"Let me see that," Dean said. Phil presented his hand, and Dean checked it over. "It doesn't need stitches. Just let me clean this, and dress it, and then we'll be done for the day."

"Sorry Dean. I didn't mean to cut myself. Do you think Bobby will be mad?" he asked.

Dean rolled his eyes. "Relax. Bobby's pretty understanding. It's just a cut, man."

"But we were supposed to be training," he said. Phil looked down at his feet. "I just don't want him to change his mind because he doesn't think I'm serious."

"It's fine. I'll call you when we know anything," Dean said.

"Will I be able to go with you to find the vampires?"

Dean shook his head. "I don't think so. I mean, buddy, it's not just vampires. It's a demon, too. Bobby's barely letting me go. I've had combat training and I've been on hunts before. You've only trained for a couple of afternoons."

"But, I don't have to fight anything—"

"That's how it is, boy. You're not going. They can find you even if you stay in the hotel room the whole time. The only way you'll be safe is if you're here and we're there," Bobby said.

Dean looked over at where Bobby stood, leaning against the door jam. He thought, and not for the first time, that he wouldn't be surprised if Bobby got fed up and washed his hands of him and his brother and all their troublesome friends. Dean had tried at first to be as little trouble as possible, but with two teenaged boys, aggravations were bound to occur. Even if Dean or Sam were completely at fault, Bobby would huff and grumble and yell, but he never hit them, and he never asked them to leave.

It made Dean's chest ache. He was just so grateful for Bobby.

Bobby stood by the window, watching Phil drive away. "Well, you want to get this show on the road?"

"I'll call Benny. I just hope he hasn't skipped town," Dean said.

Bobby made a disgusted noise. "Remind me again why we're trusting a vampire?"

"You want to call him or not?" Dean asked.

Bobby gestured to the phone without answering, and Dean took that as his assent. He got up and called the vampire's home number. He answered within one ring.

"Are you sitting by the phone waiting for my call?" Dean asked.

"Helping hunters kill my kind doesn't exactly appeal, but I don't like being blackmailed by my own kind either. The sooner we find them, the sooner they're gone and I can get my plans back in line without worrying about them mucking up the works," he said.

"Well, the other hunters should be here tomorrow morning. How long do you think it will take for them to post a reply?"

"They're not notoriously reliable, but I'd guess without a day or two. That's about how long it usually takes," Benny said.

"Alright, make it so," Dean said.

There was the sound of the phone being fumbled as Benny clicked away at a keyboard, and then Benny said, "Dean, you never told me that you were bringing in other hunters. What guarantee do I have that they won't decide to kill me just on principle?"

"I—uh," Dean fumbled for words. He glanced around, and saw that Bobby was outside messing with one of the junkers. "Benny, honestly I can't make you that guarantee. I wouldn't come by, if I were you. I wouldn't have anything to do with this. Honestly if I was you I would probably take a vacation until all of this is over. I know Bobby won't kill you because he gave his word, but I have never met any of these other hunters, and from the stories I've heard, they're all hard asses."

"You don't need me to watch your back?" Benny asked.

Dean allowed a small laugh to escape. "I do. Probably all of us do. We got word from a psychic that the nest might be with a demon. But there's no way they'd let you come on the hunt anyway. They can't believe that a vampire could ever be on the same side as hunters. They'll never trust you. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, brother, I'd rather not get my head cut off by a demon. I should be telling you sorry," he said.

"Why?"

"Because Eddie already replied. They're in Midland Texas, on their way to Corpus Christi," he said. "They told me they'd meet me at the Aquarium."

"Shit, that's a really public place to meet. Not great for us," Dean said.

"It would have been a great plan if your pal didn't invite a lot of unwanted guests. I could have met them and then you could have followed us back to their lair," he said.

"Was that what you were planning on doing?" Dean asked.

"Relax, kid. They want to meet me in the middle of the night, like you'd expect a vampire to do," Benny said. He chuckled briefly. "You sure are new to this, aren't you?"

Dean felt a surge of anger, wondering why he put up with any crap at all from this monster. "I found you, didn't I? So if I'm a shitty hunter, I guess that means you need to up your game. And yeah, the only thing I've ever hunted on my own was my father, and he was just a crazy human. But I had an angel help me, so I guess in the scheme of things I must be a hell of a lot more important than you."

"You had to hunt your father? Oh, you're Dean Winchester. I read about you in the paper. Well, the paper didn't name you but they did name your father, and now I'm putting it together. I'm sorry, Dean. Is your brother alright? I mean, I know he wasn't hurt too bad, but, it must be hard, having your father fixate on you like that, think you're evil," he said.

Dean felt his heart pound. He hadn't talked to anyone about this, and he wasn't about to share Sammy's private business. But a part of him wanted to keep talking. "He's fine. Don't worry about him. Don't even think about my brother," he said.

Benny ignored the threat in his voice. "You met an angel? What's that like?" he asked.

"You'd hate him," Dean murmured. He heard Bobby walk into the house and suddenly wished he hadn't still been on the phone. "They reply yet?" he asked.

"I told you they did. You want me to repeat it all so you can write it down for whoever just walked in the room?"

"Yeah, thanks," Dean muttered.

He wrote down the information and then said goodbye, but Benny spoke again before he could hang up. "If you need me, I'll come with you. Other hunters be damned. I ain't a coward. I told you I'd have fought those vampires with backup, and I still will, even if the backups a bunch of human hunters."

"I'll let you know," Dean said. He hung up.

"Just what in Sam Hill do you have to talk to a vampire for that long about?" Bobby asked.

Dean shifted uncomfortably. "He's our ally, for now. And he came through with a name."

"A name?"

"A town. Some place in Texas. And he says they're on their way to Corpus Christi," Dean said. "They're going to meet up tomorrow night. You think we have time to get there?"

"We'll make it. Rufus and Martin are going to be here around nine, and Gordon's supposed to get here a little after ten. That's plenty of time to get our protective charms on and make plans," Bobby said.

"Bobby, is this smart? Benny said when they were here there was eight of them. Can we handle eight vampires? Eight to five isn't great odds, and then there's the fact that the eight vampires have superpowers. And oh yeah, there's the demon. Are we biting off more than we can chew, here?"

"You think that vampire was telling the truth when he said there were eight? Even if he was, vamps ain't exactly loyalty personified. There might be eight, or there might be more or less than eight. And I've got some tricks up my sleeve when it comes to demons. I'll handle the demon. The rest of you handle the vampires," Bobby said.

"Well, if you're sure," Dean said.

"I ain't sure. There ain't a part of me that's sure about this. But we've got to do something," Bobby said. "Phil needs to know the monsters who killed his father are dead. And anytime I get a lead on a demon, I put the bitch down. I made a vow."

Dean nodded. It was what he'd wanted to hear, but this hunt was still a far cry from a salt and burn or the other minor hunts he'd been involved in so far. But the way his heart was pumping, and the adrenaline that was coursing through his body…well, no matter how dangerous it was, it was amazing, too, and he knew he'd found his life's work. Saving people…hunting things…it sounded like his kind of business.

"I'm with you, Bobby. I'll follow orders. I swear I won't do anything without your say so," Dean said.

"I should tell you, boy, I put your name, and Sam's, in my will. If anything should happen to me, all this is yours, such as it is," Bobby said.

Dean felt choked up. "I'm honoured. I really…I hope you know, that if anything should happen to me, you get what's most precious to me, too."

"Would that be the big black car or the teenaged boy?"

Dean laughed. "I'm afraid it's the teenaged boy. If I die Sam gets the impala, and you get Sam."

"I'd treat him like my own," Bobby said.

"You already do. And that means the world to both of us," Dean said.

Bobby cleared his throat, blinked several times and cleared his throat again. "Get some sleep, boy. We've got a big day ahead of us."

The next morning Sam walked into the kitchen with a backpack over his shoulder. "Where are you and Bobby going, Dean?"

"Just a hunt, Sammy. No big deal. You just have fun at your friend's house—"

"—have fun? Dean, I'm not an idiot. You and Bobby are going after something big. Something so bad you don't want me around. Dean, why can't you just stay here? If Bobby wants to hunt, let him. We don't have to go along. You don't have to go along."

"You don't think we owe the guy? Besides, I brought this tip to Bobby. I'm going to do everything that I can to help and to make sure that everyone comes back alive and well. Don't worry so much, Sammy," Dean said.

"Of course we owe Bobby. But that doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your life for him. I don't get it. I don't get why you'd do this," Sam said.

"You mean, you don't like it?" Dean asked.

"Like what?"

"You don't like hunting? The adrenaline? The rush? The excitement? It's like nothing we've ever done before. It's like…magic. Like magic's real and we're a part of it…like we're heroes from some fairy tale. Why would anyone ever want a normal life when they could have that?" Dean asked.

Sam looked at him, the confusion on his face obvious. "I don't get it. I wish you wouldn't put yourself in danger. I need you, Dean. I'm still a kid. I need both you and Bobby to take care of me," he said.

"We'll be fine, Sammy. Bobby's the man with the plan, and he sounds really confident. You know he wouldn't let me go along if it was really dangerous."

"Promise me you'll come back?"

"I promise," Dean said.

A horn sounded in the yard and Sam looked out the window. "That's Sandy's mom's car. I should go. Call me when you're safe?"

"I promise. Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Dean said.

Sam laughed dryly. "I can't think of much you wouldn't do. But I'll be good. And you be safe."

Dean pulled Sammy to him in a quick hug. "You be safe, too. Take care, Sammy."