The youngest of Carrie Fletcher's three kids, Ben grew up being 'the smart one'. Big things were expected of him; his mother had made some bad choices in her life and she was determined he would make the most of his gifts. While his mother, half-sister, and brother had little money, Ben had a happy enough childhood, mostly because of a library pass. He loved reading and always had his nose in a book. There were a few rocky patches - his father getting hurt on the job and turning to drink and the subsequent splitting of the family, the lack of money, the after school jobs pooled to pay for rent and groceries, but generally: good. Ben was tucked into his own little world with books, and that was mostly fine with him.
Lawyers and doctors; those professions are often considered the pinnacle of money-earning smart-people jobs. Ben didn't much care for law, but being a doctor appealed to him. He was big on the whys and understanding things; the human body is a weird, interesting thing. His interest was more clinical than a desire to help people through medicine. The only way Ben was going to University at all was through scholarships, so he worked hard and managed to get a sweet deal going with Harvard University.
During University, Ben started to come out of his shell a little. This was mostly due to his roommate Nate Bedford. Nate got him out sometimes, set him up with dates, and was generally his first good friend. Balancing his studies, his job, and the beginning of a social life was rough, but he managed to maintain his grades. Mostly. It was close during that first year, but better during the second.
He and Nate kept in touch, though Nate began growing a little distant. During his last year in medical school, Kirby Plaza blew up and it became known there were Evolved individuals. This didn't have much to do with Ben until Nate called, needing help.
Nate was Evolved and had been working with a small group of people to work against discrimination and provide support for the Evolved and their friends in the community. When PARIAH was identified as a terrorist organization, things got even rougher.
The community center they operated out of refused to host their meetings anymore; they moved to the house of one of their members, but that got egged and vandalized. The situation escalated; they were known in their community now, and some members were getting threatened. It wasn't until two young women in the group were attacked that Nate decided to call his university buddy for help.
They had a hard time in hospitals in clinics; someone with medical expertise would be very helpful for them, especially since some of the Evolved had curious traits that conventional medicine wasn't prepared to handle. Ben was the only guy Nate knew he could count on, and Ben delivered, working with them and making sure they remained as healthy as they could, providing a sounding board for Nate even as the situation got worse and the group needed to learn how to defend themselves from increasing hostility. Their meeting house was set on fire; they had to move again. Ben's grades slipped; he was losing his scholarship, but that didn't seem so important anymore. He understood why people became doctors to help people; he became one of those doctors.
Tragedy struck when Ben and Nate were on their way out of a meeting together and were jumped by a group of anti-Evolved; they didn't have a chance. When Ben woke up again in the hospital, Nate was in critical care, condition worsening. Two weeks later, Nate passed away.
Their group had dispersed; the ones that remained together were sliding toward vigilantism, which Ben wasn't comfortable with. Full of conflicting emotions, flunking medical school, Ben decided he would continue to try to lend a hand to the cause his friend had championed. Having been close to Nate and the decision-making processes, Ben knew about another group in New York, one that had split off from the supposed terrorist group called PARIAH. Armed with Nate's old cell phone and notes, Ben made his way to New York.
