Ben is not a happy camper right now. The cockamamie plan they came up with to cage Amara blew up in their faces. None of them took into account that Amara might have more power than they did, and now as a result, God is dying, and the sky is red because Amara is eating the sun. No. It's not a metaphor. She is literally eating the sun; draining it bit by bit, consuming its power.
His dad is on a mission to get drunk and taking Castiel with him, Crowley likes their idea but he's drinking on his own, and God and Rowena are sharing tea and stories of their kids. Ben's life can't get anymore bizarre.
Dad grabbed Ben by the arm and dragged him along with Castiel on a beer run. Listening to his dad and Castiel talk reminds Ben of old times with his parents. A part of him wants to laugh at his father finding him a second dad but another part is scared. He doesn't want to die. He doesn't like that his dad seemingly has given up. Ben can't offer any solutions because he is so out of his depth with everything going on. He bets not even Krissy could come up with anything that'll fix things.
So, a beer run to get drunk before the world ends sounds a good a mission as any. His first beer with his dad. At least he gets one rite of passage before he dies, he thinks glumly.
He listened to his dad as he told the angel that he's their brother had Ben stifling a snort. Castiel may be Sam's brother but he is so much more to Dean. Not that he thinks his dad and Castiel are in a relationship but he does think they have a much deeper bond than brotherly affection. They might be soulmates. Platonic soulmates or something. Whatever. The point is having his dad call Castiel brother feels weak, hollow, like it's not enough.
Sam's call has them racing back to the Bunker to hear that Sam's solution to saving the sun is to kill Amara. With God dying, the only way to balance out the Universe is to kill Amara, the Darkness. Sound logic but how the hell do they do that? They couldn't even cage her up.
"The Darkness might have a weakness," God says hesitatingly, after listening to the Winchesters pontificate. "Light."
"He tells us now," Crowley says sarcastically, taking a swig of the bottle.
"I just wanted to trap her, not murder her," God shot back. He took the bottle Crowley had been nursing and sat down in a leather chair.
"What kind of light?" Sam asked, leaning forward.
God laughed humorlessly. "I don't know. Ten thousand suns, set to supernova." He cradled the bottle and looked far more exhausted than he did a second ago.
"Well, you're God, can't you just god them up?" his dad asked.
"Look at me, I'm not exactly at my greatest," God retorted. "I'm weak."
Ben winced. The scared part of him growing incrementally. He wants to walk over and grab his dad's hand like he would if he were a kid and seek comfort and strength but since he's 17, it'd look weird. He moved closer to his dad and got a hand to the shoulder which sufficed.
Rowena and Crowly had no solution then Castiel spoke up, "What about souls? They fuel demons deals. They're living batteries. They're full of energy, full of light. Each one is as powerful as," he broke off in thought then finished, "a hundred suns."
"He's not wrong," Rowena said, looking hopeful. It was a jolt to everyone's systems. "You get me enough souls. I can build a bomb."
"Will that do the trick?" his dad asked God, who shrugged and said, "Maybe."
Good enough.
Castiel went off to Heaven to ask them if they had any souls they could spare, while his dad said they could go collect souls of ghosts at the Waverly Hills Sanatorium where thousands died. Crowley said he'd go raid Hell but he didn't look like convinced this plan will work. Ben didn't blame him but like he said before, he doesn't want to die.
"I'm coming with you," Ben stated when his dad and uncle started to gather things they'll need. They stopped and stared at him, Rowena and God studiously looking anywhere but at them. "You need my help. You said it yourself, thousands died there. I can help."
Dad frowned, having an internal debate with himself while his uncle slipped out of the room, knowing this his between Ben and his dad. Rowena and God followed suit.
"I don't know," Dad started.
"I can hunt a ghost," Ben cut in. "I can. It was the first thing I hunted. You're not leaving me behind again. If this is the last day, I want to spend it with you."
Chest heaving and the most stubborn look on his son's face had Dean internally smiling. God, he looks like Lisa, and the familiar pang hits but it's not as bittersweet as it used to be. He's starting to see more of himself in Ben. He's not sure how he feels about this realization but a weight lifts off his chest. His son can take care of himself.
"You will stay close," Dean told him. "You will do as I say and you will not argue with me at any point, understand?" Ben nodded. "Good. Now go track down Sam and let him know you're coming."
Ben nodded again and took off after his uncle.
Sam is holding out a sawed-off for Ben to take, a smile on his face, and Ben grinned back.
"Knew he'd let you come," he said.
Sam handed Ben some ammo, watched Ben intently as he loaded up the shot gun, and Ben felt his nerves ramp up and his fingers fumble slightly but he had to prove he can do this. No screw ups.
Successfully loading the ammo without setting the gun off or getting his fingers caught when he snapped the barrel back, Ben grinned at his uncle, seeking approval and almost crowed when he got it. A nod, and Ben felt like he was on cloud nine. He can do this, dammit. He can.
The ride to Waverly Hills is not as long as Ben wanted it to be.
Dad keeps him firmly in the middle of him and Sam, and they hadn't even started any thing yet. So far all they've done is grab their guns and a bag out of the trunk and stare at the fairly creepy place. Sam didn't say how thousands died here and Ben's not all too sure he wants to know, to be honest. The place is putting off some serious Do-Not-Enter-or-You'll-Die vibes.
I can do this, Ben repeats to himself.
The plan is them to capture as many ghosts as they can for Rowena's soul bomb, which sounds badass and a little terrifying, but if they can capture enough Amara will hopefully be toast. 'Hopefully' being the operative word there.
"Gotta catch 'em all," Ben says, earning confused looks from his dad and uncle. Rolling his eyes, Ben despairs slightly at their alarming lack of pop culture. Pokemon, they should know Pokemon. It was a big thing back in the day, even if they were teenagers or young adults, they should get the reference. They know Scooby-Doo though, so, there's that.
But everyone knows Scooby-Doo. He's a pop culture legend and Icon. Scooby and the Gang. The Mystery Machine. Hell, they probably know Scrappy Doo, too.
"I wanna watch Scooby-Doo later," announced Ben. "After Amara."
Dad and Sam grinned at each other then nodded at Ben.
"Sounds good to me, kid," Dad said, a large smile on his face. His dad then took on Rowena's accent and parroted what she told them. "It's the Book of the Damned spell, boyos. Take this wee crystal. It'll suck all the blimey ghosts. Just say the magic word."
Sam gave dad a Look, and his dad shrugged it off. He looked over at Ben and shook his head despairingly. Ben bit back a grin. He likes seeing his dad like this.
They walked into the derelict building, Sam's EMF reader going off like it's New Year's Eve. His dad chuckled, an excited smile on his face. He nudged Ben until Ben grinned back, and started letting himself enjoy his first hunt with his dad and uncle.
Sam chose a large room with only one entrance and started salting the border, leaving the entrance open for the ghosts to funnel through, and put some salt in one of those one things that you pull down like a curtain, then rolled it back up. Ben wanted to ask why they did that but figured he'd find out soon enough.
"Get your Casper asses out here!" his dad bellowed in annoyance when Sam asked where the ghosts were. They had seen a couple upon entering the building but nothing since. Sam grabbed a shot gun and said he'll go piss some off.
Ben watched him go before turning to his dad.
"Go with him," Dad ordered.
Nodding, Ben grabbed his own shot gun and jogged after his freakishly tall uncle with freakishly long legs. Sam smiled at him.
"Ready?"
"You have no idea."
The second they were far enough away from the room, ghosts started popping up, Ben and Sam taking them out easily. They slowly started backing up to where they left Dean, systematically firing rock salt at the ghosts that are coming in droves. Instead of feeling fear or panic, Ben had the biggest smile on his face. He's hunting with Dad and Sam. This. Is. Awesome!
Dad waited until Ben and Sam were safely in the middle of the room, ghosts surrounding them before firing at the curtain thingy, letting it drop the rest of rock salt to trap the ghosts. He made sure Ben is doing okay then dug into the duffel to grab the crystal.
Ben fired round after round at the ghosts. They just keep coming. He'd be panicking real good right now if he wasn't so damn confident his dad would pull it off.
The sound of his dad grunting pulled Ben's attention away from the ghosts to see his dad being thrown backward, the crystal flying across the room. Fear paralyzed Ben for a second then training from Jody and Krissy kicked in. He turned and fired at the ghost threatening his father, anger welling up at this thing daring to hurt his dad.
Dad scrambled up and dove for the crystal. Sam fired away calmly and efficiently, never once stopping until the ghost that threatened his dad appeared in front of him and knocked his shot gun out of his hands then gripped Sam by the throat, choking him.
"Dean, say the spell," Sam choked out.
Ben pivoted and shot the ghost again. His uncle dropped to the ground in a heap. Ben kept firing away until his gun clicked empty.
"Dad!"
"Haggis!" Dad yelled, throwing the crystal into the air then a purple light filled the room as the ghosts were sucked into the crystal.
With shaking hands, Ben took a deep breath to keep from freaking out. Fun, yes, but still scary as fuck. Seeing his dad and uncle at the mercy of the same ghost scared him more than he cared to admit, and he knows the worst is yet to come. They still got to figure out how to turn the crystal into weapon form to use against Amara.
Dean went immediately to check on Ben, noticing but choosing not to comment on it. Adrenaline rush is what Dean comes up with and that's completely understandable.
Hearing Ben call his name in fear, god, he doesn't want to hear that again. Not for a long, long time. Preferably never but that's not in the cards.
"You okay, Sammy?" Dean asked, still checking Ben over, and Sam sent him a tired thumbs up. He pulled Ben in for a hug, pressing a kiss to his son's temple. "We're okay," he tells Ben. His son relaxes into his hold. Dean held him for another couple of seconds, letting Ben get his emotions back under control. His dad did that for him when he took Dean hunting for the first time, and did the same thing for Sam.
"Good to go?" he asked Ben.
"I'm good," Ben assured him. His hands are still shaking but not as badly as before. He's okay.
Dad smiled at him and clapped him on the back. "That's my boy."
Blushing and beaming, Ben practically skipped out of the sanatorium on cloud nine. He hunted with his dad and uncle, held his own, and got the biggest praise he could ever want all in one day. Yeah, today is awesome.
BW
Help from Heaven and Hell is a bust. Angels too scared and pessimistic to help and Hell brought about their own ruin by being greedy and self-serving. Otherwise, Crowley had said, they would have had the souls they needed to take out Amara.
Ben's fear made a reappearance in his stomach. He inched closer to his dad.
Defeat and frustration permeated the atmosphere in the Bunker. They are so damn close to having a viable weapon and it's just out of reach. Ben sat next to Rowena and God on the steps that lead up from the war room into the library and pulled his knees in close, wrapping his arms around them. His dad kept reaching out to lay a hand on either Ben's head or arm, like he was reaffirming Ben's still here and unharmed.
The lights in the Bunker went red and his dad immediately placed himself in front of Ben, gun drawn and pointed towards the front door. Ben stood up. He'll be ready to either fight or run like hell a lot easier on his feet instead of on his butt.
The front door opened and a beautiful dark woman that had Ben's jaw dropping in awe stepped onto the stairs. She looked down at his dad and uncle with a smirk and said, "Nice digs."
"Billie?" Sam said incredulously.
"Who's Billie?" Rowena asked, and Dad replied, "Reaper."
"What are you doing here?" Sam demanded, putting his gun away.
Dad looked like he wanted to shoot her then placed his gun on the map table, scrubbing his face. The little kid in Ben wanted to hug his dad until he felt better but the teen, damn near adult Ben, felt awkward at seeing his dad look so tired.
These emotions, man. Pick a speed already and leave Ben alone.
Billie the Reaper, and doesn't that sound like an awesome stage name, said she'd seen them at Waverly Hills and wanted to know what it is they're doing with the ghosts, and when Dean demanded to know why, she answered, it's her job. Which, yeah. Reaper. Ghosts. It's totally her thing.
"We're collecting souls to build a bomb," answered Sam.
"To blow the Darkness to hell," added Dad, and Billie nodded like that was a totally logical action.
"Okay," Billie said, and Ben is right. She thinks it's a good, or as good as they can get, idea.
"What's that mean 'okay'?" Sam asked. Suspicion, thy name is Sam Winchester. Shut up, uncle. They might have an ally that has access to a shit-load of souls, Ben thought furiously.
"It means, the way things are going, I'm about an hour away from reaping God himself," came the slightly snarky reply.
"So," Castiel rumbled slowly, "you're here to help us?"
Billie smirked. "Little tip, you want souls, call a reaper."
And wow, Ben might just be a little bit in love with a reaper. Billie turned to Ben and winked at him, and, oh, my god, did she just read his mind? Mortified, Ben ducked his hand and sat back down next to Rowena, burying his face into his knees. He can feel the heat from his blush through his jeans.
Sam lead everyone into the library, Dad reaching down and pulling Ben up and tugging him along. The jerk has an amused smirk on his face.
Rowena handed the crystal to Billie who held it up in the palm of her hand and summoned souls to it. Blue light sparked and souls started appearing and going into the crystal. They filled the room with their bright light and once they were all inside the crystal, it glowed brightly.
"How many souls are in there?" asked Castiel, awe in his voice.
"A couple hundred ...thousand," Billie replied smugly. "I told you, souls are my thing." She handed the crystal back to Rowena, and asked, "We good."
"Very." Rowena took the crystal back with reverence and a tinge of hope. They can do this.
Ben wanted to jump for joy. This can finally end. Billie departed with a swing in her step, and she should. She just saved everyone's bacon.
"So, we have the bomb, where do we find Amara?" Sam asked the room.
Grunting, God relaxed into a chair. "I can track. She's not warded anymore. Why would she? She won."
Ben reached out without thinking and placed a comforting hand on God's shoulder, which felt a little weird, admittingly, to be comforting God, but the Creator-of-All merely nodded and smiled in thanks. Ben nodded back and kept his hand there.
"We need to get it close to her," Castiel said, putting his hands in his pocket. "Someone with a," he paused slightly, and it had Ben's fear spiking again, "personal connection." And there it is.
"No," is all Ben said. He tightened his grip on God's shoulder without thinking. Absolutely not. Nuh-uh. Not gonna happen. Anger surged when everyone looked at his dad, ignoring Ben's outburst.
His dad looked around at everyone, except at Ben, and bit his lip before slumping his shoulders in resignation. He's the only one who can get close enough without Amara killing them on sight. In his peripheral, he saw his son's clenched fist, and knew he'd do it if it'd keep his son safe. He'd do anything to ensure Ben's safety. His son will have a long life.
"Well, what are we waiting for?" Dean said with a hollow smile.