Smokescreen

10

Zoe paused at the entrance to the medical wing, trying to catch her breath. Heads had shaken with indifference at her when she questioned them about Ben. She had always assumed- wrongfully so, it appeared- that Ben had disappeared from their lives because he found different friends. It seemed to her, however, that Ben barely had any at all. What a lonely life that must be, she thought.

Her life had been haunted by nightmares for years. She saw the faces of the people she loved dying again and again, the dread filling her whole body as she ran, feeling her life drain out of her... until she would wake up, sobbing, scarred from the experiences she relived the nights she could fall asleep. It was true that Zoe tried to ignore it. She bottled it up, afraid that if she let the monster out, it would ruin her life. She never pondered if Ben could have been going through the same things, however, and she couldn't even imagine what it was like for him without someone to ground him back to earth.

"Zoe!" Erica called out to her, knocking her out of her thoughts. She looked back up, smiling weakly at her friend.

"Did you find him?" Zoe asked. Erica shook her head, placing her hand on Zoe's shoulder. Her expression was concerned and open, and Zoe kept her smile up, blinking away the tears that appeared to cloud her eyes.

"They don't have his dorm number on record." Erica said. Zoe looked at her in surprise. How was that possible? He had to live on campus as a current student. How had it come to this? She didn't even know his dorm number. Ben used to be one of her best friends, her rock. How had it come to this?

Had she been so weak, so caught up in her own devastation that she hadn't noticed that Ben was drowning? She had been drowning then too, only saved by the people around her. Zoe's fingers itched to run themselves over the scars that marred her wrists. Life had seemed pointless for a good many years. It was no matter that they had defeated SPYDER, for the CIA was still corrupt. They had pushed for change for many years, Zoe and Erica at the front.

Ben had melded with the shadows, taking Warren's place as the overlooked, Murray's as the scorned, and Erica's as the feared. Slowly, as if he had planned it, Zoe paid less and less attention. Had she really been that angry? Had she really blamed him for something that wasn't his fault?

He had to come back. Why would he throw away nearly 6 years of training and friendships? She didn't want to think it, but a snarky part of her brain suggested that he could have betrayed them. It wasn't as if he had anything to come back for. But Ben had been strong for years, and if he truly still had even a sliver of the person he used to be, she was sure that he would never switch sides.

"Graduation is in only 6 weeks," She said slowly. "Final exams are in five. He'll be there, right?"

Erica shrugged, unsure. Where could he have gone? Students typically only left the grounds of the school for missions or in case of an evacuation. There was no mission on file- nothing in the principal's email either. Erica had the resources to dive deep into this, but she held herself back. What if it was really nothing? He had been so cold in that hospital room. Maybe he was just avoiding her, and Erica was too proud to admit how much that thought hurt her heart.

"Have we checked with your dad?" Zoe asked. At Erica's questioning look, she hastened to explain herself. "He said he was going to contact Alexander to discuss something the last time we saw him."

Erica hummed, in the middle of thought. Students streamed past them, their eyes drawn to the two women, but quickly looked away and pretended otherwise.

Zoe decided to voice the conclusions that Erica came to in that moment.

"So... Ben doesn't want to be found....He could definitely pull that off, right? He's paranoid enough."

"Or?" Erica prompted, staring dully at the ground as they began to walk to the medical wing.

"Or he's been kidnapped right under our noses."

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Ben gave a sigh of relief as he shelved the last of the boxes. He would be clocking out of his shift in just a few minutes, and the long hours had reminded Ben of what he didn't miss about living at home. He was one of three employees that his parents had, but it was always chaos during the day- never a quiet shift. He smiled at the judgemental old lady who used to be his neighbor as she blathered on about her granddaughter bringing shame to the family by dating a "ruffian".

"Oh, are you single? If Elizabeth met a nice boy like you, Sean, I'm sure she'd be back to normal in a tiffy." Ben gave a weak grin, bagging the last of her groceries. It was the same rant every week- it seemed like Mrs. O'Hara's granddaughter made her way around town.

"I-I have a girl back home, Mrs. O'Hara." Ben stuttered slightly, caught off guard by the sudden realisation that Mrs. O'Hara might have been Elizabeth Pasternak's grandmother this whole time. He wasn't sure what he was saying. The old woman sighed, grabbing her groceries.

"Well, I don't know what I would have expected. You're such a handsome young man. She's lucky to have you. Why, if I were 40 years younger..." Ben caught the eye of his coworker, Dirk, who winked at him and gave him a joking thumbs up.

"Y'know, ma'am...." A thought popped up in Ben's head. "D-Dirk is single." Dirk immediately began waving his hands to Ben to cut it out, and Mrs. O'Hara was none the wiser as Ben's mouth quirked up in a small smile. She perked up, looking over at the other cashier and winking at him.

"I'll keep it in mind."

"Alright, then. You have a nice day, Mrs. O'Hara!" Ben kept the false smile on his face until she was out of sight and down the street. He turned the sign to closed and sighed in relief, running his hand over his face.

"Thanks a lot, man." Dirk grumbled. Ben grinned, locking up the register.

"No problem." He easily responded, making his way to the backroom. "Hey, are you working tomorrow?"

"Of course- I need the money." Dirk was in his year in school, and had been one of Ben's bullies in junior high. However, the conversation between the two boys flowed easily after two months and a false identity. His distraction and laughter would be his downfall, but Ben had no idea at the time.

Suddenly, a large hand covered his eyes and roughly pulled him in one direction by the collar of his shirt. He choked for a minute until he caught his bearings, kicking at the man's knees. His attacker swore, and a shelf of merchandise was knocked over as Ben aimed a punch at his head. His breathing light and his heart heavy, Ben engaged the man in a fight, surprised when the assailant brought out a cloth that made his eyes water. Ben didn't dare stop when he heard Dirk call out in alarm, unsure whether there were more bogeys in the store.

"Sean, what's going on?" Dirk entered the room. Ben swore, flipping his opponent off him and to the ground.

"Can't talk right now." Ben yelled as he dodged a punch and the hand with the cloth. Alas, he was distracted for a moment, and his attacker used that to his advantage. The assailant clamped his hand and cloth over the boy's nose and mouth. His vision began to get blurry, but Ben continued to squirm and move in an effort to escape.

"Benjamin Ripley." The man hissed. "Give up."

"Sean, what is he talking about?"

Ben began to get woozy, his head spinning and his eyes drooping. Why had he let himself let his guard down? Bad things always happened. Was the attacker CIA? Did he work for Cain? Corvus? The last image he had was of the man in black shoving the contents of a vial down Dirk's throat, who began to regurgitate foam and blood until the boy went still.