Actions

Work Header

An Ounce of Blood

Chapter Text

After the stalemate between the ordinaries and the transgenics outside Terminal City had gone on for almost a year, Alec got itchy feet and, with a few quick goodbyes, he’d left on his bike to see some more of America.

In a bar in northern Missouri, Alec bumped into a tall, older man on the way back from the pool table. The man looked down at Alec through his bangs, and blinked a couple of times. “Dean?” Alec mentally ran through his list of old aliases but unless Manticore had removed the memories, he’d never posed as ‘Dean.’

The tall guy moved slightly to block Alec’s exit; it was a subtle movement that spoke of training, and Alec’s guard went up quickly. Another guy appeared beside them. “Yeah, Sammy?”

“Look.” Sammy pointed at Alec, who took a step backwards, catching a glimpse of the other guy, presumably Dean. The resemblance was more than striking. “He looks just like you did when you were young.”

Dean cocked his head to the side, and regarded Alec with curiosity for a moment.

The scrutiny was more than Alec wanted at the moment – he’d learned the hard way that it was better for transgenics to keep under the radar. Taking another step away, Alec turned and, shoving a hand into his pocket for a crumpled bill that he left on the bar to clear his tab, he headed for the door and pushed it open.

The similarity was intriguing, but curiosity had always been unkind to the cat, and Manticore had been even worse. Plus, Alec knew that the human part of the X5 DNA had to have come from somewhere, pooled from several donors. It was possible that he and this guy were related, but Alec didn’t feel like hanging around to discover what might happen when they found out why they might be related to each other.

He’d not quite made it across the parking lot to his bike before someone called out to him in a voice that sounded remarkably like his own, only slightly deeper, with more years on it. “Hey kid.”

Alec stopped, then turned and looked at his counterpart who shoved his hands in his pockets awkwardly before speaking. “You’re not…Ben?”

Apparently even when your family weren’t your family, they still came back to haunt you. Narrowing his eyes, Alec shot back, “You knew Ben?”

Rubbing at the back of his neck, Dean nodded. “Yeah, I always thought he might be my son. Be about your age now, twenty or so? You’re not him?”

Opting for half-truths, not knowing the entire story, Alec shook his head and offered, “Twin.”

Dean looked confused, “Lisa never mentioned that Ben had a twin.”

Alec gave a small smirk, “What can I say? I was the black sheep of the family.” It was always better to keep conversations simple. Dean didn’t speak again and so considering the meeting over, Alec made it to the bike, and gripped the handlebars. Suddenly he had a burning desire to get out of this town.

Alec hopped onto the bike and started it up, not surprised when Dean called out to him again. “Hey kid, what’s your name?”

It was a second or two before Alec replied, “Alec.”

Dean nodded. “And you’re doing all right?”

“I’m always all right.” Raising one arm in a sloppy salute, Alec rode off. “See ya.”