In which the Winchesters are very, very confused.
[Cowritten with smart_alec494. Sam = imnot_likeyou, “Ben” is an NPC. Just some more SPN/DA crack. Fun times.]
494 didn't get it. It was the one thing on this mission that he just flat out didn't understand. Why the sewers? It was, in 494's opinion, against everything in an X5. Even a stone crazy one.
It was closed in, had no view, stank to high heaven. And then there were those piles of. . .of goo everywhere. It made him want to up chuck.
The nest itself made sense to him. At least it would if he were as delusional as his twin. Manticore mantras and a well tended arsenal. The part that really creeped him out though was the tattooers tools. Or more accurately what they were used for. He couldn't stop his hand from coming up to cover his own barcode.
"Suicidal nut case is what you are."
"So the guy's holed up in there, huh?" Dean said with a glance over at his brother as they armed up from the trunk of the Impala. It'd been over ten years since Dean'd first had his face stolen by a shapeshifter, and he'd be damned if they still didn't enjoy passing it around. Not that he minded all that much. He was happy to fight a normal monster as oppose to a demon or something worse -- he'd lost his taste for demons during the war to stop the end of the world -- but he still would appreciate if they would look past the fact that he was a handsome son of a bitch and just let him be.
"That's what all the signs point to," Sam said with a nod. "Tracked him back here after his last kill. Which -- was really something else."
"Don't have to tell me -- I was there, remember?" Dean slipped the gun with the silver bullets into his pants at the small of his back before closing the trunk behind them and looking down at the manhole in front of them. "Well, after you, Sammy."
Sam rolled his eyes before dropping down through the hole and waiting for his brother to follow him. Dean slid down soon after and they started to make their way towards where the lair was located, flashlights lighting up the sewer in front of them. By the time they reached the entrance to his holding room, they were surprised to find him already there -- they thought they were going to be doing the lying in wait thing for a while. Dean reached for the gun at his back, before leveling it at the kid in front of him.
"You really think that we were going to keep letting you kill people?"
494 had been waiting, admittedly a little baffled by the sounds of two people. Unless his crazy twin had already brought back his next victim. But instead, what did he get? Two civvies. Two armed civvies. Who apparently thought he was his twin. He raised an eyebrow. "Two things. First I don't care about what you do or don't want to let me do. Second, I really don't think I'm the guy you think I am." The gun pointed at him? Not something he was worried about. It wouldn't even ricochet down here. Not with the crumbling cement.
"Oh, really?" Dean wasn't amused. "So you just happen to have the same face as the guy who stole mine, which really -- I get that I'm a fantastic looking son of a bitch and a damn good scapegoat, but I'm really starting to get sick of it of paying for what you assholes are doing."
Sam just hung back, covering his brother's back while he watched the shifter from his place in the doorway. He would correct his brother and say that they weren't quite stealing his face -- they were making him look younger on top of that, but he figured that now wasn't really the time.
494's head tipped curiously noting the resemblance once it was pointed out to him. "I guess I could see it. You know if I was old." Not that it really mattered to him. The Colonel was older than this dude, and he wouldn't count him out. The face thing did creep him out a bit but no one else needed to know that. "And no I didn't happen to have the same face. It's called genetics smart ass. And since you want to talk about paying prices? Back the hell off. I've got a prior claim." He leaned back against the wall and tapped a knuckle against the tray holding the tattooing pen. "So why don't you take yourself, and your attitude back upstairs. At least there’s fresh air there. And let me deal with the homicidal, suicidal evil twin."
Sam and Dean just looked at each other for a moment, confused, before looking back at the kid in front of them. "What do you mean, 'evil twin'?" Sam asked. Maybe this was another hunter that had already caught the trail? But that didn't explain how the guy looked like he could have been Dean's kid.
"Are you deficient? Keep up with the class. If I'm not the crazy person, but I look like the crazy person, then clearly the crazy person is the evil twin."
"Yeah, well -- " Dean and Sam looked at each other again, before Dean held up a finger. "Hold on a sec."
Both he and Sam turned around, turning their backs to the kid while they conferred the subject. "You did check the tapes, right?"
"Yes, I checked the tapes, Sam," Dean hissed, giving his brother a look. "The eyes flashed -- shifter. Plus the hunks of skin all over the place -- it's gross, but we definitely know what we're dealing with here."
"Right," Sam said with a sigh. "So -- who the hell is he?"
"Ya got me," Dean replied, before glancing over his shoulder again. "Not a hunter -- I know that much. A hunter wouldn't be referring to him as an evil twin and not at least be sarcastic about it."
"Okay," Sam nodded, before licking his lips a bit. "So what do we do?"
"Why do I have to be the one to come up with the plan?"
"He's your mini-me, dude. You talk to him."
Dean shot Sam a look, before turning back around to face the kid again. "Look, kid -- what's your name?"
"You serious?" Yeah he could hear everything they said.
Dean paused for a second. "About which part?"
"Dude, how is having my name going to help you out any?" It didn't help that he didn't have a name to give.
"Just figured it'd be easier than calling you 'kid' all the time," Dean replied, giving him a look. "But if that's how you want to be known, fine. Kid works too."
"You wouldn't have to call me anything if you would just go away. Or if you want I could leave you here to be the next victim in his weird suicidal ideation kick." He gave them a cheerful smile.
Dean returned the smile with a thin smirk, before shaking his head. "We aren't going anywhere. We got a job to do, and we're going to do it. And trust me, kid -- you've got no idea what you're dealing with."
"Funny, I was going to tell you the same thing." After that he got bored with standing there and started to poke around. The little shrine set up around the icon card for the Virgin Mary bothered him more than a little. The weapons laid out in Manticore taught precision made him want to shake his head.
Dean watched him as he moved through the room, not really sure what to say to that, so Sam decided to take the lead again. "Do you have an actual twin?"
"No. He's imaginary." He waved a hand. "This is a figment of your imagination. Its the fumes or something. Yes I have a twin." Were these people slow?
Light bulbs went off over both the Winchesters heads, and Dean groaned slightly, running a hand over his face, as he turned to walk away from his brother and the other guy, before Sam tried to explain. "Yeah -- this isn't your twin. Someone's -- pretending to be him."
"Oh, yeah, that's believable. You thought I was trying to pretend to be you. Your opinion is automatically suspect at this point, dude." The dark didn't bother him, as his cat eyes adjusted instantly. It was sound tactics, and he had expected it.
"It's called a skin walker," Dean replied, ignoring the fact that he had just been told that his opinion was jack. "They're these ugly ass things that like to take the forms of other people in order to have them take the fall for their crimes. Robberies, rapists -- serial killers." He put a little extra emphasis on the last one, before continuing to sweep his flashlight around the place. "If the guy has decided to impersonate your twin, then your twin isn't the one killing all those people -- he's just taking the fall for it."
From out in the darkness beyond the reach of the flashlight. "And here I was so careful to sign my work." The voice was identical to who Sam and Dean had been speaking to. But from the wrong direction. "I think I'm hurt."
Both hunters heads snapped up and two flashlight beams moved in the direction of the voice. "What? You thought we wouldn't figure out what you are, just because you were a tattoo artist on top of it?" Sam replied, aiming his flashlight right for the face, trying to verify that the person speaking was indeed a shifter. All it would take was seeing the eyes change and he and Dean would know what they were working with.
And there he stood, making no attempt to hide. "You have no idea what I am." He took a casual step forward. "It's really impolite to have a party and leave the host out, you know."
494 let the lot of them chitchat as he faded back to a less visible position.
"Mmm, so what -- you stole this poor kid's memories, and now you think you have the right to take up his cause?" Dean gave him a look, before shaking his head slightly. "Doesn't work that way. You ain't him -- you're just a cheap, bargain brand imitation."
The grin was amused and predatory. "I'm afraid that there's nothing cheap about me. And I'm the original. Even have the price tag to prove it."
494 wished he'd been given permission to terminate the smug asshole. He really, really did.
"Yeah, I don't buy that for a second," Dean replied. "We've watched you work. We've seen you change -- on camera. And -- " He made his way over towards one of the other ends of the room, nudging the something that had a bit of a wet plop! sound to it. "And we know where you shed. You aren't his twin."
Sam just smirked. "Not even close."
"He's twin? I have a twin?" His head tilted like he was listening. The grin widened. "Would that be the third person here?"
494 wanted to beat the shorter of the two civvies to death. 493 hadn't known he had a twin.
Dean and Sam looked between each other again, before shaking their heads. How does someone not know they have a twin. Even with the shapeshifters downloaded memories, they should have been able to figure out that one. "Nope. Just someone we talked to on the way. You've upset a good deal of people."
"Get out now, before I change my mind about letting you go." His eyes skittered over to the shrine, but at least they hadn't disturbed Her. They wouldn't draw another breath if they had.
494 slipped the tranq gun free from the shoulder holster his had it in. His twin was loosing his cool and didn't have enough training to keep a hold of his temper apparently.
"No," Dean replied. "Not if you're going to keep on hurting people."
"They all have a choice. If they have no faith I don't want them. She doesn't want them. So tell me. Do you have faith?" He asked like this was a perfectly normal conversation.
494 wanted the civvies to make the first move. To occupy 493's attention when he used the confusion to take him out. 493 wouldn't make the first move. It wasn't how they hunted. This wasn't a discussion any more. it was a hunt, he could tell by the way his twin's weight shifted.
"I've got faith in a lot of things," Sam said with a shrug, looking him over. "Depends what you mean."
"The Lady." He nodded his head to the shrine and the icon card of the Virgin Mary. "Do you believe."
Of course, Sam's answer might qualify as a first move to crazy twin. 494 was getting impatient.
Sam followed his eyes back, before nodding. "Yeah, I do. Believe in the whole garrison of heavenly hosts."
"Fought beside 'em once," Dean said with a thin look. "And we know for a fact that killing people? Isn't really the way she'd want you to express your faith."
"She speaks to me." That was all it took to dismiss Dean's words. "I'll let you keep the flashlights." He moved to the side of the tunnel. "Run."
Neither of the Winchesters moved.
"Have it your way." And then he moved, faster than they could see and kicked the flashlight from Dean's hand with enough force to shatter the bulb and simply snatch it from Sam and turned it off plunging them into the dark.
494 waited.
Dean grumbled slightly, waiting for his eyes to adjust to whatever dim light was left as he started to go for the lighter in his pocket. "See stuff like that? Really only pisses me off."
"I told you to run. You didn't listen." The hit Dean felt to the face was a love tap. More mocking than anything else.
"Okay. Not nice to play with people." That was 494. And, predicatably 493 turned to face him. Leaving himself wide open for just a second. Lack of propper training.
Dean took the hit and didn't stumble much, but moved back towards his brother in a way that would keep him balanced still. Sam caught him by the shoulder, and he managed to finally pull out his hand and get the lighter going, trying to figure out where the guy was and at least let them all see a little better.
494 took the shot.
And 'Ben' dodged. "Not to nice trying to shoot your brother."
"Don't flatter yourself traitor." Clearly he was going to have to slow this guy down or he wasn't going to get a clean shot. He circled slowly.
Dean and Sam looked at each other for a moment, before starting to back away from the two of them. That didn't seem to be something they wanted to get in the middle of. "Traitor?" Dean hissed, and Sam gave his brother a shrug, before turning their attention back to the two "brothers," and Dean tried to keep the lighter going so they could see at least.
'Ben's really hadn't learned any patience. Or the real Ben hadn't so this one couldn't pick any up. He only allowed things to continue for a moment before striking out. 494 blocked it easy, spun and slammed an elbow into 'Ben's' ribs. "Not as much fun, when you're on the wrong end of the hunt is it?"
"You're always on the wrong end. They have you on a leash. Just a trained killer." He leaped back out of 494's reach.
Dean and Sam just watched as things played out in front of them, not wanting to interfere until the time came. Sam's hand reached into his pocket, pulling out the silver knife he had on him, waiting for the right opportunity.
"Better than what you are." After that 494 didn't bother to talk much. He had some aggression to work out. The two fell into almost a rhythm which picked up speed as they learned how the other moved. Sam would have been hard pressed to find an opening given how fast they were moving.
And Sam was hanging back, trying to find it but not getting there. He gave Dean an exasperated glance, and Dean just shrugged back at him, trying to figure out where he was supposed to go from there.
About them was when 494 changed tactics slightly. 'Ben' was fighting like he was taking on a particularly difficult human. Not like he was facing one of his own kind. He had never faced another X5 not that 494 actually knew that. 494 did the simplest thing an X5 could do. He blurred. It only took seconds to get a solid upper hand and he immediately grabbed his twin by the arm and swung him face first towards a wall. And he did it as hard as he could. There was so much momentum in the move that he almost fell on his ass when his grip slipped. His twin slid right from his hand leaving behind a sizable patch of wet sloughed off skin. "Gross!" It was heartfelt and 494 shook his hand and almost lost his lunch.
And that was the nail in the shifter's coffin. Sam leapt forward, moving to grab the monster around the neck, pulling him back against him before driving the knife straight down into his heart, finishing the job.
'Ben' died with wide startled eyes that drifted towards the shrine before closing. 494's eyes were equally as large and almost as afraid. Then he moved. Sam was shoved off with enough force to send him well clear of the body by several feet. He searched frantically for a pulse and when he found none he pulled the knife free with a growl and with out pause he flipped the blade and threw in. It would have pinned Sam's shirt rather effectively tot he ground unless Sam was damned fast. 494 was pissed but he didn't need a body count higher than what he already had. He sat back on his heels and surveyed the disaster.
Sam dodged the knife as best he could, but he was still a bit out of breath from when he hit the ground. Both he and Dean looked at him with wide eyes. "What the hell?" Dean growled, giving him a look. "If that's how you thank people for keeping you from winding up dead, then I think next time we should just let the shifter axe you."
"Fuck you." He wiped his hand, and man that was so gross, on his pants, and pressed the back of on wrist to his mouth as he tried to quell the panic of a mission he couldn't complete as instructed. He tried to think. And came up blank. Both hands were jammed back through his hair as he still crouched there over the body. "Fuck!"
Dean and Sam glanced at each other for a moment before starting to move closer to him. "I think we're missing something here. He's dead. He won't keep killing people. What's the problem?"
"He wasn't supposed to die." He laughed. "Oh and his skin is peeling off. That's just great. Just great."
Dean made a face at that, before kicking the body to the side. "Look -- he isn't your twin. And why did you need him alive anyway?"
"Yeah, and exactly how do you plan on proving he isn't my twin, huh?"
Sam and Dean looked at each other again, before Dean reached forward, grabbing a hold of the guy's ear and tugging -- hard. The ear came off in his hand and he held it up, before looking back at the kid. "I don't think that's supposed to come off."
"I'm gonna puke."
"I don't blame you," Dean replied, dropping it down again.
"Just. . .get gone. Because I don't think you want to be here for the party I'm about to call down here."
Dean watched him for a minute, before turning back to his brother. "C'mon Sammy, let's go. I need a shower."
"Yeah, sure," Sam said with a nod, letting Dean to help him to his feet, before glancing over at the kid again. "You gonna be okay?"
"I'm always okay."
Sam watched him for a moment, before Dean nudged his brother again. "C'mon. Let's go." And with that they headed back into the sewer, looking for the way they came in.
494 waited until he absolutely couldn't head them at all and then went topside enough that his cell worked and called in the troops. And braced himself for the consequences.
494 didn't get it. It was the one thing on this mission that he just flat out didn't understand. Why the sewers? It was, in 494's opinion, against everything in an X5. Even a stone crazy one.
It was closed in, had no view, stank to high heaven. And then there were those piles of. . .of goo everywhere. It made him want to up chuck.
The nest itself made sense to him. At least it would if he were as delusional as his twin. Manticore mantras and a well tended arsenal. The part that really creeped him out though was the tattooers tools. Or more accurately what they were used for. He couldn't stop his hand from coming up to cover his own barcode.
"Suicidal nut case is what you are."
"So the guy's holed up in there, huh?" Dean said with a glance over at his brother as they armed up from the trunk of the Impala. It'd been over ten years since Dean'd first had his face stolen by a shapeshifter, and he'd be damned if they still didn't enjoy passing it around. Not that he minded all that much. He was happy to fight a normal monster as oppose to a demon or something worse -- he'd lost his taste for demons during the war to stop the end of the world -- but he still would appreciate if they would look past the fact that he was a handsome son of a bitch and just let him be.
"That's what all the signs point to," Sam said with a nod. "Tracked him back here after his last kill. Which -- was really something else."
"Don't have to tell me -- I was there, remember?" Dean slipped the gun with the silver bullets into his pants at the small of his back before closing the trunk behind them and looking down at the manhole in front of them. "Well, after you, Sammy."
Sam rolled his eyes before dropping down through the hole and waiting for his brother to follow him. Dean slid down soon after and they started to make their way towards where the lair was located, flashlights lighting up the sewer in front of them. By the time they reached the entrance to his holding room, they were surprised to find him already there -- they thought they were going to be doing the lying in wait thing for a while. Dean reached for the gun at his back, before leveling it at the kid in front of him.
"You really think that we were going to keep letting you kill people?"
494 had been waiting, admittedly a little baffled by the sounds of two people. Unless his crazy twin had already brought back his next victim. But instead, what did he get? Two civvies. Two armed civvies. Who apparently thought he was his twin. He raised an eyebrow. "Two things. First I don't care about what you do or don't want to let me do. Second, I really don't think I'm the guy you think I am." The gun pointed at him? Not something he was worried about. It wouldn't even ricochet down here. Not with the crumbling cement.
"Oh, really?" Dean wasn't amused. "So you just happen to have the same face as the guy who stole mine, which really -- I get that I'm a fantastic looking son of a bitch and a damn good scapegoat, but I'm really starting to get sick of it of paying for what you assholes are doing."
Sam just hung back, covering his brother's back while he watched the shifter from his place in the doorway. He would correct his brother and say that they weren't quite stealing his face -- they were making him look younger on top of that, but he figured that now wasn't really the time.
494's head tipped curiously noting the resemblance once it was pointed out to him. "I guess I could see it. You know if I was old." Not that it really mattered to him. The Colonel was older than this dude, and he wouldn't count him out. The face thing did creep him out a bit but no one else needed to know that. "And no I didn't happen to have the same face. It's called genetics smart ass. And since you want to talk about paying prices? Back the hell off. I've got a prior claim." He leaned back against the wall and tapped a knuckle against the tray holding the tattooing pen. "So why don't you take yourself, and your attitude back upstairs. At least there’s fresh air there. And let me deal with the homicidal, suicidal evil twin."
Sam and Dean just looked at each other for a moment, confused, before looking back at the kid in front of them. "What do you mean, 'evil twin'?" Sam asked. Maybe this was another hunter that had already caught the trail? But that didn't explain how the guy looked like he could have been Dean's kid.
"Are you deficient? Keep up with the class. If I'm not the crazy person, but I look like the crazy person, then clearly the crazy person is the evil twin."
"Yeah, well -- " Dean and Sam looked at each other again, before Dean held up a finger. "Hold on a sec."
Both he and Sam turned around, turning their backs to the kid while they conferred the subject. "You did check the tapes, right?"
"Yes, I checked the tapes, Sam," Dean hissed, giving his brother a look. "The eyes flashed -- shifter. Plus the hunks of skin all over the place -- it's gross, but we definitely know what we're dealing with here."
"Right," Sam said with a sigh. "So -- who the hell is he?"
"Ya got me," Dean replied, before glancing over his shoulder again. "Not a hunter -- I know that much. A hunter wouldn't be referring to him as an evil twin and not at least be sarcastic about it."
"Okay," Sam nodded, before licking his lips a bit. "So what do we do?"
"Why do I have to be the one to come up with the plan?"
"He's your mini-me, dude. You talk to him."
Dean shot Sam a look, before turning back around to face the kid again. "Look, kid -- what's your name?"
"You serious?" Yeah he could hear everything they said.
Dean paused for a second. "About which part?"
"Dude, how is having my name going to help you out any?" It didn't help that he didn't have a name to give.
"Just figured it'd be easier than calling you 'kid' all the time," Dean replied, giving him a look. "But if that's how you want to be known, fine. Kid works too."
"You wouldn't have to call me anything if you would just go away. Or if you want I could leave you here to be the next victim in his weird suicidal ideation kick." He gave them a cheerful smile.
Dean returned the smile with a thin smirk, before shaking his head. "We aren't going anywhere. We got a job to do, and we're going to do it. And trust me, kid -- you've got no idea what you're dealing with."
"Funny, I was going to tell you the same thing." After that he got bored with standing there and started to poke around. The little shrine set up around the icon card for the Virgin Mary bothered him more than a little. The weapons laid out in Manticore taught precision made him want to shake his head.
Dean watched him as he moved through the room, not really sure what to say to that, so Sam decided to take the lead again. "Do you have an actual twin?"
"No. He's imaginary." He waved a hand. "This is a figment of your imagination. Its the fumes or something. Yes I have a twin." Were these people slow?
Light bulbs went off over both the Winchesters heads, and Dean groaned slightly, running a hand over his face, as he turned to walk away from his brother and the other guy, before Sam tried to explain. "Yeah -- this isn't your twin. Someone's -- pretending to be him."
"Oh, yeah, that's believable. You thought I was trying to pretend to be you. Your opinion is automatically suspect at this point, dude." The dark didn't bother him, as his cat eyes adjusted instantly. It was sound tactics, and he had expected it.
"It's called a skin walker," Dean replied, ignoring the fact that he had just been told that his opinion was jack. "They're these ugly ass things that like to take the forms of other people in order to have them take the fall for their crimes. Robberies, rapists -- serial killers." He put a little extra emphasis on the last one, before continuing to sweep his flashlight around the place. "If the guy has decided to impersonate your twin, then your twin isn't the one killing all those people -- he's just taking the fall for it."
From out in the darkness beyond the reach of the flashlight. "And here I was so careful to sign my work." The voice was identical to who Sam and Dean had been speaking to. But from the wrong direction. "I think I'm hurt."
Both hunters heads snapped up and two flashlight beams moved in the direction of the voice. "What? You thought we wouldn't figure out what you are, just because you were a tattoo artist on top of it?" Sam replied, aiming his flashlight right for the face, trying to verify that the person speaking was indeed a shifter. All it would take was seeing the eyes change and he and Dean would know what they were working with.
And there he stood, making no attempt to hide. "You have no idea what I am." He took a casual step forward. "It's really impolite to have a party and leave the host out, you know."
494 let the lot of them chitchat as he faded back to a less visible position.
"Mmm, so what -- you stole this poor kid's memories, and now you think you have the right to take up his cause?" Dean gave him a look, before shaking his head slightly. "Doesn't work that way. You ain't him -- you're just a cheap, bargain brand imitation."
The grin was amused and predatory. "I'm afraid that there's nothing cheap about me. And I'm the original. Even have the price tag to prove it."
494 wished he'd been given permission to terminate the smug asshole. He really, really did.
"Yeah, I don't buy that for a second," Dean replied. "We've watched you work. We've seen you change -- on camera. And -- " He made his way over towards one of the other ends of the room, nudging the something that had a bit of a wet plop! sound to it. "And we know where you shed. You aren't his twin."
Sam just smirked. "Not even close."
"He's twin? I have a twin?" His head tilted like he was listening. The grin widened. "Would that be the third person here?"
494 wanted to beat the shorter of the two civvies to death. 493 hadn't known he had a twin.
Dean and Sam looked between each other again, before shaking their heads. How does someone not know they have a twin. Even with the shapeshifters downloaded memories, they should have been able to figure out that one. "Nope. Just someone we talked to on the way. You've upset a good deal of people."
"Get out now, before I change my mind about letting you go." His eyes skittered over to the shrine, but at least they hadn't disturbed Her. They wouldn't draw another breath if they had.
494 slipped the tranq gun free from the shoulder holster his had it in. His twin was loosing his cool and didn't have enough training to keep a hold of his temper apparently.
"No," Dean replied. "Not if you're going to keep on hurting people."
"They all have a choice. If they have no faith I don't want them. She doesn't want them. So tell me. Do you have faith?" He asked like this was a perfectly normal conversation.
494 wanted the civvies to make the first move. To occupy 493's attention when he used the confusion to take him out. 493 wouldn't make the first move. It wasn't how they hunted. This wasn't a discussion any more. it was a hunt, he could tell by the way his twin's weight shifted.
"I've got faith in a lot of things," Sam said with a shrug, looking him over. "Depends what you mean."
"The Lady." He nodded his head to the shrine and the icon card of the Virgin Mary. "Do you believe."
Of course, Sam's answer might qualify as a first move to crazy twin. 494 was getting impatient.
Sam followed his eyes back, before nodding. "Yeah, I do. Believe in the whole garrison of heavenly hosts."
"Fought beside 'em once," Dean said with a thin look. "And we know for a fact that killing people? Isn't really the way she'd want you to express your faith."
"She speaks to me." That was all it took to dismiss Dean's words. "I'll let you keep the flashlights." He moved to the side of the tunnel. "Run."
Neither of the Winchesters moved.
"Have it your way." And then he moved, faster than they could see and kicked the flashlight from Dean's hand with enough force to shatter the bulb and simply snatch it from Sam and turned it off plunging them into the dark.
494 waited.
Dean grumbled slightly, waiting for his eyes to adjust to whatever dim light was left as he started to go for the lighter in his pocket. "See stuff like that? Really only pisses me off."
"I told you to run. You didn't listen." The hit Dean felt to the face was a love tap. More mocking than anything else.
"Okay. Not nice to play with people." That was 494. And, predicatably 493 turned to face him. Leaving himself wide open for just a second. Lack of propper training.
Dean took the hit and didn't stumble much, but moved back towards his brother in a way that would keep him balanced still. Sam caught him by the shoulder, and he managed to finally pull out his hand and get the lighter going, trying to figure out where the guy was and at least let them all see a little better.
494 took the shot.
And 'Ben' dodged. "Not to nice trying to shoot your brother."
"Don't flatter yourself traitor." Clearly he was going to have to slow this guy down or he wasn't going to get a clean shot. He circled slowly.
Dean and Sam looked at each other for a moment, before starting to back away from the two of them. That didn't seem to be something they wanted to get in the middle of. "Traitor?" Dean hissed, and Sam gave his brother a shrug, before turning their attention back to the two "brothers," and Dean tried to keep the lighter going so they could see at least.
'Ben's really hadn't learned any patience. Or the real Ben hadn't so this one couldn't pick any up. He only allowed things to continue for a moment before striking out. 494 blocked it easy, spun and slammed an elbow into 'Ben's' ribs. "Not as much fun, when you're on the wrong end of the hunt is it?"
"You're always on the wrong end. They have you on a leash. Just a trained killer." He leaped back out of 494's reach.
Dean and Sam just watched as things played out in front of them, not wanting to interfere until the time came. Sam's hand reached into his pocket, pulling out the silver knife he had on him, waiting for the right opportunity.
"Better than what you are." After that 494 didn't bother to talk much. He had some aggression to work out. The two fell into almost a rhythm which picked up speed as they learned how the other moved. Sam would have been hard pressed to find an opening given how fast they were moving.
And Sam was hanging back, trying to find it but not getting there. He gave Dean an exasperated glance, and Dean just shrugged back at him, trying to figure out where he was supposed to go from there.
About them was when 494 changed tactics slightly. 'Ben' was fighting like he was taking on a particularly difficult human. Not like he was facing one of his own kind. He had never faced another X5 not that 494 actually knew that. 494 did the simplest thing an X5 could do. He blurred. It only took seconds to get a solid upper hand and he immediately grabbed his twin by the arm and swung him face first towards a wall. And he did it as hard as he could. There was so much momentum in the move that he almost fell on his ass when his grip slipped. His twin slid right from his hand leaving behind a sizable patch of wet sloughed off skin. "Gross!" It was heartfelt and 494 shook his hand and almost lost his lunch.
And that was the nail in the shifter's coffin. Sam leapt forward, moving to grab the monster around the neck, pulling him back against him before driving the knife straight down into his heart, finishing the job.
'Ben' died with wide startled eyes that drifted towards the shrine before closing. 494's eyes were equally as large and almost as afraid. Then he moved. Sam was shoved off with enough force to send him well clear of the body by several feet. He searched frantically for a pulse and when he found none he pulled the knife free with a growl and with out pause he flipped the blade and threw in. It would have pinned Sam's shirt rather effectively tot he ground unless Sam was damned fast. 494 was pissed but he didn't need a body count higher than what he already had. He sat back on his heels and surveyed the disaster.
Sam dodged the knife as best he could, but he was still a bit out of breath from when he hit the ground. Both he and Dean looked at him with wide eyes. "What the hell?" Dean growled, giving him a look. "If that's how you thank people for keeping you from winding up dead, then I think next time we should just let the shifter axe you."
"Fuck you." He wiped his hand, and man that was so gross, on his pants, and pressed the back of on wrist to his mouth as he tried to quell the panic of a mission he couldn't complete as instructed. He tried to think. And came up blank. Both hands were jammed back through his hair as he still crouched there over the body. "Fuck!"
Dean and Sam glanced at each other for a moment before starting to move closer to him. "I think we're missing something here. He's dead. He won't keep killing people. What's the problem?"
"He wasn't supposed to die." He laughed. "Oh and his skin is peeling off. That's just great. Just great."
Dean made a face at that, before kicking the body to the side. "Look -- he isn't your twin. And why did you need him alive anyway?"
"Yeah, and exactly how do you plan on proving he isn't my twin, huh?"
Sam and Dean looked at each other again, before Dean reached forward, grabbing a hold of the guy's ear and tugging -- hard. The ear came off in his hand and he held it up, before looking back at the kid. "I don't think that's supposed to come off."
"I'm gonna puke."
"I don't blame you," Dean replied, dropping it down again.
"Just. . .get gone. Because I don't think you want to be here for the party I'm about to call down here."
Dean watched him for a minute, before turning back to his brother. "C'mon Sammy, let's go. I need a shower."
"Yeah, sure," Sam said with a nod, letting Dean to help him to his feet, before glancing over at the kid again. "You gonna be okay?"
"I'm always okay."
Sam watched him for a moment, before Dean nudged his brother again. "C'mon. Let's go." And with that they headed back into the sewer, looking for the way they came in.
494 waited until he absolutely couldn't head them at all and then went topside enough that his cell worked and called in the troops. And braced himself for the consequences.