Raven and Gifteds random 1x1s

[Gifted]

Xander still didn't want to watch. He kept his back turned and though he could hear Ben shocking them, he did not move. When Ben said they could leave, Xander gave a silent nod and fell into step beside him, wondering what Sharie would say if she saw them now.

[Raven]

"Xander, do you believe in the greater good?" Ben asked after a while.

[Gifted]

"I don't think I understand the question." Xander said after a moment, looking at Ben.

[Raven]

"I'm just wondering if you believe that sometimes you have to do unappealing things for the betterment of everyone," Ben said. "That's what I believe... I know what my goal is, and I have to get there. And unless what I have to do becomes worse than the possibility of an even worse gifted oppression, I'll do it."

[Gifted]

"Well of course I do, how do you think I got so good at fighting?" Xander smiled. "But... I don't know, I feel like there are some lines you can't cross, y'know?"

[Raven]

"Like killing, you mean." Ben sighed. "I get it, I just don't agree. Not entirely, anyway. If there were another way I could see, I would take it, but as it is, I'm tossing away one life - one employee who chose to work there for whatever reason he did - for the possibility to save hundreds of others. And the thing is, they probably won't just kill them all, either. There are fates worse than death... Happening to people who don't even have the capacity to fight these battles. My sister, who wouldn't hurt a fly, who prefers to use her power on herself than hurt anyone else with it, got turned into the Government's puppet. It nearly drove her to suicide, and I can still sometimes see it when she looks at me. They convinced her I abused her - and sometimes she still believes it. Once their hold broke on her, she didn't know what to believe anymore. If not for her boyfriend, she would have been gone by her own choice because of what they did. Or Katrina - you met her Xander, you saw what she's like. Her boyfriend is so protective because of what they did to her. They put her through so much psychological and physical trauma, she miscarried. Twice. She's been improving, but she hasn't even greeted me as well as she did you, because more than I do, you represent hope." Ben kicked a stone. "That's why I'm fighting. Because they can't be the only ones, and when things go back to how they were, it will happen again."

[Gifted]

Xanders stomach lurched. He'd thought she hadn't recognized him at all, thought she was like that just normally. He wished he could go back and speak to her again. He'd never had personal experience with anyone who'd been taken by the government and subsequently freed and her damage had been competitively minor - they'd been trying to brainwash her into believing the government was the good guys, and that the gifteds on the outside were in some sort of danger. He'd long since forgotten the details. But he wouldn't forget the way she'd look at them, weeks later, caught by momentary fear for their lives before she remembered it was all a cruel trick. The episode had only made Xander more sympathetic to the agents, especially the gifted ones; Who knew how many of them had just been broken like they'd attempted to do to Sharie, and believed what they had tried to make her believe. Who knew what they were doing to her now, now that there was no one capable of rescuing her.
And yet "I don't mean killing people, actually. ...Don't grossly oversimplify things." Xander spoke quietly. "It's not one death, you know it isn't. If I could really kill one person to stop this I'd do it. I'd do it in a heartbeat. But you're not talking about killing one person, no matter how you look at it... You're talking about killing every single agent you challenge, or who challenges you. Even now... Heck, especially now that we're the only ones fighting, the bodies pile up fast. How long before it becomes unjustified, too much? How do you stop when you've past that point? That's just the thing, you don't. There's no way too. You've already established that you'll kill to get what you want. Honestly, do you think a single one of those agents we just fought has a higher body count than you do? Heck, do you think cumulatively they had a higher body count than you do? I don't mind one or two dead bodies, Ben. You'd be hard pressed to find a gifted who was successful in living out here without killing someone." He bit his lip and his voice grew strained. "But I don't want to be a mass-murderer killing other mass-murderers, Ben. I don't."

[Raven]

"It's not just hundreds of people we could save, and it's not just about who they've killed. If you had the choice between one or the other, would you choose to die, or to be handed over to the government with no chance of escape? To go through whatever it is they go through. I'd choose death hands down. But that isn't the threat. Not for most of them, anyway. For now they brainwash them to fight, but what happens when there isn't anyone to fight? What do you think they'll do to them, Xander? I don't want to kill people any more than you do. I don't enjoy the idea of being a murderer, but will kill the people I fight to try to avoid a gifted Holocaust. And I will kill to protect people like my sister and Katrina - and children - from a fate worse than death. What do you think would stop the government, once they've won, from performing experiments? Gifteds aren't human in their eyes, Xander. What will stop them from treating them like lab rats? Children, just because they have the ability to heal people and run fast? Or an invisible whip? Or poison? What's going to stop them from getting people to do that to their own seven-year-old child? How many adult lives would you save from a quick death before it would be equal to letting a child scream in pain at their mother's hand? Just one child, Xander. Just one life, right?"

[Gifted]

Xander didn't answer. He didn't want to think about Sharie. He didn't want to think about what they could be doing to her there, what she must be going through. He wanted so badly to go rescue her, but it'd be suicide. Suicide. He didn't want to think about what'd happen if he lost, either. He just couldn't lose. "They're just following orders." He was barely audible, but it was clear Ben's words had affected him.

[Raven]

"And they'll continue to follow orders, and those orders will prevent us from saving others," Ben said, gently. "Those orders put innocent people in danger."

[Gifted]

Xander didn't answer.

[Raven]

"Let's get something to eat," Ben said, patting his friend on the shoulder.

[Gifted]

"Alright." Xander nodded and headed towards where he knew they'd find berries and fruit growing out here He mostly ate whatever was edible that he could get his hands on and remembered all the bests spots after so long Not that he was thinking about that as he led Ben there.

[Raven]

There was silence after that. What were you supposed to talk about when you were fighting agents all the time, when you didn't do anything else?

[Gifted]

Xander had definitely found it easier to talk with his friends. They used to sit around a campfire together and laugh and tell jokes and just hang out when they couldn't keep moving. He wondered how Olivia was doing right now. WHere had she gone? He hoped she was safe wherever she was.