I'm not actually sure where this story came from- it took several smaller fic ideas I had and suddenly appeared in the back of my brain. I've been trying to keep my fictives to one shots, but this story demands multiple chapters, angst, W/L and Z/R tones. Yes, both- the runaways show up next chapter. As does one original character, who we'll call Neon. But this is an idea of something that could have happened in the DCAU- expect to see bits from the other shows.

Reviews are needed to decide if this is something people want to see continue. I'm a review whore. This does NOT continue Prosthetic, but will mirror some of the universe bits I had there.

The title comes from Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex OST 3 (It means 'Not a word'). However, this chapter's song would be 'To Tell the Truth' from the 2nd. So I'm an audiophile.

Torukia

Chapter 1: To Tell the Truth

It had begun as a quiet day, at first.

The NSA van had traveled in relative silence, with the agents having little to do until a lead of Zeta was forwarded to them. So they relaxed, catching up on various forms and email correspondences. Agent Bennett looked out on his agent teams and wondered, not for the first time, if they were still really needed. Zeta hadn't been visually confirmed in any area for almost three months- after the explosion on Nosis, the synthoid had vanished off the radar. Bennett wasn't surprised, after what he'd seen; He'd be surprised if Zeta didn't feel the need to expose himself in public, with his creator either dead or under such heavy security that he might as well be. It also put the senior agent in an awkward position- he'd been rather glad he hadn't need to face the synthoid since.

Instead, with the lack of leads, his team had been assigned to tracking the remains of Brother's Day; with Titus Sweete in custody, many of their members had taken to terrorist acts- car bombs, hostage situations and the like. No matter what the administration believed about Zeta, the protection of the general public came first, and active threats came first. While to the public, the NSA acted as the intelligence surveillance while the FBI did the actual catching, "intelligence gathering" and gathering suspects often meant the same thing.

Luckily, the group seemed to have quieted down for the past week. After spending yesterday working on a possible lead, the team had been put on standby in Louisiana.

This left Bennett at his mobile desk, filling out the bi-yearly performance evaluations of the agents directly under him. Most had gone easily; Rush was commended for her normal procedure, though chastised for her tendency to treat others as subordinates; Jackson suggested for a promotion within the next year…

However, when he got to Agent West's form, he hit a snag. At first, he was prepared to again go into scathing detail about the young man's faults, when he realized in the past couple of months, there hadn't been any. Nothing about West stuck out anymore- nothing bad, but nothing particularly good either. The agent had blended into the background of the past dozen missions, doing what he was supposed to. He no longer tried to show off, or go beyond his duties.

Bennett frowned at the thought. Since when had this happened? Nosis? No… it seemed even before then the Agent had been slowly subdued, a shadow of his old self. He doubted it was due to his partnering with Rush- if anything, he should have caused more problems. That left Bennett with one idea of the source of Orin West's drive.

The senior agent, officially, had turned a blind eye to the closeness of Agent West to his first partner, Marcia Lee. As James Bennett, however, he'd wondered how far the partnership went- openly, it seemed almost one sided, with West poorly hiding glances and attempts of gaining her attention. However, there were a few moments, when Bennett had found them alone, that Lee had acted just as shyly, and even motherly towards West. And the sticky note attached to her official transfer request- 'Take care of West' it said, spoke volumes to Bennett, a married man.

Now he wondered if they kept in touch despite this. But such speculation didn't belong on a report. He was their superior, not their father, or, admittedly, their friend. Even still, he made a mental note of possibly pulling West aside later. Like it or not, he hated to think what the young man might eventually become without any guidance.

Just as he was prepared to write a simple description of West's activities on the report, he was alerted to a small commotion at the computer bays.

From what Bennett could see, several agents were looking to West, who looked like he either had seen a ghost or he wanted to vomit; his hand pressed against his mouth. Before agent Jackson could ask him what was wrong, West had shut down his computer bay and was striding away to Bennett's seat.

Bennett attempted not to look startled, and looked to his own computer screen. There weren't any new messages, so Bennett's first assumption that West had possibly been dismissed was ruled out. No messages also meant that it wasn't a family emergency- West's uncle was Colonel Lemak's superior, and had always made sure Bennett knew of any situations that came up besides, if Bennett's memory served him, most of West's immediate family was already dead- West, like Agent Lee, her realized, were recruited directly from high school, and had gone to the NSA sponsored college before becoming agents. So what was behind Agent West standing in front of his desk?

Without a word, Orin West pulled out his communicator, badge, firearm and cuffs, laying each with care on Bennett's mobile desk. "Agent West?"

"Sir, I need to ask for an immediate leave of absence."

So, this was serious. "Why, Agent West? And for how long?"

There was no emotion on the young Agent's face. "I can't tell you. And I don't know."

"Agent West, that wasn't a request. We're on standby status, and I need cause to approve any leave…" Bennett faded off as West simply turned and strode towards the door. "Agent West! I order you back here!"

The look on West's face would have turned a lesser man's blood to ice. "Hold me in insubordination. I. Am. Leaving."

Bennett stood, frozen. And then West was gone, running to the travel station they were now parked in front of.

Later.

Agent Rush looked to her superior. "Do you want me to go after him?"

James Bennett knew they should, but his gut told him otherwise. "No, Rush, West made his decision, and we would do little good making a scene going after him." He picked up the badge on his desk. He frowned, noticing a spot of blood marring its surface. "However, Agent Jackson, if you could…"

"Already on it, sir." Jackson turned West's computer bay back on, and began to scan the recent activity. "Whatever it was, it must of have been major, sir. Normally West is really good about clearing his computer of any trace…normally I can't find anything at all when I-"

"When you what, Agent Jackson?"

"Um, nothing." Bennett would need to reconsider that recommendation…. "Gross, looks like he drew blood when he bit his finger." Jackson saw the look on his superior's face. "You know, earlier, when he was had his had over his mouth. Rush mention he looked like he was muffling a scream. Um, sir, do you know who 'Marcia Lee' is?"

"She is a NSA agent, who was formerly on this team. Why?" There was a strange sinking feeling in Bennett's stomach.

"Agent…er, Orin West has been asked to Massachusetts General Hospital, since he's been named as having power of attorney over any major medical situations sir. Seems she doesn't have any family, and had listed West instead." Jackson looked down the side bar. 'He then…oh, whoa, my respect for West just doubled."

"What is it, Jackson?" Bennett looked over the agent's shoulder.

"He hacked our system. Managed to look into Marcia Lee's status as an agent- sir, she's in a completely different department, even you couldn't don't have security clearance for a check like that. Here, I can pull it out of the memory cache…" A window appeared, showing Lee's file. It listed her promotion to a tactical strike force, and a string of missions dealing with Brother's Day smuggling and…tracking Krick? Bennett inwardly groaned at the thought of that bastard loose again. The latest mission she had was to bring him into custody under suspicion of working for Brother's Day. The mission status was marked in large red letters.

MISSION FAILED. 3 AGENTS DEAD. MARCIA LEE: CRITICAL CONDITION, MASSGEN ICU.

Bennett turned to the door of the van. Without realizing it, he whispered, "You could have told me."