Who's ready for some angst? I know I am.

I want to thank you all for your comments on the last chapter. Your reviews always motivate me to write more and write better for you guys. I'm really happy that you enjoy this sort of AU

I created for Alex. I can only hope I keep finding ways to keep you guys interested enough on the stories.

Now, on with the show!

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Chapter 16: Why don't we cut the dramatics?

Ben couldn't remember ever feeling as relieved at seeing stun granades raining down around him as he was in that moment. Except maybe that one time in South America…

The flash of light and the booming sound wasn't something his mind could forget about though, and his body felt the debilitating effects almost inmediately despite having curled down on the floor to protect himself.

His ears distantly picked up on the sound of shouting and more gun firing that quickly died down to be replaced by a ringing silence. His vision was bright and somewhat unfocused, but he was able to distinguish several shadows around him. He could recognize an assault team when he saw one. A friendly one, by the looks of it, since Villanueva's men were being rounded up against a side wall and disposed of all their weapons.

An outstretched hand came into focus in front of him.

Ben squinted up to the figure the arm belonged to and accepted the offer of help getting back to his feet, recognizing Ian in the process. A little banged up but an otherwise okay Ian.

"It's over" he stated with a blank expresion that didn't betray wheter he was relieved or not about their ordeal finally coming to an end. The man was an empty slate when he wanted to be.

Ben only wasted a couple of minutes assesing his own condition and waiting for the effects of the stun granades to wear off completely. While he did so, he gave the room a sweep with searching eyes.

"Where are the boys?"

Ian signaled one of the tac team members to come closer to them without as much as a hand gesture. "My nephew?"

The man took off his helmet and wiped a hand through his sweaty hair. "Outside. They made it out alright"

Thank God. Ben let out the breath he'd been holding and began to head towards the door when Ian put a hand on his shoulder.

"There's something you should know"

But Ben shrugged him off. "I can imagine"

And he continued to be on his way. If his suspicions were accurate, Alex needed him now more than ever.

He relinquised the stolen gun he'd managed to get his hands on during the fight without complaint when someone pried it off his fingers. It was empty anyway.

Ben figured he'd find a hostile scene waiting for him once he walked out of the building and made his way towards the cluster of vehicles gathered some distance away, what with MI6 on the ground, if he'd been in fact right about it. But what he hadn't expected to see at all was Crawley towering over his brother with a smirk on his face and a satisfied air around him. And his brother was handcuffed?

"What the hell?" he asked upon arriving. Alex didn't look up.

Ben took in the whole scenario in front of him.

Crawley was surrounded by some agents while another few made sure to keep Eagle and Victor away from the vehicles. His friend waved at him with a hand gesture that indicated he was unhurt and Ben nodded appreciatively in return. A raised eyebrow later and Eagle confirmed he was taking care of a rather stunned looking Vict. Ben turned his attention back to Alex.

Alex was… he was… he wasn't okay.

The blond was slumped against the side of a car, his eyes cast downward and his shoulders hunched to the point he seemed to fold in on himself. He wasn't moving. His chest barely rising up to indicate he was even breathing. He looked… broken.

Hell no!

He turned to Crawley.

"What the hell are you doing here? And why is he handcuffed? I swear of God if you're here to take him away…"

"No one is taking him away" Ian's voice startled him into taking a step to the side. He hadn't heard the other man following him out of the building.

"Then free him. What the hell are you thinking?"

"Daniels" Crawley finally aknowledged his presence, "It's for his own safety. He was… acting out"

"Uncuff him" Ben spat venomously.

"Not until he's calmed down enough. He tried to attack me"

And I don't blame him, Ben thought, but chose to keep his voice somewhat civil. "He looks calm to me"

What actually unsettled him the most was that Alex wasn't giving any signs that he was following their conversation or that he was even aware of the people around him.

"I think we should talk first" Ben couldn't agree more.

"So talk. What's going on here?"

"I believe we've finally managed to break through the piece of evidence that will put Carlos Villanueva away for good" Crawley turned to Ian and the other man nodded firmly.

"The information was decrypted. Villanueva did so himself. He had the equipment with him"

And so it clicked. If he'd needed any confirmation before, he wouldn't get anything more damning than that.

Ben had never before felt the type of fury that was coursing through his veins at that very moment. That explained it all: Ian showing up with the real flashdrive, him being overpowered by Villanueva, the miraculous rescue team. Without stopping one second to think things through, Ben wirled around and smacked a fist into Ian's face.

"And you used Alex as bait!?" Ian staggered back but didn't retaliate the punch. Instead he held out a hand to stop the other agents from coming any closer "How long were you planning this? Since the beginning? You said MI6 wouldn't help us!"

He tried to hit him again but Ian blocked it and sidestepped out of the way. He still didn't hit back though. "It's not what you think"

"It is exactly what I think" his tone was dangerous and he began circling Ian as if trying to find an opening for another attack.

"I didn't plan for Villanueva to come here looking for Alex. I suspected it. I didn't plan for his friend to be kidnapped. It happened"

"And you didn't waste your time taking advantage of the situation. Taking advantage of him! That's the only reason you agreed to help us, right? To finish your mission"

"I agreed to help Alex before contacting '6 about it. It just seemed like a waste not to take the chance to do both"

"Explain to me what part of that made you think it was a good idea. Making him go through that? You could've played this a hundred different ways! Do you have any idea what you just made Alex go through?"

"I didn't expect things to take such a turn. But it's over now. We accomplished what we came here to do"

Over? Things weren't over. They were far from over! One look at Alex's defeated state and Ben could only see all the progress they'd made over the years being thrown out the window. Ian didn't- he couldn't-

"You have no idea, do you!? The best thing you could've ever done for him was stay dead! You… all of you are like a cancer to his life!"

"Daniels, why don't we cut the dramatics. We have work to do"

"And you!" Ben tried to launch himself at Crawley. He wanted the man to hurt. He wanted him to bleed for everything MI6 had ever done, but Eagle had materialized at his side and prevented him from doing something that would surely get him arrested. Ben uselessly pushed him off but his friend wouldn't be deterred.

"He needs you" Eagle wispered in his ear, "Calm down"

Ben turned back to Ian and mustered a calm but authoritative voice. "You'll finish what you came here to do. Arrest these people, pack your evidence and go. Stay away from Alex"

Ben ignored Ian's nod and Crawley's smug face as the men walked away from them and back towards the building. There were agents still surounding them, not about to let them out of their sight, but at least Ben could breathe again a little easier, that all consuming anger held better at bay.

He shrugged Eagle off and shook his aching hand. That had been one hell of a punch.

The bastard deserved it.

Ian and Crawley had stopped to talk to eachother in hushed and rushed words but Ben payed them no mind. He glanced momentarily at Alex's still form and let out a sigh, turned around and walked alongside Eagle towards Victor.

He could tell he'd surprised the boy when all he did for a while was envelope him in a bone crushing hug.

Victor seemed okay, at least physically, and he knew that that would go a long way into helping Alex recover from this as well. "I'm glad you're okay and I'm sorry you had to go through all of that"

And he meant it. Ben hadn't just been worried about Victor merely for Alex's sake. After two years, he'd finally wormed his way into caring for the other boy. Enough to fear for his life almost as much as Alex had.

But Victor was quiet, hugging him back with just the polite effort to be even considered a hug. Ben let him go.

"Are you gonna be okay? You should get checked out by a doctor"

"'m fine" Vict mumbled and glanced beyond Ben, "but Alex... is he...?"

Ben sighed. "He's having a hard time right now. I think he needs a minute"

For a second, the other boy looked like he wanted to argue and make his way to Alex but the intent died quickly and he averted his gaze with a nod, steping a few feet away from them all. Eagle signaled Ben to get closer.

"I'll keep an eye on him" his friend whispered "You should go back to Cub. He was... well, I think he was having some sort of episode. It wasn't pretty"

"None of this is pretty. Actually, absolutely everything has been fucked to pieces. We'd worked so hard..."

"Just go to him. I'll take Vict home"

"They're gonna want to talk to him. And you" Ben warned, fearing MI6 wouldn't just let them walk away from this.

"They can try. After he gets some rest or something" Ben nodded and patted his friend on the shoulder.

"You were spot on"

Eagle gave him a small smile. "I know"

Ben couldn't even remember the number of times he owed his life to the man. There was nothing like having Eagle watching your back on the field.

Trusting his friend to do as he'd said, Ben turned around and made his way back to his brother.

Before he could focus his attention solely on him though, Ben forced himself to detour towards Ian. "I'm taking him home"

"They'll want to talk to him"

Ben shook his head. "He knows not to tell anyone about this"

"They'll still-"

"Make it happen. This is over for him. You can stay and clean up your mess but I'm taking Alex home with me. Now"

Ian stared at him for a moment, his expresion betraying nothing and nodded after a while. "I'll handle Crawley. They won't bother him again"

Good. Ben turned around and left the man standing there.

When he finally, finally, reached Alex, he knelt beside him. Ben let him know he was going to touch him before doing so but didn't wait for an answer before putting a hand on his shoulder. The blond let himself be manouvered forward away from the car so Ben could take a look at his restraints. Alex hadn't been handcuffed but zip tied and Ben called out to one of the agents closest to them.

"Get me a knife" and the man inmediately produced one.

He cut away the ties and carefuly guided Alex's hands back front. His wrists were bloodied raw and Ben had to keep himself from lashing out in anger again.

When Alex didn't even try to move some circulation back into his hands, Ben knew he was in for a very difficult task. To bring Alex out of his stupor.

"Hey"

Nothing.

"Alex"

The blond didn't flinch when Ben reached a hand to tug on his chin but he did resist and pulled his head away. Ben guessed that was better than nothing.

He decided to go from kneeling to sitting next to him against the car and waiting however long he needed to wait. As he'd hoped, eventually Alex rested his weight sideways until Ben was the only thing keeping him upright.

His next words broke Ben's heart.

"I was gonna do it"

"I know"

"I was ready to do it"

Ben closed his eyes and tried to keep the pain out of his voice. "I know"

Despite sounding defeated as hell and speaking barely above a whisper, at least he was coherent, and Ben would take his victories where he could.

Ben didn't bring up Ian or the terrible plan they'd all fallen victims of, not that he believed Alex hadn't already figured it out, beyond letting his brother know that they were free to go home whenever he felt like it. There was no rush, Ben assured him, although he would've given anything to just snatch Alex right away and keep him away from MI6 and Ian.

"Vict?"

Ben was surprised the question hand't come up sooner but he didn't comment on it. "He's alright. He's with Eagle"

Alex didn't ask about him again.

He had to wait almost half an hour before Alex moved and pushed himself to his feet ignoring Ben's attempt to help him. He seemed steady enough, maybe even too steady, but Ben just frowned and guided him towards the rental car they'd used to follow him to the building, a little acommodation from the ensurance company while they tried to fix his car, which miraculously hadn't been totaled after the crash. He figured Eagle had charmed his way into making someone give them a ride to vict's place.

It didn't take them long to get home.

Newcastle wasn't a particularly large city and Ben let out his own sigh of relief when they turned into their street and found parking quickly enough, given how late at night it already was.

Alex continued to worry him. He seemed to have broken out of whatever frozen state he'd fallen into back at the building but he still hadn't said a word on their way home.

Once in the elevator, Ben took to studying the blond's face. There were bruises already blossoming on the right side of his face, most likely from Villanueva's fists, and a faint irritated coloring on his neck. If someone had grabbed for it, Ben didn't think it'd been hard enough to bruise.

They made it to their floor.

"Why don't you go take a shower while I make you something to eat? Then we can take care of those" he said signaling his wrists.

Alex's grimace was answer enough. "Please, don't make me eat anything. I'll just throw it back up"

Any other day, Ben would've pushed, but it wasn't any other day. "Alright. Just tea then. I promise" he added when Alex got ready to refuse him again. But his brother sighed and nodded making his way further into the apartment.

"Do you need help with that?" Ben asked when Alex made his way to the bathroom after getting a set of pijamas from his room.

"I'm fine"

He was so not fine. But Ben didn't say anything.

He also didn't walk away from just outside the bathroom until he heard the shower running. Then he made his way to the kitchen to start a kettle.

Ben let his own exhausted body fall into a chair at the breakfast table and rest his forhead on his folded arms.

Jesus, what a night! Horrible circumstances aside, it had been way too long since he'd done anything remotely exciting in his life. The adrenalin of the situation had kept him going for hours and he probably could've kept fighting off Villanueva's men all night with how alive and electrified his body had felt.

Now though, he was reminded of how out of shape his body was. He was feeling every ache and bruise with each breath and he knew his body was demanding some rest, some sleep.

He wondered when Alex would feel the same.

He must've fallen asleep at some point because the next thing he was aware of was the hissing of the boiling kettle and someone shouting his name from a distance.

Wait, what?

Ben shook the cobwebs from his mind enough to realize that it was Alex who was yelling for him. He turned off the stove and dashed towards the bathroom.

He stopped short of barging in and glued an ear to the door. "Alex?"

"I need help"

Ben didn't think twice. He pushed the door open, relieved to find it unlocked, and went inside to find Alex sitting at the edge of the tub dangling dangerously close to falling off. The water was still running and Ben was surprised to see the blond undressed and dripping wet from head to toe. It had been years since Alex had let himself be seen naked by anyone other than his boyfriend so to have him this openly exposed was unerving even for him.

"I-I can't ge-get out" he was shaking. His body wracked by so many spasms it was a miracle he hadn't already toppled over. "Ben I ca-can't m-move. Help- help me"

Ben was shocked into action. The first thing he did was snatch a towel from where they hung on the wall and put it on Alex's lap to cover him. He knew how much it must've been nerving him to be naked in front of him. Then he shot off the water before kneeling in front of the tub and gathering the trembling body in his arms.

"I'm here. It's okay. I'm here"

Broken gasps reached him and he tightened his hold even more.

"I'm s-sorry. Sorry. It wo-won't stop" sure enough, the blond's body continued to shake out of his control and beyond buring his head on Ben's shoulder, he wasn't capable of doing anything else. Ben craddled a hand on the back of his head.

"Shh. It's okay. It's normal, Al. Just let it pass. Ride it out"

But the littany of sorry's and help me's didn't stop. Ben continued to coach him through the adrenalin crash as best as he could, mindful of the vulnerable position the whole ordeal had decided to catch up on Alex.

Ben had become an unwilling expert on what to expect after a suicide attempt. He'd spent hours reading and researching on the subject. It wasn't as though he'd expected Alex to actually attempt something against himself, as much as the teen had accused him of it a few days ago, but he'd wanted to be ready. Just in case. And he'd also been ready to finally let that fear go but now that Alex had... Ben could never have imagined that Alex would be forced, out of all things forced, into even thinking about it. He knew he'd never be able to get the image of Alex holding a gun to his own head out of his mind for as long as he lived.

After what felt like a lifetime, Alex's trembling turned into shivering and Ben could feel the goosebumps breaking all over his skin. That's when he was reminded of the fact his brother was still very much naked and damp. "Come on"

Alex was pliant under his ministrations and Ben was quick to dry him with the towel before helping him get dressed.

The blond seemed steadier now that the worst had passed and he was able to stand up on his own and away from the tub. Ben toweled his hair last and was glad to catch the scent of shampoo that lingered on the blue material. At least Alex had managed to wash himself up. That would help him sleep better.

Ben had to almost carry him to the couch, which wasn't an easy feat considering Alex had lost his teenager complexion long ago. The blond still complained about being short but there was nothing childish about him now. Ben deposited him gently on the couch.

He went back to the kitchen to fix the blond a cup of tea before he could go wash up himself and wasn't really surprised to find Alex curled on his side and passed out by the time he came back.

He left the cup on the coffe table and sat at the edge of it, leaning closer over Alex to run his fingers through the still damp blond hair. He pushed the rebel locks out of his peaceful looking face and took a moment to enjoy the fact that Alex was here, at home, safe and resting.

Ben's eyes watered when he thought about how close he'd come to losing his brother that day and he wiped at them before any tear could fall. He needed to be strong for Alex. He needed to be okay.

He was ready to go back to taking care of himself when his phone buzzed silently inside his pocket. He fished it out with a groan and glanced at the caller id before hitting the answer button.

It was time for an update from Eagle.

He could only hope the night wouldn't turn up worse than it already had.

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I'm aching so much for Alex and Ben right now.

I hope you didn't mind the chapter in Ben's PoV but we wouldn't have been able to learn much from Alex's perspective since he was kind of out of it for the majority of it. And the way Ben took matter into his own hands and just ordered Ian around? NO ONE messes with Alex like that if Ben can help it! He's so overprotective.

Anyway… next chapter: Vict! How is he dealing with everything? The poor thing has been so out of his element he doesn't even know how to react.

I promise our babies will talk again soon. You know I can't stand them apart for so long.

Until next chapter!