Super Angel - Chapter 1

Castiel cast his eyes unto the nether worlds, and searched for the one known as Dean. God had work to do for the eldest Winchester brother. Castiel thought he spied the being known as Dean. Yes, this one looked more or less like him. Castiel gripped him tight and raised him from perdition…

The first thing Alec realized was that it was dark. And stuffy. And it stank.

"Oh God. Don't tell me Joshua left me in the sewers again. Goddamn dog-faced…"

Alec tried to get up, but banged his head on something wooden.

"Ow!"

Feeling around himself in the darkness, Alec came to the conclusion that he was surrounded on all sides by… wood. As if he were inside a box. Holy crap. He was inside a box. A wooden box!

"A friggin' coffin?! Joshua buried me in a friggin' coffin?! I told Max he had screws loose!"

It took Alec a while to break out of the coffin to the surface. First off, he found a strange device in his pocket. After burning himself twice with it, he figured out it was some kind of mechanical fire-maker; a 'lighter', he thought he heard Logan refer to it once. In the flame of the lighter he examined himself; these weren't his clothes. Not that he was complaining; they looked pretty good.

Eventually Alec figured he should just break out of the coffin, and with a solid punch and the help of his transgenic strength, he knocked out the wooden lid and a good deal of packed dirt straight to the surface. Clambering out, he checked his surroundings in shock.

Alec had crawled out of a lone grave that appeared to have been in the middle of a copse of trees, only now the trees had been tumbled over like a bomb had gone off. And it definitely was not Seattle where he was. Hell, there wasn't a single living being, regular or transgenic, in sight.

"Where the hell am I?"

Reaching into his jacket pocket, Alec found a scrap of paper with a name and address on it ("Who the hell is Bobby?"). He also felt a weird pain in his left shoulder. Alec pulled away the jacket he was wearing and lifted up his shirt sleeve to find a burn mark in the shape of a hand across his left shoulder.

"God, I am going to kill Joshua if he's suddenly developed a sense of humour on me."

Alec finally stumbled on an old gas station after hours of wandering. He promptly broke the door in with a solid kick of his foot and drank the first three bottles of water he could get his hands on. Popping open the register, Alec took a handful of quarters so he could use the payphone outside. He also found a newspaper; he was surprised to find that it was suddenly September, but soon figured out that the paper was older than it looked ("2008? Man, this thing is Pre-Pulse!")

Alec soon was dialling the number he had found and a husky voice answered on the other end.

"Who is this?"

"Uh… is this Bobby?"

"Who's askin'?"

"Yeah, the name's, uh… Simon Lehane, I found your number in this jacket I'm wearing, and I was wondering if you'd help me out."

"What kinda scam you running?"

"Scam? No sir, no tricks here."

"Okay, this is kinda strange, what kind of help were you looking for?"

"Well for one thing…" Alec thought back to the newspaper. "What year is it?"

"Are you drunk, son? It's 2008."

"Are you sure about that?"

"Kid, you sound familiar. Have we met before?"

"I don't know. In fact, I'm getting a major headache here."

"You a hunter? Are you in trouble? Is that why you called me? Is it not safe to talk on your end?"

Alec contemplated this. "Yes. Yes, that is completely right."

"Okay. Tell you what; you come down here, and we'll sort you out, alright?"

Alec memorized the address Bobby gave him and hung up the phone.

The first thing Dean noticed was the sound of the television. Cracking open an eye, he blearily glanced over from the couch he was laying on to see a weird programme on. A pair of eyes was staring at him, with the words scrolling across above and below on newsreel "Eyes Only". Dean groaned and laid his head back on the couch, trying to remember what had happened to him. In the background, the broadcaster continued.

"--it cannot be stopped, it cannot be traced, and it is the only free voice left in the city. Recently, a shipment of--"

"Yeah yeah, somebody is full of himself!"

Dean grumbled, as he pulled a remote out from under him and switched off the television. How had he and Sammy ended up in this dumpster of a motel... room... this wasn't a motel room. Dean sat up suddenly, and looked about. It was some kind of broken down apartment. The wallpaper was peeling, the lightbulb was hanging off the ceiling on a chewed up wire and… Holy crap, the last thing he remembered was the hellhound! Lilith! Where was Sammy?! Dean leapt to his feet, and frantically searched around. As he walked past a mirror he did a double take.

"A turtleneck sweater? What the..."

Just then he heard a knock on the door. Without waiting for an answer, in strolled a woman with a bag of groceries.

"Okay Alec, here's your stuff, but the next time you feel like punching a Sector cop, try not to pick a fight with one when I'm around! I can't believe you made me haul these over after that stunt you pulled!" she said, casting him an annoyed glance. Dean immediately noticed she was pretty hot, in that tough girl kinda way.

"Ohhh, I get it, this is a dream," Dean thought out aloud.

"Why, hello there, what's a pretty little thing like you doing in my," he glanced around, "swingin' bachelor pad?"

"Get over yourself, Alec, I haven't got time for this, just pay me back for the groceries, I gotta go meet up with Logan," the hot chick said.

"Right, right, this is a bit of roleplaying you got going here..." Dean fished his hand into his pocket, pulling out... a clipful of cash? Meh, who was he to question the dream?

"So, you're the sweet little delivery girl, I'm the customer, Alec, was it? And now you need your bill money..."

Dean sauntered over to the hot chick, who was busily foraging through the paper bags. He tried to put a hand on her shoulder, but she was playing hard to get, cute little thing, and she brushed him off, looking through another bag.

"So, what's your name, delivery girl?" he asked in the most charming way he could.

"It's Max, dumbass, now help me find my keys, I dropped them into one of these bags..." said "Max", if that was the callgirl's real name. Dean doubted it.

Dean slipped an arm around "Max"'s waist, but she wriggled out of it absentmindedly. She looked back at him, so Dean proffered the wad of cash at her. She snatched it from his hand with an annoyed gesture, counted out $24, and handed him back the rest.

"Whoa, twenty four dollars?!" he cried, amazed.

"You're the one who wanted this stuff, so don't blame me if it's too pricey for you!" she snapped at him.

"Max" turned around but "accidentally" knocked a bag off the counter. Dean watched as she bent down to pick up the chip bags to tidy them up, giving him a nice view of her rear end. Figuring he might as well show the callgirl a good time, he gave her a good slap on her behind to start the evening's proceedings.

Everything after that happened almost too quickly for Dean to tell. There was a sudden chill that ran through the room, and Dean felt a trickle of fear go down his spine. The callgirl froze, then slowly and methodically straightened up. She turned around with an expression in her eyes that caused Dean's heart to suddenly drop in an instant of utmost terror. The next thing he knew, Dean was flying through the air, through the front door and sprawled in pain outside in the hallway, looking back at the girl.

"I swear if you ever try that again, I'm gonna kick your ass!" shouted Max.

"I... I think you broke my ribs..." Dean wheezed.

"Don't try your sympathy crap with me, Alec, I know that blow barely fazed you!"

"Stop... calling me Alec. It's Dean!"

"What kinda crap are you trying to pull over this time? "Dean"?"

"Please... if you could just... call the hospital..." Dean suddenly bent over to cough some blood out.

"Holy crap, Alec, what's wrong? You're bleeding!" Max's anger spent, she rushed to Dean's side.

"You friggin' broke my ribs, lady! How'd you get so tough? And it's Dean!"

"Alec, there's no way a little bump like that could've broken your ribs, I... you look different. Why do you suddenly look older?"

"Older? Lady, we only just met!"

"Hang on, something isn't right here, I... where the hell's your barcode? Did you get it lasered off again, or..."

"Maxie, please, the hospital! I can't... breathe..."

"You know we can't take you to the hospital, they'll ident your transgenic blood and blow your cover. Here, let's get back inside; I'll give you a transfusion for starters." With that, Max easily hefted Dean onto her shoulder and carried him back inside. "Did you lose weight or something?" she muttered as an afterthought.

"God, this is the worst dream ever..." Dean mumbled to himself.

"And don't call me Maxie!"

Alec arrived at the address four hours run later. Jogging down through a car wreck yard, he came upon the doorstep of a house. Knocking on the door, he was answered by a scruffy looking man with a baseball cap and a beard, "Bobby" presumably.

After a moments pause, Bobby staring at him with his mouth agape, Alec offered his hand to shake.

"Hello sir, the name's Simon Lehane."

"I... I don't... believe it..." said Bobby.

"Believe what, sir?"

Bobby suddenly swung at Alec with a silver knife. Alec nimbly dodged out of the way, grabbing the knife and twisting it out of Bobby's hand. Bobby stepped back, then tried to attack Alec again.

"Whoa, whoa! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" yelled Alec, blocking Bobby's punches with ease.

"You're a shapeshifter!" Bobby cried, reaching into a drawer and pulling out a second silver knife.

"What! I'm not a... what?!" Alec cried, overly confused.

"Well, if you're not a shapeshifter," Bobby grunted, swinging at Alec with the second knife, "then you're a revenant!"

"I'm not one of those either! I'm Simon Lehane!"

"Liar!!"

Alec grabbed Bobby's wrist and pulled him into an armlock behind his back. Bobby tried to headbutt him with the back of his head, but Alec twisted his arm further, and Bobby stopped struggling.

"Okay, dude, fine, you caught me out, my name is Alec McDowell, and I'm a transgenic. Now why are you trying to stab me?!"

"You're not Dean!" Bobby hissed.

"Well who the hell said I was?" With that, Alec let go of Bobby. "Listen, just, don't attack me again, okay? I just want to know, how the hell I ended up here, and why it's 2008."

"I'm not telling you anything, shapeshifter!"

"I'm not a freakin' shapeshifter, whatever the hell that is!"

"Oh yeah? Prove it! Cut yourself with a silver knife!"

"What?! Old man, you're crazy!"

"Revenant!"

"Okay! Fine! If you'll stop calling me weirdo names, I'll cut myself!"

Alec took the silver knife he still held in his hand and squeezed the blade with his fingers. A trickle of blood leaked out of his fist. Alec let go of the knife, letting it drop to the floor, and offered his hand for Bobby to see. Bobby looked at the cuts open-mouthed. Looking back up at Alec, a glimpse of hope dawned in his eyes.

"Dean?"

"No, old man, my name is Alec!"

Suddenly Alec felt a splash of water on his face.

"Well, you're not a demon..." said Bobby, a look of confusion on his face.

"I'm a transgenic, you crazy old man! Born and trained in Manticore, Wyoming, X5 series, designation 494. My friends call me Alec! Now why the hell is it 2008?!"

"What year would it be otherwise... Alec?" asked Bobby.

"At least 2021! How the hell have I ended up in Pre-Pulse times? And who the hell is Dean? And why am I even asking you for help, jeez, you're just a crazy old man who doesn't know what year it is..." Alec cursed to himself and marched out the door.

"Wait! Dean-- I mean, Alec! Listen... you look exactly like a boy I knew, his name was Dean Winchester, have you heard the name by any chance?" Bobby stood on his front porch, beckoning for Alec to come back.

"Dean Winchester? Never heard of the man; why, do you think he might be able to tell me how I got here?" Alec stood with his arms crossed, his wounded hand already beginning to heal.

"Well, he might, if he hadn't died four months ago."

"You're saying some guy who looked exactly like me died four months ago?" Alec thought to himself. It was possible this "Dean" fellow was yet another X5 with his genetic template; like Ben was. But Alec had never heard mention of another X5 clone, and he was sure he'd met all the other X5's. But if he'd died four months ago... that was possible, the transgenics had escaped Manticore well before that...

"This Dean guy, did he have like any noticeable tattoos on him?" asked Alec warily.

"Sure, he had a magic seal tattooed over his heart to ward off possession," replied Bobby matter-of-factly.

"O...kay. No, I was thinking, more like a barcode on the back of his neck?"

"Dean? No, he never had anything like that."

"Hmph. And you say he looked exactly like me?"

"Well... you look a little younger."

"Right..." Alec muttered. This was weird. In fact, assuming he really was in 2008... maybe this Dean could've possibly been the original donor of the DNA that went on to create him and Ben? But then with all the genetic tampering Manticore did, or as Max so succinctly put it, all the extra cat they'd put in their cocktails, he would definitely look markedly different from the donor...

"Son, I believe now you're not Dean, but please. Maybe we can get this all cleared up. I think we should find Sam." Bobby offered for Alec to come back inside.

"Sam?"

"Dean's brother."

"And where's he?"

"Let's find out."

"How's he doing, Bling?" asked Max, a touch of concern in her voice.

"He looks like he's going to be okay. I've bandaged him up so the ribs will set in place; your magic blood should have him healed up within a day or two." Bling checked over Dean's ribcage again. "You feeling alright?"

Dean coughed slightly, the pain in his torso dulling now. He had an IV hooked up to his left arm connected to a bag of blood; Max's blood he was told.

"It's starting to hurt less," he said gruffly.

Bling looked over at Max with a tinge of disapproval. "And what prompted you to break the boys ribs in?"

Max held up her hands in self defence. "I didn't do it on purpose! Alec should be able to take a hit like that without breaking a sweat!"

"My name is not friggin' Alec! It's Dean!" Dean wheezed, glaring at her.

Max's only response was to hold the back of her hand against Dean's forehead. "He's got it into his head that he's someone else; d'you think he's hallucinating?" she asked Bling.

Bling stood up and gathered his things. "I don't really know how this stuff works, Max. Listen, give him a few painkillers every eight hours or so, and if there are any complications, give me a call again. I gotta run, I have an appointment on the south side."

"Thanks for coming, Bling." Max showed the physical therapist out of the apartment door. The second he was out in the hallway, she turned on Dean.

"What the hell is wrong with you, Alec? Manticore Virus?"

"Arghh!!! DEAN, WOMAN!"

Castiel had returned to heaven, when Zachariah, his direct superior, approached him.

"Zachariah. Has the garrison been rallied?"

"Yes, but that's not of your concern. What in God's name is wrong with you?"

"Sir?"

"We lay siege to Hell for a month, and you resurrect the wrong man?!"