>>213560657
Season 4 plays out more or less as in canon, except that it is only after Deb is shot and Lundy dies that Dexter resumes being her closest and only support system. She realizes how much she missed him and depended on him and the seeds of the incest arc are planted earlier.
Rita still dies, Dexter still melts down and considers running away. Except after choosing to stay, Doakes wakes up. Initially confused, he immediately claims that Dexter is the Bay Harbour Butcher. At this point Dexter has already produced more evidence to better implicate Doakes, such as the evidence he uses in canon in season 7, so few people take him seriously. But eyes are on Dexter. Quinn and Deb are at each other's throats because of the accusations, with Deb unwilling to accept even the thought that Dexter could be a killer. Laguerta likewise is torn. After Rita's death she is very sympathetic to Dexter, and Doakes has no convincing evidence. She tries to bait Dexter throughout the season, but her own stupidity has Dexter running circles around her. Quinn, meanwhile, is running a more serious covert investigation, and Dexter finds himself in the same position he was in with Doakes - a cop prisoner. Except, Quinn isn't like Doakes. He isn't a killer, but he isn't a good man either. He barely has a code. Dexter kills him. The investigation into Quinn's death leads Laguerta to Dexter. She would have him except - Deb. She provides Dexter with an unbeatable alibi, and then she provides a fall guy. Laguerta finally accepts that Doakes must be guilty.
Season 6, Dexter knows that Deb knows. Deb tries to keep things normal, but eventually confronts him. She learns the whole story. Like in canon, she tries to keep Dexter on a leash, but Dexter resists. A new serial killer terrorizes Miami and Deb tries to use Dexter like a police dog but can't keep a grip on him. Dexter is too wild. Deb finally sees Dexter brutally murder and butcher the man they were hunting. She kills him.
