Another chapter I thought I uploaded. Man, I really got to check to see if I actually did upload them, yeah? Sorry!
Where is Ben? It's the first thought Jody has when she wakes up and the last thought she has when going to bed.
Jody is starting to lose hope in finding him. There has been no sighting of young Winchester anywhere in three months. Ben's senior year started two weeks ago, and she has no idea where to find him. She's tried calling Dean again but the number doesn't even work. She has a hunch their numbers not working has something to do with the disturbance they felt all those months ago.
Whatever it is, it has those boys tied up real good if they haven't texted her their new number.
They always text her their new number, just in case she might need them. What if the Big Bad this time is a little too big? What if this is the one that beats them for good?
What is she going to tell Ben? If she found him again. No. When she found him again.
Claire stopped looking for Ben after the second month. She's crueler and has a shorter temper. She's blown up with Alex more times than she can count, and she's been getting into fights with every person who dares to talk to her. Her deputies no longer book her, they just put her in a cell until they think she's earned her lesson and call Jody to come get her. Though, most of the time, Jody already knows, and she leaves Claire in there until she's done with her shift.
Alex has become her golden child. She stays out of trouble and focuses on school and her new boyfriend. Claire doesn't seem to like him though.
Jody enrolled Claire in college after she forced the blonde to get her GED to take her mind off their missing hunter-in-training. It only worked so much. Claire aced her GED test and she impressed the hell out of admission's officer. Claire got in with a decent scholarship but is losing interest in school.
Alex stays away from the house for as long as she can. Jody doesn't blame her. None of them like being home that much.
Maria and Logan Marks still won't talk to her, and their restraining order is still in effect. Not that it matters. Jody can't even look at them without guilt eating her up let alone be in a room with them. She lost their foster child, she wouldn't forgive them if they took Alex on a trip and lost her for three months and counting.
Dean, when he finally gets back in touch, is going to hate her forever.
Jody even used a Ouji board to try and find Ben. The planchette moved around and around, oscillating between "O" and "J" and then it'd veer off to an "A", "H", "R" before going back to "J", and doing the whole set again. She tried every variation of the letters and came up with "JORAH" and that doesn't make any sense, unless the ghost is a Game of Thrones fan then Jorah Mormont has Ben somewhere in Meereen.
Or she has a dyslexic ghost.
Is it a demon? Angel? A pissed off monster seeking revenge against Dean?
Why does Ben have to look so damn much like Dean?
It's like waving a red flag at a bull with every single monster, demon and angel out there that has a grudge against the hunter. And Sam. And Castiel. Oh, boy. She should have just kept Ben close to her instead of actually letting him and Claire go hunting.
"Where are you, Ben?" Jody asked out loud. The empty house remained silent, not having an answer for her. Not even the planchette moved. She really should put the Ouji board away. The last thing Jody needs is a ghost or conniving demon attaching itself to her and the girls. She'll have the girls help her with it tonight since all three of them agreed to use the board to find Ben. She knows the rules. There's tons of movies and stories about the spirit board to inform her of the subject.
"Please come home, Ben. Please."
BW
Claire slammed the door shut behind her, grinning when she heard her fellow school mates crash into it, and mutter obscenities at her. Not to her face, of course, because she just slammed the door on them. That, and she may have put the fear of God in them.
She kept moving.
Her next class is clear across campus and Jody had made it clear that if she misses anymore classes, she's hiding all of Ben's lore books on her. She'd already taken away the book Dean had given her before sending her to Jody to live and learn how to be a hunter. Jody is seconds away from taking away her car privilages, too.
Though, Claire can't really blame Jody for doing such drastic measures. She's been miserable with guilt and misplaced anger. Alex is this close to having a knock-down-drag out fight with her, and in all honesty, Claire's not sure she would come out on top. Alex is a dirty fighter.
Intro to Psych is her least favorite subject so far and it's only been a few weeks. Actual, it's tied with College Writing 101. Every paper she turned in so far came back redder than Santa Clause's suit.
Alex's delight in her horrendous writing skills makes Claire willing to risk a potentially wicked beatdown from the little princess.
Ben would have laughed at her too, but he would have helped her once he stopped laughing his ass off at her. He would have been patient and he wouldn't let her go anywhere until she paper no longer looked like a sacrificial alter, though the idea is starting to sound more and more like a good one. Maybe there is a god out there that'll take pity on her and help her with her writing, and maybe they'd find Ben as well.
Claire shoulder checked a senior football player hard enough to send him sprawling on the recently mowed grass because he was blocking her way. He jumped up to his feet and towered over her, glaring hotly. Without missing a beat, Claire pulled him in for a kiss.
When she pulled away, the guy had a gobsmacked expression on the face while his teammates' jaws were on threatening to fall off their faces.
Claire walked away with a little sway in her hips. Boys, so easy to distract. She wished she was just as easy to distract.
BW
Krissy wanted to slam her head against the dilapidated wall. Ben is kind of hopeless with actual, physical hunting, but when it comes to research, he's better at it than she is, and she has years of experience on her side. This must be how Dean felt with Sam. There's nothing worse than having someone you know you have more experience with a subject, and have that person do better than you. It's kind of insulting and a wicked ego check.
She always thought she was good at research but Ben has been disproving that notion left and right with ease. She may have took her anger out on him by having the Baby Winchester do all the heavy lifting.
Most cases, that means digging up graves. He has become quite ripped in the past month. Nice arms. Almost like his dad's or his uncle's.
No! Don't go there, Krissy, she chastised herself. That is just . . .gross. Dean is like a - a, uh - Dean is . . . Dean Winchester is like a father or a big brother or something familial to her. Thinking of Ben that way is kind of ick. Isn't it? It is. Right? Right.
She's getting a headache. A really bad one.
"Ben!" she yelled, exacerbating the headache. "Get your ass up! We need to hit McGrath's place before he comes back tomorrow."
She heard Ben moving around upstairs, telling her he's awake and making his way down to her. The place they're currently using as a hobbit hole had been condemned, which meant for them having a relatively safe place to squat in without fear of being caught by either the police or social services.
Since they're both underage, they'd be put in foster care, Krissy does not like foster care, and Ben would be taken out of the Marks' custody and put in either a different foster home or an orphanage. None of those options are appealing to them. Especially Ben. He really misses his foster parents; Logan and Maria.
They had tried calling Ben's foster parents but that high-pitched sound blotted out the call like it did with Ben's sheriff. So they've taken it as this Jo person is keeping them from getting in touch with Ben's life in North Dakota for some goddamn reason.
Krissy sees it as Jo reminding her of her promise to watch over Ben. Well, not exactly those words but before Jo took her phone and sucked her into that bright light, she told him she had a chance to help out Dean Winchester, and Krissy took it as taking care of Ben. A friggin' wannabe hunter. Of course the spawn of Dean Winchester would want to be a hunter. It seems to run in that family.
Ben came thundering down the stairs like a herd of elephants, hopping the last three steps and landing with a grace that he seems to have inherited from his mother because she's seen Dean do something similar like that, and he was not at all graceful like Ben.
"What's so funny?" he asked her.
Krissy wiped the amused smile off her face.
"What's the angel's name?"
"Castiel," Ben replied without hesitation.
She's been asking that question randomly to see if he'd remember and he always did. She'd say Dean's name and ask Ben his dad's name immediately after, and he'd come up blank. They've been checking to see if the spell or whatever magick that's on Ben has faded more, but nope. Nothing. It's starting to frustrate Ben the longer they do this.
"So, what's so funny?" Ben asked again. Krissy frowned. Of course that wouldn't deter him. "Come on, Krissy. I could use a laugh."
Krissy let out an explosive sigh. Lately, Ben's been getting touchy about his dad, and she's unsure telling him why she was smiling, because he could either smile bashfully (adorably) or he'd frown and walk away.
"Krissy?" Ben walked over and gently nudged her. "You okay?"
Why does he have to be so damn sweet? He must get that from his uncle. Dean's a little more gruff with this type of thing.
"I'm good." She shot him a smile that had Ben staring at her intently.
"Okay, then," Ben said, believing her for now. "Now, what was so funny?"
Here goes nothing. "I was thinking of your dad."
Since Krissy was watching Ben with just as intensity he gave her, she saw the flicker of surprise cross his face before he wiped it into a mask of polite curiosity.
"How so?"
"That move of you hopping down the stairs, I've seen you dad do something similar. Except when he did it, he wasn't as graceful," Krissy explained. She bit her lip and waited for Ben's reaction.
Ben grinned at her, taking another route that took her by surprise.
"You think I'm graceful, huh?" he asked with a playful leer. Krissy let out a bark of laughter and shoved him, making Ben chuckle.
Krissy turned away to hide her suddenly hot face. Her ears burned and her neck grew warm, and she knew the smile she's sporting on her face is goofy as fuck. It'd give her away if Ben saw. It may be kind of ick, but she cannot deny Ben is a good looking guy.
He looks like his dad, save for his eyes - she thinks they must be like his mom's or he's one of those genetice freaks who's eye color is different than his parents - with his uncle's disposition, and his mother's grace. With him looking like an almost carbon copy of his dad with his mom's eyes, he's like the hunter version of Harry Potter.
A giggle burst out of her before she could stop it, earning Ben's attention once more. She shook her head at him and got to packing up gear for their job tonight.
It's not a hunting job, oh no, they're robbing this real asshole who likes to flaunt his money to those less fortunate than him. The douchebag would walk around homeless congregations like bridges and parks, and drop measly dollar bills and change on the ground while he and his other rich douchebag friends sipped their iced coffees and lattes, watching them fight over the money. The winner would get a single five dollar bill.
Ben and Krissy saw them do this when they had no choice but to sleep in the park their first night in Colorado Springs. Ben had to hold her back because she was seconds away from tearing the guy's head off. Not that Ben didn't feel a similar wrath burning inside of him.
It was Krissy's idea to steal from him. It's the whole reason they're still in town after taking out a vampire nest. A small one made up of three, but still, a nest.
Ben had been particularly proud of himself for that one.
Krissy had been proud of him too. He took out a vamp all on his own, not needing her to save him. He even helped distract the last vamp so Krissy could dispatch it. She wonders if she should tell Ben his dad once took out an entire nest of over two dozen vamps all on his own. Granted, he'd been bitten at the time but still, that's impressive.
What's even more impressive is that Dean didn't give into the bloodlust. He got cured, obviously. He killed the vampire that bit him and took his blood. Only a fledgling that hadn't tasted human blood could be turned back to human.
She watched Ben grab the hospital gloves the pilfered from a free health clinic and stuff them in his backpack they stole from a local high school. Nah, she won't tell him that particular story yet.
They changed into some clothes they bought at a Good Will back in Seattle, all black, of course.
"Ready?" Krissy asked. Ben nodded. "Let's go then. We only have a few hours before the maid shows up to start getting the house ready for that asshole."
"But he's coming home tomorrow night. Why is she starting so damn early in the morning?" Ben whined.
Krissy grinned. "I dunno. Maybe the dude's a dick and he likes to make his help suffer by making them clean his house at asscrack in the morning just because he can. Let's face it, the dude has enough money to do such a dickheaded rich thing."
"Yeah, I guess," Ben agreed slowly. They have a short time window here, and there is a lot of things that can go wrong.
"Ready?"
Ben let out an explosive sigh. "I guess."
"Then let's go!" She clapped Ben on the shoulder, sliding her hand down his arm before encircling her hand around his wrist and tugged him along. Warmth blossomed on her ears and neck, making Krissy glad her equally warm face his hidden in the thankfully moonless night.
They rode the late night bus to their destination, the upper side of Colorado Springs, and the bus stop was five miles away. Of course the wouldn't have a bus stop near the richest area in town. Too much riff raff and rabblerousers around, it could lead to things being stolen, which, fair, because two rabblerousers are going to steal some very valuable things.
The guy's security was a joke, the dude relied on the gated community to keep his stuff safe. Ben and Krissy were able to pick the lock and disable the alarm system. Who makes the security code 00000? Dumbasses, that's who.
Ben grabbed everything that looked valuable while Krissy concerned herself with the seven safes she found in the hacked floor plans they stole from the dude's hilariously labeled "secure" internet system. The damn password was the dumbass's name: James McGrath. The router name: Whostheman. Ben had double facepalmed at that while Krissy giggled like a mad woman.
Krissy opened the first safe with ease, a tumbler lock that she could break blindfolded. She found documents that looked promising and stuffed them in her bag to sort through later. Rich people like him always have something hinky in their past that could damage them today.
The second safe had more documents with thick paper. Feels like they could be important. Into the backpack they go.
The third, fourth, fifth and sixth safes revealed thumbdrives, more documents (what does this guy do for a living?), and some DVDs that are giving her some trepidation. Rich douchebag like him, it could be anything on those DVDs, and more than likely they'll give her nightmares and she'd never feel clean again.
The final safe, located directly under his California King bed, which was a bitch to move, even with Ben's help, revealed some actual money and jewels. She found honest to god rubies and emeralds and diamonds. She felt like she was in an Indiana Jones movie or something.
Krissy shoved everything into her backpack and went to go meet up with Ben in the kitchen, where she found him making sandwiches. He offered her one of them with a smile.
Butterflies erupted in her stomach at the sight and she took the sandwich, immediately taking a bite to stop the answering smile on her face. It's pretty good. She let a groan at the taste and scarfed the rest of it down. Ben held out some fancy ass pop for her to drink. It tasted delicious. Very creamy. And bubbly. Is that a thing? Whatever. It's good.
"You put everything back to their original place?" she asked. Ben nodded, mouth full of his own sandwich. "Nothing to suggest we were here?" Ben shook his head. "Let's head out. Cracking those safes took longer than I thought."
Ben shoved the rest of his sandwich in his mouth and followed Krissy out the door, after she re-armed the security system and locked the door behind them. They got away without incident.
Once they were on the bus, Ben and Krissy immediately snuggled up to each other and started giggling and laughing to play up the facade of happy in love young couple. It had their bus driver smile at them when Ben caught his eye. Krissy giggled again and snuggled into his side, reveling slightly in having his arm around her, pulling her in closer.
A sense of safety surrounded her while she was tucked under his arm. She hadn't felt like this in a long, long time. Without thinking, Krissy tightened her grip on Ben's waist and basked in his warmth for the rest of the ride.
She must have dozed off because Ben gently shook her awake, grabbed her hand and grabbed her bag with his free hand. He led the way to their hideout, holding the window pane open for her to slip through, tossing the bags in after her, and hopped inside after checking to see if the coast was clear and that no one saw them go inside the house.
"Bed," Ben ordered when she made to grab her bag. Krissy whined at him but did as told.
She kicked off her shoes, slipped off her sweater and pants, forgetting Ben followed her, and didn't hear the sharp intake of breath behind her. She flopped down on the nest of stolen blankets, letting out a jaw-popping yawn as she burrowed into the blankets. She felt something heavy land on top of her, she poked her head out to see that Ben had deposited some of his blankets on top of her and she also saw that he had folded her clothes and laid them next to her.
More warmth pooled in her stomach and chest at the sight.
He's very sweet, was the last thought she had before sleep consumed her.
BW
Ben stayed up through the night, sifting through all the papers that Krissy had found in the seven safes. They're mostly legal documents, a few love letters that Ben hopes are from legal age people, and some printed emails that appeared to be blackmail material. Great. Man of the Year, James McGrath is.
They can't check the thumb drives yet. No computer. They'll have to use the computers in the public library to see what's on them.
Krissy found the good stuff. Ben only bagged the small, shiny bobbles that could fit without making him feel like he's carrying a grown man on his back. He has no idea what those little baubles are worth, and they didn't want to get ripped off too much. They needed travel money.
It's really hard to be teenage hunters. Krissy is still teaching him how to grift, pick pocket, and to hustle at pool and darts. He's surprisingly good at hustling pool. The others? Not so much.
They managed to steal some phones from a pawn shop while the owner was distracted by a large sale. Krissy and Ben waited for hours at a Walmart, waiting for someone to buy the phone card they needed for minutes, and the huntress pick pocketed the cards. With their phones activated, they split up to hustle some food. Krissy, of course, was the main provider but Ben managed to wheedle some day old bread from a baker for free.
Good to know there are still some decent people out there.
He should work on his letter he's composing for the Sheriff and Claire. Alex, too. He thinks he can at least send that, to let them know he's okay and no longer held hostage by a ghost.
Krissy thinks he's stupid for still trying to get in contact with the Sheriff but Ben has to at least try. The Sheriff took care of him, taught him, and most importantly, she was his tie to his dad. The only person Ben knew who didn't hate his dad or think him a monster like Claire and Alex.
Has his dad got in touch with the Sheriff yet? Is his dad now looking for him?
Hope and anger swelled within him. The anger's new. This past month, it's been like every mention of his father is amixed of happiness and an ache of betrayal. It's new and he doesn't like it.
Before, he used to get so damn happy, and he used to defend his dad's actions for taking his memory away but now - now Ben is having a hard time doing that. But the only thing that hasn't been shaken is his belief that his dad is a hero. That will never change. It's just . . . Ben's so tired of missing him. Of missing his memories. He can't even remember his uncle. They're all he has left in this world and he can't even picture their faces.
The Sheriff, Claire, Alex and Krissy, they know his dad. They have memories of his dad. They know him, and it's just. Not. Fair.
"Castiel," Ben whispered spitefully. He can remember that stupid ass angel's name but not his dad's. Why? Why the angel? Why only his name? "Castiel, you son of a bitch, why can I only remember your name and not my dad's? Riddle me that, angel boy."
Angels can hear you when you say their name, right?
His mom wasn't particularly religious and he has a feeling his dad wasn't either, so his knowledge of angels is pretty much nil. He hasn't worked up the courage to ask Krissy about that yet.
Aaaaand the angel hasn't turned up yet. Apparently, angels can't hear you call for them. Damn.
"Ben," Krissy called sleepily, "wuz'rong."
Ben shook his head to clear it. "Nothing. Talking to myself."
"mkay," came the slurred reply.
He waited a few minutes to let Krissy drift back to sleep, feeling guilty about waking her, they've had a long day. The sky is turning bright and birds are already singing the song of their people at an annoyingly loud pitch. His eyes burned from a lack of sleep but ever since his nightmare that had him shredding his vocal chords, and his time with Jo, he's honestly terrified to sleep now.
Nothing good seems to happen from going to sleep.
Nothing.
BW
Claire woke up with a start, she could barely hear anything over the blood rushing through her ears. Her heart thudded painfully against her chest as the lingering nightmare slowly faded away. In her dream, she was looking for Ben at a barn like the one she found her mother in, and she found him tied up on the bed. As she ran forward to untie the boy, her mother and father were lying on either side of him.
Castiel appeared beside her and told her she can only save one.
"That's not fair!" she screamed at him but Castiel merely waited for her to choose. He was standing right in front of Ben with his head tilted consideringly at the baby Winchester.
"He looks just like his father," the angel commented in an odd voice. "Save him. He has more to offer to this world than your parents ever will."
Anger ran through her as she chose her father to save just to spite Castiel. The angel's face became sorrowful as he grabbed Jimmy off the cot and pulled them both away from the beds. Claire couldn't figure out why until flames started to erupt around her mother's and Ben's beds. Their agonized screams assaulted her ears and no matter how much she yelled she changed her mind and wanted to save Ben instead, Castiel would only stare at Ben's burning body.
"I told you to save him," he said, and vanished. Probably back to Dean, the only person that damned angel seems to care about.
Ben was the last one to die. Him screaming her name is what had her shooting up in bed.
With shaking hands, Claire tried to grab her phone. On her third try she managed to pick it up. She entered her pin to unlock it and her homescreen revealed a selfie of her and Ben, on one of their good days where they didn't fight. They were cheesing real hard at the camera, and if you look closely, you can see Jody and Alex laughing in the background.
She opened her gallery folder and looked through all the photos she had of Ben. There was a surprising amount of them.
If Claire was in an honest mood, which she currently is, she knows why there are a lot of pictures of Ben on her phone, it's because she considers him her best friend. A real friend, too. Not someone who used her for their own purposes. Ben's different, better.
She misses her friend.
Does he miss her too?