I felt that Ben's story was much too sad in Criminal Minds Season 6 episode entitled "With friends like these…" . His ending was so sad and I feel like he deserved a semi-happy ending.
I wanted to write a story about him for the longest time but I feared that no one would be much interested it. Then I told myself screw it—I'm writing this!
Written through Ben's point of view.
I don't own anything from Criminal Minds
Ben watched the nurse walk away.
Yolanda shoved Ben, "Look. What a bitch. She didn't even answer your question."
"S-stop it, Yolanda!", Ben shoved her back.
"S-stop it, Yolanda.", mimicked Matt in a high-pitched voice.
Tony grinned. "I think we just found our next victim."
"N-no…no.", Ben whispered. "I d-don't want t-to. You s-said that guy w-was the l-last one."
Matt grabbed Ben and dragged him along. Yolanda whooped. Tony shook his head.
"You don't get it, do you Ben? It's not about 'you want'…it's about 'we want'."
"And you know what we want, Ben", sang Yolanda.
Ben sat in his car. He had followed that nurse to her home. Yolanda sat beside him while Tony and Matt wrestled in the back. Matt's foot hit Ben's head in the tussle.
"Hey!", he said angrily.
Yolanda laughed and grabbed Ben's arm. "Good. You're angry. You'll need that."
Ben rubbed his head. In spite of the fact he desperately did not want to hurt other people…he couldn't stop himself. He couldn't stop himself from listening to Yolanda, Matt, and Tony. They were always right, they liked to remind him. They knew everything to know about Ben…they knew what he wanted.
Ben watched the lights go out in her home. Yolanda bounced up and down in her seat. "Let's go!" Matt, Tony, and Yolanda clambered out of the car racing up to the house and then walking quietly and giggling.
"This is going to be the best.", whispered Yolanda.
"You can say that again!", loudly whispered Matt.
Ben slowly got of the car and pulled his hood up. He walked slowly to the house. Tony shoved him from behind.
"You're going to have to go faster than that!", he snapped.
"Around the back. Around the back.", Matt gestured.
Ben quickened his pace. He walked up to the chain link fence that surrounded the house and climbed it. He walked across the lawn around the back.
The window was open. Ben climbed through the window onto the kitchen counter.
"Hey, Ben!" Yolanda whispered angrily. "What happened to ladies first?" Ben grabbed her hand and helped her through the window.
Matt and Tony fought to get in through the window. Matt succeeded only because he was bigger.
"Jerk.", muttered Tony pulling himself through the window.
Yolanda tipped toed out of the kitchen and pulling Ben along her. "She's upstairs, Ben!" Ben yanked his hand out of Yolanda's.
Yolanda glared at him. "You're not thinking of chickening out, are you?"
"Who's chickening out?", asked Matt.
"Ben.", Yolanda said smugly.
"No! N-no, I'm n-not chic-chickening out .You prom-promise you'll g-go this t-t-time? You'll l-l-leave?"
"Whoo! Listen to that stutter!", Tony yelped.
Yolanda rolled her eyes. "Of course, Ben. When have we ever lied to you?"
Ben shivered. "Go, already!", Matt pushed Ben.
Ben stepped on first step. He put his hand in his pocket and pulled out his knife. It was still bloody from the last time…
"Abort!", shouted Tony grabbing the back of Ben's hood and towing him along.
"W-what?"
Tony, Yolanda, Matt, and Ben squeezed into a wall pantry.
"W-why?"
"Shhhh!", said Matt.
"You brought celery right?", asked Jenna.
"Yeah, it's in the fridge."
They made their way down the stairs and into the kitchen.
Ben watched them through the pantry.
Jenna sat down at the table. Karen opened the fridge and grabbed a few things and munched on a celery stick…
"Now, Ben. Now!", said Tony. Ben gulped. He gripped his knife tightly and was about to burst out of the pantry toward Karen, who was turning, when he heard her.
"I heard there was a secret chord...David played it and it pleased the Lord but you don't… really care for music, do ya?…", sang Jenna softly.
Yolanda flickered. Ben looked at her.
"Well it goes like this: the first, the fifth, the minor fall, and the major lift. The baffled King composing hallelujah… ", sang Jenna. Yolanda disappeared and reappeared. Matt and Tony did the same.
Desperately Tony tried to push Ben out but Ben planted his feet firmly.
Karen smiled at Jenna. "You have a beautiful voice." Jenna looked down embarrassed. "Don't stop!", said Karen.
So Jenna didn't. She sang some more.
Matt, Tony, and Yolanda disappeared completely. Ben looked around in amazement. They were gone! They were finally gone! Ben realized how tired he was. He slowly dropped down to the floor of the now suddenly spacious pantry.
Jenna sang.
Ben eyes slid shut. Her voice surrounded him. It filled him.
Her voice…was so beautiful.
Ben woke up with a start. He looked around dumbly...where was he?
Then he remembered last night. She had made them go away. She had made them leave, finally.
He stepped out of the pantry cautiously. He went to the living room to the front window. The car in the driveway was gone.
He went back to the kitchen. He glanced around the kitchen and something on the fridge caught his gaze. The nurse from last night was there and a gorgeous girl. She had brown eyes and brown hair. She looked pretty normal but it was her smile and the way her eyes flashed that made her seem beautiful. The names Karen and Jenna was on the back of the photo. She was also in a school uniform, Ben noted.
"Maybe high school", Ben thought out loud. His stutter was gone!
Then he heard a scream behind him. Ben whirled around. Jenna looked at him in horror.
She ran from the room toward the front door but Ben was already moving. His arms wound around her and she screamed again. He slapped his hand down on her face. She started to struggle and sob.
"Stop! Please stop!", Ben cried.
Ben tied Jenna to a chair in the living room. He had told her the whole story.
How Yolanda, Matt, and Tony hounded him. He told her about the church fire that killed them and he was the one who had started it. He told her how his apartment caught fire a few months ago and since then they had been back.
He told her he had killed a man. He told her how close he had came to killing her aunt and her.
He told her how she had saved him. How he was sure she was his guardian angel.
Jenna looked at him. "But Ben, they didn't go away. Don't you remember last night?"
Jenna looked at the floor. Ben looked down and saw the body of Karen. He backed away shocked. No…no this couldn't be happening. He didn't kill her. He didn't.
Jenna touched his shoulder. He jumped. He looked at the chair he had tied her to and then back again at her.
"You not real…are you?"
"No, Ben I'm not."
Then he remembered who she really was.
"Hurry up, Uncle Joe!", called the pretty brown haired girl.
"It might be a while, Jenna.", the older man sighed.
"Hey, hey, you, you I don't like you're girlfriend…", she sang. She was a good singer.
Ben watched them in the alleyway. Their car had a flat tire.
Yolanda, Matt, and Tony giggled wildly him. Yolanda grabbed Ben's shoulder in anticipation. Ben had given in. He would give them what they wanted if they could just leave him alone.
Ben stepped out of the shadows and moved quickly toward them, knife in hand and ready.
Ben wiped the blood off the knife on the older man's shoulder. He noticed something on the floor. It was a picture. A nurse was on the front posing next to the girl he had just killed. Aunt Karen and me, Jenna! 10987 Maine St. was written on the back.
"You hallucinated everything, Ben. You came here to kill my aunt. She didn't even know we were dead yet…"
"Where are the others?", Ben asked quietly.
"It's just me now, Ben."
Ben looked at her, tears in his eyes. "I'm sor-sorry.", he sobbed.
Jenna touched the side of his face. "Oh, Ben. You want me to tell you how to end it all?"
Ben nodded.
"Kill yourself."
So Ben did.
Hey, I said SEMI-HAPPY. At least his tormenters are gone. I mean, I couldn't change that much from the episode.
SONGS: "HALLELUJAH" by Kate Voegle and "GIRLFRIEND" by Avril Lavigne
Anyway review.