A/N: Aww. Thanks for all the lovely reviews! Especially those who haven't given up on me from before I...ahem...went AWOL! I love you guys! *hugs* I knew there was a reason I came back. =)

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Title: Time of Dying

Author: Glissoning Raven

Song: Time of Dying

Artist: Three Days Grace

Genre: Tragedy/Angst

Rating: T

Note: This is completely unconnected to any of the others. For Bookdancer. Enjoy!

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He could hear his pursuers closing in behind him. Sweat ran down his face in rivulets. His breathing was short and raspy. He clutched the flash drive like a life-line. The cool plastic dug into the palm of his hand. He rounded the corner of the building. Just a few more seconds and he would be free. Just a few more seconds, that's all he needed. He heard several shots somewhere behind him. He stumbled as a burning pain seared through his abdomen.

On the ground I lay
Motionless in pain
I can see my life flashing before my eyes
Did I fall asleep?
Is this all a dream
Wake me up, I'm living a nightmare

He stumbled two bullets found their marks, one in his side and one in his shoulder. He gasped in pain, but forced himself to keep running. He had to make it. He couldn't fail, not now, not after all he'd gone through just to obtain the files.

His steps faltered. He pressed a hand over the wound in his side, trying to staunch the flow of blood. He gripped to flash drive even tighter. Just a few more meters. He thought desperately. He could barely run anymore. His vision started to go fuzzy. He was losing too much blood. No! Just a few more meters!

I will not die (I will not die)
I will survive

He stumbled, falling to his knees. He desperately tried to get back on his feet, but his legs just wouldn't obey. He managed to drag himself a few more feet. His breath came in ragged gasps. The world tilted around him as he desperately tried to fight off the blackness that threatened to overtake him.

He faintly heard renewed yelling and a volley of gunshots. He fully expected to feel the searing pain of more bullets entering his broken body. But the pain never came. He barely noticed the footsteps approaching him. He felt strong hands roll him over.

I will not die, I'll wait here for you
I feel alive, when you're beside me
I will not die, I'll wait here for you
In my time of dying

The first thing he felt was pain, lots of pain. He groaned as something jostled him. He opened his eyes a crack. A man was bent over him. His face was blurry and it took a few moment for the recognition to sink in.

"Ben…" Alex croaked out.

"Hang on, Alex. We're going to get you out of here."

Alex used the last of his failing strength to grab the man's wrist.

"Mission…Blunt…hurry…" he gasped, shakily pressed the flash drive into the older man's hand.

"Alex. Alex!" Ben said urgently, gently slapping the side of his face. "Hey, stay with me, buddy."

But Alex was already slipping into unconsciousness.

On this bed I lay
Losing everything
I can see my life passing me by
Was it all too much
Or just not enough
Wake me up, I'm living a nightmare

Ben and two other soldier managed to get Alex and a stretcher while the rest of the strike team provide cover fire and engaged the enemy. Ben shoved the flash drive into his pocket without a second thought. His first concern was getting the young agent out alive.

The three men made a break for the edge of the compound trying not to jostle their wounded passenger too much. No one questioned what a teenage boy was doing in the middle of a gunfight or how the senior agent on the operation seemed to know him.

I will not die (I will not die)
I will survive

It was the jostling of the army jeep speeding over uneven dirt roads that jolted Alex back into consciousness. The world was a haze of pain as one of the soldiers tried to tend his wounds. Blood crusted the front of his shirt and still seeped sluggishly from his wounds. His involuntary cry of pain alerted the occupants of the car that he was conscious. Ben's worried face loomed into view.

"Alex, just hang in there. We're going to get you to a hospital," his voice held a false note of reassurance that did little to mask his worry.

"B…Ben…" Alex gasped out.

"Don't talk," Ben snapped. "Save your energy."

But Alex refused to listen.

"Flash…drive…" he choked out.

"I've got it, kid," the older agent reassured him. "It's right here."

A look a relief washed over the teenager's face, though was quickly shattered as the jeep hit a rut, jostling him and causing him to cry out in pain.

"Get…it…to…Blunt…" he hissed through the pain, gripping Ben's arm with surprising strength. "Promise…"

Ben studied him for a moment before answering.

"I promise."

Relief spread over the teen's face once more.

"Thanks…" was all he could get out before the darkness of unconsciousness claimed him once more.

I will not die, I'll wait here for you
I feel alive, when you're beside me
I will not die, I'll wait here for you
In my time of dying

Ben studied the boy that lay bleeding in his arms. He looked so young. He couldn't be more than sixteen. But his eyes, those eyes has seen so much, far more than most men would ever see in their lifetime. Up until now, Alex had always seemed so strong, so independent, so grown up. Yet here he was; broken, bleeding, and probably dying. Like this he looked like the child he was.

Ben's eyes darkened as he took the small plastic device from his pocket. This was what it was all about; a flash drive. Alex was dying over a little flash drive. The man had the sudden urge to chuck the cursed thing under the truck and let it be smashed to bits for all it had obviously done to Alex. But he had made Alex a promise that he would deliver it safely to the higher ups and Ben Daniels was nothing if not a man of his word. He couldn't help but wonder what was on it that was so important that Alex would be willing to give his life for the thing.

He looked down at the unconscious form in his arms. Then and there he made another promise, both to the boy and to himself.

"You will not die."

I will not die, I'll wait here for you
I feel alive, when you're beside me
I will not die, I'll wait here for you
In my time of dying

Three miles; that's how far it was to the base. Never had three miles seemed so long as when Alex's life now hung by a thread that was growing thinner by the minute. Ben did all he could to stop the bleeding, but he feared that there were internal injuries. All he could do was yell at the driver to 'step on it' and pray to whatever deity might be listening that the boy could just hold on for a few more minutes.

As Alex's pulse grew weaker, Ben's curses grew louder.

"Damn it, Alex! Stay with me!" he yelled. "Just a little bit further!"

Alex's eyes struggled open. Ben couldn't help but grin in relief. He was going to be alright, he had to be.

"Tell…Jack…" Alex trailed off, coughing up a pool of blood.

"Tell Jack what?" Ben asked patiently, trying to hide his worry.

"Tell…Jack…'m…sorry…" he gasped out, lips stained with crimson blood.

"Alex, you can tell Jack yourself," Ben reassured him.

The boy painfully shook his head. They both saw the truth lingering in his haunted brown eyes.

"Just…don't…tell…her…how…" he choked out.

They both understood. Jack could never deal with the truth of how he died. It would break her. Ben didn't even try to reassure him this time. Reality was sinking in.

Alex spoke once more. His strength was failing, but he knew he had to get the words out, for everyone's sake.

"It's…not…your…fault…Thanks…for…everything…" he managed to force a small smile and, for the first time in years it reached his eyes.

They both knew he didn't just mean this mission. Ben's heart shattered.

"I will get the flash drive to Blunt, Alex. Even if it's the last thing I do," Ben swore to him.

The look of gratitude in the boy's eyes was more than enough. But those sad brown eyes quickly slid closed, causing Ben to curse once more.

"Come on, Alex! Stay with me!"

But it was not use. His wounds were too deep, he had bled too much, and the base just wasn't close enough.

Alex's chest rose fell, getting slower and more ragged each time. Ben counted each one.

One...two...three...four...five...

Ben searched for number six. He waited for the slow, painful rise and fall of the boy's crimson chest that screamed he was still alive. He waited for the breath that never came.

I will not die, I'll wait here for you
I will not die, when you're beside me
I will not die, I'll wait here for you
In my time of dying

No one would ever know what had happened. His schoolmates would be told he had been killed in a car accident, though they would whisper that it had been a gang shooting. Tom and Sabina would suspect the truth, but they would never know. Eventually, they would move on with their lives, though they would never forget the strange boy who had so radically changed their lives.

Jack; she would be told a bunch half-truths and half-lies, never quite knowing which was which. She would be heart broken, but eventually, she too would heal, though she, like Tom and Sabina would never forget the brown-eye teen-aged spy who had changed her life so much.

Ben would never quite get over what happened that day. Those serious brown eyes would haunt his nightmares for years to come. His anger at MI6 would cause him to quite his job and return to SAS and rejoin K-Unit, though he would never admit to anyone, not even his unit, that that's why he left.

The world would move on, leaving an unknown hero's friends to grieve in silence. They would never know the truth about the boy they owed so much to. He would simply fade away, another Forgotten Soldier, lost in the depth of time.

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A/N: I am actually thinking about doing a series of connected songfics centered mostly around Ben with some Alex, Jack, and maybe K-Unit thrown in some of them. Of course it would be the usual death, tragedy, angst, etc. What do you all think? I personally like the idea of exploring Ben's character little more. =)