This is your life - are you who you wanna be?

[mini_dean]

Ben sat in the corner of a jail cell in the main police precinct, waiting for a booking. He was resting his head on the cold bench that served as a bed, the coldness bringing down the heat in his body.

Drug possession was the reason he was there. Along with resisting arrest and attacking a police officer. The last of which also accounted for the bruises and cut on his face, joining the ones that were already fading from Jeff's attack on him over a week ago.

He was coming off another high, shaking and needing more. It was two days ago that he had snuck away from Sam Winchester's apartment, taking his few things and just disappearing into the streets of Manhattan. All he had wanted was to find a way home. But at the Greyhound station, a woman with blonde hair and a gentle smile wrapped her arm around his shoulder and led him away.

The last 48 hours were a haze after that, until the cops invaded the warehouse he had been in. The blonde had been wrapped around his waist, white power coating both their bodies... and now he was here having a bad withdrawal and just wanting to go home.

His cell phone had been confiscated, and the police had gone through the contacts. They came across [Dean - Dad] first in the list before [Mom] and so that was the phone number that was dialed so someone could come speak for the man who was, in the opinion, not competent enough to speak for himself.

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[jstliketherifle.livejournal.com]

"Back at Sam's," Dean said with a sighed. "She doesn't know you're down here. I was going to tell you once we got you out of here."

Riley glanced back at Dean for a moment, before moving to sit down at the table across from Ben. "Ben, my name is Riley Toth, I'm going to be your lawyer for the duration of this case."

[mini_dean]

Ben looked at Riley, then back at Dean. "Friend of yours?" he asked Dean, then looked at his lawyer, effectively ignoring Dean now. "When can I get out of here?"

[jstliketherifle.livejournal.com]

Dean shifted slightly on his feet, before moving to the back of the room and leaning against the far wall.

"Well, yes, but I also work for the public defender's office, so you probably would have gotten me either way," Riley explained, since Dean didn't seem to be the one Ben wanted to hear from at the moment. He sighed slightly, before looking over the file in front of him. "I talked to the prosecutor on the way in -- he agrees that since this is your first felony, and the charges here aren't as serious, he's willing to talk a deal."

[mini_dean]

"What kind of deal?" Ben asked. "I wasn't doing anything wrong. I mean, I was just there. This girl told me that they could make me feel better, and then everything's fuzzy..."

[basementlawyer.livejournal.com]

Riley sighed. This wasn't anything new -- a lot of drug defendants came in this way.

"Well, allow me to unfuzzy it for you," Riley said slowly, before flipping the file open. "You're being charged with drug possession, resisting arrest, assaulting a police officer and carrying an unregistered firearm. These are all pretty serious felonies, but contrary to popular belief, the ADA isn't completely heartless and he's willing to let you off with community service in exchange for entering a thirty day drug rehab program. You sober up, you don't have to do hard time."

[mini_dean]

"Doing time either way."

He rubbed the back of his neck, scratching at the skin there. It really was a no brainer and he knew it: he wouldn't do good in jail. But rehab? It would be admitting he had a problem and having to talk to people and come to terms with his "feelings" and all that crap.

He wished his mom was there to tell him what to do. Sometimes it was easier that way. It was easier when he didn't have to think for himself and have others tell him what to do. Then he didn't get hurt when he did things others didn't want.

After a moment he just lifted his head and looked at Dean. Trusting the man who didn't care about him until now to know what to do to help him. He didn't want to make the wrong choice.

[jstliketherifle.livejournal.com]

Dean watched him back for a moment, before turning back to Riley with a nod. "He'll take the deal."

Riley sighed before nodding. "Good. Makes things much easier this way." He started to push himself up, closing up the file in front of him. "Do you have any more questions for me before I go inform the ADA of your choice?" That question was more towards Ben than Dean -- Ben was the client after all.

[mini_dean]

Ben licked his lip and looked at the table. "Can I see my Mom? Before they take me to this place?"

[jstliketherifle.livejournal.com]

Riley nodded. "You're not going right away. Dean's going to bail you out and take you home, and it'll probably be about a week. We need to take care of the court proceedings. Make sure everything's filed properly."

[mini_dean]

Ben nodded, his arms pulling around himself a bit tighter as he tried to keep from shaking. He never felt this small before, and he knew in the back of his head that he had seriously fucked up this time.

It was just that last bit of pride he had that kept him from admitting it out loud.

[jstliketherifle.livejournal.com]

Dean watched Ben for a moment, before sighing heavily and running a hand over his face. "Speaking of bail, I should probably get on that. Which direction should I be heading in?"

"The detective will probably be able to point you in the right direction," Riley nodded, finishing collecting the rest of his things before extending a hand across the table to Ben. "It was nice meeting you, Ben."

[mini_dean]

Ben looked at the hand a moment, then reached out hesitantly and shook it. "Same." The shake lasted a second, then Ben pulled his hand back and hid it under the table.

The detective was waiting, the forms waiting for Dean to fill out for his son's release. He had been pretty sure the kid would take a deal, which would be better for him in the long run anyway.

[jstliketherifle.livejournal.com]

Dean moved over to the detective and started filling out the forms, looking them over carefully as he did. Riley just gave Dean other pat on the back before starting to head out.

"Hey Riley," Dean paused, looking up from what he was doing. "Do you need a ride home?"

Riley paused for a minute, before glancing down at his watch and deciding whether or not he really wanted to get a cab. "If you don't mind?"

"Not at all," Dean sighed. "I owe you one anyway."

[mini_dean]

Once Dean was done with the forms, one of the officers led Ben out from the cells. The detective stood up, handing Ben the bag with all his things in it. Ben opened the bag, checking through it all.

"Where's my gun?" he asked.

"Confiscated." The detective gave Ben a look. "It's not registered, so you don't get it back. And in New York city, it's illegale to own firearms. Might be different in Indiana, but that's the way this city works."

Ben kept his mouth shut, avoiding mumbling about how he didn't like this city, but instead just shoved his things back in his pockets and then tucked his hands into the pockets of the oversized hoodie he still wore that Dean had pulled out of the Impala last week.

Ben hadn't stuck around long to go shopping with Lisa, so everything he owned clothing-wise was either from Sam or Dean.

[jstliketherifle.livejournal.com]

Dean placed a hand on Ben's shoulder lightly, before starting to lead him out of the precinct, back toward the Impala. Riley was finishing up a conversation with the ADA, before turning and following them out.

"You still live over in the Village."

"Yup," Riley nodded, watching as Dean moved around to the driver's side of the car, and waiting for Ben to pick where he wanted to sit first.

[mini_dean]

Ben just went to the passenger side and crawled into the backseat. He wasn't sure he wanted to be sitting next to his father at the moment, and the backseat would give him more space to just curl up in as well as not have to pay attention to the men up front.

[jstliketherifle.livejournal.com]

Riley slid into the passenger's side and settled in, starting to look through his briefcase. "How're Beth and Maddie?"

"They're good," Dean nodded as he got ready to start the car and pull it out into the streets of the city. "They're doing really well."

"Good," Riley nodded. "That's good."

[mini_dean]

Ben's head tilted just a bit. He wasn't going to show that he was interested, but it was the first time that Dean had talked about his half sister since he had run into his father again.

And it was only natural he wanted to know something about Maddie.

[jstliketherifle.livejournal.com]

"She still taking those music lessons?"

Dean snorted slightly, before nodding. "You'd have to surgically remove the guitar from her hands. She loves it though, and it keeps her out of trouble, so who am I to complain." Or so he thought. If Dean knew about a certain older boy, then it would have been a totally different story.

"Tell her I've got tickets for that show she wanted to see -- I can't make it the night of, but if she and a friend wanted to go, have her give me a call at the office."

[mini_dean]

"Show?" Ben asked, looking towards the front seat to see Riley.

[jstliketherifle.livejournal.com]

"Little Mermaid," Riley replied with a smirk, turning back to face Ben. "They were a gift from a client, but my nieces aren't going to be in the city that weekend, so I can't take them. I figured Maddie might put them to better use."

"She's been clamoring about it since she was a kid," Dean said with a sigh, hiding somewhat how pleased he was that Ben was taking an interest in his half-sister. At least it was a step in the right direction. "We just never had the time to really take her."

[mini_dean]

Ben just wrinkled his nose. Girls. Now if had been a concert to a decent place, he might have been tempted to offer to even chaperon his half-sister in an attempt to "get to know her better".

Little Mermaid? There wasn't a chance in HELL he'd go to that.

"Yeah, well it's a play about a singing mermaid. Not really all that involving." And he was back to acting like he didn't care again.

[jstliketherifle.livejournal.com]

"I think it's the experience more than anything else," Riley sighed, tilting his head to the side slightly. "And they're relatively decent seats, so she'll probably have a pretty good time. It's more about interaction between audience and cast than the story itself." Then again, Riley was a theater person. As far as Ben was concerned, that explanation might just come off as being clear as mud.

"She'll probably take Anna with her, if she's still in town," Dean replied, coasting the Impala to a stop at the traffic light. "Maybe one of her other friends from school."

[mini_dean]

"How can the audience interact with the cast? A play is just a big live action recreation of a movie. Not like they are pulling people on stage and crap. You want audience interaction? Take her to Rocky Horror."

[jstliketherifle.livejournal.com]

"Dude," Dean looked back over at his shoulder at his son, and Riley laughed. "She's sixteen. She doesn't need to see all of that." He still had nightmares about Rocky Horror. Dean didn't need to think about his little girl involved in that.

"I was thinking more of a -- metaphysical interaction. And you get different nuances on stage." Riley shrugged slightly, before looking out the window. "I studied theater in college. It was something to do with my time."