Title: Marionette (1st in 'T is for Treason' Arc)
Author: Glissoning Raven
Song: How to Save a Life
Artist: The Fray
Genre: Tragedy/Angst
Rating: T
Note: Major AU. This is the first in a story arc centered around Ben. The arc is titled 'T is for Treason'.
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The warehouse was dark. Stacks of boxes provided an impossible maze and a myriad of hiding places. Ben growled in frustration. He signaled for the assault team to split up. They were under strict orders not to confront the target if they located him first. Ben was the only one who would be able to get close him. The agent raised his gun and cautiously entered the maze.
Ben's steps were sure and steady as he tread softly through the dusty maze, but his heart was going a mile-a-minute, his mind was racing with possibilities. He didn't want to believe what he had been told, but the evidence was there, staring starkly back at him, screaming the truth that he tried so hard not to believe.
He was shaken out of his thoughts as he reached the other side of the narrow warehouse. He found a door standing partially open leading into what seemed to be an empty room. He slowly eased it open, alert for any surprises.
Ben scanned the room. At first he missed the figure in the corner, but he caught the telltale glint of cold steel out of the corner of his eyes, spinning around just in time to see the young man emerge from the shadows. Ben froze.
"Alex," he hissed, eyes narrowing.
"Hey, Ben," Alex's smile was strained. "We need to talk."
Step one you say we need to talk
He walks you say sit down it's just a talk
He smiles politely back at you
You stare politely right on through
Some sort of window to your right
As he goes left and you stay right
Between the lines of fear and blame
You begin to wonder why you came
"Why," Ben demanded. "Why did you do it?"
Alex tensed.
"I didn't do anything but my job, Ben. I did exactly what they told me to," Alex said coolly.
Ben snorted in disbelief.
"They have evidence, Alex. How do you explain that?" he snapped.
"Of course they do," Alex laughed sardonically. "They had to make sure their angles were covered, make sure their figure prints weren't anywhere near it. It's all fabricated, I assure you."
"So, you're saying you didn't do it?" Ben demanded.
Alex frowned.
"No, Ben, I'm saying I did it…on Blunt's orders," he said softly.
The older agent scoffed.
"So you're telling me that they sent you on some kind of solo mission to assassinate some oil tycoon without your partner and without anyone else in the agency knowing about it?"
"They said it was the definition of top secret. They said they couldn't get more than one agent in which why I was going in alone. I was stupid enough to believe them. I should have at least suspected that it was some kind of set up," Alex said bitterly.
"Alex," Ben chided. "I wish you would just tell me the truth."
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
Ben thought he saw a flicker of betrayal in the boy's eyes. It pierced his heart more than anything that had happened so far, more than Alex's betrayal, more than being given the kill order.
"I am telling you the truth, Ben," Alex said desperately, his serious brown eyes begging for his partner to believe him.
Those were eyes that had seen so much in their short life, eyes that should have been innocent and full of life, but were instead dark and brooding. Ben tried to convince himself that this was not the same boy he had met five years ago, that he had changed so much that he couldn't even recognize him, and, in some ways, it might even be true. But then Ben looked into those eyes that were so familiar, those eyes begging, pleading for him to understand and he knew that nothing had really changed. He felt guilt rising within him, but he pressed it down. He was a soldier. His country came first.
"I wish I could believe you, Alex," he said, a hint a hurt bleeding through his gruff exterior.
His hurt was mirrored in those brown eyes staring back at him.
"Me too, Ben, me too."
Let him know that you know best
Cause after all you do know best
Try to slip past his defense
Without granting innocence
Lay down a list of what is wrong
The things you've told him all along
And pray to God he hears you
And pray to God he hears you
It was Alex who finally broke the uncomfortable silence that had fallen.
"What happened to you, Ben?" he asked softly.
Ben snorted in disbelief.
"I could ask the same of you. I never took you for a traitor," Ben retorted.
He immediately regretted his words as he saw the look of hurt and betrayal that his partner, no, ex-partner, he corrected himself, tried so hard to hide. He hadn't meant it to come out so harshly, but it was too late to take it back now.
"I'm not a traitor. I simply outlived my usefulness and now MI6 is looking for a way to get rid of me," Alex said bitterly.
"They wouldn't do that to one of their own agents," Ben said.
Alex shook his head.
"You see them as the guardian angels watching over the country. I see them for the evil they really are. We're expendable to them, nothing more than tools, to be used then thrown away," Alex laughed sardonically. "People join up thinking they can make a career out of it then retire and live to ripe old age, have grandkids, and all that other crap. The truth is, in this kind of life, if your enemies don't get you, sooner or later your allies will."
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
Ben could only stare at Alex in disbelief. How could he say things like that? Did he really believe all that? Did he really believe that the entire world was out to get him, including his own country?
Alex studied Ben for a few moments before speaking again.
"You're too good for this life, Ben. Don't let it destroy you like it destroyed me. Get out while you still can. Go back to SAS or something, just get out before you end up dead like me."
That shook Ben out of his stupor.
"Alex, it's not too late to fix this! You're not dead yet!" he insisted.
Alex shook his head sadly.
"I'm a dead man walking and we both know it. It's only a matter of time."
As he begins to raise his voice
You lower yours and grant him one last choice
Drive until you lose the road
Or break with the ones you've followed
He will do one of two things
He will admit to everything
Or he'll say he's just not the same
And you'll begin to wonder why you came
The anger began to return again.
"And whose fault is that?" Ben demanded.
Alex winced.
"You think I wanted this?" Alex retorted, his frustration bubbling over. "You think I wanted to work for MI6? All I ever wanted was a normal life! The only reason I ever started working for them in the first place was because of…because of Jack."
He trailed off and his anger seemed to fade at the mention of his guardian.
"I was protecting her from them. They threatened to deport her if I didn't do what they wanted," he shrugged, shoulders slightly hunched.
The pain was now clear on his face.
"I gave everything, Ben," he whispered. "I risked my life time and again for this country and now look what I get for it."
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
What was left of Ben's already shattered heart broke as any anger he harbored against the boy faded in an instant. As he looked at Alex, he didn't see MI6's former top agent and the man who had saved the world countless times. Instead, he saw a hurt, grieving, scared, boy who just wanted nothing more than for someone to care. But, most of all, he saw someone who had lost all hope. He didn't know when that had changed. Maybe Alex had given up a long time ago, but Ben just had been too busy to see it or maybe he had seen it but he just hadn't wanted to admit it.
Ben knew one thing for sure; hope was what kept people going in their line of work. Once you lost hope, you had nothing to live for anymore, nothing to come home for.
"Alex," Ben said softly, lowering his gun slightly. "You can't give up, not now, you've got your entire life ahead of you."
Alex sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
"I used to think so too, but now '6 wants me dead too. I can't keep running forever. It's over, Ben. I just wanted a chance to explain. You deserve to know the truth. And…and I wanted a chance to say goodbye."
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
How to save a life
How to save a life
Alex avoided looking him in the eyes.
"I'm sorry you had to get caught up in this," Alex said, true sorrow coloring his voice.
Ben's grip on his gun loosened slightly.
"Alex, why do you think you have to do everything alone?" Ben asked softly. "You should have some to me sooner. You know I would have helped you."
Alex shook his head.
"There was nothing you could have done. All that would have done would have gotten you killed too."
The older man's heart softened. The kid was trying to protect him, even if it cost him his own life.
"Alex, why?" Ben asked again, but there was no accusation this time.
Alex met his eyes again, his desperation clear.
"You and Jack are the closest things to family I have left. I couldn't loose either of you too."
Ben noticed that he was talking in past tense, like he was already dead. Then again, maybe he was.
"I have evidence that '6 is trying to kill me. The truth is there," Alex said, pausing before continuing. "Tell Jack...tell Jack I'm sorry."
He stepped forward, closing the distance between them, holding out a tiny black flash drive in the palm of his hand.
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
One step is all it took. Ben was on one side of the window, Alex was on the other. To get to Ben, he had to cross the gap.
One step, one flash. Ben didn't have time to cry out a warning. There was the sound of shattering glass as silver rain clattered down around them. There wasn't even a bang, they must have used a silencer.
Alex dropped like a marionette that had had its strings cut, a perfect hole perched on his forehead, staring mockingly back at Ben.
His brown eyes were still open. They weren't wide with shock. They weren't horrified. They almost looked relieved.
Ben could hear the other agents yelling in the distance. He stood frozen for a moment, staring numbly at the blood pooling around his partner's head.
Suddenly, his eyes lit on the piece of black plastic still clutched in Alex's dead hand. That snapped him out of his trance. He swooped down and snatched it up, stashing in his pocket just as the other agents burst through the door.
He barely managed to school his features into an expression into one of indifference in time to face them. He turned on his heel and strode from the room without a word. His last glimpse of his partner was Alex lying in a pool of his own blood, haunted brown eyes staring off into oblivion. Ben's hand tightened unconsciously around the tiny piece of truth hidden in his pocket as he turned and forced himself to walk away, leaving his partner behind. With every step he took, another piece of him died.
Goodbye, Alex. He thought sadly.
Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life
How to save a life
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A/N: This is the start of Ben's tragic decent into darkness and his desperate search for truth. Please review and tell me what you think.
NEXT IN THE 'T IS FOR TREASON' ARC: Ben has to break the news of Alex's death to Jack while dealing with his own feelings of guilt.