Chapter 23

Jenny had never been to the lower levels of the ARC before - she'd had no need to. After all, they had only ever had two human enemies, and they were Leek, who was dead, and the ever elusive Helen Cutter. They'd never had any need to hold people in the basement cells, and so Jenny had never had cause to visit them. Now, as she stepped cautiously down the steep, rickety stairs, she was rather thankful that she'd never been there before. The corridor was very creepy, making the hairs on her arms prickle despite the absence of cold. As she descended further, the atmosphere seemed to thicken considerably, and she struggled to inhale the dank, musty- smelling air. Pushing her uneasiness aside, she continued onwards in the direction of the muffled voices discernable ahead of her.

When she reached the end of the corridor that forked out into three separate directions, she took a right, following her ears more than her sense of direction. Eventually, she came across Becker and a handful of his men, all busying themselves by securing some of the dozen steel cell doors. A lot of banging and muffled shouts could be heard from the prisoners locked behind them. She ignored the funny looks she was getting off some of the soldiers and marched directly up to Becker.

"Which cell is he in?" she demanded.

Becker frowned slightly, half glancing round to the end of the corridor. "Jenny, I don't think that's such a good idea - "

"Which cell Becker?" she repeated sternly, hands on her hips.

He paused for a moment, his dark eyes showing no hint of what he might be thinking. Eventually, he nodded over to the end cell, which door had already been firmly closed.

"Unlock it," she said immediately, ensuring her tone conveyed that it was a command and not a request.

"No," he answered firmly.

"Please Becker," she said, forcing herself to be more polite. "I know we can't let him out, but I just want to talk to him."

Becker looked at her for a second, before fleetingly glancing up to his men. "Leave us," he said to them in a deep commanding voice, and they obeyed immediately, all turning and shuffling back down the corridor and out of sight. When they were alone, Becker glanced back down at Jenny. "And what will that achieve, except confusing you even more?"

"Please," she begged, more so because she didn't know how to answer that question. "Please Becker, just do me this one favour."

He sighed, before reluctantly reaching down and pulling out a set of keys from his pocket. "Well I think you're making a mistake. You're letting him control you."

Jenny shot him a stern look, but didn't reply, knowing that he was partly right.

He put the key in the cell door and turned it, so that it unlocked with a screech, and he pulled it open.

Ben was sitting in the corner of the tiny room, his legs drawn up and his arms relaxing casually on his knees. As he looked around, his expression showed no panic, or no anger - in fact, he looked rather amused at the whole thing. However, as Jenny stepped inside and made eye contact with him, unless she was very much mistaken, she could see a flicker of betrayal stir beyond their depths.

"Five minutes," Becker said firmly, before pushing the door shut behind her.

She leaned back against the cold steel, crossing her arms as she looked down at him, knowing that there was no need to try and fill the silence between them - he was sure to have a few things to say to her. And sure enough . . .

"Nice move mother," he said with a chuckle. "Didn't see that one coming. You're a lot colder than I thought - "

"I didn't know what they were planning on doing," she replied, trying to keep her voice cool and detached whilst at the same time determined to prove her innocence. "They did it behind my back."

"But if you would have known, you would have let them?" he asked, raising a questioning eyebrow.

"Yes, probably," she stated.

"Thanks very much," he laughed humuorlessly. "And you wonder why I've got issues."

"You were going to kill us," she pointed out in a forced-calm voice. "You needed to be stopped."

"And now, thanks to you, the future is as ruined as it ever was," he said in a resigned voice, his gaze leaving her face and settling on his hands. "My coming here was pointless."

"No," she conceded, her heart softening slightly. "We've got your Locking Mechanism."

He laughed again. "And how pissed off is your boss going to be when he finds out you can't work it," he said with a rye smile.

"I - what?" she asked, distracted. "What are you talking about?"

"It only responds to my finger prints," he informed her with a mock-disappointed sigh. "Too bad really, that you've locked me in here."

"Connor will figure out a way of doing it," she said in a false confident voice. "He hasn't failed yet."

"Perhaps," he shrugged, looking unconcerned. "But by the time he figures it out, you'll be up to your necks in creatures."

She leaned her head back on the door, watching him coldly. "Then maybe we'll torture you until you help us."

"You could try," he bit back, looking up at her.

She stared back at him in silence for a few moments, knowing that they both knew she wouldn't allow that to happen. God, she hated this. She felt like her hands were tied, and that her loyalties were torn between her team and her son. And she knew that was exactly what Ben wanted her to feel. She was no fool; she knew what game he was playing. But knowing it, and actually being able to fight against it were two separate things entirely.

Ben sniffed, and ran his hand under his nose, wiping away some of the remaining blood there. "I get the feeling your husband doesn't like me very much," he joked with a smile.

"Dad," she corrected him immediately. "Would it kill you to call him dad?"

He chuckled coolly and looked away, shaking his head in disbelief. "He's not my dad."

"Well unless you know something I don't?" she retorted sarcastically. "And if you will go around kidnapping peoples wives, what do you expect?" she continued, crouching down so that she was level with him. "A pat on the back?"

"Well maybe if you'd told him the reason I took you in the first place then he would be giving me a pat on the back instead of a punch in the mouth," he retorted, catching her off guard.

"I - I don't want to worry him," she stammered, only being partly truthful.

He turned his gaze back to her, his blue eyes narrowed slightly. "Well if you don't tell him, I will."

"Oh yeah?" she laughed, trying to hide her nervousness at the threat. "And you think he'll believe anything you say?"

"I have little doubt," he replied. "After all, people are willing to believe it when someone tells them their worst fear is about to come true."

"Don't you dare - " Jenny began, but she stopped abruptly as something popped into her head. "Hang on a minute," she said slowly. "Where's Kathryn?"

He leaned his head back against the wall with a wide smile. "Kathryn who?" he said smugly.

"You know who I mean," Jenny snapped, narrowing her eyes. "I didn't see her when you all came in. Where is she?"

He leaned forward slightly. "I don't know who you're talking about," he whispered, a smile still tugging at his lips. "Are you sure you're not getting confused in your old age?"

"Excuse me!" she exclaimed indignantly. "I'm barely older than you at the moment you cheeky thing! And stop changing the bloody subject!"

"Jenny?" Becker's voice broke the tension in the room as he knocked on the door.

After shooting Ben a stern look, Jenny straightened up and turned to leave. Immediately, a hand on her arm stopped her and turned her back round to see that Ben had gotten to his feet, and his expression had changed from amused to strained.

"Mum," he said quietly, his eyes willing her to listen. "Please don't go out there tomorrow. If you never believe anything else I say, believe that. If you go, you'll die."

"So you'd rather have a mother who's a coward?"

"I'd rather have a mother who's alive," he corrected her in an urgent whisper. "Please, just don't go. Make some excuse up - "

"Jenny, I'm coming in," Becker's voice interrupted again, sounding slightly worried as he pulled open the door.

Immediately, Ben let go of her and dropped his arm to his side.

"Come on, times up," Becker continued, looking at Ben with distaste and mistrust as he put his hand on Jenny's lower back to lead her out of the cell.

"I'll be seeing you," Ben said, addressing Jenny as Becker made to close and lock the door behind them.

"Don't count on it," Becker snapped protectively before slamming the door shut.

As he and Jenny walked back to the main room in silence, she couldn't help but feeling that Becker had been right - it had been a mistake to go and see Ben. It was not just the fact that his cryptic words and enigmatic nature made her want to throttle him; it was that some part of her - a part that she was trying desperately to suppress - could see her Ben in him. From the way he said certain words, to the look in his eyes that betrayed certain emotions he couldn't quite mask - he was her son all over. Undeniably. And no matter how much Nick said otherwise, it was a fact.

But Nick was also right about one thing - he was just a possibility of what Ben might turn out like. She could still change things so that he didn't turn out as screwed up as he was. She just needed to stay alive and stop the creatures from spreading, and then, maybe this whole nightmare would be over.

As they reached the main room, she found everyone gathered around a piece of machinery that she had never seen before, all inspecting it intently. She guessed it was Ben's Locking Mechanism, and immediately, she made a mental note that she had to tell Connor about Ben's predictions about it only working for him. As she walked up to them, Nick dropped his hand from the contraption and looked round at her apprehensively, as though expecting another screaming match.

Feeling herself warm towards him considerably as she remembered that he had only done what he had to do to protect them all, she made a point of going to stand next to him, trying to convey an apology for her outburst without the ignominy of having to say it. By the way he offered her a weak smile and rested his hand on her arm, he accepted her unspoken sorry.

"So," she began in a surprisingly steady voice, addressing the room. "Now what?"