SAT 20

The first week after Sam and Dean had taken Ben back to North Dakota, Lisa had heard nothing but, "Mom, I learned that…" and "Mom, this cool thing I learned…" and "Mom, Dean runs a lot." Lisa heard all about the three men's daily activities and knew that while they included Ben in the lives, they weren't going out of their way to entertain her son. Lisa was taking her time cleaning her house and enjoying not having a schedule. She knew it would all change when Ben returned for school, with all the Sentinel side effects, but for now, she was slowly learning and reading Sandburg's theories and suggestions. Ben, under Sam and Dean's tutelage was learning the practical applications to being a Sentinel (and probably a Hawk).

So she was waiting for the "I'm bored here."

"What did Dean say when you told him that?" Because Lisa knew her son, he wasn't shy about his wants. Lisa just hoped he didn't send their son over to the Terrors house. She didn't want Ben spending too much time with two boys who had earned the name 'Terrors' from the whole town.

"That I could run with him more, but I slow him down and after two hours, I'm done, especially as it gets hot."

Lisa stopped multitasking and started focusing solely on her son. "You run for two hours?"

"Everyday. Dean runs all. day. long. We're trying to get me up to three hours before I leave. If nothing else, I'll be a shoe-in for cross-country and track at school. Can you look into that? They're probably already practicing for this year."

Lisa was pleased to hear that. "I will," she promised. "Then what happens?"

"Dean drops me off at the newspaper office and I run errands for Sam in between sense exercises. And they have me searching the archives for suspect supernatural activity, here and in any neighboring towns. Dean has a theory and Sam thinks he's wrong. No one will tell me what it is so I can't 'massage the data.' After I get as far back as I can, I'm supposed to do the same for Washington state. I'm not going to finish that one."

"And then how does a normal day go?"

"Sam and I run home. It's less than two miles so it's not worth the gas. Sometimes Dean joins us and it's a race. And then someone cooks dinner and someone works on cars or researches with Bobby. I'm supposed to help one or the other. Then dinner and after dinner most days we go over to Ms. Loretta and Ms. Lauren's to can food. They're both awesome cooks. They're setting aside some stuff for me to bring home, like that chicken soup that Dean and me eat when we're sick. Afterward or on off days, I can watch TV if Dean's head isn't bothering him or read and then sleep." Lisa got a daily phone call after their dinner, so it made sense.

"You sound like you're too busy to be bored."

"I guess." Ben chuckled. "Today, after dinner Dean turned up a boom box really loud and we played hide and seek in the junkyard. Sam joined in and he put down some smell traps, ugh! It was horrible. He lit smelly candles and uncovered a dead rabbit. Sam had wanted to use a skunk but Dean threatened that it'd end up in Sam's bed if he even tried."

Lisa laughed at that. Who was the evil brother in that case? "Who won?"

"Dean. Sam didn't have much of a chance but he's really sneaky. I couldn't catch him."

"When are you coming home?" Lisa asked, as she did for every phone call. "School's starting soon."

For the first time, Ben had a definite answer. "Starting next week, Dean's going to run with me to the library every day and leave me there, by myself –though he's really a mother hen, I'm sure he'll give me a hidden safety net. Anyways, I'll have different assignments to complete there. We'll start with two hours and work our way up to more, kinda like how a school day would go. When I can go eight hours be myself without a spike or a zone, they'll bring me home."

"Well, that's a good plan."

"Don't sound too surprised, Mom."

"No, it's not surprise, it's… I'm glad that Dean is there for you for this."

"He's pretty cool," Ben agreed. The initial hero worship was toned down but still evident. "Didja know that Dean is pretty much the first person they call when someone's lost? And last week he caught a fugitive for the Texas Rangers."

"No, but I'm not surprised." Lisa wondered how he did that while technically being a fugitive himself. Well, he did have a full set of official cards declaring himself to be Dean Smith and his brother as Sam Wesson. For her son's sake, Lisa prayed that the fake IDs would forever hold up to official scrutiny.

Ben sniffed, distracting her from her thoughts.

Lisa was alarmed. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I was just sniffing your sweater."

"My sweater?" Lisa had a suspicion she knew which one it was. Her favorite sweater had been MIA since Ben had left.

"Yeah, Dean brought here for me. It smells like you even through washings. It helps when I get home sick."

"You could come home now," Lisa suggested. She would been cleaning for the next fifteen hours but her little boy wanted to come home, she would make her home safe for him, sleep be damned.

"Not yet, but soon." Ben yawned. "I need to go to bed. You won't forget about talking to the cross country coach?"

"I already made a note on the calendar," she promised.

"Good." He sighed a bit. "Love you, Mom."

"I love you too. I look forward to you coming home."

"Me too. Bye." Ben hung up.

Lisa did as well. She looked around her house and noticed how it was only halfway ready for her son. It was time she grew up and accepted Ben's predicament and cleaned her house. It was Ben's home and he would be safe in it.

She had work to do.