Interlude: The prize at the end of the rope.

[This entry's soundtrack: All My Life]

Eighteen hours ago he was pacing his room after having been confined to quarters after the accident, confined until a full investigation could be completed.

The sickening snap echos in his thoughts.

Twelve hours ago he tried reading some Shakespeare but couldn't focus, "to be or not to be" was too close to home.

All he can see is the look on the MPs face as he broke her arm.

Six hours ago he tried studying Aviation to turn his lie to his Mom into a truth but altitudes and wind sheer didn't seem to matter.

Mr. Grimm, I need you to step away from the ledge.

Four hours ago he knocked over one of his cement chairs in a brief explosion of temper and rediscovered the cavity he had carved in it's base and the stash of things he had palmed, things which he had hoped would be able to pierce his skin.

Her pale, pained face swims in his mind's eye.

Thirty minutes ago he laid out all the items in his stash and sat looking at them; a titanium alloy spike, a hand grenade, a bottle of pills. He rejects the pills cause if he can breath acid what the hell kind of damage can drugs do?

Step away from the ledge...

Now he's staring at the broken spike which had shattered after only five minutes of him trying to shove it into his wrist. How is he going to explain this?

Interlude:You say I wanted you to be proud of me...

[This entry's song: Winter]
The grenade fits in his mouth with surprisingly little difficulty but he needs to look into a mirror to find the pin. Turning he takes one (hopefully) final look out at the city and the sunset when he sees a couple on the roof of the building across the way and a little down. They're kissing and seem to be having a good time. He doesn't even bother to swallow the tears but they cause him to blink a few times.

When he can see clearly again he sees the woman is struggling, trying to fight off the man and he's not stopping. Ben lets go of the pin of the grenade and wonders what he can do. It's not like he can call the police. Maybe the M.P.s? But before he gets to the phone the woman stomps on the guys foot and punches him in the nose. The guy lets her go in shock and backs away, blood running down his face. She runs for the exit but stops short when the guy yells something and pulls out a gun.

Ben spits out the grenade and tosses it at the couch (fortunately the pin doesn't come out). Crossing the room, he picks up a football and is tearing off the window before he's aware of what he's doing. A quick snap and the guy on the other roof crumbles into a heap. The woman looks up toward Ben and he backs quickly into the shadows to hide. She waves a hesitant thank you before kicking the bastard and picking up his gun. Then, after another wave, she disappears down the exit.

Ben watches her leave but freezes when he catches sight of the billboard above the exit.

It's full night when the guy begins to stir across the way and groggily picks himself up to stumble to the exit. Ben barely registers his leaving sitting in the dark of his room as he continues to stare at the billboard.

Half an hour later he picks up the encrypted cellphone Reed made for him and dials the number from the billboard, 1-800-273-TALK.

"Hello," answers a pleasant voice.

Ben doesn't say anything.

"Hello, I'm here for you."

"I...I need some help," Ben says finally.

Interlude: Knock Knock

[[This entry's song: Times Like These]]

The next day Ben is still feeling down but fighting to remember that it won't last forever when there's a knock on his door. Startled, he stares at it for a good minute before getting up to answer it. No one ever visits in any other capacity than official and they never knock for that. Okay, Johnny visits too, but he just comes right in and never knocks.

"Hello?" he says half in question when he opens the door. It's the MP he had hurt. Her arm is in a cast and it takes Ben a minute to realize she's got a slight smile on her face.

"You going to just stand there or are you going to invite me in?"

"Um...sure..." he says completely off guard. "Why?"

She holds up a six pack of beer and says, "Peace offering."

"What? I'm the one who should be apologizing. I never would have done that had I known you were..." he starts to say 'a woman' but catches himself.

She gets his meaning anyway. "Oh if I was a man you'd have done it on purpose? You think a woman can't take a broken arm?"

"No that's not what I meant. I just don't hurt women."

"Then you're an idiot. If you were a normal person I could take you down twelve different ways from where I'm standing, seven of them possible with a cast."

Ben just gapes, completely tongue tied.

"But that's not why I'm here. Your friends have been chewing Ross' ear off for how he treated you and have roped Dr. Storm to fighting for your release. I thought I'd come and see how you were doing and to offer my apology. I should've handled things better."

"What? I broke your arm! How is that your fault?"

"Touching you when you are not aware is like sticking your arm in an engine block when the motor is running. Dangerous and your own damn fault if you get bit. So I apologize Mr. Grimm and I expect your house arrest to be lifted within the hour."

"I...accept? But can you call me Ben? Unless you want me calling you Ms. Ventura?" Ben says reading her name off her uniform.

She smiles in return. "Fair enough. I'm Sharon. Ben, it's a pleasure to meet you. Can I ask...were you going to jump that day?"

Ben swallows as the whole situation makes a lot more sense suddenly. "No," he says a bit gruffly. "Even if I was gonna, there'd be no point. I'd likely have landed on someone, killed them and been no worse for wear."

She studies him for a bit before opening two of the beers and handing him one. "I know it's not my business, but would you jump now?"

"I...don't know," he admits and takes a sip of the beer. "Sam Adams, nice."

She takes a couple of sips as she ponders his answer for a minute or two. "Can we sit?"

"Sure," Ben says and steps back into his room. "Sorry about the seating."

"Okay we've got tons of big brains and an insane budget. We can take people to another dimension but we can't come up with better furniture for you than concrete? That's not right."

"It works okay. It reminds me of those blow up chairs."

She laughs a good minute before getting serious again. "Can I tell you a story? About why I joined the military? There was this song that was kinda big when I was in high school by the Mighty Mighty Bosstones called The Impression That I Get, you remember it?"

"Yeah, that was a pretty cool song. Lots of horns and stuff."

"That's it. Remember how it talked about being brave and how you never know if you're going to be brave until you need to be? That's why I went into the military, I wanted to be tested. To find out if I was brave or not. I don't know that I've really been tested but I know you have been and I think you still are. I'm a little envious really."

"What, why?" Ben asks taken aback.

"Simple. If you can survive this, you will know nothing can break you. Nothing. Most people don't get that."

"I...wow I never thought of it like that. Thank you."

"So what are you going to do?"

"Only thing I can, my best. Hey can you do me a favor?" he says digging behind one of the cushions that are making a pathetic attempt at making the couch look normal.

"Possibly, what is it?"

"Can you give this back to Dave? I think he...dropped it," he says holding out the grenade. He doesn't think he's going to need it anymore and wants to make sure it's not around if he changes his mind.

"Uh...sure thing. I won't even ask."