Work Text:
Multiple POV
«Are you arguing with Steve again, Cher?»
Benny's voice is gentle, with that hint of a smile Dean knows how to recognize without looking at him.
«Steve is the one arguing with me!»
He huffs, sitting up with effort.
The vampire reaches him and holds out a hand.
«Come on. It's almost time for dinner.»
Dean accepts the help and gets up, more and more awkward and cumbersome.
«Already? It isn't even sunset yet...»
He comments, watching the sun still coloring the clouds pink.
«Lizzie already put the quiche on the table.»
The Omega's eyes light up. Fuck, vegetable quiche! He loves it!
«See you later, dinosaur!»
He huffs at the alligator, who merely keeps floating just beneath the surface.
«This isn't over!»
He threatens while Benny pushes him toward the bar with a smile.
Dinner is quiet. Dean, as always, eats enough for six people. Benny limits himself to his thermos of O positive, Elizabeth glares at Dean but keeps checking that he eats enough and doesn't get too tired.
Elias... Elias is starting to think that, deep down, Dean isn't so bad. Even though his girlfriend doesn't want him there, despite all the horrible legends surrounding the hunter... Deep down, he is only a pregnant Omega looking for shelter, helping them with the bar and finally making Benny smile.
Elias adores Benny. At first, he had been truly intimidated by him. Come on... He is a Beta and that man is basically his father-in-law! But he had welcomed him like a son, given him a job and a place in the community. Not bad for a twenty-year-old shapeshifter.
«So? Why did we eat so early? We're not old people!»
Dean snaps with his mouth still full of banana pudding.
Benny raises an eyebrow.
«You know how old I am, right?»
He smiles, making the other huff.
«Pedantic!»
«Full moon.»
Elizabeth cuts in, as always not tolerating the exchange of banter between the two for long.
«Oh yes... Your first full moon here!»
Elias chuckles, his gray eyes shining with mischief.
«Mh? And what the fuck is that supposed to mean?»
Dean asks, looking at the three Cajuns.
All three of them laugh.
«Oh, mon Cher... You'll see!»
«Oh yes, you'll see, Dean!»
«Let's see if you survive, more like.»
«LIZZIE!»
Two hours later, Dean understands what they meant.
In the worst possible way.
With the full moon, the Purgatory's nocturnal clientele, the supernatural one... goes insane. Completely.
The first to arrive are a group of witches waiting for midnight to begin their monthly sabbath. Two elderly women, a girl in her twenties, a man with a mustache that seems alive and a chicken.
Dean decides not to ask why the chicken. He simply takes the order and reports it to Benny in the kitchen.
When he comes back to them, the oldest one stops him by the arm.
«Sweetheart... You look tired.»
The old woman says. The whole table stares at Dean.
«Naaah, I'm just pretty pregnant, granny!»
He smiles among the general murmurs. Elizabeth, at the register, narrows her eyes.
«Oh, I see that, I see that...»
The witch comments.
«You're a very lucky boy, your aura is glowing ocher!»
She smiles as if she has paid him the greatest compliment. And perhaps she really has.
«Hem... Thanks?»
Dean comments, raising an eyebrow.
He leaves the fish jambalaya and goes back to the kitchen.
Meanwhile, Elias is busy defending himself from two of his aunts, all shapeshifters, of course.
«Oh, mon petit! When are you going to ask that girl to marry you? Your mother wants to become a grandmother!»
«Aunt Sabine, please!»
He groans, trying to escape the two women, in vain.
Dean chuckles, shaking his head. He slips into the kitchen and takes the glass of water Benny hands him almost without realizing it.
«There's a group of werewolves asking for karaoke.»
He sighs, shifting aside to let the vampire move from one stove to the other.
«We don't have karaoke.»
Benny shakes his head. Werewolves are even more unbearable with the full moon.
«That's what I told them!»
He shifts again.
He and Benny never bump into each other, they occupy the same space like a dance, like when, in Purgatory, they fought back to back. They know each other's movements perfectly.
«And then?»
«Then I gave them beer!»
Dean chuckles.
«It's going to be a long night...»
Benny sighs, handing him the tray.
«Red beans and rice for Marie, crab soup for Sheryl.»
He says only.
Dean stares at him with one eyebrow raised.
«...The lake siren and the banshee at table three.»
Benny tries again.
«Great! I'm flying!»
Dean chuckles, going back into the dining room, leaving behind the scent of green apples, nutmeg and warm wool. And the scent of the pup. Sweet almonds.
Benny smiles, so happy to see him so serene.
He doesn't allow himself to hope, but he can't help noticing how brightly his eyes shine that night.
Later, a vague-looking seer tries to touch Dean's belly.
«Hey! Paws off, you old bitch!»
The Omega growls defensively, hugging his belly with both arms.
He has not allowed anyone to touch him.
Not even Castiel.
No one!
No one is going to touch his little one!
«I can help you, sweetheart!»
The old lady huffs, her voice gentle.
Dean's eyes seem to darken, more threatening.
«I'll rip your hand off if you try again!»
The growl is now low and continuous.
Elizabeth steps in between them.
«Mrs. Landry! I have told you a thousand times not to predict anyone's future!»
«Oh, little Betty... I only wanted to help this sweet boy and his pup!»
She singsongs, not understanding the situation in the slightest.
Elias approaches Dean, still growling.
«Hey... Everything okay?»
He asks gently, with a small reassuring smile.
Dean eyes the old woman, now busy consulting the menu with Elizabeth.
«Yeah... Fine.»
He murmurs, straightening up slowly, cautious.
«I'll bring you a slice of pecan pie, okay?»
The shapeshifter offers.
The Omega nods with a small smile.
«Thanks, Elias, gladly.»
«Hey! Get down from there right now!»
Dean growls at a werewolf who has climbed onto a table to howl a serenade to a ghoul who is clearly not interested.
«But I have to declare my love!»
He complains, drunk and whining.
«Get down or I'll kick your ass!»
«It's the full moon!»
«And I'm pregnant!»
«...Valid argument.»
He gets down from the table, deciding not to challenge the pissed-off Omega.
Even Elizabeth smiles despite herself.
At three in the morning, the situation has definitely degenerated.
Dean regrets having brought out the darts.
A fight between two werewolves has forced Benny to come out of the kitchen.
«Well?»
The growl is low.
He doesn't need to shout.
Not in his bar.
Everyone falls silent for a second.
Then the two young werewolves are separated by their friends. All of them with apologetic smiles for Benny.
Everyone knows they are not supposed to piss him off.
The vampire nods, satisfied, then goes back to work.
Dean, sitting at the register, almost feels himself blush after that display of charisma.
Half an hour later, Dean tells Elias he needs a break. He takes the bucket of scraps and goes out the back.
It is an excuse, and he knows it all too well.
He leans against the railing and breathes in the evening air.
He throws pieces of food into the lake.
Pieces of food that disappear into Steve's belly in an incredibly silent way.
He closes his eyes, gently stroking his belly.
The little one seemed restless, more than usual.
«Are you happy, huh, Baby?»
He murmurs with that low, sweet voice he has not used since Sammy was a child.
«I know... It's strange.»
He smiles again.
He could feel it.
By now, he had understood that the pup reacted to his emotions.
He stays outside longer than necessary, exhausted.
But not like after a hunt... No...
Like when he had done something good but incredibly tiring.
As if he had a purpose.
The moon was high.
The water of the lake looked like liquid silver.
Steve was floating. Naturally.
Dean had finished the leftovers a while ago.
By now the bucket was empty.
But neither of them seemed to feel like going back anywhere else.
Music and laughter came from the bar.
Someone was probably fighting.
Someone else was probably falling in love.
Elizabeth was probably boxing everyone's ears.
Business as usual.
The wood of the pier creaks behind him.
Dean does not turn around.
He knew that step.
He would recognize it anywhere.
In the bunker. In Louisiana.
In Purgatory. In Hell.
Anywhere.
«You disappeared.»
Benny's voice comes soft in the dark.
Dean smiles faintly.
«I'm here.»
«You've been here for almost half an hour.»
The Alpha specifies.
«Steve needed company.»
Dean justifies himself.
Benny looks at the lake.
Steve returns the look.
«I understand.»
«No, you don't.»
«No, I don't.»
Dean laughs softly.
It was beautiful.
That was the dangerous thing.
It was beautiful.
Benny has always thought so, but tonight a little more.
He leans against the railing beside him.
Not too close.
Never too close.
And yet close enough to feel his warmth.
To catch his scent.
Thyme and ginger.
Wood and ash.
For a while, no one speaks.
The wind makes the grass along the shore sway.
High.
Higher and higher.
The full moon lights up the lake, turning it into a silver mirror.
The fireflies.
The mangroves.
The outline of the trees.
Louisiana seems alive.
It breathes around them.
It is the most alive place Dean has ever seen.
Humid.
Warm.
Vibrant.
Full of sounds.
Of scents.
Of life.
The exact opposite of Purgatory.
Dean slowly lowers his gaze.
The grass.
The moon.
The wind.
For an instant, his heart misses a beat.
Because he remembers.
God, he remembers.
The cemetery.
The crooked headstones.
The damp earth.
The hands dirty with blood.
Benny's soul leaving his arm.
And then Benny.
Alive.
Real.
In front of him.
«We made it...»
Arms wrapped tightly around his neck.
The purrs.
The tears.
The relief.
«Yeah, brother. We made it.»
Dean closes his eyes for a moment.
The baby moves.
A slow somersault.
As if listening.
«You were thinking about it too.»
It is not a question.
Benny smiles.
Sad.
Sweet.
Incredibly sweet.
«Yes.»
He turns to look at Dean.
«I think about it every full moon.»
Dean's heart speeds up.
«I remember everything.»
Benny murmurs.
«Me too.»
And for a moment, they return there.
Not to the cemetery.
Into the memory.
The scent of wet earth.
The full moon.
The wind.
Freedom.
After a year of blood.
Monsters.
Despair.
Death.
They were alive.
And alone.
For the first time.
«I thought I was broken.»
Dean said.
«You were.»
The vampire confirms.
No cruelty.
Only truth.
Dean nods slowly.
«And you stayed.»
Benny lowers his gaze.
«And I always will.»
Those words hit harder than expected.
Always.
Like in the cemetery.
Like in the years that followed.
Like now.
The baby stirs again.
Harder.
Dean almost does not feel it.
Because he is looking at Benny.
The blue eyes.
The scars.
The barely hinted smile.
The profile lit by the full moon.
Everything.
«I never regretted it.»
The confession comes out without warning.
Without Dean really thinking about it.
Benny barely holds his breath.
«Neither did I.»
The wind stops.
Or maybe it is only a feeling.
«It was one of the best nights of my life.»
Dean murmurs.
Benny's eyes widen slightly.
Because it was true.
Not because of the sex.
Not because of desire.
Because of trust.
Because of choice.
Because of that embrace in the tall grass.
Because of that promise.
«Don't leave me.»
«Never, Cher. I'll always be here for you.»
Dean feels his heart beating harder and harder.
Faster and faster.
The baby stirs.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
But he cannot take his eyes off Benny.
Neither does Benny move.
The lake.
The moon.
The wind.
And them.
As if the whole world had narrowed down to that pier.
Their hands brush.
By accident.
Maybe.
Neither of them pulls away.
Their fingers stay there.
Close.
Then they seek each other out.
Slowly.
As if both remembered the way.
Dean feels his breath break.
His heart.
God, his heart.
Benny is so close.
He can feel his scent.
His warmth.
His breath.
Like that night.
Like in the tall grass.
Like in the cemetery.
Their fingers intertwine without either of them really deciding it.
Benny's eyes drop for a moment to look at his lips.
Only for a moment.
But it is enough to make him blush, moved like a boy.
«Mon Coeur...»
Benny whispers, barely caressing his flushed cheek, the freckles more visible.
Dean half-closes his eyes.
Happy.
Scared in the sweetest possible way.
Alive.
And for an instant he stops thinking.
He does not think about what he ran from.
Not about Castiel.
Not about Crowley.
Not about the pregnancy.
There is only Benny.
Only them.
The vampire leans in just slightly.
Dean does the same.
One breath.
Two.
Their foreheads touch.
A low, emotional purr escapes him without him trying to hold it back.
Not anymore.
Not now.
And then—
The grace explodes.
Dean screams.
A white pain.
Blinding.
Something pierces him from side to side.
The lights of the Purgatory blow out.
All together.
At once.
From inside come screams.
Laughter.
Someone probably breaks a table.
«WHO THE FUCK WAS THAT?!»
Elizabeth yells, furious.
The water of the lake ripples violently.
Steve disappears underwater.
All of Frigg's flowers open at the same instant.
Dean folds in half.
«DEAN!»
Benny's voice comes from very far away.
The baby stirs.
Too much.
Too hard.
Another discharge.
More powerful.
Dean feels his legs give out.
His eyes roll back.
The world tilts.
The moon breaks.
And then darkness.
The last thing he perceives is a pair of arms catching him before he hits the ground.
Benny.
Holding him against his chest.
And for the first time since they met in Purgatory...
The vampire is terrified.
Then everything goes black.