He coolly assessed the two men standing before him. They were lackeys obviously sent to retrieve him for some other party. They were armed and clearly had some training, but he was confident that he could take them if it came to a fight. Besides, their stance was more defensive than offensive. They were unlikely to attack if he didn't provoke them. And whoever had sent them seemed to want him alive. It might be a foolish risk, but he was curious. Also it would be best to determine who this new player was.

He was taken to a park, where the man he presumed he was here to meet was sitting on a bench. The stranger seemed to be a somewhat short unprepossessing man, who was faced away staring off into the distance. Turning his back and showing vulnerability was clearly a power play, but what was the message? An attempt to put him at ease and curry favor by a show of trust? Or was it a show of strength, that the other man was so confident he could afford to appear relaxed? His two escorts had kept their distance and the park was mostly clear, but there could still be snipers in position to watch the meeting. The man may look vulnerable but that may be very far from the truth.

So he ignored the open space on the bench, staying tensed and ready to react if necessary.

"Sorry for the theatrics, but you're a rather hard man to get a hold of" the other man said, glancing over through his glasses.

"Who are you?"

"You can consider me...an interested third party. I find myself in need. In need of a person with certain skills. I think that person is you. I think we can help each other."

"Do you?"

"I've been watching you. For some time now. I know your life has taken you to some dark places. Not just as a soldier, but in what came after. Torture. Assassination. But the true darkness in your life came when you lost your beloved. That was when you truly became lost."

He felt a surge of anger at this stranger invoking her memory, but ruthlessly quashed it down. It wouldn't do to let the other provoke him into a rash action. He chose not to think about how long it had been since he felt anything, since he had done more than just walked through what remained of his life like a soulless automaton. At how even this spark of anger made him feel more alive than he had in too long. "What do you want?" he gritted out.

"To offer you something you've lost. A purpose. To put it more bluntly, I'd like to offer you a job."

"What kind of job?"

"I have a list. That list includes some very bad people who are about to do some very bad things."

"And you want me to kill them?"

"I want you to stop them. Whether you let them live is entirely up to you. But I think this is what you have been looking for. A chance at redemption."

"I don't believe in redemption. Not anymore."

"Alright then, how about atonement? It is said that 'The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.' We may not be good men, but we can do something. We can act. Which is something you have been failing to do recently. I am asking you to get off the bench and get back into the game."

He thought about it for only a moment more. As much as he had found himself craving oblivion, he would still prefer to burn out rather than fade away as it were. Maybe a last mission where he was back on the side of the angels before he shuffled off this mortal coil. And if his new employer wasn't what he seemed...

"If I find out you're lying, I will kill you."

"I lie quite often - its what I do. But I am not lying about this. This is your chance to make a difference. To make things better. Maybe your last chance."

With a curt nod he offered his hand. He had little left to lose on this reckless gamble.

"Thank you Sayid" the other man said as he shook his hand, "My name is Benjamin Linus. But you can call me Ben."