AN: Guess I'm on a roll this weekend fanfic writing wise and I'm totally not complaining ^.^ so, have chapter 4:

The man sitting opposite him was, quintessentially, grey. From the grey suit that seemed to be some kind of uniform to his dark grey hair and beard as well as his light grey eyes not a speck of colour was to be found. Even his skin took on a greyish tinge in the harsh light of the underground bunker they had taken Methos to. If he weren't essentially a prisoner here he could have laughed at the surreal feeling he got from watching that monochromatic being who looked as if he had stepped right out of a black and white movie.

And if not for the undercurrent of very real danger to his life, or at least to Ben Preston's life, Methos would be delighted to have stumbled onto this strange new thing in the middle of Oxford. After five thousand plus years it was hard to find anything new under the same old sun, especially something new and exciting. But he would have preferred to observe this new thing from afar instead of having to remember to act like a scared student beneath that cold and indifferent stare. Ben fidgeted and nervously pulled at a loose thread on the button of his left sleeve. The man opposite him checked a pocket watch – silver-grey, very much in keeping with the rest of him – before slightly relaxing the hard lines of his face into a fake and nearly painful looking smile.

"They should be right back with some tea, you look like you could use something to warm you up, kid. What did you say your name was?"

Methos hadn't said, mostly because he hadn't been asked before. No one had spoken much except for sharp and succinct orders as they had put him into their car and loaded the bodies, three now instead of two since the attackers had managed to kill one of the men in grey and wound a second one, into a waiting truck. The wounded man got on the truck as well with one of his comrades which left Methos with the man who was obviously in charge and the toughest looking one of his goons.

They had driven out of the city in complete silence. After a while the goon, who didn't look particularly bright, blindfolded Methos without so much as a by-your-leave. The immortal remembered to be suitably startled and shake a little in fear just as they'd expect of a student who had just been abducted. It was not that he wasn't appropriately wary of the situation but he was not yet quite quaking in his damp boots. At least they hadn't killed him right away so he thought there was a good chance Ben would get out of this alive if he played his cards right and was a good little prisoner.

They had led him down some stairs and into this room which was empty except for a stainless steel table and two simple chairs before taking off the blindfold. Ben had blinked at the sudden brightness and wrapping his arms around himself had tried to become as small as possible. The older man told him to have a seat so he sat and then shrunk down even more as the man in grey took the chair opposite. It was clear that they wanted Ben to be cowered and ready to agree to whatever terms they saw fit so Methos was obliging them.

Offering him tea was just the next step in their little play at psychological manipulation. Scaring him then making him feel grateful for what little kindness they showed him so he'd feel in their dept and more eager to please because the kindness should give him hope that all was not lost yet. It was a tactic that would have worked very well on poor little Ben so Methos played along.

"Ben…Benjamin Preston…um, sir."

He returned the fake smile with an unsure one of his own and let his gaze flicker between the man's eyes and the table. Holding direct eye contact would have been too much of a provocation and not very in character for the cowered prisoner he was supposed to be. The man in grey seemed pleased with the answer and very slightly relaxed his tense posture. A knock on the door announce their tea. The man said "Come" and another goon who could have been the brother of the one who brought Methos here carried in a tray. How does he tell them apart and was looking dumb a job requirement, he wondered idly. Goon number two put the tray down on the table then left the room again.

"How do you take your tea, Ben?"

The grey man took the cups and their saucers from the tray and put them on the table. He lifted the milk and look at Ben with a questioningly raised eyebrow.

"Just milk, no sugar…sir…thank you."

After the cups were filled the man pushed one towards Ben and lifted his own to his lips to take a sip. Ben reached out with shaking hands and flinched slightly as the cup clinked loudly against the saucer as he picked it up. He took a hasty sip and burned his tongue. He kept drinking anyway until the cup was empty and he could put it back down.

"So tell me, lad, what do you think you saw tonight?"

Ben swallowed and chewed his lower lip while Methos tried to figure out which answer would get him out of here the fastest.

"I…I saw nothing, sir, really, it was very dark and I've had a few beers and…nothing, I saw absolutely nothing."

He very carefully did not look up at the other man as he stammered out this blatant lie then quickly let his eyes flicker upwards to gauge his reaction. The man in grey put down his own tea cup and tried to smile reassuringly. He should practice that in front of a mirror some more, Methos thought, if he wants it to be convincing.

"There is no need to lie to me lad, I just want to put your mind at ease about the whole thing. I am sure it must have frightened you terribly. So, once again, what do you think you saw tonight?"

Ben slid down in his chair some more.

"I…there were bodies, and your men were attacked by some mobsters and…and you scared them away. I guess they were really religious or something. At least they didn't like crosses much. And I guess you saved me from that one that had a hold of me, sir. I'm very grateful for that."

He thought mentioning the fangs and black eyes might not go over well. And surely any child of this modern age would merely file it away as a trick of the light, as something he'd imagined. It was so much easier for Ben to explain away everything that did not fit snugly into this enlightened age than to admit that he'd seen monsters tonight. Methos on the other hand was itching for a few nights of researched into the subject. First things first, old man. There will be no research if you don't get out of here alive.

The man in grey nodded.

"Good, that's good. More tea?"

He lifted the pot with a questioning look and when Ben nodded and pushed over his cup he refilled it.

"I understand you were under a lot of stress, Ben, and adrenaline can distort your perception of things greatly. I'll tell you what happened: Me and my men were contracted by the police to take those bodies to the mortuary and clean up the crime scene. It's what we do, we're cleaners in a very basic sense. But it seems our religious friends were not very happy with us doing our job. I suspect they had a hand in the murders and wanted to get rid of the evidence. Be that as it may they attacked us and took you hostage but we managed to drive them off. As we speak one of my men is filing a report on this with the police. There is no need of course to drag you into this since you weren't hurt and have no additional information to give the police."

Ben nodded along vigorously to this outrageous lie as if he believed every word of it.

"Yes, sir, thank you, sir, I'd really rather not have to speak to the police if that's ok. I just want to go home and forget any of this ever happened. And I have classes tomorrow…"

He nervously trailed off and concentrated on sipping his tea. There, that should reassure him that Ben isn't dumb and gets the subtext of 'You are not to talk to anyone about what you have seen tonight'. Also he actually did have classes and it helped if you did not fall asleep in them because some shadow organisation kept you prisoner all night.

The man in grey nodded.

"That's good, kid, and I really don't want to steal any more of your time. Just one more thing: Don't be surprised if you see one of my men around your flat now and then. We just want to keep an eye on you and make sure those bad guys don't come after you."

Ben nodded with a relieved smile. And you want to make sure I really don't tell anyone, don't you?

"It was nice meeting you, Ben Preston, take care and good luck with your classes."

The man in grey got up, gave Ben a firm handshake and called in goon number two to take Ben home. They most likely hoped that the relief of being released would not make Ben wonder why a glorified cleaning service would blindfold him again to keep the location of their offices secret.

Notes: I'd really like to hear if you guys like my scribblings and if you'd be interested in me continuing this silly little thing. Also, reviews feed muses, just saying ;)