The genuine sadness in Ben’s eyes as the squad pulled him away haunted Finn in the days that had passed. He put his plan in motion the very next day, it started with an anonymous call to the police station posing as a concerned citizen wanting the confirmation that Ben was locked behind bars. Truly Finn wanted to hear the conditions he was being kept under. So far he was able to put together that he was being held in a special holding cell at the station for questioning. Finn would need to act fast, if he didn’t they would move Ben from the station and directly into the prison system, and then his task would be ultimately more difficult.
Next, Finn linked up with a friendly technopath named Molly who has all too willing to help. In exchange of for a stack of cash she ensured the all the CCTV cameras in a block radius would be down, and she was able to hack into the stations data base to get Finn a copy of Ben’s record and any notes they’d taken thus far. It gave Finn a better understanding of Ben’s abilities. There was a special notation that suggested Ben’s use of his powers effected his lifespan. With all the damage done to the city, that troubled Finn greatly.
Admittedly, Finn didn’t have much of a plan here. Going as far to take the CCTV cameras offline, and taking a look at the blue print layouts of the station online was about as much thought as he’d put into this plan. The follow through would have to rely on his own brute strength, and a couple distraction techniques. As he approached the police station in the middle of the night, dressed in all black, ski mask in hand to hide his well known identity— he briefly wondered what side he was on. Were there even sides anymore? Good vs evil didn’t seem so black and white anymore, instead confusing hues of gray, and all Finn could do was what he felt was right. Finn couldn’t save the lives of those slain by Ben within the past few weeks, but by saving one life, Finn could only hope that would have a ripple effect. No more lives to be lost, and Ben leading as normal as a life as he could.
Judging by the blueprints Molly was able to track down for him, Finn decided to enter the station from the back. It was closer to the holding cells and the questioning bays, which is where Ben would more than likely be held. Finn tested the handle of the back exit and just as he expected it was locked. He yanked the handle with a grunt, breaking the locking mechanism in the process. Finn held his breath for a moment half expecting alarms to blare, but looks like Molly was able to disable those too. Ski mask pulled over his face he walked into the building making note of every turn he took, not wanting to turned around as they made their exit.
“Hey! How’d you get back here?” An officer questioned already reaching for his weapon at the sight of the hulking man in a ski mask. Finn kept walking towards him, it wouldn’t be the first bullet he took this week. ”Freeze or I’ll alert back up.” Finn never once halted his pace and gripped the man’s wrist, smashing it into the wall, the gun scattered across the hallway, and Finn’s fist collided with the officer’s temple promptly knocking him out. Finn stood dazed for a moment when he didn’t see the officer’s chest rise and fall, the last thing he wanted was another body count. Finn lowered himself to the ground, placing two fingers at his carotid artery, and breathed a sigh of relief as he felt a pulse. He needed to keep moving.
Finn made his way down the hall he knew Ben’s holding cell was located, but it was suspiciously quiet. No guards, or anything. That could mean one of two things: either he was in the questioning bay or Finn was too late. Finn angled himself at the end of the hallway, so he could see the interrogation room. It became clear Ben was being questioned judging by the two heavily armed guards outside the room. Finn reached for the one item brought along with him, a smoke bomb, he’d purchased as a distraction. He pulled the pin and rolled the cylinder across the hall, as the space quickly filled with a thick white smoke.
“What the…” he heard one of the guards question as he kicked the grenade away, and Finn used this an his opportunity to make his move. He scurried behind the guard wrapping a hand around the front of his throat, squeezing his jugular in a way that his blood pressure instantly dropped, and he fell to the floor in complete unconsciousness. When Finn looked back up the guard’s partner had their weapon raised and pointed directly at Finn.
“Do it, I dare you. See what happens,” Finn challenged, the words obviously throwing the guard off kilter as they lowered their weapon to speak into their radio, “Back up need at hall-“ before they could finish that sentence Finn lunged at them, wrestling the weapon from their grip, and the guard to the ground. The commotion was enough to alert the detective questioning Ben through the two way mirror. As Finn made sure the guard was unconscious but still breathing he turned around to face the detective, exhaustion etched on his features, and pistol pointed directly at Finn’s skull. That would be a shot not even Finn would survive, he was sure of it.
Finn raised his arms in the air and linked them behind his head as if he were surrendering. He could only hope the detective wasn’t trigger happy. As soon as one cuff was linked around Finn’s wrist, he jabbed his elbow backwards, striking the detective, and buying him enough time to twist his body around and knock him unconscious too. Surely, there would be additional officers filtering into this part of the station as the ones down wouldn’t be answering their radios, so Finn needed to act fast. He pulled the steel cuff from his wrist, it scratched his skin in the process, but it’d heal momentarily.
The moment he was through the door of the interrogation room, he ripped the ski mast off his face, his features flushed— the adrenaline coursing through his veins almost too much to handle. His eyes found Ben, the young man seated on a cheap steel chair, hands chained to the center of the desk, collar still around his neck. “I told you I’d find you, right? Listen, Ben we have to move fast,” he insisted walking towards the young man. “This might hurt for a moment,” he warned, covering both of Ben’s chained wrists with his hands, before yanking them in opposite directions with enough force to break the steel chains. With his hands now free Finn broke the chains around his ankles too. There was a remote on the table that matched the look of the collar around Ben’s neck, and while Finn wanted Ben to be completely free they’d need to discuss the use of his powers first. Instead, he pocketed the remote.
“Follow me, we’re heading out the back,” he instructed making their way out of the interrogation bay and into the hall to face the destruction he’d caused to get here in the first place. Finn paused for a brief moment as he saw the guards and detective still laying in the hall. Finn plucked the baseball cap off the guard’s head and the aviator sunglasses sticking out of the detective’s coat pocket. It wasn’t much of a disguise but it was something. “Here put these on.”
The following hours of Ben’s arrest were a nightmarish blur. Confused and dazed from the absence of his powers, he was left at the mercy of those who, frankly, wanted to make him pay for the damage he’d caused on the city. The laws surrounding mutants and otherworldly creatures were shaky at best. The resurgence of superpowers in their world had left the world government questioning the ethics surrounding disasters involving them and although they’d come far from worldwide execution, the grey areas surrounding what to do with a kid who’d gone completely AWOL left room for mishandling.
Once they’d identified him as the missing Ben Cherry, his case file grew exponentially thicker with questions of where he’d gone and why. As Ben’s case grew more complicated, he saw the brunt of frustration from police and government officials alike trying to solve the mystery of his case.
Ben didn’t blame them for the vitriol even if he wanted to. As terrifying as it was to be in police custody, chained up like a misbehaving animal and aggressively interrogated about his motives, the worst part of it was the dawning powerlessness of humanity. He felt weak and ineffective without his telekinesis, the chronic throbbing in his temple exacerbated by the blood that seemed to pour endlessly from the orifices in his skull. The meager medical attention they’d offered him was declined with a resounding ‘no’. Taking anything from anyone meant that he’d be in their favor once again and he didn’t want to fall in the the same gaping hole of a trap again after climbing out of it.
Time was unforgiving, trickling by like molasses as he spat out a chain of unsatisfying answers surrounding the Fabray and his involvement with the family. Years of unyielding loyalty to those who didn’t deserve it had made him innately uncooperative but he knew that giving the city the answers they wanted would in no way make things easier for him in the long run.
He stared balefully at the one-way mirror knowing that there were a fleet of observers on the other side trying to pick apart his psyche. The familiarity of prostrating his dignity under the glare of hot, white lights made him tense and obstinate under the barrage of vague threats and menacing scare tactics that might’ve worked two months prior but all Ben could think about then was about all the people who’d hurt him in the past. How easy it would’ve been to just give over the Fabrays and his mother and the names of every producer who had ever exploited his youth. He could envision the sweat beading on the detective’s forehead as he waited for an answer, his beady eyes shooting nervous glances at Ben’s hairline as if his brain might explode any minute and take out everyone in the other room.
As he opened his mouth to give a stubborn answer, the speakers came alive with panic and then static. Ben sat up in his seat, bewildered by the sudden commotion. Had he broken the neutralizer? Was he doing this?
The interrogation room grew silent after the sounds of effort died out entirely, leaving Ben suspended in anticipation. He looked hopefully at the chains around his wrists. Nothing.
And then the door burst in and stunned him for a moment until the intruder unmasked himself. “I didn’t think you were going to actually come for me,” Ben stammered as he watched Finn approach, bewildered by the stature of him. He was practically billowing smoke, all battle-worn like a prizefighter or some kind of soldier who’d just come back from a war. Questions came pouring in in droves as he watched Finn fly into action right away and broke him free with his bare hands. His heart palpitated in his chest in what felt like the first time in forever
He glanced worriedly at the shoulder that had been bleeding the last time he saw it. “I’m sorry I--” His apology was cut off by the urgency of the situation and he bobbed his head, stumbling along behind Finn whose authority seemed to have bloomed overnight.
“Hey wait, aren’t you going to take this thing off of me?” Ben asked as he took the disguise from Finn, obediently pulling on the cap and sunglasses. The metal collar still sat heavily around his neck, the pins still lodged into his spine and disconnecting whatever part of him that made him powerful. “I can get us out of here if you’d just--”
The abrupt stop made him pause and survey the area that Finn had presumably demolished on his way in. Glancing around in disbelief at the number of writhing, armed guards and the lack of manpower on Finn’s team, Ben's mouth fell open in awe as he lagged behind to gawk at the body count. The detective flinched as Ben stepped over him with none of the discretion as an escapee but it wasn’t until they spilled into the street did Ben burst to life, pushing the sunglasses up onto the top of his head as he fluttered around Finn’s shoulders like a particularly obnoxious fairy.
“Holy crusher Batman, you really weren’t kidding. Are you a mutant too? Hey, slow down, this is the coolest thing ever. You just took on and entire government facility by yourself. By yourself! That’s amazing! Does your mom know about this? Because if she doesn’t, you shouldn’t tell her-- even though I don’t believe in keeping secrets from your mom and stuff, you just don’t know what she’ll do with the information.”
