Breathe Life Into Me

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Brit’s POV

For lack of better words…this Kevin Tran was a wild goose…and he was winning the chase. “Well, that is twice that he's burned us. Shame on you” Dean accused Sam as we walked into the motel room.

“No, no, no, no. I'm the one who said he set us up” he argued.

“No, you said, ‘I wonder if Kevin is setting us up’ and then you started in with the techno babble. That was like two states ago”

“Okay whatever. Either way, that's another room billed to one of Kevin's false credit IDs. It was as if he actually checked in. Just like the other” I sighed, getting in the middle of their little sibling rivalry.

“Kid's like Rain Man. He's like a crappy little credit-card-counting…criminal prodigy Rain Man” Dean commented.

“Well, he was in advanced placement” Sam noted.

“Shut up”

I paced over to the bed and laid down. “When's that little idiot gonna stop running from us?” Dean complained, taking a sip of some beer.

“I don't know, Dean. I mean, you did try to kill his mother” Sam snapped.

“I was trying to kill Crowley, okay? Who happened to be wearing Kevin's mother at the time. Well, there's a difference”

“Apparently not to Kevin. Oh, I know. Maybe because, oh, yeah, it's his mother”

“Okay, that’s enough! I don’t want to hear anything else come from either one of you! You got it!? I want silence for five minutes!” I demanded and they both shut up. I sighed with relief and laid a hand over my eyes to block out the light. These two are worse than two little girls fighting over a doll.

My phone started to ring. “Hello?”

“Brittney?” a voice breathed out. My eyes widened and I stopped myself for a second. “Brittney, don’t hang up”

“Hello? Umm hold on a second…bad reception” I said and walked out of the room. “Benny?” I hissed.

He sighed with relief. “Good. You’re still there”

“Well, yea. What’s wrong?”

“Well do you, um got a minute? Afraid I messed up…”

“Benny, what did you do?” I ran a hand down my face.

“No, man, not like that. Just listen…I got into this brawl with a few of my own…”

“How many is a few? And on your own? Are you crazy?”

“Look I didn’t call you for the lecture”

“Why did you call me?”

“Well believe me darling, Dean was my first choice but unlucky for me it’s not going through”

“His cell must be dead…”

“Yea, so are my legs, they ain't working so good. There's a fuel barge not too far from here. I'm pretty sure I can make it at a slow crawl. I was kind of hoping maybe I could ask you guys for one more favor? I’m in a real jam, Brittney…”

“You don’t have to convince me, Benny. We’ll be right there…that’s what friends do, right?”

“Right” he laughed airily. I just smiled and hung up. Damn it.

~~~~~

“And what exactly is that supposed to mean, you've got to go? Brittney?” Sam followed me out as Dean was packing inside and I was throwing my bag into the car.

“Which words are giving you trouble?” Dean snapped as he walked out to us.

“We're on the case, remember? The holy grail, "shut the gates of hell forever" case”

“I know, Sam. But in order to close the Gates of Hell, we need our Prophet. So step one: find Kevin Tran. Well, he ain't here. But he wanted us to be, which means we're probably as far away from him as he could possibly put us. So step two: find Kevin Tran” I reasoned.

“Wait. Guys, seriously?” Sam asked as Dean got over to the driver’s seat.

“Sammy, the trail is dead and the room is paid for. Do some research while we deal with some personal crap okay?” I tried to stay calm.

“What does that mean: ‘personal’?”

“Did you have a stroke? Vocabulary? Personal, as in our own grown-up personal-we don't know-crap” Dean shrugged.

“Damn it…”

“What, Sam? Last I counted, you took a year off from the job. We need a day” Dean snapped, getting into the car.

I sighed and looked at Sam. “Just trust me when I say we need to take care of this okay. Just us. We’ll be back soon” I nodded and got in as well. Dean sped off.

I punched his arm. “What the hell?!”

“You don’t have to be such a jerk” I muttered, facing forward.

“Well he doesn’t have to be so ignorant…”

“He isn’t being ignorant, Dean…I’m not having this conversation with you” I gave up. The ride was silent.

~~

It was day by the time we got to where Benny said he was. We saw his truck…but he wasn’t anywhere near it. “Go in the bed and get it” I told Dean. He nodded and went ahead, uncovering the bed of the truck. “Benny!” I called out, walking around, skipping over giant puddles and making my way to the fuel barge.

I opened the door and made my way down the stairs. A trail of blood is what led me to an injured Benny. I quickly got down to his side.

“Benny” I said with relief.

“You actually came” he managed a grin.

“Of course we came. You’d do the same for us”

“Yea, but you?”

“I thought we were passed this” I smiled. He chuckled.

“Benny? Not looking good” Dean said as he got to us.

“Up yours” he chuckled.

Dean slid the ice chest over to him so Benny could drink from the blood bags which were contained inside. Dean and I walked into the other room but seconds later he came in to us drying himself off with a towel and he looked brand new.

“Wow. You uh look okay” Dean commented.

“Getting there”

“Dude, you were double-hamstrung”

“Yeah, well, a little rest, a half a cooler full of AB-negative-most wounds short of an amputation will mend up…vampirically speaking”

“Right…” we both responded.

“I'll be 100% before you know it. Thank you, brother. Sister” he shook Dean’s hand and then made eye contact with me. I smiled and nodded.

“Benny, what's going on?” Dean asked.

“Oh, your work here is done, Dean. You already saved the day. You know, I got my uh deal, and you got…what'd you call it? A family business?”

“Benny. What's going on?” I repeated more sternly.

He shook his head. “You and that whole friend thing, man” I just smiled and winked at him. “Well, it's good to know you're both still dumb as ever”

“Yeah, well, some things never change. Now, why are you getting into machete fights with your own kind?”

“Quentin, the one I came for? We were in the same nest. I'm hunting the vampire who turned me, my maker”

Dean and I exchanged a look. “Well, now, don't get me wrong. I'm down with the hunting, but…why?” Dean asked.

“Kill him before he kills me…again”

He handed Dean a notebook which he began to flip through. I watched Benny walk over to a table which had a bloodstained wallet, money clip, keys and matches spread out on top of it. “Quentin and I went way back…one of the old man's favorites, next to me, it turns out”

“Listen to this. ‘Age of Aquarius II, 0800,’ and then there's some other numbers all crossed out. Some other weird names here, too : the Big Mermaid, Solitaire, it's all crossed out, except this one: the Lucky Myra”

“Yachts. Names of yachts. Lucky Myra. Age of Aquarius II. Look at this one, Sea You Later, spelled s-e-a. I mean, come on”

“So, then these are launch times. And what? Destinations?” I asked.

“Mm-hmm. Except none of them ever get there. “The Lucky Myra left yesterday afternoon. I guarantee you it's already been hit”

“What do you mean, ‘hit’ ?”

“Boarded, burned, and buried at sea. My nest…that's how we fed…how we always fed. We kept a tight little fleet, maybe a half-dozen boats. Nothing ostentatious, just pleasure craft. I must have circled the Americas ten times during my tour. A few of us would act as stringers and patrol the harbors, looking for the right-size target – fat, rich yachts going to far-off ports. Take down the boat's name and destination, radio it to the crew in the water. And then we just, uh... let the ocean swallow up all our sins”

“Vampire pirates? That's what you guys are? Vampirates” Dean quipped.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Seriously?”

“You know, all the years we ran together, I can't believe nobody ever thought of that” Benny chuckled.

“What do you mean? It's like the third thing you say”

“No, it isn't”

“All right, so your maker is set up to feed around here, right? Well, what are we looking for?” I wondered.

“Well, he likes to live in style. He usually rents legitimately. Always remote, always coastal”

“So an island, maybe? You got a cable bill here. Hmm. Quentin's got the NFL package. Prentiss Island. Heard of it?” Dean asked.

“Oh, yea” Benny agreed.

So that’s where we were heading now with Benny in the backseat and us in the front. “So if you were your maker's favorite, why did he kill you?” I asked.

“When you get turned it's like you're reborn into a vampire nest. Your maker…he means everything to you. I mean, you really start believing he's God. Now, if your maker happens to believe the same thing, well…” I saw him take another blood bag and use a straw to drink from it.

“I uhh see how that could be a pickle” I said trying not to seem too disgusted by his meal.

“Well, uhh…hey do you really have to do that? I mean, right now?” Dean grimaced, seeing the same thing I was seeing.

“I'm sorry, brother. I'm better, but I'm still on the mend” he chuckled, apologizing.

“Right…”

“Anyway…our father…he was a jealous god. He kept the family together but kept us apart from the rest of the world, always at sea. I always did what was best for the nest…till I met her. Andrea. Andrea Kormos. Beautiful. I mean, words don't even cut it, you know? Greek, heiress”

“Greek heiress?” Dean said with a disbelief smirk.

“She was sailing a 42-foot sloop to the Canary Islands. Now, I should have called her boat's destination in to my crew, but instead, I joined her on it”

“Seriously? Was Fabio on the cover of that paperback?” he laughed.

But I saw how Benny had suddenly taken this serious route. I turned around to face him completely and I lent him a hand. He offered me a smile. “My life changed when she entered it, Dean. Everything I had been or done up to that point just... seemed to vanish... into what we had become together. I mean…we found it, man. Eventually, we settled in Louisiana. And then one night, we were coming home, and the old man…he was just there. Quentin, Sorento, my oldest nestmates. It was only that night I understood what a crime it was to him…me leaving him. They pinned me down…and they beheaded me. The last thing I saw was the old man tearing out Andrea's throat”

“Well, that's what payback's all about. Am I right?” Dean spoke venomously, making eye contact with him in the rearview mirror.

I hated feeling this way but…all I felt was revenge and vengeance. I wanted Benny to get revenge for what happened to him. He didn’t deserve any of it. He was one of the good ones and nothing was just turning his way. But that’s just how life was. It was unfair and unsatisfying.

“Benny…about Melissa…” I started.

“Docks are up ahead. Should be able to find a dinghy to use” he said quickly. Never mind I guess….