Don't lie to me if you're putting the dog to sleep.

Bill had been a tough demon to break. Sure, they did it, but it took months, and months had turned into years, but once they'd done it, he was a wreck that needed to be put back together. Literally.

So, they pieced him back together bit by bit and built him back up, but kept small chinks between his bricks so that if they pulled one out, just at the right angle, he would remain standing but severely damaged, like a tower in the game Jenga.

Though, trial and error was the only way to perfect such a work of art. The memory gun had been used countless times on the demon, erasing bit by bit until he could remember nothing of himself, but could still remember everything else. Infinite knowledge, the likes.

(He would always forget where babies came from, but that just served as entertainment for the family when they had to explain it again and watch his horrified expression.)

After an unsuccessful spell, Will (they gave him this name so as not to remind him too much, just in case) had been thrown in to his 'room', which was really just a dark cage in the storage closet covered by a ragged blanket.

That pet you just couldn't keep,

It had been about three weeks when the door opened and revealed that it had not been one of the twins as 'Will' had been expecting, but Stanford, which, in his mind, was far, far worse than either of the two. He pressed himself against the back of the cage, glaring defiantly at the man in front of him.

Ford knelt down instead, an unusually blank expression on his normally sneering face.

"Thought you might be hungry," He rasped, pulling out two crumbling corn muffins that appeared to be stuffed with ham and melted cheese. Will felt his mouth water, but narrowed his gaze in suspicion at the offering.

"Don't lie to me, Sixer," His choked, hoarse voice growled lowly in the dark, blue eyes flashing yellow for a moment. The man didn't flinch, simply unlatching the cage and staring in at the demon's human form as he put the hand inside, the palm of his hand facing up with the two unappetizing muffins resting in the center.

Will's stomach growled - he hadn't eaten for several days. He stared at the hand for several long moments before a broken sigh left his lips, tentatively reaching out and snatching a muffin, inspecting it like it was covered in maggots.

Ford watched him as he took slow, small bites, his face betraying not a single emotion as he gazed in from his crouched position, Will's eyes placed on the muffin. He looked up a moment later, his throat struggling to form sound.

"It's bitter," He murmured, a knowing look in his eyes. Ford nodded, bobbing his head a little. The demon continued to eat, and when it was gone, he stared at the second item longer than he had the first, brows creased in an internal struggle, at war with himself.

Finally, his frail, trembling fingers closed around the second one, his breathing labored as he bit into it.

He didn't get to finish it before he was already lying against the bottom of the cage, staring dazedly at the man in front of him, watching the glowing cyan chains flicker around his wrists as tears welled up and dripped from his eyes. His expression, too, was blank, just like the man's before him.

And Ford watched on.

And couldn't afford.