Prodigal Son - Prologue - AWV #11
Title: Prodigal Son
Author: Jinni (jinni.tth@gmail.com)
Rated: R
Disclaimer: All things Dark Angel belong to James Cameron, et al. All things SPN belong to Eric Kripke, et al.
Notes: The eleventh story in the AWV, following “Tears of a Clown”.
Summary: Alec returns to Seattle with Dean & Sam in tow. Will this be the end of their happy family?
Prologue
They left just as evening was beginning to set in, the sun a fading memory on the horizon, blotted out by trees and piles of car parts Bobby had stacked up around the yard. The plan was to take turns driving until they got there, and they managed to make it through an entire rotation before Dean had gotten twitchy and demanded to be the only one doing the driving, no matter how tired he was.
Alec was still jittering from Joshua’s phone call, nervous energy just under the skin. Hands fisted in his pockets, face tight. He was trying to act like he was calm, that he wasn’t really worried. And he wasn’t. Not about the Max thing anyway. Either he’d get her out of wherever she was… or he wouldn’t. Either way, it was no skin off his back. She’d been a real bitch to him most of the time, a genuine pain in the ass at others.
Wasn’t like he’d miss her or anything.
The real reason for his nerves lay with the two guys in the front seat of the rickety old car they’d borrowed from Bobby. Dean and Sam. His brothers by blood and genetics, even if they technically didn’t have the same parents and hadn’t been raised with him.
They both knew about who and what he was - but only to an extent. They’d never asked the harder questions, and he damn sure hadn’t volunteered the information. Hell, they’d only seen him in a real fight once, maybe twice, and never full out, using everything he could do - everything he’d been trained to do. John had known more, but he was gone now. Didn’t matter anyway. Alec was pretty damn sure even Dad wouldn’t have handled the complete, unedited truth very well. If at all.
And, yeah, he wanted to believe that Sam and Dean wouldn’t turn their backs on him, wouldn’t look at him like nothing more than a weapon or an assassin or the fucking murderer that he kind of sort of was, but he really couldn’t say for sure what would happen. It wasn’t like he’d always played for the good guys, and going back to Seattle would hammer that truth home one way or the other.
There was another ten hours worth of driving until they got to Seattle, and Alec was still struggling with whether or not to just come clean about everything he could think of. What Manticore had made him do to ‘earn his keep’ as one of their special soldiers.
Like a coward, he kept his mouth shut. If he got lucky, there’d be no reason for them to know. He wasn’t the same person now that he’d been back when he was in Manticore. Didn’t even genetic freaks deserve a second chance?
~*~
“Nice place,” Dean drawled, the car moving slowly through the dirty city streets Alec had been all too happy to leave behind. The sun had started to rise as they first entered the city, using passes that had hurriedly been cobbled together from a source Bobby knew an hour’s drive outside Washington state, getting nothing more than a quick glance from the tired patrol on duty.
Alec snorted, and his voice dripped with sarcasm, “Home sweet home.”
It was too early for most people to be up and around, so the streets were empty of all but the truly homeless, the partiers just heading home after a long night out, and those jokers stupid enough to have gotten jobs where getting up this early was actually required. As far as Alec was concerned, not having to get up early in the morning was one of the biggest advantages to not living under Manticore’s thumb anymore. It ranked right up there with getting to do whatever the hell he wanted on the big list of ways he was better off now than he’d been then.
It was the kind of list that he didn’t plan on ever sharing with Maxie. Not when she’d just take it as one more piece of evidence on the side of righteousness, proving once more that she’d done the right thing. Of course, if they didn’t find her in one piece, it really wasn’t going to matter, was it? There was a part of him that felt guilty for not feeling worse about the idea of Maxie getting hurt or, hell, even dying, but it wasn’t like she’d ever tried to be friends with him. Okay, or vice versa. They’d gotten off on the wrong foot and never bothered to even try to move past it. Her fault, not his. That chick had a stick up her -
“Hey, man, you still with us?” The rise of Sam’s voice broke Alec out of his self-induced stupor. He turned his head, eyes leaving the littered city streets, to look at Sam. The middle Winchester brother had turned around and was watching him over the back of the seat, worry showing on a crease in his forehead.
Alec smirked and played it off. “Was just thinking how I never thought I’d miss wide open spaces and fields of corn. You know, that fresh, clean, manure-scented air. But now we’re here, and I can’t wait to get back.”
It was the truth insomuch that it wasn’t a lie. From the second they’d hit the Washington state line he’d wanted nothing more than to turn around and head back to the Midwest or, fuck, even somewhere like Texas.
Dean laughed. “I know what you mean. This place isn’t usually our scene.” Alec could hear the frown in his voice. “Wonder why there isn’t more supernatural crap happening in big cities.”
Maybe Seattle didn’t get a lot of that ‘crap’ because it had problems of its own. Lots of problems, Alec thought and grimaced, turning so that he could look out the window again as the car crept through the pre-dawn streets. He half-listened as his brothers shot theories back and forth, but he had nothing to add to the conversation and a whole hell of a lot of things to think about.
He’d killed three people two blocks over from here. In a warehouse where a deal was going down. Local crime lords that had managed to get their hands on some Manticore intel and wanted to use it to cash in. A get rich quick scheme if he’d ever heard one. The poor bastards hadn’t stopped for one fucking second to even consider that Manticore wouldn’t just hand over what they wanted. Alec had taken two of them out before the third even realized what was happening. He’d looked into the last man’s blue, blue eyes and pulled the trigger. Bullet to the head.
Then he’d cleaned his gun, stepped carefully around the bodies and growing pools of blood, and gone back. Job well done, 494.
One zone over he’d played the role of a new intern at an up-and-coming company specializing in, surprise surprise, genetic research. They hadn’t had any Manticore secrets to speak of. No, they’d had their own secrets, and Manticore had a hard-on for them. Four people had died that night. Even now, he could still remember the way it had felt to twist the CEO’s head around, the spine snapping like a twig.
Alec told Dean to turn, then turn again, slowly directing him through the city. It didn’t even take thought. Perfect memory, after all. Just another useful skill for a Manticore tool to have. They’d trained him to be what he was, and he’d only felt bad about it once, with Rachel.
Until now.
Now he could feel guilt and a sick sense of what did I do churning away in his gut, right alongside a healthy dose of what could only be fear. Not something he’d really ever felt that often before. So little, in fact, that the novelty of it shook him for another minute while he continued to give Dean directions.
His brothers would leave him when he found out, and he’d be alone. Again.
Alec frowned and sat up a little straighter. Whatever. It had been a good ride, right? Having a family for once, people that he actually wanted to be around and, fuck, cared about?
Didn’t mean he wouldn’t do just fine on his own again when the time came. He sure as hell wasn’t going to rush it by coming clean about everything, laying out his twisted past for them, but he’d deal with it when it happened. Put on a mask of indifference, act like it didn’t care what they thought of him.
And then he’d be gone from their lives, just like he knew they’d want.
“Here,” he said, pointing up ahead and to the right. “That’s Joshua’s place.”
The car rolled to a stop, the engine cutting out with a low grumble and then a cough. Alec hoped that Sam and Dean had at least thought about how they were going to get back to Bobby’s, because this piece of shit wasn’t going to make it even halfway.
The door to the house opened as they piled out of the car. Slowly, quietly. Dean and Sam didn’t even notice. Alec could see the shape looming in the doorway, though. Watching, remembering.
Then - “Alec! You came!” And Joshua was lumbering down. Alec braced himself for the back-wrenching hug he knew was coming, just as Sam and Dean sucked in startled breaths.
Right. He probably should have warned them about Joshua.
END PROLOGUE
Author: Jinni (jinni.tth@gmail.com)
Rated: R
Disclaimer: All things Dark Angel belong to James Cameron, et al. All things SPN belong to Eric Kripke, et al.
Notes: The eleventh story in the AWV, following “Tears of a Clown”.
Summary: Alec returns to Seattle with Dean & Sam in tow. Will this be the end of their happy family?
Prologue
They left just as evening was beginning to set in, the sun a fading memory on the horizon, blotted out by trees and piles of car parts Bobby had stacked up around the yard. The plan was to take turns driving until they got there, and they managed to make it through an entire rotation before Dean had gotten twitchy and demanded to be the only one doing the driving, no matter how tired he was.
Alec was still jittering from Joshua’s phone call, nervous energy just under the skin. Hands fisted in his pockets, face tight. He was trying to act like he was calm, that he wasn’t really worried. And he wasn’t. Not about the Max thing anyway. Either he’d get her out of wherever she was… or he wouldn’t. Either way, it was no skin off his back. She’d been a real bitch to him most of the time, a genuine pain in the ass at others.
Wasn’t like he’d miss her or anything.
The real reason for his nerves lay with the two guys in the front seat of the rickety old car they’d borrowed from Bobby. Dean and Sam. His brothers by blood and genetics, even if they technically didn’t have the same parents and hadn’t been raised with him.
They both knew about who and what he was - but only to an extent. They’d never asked the harder questions, and he damn sure hadn’t volunteered the information. Hell, they’d only seen him in a real fight once, maybe twice, and never full out, using everything he could do - everything he’d been trained to do. John had known more, but he was gone now. Didn’t matter anyway. Alec was pretty damn sure even Dad wouldn’t have handled the complete, unedited truth very well. If at all.
And, yeah, he wanted to believe that Sam and Dean wouldn’t turn their backs on him, wouldn’t look at him like nothing more than a weapon or an assassin or the fucking murderer that he kind of sort of was, but he really couldn’t say for sure what would happen. It wasn’t like he’d always played for the good guys, and going back to Seattle would hammer that truth home one way or the other.
There was another ten hours worth of driving until they got to Seattle, and Alec was still struggling with whether or not to just come clean about everything he could think of. What Manticore had made him do to ‘earn his keep’ as one of their special soldiers.
Like a coward, he kept his mouth shut. If he got lucky, there’d be no reason for them to know. He wasn’t the same person now that he’d been back when he was in Manticore. Didn’t even genetic freaks deserve a second chance?
~*~
“Nice place,” Dean drawled, the car moving slowly through the dirty city streets Alec had been all too happy to leave behind. The sun had started to rise as they first entered the city, using passes that had hurriedly been cobbled together from a source Bobby knew an hour’s drive outside Washington state, getting nothing more than a quick glance from the tired patrol on duty.
Alec snorted, and his voice dripped with sarcasm, “Home sweet home.”
It was too early for most people to be up and around, so the streets were empty of all but the truly homeless, the partiers just heading home after a long night out, and those jokers stupid enough to have gotten jobs where getting up this early was actually required. As far as Alec was concerned, not having to get up early in the morning was one of the biggest advantages to not living under Manticore’s thumb anymore. It ranked right up there with getting to do whatever the hell he wanted on the big list of ways he was better off now than he’d been then.
It was the kind of list that he didn’t plan on ever sharing with Maxie. Not when she’d just take it as one more piece of evidence on the side of righteousness, proving once more that she’d done the right thing. Of course, if they didn’t find her in one piece, it really wasn’t going to matter, was it? There was a part of him that felt guilty for not feeling worse about the idea of Maxie getting hurt or, hell, even dying, but it wasn’t like she’d ever tried to be friends with him. Okay, or vice versa. They’d gotten off on the wrong foot and never bothered to even try to move past it. Her fault, not his. That chick had a stick up her -
“Hey, man, you still with us?” The rise of Sam’s voice broke Alec out of his self-induced stupor. He turned his head, eyes leaving the littered city streets, to look at Sam. The middle Winchester brother had turned around and was watching him over the back of the seat, worry showing on a crease in his forehead.
Alec smirked and played it off. “Was just thinking how I never thought I’d miss wide open spaces and fields of corn. You know, that fresh, clean, manure-scented air. But now we’re here, and I can’t wait to get back.”
It was the truth insomuch that it wasn’t a lie. From the second they’d hit the Washington state line he’d wanted nothing more than to turn around and head back to the Midwest or, fuck, even somewhere like Texas.
Dean laughed. “I know what you mean. This place isn’t usually our scene.” Alec could hear the frown in his voice. “Wonder why there isn’t more supernatural crap happening in big cities.”
Maybe Seattle didn’t get a lot of that ‘crap’ because it had problems of its own. Lots of problems, Alec thought and grimaced, turning so that he could look out the window again as the car crept through the pre-dawn streets. He half-listened as his brothers shot theories back and forth, but he had nothing to add to the conversation and a whole hell of a lot of things to think about.
He’d killed three people two blocks over from here. In a warehouse where a deal was going down. Local crime lords that had managed to get their hands on some Manticore intel and wanted to use it to cash in. A get rich quick scheme if he’d ever heard one. The poor bastards hadn’t stopped for one fucking second to even consider that Manticore wouldn’t just hand over what they wanted. Alec had taken two of them out before the third even realized what was happening. He’d looked into the last man’s blue, blue eyes and pulled the trigger. Bullet to the head.
Then he’d cleaned his gun, stepped carefully around the bodies and growing pools of blood, and gone back. Job well done, 494.
One zone over he’d played the role of a new intern at an up-and-coming company specializing in, surprise surprise, genetic research. They hadn’t had any Manticore secrets to speak of. No, they’d had their own secrets, and Manticore had a hard-on for them. Four people had died that night. Even now, he could still remember the way it had felt to twist the CEO’s head around, the spine snapping like a twig.
Alec told Dean to turn, then turn again, slowly directing him through the city. It didn’t even take thought. Perfect memory, after all. Just another useful skill for a Manticore tool to have. They’d trained him to be what he was, and he’d only felt bad about it once, with Rachel.
Until now.
Now he could feel guilt and a sick sense of what did I do churning away in his gut, right alongside a healthy dose of what could only be fear. Not something he’d really ever felt that often before. So little, in fact, that the novelty of it shook him for another minute while he continued to give Dean directions.
His brothers would leave him when he found out, and he’d be alone. Again.
Alec frowned and sat up a little straighter. Whatever. It had been a good ride, right? Having a family for once, people that he actually wanted to be around and, fuck, cared about?
Didn’t mean he wouldn’t do just fine on his own again when the time came. He sure as hell wasn’t going to rush it by coming clean about everything, laying out his twisted past for them, but he’d deal with it when it happened. Put on a mask of indifference, act like it didn’t care what they thought of him.
And then he’d be gone from their lives, just like he knew they’d want.
“Here,” he said, pointing up ahead and to the right. “That’s Joshua’s place.”
The car rolled to a stop, the engine cutting out with a low grumble and then a cough. Alec hoped that Sam and Dean had at least thought about how they were going to get back to Bobby’s, because this piece of shit wasn’t going to make it even halfway.
The door to the house opened as they piled out of the car. Slowly, quietly. Dean and Sam didn’t even notice. Alec could see the shape looming in the doorway, though. Watching, remembering.
Then - “Alec! You came!” And Joshua was lumbering down. Alec braced himself for the back-wrenching hug he knew was coming, just as Sam and Dean sucked in startled breaths.
Right. He probably should have warned them about Joshua.
END PROLOGUE