Dreams That Might Have Been [[Ben + Open]]

[aliceayers]

Lindsi sat alone in the window seat of a coffee shop, a little bit away from one of her client's business building. She sipped quietly on the black coffee as she watched scores of people rush past the small store. Everyone was in such a hurry, very few even noticing she was watching them. For every person she scouted, she tried to figure out what their need was. One woman just needed a set of hands for carrying her groceries, another man needed a pair of ears to listen as he wailed.

It interested her how everyone needed another for something. Sure, some would push down the need and ignore it in a proud attempt to be self-sufficient, but it still existed. She sighed softly. She... she needed a strong pair of arms to hold her tight. She closed her eyes and could almost feel those arms. Benjamin's arms. She shook the thought from her head as she took another sip of the strong coffee. Now was not the time to think about him. She had another client to visit shortly.

But, there was never a good time to think about Benjamin. Thinking about him only made her ache in an awful way. She wasn't even sure he was still alive. After all these years. But of course, if the Alliance had managed to kill him, they would of course, gloat. Or at least she hoped. The idea that he was still alive kept her going most days.

[benbarrow]

A final shot sounded through the great hall of the museum. Ben's smoking pistol spewed out a last bullet, ending the life of the eighth and last of the museum guards.

He slowly turned around and walked toward the glass tank where his supposed body was being kept in preservation fluid. He took a good long look at it. So this is where the Alliance had made their shrine for one of the most wanted Independent 'war criminals', to show off their victory, while in reality they were still looking to put Ben's corpse instead of the unknown victim's in the tank.

But no more, not after today. Ben was going to send the Alliance a message today; that no matter how many bounty hunters they send after him, no matter how many of Alliance agents tried to capture him, no one was going to catch him. Ever. Today he showed them that even though he was one of the most wanted men in the 'Verse, he still had the guts to come to the heart of the Alliance and wreak havoc.

Ben lit up a cigarette and took a look at the exposition. The nerve the Alliance had! They somehow got a hold of old family pictures of Ben; his old high school photo and even a photo of him as an infant with his mother were on display right next to the unknown corpse. Beside it were supposed attributes he wore on his person, while in reality he still had everything he carried with him, except for his assault rifle, which was lost to him in the final battle.

He then fired two bullets at the tank, causing the preservation liquid to pour out and drain slowly. The flammable liquid quickly spread across the hall and toward the exposition items.

Ben took another heave from his cigarette, making sure the ashes glowed, and then dropped the cigarette into the liquid. In a matter of seconds, the room was engulfed in flames and everything in it fell victim to the fire.

Ben started walking toward the exit as if he had just been visiting the museum. Just as he walked out the front door and down the steps, the museum's fire alarm was raised. Rather than to high tail it out of there, back to the ship and its crew, he sat down by a fountain which was near a coffee shop and lit up another cigarette in victory and watched the show as it unfolded.

It was a good day indeed.

[aliceayers]

Lindsi heard the fire alarm first. It rang through the area and through the thin glass in front of her. It jarred her. Then she looked up and watched smoke and charred ash fly from the ages old museum. She watched it rain ashes for a moment, entranced, before rising from her seat and running outside.

Outside, the people were in a state of panic. Running to and fro, both to the disaster and away from it. Lindsi decided to run to it. To help anyone still inside the museum. She tore off her jacket and threw it to the ground, leaving her a in a short, slightly reveling dress. Then she took off her pumps and threw the to the ground too. She took a full on sprint towards the building, and then stopped. She put a hand to the door to see if it was hot, it wasn't. So she opened the door, and her and a few of the men outside helping her, flew in to help those inside.

She ran towards the brightest part of the blaze, seeing the fallen security guards. She went to them, checking for a pulse. Finding none in the two that lay nearby. Then something on the floor caught her eye. It was a picture of Benjamin. Benjamin Barrow. A hand went to her mouth in surprise, and tears almost sprang to her eyes. It was really him. She didn't know what the picture meant, or what it was for, but she held it close to her heart for a second. Completely forgetting that the building was on fire, and coming down in places.

Suddenly a decorative tile from the ceiling came down and crashed into her head. And then- darkness.

[benbarrow]

Ben enjoyed the turmoil; people outside running as fast as they could from the burning building, the panic in the streets. There weren't anymore civilians inside the buildings, as soon as he'd start shooting with the guards the people visiting the museum ran outside. He wouldn't have set the place on fire if there'd still be people inside, Ben was a soldier, not a murderer. The wing he set the fire in was empty, and if there were any left in other wings they'd have enough time to get out. Ben was convinced that apart from the dead guards, the place was empty.

He tilted his head back for a moment, and felt the small particles of waterdust on his face. It did him some good on a warm summer day like this. He closed his eyes and just enjoyed it for a while.

Even though there was enough noise in the street, Ben could make out the sound of falling shoes near him. He opened his eyes and tilted his head back to normal and saw a woman speeding past him toward the museum. He hadn't seen her face but he did notice she was running barefoot.

Ben shook his head, he had seen some disaster-tourists before but non as committed as this woman. She ran so fast probably so eager to have a front row seat as it all unfolded. Ben laughed at her, and in sheer amusement kept following her to see the rest of her exploitations.

But when she actually entered the building, Ben's jaw dropped. There was no way she was 'that' committed to seeing some disaster.

"Hey! Hey!" Ben yelled in vain, knowing she couldn't hear him.

It then occurred to him that this woman probably had gone in to see if there was anyone left inside, but unknown to her, the museum was empty. Ben figured she'd see that as well and would come back out at any moment.

But after a minute or two Ben got pretty anxious. There weren't any emergency services on the scene yet and the woman was still inside, and it was obvious the museum was completely evacuated.

He then knew that something had happened to her, and thought for a moment on what to do. Did he really needed her blood on his hands? He was a soldier, not a murderer after all. He needed to go and get her to keep it that way. But what if she turned out to be some Alliance official? That would really complicate matters for the crew. He could always space her of course, that would only leave him with a bad feeling for some time after.

Ben decided to just risk it, and shook his head at how stupid he was going to be. Running back into a burning building, one that he set on fire himself? But then again, he had always been a sucker for the damsel in distress.

"Dumb broad better not be some Purplebelly!" Ben said, and then let himself drop backwards into the water of the fountain.

He jumped out, completely soaked and ran toward the museum as well, his eyes scanning for any form of authority but for the moment, panicked people were all his eyes could find. He ran up the steps, taking three at the time, and inside the museum.

He was welcomed by smoke and heat as he got in, and he couldn't help but to cough. But that was the least of his problems, the place was coming down all around his ears and he needed to find this woman, and get her out with both of their lives.

Ben got tears in his eyes from the smoke but nevertheless he started going forward. The heat was unbareable but yet he went on, looking for the woman dumb enough to run into a burning building, making him stupid enough to go in after her.

Luckily, it didn't take too long before he found her in the same place he started the fire. It was a bit ironic really, that she was in exactly the same exhibition room dedicated to the same one who started the fire.

Ben ran toward the woman, but couldn't see her face. A loose tile from the ceiling had fallen onto her head and he sincerely hoped she was still alive. He hated the thought of risking his life for a stiff, even more the thought of someone getting killed on his account.

He grabbed the floor tile and threw it off from her body, but then he just froze. That face... it just couldn't be. In front of him lay the one he had been looking for ever since the war ended. He just stared at her for a moment, just to make sure he wasn't seeing things. For a brief moment he just didn't care that they were in a burning building that was coming down all around their ears. It was her, it really was Lindsi.

Finally Ben snapped out of it and placed his fingers on her neck to check for a pulse. It was still there. Without hesitation he grabbed her unconscious body and put it on his shoulders. With Lindsi on his shoulders, Ben started making his way back toward the exit.

But then disaster struck when a part of the ceiling came down and blocked the path back. Ben quickly looked around to find an alternate route, and saw that the only way to go was up.

He made his way up a flight of stairs, running through tremendous heat waves and clouds of smoke. Through the smoke, he could see a door that read 'roof access'. Ben grabbed the handle on the door, but quickly retracted his hand in pain. The handle was too hot to grab, and on top of that the door was closed.

He quickly threw Lindsi of his back, there was no time for softness or tenderness and it wasn't like she could feel or complain about it, and attempted to kick in the door. After a few attempts the door finally gave in and Ben picked Lindsi up again so they could be on their way.

Unfortunately, another unexpected challenge emerged; to reach the roof Ben had to climb a ladder and somehow get Lindsi up there as well.

Luckily Ben was as strong as an ox, and Lindsi was as light as a feather. Ben put her limb body over his left shoulder and carried her up the ladder that way. He opened the hatch with his back and then carried Lindsi out as well.

Ben was relieved to be out of the smoke and heat, yet now he found himself stuck on a roof with a badly injured woman. He knew he'd never get out of there himself so the time had come to call in the troops. He took out his comm device and summoned the Orlando.

"This is Ben calling Orlando!" Ben yelled through the comm. "Come in Orlando! Jamie gorrammit! You there???"

[djfeelgood3008]

'Ben Barrow .. Ben-Gorram-Barrow ..', Jamie thought to himself as he sat, idly twirling a pen between his fingers. He'd heard horror stories of Ben Barrow. The Browncoats called him "Bulletproof", but of course the Alliance wouldn't give him that satisfying of a nickname. They just called him a murderer, or things along those lines. He learned all about the man that couldn't be killed while he was growing up on Ariel.

And now Jamie, the little courier from Ariel, was working for him. Not just working for him, but on his ship. Flying his ship! The thought sent shivers down Jamie's spine. He was looking for a way to stick it to the Alliance, but he never thought he'd fine so perfect a man to work for.

His first real job. Quick, easy, and effective. Just drop Ben off, and pick him up in a bit. Couldn't be any easier if --

The radio clicked on, and Jamie heard Ben's voice. He sounded frantic. That's not right, what the hell went wrong? "Ben, it's Jamie. What's going on down there?" Even as he asked, though, he was already working. He sat up quickly, kicked Orlando into gear and set for the museum he knew Ben was headed toward.

He saw the smoke billowing up, and the people gathering around the museum to watch it burn - people and their obsession with destruction, 'Human nature, I suppose'.

"Captain, where are you, I don't -" Then he saw them, on top of the museum. Ben and .. a woman on his shoulders? That wasn't part of the plan, and it would explain why everything hit the fan. He clicked on the intercom, "Kalli, get things ready, I'm droppin' down to scoop 'em up."

In his mind, he knew how this would play out. Just like an action movie, he'd swoop down and save the day. Not that he cared about glory or attention, just knowing he was going to help Ben-Freaking-Barrow was enough to make him happy.

Things went a bit rougher than that, though. He moved the ship downwards and flicked the switch to open the cargo bay door and rest the loading ramp against the roof. Problem was, Jamie'd never done anything like this before, especially not while trying to hurry. So the ramp hit a bit harder than he'd planned - nothing to ruin it, of course, but definitely scuff the paint.

Jamie winced as he heard the sound, and got on the intercom to the outside. "Sorry 'bout that, Captain."

[Kalli Ann Bernett]

Kalli had been in the dining room preparing some lunch for the crew while the captain was out. It wasn't anything fancy just some hastily made sandwiches with a little freshly sliced tomatoes. It was just about all that was left on the ship. She had been planning to convince the Captain to let her run out and get some more food supplies when he returned.

Then suddenly she felt the ship fire up and begin to move. That’s when she heard the Jamie’s voice come across the intercom. He sounded a bit panicked, and Kalli became worried as well. He had asked her to get things ready and they were scooping them up. She assumed he meant the Captain.

"I'm on it Jamie, I'll be in the engine room just let me know what you need." She replied back as she took off running down the hall way. She raced down the hall, she didn’t want him to need something and her not be there. She nearly toppled over Sidney as she rounded the corner before the engine room.

”The Captain needs us, were going to pick him up get ready.” she yelled to Sidney as she passed. She didn’t wait for a reply as she jumped through the hatch in to the engine room. Kalli took up position near the engine listening to it for any signs of trouble she still wasn’t sure what it would be able to handle and decided she needed to keep a close eye on it.

[georgewest]

George, as usual was in the med bay. Although he wasn't checking inventory or cleaning up, he was looking at the guns he had collected since leaving the Orlando. He was cleaning his favorite handgun when suddenly the ship started to move and it seemed as if it was in a hurry. He quickly put away the weapons put on his jacket. It was the shorter brown coat that was standard issue for medics during the Unification war. He had gotten out of storage when he moved back to Persephone for a while. He put the gun in the inner pocket of his jacket and ran out to the cargo bay.

The cargo bay doors were beginning to open and outside he could see smoke. I guess the museum job didn't go quite as planned. Suddenly there was a jolt. The rookie pilot must set them down too hard. He saw Ben carrying an unconscious woman and rushed out to see what he could do.

"Ben, what happened to her?" Geroge asked as he motioned toward the medical bay.

[Sidney Bainbridge]

Sidney watched as Kalli raced around the corner in a rush. As she yelled out letting him know Ben was in trouble he moved down the hallway quickly as he passed his room he reach in to his trunk and pulled out a rifle. 'Never can be to careful' he thought as he move as fast as he could to the cargo bay. the rear doors were already starting to open and West was there waiting to head out.

A bellow of smoke made its way inside the ship and Sidney knew there was something wrong. He quickly moved to the back of the cargo bay and up the ramp as it lowered down. Sidney jumped out and west was right there with him.

Ben was holding a young lady over his shoulder and West was on his way to them. West would surely deal with any injuries so Sidney scanned the roof top. He didn't see anyone up there and it was hard to see much more with the smoke.

Sidney steped back on the ramp and hit the intercom next to the door. "Jamie Keep your gorram eyes open. Won't be long till we ain't alone anymore." He said. This was the kind of things that didn't go unnoticed.

[aliceayers]

Lindsi moaned loudly in excruciating pain as she became to come around. A hand reached up to her head, fingertips instantly becoming wet and sticky with blood. She kept her eyes closed, trying to remember what had happened.

She was vaguely aware that she was on a man's shoulders. Everything else was entirely hazy. As to how she had gotten out of the building, she had no clue. And she had about as much info on whose back she was on. She heard a voice. A male voice, a familiar voice. Opening her eyes, she realized whose form she was clinging to. Ben. It was really him. She wanted to yell his name. To kiss him. To tell him-

The blood loss was staggering, and as such, she was unable to hold onto her consciousness. Falling back into that darkness caused her to go limp once more.

[benbarrow]

The Orlando came in quickly, Ben expected no less. He had an able crew and they were loyal. The ship cleared some of the smoke with its thrusters and it touched down with the cargobay door wide open.

First out were George and Sidney, the former Independent soldiers who would dive head first into hell for a brother in arms. Even ten years later they still did it, it was the true nature of the Browncoats; never leave a man behind.

Ben noticed the blood on his sleeve just as George asked what had happened. Lindsi was wounded, badly.

"Headwound!" Ben yelled through the noise of the Orlando's engines. "Found a heavy floor tile on top of her! Possibly some burns as well."

Ben ran inside with Lindsi on his shoulders until he was well within the Orlando's cargobay.

"Come on guys, let's go!" Ben yelled. "George, Sidney! Get inside! This place is gonna cave in at any moment! Get on the intercom, tell Jamie to get us out of here before the fleet above gets warned!"

Ben then ran further inside, past the common room and into the medbay. He gently put Lindsi on the table, and waited for George to come in, who was only a few steps behind him.

[Sidney Bainbridge]

As Ben and George made their way back in heading for the medical bay Sidney stepped back inside. He nodded at Ben to acknowledge his commands. He worked the controls to raise the cargo bay door and made his way to the intercom.

"Jamie, everyone's on get us out of here." He yelled over the intercom. Sidney took one last look out the cargo bay doors to make sure there wasn't anyone else on the horizon. He couldn't say to much though with all the smoke coming off the building. What he did see was a section of the roof, not far from them collapsing in to the fire. They had gotten off the roof just in time.

Now it was up to Jamie to get them out of there safe. Sidney walked back inside the cargo bay. It wasn't going to be long till the alliance fleet above was informed of what was going on. It was a little suspicious a ship hanging over a burning building and all. Not to mention if anyone say the group of people jumping off the ship then running back on with the unconscious lady .

[djfeelgood3008]

Jamie sat rather impatiently, watching out as the smoke rose up above the nose of the ship. "C'mon, guys, hurry up." He stood up in his chair to try to get a better viewpoint out in front of him, but it was useless. The smoke was too thick, and he could barely see the horizon, let alone right in front of them. That's when he heard the cargo bay doors closing and Sidney's voice click on the intercom.

Before the door was even halfway closed, Jamie was in action. He thrust the Orlando straight up to get at least a little ways out of the smoke, and as soon as he could barely make out the horizon and city below him, he started off, as quickly as he could.

"What's goin' on down there, guys? Captain okay? What the heck went wrong?" He sounded a bit frantic, but it didn't appear to be affecting his flying skills.

[Sidney Bainbridge]

The ship glided off as the cargo bay doors finished closing. Sidney made his way through the ship heading toward the cockpit. He planned to keep an eye on the new pilot and be there to guide him along on what to do if anything should come their way.

The captain and the rest of the crew was busy so Sidney was stepping in to make sure they made it out of this situation. He heard the voice come over the intercom. Sidney didn't stop to reply till he arrived at the cockpit

"Captains fine. got an extra passenger, Doc's takin care of them. We need to focus on gettin out of here fer now" He told the young pilot. They were already in motion but they still had to get out of here before the fleet above knew what was going on.

[georgewest]

George ran in as Ben was laying the woman onto the table. He quickly looked at her head and the blood spilling out of the wound. He had seen her regain consciousness for a second, that was a good sign. He checked her pulse quickly and examined the wound more closely. It seemed to be minor but possibly caused a small fracture and a concussion.

"Ben, grab me some of the blood from that refrigerator," George called out pointing to where the type O was being kept. They only had a few bags but it should be enough. He started looking over the wound applying pressure. He opened her eyes and looked with a light.

"She appears to have a concussion and she's lost a lot of blood," he said taking the bag of blood from Ben and putting it on the stand by bed. He wiped her arm, took some tubing, attached a needle and stuck it in a vein. The doctor then took some gauze and pressed it on her head. "Ben, hold this here while i get the scanners up and running.

[benbarrow]

The only one who could boss Ben around was George, and the only place where he could do so was the infirmary. There George was the boss, and his will was law.

Ben did as George told him to and immediately turned around and opened the fridge behind him. He took a quick look to see if he had the right blood, and grabbed a pack with O+ labeled on it.

Rather than to put it down or giving it to George, who was busy trying to put back together the love of Ben's life, he hung out in the packhanger which was next to the table. Other than putting pressure on gunshot wounds, Ben had no idea what to do.

When George told him to hold the gauze and apply pressure, Ben did as he was told. He pressed the compress tightly, and could feel his finger getting wet from Lindsi's blood.

"Hang in there Lindsi." Ben said. "I'm not gonna lose you. Not now that I've finally found you."