Chapter Text
Erica looked at Ben with sad eyes. A few hours before now, Erica had been having a conversation with: Ben, Mike, Chip, and Jawa. Everything had been calm-well as calm as Erica is. Nothing had gone wrong throughout the entire day. Then she got a call on the government issued phone she had been given. The call was from her father, Alexander Hale. The call immediately threw her off because, while Alexander was quite foolish at times, he didn't often call her. She excused herself from the conversation and walked off into the hall of the school. Unlike usual, her father sounded frantic and solemn on the phone.
"Erica, honey, I-"
His voice cut off for a moment, as if trying to find the correct way to phrase his next few words.
"Erica...Its Cyrus."
Cyrus Hale-her grandfather-was clearly in need of some assistance, or so she believed at least. His voice, once again, faltered and stopped entirely. He was genuinely struggling to get his sentences out and could not speak.
"Cyrus he-... He's gone."
Her mind went blank. Gone. Did he mean gone as in ran away? Gone as in...dead? No no no...he couldn't be gone like that. Her voice trembled as she tried to form her next sentence.
"D-Dad...what could you possibly mean by gone?"
She could feel what he meant through the phone. Why her grandfather? Why the man who taught her pretty much everything she knew about being a spy?
"Sweetie...He's dead."
There was no continuation to the phrase; no attempt to make it sound any better then the horrible way it sounded. She didn't have the energy to ask anymore; for the first time in her life, she didn't have the courage to find out how or why right now. She simply hung up the phone and turned in the hall. She didn't go back into the room where the other had been talking before, but she did pass by the door to make her way into her own room. She was devastated, but she didn't cry or even look sad about it outwardly. She kept her head down and walked straight in the direction of her room. When she got there, she sat down. She didn't even bother making it all the way to the bed. She made it about halfway then collapsed onto her fluffy carpet. Her room was a huge contrast to her personality, but no one knew that. Well except for Ben Ripley. He had seen her room once before.
When she fell onto the carpet, she fell knees first. Her knees and lower legs mushing themselves into the fluff of the carpet as she tried to regain her composure. Her eye welled up with tears, a sensation she hadn't felt in quite a while. Soft tears slipped onto her cheeks as she sat there. She managed to re-position herself to which she was sitting straight with her knees near her chest with her head leaned into them.
More tears slipped out of her eyes as she cried softly into her own soul. Just then, she heard her door open softly. A familiar face peaked their head through the crack in the door as she sat there. It was Ben. She would recognize his face anywhere, even if she didn't want too.
"Erica?"
His voice was soft and deeply concerned. "What's wrong? Erica," he asked. He was staring at her now. He was fully in the room and closed the door softly behind him. His eyes scanned over her and her current position on the floor. She still had her head buried in her knees as he made his way to her side. He sat down beside her, a sad expression on his face as he looked at her.
0Erica, do you want to talk abou-"
"How did you know something was wrong?' her voice was sad and soft, a tone Ben had never heard. It hurt his heart to hear her so devastated and broken.
"I saw you pass by in a rush. it was only right to assume something was off, right?" He had warm smirk on his lips as if trying to distract her but she wasn't even looking up at him in the first place. She kept her head where it was, knowing if she lifted it her teary eyes and damp cheeks would show. "I was just worried, Erica. now that I know something is actually wrong-even though you don't like to talk about your feelings-can you please tell me?" He stopped at that, before adding in a "only if you want of course." He was always considerate like that. He was always there for her whenever she needed him. It was always a concept that was foreign to her...comfort. Something she had never naturally experienced first hand.
The next thing she did surprised even her. She leaned into him. Seeking a desperate kind of comfort that she didn't think she could ever outwardly ask for. She knew Ben long enough to know that he would understand exactly what she needed without her having to speak at all. He wrapped his arms around her as she leaned deeper into his arms. Her knees that had once been to her chest, lowered into a more comfortable position as she put her weight on him. He pulled her into an even closer hug, his former shock that he had felt fading immediately. She was fragile right now more than ever and she desperately needed him to be there for her like he had been before.
"Do you...wanna maybe talk about it?" he wasn't sure what to say honestly. He had been helpful to Erica in multiple way in the past but not as much for emotional comfort. He had definitely learned a thing from watching Catherine Hale comfort her ex-husband, Alexander Hale. "Always be gentle," Catherine had said to him before. "Especially if someone is in need."
Erica needed him so there he was. He held her tighter as she finally broke-down. Her hot tears slowly began to seep into his shirt and dampen the material; he payed no mind to it though. this was the moment for him to see her...all of her.
She began to stutter out words, another thing he had never heard before. Stuff about how her grandfather had passed and how much it truly meant to her that she would never have admitted to another soul. Ben felt every single word hang heavily in the air. he had known Cyrus pretty much since he had been at the school of espionage. Yet, he didn't teach him everything he knew or even com close to how well Eric knew Cyrus. He felt for her. All the agony and pain she was experiencing in the loss of him was horrible for her and her probably already messed up mental health. She was also in a painful denial: that maybe it would all be over and this was a trick or his plan for a secret mission. but it wasn't and they both knew it wasn't a trick. It was expected that he would leave eventually and she just didn't want to acknowledge it. He did his best to comfort her an eventually she dosed off softly into a well deserved rest. She had drained herself with all the crying and felt safe enough with him to let it happen. He left a soft kiss on her head as she lie in his arms, but didn't move. He stayed there the rest of the day, letting her sleep in that position until he also fell asleep with her. He was going to help her be the best she could be, even without Cyrus around.