Ben slept fitfully. He always had had trouble sleeping during the day and his nightmares seemed to be worse instead of better. He thought they would have improved after meeting Dean. He was going to chalk it up to the case and monster stories from Sam...Uncle Sam. He grinned. He hadn't thought of him that way and 'Uncle Sam' just sounded hilarious to him.
He was up and going by 10am, having slept for about six hours. He snagged a couple stale donuts and a coffee in the motel office, sent an e-mail to Amber for her to call him when it was convenient, and then went for a jog along the shore of Lake Ontario. Two hours later, sitting on a bench at the marina, his phone vibrated in his pocket.
"Braeden here."
"Hello, Officer Braeden, this is Amber." She chuckled.
Ben smiled to himself. "Hey girl what's up?"
"You tell me. You're the one sending cryptic e-mails for me to contact you."
"True that. I just don't want you getting into trouble talking to me on company time and all."
"Ahhh, is that it? Well, you're still alive, so can I assume the father hunt is still going okay?"
"Amber, I finally met him."
"Really? And you're still in one piece. This is good. Do tell."
So he told her about his stalking them, which she of course admonished him on right away.
"Yes, yes, and you are right. It was foolish and stupid and I probably owe you a fourth dinner now?"
"Oh heck no! You've graduated to a movie. Dinner and a movie, now, bucko."
Ben couldn't help but smile. He missed her and in doing so, began to think that, maybe in his heart, there was little more room for her than he had previously thought. He then told her how they had caught him and dragged him back to their motel room for an interrogation.
"Oh my goodness! Are you okay?"
"Calm down! I'm fine! They were just making sure I wasn't a demon or shape shifter or some crazy shit."
"Wait!" she interrupted, "You let someone else ride your Indian?" She was teasing, but also sounded truly stunned as well.
"Well, it's not like I had much of a choice in the matter! At least they didn't leave her there to rot at the cemetery."
"So, the serial killer pops has a heart after all? Man, the guys will never let you go on a stake out now..."
"You breathe a word of this and so help me, your first dinner will be oatmeal."
"Okay, okay! Anything but the dreaded oatmeal treatment! My lips are sealed."
Ben smiled to himself and sighed. "Amber, I wish you could meet him. He is something else. Definitely not what one would consider good father material, that's for sure. But there's something about him. I can't quite put my finger on it. He seems weighed down, by what, I'm not sure. Some of it seems to be a large amount of guilt. But there's something else there. Almost as if he feels responsible for the well being of every person he comes into contact with. But I can see that he's fiercely loyal in just the way he acts around his brother. The way he looks at him, talks to him. Even the way he stands around him. I don't even think he's conscious of it, half the time, either."
"You sound quite taken with him and he sounds quite messed up." She gave a quiet chuckle. "It's a match made in heaven."
"Well, I wouldn't go that far. Although that car of his is a beauty! I can't tell you everything, at least not on the phone like this, but, he seems to me, like a guy that was thrown into some pretty impossible circumstances and did the best he could. He came out the other side, changed for it, but he's still here, still soldiering on." Ben gave a sigh. "And I know none of that makes any sense to you. I just needed someone to bounce my inner monologue off of."
"Oh joy! He picked me! But seriously, you sound like you've been thinking about this for a while now. Not sleeping well are you?"
"No. Not at all. I keep thinking about him and then looking at myself. Comparing."
"No, you can't do that Ben. He was never there. He has had no influence on your life and who you are."
"I know, but it's hard not to, you know?"
Amber sighed. "Yeah, I guess can understand. So, how is the case? You figure out the deal yet?"
"Amber, you wouldn't believe me if I told you. We haven't figured out the perps yet. Well, I haven't. Sam and Dean seem to think it's ghouls. I know, don't get me started. Dean is 50% bad ass, 20% smart ass, and 30% off his rocker. The fact is, though, whoever is doing it, seems to be going after Dean and Sam specifically. They have been leaving clues that lead right to them, although the local cops are stumped. We're going out tonight, I think, to see if we can catch them in the act."
"I just don't know what to say. Ghouls? Ben, do you even know what a ghoul is? I mean, I don't!"
"I listened to them tell me what they thought ghouls were. But I'll be treating this like any other case, with actual human perpetrators. Let them think what they will, as long as we're all after the same thing."
Amber and I talked for a while more about everything and nothing and then I headed out to grab a bite to eat.
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There was a knock on the door and, as had become habit, both guys pulled their guns. Dean pulled back a corner of the curtain and shook his head. They both put their guns away and Dean opened the door. Ben walked in wearing black cargo pants, a black t-shirt and a black leather biker's jacket. Sam grinned and Dean smirked.
"Before either of you say anything, this is my normal attire. The pants are comfortable and I don't dress up that often. My wardrobe is mostly t-shirts."
Sam put his hands up as if to say woah, back off, didn't mean anything and continued grinning. Dean just snorted.
"So, Ben, Sam and I have been discussing what route to take next..."
"There are two plans to follow. One would be to go to the cemetery and lie in wait, hoping to catch them in the act." Sam said.
"And if it is us they're after, just our presence in the cemetery should lure them right in." Dean continued.
"The second plan would be to check out the abandoned buildings and houses in and around town. Since the ghouls, and I think we have to assume it's plural for as many bodies that have been taken, are on the move, they'll need someplace to hole up." Sam continued.
"If we find their hidey hole, we've found the whole kit and kaboodle. So, Ben, any thoughts?" Dean looked right at him, weighing him.
"Huh. Two great ideas. I think, since you have me along, we do both. Killing two birds with one stone. Also, if something goes south with one plan, we still have a man on the outside, as it were. We send one man to check abandoned buildings. They keep their distance and if they find anything suspicious, they phone the other two who will be at the cemetery."
Dean raised an eyebrow, nodded his head and looked at Sam. Sam nodded back.
"Pretty good, kid. That's actually exactly what we were thinking of doing. Sam here has a map he's been working on this afternoon." Dean motioned over to the little table. On it was a rough map of the town and surrounding countryside. There were red 'x's scattered around on it.
"I'll start with the places closest to the cemetery and if I have no luck with them, I'll head on to the ones furthest from town and work my way in." Sam pointed to various locations on the map as he spoke.
Dean grabbed Ben's jacket and dragged him over to the bed and shoved him down to it. "You and I are going to the cemetery. Let me see your weapon." He sat on the bed opposite Ben.
Ben pulled out his 9mm Glock. Most of the guys on the force used them. He handed it to Dean.
"Decent. How's your aim?" Dean looked the gun over and handed it back.
"Second best in the department."
"Have you ever used it in the field? Have you ever actually aimed at someone and pulled the trigger? You do remember ghouls can only be taken out with a head shot, right? That calls for a bit more than shooting out someone's knee."
Ben looked down at his gun. "No. But don't think for a moment that means I'll freeze if the shit hits the fan."
"Uh-huh. Everybody's different, kid. You'll never know which kind you are until you're faced with it. I guess we'll see."
Sam walked over. "I'm just about ready to go, uh, Ben..."
Ben looked up at Sam who was holding out his hand. "What?" He looked at Dean who was smirking again and back to Sam.
"He needs the keys to your bike, dude."
Ben just sat there.
"Listen if you two are headed to the cemetery, you'll need the car. Your bike is the only ride left for me to use." Sam made a give me motion with his hand.
Ben sighed, stood up, and fished out his keys from his pocket. He squeezed them in his hand for a second before handing them over.
"Listen, Ben, Dean has a, um, pretty intense relationship with his car, too. Don't worry, I'll take of your baby for you." Sam patted Ben on his shoulder and grabbed his coat.
"You two take care of yourselves and stay in contact."
"Hey, Sam." Ben stepped over to him and handed him a piece of paper. "Listen, if anything does go bad, this is the number of a friend of mine. She's the only one who knows I'm out here and what I'm up to."
Sam took the paper, nodded at Ben, and stuck it in his pocket.
"Later." Dean called out as Sam left. Sam just raised his arm as he went out the door.
"So, how did you guys decide who was doing what?" Ben asked.
"Timed honored tradition of rock, paper, scissors." Dean got up and said, "Let's go!"
