(S1EP6 - Skin)
The Impala pulled into a gas station after driving for hours. Alina, was asleep in the backseat, almost snoring from all the alcohol she'd drank the previous night, but once she couldn't feel the vibrations of the car under her sleeping body anymore, she woke up in a jump that scared the other two in the front seats. Dean turned to get a better look at her messy hair and her panda eyes from the mascara she hadn't taken off before falling asleep. "Morning Sunshine!" He joked, smiling at her frowning face.
"What year is it?" She asked in a raspy voice.
Dean laughed at her and went back to their itinerary. "Alright, I figure we'd hit Tucumcari by lunch, then head south, hit Bisbee by midnight." He wasn't surprised to not get any response from the sleepy girl behind, but his brother next to him didn't seem to listen to him either, too focused on the small device in his hands. "Sam wears women's underwear."
"I've been listening, I'm just busy."
"Busy doing what?"
"Reading E-mails."
Dean got out of the car to start filling the tank with gas, while Alina was leaning over the front seats, putting her head on the back of it to spy on Sam.
"Who's sending you E-mails? I thought I was your only friend!" She pretended to be offended, getting a soft smile from him.
"These friends are from Stanford."
"You're kidding." Dean joined the conversation from outside the car. "You still keep in touch with your college buddies?"
"Why not?"
"Well, what exactly do you tell them? You know, about where you've been, what you've been doing?"
"I tell them I'm on a road trip with my big brother and my best friend. I tell them I needed some time off after Jess."
Alina was always touched to hear him say the words 'best friend' about her, even though he'd always been hers.
"Oh, so you lie to them."
Alina rolled her eyes at the incoming new argument.
"No. I just don't tell them...everything."
"Yeah, that's called lying. I mean, hey, man, I get it, telling the truth is far worse."
"So, what am I supposed to do, just cut everybody out of my life?"
Dean simply shrugging at that, actually hurt Alina's feelings.
"You're serious?" Even Sam couldn't believe it.
"Look, it sucks, but in a job like this, you can't get close to people, period."
Alina opened the car door angrily and got out, stopping right in front Dean to give him an irritated look. "I'm not surprised of how much you don't approve of your brother reading his E-mails. After all, he was the one staying in touch with me for five years while you were...how did you say it Sammy? Oh right, 'cutting everybody out of your life'. Including good old Alina." She sadly smiled at him, gently slapped his cheek twice, and went to grab her stuff in the trunk.
Dean regretfully bit his lower lip and turned to his brother for help. But Sam was already back to reading his E-mails. So he sighed and joined Alina in front of the open trunk. "Come on Frenchy. You know I wasn't talking about you."
Alina ignored the way he was moving closer to her, pulling up her hair to tie them into a quick bun. "It's okay Dean. We've already talked about it and I told you I wasn't mad anymore."
Dean cringed at his name coming out of her mouth. It was something she couldn't control whenever she was disappointed or furious at him. Sometimes, it came out without her noticing it as she was lying to herself, convinced that everything was perfect when it wasn't.
"Well...I think you're still mad at me."
Alina closed the trunk and turned completely to him again. "I'm not."
"You are."
"I'm not!"
"You are!"
"I'm..." She took a few steps closer to him, stopping just a few centimeters apart from his face. She really wasn't going to be mad at him, but now he was starting to get on her nerves acting like he knew everything about her emotions. "I'm tired."
And she decided to end the conversation before it went too far, walking away from Dean with her bag on her shoulder. She didn't look back as she entered the public restroom to wash her face and change her clothes.
Once she was done, and back to her normal self, she walked out and joined the boys back inside the car, in the middle of a new debate.
"St. Louis is four hundred miles behind us, Sam."
"What's in St. Louis?" Alina asked from the backseat.
"My friend Zack's been arrested for killing his girlfriend but I know him. He's not a killer, something's not right."
Alina could see how worried he was about his friend, so she immediately turned to Dean. "So what's the problem? If Sam's friend needs our help in St. Louis, we're going to St. Louis."
"Oh that's it? Just like that?" Dean was impressed by the determination of the girl who didn't even think twice before taking Sam's side. She didn't know the full story, but one look at his brother and she was ready to do four hundred miles for him.
"Sammy says that guy's innocent, that's all I need to know. Plus, this won't be our first spontaneous decision, so what are we waiting for Winchester?! Come on!"
Dean tried to hide how relieved he was that she'd called him like that. But the smile on his face betrayed him when he made the car roar, and started to drive away from the gas station. So they were going to St. Louis after all.
LATER
Alina was excited to meet one of Sam's friends. The person who'd sent him the E-mail was Zack's sister, Rebecca, and she was the one that opened the door to them when they finally arrived in St. Louis. The blond young woman's face lighted up the moment she saw Sam in her doorway. "Oh my God, Sam!"
"Well, if it isn't little Becky."
"You know what you can do with that little Becky crap." She smiled at him and they hugged.
"I got your E-mail."
"I didn't think that you would come here."
While Alina was staying away to give them enough time to reunite, she almost hit Dean in the arm when he decided to step forward and offer his hand. "Dean. Older brother."
Rebecca shook his hand with a simple smile. "Hi." She then noticed Alina behind them. "And who's that?"
Sam turned to Alina and put his arm around her to make her move closer to Rebecca. "That's my friend Alina."
"Alina?" Rebecca repeated with much more excitement than she had for Dean. "The same Alina from France? Well...Hi! I'm so happy to finally meet you!" She greeted Alina with a hug that the hunter happily gave her back before they pulled away from each other. "Sam talked about you all the time."
"Yeah...that's pretty fair. I always talk about him too." Alina joked and gave Sam a small tap on the back that made him roll his eyes in amusement. His childhood friend then turned to the jealous big brother next to them. Of course he wasn't too happy about the fact that Alina got a hug while he'd been greeted with a simple handshake.
"We're here to help. Whatever we can do." Sam informed Rebecca.
"Come in."
Sam followed Rebecca inside the house, while Alina wrapped her arm around Dean's, with a satisfied smirk. "Don't be jealous Winchester. I always talk about you too."
"Yeah? What do you say?" He asked, actually curious to know the answer.
"Only bad things of course. I can't have all the French girls trying to steal you away from me now, can I?" She winked at him, making him finally grin and shake his head. They then walked inside the house and joined the other two in the kitchen.
"Do you guys want a beer or something?"
Dean instantly smiled ready to accept the offer, but Sam was faster to refuse. "No, thanks. So, tell us what happened."
Alina tried not to laugh at Dean's disappointed face, getting serious again when Rebecca started to explain her brother's situation. She told them he'd came back home one night, finding his girlfriend Emily tied to a chair. She was beaten up and wasn't breathing, but after he'd called the police himself, he was arrested because of the security tape from across the street showing him coming home at 10:30, right before Emily was killed. The problem was, Rebecca assured them that she was with her brother that same night, and that they had a few beers together until at least midnight. So he should've been in two places at the same time to be able to kill his girlfriend.
Alina had to admit that it was strange. Either Rebecca was lying to protect her brother, or Zack really was in two places at the same time.
Sam offered to go check the crime scene to see if they could find anything to help Zack, and when Rebecca asked him why they'd do that, he surprised the other two hunters by replying that Dean was a cop. Of course his brother didn't hesitate to play the part, but the moment Rebecca left to go grab the keys of Zack's house, it didn't take too long for the eldest Winchester to make another sarcastic comment. "Oh, yeah, man, you're a real straight shooter with your friends."
"Look, Zack and Becky need our help."
"I just don't think this is our kind of problem."
"Two places at once? We've looked into less."
Alina felt in Dean's silence that he was still hesitating, so she stepped forward to end the debate once again. "You know what? Let's vote. All in favor of helping Zack and Rebecca please raise your hand now."
In perfect sync, Sam and Alina both raised there right hands without taking their eyes off Dean even for a second. Dean sighed at their victorious expressions, completely defeated.
When they arrived at Zack's house, Rebecca still had some doubts about them going inside, but Dean reassured her with the most ridiculous comment. "I am an officer of the law." Which made Alina chuckle, and Sam put his hand on her mouth to stop her playfully while Rebecca wasn't looking.
Then, they all entered the house that still looked like a crime scene. Broken furnitures and walls smeared with blood, rotten fruits on the table, it probably would've been disturbing for Alina if she wasn't used to this kind of scenery. Unlike Rebecca, who stayed on the porch steps, looking at the bloody place.
"Bec, you wanna wait outside?" Sam told her as he noticed her troubled expression.
"No. I wanna help." She ducked under the police tape and joined them inside.
From what the police said there was no sign of a break-in, the victim simply let her attacker in. The only thing suspicious that had happened before the crime, was a minor robbery. About a week before Emily was killed, someone had broke into the house and stole some of Zack's clothes. That of course didn't mean anything to the police because the house wasn't located that far from downtown.
Sam walked away to inspect the place, while Dean and Alina got distracted by the neighbor's dog outside, barking loudly. They both moved to the open front door to get a closer look at him.
"You know, that used to be the sweetest dog." Rebecca informed them.
"What happened?" Dean asked.
"He just changed."
"Do you remember when he changed?"
"I guess around the time of the murder."
The two hunters shared the same suspicious look before Dean left to tell Sam about that new discovery. Alina stayed next to the quite shaken Rebecca, and softly put her hand on her shoulder. "Hey I'm sorry for your brother. I know I'm a stranger but for what it's worth, I believe you. And we'll find whoever did this to his girlfriend."
"Thank you." Rebecca smiled at her with tears still falling down her cheeks.
Alina nodded, but slowly felt like she was hit by a terrible headache. She couldn't understand what it was coming from, until her eyes landed on the barking dog again. The poor animal seemed terrified and it broke her heart. She didn't know why but she had to do something, so she walked out of the house.
Dean and Sam were talking in the kitchen, so they didn't notice her leaving.
"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 smiled at his brother, too proud to admit that he could've been wrong, when suddenly the barks of the dog outside intensified, making them turn to the front door. They both frowned at Rebecca now alone in the doorway, worryingly looking outside. They joined her to see what was happening, and saw Alina, slowly walking towards the aggressive animal with an extended hand.
"Is she a vet or something?" Rebecca asked in a concerned tone.
The brothers couldn't reply to her, also worried about their friend who was approaching the dangerous dog so naively. The eldest one was ready to jump out of the house to stop the girl from getting any closer to that fence, but stopped as she was already crouching in front of the dog. After barking for a few more seconds at Alina, he only had to smell her hand to stop barking, sit and let the girl pet him through the fence.
"Good boy!" Alina said in a high-pitched voice. "It's okay, you don't have to be afraid anymore. You're a good boy. Yes you are!" She laughed as the animal was now shaking his tail in excitement.
"How did she do that?" Rebecca asked again, in complete shock. "Even its owner has been struggling with him ever since that night."
They all watched as the owner, a tall, blond, and muscular man in its 30s, walked out of the house to check on his dog at the same time. He seemed astonished by the behavior of the animal that refused to get away from the fence, and even offered to open the door gate to let Alina enter the garden. The moment she was inside, the dog immediately jumped on top of her to make her fall to the ground, and lick her face affectionately. Alina kept laughing until the owner of the dog helped her getting back up. "I'm sorry, he's usually not like that."
"It's okay." She continued to pet the dog's head. "I've been through worse." Alina said, thinking about all the creatures that had already tried to kill her in her short life.
"I'm Liam by the way."
"Alina." She introduced herself with a smile, then took a look at the dog's engraved tag to read his name. "And you're Angus. Hi Angus!" She added in her high-pitched voice again.
"I don't know how you did this Alina. He's been acting so aggressively lately, I even tried calling a dog trainer but...it's been a while since I saw him this happy."
"Well don't worry, I think he'll be just fine now." Alina was glad that she was able to help them, even if she also wondered how she had actually done it.
"So are you new in town?"
"Yeah I...I'm just visiting a friend here."
"Oh. That's too bad for Angus...and for me." Alina raised her head to look at him, amused, and got a soft smile back from Liam. He was handsome, and clearly interested by the girl who'd succeeded to win his dog's heart.
But a certain someone interrupted them from the across street, before Alina could answer him. "Hey Frenchy! We're leaving, let's go!"
Alina rolled her eyes as she turned around to see Dean standing next to the Impala, waiting for her while Rebecca and Sam were already inside the car. "I'm coming! Stop yelling like an idiot and wait!"
She saw Liam laughing at her response, which also made her laugh. But Dean wasn't in a laughing mood. He was losing his patience, watching the girl talk to that stranger from afar while they were working on a potential job. Sam opened his door to lean outside and smile at his brother's attitude. "I thought you were done worrying about her flirting with guys."
"She's not flirting with him."
Sam checked on his friend once more. She had untied her hair to let them fall down on her shoulder and was now playing with the little elastic band in her hands. "That's not what her body language is saying."
"Dude! Don't talk about her body language, that's gross!"
Sam smiled even more, finally realizing what was really bothering his brother. "Dean are you jealous right now?"
Dean let out an unamused laugh the moment he heard his brother ask this absurd question. "What, me? Jealous of who? That stupid guy and his dog? Why would I be jealous? Alina's my friend and I just don't think he's her type."
"I think he is."
Dean sighed and walked around the car to get on the driver's seat, honking repetitively until Alina would finally turn to him once again, to give him a murderous look. He was proud of himself anyway when she kissed the guy's cheek, pet the dog's head one last time, and left them to come back and sit next to Rebecca in the backseat.
The car was silent during the road back to Rebecca's house, and even there, Alina refused to say a word until Sam's friend put the security footage of the night Emily died on the TV. The tape showed Zack entering his house, with the timestamp indicating 22:04.
"That's just after ten." Dean pointed out. "You said time of death was about 10:30."
"Our lawyers hired some kind of video expert. He says the tape's authentic. It wasn't tampered with."
"Hey, Bec, can we take those beers now?" Sam asked, and Alina understood that he'd seen something he didn't want his friend to see.
"Oh, sure."
She got up to go to the kitchen, but was again stopped by Sam. "Hey. Maybe some sandwiches, too?"
In any other occasion, Alina would've slapped Sam for making that request. But they needed Rebecca out of the room.
"What do you think this is, Hooters?"
"I wish." Dean mumbled as Rebecca left the room, and Alina didn't hesitate to give him a little slap behind the head, ignoring his offended look when she walked to Sam.
"What did you see?"
"Check this out." He rewound the tape, and replayed it slowly to pause on one frame showing Zack looking directly at the camera with silver eyes. Alina left the boys staring at the screen, and opened her bag on the couch to grab her mom's journal.
"Well, maybe it's just a camera flare." Dean said.
"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."
"Right."
"Remember that dog that was freaking 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."
"Ou un Polymorphe." (Or a Shapeshifter.)
They both turned to their friend, still looking at the journal in her hands. "I think that's a Shapeshifter. Something that can make itself look like anyone? That would explain how Zack was in two places at once."
Sam nodded in agreement.
"Every culture in the world has a Shapeshifter lore." Dean thought for a moment. "Legends of creatures who can transform themselves into animals or other men."
"Right, Skinwalkers, Werewolves..." Sam continued.
"But there's no actual proof there could be one here guys."
"Then we're gonna have to find one." Alina argued in a more serious tone than usual. "Shapeshifters are dangerous and unpredictable, so until we're 100% sure that there's not one in this town, we can't leave."
LATER
The hunters had found a motel after leaving Rebecca's house. Dean was watching TV from his bed, while Sam was reading their dad's journal on the other one, and Alina was sharpening her dagger sitting at the table. She did it often to relax herself.
"Hey Frenchy?"
"Hmm?" She replied, still focused on her task.
"How did you get that dog to calm down?"
She knew he was going to question her about it, even though she didn't have the answer either. "Why do you ask?"
"Well I mean...don't get me wrong, that was awesome. But how did you know he wasn't gonna rip your hand off?"
"I didn't know."
Dean was about to scold her again for not being careful enough, but her phone informed her that she had a new message before he could start talking again. Dean watched her as she took it in her hands, checked it out, and chuckled slightly at whatever she was reading.
"Who's that?" Dean asked, curious to know who could make her laugh like that.
"Liam." She didn't even look at him, still smiling at the device.
"Who's Liam?"
"The dog owner." Sam replied from his bed, hiding his smile behind the journal.
Dean didn't seem to like this answer. "How did that guy get your number?"
"Sam gave it to him."
Dean turned to Sam, obviously about to jump at his brother's neck. "And how did you get his number?"
Sam was still holding the book in front of him, pretending not to care about the conversation. "Rebecca gave it to me. I assumed since he was Zack's neighbor she must've known him."
This time the phone started to ring, making Alina jump from her chair and take the call while walking out of the room. Dean just had time to see her untying her hair again, before completely disappearing behind the front door. That's when he grabbed his pillow and threw it at Sam, causing their dad's journal to fall back on the bed. "What the hell Sammy?!"
"What?" His brother asked innocently.
"You can't give out our numbers to anyone like that! What if the guy's a psycho?!"
"Dean, Alina's job is to fight monsters, and most of the times she's the one saving your ass. If that guy's a psycho I think she'll be able to handle it. And I'm not crazy, I asked for her permission before giving him the number. So it's not a big a deal."
"Of course it's a big deal!"
"Why? Because you're jealous?"
Dean's reaction to this, was the same he had the first time. He laughed at his brother. "Okay I know for some reason you've convinced yourself that I have...whatever kind of feelings you think I have for Alina. But dude, you need to stop that now. I'm not jealous. I don't get jealous. Alina's my friend, nothing more."
Sam had decided to remain silent ever since he started to notice his brother's strange behavior. He thought it was funny to just watch it happen, without Dean even noticing it himself, but now he was getting tired of it. "Yeah maybe that's what you think, but I'm not blind Dean. You've been acting completely different ever since she kissed you." Dean wanted to object, but Sam didn't gave him enough time to do so. "Hey I get it man! Alina's always been our friend, but we're not kids anymore. You guys both changed a lot, and I can see the way you look at her every time she does something crazy, like earlier with that dog. You didn't even realize you were smiling at her until that guy started talking to her. You see, I'm her friend, so I want her to live her life the way she wants to."
"That's what I want too!"
"Obviously not when it comes to flirting with other men! I'm sure at first you were just being overprotective, the same way you've always been, but now I think it's more than that. And I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but if you wanna keep lying to yourself about it, you should at least stop treating Alina like she's the one doing something wrong."
The young woman came back into the room at the same moment, taking away Dean's opportunity to defend himself against his brother's accusations. She threw her phone back on the table and yawned before stopping in front of Sam's bed. "I'm exhausted Sammy, move to the side."
"You're gonna sleep in Sam's bed?"
The two friends turned to Dean as he said those words. Both in different kinds of satisfaction.
"Yeah. I'm not sleeping next to the idiot who yelled and honked at me so freely." Alina declared sarcastically, like she always did.
Dean smirked, and was about to reply with the same sarcasm, but his brother's gaze behind her, stopped him from doing so. Instead, he just shrugged as if he didn't care about it. "Okay. You can sleep wherever you want, it doesn't matter. I mean, I'm not the sleep police, right? So...whatever."
He then turned back to the TV, grabbing the remote to turn up the volume like everything was normal. Alina kept staring at the crazy one when she sat next to Sam on the bed. "What was that?" She whispered.
"Not the sleep police." Sam joked loud enough to be heard by his brother, who turned up the volume a little more as a response.
THE NEXT DAY
"Alright, so what are we doing here at 5:30 in the morning?" Dean asked Sam, while drinking his coffee next to the car.
"Angry you didn't get your beauty sleep?" Alina mocked the hunter she was standing next to with her own cup of coffee. Dean sighed and slightly pushed her to the side, making her laugh.
"I realized something." Sam told them as he walked towards the back of Zack's house. "The videotape shows the killer going in, but not coming out."
"So, he came out the back door?"
"Right. So, there should be a trail to follow. A trail the police would never pursue."
"'Cause they think the killer never left. And they caught your friend Zack inside. I still don't know what we're doing here at 5:30 in the morning."
Alina shook her head, trying to hold her laugh. But then Sam grabbed their attention when he stopped next to a telephone pole near the house, with blood smeared on it.
"Blood. Somebody came this way." Sam announced, proud of what he'd just discovered.
"So I was right, we've got ourselves a Shapeshifter." Alina turned to Dean, waiting for him to admit that he was wrong.
"Yeah, but the trail ends." Dean argued again. "I don't see anything over here."
An ambulance suddenly drove past them at the same time, making the hunters exchange an intrigued look. They quickly followed it to another house, where a man was being handcuffed and pushed into a police car. When they asked about it to a nearby woman, she told them that this man had tried to kill his wife, tying her up and beating her. The same way Zack was accused of killing his girlfriend. From the woman's point of view, this man always seemed like a nice guy.
So after a few minutes of investigating the side of the house, looking for any signs of escape, Sam and Alina were finally joined by Dean when they moved back to the front of the house. "Well, I just talked to the patrolman who was first on the scene, 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 noted.
"Exactly. Then he sees himself in the house, police think he's a nut-job."
"Two dark doubles attacking loved ones in exactly the same way."
This time, Alina clearly showed Dean that she was expecting something from him when she put her arm on his shoulder to lean on him. When he looked at her, he noticed her childish eyes staring at him with insistence. "Oh I'm sorry Winchester, did you say something? I didn't quite hear you."
Dean turned his head to the other side, hiding the faint grin on his lips. So she playfully hit him on his chest. "Come on big boy! Say it, it's not that hard!"
He looked back at her, kept smiling in despair for a few more seconds, then finally accepted his fate. "Fine. You were right, I was wrong."
Her grin widened. "Woah, that's the hottest thing a man has ever said to me."
She then turned to Sam who was silently witnessing the scene, trying not to show any sign of amusement. He didn't wanna make Dean uncomfortable around Alina again, he was too scared she'd think his strange behavior could be her fault.
"So we've got ourselves a Shapeshifter." She repeated in a more alarming tone.
Dean agreed with the fact that they had to hurry and stop him. "And he's prowling the neighborhood."
"Well let me ask you guys this..." Sam turned on himself to check his surrounding. "In all this Shapeshifter lore, can any of them fly?"
"Not that I know of." His brother answered him.
"Alina and I picked up a trail here. Someone ran out the back of this building and headed off this way."
"Yeah we searched everywhere but just like Zack's house, the trail suddenly ends."
Dean thought for a moment. "Well, there's another way to go. Down."
Sam and Alina followed his eyes and noticed the manhole next to them. That took away Alina's joy to be right. "Okay, how about you guys go down there first, while I go grab some weapons in the car?"
"What's wrong Frenchy? Don't tell me you're afraid of getting your hands dirty."
"Not my hands, my boots. I bought them last week."
"Fine." Sam agreed to avoid wasting more time. "We'll meet you at the car, and remember the only way to kill a Shapeshifter..."
"...Is with a silver bullet to the heart. I know, that was my favorite part of the bedtime story." She winked at him, took the car keys in Dean's hand, and walked away towards the Impala.
When she got there, she grabbed every silver bullets she could find in the trunk, and put them inside three guns. And of course, she didn't forget to change her boots into the old ones she'd left inside the car. A few minutes later, the Winchesters came back with a terrible smell, making Alina take a few steps away from them once they reached the Impala.
"You've been down there for five minutes, how could you smell so bad?"
"If you think that's disgusting Frenchy, you're not gonna like what we found."
Alina almost felt like she was about to throw up. "Oh no...did you find shed skin?"
"You knew about this?" Sam quickly ask.
"Of course I knew! I've had nightmares for months after my dad told me!"
The boys shared the same look, wondering why their dad had never warned them about this. Sam's phone started ringing so he let Dean and Alina alone to go answer it. Alina handed Dean a gun, put another one in her own belt, and took the third one for Sam before closing the trunk. That's when they heard Sam's voice from where they were. "Bec... We're tryin' to help... Bec, I'm sorry, but..."
Alina knew what was going on. She'd hoped Rebecca wouldn't find out about Dean not being a real cop, but the truth was out, and Sam looked completely disappointed. She followed Dean as he was already walking towards his brother. "I hate to say it, but that's exactly what I'm talking 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."
And finally, Alina realized what Dean was actually trying to say from the beginning. He didn't really want to distance himself from people, he was just scared that they'd think he's a freak if they got to know him. He was afraid of being left behind by the people he cared about. The young woman couldn't believe how lonely he must've felt all his life.
"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 held up the third gun that Sam put in the back of his jeans before walking away.
His brother was already following him when Alina grabbed his hand to stop him. "Dean wait."
Dean turned around, expecting the worst after hearing his name once again. But he was surprised to find nothing but affection in her eyes. She was holding his hand tightly, and smiling at him before getting a little closer to put a gentle kiss on his cheek. "I love the real you Winchester." Dean was completely stunned by what she'd just said. He wasn't expecting something like this, so he couldn't move or talk after hearing those words. All he could do was look into this beautiful girl's eyes, searching desperately for any sign of fear. Maybe if he'd found one, he would've been able to keep lying to himself a little longer. And yet, it was at this exact moment that he started to think that maybe Sam could be right after all. Maybe he did care for Alina more than he thought he did. If only she didn't have that smile when she was staring at him.
"Well now...let's go to the sewers." Alina joked, still a bit repulsed by the idea of going down there to fight a shedding creature. But she pulled Dean with her to catch up with Sam anyway, ready to do whatever she had to do to stop that new monster.
LATER
The hunters were walking throughout the sewers, holding their flashlights and guns firmly.
"I think we're close to its lair." Dean announced after an eternity of exploring.
"Why do you say that?"
"Because there's another puke-inducing pile next to your face."
Alina turned to look at Sam, at the same time his face got way too close to a pile of blood and skin on a pipe. "Oh, God!" He took a step back with disgust.
Alina didn't know if she was about to laugh, or vomit at the sight. They looked around the area, and found another pile of clothes in the corner.
"Looks like it's lived here for a while." Dean pointed out.
"I can't even start imagining what he must smell like."
"Who knows how many murders he's gotten away with?" Sam said before turning to his brother. The moment he landed his eyes on Dean, he saw the dark figure of a man standing behind him. A man that looked just like the husband that had been accused of trying to kill his wife earlier. The only difference being the way his eyes started to glow when Sam aimed his flashlight at him. "Dean!"
Alina turned around to see Dean getting punched by the Shapeshifter and fall to the ground. She ran towards him as Sam was shooting at the monster to stop him from running away. But it was already too late and the Shapeshifter quickly disappeared through the pipes. Alina helped Dean standing up with his now injured shoulder, but when Sam hesitated to move, they both yelled at him in chorus. "Get the son of a bitch!"
And Sam ran after the Shapeshifter.
"Dean? Are you okay?"
"Yeah..." He was trying not to show his pain. "Let's go."
They ran towards Sam, following him to the surface. They were back in the street, only seconds after the Shapeshifter had came out of the same manhole. They looked around for a moment, then decided to split up to cover a larger part of the area. Alina was still worried to see Dean holding his shoulder when they had to separate, but she also knew that he was more than capable of handling himself. So she fought the urge to go with him, and took a different direction.
She walked into the crowded street with her gun hidden in her jacket, looking for the current face of the Shapeshifter. He couldn't have changed skin so quickly.
After long minutes of searching for him, and alerting way too many people with her strange behavior, she eventually decided to go back to the car, where she was supposed to meet back with the boys once she was done. But once she finally found the Impala, her heart almost stopped beating when she noticed Sam's unconscious body lying next to it.
"Sam!" She ran as fast as she could, but didn't get the chance to reach her friend. She only felt a sharp pain behind her head before falling to the ground, and losing consciousness.
LATER
Alina's head was aching. Even opening her eyes was painful to the girl who slowly tried to ignore the pain and get up anyway.
"Hey... Easy..."
She felt two hands catching her when she was about to fall back. Everything around her was blurry, and her ears were slightly ringing. But when she was finally able to recognize some shapes and sounds, it became obvious to her that she was sitting against the car door in the back of the Impala.
"Frenchy? Can you hear me?"
She knew that voice. She knew that face. She was relieved once her vision got better, to see Dean sitting next to her. "Hey? How many fingers am I holding up?"
She clearly saw the five fingers in front of her, but was too pissed off to answer that. "Enough for me to break your whole hand if you keep asking dumb questions like that."
She heard him chuckle at her response. "Yep, you're fine."
She leaned back against the door and tried to put every pieces of memories back together. She remembered coming out of the sewers, splitting up with the boys to find the Shapeshifter in the crowd, and returning to the car only to find...Sam! She suddenly straightened up in panic. "Oh my god, Sammy!"
"Hey hey he's fine!" Dean tried to calm her down, putting his hands on her arms to carefully push her back in a resting position. "He's fine. You guys were attacked by the Shapeshifter and by the time I got here he was already gone. Sam was starting to wake up but you were still unconscious, so I took you inside the car instead of leaving you in the middle of the road. You're welcome by the way."
Alina rolled her eyes at his last comment, yet she was still too concerned about her friend to retort. "And where's Sam now?"
"He went to Rebecca's. He said he'd meet us back at the motel once he'd be done explaining everything to her."
Alina was relieved, but at the same time she felt like something was off. She just couldn't find what.
"How's your head?" Dean asked when he saw her grimacing.
"It's fine. You know I've been through worse Winchester."
"I know it's just...when I saw you lying there and you weren't responding..."
Alina noticed the sudden change in his voice. He sounded more terrified that worried. "Dean I'm fine." She grabbed his hand and smiled at him in a reassuring way. He watched their hands during a few seconds, almost as if he was confused by the way it made him feel. He then lifted them to wrap both his hands around hers and smirked at the soft contact.
"You know I've been thinking about what you told me before we went down the sewers. Was it true? Do you love the real me?"
Alina was taken aback by the change of subject. She didn't think Dean would be comfortable enough to talk about it so openly, but she had nothing to hide. "Of course I do. I told you, you guys are my family."
"Is this all I am to you? Family?"
She frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I...I don't know what's wrong with me. Ever since the night you kissed me outside that bar...I just can't stop thinking about you." He kept holding her hand, until he brought it to his lips and placed a gentle kiss on top of it. Alina didn't know what to say, but for some reason she couldn't stop him. "I can't stop thinking about this guy's hands all over your body." He kissed her hand once again, slowly moving his lips to her arm. "About the sounds you let out."
Alina's heart was racing up at every single contact his lips made with her skin. She couldn't believe that was happening. She couldn't believe she was letting him do something like that. So she quickly pulled her arm away from him and gave him a concerned look. "Dean what the hell are you doing?"
She felt bad for reacting that way when she saw how hurt he looked. He sighed and raised his hands in the air as a proof he wouldn't touch her again. "I'm sorry Alina. I guess I'm just jealous. Sam and you, you got friends. You could have a life. Me? I know I'm a freak. And sooner or later, everybody's gonna leave me."
Alina was getting more and more worried about him. She'd never saw him like that. "Wait...that's not true. What are you talking about?"
"You're gonna leave again, aren't you? Once you find your mom, you'll go back to France and forget about me. Just like Sammy did when he went to college. Hell, I did everything my dad asked me to, and he ditched me, too. No explanation, nothing, just poof." He scoffed, amused by his own misery. "How could anyone love the real me? You're just like everyone else."
"Dean..." She was heartbroken to see him so fragile. So scared to be left alone. She put her hand on his cheek and caressed it tenderly. "I'm not going anywhere. Besides...I'm a freak too, remember?"
Dean looked back at her, and her smile was the most beautiful thing it had ever seen. How could someone as pretty as her could call herself a freak?
"I've got secrets Dean. And...and I'm scared too. Because every time I care about someone they either die or leave me. My dad, Chris, Charlie...even my mom. Maybe you're the one who should just ditch me before finding out that something's really wrong with me."
He kept looking at her in complete awe. She wasn't like the others. She was imperfect just like him. And it was the loneliness he recognized in her eyes that made him completely lose control of himself, crashing his lips onto hers. But this time, Alina didn't stop him. She let him kiss her, touch her. It didn't even bother her when he ripped her shirt open in one motion, making every buttons fly under the front seats. It almost felt like she was hypnotized by Dean Winchester's lips. She wanted more, but it was so much less than what she had gotten the first time they'd kissed. When they were outside the bar and she was too drunk to know what she was doing, his touch felt like nothing else in the world. It was rough and soft. He was begging and taking. But right now...
"Dean wait..." She eventually pushed him back, realizing what she was doing, and with who she was doing it. "I don't think that's..."
But everything turned into a nightmare when the headlights of a car passing by, lit up the face of her friend, revealing the shiny silver eyes of a Shapeshifter. Alina didn't think twice as she opened the car door behind her to fall, roll on her back, and stand in front of the Impala with the dagger she'd taken from her shoe in one hand. She was panting, and her shirt was ruined, but she didn't care for now. She was simply staring at the monster that had taken her friend's appearance as he got out of the car. "Alina put the dagger down."
"You son of a bitch...where's Sam? Where's Dean?!"
"I'm right here!"
"You're not him! Where is Dean?!"
The Shapeshifter raised his hands once again to appear harmless. "Okay...I'll tell you where they are, but first you need to listen to me. You and I...we're the same, Alina."
"I'm nothing like you!" She snapped and lifted her dagger a little more to stop him from getting closer. She knew she wouldn't be able to kill him with it, she needed a gun. But the blade was pure silver, so she could at least hurt him.
"Yes you are. What I said earlier...it was the real me."
She was disgusted by that thing pretending to be a good guy. "You hurt and killed a lot of people."
"So did you. And Dean, and Sam. Hunters are born killers. But from what you told me, they don't really understand you either. Alina please..."
Alina was so distracted by Dean's face, that she wasn't able to hurt him when he grabbed her hand and used it to hold the dagger while being careful not to touch the silver blade, and pulled her back against him. She was trapped in his arms, and enraged by his mouth getting closer to her ear from behind. "You were right Alina. You are a freak. And that...is what makes you so perfect."
"If you wanna kill me, do it now. Because I swear the moment you'll let me go, I'll peel off your skin myself."
The fake Dean let out a terrifying amused laugh. "Oh I can't wait for us to meet again. But until then...I can't have you following me honey." And after saying those words, Alina felt her hand holding the dagger, being pulled against her stomach. She wasn't able to stop the blade, and tried to hold a moan of pain when it cut right through her skin. The cut wasn't too deep, so she wouldn't die from it right away, but it was large enough to make her drop her weapon when the Shapeshifter finally let go of her, and ran to the driver's seat of the Impala. "It was nice meeting you Frenchy!"
Alina turned around, pressing her hand against the fresh wound to prevent the blood from leaving her body, and angrily watched him start the engine and take off in Dean's car, with Dean's face. She wanted to scream, but not because of the pain. She was furious at this monster, and at herself for not seeing his true identity sooner. She'd let him kiss her, she'd told him about her fears...she was gonna kill him.
But first, she had to find the boys. And the only place that came to her mind, was the only place the Shapeshifter knew perfectly well. His home. "The freaking sewers..."
Yeah...SHAPESHIFTER DEAN!
Okay for once, I just enjoyed writing this chapter so much that I won't complain about the correction. I just love a good opportunity to insert a hot scene, even if yeah...technically...and that's a small detail...it wasn't actually Dean...
But it was him in some sort of way! I mean the Shapeshifter had his memories and everything...
And this is going to make Dean sooooooooooooo mad! Because yeah, he's finally realizing that he has feelings for her, and now he's gonna find out that another dude with HIS face, just kissed HIS girl, in the backseat of HIS car.
I just love jealous Dean! Don't judge me!
Anyway, please don't hesitate to leave a review because they encourage me so much, I never imagined how difficult and exciting it would be to write an entire story in english! I just hope that you're liking it so far, and that you'll be here for part 2 of Skin!
And of course, have a nice day/night!