Prophecy -- Chapter 22a

Disclaimer:  The TV shows Dark Angel and Supernatural, all of the characters that appeared on them, and everything else that has to do with the shows belong to their respective owners, not to me.  No money is being made off of this fic.  I only own the original characters (Dylan/X6-175, etc.).

“Why are we here?” Logan demanded as Dean pulled the Impala into a parking space in front of a motel several miles north of Novelty.  “Why the hell didn’t you just take us back to Seattle.”

“Because we want to make sure that the coast is clear,” Dean explained, gritting his teeth.  “That guy went through a lot of trouble to try to kill you…”  And I’m starting not to blame him for that!  “…and that most likely means that he would want to give it another go, which means that he would want to look around the general vicinity of that town for your ass, not to mention staking out the roads heading back into Seattle.”

Alec blinked.  That’s my damn voice.  Hearing my voice coming out of somebody else’s mouth…maybe it’s a good thing I never met Ben before he died.  “Don’t worry.  Thanks to Dix, your’s, Dylan’s, and my cell phones are beyond secure.  We’ll call everybody back in Seattle to let them know that we’re okay, and you can try to get in touch with your contact to find out why he didn’t show up.  I bet it’s a pretty decent reason.”  He turned his head to look at Dylan.  “Twenty bucks says that White got to the contact first.”  The X5 braced himself for the expected crack about him making a bet about everything, but it didn’t come.  “Dylan?”

“What?” Dylan said.

“Never mind.”  Alec shook his head as he followed Logan out of the car.  “I just want to re-group and then head back home eventually.”

“You and me both,” Dean muttered.  There was an uncomfortable silence before Sam finally cleared his throat.

“Dean?  The door?  Open it?” he reminded his brother.

“Pushy, much?” Dean commented.  He opened the door and the walked inside the room, only to find Biggs there waiting for them.

“Hey, there,” Biggs said cheerfully.

Alec’s and Dylan’s eyes widened and they jumped in surprise.  “What the flying fuck?!”

Biggs laughed hysterically.  “Oh, man, those looks…this totally makes up for the time back in ’12 when you guys put the rubber snakes in my bunk.  This is absolutely priceless.”

“You’re dead,” Alec pointed out.

“Yeah, I still am,” Biggs agreed.

“Okay…what is going on here?” Dylan wondered.  “Can we please have some answers before we all go crazy?”

“I second that motion,” Alec said.

“Can you drop the smart remarks for once and let them get on with the explanations?” Logan snapped.

“Hold your horses and ease up on the PMS, pal,” Dean insisted.  “He wasn’t making a wisecrack…or at least, much of one.”  He took a deep breath.  “But as for the explanations…”  Dean and Sam began to explain their story in detail.  “…after that bastard was defeated, Sam went back to school and became a lawyer, though he still joins me on a hunt and helps me with research every now and again.  I don’t hunt as much as I used to, though, because of my daughter.  When I’m not out there on the road, I’m a mechanic.  I worked for a family friend out in South Dakota until my little girl was a couple of months old.  Then, at the insistence of several people, I moved out to New Paltz to be near Sam and his wife.”

Logan looked annoyed.  “Let me get this straight.  There are ghosts and other kinds of supernatural monsters out there and you two defeat them?  Do you really expect me—or any of us—to believe that line of bullshit?”

“What’s the matter, Logie, are you pissed ‘cause you’re not the only one out there saving the world?” Alec remarked.  That got a grin from Dean and a small smile from Dylan.

“Settle down,” Sam said.  “Please don’t provoke him.”  He took a deep breath.  Yeah, Alec was definitely cloned off of Dean.  “We left New Paltz a few days ago and got into Seattle yesterday.  Biggs was waiting for us in our motel room when we got there.  He filled us in on a lot of things.  Things about Manticore, things about the two of you…”

“Like what?”  Alec held up a hand.  “Wait, let me guess.  Your brother is my—well, whatever it is they call the person that somebody is cloned from.”

“That would be one thing,” Biggs confirmed.

“Great.  Two of him,” Logan muttered.  “Good—“

“Finish that thought and your head’s going to be the hood ornament for somebody’s car,” Alec interrupted.

“Why did you guys come out here in the first place?” Dylan wondered.

“Almost a week ago, I began getting these weird dreams.  I didn’t know what they were until Biggs told me.”  Sam looked Dylan in the eye.  “They were memories.  Yours, actually.”

“My memories?  How is that possible?” Dylan asked.

“We have some kind of psychic connection,” Sam explained.  “I’ve had them before with people, mostly with ones who are psychic like I am.  I have a connection with Dean, but that’s because we’re brothers.  Anyway, a few days after the dreams, I began having visions of Dean and Alec being killed by Ames White.  It almost—it would have happened if you and I hadn’t been there.”

Dylan’s mind reeled.  He had almost the same…vision…that I had in my dreams.  He’s been having these nightmares and visions since he was Alec’s age and they’ve always happened or nearly happened the same way that my two nightmares did.  Oh, my God.  “Do I…am I…I mean, why am I like this?”  He glanced away for a moment before looking back at Sam.  “Or do I even have to ask?”

“You were cloned from me,” Sam said quietly.

“Oh.”  Dylan blinked and stood there quietly for a few moments before turning around and leaving the room.

“I’ll go after him,” Sam offered.  He turned around and also left the room.

“So…Dylan’s genetically my younger brother?” Alec finally said.

Dean nodded.  “Yeah, he is.”

“Oh.”  Alec considered the information for a few seconds before he grinned.  “Best part of the whole deal so far.”

“Good,” Dean said.  They fell into an uncomfortable silence.

“You and Dylan don’t look that much alike,” Logan pointed out.  “Except for maybe around the eyes and the chin a little.”

Alec tried not to roll his eyes.  “Yeah, I know.”

“We look like my mom,” Dean spoke up.  He shifted uncomfortably.  “Um…”  He looked out the window.  “I don’t see either Sam or Dylan.”

“They’re out there,” Alec said.  “I saw a little picnic area over at the side of the building and I can hear their voices coming from that direction.  Man, I feel bad for Dylan.  He’s gone through a lot over the past week or so.  Do you know about the nightmares that he’s been having?”

Dean nodded.  “Biggs told us about them.  It wasn’t easy for Sammy when he first started to get The Shining.  I can’t imagine that it would be any easier for Dylan.”

“Nightmares?” Logan repeated.  “Are you telling me that Dylan has been having psychic nightmares?  That’s impossible!  And why the hell didn’t he tell me about them?  Considering what happened today, I think I have a right to know!”

“In case you haven’t been paying attention, his brother’s been having them for years,” Alec reminded Logan.  “And has it ever occurred to you that maybe Dylan’s having a hard time dealing with these nightmares?  Were you there when he first told me about them?  The kid was freaked out about the whole deal.  He was reluctant to tell me and I’ve been best friends with Dylan since he was four years old.  Dylan only met you face-to-face for the first time before we left Seattle to head out to meet your supposed contact.  Okay, so you did happen to make an appearance in Dylan’s latest mental movie-of-the-week.  I’m willing to admit that we probably should have told you about that little fact, but would you have believed us?  What could you have done?  What if the situation was reversed, Logan, and you had these psychic nightmares?  Would you be handling it as well as Dylan?”

“I thought that you said that Dylan was, and I quote, ‘freaked out’ by it,” Logan said nastily.

“You know, you’re being a brat,” Dean observed.

“Excuse me?” Logan snapped.  “What the hell are you talking about?”

“You heard me,” Dean said.  “You’re being a brat.  Ever since Dylan and Alec took care of Ames White so we could all get away from there, you’ve been acting like a whiny child.  I know what you just went through because I had a ringside seat for it, but even so.  You’re not acting like an adult.  This is the kind of behavior that I’m not surprised by but don’t tolerate from my ten-year-old daughter back home.  Sam’s kids are even younger than my little girl and they usually behave better than how you are right now.  Can it.”

Logan’s face turned bright red.  He knew Dean was right about his behavior, but still tried to save face.  “You have as much right as Alec does to tell me what to do.  Zero.”

“You’re right about the fact that Dean and Alec have the same right to tell you what to do,” Biggs conceded.  “Though in this case, it’s every damn right in the world.  Look, Logan, I know that you’re pissed off at yourself because Max caught you doing the horizontal mambo with Asha and broke it off with you, but that’s no excuse to be nasty to Alec or Dean.  Alec had nothing to do with yours and Max’s breakup and Dean only met you today and hasn’t even met Max at all.  Please, for all of our sakes, drop this bullshit and shut up.”

“Or else what?” Logan gave Biggs a smirk.  “It’s not like you can do anything about it.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” Biggs said, jerking a thumb in Dean’s direction.  “Ask him.  There’s still plenty of shit that a spirit can do.  But I won’t be doing anything.”

“Yeah, then who—“  Logan stopped suddenly when Alec pressed fingers to either side of his neck, cutting off his oxygen.

“Thanks, buddy,” Biggs said cheerfully.

“No problem.”  Alec carefully lifted Logan onto one of the beds and lay him down.  “He was really starting to piss me off.”

“Thanks,” Dean told Alec.  He bit his lip as another uncomfortable silence descended on them.

“So…your daughter’s ten?” Alec finally spoke up.

Dean nodded, grateful that they were back on a safe topic of conversation, much less one of his favorites.  “Yeah, she’s ten years old.  Her name’s Marie.  I named her after my mother.”  He pulled his wallet out from a back pocket of his jeans, opened it up, removed a photo, and handed it to Alec.  “She’s the blond girl.  The other girl in the picture is Sam’s daughter, Alicia.”

“And you said that Alicia is younger?”

“Yeah.  She got Sam’s height, though.  She’s two years younger than her cousin and already an inch taller.”  Dean took the picture back from Alec, replaced it in his wallet, and put the wallet back in his pocket.  “Well…Alec…you…”

“Need a conversation starter?” Biggs offered.

“No, we’re fine,” Alec insisted.  He paused.  “I think.”

“Is Dylan afraid of clowns?” Dean finally asked.  When Alec gave him a questioning look, he shrugged.  “Sam is.  They scare the crap out of him.”

“I don’t know,” Alec admitted.  “He never even knew what clowns were until I guess the trainers at Manticore taught him about them in Culture class, but Dylan never told me how he felt about them.”

“Oh,” Dean said.  He looked back towards the window.  When are they going to get back in here?

“Um…have you…”  Alec gave up and sighed.  “I hate this awkward crap.”

“Me too,” Dean agreed.  He and Alec both smiled slightly before falling silent once more.

TBC