Benjamin Eddington

Owen was just about to turn and leave, a bit disheartened that his gesture didn’t go over as he had hoped when Ben called out to him and caused him to pause where he stood. “It’s okay I probably shouldn’t have just shown up here. I honestly didn’t mean to invade your privacy.” He offered. “He did.” Owen confirmed with a nod. “That’s actually why I’m here.” He admitted “Believe it or not Liam and I went through something a little similar not too long ago and I know how hard it was for me so I figured you could maybe use some extra kindness.” Owen said with a shrug. “That actually sounds lovely, as long as you’re sure it’s not too much of an imposition of course.” He said as he carefully picked up the food he had set down.

Hearing his nephews boyfriend’s apology, he felt a pit in his stomach, he felt his emotions had been out of whack since Emmaline left. If or perhaps, when Liam or his sister hears about his rude reaction to someone who could very well be part of the family some day, he’d get a scolding no matter what. A strong worry of his, would be Liam thinking he hated his boyfriend, or thinking he disapproved his way of life, which couldn’t be further from the truth. “You didn’t, I promise.” He spoke honestly, as he pushed open the door for him to enter his and Emmaline’s home. Something Ben didn’t expect was the other’s admittance to his and Liam’s fallout, “You really do have a heart of gold.” He stated with a small chuckle as he walked into his home, hoping Owen would follow behind. “I think I remember when you and Liam were on the outs. He definitely wasn’t doing well those couple of days that I saw him. I can imagine you weren’t any better.” 

The first handful of people to come to mind, were Jenna and Malcolm. And while the idea was intriguing, he would never ask that of either of them. Sure, they could do it with ease, but he couldn’t force that on them. So that only left a few options. Either they could go with one of their own, someone undercover, or find someone who owes them a big favor. Josh wasn’t shy when it came to getting his way. So if he had to force his hand, and use his power against said person… he’d happily oblige. 

“Not someone specifically, no. But I’ve got a few ideas…”

The vague response from the other was one that he truly was really confused about, and a part of him was worried. He wondered if he’d thought the same thing he had? Though despite the ideas he came up with, in no way were they legitimate. Waiting a little longer for the other to explain, though when he didn’t, Ben chose to speak up. “Are you going to share those ideas?” He asked, almost sarcastically, though really, he wanted to know what was going on in his mind. 

⁂

Jenna was unable to stop the physical reaction that happened as he screamed at her about Garrett’s betrayal. It wasn’t until her hand connected with the side of his face that she even realized she’d lifted it from where it had been hanging at her side. “Shut the fuck up!” She screamed, following him as he moved away from her, no longer holding anything back, as he’d made it clear he wouldn’t be doing so. “You don’t get to talk about my life like you know anything about it, and you sure as hell don’t get to talk about my fucking children!” Of course the news of Garrett seeing Malcom had her seething, and knowing that her son had gotten that drunk only made it worse, but she wasn’t going to give him the pleasure of seeing her react to the news. “You don’t know anything, not about me, not about my life. You think Garrett left me? That I was some heartbroken little lamb? Who do you think called the cops and got him sent to fucking prison.” Jenna spat the words at him, knowing it was the first time she’d admitted her secret out loud, but her emotions were too high to hold back anything anymore. 

The rage that had risen within him wasn’t fair to Jenna in the slightest, he was taking out his frustrations on her. When her hand came quickly for his face, he didn’t have any time to react. He turned his head to the side after feeling the sting start to burn on his cheek. Benjamin turned to face her once more, feeling nothing but anger within as he stared at her with a death like glare. Her first few sentences were nothing but rambles to him, it was her admittance to being a rat that stunted his reaction and left him frozen. Benjamin looked at her with wide eyes and he didn’t know what to do or say, or what he thought of her. Was she honourable for sending him to prison, was she a rat for sending him to prison. “You ratted on him?” He asked almost in clarification. 

Ben: I fought Garrett.

Ben: I need you to bail me out.

Teddy: Shit. Yeah I'm on my way.

Teddy: Tell me you got some good hits in man.

Ben: Thanks Ted, I'll pay you back whatever it is.

Ben: -laughs- Yeah, a few good kicks too.

Christopher: Haven't heard from you for a while. Kinda worried.

Teddy: Hey man. What the hell happened?

Teddy: What do you need?

Ben: I fought Garrett.

- This is a collect call from Metropolitan Correctional Center for " Ben ", if you would like to accept please press 9 -

Ben: Hey.

He wasn’t sure how the fuck he got on the ground so fast. Fuck. He coughed a bit, trying to get his breath back. The wind was knocked out of him. “Probably kill me,” He chuckled, “I sure as shit ain’t goin’ anywhere,” Whether that meant here or in New York in general, that was up for interpretation. “It’s gonna take a lot more than this shit.” 

Hearing his reply made Ben’s blood boil, the idea that his girlfriend might not come back to the city and he would be a rare figure in his daughters life all because of this piece of shit threw him off the edge. Without any thought or real control of his actions, he utilized the opportunity of him being on the ground and started to kick him with all of his might. He didn’t care if he broke a rib, he didn’t care if the man stopped breathing. Suddenly, he had two men pulling him away, he fought them pretty hard thinking they were other bar staff. When he was far enough, and heard the police radio near by, he looked to see a cop holding him back and putting him in hand cuffs. Ben wanted to say a warning of some kind, though he knew the cops would use it against him in court. For that reason he chose to stay silent as police walked him out of the bar and into a cruiser. 

There hadn’t been a time yet that Josh could recall a time he clashed with Ben. To Carson, this man was important, and an asset. So to Joshua, he was an important as well as an asset. Sure, it was obvious that they may not see eye to eye at every single thing, but that’s what was good with their relationship. Anyone could be a yes man, in fact, Joshua had far too many of those to even count. To have someone around who challenges his ideas, or can give some insight, was something he preferred.

“Yeah,” he replies flatly, his fingers tracing the wood of the bar top. “We’re talking undercover, right?”

Joshua’s flat reply gave Ben the impression their conversation might have concluded and another topic would start. He finished the last sip of his beer before asking the bartender for another one. Within a minute, a new drink was in front of him. Ben usually didn’t drink this amount, he didn’t like coming home to Emmaline drunk. Recently he didn’t need to worry about that. Hearing Joshua returns to their topic of conversation, he nodded. “Yeah, something like that.” He added distantly, before turning his head to see the look on Joshua’s face, wondering if he’d thought of someone in particular to do the job. “Do you have someone in mind?” 

Bari loved her brother more than anyone in this world (besides Carson and her kids) and seeing him hurt like this made her heart break. Of course she wanted to drink with him more, but she knew him well enough that he definitely was done drinking for the night. “Ben, you’re already shitfaced so I’m taking you home, no questions asked,” she said without missing a beat. Once the taxi arrived, she tugged on her brothers hand and pulled him to the backseat. “Come on now, let’s go.” Once she got inside, she told the driver his address and waited for him to get in. Again, she was doing this for his own good or else he was going to get kicked out of that bar if he kept doing what he was doing. If she was in his shoes, he would be doing the same thing for her.

The very drunk male scoffed before shaking his head very loosely, “I am not, I’m relaxed, many have told me that’s what I need to do. I need to be more relaxed, come out of my gremlin hole as Jennifer puts it.” He commented referring to his earlier conversation with the president’s daughter. Once the yellow car showed up, the male whined like a kid when his older sister laid down the law regarding their next location. He sighed before getting into the car and sitting beside her, before she got a chance to give the cabbie his address he leaned forward to say, “To the next bar please,” he knew she’d quickly reject that request though he wasn’t going to stop trying. When they finally arrived to his place he unlocked the door and stumbled in on a ledge he was usually sober enough to step over. “Jesus,” He cursed looking back at the doorway before making his way towards his alcohol cupboard. 

Ben’s fist cam at him so fast, he didn’t even have time to react till after. He’s not sure what the fuck was wrong with him, or why he even went after him to begin with. But if that’s what Ben wanted to do, he’d happily oblige. “Damn, that was a sucker punch,” He smirked, placing his hand on his face to feel the soreness. He attempted to tackle him to the ground, before making his fist into a ball to punch Ben. “That all you got or what?” 

As the older man came back at him at full speed, Ben did his best to remember his training sessions with Sarah. Truthfully, he’d accepted more sessions with the lead assassin for this very purpose. Ben’s neck jolted back as he got a punch in the face, “You have no idea,” without fail, Ben lunged forward punched him in the face, before quickly retreating back and kicking the betrayed member in the gut hoping that would get him to the ground. Once successful, Ben leaned over him, “What the fuck are we gonna have to do before you get the message that you’re not fucking welcome here.” 

Liam had briefly explained the situation Ben was in and Owen knew that as much as he had put on a good face at their dinner things couldn’t be easy for the man right now. Owen had found himself in a similar situation just a few months ago. Stuck feeling lost and alone and unsure of where to go from there or what he could do to fix it. He knew that when he had been going through everything some kindness would have gone a long way and he also figured the man probably hadn’t had a home-cooked meal since Emmaline had left. Cooking was always something Owen had enjoyed but work was always so busy and he always struggled to find the time to actually cook anything. The fact that so many people around him seemed to be having such a hard time lately gave him the push he needed to actually cook something again. When he knocked on the door the greeting that followed was definitely not what he had been expecting. “I uh… I’m sorry.” He said flustered “I figured you could probably use a nice meal and so Liam told me where you lived so I could stop by and drop it off.” He said using his free hand to gesture to the bag full of food that was balanced carefully on his arm. “I can just leave it here and then I’ll get outta your hair.” he said setting down the bag gently and backing away slowly. “I didn’t mean to intrude.”

Seeing his nephews boyfriend at his doorstep was definitely a surprise, a part of him wondered if the younger male was hoping to suck up to him somehow instead of believing he was a nice kid who wanted to help. Watching the male reply in nothing but semi-broken sentences, obviously nervous.  Despite Emmaline not being behind him as she usually would have been, his brain heard her scold him for the way he reacted and answered the door. Ben let out a small sigh “Owen, wait,” He added just after he began to back away. “I’m sorry, this was very thoughtful of you.” He said with a small smile, “I’m sure Liam told you about Otter. It’s just been an adjustment.. a tough one.” He admitted. “Can I make you a cup of coffee?” 

//

Patrick chuckled lightly at his words. “Yeah, but I wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said softly as he put his hands down on the bar as he nodded his head. “Probably your best option, man.” He lifted his eyes up towards him, letting a small smile come along his lips as he thought about the night at the ball, the fact she had nonchalantly dropped the sex of their child in the middle of a crowded room. “Yeah, they are on the same pregnancy timeline.” He cleared his throat. “We’re havin’ a boy… What about you guys?” 

Hearing that his dear friend was having a baby boy, a small smile spread across his face. “A girl,” he admitted after asking what gender they were having. “You know, don’t tell Otter this, but I was secretly hoping for a boy.” He chuckled lightly, “I’ve always wanted a son, of course, I thought I was going to be raising kids in California, where I could teach them to surf, long board, take them driving through the mountains. I guess I could have done that with a daughter as well,” He took a sip of his drink, “Then I feel in love with a New Yorker.” He chuckled. 

Jennifer exhaled at his greeting, glancing down his figure before her eyes moved up towards his face. “You look like fucking death, Ben.” She crossed her arms over her chest as she tilted her head at him. “You goin’ to sit around your house for the rest of your life and mope or… Join the rest of society? Maybe take a walk… or a shower… Shave that god damn thing off your face? Any of that sound remotely human to you or should I let you crawl back into your hole, Gollum?”

Hearing her opinion of him, he rolled his eyes, “Wow, thank you.” He added not truthfully caring about his looks. The more she continued on about how he looked, he stood there and waited for her to finish. “Alright, well Jennifer as lovely as this is, was there something you specifically needed? Since as much as I love to be insulted, my appearance isn’t any of your concern at the moment.” He added, before he sighed and ran his hand through his hair, “Listen, just lay off a little alright? I’m just..” he admitted softly, before looking around. He hated weakening himself in front of others, though so far he’s burned a lot of bridges due to his lack of emotion control. “Do you want a coffee?” He offered, hoping she’ll stop pestering him about how he looked.