Author's Note: Again, the alerts system here at FFN seems to be extremely slow or not working at all, as it is taking me a long time to get the alerts. If you did review, thank you!!! I appreciate it greatly. Things are going to start to get a little weird, just follow me, if you will. It'll make some sort of sense. Same disclaimers apply, as usual. Don't own, never will. Please enjoy!

Chapter 10

She gave him her most shocked and appalled look she could muster. "Wow. That's kind of forward, don't you think?"

Not that I would mind getting his clothes off…

He laughed at her. "That wasn't an offer. Not even a request. I don't really feel like taking any portion of my clothes off, thank you very much. My father hates it because I'm so self-conscious. Actually, he hates a lot of things about me and my life right now. But that's a story for another time. It is now your turn, Sammy-girl."

"Well I'd like to know more about you and your family, Ben. You're an interesting person."

"That's a shame, because we are only going to be in here for a while longer."

She actually felt sad about the prospect. "Well, maybe we can see each other again."

"I'm sure that if Victor has his way we will be seeing a lot of each other."

I hope so… "So Ben, I'm sure you've been shot at, but have you ever actually been hit?"

"Yes."

"Where?"

"I've been shot in the gut a couple of times." He said it like it didn't phase him. Like it wasn't a big deal.

"How can you say that so calmly?! I was shot in the leg and I thought I was going to die! I can't even imagine what it must have felt like to get shot in the gut."

"It hurt a little. I wouldn't recommend it."

He was so calm about it that it unnerved her a little. I don't understand how he can be so damned calm about it! I can't even think about it without wincing for the pain I felt during that time. And he talks about it as if it were his breakfast that he had this morning!

"Ben!!! What is wrong with you?!! You talk about it as if it were this morning's news or something!!"

"I don't watch the news. I see it enough at work."

"Not the point!! You can't talk about getting shot as if the bullet was cereal that you digested!! You were shot! That is a serious occurrence!!"

He looked at her through his sunglasses. "It actually wasn't as bad as you might think. Part of the training we had when we were younger was to be able to forget the pain. And trust me, I learned well."

"So your father was a doctor AND military personnel?"

"He was a scientist and doctor, but he was also a Colonel in the Army. My father kept a journal about my brother and I as if we were experiments for him. And I guess, in a way, we were."

Experiments? Perfect soldiers? "Wait, your father really wanted to create the perfect soldier? And he had you and your brother for that sole purpose? That is so wrong. I can't believe that your mother was alright with that."

He cocked his head to the side and looked at her questioningly. "I never had a mother."

WHAT?! No mother? No wonder his father was able to do what he did without interference.

"Where was she? What happened to her?"

He looked slightly confused. "I never had one."

"Everyone had a mother at some point. How else would you have been born?"

He looked to the side and thought for a moment. "I know that I must have had SOMEone. But I don't know anything else."

"So that is part of your amnesia?"

He was thinking again. "I don't think so. I don't think I ever knew. If so, Alec would have probably said something by now."

She decided to ease up on him. She was forcing him to talk about himself an awful lot and he was trying to remember things that were long gone from his memory banks.

"My sister and I used to be close. But I haven't even spoken to her in a while, either. I'm so terrible."

She was looking at him as she spoke. He was rubbing his forehead as if he had a headache. Then he put his hands underneath his sunglasses and rubbed under his eyes. His sunglasses bounced up and down with the movement.

"Are you okay, Ben?"

She could see him close his eyes and rub his left cheek with his hand. "Yeah. I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You look really beat all of the sudden."

"I just tire myself out when I try to remember things too much. I try too hard and give myself a headache. It wears me out."

Sam couldn't imagine getting a headache every time she tried to remember her past. She didn't like to remember it, but that was a different story. He couldn't remember it, period.

And when he tried, he hurt himself.

"I'm sorry, Ben. I didn't mean to make you think too hard about your past. I know that it's hard for you."

He smiled at her and his face seemed to soften. "Don't worry about it, Samantha. I have to try and remember it at some point, anyway."

Author's Note: Thank you for following me! I owe great thanks to all my wonderful friends on the WaT board- you all gave me the encouragement to post this story. Now, about the reviews- PLEASE SEND SOME!!! As I adore reading them, no matter what you thought.