Author's Note: Benny's life had never simply been about surviving but also about living. And maybe, that was why he felt like hell for leaving Dean, even if he was angry.

Other: And, a continuing thank you to my beta for this story, vrskaandrea - any remaining errors are solely my own.

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Blank Card

Benny growled. He'd planned to spend Thanksgiving with Dean, but no…he'd had to go a damn fool of himself by accusing Dean of fucking Chuck! And, the fact that he had Ben with him…yeah, THAT didn't make him feel guilty in the slightest - really, it did. He was trying to figure out what he was going to do the following day for Thanksgiving. He knew Liz was going to be there, she hadn't missed a holiday that he cooked since she was four, Ben was a given since he was staying with Benny, and Ben's new friend Claire and Claire's girlfriend Kaia would be there. Benny had been meaning to call Cas for the week and a half that Ben had been bringing the two runaways around about whether Claire was some relation of his, after all…her last name was Novak and Cas did have a metric ton of siblings.

Deciding to make the call before he could find a reason not to, Benny quickly grabbed his cell phone, pulled up his contacts, selected Cas' name, hit the call button, and listened as it rang.

'Benny, I'm off tomorrow unless we have some massive terrorist attack…at which point it would be a Fed issue not local...but I'm on-duty at the moment so, make it quick.' Cas said rushed.

'Ben met a girl a little over a week ago, she says her name's Claire Novak. Is she some relation of yours? Niece maybe?' Benny asked curiously.

Cas turned his head to the side, and mouthed 'Hush!' He honestly didn't care at that moment who was talking to him. 'Try that name one more time, Benny.' He said seriously.

'Claire Novak.' Benny said uncertainly. 'Do you know her?' He asked curiously.

Cas lowered his head. 'You could say that.' He said slightly irritated.

'How do you know her?' Benny asked curiously.

Cas laughed bitterly. 'She's mine. It's a long story, but…it was during a very short time of my life where I didn't like my name so I went by Jimmy. Never wanted a kid, never have laid claim to her, but Amelia made sure I knew about her when she started demanding child support. Last I'd heard though, they were living in Pontiac, Illinois.' He explained.

'What is wrong with these people?' Benny thought to himself, shaking his head. 'Well, she's a runaway…her and her girlfriend actually are runaways. What the hell do you want me to do?' He asked frustrated.

'Keep them away from Amelia, if Claire is gay, Amelia would THROW A FIT! I may be named after an angel but she's the one that's extremely conservative in her religious beliefs. Honestly, if you questioned Claire, it wouldn't surprise me if Amelia actually kicked her out.' Cas explained.

'I'm not running a children's shelter!' Benny said frustrated.

'Neither is Sheriff Jody Mills up in Sioux Falls but last Dean and Sam heard from Bobby, she has two adopted daughters, Alex and Patience, and they were not in any form or fashion PLANNED adoptions.' Cas pointed out.

'So, I'm stuck with them?' Benny asked curiously.

'Yeah.' Cas said reluctantly.

'Dammit, Cas! I've already got DEAN'S son and now YOUR daughter! What the hell is wrong with you two taking responsibility for your own damn kids?' Benny asked frustrated.

'Dean's situation with Ben is different then mine with Claire.' Cas pointed.

'I don't particularly care, Cas. I was born during the damn Golden Age of Piracy and still know how to raise a child! How is it possible that you two don't?' Benny snapped. He was not in the least bit surprised when Cas hung up. At least, he'd gotten the answer to his question even if it wasn't anywhere close to a possible answer he'd expected.

xXxXx

Benny had made a list of what he needed last minute, he already had what he needed for the gooducken - he honestly did not and never had liked turkey, so he preferred the English variant of using goose with the duck and chicken - and had sent Ben out with Claire and Kaia with his credit card. He had PLANNED on the fact that Claire and Kaia would come back with clothes that he hadn't said they could get with his credit card. He had NOT planned on the fact that they'd instead come back with TWO additional kids. 'Welcome to Benny Lafitte's Home for Runaway Children, can somebody chop my head off, now?' He thought to himself. 'Okay, Ben…Claire, Kaia…who's your new friends?' He asked curiously.

'Jack Kline and Jesse Turner, Kaia and I ran into them while on the run from Pontiac.' Claire explained. 'We just weren't sure it'd be safe to bring them here, yet.' She continued.

'Are you Kelly's boy, Jack?' Benny asked carefully.

Jack looked at Benny frightened before looking at Claire. 'How do you know that, Benny?' Claire asked curiously.

'A case Sam worked, it was between Kelly Kline and Jefferson…' Benny said honestly. 'Uh, what was his name?' He continued at a whisper.

'Rooney, Jefferson Rooney.' Jack clarified, lowering his head.

'Um…' Benny began and didn't know how to continue.

'Mom probably thinks that politician bastard made me disappear because we never got along, but he didn't…I took off with Jesse because Jefferson is just another homophobic politician with eyes on ruling this country and it wasn't like mom was going to ever stand up to him.' Jack said, meeting Benny's eyes.

'Okay, I know why Ben's with me…that's fairly legal. I know why Claire's with me…it's not even remotely legal, but after talking to Cas, I'll deal with it if I have to. I know why Kaia's here, she's not so much a runaway as a homeless teen after her parents died. And, I can understand why Jack's here…again, it's not even close to legal, but I'll deal with it if I have to. What's your story Jesse?' Benny asked curiously.

'Oh, I'm a runaway…my parents are both religious fanatics convinced I'm the Antichrist. I ran into Jack while he was still in California, been showing him how to survive on the streets since then. We ran into Claire and Kaia just outside of Illinois and started running with them. We all ended up down here and met Ben. And, here we are.' Jesse said easily.

Benny buried his face in his hands, trying to figure out what his next move was going to be. Reluctantly, he KNEW what it was going to have to be, and he hoped it went better then his conversation with Cas had gone.

xXxXx

Sam sat in his office trying to figure out what his next move needed to be - that didn't involve mass murder or outright genocide, no matter how tempting either one were. When his cell phone started ringing, he looked at the caller id. 'Why's Benny calling?' He thought to himself. He picked his phone up and hit answer. 'Benny?' He asked curiously.

'Sam, I have a question…and honestly, you were the only person I could think to call that might be able to give me an honest answer that wasn't going to land me in jail.' Benny said honestly.

'I specialize in law concerning children whether it's to defend them or custody or something along those lines…unless it involves that, I would strongly suggest calling someone else.' Sam explained.

'It does involve that.' Benny admitted.

'If this has anything to do with Ben, I'm sorry, but…I won't help you take him from Dean.' Sam said sternly.

'No! That's not my intent at all, Sam. My issue is that since I came back to Carencro with Ben, he's been hanging out with a couple of girls - Claire and Kaia. It turns out Claire is apparently Cas' daughter and Kaia is her girlfriend. Claire is technically a runaway but Kaia is just homeless. Ben has also been hanging out with a couple boys - Jack and Jesse. Jack is Kelly Kline's son and contrary to what Kelly had you convinced of, Jefferson did NOT make him disappear, he ran off because Jefferson is a homophobe politician that his mother would not defend him against. And Jesse's parents are idiots believing he's the fucking Antichrist. So, what do I do, Sam?' Benny asked.

'Whoa, back up! Claire is Cas' daughter? Cas as in Castiel Novak?' Sam asked in disbelief, he was still stuck back at the beginning.

'Yes, Sam. Claire Novak is Cas' daughter.' Benny said slowly.

'Cas has a daughter?' Sam asked in continuing disbelief.

'Yes, Sam. I've already talked to Cas, he's the one who pointed out that Claire was his daughter…she didn't.' Benny explained.

'Okay. I'll have to talk to him about that later. So, why is she a runaway?' Sam asked curiously.

'Amelia, her mother is extremely conservative in her religious beliefs, so having a lesbian child would be against her beliefs.' Benny explained.

'Fair enough. I'm sure I could figure out some way to deal with that if necessary. Why is Kaia homeless?' Sam asked curiously.

'Her parents died, she had no other family to take her in, and she wouldn't stay in state care.' Benny explained.

'I'm going to have to drop the case against Mister Rooney, but I'm sure Kelly will be happy to know her son's okay. You know that's she's going to want to come get him.' Sam admitted.

'Sam, you do that and he'll run. I don't think he trusts his mother as a parent, anymore.' Benny explained.

'Fuck!' Sam said frustrated. 'I'll figure something out. And, Jesse is self-explanatory considering I can't say I blame him for running if his parents believe him to be the Antichrist.' He said, trying to think. 'Just…keep them safe for now…I'll see what I can do to help you deal with any situations that arise.' He continued, reluctantly.

'Alright, thanks Sam.' Benny said with a smile.

'Oh! And, before I forget…not that Dean is going to mention it but I'm sure he'd like it if you here for Thanksgiving. I think he misses you.' Sam explained.

'Sam, I've already got everything I need for Thanksgiving here…and even if I wanted to come out there…I wouldn't just be having to bring Ben because Liz is just not equipped to handle a bunch of kids.' Benny explained.

'Well, you bring yourself and Ben and I can front the bill for the other kids.' Sam offered.

xXxXx

'Are you sure that's a good idea, Benny?' Liz asked curiously.

'No. Not at all. But, I do miss him.' Benny admitted.

'Do you really think he's sleeping with Chuck?' Liz asked seriously.

Benny shook his head. 'I don't know, Lizzie. I've been trying to figure that out with a clear head since coming back here and I just can't.' He said regretfully.

'Do you think it's possible with Dean being a chimera and Gabriel NOT being Chuck's soulmate -' Liz began carefully.

'That's what I'm afraid of. And, since leaving the nest, I haven't been one to…SHARE my partner. So, even if THAT turned out to be true, I couldn't SHARE Dean!' Benny said exasperated.

'Have you checked the percentage to see how many relationships where someone had two soulmates where an attempt was made to maintain relationships with BOTH…what the percentage was of BOTH relationships succeeding?' Liz asked curiously.

'There's a 0.003 percent chance of BOTH relationships succeeding, there's a 47.997 percent chance of only one of them succeeding, and there's a 52 percent chance of NEITHER of them succeeding. So yes, Liz…I know the percentages and I also know that if by some chance of cruel fate that DEAN has two soulmates, that I've already lost.' Benny said defeated.

'But, you have NEVER been one to listen to the odds. If you had been, the restaurant wouldn't have even been opened!' Liz pointed out.

'You really don't understand, Lizzie. I love Dean, but I'm not going to keep fighting over him. It's just doing more damage to BOTH of us and maybe…it's better if at least one of us can be happy then for NEITHER of us to end up happy.' Benny said regretfully.

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Author's Note: Next stop Thanksgiving at Dean's!

Reviews/Comments/Constructive Criticism welcome!

Flames will be used to roast marshmallows and then promptly deleted!