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Trust. That was the essential word, the key to understand Dean Winchester and Benny Lafitte’s relationship, to understand why it was so special.
Jo saw many hunters pass through the Roadhouse. Some of them worked exclusively alone, but most traveled and worked together on a regular basis; groups of two, three or even four hunters which usually came together and left the same. And sure, those hunters joked and laughed, and mostly liked each other. She saw hunters who were comrades, friends or even lovers. But trust? Oh, that was another matter entirely.
If there was something Jo had learned about hunters, it was that trust was the last thing you earned from them. And really, she understood it. She had been only on a few, easy cases herself, but she knew that it wasn’t unusual for mistakes to be paid with one’s life, and mistakes were easier to make if you trusted who you were working with. It was just safer to think that you were on your own even if someone else was stabbing a shifter with a silver knife in the next room. There was that, and that many hunters turned out to be real jerks: if your trust has been betrayed once, you don’t give to just anyone, it had to be won.
So yes, seeing partners who really trusted one another was not the usual on the Roadhouse, or the hunting world at all. Trust was a rare and precious gift, and she had never seen anyone trust anyone as much as Dean and Benny trusted each other.
She didn’t know the exact details of when they met, but knew enough to know that it was the basis for one of the strongest relationships she knew. The fact that they had never separated for long since then was proof of that. She had seen them put their lives in each other’s hands without a moment’s hesitation more times than she could count: saving the other’s life on a daily basis for twelve years straight usually had that effect on people. And with John dead and Sam in Stanford, married and about to be a father, they were the other’s most stable relationship.
Jo had seen Dean jump into a fist fight with a guy the moment malicious words about Benny’s vampiric nature left his mouth. Benny discretely menacing anyone who seemed to not be too fond of Dean (in their world, there was very little from dislike to mortal betrayal).
She had seen them waiting, worried and anxious while the other recovered from an especially nasty wound, and a bright smile enlighten their faces when they started recovering. They supported each other during hard times and depressions, and even when they weren’t ready to talk about whatever was bothering them, they felt better just by the other being there, offering silent support. The human and the vampire had been together long enough to know how to deal with the other, no matter what the problem was.
Those and many other things made Jo positive that those two men had the deepest friendship she had ever seen. Except it was much more than a friendship.
Benny made no effort to hide it: if you asked him, he would cheerfully say that Dean was his soulmate. He was open about the love he felt for the Winchester, and had been from the first moment. Jo remembered his laughter when he told her about the first month he knew Dean, not-subtly-at-all hitting on Dean, while the back then teenager was completely clueless. The vampire wasn’t bothered that it wasn’t mutual, though. Dean’s friendship was enough to make him happy, as long as the man was happy himself, and Jo admired him for that, wondering how someone could be so selfless.
On his part, Dean said that Benny was just his best friend, who happened to have the hots for him. Just like the vampire wasn’t bothered by the unrequitedness of his love, Dean was cool with the usual flirting and innuendos thrown at him. Maybe some years ago he was worried that Benny would get tired of pinning for Dean and leave him, but at this point of their relationship Dean knew that Benny would always be at his side, no matter what.
And Jo, well, she thought, no, knew that Dean loved Benny as much and in the same way as Benny loved Dean. Maybe it wasn’t the first impression someone got from them, but with enough time, it was very easy to see it. Dean had never doubted Benny, always supported him and was ready to do anything for him. Yeah, the hunter was very much in love with the vampire, and was aware of it, at least on some level.
The problem was that those feelings were only that, feelings, and Dean was happy with their relationship as it was, because he was straight as an arrow. Sometimes, Jo wished Dean had the gift of appreciation of the male body and hooked up with Benny, because those two were made for each other. She wished it because she wanted the best for the two of them.
Even if it ruined the relationship she had with Dean herself.
-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-
In the end, Benny had been the one who gave them the final push they needed.
Jo found him in the empty (save for Ash, but his snores indicated that he was completely out) bar one morning. He and Dean had spent the night there and would be leaving in the afternoon.
“Thank you” the young woman said sleepily as Benny offered her a cup of coffee.
She took a sip. It was hot and tasty, and she hummed approvingly. She then noticed that the guy was staring at her that way, with his eyebrow raised quizzically, and making her feel like a stupid child.
“What?” The eyebrow rose higher.
“Look, It’s early, I just woke up and the coffee still hasn’t kicked in, so if you pretend me to interpret your message, you’ll have to wait an hour” Jo said angrily, partly because she wasn’t much of a morning person and partly because she suspected what that eyebrow meant.
Benny shrugged. “I was just wondering,” he said, “how long you pretend to keep up that thing you two have.”
Damn, it was what she thought. Maybe playing dumb would save her.
“Mind to explain me what you’re talking about?”
The vampire just chuckled. “Don’t play dumb, girl, it’s useless. As I’m certain you know, I’m talking ‘bout how you and Dean keep playing ‘round each other for God knows how long.” Jo tried to look perplexed, and of course it didn’t work. “C’mon, the longing looks, the smiles you flash at each other, the faked indifference, the ‘operation jealousy’, and blah blah blah.”
Benny stopped talking. Jo looked down into her half-empty cup, unable to meet those eyes. For a second there was silence.
“I mean, I really don’t get it. You like ‘im, he likes you, you both are aware of it, and still you don’t get together. Is that a thing people do nowadays? Let me tell you, in my times things were much simpler.”
“It’s not like that!” Jo said harshly. She took a breath and tried to speak calmer, because Benny only was trying to help and he didn’t deserve her rudeness. “It’s just- look, I know he likes me, OK? But, but he doesn’t like me as much as I like him, and he isn’t interested in me that way and I’m sure he meets many more interesting girls than me on all those hunts and it wouldn’t work because he would get bored of me because I’m just a clueless girl in a bar and-!“
Jo put a stop to her sudden outburst before she could embarrass herself any further and looked down, blushing and gasping for air. She had made a fool of herself, what was she thinking, complaining about this to Benny of all people? Now he would think that she was a self-centered brat with no regard to other’s feeling.
She felt a gentle hand on her cheek making her look upwards to Benny’s reassuring face.
“Now, now, Jo, that’s no way to talk about yerself. It’s very hard to find anyone more interesting that you. Trust me, been around for quite a long time. And what’s that about Dean getting bored of you? As much as I like him, he’d be an utter stupid idiot if he ever did. And never say that you’re ‘just’ a girl in a bar, you hear me?”
The young woman looked at him in the eyes for a moment, and she could see nothing but sincerity in them. She nodded, with a smile back on her face.
The vampire took a step back. “Now, you promise that you will talk with Dean about this before we go this afternoon, will you?”
There was a moment of hesitance. “All right, I will” she finally said, not really sure about it.
“Talk with me about what?” Asked Dean’s voice, gruff from having just woken up.
She turned quickly, startled and with wide eyes. Then she looked at Benny, who was smirking. Damn, he had played her like a fool.
“I better leave you two alone” Benny said cheerfully, and walked out of the room. He looked at Ash and yes, he was still snoring and probably would still be by the time those two fools were done talking.
He went outside, to the Impala. He opened the driver door and moved over to the passenger seat. He looked at his watch, calculating. It’d take about five minutes, he guessed. He just waited.
Four minutes and a half later, he turned the car on. And, exactly as he had thought, he heard the shout from inside the roadhouse.
“Dean Winchester, you come here RIGHT NOW!” Ellen’s voice was really terrifying, Benny thought amused as Dean darted out of the door.
“I’ll call you Jo! I will be back soon, I promise!” he shouted as he ran. He jumped into the car, closed the door and started driving just as Ellen came out of the door. They were already moving so Benny couldn’t see very clearly, but it seemed like she had her riffle in her hand.
He looked at Dean next. He was gasping, more from the fear of Ellen than from running, and his lips looked like he had just kissed someone a bit overenthusiastically.
“What did you tell her?” The hunter asked once his breathing returned to normal. Benny shrugged.
“Just the same that I told you last night. Really, it was just painful to see how stupid you two were being, I had to do something before my brain suffered from it.”
Dean chuckled. “Thank you, man, you’re the best.”
-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-
Dean did return soon, in less than a week in fact. Now, he was being given the talk by Ellen next room while Benny and Jo played pool, waiting. They weren’t very too worried about him, the riffle was only for show and to get the point across. Hopefully.
“Why did you do it?” Jo asked, not losing focus. Two more balls in.
“Gotta be more specific, dear.”
“I mean, why did you make us get together? I know you’re in love with Dean, and it must be hard enough to see him with someone else, let alone know it was you who made it happen.”
Benny positioned to hit the ball. “Well, it’s true I love him, but, as you know, I’m not getting any more than what I have right now. And it’s OK, I mean, I wouldn’t mind fucking him till couldn’t walk every now and then, but that’s secondary. I got the place in his life I want.” The cue hit and the balls started moving. “I love him and I want him to be happy. I like you and I think you deserve to be happy. You make each other happy. Clearly, it’s the best for all involved.” One ball in.
“Well, let me tell you, you’re the most selfless person I’ve ever meet in my life,” Jo said, respect obvious in her voice.
The vampire shrugged, as if saying ‘if you say so’. Jo smiled at him.
-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-
“Guess you’ve called for a reason, so maybe you should tell me instead of staring and gaping.”
Dean, who was doing just that, looked even more embarrassed that he already looked like and lowered his head, breaking eye contact with Benny. Jo, at his side, squeezed his hand.
She had accompanied them on a case (after almost an hour of telling Ellen how easy and safe it’d be and yes, if things got ugly, Jo stayed out of it regardless of if she liked it or not.) The ghoul was supposedly dead, so when Benny received the call he rushed back to the motel room, thinking that the case was not over yet and expecting to find one of the two hurt. However, they had told him that there was nothing to worry about and it was another matter entirely, so now there he was, standing in the motel room and looking at the two humans on the couch in front of him, one of which seemed to have lost his ability to speak.
Dean took air, trying to calm himself. “Well, you see, there was something I wanted to tell you.” He laughed a bit nervously.
“Which is?”
He took another breath. “Well, it is, umm, if, err, if you…” The hunter finished his sentence, but he said so low that even Benny’s sensitive vampire ear couldn’t make out the words.
He crossed his arms. “Brother, you gonna need to actually speak if you expect me to know what you want. I cannot read your mind.”
Dean hid his face with his hands. His girlfriend looked at him sympathetically, put her hand on his shoulder and then looked at Benny.
“What Dean wants to say is if you’d like a threesome with us” she said bluntly, unashamed. Dean his face more. Benny stared with his mouth slightly open, taken by surprise.
“Wow, that’s definitely not what I was expecting” he said after a moment of silence.
Dean showed his face again, somewhat anxious. “Look, we’re not going to be angry or disappointed nor anything if you don’t want to. I understand, you already stay with me even if I don’t give you what you really want, and it’s really OK if you think that asking this of you without giving you the rest is too much. Look, you know what? Forget it. We never said anything. This whole conversation-“
“Dean” Benny interrupted, raising his hand. Dean went silent immediately. “Don’t you dare taking this back, ‘cause I’m gonna have a really good time with the two of you.” He smiled at the man, who smiled back, relieved. “Now, it’s not that I don’t like the idea, but just curiosity: why this all of sudden?”
“Well, sometimes we feel like spicing things up a bit (always when we’re away from her mother, of course). Last time we invited a woman to join us-“
“Who?”
“You know Bela Talbot?” Jo asked. Benny nodded.
“She’s a bitch, but she’s hot, and she thinks the same of me, so it was good and without complications. Well, as I was saying, it was a woman last time, so it has to be a guy next.” Dean explained.
“He said your name the moment we decided it” Jo chipped in. “He didn’t even have to think about it, he just knew that you were the best for it. I must say that I wasn’t surprised at all.”
Benny’s eyebrows rose, showing his interest at that particular piece of information, and Dean smiled somewhat bashfully. “And what about you, Jo? You happy with me?”
Jo nodded. “I also think that you’re the best guy we have for this. And besides, you’re even hotter than Dean.”
“Hey!”
“It’s the beard, Dean. You can’t compete with his beard.”
Dean crossed his arms. “Well, maybe I’ll grow a beard.” He grumbled to himself.
“Oh, I bet you’ll be stunning, darling” Benny commented nonchalantly, to which Jo smiled widely.
Dean finished licking his wounded pride and returned to the subject. “So, you in, aren’t you?” At Benny’s nod, he proceeded. “All right, so this is it: Jo goes in the middle and she is the focus, but if you want, you can touch and kiss me, but not above the hips, OK? You needn’t ask for permission for anything, but if she asks you to stop, it’s no roleplay, she means it. Have I forgotten anything?” He asked Jo, who shook her head.
Benny had nodded to everything Dean said, showing he agreed with it. He looked at the bed.
“So, we doing it now?”
Dean’s breathing had returned to its normal pace, and he was looking at the ceiling, with his arm around Jo’s shoulder, with the woman snuggling against him. Benny was resting on his side, watching them with a slight smile.
“That,” Dean said, “was amazing. Really.”
“I hope that means I have awaken your very deeply-buried bisexuality?” Benny asked, but he was only joking, so Dean’s answer didn’t disappoint him.
“Sorry man, there’s nothing to dig up. But that was, I mean, wow. I can’t find the words.”
“I think those words are ‘I think it is really hot that you give me orders and tell me how to fuck my girlfriend’” Jo said as she snuggled closer to the hunter. “And I think it’s really hot, too.”
Benny’s smile widened. “So this was a one-time thing or can I expect more in the future?”
Dean’s head turned slightly so he could see the vampire. “I think I wouldn’t mind this becoming a regular thing.”
-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-
“Are you really sure you aren’t the slightest bit attracted to him?”
“If you mean if I’d like to have his cock inside of me, then the answer’s still no. Sorry.”
“Any chance of you ever changing your mind?”
Dean took a swig from his beer. “So let me get this right.” He put it on the table. “You want me to get out of a closet I’m not in so I can cheat on you with my vampire best friend. Is it just me or you should want the complete opposite?”
Jo bit her lip and thanked for the two of them being alone. If her mother or Ash ever heard this conversation she could never get over it. “I don’t want you to ‘cheat’ on me. It’s just that it’d be really hot to see you doing more than just kissing, all right? And don’t look at me like that, I know you like lesbian porn.” Dean had nothing to counter that with, so he shrugged and finished the beer. “And it’s also that you two would be so right. I think you should be together.” Ever if that meant Dean leaving her. If Benny could be happy with being his friend and occasional kissing because Dean was happy that way, then so could she.
“Here we go again, for the fifty-seventh time. I know that what I have with Benny is hard to catalogue, and believe me when I say that if I was into guys I probably would have jumped at him years ago. But I’m not. Look, sex is fantastic, but it’s just a detail.” He extended his hand to grab Jo’s and squeezed it. Even with it going unsaid, he understood what Jo was thinking. “You think it’d be worth it to leave you just so my relationship with Benny changes only a little bit? You want that? I don’t.”
Jo shook her head. “No, of course I don’t want that. I want to be with you. But sometimes, I feel like I’m interfering. I know it wouldn’t change anything, but I can’t help it. I guess I’ll get over it with time. It’s just that I see you caring so much about each other, I think it’s wrong you aren’t together. Sometimes.”
“I think you’re exaggerating. Are we that much closer than normal friends?”
Jo nodded. “Oh, yes you are. You do a lot of things normal friends don’t do for each other.”
“For example?”
“Next time you do, I’ll say ‘I told you so’.”
Jo looked at Dean and Benny. They had finished one of their three-partners nights, which were becoming more and more fun every time (she had been pleasantly surprised by Dean’s submissive tendencies, but that didn’t mean she didn’t like finding out he could be quite dominant as well, and who would have thought ropes could be so fun?)
Now, she was witnessing something not sexual but definitely as intimate, if not more. Dean was lying on his back, the older man in top of him, and at first sight it seemed like he was kissing the hunter’s neck, but actually the vampire was feeding from his partner, sucking the blood out of him, cherishing every drop of blood. And the only thing Dean did about it was to put his hand in Benny’s shoulder, to let him know if he started feeling weak from the blood loss. He was completely calm and relaxed, not even caring they were naked.
It had happened so naturally it was surprising. Benny had motioned to Dean’s neck, asked ‘would you mind?’, Dean had rolled closer to the vampire and Benny had positioned himself carefully above him and started drinking.
Jo snorted. Definitely something normal friends did.
When the vampire finished, he separated his head from the neck slowly, licking the wound to get some more drops before going away. Then he looked at Dean in the eyes with such adoration that it made Jo feel like she was intruding, which was ridiculous. She had had sex with them both, had watched the feeding, but it was that look what felt too intimate. Benny closed the distance, giving Dean a quick, bloody kiss, and got up to go look for some bandages.
“What?” Dean asked when he noticed his girlfriend’s amused look.
“I told you so.” Was all she said. Dean looked confused for a moment, then he realized what she was talking about. He looked at Benny, who was opening a first aid kit on the other end on the room, and caressed his wound with his hand.
“I guess you were right.”
-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-
“Are you all right? Can you until he returns?”
“Not sure. Girl, it’d be a good moment to start getting away” Benny growled. He had been careless and found himself with no blood bags left, and so Dean had to go to the nearest blood bank (which was an hour and a half away) to get some. In his state, it wouldn’t have been wise for Benny to go with him. Now he was sitting in the Roadhouse, with Jo standing next to him
Two hours had passed. Dean would be back in an hour and a half at best and Benny wasn’t sure how long he would last.
Jo looked at him worried. From an objective point of view, she realized that the best she could do was to inject the guy with dead man’s blood and tie him up, which was what Benny himself had asked her to do, but she hadn’t. Sure, he could get ill-tempered, but Dean had told her he had never lost control no matter how hungry he was, so putting poison in his veins seemed a bit too much.
Benny grunted at her. His eyes were becoming less human and more beast the longer he went without blood. “I mean it. Either you knock me out or you lock me in here and stay away. No other choice.”
“But there is another choice.” The woman replied, unconsciously getting her hair out of the way so her neck was clearly visible. Benny’s scowl deepened.
“That’s not gonna happen.”
Jo stepped closer. The vampire feinted an attack, but didn’t get the reaction he was hoping for, which was to scare her away. “It’s OK” she said quietly. “It’s the best thing we can do, and I’m willing.”
She could see the fear in his eyes, the fear to lose control and do something he would regret.
“It’s too dangerous, Jo. Might get carried away.”
“You don’t worry about that when Dean offers.”
Benny looked down again. His fists were clenched on top of his knees and his teeth were gritted. “Not the same. Been with him for twelve years, the monster part of me had time to get used to him, to recognize him as someone who I don’t want to hurt. The urge it’s still there, but it’s very dull. With you it’d be yelling at me to finish you.” He chuckled bitterly. “I’m a beast, and I can’t escape from it. A part of me sees you only as food and a rival for having Dean. It really isn’t a smart idea.”
Jo tossed the information away. “I trust you. And if you don’t do it now, you’ll lose control later and it’ll be worse. A wooden door can’t hold back a hungry vampire.”
“I don’t want to risk hurting you. I could never forgive myself, and neither would Dean.”
“It’s me we’re talking about, not Dean. It’s my choice, and I have already chosen.”
He glared at her, but she saw in his eyes that she had already won the argument. Finally, he sighed.
“Not the throat, it’s too fragile. Give me your arm.” She offered her right one silently, with a smile to encourage him, to show him that she was not afraid. (He could hear her heart. He knew she was.) He gave her one last look full of gratefulness before showing his fangs and digging them into her flesh.
It didn’t hurt as much as she thought it would, and it was only for a moment: he retired them the moment the wound was made. Then he started to suck, getting the blood out of her and into him. She held on for what she was sure was less than it really was, until she started to feel lightheaded.
“Benny, I think I can’t stand much more.”
Benny kept going, and for a moment she feared he wouldn’t listen to her, but soon enough he stopped and distanced himself from her, licking the remains of blood from his lips. His eyes still looked a little wild, but they sure were far better than five minutes earlier.
“Thank you, Jo. I really mean it, thank you.”
Dean returned with enough blood bags to last three weeks two hours later. Benny grabbed three and hid in his borrowed room. They wouldn’t be seeing him until the morning.
Dean watched his friend disappear through the door and sighed, letting himself fall on a chair. Jo sat beside him.
“Do you feel alright?” Dean asked, looking at the bandage on her arm worriedly. Jo nodded, smiling. She had felt a bit dizzy after the bite, but water and some food made her feel OK in a short time. Dean returned a relieved smile. He took her hands and brought them to his lips, kissing her knuckles without breaking eye contact.
“You have done something wonderful for him, Jo. Thank you.””
-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-o-0-
Jo looked at the Impala as it rode away into the next case. Usually it was between two and three weeks until they stopped the business and came to the bar for rest, they would stay a day, two at most, and be off again. She was lucky if she was allowed to go with them, only for easy nearby cases. It bothered her, but she had no choice but to accept it.
She wasn’t worried about them. They were together, and as long as that didn’t change, she knew she would see them both again. They would never let anything happen to the other.
Other people would be jealous. Her boyfriend was off traveling with his more-than-best friend for weeks, alone. He spent far more time with him than he did with her, and while he loved her, he still trusted Benny more than anyone, including her.
She couldn’t see the car anymore, so she turned and entered the building.
Yes, most people would be jealous, but she wasn’t most people. The thing they had, the three of them, she couldn’t give it a name. She only knew it made all of them happy. Sure, it was unsual.
But that was OK.