Alec's car was already packed around the block .
Had he even left in the first place ?
Dean stopped to look at the car for a few moments , deep down , he felt a reluctance to walk further to the car but Dean felt guilty for even feeling reluctance to a means that could save his sister .
He sighed softly and brought his hands to run through his hair , he looked at the sky and inhaled before he began to walk , blanking his mind because thinking of anything would cause him to consider turning around and going back to his sister .
He reached the car and wondered if Alec could see him but he had no time to consider that so he raised his hands to the window .
Dean rapped gently on the window and heard the smooth click of locks opening before he opened the door .
He entered to find that almost nothing had changed , he took another look at Alec though and realized that everything about him had changed .
Alec was seated exactly where he had sat earlier but he had left alright .
His clothing was different and he looked like a totally different person .
His hair was styled differently and his vibe in general was different .
He was putting on a black tuxedo without the usual bow tie attached to it and looked too serious , at least when compared to the Alec he had met some hours ago .
He did not say anything to Dean when Dean settled down or when the car began to move .
He was a completely different person from earlier today .
" Did you settle your sister accordingly ?", he inquired , his eyes shifting to Dean's face .
His voice was deeper and somehow more meaningful , demanding of respect , not the kind of voice that one should be nodding to so Dean answered .
" Yes , I did ", he responded .
Alec himself nodded and turned around to pop open the minibar that his car carried .
Dean sighed , grateful for the brief return to normalcy that was beginning to make him very nervous .
Dean almost laughed at himself , normalcy with someone he had known for barely a day ?
What was his life coming to ?
This time he brought out a drink that had not been opened .
He pulled out a wine uncorker from the minibar too and twisted the cork open .
He gave the drink to Dean and held up a finger , he produced two glass cups a few seconds later .
He gave one of the glasses to Dean .
Alec poured into both of their glasses and returned the bottle into the minibar.
He stared at the drink he held while Dean stared at his own too , it was a clear sparkling drink , he lifted his drink into the air.
" To us ", He toasted .
Alec's voice was quiet and heavy , too heavy that it leaked so much .
Dean thought of his sister as he downed the content of the glass .
" To us " , he whispered after he took the glass from his lips.
Dean added after swallowing , he raised his head to look at Alec .
" You knew , didn't you ?" , Alec asked .
Dean nodded , a grim smile twisting his face .
Of course he had known that the drink would be spiked .
He relaxed in his seat , waiting for the drug to kick in.
" We won't be able to communicate with each other during the game ", Alec told him .
This was news to Dean , he wanted to ask why not but his tongue was suddenly quite heavy and would not move.
Alec sat forward and took the glass out of his hands .
" You know your father was an engineer, right? Every knowledge you have of your father will be very useful " , Alec informed him .
Again , what did his father have to do with this?
But , he could not ask because now his vision was hazy and he did not feel like expending his energy .
Dean blinked slowly as his cousin's head began to take different unflattering shapes .
" Don't fight it ", Alec whispered to him .
Dean scoffed at this , how foolish exactly was Alec ?
If he wanted to fight it , would he have drank in the first place ?
It was too late now ,the darkness had arrived .
It enveloped Dean and he drowned .
ALEC
Alec tapped the partition that separated Paul from he and Dean's unconscious body .
The partition came down revealing Paul's hardened and disgruntled face .
Paul had a very unique way of showing his disapproval of the situation .
" Are you ready, Sir ? ", he asked gruffly .
Alec nodded as he patted his cousins hair down .
" Take us to the preparatory module ", he ordered.
" Yes sir ".
Paul's face hardened more , a feat that should have been physically impossible but this was Paul , no level of gloom was impossible for his face .
Alec ignored him and lifted his left hand to the light to see the time from kid wrist .
A few minutes past ten , they had ample time to prepare .
He closed his eyes , the drive would take a while .
Alec opened his eyes when his wristwatch beeped , they were almost there .
He left his seat and joined his cousin where he sat still .
Dean did not move at all even when the car shook slightly because of the terrain , comporting himself even while unconscious .
His mother would have loved a son like Dean of the situation had been slightly different .
The people Alec was riding with were such overachievers .
He patted down his cousin's pants , there was nothing in them.
No cell phone or personal properties , his cousin had come prepared .
If only that mattered in the slightest .
The car stopped moving but this time , the partition did not come down .
Alec waited but not for long .
A moment later , someone knocked on the window by his side , in the darkness , he could not make sight of even a shadow .
Alec bent slightly and retrieved an old wooden box that had been hidden under the car seats .
He opened it up and his mask stared at him , it had belonged to his uncle , Dean's father before Alec had gotten it , he had been using it for over six years now .
It was a crystal goat's face , complete with overemphasized horns .
Alec affixed it on to his face and also tapped the glass of the windows .
The doors opened on both sides simultaneously .
The one close to Alec had been opened by a person in a mask too , a squirrel mask and a workman's jumpsuit .
The squirrel bowed slightly and nodded at whoever had opened the other door.
Two people in mole masks stood there , they bowed too when Alec turned to them , he nodded to acknowledge their greetings and they immediately got to work .
The moles had brought along a stretcher and worked together to transfer Dean unto it while the squirrel watched , more of a supervisory watch .
When they were done , they bowed again and left , leaving behind the squirrel to accompany Alec .
Alec stepped out of the car and followed the squirrel up , the module was a glass house situated on the mountain .
It was hard to climb too but Alec was more athletic than he let on , his family deeply frowned on unfit members of the family .
It was always a glass house or box if you wanted to be technical , it was usually situated in different locations with every player having different teams and locations .
Last year , it had been in the Himalayas and the previous year , somewhere on Fiji island for Alec .
Alec had never burdened himself with this minute details and had usually asked the squirrel to come pick his designated partners from specific locations .
This year was different though .
There was much to lose , much to gain and it was his cousin he was offering up after all .
They finally reached the end of the terrain where the glass box was now visible .
The moles had gotten to work on his cousin, Dean lay naked on another glass table between them .
Alec stood outside the glass box with the squirrel , watching .
They put all of his clothes into a disposable trash bag and began to scan him with a high resolution infrared scanner .
It would detect even the smallest foreign material in his body , from chips to fruit seeds he had swallowed .
Dean had no such thing in his body , so they moved on to washing and detoxing .
Alec turned around, leaving them to their work .
He studied Squirrel's profile from the corner of his eyes , he had often wondered who Squirrel was .
How much Squirrel knew about them .
Did Squirrel know him personally ?
But Squirrel must have been very professional because during Alec's second year , Squirrel had seen Alec's face.
Alec had been unable to focus on the game that year , anticipating his grandfather or mother suddenly bursting in , furious with him.
But that had never happened, Squirrel had done nothing with the information on his identity.
" Are you a girl Squirrel or a boy Squirrel ?"
Alec waited but Squirrel only ignored him .
He chuckled and checked his watch.
It was a few minutes past eleven .
He turned back to the box , Dean was being dressed .
The Patrons usually got to choose their players clothes and one other thing they were allowed to have during the game .
Communication devices or gadgets were prohibited though .
Alec had chosen the perfect item for Dean .
Lights came on and flooded them , blinding .
Alec turned to search for the source, it was coming from far off where it looked like a giant Intense beam of light was concentrated.
Didn't they need a satellite for something of that magnitude ?
How bright exactly was it over there ?
" That's the Arena ".
It would have been a good opportunity to get a feel of Squirrel's voice but a voice changer had been used .
He watched as the light danced around , flickering harshly and finally went off .
Was there a technical issue ?
Alec turned to Squirrel who had noticed his confusion .
" The light alerts all the players or patron to the venue of the arena ".
Alec nodded thoughtfully , he turned around to view Dean's progress but was only fast enough to catch Dean being wheeled off .
" Your player is ready and being transported to the venue sir . You should leave too ", he was informed in a suggestive tone .
In a few minutes after he had left , the glass box would be taken care of like it had never been here .
" I should get going ".
Squirrel escorted him down again to where the car waited .
He got in while Squirrel held the door open.
" Good luck sir".
Squirrel bowed and closed the door.
As the car drove back to the Winchester house , Alec thought about what the others would have prepared , especially his mother .
Alec needed all of the good luck he could get his hands on.