Caught in the Middle (Ben X Reader)

Chapter 3

I step into my basement which contained most of the scientific equipment I had bought myself over the years. It was the day after the Phantom was in my house and I had finally started to analyze the serum. I turn on all the machines I thought I would need. I sit down on a stool in front of a machine that was used to compare molecules of different elements to see what may be in this serum.

I pull a glass dropper out and pull a few drops of the serum out. I put them into the machine and start it. The sound of steps could be heard through the house. I look towards the basement stairs. I watch as Ben walks down the stairs casually causing me to roll my eyes. 

"You could knock. Instead of just walking in" I say as I look towards the computer screen displaying the information the machine was getting, 

"What's the fun in that?" Ben says to me. 

I shake my head as I start writing notes down that I was seeing on the screen. There was no definite answer coming from the machine which was frustrating but it didn't mean there wasn't anything I could take from it. I could feel Ben walk up behind me and look over my shoulder. 

"Do you mind?" I ask as I look over my shoulder at Ben. 

"I'm just seeing what you were doing," Ben says stepping back.

I roll my eyes as I look back at the machine. "Do you even know what I'm doing? or should I dump it down for you" I snap back at him.

Ben glares at me. I could see it through his goggles. "For your information, I was a scientist before all this" Ben growls gesturing to his apparatus.

"Could have fooled me" I stated. 

Ben grabs ahold of me by the neck and presses me against the desk in front of me. "Watch your mouth" 

I growl slightly before I elbow Ben into the stomach. As he leans over in pain I turn and punch him in the face knocking the goggles off his face and pushing the mask to the side allowing me to catch of glimpse of his face. I walk over and pick up his goggles as he fixes his mask. 

"Next time don't touch me like that" I growl in his face as I press his goggles into his hands. 

I walk over to the machine I was working with and go back to looking at the information it was producing. I slowly sift through the information pulling what I could while Ben stood behind me staring at me still in slight shock about what just happened. I write down a few more notes before running the serum through the machine again. 

"You gonna stand there and stare at me the whole time?" I ask as I move to start pulling a syringe out of a drawer nearby. This got his attention.

"What are you doing?" He says grabbing the syringe from me. 

"Give it back" I growl. "I want to test it on a blood sample and I can't use your blood cause it's already contaminated with the serum" I yank the syringe out of his hand and turn away from him to prep my arm. 

I prep my arm before drawing a small amount of blood out. I move over to my microscope that was connected to a computer screen to make it easier to see things. I set some blood on a glass piece and slide it under the microscope. I look at the computer screen and adjust the setting a bit to see the image clearer.

"You have a nice cell count in your blood," Ben says looking at the screen. 

"Oh umm thanks," I say before I pull a bit of serum out of the bottle with the glass dropper. 

I press record on the computer and add the serum to the blood sample. I watch the screen as the serum almost coats the cells in the blood sample. I look at it curiously as I watch the screen. I take a few notes on what I was seeing. 

"So the serum coats the cells in the bloodstream?" I say looking back at Ben.

"Yes, it's to help with the radiation. Almost protects it but that issue is the cells become addicted to it which is why I need more" Ben explains. 

I nod as I look back at the screen. I turn off the recording before putting the contaminated blood sample in a safe box. I move back over to the machine I had running. I look at the screen before looking back at my notes. Mostly everything lined up except for a few undetectable ingredients. I change views on the computer screen to look at the molecules in the serum. I instantly recognize one of the unknown ingredients.

"The serum uses ammunition powder?" I question looking at Ben. "Do you know how dangerous that is for the body?" 

"I didn't make the serum before okay. I was just the person who used the serum on others... and well myself" Ben explains. 

"You experimented on human subjects? Are you serious? Did you even experiment on rats or something else?" I yell slightly.

"I didn't really have a choice! My boss wasn't exactly a good person" Ben says to me. 

"What company did you work for?" I ask. 

"Syntec" Ben answers. Hearing that name caused my eyes to widen as I dropped the pencil I was holding onto the ground. 

"Did... Did you say Syntec?" I ask my mouth going dry. 

"Yes, why?" Ben asks walking towards me. 

I push past Ben walking to my filing cabinet. I dig through the documents inside until I find the documents I was looking for. It was the history of the company I worked for. I look through it looking for the name Syntec. Originally known as Syntec. Branch renamed in 2010.

"My company.." I say trying to process the words to say. "It was formally known as Syntec. The owner changed the name in 2010. At least the branch I work at now." 

"What?" Ben asks pulling the document from my hand reading it. "Syntec never..."

"Syntec is still around under a different name," I say looking at Ben as he looks back "and so is some of the employees."