Chapter 4

The three hunters and Ben were sitting inside a small, pastel colored, diner. The restaurant had very few people inside considering the time of night. An old man sat at the bar talking to a waitress and a few singles sat at tables near the back. Other than silence, all you heard were whispering and the chimes of forks and knives. Sam and Dean were sitting across from Ben, while Cas sat on the side of the table. No one had ordered anything except for Ben and Dean. The hunter got a slice of apple pie. He badly wanted a bottle of scotch, but coffee would have to do. Ben ordered breakfast for dinner and got a plate of pancakes and hash browns with a small bowl of fruit.

He was shoving food into his mouth like he hadn't eaten in days. Dean thought he must've lost his manners over the years. The kid across from them was on his phone as he was eating. It was one of the new ones. Dean wasn't surprised. It seemed like no matter what every teenager had a touch screen phone. Ben was scrolling on his. While Dean was picking at his food, he caught a glance at the teenager's screen. He saw pictures of different models, shapes, and sizes of cars that ran from vintage to modern. Dean smirked proudly.

After proving to Ben that they were just two humans and one angel, they saw how he was completely on his own. They thought the least they could do was to get him something to eat for free, so they offered for him to join them at a diner. Ben hesitated, but remembered at how the angel healed him, so he said yes.

Half way through his meal Dean asked, "So…what was a kid like you doing in a vampire nest like that?"

Ben looked up from his plate and lied through his teeth, "There were reports in the news about murders that were obviously made by vampires, so I was on alert. A day later I saw one guy being killed by one of them sons of bitches-"

"Hey! Watch that mouth." Dean almost yelled. He realized what he said, then cleared his throat and looked down at his food.

Ben was unmoved, but irritated. "What are you, my dad? Anyway, I caught the vampire and made him tell me what he knew"

Dean asked with concern, "So, you just walked into a nest full of vampires on your own, expecting you could kill them all by yourself?"

Sarcastically, Ben replied, "Yes, of course" Ben panicked at the hunter's reaction. He continued and acted annoyed, "No, I had friends come in with me and I guess they chickened out half way through. Gotta love 'em" Ben retreated to his hash browns.

Dean's eyes were filled with disbelief and his voice was laced with concern when he asked, "Wait, so you have friends that left you there, alone? How well do you even know these guys? Where did you meet them?" Sam stopped him before Dean asked another question. His brother was acting too much like a worried father.

Sam whispered to the other hunter, "Do you want to take a break because I think you should" Dean grumbled and walked off to the bathroom.

The remaining Winchester tried to keep the conversation going and erase was just happened. He asked Ben, "So, what's uh- what's your name. I realized we didn't ask you"

"I'm Ben Braeden. What about you guys?" he said, acting like he didn't already know.

"I'm Sam and this is Castiel and that was my brother, Dean" Sam was waiting to see if anything clicked in Ben's mind. He blinked. Ben started on his second pancake and piled on the maple syrup when Dean came back. All four of them ate or just sat in silence. Minutes later, the boy was gulping down the last of his orange juice, washing away his dinner.

"I'm going to use the bathroom" Ben stated as he got up from his seat.

Once he disappeared into the restroom, Sam turned to his brother. He slapped on his puppy dog face and confronted, "Dean, what are you doing?"

"What do you mean?" Dean looked at the table to avoid his brother's intense gaze and chuckled.

"I mean you can't crawl back into Ben's life no matter how much you want to"

Dean ran his hands through his hair, and said softly, "I know that, Sam. It's just that he's a hunter now. His life is probably utter crap. He's only a teenager and he's most likely on his own. I'm not asking to be his father and live an apple pie life, but I just want to be there, at least for a little while"

Castiel had remained quiet through most of the meal, but now understood what Dean meant. The angel felt the same way when he met Claire, the daughter of his vessel. He wanted to make up for things and just help her. Do what he could even though what she really wanted was something he couldn't give back.

Cas cut in, "I understand, Dean. I guess the least you could do is help him"

Sam asked, "Okay, fine. What do you want to do?"

Dean replied, "Well, like I said, he's on his own and I highly doubt that he has enough money to live in a motel room for more than two weeks. What if he stays with us for a little while? Just until he has some sort of plan or for like a week or so?"

Sam sighed through his nose and protested, "I don't know, Dean"

"C'mon, Sam. I know we needed help when we were his age" The other hunter sighed again and gave in. He remembered when he was sixteen and dad wasn't around a whole lot, especially when they needed him. Dean took care of him, but who took care of Dean?

"Under one condition: He only stays for two weeks tops"

Dean put his hands in the air and replied, "Fine" Once Ben came back they introduced the idea to him. At first, the kid was hesitant. He doesn't know who these guys are, not really, anyhow. Who is this Dean? It was so familiar, yet so blurry. Their faces were in Ben's mind, but they're frozen. They're stuck in a single image with no subtitles. All his mom said was go find Dean. Is this the Dean guy or what?

Ben asked why he should trust them. The hunter confronted him by asking why he should trust strangers with cars. Ben remained quiet since he had been hitch hiking from place to place.

The boy added, "Well, I don't need your help"

Dean asked, "Oh yeah? What motel are you staying at?" Ben fell silent again, suggesting he didn't really have a place to stay.

"That's what I thought"