Undercover (Ben)

[karen2]

Ben turned his attention back to the conversation after a moment, and Anna quickly launched into a little spiel about the house, asking if they could explore. Kelly carelessly told them to help themselves, but to return before the party was over. "We won't take long," Ben promised, having to somewhat fake a laugh at Anna's little joke before she led the way over to a staircase.

"As I'll ever be," he confirmed, turning his head to capture her lips briefly and smirking slightly as he pulled away. "Now let's get this over with." They climbed the stairs quickly, met at the top by a wide corridor that was lined with multiple doors. "Third last room on the left, wasn't it?" he asked lightly, taking the lead now as they made their way down the hall.

The bare expanses of wall between the doors had been decorated with paintings, and he spared glances at them as they passed. Some looked centuries old, some only decades, and some looked like they could have been painted yesterday. The themes in the paintings ranged from portraits of children to gory battle scenes, but one thing they all had in common was the fact that every single one of them looked priceless.

When they reached the door Ben tried to twist the knob, only to find it was locked. How unsurprising that was. Kneeling, he dug through the papers in the envelope and took the paper-clip holding several sheets together. Sure, he could have used some fancy piece of technology, but this was more fun. The lock clicked open after a minute of shimmying the paper clip in the keyhole, and Ben pushed the door open laxly.

"After you," he smiled, holding the door open for Anna.

[~ ADMIN]

Anna smiled genuinely at the kiss. It was probably the first time he'd kissed her intentionally in public, with a couple of dozen people watching; she liked it.

They made their way up the stairs and no one stopped or questioned them thanks to her quick thinking and feminine wiles back when they'd been talking to Kelly, it certainly made things a lot easier. "Yes, yes it was," she said, even though he wasn't really looking for an answer. Of course the door had to be locked, but Ben had it sprung open in no time at all. "You make it look so easy," she said with a slightly teasing tone, glad to have her Scottish lilt back.

"Thank you pumpkin," she smirked, entering the room, quickly glancing around the room once before making her way over to the computer, slipping into the chair. After touching the screen, the computer flashed up that a password was required. Easy. Anna pulled out the pen drive she'd had tucked neatly away in her bra , slipping it into the appropriate drive. "Just in case we got searched," Anna smirked, glancing over her shoulder at Ben, before activating the hack program on the disk. It entered the correct password and they were in. "Yes."

Anna's fingers hovered over the keys, and she went to bring up a file to search the hard drive for the info they needed when she heard footsteps - several sets of heavy footsteps approaching quickly, it had to be security. "Damn it," she said, looking round at Ben, "we need to get out of here."

[karen2]

"Practice, love," Ben teased at Anna's comment after he'd picked the lock. "Being able to do that helps when you like pulling pranks." Well, that and breaking into places, which was sometimes necessary in this line of work. Once she was inside he stepped into the room behind her and shut the door quietly, following her over to the computer.

He watched in bewilderment as Anna reached down the front of her dress when the computer requested a password, only to laugh a little when she pulled out a pen drive and plugged it in. "That makes me wonder what else you might hide in there," he joked, slipping back around the desk to check the bookshelf against the wall. If Kelly really was fronting the terrorists, he could have some sort of documents printed off somewhere for all they knew, and that would be useful evidence when they were trying to convict him.

Ben had just pulled a promising looking binder out from behind a needlessly-large dictionary when he heard footsteps coming down the hall. He looked up, estimating by the heavy thundering that there were at least five people coming down the hall, and from the sounds of it, they were armed. He cussed. No wonder Kelly had let them come up here so carelessly, now they were trapped.

Tossing the binder to Anna, Ben rushed over to the only window in the room and pried it open as fast as he could. The drop wasn't too bad, but only one of them would be able to fit through the window at a time. Cursing again, he pulled his phaser-gun out from the waist-band of his trousers and beckoned Anna over.

"Jump," he hissed, ushering her behind him. The men were almost outside the room now, and that knowledge sent his heart thundering away in his chest and supplied him with a sudden burst of adrenaline. "I'll be right behind you, just go!"

[~ ADMIN]

"I don't think you want to know," Anna joked back before the thundering footsteps in the hallway began. She didn't know how Kelly had been tipped off - maybe asking him right out if they could go upstairs hadn't been the best idea - but it didn't matter, they had to get out of there and fast.

Rising from the chair, she caught the binder that Ben tossed at her, watching as he made his way over to the window, their only escape - they were going to have to jump. Knowing full well that they were going to have to make a run for it, and that the ground was wet outside, and now, no doubt, very muddy, she yanked her shoes off, tossing them in the incinerator, nearly letting out a cry as she did so - she wasn't big on heels, but they were beautiful shoes.

Dashing over to the window, she climbed out onto the ledge, looking back at Ben. "You'd better be," she said, before doing as she was told, jumping from the window and rolling, making sure to only sustain bruises on impact, no breakages. Glancing back over her shoulder, she regretted coming unarmed, and started running for the tree line. She couldn't hear Ben behind her, so skidded to a halt. Hearing the sound of blaster fire, she sucked in a breath. "Ben." Please, don't be hurt.

[karen2]

There was only time for Ben to feel a brief flicker of relief when Anna made it outside safely before the door was slammed open. Armored men stormed in, their guns at the ready--and all aimed at him, now that Anna was gone. One gun wasn't much use against half-a-dozen, and he knew it. After shoving his weapon back into his waist-band, he made for the window.

"Shoot him!" one of the men ordered.

At the same time that Ben jumped a blaster shot rang out and he bit back a shout of pain as the shot connected with his leg. He hit the ground at a bad angle, stumbling, and clenched his teeth for a moment to force the pain back before sprinting after Anna's muddy footprints. She had almost reached the tree line, but had turned back, her eyes wide with worry and fear.

"Go! Run!" he bellowed, waving his arms at her frantically to indicate she should make for the trees. Seeing him running towards her seemed to steel Anna and she gave him a quick nod before turning and doing as he'd asked.

Blasters were being fired after them, some with terrible aim, some more accurate. As someone got a lucky shot and grazed his shoulder, for a horrible moment Ben thought they'd hit Anna as well, but she kept running, so he couldn't be sure. Reaching the safety of the trees he slowed, grunting a little in pain as he came to a limp and looking down at his blood-stained leg. Well, wasn't that just perfect. His arm seemed fine, though, and he was thankful about that much.

Anna wasn't too far off, and Ben hobbled over to her hastily. "Hey, are you okay? They didn't hit you, did they?" He threw a glance back through the trees, hearing loud voices and fast moving feet as Kelly's men charged across the grass after them. "Damn it, we have to keep moving." But he couldn't keep running, not if he didn't want to bleed out, and he wasn't sure if Anna was hurt or not. "Scratch that, we need somewhere to hide, at least until we're in better condition. Any ideas?"

[~ ADMIN]

Anna waited anxiously; the more time went by, the wetter and more worried she became, the rain becoming steadily heavier. If he was just injured, then maybe they'd take him into custody, and then the UGAP could get him released easily. But what if he was dead? What would she do then? Her heart was aching in her chest, desperately needing to see him okay, or at least alive. He had to be okay, please be okay.

Finally, she saw him jump and hit the ground, and although her heart was still pounding furiously in her chest, a sense of relief washed over her as he began charging towards her, waving his arms at her in order to get her moving. With a nod, she took off towards the trees, glad to hear Ben's footfalls behind her this time.

The blaster shots were random, but the men got lucky with a shot to Anna's side. Letting out a silent cry, she slipped slightly, but managed to keep her footing - they were so close to the trees now. The men wouldn't be able to fire at them once they were safely in amongst them, or if they did, it was highly unlikely that they would be hit.

Anna came to a stop once they were safely out of the mens' firing line, and Ben limped over to her, asking her if she was okay. He looked about he worried as she was sure she looked. The pain in her side burned and she looked down to her bare stomach, seeing the blood there. Quickly clasping her hand to her side, she muttered, "I'm fine." His leg was hit, and his shoulder shined with blood as well. "Oh Christ," she reached out to him, then winced, putting her hand back across her side again. This wasn't good at all.

"You're right," she said, figuring they could deal with their injuries once they were safe. Quickly scanning the area, she noticed something off in the distance. "This way," she told him, heading hurriedly towards a derelict wooden shed that she'd managed to spot just a short way away. Once there, she kicked the broken down door open, and made Ben go inside first, soon following when she'd propped the door closed again. Hopefully they wouldn't come looking for them in here.

Anna collapsed to the floor beneath the broken window, clutching at her side, screwing up her face in pain. "That didn't exactly go according to plan," she said through gritted teeth. It had gone completely to hell, as a matter of fact.

[karen2]

At first Anna looked to be okay, but then Ben noticed she was favouring her side and he sucked in a breath at the blood that was visible. Stubborn as always, she lied and said she was fine. "Like hell you are," he said, flinching away a little before her hand could even make contact with his shoulder. It didn't hurt that bad, but it wasn't painless. His leg began to shake, screaming in agony, and Ben put a hand against a nearby tree to steady himself.

They both glanced around, searching for somewhere to take cover and hide until they'd managed to do something about their injuries. Anna suddenly began making towards a building that wasn't too far off. As Ben stumbled after her, he realized upon closer inspection that it was a small ramshackle shed.

"You think?" Ben mumbled in response to Anna's comment about things not going as planned.

His leg was shaking even worse now, barely able to keep him standing and he felt some of the colour drain from his face, but he managed to stay upright until he'd peeled off his jacket. His shoulder, which hadn't looked so bad when he'd been wearing black over it, had dyed his dress-shirt's sleeve red, but he mostly ignored it. He was more concerned about Anna at the moment.

A little bit faster than intended due to his leg giving up on him, Ben slumped to the ground next to Anna with a groan. "Here," he said, grimacing as his arm twinged when he ripped a strip of his jacket off. It was a shame, really. It was his only tux. Nonetheless, he ripped it up into multiple strips so that they could use it to tend their wounds.

"Come on, let's see how bad you are." But when Ben tried to lift her dress away from her wound, Anna pulled away. "I know it hurts, love, but we need to deal with it," he said soothingly as he tried again. She struck out at him this time, her fist narrowly missing his face. "Jesus, Anna! We have to stop the bleeding. Why are you struggling so much?"

[~ ADMIN]

Anna always lied about how bad she was. She refused to be a victim in any shape or form, especially her injuries. Anyone else would have been howling with pain, but she had to deal with it. She didn't want either of them to lose their lives tonight, so that meant getting them undercover and hidden away so that they couldn't be hurt further, which was exactly what she did.

Ben looked in pretty bad shape, his leg looked like it was about to buckle any moment, and he soon did. They both needed to stem the bleeding, and she was more worried about his state than hers, he had two injuries whereas she had one. His retort didn't need a reply, she didn't feel up to one right at the moment.

Keeping her hand tightly gripped across her side, she wanted to help him, but she felt out of it. It was the loss of blood, it was draining out of her fairly quickly, and her fingers weren't doing anything to stop it. Her vision blurred, and she tried to keep her head. She could hear a male voice as her head span, and on some level it registered as Ben's voice, but she was beginning to lose focus.

The male voice came closer, and started trying to pull at her dress. She couldn't make out the face any more, the voice a mumble in her ears. She tried to say no, but it didn't come out. He tugged harder, speaking again. Anna struck out blindly, feeling her knuckles graze the air near his face, and she blinked hard, waking herself up. Finally Ben came back into focus and she grabbed him, remembering what was going on.

"Oh my God, Ben," she said, realising now that it was just Ben trying to tend to her wounds. Her side wasn't the only thing wet now with the blood, her face was wet with tears. "I'm sorry," she told him, "I didn't mean to... I wasn't..." Anna swallowed, "I didn't realise it was you." The blood was still spilling from his wounds as well, and he looked really pale. "We need to get you patched up," she said, wiping her face. He was going to ask questions, she knew it.

[karen2]

Anna's eyes were unfocused, her face streaked with tears, and Ben's already pale face blanched again. Something was wrong. Before he could do anything, though, she managed to come around again, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt. "Anna, calm down! It's fine, I'm okay!" he reassured her, trying to comfort her both with the knowledge that she hadn't managed to hurt him and by taking her face in his hands.

Even though she was more worried about his wounds, he shook his head at her. "I'll be fine until we've dealt with you." But it was clear in her eyes, whether she was aware of it or not, that she didn't want him touching her. Sighing a little, he gave up and simply handed her a piece of what had been his jacket. "Here. Patch yourself up."

Once he was sure that she was taking care of herself, Ben went about winding a strip of fabric around his leg, cringing occasionally as the pressure made the wound twinge. It wasn't until he was fixing his shoulder that he glanced at Anna again. "So do I get to know what that was about, or not?" he asked idly. She was shaken by it, whatever it was, and that worried him.

[~ ADMIN]

Anna hated that she'd completely lost control like that, it wasn't like her at all. His hands seized her face in an effort to keep her steady and calm her down, as a reassurance that it was him that was there with her, and not anyone else. And also, that she hadn't hurt him. If she'd socked him in the face on top of everything else they'd just been through, she would have felt so guilty.

Ben was about as stubborn as she was, but even though he had been insisting that they patch her up first, he suddenly relented handing her the piece of the jacket. "Okay," she said quietly, once again, doing as she was told. She wanted to last the night, and she could see that he was going to deal with his own wounds, so she tended to hers. She bit down on her bottom lip hard as she bandaged her waist, almost drawing blood, the pain was severe, especially with the make-shift bandage applying a lot of pressure.

And then he asked. Anna closed her eyes and opened them again, knowing that leaving them closed would allow her mind to think it was allowed to sleep, and that wasn't a good idea right now. She swallowed hard. No lie or excuse sprung to mind, but she wasn't sure whether he nor she could handle the truth. It was her best guarded secret, one that tore her to shreds inside. It had bubbled to the surface just now, and look what had happened. But she didn't see how she could get out of telling him.

"I thought," she began, then stopped, looking over at him. He was genuinely concerned, she could see it on his face. She buried her face in her hand, then she ran it up into her wet hair. "I was out of it, and I thought you were... well, I thought you were my brother." That probably sounded really weird without the full explanation. "When you touched me, it reminded me of..." her voice got caught in her throat. She hoped he could put the rest together himself.

[karen2]

Anna started to speak, but then stopped, smoothing her hair back with one hand as she grappled for a way to phrase her answer. At least, Ben was fairly sure that was what she was trying to do. What could be so hard for her to get out? It concerned him. Then again, maybe a shed on the property of some man who was trying to kill them wasn't the best place for this conversation?

Just as he'd opened his mouth to tell her that they could drop it for now and discuss things later, she opened her own to speak again. "Your brother...?" he repeated quietly, confused. What does she mean? he wondered. As if reading his mind, she said the words that put everything into perspective.

Her brother... her own god-damned brother. Not paying attention to the way his hands curled into fists out of anger at her words, he accidentally dug his fingers into his shoulder. "Ouch, damn it!" he snapped, making Anna jump. "I... sorry. Didn't mean to startle you."

He tried to think of something more to say, but came up empty. Oh, this silence just has to be making her feel better. But at the same time, nothing Ben could say would change things. Nothing could reverse what had happened, or make her forget. The most he could do was carefully put a hand on her shoulder, and when she didn't flinch away he moved it up to her face, wiping her tears away with his thumb.

Feeling a little awkward with all the emotion flying loose in the shed, he let his hand drop and got to his feet cautiously, testing his leg. It still hurt like hell, but at least the shaking had relented some, and the bleeding was stemmed. "You feeling up to our next escape attempt?" he asked, offering her his hand and trying to pretend like they hadn't had this conversation. Maybe that would help.

It couldn't be too far off now. Unless of course their shuttle had left. In which case they might have to commandeer one. Assuming they even got that far.

[~ ADMIN]

There was a confused silence from Ben, then he repeated her words, as if trying to figure out what she meant. She couldn't say the words out loud, she couldn't. Admitting to someone that it had actually happened felt like it would tear her to pieces. Over the years, she'd tried telling herself that it hadn't happened, it wasn't real, but she couldn't get away from the truth. In the end, she buried the truth, but in some way, used it to make herself stronger. She had never wanted to talk about it.

Anna knew he understood, causing himself physical pain in the process. Her heart started beating like a jack hammer against her rib cage again after she jumped, having already been thumping rather loudly while she'd tried to explain to Ben exactly why she'd acted the way she had a few minutes ago. "It's-it's okay," she choked out, knowing that he hadn't meant to. This was the first ever reaction she'd received beyond her own, and she figured, or hoped, that he believed her.

Ben obviously didn't know what to say, and she didn't blame him at all. She had barely been able to tell him. But him wiping the tears from her face was comforting, and it helped to soothe her nerves just a little. He didn't need to say anything. She could see it in his eyes, he believed her. That was a relief.

Anna nodded, "I'm ready." She took his hand and hoisted herself onto her feet, cringing in pain. "Are you sure you're going to be okay on that leg?" He didn't look steady on it at all, but she knew that if she was willing to get out of there, then he was going to be his usual stubborn self and say he was fine.

She moved over to the door, careful not to trip over any of the fire wood strewn across the floor, and peered through the door, seeing that the immediate coast was clear. Ben had followed her across the room and was now stood behind her. She turned to him, aware that the men were still out there, and that this could end very badly. "Ben," she said, looking up at him - she had shrunk again without those heels. Reaching up, she brushed her lips against his, kissing him. She hoped it wouldn't be the last one she ever got.

[karen2]

Waving off Anna's concern about his leg, Ben offered her a quick smile. "I'll make it. Besides, with your side as it is, I can't exactly use you as a crutch anyway." He eyed her waist for a moment, checking to make sure she'd managed to get the bindings tight enough when she'd had to do it herself. "Straight to the Medical Bay when we get back, no question about it," he sighed.

She led the way over to the door then, and Ben followed, using his height advantage now that her shoes were gone to peek out over her head. It looked safe, but that didn't mean it was. At the sound of his name, he looked back down at Anna. When she kissed him, it took him a moment to understand why, but eventually he understood. This could very well be it. Neither of them were in good shape, and they were up against who knew how many armed men with one little gun.

Careful to mind her injured side, Ben rested a hand on her shoulder while the other went up to tangle in her hair and pull her close. He wasn't overbearing, but he didn't hold back, either. Finally, he let her go. Both of them had no doubt been in far worse situations than this, but Ben had never had this much to lose before. Not just his life, but hers.

"Anna, I... well, I..." Just say it, you dolt, he barked at himself. But he couldn't. Not because he wasn't sure if it was true or not, but rather because he was afraid of what would happen afterward if they lived through this. But then again, if they didn't... I love you. "I'm really glad I met you," he said instead, hoping that would suffice. There was a slight pause, and then he shook his head. "Let's do this."

Pushing the door open, he slid out cautiously, looking around. There didn't look to be anyone there, so hopefully they could get out of here before Kelly's men found them. Making sure Anna was with him, he led them in what he hoped was the right direction to get to the shuttles. Just as they'd turned around the edge of the line of trees, they came face to face with a row of men carrying guns. Ben cursed mentally, pulling Anna behind him instinctively, though she probably wouldn't appreciate that much.

There was a man standing at the front of the group, and he was mysteriously unarmed. At first Ben assumed that it was Senator Kelly, but when the man stepped forward and revealed his face, it was someone else. He had a menacing aura about him, powerful, and the cruel smile curled his mouth at the sight of them made Ben feel like shivering.

"Got ya."

[~ ADMIN]

"Yes sir," Anna said with a weak teasing voice, despite the fact that she was his superior. Right now, she didn't feel like it mattered. She felt weak, she knew she did, physically and emotionally. And, they were in as much trouble as each other. If they were going to make it out of this alive, then they were going to need to stick together, and to work together.

The kiss was amazing if bittersweet. What had begun as a harmless evening, a simple mission where they were both joking and teasing each other, had turned into one with incredibly high stakes. She didn't want to lose Ben, that much was clear to her now. She wanted the chance to let him touch her without trying to punch him in the face, and without it being becase he needed to bandage her up. She really wanted it.

Ben stumbled over his words. There was a pause, and then a sentence came out of his mouth, but Anna was sure it hadn't been the one he meant to say. Because as he stuttered, the words she'd thought he was going to say passed through her mind, and she had nearly said it out loud herself. It seemed cliched to tell him now, but what if it was her last chance? Maybe she didn't have to tell him straight out. Looking at him with a knowing smile, she said, "I'm really glad I met you too."

He took the lead and Anna let him. As far as she could tell, they were heading the right way. All they had to do was get back to their shuttle and get out of there. But, of course, it wasn't that easy. Nothing about this evening had been. She stared wide eyed at the men with the guns as Ben pulled her behind him. Her instinct had been to protect him, but he'd got there first, holding her there so she didn't do anything wreckless.

The man that approached them looked familiar somehow. It wasn't Senator Kelly, that was for sure, but he reminded her of someone, someone she knew, she just couldn't quite put her finger on it. He said two words, then everything went dark.

-x-

Anna awoke with a start, her body jolted and a clanging sound rang around her ears. She could feel that both her hands and ankles were cuffed. Her eyes flew open and quickly adjusted to the light. She was sitting in a room, bound and unable to move. It was dark and smelled damp, probably a basement below the house. At least she wasn't dead. She hoped she wasn't anyway, 'cause if this was heaven, it sucked.

All she could see in front of her was brick wall, she rattled her hand cuffs again, but all it did was graze the skin around her wrists and ankles. As the echo of the sound died away, she heard breathing. Ben. "Ben?" she said urgently, hoping that his was the breathing from behind her. She couldn't crane her neck round to see who was there clearly, and they hadn't responded. "Ben!"

[karen2]

What happened? was the first coherent thought Ben had when he came back around. One second he'd been staring in the face of certain death, and the next everything had gone black. Had there been people tailing them, too? How had he not noticed that? How had Anna? Wait. Anna! His eyes snapped open, and as if opening his eyes had turned on his ears, he suddenly heard Anna's panicked voice calling his name.

"Anna!" he exclaimed in relief. Well, at least they weren't dead. Or maybe they were. When he tried to move, he realized that he was in shackles and frowned. That wasn't good. "Are you okay?" he asked, shaking his head. He tried to turn, and though it was impossible to see her he had a feeling that she was the one behind him. "Do you have any idea where we are?"

She didn't get the chance to answer before he heard a door open and someone step into the room, their footsteps echoing off the walls. "Well, well, well, look who's awake!" Ben grimaced. It was that man again, the one who'd been with Kelly's men. Had they been Kelly's men? Well, why would anyone else care about them tapping into the Senator's computers?

"So what's your name, young lady?" the man drawled, his footsteps coming up from behind Ben--and straight toward Anna. Ben smirked a little when she didn't answer. "Not in the mood for sharing, I see. Well then..."

The footsteps moved, coming around in front of Ben, and despite the dim lighting, he did his best to make out the man's face. He looked almost familiar, but there was no way he could know him from before now... could he? No, of course not.

"Don't even try asking me for my name, you know I won't give it to you," Ben said shortly, glaring. "I had planned to be a little more forward with you, anyway." A fist connected with the side of Ben's face and his head whipped to the side, stars popping in front of his eyes. Blinking a couple of times, he turned back to the man coolly. "You punch like my grandmother." Another resounding strike later, Ben was spitting blood out of his mouth. "Okay, so that was a little better."

"So glad to have your approval," the man said caustically. "Now tell me, what are your names and who do you work for?"

[/i][/b] Ben said nothing. Like you don't know. Probably annoyed by Ben's silence, the man gripped his wounded shoulder, squeezing it tightly. Ben grunted in pain, but determinedly kept his mouth shut. "Hmm, I guess I'm applying pressure to the wrong point."

And then the man let go. At first Ben thought he was going to hurt him in some other way, but instead there were footsteps as he strolled back around to Anna's side. Ben stiffened. "You leave her alone, to son of a bitch!" he growled, trying to turn again but no more able to do so than he'd been before. "Don't you touch her!"[/blockquote]