Orders of an Elder Time, 8/?
Title: Orders of an Elder Time, 8/?
Verse: The Libation Bearers
Fandom: Supernatural
Author: reading_is_in
Characters: Ben/Adam, Bobby.
Genre: Drama
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: All recognized characters from ‘Supernatural’ are property of Eric Kripke/CW. This fan fiction is not for profit.
Summary: Follows Events in Sun and Shadows. The year is 2019. Adam and Ben are making some kind of life together. But the demon, to coin a phrase, is still out there, and Ben's dreams start to take a strange turn.
Warnings: Major characters...are dead, violence, more angst than you can shake a very angsty stick at.
The demon snarled and jerked towards the shattered window, sparing a glance for the bullet-hole in its chest. The wound was smoking with the damage from the silver. It cursed as a second bullet followed the first, this one thudding into the body's shoulder, and Ben realized he ought to be doing something -
"Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus
omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursion-"
Then his mouth closed abruptly, breath stolen as the demon jerked a hand out towards him. The air whined with the sound of a feedback loop as Adam’s voice took over through the amplification of a megaphone.
"Infernalis adversarii, omnis legio,
omnis congregatio et secta diabolica."
The noise sent jerks of agony through Ben’s head, but on the plus side it seemed to be having the same effect on the demon. It jerked and struggled to remain in the body, Adam kicked out the rest of the window and climbed in. A dark bruise marred the right side of his face and there was blood on his shirt - his or someone else’s, it wasn’t obvious. He made straight for the body of the fallen demon and extracted Ben’s knife from its belt. Unable to deal with two fronts of resistance, the demon had released Ben’s vocal chords, and he was able to go on with ritual long enough to keep the demon struggling as Adam moved in quickly and with one strike, stabbed it in the chest.
Adam darted back. The demon’s entire being seemed to flicker and shudder. Its eyes flashed and its body jerked as it screamed. Light flickered up from inside it, illuminating the body, and the lights in the warehouse flickered in sympathy. It turned to Ben with a last, vicious look in its eyes, as though it would have said something, and then collapsed.
The warehouse sputtered into darkness.
Adam didn’t say anything. He was already busy untying Ben’s wrists and ankles, one hand going instinctively to the back of his head as though he wanted to touch but restraining himself. Rather than thanking him - or berating him for taking the kill that Ben had been waiting for - Ben lurched forwards as soon as his wrists were free and puked all over his shirt.
* * *
Adam suggested a hospital twice, which was one time more than they usually tried to direct each other. Ben said no in the warehouse and no again in the car. Adam dropped it.
The unfortunate people the demons had ridden were completely, categorically dead. There was no regret in Adam’s eyes as he checked over the body he had shot and stabbed. They drove in silence for a little while. Ben felt numb, blanker than he had since the night that demon had taken his family. Family. Literal family. Maybe. Demons lie. But they also tell the truth sometimes.
“Stay awake Ben,” said Adam worriedly.
“I am awake.”
“We uh...have to get out of the state I think. the motel’s kind of ruined. Our faces will probably be on the news soon...most of the people were dead. I guess that means we can’t go back to Indiana,” Adam said as though just realizing it. “I’m sorry.”
“No more reason to come back here,” Ben said.
“Should I...um..I didn’t know if there was time to get the knife to you, and uh, get you untied. Or if you were capable - I mean well enough. I had to kill it.”
“Yeah. Th - thank you.”
“I don’t know if you should be thanking me.”
“You saved my life. Again. You keep doing that.”
“Well you are sort of my boyfriend,” Adam smirked.
“How did you...?” They weren’t going to get into ‘I’m so glad you’re alive’. It was given. Ben wasn’t about to consider the possibility of Adam dying until and unless it happened in his lifetime. He just - wasn’t.
“Wasn’t hard,” Adam shrugged with his hands on the steering wheel. “I guess they assigned me the loser demon. Found the megaphone with some kid’s cheerleading equiptment...I’ve seen them come in handy before with demons.”
“What was your plan before you found it?”
“I...didn’t have one. Just - find you.” Adam paused. “We should stop. As soon as we get across the state border. We need to get you looked at....I could call Bobby and ask if there’s anyone in the area who could take a look at your head...”
Ben couldn’t help but bark with laughter. Take a look at his head. Yeah, he needed that.
“He’ll want to know we’re safe anyway.”
Ben said nothing. They pulled up at their usual class of motel - one step above rat infested. Adam pulled off his blood-and-puke-stained shirt and put his jacket back on before booking them a room and coming back to help Ben from the car. Ben wanted to push him off, but didn’t trust his knees enough to hold him. The room was blank and suited his mood - blank walls, dull blank sheets, a hard chair with no cushions and a broken TV set showing nothing. Adam wanted to clean out the wound at the back of Ben’s skull, give him painkillers, make him sit down but not lie down so he didn’t fall asleep. His fingers felt cold on Ben’s skin. Ben wondered if there was such a relational category as half-uncle.
“Are you angry with me?” Adam asked, finally, sounding younger and more unsure than Ben had ever heard him.
“No,” said Ben without even thinking. He just - wasn’t. Maybe he hadn’t done what he was supposed to do. What he would have done, what Bobby expected of him. But the demon was dead. And his family was dead. And that chapter could be closed. Except it couldn’t.
“Have you ever known anyone who committed incest?”
They were lying on the bed, side by side. Or, Ben was lying, on his stomach with his head turned to the side because it took the pressure of his head and spine. He could feel every bruise down his back, but distantly, as thought it belonged to someone else. Adam was sitting propped against the headboard, pretending to read.
“What?” he asked.
“Have you ever known anyone who committed incest?" Ben repeated: "As in, sex with a family member? You were in love with Sam but you said you’d never do anything. Ever know anyone who did it?”
“How do you kill a djinn?”
“This isn’t a concussion thing. I just want to know.”
“No I haven’t,” Adam looked at him uneasily. “Why?”
“No reason.” Ben closed his eyes.
“Don’t go to sleep yet.”
“I’m not asleep.”
“Hey....let’s take a holiday when we get home. It’s over. We killed it. We should celebrate, yeah? When you feel like it?”
“Okay, sure.”
Adam closed his book and slid down the bed, kissed Ben’s lips and put a hand on his jaw. Ben didn’t resist or respond. Adam sat back up.
“I really should call Bobby,” he said, and went to find his phone.
Part Nine
Verse: The Libation Bearers
Fandom: Supernatural
Author: reading_is_in
Characters: Ben/Adam, Bobby.
Genre: Drama
Rating: PG-13
Disclaimer: All recognized characters from ‘Supernatural’ are property of Eric Kripke/CW. This fan fiction is not for profit.
Summary: Follows Events in Sun and Shadows. The year is 2019. Adam and Ben are making some kind of life together. But the demon, to coin a phrase, is still out there, and Ben's dreams start to take a strange turn.
Warnings: Major characters...are dead, violence, more angst than you can shake a very angsty stick at.
The demon snarled and jerked towards the shattered window, sparing a glance for the bullet-hole in its chest. The wound was smoking with the damage from the silver. It cursed as a second bullet followed the first, this one thudding into the body's shoulder, and Ben realized he ought to be doing something -
"Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus
omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursion-"
Then his mouth closed abruptly, breath stolen as the demon jerked a hand out towards him. The air whined with the sound of a feedback loop as Adam’s voice took over through the amplification of a megaphone.
"Infernalis adversarii, omnis legio,
omnis congregatio et secta diabolica."
The noise sent jerks of agony through Ben’s head, but on the plus side it seemed to be having the same effect on the demon. It jerked and struggled to remain in the body, Adam kicked out the rest of the window and climbed in. A dark bruise marred the right side of his face and there was blood on his shirt - his or someone else’s, it wasn’t obvious. He made straight for the body of the fallen demon and extracted Ben’s knife from its belt. Unable to deal with two fronts of resistance, the demon had released Ben’s vocal chords, and he was able to go on with ritual long enough to keep the demon struggling as Adam moved in quickly and with one strike, stabbed it in the chest.
Adam darted back. The demon’s entire being seemed to flicker and shudder. Its eyes flashed and its body jerked as it screamed. Light flickered up from inside it, illuminating the body, and the lights in the warehouse flickered in sympathy. It turned to Ben with a last, vicious look in its eyes, as though it would have said something, and then collapsed.
The warehouse sputtered into darkness.
Adam didn’t say anything. He was already busy untying Ben’s wrists and ankles, one hand going instinctively to the back of his head as though he wanted to touch but restraining himself. Rather than thanking him - or berating him for taking the kill that Ben had been waiting for - Ben lurched forwards as soon as his wrists were free and puked all over his shirt.
* * *
Adam suggested a hospital twice, which was one time more than they usually tried to direct each other. Ben said no in the warehouse and no again in the car. Adam dropped it.
The unfortunate people the demons had ridden were completely, categorically dead. There was no regret in Adam’s eyes as he checked over the body he had shot and stabbed. They drove in silence for a little while. Ben felt numb, blanker than he had since the night that demon had taken his family. Family. Literal family. Maybe. Demons lie. But they also tell the truth sometimes.
“Stay awake Ben,” said Adam worriedly.
“I am awake.”
“We uh...have to get out of the state I think. the motel’s kind of ruined. Our faces will probably be on the news soon...most of the people were dead. I guess that means we can’t go back to Indiana,” Adam said as though just realizing it. “I’m sorry.”
“No more reason to come back here,” Ben said.
“Should I...um..I didn’t know if there was time to get the knife to you, and uh, get you untied. Or if you were capable - I mean well enough. I had to kill it.”
“Yeah. Th - thank you.”
“I don’t know if you should be thanking me.”
“You saved my life. Again. You keep doing that.”
“Well you are sort of my boyfriend,” Adam smirked.
“How did you...?” They weren’t going to get into ‘I’m so glad you’re alive’. It was given. Ben wasn’t about to consider the possibility of Adam dying until and unless it happened in his lifetime. He just - wasn’t.
“Wasn’t hard,” Adam shrugged with his hands on the steering wheel. “I guess they assigned me the loser demon. Found the megaphone with some kid’s cheerleading equiptment...I’ve seen them come in handy before with demons.”
“What was your plan before you found it?”
“I...didn’t have one. Just - find you.” Adam paused. “We should stop. As soon as we get across the state border. We need to get you looked at....I could call Bobby and ask if there’s anyone in the area who could take a look at your head...”
Ben couldn’t help but bark with laughter. Take a look at his head. Yeah, he needed that.
“He’ll want to know we’re safe anyway.”
Ben said nothing. They pulled up at their usual class of motel - one step above rat infested. Adam pulled off his blood-and-puke-stained shirt and put his jacket back on before booking them a room and coming back to help Ben from the car. Ben wanted to push him off, but didn’t trust his knees enough to hold him. The room was blank and suited his mood - blank walls, dull blank sheets, a hard chair with no cushions and a broken TV set showing nothing. Adam wanted to clean out the wound at the back of Ben’s skull, give him painkillers, make him sit down but not lie down so he didn’t fall asleep. His fingers felt cold on Ben’s skin. Ben wondered if there was such a relational category as half-uncle.
“Are you angry with me?” Adam asked, finally, sounding younger and more unsure than Ben had ever heard him.
“No,” said Ben without even thinking. He just - wasn’t. Maybe he hadn’t done what he was supposed to do. What he would have done, what Bobby expected of him. But the demon was dead. And his family was dead. And that chapter could be closed. Except it couldn’t.
“Have you ever known anyone who committed incest?”
They were lying on the bed, side by side. Or, Ben was lying, on his stomach with his head turned to the side because it took the pressure of his head and spine. He could feel every bruise down his back, but distantly, as thought it belonged to someone else. Adam was sitting propped against the headboard, pretending to read.
“What?” he asked.
“Have you ever known anyone who committed incest?" Ben repeated: "As in, sex with a family member? You were in love with Sam but you said you’d never do anything. Ever know anyone who did it?”
“How do you kill a djinn?”
“This isn’t a concussion thing. I just want to know.”
“No I haven’t,” Adam looked at him uneasily. “Why?”
“No reason.” Ben closed his eyes.
“Don’t go to sleep yet.”
“I’m not asleep.”
“Hey....let’s take a holiday when we get home. It’s over. We killed it. We should celebrate, yeah? When you feel like it?”
“Okay, sure.”
Adam closed his book and slid down the bed, kissed Ben’s lips and put a hand on his jaw. Ben didn’t resist or respond. Adam sat back up.
“I really should call Bobby,” he said, and went to find his phone.
Part Nine