A/N: So… thanks for your reviews on all the previous chapters! Hope you like this one!

Don't own.

Chapter 8

Ethan, Jane and William were walking down a narrow street in Oxford. They had been to the police station, posing as a bunch of FBI agents investigating the disappearance of a US citizen, since they knew Benji stayed in the town as himself. That was actually the last bit of information IMF had gotten from him before he had gone missing. They had seen their friend's possessions taken from his hotel room, even recognized some of them, most notably the laptop. The trio had a small hope there might be some message there but they couldn't even enter the system. If Benji Dunn didn't want anyone to get the info from a computer, nobody would get that information. He knew how to protect it, if there even was anything.

Detective Inspector Evan Thompson was now leading them to the place where two people had been murdered. So far all they knew was that there was a mysterious ambulance which had taken the third man but had never made it to the hospital with him. Another ambulance had arrived later, claiming that they had been called but all they could do was take the deceased away after the police had finished their primary investigation. Interrogations at the hospital were fruitless, apart from the fact that a car was apparently stolen from the emergency aid station.

They approached the place of the shooting and for a second Brandt could swear he could see blood on the sidewalk. But he blinked and it was gone. Obviously, it had been washed away.

After looking around for a while they decided to get back to the station, as Ethan asked to get him the information about all doctors. Brandt and Carter exchanged looks, assuming their leader was desperate but didn't say anything. They were just as desperate as him, and they felt the need to do something.

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A small prison cell was suddenly overcrowded, as six more people burst into it at once. Benji scanned their faces with his gaze. Four guards one of whom was already familiar (Benji felt somewhat satisfied that his partner wasn't there, apparently still a bit ill after the fight), a guy in a smart suit who seemed to be the leader of it all and…

"Dr. Wickham?" Benji's voice was hoarse and weak. He didn't have the chance to say anything else, as two of the guards ran up to him and pulled him up, twisting his arms behind his back. He let out a loud yelp of pain as his shoulder was making more movements than it was supposed to and more blood began to appear through the cloth covering the wound. Another guard grasped Mike.

"Oh, Mr. Dunn," the professor smiled sincerely. "Nice to see you again".

Benji stared at him. What was happening here? Everyone he knew seemed to be going mad.

"What a heartwarming reunion party," the guy in the suit waved his hand impatiently.

"What's going on here?" it was a stupid attempt at getting an answer but the agent felt that he was going crazy himself and he just needed to clear this up just a bit. The Suit Guy, as Benji called him in his mind, eyed him carefully and smiled maliciously.

"Well, I am working here. A man of science. And your professor here is just a helper," Benji frowned, as the word reminded him of better times. Well, relatively better as they had had a global nuclear war to prevent. But at least they had been together… His team, his soon-to-be best friends. Benji suddenly realized he was drifting away and made a forceful effort to come back to his current situation.

"Doctor Wickham and I worked together about twenty years ago. And then we had a little… misunderstanding, after which I had to leave for a while. And our mutual work, which was supposed to be a secret, became not so secret," he shot a glance at the professor who looked down. "Luckily he got back to his senses and came back. However, we can't fully trust him with the question of who else had found out about our project. So, by any chance, can you recall anything he has told you about the Anti-God?"

"I don't think so," Benji tried his best to sound neutral.

"Wrong answer," the suit guy whispered, and the familiar guard threw a mighty punch at the agent's stomach, making him keel over as much as it was possible while being held upright.

"I know he told you about it," the voice went on. "Your friend Mike here has a good memory of people. He helped us a lot with finding those who had heard the stories".

"But I… I…" Mike was mildly panicking. Benji looked up at him. Mood swings, pupil dilation, general condition… clearly they had put him on some drug.

"So I repeat my question, Benjamin. How much do you know about the Anti-God? And have you told anyone about it?"

"I know nothing about it," the most ridiculous thing was that it was almost entirely true. Wickham had never told them any specific information. Another blow to the chest left him breathless.

"Alright," the man gave another impatient wave. "You seem to be more interesting than the others anyway. My people here say you can do a bit more than a supposed simple IT expert. And the fact that you came here now. And the fact that you look suspiciously much like one mysterious Detective Sergeant Evans who has recently disappeared only for you to appear here".

Benji's gaze shot up. Shit.

"So my question is…" the Suit Guy got closer to the prisoner, looking him in the eye. "Who are you, Mr. Benjamin Dunn?"

Benji knew it was probably a dumb thing to do but the guy was just too close to him and he couldn't resist the temptation. Focusing his will, he headbutted the man in the face. It wasn't enough to knock him out but apparently did break the man's nose. At the same moment the former technician felt being thrown into the wall, hitting it with the back of his head and falling limply to the floor. His interrogator gave his men a nod, and they proceeded with sending kicks at the blonde who had no strength to move, let along to fight back. A few minutes later the Suit Guy motioned to stop, and they stepped aside, revealing a semi-conscious body on the ground. Benji was trying to catch his breath but felt blood in his throat and rolled to his side to cough it out. However he was then rolled to his back again to face his captor.

"Who are you working for?" he asked. When there was no answer, he stepped on the ex-technician's injured shoulder, causing even more blood to flow from it. There were some sickening cracking noises as the bones that hadn't been broken yet gave in and started moving, causing an even more intensive bleeding. Unable to take it, Benji let out a scream, which stopped because he was choking on his own blood. "Who? MI5, FBI?"

The agent just looked at him without saying a word.

"Well, since you don't want to share your secret," the man said, still standing on the captive's shoulder and taking his gun out, "you might as well take it to your grave".

Benji could hear Mike's terrified "no!" as he closed his eyes exhaustedly. He waited for the bullet to end his pain. Instead he heard Wickham's voice. At first he couldn't make out the words but then he thought he could understand something…

"… such skills…" the professor was saying. "We could put it to better use…"

"You think…?" the captor sounded hesitant. There was another agonizing moment during which the foot was removed from the agent's shoulder, letting him roll to his side again to cough up more blood.

"Well, we have to test it out some day," Wickham reasoned.

"Alright," the Suit Guy answered after a consideration. "Take him to the lab".

The last thing Benji could hear as he was being dragged out was Mike's "I'm so sorry, Benji". Then he finally let his eyes roll backwards and gave in to the darkness.

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The station was quiet as three people were looking through the hospital personnel's files. Jane was becoming impatient, losing the remains of her hope. Suddenly Brandt froze looking at one of the photos, inwardly thanking his fate for the fact that he used to be chief analyst. The face was familiar. They had a lead.