Well this is my prequel story off sorts for Blood is thicker than water and can be seen as starting during chapter two of that story, more or less replacing that chapter, I wanted to tell more of Ben's story but felt it would take up too much space. But I really need and wanted to tell his story of his childhood and wartime experiences, to better explain why he acts the way he does. There will be angst and some heavy duty sadness so this will NOT be a happy story, consider yourselves warned.
War is NEVER an adventure or glorious, and child abuse is the greatest sin off all.
Disclaimer: I do not own Terra Nova for obviously it wouldn't have been cancelled if I had!
I do not own any of the original Terra Nova characters other than my own characters!
Kono Lao and the Radcliffs are the property of doctor anthony and I strongly recommend y'all read his TN fic New beginnings and reunions.
Some really bad language and derogatory words used.
"This story will try simply to tell of a generation of men who, even though they may have escaped the shells, were destroyed by the war."
Erich Maria Remarque.
2128
Chicago Mercy hospital
"I'll make this right Ben, I promise." was the last thing he could remember hearing
Ben woke slowly and found he was lying in a hospital bed with a tube in his arm,
he could hear sounds to his right and turned his head he was surprised there wasn't any pain after what his father had done, not that he cared, right now he wanted to see his mother,
Elisabeth Vaishnavi, Jim's fiancée walked through the door and smiled faintly when she found him awake, he smiled back,
"Hey Ben, how are you feeling?" she asked with her always friendly and beautiful voice,
"Woozy." he answered tiredly, still a bit out of it thanks to the pain killers,
Elisabeth had to fight to keep the tears in at the sight off Ben laying on the bed still with visible bruises and even cuts from the treatment his father had given him, after only a few months out of med school she had seen so many cruelties committed against people by other people,
Ben had at first been wary of her stealing his brother away but had warmed up quickly to her, she would never dream of coming in between the brothers, especially not now when Ben needed his brother more than ever,
"Where's mom?" Ben asked weakly, Elisabeth wanted to pretend she didn't hear, it was too soon to tell the poor boy that his mother was dead.
"You need to rest Ben, you have been in a coma for a week, we'll talk later" Elisabeth said softly, and stroked his brow to calm him down; it didn't take long until he fell asleep again,
"He has been through so much pain thanks to his monster of a father, but maybe now he can finally be free of him?" she thought sadly.
Ben was in and out of sleep for two weeks before he was finally strong enough to even sit up straight, Jim was with him as Elisabeth was trying to get him to eat some food,
"Where's mom?" he asked, and then winced slightly when he moved in a way that made his still healing ribs ache, Elisabeth helped him sit up better, Jim looked at Ben trying to smile but it didn't work,
"Ben…..I…I'm sorry she's gone" Jim said and then regretted saying anything as Bens eyes widened, Jim could see the sorrow but mostly the anger threatening to burst through, which made Jim remember when they had picked up their father Richard Shannon for questioning.
*Flashback*
Chicago PD 18th precinct, interrogation room 2 two weeks earlier
Jim walked into the small room, there was already two other officers present, and looked at the man that both Jim and Ben had the misfortune of being his sons,
"Well now, mister big shot, my dear sweet boy" Richard taunted,
"You've gone too far this time you coward, beating up on them wasn't enough this time WASN'T it?" Jim spat at him, his colleagues looked at Jim a bit worried,
"Ah! COME ON, are we going to play good cop bad cop now too? Why would I care about that whore and her little brat?" Richard retorted,
Jim was having a really hard time controlling his anger as he looked on his father, the man even had the nerve to look smug,
"Good cop bad cop, are these two." Jim said pointing to his colleagues, "I'm neither." he growled,
"Mom's dead and Ben is in a coma thanks to you, you son of a bitch!" Jim continued, which made Richard laugh,
"And I admit it too, not that I give a flying fuck about it, the little bastard had it coming for not respecting me properly, and the whore got what she deserved, she always held me back" Richard said tauntingly,
Enough was enough Jim lost whatever composure he had, he had hated this man for most of his life, now...ALL he could think of was to strangle the life out him father or not, Jim launched himself at Richard with his hands outstretched ready to kill him.
But he was stopped as his colleagues managed to grab him and haul him off before he got even close,
"Shannon calm down!" they almost shouted in unison, as they dragged him away from Richard who simply laughed in his face, which made Jim even more furious.
"Well enjoy it while you can because you will NEVER come near my brother again EVER, YOU GOD DAMN COWARD" Jim roared at him,
"Is that anyway to speak to your father?" Richard taunted,
"NO! You were never our father; you're going down for this, I'll make sure you are put in a deep dark pit where you belong and then you can rot in there, I'll take care of my brother", Jim growled at him,
"Ah! With that lovely little currywoman of yours?" Richard laughed; Jim had to be restrained yet again before he could throw himself at his father.
Richard had had more than a few things to say about Elisabeth, which was why Jim had never let him see her, and his grandfather Joshua had made arrangements to let Elisabeth meet Jim's family in his house instead to avoid trouble, after his death things had gone downhill.
Neither his mother nor his brother had told him about how bad the beatings had gotten because they obviously didn't want to ruin it for HIM, something Jim would never forgive himself for.
*Flashback ends*
Mercy Hospital
Elisabeth's father was a lawyer, though he had been suspicious about Jim especially when a month ago when the young man had asked his blessing to marry his daughter, but Shishir Vaishnavi also cared about his daughter's happiness as she was clearly happy with this man even though he was not of Indian heritage and had given his permission since Jim had gone the old fashion way of courting even if he made a few less clumsy mistakes Shishir liked him.
Now he had been called by Elisabeth to help out with this business about Jims little brother to give Jim custody,
"What kind of monster would do this to a child least of all his own?" he thought when he first saw the pictures of Ben's bruised body and some pictures of Jane Shannon's dead body,
Well his job was to make sure a good case for the guardianship, he had never met Ben personally but the boy deserved better than what he had gotten from his father and Jim seemed a good man, not just because Jim was his future son in law but because he was honourable and hardworking.
"Don't worry, I have seen the evidence and I can assure you Mister Shannon that I will do my utmost to make sure your brother will be turned over to your guardianship" he said to Jim, "He is not my son in law yet" he thought, after two years of dating his daughter the young man was STILL fidgeting at the sight of his now future father in law, he then turned to Benjamin or Ben as he preferred to be called, Jim's full name was actually James Edward Shannon and Ben's full name was Benjamin Franklin Shannon, he met Ben's eyes and unlike his elder brother Ben showed no fear of him, which made Shishir put his hand on the boys head,
"Ben, this is as much about what you want and what is best for you, I wish to hear what you think about this do you want to live with your brother?"
Ben nodded "Yes sir" he said barely audible, he was trying to get out of bed with Elisabeth's help
"Good then I shall make the preparations for your case" Shishir said and shook hands with Ben and then Jim.
They had gone to the court house for a hearing, even though Richard Shannon had shown little interest about his son's well-being in the past or present, but still had the legal right to attend, and Shishir turned to Ben, Jim and Elisabeth and smiled reassuringly at them, the look on Bens face worried Shishir, it was the look of being lost, Shishir looked over at his wife Aadhya who had put a reassuring hand on Bens shoulder, he had seen similar looks all too often in his career working for some rich divorcee or another to whom their children was little more than possessions to be used against their former spouses, he had won some and lost other such cases, but this one he was determined to win, especially after having met Richard Shannon and learned that he had written Ben over to some special school that were part of some new program for the now millions of unwanted children, ever since the Population law had been put into effect having a third child was apparently a crime nowadays, Shishir did NOT agree with the law but as a representative of the law in general he did what he could to help.
"Do not worry Ben, this will all seem like a bad dream after today" he said and smiled reassuringly at Ben.
Then a familiar face showed up from the street and waved as he smiled at them
"Hey Jimmyboy, Bennyboy how ya doing fellas?" he said and took Jims hand,
"Kono I thought you were still abroad?" Jim asked surprised to see his old friend,
"I heard what happened to your mom, Jim I'm really sorry." Kono said seriously and turned to look at Ben,
Kono, ever since his own parents had died he had been taken care of by Joshua Shannon Jim and Bens grandfather, and saw them both as his own brothers,
"He looks absolutely shell-shocked, my god I hope Jim can get custody of Ben otherwise it's that Youth program for him." Kono thought bitterly,
"Hey Bennyboy, don't you worry kid we'll take care of this." he said reassuringly to Ben, Ben looked up and tried smiling, but didn't say anything.