SHEDDING SKIN

am is on the side of the house, looking around. He looks inside two garbage cans but finds nothing. He moves to the front of the house, where Dean comes behind him.

"Hey." Dean says and Sam turns around to face him. "Remember when I said this wasn't our kind of problem?"

"Yeah."

"Definitely our kind of problem." Dean says.

"What'd you find out?" Elena asks.

"Well, I just talked to the patrolman who was first on the scene, heard this guy, Alex's story. Apparently the dude was driving home from a business trip when his wife was attacked." Dean says.

"So, he was two places at once." Elena points out.

"Exactly. Then he sees himself in the house, police think he's a nutjob."

Sam shifts his weight. "Two dark doubles attacking loved ones in exactly the same way." He says.

"Could be the same thing doin' it, too." Dean suggests.

Sam thinks for a second. "Shapeshifter? Something that can make itself look like anyone?" He says.

"Every culture in the world has a shapeshifter lore. You know, legends of creatures who can transform themselves into animals or other men." Dean says.

"Right, skinwalkers, werewolves."

"We've got two attacks within blocks of each other. I'm guessin' we've got a shapeshifter prowlin' the neighborhood." Dean says.

"Let me ask you this—in all this shapeshifter lore, can any of them fly?" Sam asks.

Dean shakes his head. "Not that I know of." He says.

"I picked up a trail here. Someone ran out the back of this building and headed off this way."

"Just like your friend's house." Dean says.

"Yeah. And, just like at Zack's house, the trail suddenly ends. I mean, whatever it is just disappeared."

"Well, there's another way to go—down." Dean says. They look down and notice a manhole.

ean, Sam, and Elena climb down the manhole and look around. "I bet this runs right by Zack's house, too. The shapeshifter could be using the sewer system to get around." Says Sam.

"I think you're right. Look at this." Dean says.

They bend down and examine a pile of blood and skin on the ground. "That is the most disgusting thing I've ever seen. And I've seen Dean eat." Elena says.

"Is this from his victims?" Sam asks.

Dean takes out a pocketknife and holds up some of the skin. "You know, I just had a sick thought. When the shapeshifter changes shape—maybe it sheds." He says and Elena holds up her flashlight to it.

"That is sick." Sam says. Dean puts the bloody pile back on the ground.

After examining the remains, Dean, Sam and Elena exit the sewer. Dean opens the trunk and takes out some weapons. "Well, one thing I learned from Dad, is that no matter what kind of shapeshifter it is, there's one sure way to kill it." Dean says.

"Silver bullet to the heart." Sam says.

"That's right." Dean says.

Sam's cell phone rings. He answers it. "This is Sam." He says.

"Where are you?" Rebecca asks.

"We're near Zack's, we're just checkin' some things out." Sam answers.

"Well, look, Sam, just stop, 'cause I really don't need your help anymore." She says angrily.

"What are you talkin' about?" Sam asks.

Rebecca sighs. "I told the Lawyers that we went to the crime scene." She says.

Sam scoffs. "Why would you do that?" He asks.

"Well, I told them that we were with a police officer. And they checked it out, and they told me that there is no Detective Dean Winchester." She says.

"Bec—"

"No, I don't understand why you would lie to me about something like that." She says.

"We're tryin' to help." Sam confesses.

"Oh, trying to help? Do you realize that that was a sealed crime scene? This could have just ruined Zack's case."

"Bec, I'm sorry, but—" Sam starts.

"No, goodbye, Sam." She hangs up.

Dean walks over to Sam, who looks disappointed. "I hate to say it, but that's exactly what I'm talkin' about. You lie to your friends because if they knew the real you, they'd be freaked. It's just—it'd be easier if—"

"If I was like you." Sam finishes.

"Hey, man, like it or not, we are not like other people. But I'll tell you one thing. This whole gig—it ain't without perks." Dean holds up a gun. Sam takes it and puts it in the back of his jeans. They walk away.

ack at the sewer, Dean and Sam are looking around with their flashlights and guns. Elena follows. "I think we're close to its lair." Dean says.

"Why do you say that?" Asks Sam.

"Because there's another puke-inducing pile next to your face."

Sam turns and sees another pile of blood and skin on a nearby pipe. "Oh, God!" They look around the area and see a pile of clothes in a corner.

"Looks like it's lived here for a while." Elena says.

"Who knows how many murders he's gotten away with?" Sam says.

He turns and sees the shapeshifter, still in the form of the Asian man, standing behind Dean. "Dean!"Dean turns and gets punched by the shapeshifter. He falls to the ground, and the shapeshifter runs away.

Elena stands in the corner, not knowing what she could do. Sam shoots after it a few times but misses. He moves over to Dean. "Get the son of a bitch!" Dean yells.

Sam and Dean run away, following the shapeshifter. Elena follows close behind, as expected. The shapeshifter comes out of the manhole and runs away. Seconds later, Sam, Elena and Dean come out and look around.

"All right, let's split up." Sam suggests.

"All right, I'll meet you around the other side. Elena, stay with him."

Elena begins to pant. "All right." They walk away in separate directions.

Dean is looking around in an alley, with his gun drawn. Passersby turn away, frightened. Sam is also searching, while keeping his gun inside his jacket. Dean is still looking frantically.

Sam and Elena couldn't find anything, so now they waited for Dean to come back. Dean comes up behind them. "Hey. Anything?"

"No. He's gone." Elena says.

"All right, let's get back to the car." Sam crosses the street. Dean stops, waiting for a passing car to drive by. As the car passes, Dean's eyes momentarily glow silver. Elena sees it.

"You think he found another way underground?" Sam asks.

"Yeah, probably. You got the keys?" Dean asks. Sam stops and thinks before turning around. "Hey, didn't Dad once face a shapeshifter in San Antonio?"

Elena tries to warn Sam, but he's to engrossed in the shapeshifter he thinks is his brother. "Sam..."

"Oh, that was Austin. It turned out not to be a shapeshifter, it was a thought form. A psychic projection, remember?" Dean asks.

"Oh, right. Here ya go." Sam throws the shapeshifter the keys and walks away. The shapeshifter opens the trunk and observes all the weapons. "Don't move!" The shapeshifter turns and sees Sam pointing the gun at him. Elena hides behind him. "What have you done with him?"

"Dude, chill. It's me, all right?" The shifter says.

"No, I don't think so. Where's my brother?"

"You're about to shoot him. Sam, calm down."

"You caught those keys with your left. Your shoulder was hurt." Sam says.

The creature shrugs. "Yeah, it's better. What do you want me to do, cry?"

"You're not my brother."

"Why don't you pull the trigger, then? Hm? 'Cause you're not sure. Dude, you know me." It says.

"Don't." Sam pleads. The shapeshifter pauses before hitting Sam twice with a crowbar. Sam falls to the ground. Then it crosses over Sam and steps closer to Elena. It tries to make a grab for her, but quickly she kicks it in the crotch and it cowers over. She then runs away.

am wakes up in a dingy, dusty room. His neck and hands are bound to a wooden post. The shapeshifter walks over to him and backhands him. Sam groans. "Where is he? Where's Dean?"

"I wouldn't worry about him. I'd worry about you."

"Where is he?" Sam asks again.

"You don't really wanna know." He chuckles. "I swear, the more I learn about you and your family—I thought I came from a bad background."

"What do you mean, learn?"

The shapeshifter stops. He grabs his head in pain and grimaces. Sam looks at the shapeshifter, confused. The shapeshifter relaxes and looks at Sam. "He's sure got issues with you. You got to go to college. He had to stay home. I mean, I had to stay home. With Dad. You don't think I had dreams of my own? But Dad needed me. Where the hell were you?"

"Where is my brother?" The shapeshifter leans in close to Sam. "'I am your brother. See, deep down, I'm just jealous. You got friends. You could have a life. Me? I know I'm a freak. And sooner or later, everybody's gonna leave me.

He backs away. "What are you talkin' about?" Sam asks.

"You left. Hell, I did everything Dad asked me to, and he ditched me, too. No explanation, nothin', just poof. Left me with your sorry ass. But, still, this life? It's not without its perks." He laughs. "I meet the nicest people. Like little Becky. You know, Dean would bang her if he had the chance. Let's see what happens." He smiles and covers Sam with a sheet.

t Rebecca's there is a knock at the door, and she comes downstairs to open it. It is the shapeshifter, still in the form of Dean. "Oh. Hi." She says.

"I know what you're gonna say." It says.

"Oh, you do?"

"Well, no, not exactly. But I can take a guess. Get off my porch?" It says.

She laughs. "That's about right." Rebecca says.

"I admit it, we lied. Thought I'd try to explain myself. Sam told me not to come, but, you know, I thought, what the hell, I have to try." He smiles.

Back at the shifter's home, Sam is trying to get out of his ropes but fails. "Damn it." He hears movement in another area of the room, and he hears someone coughing.

"That better be you, Sam, and not that freak of nature." Dean says.

Sam laughs. "Yeah, it's me." Dean manages to uncover himself from the sheet and starts to undo his ropes. "He went to Rebecca's, lookin' like you."

"Well, he's not stupid. He picked the handsome one." Sam gives him a confused look, then continues to work through his ropes. "Hey, where's Elena?"

"Crap!" Sam exclaims. "She was with me when the shapeshifter knocked me out. She must've escaped."

"Well wherever she is, I hope she finds Rebecca before that thing does." Dean says.

At Rebecca',s she and the shapeshifter are sitting in front of the fireplace. "So, you're saying that there's something out there that made itself look like my brother." She asks.

"Mmhmm."

"What'd you call it?" Rebecca asks.

"A shapeshifter."

Rebecca laughs and rolls her eyes. "Yeah, maybe we're crazy. But what if we're not? I mean, look, you said it yourself that Zack was in two places at once. Now, tell me how that can happen." The creature says.

"Okay, so, this thing—it can make itself look like anybody?" She asks.

"That's right." She chuckles. "Well, what is it, like a genetic freak?"

The shapeshifter laughs. "Maybe. Evolution is about mutation, right? So, maybe this thing was born human but was different. Hideous and hated. Until he learned to become someone else."

Rebecca looks around, uncomfortable. The shapeshifter's eyes glint silver, and he smiles. The doorbell rings and Rebecca gets up.

"I'll go get that." She says and breathes a sigh of relief.

When she goes to answer the door, she is surprised to see Elena standing there. "Hi. Can I come in?" She asks.

"Thank god you're here." She says. "It's kind of getting awkward with Dean and I."

"Dean? He's here?" Elena asks.

Rebecca frowns. "You didn't know? He's right here." She leads Elena to the living room where fake Dean is sitting down.

"Oh, hi Elena." Dean says and Elena narrows her eyes.

Back at the lair, Dean and Sam are still working their way out of their ropes. "Yeah, that's the thing. He didn't just look like you, he was you. Or he was becoming you." Sam says. Dean finally works his way out of the ropes.

"What do you mean?" Dean asks.

"I don't know, it was like he was downloading your thoughts and memories." Sam says.

"You mean, like the Vulcan mind meld?"

Sam laughs half-heartedly. "Yeah, somethin' like that. I mean, maybe that's why he doesn't just kill us."

Dean gets up and walks over to Sam. "Maybe he needs to keep us alive. Psychic connection." He starts untying Sam's ropes.

"Hands. Yeah. Come on, we gotta go. He's probably at Rebecca's already." Sam says.

Dean and Sam climb out a window and onto the street. "Come on. We gotta find a phone, call the police." Sam says.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You're gonna put an APB out on me."

Sam shrugs. "Sorry." He says.

"This way." They start running down the street.

Elena and Rebecca were standing now, watching "it" walk back and forth. "It's funny. I kind of understand him. He's all alone—close to no one. All he wants is for someone to love him. He's like me. You know, everybody needs a little human touch now and then. It's so hard to be different.

He tucks Rebecca's hair behind her ear. She shrugs away. "You should go." The shapeshifter leans in and whispers something in her ear. She looks horrified and stands up. "You are disgusting, just get the hell out of here!"

"Rebecca, just calm down."

"Calm down? What is wrong with you?" Rebecca says and Elena tries to hold her back.

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you?" It says.

She walks to the phone. "I'm calling the police." The shapeshifter walks over to her and throws the phone to the floor. She screams and tries to run away, but he trips her and she falls to the ground.

Elena comes behind him and wraps her arms around his neck. "Leave her alone!" She says. Quickly, the shapeshifter flips Elena onto her back. He straddles her legs and begins tying her hands with the telephone cord.

"Give me your hands!" Dean yells and Rebecca begins to scream. "Shut up!"

Minutes later, the shapeshifter has both Rebecca and Elena tied to chairs. "Two for one, nice." He says.

"You're a monster." Elena says to it.

The creature comes closer to her. "You're a nice girl, Elena. I mean, I liked you. Believe me, that makes this harder." He holds up a knife and examines it. "But I gotta do what I gotta do." He moves towards her.

Suddenly, they hear a crash come from another room of the house. Rebecca screams but the shapeshifter covers her mouth and holds the knife to her throat. "Shh."

The S.W.A.T. team appears and is searching the house. While their backs are turned, the shapeshifter crosses the hall and goes into another room.

The shapeshifter enters and closes the door, looking around frantically. He moves to a set of doors leading out to a balcony. Just as he opens the doors, the S.W.A.T team enters.

"Freeze! Drop the knife! Drop the knife! Drop the knife!" The shapeshifter throws the knife at the police officer, and the rest of the team begins shooting.

The shapeshifter kicks one of the men, then goes outside and jumps off the balcony, onto the grass below.

"Come on! Come on! Go! Go!" They yell. The shapeshifter runs away, while the team continues to shoot and miss him several times.

The creature makes his way to the sewer. The shapeshifter stops walking, looking weak. He takes off his jacket and shirt, then falls to his knees. He groans and screams in pain as he continues to shed his skin.