Operation Holiday Cheer - A Spy School Story

Chapter 7: Breakdown

CIA Academy of Espionage

Washington, DC

Nathan Hale Administration Building

December 17th, 2015

1640 hours

3rd Person POV

Ben began hyperventilating as the rush of emotions hit him hard. His entire body trembled as he tried to stutter out words. With wide eyes, Alexander and Catherine rushed forward and knelt directly in front of him, each one grasping one of Ben's shoulders.

"Ben? What's wrong?" asked Catherine frantically.

Sweat and tears started streaming down Ben's cheeks as he tried to speak, but couldn't.

"I-I—" he stammered.

He started full-out sobbing. As he covered his face with his hands, the adults looked at each other with scared expressions on their face.

Both of them were absent to some degree as parents, and consequently were not as experienced. Making matters worse, considering Erica's overall lack of diverse emotions, they had never faced something like this before. Thus, they were a bit unsure on what to do for the boy in front of them. Furthermore, they had never seen Ben like this before. But when they thought about it, they realized that they had, but couldn't quite place it. It clicked for Alexander first.

'The funerals,' he thought. Then it dawned on him what Ben was going through.

"Panic attack," he whispered to himself. But Catherine managed to hear it.

He hesitantly reached forward and wrapped the young boy in a hug, only to be a bit startled when Ben clutched him tightly like his life depended on it. However, Alexander took it in stride, holding the boy as he sobbed into the agent's shirt. Alexander let out a small grunt as he shifted himself to more properly sit on the ground. However, he never let go of Ben. He turned towards Catherine and quickly whispered in her ear: "It's his family, almost certainly. Bolt the door. Nobody enters."

She understood immediately. She nodded and quickly put a sticky note on the outside of the door which said: "DO NOT ENTER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES - Alexander Hale."

She then closed the door and locked it, turning back to see her lover holding on to Ben, whispering soothing sounds as the agent-in-training continued to cry hard. He turned towards her, motioning her to come forward. She did, kneeling and wrapping Ben up in a hug from behind.

Acting on pure instinct, they held Ben between them. They whispered words of comfort, which didn't seem to help. Nonetheless, they kept trying. Eventually, Ben started whispering something between his tears.

"Don't... go... please... don't... leave... me..."

Alexander clutched the boy he'd come to have paternal affection for a little tighter. "We gotcha, buddy. You're gonna be OK," he murmured.

Catherine did the same as she also came to have maternal affection for the boy. "Don't worry, sweetheart. We won't let you go," she whispered.

Ben was delirious, not hearing Alexander and Catherine's words and continually pleading for them not to leave him. They didn't get annoyed or irritated. They remained patient and held him in their arms, continually promising him they wouldn't leave him.

Eventually, Ben's sobs became choked gasps and hiccups as he still mumbled pleas for the adults not to leave him. They kept calmly promising that they wouldn't go, stroking his hair or his back soothingly.