CHAPTER SUMMARY: Dean thinks he's out, but now he had to deal with Ben wanting to be a hunter and a resurrected archangel with a sweet tooth and a newly discovered affection for high heels.

Chapter 9


When Ben woke up that morning he was surprised to hear Dean's voice as he started down the steps. His mom hadn't said anything about Dean coming and Ben found himself wondering just how long the demon hunter would be hanging around this time.

After a moment, though, Ben stopped and just listened when he heard his mom say his name.

x

"I'm really glad you're here, Dean," Lisa said as she finished making coffee. "Especially since Ben has been…"

"Boys will be boys," Dean replied as he finished making breakfast.

"It's more than that," Lisa countered, worry in her voice. "He's been in fights a lot lately. He's studying more and his grades are better than ever."

"Well, gotta put a stop to that," Dean said sarcastically, giving Lisa a reassuring smile.

"And he won't let me in his room anymore," Lisa went on, ignoring the interruption. "I'm worried, Dean."

Dean was pretty sure that Lisa was getting worked up over nothing but after a moment, he gave Lisa a look and said, "I'll talk to him, Lis, Okay? See if I can find out what's up."

"Thanks, Dean," Lisa said, giving him a quick kiss.

When Lisa turned away, Dean grabbed her and pulled her in for a longer kiss, broken off only when Dean heard someone clearing their throat in the kitchen doorway. Looking up to see Ben standing there, Dean turned to the table and said, "Breakfast is up, man. You hungry?"

"Yeah, sure," Ben replied as he sat down with Dean and his mom at the table. "So how long are you staying this time, Dean?" Ben wanted to know as he ate.

"I'm back, Ben," Dean assured the kid. "Really. For good."

When her son dropped his fork on his plate and left the table in a hurry, Lisa exchanged a worried look with Dean before the both of them hurried upstairs to Ben's room. When Lisa tried the door, she found it to be locked and looked at Dean.

Dean tried the door himself but stopped when he heard the sounds of rummaging around coming from inside. "Ben? Come on, man, open the door." Giving Lisa an apologetic look, Dean braced himself and threw his shoulder into the door which broke the lock.

Lisa'd had her suspicions about what her son had been up to lately but she'd never imagined what she actually found.

Weapons were scattered about the room and old books were stacked in piles by the desk. Ben had been in the process of backing things up into an old trunk when him mom and Dean burst in and he jumped up, startled.

"Benjamin Isaac Braeden," Lisa said as she stepped into the room, hoping—praying—that this was something—anything—other than what it looked like. "What the Hell is all this?"

"Um…" Ben stammered as he tried to think of an answer. He looked to Dean, hoping he would help him out, but Dean's expression was shockingly stern.

"Ben," Dean said, fixing the kid with a look. "What's going on?" Dean didn't really have to ask. He knew full well what Ben was up to. And just the very idea of Ben trying to become a hunter made Dean's blood run cold. Taking a breath, Dean said, "Ben, go downstairs."

Ben didn't like the look on Dean's face and he quickly tried to apologize. "Dean, I—"

"Ben, now," Lisa said, a bit sharper than she intended. But when Ben left the room, she sank onto the bed, looking around her son's room.

Running a hand through his hair, Dean looked at Lisa. "I'm so sorry, Lis."

"Dean, unless you had something to do with all this, you have noting to apologize for," Lisa insisted as she watched Dean picking up a silver knife. "How in the world did Ben even find all of this stuff?" she asked, standing and picking up an old encyclopedia of demons.

"Well, I know where he got some of this stuff," Dean replied, grimly, as he held up a dagger. Catching Lisa's eye he added, "I've been looking for this for months." Pointing to another knife sitting on top of another old book, he frowned. "And those he probably nicked when the two of you were at Bobby's."

"Dean," Lisa said, her eyes pleading as she looked up at him. "Tell me you think Ben is… a weapons dealer or… in a gang… Just please tell me my son's not trying to become a hunter."

"I wish I could, Lisa. I do," Dean assured her, sitting next to her on the bed.

"So what do we do now?" Lisa asked, wondering if there was even anything they could do other than lock Ben in his room the rest of his life.

Dean thought for a while and one idea was starting to develop but he was pretty sure that Lisa would never go for it. "I've got one idea," he finally admitted after a while as he turned to look at his girlfriend. Seeing her hopeful look, he hated the idea even more. "But you're not going to like it."

x

Down in the kitchen, Ben just about jumped when he heard his mother's voice screaming. "Are you out of your mind?"

Ben quietly crept up the stairs in order to hear better as he heard Dean reply, "Look, if the kid really wants to do this, at least he should have someone teaching him the ropes so he's not flying off on his own!"

"I'm not having my son become a hunter!" Lisa's voice insisted. "And if you cared about Ben at all you'd be trying to talk him out of this!"

"I thought I had!" Dean shouted back. "I just want to keep the kid safe, okay?"

Ben wasn't quite sure what to make of the argument as he went back to the kitchen. Dean actually wanted to train Ben as a hunter? But as Ben thought about it, he thought it might be fun—traveling around, fighting monsters… And after all, Dean had met his mom on a hunt so obviously it was a great way to meet chicks…

X

In Ben's room, Lisa glared at Dean as they wrapped up their 'fight'. She hated Dean's plan and it went against all of the ground rules she'd laid out for Dean coming back. But she didn't know what else and maybe this would actually work. "There's got to be a better way, Dean," she said, quietly, listening for any sounds indicating Ben was coming back upstairs.

"Believe me, I don't like it, either," Dean assured her. "I just figure if I take some of the glamour out of hunting—"

"Dean, nothing you've ever told me has ever indicated that being a hunter is glamorous," Lisa replied, frowning. Heading for her son's closet, she grabbed an old duffel bag and tossed in some of Ben's clothes while Dean gathered up some of the weaponry lying around before packing up Ben's laptop computer. "Dean, you're not really taking Ben on a hunt, right?"

Dean set Ben's things on the bed and pulled Lisa towards him as he put his hands around her waist. "I'll call Bobby, see if he's got anything that's probably nothing. It'll fine, Lisa. I promise."

"It better be," Lisa replied before she kissed Dean.

X

The last thing Ben expected when his mother and Dean came back in the room was Dean holding Ben's computer bag and an old duffel that looked like it was packed. "What's all this?" Ben asked, looking from his mother to Dean.

"I got a call from Bobby," Dean replied, setting the bags down. "He needs back up on dealing with a case up in Michigan. Sam's still out, so you and I are taking it."

"Wait, you… you want me to come with you?" Ben asked, looking surprised. "Do I get to shoot stuff?"

"No," Lisa and Dean replied, in unison.

"You're just learning the ropes," Dean went on. "I'll man the guns. You can do research."

"Research?" Ben repeated, feeling his enthusiasm ebb a bit. "I thought you already knew how to deal with ghosts and monsters and stuff."

"Every case is unique," Dean replied with a half-smile. "Come on," he added, grabbing Ben's stuff.

Ben gave his mother a look of 'are you sure?' and when she nodded, he gave her a hug before following Dean out to the Impala.


After hanging up with Dean, Bobby had a bad feeling about this. And just what was Dean hoping to accomplish? Ben was just a kid and to him hunting was some great adventure, not the nightmare that it was in real life.

"Bobby?" Sam said, coming into the kitchen. "What's up?"

"Oh, your brother's doing something stupid again, the idjit," Bobby grumbled. Seeing that Sam didn't understand what was going on, Bobby sighed as he started a fresh pot of coffee. "Lisa's kid wants to be a hunter," Bobby explained. "So Dean wanted to know if I knew of any cases that were probably nothing."

"Where's you send them?" Sam asked as he grabbed his jacket off of the chair where he'd tossed it the night before.

"Where're you going?" Bobby asked, frowning a bit at Sam.

"To go help Dean," Sam replied. "Maybe I should talk to Ben."

Bobby was about to stop Sam but finally sighed and grabbed his own jacket before grabbing a set of keys from the counter. Turning to Sam, he stopped when Mary came into the kitchen looking a bit puzzled. "Sam? What's going on?"

Bobby and Sam exchanged a look before Sam turned to his mother and said, "We'll tell you on the way, Mom."


Dean felt just the slightest bit pleased when he noticed that Ben looked totally bored sitting in the passenger seat of the Impala. Looking at the fuel gage, Dean sighed when he saw that they needed to get gas soon. Thankfully, Dean had enough money to make it through the next couple days and seeing a sign for a rest area and gas station, he pulled off.

Ben looked around and stretched a bit as he asked, "When's lunch?"

Dean grinned as he pulled over to the gas station and got out of the car. Looking at Ben who had gotten out as well, he pointed over by the restrooms and said, "Couple of vending machines over there if you want something."

Ben looked over at the vending machines and after a long pause, he finally dug a couple $1 dollar bills out of his pocket and headed over to grab some snacks, suddenly wishing he'd finished breakfast before leaving home. He'd thought that Dean would actually stop for lunch but as Dean finished pumping gas, Ben just opened his bottle of soda and opened up a bag of chips.

Once back on the road, Dean quickly glanced over at Ben as he ran through his mental list of questions. "So where'd you get the knives and stuff?" Dean wanted to know.

Ben looked a bit sheepish and turned to look out his window as he said, quietly, "You… your friend, Bobby." Turning to Dean, he added, "I-I just wanted to know more about what you do."

Dean sighed as he watched the road. "Look, Ben, I get it, okay? I do. But there's a lot about this job that you shouldn't be exposed to."

"When I first met you it was right before I was taken by a changeling," Ben protested. "And the last time I saw you, you were a vampire."

Dean looked sharply over at Ben. "How'd you find out about that?"

"I-I did some reading," Ben explained. "Besides, with you gone, I figured someone should keep an eye on things."

"True, that," Dean admitted. After a few minutes of silence, he asked, "So you've been studying more?"

"When Mom and I were staying with Bobby—" Ben replied. "—he told me how he got into hunting. He said that knowing what's going on—what's really out there—is the first step."

Dean just nodded, knowing that Bobby's words were true, but at the same time feeling a twisting in his gut when he thought about the older man giving Ben advice on becoming a hunter. "And the fights?"

Ben looked a little embarrassed about it but after a moment, he said, "There's this girl at school—Chloe Morgan. She likes me, but she gets teased a lot." After a long silence, Ben finally added, "When I found out her mom's a hunter, she tried to beat me up."

Dean was starting to understand why Ben wanted to be a hunter. But still, there was a lot about the job that Ben didn't know about. "Ben, if you're serious about this then we need to lay out the ground rules, alright?" Waiting until he got an affirmative from Ben, Dean started, "First off, you do anything I say, okay? I tell you to stay put, you stay. I tell you to run, you run like hellhounds are on your ass."

"I got it," Ben said, wearily.

"Hey, you want in, those are the rules," Dean replied. When Ben didn't argue, Dean went on. "Also… I don't want you into any of the guns."

"Come on, Dean!" Ben said, disappointed. "I thought you were just agreeing with Mom so she'd let me go!"

"Ben, you don't have the training and you could accidently shoot yourself, me, or an innocent bystander," Dean said, firmly.

"So when we get to where we're going, can I come with you to talk to people?" Ben wanted to know.

Dean shook his head. "Nope."

Again Ben felt a stab of disappointment. "Why not?"

Dean smirked at the question and glanced over at Ben as he replied, "'Cause you're too young to pass for an FBI agent."

"That's how you get people to talk to you?" Ben asked, looking a bit shocked. "You lie about who you are?"

"Pretty much," Dean said, moving around the slow-moving car in front of him.

Ben looked a bit put-off at the idea and frowned as something occurred to him. "Isn't it against the law to pretend to be a federal agent?"

Dean shrugged. "Truth is, Ben, a lot of what hunters do is against the law."

Ben wasn't sure of what to say about that and suddenly, hunting demons didn't seem as cool anymore.


Bobby, Mary, and Sam's trip to Michigan was mostly made in silence and while they stopped a few times to grab something to eat or to fill the gas tank, they just kept driving until the Clarkston/Davison exit of Michigan's I-75.

15 minutes late they were heading up the driveway of an old, abandoned farmhouse painted yellow.

"An abandoned house?" Mary Winchester said, frowning slightly. Looking at Sam, she said, "Dean couldn't find a motel nearby?"

"Sometimes Dean and I had to squat in abandoned or vacant homes when money got really tight," Sam explained with a shrug as he pulled into the open garage and turned the car off. "I'm sure Dean's just showing off the unglamorous side of being a hunter." Going to the front door, Sam knocked and waited until Dean opened the door and let everyone in. "Have a good trip?" Sam asked, looking around. "Where's Ben?"

"Upstairs, doing research," Dean replied, pointing to the stairs. When Sam headed upstairs, Dean looked at his mother and Bobby. "We've got a problem."

"What kind of problem?" Bobby asked as Dean grabbed a police file off the counter and handed it over.

"The case that was 'probably nothing' is actually something," Dean replied. "Three people all killed near a community college campus." Going to the refrigerator and pulling out a beer, he added, "Judging by what the witnesses are saying, we have another trickster on our hands."

"A trickster," Bobby repeated, not believing what he was hearing. Giving Dean a look, he said, "You're sure Gabriel's dead, right?"

"Yeah," Dean confirmed, although as soon as he said it, he frowned slightly. "Pretty sure."

Bobby flicked his gaze to Mary before looking at Dean. "Considering that things have been kinda weird lately, even for us, you think maybe we shouldn't settle for 'pretty sure'?"

"Who's Gabriel?" Mary asked as Dean sat down at the table in the dining room.

"An archangel," Dean replied, taking a long swig of his beer. "He was masquerading as a trickster. Sam and I have tried loads of times to gank him, but we thought Lucifer had killed him for good."

"He did."

Dean, Mary, and Bobby jumped at the sound of the young woman's voice and as Dean stood, he studied the beautiful redhead standing in the kitchen. "Who are you?" Dean asked.

"Really, Dean," the girl said with a seductive smile as she approached Dean. "Don't you recognize me?"

"Gabriel?" Bobby said, his face wrinkled in confusion.

"Well, I guess it's 'Gabrielle' now," she said, looking over her new form. "Have to say, this is certainly an interesting twist."

Pursing his lips, Dean wasn't quite sure how to handle this newest wrinkle. "And how are you alive?"

Gabrielle shrugged as she sat down at the table. "God, maybe? I don't know. All I know is I suddenly came to about a year ago in the body of a Las Vegas casino host named Molly Simms."

Dean looked at his beer and sighed. "I need something stronger."