Not What He Seems

Chapter 15

Riot has no idea what happened.

That's the thing about being a dog with a secret identity. He can't be around all the time without blowing his cover, so he shows up late to everything. He misses all the background and the explanation and catches them at the last moment.

Take now, for instance. He ran to the sewer that he knew Sam and Dean would be in, and he sniffed his way through all the garbage to find that they weren't even in the sewer anymore, and he got his fur wet for nothing. With an exasperated groan, he climbed out of the sewer and found himself in a seemingly abandoned warehouse instead — which, he will admit, is marginally better; it's dry and doesn't smell like literal shit, which is a win he's willing to take.

But, then again, this doesn't look like much of a win. Riot knew they were fighting shifters, but it hadn't occurred to him until he made his way there that these shifters could look like anyone. Sam and Dean could be fighting Paris Hilton or Morgan Freeman, and that's just how it would be.

Or, as is the case here, they could be fighting themselves.

Riot cowers in the corner of the warehouse and watches anxiously as the armies of Winchesters — which is only two of each brother, but it feels like a lot — are fighting. Each brother is fighting his own doppelganger, and, from this distance, Riot can't tell who is who.

Sam slashes at the other Sam's wrist with a knife, and the other Sam recoils, holding his sizzling wrist protectively. Riot immediately pinpoints which one is the real Sam, and he's determined not to lose sight of him, just in case something goes wrong and Riot needs to jump in and save him.

Pseudo-Sam runs away, and Riot shoves himself further into the corner, just in case. He's not much different than a shifter, and if his senses work as well as they do, he can only imagine the same is true of the human variants. He's not risking getting caught down here if he doesn't have to.

When Riot looks back up, Dean is holding the other Dean by the throat. He can't find any weapons on either of them, and, from this distance, even his super sense can't help him figure out which one is the real Dean. Shifters are too good at what they do to get caught like that.

"Sam!" the Dean holding onto the clone shouts. "C'mon, kill him!"

"What?" Dean 2.0 scoffs. "Dude, it's me!"

"Don't listen to him, Sammy," Dean 1.0 says. "He's lying. He's the shifter."

Well.

This has to be the most predictable turn of events he has ever seen.

Riot slowly crawls out of his hiding spot, his eyes glued to the two Deans. He already knows where his Sam is, and he's not expecting to lose track of him any time soon. But he knows Sam would be devastated to lose his brother again, especially if it was his own incorrect guess that made it happen. Riot's determined to stop that.

"Look, man, I can't rip his head off with my bare hands," the Dean in charge says. "Just grab your gun and shoot him, for god's sake!"

"He's just messing with you, Sam," the other Dean says. "He's lying. You gotta believe me."

Sam looks between the two of them frantically. After a moment's hesitation, he pulls out his silver blade. "I don't have my gun, but I do have this. I'll know which one of you is the shifter —"

"Dude, what the hell?" the trapped Dean hisses. "You take another step with that thing, the shifter's just gonna kill me! I mean, if you're gonna ice him anyway, he might as well get that last shot in!"

Shot.

Sam doesn't have his gun.

So where is it?