Lucas didn't shake off the supportive arm provided by Ben on their way back to the visitor's quarters. His head was still spinning, both from the knock he took and the information he learned. That, combined with his knees and hands oozing blood, caused him to hiss in pain with every step. Lucas was actually grateful for the extra care. "We're going to get yelled at you know." He gasped after easing down a short flight of stairs.

"Just blink those big blue eyes and look sad, no one can stay angry at you then." Ben smirked at him, "and maybe toss your hair a little."

Lucas tried to glare at him, but when he looked away from where he was stepping, he stumbled. Ben caught him easily and used the pause to inspect his knees. "I think we're leaving a trail."

"Not a lot we can do about it until we back to the room. It seemed a lot closer before." Lucas sighed, leaning against a wall, fighting sudden dizziness.

A few people stopped to stare at the pair, but a Ben waved them past. "We're fine, go gawk at someone else."

Lucas watched them scurry away with a chuckle. "You really hold some sway here, don't you?"

"Of course I do." Ben said, smiling imperiously.

"But not enough to tell me what that machine did?" Lucas needled him.

Ben's smile slid off quickly as he narrowed his eyes. "Come on, start walking before I pick you up and carry you there."

"I'll sic Dagwood on you." Lucas grumbled, pushing off the wall and resuming the arduous journey.

It was only minutes later that they reached their destination, but Lucas was sweating freely and leaning heavily on Ben. He was no longer trying to hide the amount of pain he was in. Ben kept glancing at him worriedly. With his free hand, the former officer banged on the door. There was a scrambling inside, followed by hushed voices. "It's Krieg, I have Lucas, he needs help." He called through the door.

It was opened immediately by Kristin, who sucked in a breath at the sight of them. "What ever happened?"

"I was practicing my duck and cover technique." Lucas muttered, shuffling into the room. He nearly fell again, but was caught by Dagwood. "Thanks Dag."

Kristin rounded on Ben who backed up defensively, "what did you do to him?"

"It wasn't his fault." Lucas sighed and dropped onto the couch. "Well, not completely."

Ben nodded, but kept his hands upraised to abate some of Kristin's fury. "I just interrupted his sulking and he hit his head… and his knees, and palms. Um, is there any way I won't get blamed for this?"

"That'll depend on if he needs stiches." Kristin said loftily, examining Lucas's legs. "Can you get my med-kit? It's on the table."

Both Ben and Dagwood moved to fetch the bag, but Dagwood turned suddenly, giving Ben a long and introspective look. "Ok, ok," Ben stopped in his tracks raising his hands again. "I'll just sit over here."

"Mr. Krieg," Kristin called over her shoulder as she worked on Lucas. "Could you see what you can do about calling Nathan back? We have no way of contacting him."

"Yes, of course. Where is he?"

"Everyone expect Dagwood and I are out looking for you two."

"Oh, yeah, um… of course." Ben replied sheepishly. He crossed to the vidphone, and waited for Saffron to pick up.

"Mr. Krieg? What are you doing in the visitor quarters?" She asked suspiciously, eyeing the others around him.

"Don't worry about that right now, I need you send out a message for Nathan Bridger and his crew to come back here."

"He's already on his way. We just got a report of you escorting Mr. Wolenczak down the hall covered in blood. He was talking to Mr. Wolfe when it came in. That man did not look happy."

Ben grimaced, "great, thanks Saf."

"Did you expect any different?" Kristin chided, now carefully parting Lucas' hair to check the wound there. Ben didn't answer, instead he sat in a chair farthest from the door and waited his fate.

The door burst open and Nathan took in the scene. Martin, Tony, and Tim were directly behind him and nearly knocked him over in their haste to get in. "Are you ok?" Nathan asked quietly, noting the blood and slightly dazed expression on the young man's face.

"He has a mild concussion, and plenty of deep scrapes and bruises, but nothing is broken, he'll be fine." Kristin answered for him, dabbing at the injuries with antiseptic. "Some bed rest is all he needs."

Lucas groaned, "that's your cure for everything. I think you just like sending me to bed."

Kristin briefly considered swatting him, but settled for a severe expression. "Go clean up and lay down. If you argue anymore, I'll give you a sponge bath." Lucas shot up like a rocket and loped from the room in terror. "Hmm, I'll have to remember that threat."

"So, whatta we doin' with him?" Tony drawled from the side of the room. He, Tim, Martin, and Dagwood were all standing around Ben, towering over the man.

Ben pressed himself against the wall, but didn't appear to be cowering or trying to escape. "Hopefully, talking to me before giving me a beating." He called from under Dagwood's crossed arms.

Leaning on the side of the couch, Nathan surveyed the scene in front of him. "So, talk. What did you do?"

"It was an accident." Ben said promptly.

Tim scoffed, and Tony cracked his knuckles. "I can smell the guilt on 'em Cap. Jus' like a snitch back home."

"Really?" Ben looked at Tony scornfully, "this is who you replaced me with? He sounds like a bad gangster movie."

"Stop delaying, tell us what you did." Nathan ordered.

"The short version is I found Lucas sneaking around where he wasn't supposed to be and startled him. He tried to hide and banged himself up." Ben let out in a rush. A direct command from his former captain didn't seem to be something he could completely ignore. "I didn't mean for him to get hurt… in any way." He added quietly.

Tim read his expression closely. "I believe him." He held out a hand and pulled Ben to his feet. "You may try a lot of selfish things, but you'd never hurt one of us on purpose."

"Thank you," Ben nodded, not meeting his eyes. "That actually means a lot to me, Timmy."

"You can back off, everyone." Nathan said softly. "Ben, we are going to have a long talk about what is going on around here." Ben opened his mouth, his eyes darting around worriedly. "Do it for Lucas, I'd rather he not have another accident looking for more information."

"Ok," Ben dropped into the couch beside Nathan, "ok, for Lucas." He took a deep breath, "after a few… failed ventures, I was hired here. I figured out what Wolfe was building and decided to help him. I had the contacts to make it happen. He's very protective of his invention though. If he even knew I was telling you about it…"

"Has he threatened you?" Kristin asked gently, misinterpreting the troubled expression on Ben's face.

"What? No! He's not the bad guy. This isn't anything we could have ever planned, or imagined." Ben grew agitated, and sprang up from the couch, pacing. "The drills and the refining process are all his design, he just need some help getting them up and running. That's what Lucas was looking at when I found him." He turned to Nathan, a mildly manic smile on his lips. "We figured out how mine anything out of anywhere without killing the plant and animal life around it. We're even cleaning the pollution from other operations."

The jaws in the room dropped, "how?" Kristin sputtered, "how is that possible?"

Ben laughed, "it's so insanely simple. Ka… um… We couldn't believe no one thought about it before this."

"You were going to say Katie." Nathan tilted his head, "she's part of this?"

"Yeah, she's here right now. Wolfe couldn't put all the pieces together. I called her up and she built the machinery. She knows every little part of it. I can explain the basics, but if you want the whole story, you'll have to talk to her." He admitted. "I was um, waiting to reveal her in case you didn't trust me."

Nathan wanted to argue, but knew there was merit to the plan. "Ok, so we trust you, I'd still like talk to her and have her explain the whole thing."

Ben started to walk to the vidphone but stopped in his tracks when a siren went off throughout the room. A cool calm voice spoke over the siren. "Attention all available personal. There has been another attack, please proceed to the docking bay to await orders for the rescue mission."

"Or, we could go fight the megalodon right now." Ben said turning on his heel. "Come on, they'll need all the help they can get."