Day 23: POV Outsider

If You're Going to Act Lovey-Dovey, Put Me Back Under the Bricks

Oh, I'm alive.

The thought ebbed into Benny's consciousness. His entire body ached, jarring him to reality with an uncomfortable throbbing. Benny couldn't open his eyes, the pain in his brow too tight for him to consider it. In the dark, he saw faint streaks of color when he squeezed them, unable to ease whatever prevented him from opening his eyes.

Persistent pain throughout his body forced him in place. He felt his chest pressing into something with every breath. It was jagged yet somehow smooth at certain angles. His legs were pinned, and his arms felt like jelly. Curling his fingers into fists, he tried to push upward, but something rough pinned him, and he remembered with sudden, shuddering clarity what happened.

Benny was not one for missions. He was a Media Relations Officer. His psychic powers were nothing compared to superstar agents such as Aquato, Zanotto, Martinez, Gette, or even Snagrash. His abilities were basic, and he liked them that way. He was fine with his decent control over telekinesis, levitation, and invisibility, but while his job was to promote positive portrayals of psychics in the media (along with, for personal gain, sneaking in his agenda to theatrical works), his superiors saw him accommodated to go on specific missions.

Bobby and Chloe were field agents. Although Chloe also had a long list of occupations within the Psychonauts, she excelled at missions. Bobby, being the Psychonauts' go-to man for the seedy psychic underbelly of society, was more than familiar with the dangers of their job. Benny, however, was not. He hardly had the experience of his friends. There was not much he could do other than weasel his way out of perilous situations, his promises evoking feigned compliance, easing the bad guys into a false sense of security.

That's what happened when the assignment went south. He was separated from Bobby and Chloe. Guns were drawn on him, and his back was to the wall. He stalled for as long as he could, promising information on the Psychonauts in exchange for his life. The boss seemed to believe him, and Benny rambled off a list of falsified facts that sounded true when one didn't think much of it.

When he tried offering the Second Head's bank account, there had been an ear-splitting explosion. Bricks had fallen, and he was buried. He didn't know how long he had been out, but the silence surprised him. He dragged his knuckles against the bricks, his hoarse voice preventing him from crying out. Dust entered his mouth when he tried, and he gagged, squirming, his tongue shriveling. Lying still, Benny felt a whine rising from his chest only for it to choke him, and he went slack, panting through chapped lips.

His brain itched. He tried reaching Chloe and Bobby through telepathy. But it was like hitting his fist against a steel wall. He recoiled, chin hitching upward and cutting against something metallic. As he felt his blood dribble down his neck, Benny could only hope they'd uncover him soon.

The bricks shifted. Vibrations rippled up his legs. He tried cracking open an eye, but the bricks shifted onto his brow. Grimacing, Benny realized that despite the pain in his body, the situation was turning around.

"You over here?"

Bobby's rasp of a shout hit Benny's ears and cut through the ringing. A weak smile made his lips twitch upward. Bobby was digging through the rubble. He'd drag him up, and they'd be able to escape.

More bricks moved. The pressure increased on Benny's body. He coughed, nostrils flaring as dust gagged him. He felt the particles cross his teeth, and still, the bricks landed on him. They mounted on his stomach and pelvis, not breaking them, but worsening what wounds had already existed.

What the hell is he doing? I'm right here. What could he possibly be-?

Bobby gasped. "Chloe!"

Oh, son of a bitch, Bobby!

Despair rushed through Benny. He cursed Bobby with all his might, realizing Bobby had been the one tossing the bricks onto him, forcing him deeper into the debris. His goal was to find Chloe, not him, the realization hardly startling or hurtful.

And yet, sunlight blinked onto his face. Benny forced himself to finally wrench his eyes open. A sliver of the light blue sky greeted him, but the bricks still depressed against his face, hiding him from Bobby's view.

A strangled groan echoed nearby. "Bobby, is that you?"

"Yeah, I'm here! I got ya! Are you - shit! Your leg!"

"Don't w-don't worry. I'll be okay. It isn't punctured too terribly. I can - nngh!"

"H-hold on, babe, I'll carry you. You call in a med team to get ready for ya, and I'll teleport us to HQ. Just gimme a minute to concentrate."

"Thanks. I'll be okay, so don't worry too much."

"Yeah, you're right, Chloe. You're you after all."

Benny was utterly disgusted. It sounded as if a romantic scene was playing out right next to him, completely dramatic in a manner that hardly suited a college theater class. They sounded breathless, their attention solely on each other, all while Benny rotted possibly right next to them. If he had blastokinesis, he would have blown off the bricks and reminded them of his existence.

There is no way they're leaving me behind. I was with them the whole mission. Please, God, tell me they aren't so blinded by love that they're going to forget me!

"Is this okay?" Bobby asked, his shadow crossing Benny's vision. He saw him carrying her to his chest, her legs held straight out.

"Yeah. I'm - I'm good. We can go. I asked for a recon team to take care of the clean-up - agh!"

"Shit, it is punctured. We're going. We're going now. You're gonna be alright."

"I know. You're here, so it will be."

In a fit of revulsion, Benny was so exhausted that he let his body collapse. If they had left, then they had left. He stopped caring. The recon team would find him, and Benny would chew them out later. It was better to let his eyelids slide shut, taking comfort in the calm breeze, even if it still blew dust into his eyes.

Alas, poor Benny. I knew him well. He died because his friends are scatterbrained lovebirds. That's what they'll say at my funeral. If I had one regret, it's that I went on any missions for the Psychonauts.

Benny let his thoughts subside, embracing the sweet release of unconsciousness.

"Aw, shit, we forget Benny!"

Bobby's shout drilled into Benny's head. Flashes of pink danced across his vision, forming telekinetic fingers. Bobby tossed away bricks until Benny's frame was fully exposed. He felt Bobby wrap his hand around him, lifting him from the rubble. Bobby shook him, dust flinging off Benny's attire and hair. When the dizziness subsided, Benny stared at Bobby and Chloe, both wearing astonished masks, the latter safe and snug in Bobby's arms.

He took a breath, held it, then heaved it out. "I'm never going on a fucking mission ever again."

Bobby shrugged. "Tell that to Hollis, man."

Chloe scratched her cheek, raising an eyebrow. "We'll put in a…sobering word for you to have her reconsider your active mission status."

Too exhausted to fight back, Benny let his head drop and chin hit Bobby's telekinetic hand still clenched around him, pinning his limbs together. If anything, the near death situation would put him on the "no mission" list (if Hollis cared for his well-being, which was already slim to none, in his opinion.)