Secret of the Ageless (closed for amon_darknight)

"What games do you like to play on the computer? Me... I am not much into computer gaming, I play Diablo 3 Reaper of Souls and Warframe, that is about it... as far as fun goes, I train... and oh."

He looked to her.

"I like to hike. I have hiked and climbed to the top of Mount Everest before."

He smiled as he said that, before it was not such a big deal, but now it was mind blowing experience.

"That is not good that you are a loner, you should have lots of friends. Do you have any love interests, you know men courting you and the such?"

He left that open, wondering if she did have someone.

"I can teach you some card games, or maybe Chess sometimes, that is a game of the ages."

He smiled as he could remember all the games he chess he played, especially the ones on the battle field where he was mostly a pawn.

"What do you like to eat?"

He said that wondering.
 
"Courting me?" she repeated, sounding amused. "Hell no. I'm not... I'm not really interested in relationships. At the moment." How could she be, when any potential lover was going to die on her in a few measly decades? "I mean, I'm not that lonely. I go out partying, and sometimes I'll meet a guy and go home with him, but that's, you know, usually a one-night thing. It's a good night if we even manage to exchange first names." She blushed. The way he was talking, she got the impression that he'd judge her badly for that. Normally she would just flip off someone who called her a slut for her behaviour, but there was something about him that made her want him to think well of her.

So she was happy for the change of conversation. "Chess sounds good. I know how to play, I just don't often actually get the chance to do so. I have board at home. Maybe we can try later?" She chuckled at his question about food. "Hungry, are you? I'm feeling pizza tonight. Pizza and chess, how does that sound?"

As she spoke, they pulled into the underground parking of a huge apartment complex - one made of glass and steel, the kind in the center of a city that you'd expect all the wealthiest members of society to live. And Amilee owned the penthouse.

She led Ben from the car to the elevator, and she swiped her keycard and then punched in the code for her floor. "Your stuff should be upstairs already. I've got a spare room where you can stay, for as long as you're going to be protecting me, anyway."
 
To tell the truth he really was no good at chess, he knew how to play, but his skill was below average. He was an solider, a warrior, not a scholar. He did like to try, he always did know that the brain was one of the most powerful weapons you can have.

"Pizza and chess, sounds good"

He was smiling, he has not smiled this much in years.

"I understand your need for fun, and I can tell you travel a lot, so you don't have a lot of time for relationships, everyone knows long distance does not work out ever. I understand why, that is how things go now of days right?"

He smiled as he noticed they had a tail. But it was too late, she was pulling into her parking structure. He watched the car slow as she was putting her code in to open the door.

"Damn... we have a tail and that code box to open the gate is easily cracked."

He tapped his glasses and took a picture of the car.

"Jillian, please access road surveillance and get the plates of this car and upload the information to me please. Search all net and DMV records."

He said that calmly and smiled at her.

"What?"

He smiled at her.

"Thank you for this, I mean it. This will make everything easier for you."

He rode the elevator up with her and smiled.

"So what question do you have for me?"
 
Amilee blinked once at Ben's use of the sunglasses, the only indication of her surprise. Then she began to laugh. "Come on, dude! If you didn't want to take off your glasses because you have some weird GoogleGlass thing going on, you could have just said so instead of feeding me some bullshit about the eyes being the window to the soul." She rolled her eyes at him.

And she had a trick of her own, too. As soon as they stepped out of the elevator on the correct floor, she pulled out her phone and dialed a number. "Hey! It's Amilee. Yeah! I'm good. Listen, can you lock access to the penthouse via the elevator, please? Sure! Thanks a lot!" She hung up, then grinned at Ben. "So now it's impossible to get the elevator to come up to this floor, even with the correct code and keycard."

Her apartment was huge, taking up the entire top floor of the building. There were floor-to-ceiling windows in several of the rooms, giving breathtaking views of the city below. Most of the furniture looked like it had been selected for comfort rather than fashion - it was nice-looking, but there weren't any of those "minimalist chairs" you'd expect to find in an apartment like this one, the kind that look pretty but are ridiculously uncomfortable to actually sit in.

Amilee headed inside, dropping her purse unceremoniously onto the couch as she went, and walked into the kitchen. She started getting out a set of frozen pizzas and preheating the oven. While she worked, she looked over at Ben with a grin. "Let's see. My question for you is... Oh! Do you have anything more, um, club-appropriate to wear? Because I'm thinking we should go out tonight."
 
He smiled at her.

"Fancy."

He looked around her place.

"Think you have enough windows, guess you are not the private type of girl."

This place was amazing, a lot of areas where there could be danger areas, but, none the less, amazing still.

"You are one lucky girl, I have never in all my life seen anything like this before. I have worked for rich people, but they were in small castles.'

He walked and saw his room, he smiled when he saw his belongings. He went and immediately went to open a case that had a dark blue sheathe containing a Katana, he took it out and than the stand for it as he looked around the room and found the perfect place for it and he set it up. He went to his knees and bowed to it as he stood than, he heard her in the kitchen and he set out his box of clothes and put them away, he had 5 suits, 5 ties and 5 pairs of shoes, different colored dress shirts, cuff links, tie clips, two belts. He organized them and went to open the other boxes that had parts in every box, he set them out on the floor and began to piece them together.

As he did this he smiled as he did this with his eyes closed, he saw a grassy field, a small stone and wood house, a beautiful woman out on the porch watching a small boy. The war feeling this sight brought to him made his day, seeing her perfect face, that smile that could bring sunlight into any dark day...

He pieced the gun into its deadly form and laid it out on the bed, it was a handgun, a .45, silver, than he started to do the same to another gun that looked the same only black. He was done and still had more to do, but he went back into the kitchen and saw her making pizza.

"You cook as well."

He smiled at her.

"I only have suits, will that work?"

He smiled as he looked her over, she looked at peace here.
 
Amilee laughed when he came back into a the kitchen and complimented her on her cooking. "Uh. I don't think sticking a premade pizza in the oven really counts as being able to cook, but I appreciate it. And I guess suits are fine." She walked over to him and, without a word, reached up to untie his tie. If he allowed it, then she would continue by undoing the top two buttons of his shirt, and then stepped back, grinning. "That's better."

She looked up at him for a quiet moment, smiling, and realized suddenly that she was actually coming to enjoy his company. She'd always been so prickly - not because she was an inherently cruel person, but because she hated the idea of getting close to someone only to lose them later. And it was impossible for her to avoid losing anyone she got close to. Maybe it was because he was so stubborn in the face of her attempts to alienate him. Or maybe it was something else, something deeper - some instinctual connection between them. But if that was true, then in a few years, when people began to grow suspicious of her because she wasn't aging, she would lose him and it would hurt even more than it should.

Her expression flickered with pain for a moment, and she turned away from him suddenly. "I'm gonna go get ready. The food will be done in a little while, and then we can go." And with that, she disappeared into her room, trying to ignore the guilt that was gnawing at her already for what she was going to have to do.
 
She made her adjustments and he allowed her to, the way her hand felt when it just adjusted his tie, sent shivers up his spine, his heart started to beat faster, than she unbuttoned two of his top buttons and he was staring directly into her eyes. What was happening, he cleared his throat and took a step back.

"Am I too your liking now? Can you be seen with me in public, or do you want me to be unseen?"

She than went to her room to get ready and he sighed. He put his hand to his forehead and shook it.

"What was that..."

He than went back to his room where he started to piece together more of his weapons, he had two .45s, two .38s, a old western Colt .41 single action revolver, a break neck double barrel shotgun, a M4 Cerakote Tactical Shotgun, a M4A1, a bolt action rifle and another type of rifle that looked different from the other. He wiped his forehead and saw there was another few cases and sighed.

"Damn, I have a lot of weapons... and more to assemble..."

He started to hang the racks for his weapons a got his holster and butterfly knife and his classics. He grinned as he looked to his brass knuckles and than took a few more things, zip ties, folding knife an extra clip and a bag be made for her car, had a few extra magazines in it, a MP5, two vests, a bandoleer of grenades, flash, smoke and the sorts. He was ready. He could smell the pizza was ready and he took his bag and went to the kitchen, he saw she was not ready yet and he took it out of the oven and served the two of them.

"Amilee, pizza is served, want a drink to go with it?"
 
When Amilee came out at Ben's calling, she was still finishing her hair, pushing pins in to hold it in place. She was dressed in a scandalously brief little black dress, both short and with a plunging neckline, paired with a pair of stiletto sandals. Of course, no one would know it, but she had real blades hidden in those 6-inch heels.

She'd managed to suppress the guilt by reminding herself that this was the right thing to do - that, regardless of how talented he was as a bodyguard, it was still wrong for someone like him to protect someone like her. So she was smiling - even if the expression didn't quite reach her eyes - when she came out. "How do I look?"

She grabbed her piece of pizza and went into the fridge looking for some drinks. "I have a few beers, if you want. Or I could mix up some drinks. Or..." She paused and looked over the fridge door at him, "I've got some Coke if you'd prefer to be boring and sober."
 
When she came out, he felt his heart stop beating for a moment, his breath was lost.

"..."

He shook his head and smiled.

"So enchanting, just who are you trying to impress?"

He saw her rummage through the fridge.

"I usually don't drink when I work, need to keep the mind clear. You go ahead if you want to, I will drive us, how about some water."

He could not take his eyes off her.

"Do you usually dress like this when you go out? I might have to beat men off you with a bat when you enter the place, forget about the stalkers."

He grinned at her, what was she trying to do, attract the entire place to her? He took a bite of pizza and took the bottle from her.

"So whats the plan, you go and dance, pick up a guy and bring him back here, or do you take him to a hotel?"

He wondered what she was like, when she was like this.
 
She blushed at his heartfelt compliment - she'd expected some teasing comment about the dress being too short. But instead, he called her enchanting, and she felt like a girl at prom when her date told her she looked beautiful.

It was ridiculous. But thankfully, he continued on, ranting about having to beat men off of her at the club, asking all kinds of questions about how this worked. She began to laugh. "Relax, big guy. There is no plan. We'll go out, and we'll see what happens. If I meet a guy, we'll decide where to go then. If I don't, then there's nothing to worry about, right?"

They finished their dinner, and Amilee took a shot before they left, to get the night started on the right foot. And with that, she took Ben's arm and led him back out of the apartment.

----

The club was incredibly exclusive. It was one of those places that doesn't even look like a club from the outside. In this case, it looked like an office building. There were security guards milling about at the front desk, and the sign next to the elevators indicated that most of the floors were held by normal businesses. It just so happened that the list of tenants skipped one of the floors. And that was where one would find Club Noir.

The entire place was done up in black decor, with only accents in gun-metal gray. The result was that the space was dark, but the people within the space shone like brands.

Amilee turned to grin at Ben as they walked in. "If you're not going to drink, at least have some other fun, would you?" She surprised even herself with what she did next - she grabbed him by the hands and pulled him out onto the dance floor. "Dance with me."
 
It all happened so fast, the drive, the city at night blurred as he drove them to where she wanted to go, he again noticed that same tail. He didn't want to spoil her mood though.

He was amazed at the cover of this place, it was in a office building,, armed guards, what else went on here? He nodded at the guards and they just stared at him. He walked in with Amilee and at first was taken back by the room and how many people were here. He looked around and saw all the dancing and took in the music. The way people danced was almost like they were in the act of making love.

He shook his head and saw how Amilee smiled and he heard her request. He did not know how to dance like this. He looked to her and tried to say no, but she pulled him out on the dance floor.

"I do not..."

He than saw her start to move and he knew some forms of dancing, but nothing like this... he instead took the lead, as a man should. He brought her in close and started to move his feet, he started to do the Lindy Hop, he moved around and she followed perfectly, following his turns and inside tuck spins to her. He saw how the people watched them. His eyes were on her the whole time, but he was fully aware of his surrounding. When the song ended, he dipped her and people clapped for them.

"I am sorry... I do not know these other forms of dancing... please do not think poorly of me..."

He picked her up and straightened his coat, he knew his two guns were in place, he was not worried about them, it was too dark for anyone to see them anyways. He looked to Amilee, he wondered if she was mad at him.
 
She'd noted the look of uncertainty in his eyes when she pulled him out onto the dancefloor. Her plan had been to teach him how to dance - that was almost more fun than just dancing with someone who already knew how. It wasn't as though the basics of these moves were particularly difficult. Just learn to move your hips...

Only then, rather abruptly, he took the lead. His hands seized hers and suddenly, she was being swung around the dancefloor in a motion that she knew, but hadn't felt in decades. The instant she recognized the motion, she began to laugh, a sound of pure joy and pleasure. It took her mind a moment to catch up to the muscle memory of the motions, and soon she was dancing as if she'd done these steps only recently.

The dance-floor parted for them, and people started cheering even before the song ended, but once it did, the crowd erupted into laughter, cheers and applause. She was giggling when Ben dipped her, and it took her a moment to even comprehend what he was asking once he brought her back up again, because it was so far gone from what she expected.

"Wait, angry?" She started laughing again, certain he was kidding, but the look on his face said otherwise, and her expression softened. "What? No, of course I'm not. I haven't had that much fun dancing in a long time." The grin returned then, and she took his hand, leading him towards one of the couches that were scattered around the outside of the room. Once they reach it, she sat down and began to undo her shoes, sighing once she got them off her feet and wiggled her toes. "Just, uh, next time, warn me if we're going to do that again so I can wear the proper shoes." Not that it mattered - she rarely went out for a night on the town without taking off her shoes at some point, whether there was lindy hop involved or not.
 
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He sat beside her and took her right foot into his hand.

"You must be careful, I am sorry to have done that with out warning you, it was something that I felt I could do."

He started to rub her foot with skill and care, he looked to her stiletto and it looked strange to him.

"Maybe wear more comfortable shoes... that do not contain weapons."

He grinned, he had not seen those in a very long time, since the day that women had no power and the ones that felt they needed it, carried weapons like this.

"Where did you get those shoes anyways, I don't believe they make those, very custom. Next you are going to make a call from your shoe, or call an airstrike or something like that.

He giggled as he massaged her foot, he motioned for the waitress to come over.

"Please madam, the lady here is quite famished and is need of a beverage."

He looked to Amilee.

"Miss Harris, what would you like to quench your thirst my lady?"

He said those words with such grace, it was like he was born to say things like that, and in that tone of a servant. The waitress was taken back, never have heard words like that.
 
Amilee grinned sheepishly as Ben observed that her shoes had weapons in them. People normally didn't notice so easily, but she supposed she shouldn't have been surprised that he did - it was his job, after all.

She groaned softly at the feeling of his hands massaging her sore feet. "Oooooh you're so good at this..." Normally she wouldn't have allowed some random dude she just met to do something like this, especially without asking, but Ben was already breaking all her rules - what was one more? Especially when his hands were so magical. And that, of course, led her to thoughts of where else his hands might feel magical...

She blushed when his voice, calling a waitress over, interrupted her little fantasy. The blush only grew when she heard what he was actually saying, and she yanked her foot out of his hands. "Woah. No. Amilee. Not Miss Harris." She turned to the waitress. "Uh. A Cosmo martini? Thanks." Then, as the woman left, she turned her attention back to Ben. "Could you please not do that? It freaks me out when you treat me like... like some kind of queen. I'm not. Please. I'm just Amilee, okay?"
 
He bowed his head at her.

"Yes of course Amilee, my apologies. Please..."

He had his hand out and took her foot again, only the other one, he noticed how her legs were so soft, yet so strong. His vision went up to her eyes than, he still wore his sunglasses as he looked to her.

"So far thirteen gentleman are gazing at you, they are nervous about me, do you wish for me to disappear, so you can speak with them? I do not sense they are hostile towards you, just... horny."

He kept his eyes locked on hers.

"I treat you with respect, and respect is what you deserve, I forgot the rule, I am sorry. I was raised with respect towards women, to always be chivalrous."

He turned and took the drink from the waitress and handed her some money.

"Keep it."

He smiled as his eyes never left hers.

"What would you like to do?"
 
Amilee arched a brow at him at his observation that there were 13 men checking her out. She allowed him to massage her left foot while she looked over the crowd. She hadn't spotted them before he mentioned them because she'd been focused so completely on Ben. But now that she was looking, it was difficult not to notice the surreptitious glances. And the jealous glares toward her companion.

She realized, with a moment of discomfort, that she would have laughed at Ben's question had the situation been any other - she would have gone home with him tonight, instead. But that, she knew, was a bad decision. And perhaps the distraction of flirting with another stranger would be good for her.

"I like the look of the guy in the blue," she murmured, shooting the man a smile. She pushed herself to her feet, and headed over in the man's direction. He offered to buy her a drink. She accepted. He asked her to dance, she accepted again.

And Amilee enjoyed herself out on the dance floor with the stranger - and she pretended, quite effectively, that she wasn't thinking about Ben the entire time.
 
And than she was gone, off flirting and having fun with the other man. He heard the waitress come back and he stood and went to sit at a empty chair at a table. He kept his eyes on her as she was dancing with the other man, he saw how the other men were waiting to see if she would stay with him or not. It was so easy to ready them, he got up and moved to keep her in view as they moved on the dance floor, and people got in his way, more and more people came into the club as the night went on, soon he had moved to the complete other side of the room to keep her in sight, there were two, no three other men trying to move in on Amilee and the the man in blue. He knew what was going to happen...

"Damn..."

Ben was moving quick through the crowd as what he knew came to be, the three guys started to talk trash and shove, Ben moved through with her shoes in hand and quickly grabbed her and pulled her behind him, the men all looked to Ben and he moved back, he handed her shoes to her behind his back as he stood at the ready. The guys cussed and yelled to let her decide, he could smell the booze running out of them.

Ben: "Gentlemen, take it easy, wait your turn, I am sure the young lady will save a dance for you all."

He saw it before it happened, he took a step back to move Amilee back and he moved back in quick under the man in blue sloppy punch, he quickly grabbed and had him in a cop lock, arm behind him, he had a zip tie in his hand as he kept the man in blue between him and the other two. He noticed another man come up beside Amilee and ask her if she wanted to dance, this was getting troublesome. The man in blue struggled, but Ben put more pressure on his arm, letting him know that he would snap it if he did not stop, he quickly took his other arm and zipped tied his hand together and he pushed the man into the other two.

"Don't mistreat the lady..."

Ben said with command, clear as the night. The other two looked at him and laughed as they pushed the man in blue out of the way, one came in at him, the other right behind as he threw a punch out, Ben instinctively protected those around him and caught the punch and quickly put him in the same cop lock. Ben sighed as he was wasting his time, he lost track of Amilee, he quickly grabbed his other arm and zipped tied this one as well, by this point Ben was scanning the crowd and found Amilee, security was moving in and Ben seemed to vanish in the crowd, he than was at the side of his client.

"This one is sober and fine, I will be around..."

He than seemed to fade into the sea of people as security was sorting out what happened. Ben stood on the outskirt of the dance floor, Amilee in his sight. He gave her space and let her do her thing, two women approached Ben and he sent them away. They looked to each other than laughed at Ben. Ben's only focus was Amilee.
 
Idiots. Who seriously thought that fighting over a woman like that was going to impress her? Ever?

Amilee watched with disgust as the three men nearly fell to blows, the fight only stopping because Ben interfered. He was obviously as good as he claimed - even with the three of them ganging up on him, the idiots didn't stand a chance. And Amilee saw her opportunity. While Ben was distracted, she slipped away from his side, moving quickly through the crowd towards the washroom. She bore an almost inhuman grace as she moved amidst the people. It never even occurred to her that Ben would be able to keep up until he appeared at her side.

She startled at his sudden appearance, cursing under her breath. Thankfully, her cursing could easily be construed as a reaction to the fight, but in reality, she wanted to know just who the fuck Ben was that he could keep up with her. Sure, she wasn't running at full tilt, but even moving through a crowded room, there was no way he should have been able to keep up, to say nothing to catching up!

And then, just as quickly, he was gone. And she knew that she needed to escape him, soon, if she was going to have a chance at finding this stalker before he did, and he got himself killed in the process. She headed for the washroom, because there was an ulterior reason she's picked Club Noir.

There was a window in the women's washroom that looked out over an alley. And, ten or so feet from the window, the roof of another building. No regular human could make that jump, but Amilee wasn't regular. She pulled a pair of flats out of her purse, slipped them on, opened the window... And took a flying leap onto the roof across the way.

Now, she needed to get away before Ben realized she was gone. It hurt to lie to him and mislead him like this, but it would hurt worse if he were injured or killed trying to protect her. As much as he wanted to protect her, she needed to protect him. And so she ran.
 
She actually slipped past his sight, he moved quickly to the last spot she was, he than saw the small gap that was closing as it led to the washroom. He moved quickly and than saw some ladies coming out talking about someone in a slutty black dress exiting via the window. Ben gritted his teeth and moved quickly to the door. "Jillian, quickly please pull up her phone number, get me GPS location on her fast, like yesterday." He moved to the exit and saw the stairs, he quickly moved down the stairs, he moved fast and in a minute or two was at the ground level, he opened the door and ran outside, he heard Jillian in his ear piece and than saw on his HUD where she was.

"What the hell...?"

He looked up at the building across the way. "Jillian, access building 55432 CCTV and show me where she is, quickly!" He moved across the street and tried to open the door, they were locked and he looked around, he needed to find the fire escape. How the hell did she get to this building? His HUD showed she was not in the building anymore and the GPS said she was on the move, on the ground. Ben ran like the wind. He than noticed the car was following him. "Crap... Jillian, who's car is that, do I need to upgrade you or what?" The voice told him it was not necessary, the car was not registered to anyone, but pictures of the driver was shown to him, Jack Yates, worked at a school, was a cook there. One prior. Ben stopped and ran straight at the car, he drew his gun and yelled "Stop, hands outside the window!" Ben yelled out, the driver put his hands up and outside the window, Ben moved quickly to the driver side door and put a zip tie in his hand. "Zip tie your hands in front of you and slide over, NOW!" He pulled the hammer back on his .45 and saw the driver comply, Ben moved and opened the door and got in as he hit the man right in the left tempo, knocking him out.

Ben sighed as he drove the brown cady down the street to where the GPS showed she was now. Ben drove and searched the guy for his wallet, finding it, he set it on his lap and soon was with in feet of Amilee. He grinned as he saw her, he stayed low as he drove by her and than he rolled his window down.

"Hey... what was the rule I had for you? Don't do things like this, please. Get in, the back."

She could see that there was someone in the passenger side, knocked unconscious. He was a little big upset with her as he waited for her to get in the car.

"I can and will find you every time, why did you leave me, what were your intentions?"

He wanted to know.
 
Amilee was shocked at how quickly Ben caught up with her. She was on her way to the office, hoping to pick up a change of clothes there, when she heard the car slowing next to her, and his voice out of the driver window, asking her about his rules. She turned to glare at him, and he told her to get in the back.

She considered, briefly, saying no. But she knew better than to think he'd listen. So instead, she shrugged when she got into the car. "And I told you, I don't want to be protected." She caught his gaze and held it, her expression hard. "You should know, I'm not going to stop. I'll keep running until you stop following."

"My intentions? I told you already. I'm not okay with the idea of someone else getting hurt because of me. And I'm still not. Maybe even less than I was when we first met, because now I don't buy that your life isn't worth as much as mine." She sighed. "You're sweet, and you're kind, and there's more to you than violence. I can see it."
 
"That is not your concern Amilee, it is my code of honor, sense of justice that I protect you. Please don't dishonor me. I swore my life to you, that is not something to take lightly. I know you care, these clowns can not hurt me, my honor is my shield. I have done a lot of things that I can not be forgiven for, so my way to the Kingdom of Heaven is cut off."

He sighed as he said this, he sounded so sad.

"Amilee... please..."

He drove off down the road.

"This gentlemen here, he was the one that was tailing us. Mr. Jack Yates, he is a teacher, and now we can question him and see what he knows."

He looked to the man and pulled off down the road and headed down the freeway.

"We are going to interrogate, want to help?"

He looked in the rear view at her.

"What can I do to prove to you that I am good enough? Do want me to fight people, what would it take?"

He was getting upset.

"I am not sweet, I am far from kind. I am a bad guy, a bad soul. I am here to protect you and make sure you can do what ever you are meant to do in this life. So if you don't want me around, than..."

He reached and held the gun out for her to take, gun handle to her, he pulled.the car over.

"Take the gun and shoot me in the head, that is the only way I will stop. You are too intelligent and caring, so I do not want to see you run away from me and something bad to happen to, end me."

She could he was not afraid, he wanted this.
 
Amilee couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Good enough?" she repeated, sounding sad. "It's not a question of whether you're good enough! It's not that I don't trust you're able to protect me. I do! I just don't want to see you hurt because of me!"

And when he reached back to give her the gun, she withdrew from the touch of the metal as if it had burned her. She'd handled weapons before - one didn't live this long without getting into a few scrapes, here and there - but she had never been asked to kill someone so coldly before. It had always been in self-defense, or the defense of another. "No!" she cried, sounding almost distraught. She was angry - angry at him for believing his life was worth so little when (so far as she knew), and angry at herself for not showing him what he was worth.

"No, Ben. I'm not going to kill you. And I'm not going to run away, either." She took a deep breath, then leaned forward, out of her seat, so that she could look him properly in the eye. One hand came up to touch his cheek, turning his face so that he would look at her. "I'm going to show you that you're worth more than you think." Because what use was it to save him from death when he didn't value his own life?
 
Ben looked at her as she was right in his face, her beautiful eyes staring right at him, her kind smile and gentle words. He than felt her touch and it set a firery passion through him. He gulped and spoke.

"Than you need to trust me, like I will trust you. Believe me when I tell you the things I say, I hate to repeat myself. I see a very bright future for you, like you are destined for something great, let me help you. No one will hurt me, I have trained for a long time, I can handle myself."

He wanted to lean more into her soft hand, but he did not want to give the impression he enjoyed it. He was a guardian, bot a boy or someone looking for affection.

"What I am worth is Gods judgement, that is all there is to it."

He drove off and after an hour or so, he pulled into a desert storage area, he pulled up and pressed a code in to open the gate and drove in to park. He pulled his keys out and clicked the code on the side panel to reveal a keyhole.

"Get inside."

He opened the gate and inside was a few chairs and tools, there was rope and handcuffs and metal boxes. Ben went over to the car and dragged the man inside to close the gate behind as he clicked a light on. The man slowly woke and looked to see Amilee, he than tried to stand as Ben punched him in the stomach and than chin. A sick sound rang through the air.

"Stay in the chair, I am not ready to start yet."

The walls had this black material on the walls and Ben picked the man up to lay him down on a table.

"I know you can hear me, I am only going to ask once, listen well to my words, for I will only ask once."

As he spoke, he strapped him down to the table with thick straps.

"Comfy... Cozy..."

He looked to Amilee. Than he walked over and took a metal bucket and a blowtorch out, he placed them on the table as the man was scared, screaming for help.

"Oh, dont worry, no one can hear you. Let me introduce you to a friend. Mr. Scrappy"

He took out a cage that had a large rat and took him out

"Isnt he cute?"

He than placed him in the bucket and placed a piece of cheese in there.

"Did you know that rats can chew through steel if they have to, if they feel threatened enough, they wil chew through almost anything to survive."

He saw the look of fear on the man as Ben placed the bucket on the mans bare stomach now.

"Tell me, who hired you to tail us? Where can I find him and his phone number."

He saw the guy hesitate and he lit the blowtorch and moved it slow to the bucket he held on his stomach.
 
Amilee followed Ben into the warehouse. She was surprised to find that he had an interrogation room already prepared, but she supposed she shouldn't have been, considering what he claimed to be.

It was difficult to watch the terrified man wake, strapped to the table. It was necessary, of course, but difficult nonetheless. She understood why he had to be restrained, but when Ben brought out the rat, she winced and walked up to him. She pressed one hand against Ben's arm; she wasn't going to press hard enough to prevent the blowtorch from reaching the bucket if Ben didn't stop himself, but it was enough to indicate that she wanted him to stop.

She looked up at him, her eyes sad - no wonder he believed he was such a violent person, if he felt it necessary to resort to such methods immediately.

"Give him a chance to answer before you hurt him," she whispered, her voice gentle.
 
Ben looked to her as she stopped him. As subtle as it was, she was not using force, but woman charm. He looked to her and shook his head.

"Amilee, this is what I do, if you do not like what I do, than please go and wait through the door, I will handle this part. You just sit pretty."

He felt he was being cold, but this is what he did, the dark arts of torture, all the times he was out there in the middle east, all the people he killed in Russia, China, Korea. This is what he did.

"Now where was I?"

The man screamed in protest and he begged her for help.

"Or do you just feel sorry for the rat?"

He smiled at her as he took the bucket from him and placed the rat back in the bucket, he placed another piece of cheese that was on the table in the bucket and handed her the bucket.

"Okay, I have other ways."

The man on the table sighed relief as he walked away, soon the table moved away from the wall and was lifted up so he was upright. The back of the table came off and he was hooked up to a chain from the ceiling.

"Have you ever experienced pain on a high level, like skin melting away."

The man started to cry.

"Let me tell you something. When you have a torch that reaches two thousand degrees, it can turn steel to butter. Well let me explain what happens when that two thousand degree torch hits skin and than flesh, it won't hurt at first. It's too hot, you see? The flame sears the nerve endings shut, killing them. You'll go into shock... and all you'll feel is... cold. Interesting fact huh?"

He was behind the man hanging and he pulled out a few things he wheeled on a table behind him. The man heard the torch and could feel the residual heat.

"Now answer my question Mr. Yates..."

He than raised the torch up to let him feel the heat, as he had a piece of raw beef on a plate and a popsicle in his hand, he let the torch hit the steak and than at the same time he put the cold popsicle on his back, moving it as , sticking him, the smell of the meat burning gave the sensation and the cold chill of the popsicle on the back was just as he described. The man screamed out in pain as his body reacted.

"I am waiting still for an answer..."
 
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