Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Dark Angel or Supernatural characters. For this fic I changed the DA time line. The pulse has already hit and Alec is out of Manticore in 2009. The characters of Lexi, Jake and Jackie are from a Supernatural AU Verse that I write. This is my first DA fic so please be kind. I hope you like it. Thanks to everyone that has been reading this story. Reviews would be great.

I.

The house was calm and silent since all three boys were still asleep. Lexi was sitting at the kitchen table reading with a cup of tea as she waited on Dean to get out of the shower. They had a lot to do today; first on the list was her doctor's appointment, followed by grocery shopping for Thanksgiving and then to the toy store to pick up a few things to keep the boys occupied. What she really wanted to do was get them a small pet but Dean shot that idea down as soon as the words were out of her mouth. She didn't argue, she figured she'd just broach the subject again when the time was right.

Jackie smelled the coffee perking from her bedroom. She threw a glance towards Sam who was still out cold. She honestly could use some more sleep but the lure of fresh coffee got her moving. She made her way down to the kitchen half asleep and rubbing her eyes. She stops short and stares at Lexi a moment before asking her, "Lexi what the hell are you doing? Your powers are supposed to be bound and you're using tk on your spoon!"

Lexi jumped knocking over her tea and dropping her book. She gazed up at her friend with imploring eyes. "SHHH Jackie. Remember when I was pregnant with Jake how I was supercharged. Well, it's happening again. My visions are in high def and it's not just telekinesis. I can hear you guys in my head too."

"Shit, Lex. So you're what, tapping into the kid's powers?"

"Yeah. I don't mean to though."

"Does Dean know?"

"No."

"Lexi, you have to tell him!"

"I know that. He just got home yesterday and I didn't wanna drop that little bomb on him last night. He's so stressed out about Manticore and me being pregnant than he lets on. I just didn't want to add another thing to the list. I'm going to talk to him today, I swear Jackie."

Ten minutes later Dean walks in the kitchen wearing his maroon shirt and pours himself a cup of coffee. Lexi gets a whiff of his aftershave when he leans down letting his lips brush against her ear and says, "I was waiting for you to join me in the shower." She closes her eyes answering him in a shaky voice that she didn't realize when he announced he was taking a shower that it was an invitation. He smirks, his breath hot against her neck as he whispers, "It's an open invitation Lex."

Lexi keeps her eyes closed while attempting to push Dean's thoughts out of her head. She's out of practice, it's been almost three years since she's had to put these walls up. His thoughts are high def pictures running through her mind. She feels them washing over her, feels his desire for her. Her heartbeat quickens, she licks her lips, she wants to drag him upstairs. She clenches her fists as she attempts to block him out but he's standing way too close to her. Jackie clears her throat reminding Dean they're not alone. Dean shrugs and takes a seat across the table. He nudges Lexi's foot with his own asking her what's wrong. She opens her eyes giving him a small smile, "Nothing's wrong, just tired."

"Nothing, uh, is that why you're all red? Oh, I know." He says his eyes lit up devilishly, "You were thinking about us in the shower. Weren't you?"

Alec stalks into the room demanding breakfast before Lexi can answer Dean. They exchange glances but it's Dean that gets up. He motions for Alec to sit at the table and brings him a bowl of lucky charms. Alec looks up at Dean asking, "Where's Ben's bowl?"

"I'll get him one when he comes down. Where is your brother anyway?"

"Getting dressed. I keep telling him he doesn't have to but..."

Lexi shoots Alec a look. She knows what Alec really means is that he's been giving Ben a hard time. Alec is a lot like Dean in that aspect. He loves to push his brother's buttons. "Alec," Lexi says pointedly, "remember that conversation we had the other day. You shouldn't tease Ben because he's taking longer to adjust."

"But Mom!" Alec whines his eyes instantly going wide when he realizes what he just called her. All three adults turn to stare at him with the same stunned expression. Alec immediately starts back peddling stammering that it just slipped out. Lexi holds up her hand and Alec suddenly stops speaking. She smiles gently at him saying, "You never have to apologize for calling me mom. If you and Ben want to call me Mom that's fine with me. Same goes for if you wanna call Dean, Dad. It's whatever you boys are comfortable with."

Dean blinks at Lexi thinking she's lost her damn mind until he hears Ben,who's standing in the archway, call him dad. It's a simple name but Dean knows from his own fucked up childhood that it carries a hefty responsibility. He can't explain the feeling of hearing this broken kid call him dad for real. It makes him want to pull Ben into a rib crushing hug but he doesn't. Instead, he turns slowly towards the voice, swallows and tries to sound normal. "Yeah Ben?"

"May I have some cereal?"

Dean sighs in relief and throws a smile at Ben. Cereal he can handle."Course you can kiddo."

Sioux Falls General Hospital Medical Plaza

Between the kids calling him Dad and the whole Manticore thing Dean felt like he was about to jump out of his skin. Plus, he hated doctor offices. He hated the fact that they made you sit in the waiting room past your appointment time only to be brought into a smaller room to wait for another fifteen to twenty minutes. He paced the length of the exam room until Lexi snapped at him,"Dean, please just come here and sit. You're making me anxious."

"Fine." He slumped into the chair next to the exam table and began drumming his fingers on the chair's arm. Lexi reached over and grabbed his arm. She gave him a look causing him to stop and sit still.

When the doctor came in the room twenty minutes later Dean began to fidget in his seat. He never did feel comfortable going to these kind of doctor appointments with his wife. It was, well there was no other word to describe the feeling but weird. Lexi gave his hand a squeeze, "Relax. He's only doing an ultrasound."

Dean stared at Lexi and back to the screen. He had no idea what she was looking at but whatever it was she was happy about it. It was equal parts amazing and strange if he was being honest. Hearing the baby's heartbeat was amazing; seeing the baby's face and hands was a little weird. "He has your nose, Lex."

"He?"

"It's a boy right?"

Lexi smirked at Dean as she patted his hand. "No, sweetie. It's a girl." Dean blinked and looked at the screen again. He was gonna have a daughter. Dean started to sweat as his heart hammered in his chest. He suddenly couldn't breathe. He rested his elbows on his knees while holding his head. He felt Lexi's hand on his back rubbing small circles and telling him to take deep breaths. When he finally caught his breath he peered up at Lexi giving her an embarrassed smile. "We're having a girl."

Stop and Shop Supermarket

Dean keeps pulling the ultrasound picture out of his pocket and looking at it while they're in the grocery store. He still can't wrap his brain around the fact that they're having a girl. He assumed it was another boy, it had never even crossed his mind that they wouldn't have another boy. The important thing was that she was healthy. He kept reminding himself of that but what the hell was he going to do with a daughter? Honestly, he was scared shitless.

The boys he could relate to, he could teach them about cars, guns, sports and girls. This was some cruel joke the universe was playing on him. He knew all too well how guys were. He was one of the worst offenders and now all he could think about was how many women he had slept with. He looked over at Lexi and groaned. If their daughter looked anything like Lexi he was fucking screwed. With his luck, she'd be the spitting image of her mother and probably have the same feisty attitude. Lexi teasing him in the car ride over here didn't help him any. She just had to tell him that girls always go after men like their fathers. Which meant he was even more screwed cuz he was doing Lexi before she even turned 17. "Lex, what the hell am I gonna do? I can't..."

She raised her eyebrow at him as she tossed a bag of sweet potatoes in the cart. "Dean, you're a great dad, she's gonna adore you. And it's not like you're alone in this, I'm here. Of course, raising a girl is different from boys and you're probably gonna have to do some things you never thought you'd do but it's gonna be totally worth it. Plus, ya know, she's gonna have three older brothers so I don't think you have anything to worry about."

Dean ran his hand through his hair and nodded. The rational part of his brain knew Lexi was right. There was no reason to stress out. He wasn't alone, he had her to help rein him in and keep him sane. He slipped his arm around her waist giving her a little squeeze, "Yeah, you're right. No reason to freak out. I got at least fourteen years before she turns on me and who knows I might be dead by then." Lexi shook her head and handed Dean the shopping list. His eyes lit up as he read it over. "Are you making THREE pies?"

"Yup. Apple, pumpkin and sweet potato."

"Awesome."

FBI Field Office

Special Agent Victor Henriksen didn't like pompous military officials coming into his office demanding case files. He especially didn't like this Colonel Lydecker. He could tell the man was lying from the get go. No one investigating the Winchesters ever asked about just one of them. It was always 'Give me what you have on Sam and Dean Winchester'. That was the first red flag. The second flag was his interest in the St. Louis case. Henriksen folded his hands neatly on his desk and leaned forward, "I'm sorry Colonel but I can't help you."

"Why not?"

"As you very well know the pulse wiped out our database. The case files you're looking for did have hard copies but they were destroyed years ago as per protocol."

"So, you have nothing on Dean Winchester."

"I didn't say that. I said I have no files to give you. What I can tell you is that Dean Winchester died in St. Louis on March 7, 2006. He was the prime suspect in a multiple homicide investigation. We had a DNA sample that confirmed the deceased was indeed Mr. Winchester. Now the man that I began chasing after Baltimore PD stated they had Dean Winchester in custody was not Dean. They screwed up, one of their cops was dirty and decided to pin it on this guy."

Colonel Lydecker left Victor Henriksen's office more frustrated than he was before he walked in the door. To ease his own mind, he was now headed back to St. Louis to exhume the body of Dean Winchester. He was going to obtain another sample of DNA and have it ran against the one in Manticore's database. If it's a match then there's no way X5-493 and 494 are with their donor. On the other hand, if it's not a match, well, Lydecker was going to have no choice but go to The Committee. He was going to need a bigger and better team to cover 3,000 miles with only one lead.

Dean glanced at the unknown number that was flashing on his cell phone. He could let it go to voice mail but it could be job. He shrugged and flipped his phone open, "Hello?"

"Hey Dean."

"Henriksen. This can't be good news if you're calling."

"Where are you?"

"At Bobby's. Why?"

"Good. Stay put. I'll be there tomorrow. I don't want to discuss this over the phone."

II.

After Dean's cryptic phone call with Henriksen, he made his way upstairs to see what Lexi wanted to talk about. He found her in their room sitting on the bed writing a list of baby names. He sat next to her while glancing down at the notepad she was holding. "Is this what you wanted to talk to me about?"

She put the notebook aside taking a deep breath. She has been dreading this conversation all day but she didn't have a choice. If she didn't tell him and he found out on his own, well that would make the situation even worse. "You're not going to like what I have to say. So, I'm just gonna tell you. The powers are back."

"All of them?"

Lexi shrugged telling him that she wasn't one hundred percent sure. What she did know was that the telekinesis and the telepathy were back in full force. "This morning when you asked me why I was red it because I was experiencing your thoughts. I saw you thinking of us in the shower..."

"Shit. They're not coming from you, you're tapping into her powers then?" Lexi nodded causing Dean to rub his face and sigh, "We knew this could happen. We'll deal with it."

"You're not upset?"

"Nope. I trust you and I know you can get a handle on them." Lexi raised her eyebrow but didn't push the subject any further. If Dean said he wasn't upset she wasn't going to look this gift horse in the mouth. She decided to change the subject asking who he was on the phone with earlier. "Henriksen. He's coming here tomorrow. I'm gonna tell the boys so they don't freak out."

The Next Night

As soon as the knock came on the door Bobby, Jackie, Sam and Dean began arguing on who was gonna get up and answer it. Lexi who was half way up the steps with Jake on her hip walked back down and opened the door while the others continued to argue. She pulled back the curtain to make sure it was Henriksen on the other side before unlocking the door. "Victor, we thought you'd be here before dinner."

"Got stuck behind a pile up on the interstate." He gave a slight shrug and walked in his eyes sweeping the hallway, "So, Bonnie where's your Clyde?"

"He's in the living room with the rest of the peanut gallery. There's a plate on the stove for you if you're hungry. I gotta put this little guy to bed. Say goodnight Jake."

Jake gave Henriksen a shy smile saying goodnight and then immediately hid his face in his mother's neck. Henriksen watched them go upstairs before joining the others in the living room. If someone told him three years ago that he would count Dean and Sam Winchester as friends he would've laughed in their face. Well, here he was three years later and still kicking thanks to Dean saving his life and opening his eyes to what was really out there. Now instead of working for years on a case and only being able to save a few people, he uses his position at the FBI to find things to hunt. It's been working out pretty well except that it's earned him the nickname Mulder. "Sorry I'm late for the party."

"Victor," Dean stood up greeting him with a slap to the shoulder, "good to see you man. The wife left you some food on the stove.

"That girl is way too good for the likes of you, man."

"Don't I know it."

Henriksen nodded to the others in greeting then gestured to Dean to go in the kitchen with him. He stopped short just inside the kitchen staring at the two blonde boys who were sitting at the table coloring. He raised his eyebrows at Dean as if to say, 'What the hell?' Dean smirked and tilted his head towards the kids, "Those are my boys."

"You and Lexi have eight year old boys. Uh huh, since when? There was nothing in your files about you having them when I was hunting you down."

Alec looked up at Henriksen his eyebrow cocked, "I'm Alec, he's Ben. We're Dean's clones and we're NINE by the way."

Henriksen started laughing. The kid was good he'd give him that. He turned to ask Dean who the kids really were but the look on his face made him stop. Dean wasn't laughing or smirking at him, he was dead serious. Henriksen shook his head. Ok, demons, ghosts, vampires, he could accept those things as being real. But clones? There was no way it was possible. "You're not kidding are you?"

"Afraid not my friend. They were made in a lab by a secret government agency."

Henriksen pulled a face grabbing the plate of food and sitting down at the kitchen table. He motioned for Dean to join him. When Dean sat down he told him about the visit he got from Lydecker. "He was real interested on whether or not you were dead. You have any clue why?"

Dean looked over at the boys and back to Henriksen, "Yeah, I do. He was their C.O."

As soon as the sun began to filter in through the curtains the next morning Lexi was awake. She turned on her side to see if Dean was yup yet. He looked so peaceful and innocent that she decided not to wake him. She ran her fingers through his short spiky hair before pushing his hair back off his forehead and kissing his temple. She then slipped out of bed quietly making sure to take Jake downstairs with her so her husband could get some much deserved sleep.

Alec and Ben were each enjoying a bowl of lucky charms when they overheard Dean was dead to the world. The boys exchanged looks. Alec, for one, thought that if Dean was really dead that Lexi would not be so calm about it. He figured it was just some sort of expression. Ben, on the other hand, wanted to make sure. They quickly finished their breakfast and went upstairs to investigate. They began to poke and prod Dean checking for life like they were instructed to in their field medic classes. Ben checked for a pulse while Alec checked the man's breathing. Alec rolled his eyes once he was satisfied that Dean Winchester was still very much alive, "I told you he wasn't dead, dumbass."

"Well she said he was dead to the world, Alec."

Dean groaned under the weight of the two boys that were sitting on his chest. He pushed at the boy closet to him grunting, "Get off me you two. Did Lexi send you up here?"

"Nope. We heard her say you were dead to the world so we came to investigate. Ya see, Benny here takes everything literally."

"Alec!" Ben snapped and he punched his brother in the arm. "SHUT UP!"

Alec rubbed his arm a little shocked that his brother hit him. Ben usually wasn't one for physical violence and now he wanted to see how much farther he could get Ben to go. Alec smirked at his brother while taunting him some more."Why? It's the truth."

Dean ran a hand down his face. He was gonna kill these kids. Why he thought keeping and raising his clones was a gang banger idea he had no clue. He must've been high...or drunk. Yeah that was it. "God shoot me now."

"I would if I was allowed a gun."

Alec regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth. Dean was now sitting straight up staring daggers at him. He watched as Dean's jaw twitched and even flinched a little. "ALEC. I swear, kid you and that smart ass mouth of yours. Lexi's right you need a middle name."

"Why do I need one of those?"

"So I can yell it and you'd know you were in deep shit. Now go help your mom and I'll be down after I shower."

"Yeah, ok. What's this supposed holiday about anyways?"

"Your uncle would say it's about the slaughter of native peoples and a ritualistic feast but to us sane folk it's about a turkey dinner, pie and football."

Thanksgiving was a big hit with Alec and Ben. They had never seen so much food in their lives. When Dean said feast he wasn't pulling their legs. They had turkey, stuffing, homemade cranberry sauce, gravy, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and corn bread. Then there were the pies. There was three of them: apple, sweet potato and pumpkin. Alec watched with wide eyes as Dean filled a plate with a slice of each pie. Dean quirked an eyebrow at him and told him he'd share if he didn't tell Lexi on him. Ben's favorite was the apple pie and Alec couldn't decide. All Alec knew was that he found something he loved better than grilled cheese. Pie in Alec's opinion was EPIC.

The following night everything for the Winchesters went according to plan at the hall of records. It was a simple job once Henriksen informed them that the government was having a hell of time with birth records since they were no longer put on microfilm. All files had been converted to pdf files which were now lost thanks to the pulse. All they had to do was break in, type in the information, print them out on the correct paper with the seal and have someone forge the registrar's signature. They decided that the boys' birthday would be May 15, 2000. Dean even managed to give them middle names. Their names now were officially Benjamin John Winchester and Alec Samuel Winchester. Dean couldn't wait till he could yell those names.

III.

Lydecker hated interruptions. He especially hated them when he was waiting on valuable information. His second in command was adamant though that he had found another lead. He gestured to the lab tech to give him a minute and barked into his phone, "This better be good news."

"Colonel Lydecker, we found something in Manticore's files. They tried to recruit a Dr. Winchester two years ago."

"Winchester is a common name."

"True but she was married. She went to Columbia Medical School and was originally registered under the last name Brennan. We have her last address in New Orleans. Do you want me to go check it out?"

"No. I'll go myself."

Lydecker closed his phone and turned his attention back onto the lab tech. He told Lydecker that the sample of DNA he brought him matched Dean Winchester's at first glance but when he began the sequencing there were pairs that did not match the original sample. "So what are you telling me son?"

"Basically that this sample that you given me is some sort of clone."

"That's impossible."

"You of all people Colonel know that's a lie. What I'm saying is, this DNA is a cloned version but not one of our clones."

"Which means the body in St Louis..." Lydecker rubbed his face in frustration. This was not what he wanted to hear. That mean that it was entirely possible that Dean Winchester was alive and traveling with two X-5's.

*~Thanks for reading. Since this is an AU I decided to bring Henriksen back. I always thought it was a shame that they killed him off after learning the truth about the Winchesters. Plus he would've been a badass hunter.~*