Chapter Eight "Forest of the Dead"

Several weeks into the search for the mythical vampire, Meg and Emma went out scouting while Dean was back at their current campsite working on new weapons because his and Emma's knives were starting to get dull. Meg was perfectly happy with her spear now that it had the piece of jagged rock Dean had given her as it's point. The sharp side was wide enough that she could decapitate or disembowel at five feet. Not that she'd had much opportunity to kill anything lately. Dean had insisted they stay under the radar for now, which meant letting prey pass by just so long as it didn't bother them.

Meg was itching to kill something. Anything. She was still a demon after all. Emma seemed indifferent to the whole thing. When she killed, it was quick and precise. She was an expert. She could inflict a lot of pain if she needed to, but lately, they hadn't run into any hostiles who knew about the human-loving vampire. Meg was beginning to doubt his existence.

Still, she carried on, following Dean's orders because she needed someone to follow. Maybe more because she owed it to Castiel to watch out for his friend. It wasn't as if she actually enjoyed Dean's company. They were too similar to get along well: both sarcastic and single-minded with a startling proficiency at causing agony to just about anything that could feel pain.

It had been days since they had seen any life (or non-life) around their camp, and Meg was beginning to think they had reached the end of this world where no one ever went because it was too empty. Of course, she didn't have Dean's sense of smell. He promised there were others around, just far enough away that they didn't see anyone. The thought made Meg wary as she and Emma crested a small hill that led down to a dense cluster of trees and rocks. They could hear water running somewhere to the west, and that explained why the foliage became so thick lower down. Running water was always a good place to find other monsters.

Meg made for the trees, thinking of how nice it would be to sink her spear into a werewolf or stray leviathan. With these thoughts distracting her, she didn't see the movement to her left, but Emma did.

"Duck!" Emma shouted, as a shiny knife flew at Meg's head.

Meg dropped to one knee and raised her spear in the direction of the attacker. It was a female vampire, and she hadn't wasted her only ammunition. She leapt toward Meg with a mean looking ax made of stone and something's femur. She took a swipe at Meg's spear, notching the wood. That was the problem with homemade weapons. Meg jabbed at the vampire causing her to jump back. That gave Meg enough time to get on her feet and throw the bitch against a tree with a well aimed thought. She was getting a bit rusty on the telekinetic stuff, but in a tight spot, she could manage it.

Meg took her time picking up the vampire's ax and turning her attention to her trapped victim.

"This is actually nice," Meg said, testing the weight of the ax in her hand.

"It's mine," a voice from behind said.

Meg turned to see a man had Emma in a choke hold. He held the shiny knife now, poised precisely over Emma's jugular.

"Let her go," the man said in a slow, easy voice. "And nobody has to die."

"What makes you think I care about her?" Meg asked. She was bluffing of course. She wouldn't let anything happen to Emma on purpose. She just really wanted to kill these two pests.

"You're a demon," the man said. "So you probably don't care about anything, but if you're traveling with her, she's got some value to you. And you know Amazons die just like humans." He traced the blade along her neck, creating a tiny stream of blood that began to trickle down to Emma's collar bone.

Meg felt the smooth bone handle under her fingers and contemplated flinging the bastard's own weapon at his head, but he could easily duck and it would hit Emma. And as aloof as he pretended to be, Dean would not like that.

"So I let your friend go, and you let mine? That how it works?" Meg said.

"Drop the weapons first," he replied.

Meg shook her head. "You know what I am? Then you know I'd never break a deal. How can I be so sure about you?"

The man tilted his head to the side and got a look as if he were amused. This whole time, Emma never once looked afraid. She looked annoyed, but not the least bit concerned that she might be about to die. She caught Meg's gaze for split second before bringing her hand up and catching the man's wrist in a death grip. He barely seemed to register what happened before Emma had knocked the knife from his hand and twisted his arm behind his back. For a moment, Meg could only stare in shock.

"And you should know," Emma said, tugging the man's arm more. "Amazons are stronger than vampires. Even old ones like you."

"All right, that's enough," Dean's voice broke in like a thunderclap. Meg was certain he didn't always sound like that. He was standing at the top of the hill, looking down on them with a dark expression that even scared Meg a little.

"They tried to kill us," Emma said in a way that sounded more like they started it.

"They're my friends. Let them go."

Meg grudgingly let the female vampire drop to the ground. She thought she noticed Emma give the man's arm one more twist before letting him go.

"You never said there were two of them," Emma complained.

Dean ignored her for the moment as he and his friend shared an enthusiastic embrace. Dean was really smiling for the first time since Meg had found him here. Maybe the first time she'd ever seen. But she thought she heard him say something along the lines of "touch her again, and I'll kill you" though he disguised it as a laugh.

The vampire came out of the hug grimacing and holding his injured arm. Served him right, attacking a teenager like that. Of course, Meg had been about to kill his girlfriend, so maybe it was all a big misunderstanding. Which was really sad because Meg had really wanted to kill something today. Instead, she handed the bone ax back to the woman, and turned to see that Dean and his friend were in deep conversation.

~oOo~

"What the hell are you doing here?" were the first words out of Benny's mouth. "And what's with them?" He nodded toward Meg and Emma.

Dean had been expecting this of course. He'd have to explain everything to Benny, but at the moment, he was just glad to see that his friend was still alive. Sort of.

"It's a really, really long story," Dean said. "And this is Emma and Meg. They're... complicated."

"I'm hardly gone a year, and you get yourself turned?"

"Yeah, what about that, Dean?" Meg interjected. "We all know how much you love to talk about it."

Dean glared at her. He wished there was a way to kill a demon in Purgatory, but even if he could, he'd never be able to do it. It wasn't like Cas would ever know, but the thought of it still felt like betrayal.

It was Lenore who made the sensible suggestion. "Maybe we'd better move on," she said. "Crowds tend to attract more crowds."

"I wasn't expecting to see you here," Dean said.

"Where did you expect me to be?"

"I mean with him." Dean jerked his head toward Benny.

"Well, that was fortuitous. Not a lot of monsters want to hang around the human lovers."

Dean looked around at the others for a moment before responding. "There are five of us now."

"And some of us might like to know who it is we're teaming up with," Emma said, still looking very annoyed.

Dean suddenly remembered that he hadn't really introduced the other vampires, and even before, he'd never mentioned Benny's name.

"Benny, Lenore, Meg, Emma. Everybody happy? Let's go."

Dean headed down the hill toward the water. They'd follow the stream for a while to lose any scent they'd left behind. Emma was still bleeding a little, but she'd heal quickly. Once they'd covered some ground, they could stop and chat. Not that Dean was particularly looking forward to it. He planned on putting it off as long as possible.

~oOo~

When Sam woke the next morning, he didn't really feel any different than he had the day before. He still thought that fighting the vampires was a pretty useless endeavor in the long run, and that even if they could be stopped, he wouldn't be the one to do it.

But that didn't mean he wasn't going to try anyway. Wasn't that what Dean always did? He kept fighting even when the odds where stacked against him, when he knew he'd never win. He was just that stubborn, and Sam needed some of that now. He needed to be like his brother for a while because that was the only way he was going to survive this. Jody had been right to bring up what Dean would have said, and she said it rather well herself. She probably didn't think she was making much of a difference, but to Sam it was all the difference in the world.

So, he got out of bed that morning not necessarily happier than the day before, but more hopeful. He headed for the kitchen to start on breakfast. With Jody visiting, he could actually get away with cooking something.

What Sam didn't expect was to find the kitchen already occupied with Cas drinking his usual coffee, and Charlie gazing into a cup of tea that was probably cold. Her eyes were red, and Sam didn't have to wonder why. She must have arrived during the night and Cas told her what happened. He wasn't looking so good either, but lately, Cas never looked quite himself.

Sam crossed the room and sat down next to Charlie. He put his arm around her shoulders and she leaned into his chest. She wasn't crying anymore, but she was still shaking quietly. Sam could understand. Dean was like a big brother to her. And maybe Sam was too, but Dean was always better at it.

They stayed like that for a long time until Cas go up and refilled his coffee and Jody came down from her room. It took a bit of explaining to sort out who everyone was and how they knew each other, but in the end, Jody offered to make breakfast, and Charlie was looking a bit better than before.

"It's not like it isn't good to see you," she said as she reheated her tea in the microwave.

"I know," Sam replied, leaning against the counter next to her. "I honestly didn't even think about..."

"About me coming back? That's okay. You had other stuff on your mind." The microwave beeped and Charlie took her tea out again.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there. When you got here. To explain everything."

"I'm not sure everything's been explained," Charlie said as she walked back to the table. "I mean, I know Dean got turned into a vampire and he's gone now, but that's about it."

"There's not much else to tell."

"But Castiel said you weren't there. And he didn't seem to want to talk about it anymore, so I don't know. I guess it's just not the way I'd have imagined him going out."

"Me neither. I always kinda thought when we died for the last time it'd be some blaze of glory type thing, and we'd both be gone."

"You know, the world can't really afford to lose two Winchesters at once, right?"

Sam shrugged. "I guess not. Considering the Alpha's planning something big, I guess I have to stick around for a while."

"Cas mentioned something about the Alpha. Who is he? What's he got against you?"

"Every monster race has an Alpha, but most of them are dead. Over the years, Dean killed a lot of vampires, an even got turned once before, but there was a cure, and we brought him back. The Alpha wanted him for something. I guess vampires have this sort of telepathic connection, so once you become one, the Alpha can get inside your head. That's what happened to Dean the first time. After he was cured, we thought it was over, but the Alpha had other plans. I don't really know what his game is, but he's having more and more people turned and they're getting more aggressive. They're not hiding in the shadows anymore, but killing openly. It seems like every nest we raid, five more pop up. Jody has some experience with vampires, so she's been keeping track of it all."

"Maybe I could help with that," Charlie suggested. "I could organize all the data and figure out their patterns."

"I've tried that, and it doesn't seem to be helping, but maybe you could find something I missed. You're better with that kind of stuff anyway."

Charlie smiled shyly. "Well... yeah."

"Breakfast is ready!" Jody announced, carrying serving dishes full of eggs and pancakes over to the table. "I hope you're hungry 'cause I made a lot."

"I'm starving," Charlie said.

And Sam, for the first time in a long time, felt like maybe he could eat to enjoy food, not just because he had to.

~oOo~

It was Benny who spotted a break in a dense cluster of trees that would serve as a good camp for the night. The sky was growing dark already, and everyone was worn out from the long day. Except Meg, of course, who didn't get tired. As soon as they stopped, she climbed one of the larger trees to keep lookout still within earshot of the others.

Dean made himself busy clearing out a space for everyone to sleep, hoping that no one would feel like talking right now because he knew they all wanted answers. In some ways, he didn't feel like his circumstances were anyone else's business, but these were his friends—family in some cases. Of course they would need to know what happened to him.

No one said anything at first. They all helped cut down ferns and branches, and nobody made eye contact. Eventually, it got to be so awkward, that Dean decided he'd better just start the conversation and get it over with.

"Everybody better get comfortable," he said. "This is gonna take a while."

Meg made a show of swinging her legs over a branch so that she was sitting facing down on the rest of them with her spear across her lap and her arms resting on a higher branch.

The others sat down on the floor of needles and leaves, and Emma started sharpening her knife. Dean felt like he was about to tell a bedtime story. But this was far from "The Three Little Pigs." He started with chasing vampires with Cas. He didn't mention why the Alpha was after him or that he'd been a vampire before. He also skipped the part about drinking Cas' blood. He couldn't even really admit to himself that he'd done it, much less other people. He wondered if Sam knew. The thought made him sick.

Nobody asked any questions until Dean stopped talking. He knew they would though. There were plenty of loose ends he hadn't explained.

"You wanna tell us why we're all on the same side?" Meg said. "Considering most things around here just want to kill each other."

"I have to admit I was a little surprised," Benny added, "at you being friends with a demon."

"I wouldn't exactly say friends," Dean said.

"We have a common interest," Meg said. "There's someone who would never forgive me if I killed him."

"You know Cas," Dean clarified.

Benny scoffed. "An angel and a demon?"

"She thinks so."

"I don't think anything," Meg argued. "But there are so many things to die for and so few that are truly worth it."

Dean shook his head, actually amused instead of annoyed for once. "Now that that's cleared up."

"Yes, tell us about your adventure with the Amazons," Meg said. "I love that story."

Emma stopped sharpening her knife and stuck it into the trunk of Meg's tree. "It's actually pretty depressing," she said.

"I think I have the general idea," Benny said, sparing Dean the need to rehash an embarrassing topic.

Through all this, Lenore had been quiet, which seemed to be her way most of the time. She watched the others throughout the conversation, obviously absorbing every piece of information as well as the things they didn't say.

"What I want to know," Meg said, "is why the master hunter was friends with vampires before he became one."

"That's an even longer story," Lenore said. "He really did want to kill me at first."

"The fact that you were being tortured by that asshole, Gordon put you in a better light," Dean said.

Benny flinched as Dean said this, which at first seemed odd to Dean.

"Not drinking human blood probably helped my case," Lenore went on. "That was really it until Eve came back. I'm still surprised you wouldn't kill me when I asked for it."

"You're one of the good guys," Dean said. "It seemed like a waste."

"Castiel didn't think so."

"Yeah, well, he was all dark side at that point, and I think he just wanted to get it over with."

"But you said he killed you too."

"Only because I made him promise he would."

"It's actually not that bad," Benny said. "Being killed by your best friend. It's almost easier."

Dean wanted to throw up, but he tried to make light of it the way Benny did. "Yeah, and you were supposed to come back, if I remember right."

"You didn't really believe that." There was a look all too much like pity in Benny's eyes.

"Maybe not." Dean looked away.

Meg sighed dramatically and pulled herself up to the next branch. "This is all getting too sappy for me." She disappeared into the trees, and no one saw her again that night.

Emma curled up with her back to the nearest tree, her red brown hair spilling over the bed of pine boughs. "Wake me when it's my turn to watch," she mumbled as she closed her eyes.

Benny stood up, silently volunteering to take first watch. He found a good rock to sit on and tucked his ax under his arm. Dean noticed Lenore watching him, and he was beginning to wonder what was going on with them. Maybe they'd just been alone together so long that they weren't used to having company. But after a few minutes, Lenore laid down too, and when Dean was sure she was asleep, he moved away from her and Emma and joined Benny.

"You can sleep," Benny said, not looking at Dean but rather gazing out into the darkness.

Dean sat down next to him. "I wanted to talk to you. You know about the first time I was turned."

"Surprised you didn't mention it, but that's your business."

"And it's not theirs."

"Then why bother explaining it to me?"

"Because you're... family."

"And Emma is your daughter, unless I'm way off the mark on that."

"And the first time I met her, she wanted to kill me, so she doesn't really count."

"You don't have to justify anything to me, you know."

"Yeah, I know. But you know there's a cure, and you need to know that I tried and it didn't work. I didn't just give up and take the easy way out."

"This is easy?"

"It's not complicated. At least, it shouldn't be."

"Things rarely are the way they should be. Here or there."

"It was the Alpha who turned me. That's why it didn't work."

Benny almost laughed. "But you managed to get ahold of his blood in order to try?"

"Cas did. He tried everything to save me."

"I'd expect nothing less. Pain in the ass though he was, he was always trying to save you."

"You could have let him die."

"Well, maybe it's like Meg said. You'd never forgive me for that."

"He's alive right now because of you. So is Sam."

"Consider it payback."

"Yeah, because I did so much for you."

"You did. Not just getting me out. Trusting me when no one else would."

"And I abandoned you when you needed me. I trusted you because you never would have done that, but maybe you shouldn't have trusted me."

"I always knew Sam came first. You didn't owe me anything."

"I owe you everything. You never got that, did you? You think I was doing you a favor by being your friend, but I'd have gone insane down here on my own. I needed you more than you needed me. I still do."

Benny looked back at where Emma was sleeping and the tree into which Meg had gone. "You seem to be doing fine so far."

"That's not what I mean."

"Then spit it out, brother, we don't have all night."

"We're the same now. And I try to act like I'm just like I always was, but I can't keep it up. There are things I shouldn't be able to do. I'm stronger than I should be, more lethal."

"You always were. You think you were ever normal by human standards? I mean, I hate to crush the illusion, but... Dean, you've always been different. I was a normal human. I had a wife and kids and a job. You don't even know what normal is."

"Now I get why Sam's always complaining about being a freak. I thought I understood him before, but I don't think I ever did."

"If you're afraid of becoming something you're not, I wouldn't worry."

"Why not?"

"Look at you. You've teamed up with Purgatory's Most Wanted. You'd be so much better off on your own or with someone else, but you're still loyal, even to people you don't like very much. That's who you are. Not a perfect human. Not a normal guy. You're a good friend."

"I guess that's about all I can hope for now. It's not like there's anything else worth doing here."

Benny looked back at Lenore, and a faint smile crossed his lips. "You'd be surprised."

It was then Dean realized why they had seemed so odd before. There was something between them. Something that shouldn't even have been possible in a place like this.

"You two?" Dean asked.

Benny nodded. "When the world you live in is full of ugly and you find one beautiful thing, you hold onto it."

Dean couldn't argue with that. And he envied Benny that he'd been able to find something that made him really happy when that was out of reach for the rest of them. Meg was separated from Cas forever. Emma would never really belong anywhere. And Dean lost the one hope he'd always hung onto: that whatever, happened, at least he and Sam would always be together.


Sorry the update is late again. Life just won't seem to slow down. Things have been good though, so I can't complain. Sorry for any problems in this chapter. I didn't have a lot of time for revision.