Mr. Benedict

He woke up inside some sort of cell. Every limb aching, he pulled himself into a sitting position, blinking several time to adjust to the darkness engulfing him - but he barely had time to do so when the metal door closing him off from whatever lay ahead swung open. A masked Ten Man seized his arm roughly. "Get up," he growled.

"I can walk by myself," said Mr. Benedict indignantly, determined to put on a brave face no matter what. It was a habit he had grown into, for he was teaching the children he loved so much how to have faith no matter the circumstances, and, well, who was he if he couldn't stay strong too? He would be no better than McCracken's cowardly minions.

"Hurry," the Ten Man snapped, his grip tightening.

"Where are you - what are you - please," said Mr. Benedict, struggling against him. Unfortunately, he'd be lying if he said that he wasn't just a little exhausted and, though he was exceptionally dexterous and brilliant as always, he was undeniably getting on in years.

"McCracken's got them," the Ten Man said with some satisfaction.

"Who?"

"The children."

"They do?" Mr. Benedict's brow wrinkled in concern. "Are they - "

Before either of them could say anything further, McCracken swooped down, cackling. "Now, isn't this a charming turn of events?" he sneered.

"Please - are they alright?"

"For now, yes. Except that obnoxious little one." He waved a hand dismissively, as if vaguely disgusted by a particularly persistent fruit fly.

Mr. Benedict blanched and murmured, "Constance."

"Oh yes, that's her name. Boy, it would have driven me crazy all night," McCracken said, eyes narrowing in amusement. "You know, I'm terrible at remembering names. Fortunately, however, it would look as though those pesky children will be no more, and therefore no more names to try to recall."

Mr. Benedict was watching the man, his usually calm and even-tempered expression wiped away. His hands trembled, and suddenly, his face twisted in pain. Freeing himself from the Ten Man, he lunged forward and shook McCracken by the shoulders, jaw clenched as an uncharacteristic rage engulfed him, and he said, teeth gritted, "What have you done to her? To them?"

The Ten Man was on him in an instant, grabbing him around the waist and hefting him easily off of McCracken, who appeared to be delighted. "Now, now, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Take him away," he ordered. "If you don't mind, I have some infinitely more important business to attend to."

The Ten Man nodded curtly and dragged Mr. Benedict towards another passageway. "Go," he said, shoving the man ahead. McCracken winked at him condescendingly, and then they were through the passageway and were standing on a tall, rickety wooden platform that seemed most unfitting based on the architecture of McCracken's headquarters. To make things even more peculiar, they were standing above the shore of - could it be? - an ocean. Salt spray flicked against Mr. Benedict's face.

He turned to the Ten Man, who was reaching up to slip out of the mask. "Excellent job, Milligan," he said pleasantly.

Author's note

So, that was extremely short. And I know that I should be posting chapters more consistently, as in not two at once, so you'll have to be dissatisfied for now, but I promise another one is coming up sometime this week, so stay tuned. You guys were requesting a Mr. Benedict POV, and although I have a general idea for the next chapter I am still open to requests and suggestions. It's almost certainly going to be Constance POV.

As usual, review! Thank you so much for your support!