Winchester Marines

A Supernatural/Dark Angel Fanfic

Summary: For Winchesters, insanity is in the blood.

A/N- Because I wanted a story where Ben is still crazy, but his craziness is channeled into a useful outlet. Timelines have been slightly altered to my whims. This has been floating around my computer for a while, but as I can't think of taking it any further I figured I might as well post.

Ben moved like an predator through the Colorado forest. His bare feet moved quietly over the fallen branches as he moved around. Weeks now, weeks he had spent away from his Unit, and the loss of those connections and purpose were like a gaping wound.

But Zach had given the order, and Eva was dead. They didn't want to die. Get away. Escape and Evade.

He'd spent a week dodging Manticore soldiers until he managed to pass the state border. At least he thought he did. Now he was trying to dodge something else. He moved like the a predator; alert.

So did it.

It was a Nomalie. A nomalie that had escaped.

What else could it be?

Ben watched terrified as it bit into the woman. He listened in helplessness as she screamed, blood choking off her voice, and her companion whimpered in a mad haze. They were all strung up with chains.

Even with all his strength Ben couldn't escape. The nomalie licked bloodstained lips before moving over and sniffing him. Ben could last longer than the civilians. He was an X-5. He was built for hardship.

Somehow the nomalie knew it. It was the better predator.

Ben prayed to the Lady, but they were far underground, and he doubted she could hear him.

Gunshots.

They were faint, but with superior hearing Ben could hear them echo down into the chamber. The man moaned into wakefulness as the sounds of fighting reached them, and he yelled.

Ben didn't see the point. It was a nomalie. It was going to win.

The man was bleeding out, anyway.

The smell of fresh blood hit his nose first. It came in two flavors. The first was so similar he almost didn't catch it, but when he mustered the courage to focus on the heavy breathing heading towards the chamber it was like a bush fire had gone off in his mind. He didn't notice the soft curses as the man stalked toward him, but he noticed the light limp on a bloodstained leg and the green eyes zipping cautiously around the room.

They were his eyes. It was his smell the man had on him. His and the nomalie's.

Ben felt his stomach flip as strong arms wrapped around his dangling legs, a welcome support, and calloused hands ran along his Manticore issue clothing checking for injuries. He barely noticed the soft reassurances whispered into his ear as the chains were worked loose.

Wendigo. That was the classification of the nomalie that had caught him. Dean said so. Dean said a lot of things that would have made most people shake their heads and pick up a phone. But he was Ben, and he had the Blue Lady, and he believed in lots of things, so he took the information with a quiet nod of acceptance and waited.

Dean killed it. Ben doesn't know quite how a normal, because no civilian would move like Dean does, took it down. Ben won't forget the sound of careful gunfire, or the sight of the crispy corpse of the nomalie as they left the cave. He knows Dean killed it and that is enough.

Dean kills nomalies.

Dean must be in the service of the Blue Lady.

Nothing else makes sense.

Ben refuses to leave Dean's side. He watches as the man eyes him, offers to take him to a hospital, then mutters to himself and pulls out a field kit. He stitches himself up like an expert and Ben glances at the collection in the small box. There's the regular things, like disinfectant and bandages, but there's also other. Two ornate silver flasks and a rosary. A few talismans. A small book with strange phrases written in a language that Ben, surprisingly, doesn't know.

There is also a small medallion with Her on it. Ben picks it up before he knows what he's doing and freezes when he feels Dean's gaze turn to him.

"Take a bath. I'll be back in an hour with some clothes. Then we're out of here."

Ben mumbles a 'Yes, Sir' and shuffles off to the motel's bathroom. He turns the water on and while the tub fills he finds a roll of floss and proceeds to braid it into a thicker string. When he gets into the tub the image of the Blue Lady rests against his chest, and he offers a prayer of thanks.

Ben knows Dean isn't sure what to make of him. He's also pretty sure the man doesn't think too much about it. Dean is simple like that; simple like Ben. Dean moved like a machine the first few days, and dropped several hints that he'd take Ben to wherever he wanted.

But Ben didn't have anyplace he really wanted to go. He had places he didn't want to go, to return to, and so said nothing.

Dean accepted that. Ben suspects Dean assumes that his parents were killed by the nomalie. But Ben never had any parents, only his Unit, and Lydecker if he thinks too hard, but Dean smells kinda like him and knows how to kill nomalies. Dean means safety. Ben understands that. Dean is safety and duty and mission because Dean will keep the nomalies away and he moves around too much for Manticore to find him and he has a duty to something or someone that drives him from mission to mission to kill the nomalies.

Dean is Dean. Ben is Ben. For the moment, that is enough.

Ben is told to stay in the motel room. He watches as Dean takes several knives out of his duffel and inspects them. He's muttering to himself again. Dean always does this when getting ready for a mission.

Part of Ben wants to go with him, but he knows Dean won't let him, not yet, so when Dean pulls out a whetstone and begins sharpening a particular knife Ben scoots closer.

"May I help, Sir?"

Dean looks at him like a deer caught in the headlights. If Ben had been raised normally, he might have thought it funny, but he just watches as Dean thinks things over. Then Dean hands him a machete and a second stone and goes back to his business. Ben works carefully; the big blade is awkward against the small stone. He can feel Dean's eyes on him again.

He wonders what the Lady's champion is thinking.

Vampires. New classification of nomalie. Can only be killed by beheading, but can be poisoned with corpse blood.

That's what the knives were for. Dean doesn't let him go on the mission but he does give him a manual. It's the worst organized manual Ben has ever seen but it contains more information on nomalies and their weaknesses than Ben has ever known.

Clearly, Manticore wasn't very good at keeping nomalies under control. But that, of course, was the Lady's job. The Lady and her Champions. The Hunters. The Blue Lady has a whole army, even if the Units are small and don't get along very well, and they fight the nomalies.

Ben hopes someday he'll meet back up with his Unit. Then they can all hunt the nomalies together. He has so much he'd like to tell them.

Dean gets a phone call late at night. He's in the bathroom cleaning nomalie blood off his clothing and Ben stiffens on the bed when a new scent drifts into his awareness. It's amazing. It's like sniffing sunlight and it makes the cat in him purr.

But it is an unknown and so he musters his caution and listens as his CO addresses the source of the new scent. It's a man in a trench coat. Ben can tell a solider when he see's one, and the man is obviously upset. It only takes a second and Ben knows what the 'Cas' is going through because Ben feels the same thing every day even though Dean makes it hurt less. He's been separated from his Unit.

And he's come to Dean for help on a mission. Capture and Interrogation.

"He's you." Castiel, Ben learns his full name later, says in a voice Lydecker would be proud of. There is only the barest hint of emotion as Castiel looks over Ben with wide-eyed wonderment. "But not."

"Got any idea how?" Dean asks as they pile in the Impala though Ben gave up the passenger seat to the officer. Castiel has to be an officer. His whole bearing screams it. "And will Zach and Mikey come after him?"

Ben doesn't know who Zach and Mikey are but he gathers they are bad. The way Castiel's eyes harden and Dean spits the words tell him as much. He mentally files them under Enemy to be Shot on Sight.

"No." Castiel speaks with certainty. "What makes you a suitable vessel seems to have been... left out... of him."

Ben is fairly positive that it's his cat DNA that replaced whatever it is that makes one a vessel. Castiel can somehow tell what he is just by looking at him. Ben thinks Castiel might be the Lady's version of Psy-Ops.

"Good." Dean remarks. "And his name is Ben. Ben, this is Castiel. Castiel, Ben."

Castiel regards Dean for a moment before softening. "He does not replace Sam."

"Wasn't trying."

Ben rubs the Lady's medallion and listens as the two officers discuss the best way to get where they're going. His heart jumps into his throat when his name is brought up.

Dean will be coming back. He said so. Dean has never lied to him.

But nomalies are strong and even if he has back-up the way Castiel spoke of the mission worries Ben. Dean can't help it if he dies. Ben doesn't want Dean to die. Ben prays to the Lady to watch over all three of them.

The woman with the pale skin and dark hair offers him a sandwich. "Hunters are a tough breed."

She's not human. He's seen the inside of their fridge filled with gallons of blood where milk should be. No one in the house is human. Including him. They know it.

Dean knows it. Dean doesn't care that he's not human. As long as he isn't a demon, the worst kind of nomalie, which he's not.

Dean left him with them. Dean didn't want to leave him with them, but they were pressed for time. Lenore gives him a pat on the head and he stiffens. "Don't worry about Dean. He's a good sort."

"Ma'am?"

She looks at him and smiles sadly, he can see the faint holes in her gums where fangs come down. "Yes?" She's a vampire. A nomalie. But Dean left him with her and her nest. Ben bites his tongue.

"Thank you."

Ben doesn't know if the mission was a success or failure. But Dean seems happy. Castiel is gone. Ben resumes his spot in front and accepts the silver edged iron knife to slip in his boot.

Dean found him a leather coat, somewhere. Ben doesn't need it but he shrugs it on anyway. "Were they good to you?"

Ben thinks over this question, unsure of how to answer. "They kept calling me meow-mix."

Ben feels his pulse quicken to panic stage when Dean leans over the steering wheel, eyes shut, shuddering. It's a miracle they don't drive off the road. Ben relaxes when he realizes Dean is only laughing. He lets himself smile too. Meow-mix is better than some things he's been called. He'll take any name over his designation.

Ben is in the bathroom instead of Dean when the next one appears. This one is not a friendly and Ben can tell because of two things. The first is that Dean is angry, so angry the air all but crackles from it, and the second is that his inner-cat wants to run away.

He smells like sunlight but unlike Castiel this a light that burns everything in its path.

Ben freezes up and wonders just how strong Dean can be. Dean is far stronger than Ben. Dean defies the nomalie. The Zachariah. Ben is worried because Zachariah tried to teach Dean a lesson, and at Manticore those kinds of lessons were always painful, but still Dean defies him.

For a split second Ben wonders if that's where Dean had been for the past four hours; learning a lesson. He had thought his CO had gone out to collect more funds at a bar.

The next thing he knows Dean's scent has vanished, and Zachariah curses in frustration. Ben bites his lip to keep still until the nomalie leaves. Then he carefully opens the door and begins to pack their things. When Dean gets back, and he will be back because obviously the Lady arranged something to help her Champion, he will want to go.

It's not wise to stay in one spot with Manticore or Nomalies on your tail.

Sam is Dean's brother. Sam looks like a giant puppy. Ben can hear the apologies from inside the Impala and the earnest desire to kill nomalies. Ben can identify with that.

When Sam opens the passenger door he freezes and stares at Ben. Ben gives him a quick salute as he figures that while Sam may-or-may-not be above Dean in the chain of command he is certainly above Ben. Sam shoots Dean a look Ben cannot even begin to understand. Dean shrugs and slides into the drivers seat.

"I found him."

Not for the first time Ben is grateful that the Lady's Champion rescued him as that, apparently, is all the explanation Sam needs.

Later Ben finds out that Sam used to be under Dean's command, but doesn't want to be. He wants to be equals. Ben knows it doesn't work like that, but before he can think much more on the problem of dissension in the ranks Dean gets a call.

General. It's the only thing that fits Bobby. Ben wanders around the junk yard and finds half-finished projects and finds he likes the base. It isn't hard, cold, and gray like Manticore. It's dirty, yes, but colorful and warm. He likes General Bobby. Even if General Bobby is stuck in a chair because he was awesome.

Awesome is the way Dean explains it later. Bobby was possessed and he killed the demon while it was still in him. By stabbing himself with the special knife. After that Ben can only look at Bobby and see General. The man gives them missions, supplies, and warnings.

When he looks at Ben the transgenic can't help but give a small, shy smile and sit a little straighter.

Ben decides Sam is girl. Not a solider girl like Eva, whom he offers up prayers for every other night, or a tough-girl like Max. No. Sam is a girl like Dean is a solider. Who ever mixed his genetics must have made a mistake because for the first time in a long time Ben is getting frustrated with his superior.

"No, Sir." He says with practiced calm.

"You don't have to call me sir. You can call me Sam. Uncle Sam, even." Sam explains for the fifteenth time in three days.

Ben wants to get back to studying. Dean told him in another year he'll be issued his own pistol of choice, and so he has been checking the internet to help decide. It will be his weapon. His personal weapon. He needs to decide just what customization he wants among other things. Once he has that decided he must start practicing making the special rounds for it. "Yes, Sir."

"Sam." Sam sighs.

Dean walks in the door with an amused expression as he drops two sacks of food on the nearest bed. "Status?"

Sam mutters something about 'encouraging abnormality' which Ben ignores. Dean probably can hear it as he just grins and looks at Ben. Ben perks up. Dean understands. He was so confused the first few times he was asked 'What's up' and he still found himself swimming in confusion at some of the slang phrases his superiors tossed around. But he was learning. Slowly. It was hard to sort out useful Manticore from junk Manticore.

"I have been attempting to decide if drilling holes in the trigger to lighten the weight of my gun will be worth the expense. Sam has been being a girl."

Sam chokes. Dean laughs. Ben returns to his catalog and wonders if he should get an ivory handle like Dean, or cross-hatched wood for a better grip.

Unexpected. The call is totally unexpected, as is the sudden one-hundred-and-eighty degree turn that only Manticore given reflexes keep Ben from sliding around the backseat. The Impala only has seat belts for the driver and passenger, not that they are ever used.

"Christ, Dean!" Sam shouts in confusion and not a little fear.

Dean ignores him and speaks softly into the phone. "It's okay. I'm coming. Just... just stay low." Dean's eyes, Ben's eyes, flicker to the mirror and lock on Ben.

Seven hours later the Winchester Marines have a new member.

Ben stares at the other Ben and is reminded of his Unit. Other Ben looks a little younger, and so going on precedence Ben supposes that puts the other boy under him. Either way Dean pulls him aside and tells him its his job to look out for Benny.

Benny just lost his mom. Swine Flu combined with common cold, and he's not thinking right. Ben understands. Losing his Unit messed him up pretty bad, for a while, but he was a solider again. And he had his own standing orders now. Look out for Benny.

Look out for your little brother.

Look out for the social services that would take him away and probably get him killed and kidnapped by angels because, crap, the vessel-thing is passed through blood and before she bit the big one Benny's mom told him who his real Dad was.

The guy that taught him to kick bullies in the nads and fought monsters, who was so obviously way better qualified to take care of recently orphaned Benny than any government agency.

Ben nodded and saluted before the dismissal. Benny was part of his Unit now. You watched out for your Unit.

He just wished he knew how to get that through captain Sam's thick skull.

"Do you ever think that its all one cosmic joke?" Sam asked after finally relenting. Ben was on the far bed, pretending to sleep, with Benny next to him. The younger boy had been crying. Ben let him. Crying hadn't been allowed at Manticore.

"What are you talking about?" Dean asks as he goes back to cleaning his gun.

"The kids." Dean tenses. He thought, and Ben thought too, that the argument was over once some 'Adam' was mentioned. Ben knows the colonel doesn't want to go into it again, but he will, and the thought washes away any worry Ben might get.

"They're both named Ben." Sam gestures. "They're both yours. How did this happen?"

Dean puts the parts back together and his voice raises a notch. "Well, Sammy, when a boy and a girl like each other very much-"

Ben can hear the pillow impact the wall. "Whatever."

Ben is surprised that he gets it, because Sam is a girl. Sam wanted a family, not the missions. Sam tried so hard to leave the Lady and failed. Sam fighting it only brought misery.

Dean didn't try, just did what he did, and got a son and a clone, though he hasn't told them where he came from and they haven't asked. The Lady blessed her Champion.

But Sam asks why, and as Ben stills his mind and drifts into slumber he remembers his brother that was not saved. How he got the shakes and was taken away. Sometimes, he thinks as his hand moves up to grip the medallion, sometimes the Blue Lady is a cruel mistress.

Castiel shows up the next day and looks downright shocked when he sees Benny. Benny stares at him from his place by Dean's side. "Sigils?" Dean asks.

Castiel nods and places his hand on Benny's chest as Dean warns him that it will sting. Tears prick Benny's eyes but don't fall. He's done crying, Ben knows, and will be strong. Dean's blood runs through him. Ben's blood runs through him.

Ben isn't sure why Castiel is so pleased Benny exists, before he flutters off though, he approaches the angel cautiously. "Permission to speak, Sir?"

Sam's exasperated huff is ignored, as is the comment that he hopes it doesn't rub off on Benny. "Yes?" Castiel manages.

"Do cats go to the good place?"

Castiel knows why he asks. Castiel can read his mind. Castiel tilts his head as he thinks and the whole world falls away. Finally, he answers with certainty. "If they have good souls."

Then he's gone, and Ben feels as if a weight he didn't know he had has been lifted from him.

Becky. Her name is Becky. She is a fangirl.

She caused Sam and Dean to get upset. She caused them to drive through the night. She squeals when her eyes light on the two children and both are introduced as Dean's sons. Benny, it is explained, takes more after his mother. Different mothers explains away the name similarities.

She giggles and mutters about new ideas for... something. She doesn't say.

Ben doesn't like her. She comes forward to touch him giggling about mini-Dean's and Dean looks like he wants to stop her. But she's a civilian. They don't attack civilians. Except in self-defense.

Ben recalls something Sam said about unwanted physical contact and grins like Dean grins just before he takes out a nomalie.

Becky is flat on her back, trying to regain her breath, and eying Ben with what can only be described as crazed admiration. Ben scoots over to Benny as the two Winchesters blink and process the occurrence. Ben hadn't demonstrated his strength so obviously before.

As expected, Dean rolls with it. "Becky. I suggest you don't touch my kids. They are a bit sensitive."

"I. Uh. Sure."

Ben thinks it's a pity they weren't closer to the concrete.

Ben gives all three of them a quick run down of how he's stronger and faster, because he's a test-tube baby, and when he squirms under the who-why-how they let it drop. Not forever. He knows by the glint in their eyes that now they know things are so messed up they can't ignore it.

They tried ignoring Sam's freakiness and look where that got them.

No. Ben's positive that when he gets a little older, when the nomalie army is dealt with, that they will ask again. And it will not be a polite question. It will be an order.

He wants to spill it out, but not yet. Lydecker is his personal boogie-man. Manticore are morons trying to play in the Lady's Court, and once he's big enough to go on missions he'll take care of it.

He just wonders where the hell he'll find enough salt.

Haunted. The hotel was haunted. Just another reason to hate fangirls. Becky.

Sam doesn't make it out the door but Ben and Benny do, as well as the two civilians that volunteered to help. Ben watches Benny out of the corner of his eye as he digs at a child-sized grave and approves of the stance his brother takes while holding the sawed-off.

When a ghost appears the recoil throws off his brothers aim more than any respectable solider would allow but Benny is young and not Manticore made and with the spread so wide it doesn't really matter. The civilians get their body torched just as Ben reaches his and calls for lighter fluid.

Benny makes a good partner. A good brother.

"General?" Benny gasped as they found Bobby. Super-aged Bobby. Benny had picked up on the titles pretty quick and found it immensely entertaining to call Sam 'Captain' when he was upset with him. It was kind of like how parents would use full names.

Ben sniped 'Private!' at Benny when he wanted the other boys attention.

Dean was always Dean, though. You didn't mess with Dean. And you didn't mess with the awesomeness that was the General.

Even if he did let himself get pulled into a bad situation. But witches were bad news. They were tricky. Privately Ben suspected they were the offspring of a human and a nomalie. Benny frowned and marched over to Bobby before climbing into his lap and glaring at him. "You're supposed to be smarter than this, General."

Aged eyes softened and rested a liver-spotted hand on the young boy's shoulder. "They're my years. I can do what I want with them."

"But you're the General! It isn't an empty title, you know." Ben had explained to Benny about their ranks and duties. About what they did. Benny took it all seriously even as he hummed Metallica with Dean and played with guns like he was on a film set. He was careful to make sure they weren't loaded when he played with them.

Ben could see Dean clenching his jaw, could all but hear the teeth grind. The colonel was going to do something. Ben hurried after him while calling orders to stay with Bobby over his shoulder.

"...You are a fucking genius." Dean breathed into Ben's hair as they left the grungy bar.

They'd actually won, for the most part. Dean still lost four years but they couldn't see the difference. The point was that they got Bobby's years and didn't suffer too much of a set back.

"Was this a successful mission, Sir?" Ben asked, just to be sure. They'd managed to get the man-witch to allow Ben to sit in Dean's lap during the game, and after the pompous man had done a fancy card trick during the dealing it had been a cinch for Ben to count them.

Dean picked up on his feet tapping against his leg from the get-go. Ben was willing to bet it was something about their shared blood.

"Yeah. Not perfect, but passing. Way more than passing."

Because the General was important. Ben just needed to find a way to get Dean to understand he was important too. The Lady loved all her soldiers.

Sam takes them into an old church in the city to look at lore. The books they are after are old and dusty and written in a hand that makes Ben's eyes water. Dean, being the CO, doesn't have to go and gets to delegate the research duty. Lucky.

The church is made of brick and wood with iron fixtures and a fence all around. It feels like a fortress and Ben approves. Churches, he has come to understand, are where the Lady's Champions seek guidance or sanctuary. It is a stronghold against nomalies.

While Sam speaks with a priest about going through their library Ben and Benny explore the open areas. In an alcove Ben finds the most beautiful thing he has ever seen aside from the Impala coming back from a dangerous mission. The Blue Lady has been sculpted and painted into life. She is surrounded by candles that give her a soft glow.

Ben isn't aware of the single tear trailing down his cheek. His brother is, though, and steps up to him in quiet support.

"She's the Virgin Mary."

Mary is her name. Ben had never presumed to give her one, afraid he would be wrong, afraid she transcended names and would take his efforts as an insult. But apparently she has a name and it's a wonderful amazing name because it is Hers.

Months later while going back through the nomalie manual Ben finds a picture of him, or at least a young Dean, with a group of people. He remembers barely glancing at it the first time but flips it over and reads the description. Mary. The lady in the picture is wearing a blue denim jacket as she rests her chin on Dean's head and smiles sadly into the camera and it all falls into place with a final *click*.

They are Mary's Army. They are the Winchester Marines.

"Ben Winchester." Ben says to himself, tasting the name. "Ben Winchester." He likes it. It's like butter in his mouth and as he kicks his feet and hums a little AC/DC he ponders if he should adopt a middle name. Sam and Dean have middle names though they hardly ever use them.

Sam only used Dean's full name once, and it was in such a petulant tone Dean hissed Sammy's back and that was the end of that argument.

"Benjamin Alex Winchester." His brother calls from his awkward position on the chair. His feet are in the air and his head is hanging off the seat and Ben hasn't mastered the desires of his brother but he does understand the need to do something.

"Ben..." He thinks hard about all the names he's heard. All the soldiers that stood over them at Manticore. He remembers the man that first led them to the Blue Lady. "Just Ben. Ben Winchester. Its a good name."

His brother grins at him. "It is."

It's a two way street, Ben realizes. He looks after Benny but Benny does the same for him. Benny keeps him from worrying too much. He helps Benny practice fighting when Sam and Dean are busy. Benny teaches him about... girls... in more than the scientific sense.

Watching Benny sidle up to a girl is like watching Dean sidle up to a woman and not for the last time Ben curses Manticore for taking out something he can only assume was genetic. They do it so effortlessly. It's in their blood but not in his. It's fucking poetry how they charm the civilians into disclosing the information they need or want.

Even Captain Sam can do it when he wishes.

Ben is just too awkward. He can pick up on the subtle cues but he doesn't know what to do with them. It's Benny who shows him. Benny who explains it all in a most beautiful fashion and he realizes girls aren't girls. They are fantastic aliens that must be handled with care.

It takes a while but Ben is slowly learning from Benny how to be a boy and not just a solider.

Ben decides he hates deep-cover operations. He understands that Sam and Dean have gotten a call and a fellow solider needs their help. He doesn't like the fact he and Benny have been dropped off with General Bobby even though he likes General Bobby because the length of the mission is undetermined.

Usually Dean could give them an estimation of how long a mission will take. He can't here. Benny doesn't like it either.

Benny looks at him, face blank, and whispers the term he learned from Ben's stories. "Psy-Ops, bro. They're going into Psy-Ops territory."

Ben can feel ice in his veins and thinks for a moment a ghost must be around. That evening he goes out into the woods near the junk-yard and hunts for a sacrifice but can find nothing suitable. He prays to the Lady for a quick and safe return.

Two women show up at the Base two days later. It only takes a sniff and a glance to determine they are more of Her champions. They smell of salt and oil and fire. They walk with an air of experience.

The older woman has lines around her eyes and Ben mentally labels her colonel unless someone tells him otherwise. She gives respect to the General and her daughter chirps a greeting before retreating into the kitchen.

They stare at each other in awe before she shrugs and moves to the cabinet to pour herself coffee. Ben isn't sure where she is in the chain. "Ma'am? Who're you?"

"I'm Jo. You Dean's kid?"

Ben smiles. He likes that. Dean's kid. "One of them."

Jo blinks. "There's more of you?"

"Yes, Ma'am. Benny is outside practicing his sniping."

"Huh." She stirs in milk. "Where are they, anyway?"

Ben decides she's a little sloppy. He decides she's a grunt, but not. His brow furrows as she blows on the coffee. He doesn't like uncertainty. "Deep-cover mission. What are you?"

Her brow arches. "I'm a Hunter."

"What is your rank?"

This time both brow arches before she gives him a playful smile. Had it been anyone but Ben, he would recognize humoring someone when he saw it, but his question was utterly serious and so he expected a serious answer. "Private. But depending on how this whole War with the Devil goes I'm up for promotion."

Ben nods. He had heard of Jo in passing. She only recently started going on missions. It made since that she was a private.

His world rocked back into place.

Two weeks. It was the longest Ben had been separated from his commanders and he hadn't liked it. Uncle Sam was sleeping off the remains of some drugs and Dean was sitting on the couch rubbing at bruises.

"Sir?"

"Yes?" Dean asked with a rough voice but Deans voice was naturally like that. It took effort to not be off-putting. Benny was sitting at the other end of the couch playing his gameboy. Ben stepped over and sat between them before turning his full attention on Dean.

"How did the mission go?" Ben noticed Benny pause his game, though he gave no other sign he was paying attention. It was time for mission debriefing.

"It was a wraith. First time I ever had to take on one of those." Dean explained with a wince. Ben decided Wraiths were one of his most hated enemies. "It was posing as one of the nurses and driving patients even crazier before sucking out their brains. Silver through the heart killed it, though. It's surprising how many fuglies that kills."

Ben nodded. Silver was a very valuable weapon. "Thank-you, Sir." He settled into the cushions and leaned into Dean. He was glad his commander was back. Dean kept the world spinning.

The only thing Ben has read of that causes people to act so strange is a trickster. Dean insists it isn't him. Sam agrees. They go to investigate with false identities and the boys go to the movies because they can. Ben makes sure his knife is in his boot just in case and presses one of Dean's spares into the younger boy's hand.

Benny flips the butterfly knife around his fingers, hisses as he nicks them, then sucks on the small cuts while slipping it up his sleeve. Ben decides they need to review proper knife fighting techniques tomorrow.

They sit through a movie about zombies. Ben agrees with the rules of life the main character outlines throughout the movie and shoves popcorn in his mouth. They run out and Benny goes for a refill before coming back with two tubs and several candy bars. Ben doesn't want to stop eating the sweet and salty treats but he stops himself because he knows the behavior isn't normal.

Benny finishes the food and wants more. He wants to follow a woman and her daughter home. He wants to bring them back to the motel.

It isn't proper behavior for a solider and Ben drags him back to their room and sits on him until his wits come back. Dean hasn't eaten anything since they came to the weird town and Ben can't help but think his commander's eyes linger on a small family a bit longer than usual.

The gun shudders in his small hands, but he doesn't waver. Glass shatters under his assault and perfect aim. Green, blue, clear. The bits burst and suddenly Ben is aware of the other body next to him.

He can hear the small heart beating in excitement beside him and it's infectious. His brother is only two seconds behind him as he corrects for the recoil and plows through his own enemy force of empty bottles.

There's a shout and Ben catches the movement out of the corner of his eye. His arms shift up, up, up and his bullet sends a sparkling shower of soft brown glass tumbling into the junk heap. He is out of bullets. A blue bottle is tossed and Benny steps ahead of him with look of pure glee and concentration on his face as he tracks the target.

He doesn't miss.

Dean grabs them both is a massive hug and promises them ice-cream and cookies. In a moment of utter girl-ishness he kisses them both on the head causing Benny to complain. Ben lets the moment pass without a word. He has never seen Dean look prouder, and the smile on his face causes his hazel eyes to shine bright green and sparkle. This, he thinks, is what Famine could never supply.

Bobby is awesome.

Bobby is a genius.

Ben knows this. That is, after all, why he is the General and he tells this to Sam and Dean. They agree. Bobby is the only one who questioned just why Lucifer the head of the nomalie, demon class, army was locked away in a convent. After all, he reasoned, what made that spot so special? Why did Lilith have to die there?

It took a shit load of research and false guesses and conjecture but the answer eventually presented itself because Bobby is awesome and a genius and the General. It's all about the Ley Lines.

Ben shares a smile with his brother as they listen to the officers discuss tactics in the kitchen. They will need help, and bait. They already have the latter and it'll only take a few phone calls for the former.

The Lady's army will win. They will put the jack back in the box. Then the nomalies won't stand a chance.

Ben is on a run in the early morning when he sees her. Her hair has grown out into a pixie cut and halos around her head as she walks sedately along the sidewalk. There's a stuffed backpack hanging off one shoulder and Ben knows his pulse quickens as he ducks into the shadows. He is downwind and so she doesn't scent him.

For a brief moment he wants to burst from his cover and run her down. He wants to wrap his arms around his sister and drag her off with him.

The moment passes as logic clamps down and he knows he can't do that. Instead he pads toward her and he gives her a small smile as her head snaps up. She's in the system. If she disappears people will know. It will be a trail Manticore can follow. He keeps pace with her and they touch hands before she slips through the doors into her public school.

Ben makes sure to remember the middle-of-nowhere town. His Unit is alive.

It is a complete surprise when Ben has his first seizure. He never had the shakes at Manticore and it takes him completely off guard. Dean is out, but Sam is there with Benny and as he loosing control on the floor and his body spasms it doesn't bother him too much.

Sam picks him up and smooths his hair and holds him still so he doesn't hurt himself. Ben can hear his heart skitter along and wonders why Sam curses under his breath about demons and visions.

Sam thinks he might be having some kind of vision. Freakiness. Ben breaths in Sam and responds in an unsteady voice that he will be okay. That it used to happen to other people in his Unit. It's just a little hormone imbalance. Really. Don't send me away. Don't cut me up. Don't feed me to the nomalies. I'll get better.

When Dean gets back he has a gallon of milk, burgers, and a bulk sized container of dietary supplements. He also has the tiny head of a pixie in a ziploc bag.

It's a three pronged attack, and Ben drifts through the gathered forces at the Base in contentment. Hunters of all ages have assembled. Ben and Benny have found a handful of children, though they are the youngest, and together they run around the junkyard and discuss missions.

Greg has a mom that was in retirement, but she came out to help put down the devil. She doesn't trust baby sitters.

Kat's parents were killed by vampires while she was at a friend's sleepover. Her aunt walked in on the aftermath and killed one of the vampires with a genzu knife before making an escape with a broken wrist.

Larry doesn't talk much, which Ben thinks is just fine, because he was orphaned in a perfectly normal way. Car crash. His older half-brother is going to accompany Greg's mother and a few other hunters to the Cold Oak station to set up their end of the ritual. They have five stations that need to be manned and they have to synchronize their watches because the spell work is going to be tricky.

Castiel and Dean are training in the Panic Room. They will be the ones to take Lucifer head on, preferably before he is able to jump into Sam. As an angel Lucifer will require skin-to-skin contact before he can take over the Captain.

Ben wishes he could have watched everything go down. He and Benny had been ordered to stay in the Impala. He thinks he can see it in his mind when he closes his eyes.

All across the United States of America Hunters will be chanting and calling on Gaia and God. At ley-line convergences energy is being unlocked and sent into the air to form bridges. The battle takes place in a Detroit warehouse on top of a huge pool of energy.

Ben can imagine the air crackling as Bobby recites the spell and Dean plunges the magic knife into the heart of Lucifer's vessel. Lucifer will laugh, or perhaps smile indulgently as he moves to pry the weapon out not knowing that it is only a small but necessary poison.

In Cold Oak someone, probably Jo who is on her way to major, places the colt into the Devil's Gate and opens it wide to receive it's namesake while Ellen shouts out the same spell in the dead language that Bobby yells.

Then Castiel brings his angel blade into the spine of Lucifer as he pours as much grace as he can muster into the dagger and it transforms into a shining sword.

Ben can see the glow from the Impala as the building lights up and a shock-wave shakes their beloved shelter.

He jumps from the Impala and rushes to the limping and exhausted soldiers smiling because he knows they won. Only Micheal could kill Lucifer, but they could send him packing back down to the basement.

The next morning they find out that electronics all along the coast have been taken out. In exchange for stopping the apocalypse their electronic records have been erased. Sam and Dean don't have to worry about the FBI, Benny doesn't have to think about dodging Social Services, and Ben has yet another layer of protection.

Not a bad trade, really.

It's not hard to imagine the Lady smiling down on them.

End.