling the knife over my other arm. "That's what started all this, right? Your alcohol induced guilt trip?"

I rolled my eyes, shaking my head slowly. "You know, you might look like him, and you might have his mind up there, but buddy, you have absolutely no idea."

"Oh, don't I?" He laughed as he stabbed the knife into my other arm, making a long deep cut over the top of my arm. "You had a bad hunt and then you started to let things scare you. You got weak. Pathetic." He smirked, pushing the knife hard against the skin of my neck, enough to break through the skin. "Maybe we'll just have to toughen you up, huh?" He grinned and punched me hard in the face again. Over and over until I was pretty sure that I had a black eye, a bloody nose, a busted lip and a deep gash on my cheek. "You've never taken a punch from Dean before, have you?" He laughed.

"Where is he?!" I tried to yell, my voice cracked.

He thought about it before shaking his head. "You probably don't want to know."

"I hope for your sake you haven't hurt him, because I swear to god I will rip your heart out myself." I threatened.

"Tough words from the chick tied to the chair." He quipped.

"Oh, go screw yourself."

He laughed slightly. "You know what, Maxie, I think I might go and see your brother, I'll tell him you say hi." He said, returning the knife to his jacket and tying a gag around my mouth. "But don't worry, I'll be back for you." With that, he turned and left, slamming the door closed behind himself.

It was about ten minutes before I managed to pull myself free from the ropes. I grabbed my gun and ran out of the room, looking around the parking lot quickly, without seeing anything. Even the Impala was gone. "Son of a bitch." I muttered. I was covered in blood, I knew that- but I went with my instinct, right now I had to find Sam and Dean, before the shifter did.

Twenty minutes later.

I climbed down into the sewers, running straight to the place where we had been when the shifter had attacked us. "Guys?" I called out as I got closer, trying to see through the dark tunnels, wishing that I'd thought to bring a flashlight.

"Max?!" I heard Sam yell, the relief clear in his voice. "That you?"

"Yeah, it's me." I walked up behind him, finding both him and Dean tied up to wooden posts, making a a move to start untying the ropes around Sam's wrists. "Are you okay?"

"We're fine." Sam muttered.

Before he'd even had a chance to look at me, I walked past him and began untying the ropes holding Dean's wrists. He strained his neck slightly to look around, noticing my bloody clothes. "Maxie? Jesus, what happened to you?"

"You did." I mumbled, cutting through the ropes.

"What?" He stumbled to his feet and grabbed me around the wrist before I had a chance to go anywhere, pulling me around to face him and looking over me slowly. "What happened?" He pressed.

"Shifter, looked like you- we went back to the motel and.." I shrugged. "Ya know."

"Well, he's not stupid. He picked the handsome one." Sam gave a confused look at him before shaking his head.

"That's what I was saying though," Sam said, turning back to Dean. "He didn't just look like you, he was you. Or he was becoming you."

"Yeah," I nodded. "-he was like that with me. I mean, he knew stuff that it couldn't have known."

Sam nodded. "It was like he was downloading your thoughts and memories."

Dean raised an eyebrow. "You mean, like the Vulcan mind meld?"

"Yeah, somethin' like that." Sam agreed. "I mean, maybe that's why he doesn't just kill us."

"Maybe he needs to keep us alive. Psychic connection."

"Yeah. Come on, we gotta go." He said, turning towards the exit.

Dean nodded, looking down at me, his hand still gripped around my wrist. "You sure you're okay to do this?"

"Dean, it's fine. I've had worse." I smiled.

"I'm gonna kill it. I swear to god, I'm gonna slaughter it."

"Yeah, well we need to find it first, I think it went to Rebecca's- looking like you." I said lightly.

Sam looked between us and sighed. "Come on, we gotta find a phone, call the police." He muttered, turning to leave the sewers.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa." Dean stopped him. "You're gonna put an APB out on me."

Sam shrugged, he didn't look all too bothered about it. "Sorry."

We headed down the street, Sam suddenly coming to a stop outside of a TV store, all the TV's in the window with the same news story on. "..an anonymous tip led police to a home in the Central West End, where a S.W.A.T team discovered a local woman bound and gagged. Her attacker, a white male, approximately twenty-four to thirty years of age, was discovered hiding in her home." A sketch of Dean appeared on the screens.

Dean's eyebrows shot up. "Man, that's not even a good picture." He complained.

Sam looked around us cautiously. "It's good enough." He muttered, turning and walking away. "Come on."

"Man." Dean whined, the two of us following Sam.

"They said attempted murder." Sam stated. "At least we know-"

"I didn't kill her." Dean cut in.

He nodded. "We'll check with Rebecca in the morning, see if she's alright."

"Alright, but first I wanna find that handsome devil and kick the holy crap out of him." Sam stopped, turning to face him.

"We have no weapons. No silver bullets." He argued.

"Sam, the guy's walking around with my face, okay, it's a little personal, I wanna find him."

Sam sighed in defeat. "Okay. Where do we look?"

"Well, we could start with the sewers." Dean suggested.

"We have no weapons." He said again. "He stole our guns, we need more. The car?"

Dean turned to me. "You drove it to the motel, right?"

"Yeah, but then your evil twin drove off in it, probably to Rebecca's place."

"The news said he fled on foot." Sam reasoned. "I bet it's still parked there."

"The thought of him driving my car. It's killin' me."

"Let it go." Sam muttered.

We rounded the corner to Rebecca's house, seeing the Impala parked up outside, a grin spreading over Dean's face. "Oh, there she is." He said, relief evident in his voice. "Finally, something went right tonight." We all stopped dead as a police car appeared, parking next to Dean's car. "Oh, crap." He muttered, turning around to see another one parked a few yards away.

Sam nodded towards the fence. "You two go, I'll hold them off."

Dean stopped. "What are you talking about? They'll catch you!"

"Look, they can't hold me. Just go, keep out of sight and meet me at Rebecca's." We both nodded, climbing over the fence. "Stay out of the sewers alone!" He yelled after us as we landed on the other side. "I mean it!" He shouted.

"Yeah, yeah." Dean called back, the two of us taking off down the road.

We slowed down into a walk after a few minutes, Dean stopping outside of a bar. "You fancy a drink?" He muttered.

"I'm sorry, your brother's currently being frisked by a S.W.A.T team, your shady double is lurking around somewhere in town, you are on the news wanted for an attempted murder- and you fancy a drink?"

"Hey, we can't go to Rebecca's because of all the cops outside, which means we can't get any weapons out of the car until they're gone- what else is there to do until the place clears?" I rolled my eyes at him, following him into the bar.

I headed to the bar while Dean walked off and sat at a table towards the back, being sure that no one saw him. "Two beers, please." I muttered to the guy at the bar. He looked me up and down, raising an eyebrow at the blood still covering me.

"You alright?" He asked, placing the beers on the bar.

I looked down at myself and smiled. "Been a rough day." I said lightly, dropping ten bucks on the bar before heading back towards Dean, handing him one of the bottles as I sat down opposite him.

"Thanks." He muttered, taking a drink of the beer. Neither of us said anything for a couple of minutes before Dean cleared his throat. "Hey, Max? When you said that he knew stuff, the shifter, what did he know?"

"Everything." I said. "I mean, he knew about Sam, our past- the possession."

"Oh, jeez." He shook his head slowly. "And then he said that apparently you think I'm crazy and that you're terrified I'm not far from going off the deep end." I finished lightly. "Which I don't think is all that far from the truth."

"Maxie, I don't think you're crazy, you know that. I just- I worry about you sometimes."

I smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I know you do, but you really don't need to."

Dean shrugged. "You say it like it's gonna stop me."

"Right." I laughed, nodding slowly. "Hey, Dean? Do you think Sam had a point, when he said we were kinda anti-social? I mean, if you think about it, we don't really talk to many other people.."

He thought about it and shrugged. "Maybe, but I stand by that point, you can't get close to people in this job."

"I know, it's just-" I stopped, not sure what I meant.

"Hey, we've got each other, right? When it comes down to it, there's alway us." He said seriously.

I nodded, thinking back to what the shifter had said, about Dean being freaked I was going to bail on him. I didn't know whether I believed that or not, but he'd known other stuff that had been true. "You know I'm not going anywhere, right?"

Dean frowned. "Yeah, course. What makes you say that?"

"I dunno, I just- thought I'd make sure you knew that."

He smiled a little, looking confused. "Well, thanks." He said, drinking the last of his beer. "Alright, come on, we better get out of here." I nodded and finished the beer, standing up and heading over to the door, walking out onto the cold street after him.

Within five minutes we were back at the Impala, parked on the now deserted road. Dean opened the trunk and pulled out a gun, checking the bullets. "Look, Dean, maybe Sam was right-"

"He said don't go into the sewers alone, I'm not alone." He smirked and handed me the gun. "I've got you." He pulled out his own gun before he closed the trunk and turned, heading down the street towards the entrance to the sewer.

We climbed down into the tunnels, the two of us looking around slowly. "Split up?" I suggested.

Dean nodded. "Yeah, just-"

"Be careful, I know." I muttered. "You too." He nodded at me and turned, walking off in the opposite direction.

I glanced down at the ground, blood and skin all over the floor. I turned a corner, coming to a brighter room, lit with candles. I turned quickly at the sound of a soft whimper coming from behind me, seeing a figure covered with a sheet. "Dean!" I yelled over my shoulder before I reached out and pulled it off them, Rebecca's terrified and bloody face meeting mine. "Rebecca?" I began untying the ropes around her wrists.

Dean appeared from the tunnel, looking around slowly. "What is it?" He asked, walking further inside and seeing Rebecca. "What happened?"

She began crying softly. "I was walking home, and everything just went white. Someone hit me over the head, and I wound up here just in time to see that thing turn into me. I don't know, how is that even possible?"

"Okay, okay. It's okay." I said calmly, pulling the last of the rope from her wrists. "Come on. Can you walk?" She nodded slowly. "Okay, we've gotta hurry. Sam went to see you."

The three of us left the sewers and made our way to Rebecca's house, running inside to find Sam lying on the floor and the shapeshifter, looking like Dean again, choking him. "Hey!" Dean yelled. The shifter looked up and got off Sam, making a move towards him. Dean aimed his gun and shot him in the heart twice, the shifter falling to the ground, dead.

Rebecca made her way over to Sam, crouching beside him while Dean took a step towards the shifter, reaching down and tugging his necklace from around its neck.

Rebecca's House, the next day, 09:23AM.

Dean spread a map over the trunk of the Impala, looking over it slowly. "So, where'd you wanna go?" He asked brightly.

I looked away from Sam and Rebecca, shrugging slightly. "I dunno, where do you wanna go?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him.

I glanced over as Rebecca waved as me and Dean, both of us giving a small wave back as Sam headed over to us. "So, what about your friend, Zack?"

Sam smirked lightly. "Cops are blaming this Dean Winchester guy for Emily's murder. They found the murder weapon in the guy's lair, Zack's clothes stained with her blood. Now they're thinking maybe the surveillance tape was tampered with. Yeah, Becca says Zack will be released soon. " He smiled.

"Dude, you're a felon." I grinned up at him. "You know what that means?"

Dean rolled his eyes, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out ten bucks. "You suck, you know that?"

"I always knew they'd get you before they got me."

Sam raised an eyebrow. "Wait, you made a bet who'd get arrested first?"

"No, we made a bet on who'd have their face plastered all over the news first." Dean muttered, glaring at me.

"Because Dean said that I was incompetent and that I couldn't outrun the law if my life depended on it."

Sam laughed. "My god, you're idiots, you know that?"

Dean shrugged lightly, tossing the map into the backseat. "Max is the idiot, not me."

We both laughed and climbed into the car after him, Dean driving off down the road and towards the edge of town. None of us spoke for a while, just stared off out of the windows. "I'm sorry, man." Dean said quietly, breaking the silence.

Sam looked over at him and frowned slightly. "About what?"

"I really wish things could be different, you know?" He glanced over at him for a second before returning his eyes to the road. "I wish you could just be.. Joe College.. maybe Maxie too."

I laughed a little, shaking my head. "No, that's okay. You know, the truth is, even at Stanford, deep down, I never really fit in." Sam said quietly.

"Well, that's 'cause you're a freak." Dean smirked, patting him on the knee.

Sam scoffed. "Yeah, thanks."

"Well, I'm a freak, too. And we won't even go into how much of a freak Max is." He smirked. "We're right there with ya, all the way."

"Yeah," Sam smiled. "-I know you are."

"Hey, aren't you sorry you're gonna miss it?" I asked Dean.

He looked at me through the mirror and raised an eyebrow. "Miss what?"

"How many chances are you gonna get to see your own funeral?" He and Sam smirked, Dean laughing as he continued to drive.

01:54PM, Impala.

I closed my phone slowly bringing down from my ear, unsure of what was going on. Part of me wanted to cry, a part of me wanted to laugh- I didn't know. I climbed out of the car to where Sam was standing putting gas into it, Dean walking out of the store. "Dean, c'mere." I yelled.

He frowned and made his way over to us, dropping his food through the window. "What's up?"

"When was the last time you tried to call dad?" I asked seriously.

Dean looked confused. "Uh, about a couple of weeks ago, why?"

"Call him." He looked from me to Sam, raising an eyebrow. "Just, do it."

Dean sighed and pulled out his phone, pressing the speaker button. It rang a couple of times before a message played. "This is John Winchester. I can't be reached. If this is an emergency, call my son, Dean. 785-555-0179. He can help."

He looked slightly taken aback, we'd never gotten through before, we'd assumed he didn't have that phone anymore. Sam, however, looked furious, shaking his head and climbing into the car again.

"He's alive, Dean." I said quietly, all hope that I'd lost of finding him coming back. "I know it."

Dean let out a shaky smile, nodding. "What did I tell you, hm? He's fine. We're gonna find him, Maxie. I promise."

AH! So, we've found out a little more about Max's past, so there's a little hint for you all. I know I'm a tease, do you hate me yet? ;-) But there will be some real answers next chapter, I promise! You'll finally find about more about what happened between Max and Dean while Sam was away, which means more Max/Dean moments, because I know how much you all love them! And as always, thank you all so much for reading, reviewing, favoriting and following, the support means everything! Love you guys!Also, I can't remember who it was that asked me, but the other day someone said to me, 'do you have brothers that you base the relationship on?' And no, I don't haha, I'm an only child. But, I do have two cousins who are 24 and 29, so pretty much the same age gap between them that Sam and Dean have, and they do treat me a lot like Sam and Dean treat Max. So maybe sometimes I base some of the older brother kinda thing on that, I don't know.. Just a little fun fact about myself there for you ;-) Anyway, thank you again for the support and I'll hopefully see you next chapter!