A/N: GUESS WHO'S NOT DEAD, KIDS. also, quick summary because it's been a while - Alex/Deathmask escaped from MI6 holding after being tortured by an agent, and he remembers bits and pieces of his old life.

The scenes change rapidly, so rapidly he can't concentrate on any of them long enough to figure out what's going on.

He's yelling at a very gray man, something about being fifteen, while the woman he knows to be Mrs. Jones - younger and with different hair - stands to the side and-

A red-haired woman smiles at him, ruffles his hair and-

A car erupts in a blazing fireball on a screen in front of him, and he screams even as his own face laughs at him, mocking and-

Cold water. Choking. Suffocating. A final darkness, and then harsh light burns his eyes as a smiling man above him welcomes him back.

Back where? he wants to ask, but the scene is already gone.

The assassin slips back into consciousness and is more than a little confused to see a kitchen knife pointing at his face. The person holding it is young, probably not more than fifteen.

"Wallet," the boy says. "Unless you fancy this blade in your eye."

The words are said firmly, but between the slightest tremble of the blade's point and the barely-noticeable fear in the boy's eyes, the assassin surmises that he's never actually killed before.

"I'm sleeping in an alleyway," the assassin says quietly. "What makes you think I have any money?"

The boy hesitates, and the assassin uses the split second of opportunity to grab and twist his wrist, forcing him to drop the knife. The assassin picks it up.

"Take my advice," he says to the boy, and even as he says it he isn't sure why he doesn't just stab him then and there, "Stay away from killing. Try pickpocketing, maybe. It's less dangerous. Or try for a shelter. Trust me, kid. You don't want violence ruling your life."

He releases the boy, who immediately runs away, and takes a moment to put some serious thought into...why.

He knows the basics of why he released the boy, he supposes. There's some sort of sympathy going on-and sympathy definitely doesn't have a place in his life-something about his dream and-

The by-now-familiar blinding pain takes longer to subside this time, and when it does it doesn't go away completely, just fades to a dull but persistent ache behind his eyes.

He tries to recall his train of thought, but it seems just ahead of him, like a word he knows but can't quite think of.

The assassin shakes his head, slips the knife up his sleeve, and starts walking.

The assassin, wearing an outfit that's half-stolen, half-salvaged, picks up two notebooks, some food, a bag, and a pack of water bottles from a convenience store.

The first notebook is set aside for things he wants to know - all his questions, all the things he knows he's forgotten. Everything he hopes someone else might be able to tell him someday. He leaves it alone and picks up the second one.

He opens it to the first page and writes ALEX in all caps. He stares at it for a moment, underlines it twice, and then moves to the next page.

At the top, he writes Ben. Then, one slow letter at a time, he adds Daniels. He's given up trying to figure out where anything is coming from, so he doesn't put much thought into it. Ben Daniels just feels right.

The assassin thinks for a few moments, but nothing else comes to mind. So what if he just has a name - he can work with that, maybe. He has no resources and nowhere to go, but he can maybe work with that.

No, he can't work with that. But his mysterious thought bursts aren't giving him anything else, so he moves on.

He writes Wolf at the top of the next page and immediately realizes he doesn't have anything he can put there either. He curses quietly, clenches his fist. He's never going to get anywhere. He's on his own, with no support, no money, and vague, memories of some old half-life that may or may not be real.

(He's starting to feel more and more like it is.)

The assassin sighs and leans his head back. He takes a few deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down. If he doesn't think this through, he's never going to get anywhere.

He turns the page back to Ben Daniels and doesn't think. Doesn't try. Just lets his pencil move across the page, leaving behind-

A sketch. A rough sketch, but just enough for him to be sure - Ben Daniels is the soldier he saw on the roof. And the one he saw - where else? Somewhere else.

The interrogation room. Ben Daniels had been in there, had been worried about him. Worried about...Alex.

He tries to simultaneously relax and concentrate on Ben Daniels, fully aware that the thought-ending pain could come at any second. His pencil writes something.

His head explodes in blinding pain.

But when he looks down, he sees a phone number scrawled across the page, right under the sketch he just barely recognizes as his own work.

It's Ben Daniels's number. It has to be.

He has to call it. He needs to know.

He needs a phone.

Lifting a phone is easy. Getting the courage to call the number is not. What if it isn't Ben Daniels's number? What if MI6 finds out?

What if he doesn't find any answers?

The assassin stares at the phone for ten minutes. Puts the number in. Deletes it. Puts the number in again.

Finally, he has to confront it - he's afraid. He has no idea what's going on, no idea who he is. No idea who he was.

He doesn't like being afraid. He's trained not to be afraid.

He hits dial. The phone rings once. Twice.

Then, a voice, almost familiar. "Hello. Daniels here."

K-Unit finally leaves the Bank a few hours after the escape, after they've gone over every detail with each other and with Mrs. Jones. The main conclusion is that they have no one to blame for what happened but themselves. The secondary conclusion is that they very much need to find Alex, who is currently somewhere in London with no memory of who he is and exceptionally thorough and dangerous training.

Ben can't help but feel that they should have done more. He doesn't know what. But there had to have been something.

"Hey," Eagle says, nudging his arm. "I know that look. Stop that."

"Stop what?" Ben replies.

"You're worrying."

"You aren't?" Ben says, slightly sharper than he means.

"Ben, of course he is," Snake interrupts. "We all are. But we can't do anything."

Ben doesn't bother replying, just leans back and keeps staring blankly at the TV.

His phone rings. He doesn't recognize the number - it might be MI6.

"Hello. Daniels here."

"Ben? Ben Daniels?"

Ben sits straight up. "Who is this?" he asks, though he already knows.

"I was hoping you could help me answer that," Alex replies.

Ben waves at the others, mouths Alex. Snake's eyebrows shoot up in surprise, and he swears loudly and fumbles for his own phone.

"Please," Alex adds, before Ben gets a chance to reply. "I need to know what's going on, and I know there's no reason you should trust me but - I-I need to talk to you."

He doesn't sound like Deathmask - he doesn't have the impenetrable demeanor, the perfect evenness of tone. He sounds like Alex, and he sounds scared.

Ben points to Snake and moves his hand in a cutoff gesture. Snake gives him a questioning look but puts the phone down. Ben hits the speakerphone button.

"Alex," Ben says cautiously. "Can I call you Alex?"

"Is that my name?" There's desperation in Alex's voice, further cementing to Ben that he is not talking to Deathmask.

"Yes," Ben says firmly. "It is. It was. Alex, what's-"

"I need answers," Alex interrupts. "Can we meet? I know you shouldn't trust me, I know I shouldn't trust you, but I keep having these dreams and these thoughts and...I need to know."

The rest of K-Unit is staring at Ben expectantly. Wolf shakes his head in warning.

"How do I know I can trust you?" Ben says. "You were going to kill me."

"How do I know I can trust you?" Alex fires back. "You work for MI6."

"I don't work for MI6."

"You could still turn me in to them. Very easily."

"And you could kill me very easily."

Alex sighs. "Okay. That's fair. I, uh, I guess we'll have to run this on trust. Can we do that? We'll both come alone. No weapons. No contacting anyone."

"Okay," Ben says, earning an immediate glare from Wolf and a look of disbelief from Eagle. "Just tell me when and where."

He turns off speakerphone and listens to what Alex tells him. "Alright, I'll see you then. Be safe," he adds, on instinct.

A pause. "I will," Alex replies. "Goodbye."

Ben puts his phone down and gets a split second of silence before the others start talking all at once.

"It's not safe!"

"You can't trust him!"

"Ben, he's dangerous."

"I need to know!" Ben exclaims. "Okay? I just need to know."

"It's not worth risking your life," Snake objects. "He almost shot you before, there's nothing to stop him from trying again."

"I think we should call MI6," Eagle says. "They should know where he is."

"I'm not going to call anyone," Ben replies. "I told him I wouldn't."

"There's no guarantee he'll keep that promise!" Wolf exclaims. "Ben, listen. Deathmask is an extremely dangerous assassin who could kill you before you can do anything. You have no way to know he won't bring a weapon and no way to know you'll be safe."

"It isn't Deathmask!" Ben says. "You heard him. That's Alex. He doesn't sound...cold. He sounds confused and scared and nineteen. I'm going to help him. Don't call MI6, and don't come with me."

"Ben-"

"I trust him, okay? I trust Alex."

Ben stands up and walks out the front door.

A tap on her shoulder makes Emily jump, and she removes her headset.

"Have you been monitoring Two-Forty-One?" the man asks.

"Yes, sir," she says. "He hasn't put on the mask again, but I've been able to listen through it and I have his location. And, sir, there's something a little concerning."

"Yes?"

"Some of the data shows anomalous brain scans - I believe the programming might be failing," she says. "And he's contacted Ben Daniels. They're meeting later today."

The man sighs. He had been hoping that they would recover the subject before he came into too much contact with his former life, but it appears that they're already too late. If they do recover the subject, he might be able to restore him to his former state. However, it would be difficult and time-consuming, and he doesn't want to spend another six months on him when he's obviously unstable.

"Take him out," the man orders.

"Daniels?" Emily asks. "Or Two-Forty-One?"

"Daniels is the first priority. If you don't believe we can restore Two-Forty-One, kill him too. I'd rather we lose him than someone else use him to find out about us."

"Are you sure, sir? He's been very successful."

"Obviously, I'd rather not lose him. But we can't take the risk of being discovered. I trust your judgment, Emily," he says pleasantly. "Take him out if you deem it necessary."

"Alright, sir. I'll take care of it."

A/N: listen, I know it's short and not much happens. but I put out a chapter! please be proud of me!

I'm never making a promise of when I'll update this ever ever again because I can't ever stick to it. so I'll update when I update!

reviews are a big part of my inspiration (hint hint?) :)