Photo courtesy of Supernaturalfan.net

*****

When he opened his eyes all Alec could see was an expanse of smooth gray metal illuminated by twilight. The surface felt cool beneath his bare outflung arm and was hard beneath his rib cage. He was lying on his stomach, his cheek against the floor. There was a faint hum in the air -- a normal sound part of his mind assured him -- and a slight vibration. However, it was the scent in the air (and there was air) that told the X5 where he was -- a staleness and ozone cleansed aroma that indicated he was still on the starship.

He’d failed. But then why am I still alive?

His head was aching fiercely, and Alec was glad for the dim light as he slowly sat up and tried to focus his eyes.

I fixed it, words whispered in his mind. Life support is repaired and oxygen levels are returning to normal.

How long? Alec wondered. How long have I been unconscious? He glanced over at the digital clock on the night stand but the numbers were flashing like they did when there’d been a power failure. And then he saw Max still lying on the bed. She was breathing too, and her coloring had returned to normal.

Alec closed his eyes and offered up a little prayer to whomever was listening.

You’re welcome, Talon whispered in his mind, and the X5’s lips quirked in a small smile. Although his brother-ship wasn’t exactly whom he had in mind, he probably did deserve the credit.

Getting stiffly to his feet, Alec half walked, half staggered to the bed. “Max,” he said, shaking her gently. “Wake up.”

Eyelids flickered, opened, and dark pupils contracted as she focused. “What happened?” she said hoarsely, raising one hand to her forehead. “Alec, what’s going on?”

“We almost suffocated. Someone wanted us all dead so they tampered with life support, but Talon apparently pulled a miracle out of his mechanical ass and managed to fix the damage ... probably used the nanobots. We’ve got air again.”

Alec remembered the bodies lying in the hallway then and moved to the cabin door. However, when he opened it there was nothing except an empty expanse of corridor as far as he could see. The X5 moved to a wall com unit and pressed a button. “Dix,” he said. “Do you copy?”

Silence.

“Bridge? This is X5-494. Do you copy?”

No answer.

“Talon,” he tried. “Give me a status report on the ship’s crew.”

“There are three life signs on board not including myself,” Talon replied through the speaker.

Alec’s brow burrowed. “Where’d everyone go?”

“I don’t know.”

Alec looked back through the open hatch doorway at a wide-eyed Max. “He said three. Where’s our third?”

“On the hangar deck in a Raptor preparing for takeoff,” Talon replied.

“What the fuck?” Alec muttered. Then, “And the fleet? Status?”

“No longer on my sensors,” Talon said, the synthesized human voice managing to convey puzzlement that Alec felt tenfold in the emotions in his head.

Alec was tempted to order the Raptor’s launch stopped, but he also knew he needed to know what was going on. “Max, come on!” he called. “Bridge!”

The two X5s emerged on Talon’s bridge three minutes later and Alec stopped so quickly Max literally ran into him. Jaw open and slack, he gaped at the empty, quietly winking stations. There wasn’t a soul in sight. However, even more astonishing was the view through the giant glass port window. There, big as life, was Earth spinning a beautiful green, white, and blue beneath them instead of the pale sickly yellow it had been when the fleet had left its orbit all those weeks ago.

“Where is everyone?” Max breathed by his side. “How did we get here?” Then, more harshly, “Alec, what did you do?”

Off to the left a Raptor came into view, headed for the atmosphere below, and a cold feeling gripped Alec’s stomach, making the pain in his head even more pronounced. “Oh shit,” he said softly. “Shit, shit, shit,” he reiterated, pounding a fist on the console. “Talon, what year is this?”

“Two thousand six,” Talon said rather matter-of-factly over the ship’s speakers.

“Oh, shit,” Alec repeated, face paling as he dropped into the captain’s chair.

*****

“Alec,” Max said, her throat tight with fear and her voice shaking with worry bordering on lethal anger. This time she enunciated every word. “What. Did. You. Do?”

She waited ... wanted ... to hear him say “Nothing,” but the way his eyes collided with hers made her gut clench.

“Alec ...”

He looked away ... guiltily ... out the window at Earth below. Then he took a deep breath, closed his eyes (as if he could hide from her that way), and ‘fessed up. “I used Sam’s spell,” he said quietly.

“You what?”

“I read the damn spell that Sam brought with him from the past,” he snapped. Off her astonished look, he added, “What? You know I’ve got a good memory. I re-created it then read it out loud just before--” He gestured around them.

“For God’s sakes why?” Max said, gripping the back of one of the console chairs because suddenly her legs were shaky.

“Because we couldn’t breathe?” Alec snarked, his eyes narrowing defensively. “Max, we were gonna die. All of us on the ship. It was sabotage. Our own creators wanted us dead. I knew it was an incredible long shot. Hell, I didn’t think it would work -- not in a million years -- but at the time ...” He shrugged. “It just seemed like the thing to do and now--” He looked out the window again. “At least we’ve got air.”

“But where’s everyone else?” Max demanded, still not quite able to grasp the enormity of what the other X5 had apparently done.

Alec’s brows drew down in a puzzled scowl. “I have no idea.”

“And who was in that Raptor?”

Alec shook his head, his hazel-green eyes as puzzled as hers.

“Talon,” Max said to the air around them. “What year is this again?”

“Two thousand six,” the placid voice replied.

“Be specific,” she snapped.

“October 31, 2006,” Talon said.

“Halloween,” Alec said softly. “Figures.”

“Why?” Max implored of her mate. “Why did you pick this date?”

“I didn’t. All I did was read the damn spell, Max. I had no control over where it would send us. I guess I kind of hoped I’d end up far enough in the past to keep what happened from happening.”

“You mean the ship losing its air?”

Alec looked at her intently. “Set your sights a little higher, Maxie. To keep the Earth from bein’ destroyed by our snake friends.” He looked down at the planet. “Maybe even to keep The Pulse from happenin’. Now, that would throw a wrench in their domination plans, wouldn’t it?”

“So,” Max said, “again, I ask, why are we here? Now?”

Alec made a wry face. “I kind of imagine I’m here at least ‘cause of Sam ... maybe even Dean. Remember how Sam said the spell seemed to hone in on the closest DNA, and that it’s a real hit or miss thing?”

“But why not just you?” Max pounded. “And why Talon and whomever was in that Raptor?”

Alec shook his head, his eyes narrowing as if with pain, and Max realized he had a headache. “DNA I guess,” he said softly. “We’d just made love, Max. Part of me was inside of you. As for Talon ...” He looked up and around the bridge area, his eyes softening. “Hell, part of him’s my brother, right? Guess we all got caught up for the ride.”

“And the other ship?” Max insisted.

“Not a clue,” Alec replied. “It’s not like we had a threesome.”

She hit the side of his head with the flat of her hand, hard.

“Ow!” he yelped, backing away. “Jeez, Max. At least we’re breathin’. Give me some credit there.”

“We can never get back,” she lamented, tears filling her eyes as she realized the enormity of their predicament. “Our friends ... our family ...”

“Will still be alive and a whole lot happier if we can change things to the way they should be,” Alec said, the words sounding as if he were trying to convince himself of that as much as her.

“They won’t be the same people.”

Alec looked away, not arguing. And then she heard his quiet, “I know.” He swallowed hard, his Adams apple bobbing as he added, “Maybe now all we can do is try.” His voice was gruff but sincere as he stared down at the Earth, his usual smart ass personality overwhelmed by the enormity of their predicament.

But of course 494 had a plan. (He always had a plan, albeit not always a good one.) Alec looked directly at her. “Max,” he said, licking his lips (the air of the ship was desert dry), I have this really strong gut feeling that we need to start by findin’ my long lost kin. Sam will help us. I know he will.” Then he simply waited, probably for her to tell him he was crazy. However, 452 didn’t think that at all.

“If he remembers us,” Max said as she put her hands on Alec’s shoulders and leaned her body against his.

*****

“This doesn’t make sense,” Alec said, scowling.

Max looked at him askance, eyebrows raised. “You’re going to have to be more specific,” she said. “If you come right down to it, our whole lives don’t make sense.”

Alec was watching a news broadcast on one of the bridge monitoring screens Talon had picked out of the ether -- a KTLA morning sports report from Los Angeles. “Sammy Sousa’s been indefinitely benched for steroid use.”

It took a moment for that to sink in, then Max scowled as well. “So, how does he go on to break all those home run records?” she asked.

“He doesn’t,” Alec said simply. “At least not in this timeline. Max, I fucked up. We’re in the wrong place. We don’t belong here. This isn’t our past. We’re not gonna be able to help anyone, no matter what we do or change.”

“There are too many variables,” she breathed, leaning over his shoulder and watching the news. “Too many ways the timeline can split, trillions ... quadrillions ...” Her voice trailed off.

Alec rubbed his eyes and stretched, trying to shake off the exhaustion. They’d both been awake for nearly three days, gathering data and trying to figure out what to do next. Talon, although cooperative, really wasn’t much help other than by providing information. The brain ship was relying completely on his transgenic counterparts when it came to making decisions, like a child looking to its parents for guidance.

“So,” Max ventured, “we still want to find Sam, right?”

“He’s probably what landed us in this time,” Alec said. “If that’s how the spell works.”

“So, why didn’t it bring us right to him?” Max said. “Like it brought him to you.”

“That would have been cute,” Alec said snidely. “Talon parked in the lot of a Motel Six along Highway whatever.”

“Okay hotshot, then where do we start looking for Sam?”

“Talon searched the police data bases,” Alec said wearily, dropping into one of the seats and looking up at her. “I didn’t think Sam would be usin’ his real name, but he’s in there. So’s Dean.”

“And?”

“In this timeline Dean was killed in St. Louis six months ago. Sam was reported as a missing persons by a cousin later on, but the case was closed.”

“Dean’s dead?”

“Looks like.”

“So Sam would be ...?”

Alec shrugged.

“Alec, whether we find Sam or not, we’ve got to live here. You know that, don’t you?”

A single nod as the X5 dropped his face into his hands.

“Maybe we can still do some good in our lifetime,” Max continued, looking out at the blue Earth below. “Maybe we can stop Manticore ... stop the Pulse ... stop the Familiars.”

Alec glanced up and made a wry face. “You mean play God?”

“I mean that maybe we’re here for a reason, Alec. If we change enough in this world, at least one of our future worlds might not be such a bad place.”

“And if we just go down to Earth, lay low, and live our lives?” he ventured.

“Could you do that? Knowing what’s going to happen?”

A small smile played on Alec’s lips. “Max, I could be a rich man after the Pulse, knowin’ what I know now. You and I could be billionaires. All we’d have to do is steal enough cash to buy stock in the right businesses and be certain our data is backed up and protected against the EMP. Shares of Exxon were worth a fortune in our time, not to mention food commodities and utility stock. Hell, we could even buy stock in Cale Enterprises. Look at the killing it made for Logan’s family.”

“In other words, look out for ourselves?

He didn’t deny it.

Max shook her head. “I can’t, Alec. I can’t just sit by and watch it all happen again knowing I might be able to change things.”

“You want to stop The Pulse?” he said, feeling tired again, his brief moment of entrepreneurship jubilation vanishing as quickly as it had surfaced.

“Yes. And I also want to stop Manticore.”

“Which leads to an interesting question, Max,” Alec reminded her. “You and me ... what if we’ve got doubles down there? We’d just be children, but if Manticore exists there’s probably a 452 and 494 in training right now out in Gillette. And if we stop Manticore, what happens to our other-selves? And if they die what happens to us?”

“I don’t know,” Max said. “Just like I don’t know a lot of other answers. But we’ve got to warn ... somebody.”

Alec took a deep breath, then let it out, resigning himself to the fact he might as well not sweat the small stuff -- like possible doppelgangers -- because if he did he’d go insane. “First things first,” he said quietly, dangling his hands between his knees as he eyed the winking lights of the myriad data stations on Talon’s bridge. “You and I go down and get situated ... money ... I.D. ... a base of operations ... just like we’re establishing ourselves for a long term assignment. Then, once we’re stable, we see how things go. I mean, we’ve got three years, Max, before The Pulse even happens.”

“And what about Talon?” Max said, looking up and around the ship.

“Talon can take care of himself,” Alec said, feeling assured of that if nothing else. With his radar absorbing surface he won’t be detected by the military -- not unless he’s physically spotted and I think we’re in too high of an orbit for that. He could probably float around up here for hundreds of years if he has to so long as his solar energy panels hold up. And besides,” Alec touched a forefinger to his right temple, “it’s not like we’ll be out of touch. We’ll use the micro transmitters when we can, but if we’re afraid of being overheard or the signal blocked it’s not like I can’t reach him.”

“Can we land a Raptor without being shot down?” Max asked.

“The other one made it, didn’t it?” Alec said, referring to the ship with its mystery passenger that left Talon shortly after they “arrived.”

“Do you think that was Lydecker?”

“Be my guess,” Alec said with a shrug, climbing to his feet and realizing he really did have to sleep. “’Deck’s a tough old bird and it would be just like Fate to laugh at us and saddle you and me with his sorry ass in this world too.”

“What will he do down there?”

Off that question Alec just looked at her.

*****

One day later the two displaced X5s walked into a small tavern in Wabash, Colorado, their eyes adjusting quickly to the dim light of the place that seemed almost familiar. It really was just like every other bar Alec had been in with its background music, chatting crowd of diverse patrons, click of pool balls, and the strong scent of alcohol mixed with the sweat of humanity.

Sidling up to the bar, 494 ordered a Scotch, neat, from a pretty bartender while Max said “Beer.” In Alec’s pocket was a wad of cash pick-pocketed from half a dozen unsuspecting victims as he and Max had wended their way through a crowded bus terminal located five miles from the national park where he’d silently set their Raptor down in a densely wooded area. Although he didn’t like to think of himself as a thief, it really was the quickest way to enter this new society. The credit cards would help as well, at least until the owners got them canceled. Next up would be transportation ...

Alec took a sip of his drink and was about to comment on the “oldies” music playing in the background when he saw Max staring toward the far end of the long wooden bar. Blinking once, his pupils widened, automatically zeroing in on the face of the man who’d caught 452’s attention. “Max,” he said. “Is that ...?”

“It can’t be,” Max breathed. “He’s dead. Not to mention the odds of us running into him.”

The handsome young man Max had been staring at suddenly looked their way, and Alec quickly turned away, hiding his own face. “Miracles aside, this could be incredibly awkward,” he said under his breath.

“Tell me about it,” Max replied. “We don’t even know if Sam ever told Dean about you, or if this is even the same Sam we knew.”

Alec glanced around, hoping to see his younger “brother” somewhere in the crowd.

“Oh, God,” Max whispered. “He’s looking at me.”

Not knowing what else to do, Alec grabbed his drink and slid off the stool.

“Where are you going? He’s coming this way!”

“Not far,” Alec assured her. “I’ll see if Sam’s around. Just ... keep him occupied for a few minutes.” Alec chanced a glance back over his shoulder at his twin. “Max, tell me my hair doesn’t stick up like that.”

“In the morning it does, bed head boy,” Max hissed. “Now get out of here before he sees you. Damn, this is beyond weird.”

“Tell me about it,” Alec muttered as he self-consciously turned up the collar on his leather jacket and melted into the crowd.

*****

“Can I buy you a drink?” Dean Winchester said to Max Guevera, the look of lust in his eyes something the beautiful X5 had encountered many times before from men.

“Sure,” she said carefully, unable to keep from looking over her shoulder hoping to see Alec nearby. However, she couldn’t spot him.

Her mate’s twin brother slid onto the stool next to her. “Another beer?” he said, nodding at Max’s nearly empty glass.

“Sure,” she said again cautiously.

“What’s a beautiful girl like you doing sitting all alone in a dump like this?” Dean said.

“Waiting for a better pickup line than that,” Max automatically snarked.

“Ouch,” Dean said, pretending to be hurt, then grinning.

“What’s a good looking guy like you doing picking up strange women?” she returned.

“I’m just passing through town,” Dean said. “Part of my job. But I’m always on the lookout for talent.”

“Talent?”

“I represent a talent agency,” Dean said. “My transportation broke down yesterday and I’m killing time until I can get back on the road. However, it looks like my misfortune could be lucky for you.”

Oh brother, Max thought, almost rolling her eyes at the lame lines.

“My agency is in the market for new clients,” Dean continued as the bar keep brought Max another beer. He took a sip of his own whiskey, swallowed, and licked his lips in a gesture so much like Alec it made Max do a double take. “Is there someplace private where we could go and talk,” he asked boldly.

Down boy. “I’m just passing through town, too,” Max said, her voice cooling.

“Are you traveling alone?”

“Are you?” Max shot right back.

“Actually, I’m with my brother,” Dean said, and Max’s hopes rose. This meant Sam was around after all, which could make things a whole lot easier.

“What’s your name?” Dean asked.

“Max,” Max said carefully, watching to see if that meant something to him, but those hazel-green eyes didn’t so much as widen.

“Dean,” he said. “Dean Anderson.”

“Not the actor,” Max said automatically.

Dean grinned. “Sci-fi fan, huh?”

“Something like that,” Max said, wondering where the hell Alec had gone to.

“So,” Dean pressed. “Are you ... interested.”

“In what?” Max said, deliberately baiting him while at the same time marveling at both the similarities as well as the differences between the twin brothers. Physically, Dean was almost a carbon copy of Alec (and Ben), right down to his freckles and sharp wit. However, the man seated in front of her moved in a slightly different way from an X5 ... his reflexes not quite as sharp and his alertness level a notch lower. The eyes were eerily the same as well, but Alec’s had a touch more ... light ... in them, a fire that came from his hybrid genetics. However, Dean’s voice ... that was what was throwing her. Alec had a drawl too, at times, perhaps not as pronounced, but the tone and timber was so close it was uncanny. Then there was the five o’clock shadow of a beard. Both men wore it well ... worked it. She took a deep breath, inhaling Dean’s one hundred percent human scent, reassuring herself that he was, indeed, a totally different person from the man she slept with.

“What are you staring at?” Dean asked. “Don’t tell me I’ve got somethin’ caught in my teeth.”

“No,” Max said quietly. “It’s just that you remind me of someone.”

“Who?”

“Your brother.”

Dean’s brows drew down. “You know my brother?”

“Yes.”

The young man’s eyes moved toward the restroom. “You’ve met Sam?”

“Yes. But that’s not the brother I was referring to.”

Hazel-green eyes narrowed suspiciously and that alertness level Max had noted earlier upped a notch putting Dean closer to Alec’s demeanor. Straightening his back, he pressed his lips together. “What are you talkin’ about?”

*****

Alec spotted Sam coming out of the men’s room and grabbed his arm, quickly and forcefully drawing him back into an alcove.

“Dean!” Sam groused, jerking free. “What are you--” And then he looked closer -- and his blue-green eyes widened. “You’re supposed to be dead,” Sam said through clenched teeth, at the same time backing away. “We killed you in St. Louis.”

Alec had no idea what Sam was talking about. “Wrong door,” he said. “It’s Alec. Remember? Your brother from the future?” And then Alec held his breath. If Sam didn’t remember him things were going to get very complicated very quick.

Sam’s chin rose a fraction, the suspicion not leaving his eyes but a little bit of understanding dawning. “That’s impossible,” he whispered harshly.

“I used your spell,” Alec said. “It brought me here -- to your time.”

Sam’s head rose even higher. “My dreams,” he breathed softly. “This is what they meant ... why Dean and I came back to Colorado. I was drawn to you just like I was then.”

“Lovely,” Alec said dryly. “And whatever. But the point is, Max and I need help. We’re sort of stranded, plus we might be able to stop some pretty awful stuff from happenin’.”

“You came back in time to fix your own world?” Sam said, his voice not as incredulous as it probably had a right to be.

“Worked for you, didn’t it?” Alec shot back, nodding toward Max and Dean who were still sitting at the bar talking. “I mean, I gather you got back in time to save him? Or at least this version of you did.”

Sam’s eyes followed Alec’s and he gulped. “Oh, God,” he said. “Dean’s trying to pick her up.”

“Undoubtedly. I mean, it’s probably what I’d do. But don’t worry. Max can handle him.” He turned his attention back to Sam. “I gather my twin bro doesn’t know about me?”

“Of course not,” Sam said. “I mean, it all seemed like a dream to me anyway. And how could I begin to explain?”

“Well then, bro,” Alec said, slapping the taller young man on the back. “I think it’s time for introductions all around.”

*****

“No, really. With the contacts I have out in L.A. I can really help you get places, sweetheart.”

Max was about to give up in despair and slug Alec’s flirtatious twin in the jaw when she looked up and saw Sam and 494 crossing the floor toward them, Alec slightly hunched with hands stuffed in the pockets of his leather jacket and weaving between patrons, Sam ramrod straight with eyes riveted on Dean. “Thank God,” she said aloud.

“Well, actually, you can thank me,” Dean said smugly. “Now, how about another drink? And by the way, do you have an apartment or a room where we could go talk about the contract details in private?”

And then Dean raised his eyes -- and reached for the gun tucked in the waistband of his jeans beneath his coat.

“Whoa!” Sam shouted, putting himself between the twins and at the same time trying to conceal the firearm with his body so patrons wouldn’t become alarmed. “Dean, it’s not what you think!”

“That our shapeshifter friend is back?” Dean snarled, bringing the gun to bear only to have his arm pushed back down by Sam.

“Not a shapeshifter, Dean,” Sam said forcefully, his voice deep in an authoritative way he rarely summoned. “Alec’s a friend, not to mention a relative.” He nodded at 452. “And so’s Max.”

Max had moved to Alec’s side, her eyes sharp, her manner protective as she took hold of 494’s arm. The X5, for his part, was watching Dean Winchester warily -- a snake about to strike, but only if necessary.

“We need to go someplace to talk,” Sam said, his voice still commanding. Then he nodded toward the door. “Our hotel room will do.” To Alec “Do you two have transportation?”

“A stolen car,” Alec answered -- truthful.

“Leave it,” Sam said. “We don’t need trouble with the law.”

Dean, meanwhile, hadn’t put the Glock away, but he wasn’t waving it around any more either. “Sam,” he said tightly, his lips pressed together and his entire demeanor that of a soldier ready to spring. “What the hell’s goin’ on?”

“Long story,” Sam said, the words clipped. “But you’re gonna hafta trust me on this one, Dean, because it’s the only way you’re ever going to believe me.”