The Family Business

Faulty Airbags

Ben imagined how he was going to die quite a few times. Arms tied above his head as he hangs from a hook dangling from the ceiling in a dirty warehouse? nope, not one of them.

He had woken up last light with a headache. Considering he wasn't sure where Dean and Sam kept the aspirin, he opted to go outside and see if a little fresh air would help. The Kansas sky was a deep purple filled with thousands of twinkling stars. The moon was half-full and shone brightly.

Ben hadn't been outside long before he felt the tip of a gun pressed between his shoulder blades.

"Keep quiet and keep walking," a male voice from behind him said.

Ben smirked and twisted around quickly to disarm the man. The man apparently anticipated this because he stepped back and rolled his eyes then smashed the butt of his gun against Ben's temple. The move knocked Ben out cold.

When he awoke, he was already dangling from the hook. His minor headache was now a sharp throb and he could feel blood drying along the side of his face. His bare feet barely brushed the floor.

Ben's eyes scanned the area. A few men in dark suits were standing guard near him. The man who knocked him out approached them from out of the darkness. He said something quietly and the guards left.

"Good morning!" he said.

"Who are you? where am I?" Ben asked.

"Oh!" the man said then lightly smacked himself upside the head. "Where are my manners? My name is Lucifer, and you are?"

Lucifer.

Ben narrowed his eyes at him. He's heard stories about this man, well Archangel. He's spent the last few years going toe to toe with Ben's family. He was Jack's biological father too. Wasn't he supposed to be locked in another dimension?

"You know," Lucifer began as he walked towards Ben. "I heard rumors Dean Winchester had reproduced. That the boy was one heck of a hunter too. Considering I was able to knock you out with one hit, I find that hard to believe. Not much like Dean-o are you."

Ben spat in Lucifers face as soon as he got close enough. Lucifer growled and snatched Ben's jaw in his grasp and snarled as he squeezed it. Ben kept the glare in his eyes refusing to show the other man any signs of weakness. Ben watched as his eyes flashed red as if they were burning his irises. It was that moment he knew he wasn't getting out of this alive.

Lucifer let go of Ben's jaw then backhanded him hard enough to make Ben swing and his bottom lip bleed.

"You're just like your father," Lucifer snapped. "Never knowing when to keep your mouth shut."

Ben wiggled his jaw checking to see if it was broken or dislocated, thankfully just very sore.

"Dean should have kept a better watch on you," Lucifer continued. "Just like I should have kept a better watch on my boy. Do you have any kids? I suspect you don't as you appear young. But you never know with today's youth. I'm mean Tide pods?"

Lucifer shook his head as he continued, "You see I was being held captive for most of Jack's gestational period. Then was tossed into another dimension. That was interesting, meeting an alternate ego of the brother you grew up with was an eye-opener. When the rumor reached Michael that Jack was in that dimension too, I was elated. Giddy even. Took a walk to get my excitement under control."

Lucifer's eyes flashed with anger as he growled out, "Then I tripped and fell into a slice in the fabric of time and ended up back here. Once again separated from him!"

Ben rolled his eyes and laughed he knew he needed to keep Lucifer talking. Keep him angry, it might not bode well for his physical form but if he's anything like what he had come up against in the past, Lucifer will slip up.