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Linoleum floors; a single foot in worn sneakers tapping on the ground in impatience. The yellow light bulb hummed above his head, casting an eerie glow. A few people walked around, but he paid them no mind. Various white doors with small windows to peer in decorated the hallway, papers spilling from the files clinging to the passageways into the rooms.

A single man in a white coat walked over to Ben, who was sitting on a cold metal bench, worrying at his fingers and constantly checking around him. He was still unarmed, but he needed to make sure that his mission was completed. Or, at least, that's what he told himself. The doctor presented his badge to Ben, and he scanned the ID number and name, committing them to memory.

"Hello, Jawa." Ben said softly. The doctor, flipping through the clipboard, sighed, but didn't raise his eyes to meet Ben's.

"Hey, Ben." The greeting was terse. Ben wasn't sure what he expected. His fingers twitched. "Long time no see."

"How is she?"

"Erica," Ben flinched at the name. "Will hopefully make a full recovery. There has been... excessive torture inflicted on her body."

"I saw." Ben's throat was dry. Why was Jawa telling him this? The rustling of papers distracted him from looking up the doorway as footsteps approached. A squeak of business shoes echoed in his ear, and he turned quickly. A ruffled man in a tousled suit was jogging up to them, his eyes wide, bloodshot and frantic.

"Where is she?" Alexander Hale cried dramatically, grabbing a perplexed Jawa by the shoulders. "Where is my daughter?"

Alexander was ushered into the room, and Ben struggled to keep his face blank. The swinging doors at the end of the hallway opened once more, and a couple rushed in. A small woman with shockingly green eyes pushed past the man with dark hair accompanying her.

"Is Alexander here? We came as soon as we heard." Zoe Zibbell said, grabbing Jawa again by the shoulders. The medical student hadn't recovered from Alexander's attack yet, and was just exiting Zoe's room.

"H-he's here." Jawa stuttered in surprise. "I-I was just going over her injuries with Ben"

Their eyes swiveled to look at him, and he resisted the urge to hunch under the pressure of their stares. So, Ben stood up, strong and tall, and extended his hand to Chip. His face was a sheet of ice, cold and unfeeling. Chip took his hand in shock, and Ben noticed that he was actually an centimeter or so taller than the other spy.

"It's been a long time." He elected to say. Chip nodded dumbly. He turned to Zoe, offering his hand to her as well. She pursed her lips. They hadn't talked in... goodness, he couldn't even remember the date in the moment. Why would they talk anyway?

"Too long." It was tense, and both parties drew back as soon as possible to try and calm the sting of trauma and years apart. Zoe swivelled back to Jawa, choosing to ignore the elephant in the room.

Ben tried to focus on the flickering lights, the tile floors and the cold bench as his breathing sped up and he began to hear the shots in his head. He heard the screams of his friends and his enemies. The screams of pain, the screams of grief. His fingers pressed into the small holes that the metal in the bench was punctured with.

"Ben?" Jawa said, and Ben realised that he had zoned out. "Would you like to come inside and I can tell everyone what we found?"

He nodded stiffly, his heart aching, and shook his head blearily. What was happening to him? Three years of successfully distancing himself for the protection of himself and his... friends and it was all ruined by one mission.

They all packed into the small room, gathered around her bed. It seemed like a funeral for a girl still living. Erica was fighting; Ben knew with one look. She was going to make it, and then he was going to disappear. She wouldn't want him here. His mission would be fulfilled by the time the information Erica knew was collected. Then they both would be scarred.

His hand unwittingly reached for the left side of his neck where the brand was. The smooth skin around it was marred by the bubbly pink scar left from a hot metal stamp. Ben was no stranger to torture and some of the methods used on Erica.

"It appears as if they began the process of harvesting her organs." Jawa said, looking down at the pale woman. Alexander's knees seemed to go weak, and he leaned against Chip.

"She had internal bleeding that we have managed to stop for now, but we're going to monitor for some time. I can't say for sure the... toll this will take on her mentally..." Alexander let out a cry and clutched at his daughter's limp hand.

"We're going to investigate more into the types of torture used on her, so we know-" Jawa looked very uncomfortable now, and Ben decided interrupt. His voice was measured and quiet, though he was on the brink of an attack.

"They used a taser on her feet, that is why the soles are burnt and blistered. Not only did they try to harvest her organs," He pointed to her exposed stomach. "They tried to remove her womb."

Zoe gasped, clutching at her own stomach unconsciously. "She has scars on her neck and face from the same knife that was used on her stomach. I would recommend checking for infection. From the bloodshot look in her eyes, she had most likely been drowned and resuscitated several times. The amount of voltage that would have been used to electrocute her feet and turn them black would have killed her too."

"How do you know this?" Chip asked. Ben looked back over to Erica in her bed.

"Because I received the same treatment." Never a man of many words, Ben lifted the hem of his shirt to show identical scars on his abdomen, and then pulled down the collar to expose the brand of a strange mark on his skin. At first glance, it resembled the letter 'F', but the middle line was supplanted by two vertical dots. The skin around it was raised and bumpy, a bright reddish pink. They stared at him in shock.

"Where- When did you get that?" Zoe spoke up. He released his shirt, wiping his hands on his jeans. He could never forget what happened- who would?- but it was easier to ignore. Taking a deep breath, he tried to push away the tingling of paranoia up his spine.

"A year or two ago. My last mission." He faced Jawa. "Is that all? I would like to report my findings." They gaped at him as he covered his insecurities well, becoming a blank slate, trying to be someone you could ignore. That was impossible; Ben had always stood out, whether he knew it or not.

"A-Alright." Chip agreed, clearly shaken. Ben nodded his head, cordially.

"Goodbye." He turned his back to them once more, opening the sliding door and checking the surroundings. Walking quickly away, he stopped abruptly when he heard an ear piercing scream- the same one he had heard in the club the day before.

"Erica." He breathed, running back quickly. Ben stared in shock as Jawa tried to hold down Erica's shoulders as she convulsed in the bed. Alexander stood worriedly by, wringing his hands and stepping forward to offer to help. Zoe was holding her feet, Chip standing in the corner.

"What happened?" Ben demanded. Chip's face was coated with horror, and his voice was hoarse when he replied.

"Jawa said something about poison."

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