CYPHER

Seven days is not a week.

ALEC

Alec watched as his cousin settled back in his seat without asking further questions about what he had just agreed to or what consequences were attached to them .

When he had even signed the papers , Alec had expected him to protest when he read the clause on bodily harm or loss of body parts but he had just read through and signed , he had asked Alec no questions when Alec had been prepared to practically dish out answers .

He sighed , he was in no place to be showing empathy , especially after getting his poor cousin to sign it .

He had not approached his cousin out of the goodness of his heart .

He knew why he had come for Dean .

Dean was his only chance of getting Winchester if he wanted to ever do .

The car stopped moving and the partition came down .

Paul's voice came through the small Telecom device .

" This is the stop the child asks to be let down", he announced .

Alec watched as his cousin's eyes lazily opened , his eyes shocking him again .

It was like looking into a mirror .

Provided it was a shabby and very cynical mirror but it still gave off a reflection .

" Stay with your sister tonight but the game commences by exactly twelve midnight , I will be here before then to get you ", He planned with Trevor .

Alec hoped vaguely that he would ask at least one question but Dean only nodded and opened the door , alighting Immediately .

Alec watched him button his suit before leaving .

The car moved immediately and Paul put on music , one of the classical pieces that Alec pretended to know about .

He watched Paul's reflection from the rear - view mirror , his face had a silent reproach to it .

" What ? You disagree with me ? " , he bellowed .

Alec laughed bitterly , Of course he did .

Paul had been one of his Uncle's trusted helps in the family , his mum had hated how she had not been able to turn him over to her aid when her brother had left.

" You should not have brought James' kids into this , it's not your place ", He insists.

Alec scoffed.

Kids ?

He shouldn't have brought them into it ?

Was everyone forgetting that he was a kid too ?

That he was even younger than Dean ?

Yet he had been brought into it .

" Just drive ", he snapped .

He reclined back into his chair , feeling Paul's pitiful eyes on him.

Whatever happened , he would take care of the sister's heart because regardless of how the game turned out , if Dean won or not , he would still die .

No sub - player could ever leave the game alive.

DEAN

Jaymie was silent as they took the stairs to their apartment , he had expected her to be full of questions .

Dean watched her walk ahead , he knew she was waiting for him to tell her what had gone on in the car that she had not been privy of .

She pushed the key into the lock and used her weight to push the door open .

Dean quickened his steps and walked into their apartment , he closed the door after him .

Jaymie was at the sink , drinking directly from the tap like she always did .

He had warned her severally and only stopped when she had also caught him severally .

She jumped off the stool she had used to prop herself up and walked to their closet .

He went to the sink too and drank to his fill , when he turned around Jaymie was seated on their bed staring at him.

" I can't pretend anymore , what did you guys discuss without me ? It's obviously something underhanded and dubious ".

Dean propped himself and pulled himself to sit on the kitchens countertop .

" You weren't even doing a good job of pretending but you are right , it does sound dubious ".

Dean wondered how much information he could give her before she figured out just what he was going to do.

He could tell her it was a kind of job .

" What is it ? It's definitely not a job ".

Dean watched his job idea slide down the countertop and Into the sink before going down the drain .

" You're right , it's not a job . But, it does require me to be gone for sometime ".

He watched as his sister process this tidbit of information .

She lifted her legs and placed them under her chin , wrapping her hands around her entire body .

" How long will you be gone for ?"

" Seven days ".

Dean could not bring himself to tell her that the seven days would begin count in a few hours.

She nodded gently .

" Seven days is enough time , a day for testing and cross checking any loop holes , another day for preparation . The third day would be for the actual transplant and then the remaining four days would be used to monitor how well the new organ adapts ".

Dean watched his sister ramble as she counted fingers .

" What are you talking about ? "

She lifted her head to face him sharply .

" Isn't that what he came to you for ? He needs something , an organ , bone marrow or even more and you agreed to get me a heart , didn't you ? "

Jaymie was screaming now .

Dean jumped off the countertop and ran to the bed , he lifted Jaymie and threw her in the air , heights always made her let go of her anger momentarily .

She yelped and put her hand over her eyes .

" Put me down ".

He did as she said and put her down exactly where he had carried her from , he sat next to her .

" I know how you feel about becoming healthy only to find that I've become uhealthy , so I won't do anything that endangers me ".

She threw herself into his arms and Dean brought his arms around her after the ache from suddenly throwing her had subsided .

She was quiet about it ,but his shirt had grown wet .

He patted her hair down remembering a week ago when she had put her hair up into an extravagant twist and asked that he do a video for her t****k with her , he had of course refused and she had done it with Laura , it was Laura's phone after all.

" Everything will be okay , I'll be back in seven days time and we'll go straight to the hospital to put your name on the list . With money like that , we'll find a suitable replacement fast and in a months time , this will all be a bad dream ".

Jaymie lifted her tear stricken face from his chest , his heart broke more .

" W...what do you mean in seven days time ?" Jaymie asked .

Ahhh , he had messed up.

He mentally scrambled , looking for how to salvage that but he could not think of anything to say to her .

" You're leaving tomorrow ? You're actually leaving tomorrow ? "

Dean remained quiet and Jaymie pushed herself off him , burrowing into the blankets , scoffing unbelievably at Dean .

Dean let her be , he knew when his sister wanted to be left alone .

Now , how was he supposed to tell her that he was leaving tonight?

Dean stood up and headed back to the kitchen where he gathered ingredients for a large serving of lasagna .

He cooked and baked , turning every emotion he was feeling into an ingredient for all of the dishes he was making .

He had checked on Jaymie and found her asleep .

Sometimes around nine , he was finally done with cooking and stared at all that he had made .

He had made a large serving of lasagna , enough for Laura and Jay to reheat for two or three days .

Enough chocolate chip cookies for Jaymie to eat when she read or studied her calculus.

He had made a small bowl of salad too , Jay liked her vegetables fresh .

And finally a medium sized apple pie.

It was safe to say that Dean had utilized every single food ingredient in the house .

He piled them together and sealed them , stacking them in a huge picnic basket .

He carried them over to the next apartment ,he knocked severally and got no reply .

He finally let himself in.

The place was .....clean for the first time in a really long time.

Not your regular clean but clean by Laura's standards .

He threaded carefully and found her in her room , asleep on the floor .

"Laura ? "

She rolled around to face him , she was sweating profusely .

Dean dropped to the floor and touched her .

" What's wrong ? "

Her eyes were glassy , she had been crying .

" I missed my baby's visitation ".

Laura had a kid that she had lost custody to , he now stayed with his dad.

Everytime something happened with the kid ,Laura drank more .

The kid being away from her somehow made her worse.

" I need to get clean , I need to get clean to contest the sole custody . I want my baby with me too", Laura wailed.

She sat up and wiped her face.

" What brings ya by boo ? " , she asked .

She looked from him to the large basket behind him , looking at them for a Joke .

" I got a job ", Dean offered to her .

She studied his face .

" You do not seem too happy 'about that ", she observed .

Dean chuckled.

" No s**t ".

" You want me to watch Jaymie while you working ?" , She asked .

" Yes , I am going to be gone a while ", Dean stated .

He expected her to ask questions but she only smiled.

" More time with your brat of a sister but it is all good, no better way to get sober than a kid high on power screaming insults at ya ", She proclaimed , her eyes lighting up as she laughed fondly over the memory .

Dean laughed at this.

" She's asleep now but I will be gone when she wakes up".

Laura nodded and took his hand in hers .

" Be safe handsome ".

Dean stood up and left the apartment .

He returned to their apartment and got a pen and paper.

He wrote down everything he had figured out about the game and everything he wanted to tell her .

Told her where he kept emergency cash Incase she needed it and folded the letter .

He added his copy of the contract to the letter and placed the both under the picture of his parents .

In a few days when she missed their parents , she would find it .

Dean watched her from the entrance of their apartment , he was scared that if he moved close enough, she would wake up and he would chicken out .

But he honestly could not .

So , he stepped out and closed the door behind him .

He covered his head with his hoodie and jogged down to where he was supposed to meet Alec .