#benrex

Noah is surprised with himself that he isn’t as nervous about this as he had expected. He isn’t sure if it’s because he’s not the one initiating or if it’s because it’s Rex. Probably both. But Rex had called and asked to shoot hoops at the usual spot and maybe talk some stuff out so Noah of course said yes. Any excuse to completely demolish Rex at basketball is reason enough to meet. Though, Rex did sound a bit nervous over the phone so maybe Noah should have expected the “talk about some stuff” part to be heavier in nature.

Rex arrives around the time he said he would with a smile on his face but Noah immediately notices that he’s picking at the seams of his gloves. He’s restless. Not the bored restlessness that Noah is accustomed to with leg bouncing and over-exaggerated gestures but a more anxious restlessness. Despite it not being his job anymore, Noah can’t really help but pin Rex’s behavior as something to smooth over. He’s not contractually obligated to distract and placate Rex’s “rebellious outbursts” anymore but as his friend, he hates seeing him upset. Noah raises a brow at Rex’s behavior and figures he’d broach the topic first.

“We can skip the hoops and just chat now if you want?” Noah asks, putting the metaphorical ball in Rex’s metaphorical court. Rex’s smile drops and he blinks like he wasn’t expecting Noah to offer before smiling again, though a little sheepishly. Noah immediately clocks it as Rex’s “I’m feeling guilty for burdening you with my problems” look so Noah puts his hand on Rex’s shoulder to reassure him. It’s still surprisingly easy to comfort Rex with gentle touches and general compassion but Noah blames it on Providence isolating him so severely that most human contact is a relief. Noah leads Rex over to the bench where they sit down, the basketball tucked underneath for later, and Rex is immediately bouncing his leg and messing with his gloves again. “Are you okay? You’re not breaking up with me, are you?” Noah jokes with a laugh.

“No!” Rex cries out in alarm at such a volume it makes Noah flinch back. Rex then reels back himself like he didn’t expect to have that loud of an outburst. “Sorry, no, but it is about boyfriend stuff,” Rex amends, speaking at his usual volume. He closes his eyes, takes a breath, and opens his eyes again. Noah patiently lets him gather his thoughts but he keeps his gaze on Rex’s face to show he’s ready to listen whenever Rex begins.

“Sooo, y’know how I told you it was okay that you didn’t have to break up with Claire if you wanted to say yes to dating me?” Rex begins, steepling his hands.

“Yeah, I thought it was a little weird but it made it easier for me to talk to Claire about it,” Noah acknowledges. “She totally got it though and is still fine with it, by the way.” He nods for Rex to continue.

“Well, I haven’t been entirely honest with you,” Rex says, moving one of his hands to his lap and the other to rub the back of his neck. Before Noah can ask, Rex keeps talking. “I kinda have a second, secret long distance boyfriend that I’ve been talking to.” He closes his eyes and braces himself behind the arm that’s already up. It doesn’t really sit right with Noah that he’s reacting like Noah will strike him. Rex knows that Noah is far from physically confrontational. Noah is a coward for the most part. He tries not to dwell on it since this likely has nothing to do with him at all. The way Rex reacts to most things has been many a discussion between him and Claire. Noah keeps calm and keeps his expression neutral but he doesn’t keep quiet.

“How long have you been talking to this person? And how long distance are we talking about?” Noah asks casually. Rex opens his eyes and uncurls from himself now that he’s sure Noah won’t lash out. He lowers his hand to join the other on his lap and looks at them with a soft smile on his face.

“Almost a year now. And uh...long distance as in another universe,” Rex replies, facing Noah with a nervous grin.

“Another universe?” Noah parrots incredulously. Rex nods.

“Yeah. He’s a guy that kinda helped out during a nanite catastrophe that started because another one of my brother’s sentient AI decided to wipe humanity from the planet. Turns out César had sent his AI to Ben’s universe and in coming back here, unintentionally dragged Ben with him,” Rex explains. “His name is Ben Tennyson, and he’s his universe’s hero. He has a crazy watch that lets him turn into aliens. Before he went back to his universe, we exchanged numbers and I guess his friend Kevin worked on his phone so he can send inter-dimensional texts.”

Noah’s mind is already spinning because this sounds like something straight out of a science fiction television show. Aliens were real in another universe? And this presumably human guy can turn into them? Noah runs his hand through his hair. “That’s...a lot to take in. The aliens and alternate dimensions stuff, not the fact you have a long distance boyfriend,” Noah admits. “I’m cool with that by the way. Now it makes sense why you said it was okay that I was still dating Claire,” Noah assures with a smile. Rex returns the smile and straightens his posture.

“Awesome! Yeah, Ben’s love life is crazy complicated so you dating Claire too is easy,” Rex explains.

“Whoa whoa whoa, back up a sec. How many people is he seeing?” Noah asks, eyes wide. Rex looks up and away from Noah and puts a hand on his chin as ponders this.

“Technically he’s currently dating a girl named Kai but he also has a long distance alien boyfriend he calls Reiny. Oh, and he has his work partner but also life partner Rook,” Rex lists off with his fingers before turning his attention back to Noah.

“Is he only dating guys whose names start with R?” Noah asks absently. Rex blinks and he snickers.

“Y’know what, I never thought about that,” Rex laughs. “Guess he is! I’m gonna ask him that later.”

“Don’t you feel jealous? But also, isn’t that kind of greedy to be dating that many people?” Noah asks, his brows furrowing. Now he’s kinda glad that Rex started dating him too. It seems like this Ben guy has his attention split in so many directions that Rex might not even get any of it.

“I don’t really get jealous. I get sad sometimes that I’m so far away and he’s with Rook all the time but I’ve talked to Reiny about it,” Rex shrugs. “He got so mad when I called him Reiny the first time but I can’t begin to remember his actual name so I get why Ben calls him Reiny.”

“You’ve talked to Ben’s other long distance boyfriend?” Noah gawks.

“Yeah, he’s kinda hard to understand. That and he doesn’t quite get human emotions and culture yet,” Rex replies with another shrug. “We bonded over that but at least I live with humans all the time. He just has others of his kind around him.” Right, long distance alien boyfriend.

Noah can’t help a sour expression settling itself on his face. It took Rex’s help to start dating Claire and now he has to hear about Rex’s other boyfriend’s partners. With so many, it sounds like he makes dating easy. Like Noah’s personal struggles are diminished because he’s not Ben. Rex’s brows are furrowed now and he looks worried.

“Noah? What’s wrong?” Rex asks cautiously.

“I don’t know what you see in me if you’re with a guy who has so many partners,” Noah admits as he averts his eyes. From his peripheral vision, Rex looks taken aback. He leans forward and takes Noah’s hands in his. Noah turns his gaze to Rex’s.

“Noah, you’re the one who taught me how to be human. You’re the one who showed me what love looks like. You explained to me that what I was feeling for you was love,” Rex explains. It’s probably the most heartfelt and sincere Rex has sounded since he asked to be Noah’s boyfriend. Noah feels slightly comforted by that but something wretched and dark bubbles in his chest that he can’t hold in any longer. He pulls his hands out of Rex’s and folds his arms, bodily turning away from Rex’s doe eyes.

“I was only around because White hired me. You wouldn’t have fallen in love with me if I wasn’t hired to babysit you,” Noah spits. “It feels like you were forced to fall in love with me. Like I gave you Stockholm Syndrome or something.” He hears the bench squeak and a rustle of fabric so he assumes Rex flinched back. Rex gives a small little gasp and emotionally it feels like Noah may as well have struck him. He almost wants to take back what he said. He knows he’s lashing out at Rex for his own feelings of inadequacy but he can’t help it.

“Oh, well, now that you say it like that…” Rex says weakly. “What does it say about me that I fall in love with anyone who treats me like I’m human?” Rex laments with a wet laugh. Noah’s eyes widen and he turns to face Rex. He’s staring at his own hands, aglow with the blue circuitry that is associated with nanite communication. His brown eyes are shiny with unshed tears and his throat keeps clenching like he’s physically swallowing back his emotions. When Rex puts it like that, Noah feels bad for yelling. Because how many people actually treat Rex like a human teenager and not an EVO? He can count the number of people on his hands that don’t act like Rex is a monster or a freak like the EVOs he fights. Noah unfolds his arms and exhales quietly. He knows he’s being unfair to Rex and that he’s just jealous of his long-distance boyfriend for making relationship stuff sound easy. He takes Rex’s hands hand in his, mirroring Rex’s gesture from earlier.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled at you,” Noah starts. He sighs. “I’m just jealous of your other boyfriend. He makes all of this sound so easy,” Noah finishes as he brings Rex’s hands up to his lips so he can kiss his knuckles. Rex laughs to himself but it sounds half-hearted. There’s still hurt in his warm, brown eyes but he keeps his gaze locked onto Noah. He squeezes Noah’s hands reassuringly.

“Oh, Ben has had his fair share of exes,” Rex points out. “He and Kai have been on-and-off for a long time too. He’s mentioned something about time continuity so he and Kai have to get married or else events in the present won’t happen.” Noah’s eyes widen.

“That sounds like an arranged marriage basically,” Noah balks. Hopefully Ben’s time-continuity-wife is okay with all of Ben’s boyfriends though Noah supposes she kinda has to be, unfortunately. Noah idly wonders if Kai also has girlfriends she’s seeing.

“I generally don’t talk with him too much about it unless he wants to,” Rex replies with a shrug. “Well, I mostly listen since I’ve only met Kai a few times. She’s really hot and I’ve joked with Ben that I would start dating her if they broke up,” Rex says with a chuckle. “Kai reminds me a lot of Circe in the ‘I can and will kick your ass’ way y’know?” Rex wiggles one of his hands out from Noah’s so he can flippantly wave his hand to get his point across. Noah relaxes slightly since Rex is acting more like himself now.

“Sheesh, she sounds intense,” Noah shudders. Rex laughs.

“I can tell Ben has a hard time with their relationship. It’s funny; with me, Rook, and Reiny, he has no trouble at all,” Rex remarks. Noah stares at Rex, now somewhat invested in Ben’s love life. How is it that he cannot for the life of him date women but has so many boyfriends? Unless he’s gay and Kai is his beard. Man, that’d be a bummer since they have to get married. Noah pushes his speculations aside because there’s something bugging him about one of Ben’s in-universe boyfriends.

“Um, Rex? This might be an insensitive question but is Rook human or-?” Noah lets his question hang as he grins nervously. It probably looks closer to a grimace but Rex doesn’t seem to care.

“Rook’s an alien. He looks like a tall, blue gray cat man without a tail,” Rex describes without any sort of offense.

“Huh,” is all Noah can really say. “And Ben’s exes...?”

“All human and all girls,” Rex replies succinctly and knowingly. Noah doesn’t want to say his train of thought out loud but it seems like Rex has already come to this conclusion himself. It’s funny how Ben, a human, is able to form such close relationships with nonhumans of the same gender. Yet he’s struggles with human women. Noah doesn’t feel as bad about himself now since he’s still close with Claire and has a nonhuman boyfriend now. Compared to Ben, Noah doesn’t have any exes and he’s able to bond with humans and nonhumans!

Noah smiles to himself and wraps his arm around Rex’s shoulder. The motion catches Rex off-guard but he melts into the touch. Rex usually initiates physical contact so Noah knows how much the gesture means to him. It’s almost laughable how just a few minutes ago, Noah despised Ben for having so many partners but now, Noah feels very smug to have Rex for himself most of the time. He’s going to be such a good boyfriend to Rex and give him all of the affection he’s clearly starved of. Noah doesn’t care that he’s being competitive with a guy he’s never seen. It’s his competitive nature that brought him to Rex demanding he help him win at table tennis against EVOs. Hopefully this Ben guy isn’t also competitive. Or maybe it’d be a good thing? Then Rex would get plenty of attention from both Noah and Ben.

“Thank you for telling me about your secret long-distance boyfriend, Rex and I’m sorry for yelling at you,” Noah says after he gives Rex a soft kiss on his cheek. Rex is positively beaming now and he knocks the side of his head against Noah’s.

“Thank you for being okay with it and I forgive you,” Rex replies as he kisses the back of Noah’s hand, repeating Noah’s move from earlier. The two of them sit in each other’s silence for a few minutes listening to the ambient noise of sneakers squeaking on the concrete and the hum from the vending machines. It reminds Noah of one of the reasons Rex wanted to meet up.

“Sooo, are we still on for some hoops?” Noah asks cheekily. Rex groans and leans more heavily against Noah with a huff.

“Can you not right now?” Rex whines. “I don’t want my mood ruined twice!” Noah laughs at his expense.

“I already apologized for the first time!” Noah points out. “I’ll even go easy on you in HORSE!” He laughs even harder when Rex lightly shoves Noah away from him and stands up grumbling the whole time.

“I don’t need you to go easy on me, I can get to S this time!” Rex retorts, jabbing his finger at Noah’s direction. “Just watch me! You’re not even going to need to chase after the ball afterward!” Noah rolls his eyes, shaking his head.

“Whatever you say, pumpkin,” Noah quips. Rex goes from blushing to offended in a matter of seconds before he grimaces.

“Eugh, you need to work on your boyfriend names for me,” Rex gags. “Do you call Claire that? I hope you don’t for her sake.” Noah snorts as he reaches underneath the bench and tosses Rex the basketball.

The next time Rex finds Ben in his universe, it’s surprisingly when he goes to check on César. Thankfully, Ben let Rex know he was arriving this time so Rex didn’t have to stumble upon him again but it was still a shock that Ben was talking to his brother of all people. Ben has his hands in his hoodie pockets slightly leaning over where César is fiddling with...something.

“Hey Ben! Hola César!” Rex greets, hoping that announcing his presence doesn’t cause either of them to flinch. Not that César would flinch anyway, he’s un-phased by everything to an alarming degree. Including him simply replying a hello without even looking up or stopping what he’s doing. Ben looks up from whatever César is working on and flashes Rex a smile and a wave. He straightens his posture and ambles over.

“Hey Rex! I was just about to come look for you!” Ben chirps as he slings an arm around Rex’s shoulder and leads them out of the lab. “But I wanted to ask your brother to do some maintenance on my portal gun before I went back home.” Ben eventually drops his arm from Rex and they walk side-by-side down the hall. Rex isn’t sure where but he lets Ben lead the way.

“Well, I’m just glad you told me you were coming this time!” Rex comments cheerfully. It had made him feel giddy that Ben had kept his promise to inform Rex of his arrival. But a quick glance at Ben has him confused. Ben’s shoulders have tensed and his chin is tucked closer to his chest so Rex can’t quite see his eyes underneath his bangs. Then Ben stops walking.

“Listen, think you could do me a favor and forget about last time I was here?” Ben asks, his voice sombre. Rex pauses and makes a big show of shrugging his shoulders.

“Forgetting things is my specialty at this point,” Rex answers jokingly, a poor attempt to lighten the mood. Ben doesn’t laugh but he does raise his head to look at Rex. There’s some emotion swirling in the depths of his too-green eyes but that could just be Rex trying to find meaning in them. Or that he’s watched too many telenovelas.

“I’m serious, Rex. It wasn’t me,” Ben insists. That has Rex’s attention now.

“What do you mean? Like someone was impersonating you?” Rex demands, grabbing Ben’s shoulders with both hands. Ben’s eyes widen at Rex’s hands suddenly on him but he doesn’t flinch. He averts his eyes back to the floor with a mild pout, which Rex knows to mean he was torn between speaking his mind or holding his tongue.

“Just pretend it didn’t happen, okay?” Ben settles on as he looks back up with a plastic smile. Rex removes his hands from Ben and sighs. Okay, I get it now. Not an imposter. Ben wants to hide his vulnerable side from me. Rex returns the smile.

“Sure, how about we head to the skate park?” Rex suggests, already walking. He hears Ben fall in step next to him.

“We don’t have skateboards though,” Ben points out. Rex smirks at him before building the Sky Slyder and zooming ahead of him before spinning to a stop. Ben chuckles. “Okay, I don’t have a skateboard,” Ben amends. Rex deconstructs his build and waits for Ben to catch up. Ben appears to be in way better spirits than the last time he was here. Seeing that Ben isn’t nearly as mentally fragile this time, Rex figures a bit of banter should be alright.

“Sounds like a you problem to me,” Rex teases. “You wanna take one of your flyers or you wanna ride with me?” Rex leans his elbow against the wall and attempts a sexy, raised eyebrow smile but Ben immediately guffaws so not the intended response but it was a positive one nonetheless so Rex is happy.

“Oh, how generous of you! What a privilege to be offered a ride by the one and only Rex Salazar!” Ben says mockingly. He’s smiling and there’s a twinkling of playfulness in those green eyes of his so Rex doesn’t take it as an insult. He instead steps away from the wall and offers the same elbow out to Ben and bows with a flourish with his other arm.

“Then step right this way to the Rex Ride!” Rex announces. He straightens from his bow and is pleasantly surprised that Ben does actually take his elbow and let Rex lead them both outside. Though, he does step away from Rex if only to allow him the space to build his hovering motorcycle. Once the Rex Ride was constructed, Ben silently hops on behind Rex and winds his arms around Rex’s waist. Rex dons his goggles and calls out in his best carnival barker voice, “Remember to keep your hands and legs inside the vehicle at all times! There are no seatbelts so hold on tight!” And with that, he speeds off towards the city.

It’s funny, the way Ben holds onto him compared to everyone else. Noah, Circe, Annie, Cricket, they all cling to him with a sense of urgency, of fear. But Ben is simply holding his own arms as they’re looped around Rex. He doesn’t dig his fingers into Rex for stability. He doesn’t press his body flush against Rex’s back. Oddly enough, Ben’s grip reminds Rex of that little EVO girl living in Breach’s pocket dimension. She didn’t hold onto him very tightly either and she even hopped off effortlessly. Ben’s grip is very lax and confident. Whether he’s confident in Rex’s ability to drive or his own ability to stay on is to be determined.

They make good time to the skate park next to the basketball court Rex usually hangs out at and Ben hops off before Rex even stops. As soon as Ben has dismounted, Rex deconstructs his build. There’s only a couple people hanging around but for the most part, Rex and Ben have the park to themselves. Rex catches Ben out of the corner of his eye surveying their surroundings to watch the skaters before exhaling. Whether Ben is wary of them because he thinks they could have been fans or enemies, Rex isn’t sure. Could’ve been both. What surprises Rex is that Ben simply sits at the edge of the quarter pipe with his legs dangling. Ben pats the ground next to him so Rex takes a seat and gives Ben a puzzled expression. Ben sighs before turning to face him.

“What’s it like having amnesia?” Ben asks suddenly. Rex perks up in surprise, his brows shooting up to his hairline. He wasn’t expecting this conversation.

“Well, unfortunately I went through puberty after my memory loss so I still remember how awkward it was,” Rex jokes. Ben chuckles before falling silent, his eyes staring into Rex’s like he’s searching for something in his. Rex recalls his telenovela saying the eyes are the doorway or window to the soul or something. His soul must be a mess then given his amnesia; like a house that still had some of the former family’s personal belongings in it.

“But before that?” Ben pushes. Rex raises a brow, not entirely sure why Ben is suddenly so interested in his amnesia.

“Why do you want to know?” Rex counters, feeling guarded. But Ben is still acting nonchalant about the whole thing. He shrugs and looks straight ahead, his posture sinking into a slouch with his elbows resting on his thighs.

“Sometimes I wonder what it’d feel like to just...forget,” Ben replies, bringing his left hand up to rest his chin on. Rex waits with baited breath on whether Ben is going to continue speaking. This might be the most honest confession he’s heard Ben say. It has Rex floundering a bit considering Ben just asked him to forget the last time Rex saw him.

“Did...something happen?” Rex ventures cautiously. Ben merely sighs deeply before his eye languidly drifts to look at Rex.

“What didn’t happen at this point,” Ben replies sardonically. Rex isn’t sure how he keeps forgetting that Ben has lived lifetimes’ worth of lives and experiences. Maybe it’s because he looks and is so young. His eyes are the giveaway though. He recalls when he looked into them after Ben told him about the weight of the world. Too weathered. Too tired.

And Rex kinda gets where he’s coming from with wanting to forget. He hasn’t asked Ben what all has happened to him in his universe. It’s clearly stressful but Rex doesn’t know the intricate details because Ben never told him. He only tells him of his successes and exciting things that happen. Never of failures or times he was scared. Even here, despite no one knowing Ben’s existence, he’s trying to keep up appearances as a hero with Rex. So Rex needs to remind him again that he can just be Ben here. But at this point, where does ‘Ben’ begin and ‘hero’ end?

Rex slowly reaches his hand out towards Ben’s sleeve. He’s awash in a sense of deja vu. Ben’s eye tracks his movement with curiosity, like a cat watching your hand before you pet it. Rex gently tugs on Ben’s sleeve to pull his right elbow off of his thigh so Rex could freely clasp his hand. Ben watches Rex with a quiet intensity that has Rex sweating from nerves but he completes the action as his hand curls around Ben’s. He refuses to look at Ben directly and keeps his gaze fixed on where their hands are connected. Rex needs to show Ben it’s okay to be honest with him. So Rex needs to be honest with Ben.

“My amnesia, it’s scary not knowing what causes it because I don’t know when I’m going to lose my memory again,” Rex admits. “According to some friends I reunited with in Hong Kong, it used to happen multiple times a year. They would have to remind me who I was, who they were, and where I was.” Ben winces and gives Rex’s hand a squeeze. Rex smiles to himself at the action. “There was a moment I decided that I’d risk my memory of the past 6 years to try and save the world.” Rex sees in his periphery Ben lift his head from his hand to face Rex fully now, his eyes wide in shock. Then he settles back down but he doesn’t turn away from Rex.

“Guess it worked out for you in the end,” Ben ventures, sounding almost wistful. Rex shrugs with a casual ‘mhm’.

“I knew the risks. It’s pretty much my job to put humanity’s safety over my life. I was treated as a living weapon so I knew my place even though all I wanted was to be treated like I was human,” Rex continues. He doesn’t turn to look at Ben but from the corner of his eye, he sees Ben deflate a little.

“Dude, you and me both. At first, everyone had to remind me that it’s not my Omnitrex that makes me a hero. But then, it got switched around where my only purpose in life was the Omnitrex. Sure I’m the one making decisions but I’m only useful if I have it. Without it I’m just a human,” Ben replies solemnly. Rex can’t help but snort as he looks up at Ben.

“I would’ve loved to be in your shoes when I was your age,” Rex scoffs. “The ability to just remove the part of you that made you a monster in everyone’s eyes? Sign me up.” Ben narrows his eyes and scowls at Rex.

“Yeah, well, the only reason I removed it was because of something I’d rather forget,” Ben growls. He jerks his hand from Rex’s and brings his knees to his chest, hugging his legs close to his body. Like when Rex found him squished between crates at the dam base. Rex mentally kicks himself for upsetting Ben.

“Listen, just because I don’t remember the two most traumatic events in my life doesn’t mean everything is okay with me. Forgetting doesn’t get rid of the fact it happened,” Rex says, leaning back and bracing his hands behind him. He’s going for nonchalant, even though he’s the complete opposite right now, but who knows how Ben interprets it. Rex hopes he understands his intention. Rex takes a deep breath before angling his head towards Ben.

Ben has uncurled a little but he’s still sitting with his knees to his chest. He’s looking directly into Rex’s eyes, yet again like he’s searching for something. Rex leans forward again and shrugs, closing his eyes and standing up to stretch. He places his hands on his hips and looks out over the skate park. The skaters from before have left and shadows are starting to fill the center with darkness. Rex forms his Sky Slyder and tips down the quarter-pipe.

He’s technically hovering so there’s no real reason to actually be doing any tricks at all but he just wants to feel the flow of the park. He’d never actually skated there before. Rex can feel Ben’s eyes watching him as he glides around but he doesn’t want to address Ben right now. Rex needs to clear his head and calm down. Seeing as he could build his Sky Slyder, his bios are still good. But had the conversation gotten more heated, Rex would likely have gotten a call from Holiday. He doesn’t want to explain to her what they were talking about.

“Have you tried getting your memories back?” Ben asks, breaking the silence between them. Rex slides down from the edge of a bowl and turns to face Ben. He deconstructs the Sky Slyder and steps down. Rex walks back over to Ben before he replies. If only to buy himself time before he answers.

“Yeah, my brother built a device that was supposed to give me my memories from before 6 years ago, at the time. But it failed. Instead, Six lost 6 years of his memory because he broke me out,” Rex explains. “He forgot who I was. He forgot that he practically raised me. He forgot he saved me when I only knew my name.” He activates his nanites, just to see, and yep his bios are down. “It wasn’t worth him losing 6 years of his memories for the chance to get mine back. Though, I suppose that’s what it’s like when someone close to you has amnesia. I know César was just trying to help me but I wish he’d never built that machine. Six got hurt because of my selfish, stupid decision.” Rex rests his hands on his lower back and looks up at the sky. It’s gradually transitioning from sunset to dusk with gradients of oranges, reds, and purples. Some stars are beginning to dot the sky. Ben is silent. Rex stretches his arms over his head before looking over at Ben.

It always shocks Rex that Ben’s irises glow. Not as obnoxiously as the Omnitrex but it’s noticeable. It’s evidence that Ben’s not quite human. Not anymore. The thought is oddly comforting to Rex. He wonders if Ben is aware that his eyes glow in the dark. He probably is and detests it because it’s yet another thing to differentiate him from the humans he once lived among invisibly. Rex walks his way back over to Ben and rests his upper body on the edge of the quarter pipe with his arms folded to pillow his head. Ben is no longer hugging his knees but his brows are definitely furrowed. Rex can’t tell if it’s because he’s upset or concerned.

“I know you’ve been through a lot that you don’t tell me,” Rex begins. “But please don’t take your memory for granted. I know whatever you’ve been through haunts you and forgetting it seems like it’d make the pain disappear. But it won’t. I would know,” Rex finishes, tapping his own forehead for emphasis. Ben looks down at him with his too-tired eyes. He stares without responding to the point it’s a little eerie, especially with his subtly glowing eyes. Then his eyelids lower halfway and he has the ghost of a smile on his lips.

“For what it’s worth, Rex, I’m glad you didn’t lose your memory again. Because it would’ve been a pain in the ass to have to explain myself to you,” Ben admits, his smile becoming a smirk. Rex pouts and lifts his head to rest it on his palm, somewhat mimicking how Ben had been positioned earlier.

“As if you wouldn’t try and lie about yourself first to give me the wrong impression of you, Mr. Hero,” Rex retorts rolling his eyes. He then hefts himself up over the ledge to sit next to Ben so he can be eye-level with him.

“Hey, you don’t know that!” Ben insists as he softly hits Rex’s shoulder with his elbow. “If you actually lost your memory, I’d tell you the truth! I’m from another universe, I can turn into aliens, and we saved your world together and became friends.” Ben’s smirk melts into a genuine smile. Rex finds himself returning the smile. He sees Ben shiver slightly and scoots himself closer to him. Ben doesn’t lean away so Rex wraps his arm around Ben to pull him against his side. Rex feels Ben’s right arm snake around his back underneath his jacket and suddenly something freezing cold touches his skin.

“AAAHHH, WHYYY!!!” Rex shrieks as he rears away from Ben so hard he tosses himself back down the quarter pipe. Ben, however, is howling with laughter at Rex’s predicament. “We were having such a heartfelt conversation, why’d you have to ruin it with your cold hands!” Rex wails from inside the bowl. Ben doesn’t offer him a response, he’s too busy laughing so hard he’s flat on his back and kicking his legs. Rex pouts at Ben as he picks himself up off the ground and dusts himself off. He then marches over to Ben, hoists himself back up, snatches Ben’s right hand, and shoves it inside his jacket under his armpit. Ben’s laughing immediately turns into a repulsed yell as Rex grins mischievously and doesn’t let go.

“Eeewww dude! I don’t care how warm your pits are, get my hand outta there!” Ben screams. Rex releases his hand with a smug smile. Ben shoots him a withering glare before wiping his hand on his pants.

“It’s only payback for freezing my back!” Rex snarks. Ben childishly sticks his tongue out at Rex, which he does back. Rex then adjusts his jacket and evens out his expression. “If you’re cold, we can head back,” Rex offers, standing up and offering his hand to Ben who studies Rex’s outstretched hand briefly before his eyes flick up to Rex’s. They stay there long enough for Rex to get a little uncomfortable but Ben does eventually take his hand. Rex pulls Ben up with probably too much force because Ben falls into Rex’s chest. To steady him, Rex wraps his other arm around Ben so they both don’t topple down the quarter pipe. Now that Ben’s body is pressed against him, Rex immediately lets go of him and practically yanks his jacket off of his body to wrap it around Ben’s shoulders.

“Your hands aren’t the only things that are freezing! Why didn’t you say anything?” Rex asks worriedly. Ben simply shrugs but he does pull Rex’s jacket around him tighter. Something in Rex’s ribs flutter at that. “C’mon, we’re heading back to warm up,” he announces as he builds the Rex Ride.

“Can I drive?” Ben asks cheekily. Heat rushes to Rex’s cheeks and he hopes it’s too dark for Ben to see. Rex nods and leans back to allow Ben to swing his leg over, wordlessly holding his goggles out for Ben and building footrests into the Rex Ride for him. Rex can’t see Ben’s face but he has a feeling there’s a smug expression on his face. It’s confirmed when Ben twists around to hand Rex his jacket back before settling at the front of the Rex Ride and strapping the goggles to his face. Ben even leans back so he’s flush with Rex’s chest like he’s goading Rex into holding him close. Rex takes the hint and hastily shrugs his jacket on so he can hold Ben. He curls himself over Ben’s smaller frame and feels Ben shiver so he pulls him a little closer. Rex hear’s Ben’s breath hitch and oh, that wasn’t an ‘it’s cold’ shiver.

“You ready?” Rex asks, pretending he didn’t hear Ben’s gasp. Ben is quiet before he mumbles a ‘mhm’ and he throttles the gas. He leans forward which Rex follows. It’s funny being a passenger to his own build but he’s not upset about it. In fact, Rex rests his forehead on the back of Ben’s head and closes his eyes and simply breathes in the smell of Ben’s hair. It smells odd but not bad. Not recognizable at all but Rex doesn’t dwell on it.

“I’m sorry for what happened to you that you want to forget it,” Rex apologizes to the back of Ben’s head. “But please don’t look for ways to lose your memories. You’ll forget who your family is and everyone who loves you. You’ll hear stories about your past but it doesn’t feel like they’re talking about you. I don’t remember my mom or my dad and I never will because they’re dead. All I have is my brother’s stories about them and I want to feel something when he talks about them but…” Rex tapers off and buries his face into Ben’s hair. He doesn’t care if Ben isn’t listening, he wants to get his thoughts off of his chest. Rex takes a steadying breath to calm himself down so his bios don’t crash. Wouldn’t want the Rex Ride to collapse while they were both currently on it going approximately 60 miles per hour.

“You can stop, I get it,” Ben interrupts. Rex flinches. “I suppose I was just trying to run from my past. I didn’t want to remember any of my mistakes and decisions that ended badly. I wanted to forget the time I lost one of my aliens and lost a piece of my identity. I wanted to forget the times I got possessed by one of my aliens. I wanted to forget the time I royally fucked up my relationship with Julie and pretty much every other girl I’ve known. There was so much I wanted to forget so I could stop having nightmares and finally shut up every failure screaming in my head.

“They weigh me down so much but because I’m a hero, I can’t show it. They all depend on me so I’m not allowed to be weak. I had thought that just forgetting all that stuff would make life easier. But I realize now that’s just running away from my problems. So, thank you Rex,” Ben finishes. “I may not be able to run from my past but at least I can run away from my responsibilities to see you.” Rex smiles against the back of Ben’s head and basks in the fact that Ben’s body is slowly warming because of his proximity. He mentally braces himself for Ben’s reaction as a question comes to mind.

“I have noticed that you act very...unbothered in your universe. Is that to cover up for how afraid you are of letting people down?” Rex asks cautiously. He feels Ben take a deep breath before answering.

“Yeah. Especially since I’m not even afraid of getting hurt or dying anymore. It’s failing that I’m afraid of and I’ve already failed everyone more times than I can count. It always hurts regardless of how many mistakes I’ve made,” Ben replies. “Not to mention, the press loves shoving my mistakes right back in my face so I couldn’t forget them if I wanted to! It all sucks.” Ben huffs and shakes his head as if to clear his thoughts. Rex gives Ben a squeeze to try and reassure him.

“I get what you mean,” Rex laments. “Back when there were EVOs, I hated it when there was one I couldn’t cure. That’s my whole job! And I failed. Because of me, someone wasn’t able to get their loved one back and they’re stuck as a mutated, violent monster. Sure, I cured hundreds of EVOs but it was always the incurables that really messed with my head. Especially since they’d have the family there when I would try and cure them.” Rex sighs. “There’s really only one news network we ever deal with and they don’t say half the garbage yours does. They had gotten insider passes to Providence once for a news break. They filmed me failing to cure an EVO but I didn’t care that I looked bad on camera. I asked them to delete the footage because I wanted to respect the family’s privacy. They were already grieving enough, they don’t need the world knowing that too.” Ben is quiet after that so Rex shuts his mouth and they ride in silence.

The stars are bright now that they’re away from the city so Rex tilts his head back from where it’s been buried in Ben’s hair to look at the sky. Holiday had taught him the basics of astronomy if only to identify which stars he could use to find his way without GPS. It sort of helped but Rex never minded too much that he was lost. He wonders passively if the stars look the same in Ben’s universe. Ben probably doesn’t have the time to stargaze anyway. Or maybe he does.

“Do the stars look the same in your universe?” Rex asks to change the subject. Ben glances up towards the sky and stares a bit before turning his eyes back to the vast expanse of desert rock in front of them.

“I’m not sure. I think so? I see the Big Dipper and that’s the only constellation I really know,” Ben replies. “Once you’ve flown around in space enough times, it all becomes a blur.” Rex sighs a bit longingly. He’s only ever explored Earth. What would other planets even look like? Did they exist in this universe? Was there life on other planets as numerous as Ben’s universe? Maybe it’s for the best that Rex hasn’t explored space that much. He’s not sure he wants to after the mishap with ZAG-RS in the space station.

The Providence headquarters begin to loom in the distance and Rex guesses they have maybe 5 more minutes of alone time to talk before someone might be waiting for Ben inside. Or Holiday will ask to run some tests on his nanites. Seeing as Rex can’t see Ben’s face and Ben can’t see his, he goes for it.

“Why do you want me to forget I saw you last time? And don’t give me the ‘it wasn’t me’ excuse,” Rex asks. He feels Ben tense up in his arms. “It’s okay that you run away here, I love seeing you! But since this is my Earth, it’s my job to make sure you’re taken care of.” Rex insists, poking Ben in the stomach to accentuate the point. “Remember, you’re not a hero in this universe. You’re just Ben and that’s okay.”

Ben doesn’t respond but Rex doesn’t really mind. He knows Ben is mulling what he said over in his head and weighing his options. Ben has always been fairly guarded about being sincere, especially in his universe. And especially with news cameras and fans everywhere he goes. Rex has to guess that the only private space he has is his own room and sometimes not even that. According to Kevin, there once was a time Ben was very open about his feelings. In private conversations, Ben had talked to Kevin about how proud Ben was of Kevin’s progress and that he was glad they were friends. Rex wonders what happened in Ben’s universe that changed that. Well, there’s the obvious answer of Kevin and Gwendolyn leaving for college.

“Old habits I suppose,” Ben responds after a sizable pause. Luckily Rex figures out what Ben was even replying to and he’s not very satisfied with Ben’s answer. They arrive outside the Providence headquarters so Rex deconstructs his build at the same time Ben dismounts. Rex then places his hand over a side door and unlocks it. He gestures for Ben to go first before following behind. The halls are fairly empty except for a grunt here and there on night patrol. Rex waves at one that passes by but they don’t return the motion.

“Why did you tell me so much about yourself?” Ben asks once the grunt is out of earshot. Rex furrows his brow and frowns.

“Was I not supposed to?” Rex questions self-consciously. “Did I talk too much? I’ve been trying to be better about that. Noah usually tells me if I’m getting too personal.” Ben bumps his shoulder against Rex’s.

“No, it’s not that. I guess I’m just surprised that you were so honest with me,” Ben admits. “It really puts into perspective that I haven’t been to you.” Rex stops.

“You’ve been lying to me?” Rex whispers, not hiding how crestfallen he feels. Not again. Please not again. Ben raises his hands up and his eyes are wide with alarm.

“No! No, I haven’t been lying to you! I like spending time with you and you’re probably the only person I can actually talk to about hero stuff without them treating me like I’m made of glass,” Ben corrects hastily. “It’s just that, I’m so used to hiding parts of myself that I forget that I don’t have to do that around you.” Rex blinks in shock at Ben’s confession. Now that he says it out loud, Rex gets it. Ben hasn’t been lying per se. He was just being selective with the truth. He only shows what he wants others to see. Rex releases the breath he’d been holding and half-smiles. It really shouldn’t be a surprise since Rex is already aware of it but it’s good to hear Ben say it. Plus, at least Ben wasn’t just acting like he was his friend.

The Ben he rescued from the dam base is probably the closest Rex has gotten to seeing Ben authentically even if it was an emotionally vulnerable version of him. No walls, no masks, no bravado. Just a lost, tired, teenager looking for a way out. He wonders when the last time Ben let himself feel such raw emotion was. Given the state of him, probably not for a long time. Thinking of it, Rex hasn’t really let himself feel that vulnerable in a long time either. He wouldn’t really visit Ben’s universe if he were feeling bad though. That’s a great way to feel even worse given the publicity that follows Ben everywhere he goes.

“So, we’re good?” Rex asks hesitantly. Ben smiles at him and pulls Rex into a hug. His body is still somewhat chilly from being outside but the warmth in the action has Rex tearing up.

“We’re more than good,” Ben confirms as he pulls away from the hug. His eyes are glowing, figuratively this time and his cheeks are tinted pink. Rex isn’t sure if it’s from coming inside somewhere warm or emotions. He doesn’t want to jump to conclusions so he keeps his mouth shut. “Thanks for not calling me girly for talking about my feelings,” Ben says as he resumes walking down the hallway.

“Why would I call you girly for that?” Rex asks, jogging slightly to catch up. Ben looks at him incredulously before shaking his head.

“Kevin does. I dunno, something about how only girls talk about their feelings,” Ben huffs. Rex wrinkles his nose and scowls.

“I don’t have much reference for how true that is but it sounds dumb to me,” Rex grumbles. “In all the telenovelas I watch, everyone talks about their feelings. All the time!” Ben laughs and takes Rex’s hand in his. He swings them as they walk and Rex gets a brief flashback of watching Noah and Claire during one of their “double dates”. It’s reassuring knowing that his feelings for Ben remind him of Noah and Claire.

“Telenovelas? Like, soap operas? Dude, I don’t think those are the best examples of how people normally act,” Ben points out with a chuckle.

“It’s the best I’ve got!” Rex laughs. Ben’s chuckling dies out and Rex wonders if he said something strange again. He looks down at Ben and sees him staring. Only this time, he looks pensive. “What?” Rex questions. Ben shakes his head.

“Nothing. Why don’t you come to my universe sometime?” Ben suggests. Rex smiles.

“Do you have time for that?” Rex asks cheekily.

“I’ll make time,” Ben replies with a smirk. “I made time to come here and see you after all.” Rex smiles and lets go of their held hands so he can give Ben a one-armed side hug. What surprises Rex is that Ben threads their hands together after.

“Do you want to check on my brother’s progress on your portal gun?” Rex asks. “Can’t really make the time to visit me if you can’t get here.” Rex smirks and quirks one of his brows. Ben mirrors the expression.

“Sure, but even if it’s finished, I’m not leaving until they drag me back,” Ben declares.

“Sounds good to me!” Rex agrees. He walks them to the elevator and punches the button for César’s lab’s floor and they settle into a comfortable silence. Ben even leans against Rex with his cheek resting against Rex’s shoulder! “You tired?” Rex asks softly. Ben simply nods and mutters a quiet ‘mhm’. Rex hums in acknowledgement. “We can go to sleep after this,” he promises.

“No, I’m not sleepy. Just tired,” Ben clarifies. Rex nods. He understands that. He’s a bit tired himself too. They both were pretty emotionally vulnerable with each other today and it’s pretty exhausting having such mental highs and lows in such a short time span.

The elevator dings and the doors open. No one appears to be patrolling the main hallway and everything is silent except for their footsteps. Rex walks them to César’s lab and simply unlocks the keypad with his powers and walks inside. César is unsurprisingly still awake. He’s typing away on a computer so at least he’s in a different spot than when they left him.

“Hey César, did you finish Ben’s portal gun?” Rex asks, letting go of Ben’s hand to approach him. César doesn’t look up from where he’s working.

“Si, it’s finished and sitting on my work table,” César responds, his eyes still glued to his screen. Rex looks around and sees the portal gun perched on a stand. Ben walks over to it and pockets it, not even bothering to inspect it before he leans back on the table with his hands in his pockets. Rex shrugs before giving Ben a mischievous look on his face and leans over his brother’s monitor.

“How long have you been here?” Rex asks. That causes César to stop typing. César blinks then blinks again hard before he looks up at Rex with mild confusion on his face. He frowns and looks back down at his computer. Rex is positive he’s checking its clock. Then César deflates a little and rubs at his eyes.

“I didn’t realize how long ago I actually filled my cup with coffee,” César mutters as he runs a hand through his hair.

“Do you want me to refill it for you?” Rex offers. César stares at him, likely processing the question, before slowly handing Rex his empty mug.

“Gracias mijo,” César says with a somewhat awed expression as he gets back to whatever he was working on. Rex motions with the mug for Ben to come along. He steps away from the table and follows behind Rex.

“I take it you don’t offer to bring him coffee all that much?” Ben asks once the doors to César’s lab close. Rex shakes his head.

“Not really. But I figured this is a good way to kill some time and talk some more,” Rex says with a shrug. “Besides, he fixed your portal gun no questions asked. I might as well do something nice for him.” Ben hums in agreement.

“He did point out that I took it from him,” Ben admits sheepishly. “But he still fixed it for me.” Rex looks owlishly at Ben.

“Huh, I had thought that someone in your universe made it,” Rex muses as they walk into the communal kitchen. Rex is too busy smelling the fact that someone made a fresh pot of coffee that he nearly has a heart attack because Gwendolyn and Kevin are sitting at a table. Ben quickly rushes over to check on Rex before poising his hand over the Omnitrex.

“Oh, it’s you two,” Ben says with relief as he lowers his hand from where it was ready to slam on his wrist. “The kitchen again? Seriously?” Gwendolyn rolls her eyes.

“I was hoping that you would’ve checked on Rex’s brother hours ago,” Gwendolyn sighs. “He’s even more oblivious than you are sometimes, Ben. He finished that coffee a long time ago.”

“You were spying on my brother?” Rex asks incredulously. Gwendolyn shrugs.

“It’s not really spying if the door is wide open,” Kevin points out. Rex nods at that. He has a point. “So, what, you two having a heartfelt conversation under the stars or somethin’?” Kevin demands. Rex frowns and folds his arms. He’s about to retort but Ben beats him to it.

“So what if we were? It’s not like you’re around to tell me to stop,” Ben snaps. Rex notices Gwendolyn avert her eyes as if she’s ashamed of something. Probably leaving Ben behind. Rex unfolds his arms and goes back to being ignored.

“That’s not fair, Ben,” Gwendolyn insists, hurt still evident on her face. Ben’s scowl softens and he deflates a bit.

“Yeah, sorry. I do like seeing you when you come to get me but I can get back on my own. I know you’re both busy,” Ben apologizes.

“Kevin won’t say it but I like seeing you too. It’s why we volunteer to pick you up,” Gwendolyn says, a soft smile reaching her features. Ben smiles back and looks over at Kevin, who folds his arms with a pout. He chuckles at Kevin’s response and looks over to Rex.

“Yeah yeah, you know where to find me,” Rex jokes. Ben surprises him by walking over and hugging him in front of Gwendolyn and Kevin. Rex returns the hug probably tighter than he really should but Ben doesn’t complain. Together like this, Rex can feel Ben’s heart beating against his chest. It’s funny how different their heartbeats are. They’re not quite in sync since Rex’s is a bit slower than Ben’s but they’re not discordant either. It’s comforting. All too quickly, Ben pulls away with a smile on his face and a glow to his eyes.

“See ya ‘round, Robot Kid,” Ben quips, giving Rex a mock salute. Rex returns the gesture with a grin.

“’Til next time, Monster Guy,” Rex mimicks as he raises César’s empty mug to Ben. “It was good seeing you too Gwendolyn, Kevin.” Gwendolyn waves goodbye to Rex while Kevin gives him a curt nod as she forms a portal with her mana and the trio walks through. Rex is alone in the kitchen again and there’s that deja vu again. Rex takes a breath, feeling lighter and more fulfilled this time. Ben’s doing better and knows that Rex is someone he can run to when the world gets too heavy to bear. And that’s all Rex can really hope for. He smiles to himself as he pours coffee into his brother’s mug before walking back to his lab.

“There has been activity detected at the dam. I need you both to investigate and report back to me. If there is a threat there, eliminate it,” White Knight orders through Rex and Six’s earpieces. Rex turns to Six and quirks a brow. Ever since Rex cured all of the EVOs, they haven’t really needed that base anymore but White Knight was paranoid enough to keep the location of their splinter base secret from Providence even after he was reinstated as the head of the company again. Rex simply shrugs and follows behind Six as he walks towards the hangar. He picks the small jet they usually fly out in for covert missions and without much fanfare, they’re in the sky heading towards their destination.

Once they arrive, there really isn’t much to see. Six surveys the hangar for any disturbance but seemingly finds none. He looks to Rex and he nods in understanding. Rex walks in one direction while Six walks in the opposite direction. Rex lowers his goggles to scan the hall he’s in but doesn’t see anything of note. No footprints in the layer of dust on the ground or anything. Nothing is out of place and it’s so quiet one could hear a pin drop. Wait. Rex pauses and holds his breath. What was that? He thought he heard a gasp coming from one of the rooms up ahead. As he approaches the sound, it becomes louder until he can make out the sound of someone sniffling and whimpering.

Not wanting to frighten whoever snuck into the base and was currently crying, Rex flips his goggles back onto his forehead and tries to walk as quietly as he can. He tiptoes his way into the room and peers inside. The noise is loudest in the room but Rex can’t see anyone. It’s a room full of crates and boxes with no obvious signs of life. With how long Rex has been listening to the rapid breathing and squeaks, he’s realizing it sounds familiar but it couldn’t be. He leans down and nearly gasps himself when he sees Ben tucked underneath some of the crates.

Ben is curled up on himself looking very cramped in the small space. And Ben looks miserable but he’s the source of the crying. Rex crouches and fully takes in Ben’s appearance. His eyes are glassy, his hair is a mess, and he’s wearing a hoodie and sweatpants that have ruddy stains on them. His arms are folded up between his chest and his bent knees, hugging himself tightly. Rex thinks he looks both younger and older at the same time. Younger because of the posture but older because of the wear of his face. Ben seems to finally notice that Rex is there and flinches.

“Great, I’ve been caught,” Ben grumbles as he tries to regulate his breathing.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were here?” Rex asks, somewhat hurt. Ben huffs before resting his cheek on his knees. He avoids Rex’s gaze.

“I didn’t want anyone to know,” Ben replies. Why wouldn’t Ben want people to know?

“What do you mean?” Rex prods. Ben seems reluctant to answer by the way he simply exhales through his nose and keeps his face away from Rex.

“Are you hurt?” Rex asks softly. Ben winces and tries to shrink in on himself but given how scrunched he already is, it doesn’t really work. “Please Ben, tell me how I can help you,” Rex pleads. Ben scowls.

“I don’t need help,” he hisses belligerently, finally looking at Rex. “Just leave me alone and pretend I’m not here.” His eyes quiver causing Rex to frown. Something is definitely up.

“You know you can tell me anything. There’s no news cameras here. No one knows you as Ben Tennyson, hero of the galaxies,” Rex says.

“I know, that’s why I hide here sometimes,” Ben admits. Rex pauses.

“How often have you hidden here?” Rex asks slowly. Ben gives a non-committal shrug. He fidgets with his sleeve behind his knees. Rex doesn’t need to see to know that Ben is twisting the fabric over the Omnitrex.

“A few times,” Ben replies. “I don’t always hide in this building. Sometimes I go outside.” Rex isn’t sure what to say but he can’t help the hurt worming its way into his heart. He adjusts his crouched position to get closer to Ben but all that does is make him tense up. Seeing this, Rex instead mirrors Ben’s posture but he hugs his knees instead. Ben stares at him with an expression that Rex can’t place at the moment. He was never as good at reading people.

“Why?” Rex finds himself asking. Ben raises a brow.

“Why what?” Ben counters, clearly not understanding what Rex is prying for. Or maybe he does.

“Why are you hiding?” Rex asks. From me, Rex wants to add. Ben averts his eyes and fidgets with his hoodie strings behind his knees.

“The weight of the world gets pretty heavy,” Ben replies cryptically as he looks back up. Rex blinks in confusion. He stares into Ben’s eyes and fully takes in how deep and weathered they are. Like Ben has seen the ends of both space and time before, which he probably has. Then, what Ben said clicks.

Rex gives Ben a sad smile. “It really does, doesn’t it?” He internally cheers at Ben’s returned smile. Ben then takes a deep breath and looks away, the smile slipping from his face like it was too heavy to keep up.

“I just need a few more minutes, then I’ll leave you alone,” Ben announces. Rex’s expression falls.

“Next time you come, will you let me know?” Rex asks hopefully. Ben shrugs and Rex can’t help feeling rejected.

“Not when I’m like this,” Ben murmurs under his breath.

“Huh?” Rex questions. He definitely heard Ben but he needs Ben to explain himself.

“Nothing,” Ben says. “I’ll let you know when I’m in your universe again.” Ben offers Rex a tired smile but it doesn’t reach his eyes. If anything, it looks artificial and plastic. It reminds Rex of the fake smile Ben wears in front of the cameras and reporters sometimes. Rex isn’t sure what his face looks like but apparently it’s crestfallen enough to have Ben shuffling uncomfortably and averting his eyes. “Don’t look at me like that,” Ben grumbles. He buries his face in his knees so he physically can’t see Rex.

Rex doesn’t know what he could possibly say that won’t have Ben retreating from him. So he opts for reaching out and gently tugging on Ben’s hoodie sleeve. Ben only curls into himself even more and Rex hears him take a shuddery breath. He swears he hears Ben sob, “I don’t deserve this.” He doesn’t press. He doesn’t attempt to decipher what he means. Seeing as Ben didn’t flinch away this time, Rex steels himself and slowly, as slowly and gently as he can, as gently as though he were handling a cornered animal, pulls Ben from his hiding spot into his arms. Ben doesn’t resist and allows himself to settle against Rex’s chest and in his arms. He doesn’t move his arms from his face though, keeping himself hidden and muffled as he cries into his sleeves.

Rex mutters a soft, “I got you” as Ben tries to hide himself in Rex’s chest. Rex hears footsteps approaching and sees Six’s green suit in his periphery. Their eyes meet and Six simply nods and walks away. Rex returns his focus to Ben and finds that he’s fallen asleep. Distantly, Rex can hear Six reporting back to White but he can’t make out what he’s saying. Rex leans back and shuffles so his feet are underneath him before he gingerly moves Ben so he can carry him. He hooks one arm under Ben’s knees and braces his shoulders in his other arm. Ben is worryingly light in his arms. Normally Rex would boast at being able to carry Ben but it’s always been in the back of his mind that it felt too easy. Rex walks as smoothly as he can so as not to jostle his passenger. He finds Six and merely nods to him and they fall into step with each other.

Six is silent the whole way back to the jet and wordlessly gets into the pilot seat. Rex sits in the adjacent chair and adjusts Ben so he’s laying against his chest in his lap again. He then buckles the both of them up in the seatbelt despite the anticipation of Ben freaking out at being constrained. He hopes that running his fingers through Ben’s hair will keep him from waking up afraid.

“Do you know what he’s running from?” Six asks suddenly. Rex flinches at the sudden question then looks down at Ben for fear he’d woken him. Thankfully, Ben is still dead to the world. “I don’t know, he didn’t really give me a straight answer,” Rex replies.

“Did you get the impression it would be a threat to us?” Six presses. Rex hums in thought before shaking his head.

“It didn’t seem like it,” Rex settles on. He recalls the haggard sound of his sobs and how Ben hid his face from him. No, this isn’t a physical danger chasing Ben. They land without incident and Rex carefully carries his cargo to his room, delicately laying Ben in his bed and tucking him in. He then dims the lights and walks to Holiday’s lab with the hopes he can confide in her. Rex finds that Six is already there. Holiday looks up at Rex’s arrival and her lips are pursed.

“How is he?” she asks. Rex shrugs.

“I tucked him in bed so we’ll see when he wakes up,” Rex replies. “Hopefully he’ll tell me what’s wrong.” Holiday’s expression evens out and she smiles weakly.

“It kind of reminds me of when you first were brought to Providence,” Holiday reminisces.

“Huh?” Rex’s eyes widen. He looks at Holiday expectantly, waiting for her to elaborate.

“We used to find you hiding in the Petting Zoo,” she explains. “Six would have to go fetch you and tuck you back into bed. I had assumed it was because you were in a new place without any memories, which was partially correct.” Holiday gives Rex a warm smile before continuing. "Then I hypothesized that you were doing it as a way of reassuring yourself that we wouldn’t forget you even if you forgot us. That we wanted you here with us enough that we would take the time to look for you,” Holiday finishes. “That’s probably not the case anymore now that you’re older but Six has told me you have this soft expression whenever he found you on your escapades from Providence.”

“What are you getting at besides telling a super embarrassing story?” Rex asks, feeling his cheeks warming. He refuses to look at Six to see what expression or lack thereof he was making. Holiday laughs.

“What I’m trying to say is, maybe Ben is hiding so someone can find him and reassure him that he’s wanted,” Holiday deduces.

“I don’t know, Doc. He seemed like he didn’t want to be found when I found him,” Rex counters. “Ben told me he’s hidden in our universe before and goes back to his when he’s feeling better.”

“Then if he’s not waiting to be found, we need to know what he’s hiding from,” Six insists. “It could pose a liability to our universe if it’s putting him in this much distress.”

“I don’t think it’s an enemy. I-I think he’s just dealing with too much pressure,” Rex retorts, feeling the need to defend Ben. Holiday puts a hand to his chest, a calming gesture. He hadn’t meant to get riled up but Six was being unnecessarily cautious. “The one answer he gave me when I asked him why he was here was that ‘the weight of the world gets pretty heavy’. I think he’s just looking for a break and the only place he can have a break is in a universe that doesn’t know who he is! Do you have any idea how tough it is to defend a freakin’ universe? I only defend Earth and it sucks sometimes! I’m able to run away and no one recognizes me but Ben can’t! So maybe chill out and let him run from his responsibility!”

Six turns his eyes towards the doorway abruptly just as Rex finishes his justification for Ben, which has Rex whirling to face it. He hears a soft gasp and a shuffle of fabric before he can turn completely but he has a guess as to who was listening in. Rex walks over to the doorway and peeks around and he feels a warmth spread from his heart all the way down to his toes. Ben’s bright eyes are staring up at him, his messy, brown hair sticking out all over the place from under his hood. He looks so young; a vast difference from how he carried himself when they fought Alpha together. Rex feels conflicted because either Ben is comfortable enough with Rex that he can drop his walls like this or Ben is that exhausted that he doesn’t have the energy to keep up his walls. Regardless, Rex will do what he can to make sure Ben knows he’s welcome and safe here.

“Did you mean it?” Ben asks. He clears his throat. “About...um...that it’s okay that I’m running away?” Rex smiles and runs his hand through Ben’s hair, a motion to soothe but also to fix his hair a bit. He notes that Ben doesn’t flinch when he does it so he internally cheers.

“Yeah. I ran from my responsibilities at Providence all the time and either I came back when I was ready or Six came to fetch me when he thought it was time to come back,” Rex assures. Ben takes a breath and nods.

“Is it okay if I stay here? Until someone comes to pick me up? I don’t think I’m ready to leave yet,” Ben asks with pink dusting his cheeks so Rex finds himself nodding.

“Let’s get you some water and we can wait together,” Rex offers. Ben allows Rex to drape an arm over his shoulder and lead him to the communal kitchen. He doesn’t care to see how Holiday and Six reacted. Right now, Ben is his priority. When Ben leans into his touch as they’re walking, Rex considers it a win that he didn’t trip over himself with how delightfully surprised he was. Ben is definitely acting differently than he usually does, less guarded and egotistical, so Rex decides it’s fine if he indulges in caring for Ben. He hasn’t complained about being cared for like he has in the past so Rex takes that as a sign to continue.

The communal kitchen is thankfully empty so Rex sits Ben down at one of the tables as he retrieves a glass of water and an electrolyte drink from the fridge. He sets both down in front of Ben and takes a seat beside him. Ben raises a brow at the unlabeled, opaque bottle Rex has placed next to the glass of water.

“What’s that?” Ben asks, lifting the bottle to inspect it.

“Oh, one of my brother’s electrolyte drinks. He first made them after I was brought 6 months into the future by Breach to help me with...something. But he’s kept making them and he keeps them in the communal fridge. The grunts don’t touch them since they’re not labeled and the last time one of the drank from my brother’s unlabeled bottles it turned out to be EVO piss,” Rex explains. He smirks at the memory of White Knight chewing out César for not labeling his belongings but also for endangering employees outside of his lab. Since then, César has done his best to remember to only keep edible things in the fridge and has a separate fridge for inedible things.

Ben spits out the water he was sipping on and coughs out a laugh. He’s holding his chest and cackling with mirth now, tipping back in his chair. It sounds a little wild but it’s unrestrained and Rex loves it. Rex breaks out in a wide grin. “You should’ve seen the guy’s face! All big and tough reduced to spitting and wiping his tongue on a napkin!” Ben is trying to catch his breath between giggles so Rex keeps going. “He got all up in my brother’s face and demanded what he was playing at! Ooh, he was so mad when my brother told him what he drank!”

Ben’s wheezing now with how hard he’s laughing and Rex feels proud of himself for getting Ben out of whatever dark place he was in. At least for a little bit. Ben gets a couple gasps for breath in before tapering into giggles. “Did your brother get beat up for that?” Ben asks eagerly.

“Oh definitely. The next day when I saw him, he had a black eye,” Rex recalls. “And you know what? He said to me, ‘It looks bad but you should see the other guy!’ Turns out, César had played dirty and tased the guy before scurrying away to his lab and locking the door. I was so proud of my big bro,” Rex chuckles. Ben snorts and laughs along with Rex.

“I didn’t take your brother as the type to fight like that,” Ben comments.

Rex shrugs. “He’s unpredictable, that’s for sure.” Ben takes a couple deep breaths before sipping his water again. His cheeks are still flushed from his laughter as opposed to how much he was crying earlier. Rex isn’t sure he wants to know how long Ben was alone with his thoughts tucked between the crates.

“You’re sure you didn’t hand me EVO piss?” Ben asks, clearly dubious of the bottle after Rex’s story.

“Yep. EVOs aren’t really a thing anymore,” Rex replies. Ben hums in response before finishing his glass of water. He then fidgets with the glass, spinning it slowly with both hands. Rex waits for him to gather his thoughts and idly reaches over for the bottle. He’s fairly confident it’s just electrolytes but just to be sure it’s not something hazardous, he takes a sip knowing his nanites will break it down if it is. Yup, just electrolyte drink. He wordlessly hands the bottle to Ben who slowly drinks from it.

Just as Ben is about to speak, an inter-dimensional portal rips its way into the empty space in the middle of the room. Ben immediately frowns and clicks his tongue. “Already? Seriously?” Rex glances over at him to gauge how serious Ben thinks this is but given that he’s still sitting idly, it likely isn’t that big a deal. Especially not since Gwen- wait no Gwendolyn steps through the portal with Kevin in tow. Ben corrected him a few times on her using her full name now. Ben turns away from her petulantly and goes back to sipping the electrolyte drink, comically hunched over the table.

“Ben, c’mon, it’s time to go home now,” Gwendolyn insists. “Hi Rex,” she tacks on belatedly.

“Tch, what, is Will Harangue begging for me to save his ass or is this orders from Grandpa?” Ben snaps, straightening his body and slamming his fist on the table. Gwendolyn sighs and folds her arms, seemingly prepared for him to be moody.

“You kinda ditched Rook y’know,” Gwendolyn counters. Ben winces and looks away. He runs his hand through his hair pushing the hood from his head and groans in defeat. It always amazes Rex that they both know what pushes each others buttons. What works to break down each other’s resolve. Must come with the territory of being cousins. Not that Rex would know.

“I didn’t mean to make him worry,” Ben mumbles. “It hasn’t even been that long though.”

“Yeah, well because you ran off with your tail between your legs on live TV, the Incursions thought it was a great opportunity to try and take over Earth again,” Kevin steps in. Ben’s frown deepens before he takes a breath and stands from his chair.

“Fine, I’ll go do my job,” Ben grouses, jamming his hands into his hoodie pockets. Rex doesn’t particularly enjoy that Ben is already being asked to go back. He hardly spent any time at all with Rex! And all of his hard work at lifting Ben’s mood has gone to waste. He also doesn’t appreciate that everyone is ignoring him.

“Doesn’t Ben get a say in any of this?” Rex asks the room. Gwendolyn and Kevin turn towards him like they forgot he was even there.

“Sorry Rex, but I’m sure you understand the importance of Ben’s position,” Gwendolyn replies. Rex huffs. He knows damn well how important Ben’s position is. But he never gets a break. Rex knows this from how sparse Ben’s texts are.

Ben’s sixteen. Sure, Rex at sixteen was way less experienced in combat as Ben currently is but to have only one person be able to handle every major conflict in the universe? At least Rex has Six to have his back. Gwendolyn and Kevin used to have Ben’s back but they’ve, what, retired now? And Rook, as far as he could tell, isn’t made of magic like Gwendolyn. He’s just a well-trained soldier. He’s no where near Six’s caliber! Ben is all alone in his universe trying to hold it together and for what? There’s no end goal it seems. Not like with what Rex had going on. Rex’s entire job was to cure EVOs and he’s done that already. Is Ben’s job to take care of intergalactic conflict every day, every hour, every minute until he dies? Rex can’t help but feel sorry for Ben. He thinks he’d crumble under that much responsibility resting on his lonely shoulders. In fact, he ended up falling out of the sky from exhaustion when it was just him and White Knight protecting Earth because of the sleep sickness. If Ben's job is anything like that, no wonder he ran away.

Gwendolyn must take his silent rumination as resignation because she offers him an apologetic smile before ushering Ben towards the portal. Rex searches Ben’s face for any resistance or- or- hesitation or something! But all he sees is how exhausted he is. Whatever fight Ben had in him just bled out.

Rex watches Ben step into the swirling energy and Rex feels his heart ache. He takes a single step towards him, which has Ben faltering before the portal. Ben flashes him a weak, tired smile before he disappears. It’s not long after that Gwendolyn and Kevin walk into the portal without even a glance in Rex’s direction and quickly blink out of existence.