Who: Alec and Mary What: Mary saves Alec in the Upside Down When: Sept 18 Where: Upside Down Rating: low
Alec was having a bad day. Or night. Or whenever it was. It was actually hard to tell time in this stupid place, but he hadn’t been able to gain much headway in getting out. Yesterday he had woken up in what he was pretty sure was his apartment, but different, and after touching a vine or root, had found himself attacked by some weird-ass monsters. Before he got overwhelmed, he managed to escape, and run, but even though he’d killed a few monsters, more seemed to come. He might not be human, but he wasn’t a robot.
At some point a vine had actually jut out and knocked him out and now Alec found himself on his knees in a semi-ball position as he was confined in a cage of vines. Despite his strength, the vines didn’t move a lot. He’d need something to cut it. Something he didn’t have.
He wasn’t bleeding anymore, but his bruises and cuts left him looking like he’d gone through the wringer - and he had.
As soon as Mary couldn’t reach Alec, the blond knew he’d been sucked through the portal to the “Upside Down.” Given what was coming out of that portal, Mary knew that world was dangerous. And powerful. Alec was transgenic, his abilities made him difficult to take down, and if he was having trouble coming back, whatever was keeping him there must be pretty damn powerful.
Well, Mary was certainly not going to sit back and wait until that terrible place decided to release her boyfriend. In her mind, this was similar to a hunting trip, except it was a rescue mission and her life was not the only one on the line. If she was going to do this, she had to plan it meticulously. After packing up her gear, Mary shifted the bag over her shoulder and made her way to the portal. Without hesitation, the blond stepped through and found herself in a darker, more haunted version of Madison Valley.
With plants. Lots of them. Mary drew her knife in one hand and a gun in the other as she started walking. Her blue eyes scanned the area and she was careful to avoid touching the plants as much as possible. Unfortunately, she found a particular dense patch of plants and Mary sliced through them with her knife, instantly drawing monsters to Mary’s location. Cursing under her breath, Mary took down two with shots to the head and the other she managed to wound with her knife before running.
Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted something familiar. Brown hair and a distinct handsome face barely visible behind the bars of a vine cage. “Alec…” Mary breathed, changing direction and covering the distance to him. And then she tripped, falling in front of his vine cage, but Mary didn’t stop to consider her own bruises, especially since she could clearly see Alex was in far worse shape.
“Alec. Alec. Are you okay?” Mary tugged her knife from her hip and started slicing at the vines.
He was getting tired. His body would heal with time, but the vines, he vaguely realized, were slowly moving in on him like they knew he could heal and they were intent on not letting him do it.
Just a little nap.
He almost fell asleep when he heard a familiar voice cut through the daze. His eyes opened and he wasn’t sure if he was seeing a mirage. “Mary?” His voice was hoarse from disuse, but it was still warm with feeling for her. Then his face creased with consideration as he tried to move to his knees. “You’re hurt.”
“Alec. Stay with me. I’m going to get you out of here.” The vines were trying to keep Alec from healing. It was no wonder he looked destroyed, weak. Mary frantically sliced through as many as she could, ripping away the plants, and reaching through for Alec’s hand. In that instance, his eyes fluttered open and his eyes landed on her face.
Mary’s heart clenched at the sound of his voice as relief flooded her system. She touched his face, allowing her hand to linger briefly, before her attention shifted back to the vines. He sounded so weak and yet there was feeling in every syllable of her name he’d just uttered. He was alive. That’s all that mattered. “It’s me, Alec.” Mary had worked her way through the vines around his legs and shifted her attention to his arms.
“It’s okay, Alec. I’m fine. I’ve almost got you free.” His right arm was free and Mary sliced the remaining plants clinging to his left. Sheathing the blade, Mary shifted into the cage and wrapped an arm around his waist, before attempting to help him stand.
“Come on. We’re getting out of here.”
She was most definitely not fine and he knew that was because of him. She had tools with her which told Alec that Mary had come prepared and that had to be because she was looking for him. He felt guilty, a rare, but more common occurrence ever since Mary had helped Alec grow as a person.
He helped himself up too, determined not to have Mary bear all the burden. If they could manage not to be attacked for a bit, he’d get some of she strength back. “Dean’s going to be pissed.” He said it as a joke even if it was true. “...and Lorna won’t ever let me live this down.” He was trying to crack jokes to make her less worried as he started to limp in the direction Mary was leading him.
Mary had a few bumps and bruises, but it was nothing that wouldn’t heal with a little rest. Which they would both have plenty of once they got the hell out of this place. Once Alec was up, Mary started to slowly lead them back towards the opening to the portal. Hopefully. This place had a habit of twisting and turning on itself.
The blond shook her head. “He has no room to talk. He’s in here looking for Lisa.” Which was a lot worse given Lisa was seven months pregnant. In fact, that distraction was probably the only reason he wasn’t riding Mary for her going through the portal.
“But yeah, Lorna will probably never let you live it down. Actually, I know she won’t.” Mary turned to look at him with a weak smile. “She talked to me before I came in.” A bat-like creature suddenly appeared from one of the nearby thickets. Mary reached for the holster on her belt and tugged out her gun.
“A little closer…”Mary muttered. As the bat swooped down near them, the blond raised her weapon and fired a single shot straight into the creature’s temple. It let out a scream before crashing into the ground a few feet from them.
“I think that’s a sign we need to pick up the pace.” Mary started to slightly pick up the pace.
Alec most definitely wanted to get out of this place in one piece with Mary. He did make a note that Dean was here and maybe he thought about healing up and then coming back in if Dean didn’t come out in a timely manner - not that Alec would ever admit that if Dean came out with Lisa on his own accord. He did manage a wry smile as Mary spoke because it was true about Lorna. He might be badly hurt, but he could still crack a joke.
“I guess I’ll have to apologize later.”
Then there was another one of those bat things and Alec braced himself to fight. He could. He was made to be a soldier who would fight until he couldn’t breathe anymore, but he was also thankful that Mary brought a gun. Smart woman.
“Others definitely heard that.” He’d been here long enough to know that this whole place seemed to talk to itself. It was like there were unseen cameras everywhere. “The ones on two feet are the ones we really need to worry about.” Killing that demigorgon had been much harder than any of the other creatures here.
“And me dragging your perfect ass out of here kind of guarantees it.” Mary was actually considering going back in for Dean once Alec was safely in Madison Valley again. Though, she did know Alec wouldn’t let her go back without him by her side. She couldn’t blame him for that. Mary would be of much the same mindset if Alec said he wanted to go back in too. Besides, they were better together than they ever were apart even if Mary didn’t have the abilities that Alec did.
As handy as the gun was, Alec was right. Others definitely heard that and would be coming for them. Having faced down a demigorgon and managed to escape alive, Mary knew how difficult they were to defeat. With Alec wounded and Mary human, they might be outmatched. The blond didn’t want to stick around to find out.
“All the more reason we have to get the hell out of here as soon as-” Mary broke off as their worst nightmare in this place stepped into their path. It was one on two feet. Shit. The blond looked over at Alec. Was he healed enough to fight? Mary was worried he wasn’t. She might have to take it on herself.
Holding up her handgun, Mary looked over at Alec and tried to keep the fear from showing on her face. “You should hide. I can take this thing on.”
Oh Hell no. He glanced to Mary. "Mary, not offense, but like Hell I'm leaving you." He was not about to be the reason Mary died. Apart from the fact he would most certainly die by the hands of Dean for it, Alec wasn't sure he'd survive knowing he caused her death. Maybe even just the fact she was dead would be too hard for him, though that was a new thought he wasn't sure how to handle as much.
He moved into a guard stance, hands up. He was tired and injured, but he'd been like this as a kid too, barefoot and cold in the forest and made to survive. He could fight now as an adult alongside the woman he loved.
They both sort of stood there in a stalemate for what seemed like far too long before the monster seemed to 'roar' and then charge.
Yes, Mary kind of figured he wasn’t going to leave her. “Yeah, I kind of figured you’d say that. And I’m kind of glad you did.” Because if they were going to die facing this thing, Mary would rather die with Alec than almost anyone else. Of course she also realized that Dean would probably kick his ass if he didn’t at least attempt to keep her safe too. Not that it was the main factor behind what he was doing now. Mary knew that.
He shifted away from her, standing on his own despite his injuries. His hands came up and Mary raised her gun. For a moment, none of them moved and then the monster let out a roar and charged.
Once it was close enough, Mary started shooting, aiming for the head and limbs.
Alec waited until Mary had to reload to make his move. Despite his injuries, he was able to push through the pain and still move at blurring speeds. His goal was to keep the monster away from Mary while Mary shot it. He knew that whatever this thing was, was strong as hell, but he’d also learned some of their tendencies by now.
“You need to go for the head when it’s open!” He shouted as he got knocked back into a street poll. Ow. He clamoured back onto his feet as the demigorgon started to turn to Mary. That wouldn’t do. “Hey ugly!”
He went after the creature again. This time, Alec’s goal was to grab it and hold it so Mary could get a clear shot. He managed to hold the demigorgon from behind, Alec’s arms until the thing’s ‘armpits’, though it was thrashing and it was taking a lot of effort to keep it mostly in one place.
The last bullet whizzed through the air just as Alec got knocked to the back into a street pole. Mary’s eyes widened, but she knew better than to run to him now. He was providing a distraction and the blond had to take advantage of it. Even if every fiber of her being wanted to run to him and shield him from whatever wraith that thing was going to deliver. No, she had to keep a level head.
The blond dug through her bag, finding her extra bullets, and immediately started refilling the gun. Out of the corner of her eye, she was aware of Alec picking himself up and racing towards the creature again. Using his strength, he pinned the things arms behind him. Its angry cries echoed in Mary’s ear as she inserted the last bullet and stood.
It was perfect timing. Its head opened and Mary unloaded two shots straight into the center. When she was younger, she always was annoyed when her father made her practice shooting for hours. Now, in the midst of this situation, she was grateful. Both bullets pierced its flesh and the thing screamed again before collapsing in Alec’s grip. Mary’s heart pounded in her ears as she lowered the weapon and raced to Alec’s side. God, he looked exhausted and he was still injured.
Grabbing his arm, she tugged him into an embrace. “You are a reckless idiot, but I love you for it,” Mary murmured against his ear as she buried her face in his shoulder.
He let the creature drop the moment he felt life leave its ugly body. The next thing he realized he was hugging Mary and he had to admit he preferred that over what he was previously 'embracing'. He managed a smile against the side of her head as he held her. "One thing that Manticore did good by me." Meaning it gave him the tools - albeit by torture and abuse - to survive almost anything.
"I love you too, Mary." He murmured the words like they came easily to him, though in reality it seemed only easy to happen when he spoke about her. "... We should get going. Others will have heard the cry."