[ 'Maybe' is a start, at least. Ben knows that Diego does this - he takes it all on his shoulders, makes burdens for himself out of things that others would see as not their problem. Diego couldn't let people get hurt by robbers and murderers; he saw that as his responsibility, his job, to make it right. So it's not a big surprise he is acting this way about Patch's death, too. And Ben is comfortable now that he has said his bit. The rest is really between Patch and Diego. It isn't his place to intrude.
Diego doesn't say that he is sure he wants to know more, but Ben takes his further questions as a 'yes'. He sighs, silent for several moments as he considers where to begin. How to put any of it in words that will actually convey some part of the reality of it. ]
Too close.
[ That, at least, is objective and irrefutable. Without Patch, Ben is fairly certain Klaus would have died. After everything else he'd survived... that would have been it. Ben keeps his eyes closed; it's easier to talk that way. There's no risk of catching a glimpse of Diego's expression. The words come slowly, with long pauses between each sentence. ]
They beat him. Waterboarded him. Choked him. Cut him. Beat him more. Left him alone in the dark.
[ Ben's mind drifts to the one tactic that had worked. The drugs. He remembers Klaus breaking, telling them what he knew. The way he'd cried, humiliated at his own weakness. It had been so ugly, all of it. Ben isn't going to tell Diego that part. Talking about the rest, he's sure Klaus wouldn't mind. But mentioning that would be betraying his trust. Ben isn't going to do that. ]
You get the idea. He just kept laughing in their faces and not telling them shit, so they got creative, but it didn't do any good. Klaus is a lot stronger than you all give him credit for.
[ And yes, he is lumping Diego in with Luther and Allison and Vanya and Five and Pogo and the rest of them, all of them underestimating Klaus, when Ben is pretty sure none of the rest of them would have held up under torture half as well. Except Five, maybe.
He opens his eyes finally, looking over at Diego through the dim light, his dark eyes shuttered and unreadable. ]
no subject
Diego doesn't say that he is sure he wants to know more, but Ben takes his further questions as a 'yes'. He sighs, silent for several moments as he considers where to begin. How to put any of it in words that will actually convey some part of the reality of it. ]
Too close.
[ That, at least, is objective and irrefutable. Without Patch, Ben is fairly certain Klaus would have died. After everything else he'd survived... that would have been it. Ben keeps his eyes closed; it's easier to talk that way. There's no risk of catching a glimpse of Diego's expression. The words come slowly, with long pauses between each sentence. ]
They beat him. Waterboarded him. Choked him. Cut him. Beat him more. Left him alone in the dark.
[ Ben's mind drifts to the one tactic that had worked. The drugs. He remembers Klaus breaking, telling them what he knew. The way he'd cried, humiliated at his own weakness. It had been so ugly, all of it. Ben isn't going to tell Diego that part. Talking about the rest, he's sure Klaus wouldn't mind. But mentioning that would be betraying his trust. Ben isn't going to do that. ]
You get the idea. He just kept laughing in their faces and not telling them shit, so they got creative, but it didn't do any good. Klaus is a lot stronger than you all give him credit for.
[ And yes, he is lumping Diego in with Luther and Allison and Vanya and Five and Pogo and the rest of them, all of them underestimating Klaus, when Ben is pretty sure none of the rest of them would have held up under torture half as well. Except Five, maybe.
He opens his eyes finally, looking over at Diego through the dim light, his dark eyes shuttered and unreadable. ]