In Which Boaz Makes a Roadtrip

[mini_dean]

"Ben, he's not asking for you to do anything you're not comfortable with."

"Yeah, I get that." He looked at the picture in his hand that Dean had left. His father - all these years later and suddenly Dean was back and his mother was telling him that she knew - wanted to see him. And he had a little cousin. "Just... not something I was expecting."

"Dean will be fine with whatever you choose. But I'd really like you to think about at least talking to him. I'm sure you've got questions."

"I do." He rubbed the back of his neck. "What about you, Mom? You want him around again?"

Lisa smiled just a bit. "It was nice seeing him again, Ben. I'd like to see more of him. But if you're not comfortable..."

"Mom, I'm not eight anymore. You don't need to worry about my feelings when you're seeing a guy." He smirked up at his mother. "I just don't want to hear about what you two are doing when I'm not here."

"Like I'd tell you that anyway." Lisa smoothed the first red spike of her son's hair so she could kiss his forehead. "Do me a favor, though?"

"What's that?"

"If you decide to take a road trip out to Iowa like I know you're planning, please at least tone down the look so the press doesn't follow you."

Ben smirked a bit and shook his head. "Yes, Mom."

***

The flight from LA to Des Moines wasn't bad, and he rented a car the next morning to drive the rest of the way to the house where Dean had told his mother that he lived. It probably wasn't the smartest plan he had, but he did want a chance to look at this family before he went to talk to them.

He watched his cousin and his uncle go off to school, and saw that his father's car stayed parked in the driveway. Figuring that it meant Dean wasn't going off to any job, Ben pulled the car up next to it in the driveway and made his way to the front door, knocking before he looked at his reflection in the window.

He actually looked normal for once, and sober too. It was the best he could manage, so he hoped it would be noticed he was trying to act the part. If only for his mom's sake.

Comments

[jstliketherifle.livejournal.com]

The reason Dean wasn't going anywhere was because Dean had spent all night driving in from Boston. He had left FBI headquarters around six AM yesterday and didn't roll in to home until about two in the morning. Twenty hours with no stops but gas and meal breaks and Dean pretty much passed out on the couch the minute he set foot in the door. He knew he could have taken it slow, but he was itching to get home and take his two weeks before Olivia started throwing cases at him again. Or Astrid started knocking on his door.

Whichever came first.

When the knock on the door came, Dean wasn't really expecting it. Rolling off onto the floor, he used the impact with the ground to wake him up a little more, before stumbling to his feet and pulling open the door. Glance down at his watch, he groaned. "Who knocks on people's doors at eight in the morning?"

After he pulled it open, however, he had a different reaction entirely. "Ben."

[mini_dean]

Ben looked at his feet a moment before looking back up at Dean. Wow, he knew the photo showed a lot of similarities, but it was different staring at your own reflection - just older - in the face.

"I... uh, I was in the area and thought it might be nice to stop in. But I can come back..."

[jstliketherifle.livejournal.com]

"No! No, no -- come in." Dean stepped back from the doorway, holding out one hand for him to come inside. "Sorry, I just -- I'm functioning on six hours right now."

Once Ben was inside he closed the door, rubbing his eyes to get himself up a little more. "Can I get you something? Coffee, something to eat?"

[mini_dean]

Ben walked in and looked around, his eyes taking in the place. "Nah, I grabbed some crap across the street from the hotel. Looks like you could use some though." He smirked a bit, turning back to look at Dean.

[jstliketherifle.livejournal.com]

He rubbed his eyes with a bit of a laugh before turning to head towards the kitchen. "Yeah, well -- you try driving straight through from Boston to Iowa and see how you do."

He made his way into the kitchen, heading towards the coffee maker and starting to get the pot going. Olivia had put a note for him on the fridge with COFFEE FIRST, READ AFTER written across the top in big letters, so instead he turned around to face Ben again with a sigh. "Gotta say, you caught me a little off-guard though. Figured if you were interested in seein' me, you would have done it through your mom."

[mini_dean]

"Yeah, well thing is, I kinda do my own thing. Plus I know my mom wants to spend time with you and if this doesn't work out between us, I don't want to mess that up for her."

Ben slid up onto a stool. "And I woulda called, but I'm in the process of changing my number. Again." He really had to stop giving out his number to the girls he slept with.

[jstliketherifle.livejournal.com]

Dean nodded, moving towards the cabinet to grab a mug for himself. "Nah, it's fine. I'm just glad you didn't drop by when I was out of town on a job."

[mini_dean]

"Yeah, I actually was across the street making sure I saw your car before I came over. Didn't want to put your brother in a compromising situation."

[jstliketherifle.livejournal.com]

"Oh, I don't think Sam would have minded, after the momentary surprise. And Olivia's pretty good at keepin' secrets, all things considered."

[mini_dean]

"So she hasn't started telling her friends she's my cousin yet?" Which was a relief.

He looked over at the fridge that was covered in years of pictures and drawings. "Looks like she had a fun time growing up here with you two."

[jstliketherifle.livejournal.com]

"Nah, she's smarter than that. She knows how people's brains work, and that teenagers have big mouths."

Dean followed his eyes back to the fridge and nodded with a bit of a smile. "Yeah, she had a good time. When she was little, anyway. Once she became a teenager all bets were off."

[mini_dean]

Ben got up and went to look at some of the pictures closer. "My mom told me once that for all she wished I had been a girl when I was little, she was very glad I was a boy come those years."

He pointed at the picture. "She doesn't look much like Sam from these pictures."

[jstliketherifle.livejournal.com]

Dean followed his eyes back, before shaking his head. "Nah. She's got a good chunk of her mom, though. And a nice part of your grandmother. But when she smiles? That's all Sam."

[mini_dean]

"I don't think there's any denying that I'm yours anymore. Though I've got blue eyes. They aren't yours or my mom's."

He chuckled at a picture of Olivia with her bass that was taller than her. "Oh my god how does she get that thing around?" He laughed.

[jstliketherifle.livejournal.com]

Dean grinned. "There's a minivan. And the case has wheels, so once she gets it on one level she's pretty good with rolling it around. Problem is, she can't see around it. So it's pretty much watch out or get out of her way."

[mini_dean]

"I guess the music love comes from your side too." He was still chuckling at the image of his cousin and that case. "But that's why I like my guitar. Just strap it to my back and go."

[jstliketherifle.livejournal.com]

"She's got one of those too," Dean nodded. "Well, a cello, which is smaller than the bass and she can wear it like a back pack. She's definitely a strings girl, she just likes to switch up which one she plays."

[mini_dean]

"Maybe I'll let her come jam with the band one day. We've been looking for something new to do with strings."

The smell of coffee was strong and Ben held back a yawn behind his hand. "I think I might take that cup of coffee after all."

[jstliketherifle.livejournal.com]

Dean nodded, pouring the two cups of coffee before handing one back to him. "She'd love that. She's always running all over the place, playing in different orchestras. She just finished playing in the pit for Peter Pan not too far from here. She gets paid good money for it too."

[mini_dean]

"So she's been playing most of her life then. Interesting."

He took the cup of coffee and didn't add anything to it, just sipped it black. The last few years of partying had made him appreciate black coffee in the morning.

"So what have you been doing these last 18 years?"

[jstliketherifle.livejournal.com]

"Little here, little there," he shrugged. "Got a gig consulting for the FBI on different weird cases that are a bit more my jurisdiction and a little less theirs. It's not much but it's a steady paycheck and benefits so it's more than I've gotten otherwise."

[mini_dean]

"Nice. So all that demon stuff actually can pay off in the end."

Sorry, Dean. He does remember all of that.

[jstliketherifle.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, but not without a whole lot of bullshit in between," Dean said with a sigh. There had been so much. The Apocalypse, the angels, everything else -- but it had been worth it. "Wasn't all bad, though. Wouldn't have Liv without it. Or you, for that matter."

[mini_dean]

"Sometimes in the midst of the crazy times, remember the things worth your life, it shall keep you moving on."

He was quoting a lyric to a song he had written a few years ago. It fit.

"You ever think about me and mom, up until now that is?"

[jstliketherifle.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, every once in a while," he nodded. "Sometimes more than others. But there was one part that was pretty bad. You guys wouldn't have wanted me swinging around."