(OxBlood) (Asking Alexandria)

6: Lie to Me/Novacaine

Denis kicked up some dirt with the side of foot, the cloud clearing up shortly after. Cameron walked by, his head bowed. He was carrying two bottles of whiskey, drawing the attention of all the eyes in the clearing. James was sparring with Sam playfully out of the way by the stables. Sam tripped and fell backwards over a pile of old dented up cans, cursing over James' laughter as he rolled over into the dust.

Cameron disappeared into the barn, pulling the heavy door closed behind him. He slid around behind the bar, placing the bottles on the shelf alongside the others. It was so tedious, the same tasks over and over and over and over. None of them were worthwhile, fulfilling in any way. At least this was considerably preferable to having a harder and more involving job. There were many perks to being under the radar. No one really gave him too many orders, there wasn't really much to do. Stock, clean, tend, repeat.

James bustled in a few moments after, covered in dust, laughing. "Sam's an idiot."

"Sam is? Then why are you covered in dust? Did you trip too?"

"No," he responded a little too quickly.

Cameron laughed, turning back to stocking. "You know, you're still pretty cute even though you're all dusty."

He leaned over the counter, raising his eyebrows playfully. "Oh?" He glanced over his shoulder as Ben slipped in. "What bad news do you have?"

"Bad news?" He scoffed, "I wouldn't call it that, but we've got work to do out in the fields."

"Have fun," Cameron rolled his eyes.

"It is fun," Ben leaned against the door frame. "You could just take a nap or something if you really wanted to."

"Some look out you're doing then," James scoffed. "I'll be out in a minute."

"Alright, just don't be all day about it." He made his exit.

James kissed Cam on the forehead. "I'll be back by sunset, see you then."
___________________________

The wind rustled across the top of the grass swiftly. James breathed beside him softly. The dew had long since dried from the early morning, the blades now being turned from green to golden as the sun set. They had been waiting since this morning, just watching, waiting to spot anyone who didn't belong. There was surprisingly more usefulness to this than there seemed to be. Too many people had been caught sneaking in from the city and stealing from the meathouse and barn. They'd taken it for a little bit, then Danny had finally snapped and vowed to kill any traitor he found or anyone who intruded.

The job had been given to James originally, just for him to keep watch of the post that had been set up. Ben had begged and whined for something to do other than sit around and be a pretty house pet. After he'd been given the job, the both of them had earned quite a bit of respect and a reputation around the farm. Ben had always had something of a name just for being with Danny. The men had all been split on what to think of him, some found him an annoyance, some found him to be useful, though he had been gifted with a little bit of a backhanded silver spoon treatment. He stayed in the house with Danny, but he paid a price. Ben was the type of person who would let his mouth run away from him without having the ability to catch up to it. James on the other hand, had always been seen as an "all brawn, no brains" type character. He was intelligent, though no one had ever really seen it. He was most known for his strength, the rest of his abilities were unimportant.

Ben poked his head up, nudging at James. "D'ya see that?"

James squinted, looking out into the distance. "Yeah...looks like somebody sneaking around..."

"Just let him get a little closer..." He kneeled down a little more, his face completely hidden by tall grass. James followed the motion, staying close to him.

The figure moved closer yet, just slinking along suspiciously.

"Look at him," Ben whispered. "Bastard's probably holding his breath."

"Shh, he's getting closer."

Ben slowly raised his head up, watching the figure get closer and closer. This guy had no idea what he was getting himself into.

Closer and closer and closer...then too close.

He tackled him, reaching for his throat and slamming his head back onto the ground. James backed away, his hands up. He only watched as Ben continued to strangle the intruder.

The man fought to push Ben off of him, however he was unsuccessful, the grip on his throat only tightening. He raised his hands to hold onto Ben's as he slowly lost consciousness.

Ben waited until he went limp to take a breath, the air coming out slowly and shakily. He reached a hand back to James, then flipped his fingers in a beconing motion. He turned after a moment of nothing, demanding to James. "Give me the knife, c'mon, you git."

"For what?" He moved closer, kneeling down to look at the man sprawled out under Ben.

"Just give it to me." He pulled it from his pocket himself, raising his arm to stab it down into the man's shoulder. He yanked it back out, sinking it into a different spot in his chest. He clenched his jaw, the words barely escaping through his teeth and each movement. "You...fucking...scumbag."He stabbed the man over and over, his movements becoming more and more frantic. "When will you be happy? When will you be happy? When will you be proud of me? When will it be enough?" He landed another blow into the man's neck, the blood spraying out to catch his cheek.

"Christ! He's dead. Ben, he's fucking dead!" He tried to pull Ben off of the fresh corpse, struggling against his kicking and trashing. He swatted at him, trying to keep his feet planted firmly on the ground.

James pulled on his waist, his fingertips digging into the skin. He threw himself backwards, the force enough to take Ben with him, the blade falling from his hand. He rolled over to James, his eyes full of tears. "God dammit..." He threw a few half hearted punches before covering his face with his hands.

James only looked at him for a moment before sitting up and pulling him into a hug.

"Oh God..." He buried his face into the side of his neck and blinked away the tears.

"He's got plenty to be proud of." He sighed, holding him tighter as he began to sob. "And if he's not, he doesn't know what he's missing."

To be continued
-VV