Purgatory

Repressive's anonymous

It was a long drive to Wisconsin, and they were only on their first few hours. The car had been a new addition, and Artemis had disposed of the credit card he used to buy it. It was second hand, but it was nice.

That amount of money might be noticed by the bank. He was in the passenger seat, head resting against the window. The window was cold compared to the heated air in the car. The world was dark outside, a small sliver of the moon visible.

He'd fallen asleep once in the back and then woken up screaming. He'd been sitting in the front for an hour, trying not to fall asleep again.

Benny spoke up, "We need to talk about this."

"Yeah?" Artemis said, no inflection on the words

"Yeah." The steady hum of the car filled the silence, "Look, I think you're going too fast. A few days ago you were- You were almost raped in an ally."

Artemis started, "That wasn't- it wasn't that. He was pushy, sure but...."

Not-Alastair snickered in the back, "I mean, you were asking for it kiddo."

Benny stared ahead, calm, "You're just too used to it. To all of it, to pain, to people using you."

Artemis didn't have anything to say to that.

"How old are you?"

Artemis shrugged, "Including Hell, Twenty seven."

"Yeah, no offence, I'm not gonna count years of you being tortured in Hell as growing up. Excluding that, how old are you?"

Artemis shrugged, shrinking into himself, "I should be sixteen by now." He hadn't thought about that for a while, his age. He hadn't thought about himself as a whole person in a while.

Benny looked at him pleadingly, "Artemis, a sixteen year old shouldn't be making excuses for people double your age, torturing you. That shouldn't be your first concern."

He sounded young when he spoke next. He hated it. "I don't know why I'm like this. I just don't know. Everything you're saying makes sense, but... I don't know what's wrong with me." He dug his fingernails into his palm, fighting down the wave of anger towards himself.

The older man said nothing for a good moment, "It ain't not your fault. You're too young for all this shit anyway."

"Hmm." Was all he said.

Benny took one hand off the steering wheel, and wrapped an arm around Artemis's shoulder and pulled him into his side. The seats were separate and something jabbed his side as he leaned into Benny but it was worth it, he relaxed somewhat, something in his chest feeling warm. He was okay. This was okay.

---------------------------------------------------------

It took them four days to get to Wisconsin, using the bank account Artemis had opened. Now it was eight o'clock at night and he'd asked Benny to stay back, because now that he was here, everything was so much harder. It felt closer.

Dear god, it was cold here.

Another quick conversation with Castiel told him what motel they were staying at, hands stuffed in his pockets, air misting around him.

He was in the car park outside the motel wearing a black jacket and black cargos, blue eyes peeking out from the fringe he had developed. It didn't look bad, despite the fact he hadn't had a haircut in a month.

He knocked and tried his best to look casual.

The door opened and a young guy answered the door, floppy hair down to his shoulders and unusually tall, "Hi, can I help you?"