Chapter Text
Coping had never been Dean's strong suit; he was more partial to numbing the pain with alcohol than dealing with it. Processing emotions properly was not something that came quickly to his family. And the fact that he's an Omega doesn't help much with that. Plus, Dean's lifestyle as a hunter left no room to grieve appropriately.
The Winchester family had been diminished from three to one in a month. First, it was John, his father, and then Sam, his brother. Both were strong Alphas in their own way, and they had died because of the same thing. The yellow-eyed demon, Azazel. Losing his dad had certainly hurt Dean, but he and John had never been close. So the Omega didn't take his Alpha father's death hard, or at least not as hard as he had taken Sam's death. When Sam died, it completely destroyed Dean. He couldn't eat, sleep, or even bring himself to part with his body for days.
Sam had been a staple in Dean's life for decades. As the Alpha of the two, he technically had been the man of the house when John was away. That is, once he was old enough to start presenting as an Alpha. But Dean would always be the big brother, no matter what sub-gender he might be. And as a big brother, he had failed. Sam was dead because he hadn't reached him in time. In a world of Alphas, Betas, and Omegas, seeing an Alpha, you care for die is never easy. Especially for the Omega or Omegas in their care, Dean had had two Alphas die on him. So to have his father sacrifice himself for him to live, only to witness Sam be stabbed in the back, took its toll on him. More so than any other death he had witnessed in his years as a hunter.
After holding Sam in his arms as he died from a fatal stab wound to the back, Dean had spiraled. Squatting in a house with a dirty old mattress and nothing more made his long-suppressed instincts seethe in disgust. This was not safe, didn't feel or smell safe, and the only one who could've made it feel and smell safe was dead. His body was still on that dirty mattress as Dean drowned his sorrows in cheap liquor. He refused to move an inch from his brother's side for more than a liquor run and trip to the bathroom. Bobby, a friend of the family and the only trusted Alpha left in Dean's life, tried to reason with the grieving Omega. He tried to get him to give Sam a proper funeral, eat real food, and drink something that wasn't booze. The Alpha's attempts had failed miserably, as Dean wouldn't give him the time of day. And when he did, the grief-stricken Omega had snapped, and what he said had hurt Bobby deeply. But Dean hadn't meant what he said; he tried his best to reassure the old Alpha before inevitably asking him to leave. He wanted to be alone because he didn't think he deserved comfort.
Days and nights passed by the Omega in a drunken blur. Dean never quite remembered when his days ended and nights started. And at one of his lowest points, he went to a crossroads and summoned a demon to make a deal for Sam's life. But no matter how much he offered, the demon refused to take the deal to bring back the Alpha. At that very moment, Dean had lost all hope of ever seeing Sam again. His brother was gone, but even though he knew that he still couldn't bring himself to give his brother a hunter's funeral. It was just too difficult a task for him to go through with. Holding onto his brother's body was painful, but the idea of setting it aflame was much more painful. So the lone Omega buried his body somewhere that only he would know about. Staying here killing his liver wasn't getting him anywhere. With Azazel still at large, Dean needed to get his head in the game and keep hunting. It would never be the same without Sam, but his brother was gone, and he had no way of bringing him back. And yeah, he was still drowning his sorrows in alcohol, but at least he was hunting again.
By now, almost a month had passed since Dean had buried Sam. Azazel was still in the wind, and there was hide nor hair of the man who stabbed his brother. So hunting was all he could do as his recent hunt brought him the Austin, Texas. Without someone to help with the research, it took the Omega longer to track down the creatures. He was hunting a group of ghouls, which were honestly the rats of the Supernatural world. They weren't much of a problem but still enough of one that they needed to be hunted. Ghouls may be graveyard scavengers, but in rare instances, they do go for fresh meat. And Dean had hoped he had gotten there in time to gank them before they turned to that, but it was too late. The ghouls had already killed someone, the man who owned the cemetery and maintained the property. And the man was a beast of an Alpha when he died because the Ghoul posing as him had Dean outmatched in height and strength. He was giving the Omega more of a run for his money than most do, but the hunter in him craved this kind of power struggle. There is always a power struggle. Generally, Omegas are much smaller and not quite as strong as Alphas, but the Omega hunter was holding his own just fine.
Now there was more than one Ghoul, but the four others seemed content to leave the biggest one to deal with Dean. It was only when the hunter was starting to get the upper hand did they begin to worry. Shots were fired as Dean managed to throw the bigger one off of him, but none of the shots made a killing blow. Going for the head, much like with vampires, was the only way to kill a ghoul. And with no one around to watch his six getting in a headshot was difficult. One would always manage to sneak up behind him, even with his heightened senses, and knock the shot off course before he could pull the trigger entirely. All the wasted shots forced the hunter to hide and regroup, straining his ears at each sound as he reloaded his shotgun. He was battered, bruised, and bleeding from a busted open lip and a gash on his cheek. His chest was heaving, and his heart was pounding in his ears as the ghouls attempted to search for him. Dean hated hiding, but it was currently his only option between reloading and trying to catch his breath. The ghouls had passed Dean's hiding spot, but that changed nothing; they would be back. And in the meantime, it gave the hunter enough time to recover and devise a game plan.
Hiding always puts the Omega's already high senses on high alert. So when the sound of footsteps approached his hiding spot, Dean exited quickly. The shotgun was loaded and aimed in one fluid motion with a pump action. Gazing down the gun barrel, Dean prepared to shoot, thinking it was one of the ghouls circling back. However, his finger faltered on the trigger as he caught sight of the person as they held one another at gunpoint. In the dim lighting of the moon, the Omega recognized the face beneath the white cowboy hat. It wasn't possible; it couldn't be him; Dean saw him die and buried his body. But still, a tiny shred of hope was welling up in the Omega's shattered heart.
"Sammy?" Dean uttered questioningly with slight hope, the gun lowering slightly as his brow furrowed.
Cordell's head tilted to the left in confusion at what Dean had called him; who did this man think he was? He couldn't focus on that for now, as he ordered, "Drop the gun slowly and get down on the ground, hands where I can see them."
"That's an odd way to greet your big brother Sammy." Dean commented but didn't lower the gun, too riled up and on edge to listen.
"I don't know who you think I am, but I am a Texas Ranger, and you are under arrest for trespassing and firing a gun in a populated area." Cordell said as his gun stayed trained on the shorter male, the neighbors had called in a disturbance involving a firearm 20 minutes ago. "I won't say this again. Drop the gun slowly and get down on the ground, hands where I can see them." He repeated as he took a step closer to Dean.
"Texas Ranger...?" Dean repeated, clearly confused, but before more could be said, the stench of death and decay assaulted the Omega's senses, followed by footsteps. The ghouls, or at least one of them, were back. "Get down!" Dean hissed out sharply, lowering his shotgun and quickly ushering a caught off-guard Cordell into the mausoleum he had been hiding. Causing the Ranger to nearly drop his gun in the process.
"What are you-?!" Cordell began to exclaim, only to have a hand clamp down over his mouth.
"Quiet." Dean ordered under his breath, pressing his body against Cordell's to pin the Ranger back first against the wall near the doorway.
All was silent as the two stood within the dark mausoleum, Dean pinning Cordell between him and the cold stone wall. The only light within the crypt coming from the open doorway as the Ghoul took a cautious sniff of the air. It was searching for its new live-flesh prey but was confused when a new scent caught its attention. From where Dean was, with his chest pressed tightly against a fidgety Cordell's chest to keep him still, he took notice of something. The Ranger's scent, the same one the Ghoul locked onto; this guy was an Alpha. Great, just another thing to add to the long list of things the universe has done to screw him over... Said male's Alpha instincts were ticked off. How dare this guy order him around? He's a Texas Ranger, an enforcer of Texas Law. Cordell Walker only takes orders from his superiors and his parents. Pushing aside the hand covering his mouth, the Alpha Ranger opened his mouth. He was about to tear the smaller male a new one when he saw his expression as someone approached the mausoleum. Dean was prepared for what happened next, but Cordell was not. Needing a distraction, the hunter snatched the white cowboy hat off the Ranger's head. Tossing it deeper into the mausoleum, it hit the wall with a light thunk before dropping to the floor. Taking notice of the hat, the Ghoul approached it cautiously. In the limited dim lighting, Cordell took notice of the figure approaching his fallen hat. Despite the lack of lighting, the Ranger recognized the face of the man inspecting his hat. It was the face of a man Cordell had witnessed die in his family's arms almost a month ago...
"Hoyt?" Cordell asked, his voice wavering slightly as his best friend for decades looked back at him.
Before either Cordell or "Hoyt" could react, there was a gunshot. The Alpha flinched as his best friend's head exploded in a hail fire of blood and brain matter. It splattered over the stone as his body slumped against the wall with most of its head missing. Looking down to the source of the gunshot, Cordell found Dean with his back to him. His gun aimed at the body, smoke wafting up from the barrel as the smaller male kept a vigilant eye on the body. Almost as if he expected the body to spring to life once again. When Dean was satisfied that the body was no longer alive was when he lowered the shotgun. He was indifferent to what he had just done as he opened the sawed-off and began reloading it as he had been before. Filling its double barrel with as many buckshots as it would carry. His eyes trained on the crypt door as his hands worked from memory to reload his weapon.
"Just like old times, huh, Sammy?" Dean asked as he loaded the last buckshot, the sawed-off closing with a flick of his wrist and a click as he gave Cordell a smirk.
"Look. I don't know who you think I am, but I'm not him." Cordell said, having enough of being called Sammy. "My name is Cordell Walker, and you have five seconds to tell me what the hell is going on before I arrest you for murder right here and now." His words came out with a growl rumbling from deep within his chest as he glared at Dean.
"Funny." Dean chuckled, "That's a funny joke, Sammy." He said as he continued to chuckle, not quite believing Cordell.
"I'm not joking." Cordell stated as the look on his face was not the joking kind. "Still waiting for that explanation, otherwise..." He trailed off as he pulled free his handcuffs from his belt, flashing them at Dean.
"You're actually being serious right now?" Dean slowly realized as the smirk slipped away from his face.
"Yeah, I am." Cordell affirmed as his patience was wearing thin.
"...When and where were you born?" Dean asked suddenly as he frowned.
"What?" Cordell asked, why was someone he didn't know asking him something like that.
"When and where were you born?" Dean repeated a bit more insistently this time.
"I'm the one asking the questions here, and this is not you explaining what the hell just happened." Cordell said as he stepped into Dean's personal space, the Alpha preparing to slap the cuffs on the Omega.
Dean quickly took a step out of Cordell's reach when the Ranger tried to cuff him as he said, "I'll tell you what's going on, and if you still wanna arrest me afterward, that's fine. But only after you answer my own questions, and I've got quite a few."
"Your serious?" Cordell asked as another growl rumbled from deep within his chest.
"Damn straight." Dean stated with a nod. "Now, when and where were you born?" He asked, staring Cordell down as he waited for his answer. Now really wasn't the best time for an interrogation, but Dean needed to get some answers.
"...November 1982, Austin, Texas." Cordell ground out as if revealing this information to a stranger was painful for him.
"Who are your birth parents?" Dean asked, and he ignored how Cordell's jaw ticked at this.
"Bonham and Abeline Walker." Cordell said as his voice took on a low and protective tone.
"Any siblings?" Dean asked, and with each question Cordell answered, his shred of hope began to shrivel and wither away.
"Just one, a younger brother." Cordell said as the low protective tone persisted.
For most people, that would be enough, but Dean wasn't most people. Taking a deep breath in through his nose, he pointed to the left side of his chest and said, "Show me your chest, right here."
"There's nothing there. And even if there was, it wouldn't be something that you need to see." Cordell said as, at this point, he was defensive and at his limit of patience.
"Just humor me." Dean said, an air of exasperation to his tone as he glanced at the crypt door again. Those Ghouls were taking their sweet old time...
With a huff, Cordell wrenched his tie loose and unbuttoned his shirt. Opening it just enough, he showed Dean the upper left side of his chest, where there was nothing but bare skin. "See, nothing." Cordell stated as he rebuttoned his shirt quickly.
"So, you're really not him..." Dean murmured as a look of utter heartbreak flashed over Dean's face, but it went unnoticed by Cordell.
"Now start explaining what happened." Cordell ordered as he soon fixed his tie back into place.
As Dean steeled his resolve he seemed to be mulling things over in his head for a moment. "Let me ask you something, you smell that?" He asked as he approached the fallen body. "The stench of death and decay." Dean continued as he crouched and picked up the fallen white cowboy hat.
"We're in a mausoleum in a cemetery. It's going to smell like death and decay." Cordell pointed out harshly as he approached and snatched his hat away from Dean. "This does not explain how you shot my best friend in the head when he has been dead for almost a month." He said as he placed his hat back on his head after deeming it blood and brain matter free.
"I could shoot him because that thing was not your friend." Dean revealed as he pushed himself into a standing position. "It was a Ghoul." He continued as he turned back to look at Cordell and the door.
"A Ghoul?" Cordell asked, and it was clear he didn't know what that was, nor did he seem to believe Dean.
"They're scavengers. They live in graveyards, feeding on the blood and flesh of the dead. Occasionally they'll switch to consuming live flesh, but it is very rare they will make such a choice." Dean explained, having already expected Cordell not to believe him. "They take on the form of the last person they consumed, living or dead." He continued as the Alpha Ranger shook his head slightly in disbelief.
"You're insane; that's not possible." Cordell argued, he didn't want to believe that some creature ate his best friend's body and stole his identity.
"Oh, but it is." Dean declared as he walked past Cordell, hoisting his abandoned weapons bag off the floor. "I'm gonna lay out the facts for ya, and your gonna listen." He said as he left no room for argument.
A growl of annoyance rumbled from deep within Cordell's chest, but the Alpha said nothing, simply motioning for Dean to continue. Meaning that the Omega had his attention.
"These things have already gone for living flesh. In the house on the property, you'll find the caretaker, dead and in the process of being carved into like a Thanksgiving turkey." Dean said as he pulled free a second shotgun from his bag. "He's been like that for days. But I'm sure you've seen him recently alive, and well; that's because a Ghoul took his place. Just like they did with your friend." He said, and the more he spoke the more the situation was really sinking in for Cordell. "You say the smell is coming from this mausoleum, but it's not; this thing is brand-spanking-new. No one has been buried here yet. There isn't another mausoleum anywhere near here, and the rest of the graves are six feet under dirt and grass." Dean said as he held his sawed-off under his arm and quickly loaded the extra shotgun.
"So what are you saying?" Cordell asked as he watched Dean like a hawk.
"What I'm saying is that the only thing in here that could give off that kind of smell is that thing." Dean said, and with a jerk of his head, he motioned toward the body. "Believe me, don't believe me; that's up to you." He paused as the sound of rapid footfalls and shouting finally reached his ears. "But that things friends are on their way, and you can either be a help or a hindrance. Your call entirely." Dean finished as he held out the now-loaded extra shotgun to Cordell by the barrel.
"...What do I have to do?" Cordell asked as he slowly holstered his own gun before accepting the shotgun.
"Watch my six; aim for their heads." Dean paused and glanced out the mausoleum door and saw the remaining Ghouls begin to surround the building. "Don't miss, and I'll be wanting that back once we're done." He said sharply as he left the crypt, taking the first shot.
Dean didn't have much time to think about how Cordell was doing, but the Ranger seemed to be holding his own. After all, no Ghoul had managed to sneak up on the hunter and knock his shots off course yet, but he spoke too soon. As Dean was about to take a headshot at one of the remaining smaller Ghouls, a solid mass of flesh rammed into his side. It was the biggest of the Ghouls and it had tackled the hunter. Sending them into a tumble as they wrestled on the ground as the two attempted to kill one another. The Ghoul was trying to tear into Dean as they tumbled, rolled, and somehow managed not to slam into any headstones. When their tumbling came to a stop the Omega hunter was on his back with the Ghoul hunched over him. Its hands wrapped around his throat, squeezing tightly as Dean struggled to breathe. The Ghoul was attempting to choke out the hunter, its nails digging into the vulnerable flesh of his throat. Dean's lungs began to burn from the lack of air, and darkness began to creep into his vision. He needed to get this Ghoul off of him fast before it choked the life out of him. With time being of the essence and sluggish movements, Dean slotted the sawed-off between the Ghoul's arms. Holding the butt of the gun in one hand, he took hold of the barrel in the other, and when he jerked the barrel downwards, it broke the Ghoul's hold on his throat. Gasping, Dean took in a gulp of air before slotting the gun's barrel under the Ghoul's chin and pulling the trigger. Immediately he closed his eyes with a flinch as blood splattered on his face, and the body fell down on top of him in a heavy boneless heap.
Cordell hadn't even noticed what had been happening with Dean. The remaining Ghouls attempted to gang up on him, but the Ranger was a quick and precise shot. And as the last body fell limp to the dirt the Alpha caught a whiff of something. Through the stench of death and decay, there was this scent, the scent of apple pie, leather, and warm spices. It was the scent of an Omega, an unmated one at that. Turning to follow the scent, Cordell was shocked to find that it led him to Dean. The hunter, oblivious to the Ranger, watched him with a shocked expression. With the blood of the Ghoul clinging to his skin and clothes, Dean shoved the heavy body off of his chest. Still trying to recover from being choked, he still took no notice of Cordell as he slowly stumbled to his feet. His back to the Ranger as he shook his head slightly, trying to clear the fog of being choked from his mind.
"You're an Omega?" Cordell uttered as he couldn't take his eyes off Dean.