A/N: I love the Braedens and I love Jason Mann and Jensen Ackles' Simple Man rendition. This is a plot baby from that song along with my other songs on my SPN playlist. Anyway, hope you enjoy it. Let me know what you think.

Disclaimer: Supernatural is not mine.

Summary: Dean, Sam, and Mary find Ben Braeden with his memories intact. AU.


CHAPTER 1

If Dean wasn't a hundred percent certain that, at this point, nothing short of God's divine hand can smite him off the face of the planet, his goddamn heart speeding and abruptly stopping like it just did would do him in for real.

A boy—no, a young man now—stood before him, his mom, and Sam, forehead creased, chest heaving raggedly, and highly likely to be violently angry. He stood in all his five-foot-eleven glory, fists clenched, plaid shirt rolled up his arms, and a shiner looking no older than a day old gave him the impression that he was just about a hair's width away from strangling Dean with his bare hands.

Dean wouldn't blame him. He erased the kid's memories after all. Apparently, its back and Dean was going to kill Cas.

"Why don't we all sit down and talk?" Mary softly suggested, trying desperately to break the tension rising in the room. Dean doesn't blame her for trying, either. Seeing her battle-hardened sons freezing at the sight of a gangly eighteen-year-old must be very baffling. Dean took in the young man again. Nope, that kid wasn't moving a fucking inch any time soon.

Sam was the first to move. He turned to Dean as if looking for permission to follow their mother's advice and Dean gave him a look. A desperate, panicky, poker face look. It must have been pretty compelling because it got his mom and Sammy moving, turning around to busy themselves with "sitting down and talk," whatever the hell that means. Dean doesn't really care. He awkwardly shuffled his feet, couldn't look the kid in the eye and just gestured for him to follow his family into the kitchenette attached to the unknown random motel they stayed in.

Mary busied herself making coffee and Sam was pulling stuff from the small grocery bag they picked up yesterday. He brought out some granola bars and a couple of crackers, placing them neatly on the table for show. Dean nearly rolled his eyes but instead he gestured for the kid to take a seat. The kid hesitated and, for a moment, Dean thought the kid would tell him to go back to whatever hellhole he climbed from but the kid complied, looking anywhere but at him.

"How do you take your coffee…" Mary offered, extending an olive branch to this God-awkward situation. Sam handed the kid an ice pack for the shiner. He took it without an iota of thanks.

"It's Ben." he supplied, hissing when the ice pack made contact with the bruise. "My name's Ben Braeden. And I take it black."

"Okay, Ben." Mary said, smiling while pouring him a cup. "Here you go. Why don't you tell me how we can help you?" Sam sat beside the kid while his mom took the seat across Sam which left Dean with the seat across Ben. He cautiously sat down, careful not to aggravate the kid more than he already looks. He looked like he'd had a rough few days, his expression worn and edgy.

Ben didn't seem interested in answering the question because he just shook his head with a small frown on his face, like his thoughts were racing a mile per minute. He blinked a few times and shrugged. He threw the ice pack on the table and huffed quietly.

"I… I don't know what happened." Ben said, chocolate brown eyes looking a little confuse. "When I came back to my dorm, I saw this picture. I touched it then a bright light appeared and next thing I know, I come to with these memories. Like déjà vu, you know? Something just felt familiar or off about one thing or another. For years, it's always been like that. Like something was missing. Then that light happened and a memory would just pop out of nowhere inside my head like some sort of jack-in-a-box. I… I remembered the changelings first. I met Sam and Dean when I was nine. Dean was at my birthday party. He ate some of my race car cake and I helped him save a couple of other kids. I practically threw a seizure when I remembered that."

Mary nodded while Sam and Dean stayed absolutely still. Ben was glaring at Dean accusingly even if his words were softly spoken as if he cherished the memory. Dean looked down at the table, unable to meet Ben's questioning eyes. Mary stopped herself from frowning at the three men sitting around the table, taking the interrogation of the mystery boy into her own hands. "So, you met Sam and Dean in a hunt?"

"Yeah," Ben said, scratching his cheek as if in thought. Mary was strangely reminded of Dean's thinking face. "They saved me and my mom from changelings. My mom and Dean go way back though."

Again, he looked at Dean accusingly.

"Does she remember, too?" Dean asked hesitantly.

"I don't know." Ben answered, shrugging. "I was at college at the time. I just picked up a laptop, followed the trail of utter devastation and everything remotely supernatural, and drove there to find you. I started asking questions and got this shiner for the trouble. Then, I hacked into a couple of traffic cams and just tracked the Impala into some crappy motel in a strange, creepy town. Figured you'd be in a middle of some crap and I was right."

"That's smart." Sam commented. Ben tried to refrain from grinning and instead shrugged casually. He picked up the ice pack again and gently pressed it against his face.

"Well, I didn't get a full ride at MIT for nothing." Ben murmured, managing to sound smug even under his breath.

Dean snorted softly in astonishment. Mary was openly impressed.

"That's amazing. What are you taking?" Mary asked.

"Mechanical Engineering." Ben answered, a little flustered. "Engines and machines are sort of my thing. I'm good with cars mostly."

"Whoa, wait a minute." Dean cut off whatever his mom was going to say, realizing something. "You mean you just dropped out of school to find us?"

"What?" Ben snapped in surprise. "No, of course not. I finished the semester and took a hiatus for a few weeks from school to find you."

"Why?" Dean demanded suspiciously. He can tell Ben wanted to roll his eyes but the kid just threw the ice pack again and gave Dean his most serious glare.

"I need you to teach me."

"Teach you what?"

"How to bake apple pies," Ben huffed irritably, sass full throttle. "What do you think, Dean?"

Dean looked at him in disbelief. "No."

Ben looked indignant. "What? Why not?"

"Because I said so! Now, go home!" Dean commanded, tone ringing with authority. Once upon a time, that tone would've made Ben piss himself but now, six years or so later, he took that as a challenge.

"Not until you tell me why I can't." The kid had the audacity to look petulant about it.

"Does your mother even know where you are right now?" Dean demanded.

"She thinks I'm taking a cross-country trip. It's not exactly a lie." Ben shrugged. "And I'm almost nineteen. I can take care of myself."

Dean scoffed scathingly. "You drove here to find us knowing what we do. That tells me you definitely can't take care of yourself."

"Look, I don't care what you think." Ben said, getting worked up, glaring evermore angrily at Dean. "All I know is that I need training. That's what I came here for."

Dean's chair screeched as he stood, towering over the kid. "Well, sorry, kid. It's a no for me. There's the door in case you get lost. Go home."

"I'm getting training, Dean. Whether it'll be you or some other hunter, I'll get it. So, you can choose between doing this the easy way and teach me or you can do this the hard way and say no and watch me put myself in more danger because you won't help me. Your choice." Ben threatened, crossing his arms and crazy ass determined. Dean mentally cursed from heaven to hell.

"Where the hell is Cas?!" Dean growled furiously, turning his back and walking over to the sink, slamming his palms down with a loud bang.

"Why? You want to wipe my memories again?" Ben's mouth was going to get him killed, Dean just knew it. Mary and Sam stayed out of the range of fire, looking between Ben and Dean like they were nuclear bombs about to explode. Sam swallowed and decided to step in before one of them goes off.

"Ben, you've got a full ride to MIT. You're going to drop all that for hunting?" Sam asked skeptically.

"What?" Ben exclaimed in shock, looking at Sam like he'd grown another head. "Of course not! I worked my ass off to get that scholarship! I'm still going to go back to school. I told you. I'm just taking a few weeks off school. Plus, my girlfriend and my best friend will skin me alive if I don't go back. They'll drag my dead carcass back if they have to. I just need to know how to protect myself and the people around me. Just because I choose to have a life doesn't mean I'll turn my back on the people who'll need help." Ben shrugged again. It was a terrible habit. "You know, just do easy hunts like a classic haunting, the occasional changelings, or even some of the weird stuff, too, like witches and wendigos. Saving people, hunting things, isn't that what you do?"

Mary was strangely quiet, looking at Ben with a contemplative look on her face. Sam knew that look. She was trying to piece the puzzle together. Knowing their mother, her guess won't be too far from the truth. She was that damn good. Sam gulped.

Dean slammed his palms on the sink again, having enough, and turned back to Ben. He manhandled the kid by the arm and started dragging him to the door.

"I'm taking your ass home." Dean snarled low under his breath.

"Fine, be that way! But it still won't change my mind." Ben argued back. Dean ripped out his coat from the bed where he'd thrown it and Sam and Mary scrambled to go after him. When Ben exited the room, Dean pushed him toward the direction of the Impala and shoved him in the backseat.

"Hey! I've got a ride!" Ben crawled his way out the other door.

Dean grabbed him before he could bolt. "Leave it!"

Ben flailed around for Dean to let go but the grip was tight. "WHAT?! No freaking way, dude!"

"You aren't gonna need some broken down piece of—"

Ben huffed indignantly. "I'm not leaving my girl!"

"Your what?"

"My car! And she's not some broken down piece of—"

Mary cut in, pointing to the car at the end of the lot. "Let me guess. That one's yours?"

She was pointing at a red hot, stripped 1969 Chevrolet Camaro with sweet rims and a glossy paint job. The kid lit up like a tree and took Dean's shock to his advantage and twisted out of his hand. The man didn't even protest when the kid started to strut towards the car, running a hand on the hood reverently.

"You built this?" Sam breathed, sounding mightily impressed. Ben beamed smugly, nodding, and Sam gasped silently at how eerie it looked on the kid's face. His big brother will definitely have his work cut out for him.

"Isn't she a beauty?" Ben told them proudly, looking for any nonexistent dust. "I found her at a junk yard a town over from where we live a few years ago and the poor baby had been treated so badly. Some whacko crashed her into a tree! The freaking moron sold her because he said she was a useless lump of crap so I took her home and worked on her for months. I got her to run eventually and then the other additions just came after a few rounds playing pool and poker tables. This baby can race in the streets faster than all the crap they come up with in Fast and Furious."

Mary wanted to laugh so badly but she doesn't think any of the boys will appreciate it. There's no doubt about who that kid truly is and she will willingly step aside and enjoy the ride, watching the show that will probably tear her boys through the last shred of their sanity and maybe their hair. But also, she sensed there was more to this than what her boys had told her.

Dean shook his head to clear it and cleared his throat loudly. They turned to him. "Sam, take his ride. You," he pointed at Ben. "You ride with my mom and I."

"Oh, no," Mary said, raising her hands. "I love the Impala but I'm not passing up the chance to drive a car as impressive as that. If you'll let me."

Ben narrowed his eyes at her, assessing, contemplating the risks. He nodded a few moments later. "Okay, but take really good care of her, please." He all but pleaded.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure Sam and I trade places before we're even tired. It's a long drive after all." Mary assured him. Ben sighed in relief and with a little hesitance but nodded in acquiesce anyway. He threw the keys in Mary's direction and she caught it without much issue, grinning.

"Get in, kid." Dean barked at Ben. The kid didn't bother hiding how he rolled his eyes and sighed, pushing past Dean to do as he's told.

Ben strapped himself in and he gave Dean a determined look when the older man started the ignition. "You know this isn't over, right?"

"Keep telling yourself that, Ben." Dean rumbled and blasted Led Zeppelin so loud, he can't even hear himself panicking over seeing Lisa again.