Blast to The Past? : Chapter 3
Summary: While following a lead, Max and Alec were sent back in time. Straight into the Winchester’s timeline.
Timeline: (DA) Post Freak Nation. (SPN) Just after It’s the great pumpkin, Sam Winchester.
A/N: Just for the sake of this story, let’s assume the town that escaped Uriel’s clutches was in Washington State. I’m aware that by January, Dean had already told Sam everything about hell but this story takes place right after It’s the great pumpkin, Sam Winchester and I stretched the timeline a little bit, all the way to ‘09. Anyway, thanks for pointing it out to me :)
Beta: Thank you soo much to the seriously uber-cool Alexis!
Chapter 3: Half Truth and Partial Lies
Max slammed the door of her makeshift office, grunting as the thick wood creaked in disagreement. Her breath flitted across thin lips when she made her way to her desk.
Nothing was working as it should. Not with the Police Commissioner, not with the screaming masses, and definitely not with the Familiars. Everything was unraveling faster than she could stop it.. and dammit, she felt so alone. Just making sure everyone was where they were supposed to be and not killing who they’re not supposed to was hard enough. The worst part was, sometimes she got the feeling that she was on her own, like she was sitting alone in a sinking ship with thousands of hands pulling her down, no one to help her, no one to watch her back.
Max knew it wasn’t the case. She had OC, Josh, Logan, Mole, the whole of Freak Nation behind her but she felt so damn alone. She grabbed something from her desk and watched in satisfaction as it smashed against the wall.
Alec.
When she needed him the most, he went MIA on her. Now she felt stupid that she even bothered defending him to Logan. No Logan, he’s not the irresponsible jerk that you think he is, the guy has some redeeming qualities, those were the words she had tossed into Logan’s face, his features frozen in shock as she brushed past him. Barely a month after that, Alec turned around and did this to her. What was going on with him? With them?
If she didn’t miss him by mere seconds, he was off on supply runs, trannie pick-ups, making sure they didn’t starve, and a million other things she herself wasn’t aware had to be done.
In a way, he didn’t completely desert her. He was helping... from far, far away. He must’ve been the busiest man ever in Terminal City but when she asked (growled, frowned or snarked, depending on her mood and the person she was asking) the others, they had seen him, talked to him, shared a joke or two, been in his company in the last few days. It was three weeks since the flag-raising. Twenty one days of Alec-less days. And she didn’t know what to make of it.
That jerk of... hot damn, was he avoiding her? What the hell was going on?
~*~
The moon was full tonight, something he only realized earlier. The window was open and behind the fluttering curtains he caught glimpses of the bright ball hovering near the horizon. Alec leaned back against the couch, sighing when the harsh fabric enveloped his back, the darkness a comfortable cloak surrounding him. His hand wrapped around the tense cords of his neck, his legs stretched out in front of him, his eyes fixed on the silhouette on the bed. The red blinking digits flashed 3:27 the last time he glanced that way. What was he doing up at 3 in the morning? Even Max-I’m-so-cool-I-don’t-need-sleep was out, additional shark DNA and all. He studied her still form, half hidden under the thick blanket and soft pillows.
After they got back from the diner, the older brother suddenly appeared and tossed a key at Max. ‘Last room, guys. You have to share.’ From what Alec could see, Dean didn’t look entirely unhappy at forcing the two of them into the same room. That glint in his eyes was more mischievous than apologetic. Maybe he’ll regret his decision in the morning when one of them leaves the room in a body bag.
However, a second later, from the room next to the brothers he could hear an excited shriek, an uncharacteristic reaction from Max. After weeks of squatting at Terminal City, he could understand her joy at a clean bed. From the doorway, he caught a flicker of her moving inside the room, squealing at the working hot shower. The smile on her face, that light in her eyes was like a physical blow and without another word to the brothers, he made his way into the darkness.
‘Where are you going, kid?’ Dean laid a hand on Alec’s shoulder and the latter stiffened. Someone asking on his whereabouts was a new experience.
‘A walk. I’ll be back in a bit.’
The brothers turned to each other, frowning, debating internally whether to let him go or not. A second later Sam shrugged and Dean decided to let the boy go, eyes narrowed at the younger man’s retreating back.
Alec took his time, walking slowly in the dark, a bit awed by the dense trees around him. So this is how it was before the Pulse? There was something different in the air, something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. After hours of pointless foraging in the dark, he headed back to the motel. His step was light when he made his way into the room. Alec knew he was going to get his ass chewed for disappearing but he couldn’t care less right now.
He didn’t blink as his eyes, a muted shade of green in the dark, continued to peruse her sleeping form. In sleep, the perpetual frown that permanently lined her brow was gone, her features soft and peaceful. Alec hunched forward, his elbows on his thighs, fingers in his hair when she shifted in her sleep, one hand thrown out towards him. He almost smiled as he scrutinized the sprayed fingers and the regular rising and falling of her chest under the blanket. Half of her face was hidden under long black hair, the silky strands like mini prison bars, hiding her from him. What should I do with you, Maxie?
He was still trying to wrap his head around their little problem back home, forcing himself to come to terms with everything when this happened. This... the time travelling thing. Maybe Einstein did know what he was talking about. Although, time travelling seemed to be a common thing in this part of the world. What, you’re from the future? I’ve done some time travelling myself, so it’s nothing new. No biggie. But yeah, welcome to the club.
And now they’re in the past. In the presence of a demon hunting duo, one of them with serious paternal issues. Alec knew if looked at from the guy’s perspective, it might be a logical conclusion to come to. But he had serious doubts that the ghost seeker brothers had any ties to Manticore. If he really was from Manticore, then he wouldn’t go around asking if Alec was his son, right? Did we share the same test tube? Now, that would be a more appropriate question. His train of thoughts were derailed when Max stirred. His muscles hardened and without thinking, he got up and padded noiselessly towards the door.
Max clawed at the blanket, blinking in the dark as she tried to find what had woken her up. Something caught her attention, a sliver of shadow and she turned her head to the source, a yawn threatening to push her back to Z-land. But the sight of his back heading towards the door, walking out on her, leaving her, wiped any thought or desire to sleep right out.
Tossing the blanket aside, she scrambled over the pillows, bounded from the bed, and launched herself at him. ‘Where are you going?’
‘What? God, you scared me, Max.’ He eyed the door longingly. ‘I need some air.’
‘There’s no air in this room, is that what you’re saying?’ Her voice was still husky from sleep but her eyes were wide awake.
‘Go back to sleep Max. I just need to clear my head a little bit.’
‘You’re avoiding me, like you did in TC? Why Alec?’
‘I am not avoiding you.’ The smile that stretched over his lips was as fake as the flowers in the vase. ‘I’m just going out for some air.’
‘That’s some serious BS. You didn’t say a word to me when you got back from the diner and now you’re off to God-knows-where. What the hell is going on, Alec?’
‘Nothing.’ He wiped his face tiredly. ‘Stop acting like you care.’ He side-stepped and grabbed the doorknob.
Max’s hand snaked through and banged the door close before she wedged herself between him and the door. ‘This is not an act, you moron. We need to talk.’
‘Could’ve fooled me,’ he smirked but a tiny hint of pain shocked her with its intensity. He pushed past her and was gone. Max was still staring at the door long after that.
~*~
His eyes flicked from the monitor to the open book, squinting in the low light. His index finger travelled down the page slowly, lips moving as he skimmed through its contents. Sam had thought researching this Wrath of Ares should be a breeze. There shouldn’t be a problem with a shortage of leads since Ares was a very well known ancient deity. Everyone who watched Hercules and Xena knew who Ares was, right?
Wrong. That fact itself proved to be the Achilles heel of the assumption.
His eyes strayed towards the bed, where Dean was splayed, pretty much dead to the world. If his brother knew he put not one, but four ancient Greek dudes in his sentence (and it actually made sense to the common folks), Dean’s finger would most certainly find its way to him with that customary roll of his eyes. You walking encyclopedia of weirdness, you.
But that aside, yeah. Now instead of nothing, he had mountains of stuff to wade through from online games, p2p software and even rock bands before he could get to the real stuff. And after a long night, he was still tossing off trash left and right. Around 3 am, he deserted the computer and turned to books but just after dawn, he decided there wasn’t much to find there either. The problem was, he didn’t know if he was looking for an amulet, a hex bag, a weapon, whatever. He had less to work with before, but this was the first time he had so many leads that ended up as nothing. He pushed through, forced himself to find something, anything, but around 1500 A.D. and he still hadn’t found anything solid, he pushed everything aside and stretched, working out the kinks from his neck and shoulders.
After hours of peering into the computer and hunched over dusty volumes, lying down and closing his eyes seemed like an awesome idea indeed. Yeah sleep, Sam stretched again and yawned, blinking slowly in the lightening shadows. He turned towards the empty bed and something stopped him as he frowned at his brother. Speaking of sleeping, Dean had been sleeping a lot nowadays. His brother was not the type to catch a nap during the day but he’s been sleeping whenever he could these days. It was like he didn’t sleep the last few months and now he was sleeping whenever he could.
Damn you Dean, now who is the stubborn one? It wasn’t like he’s purposely prying. He of all people knew there’s some stuff you have to keep hidden and some you can’t even breathe a word of to anyone. Never mind, Sam stumbled towards his bed, he was too tired to rationalize anything right now.
Sam staggered to his bed and kicked his shoes off. He was out even before his head hit the pillow.
~*~
Three weeks into the siege, he decided to let everything slide and pretend that the roof incident never happened. So what if Max decided to continue her destructive Romeo and Juliet relationship with Logan? Her call, not his. It’s not like he had any say in her life and he had no desire to partake in her Logan-is-God’s-Right-Hand-Man debate. He wanted her back in his life and if she was the proud President of Logan’s fangirl club, he just needed to find a way to deal and live with it.
Alec knew avoiding her was not the best decision he had ever made but he needed the distance to study the problem objectively and right now his problem was her. Taking her out of the equation seemed logical at the time but now... he needed her back, as a friend or her punching bag or whatever status she deemed preferable. With that thought he made his way to HQ; part impatient, part scared.
‘Heya Alec!’ Fox hailed him from afar. His shock of unruly straw-coloured hair fell into strikingly blue wide-set eyes. ‘Thanks for helping me find a place to stay, man. I owe you for that.’
‘I’ll look around, something should come up soon.’ Housing was starting to become a problem as Alec found out. Trying to get everyone under a roof, preferably one without a hole in it, was not easy.
‘Uh... you might wanna know this. She’s here.’ Fox’s eyes darted towards the closed door. News travelled fast, even among the genetically engineered. Word on the street was blazing with why their two leaders were not seeing eye to eye. Literally.
‘Yeah, General Ice Stick’s been foaming at the mouth, itching to sink her teeth into your ass.’ There was no love lost between the huge lizard-man and their esteemed leader. Mole hefted one of the shotguns towards a table and prepared to clean the piece.
‘Thanks guys.’ Alec continued towards her office. Behind him, the other transgenics froze in shock.
The lizard-man stopped chewing his cigar stub, his eyes darting from the office to the man walking towards it. Beside him, Fox dragged a stool over and sat dejectedly. ‘Man, I forgot to tell him the Ordinary was in there with her.’
‘Good job three-oh-one. Just to let you know, I’m blaming you if they kill each other.’ Mole pulled the gun closer to him. If the future war erupted and claimed casualties, he’d be ready. It’d be stupid of him not to go armed at this point. If worse came to worst, he didn’t want to go down without a fight.
‘It’s Fox,’ the blond man corrected half-heartedly, his eyes fixed on Alec’s back. ‘Do you think any of them will come out alive?’
Alec gripped the doorknob and was about to announce his arrival (one less thing for Max to tear into him later on) when wisps of conversation wafted to his side.
‘...the reason I’m in this, Max. I love you. Please say you’ll marry me.’
At that moment, his heart sounded very loud in his head. He was backing away when he heard the two words.
‘Logan, yes...’
He didn’t need to hear the rest. Without delay, he turned to the waiting faces and forced himself to walk towards them, a fake grin hiding the turmoil underneath. ‘Guess what Fox? I found you a place.’ His hand delved into his jacket before he tossed a key at the stricken transgenic.
‘But this is...’
‘It’s empty now. Enjoy the place.’
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Next Part is here..