2007-08-20: DF: Don't Thank Me

Starring:

DFLachlan_icon.gif DFBenjamin_icon.gif DFCass_icon.gif

Summary: Lachlan 'thanks' Benjamin for rescuing Cass.

Date It Happened: August 20th, 2009

Log Title Don't Thank Me


Phoenix Rising Towers

Freedom! Only not so much. Allowed to now roam 'safe' areas of the Saints' hideout, Benjamin hasn't been taking full advantage of it. He's not sure what everyone knows, and he feels it's best to just keep to himself for the most part. There have been a few familiar faces, but Ben hasn't been much on the eye contact or small talk. Saving Cass and three doctors was a drop in the bucket compared to a few years working with the Company and then this current government. (Oh, and he's found a new shirt, since Elena ripped his after the rescue.) It's only agitation at being cooped up that has him walking where he's allowed to be right now.

It's probably only coincidence that Lachlan's wandering this way as well. Abby needed a bottle before he and Cass go back home, and so the Scot walks along holding the empty bottle and a can of formula. Just a quick pop down to the kitchen is all he needs. He stops when he spots Benjamin, however, and starts to approach the man. By all appearances, he doesn't know Benjamin's true involvement with Cass' disappearance. All he knows is what he saw the night of her rescue. "Hey," Lachlan greets amiably. "Dinna get a chance ta thank ye fer wha' ye did."

Benjamin flinches inwardly at the incoming Scots' voice. This is a reason why he hasn't been mingling. The gratitude. Stopping in his tracks, he turns to look at Lachlan, his eyes drifting down to the bottle in the man's hand, then up to his face. Ben shakes his head before averting his gaze, a hand raising to further aggravate his white man's 'fro. "Don't thank me," he says quietly.

"I will thank ye," insists Lachlan with a half-grin. "'F it wasna fer ye, Cass'd still be in there." And Lord knows how much the Scotsman doesn't want that, especially considering the suspicions he had confirmed earlier this morning. He reaches out a hand to give Benjamin a good-natured slap on the shoulder. "So if ye need anythin', lemme know. Owe ye one."

Benjamin shies away from the slap on the shoulder. "Don't.. just.. don't… if it wasn't for me she wouldn't have been there at all." Granted, Nathan would have found a way to take Cass in.. with or without Ben's help. There was .. so much he could have done to circumvent the capture. He did nothing. He's still not meeting Lachlan's eyes, in fact, he's backing up, as if anticipating a violent reaction.

There isn't one, really. Not at first. There's just bewilderment. Lachlan's face contorts into a confused squint and he regards Benjamin as though he just stated that his father wasn't Scottish. "Wha' d'ye mean b'tha'?"

Damn the man's streak of honesty. This is where Ben should shut his trap and walk away.. in fact .. he does start to do that. Simply ignoring Lachlan as he turns his back on the man and starts walking. He doesn't go for more than a few steps, figuring Lach's going to find out one way or the other, he might as well be honest. Shoulders slumping, he turns back to look in Lachlan's direction, and says in a resigned, yet matter of fact tone, "Petrelli asked me to help bring her in."

… Petrelli asked him to help bring her in. If not for Benjamin, she wouldn't have been there. If not for Benjamin, Nathan wouldn't have …

That violent reaction that Benjamin was expecting before finally bursts forth, and how. Lachlan's face goes from confused to enraged, and in two strides, he clears the distance between himself and the other man. One hand drops down onto Benjamin's shoulder in a vise-like grip; the other draws back to deliver a hard and fast punch to the man's gut. Yeah. The Scotsman is very, very not happy.

Even when you expect a burst of violence.. it's funny how it still catches you off guard. Benjamin doesn't lift a hand to prevent what's coming. No. He stands there, letting Lachlan grab his shoulder, and to let that punch land on his gut. There's a woosh of air as he doubles over, trying to keep from puking on Lachlan's shoes. Ben has no clue what Nathan/Logan actually did to Cass, beyond what he could see. No excuses are made, because there are none. He sees it now, there were always options, a way out.

Whether or not Benjamin fights back, he's going to get a beating. The Scot does not let up. The bottle in his hand clatters to the floor along with the can of formula, which bursts open and sends white powder everywhere. His next blow is aimed for the other man's face — the side of it, really, and should Benjamin ever fall down, he'll find an enraged Lachlan on top of him with more fists ready to continue the assault on his face. "YE FUCKIN' BASTARD!" can be heard bellowed all down the hallway.

Pain. A lot of it. Benjamin hasn't been on the receiving end like this in.. ever. Normally he doesn't give people the chance to get that far, or hasn't since he gained more control of his ability. He has yet to raise a hand against the assault, or even make an attempt to drop Lachlan. Instead of doing a thing to stop Lachlan, he does something that's liable to enrage the man further. He laughs, and not in the haha funny sort of way. "Hard.. harder you pansy.. you trying to kill me or what?"

He wants it harder? Yes, he'll get it harder. Lachlan's been on a very short fuse lately, what with Cass' disappearance, her retrieval, revelations about her captivity. Every tiny bit of frustration, helplessness, horror, anger — everything he's felt since Cass was taken is channeled into each and every blow. They only get more violent, more powerful. Again and again and again he strikes at Benjamin's face and chest, letting out a wordless cry of rage with each strike. He'll beat in the man's face if he's left to continue. He won't stop until Benjamin stops moving.

".. you.. hit.. like a girl," Benjamin rasps out, egging Lachlan on further. As if the Scotsman needed more encouragement. Nobody seems willing to step in and break up the fight, and who could blame folks for sitting this one out? While Ben's not as soft as he once was, Lach's got anger on his side and staying conscious is getting harder with the onslaught. "..kill me and get it over with," he spits out.

The beating is having its own toll on Lachlan — namely his knuckles. They're red and will likely bruise and become swollen. But punching is not enough anymore. Benjamin is still talking. His mouth is still moving. So the Scot resorts to something else that will close that mouth (perhaps for good): he wraps his hands around Benjamin's throat and begins to squeeze and press down, putting as much pressure as he possibly can. He's not entirely rational. Nothing in his head says anything about how bad it would be to kill Benjamin. He's being driven purely by anger.

It's not like Cass to be anywhere near where they are keeping Benjamin. However, the moment that she heard from someone that her now-husband went to go visit her former friend, she knew that just would not end well. All but flying up the stairs and through the hallways, she runs for Benjamin's room. She hopes that Benjamin had the good sense to keep his mouth firmly shut about his part in her kidnapping, but the man never had any common sense even back in the day. Nothing about this meeting could end well. Flinging the door open, she immediately goes to yank Lachlan off of Benjamin. "/Lachlan, stop it/!"

Keep telling yourself that Lach. You'll be doing everyone a favor, especially Benjamin. Ending his existence, which is what /he/ wants. Despite that desire, survival instincts have a pesky way of surfacing. In this case, it's a feeble lashing out of his ability as he loses consciousness. There's an ugly, manic sort of grin on his face as his body goes limp.

There's just the faintest hint of being tired as a result of Benjamin's abilities. It's almost entirely surpassed by pure adrenaline. Cass' voice and her yanking does more to sober Lachlan up, coupled with Benjamin's going limp, and soon the Scot is effectively separated from the now unconscious man on the floor. He rises to his feet and staggers backward, breathing heavily through tightly gritted teeth. Slowly, he starts to come out of the enraged haze — very slowly.

As soon as Lachlan releases Benjamin and steps back, Cass lets go of Lach. Crouching down, she quickly starts to check out the beat up and bruised former accountant. First things first, finding a pulse. Then, she moves around to find things to clean and wrap the man's wounds. "You were going to kill him." It's not an accusation, actually. A mere statement of fact. Deftly, she grabs a cloth and soaks it with water to start wiping away blood. "You have to help me get him back on the bed."

Benjamin has a pulse, and is barely breathing. Dammit. So close too. The former accountant is down for the count and offers no resistance to whatever's done next. He could be left on the floor for all he could care.

Yes. Yes, he was going to kill him. That had been precisely what was going through Lachlan's mind before Cass intervened. But she's here now, and the Scot is coming out of the haze. The sight of Benjamin's broken and bloodied face coupled with Cass' bustling about to help begins to shake Lachlan to the core. What has he done? It's almost as though it was someone else hitting Benjamin, not him. "Righ'," he breathes. "Okay." Then he moves forward to help put Benjamin back on the bed.

Once Benjamin is put into the bed, Cass cleans off the blood, treats the bruises, wraps the cuts. He's out and will be in a lot of pain when he wakes up, but he /will/ wake up that's the point. Once everything is cleaned and tied up, she starts to wash her hands and put all the medical supplies away. Luckily this all happened right inside a medical bay. "He'll live. His face will be messed up for a little while, but he'll live."

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