FIC: Black Mirror
So this thing pretty much ate my brain for the past week or so and I couldn't stop until it was finished, oy...
Title: Black Mirror
Author: memphis86
Pairings/Characters: Sam/Dean, Sam/Dean/Sam/Dean (it makes sense, I swear!)
Rating: NC-17 (I think it's R but I'm erring on the side of caution for *sex*)
Word Count: 6,449
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: I own nothing, really.
Summary: Sam and Dean encounter Sam and Dean.
Author's Notes: 90% inspired by the Arcade Fire song of the same name, as well as re-watching "Skin" and thinking about what Sam could have meant by "Dark Double".
"So, there's this indigenous legend I dug up," Sam said as his fingers clacked away on his laptop. Dean peered over the newspaper clippings and nodded for him to continue.
"Seems that the local tribes used to send their best and bravest warriors to the caves as part of an initiation ritual. The legend goes that whomsoever enters the cave will meet their match, and never return. The few people that did survive went on to become the leaders of their respective tribes and villages. They never would say anything more about what went on in the caves. Years ago, geologists used magnetic resonance images to map the cave system. While most of the cave has been explored, one of the chambers hasn't."
Dean sipped his coffee and glanced again at the article describing the strange disappearance of an Anthropology professor from the local university, Dr. Franz Luvic. Seems a month ago he went exploring the cave with some of his students. When they reached a chamber full of ancient cave drawings, Luvic freaked out and sent them all away. They waited for him to return for a day and then called the police. Luvic's body was never recovered.
When Dean had pressed the students to explain why they would abandon their professor inside a strange cave, one had sheepishly replied: "He said he'd flunk us all if we didn't leave." Sam and Dean had rolled their eyes but held their tongues.
"The local authorities say that section of the cave is blocked off because it's sacred to the natives. And the spokesman for the tribal council has never said it was off-limits to explorers or archaeologists. In fact, he encouraged it; repeating that the legend goes that those who can leave the sacred chamber are the true leaders of men."
Dean snorted and held out his cup for the waitress to refill his coffee.
"Think it's some kind of cave-monster?" Dean asked, "Like a Golem or Sentry guarding secrets, a treasure maybe?"
"Could be some kind of spirit in the cave, only letting the worthy pass. Or it's like going on a walkabout, the cave plays tricks on a person's mind until they figure out how to escape."
"So, why are we going after it now?"
"The professor came from a very influential family. They're demanding his body be located, and they've gone as far as to hire a team of explorers. They've been cleared by the authorities to investigate the cave system next week-"
"Which means, a bunch of people who don't know the first thing about haunted caves are gonna go in and not come out."
"Exactly, and what if they decide to destroy the cave? It could anger the spirits even more and then the whole town is screwed."
*****
It was just after sunrise when they pulled up to the cave entrance. Dean began filling their bags with any weapons they could use. Guns with iron and silver bullets, rock salt, knives, ropes, charms and lighter fluid. Sam was busy drawing the same route in red sharpie on the maps for himself and Dean.
"In case we get separated, here is the chamber said to be the one used in the rituals. Here's the path used by the ancients to enter, but as you can see there's many different paths that we could take. They all loop around and intersect each other, so we should use the center as a meeting point in case we get lost. I think we should explore the as many of the paths before entering the chamber, see if we can find the professor- or his body at the least."
Dean nodded as he clipped a light onto Sam's jacket pocket. He handed him another flashlight with fresh batteries. "Local guy at the supply shop said there should be light as we enter, but once we get deeper we'll hit total darkness."
"Gotcha," Sam said handing Dean his copy of the map. "Let's go."
*****
They'd been down in the caves for hours, following the first path. There were signs along the way warning explorers about the cave glyphs in some of the passages, asking them to avoid touching them or desecrating them in any way. There were arrows pointing to turn-offs where they could have easily walked away, and explored "safer" parts of the cave system. Sam and Dean stayed on their path, heading deeper and darker. Finally, all the ceiling openings were obstructed, and they were in pitch-blackness, save for their clip-lights.
When they finally approached what should have been the chamber entrance, they found it blocked by a wall of stones. Dean pressed against the stones but they were sealed tight. "Must've been a small cave-in." He said looking around for any kind of crack in the wall.
Sam whipped out his map, "If we backtrack about 40 meters, we can try to go in through another one of the paths."
"Hey Sam, lookit this!" Dean called from his right. Sam turned his light towards him and saw Dean standing in front of a shiny rock formation.
"What the-?" Sam stood by Dean's side, looking at the black glass hunk lodged in the cave wall. Even with the glare of their lights, he could just about make out their reflections.
"It's like a mirror." Dean said, "Weird, huh?"
"Dunno how it formed, it would have needed tremendous heat. In just this spot," Sam touched his hand to the cold glass, and his reflection followed suit. Tugging at the edges Sam added, "It's either fused, or it's part of the wall naturally."
"Yeah," Dean said waving his hand and watching as his reflection did the same. He furrowed his brow and did it again, slowly. It was weird, like his reflection was just a half-second off his actions. "Sam, did you see that?"
"Mmm-hmm, and look, mine can move both of his hands at once." Sam said smiling and wiggling his fingers.
"That's not what I meant, and yours too! It's- it's off, just a bit."
Sam turned around and aimed his light on his map. "C'mon, Dean. Now we have twice as much ground to cover, let's go."
Dean nodded and turned from his reflection and walked away.
The brothers headed down the chamber, unaware of the creatures stepping out from the black mirror.
*****
Dean tapped the light clipped onto his jacket; it was starting to flicker on and off. "Sonava- told me this was brand new, never used! Can't be outta juice," he muttered.
Sam was studying the map at the fork in their path, trying to determine which vein they had yet to explore. "If we go right here, we can double back to the other route easier if it's blocked like the last one." Sam said taking off to the right.
Dean picked up his head as his light continued to flicker. He shut it off and grabbed his flashlight out of his pocket, following the shadow of his brother, on the left path.
"Thought you said 'right' Sammy, why'd you hang this left?"
Sam said nothing, just kept walking forward.
Dean jogged quickly to catch up, trying to keep his flashlight aimed on the ground so he didn't trip over any rocks. "Sam, did you hear me?"
Sam just kept walking.
Dean was walking side by side with Sam now, watching the ground pass beneath him. The white light of his flashlight was setting off the gray of the stone floor. It was getting colder as they got deeper and Dean shivered a bit when his shoulder bumped Sam's-intentionally. Sam bumped him back, a little harder than usual.
Dean smiled and shook it off, clapping his brother's shoulder to get his attention to purposefully shine the flashlight right in his eyes.
"Hey Sammy, how much long-"
Dean stopped as the flashlight illuminated Sam's face. It was gray, almost the color of the cave floors. His hair was three shades too dark and his clothes were the same. Empty black holes where his eyes should have been. It stopped short when Dean did, cocked its head to one side and smiled.
Dean realized the chill he felt was coming off the creature and threw his hand off as if it had been burned. He stepped back until he could feel the cave wall against him. Sam's double approached him with a staggered walk.
"Y-you're not Sam." Dean said as he fished inside his jacket pocket for his knife.
The double regarded him with a strange look and stepped closer.
Dean took out his knife and slashed him across the cheek. "Where is he!?" He demanded.
The creature opened his mouth to speak, but the only sound was a breathy hiss.
*****
Sam had been studying the map, they were approaching another chamber entrance, as well as a turn onto the next path. He hated zigzagging like this but there had to be a way into the chamber.
And then Dean slashed the side of his face with a knife.
Sam lifted his head in time to see Dean, or what could have been Dean. It looked like all the color had been sucked out of his skin. He didn't have eyes, just empty black sockets. Sam managed to dodge his next attack, delivering a roundhouse that sent Dean to the side of the cave. Whatever spirit was infecting the cave must have gotten into Dean.
Sam took off ahead, hoping to gain some distance so he could get a weapon out but the creature followed. It made strange sounds, somewhere between a breath and a moan. It got close enough again and threw Sam to the ground. Straddling him he held the knife to his jugular and Sam could feel the icy breath against his face.
Sam could see his lips moving but couldn't make out any kind of words; the creature's movements were too jerky--crooked like the smile it flashed. Sam took hold of his arm and twisted it hard to one side, hearing it snap.
Sam swore he heard a yell and cursing as the creature rolled off of him, clutching its wounded arm. The sounds were too familiar to be a coincidence. "Dean?" Sam called out.
"Sam!?" Dean answered from behind him. Sam shone his light down the cave and saw the connecting pathway that brought the two separate routes together again. Dean must have gone down the left path instead of the right. Sam stood and ran towards the sound of Dean's voice, hearing footsteps following his.
Sam was greeted face-to-face with his own gray reflection. The same cut on his face, only on opposing cheeks. It was like looking into-
"The mirror," Sam concluded.
*****
"So the black mirror must have been what created these dark doubles. They mirror our every move." Sam said as he bandaged Dean's arm in the temporary sling while his double did the same to Dean's double.
"They even have copies of our gear, Christ, even my knife." Dean said as he thumbed Sam's cheek just below the cut. The other Dean did the same, only turning to flash them his toothy grin.
"Maybe this is the test, like the legend said. Everyone meets their match here, literally."
"So how do we get rid of 'em?"
"Well, we can't hurt them without hurting ourselves. I guess we just, let them follow us?"
"Yeah, into the chamber. Where all the people die; Sam, I'm thinking the test is to defeat them. We just-"
"Are you saying we kill ourselves? Dean it's never going to work."
"Sam, there's gotta be a way, a weapon they can't recreate. Maybe drop something on them or set a trap for one of them to walk into."
"Dean, for all we know they're only a temporary curse. Maybe they leave when we find a way into the sacred chamber?"
Dean pulled away from Sam and looked at his double, who met his gaze with a twisted smile. Dean reached into his jacket and the double did as well. They both pulled out a gun and aimed it dead on one another. Dean's hand shook as he turned the safety off. Other Dean cocked his gun, only his hand was steady.
"Dean!" Sam yelled.
Sam's double opened his mouth and breathed out deeply.
Both Deans then turned their guns to the cave ceiling and fired two shots, nearly simultaneously. It echoed throughout the chamber and the cave seemed to shake a bit.
"He's still off by a half-second, Sam."
"You are not shooting each other." Sam said snatching the gun from Dean's hand.
*****
Dean peered over his shoulder for the umpteenth time in an hour. He was walking next to Sam, and the doubles were following them. Only about seven feet separated them from each other.
Sam sighed, "Yes Dean, they're still following us. You can stop staring at them."
"Sam-"
"They're not going to make a move on us, they'll only mirror what we do."
"I don't trust it Sam, I don't like the way they look at us."
Sam laughed, "They don't look at anything Dean! They don't have any eyes."
"Yeah, well you know what I mean. They just turn their heads and smile and it creeps me the hell out, okay?"
"Fair enough, but you can't let it scare you like that."
"Did I say I was scared?" Dean snapped.
Sam held his hands up in defeat, Dean could see his double doing the same out of the corner of his eye. Were they moving closer to each other. "Well, excuse me for-"
"Sam, they're moving closer."
Sam looked behind him. "So?"
"So, they're moving closer to us."
"Dean, this is a test. You can't attack them without us getting hurt. The only way to get out of this is to ignore them."
"What if it's not that simple?"
"Dean,"
"Sam, it's two steps away from breathing down my damn neck. I think I have the right to be concerned." Dean said as he quickened his pace to put some more distance between them. "You keep brushing it off like it's no big thing but it's not. Dark doubles Sam, what did Dad always tell us about them?"
Sam sighed, "They kill their originals and try to assume their lives for sinister purposes."
"That's right."
"Dean, these aren't dark doubles, they're mirror images of us. You're as much a danger to them as you are to yourself."
Dean muttered something under his breath.
"What was that?"
"I said maybe I am!" Dean stopped and turned on his heel, his double catching up to him and meeting his gaze. It mirrored his body stance, the gestures of his (good) arm as Dean went on. "It's got my damn face Sam! It has all my weapons and it attacked you-"
"Because you attacked mine."
"It does everything we do, only off. Maybe not much at first--but I've been watching. Their steps are out of sync, it's not doing exactly what I do anymore." Dean waved his arm and his doubled followed a few seconds later, jerky movements attempting to mimic his own smooth ones.
"Maybe they're becoming less powerful the closer we get to the sacred chamber?" Sam offered.
"What if it's the other way around Sammy? Let's say that they're trapped in some kind of curse, and that's why they can only mirror what we do. What happens when they can move on their own?"
Sam regarded the two Deans, staring each other down, opposite arms in opposite slings. He looked at himself, looking at them. Until his double lifted his head to meet his own gaze, and smiled.
It was then that Dean threw himself against his double and pinned him to the wall by his throat. His double mirrored Dean, wrapping his own good hand around Dean's throat. They were choking the life out of one another and Dean's eyes were rolling back.
"Dean!" Sam went to pull them off one another as his double did the same. Between the two of them it was simple enough to get them separated.
"The hell were you thinking, Dean?" Sam almost cuffed him on the back of the head but missed as Dean dodged. He must have seen it coming from the other Sam across the room.
"I'm sorry Sam, I just couldn't help it. Something inside of me just lost it. I-I think I need to kill it, I just... I can't be near it."
Sam placed his hands on Dean's shoulders and looked him dad in the face. "Hey, look at me Dean." Dean met his eyes, "It's okay, we're going to figure this out."
Dean turned his head to one side, almost leaning on Sam's hand and closing his eyes. Sam took the cue and brought his hands up to the sides of Dean's face. "It's been hours Sam, we can't stop and rest with them here but-"
"I know," Sam's shoulders fell, letting himself feel the exhaustion of the miles that they had been walking.
Dean reached around for the back of Sam's neck with his good arm, slowly pulling him down to meet his mouth. Then just holding Sam close to him, forehead-to-forehead. Sam's hands moved to rest on Dean's chest, feeling the rise and fall of his breathing, and the steady pulse of his heartbeat. Sam could rest like this, standing up, eyes closed; just focusing on Dean's rhythm.
After a few minutes, Sam was able to pull away from Dean, watching their doubles across the room pulling apart. Sam shook his head, "That's just wrong."
"Wronger than-?" Dean asked cocking an eyebrow.
"Yeah, well it's weird. Like out-of-body-voyeurism."
Dean smirked. Sam's eyes went wide and he shook his head. "No, Dean! Dean c'mon that's not happening. One minute ago you were ready to waste them."
"I've grown so much since then."
Sam rolled his eyes and punched Dean's shoulder, "Pervert."
"You started it."
"I think we should split up."
"Okay, I take it back. Totally my fault."
"No, I think you're right, I think we shouldn't be faced with our own doubles. It's obviously going to cause a problem. There are only two more paths leading to the sacred chamber left to check. We'll each take one and hopefully meet there."
"And how are we supposed to know what happens to either one of us? Our cellphones have been out of service since we started in the cave."
Sam pressed his mouth together, and then smiled. He held up his hands and signed 'Like this.' His double did the same.
"Sam I told you, they're not perfect copies, they're not going to be reliable-"
"It's the best we can do for now. You're not going to attack my double and I'm not going to hurt yours. It'd be the same as hurting each other and neither of us wants to do that, right?"
Dean furrowed his brow tight; looking at Sam, the doubles, the map, until finally letting out a deep breath. "D'ya really think it's the best way to do this?"
"Yeah."
"Fine, but I still don't trust them as far as I can throw 'em."
"Fine," Sam nodded and went to stand in front of the entrance to the next pathway. His double mirrored this, but stood near the other side of the path. "Just... follow him, okay? Hopefully this will work and we'll split off again."
Dean nodded. "Be careful, Sammy."
The double of Sam looked behind him at Dean and grinned.
*****
"Y'know I can't exactly call you 'Sam', Not-Sam." Dean carried on as he followed the dark image of his brother. "I was thinking, 'What's the opposite of Sam?', and for some reason I think the opposite of Sam is 'Mans' because you are such a girl." Dean laughed to himself.
The joking and the speaking aloud was probably the only thing keeping Dean from freaking out as he descended deeper into the cave with his brother's doppelganger. He didn't say much, only paused ever so often to relay a change of direction from wherever Sam was. Neither he nor Dean had found Luvic's body or anything else of significance.
"'Course there's the obvious, 'Sam-I-am-not' or 'I-am-not-Sam'. The one I favor is the latter, obviously. Therefore, you are 'Not-Sam'. It's not just because you're not Sam, see there's a more complicated expla-"
Not-Sam went face first into a wall of stone and fell back against Dean, knocking him to the ground. Dean was flat on his back with Not-Sam lying on top of him, staring at the back of Not-Sam's neck.
"Ow," Dean shifted his good arm and pushed against Not-Sam until he rolled off of him and sat on the cave floor. Dean sat up and examined his arm, which was screaming from having his gigantic not-brother fall on him. Shaking it off, he checked out the wall Not-Sam had tried to walk through. "Damn it. This was not on the map..." He turned to Not-Sam and grabbed his shoulder, focusing his sight on him.
Dean signed. Dead end. Stuck. Have to go back out.
Not-Sam did a twisted impression of Sam huffing and signed back, Am 2 meters from center, chamber is open. Will check it out and meet you there. Turn around and head down 4.
Dean looked at the map and checked the paths Sam had marked and numbered. It wouldn't be that difficult to turn back and take the path he was on, maybe another hour or so. Not-Sam stood up and walked forwards, heading for the dead end and trying to walk through the solid rock.
"Whoa there, Not-Sammy!" Dean grabbed him by the collar and began to drag him off. "Back the way we came."
*****
It had taken most of the day, and Sam was more tired, hungry and fed up then he was willing to let show; even if it wasn't the real Dean who stood by his side.
So when they had arrived at an empty chamber, Sam was more than a little upset. He checked the entire room with both of his flashlights, the EMF reader, the camera with all the filters. Still, there was nothing, not even a single mark on the cave walls.
And then Not-Dean grabbed him by his collar and smacked him into a wall.
"Ungh," Sam moaned as he detached himself from Not-Dean's grip. "Thanks a lot, Dean." Sam rubbed the back of his neck looking from side to side for the exit.
Only, there wasn't one anymore. Not-Dean had swung him into the solid wall that hadn't existed when he first got there.
"Shit." Sam stood up and knocked against the wall. No hollow sound, it wasn't a trick, he was sealed in there. "Shit!" Sam punched against the wall in vain, feeling the sting of hard rock against his knuckles. He grabbed his hand and slid down to the floor, back against the wall. "Great..."
Not-Dean was signing to him again, Are you okay?
No, stuck in cave, no way out.
Sam could practically hear Dean yelling "What!?" as his double signed back: I am coming to you
Don't. Go to the car, get the explosives
I'm not leaving you alone with it
Go to the car, Not-Dean grabbed Sam's hands and put them at his sides. Sam idly noted that he had taken his arm out of the sling to do so.
Not leaving you here
*****
Dean pulled Not-Sam off the floor and he fell limply against him. He was about to slip his throbbing arm back into the sling but Not-Sam's arms were around his shoulders, holding onto him. Dean recognized it, similar to what they did earlier. Sam was exhausted and trying to find enough strength to keep going.
It had occurred to Dean some time ago that Not-Sam was like a conduit to Sam. Whatever he did to Not-Sam, Sam would know was coming from him. And now Sam was trying to use Not-Dean like a conduit to his body. The only problem being that neither double had anything like a heartbeat. The skin was as cold as the cave walls; solid weight with no warmth, no life beneath the flesh.
Dean pressed against Not-Sam's chest with his hand, not feeling the normal give Sam's had. He raised his head to meet Not-Sam's face, empty eyes and all. Dean clicked off his flashlight and let it roll to one side, and then switching Not-Sam's light off as well. In the pitch black, the double was barely a silhouette. He could almost make out the shadowy outline from memory, but then his eyes slipped shut and he was kissing ice-cold lips.
Dean carefully placed his sore arm around Sam's neck, bracing it and angling Not-Sam's body closer to his. Finally, he opened up, allowing Dean to tentatively lick into his mouth. Not-Sam's mouth was as cold as expected, and his teeth felt sharper scraping against Dean's tongue. Dean closed his eyes tighter and tried to picture the real Sam, tried to imagine that this stone cold facsimile was him. This was how Dean could reach him; everything he did, Sam would feel.
Dean pulled back when he realized that his double was probably as cold and lifeless as this one. Sam probably didn't appreciate an icy tongue in his mouth, but then Not-Sam was wrapping hands around his waist and backing him against a cave wall. Dean smiled, maybe Sam was just as horny and frustrated as he was.
Not-Sam was shrugging out of his jacket and Dean helped him out of his shirt. It was still pitch black so Dean had to feel for everything, not that he was complaining. Dean used his position to pull his legs up and wrap them around Not-Sam, giving him a better angle to keep his arm level around Sam's neck. Not-Sam wound one arm around Dean's torso, while the other dropped, allowing him to fiddle with Dean's fly.
Dean screamed and gasped when a freezing cold hand grabbed a hold of him. Not-Sam stopped when Dean's fingers started to dig into him, and Dean had to pull him in to bite into his mouth before Sam started moving his hand.
Dean was breathing into him, the lines between Sam and Not-Sam blurring completely. He breathed hot breath against his skin, before kissing it; trying to make it feel right. He crushed the mouth against his own hard, wanting his Sam to feel it. Not-Sam's icy cold hand was the only reminder that it wasn't his brother at all.
It stung his skin, but in a good way; goosebumps traveling all over his body from groin to stomach and beyond. He rubbed his hand against Not-Sam's naked chest, running fingers against his nipples until they were rock hard and imaging his Sam hissing and moaning at the touch. Not-Sam was thrusting against Dean, looking for any kind of friction he could get.
Not-Sam clamped his hands down on Dean's balls and Dean came, letting his head fall back to the wall and his legs unfurl and drop to the ground.
*****
Even in the darkness, Sam could tell the signs of orgasm from Dean. Well, Not-Dean didn't actually come, but he threw his head back and trembled like Dean did.
Sam eased them both down on the cave floor, detaching Not-Dean's arm from his neck; and lying on his side to face him, Not-Dean flat on his back. Not-Dean was nothing more then a shadow, but Sam could "see" him with his hands. He ran them across Not-Dean's face, the fabric of his jacket, under his shirt across the planes of his chest. Sam crawled closer and laid his head in the crook of Not-Dean's neck. He could hear Not-Dean's airy whisper and just about make out that his good arm was gesturing to Sam's crotch. Sam closed his eyes and laughed; he could imagine exactly what Dean was saying,
"Just give me a minute there Sammy, an' I'll take care of that for ya. Mmn just resting my eyes a bit."
Sam closed his eyes and concentrated on Dean. Tried to imagine it was the real Dean lying next to him. The next thing he knew, Not-Dean shifted to straddle his hips. He patted the floor until he found Sam's jacket and threw it over the naked torso, Sam got the idea and slipped it on, his Dean must have been worried about the cold. The truth was that Sam was so damn hard and flushed, he didn't care that Not-Dean's ice-cold lips were wrapped around his cock.
Sam moaned and writhed, kicking up dust with his feet against the ground. It was wet and cold and so goddamn kinky that Sam could barely contain it. He remembered the last time Dean blew him after finishing off a really cold beer, the chill around his cock stinging and then giving way to heat, and Dean. Only it stayed cold all the way through. Sam could only imagine Dean; Dean's soft hair between his fingers, Dean's fucking amazing lips, Dean's warmth.
When Sam came into Not-Dean's mouth he immediately sat up and grabbed the back of his head, yanking him off his cock. Sam kissed him and drank himself in his mouth. He swallowed what he could, and pulled back, just enough to try nuzzling Dean's neck, before the cold finally got to him.
Sam blinked and began to fall back on the ground, letting Not-Dean fall on top of him. His body was exhausted, and even though his mind was racing, he simply couldn't stay awake any longer.
Not-Dean rolled off and lay flat on the ground, and Sam crawled back into the crook of his neck again, drifting off.
*****
When Dean woke up, Not-Sam was tugging at his sleeve. He had turned back on his clip-light and was shining it in Dean's eyes. Dean squinted and let himself be pulled up. He gathered his flashlight and gear, following Not-Sam.
*****
When Sam woke up, Not-Dean was gone.
Sam could, however, make out a source of light in the chamber. One of the closed openings on the side had opened, and a soft blue light shone from it.
Sam sat up and grabbed his things as they were strewn about, backpack, flashlights, and map. He edged towards the opening and peered inside.
Not-Dean was there, standing at another entrance, like a sentry. Light poured in from a tiny crack in the ceiling illuminating the room just enough for Sam to see the paintings on the cave walls. They looked like the images described by the legends, the walls were lined with the glyphs and-
Skeletons.
There were pairs of skeletons all over the floor. With each pair there were always two skulls, two sets of arm bones, leg bones, and ribs; all identical in every detail, down to the teeth. Sam felt a foreboding sense of peril as he turned and found himself face-to-face with a pair of month-old corpses. "Dr. Luvic, I presume." Sam said aloud.
They had fallen to one side, rotting hands wrapped around one another's throats. Sam took a kerchief out of his pocket and examined them closer, all signs pointed to death by strangulation.
"Great..." Sam turned one of the heads to the side when he noticed something. One of the bodies was clutching a tape recorder, but not the other.
Sam scowled and carefully lifted the head up and pulled the bodies apart. He worried the tape recorder out of the hand and checked it over. It was standard, and there was still a tape inside. Sam tentatively rewound it and it play-
"Have taken myself and several students down to the caves today for..." Luvic's voice echoed through the cave, Sam listened for a bit and fast-forwarded. There were lectures, discussions of rock formations, mostly boring stuff until towards the end:
"I have been followed by my doppelganger for some time now. I lost him about a half hour ago, and have discovered the chamber. Here the glyphs tell the story of the mysterious black mirror. The natives believed it to have been bestowed by the gods to test the mental acuity of their future leaders. Only-" The tape stopped. Sam flipped to the other side and hit play.
Luvic was panting now, his voice was strained. "A-attacked, by myself... Couldn't help it I- I think I have discovered how to defeat my- Franz Ivan Luvic, Franz Ivan Luvic, Franz Ivan Luvic..." The tape went on to the professor repeating his name over and over again. Sam hit stop and thought, whatever Luvic had discovered, hadn't been able to save him. Back to the drawing board then, Sam looked down again at the gnarled corpse.
There was another difference between the bodies Sam hadn't noticed until then, their hands were different. The one the professor had used to hold the tape recorder had his pinky sticking out to one side. Sam mirrored this position, his hands were both on the play button and one that said "Rev". Sam pressed them both down. The tape spoke the professor's name in reverse.
Sam blinked a few times, looked over his shoulder at Not-Dean. He walked up to him and signed. Everything okay?
Not-Dean just smiled.
Sam turned around and held the tape recorder to his mouth. He hit record and whispered "Dean Winchester."
He then stopped and turned back to Not-Dean. He held up the recorder and hit the buttons again.
"Retsehcniw naed" it warbled.
Not-Dean opened his mouth and hissed as he turned to black shadows and disappeared.
"Cool," Sam smiled.
*****
Not-Sam smiled at Dean and ran off like a shot.
"Hey!" Dean yelled but Not-Sam was already gone. "Hey! Not-Sammy! The hell-?" Dean was chasing him down, flashlight trained in front of him, trying to catch up.
Dean finally caught up with the sound of echoing footsteps and did his best to keep up as Not-Sam dashed through opening Dean swore weren't there the other day. Not-Sam was out of sight but he could hear him thundering ahead, and then stopping suddenly. Dean heard Sam yell and ran faster, towards the dim light ahead.
Sam and Not-Sam had each other by their throats. Sam was choking and gasping and clenching hard on his double's neck. "Sam!" Dean ignored the burning pain in his arm and grabbed Not-Sam's wrists. Dean squeezed hard, trying to pull them off; he succeeded a bit and Sam took in a deep breath and rasped.
"Dean! Th-the tape. Play the tape!"
"What tape?"
"On the *gasp* floor. Play it backwards!"
Dean clenched his teeth against the strain in his arm and stared at Sam in disbelief. "If I let go, he'll kill you!"
"I'm dead any-ugh-way if you don't! Just do it!"
Dean struggled with his instincts, Not-Sam was strong but Dean was definitely getting close to pulling his hands off Sam's neck. Sam nodded and looked to the side, where the tape recorder had dropped. Dean saw it out of the corner of his eye and steeled himself.
"Get ready Sammy. Hold on as long as you can."
Sam nodded and squeezed his eyes shut tight. "Don't forget to hit 'reverse'," he spat out quickly.
Dean let go of Not-Sam's hands and dove to the ground, as Sam walked back to give Dean room. He was choking and gasping and his eyes were rolling back into his head.
"Retsehcniw mas, retsehcniw mas, retsehcniw mas..." echoed throughout the cavern. Sam felt the hands around his neck disappear and he opened his eyes just in time to see his double fade into blackness.
Sam dropped to the ground and breathed in deep. He leaned over and Dean was at his side, patting him on the back as he took in lungfuls of air. Dean was holding his arm against tight against his body, the corner of his eyes were tearing. Dean touched Sam's neck, there were big red handprints still grasping him and Sam sucked his teeth. Dean put his hand in Sam's hair and brought his head under his chin. "You're okay, Sam. You're okay."
Sam just leaned into the warmth and the heartbeat and relaxed.
*****
As it was the case, an opening in the room appeared suddenly. Sunlight flooded the room white, and Sam gathered enough strength to stand. Dean followed along, and they dragged Luvic's body out into the sunlight. They were at the opposite end of the cave system. Sam propped Luvic up against a tree and turned to Dean, who was slinging his arm again.
"Feels like the god damn thing is gonna fall off." Dean muttered.
"If it wasn't sprained before Dean, it is now."
"Tchh, fine... Clinic three towns over?"
"We should take Luvic with us, leave him somewhere for the explorer team to find."
"Ugh, all the way back? He smells so nasty, Sam."
"His family deserves a chance to bury him, Dean."
"You really think it's safe to drag a rotten corpse that far?"
"Fine, we'll go get the car and put him in the backseat."
"Ha-ha. How about we get the car and get the tarp, Sammy?"
"Whatever works," Sam said, pocketing the tape recorder. They started to walk to the Impala.
"You know, technically, I think this means we should be crowned village chiefs. We are, 'the true leaders of men', now."
Sam laughed, "I don't think so, Dean. Luvic figured it out, I just finished what he wasn't able to do."
"Yeah, but he died."
"But he almost didn't."
"Almost-not-dying doesn't count!"
"But he solved the puzzle, he read the glyphs he did all the work."
"Like it wasn't work trying to keep Monster-Not-Sam from choking the life outta you with only one good arm."
"Dean-"
"I'm serious Sam, we did our share of the work, and we deserve our handsome reward. But no, like always we get nada; and now you're trying to tell me you don't want even a little of the credit for saving the day. The freakin' dead guy gets it all."
"Wow... Just, wow."
"What is it?"
"I never thought I'd miss him."
"Him, who?"
"The other Dean, he was so nice and quiet and-"
Dean bumped into Sam, hard. "When we get back I'm going to get you for that. God, one of you is more than enough."
Sam laughed and bumped him back.
Fin.
Title: Black Mirror
Author: memphis86
Pairings/Characters: Sam/Dean, Sam/Dean/Sam/Dean (it makes sense, I swear!)
Rating: NC-17 (I think it's R but I'm erring on the side of caution for *sex*)
Word Count: 6,449
Spoilers: None
Disclaimer: I own nothing, really.
Summary: Sam and Dean encounter Sam and Dean.
Author's Notes: 90% inspired by the Arcade Fire song of the same name, as well as re-watching "Skin" and thinking about what Sam could have meant by "Dark Double".
"So, there's this indigenous legend I dug up," Sam said as his fingers clacked away on his laptop. Dean peered over the newspaper clippings and nodded for him to continue.
"Seems that the local tribes used to send their best and bravest warriors to the caves as part of an initiation ritual. The legend goes that whomsoever enters the cave will meet their match, and never return. The few people that did survive went on to become the leaders of their respective tribes and villages. They never would say anything more about what went on in the caves. Years ago, geologists used magnetic resonance images to map the cave system. While most of the cave has been explored, one of the chambers hasn't."
Dean sipped his coffee and glanced again at the article describing the strange disappearance of an Anthropology professor from the local university, Dr. Franz Luvic. Seems a month ago he went exploring the cave with some of his students. When they reached a chamber full of ancient cave drawings, Luvic freaked out and sent them all away. They waited for him to return for a day and then called the police. Luvic's body was never recovered.
When Dean had pressed the students to explain why they would abandon their professor inside a strange cave, one had sheepishly replied: "He said he'd flunk us all if we didn't leave." Sam and Dean had rolled their eyes but held their tongues.
"The local authorities say that section of the cave is blocked off because it's sacred to the natives. And the spokesman for the tribal council has never said it was off-limits to explorers or archaeologists. In fact, he encouraged it; repeating that the legend goes that those who can leave the sacred chamber are the true leaders of men."
Dean snorted and held out his cup for the waitress to refill his coffee.
"Think it's some kind of cave-monster?" Dean asked, "Like a Golem or Sentry guarding secrets, a treasure maybe?"
"Could be some kind of spirit in the cave, only letting the worthy pass. Or it's like going on a walkabout, the cave plays tricks on a person's mind until they figure out how to escape."
"So, why are we going after it now?"
"The professor came from a very influential family. They're demanding his body be located, and they've gone as far as to hire a team of explorers. They've been cleared by the authorities to investigate the cave system next week-"
"Which means, a bunch of people who don't know the first thing about haunted caves are gonna go in and not come out."
"Exactly, and what if they decide to destroy the cave? It could anger the spirits even more and then the whole town is screwed."
*****
It was just after sunrise when they pulled up to the cave entrance. Dean began filling their bags with any weapons they could use. Guns with iron and silver bullets, rock salt, knives, ropes, charms and lighter fluid. Sam was busy drawing the same route in red sharpie on the maps for himself and Dean.
"In case we get separated, here is the chamber said to be the one used in the rituals. Here's the path used by the ancients to enter, but as you can see there's many different paths that we could take. They all loop around and intersect each other, so we should use the center as a meeting point in case we get lost. I think we should explore the as many of the paths before entering the chamber, see if we can find the professor- or his body at the least."
Dean nodded as he clipped a light onto Sam's jacket pocket. He handed him another flashlight with fresh batteries. "Local guy at the supply shop said there should be light as we enter, but once we get deeper we'll hit total darkness."
"Gotcha," Sam said handing Dean his copy of the map. "Let's go."
*****
They'd been down in the caves for hours, following the first path. There were signs along the way warning explorers about the cave glyphs in some of the passages, asking them to avoid touching them or desecrating them in any way. There were arrows pointing to turn-offs where they could have easily walked away, and explored "safer" parts of the cave system. Sam and Dean stayed on their path, heading deeper and darker. Finally, all the ceiling openings were obstructed, and they were in pitch-blackness, save for their clip-lights.
When they finally approached what should have been the chamber entrance, they found it blocked by a wall of stones. Dean pressed against the stones but they were sealed tight. "Must've been a small cave-in." He said looking around for any kind of crack in the wall.
Sam whipped out his map, "If we backtrack about 40 meters, we can try to go in through another one of the paths."
"Hey Sam, lookit this!" Dean called from his right. Sam turned his light towards him and saw Dean standing in front of a shiny rock formation.
"What the-?" Sam stood by Dean's side, looking at the black glass hunk lodged in the cave wall. Even with the glare of their lights, he could just about make out their reflections.
"It's like a mirror." Dean said, "Weird, huh?"
"Dunno how it formed, it would have needed tremendous heat. In just this spot," Sam touched his hand to the cold glass, and his reflection followed suit. Tugging at the edges Sam added, "It's either fused, or it's part of the wall naturally."
"Yeah," Dean said waving his hand and watching as his reflection did the same. He furrowed his brow and did it again, slowly. It was weird, like his reflection was just a half-second off his actions. "Sam, did you see that?"
"Mmm-hmm, and look, mine can move both of his hands at once." Sam said smiling and wiggling his fingers.
"That's not what I meant, and yours too! It's- it's off, just a bit."
Sam turned around and aimed his light on his map. "C'mon, Dean. Now we have twice as much ground to cover, let's go."
Dean nodded and turned from his reflection and walked away.
The brothers headed down the chamber, unaware of the creatures stepping out from the black mirror.
*****
Dean tapped the light clipped onto his jacket; it was starting to flicker on and off. "Sonava- told me this was brand new, never used! Can't be outta juice," he muttered.
Sam was studying the map at the fork in their path, trying to determine which vein they had yet to explore. "If we go right here, we can double back to the other route easier if it's blocked like the last one." Sam said taking off to the right.
Dean picked up his head as his light continued to flicker. He shut it off and grabbed his flashlight out of his pocket, following the shadow of his brother, on the left path.
"Thought you said 'right' Sammy, why'd you hang this left?"
Sam said nothing, just kept walking forward.
Dean jogged quickly to catch up, trying to keep his flashlight aimed on the ground so he didn't trip over any rocks. "Sam, did you hear me?"
Sam just kept walking.
Dean was walking side by side with Sam now, watching the ground pass beneath him. The white light of his flashlight was setting off the gray of the stone floor. It was getting colder as they got deeper and Dean shivered a bit when his shoulder bumped Sam's-intentionally. Sam bumped him back, a little harder than usual.
Dean smiled and shook it off, clapping his brother's shoulder to get his attention to purposefully shine the flashlight right in his eyes.
"Hey Sammy, how much long-"
Dean stopped as the flashlight illuminated Sam's face. It was gray, almost the color of the cave floors. His hair was three shades too dark and his clothes were the same. Empty black holes where his eyes should have been. It stopped short when Dean did, cocked its head to one side and smiled.
Dean realized the chill he felt was coming off the creature and threw his hand off as if it had been burned. He stepped back until he could feel the cave wall against him. Sam's double approached him with a staggered walk.
"Y-you're not Sam." Dean said as he fished inside his jacket pocket for his knife.
The double regarded him with a strange look and stepped closer.
Dean took out his knife and slashed him across the cheek. "Where is he!?" He demanded.
The creature opened his mouth to speak, but the only sound was a breathy hiss.
*****
Sam had been studying the map, they were approaching another chamber entrance, as well as a turn onto the next path. He hated zigzagging like this but there had to be a way into the chamber.
And then Dean slashed the side of his face with a knife.
Sam lifted his head in time to see Dean, or what could have been Dean. It looked like all the color had been sucked out of his skin. He didn't have eyes, just empty black sockets. Sam managed to dodge his next attack, delivering a roundhouse that sent Dean to the side of the cave. Whatever spirit was infecting the cave must have gotten into Dean.
Sam took off ahead, hoping to gain some distance so he could get a weapon out but the creature followed. It made strange sounds, somewhere between a breath and a moan. It got close enough again and threw Sam to the ground. Straddling him he held the knife to his jugular and Sam could feel the icy breath against his face.
Sam could see his lips moving but couldn't make out any kind of words; the creature's movements were too jerky--crooked like the smile it flashed. Sam took hold of his arm and twisted it hard to one side, hearing it snap.
Sam swore he heard a yell and cursing as the creature rolled off of him, clutching its wounded arm. The sounds were too familiar to be a coincidence. "Dean?" Sam called out.
"Sam!?" Dean answered from behind him. Sam shone his light down the cave and saw the connecting pathway that brought the two separate routes together again. Dean must have gone down the left path instead of the right. Sam stood and ran towards the sound of Dean's voice, hearing footsteps following his.
Sam was greeted face-to-face with his own gray reflection. The same cut on his face, only on opposing cheeks. It was like looking into-
"The mirror," Sam concluded.
*****
"So the black mirror must have been what created these dark doubles. They mirror our every move." Sam said as he bandaged Dean's arm in the temporary sling while his double did the same to Dean's double.
"They even have copies of our gear, Christ, even my knife." Dean said as he thumbed Sam's cheek just below the cut. The other Dean did the same, only turning to flash them his toothy grin.
"Maybe this is the test, like the legend said. Everyone meets their match here, literally."
"So how do we get rid of 'em?"
"Well, we can't hurt them without hurting ourselves. I guess we just, let them follow us?"
"Yeah, into the chamber. Where all the people die; Sam, I'm thinking the test is to defeat them. We just-"
"Are you saying we kill ourselves? Dean it's never going to work."
"Sam, there's gotta be a way, a weapon they can't recreate. Maybe drop something on them or set a trap for one of them to walk into."
"Dean, for all we know they're only a temporary curse. Maybe they leave when we find a way into the sacred chamber?"
Dean pulled away from Sam and looked at his double, who met his gaze with a twisted smile. Dean reached into his jacket and the double did as well. They both pulled out a gun and aimed it dead on one another. Dean's hand shook as he turned the safety off. Other Dean cocked his gun, only his hand was steady.
"Dean!" Sam yelled.
Sam's double opened his mouth and breathed out deeply.
Both Deans then turned their guns to the cave ceiling and fired two shots, nearly simultaneously. It echoed throughout the chamber and the cave seemed to shake a bit.
"He's still off by a half-second, Sam."
"You are not shooting each other." Sam said snatching the gun from Dean's hand.
*****
Dean peered over his shoulder for the umpteenth time in an hour. He was walking next to Sam, and the doubles were following them. Only about seven feet separated them from each other.
Sam sighed, "Yes Dean, they're still following us. You can stop staring at them."
"Sam-"
"They're not going to make a move on us, they'll only mirror what we do."
"I don't trust it Sam, I don't like the way they look at us."
Sam laughed, "They don't look at anything Dean! They don't have any eyes."
"Yeah, well you know what I mean. They just turn their heads and smile and it creeps me the hell out, okay?"
"Fair enough, but you can't let it scare you like that."
"Did I say I was scared?" Dean snapped.
Sam held his hands up in defeat, Dean could see his double doing the same out of the corner of his eye. Were they moving closer to each other. "Well, excuse me for-"
"Sam, they're moving closer."
Sam looked behind him. "So?"
"So, they're moving closer to us."
"Dean, this is a test. You can't attack them without us getting hurt. The only way to get out of this is to ignore them."
"What if it's not that simple?"
"Dean,"
"Sam, it's two steps away from breathing down my damn neck. I think I have the right to be concerned." Dean said as he quickened his pace to put some more distance between them. "You keep brushing it off like it's no big thing but it's not. Dark doubles Sam, what did Dad always tell us about them?"
Sam sighed, "They kill their originals and try to assume their lives for sinister purposes."
"That's right."
"Dean, these aren't dark doubles, they're mirror images of us. You're as much a danger to them as you are to yourself."
Dean muttered something under his breath.
"What was that?"
"I said maybe I am!" Dean stopped and turned on his heel, his double catching up to him and meeting his gaze. It mirrored his body stance, the gestures of his (good) arm as Dean went on. "It's got my damn face Sam! It has all my weapons and it attacked you-"
"Because you attacked mine."
"It does everything we do, only off. Maybe not much at first--but I've been watching. Their steps are out of sync, it's not doing exactly what I do anymore." Dean waved his arm and his doubled followed a few seconds later, jerky movements attempting to mimic his own smooth ones.
"Maybe they're becoming less powerful the closer we get to the sacred chamber?" Sam offered.
"What if it's the other way around Sammy? Let's say that they're trapped in some kind of curse, and that's why they can only mirror what we do. What happens when they can move on their own?"
Sam regarded the two Deans, staring each other down, opposite arms in opposite slings. He looked at himself, looking at them. Until his double lifted his head to meet his own gaze, and smiled.
It was then that Dean threw himself against his double and pinned him to the wall by his throat. His double mirrored Dean, wrapping his own good hand around Dean's throat. They were choking the life out of one another and Dean's eyes were rolling back.
"Dean!" Sam went to pull them off one another as his double did the same. Between the two of them it was simple enough to get them separated.
"The hell were you thinking, Dean?" Sam almost cuffed him on the back of the head but missed as Dean dodged. He must have seen it coming from the other Sam across the room.
"I'm sorry Sam, I just couldn't help it. Something inside of me just lost it. I-I think I need to kill it, I just... I can't be near it."
Sam placed his hands on Dean's shoulders and looked him dad in the face. "Hey, look at me Dean." Dean met his eyes, "It's okay, we're going to figure this out."
Dean turned his head to one side, almost leaning on Sam's hand and closing his eyes. Sam took the cue and brought his hands up to the sides of Dean's face. "It's been hours Sam, we can't stop and rest with them here but-"
"I know," Sam's shoulders fell, letting himself feel the exhaustion of the miles that they had been walking.
Dean reached around for the back of Sam's neck with his good arm, slowly pulling him down to meet his mouth. Then just holding Sam close to him, forehead-to-forehead. Sam's hands moved to rest on Dean's chest, feeling the rise and fall of his breathing, and the steady pulse of his heartbeat. Sam could rest like this, standing up, eyes closed; just focusing on Dean's rhythm.
After a few minutes, Sam was able to pull away from Dean, watching their doubles across the room pulling apart. Sam shook his head, "That's just wrong."
"Wronger than-?" Dean asked cocking an eyebrow.
"Yeah, well it's weird. Like out-of-body-voyeurism."
Dean smirked. Sam's eyes went wide and he shook his head. "No, Dean! Dean c'mon that's not happening. One minute ago you were ready to waste them."
"I've grown so much since then."
Sam rolled his eyes and punched Dean's shoulder, "Pervert."
"You started it."
"I think we should split up."
"Okay, I take it back. Totally my fault."
"No, I think you're right, I think we shouldn't be faced with our own doubles. It's obviously going to cause a problem. There are only two more paths leading to the sacred chamber left to check. We'll each take one and hopefully meet there."
"And how are we supposed to know what happens to either one of us? Our cellphones have been out of service since we started in the cave."
Sam pressed his mouth together, and then smiled. He held up his hands and signed 'Like this.' His double did the same.
"Sam I told you, they're not perfect copies, they're not going to be reliable-"
"It's the best we can do for now. You're not going to attack my double and I'm not going to hurt yours. It'd be the same as hurting each other and neither of us wants to do that, right?"
Dean furrowed his brow tight; looking at Sam, the doubles, the map, until finally letting out a deep breath. "D'ya really think it's the best way to do this?"
"Yeah."
"Fine, but I still don't trust them as far as I can throw 'em."
"Fine," Sam nodded and went to stand in front of the entrance to the next pathway. His double mirrored this, but stood near the other side of the path. "Just... follow him, okay? Hopefully this will work and we'll split off again."
Dean nodded. "Be careful, Sammy."
The double of Sam looked behind him at Dean and grinned.
*****
"Y'know I can't exactly call you 'Sam', Not-Sam." Dean carried on as he followed the dark image of his brother. "I was thinking, 'What's the opposite of Sam?', and for some reason I think the opposite of Sam is 'Mans' because you are such a girl." Dean laughed to himself.
The joking and the speaking aloud was probably the only thing keeping Dean from freaking out as he descended deeper into the cave with his brother's doppelganger. He didn't say much, only paused ever so often to relay a change of direction from wherever Sam was. Neither he nor Dean had found Luvic's body or anything else of significance.
"'Course there's the obvious, 'Sam-I-am-not' or 'I-am-not-Sam'. The one I favor is the latter, obviously. Therefore, you are 'Not-Sam'. It's not just because you're not Sam, see there's a more complicated expla-"
Not-Sam went face first into a wall of stone and fell back against Dean, knocking him to the ground. Dean was flat on his back with Not-Sam lying on top of him, staring at the back of Not-Sam's neck.
"Ow," Dean shifted his good arm and pushed against Not-Sam until he rolled off of him and sat on the cave floor. Dean sat up and examined his arm, which was screaming from having his gigantic not-brother fall on him. Shaking it off, he checked out the wall Not-Sam had tried to walk through. "Damn it. This was not on the map..." He turned to Not-Sam and grabbed his shoulder, focusing his sight on him.
Dean signed. Dead end. Stuck. Have to go back out.
Not-Sam did a twisted impression of Sam huffing and signed back, Am 2 meters from center, chamber is open. Will check it out and meet you there. Turn around and head down 4.
Dean looked at the map and checked the paths Sam had marked and numbered. It wouldn't be that difficult to turn back and take the path he was on, maybe another hour or so. Not-Sam stood up and walked forwards, heading for the dead end and trying to walk through the solid rock.
"Whoa there, Not-Sammy!" Dean grabbed him by the collar and began to drag him off. "Back the way we came."
*****
It had taken most of the day, and Sam was more tired, hungry and fed up then he was willing to let show; even if it wasn't the real Dean who stood by his side.
So when they had arrived at an empty chamber, Sam was more than a little upset. He checked the entire room with both of his flashlights, the EMF reader, the camera with all the filters. Still, there was nothing, not even a single mark on the cave walls.
And then Not-Dean grabbed him by his collar and smacked him into a wall.
"Ungh," Sam moaned as he detached himself from Not-Dean's grip. "Thanks a lot, Dean." Sam rubbed the back of his neck looking from side to side for the exit.
Only, there wasn't one anymore. Not-Dean had swung him into the solid wall that hadn't existed when he first got there.
"Shit." Sam stood up and knocked against the wall. No hollow sound, it wasn't a trick, he was sealed in there. "Shit!" Sam punched against the wall in vain, feeling the sting of hard rock against his knuckles. He grabbed his hand and slid down to the floor, back against the wall. "Great..."
Not-Dean was signing to him again, Are you okay?
No, stuck in cave, no way out.
Sam could practically hear Dean yelling "What!?" as his double signed back: I am coming to you
Don't. Go to the car, get the explosives
I'm not leaving you alone with it
Go to the car, Not-Dean grabbed Sam's hands and put them at his sides. Sam idly noted that he had taken his arm out of the sling to do so.
Not leaving you here
*****
Dean pulled Not-Sam off the floor and he fell limply against him. He was about to slip his throbbing arm back into the sling but Not-Sam's arms were around his shoulders, holding onto him. Dean recognized it, similar to what they did earlier. Sam was exhausted and trying to find enough strength to keep going.
It had occurred to Dean some time ago that Not-Sam was like a conduit to Sam. Whatever he did to Not-Sam, Sam would know was coming from him. And now Sam was trying to use Not-Dean like a conduit to his body. The only problem being that neither double had anything like a heartbeat. The skin was as cold as the cave walls; solid weight with no warmth, no life beneath the flesh.
Dean pressed against Not-Sam's chest with his hand, not feeling the normal give Sam's had. He raised his head to meet Not-Sam's face, empty eyes and all. Dean clicked off his flashlight and let it roll to one side, and then switching Not-Sam's light off as well. In the pitch black, the double was barely a silhouette. He could almost make out the shadowy outline from memory, but then his eyes slipped shut and he was kissing ice-cold lips.
Dean carefully placed his sore arm around Sam's neck, bracing it and angling Not-Sam's body closer to his. Finally, he opened up, allowing Dean to tentatively lick into his mouth. Not-Sam's mouth was as cold as expected, and his teeth felt sharper scraping against Dean's tongue. Dean closed his eyes tighter and tried to picture the real Sam, tried to imagine that this stone cold facsimile was him. This was how Dean could reach him; everything he did, Sam would feel.
Dean pulled back when he realized that his double was probably as cold and lifeless as this one. Sam probably didn't appreciate an icy tongue in his mouth, but then Not-Sam was wrapping hands around his waist and backing him against a cave wall. Dean smiled, maybe Sam was just as horny and frustrated as he was.
Not-Sam was shrugging out of his jacket and Dean helped him out of his shirt. It was still pitch black so Dean had to feel for everything, not that he was complaining. Dean used his position to pull his legs up and wrap them around Not-Sam, giving him a better angle to keep his arm level around Sam's neck. Not-Sam wound one arm around Dean's torso, while the other dropped, allowing him to fiddle with Dean's fly.
Dean screamed and gasped when a freezing cold hand grabbed a hold of him. Not-Sam stopped when Dean's fingers started to dig into him, and Dean had to pull him in to bite into his mouth before Sam started moving his hand.
Dean was breathing into him, the lines between Sam and Not-Sam blurring completely. He breathed hot breath against his skin, before kissing it; trying to make it feel right. He crushed the mouth against his own hard, wanting his Sam to feel it. Not-Sam's icy cold hand was the only reminder that it wasn't his brother at all.
It stung his skin, but in a good way; goosebumps traveling all over his body from groin to stomach and beyond. He rubbed his hand against Not-Sam's naked chest, running fingers against his nipples until they were rock hard and imaging his Sam hissing and moaning at the touch. Not-Sam was thrusting against Dean, looking for any kind of friction he could get.
Not-Sam clamped his hands down on Dean's balls and Dean came, letting his head fall back to the wall and his legs unfurl and drop to the ground.
*****
Even in the darkness, Sam could tell the signs of orgasm from Dean. Well, Not-Dean didn't actually come, but he threw his head back and trembled like Dean did.
Sam eased them both down on the cave floor, detaching Not-Dean's arm from his neck; and lying on his side to face him, Not-Dean flat on his back. Not-Dean was nothing more then a shadow, but Sam could "see" him with his hands. He ran them across Not-Dean's face, the fabric of his jacket, under his shirt across the planes of his chest. Sam crawled closer and laid his head in the crook of Not-Dean's neck. He could hear Not-Dean's airy whisper and just about make out that his good arm was gesturing to Sam's crotch. Sam closed his eyes and laughed; he could imagine exactly what Dean was saying,
"Just give me a minute there Sammy, an' I'll take care of that for ya. Mmn just resting my eyes a bit."
Sam closed his eyes and concentrated on Dean. Tried to imagine it was the real Dean lying next to him. The next thing he knew, Not-Dean shifted to straddle his hips. He patted the floor until he found Sam's jacket and threw it over the naked torso, Sam got the idea and slipped it on, his Dean must have been worried about the cold. The truth was that Sam was so damn hard and flushed, he didn't care that Not-Dean's ice-cold lips were wrapped around his cock.
Sam moaned and writhed, kicking up dust with his feet against the ground. It was wet and cold and so goddamn kinky that Sam could barely contain it. He remembered the last time Dean blew him after finishing off a really cold beer, the chill around his cock stinging and then giving way to heat, and Dean. Only it stayed cold all the way through. Sam could only imagine Dean; Dean's soft hair between his fingers, Dean's fucking amazing lips, Dean's warmth.
When Sam came into Not-Dean's mouth he immediately sat up and grabbed the back of his head, yanking him off his cock. Sam kissed him and drank himself in his mouth. He swallowed what he could, and pulled back, just enough to try nuzzling Dean's neck, before the cold finally got to him.
Sam blinked and began to fall back on the ground, letting Not-Dean fall on top of him. His body was exhausted, and even though his mind was racing, he simply couldn't stay awake any longer.
Not-Dean rolled off and lay flat on the ground, and Sam crawled back into the crook of his neck again, drifting off.
*****
When Dean woke up, Not-Sam was tugging at his sleeve. He had turned back on his clip-light and was shining it in Dean's eyes. Dean squinted and let himself be pulled up. He gathered his flashlight and gear, following Not-Sam.
*****
When Sam woke up, Not-Dean was gone.
Sam could, however, make out a source of light in the chamber. One of the closed openings on the side had opened, and a soft blue light shone from it.
Sam sat up and grabbed his things as they were strewn about, backpack, flashlights, and map. He edged towards the opening and peered inside.
Not-Dean was there, standing at another entrance, like a sentry. Light poured in from a tiny crack in the ceiling illuminating the room just enough for Sam to see the paintings on the cave walls. They looked like the images described by the legends, the walls were lined with the glyphs and-
Skeletons.
There were pairs of skeletons all over the floor. With each pair there were always two skulls, two sets of arm bones, leg bones, and ribs; all identical in every detail, down to the teeth. Sam felt a foreboding sense of peril as he turned and found himself face-to-face with a pair of month-old corpses. "Dr. Luvic, I presume." Sam said aloud.
They had fallen to one side, rotting hands wrapped around one another's throats. Sam took a kerchief out of his pocket and examined them closer, all signs pointed to death by strangulation.
"Great..." Sam turned one of the heads to the side when he noticed something. One of the bodies was clutching a tape recorder, but not the other.
Sam scowled and carefully lifted the head up and pulled the bodies apart. He worried the tape recorder out of the hand and checked it over. It was standard, and there was still a tape inside. Sam tentatively rewound it and it play-
"Have taken myself and several students down to the caves today for..." Luvic's voice echoed through the cave, Sam listened for a bit and fast-forwarded. There were lectures, discussions of rock formations, mostly boring stuff until towards the end:
"I have been followed by my doppelganger for some time now. I lost him about a half hour ago, and have discovered the chamber. Here the glyphs tell the story of the mysterious black mirror. The natives believed it to have been bestowed by the gods to test the mental acuity of their future leaders. Only-" The tape stopped. Sam flipped to the other side and hit play.
Luvic was panting now, his voice was strained. "A-attacked, by myself... Couldn't help it I- I think I have discovered how to defeat my- Franz Ivan Luvic, Franz Ivan Luvic, Franz Ivan Luvic..." The tape went on to the professor repeating his name over and over again. Sam hit stop and thought, whatever Luvic had discovered, hadn't been able to save him. Back to the drawing board then, Sam looked down again at the gnarled corpse.
There was another difference between the bodies Sam hadn't noticed until then, their hands were different. The one the professor had used to hold the tape recorder had his pinky sticking out to one side. Sam mirrored this position, his hands were both on the play button and one that said "Rev". Sam pressed them both down. The tape spoke the professor's name in reverse.
Sam blinked a few times, looked over his shoulder at Not-Dean. He walked up to him and signed. Everything okay?
Not-Dean just smiled.
Sam turned around and held the tape recorder to his mouth. He hit record and whispered "Dean Winchester."
He then stopped and turned back to Not-Dean. He held up the recorder and hit the buttons again.
"Retsehcniw naed" it warbled.
Not-Dean opened his mouth and hissed as he turned to black shadows and disappeared.
"Cool," Sam smiled.
*****
Not-Sam smiled at Dean and ran off like a shot.
"Hey!" Dean yelled but Not-Sam was already gone. "Hey! Not-Sammy! The hell-?" Dean was chasing him down, flashlight trained in front of him, trying to catch up.
Dean finally caught up with the sound of echoing footsteps and did his best to keep up as Not-Sam dashed through opening Dean swore weren't there the other day. Not-Sam was out of sight but he could hear him thundering ahead, and then stopping suddenly. Dean heard Sam yell and ran faster, towards the dim light ahead.
Sam and Not-Sam had each other by their throats. Sam was choking and gasping and clenching hard on his double's neck. "Sam!" Dean ignored the burning pain in his arm and grabbed Not-Sam's wrists. Dean squeezed hard, trying to pull them off; he succeeded a bit and Sam took in a deep breath and rasped.
"Dean! Th-the tape. Play the tape!"
"What tape?"
"On the *gasp* floor. Play it backwards!"
Dean clenched his teeth against the strain in his arm and stared at Sam in disbelief. "If I let go, he'll kill you!"
"I'm dead any-ugh-way if you don't! Just do it!"
Dean struggled with his instincts, Not-Sam was strong but Dean was definitely getting close to pulling his hands off Sam's neck. Sam nodded and looked to the side, where the tape recorder had dropped. Dean saw it out of the corner of his eye and steeled himself.
"Get ready Sammy. Hold on as long as you can."
Sam nodded and squeezed his eyes shut tight. "Don't forget to hit 'reverse'," he spat out quickly.
Dean let go of Not-Sam's hands and dove to the ground, as Sam walked back to give Dean room. He was choking and gasping and his eyes were rolling back into his head.
"Retsehcniw mas, retsehcniw mas, retsehcniw mas..." echoed throughout the cavern. Sam felt the hands around his neck disappear and he opened his eyes just in time to see his double fade into blackness.
Sam dropped to the ground and breathed in deep. He leaned over and Dean was at his side, patting him on the back as he took in lungfuls of air. Dean was holding his arm against tight against his body, the corner of his eyes were tearing. Dean touched Sam's neck, there were big red handprints still grasping him and Sam sucked his teeth. Dean put his hand in Sam's hair and brought his head under his chin. "You're okay, Sam. You're okay."
Sam just leaned into the warmth and the heartbeat and relaxed.
*****
As it was the case, an opening in the room appeared suddenly. Sunlight flooded the room white, and Sam gathered enough strength to stand. Dean followed along, and they dragged Luvic's body out into the sunlight. They were at the opposite end of the cave system. Sam propped Luvic up against a tree and turned to Dean, who was slinging his arm again.
"Feels like the god damn thing is gonna fall off." Dean muttered.
"If it wasn't sprained before Dean, it is now."
"Tchh, fine... Clinic three towns over?"
"We should take Luvic with us, leave him somewhere for the explorer team to find."
"Ugh, all the way back? He smells so nasty, Sam."
"His family deserves a chance to bury him, Dean."
"You really think it's safe to drag a rotten corpse that far?"
"Fine, we'll go get the car and put him in the backseat."
"Ha-ha. How about we get the car and get the tarp, Sammy?"
"Whatever works," Sam said, pocketing the tape recorder. They started to walk to the Impala.
"You know, technically, I think this means we should be crowned village chiefs. We are, 'the true leaders of men', now."
Sam laughed, "I don't think so, Dean. Luvic figured it out, I just finished what he wasn't able to do."
"Yeah, but he died."
"But he almost didn't."
"Almost-not-dying doesn't count!"
"But he solved the puzzle, he read the glyphs he did all the work."
"Like it wasn't work trying to keep Monster-Not-Sam from choking the life outta you with only one good arm."
"Dean-"
"I'm serious Sam, we did our share of the work, and we deserve our handsome reward. But no, like always we get nada; and now you're trying to tell me you don't want even a little of the credit for saving the day. The freakin' dead guy gets it all."
"Wow... Just, wow."
"What is it?"
"I never thought I'd miss him."
"Him, who?"
"The other Dean, he was so nice and quiet and-"
Dean bumped into Sam, hard. "When we get back I'm going to get you for that. God, one of you is more than enough."
Sam laughed and bumped him back.
Fin.