"Boys." Crowley coughed indelicately. "If you're done?"
A sigh, from who, though, Ben couldn't tell. Likely Sam. "What do you want, Crowley?"
"Well," Crowley said, scratching his head. "It's a tad embarrassing. You see-"
Amy hit her head on Ben's shoulder. "Will he get on with it?"
"Shh."
"Get on with it." Cas grumbled.
"Thank you," Amy muttered. "One of you has sense. Even if he's also interested in first degree murder. My first degree murder."
"Candy Cane," Crowley glared. "Do let your betters speak."
"Go screw yourself, crow crap."
An incredulous laugh jumped out of Ben's throat, and he ended clamping a hand over both his mouth and Amy's. Amy bit his hand.
"I've been busy restocking my angel guns," Crowley said, ignoring the striped haired girl's insult, "and then Juliet goes and eats the last knife that I was saving."
"Juliet?" Ben, confused.
"Hellhound." Sam, quiet.
"Duh. Of course." Ben, to himself. "The perfect name for a hellhound."
"Shh." Amy.
Dean's arms were crossed again. "So you want another knife. Why don't you go ask an angel that can be bought off?"
"That would be inconvenient." Crowley said, and Ben finally placed the accent. Scottish. "Seeing as it's hard to kill them if they decide to backstab. Waste of ammunition. I need it for... other purposes."
"No deal." Dean said, waved Crowley off.
"Dean-" Cas now. His knives were in hand.
"No. You need them."
"I have two, Dean."
The two men glared at each other. If Ben didn't know the context, he would've placed it in the category of Meaningful Glances. For now, he was more worried about imminent homicide.
"I'll give him mine." Amy shifted away from him, holding her knife out in her flat palm. Her fingers were trembling slightly, but she didn't seem to notice. "I don't need it as much as Cas does."
Dead silence.
Ben broke it first. "Amy, that's-"
She kicked his shin, and he stumbled sideways, hip checking a table. "Don't even, Braeden."
"Amriel..." Cas' voice was unsure. "You won't be able to create another for a good long time, if at all."
Amy shrugged. "Gotta do what we gotta do." And she fixed Crowley with a glare so scorching he should've been a heap of embers. "You're prepared to offer something meaningful, or else you wouldn't have come. What was it?"
"Well done, Candy Cane." Crowley didn't look pleased, but he clicked his fingers and two more demons appeared out of the shadows. One was holding a scroll in front of his face, but something about the way he was holding himself seemed familiar. Ben frowned, tried to search for the resemblance.
Amy wasn't looking at the newly appeared minions. "What is it?" she demanded. "Your great offer. This thing that you knew the Winchesters wouldn't be able to turn down."
"Safety. Complete demon immunity for two people. Well. If they don't actively seek out the demons, that is."
Dean positively guffawed. "For us? Are you kidding me? That would never work. No deal."
"Not for you two morons," Crowley motioned to the scroll bearer, and he shook it out. Ben squinted, made out two names written in huge calligraphy.
BEN BRADEN. LISA BRAEDEN.
"You bastard," Dean growled. "He was out. She's out."
A sweeping gesture at Ben, knife in hand and homicidal BFF on his other side. "Does he look out to you? Bold as brass, silver knife, angel for a friend."
"You leave my mother alone."
Crowley looked unruffled. "If you give me the knife. And hurry up, would you? I have things to do, souls to torture."
Ben felt torn in half. He wanted his mother safe, out of this horrific fight. But he couldn't ask Amy to give up her knife. She wasn't an angel like Cas seemed to be assuming. She hadn't manifested the knife, she'd found it. And it was so integral to her personality. He couldnt imagine an Amy without her not-silver knife spinning around her hand as her eyes laughed.
"Fine." And Ben was gaping at Amy as she tossed the knife to Crowley. "Ben won't be sought out by another Mr. Moriarty, and his mother will be left alone."
The king of hell caught the knife easily, tucked it inside his coat. "Glad someone has intelligence." To his minions, "Let's go."
The scroll holder lowered the scroll just as Amy let out a sigh of relief and turned her head, and then everything was happening at once.
It clicked. The demon reminded him of Amy. He had nearly the same face, with a slightly wider nose and larger eyes, muscles set in a slight scowl. His hair was the exact same, and all Ben could think was that Amy would be identical to him if she shaved all her hair off and found just the right frown.
They lunged for each other, Amy a blur of pink tank top and grey sweats and Tate!, and the demon a flicker of black eyes and a snarl and She was mine, get out you filthy winged ape.
And now Ben could understand why everyone was so frightened of the Winchesters, because there was something dead in Dean's eyes, something steel forged anger in Sam's. They were ripping the twins apart before Ben could even shout, Sam holding a carved knife to the demon's throat and Dean's arm around a screaming Amy's waist. He was surprisingly clinical about the hysterical girl in his arms, and for that Ben was thankful, because he'd seen her revulsion when someone tried to hit on her. The full body shudder when she'd recounted the tale of her first (and last) date.
Then the demons were just gone, empty space instead of matter, and Sam stumbled to bang his arm on the wall and hiss in pain and Dean let Amy go. She dropped to her knees, still screaming Tate! at the empty space where her brother had been.
Well, that was certainly a cliffhanger. Crowley, the muse made reality! Tate, the brother I really hope you guys haven't forgotten about. Amy, going a little nuts! Ben, realizing that Sam and Dean are actually scary! So much is going on!
And next update, we shall learn more, lots more about Amy. And yeah, the last time I said that (Amy's Demons) it just got more confusing, but I swear it's better this time! And anyway, even if it's confusing, you're still learning more about her. The devil you know, right? Anyway.
I am deeply sorry for my weird absence, and am even more sorry to inform you that I have been roped into more family time deeper into August. I'll keep you guys informed as I learn!
Also! I HAVE DEFEATED THE PLOT BLOCK and I hope I shall be on my way again with writing. I hope to finish writing Ben's Clues by November, so I'll have time to participate in NaNoWriMo and also to make sure that all the chapters I'm giving you guys are edited and perfect as possible before I give them to you. I mean, I have to write the chapters and then I have to go back and make sure A) They make sense and B) I've mentioned the setting AT ALL. Writing, ack.
Anyway, I hope you guys didn't die over the break, and I'm glad to be back! Have an awesome weekend!
