Case 02 - The new life of Ben Weiss

Ben felt like he slept for months. But his dreams were very weird. They followed the lives of different people, most of whom he had never even met. Seeing the various people he did know, though, surprised him the most.

He got snippets of the life of one 'John Nolan', the oldest rookie who joined his old police station and saw the old colleagues he left behind there when he went undercover.

Then he saw broken pieces of Daniel 'Hondo' Harrelson becoming '20-David' - aka Team Lead of a LAPD SWAT team and all that followed from a rookie graduate called Jim Street joining or that beautiful Christina Alonso aka '24-David' he met just living her life.

He even saw a bunch of nerdy academics living in Pasadena who struggled to find girlfriends because of their hobbies, social ineptitude, and overall awkwardness. So, seeing a huge patch-work family revolving around 'Grandpa Jay' living in the suburbs of LA or a young teacher living with a bunch of unlikely roommates wasn't all that weird anymore.

There was also a lawyer who became famous for the car he drove around in instead of working from an office. And a young doctor who often started daydreaming while doing his residency in a hospital called Sacret Heart - as well as an accomplished gynecologist 'Addison Montgomery' who opened a private practice after moving away from her job in Seattle Grace Hospital in... Seattle.

At that point he had long noticed that all their lives revolved around LA, but that made it all the more weird when he saw a bunch of NYPD detectives working out of a precinct in Brooklyn, NYC.

What he saw included some of their cases - medical, legal, and otherwise - as well as some very personal tidbits of their lives. From break-ups to deaths. From fuck-ups to pregnancies. Ben saw these people living colorful lives.

-----

The moment he gingerly opened his real eyes, however, all these dreams he remembered seeing were hidden away in the deepest recess of his mind. He couldn't recall seeing anything out of the ordinary or think of the names of any of strangers he saw in those... episodes.

What he could think about was how uncomfortable he felt in his own skin. There was a tube in two of his ends that he desperately hoped weren't connected in anyway, and overall, he simply felt sore all over.

The tube in his throat clearly assisted him in breathing, but his conscious mind still wanted him to get rid of the intrusion. He scrambled to get his weak arms to listen to his orders and poked himself into one of his eyes with the heartrate-monitor-clip on his left index finger while doing just that.

The commotion woke up the other person in the room, and she quickly tried to calm him down, "Ben! Ben, stay still. I'll get a nurse to you asap, but you need to calm down! You'll be just fine in a few more weeks!"

Ben relaxed his body and tried looking forward to the foot of his hospital bed where a young 'hot latina' was watching his miserable form. With a small nod from Ben, Chris exited the room to call for medical assistance.

Instead of a nurse, a tall, buff, and very charismatic black man in a doctor's coat entered the room with Officer Alonso. He quickly walked over and gently pulled out the tube in Ben's throat before speaking with him.

"Hiya, little Ben," the doctor greeted with a warm smile.

He tried speaking a few times, but no sound came out. Eventually, he managed to whisper with a very hoarse voice, "Uncle Bennett?"

"Don't look at me like you've seen a ghost. And call me Sam already, I know you just started calling me 'uncle' to piss me off as a kid," Dr Bennett quipped back.

He turned to the officer in the room and asked, "Can you believe him? Less than a decade older, and he calls me uncle."

Alonso started smirking, so the doctor turned back and explained, "We had to scrape out a bullet out of you that ricocheted off of your ribcage, pierced your left lung and then knicked your heart. A real ugly mess. The bullet blocked a major bleed due to sheer dumb luck. So count your blessings, kid. You survived a shot through the heart and lung at the same time. And count your blessings once more because I was in Shaw Memorial for a conference instead of St. Ambrose, my usual haunt. So you got saved by the most handsome and accomplished heart surgeon on the west coast."

"Yeah, the EMTs declared you dead for two minutes before your heart started beating on its own again. They called you a ghost because they couldn't do CPR with the bullet still inside you, and you still came back," Alonso added from where she stood. "Vogel had put some weird low-gunpowder bullets into Murat's revolver."

"And what a good thing those EMTs didn't touch you. It's already a full-on miracle that you didn't bleed out in that yard, or on the way to the hospital, or on my operating table. To make sure your heart and lung have enough time to recuperate, we put you in a coma with a slowed down heartbeat, Ben. We would have woken you in two more weeks, but I guess you're a fighter, just like your daddy. You've been under for five and a half weeks."

Ben didn't answer because he rightly couldn't, so while he thought about what would happen next, Officer Alonso got to talking with the doctor.

"I thought you just knew him. You actually knew him through his dad?"

"Oh yeah, his dad was my mentor. He was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, which ended his career as a surgeon instantly. To cope, Frederic started teaching anyone talented enough to keep up with him, the tragic prodigy, at St Ambrose. That lasted up until Fred... chose to end his own misery when little Ben over here graduated high school," Sam Bennett explained while sighing. "As much as I love and respect the man, that was a truly crappy graduation gift."

Ben didn't really listen, so he didn't get melancholic because of the tragic story concerning his parents, but he did perk up when his 'Uncle Bennett' asked, "So what's with the ink, Ben? And where have you been these years? Your girlfriend over here wouldn't tell. But I'll tell you what, you're officially uninvited from Christmas dinner if you don't have a good reason for that swastika and iron cross on your chest. I cut those up a little by accident on the operating table, by the way. Oops."

Alonso, completely unpeturbed by being called his girlfriend, explained after she saw Ben nod at her with a gaze full of meaning. She mentally prepared some extra details for the benefit of Ben as well, since he didn't know what happened after getting shot.

"Ben Weiss relinquished his career and good name to join White Front as a deep undercover agent five years ago. Ben Muller became a runner for the late leader of that right-wing extremist group. Martin Kraft died in a shootout over a giant weapons cache we found thanks to Ben's meticulous notes. After being kept in the dark about his mission for three years, Ben assisted in shutting down a giant arms dealing and smuggling ring. We were able to take some major players, including the secretary of a governor off the board. There's still more major cases getting opened up all over the country and internationally with the help of interpol. His actions saved countless lives, including three women and a young boy who were kept as... toys by the higher-ups of the terror cell."

"Shit. That's some heavy stuff. Sounds like a movie script, honestly," Dr Bennett said with a stunned expression. He turned to Ben and offered with a wink, "Consider yourself re-invited to Christmas dinner forever! I'll just gift you a nice scarf to hide the ink then for this year."

"Yeah, Tan got your message, and even though the funeral was unnecessary, you only had your first two tattoo removal sessions while you were in a coma. The doctor over here had us waiting a bit for your recovery," Alonso added.

They - exluding Ben - talked a little more about things the undercover cop missed in his coma. Dr Sam Bennett also promised to come by often. The surgeon and physician for the rich and famous also ran a few more tests that he smoothly integrated into the conversation to make sure Ben was doing alright.

"Alright then. I'm elated to have you with us, Ben. If you need a place to crash after all of that, let me know. You're always welcome at my home. Within reason," Dr Bennett joked with a grin when he was done with his tests. "I'll leave you two lovebirds alone."

"He's quite the nice guy," Alonso said with a forced smile. "You want me to leave to give you some space?"

Ben shook his head slightly and managed to mutter the name 'Murat' before rolling his eyes and gesturing for her to bring him a paper and a pen.

As she scrambled to get him some writing utensils, Officer Alonso answered his implied question about what happened with the boy who shot him.

"Murat Oetztuerk and his sister Jasemine were released out of custody after spending two weeks in a hospital while getting monitored and interrogated. Their testimony was treated as low priority because of the giant cache of letters we found in the PO box in San Francisco - Agent Ford didn't have anyone pick them up in over three years but more on that later. The shots at you, not only because of Murat's age and overarching circumstances, were treated as self-defense under duress by a minor. They were brought to their embassy immediately after their hospital stay was over and are likely already back with their family in Turkey," Alonso explained slowly and in great detail.

"He was also inconsolable when we found his sister unharmed and safe. I don't think he'll ever get over what he did and even more what he had to suffer through before it happened," the SWAT officer added when she saw the relief on Ben's face when he heard the kid wasn't charged for the shots on him. The kid had been through enough, and he would have never pressed charges himself - it was an impossible situation for everyone after all.

When he took up the pen after it was handed to him, he wrote: {It feels stupid to call you 24-David or Hot Latina in my head. Hi, I'm Ben! What may I call you?}

"The guys have been teasing me non-stop by calling me 'hot latina' and then apologizing with a 'sorry ma'am'. You're quite the trendsetter," Chris replied with a grin. "Thanks for that. Really helped team morale and cohesion. I'm Christina Alonso, but friends call me Chris."

{Okay, Chris! Please don't take this the wrong way, ma'am ;) But what are you doing here on a random... 1:7 chance here... Monday night?}

"It's Friday," Chris helped with a smile.

{Good graces! A beauty like you spends her Friday night in a hospital room with a coma patient she barely knows? What happened to the LA dating scene in those years I was under?}

Ben tried showing an appalled grimace but barely managed a frown because of how much everything hurt.

"I dunno, somehow your story stuck with me. Usually, I go boxing or physically tire myself out some other way, but talking to your corpse helped me cope more than my usual process. So I'm here once or twice a week, depending on how shitty my week was," Chris explained with an unsure smile and a shrug.

{I hope me being alive doesn't come in the way of your therapy then,} Ben wrote, which brought a smile to Chris' face. {What happened to Zofia and Martha?}

Chris' smile vanished as she flinched and gained a pained expression for a moment that Ben couldn't quite read.

"Martha took her own life the moment she was left alone a day after the raid. Zofia wasn't so... 'lucky' after that and is on constant surveillance. She's tried to take her own life twice in the first week. She's... also expressed great concern for your health and wants to meet you after calming down with the help of her therapist."

{I want to meet her, too!}

Chris nodded and said, "She is in a clinic down the street, I can get that arranged."

There was a pregnant pause between the two after that that was broken by Ben's scribbles on paper.

{Did my old CO ever send my phone over when he heard my cover was blown?}

"How weirdly specific, but yeah. We finally got him on a call while he was on a fishing boat in Texas, and he sent over a packet with a bottle of Jägermeister and a phone," Chris explained. "The phone's over there charging, the bottle of Schnaps, I'm afraid, didn't go past the doctors. It's with the new CO of your old station."

{Wow, nice pronounciation of Jager and Schnaps! You know German?}

Chris gained a smile and explained, "I was K-9 before joining SWAT. My partner Champ, he gets his orders in German."

{Ah, a loyal puppy is as good a reason as any to learn a little German. My mom was a German immigrant. Medical journalist who managed to land my dad, the 'incredible surgeon' with German roots of his own. She's the reason I joined the LAPD.}

"'Was'? So I'm guessing the reason isn't very nice, is it?" Chris asked as she placed her hand over his. She was starting to feel like this was even more therapeutic than talking to a coma patient she didn't know for more than 'five awake minutes'.

{I was 13 when she was held hostage in a mall during a robbery done by two crackheads. I was supposed to go with her, but I was being a brat who wanted to hang with this girl I knew from school. An officer at the scene tried shooting one of the three gunmen, but the hostage taker was holding my mom as a shield. The shot knicked her artery, missed the gunman, and before the situation was fully resolved, she bled out in that man's arm after taking another stray shot.}

"I'm so sorry," Chris whispered.

{It's in the past. But since that day I wanted to be a good boy who makes sure moms get to go home to their kids - ugh, I swear that sounds less childish when it isn't written down by a grown dude in a hospital bed.}

"Hahaha," the young officer couldn't stop laughing at Ben's sheepish smile.

{Wow, finally made you laugh for real. Took a while.}

"Haaa, well - I know one thing in German like none other," Chris offered with a smile that slowly turned into an impish grin.

"Wer ist ein guter Junge? Ja, wer ist ein guter Junge? [Who is a good boy? Yes, who is a good boy?]" Chris started teasing Ben by petting his head like she would a dog, and the room turned a little brighter for it.

Ben and Chris talked for a little while longer until Ben managed to convince her that he needed some sleep just like she probably did and sent her home - finally at 1:30AM in the middle of the night.

She didn't open up much herself, especially about that painful expression she had when she mentioned the death of Martha and the compassionate, hurt look she had on for a brief moment when they talked about Zofia. But Ben knew enough about women to know that he shouldn't press about stuff like that.

The next morning, Ben took his first real shower in a long time while getting help from a nurse who thankfully knew about his circumstances and didn't judge him for his tattoos. He still hated seeing them in the mirror, but at least another six sessions were needed for them to be removed, which would roughly take three more month.

Ben vowed to himself that he would look into a tattoo artist capable enough to do a cover job for the most obvious and ugly tattoos like the swastika over his heart and the 88 on the back of his neck. Medium length hair could only cover so much, after all.

That, however, brought the problem up on how to pay for the tattoo or anything, really. He needed to call his bank urgently to see what status his old bank accounts had. Ben Weiss didn't really exist in the last five years, after all. At least he didn't have any student loan debt or anything. His dad was rather well off, all things considered. He should receive royalties for his dad's medical works. His trust fund, originally filled with his mom's generational wealth and life insurance policy, should still be in his name despite disappearing for so long, too.

At the very least, he should still have his dad's old house near Brentwood by Santa Monica that he rented out for movies and reality TV shows via an agency, but he never really liked living there. It would take almost forty minutes in good traffic to reach the police station, too. He didn't like not living close to where he would police the neighborhood.

-----

But did he even still have a job with the LAPD? The uncertainty gnawed at him - his potential new CO was gracious enough to break the suspense, thankfully. As early as 10AM the next day, Captain Zoe Andersen and his old TO Sergeant Wade Grey visited Ben, who was once more lying in the hospital bed tapping away through his old phone, the one he got back thanks to Chris.

"Ben! It is so good to see you," Sgt Grey greeted in a grand gesture and gave Ben a big hug.

Captain Andersen apparently wanted to give them a moment and talked to the officers guarding his door outside - giving Ben a nice view to recognize his old 'successor', Angela Lopez, who became a 'boot' or officer-in-training right after him. She stood there together with a young black man still wearing a long-sleeved uniform shirt - so likely a new recruit fresh out of the academy.

"Grey, finally a friendly face! And someone who knows I was a cop," Ben spoke from the hug with a still rather hoarse voice.

"Ha, how could I forget my favorite boot," Grey said loud enough that the women and the new recruit could hear.

That prompted all three of them to enter because, apparently, two different patrol officers were about to take over the guard shift for the other two. Chris had told him yesterday night that they had credible intel that another White Front faction led by Kraft's cousin moved into LA for clean-up a month ago. They still didn't know how many or even who, outside of the cousin, but Ben should be on the lookout anyway.

"Officer Weiss. I'd like to say it is a pleasure to finally meet you, but - through no fault of your own - I frankly didn't know you existed," Captain Andersen greeted with a charismatic smile and a firm handshake as Grey finally released Ben from the hug. "I'm glad to hear you're well on your road to full recovery."

"Benny, glad to hear you're still alive. Can't believe you were shot not an hour away from home after nobody heard from you for five years. The new hairdo looks better than the buzzcut," Angela greeted with a smirk as she gave Ben a one-armed hug. She then introduced, "I finally get to have a boot of my own - so I hope you purge your memory of me in a long-sleeved shirt out of your brain forever. This is Jackson West."

"Nice to meet you, Officer West. Since she survived Grey and even stayed to become a TO, Officer Lopez makes for a very good role model. Listen to her well," Ben greeted with his hoarse voice.

"I will, sir," Jackson stiffly returned.

"Did you see how he just tooted his own horn?" Grey mumbled to Lopez. "As someone who 'survived' me, you have to be the best. What does that make him? What an ego."

Lopez began snickering, even Captain Andersen began chuckling, and the rookie West finally relaxed a little. Lopez had told him not to judge Ben by his looks, but the tattoos still gave young Officer West a certain image of him in his mind.

"Keep your head up, West. And sorry for you having to do guard duty in your first weeks in front of my room," Ben offered as Lopez began dragging her boot out of the room to continue their patrol. "Listen to Lopez! And when she's unreasonable, bring her a pink donut! Probably still loves those!"

Grey began laughing on his own, way more than Lopez ever did. So when Andersen sent him an inquiring look, he tried to calm himself and said, "First week on the job, Lopez helped a lady get her purse back. The woman told Lopez to wait as she stormed off. Three minutes later, she came back with a giant box of twenty pink donuts. 'As a woman and police officer, she must love donuts and the color pink after all.' Man, Ben. I almost forgot about that."

"Yeah, good times," Ben absentmindedly said with a nod before turning to his new CO. "So, did you come to bring news? I'm sure in the weeks I was out, you reached a consensus with the brass on how to handle my case?"

Ben feared seeing a resigned or even just conflicted expression on the two superior officers in front of him, but both only showed a relaxed smile that greatly calmed Ben's taut nerves.

"We have free reign to listen to your wishes. All you need to do is not disclose your mission to the press, and the board of commissioners, the chief, and the mayor are all willing to give you any job you want."

Sergeant Grey nodded and added, "Yeah, and we come with a few options for you. Though I have a clear favorite."

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