Ben Braeden

“You don't need to worry about me. In a fight I just kind of stand in the back and just yell stuff.”
| Friday Night Lights

Before I left for college, we joked about going on one last hunt. A big father and sons bonding thing. However, as we tracked down the ghoul in the back alleys of sector 2, it became fairly obvious that I wasn't meant for this life.

I mean, Ruby kinda called it once before. When I had to train while Sam was in the coma, she told me I didn't have what it would take. Sure, I'm a Winchester. I've got the same spirit and stubbornness that Dean, Alec and Sam have. I've got gifts that while they are fixed, I use less and less and in a way, not really sorry that I haven't kept up my training.

However, I had something that none of them really had. Well, Dad did, but only for a few years. A mother. Alec jokes that I'm the stablest one in the family because of it. I grew up normal, in a loving family far from wars and hate and demons... well, except that one time with the changeling and all.

I guess that makes me different than them. I'm not able to stomach a lot of the things that go on during a hunt, even if I try to fake it. And Dean never really wanted me to get into this job, so I have a feeling my telling him I wanted to leave and go to college was a wish granted in his book.

It would also explain why I'm left to stand on a fire escape while Alec and Dean slug it out with the ghoul down below. I helped them with the tracking and singling the woman out in the crowd. Now I just sit back and watch the fight.

Well, not just watch it.

"Oh come on, Alec! You're letting a chick kick your ass! Where are those ninja skills - ouch. Dad, you alright? Dude, now that's gonna leave a mark. Girl ain't gonna be going on any dinner dates soon now."

Hey, I'm still part Winchester. What I lack in fighting skills, I make up in my smart mouth. I'm sure that still makes Dad proud.


Words: 359

He was in the middle of his second week of duty when Ben came in to see the new face in the nursery. It had been a hard week so far. Two of the babies had passed away during seizures. Sally even had one while in Ben's arms, causing his shift to end early as he watched a doctor team work on her through the windows.

He had spent the next day sitting next to her crib, just letting her hold his finger while he ran his other set of fingers through her soft hair and down her back.

The boy was in love, and he knew he couldn't keep her. But he could give her the love she needed for as long as she needed it.

But this evening as he walked in, he noticed that there was a new baby in the ward. Before heading over to Sally, he looked down, then blinked.

"Whoa, looks like someone has a bit of Persian in them," he joked softly, running his fingers along the baby's cheek. Her face was a bit more streamlined, like a cat, and her ears were higher up on her head and pointy. Everything else was human though, at least what he could see through the blanket.

Leaving Cat-Baby to her bed, Ben went to Sally and looked through the bars. "Hello, sunshine. Looks like all those nasty wires are gone. Guess that means I'm going to have to start weightlifting again." He lowered the sides of the crib, reaching for the little bundle and not paying much attention to anything - or anyone - else in the room.