#kuroko no basqueue

“I think it’s over.”

“I think you’re right.”

Rex offers Holiday a quick smile at her confirmation. Until he feels eyes on him. He looks ahead towards where César is standing in front of him. He has a determined look on his face, the lines under his eyes more pronounced because of it. His cheek is slightly red from where Rex punched him earlier. Rex doesn’t really feel that guilty for doing so, not when Peter Meechum agreed that his brother deserved it. Rex gingerly steps out of Holiday and Six’s supportive hold and approaches César, understanding that his brother has something to say.

“I wanted to tell you, brother. So much was at stake,” César explains. With just those two sentences, Rex gets it. All of the dismissed calls. All of the ‘you have to trust me’s followed by César turning his back on him. While they make sense logically, Rex can’t help but feel the emotional toll. But he feels more at peace with it now that he’s heard César finally say something. To finally give him a reason for why he acts the way he does. It begins to unwind the knot of doubt he held in his heart towards his brother.

“We’re good. And we’ll always be brothers,” Rex replies with a confident smile on his face. Rex slowly pulls César into a hug, which he eagerly reciprocates. The hold each other close, briefly forgetting that Six, Holiday, Noah, and Bobo are watching. They pull away and stare at each other. Rex finds himself searching César’s face for something. He’s not entirely sure what given that he’s still reeling from the experience of being a god for probably 15 minutes. Then César surprises him, which in retrospect, shouldn’t be that surprising. He was always a little unpredictable.

“Would you mind if my brother and I spoke alone?” César asks, looking over Rex to Holiday and Six. Rex turns around to gauge their reactions. Holiday looks to Rex first, then to Six, then back to Rex. She looks like she doesn’t entirely trust César but is willing to hear him out. Six, on the other hand, doesn’t look so easily swayed.

“We’ll be out of earshot but if we see you try anything,” Six lets his threat hang in the air. César nods, the weight of Six’s words no doubt heavy around his neck. Six, Holiday, Noah, and Bobo walk away towards the Providence jets and stop. César watches them go for a minute before putting his hands on Rex’s shoulders.

“I’m sorry, mijo. For everything. I know those are empty words coming from me and I understand if you still hate me and don’t want to see me again,” César begins. “I’m just glad you’re alive.” Rex’s eyes widen as he recalls what he said while he was restrained in the glass tube waiting to have his Meta-Nanite extracted from him. Back when he was left scared and alone waiting for what he thought was his death.

“I said we were good,” Rex replies, trying to put some cheer in his voice. But were they? Rex’s statements didn’t come from nothing. Rex has felt so much resentment for his brother’s lack of care for so long now, could they really be ‘good’ now? César holds Rex’s gaze like he doesn’t fully believe him. Like he wants to say more.

“You have every right to hate me. I knew that whenever I dismissed you or withheld information I was pushing you further away. But I thought that was better than what Black Knight would have done to you. I needed to continue to appear obedient to Black Knight so I could assure your safety,” César continues as if he hadn’t heard Rex. He squeezes Rex’s shoulders before taking a breath.

“It may not seem like it, but everything I did was with you in mind. I just couldn’t tell you for fear of my plans being thwarted. I didn’t want to lose you a second time,” César finishes. He pulls Rex into a hug again and holds him tight like the first time Rex saw him. Rex returns the gesture and rests his cheek on César’s shoulder. He does his best to hold back his tears.

“I just wish you could’ve told me sooner so I would’ve had more reason to trust you. But I get why you couldn’t. It still hurts though,” Rex replies softly.

“I know, mijo, I know,” César soothes. He begins to pull away but Rex refuses to let go. Rather, he tightens his hold on César.

“Can we…be brothers for real this time? Now that I’ve saved the world?” Rex asks hesitantly. He knows the request is simple and childish but despite him saying he never wanted to see César again, he truly wishes César would stay with him. It was said in a vulnerable moment from a place of festering resentment but now that the danger is gone and the dust has blown over, all Rex wants is his big brother. Just like when they went to see Abuela or when César helped him make a haunted house to scare Annie and Claire. Perhaps there was a time before Rex had amnesia they were simply two brothers. Nothing complicated, no secrets and avoidance. Just Rex, César, and their parents.

César chuckles and rubs Rex’s back comfortingly. “Of course, little brother. For you, anything.” And just like that, Rex finds himself melting into César’s arms and letting his tears flow. He buries his face in his big brother’s shoulder and finally allows himself to sob. His legs buckle but César holds him steady and gently lowers the both of them to their knees. “Cálmate, hermano. It’s okay now,” César assures softly. “I’m not leaving you this time.” Rex is vaguely aware of the sound of footsteps running towards them and he can’t help hiding his face further into his brother’s chest. He doesn’t want Six or Holiday to see him crying. César continues saying soft, consoling things in Spanish until Rex feels himself calming down.

Rex sniffles and leans away from César, rubbing the tears his eyes with both of his gloved hands. César’s hands have dropped from Rex’s back and are now resting around Rex’s upper arms. César wordlessly pulls a rag from a pocket and hands it to Rex, who graciously accepts it to wipe his face and blow his nose. There’s a moment where Rex isn’t entirely sure what to do with the used rag but César simply takes it from him and puts it away. “Do you always keep rags in your pocket?” Rex blurts out to lighten the situation. César smiles at him. It feels genuine for once.

“Yes. Some of the equipment required grease or oil so I needed something to wipe my hands on so I didn’t get other implements dirty. That one happened to be a clean one,” César explains. Rex chuckles and rubs his eyes again. César removes his hands from Rex and stands up, offering a hand to Rex. Rex smiles and takes his brother’s hand and allows himself to be helped to his feet. He finally acknowledges Six and Holiday’s presence, the two of them hovering nearby. Holiday is smiling, her eyes soft and emotional. Six is not smiling but he’s less guarded, which Rex knows is as much as his assassin nanny is going to show with César there.

“We should get going,” Six states. Rex nods and looks back to his brother.

“Are you coming with us?” Rex asks hopefully. César shakes his head and Rex can’t help the disappointment that definitely shows on his face.

“Not now. I need to work with Rylander and Peter Meechum to make sure everything is offline before we can move on. Don’t worry, little brother. I’ll find you like I found you before. I promise it won’t take me 5 years this time,” César guarantees with a lopsided smile.

“I’m gonna hold you to that!” Rex laughs. He gives César one last hug before following Six and Holiday to the Providence jets. César’s word hasn’t always been good but with everything behind them, Rex can’t help the hope he feels blooming in his chest that maybe now he and his brother can finally be a family again. It won’t be the same without their parents but Rex has Six and Holiday so that’s close enough for him.

They board the jet and take off, César’s form a mere dot in the dirt below them. Rex can see his arm waving at them and he returns the gesture. Suddenly, he feels the Omega nanite communicating with him. It’s a simple, three word message that has Rex smiling softly to himself.

It’s been several months since Ben and Gwen have disappeared and Kevin finally has a lead on to who took them. He sure as hell didn’t follow the books but he got results and now he, their grandpa Max, and a dozen Plumbers are searching an underground bunker on a planet that’s a lot like Earth. Breaking the door was easy. Searching the place is proving to be annoying. Everything is concrete and looks the same. Kevin would bet money on the walls being lined with metal to prevent communication from coming in or going out. There are a shocking number of doors in these hallways but all of them are locked with a keypad. After the third door Kevin tried and couldn’t turn the handle, he absorbs the metal from the door and yanks the handle as hard as he can. It rips it right off, locking mechanism and all, and the door swings open slowly and silently revealing a cement staircase. Kevin doesn’t wait for the rest of the Plumbers as he storms down the stairs.

When Kevin reaches the bottom of the stairs, he comes to two conclusions: these aliens were a bunch of sick bastards and the Tennysons looked like absolute shit. They’re huddled in the back corner of a large cell looking very thin and small. It reminds Kevin of when they were both ten. It makes Kevin want to hit something. Preferably the aliens that kidnapped them. Very hard. Wide eyes track his movement in sync as Kevin sheds his metal coating and walks towards them. Their hair is greasy and unkempt and their cheeks look hollow. Ben’s hair has grown a few inches longer so his hair covers the back of his neck and his bangs somewhat obscure his eyes. Gwen’s hair is down and very long, probably past her elbows if she was standing straight. Their clothes look ratty and are torn in places but are definitely the clothes they were kidnapped in. Gwen is wearing Ben’s signature green jacket over her red sweater. Her clothes are definitely in better condition but there are lots of holes in her leggings. Ben’s black short-sleeved shirt is full of holes and tears and his blue jeans have the knees almost worn all the way through. The Omnitrex is an absolute wreck. The face of it is cracked and fractured like Ben hit it against the walls and bars with way too much force. Or their alien captors took hammers to it. Ben’s arm definitely looks broken but he isn’t acting like he’s in pain. Kevin feels the rage bubbling up in his blood as he catalogues every detail that points to the Tennyson’s mistreatment. He feels his muscles tighten as he clenches his fists but he resists every urge to shout and punch because Ben is staring at him like he’s one breath away from using the Omnitrex.

After a couple seconds, Gwen’s eyes light up like the damn sun when she recognizes that it’s Kevin. Unfortunately, Ben didn’t seem to have the same recognition because he immediately blocks Gwen from Kevin’s line of sight with his skinny body and snarls like a feral dog. And then transforms into probably the most hideous amalgamation of aliens Kevin had ever seen. Which includes himself. Ben is huge. His crystal-embedded back brushes against the ceiling and that was without unfurling Big Chill’s wings. It is definitely a mix of Diamondhead and Chromastone up there given the colors of the crystals. His arms are more of a mess: there was one of Rath’s, one of Swampfire’s, one of Diamondhead’s, and one of Humungousaur’s. His legs are more normal since they were just Humungousaur’s. Ben’s face is a whole other beast. Kevin would bet money that he has at least one eye from each alien in his arsenile. He has two green crystalline horns on his head that curve forward like a bull’s and one magenta crystal horn in the center of his forehead. His mouth is mostly underbite with extra teeth. Kevin really can’t tell whose teeth they are but with all of those teeth, Ben can’t keep his mouth closed so drool is just dripping everywhere. And lucky Kevin that Ben decides to roar and promptly cover him in all of that drool. Kevin wipes his face and barely has a chance to say anything before a sticky web binds him to the wall next to the stairs.

“Dude, seriously? What the hell’s wrong with you? I’m here to save you, Tennyson!” Kevin groans in disgust. He absorbs the concrete from the wall he was stuck to and tears the webbing away before stomping over to the cell bars. Ben hisses and arches his back but he doesn’t move from his spot. Then a thought occurs to Kevin. If Ben was so big and powerful, how come he and Gwen haven’t tried to escape by now? Why isn’t Ben coming towards me to fight when I’m obviously a threat? Why does he think I’m a threat at all? Why isn’t he saying anything? Ben growls at him in an overlapping cacophony of sound. Kevin thinks he can pick out Wildmutt, Humungousaur, Rath, and Echo Echo’s voices. Suddenly, Gwen’s voice fills the room.

“Ben, it’s okay this time. It’s Kevin. He’s here to save us,” Gwen reassures softly. “It’s not a trick." Kevin’s heart sinks before his chest swells with fury. They’ve been tricked before? By their kidnappers? When he gets his hands on the creeps that kept his girlfriend and best friend here, they’ll wish they were dead. Ben unfortunately mistakes Kevin’s anger for aggression and roars at him again. Kevin clamps his hands over his ears because Ben is definitely using Echo Echo’s ability. The sound of boots rushing down the stairs has Kevin turning around to stop them from entering the room and agitating Ben further. Kevin hears the clicking of safety’s coming off and hisses in annoyance.

“Don’t shoot! That’s Ben!” Kevin shouts over the roaring. There are a couple gasps from behind him as Ben finally wears himself out and is left panting to catch his breath. He doesn’t pause long though because he’s back to growling and generally being big and threatening. Plumbers file into the room quietly and holster their guns. Some mutter about calling Magister Tennyson.

“Grandpa’s here too?” Gwen asks hopefully from somewhere behind Ben.

“Yeah, we’re gonna get you both out of here,” Kevin assures. At least Gwen is being reasonable and understands they’re just trying to help. Gwen stands on shaky legs and Ben is quick to support her with his hulking body acting as a brace. Only to hide her from Kevin and the other Plumbers. Kevin hears Gwen’s exasperated sigh.

“Ben, we’re safe this time! I promise!” Gwen insists. Ben doesn’t seem to agree as he huffs in response. His tails, Spidermonkey’s and Jetray’s, thrash like he’s irritated. Kevin is beginning to understand why they’ve never escaped before. Ben’s mind must be too far gone. He’s gone insane in a way Kevin is familiar with. Except instead of following rage and the hunger for power, Ben’s sole line of thinking must be protecting Gwen. Why else would he be acting this way? He must be so focused on protecting Gwen that the risk assessment for escape isn’t worth it. What better way to protect Gwen than to have have her in a corner with Ben being the barrier? It’s both brilliant and horribly sad that this is what Ben’s mind has concluded. Kevin isn’t sure he wants to know what deteriorated his mind this far. But one thing Kevin knows for certain. He has to convince Ben that he could trust them with Gwen’s safety. Which is not his expertise at all since Ben normally was so easily trusting of everyone. It’s almost laughable that the roles are reversed.

“What if we wait for Ben’s watch to time out?” Kevin asks. “Then we can restrain him and get you out.” Kevin swears he can feel Gwen’s glare.

“Don’t,” is the only thing she says and Kevin can feel the threat in just that single word. But wait, why hasn’t Gwen just used her magic to teleport them out? Could it be the there’s more than just metal within the walls? But what could possibly block mana the way metal blocks radiowaves? The thought settles uncomfortably in Kevin’s mind as he focuses back to the situation at hand.

“Hey, I’m just throwing out ideas,” Kevin surrenders, throwing his hands up even though Gwen can’t see them. Ben hisses at him and unfurls his wings. As if he needed to look any bigger than he is. Kevin has half a mind to just hiss back at him but that would also be a dumb thing to do considering how he reacted to Kevin’s change in emotions. Instead, he turns to one of the Plumbers in the room. “Hey, go get their grandpa. Maybe he’ll know what to do,” Kevin orders. They nod and disappear up the steps. “And why don’t you all secure the area. Maybe that’ll help Mr. Hero feel like he doesn’t need to be big and scary,” Kevin says, glaring pointedly at Ben, who doesn’t seem to react to the verbal jab. Maybe he doesn’t even have the mental capacity to understand that anymore. “So, what now?” Kevin asks the room. Gwen sighs.

“Keep talking. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard a friendly voice,” Gwen replies tiredly. Kevin tacks ‘isolation’ onto his growing list of things the alien kidnappers have done to the Tennysons. He then narrows his eyes.

“Wait, Ben can’t talk?” Kevin asks. “Who knew that kid could even shut up!” He can’t help his incredulous outburst. He thought that Ben was just quiet around everybody outside of his cell. He didn’t realize Ben straight up couldn’t talk anymore. Still, the joke is in poor taste but it’s what Kevin does. He doesn’t do the mushy stuff. That’s Tennyson territory. He mentally braces himself for Gwen’s chiding but it never comes. Instead, she’s laughing all breathily like she doesn’t have enough air to laugh like she used to. Kevin hears her sink back onto the floor like the act of laughing was too much for her to continue standing. Ben perks his head up and is back to being human in a flash of green light.

Well, mostly human. He still has extra eyes but not as many as before and the other half of his face is stretched into a toothy snarl. One of his arms is Swampfire’s but the hand is probably Big Chill’s. Getting another look at the Omnitrex’s cracked face, Kevin understands now why Ben’s transformations are so malformed. When Ben raises his hand to check on Gwen, Kevin can see the Omnitrex’s wristband is also a little loose around Ben’s wrist as it twists around freely with the movement. Ben makes a trilling sound at the back of his throat at Gwen and tilts his head like her laughing surprised him too. The sound he made reminds Kevin of Ben’s Necrofriggian children. Shit, he really can’t talk. Gwen continues to laugh and Ben does his approximation of a smile.

Kevin does his best to sneak closer to the cell they’re trapped inside but he accidentally kicks a loose piece of concrete and the noise reminds Ben that he’s still here. Ben whirls around and bares his misshapen teeth at Kevin. His back is arched so its flush against Gwen but it’s giving the impression that Ben is puffing his chest out. “You look dumb as hell, Tennyson,” Kevin snorts. Ben simply growls at him. “Yeah, well grrr to you too,” Kevin snarks. “So why can’t he talk?” he asks bluntly. Gwen’s laughter had quieted by this point and she takes a breath.

“I’m not sure, everything has kind of been a blur. They had been experimenting on both of us but Ben eventually became so violent when they took me they would only take him just to spare themselves the injury. It might have been around that time Ben stopped talking,” Gwen surmises. She looks down at her hands. “It’s my fault he’s like this. He insisted on protecting me because they took my powers away and now he’s like this.”

“Hey, don’t beat yourself up. You’re alive, aren’t you? Sounds to me like he’s doing his job then,” Kevin cuts in. He doesn’t ask about the part where Gwen said they took her powers away even though he very much would like to ask. It’s pep talk time, not interrogation time. “We’ll turn him back. I’m not gonna give up on him. He didn’t give up on me.” Ugh, being sincere. Gwen peeks around Ben’s attempt at blocking her from Kevin and flashes him a smile. Kevin returns the smile. Y’know what, worth it.

“How about we get you some food and water while we wait for your grandpa?” Kevin suggests.

“Oooh, yes please! I can’t remember the last time we ate,” Gwen replies and that shatters Kevin’s heart. Oh these aliens are gonna pay, big time.

“Alright, I’ll be right back,” Kevin replies and turns around. Stupid move. As soon as Kevin’s back is turned, he hears Ben lob something at him. Kevin quickly absorbs the cement from the basement floor just as a fireball disperses against his back. “Nice try, Tennyson but I’m pretty good at fighting you,” Kevin teases as he looks over his shoulder. Ben is standing and glowering at him but despite that big attitude, he’s shaking. With how scrawny he is now too, he really reminds Kevin of stray dogs he’s seen in various towns and cities. He’s simply protecting all he has left. It’s pitiful.

Kevin continues walking away and only drops his concrete skin once he’s at the top of the stairs. He flags down a Plumber and asks for packaged water and rations from the ship to give to Gwen and Ben. They salute to him and run off the go get them so Kevin has some time to mull over how to get through to Ben. He’s thinking very linearly and simply but that doesn’t mean it’ll be easy. Kevin, of course, wouldn’t hurt a hair on Gwen but how does he get Ben’s dumb, animal brain to realize that? Hopefully food will help since they’re both clearly malnourished. Food usually helps dumb animals realize you’re a friend. The Plumber returns with two bottles of water and two wrapped nutrient bars before standing guard at the top of the stairs. Kevin nods his head as thanks and takes the procured items from them. “Any word of getting their grandpa over?” Kevin asks before he descends down the stairs.

“Magister Tennyson is attending to the aliens behind this and trying to get answers,” a Plumber replies. Kevin huffs as he turns around to walk downstairs. Kevin wishes he were there with Max just so he can be the bad cop to Max’s good cop. He’d love nothing more than to punch those aliens senseless for how they treated Gwen and Ben. But for now, he’s in charge of trying to appeal to Ben’s feral desire to protect Gwen from anything in the room. And the first step is feeding them.

As expected, Ben is immediately on guard when Kevin steps down into the room but he’s looks entirely human now. No more extra eyes and teeth and his right arm is normal. Ben is seated on the ground with Gwen but upon Kevin’s arrival, he’s gotten into a crouch with his arms raised defensively. Gwen puts a hand on Ben’s bicep to keep him in place, which he does relax into. He settles back down to the ground but he hovers over Gwen’s side as if his thin body is enough protection. “Brought you guys some food and water. It’s just rations. Sorry, Ben, we didn’t have any smoothies on the ship,” Kevin jokes. It doesn’t garner a reaction from Ben at all but Gwen does chuckle. Ben merely side-eyes the food in Kevin’s hand. Kevin can’t tell if it’s because the poor kid is hungry or if he’s wary. Probably both.

“I’m just gonna set it down here and I’m gonna back away,” Kevin states. He figures telling Ben everything he’s gonna do might help. Who knows if Ben even understands though. Kevin does as he said and leaves the two bottles of water and two nutrient bars just inside the bars of the cell then backs away so he’s at the base of the stairs. Ben uncurls from where he was practically wrapped around Gwen and crouch-walks over to the food, keeping his eyes on Kevin the whole time. With the speed of a desperate, starving animal, Ben snatches the bottles first before scurrying back over to Gwen. It’s almost funny how much the movement reminds Kevin of Spidermonkey or Wildmutt. Ben presents the water bottles to Gwen while inspecting them himself and hums with an upward lilt to his tone. It almost sounds like when he’s pleasantly surprised about something. She makes a similar noise and gestures to the closed seal on both the water and food. Then she seems to remember that it’s Kevin and not their captors in the room.

“Sorry, it’s a habit now to check our food and water,” Gwen apologizes. Ben has had one eye trained on Kevin the entire time and he is amazed that a single eye can glare that sharply.

“If I could, I’d check it myself too. Those bars are made to accommodate the diets of multiple species,” Kevin points out. “And who knows how long that water’s been in space.” Gwen smiles at Kevin’s attempt to lighten the situation. Ben, however, ignores Kevin’s comments and cracks open the seal on the water bottle and blinks in surprise. He shows Gwen with his eyes wide and he nods his head excitedly. She returns the nod and is about to take the bottle from Ben before he pulls it back towards his chest.

“Hey!” Kevin shouts like he’s reprimanding a dog. Ben whips his head towards Kevin and scowls at him. “You gotta share, Tennyson!” Kevin snaps. Ben scoffs at him before making eye contact with him as he takes a long sip of the water. Kevin throws up his hands in defeat. “I can’t believe this guy! He can’t even talk and he’s giving me attitude!” Gwen giggles at Kevin’s reaction but she doesn’t chastise Ben for his behavior.

“Ben always insists on trying the water or food first no matter how safe it may seem,” Gwen explains.

“Why’s that?” Kevin asks. Gwen sighs and turns the other unopened bottle in her hand. Ben at this point has stood up and is pacing back and forth just behind the bars of the cage. Gwen doesn’t seem to find it unusual.

“Before he stopped talking, Ben told me it was because he was worried they would try and poison us,” Gwen replies.

“Did they?” Kevin blurts, even though he’s not sure he wants to know the answer. Gwen nods.

“Ben tasted something off about what they gave us and he told me not to have any of it. It took fifteen minutes for Ben to start feeling the effects of the poison,” Gwen retells. Her eyes stare past Kevin as Ben continues to walk around. Kevin notes that Ben is limping slightly but he really can’t see what’s wrong underneath his jeans. He has a feeling Ben won’t let him check anyway. That’s something to worry about later. Kevin doesn’t have a timer but he has a feeling that fifteen minutes have passed because Ben walks himself over to Gwen and hands her the water in his hands. He then wordlessly takes the unopened bottle from her and takes a sip from that too before starting his pacing again. Gwen eagerly drinks from the water bottle and sighs with content.

“Thank you Kevin,” she says softly. Ben’s eyes dart between Gwen and Kevin and he curls his lip at Kevin, still not trusting him it seems. Kevin offers a closed-mouth smile, mostly to Gwen. He’s not sure if Ben would react poorly to his teeth being shown like with chimpanzees. Ben used to be so hard to figure out yet was always relatively predictable. This Ben is easy to figure out but he’s unpredictable. It has Kevin feeling unbalanced because he’s not quite sure how to handle him. Does he treat him like a beast or like a human? Kevin is shaken from his thoughts when he hears the crinkling of a wrapper. Ben has opened one of the rations and Kevin is fully prepared for him to repeat the same process he did with the water. However, this time, Ben takes a bite of it before handing it to Gwen and taking a seat next to her. Gwen takes her time eating, likely knowing that eating and drinking quickly would hurt her stomach. Ben, on the other hand, is eating his ration like a starved animal afraid something else is going to take its meal. He finishes eating in two bites and chugs the water like his life depends on it. Gwen is barely even a quarter through her water when Ben caps his water bottle and tosses it towards the back of the cage. He takes a few deep breaths before resuming his staring contest with Kevin.

“See? I fed you, I’m a nice guy,” Kevin comments to Ben. He snorts in response with a very cocky, familiar expression on his face. Gwen puts her hand on his right wrist reassuringly. Ben turns to face her before huffing and turning back to facing Kevin. He looks less on guard but he’s still wary.

“How are you feeling?” Kevin asks Gwen.

“Much better, thank you Kevin,” Gwen replies. She glances at Ben and turns her gaze back to Kevin. “Ben thanks you too,” she says with a smile. Ben makes a strangled noise of protest and he actually turns fully away from Kevin to make his offense known. “You’re thankful, Ben. Don’t deny it,” Gwen tuts. “Of course you’d be more thankful if you hadn’t eaten and drank everything so quickly and actually savored it.” Ben grumbles to himself and drapes himself against Gwen’s chest with his head over her shoulder. Kevin sighs; Ben is back to bodily blocking Gwen from his sight but he supposes it’s a step forward if his back is turned. Gwen simply brings a hand up to rub Ben’s back, an exasperated yet fond expression on her face. Kevin is about to speak when Gwen quickly puts up a finger in front of her lips. Kevin is about to ask why until he hears a soft snoring coming from Ben. How the hell he can fall asleep that quickly amazes Kevin. Especially since this whole time Ben has been acting high-strung and crazy. The fact he’s able to fall asleep with Kevin still in the room has got to be an improvement, right? Kevin stays quiet and watches Gwen as she alternates between watching Ben sleep and watching Kevin watch her. Kevin idly wonders what’s taking their grandpa so long to arrest the aliens that kidnapped Gwen and Ben because maybe he’ll be able to convince Ben to let them be rescued.

Footsteps coming down the stairs has Kevin cursing under his breath because Ben is now wide awake. He pulls away from Gwen and transforms again. It’s a similar amalgamation as last time only this time his back has Cannonbolt’s armor plates instead of crystal spikes and he has Humungousaur’s tail. Ben snarls at the new arrivals to his room and slams his tail against the ground as a warning. Kevin stands up and sighs in relief their grandpa is finally here.

“Took you long enough to get here,” Kevin grumbles under his breath.

“Sorry Kevin, it took me longer than I wanted interrogating the aliens that run this place,” Max apologizes. He fully takes in the sight in front of him. Kevin sees a deep sadness in his eyes that seem to make the wrinkles on his face more pronounced. “Heya kiddo, it’s me. It’s Grandpa,” Max says softly to the monster that was his grandson. Ben falters for a split second before he closes most of his eyes and shakes his head. Upon opening his eyes, he roars in defiance loud enough to shake the room.

“Ben, it really is Grandpa! Let him rescue us, please!” Gwen pleads from her corner on the floor.

“Gwen! We’ll get you out of here!” Max assures. “Ben, I don’t want to hurt you but you have to let us take Gwen.” Ben roars again and slams his body against the bars of the cage. Kevin quickly absorbs the concrete in the room again and gets between Ben and Max to protect the old man as Ben easily breaks his containment. Kevin punches Ben right into a handful of his eyes but luckily it serves as enough of a distraction for Max to sneak by him. Kevin does his best to keep Ben occupied and it feels good to finally vent his frustration at the whole situation in a meaningful way. Yes, he’s beating the crap out of Ben but it’s so Ben doesn’t try and kill his grandpa, who’s trying to get Gwen out of the room. Kevin swings for Ben’s face again but he’s surprisingly agile for his size because he dodges the incoming fist and bites down on Kevin’s arm. Kevin tries to wrench his hand from Ben’s teeth but he’s not letting go so Kevin opts to just keep hitting Ben’s eyes like a morbid game of whack-a-mole. Ben releases Kevin’s arm and reels back with a squeal as he wipes at his face with Rath’s paw. Despite Kevin being certain he hit all of Ben’s eyes, at least one is still staring back at him. And it noticeably darts to look off to where Max is carrying Gwen away. Kevin curses as Ben’s form immediately changes to something deadly and powerful when he realizes that Gwen isn’t safely behind him anymore.

The armor plating on his back gives way to the green and magenta crystals again but they’re way sharper than before. Ben’s body is leaner as if to ensure he’s fast enough to catch Max. His front arms are Rath’s and Wildmutt’s, followed by both of Cannonbolt’s arms, followed by Swampfire’s and Chromastone’s. His legs are Spidermonkey’s and he has Spidermonkey’s tail. As soon as Ben is done transforming, he charges towards Max and rears up on Spidermonkey’s legs before pulling Gwen away from him with Cannonbolt’s arms and pinning him down underneath Rath and Wildmutt’s paws. It all happens so fast that Kevin can only watch as Max cries out from the force of Ben’s full alien weight slamming him onto the concrete floor. His pained yell pulls Kevin into action as he launches himself at Ben before he can do something he’d regret later. Kevin hears Gwen screaming before he punches Ben in the side of his head hard. Ben shrieks in either agony or fury but the sound makes the hairs on the back of Kevin’s neck stand on end. The punch seems to daze Ben because he reels back and off of Max and drops Gwen to the floor as he loses his balance and falls onto his side. Ben transforms back immediately and doesn’t get up. Gwen rushes over to him and falls to her knees so she can hold him to her chest. Her eyes burn holes into Kevin and it pisses him off.

“He was gonna maybe eat your grandpa! What did you want me to do?” Kevin asks defensively. Gwen shakes her head and her eyes glow pink with the promise of violence before fizzling out to her natural eye color. She cradles Ben’s head and inspects him for any damage. Ben’s partially transformed again so Kevin can’t really tell if his attacks did anything to him. His face has Cannonbolt’s plates over his cheeks, nose, and forehead covering any potential bruising. Ben’s right arm is slightly furred like Rath’s but his hand is Swampfire’s with some of Cannonbolt’s armor plating. His left arm is Chromastone’s with Spidermonkey’s hand. Max crouches down with a mildly horrified expression, probably with Ben’s and the Omnitrex’s appearance, and Gwen honest to god hisses at him when he tries to touch Ben. Kevin had thought only Ben was acting possessive and feral but it turns out Gwen was affected too.

“Easy Gwen. It’s just your grandpa,” Kevin says calmly. He knows better than to challenge her when she’s feeling overprotective even before they were kidnapped. He has a feeling that her overprotectiveness has only gotten more deadly since then.

“I just wanna help. We’re gonna get you out of here and then we can all go home, okay? We’ll make sure Ben is taken care of,” Max promises. Gwen stares long and hard at her grandpa before she blinks and nods. Max goes to take Ben from Gwen but she doesn’t release her cousin. She actually starts to pull him back towards her once Max is able to get his hands on him. “Gwen, sweetie, you’re going to need to let Ben go so I can carry him,” Max utters softly.

Gwen only shakes her head and whimpers, “Don’t take him from me.” With just that small plea, Kevin swears that those aliens that did this to Gwen and Ben are gonna pay. And he swears he’s not gonna let this happen again. Kevin sighs and he crouches down with Max, internally shoving his emotions to the back of his mind because those are too complicated to deal with right now.

“How about I carry you and your grandpa carries Ben? We can walk next to each other so you can still hold onto him,” Kevin suggests. Max’s expression brightens and he claps Kevin on the shoulder.

“Great idea, Kevin! How does that sound, Gwen?” Max says cheerfully. Gwen regards them both before nodding slowly. She pushes Ben away from her and allows Max to stand and cradle him in his arms. Kevin then picks Gwen up and stands in a similar manner and holds her towards Max so she can arrange Ben the way she wants. She gently tucks Ben’s Omnitrex close to his chest while she takes his right hand in hers. Max nods to Kevin and they both start walking. Luckily the staircase is wide enough for both of them. Small miracles. They make it to the top of the stairs and everything is going great until Gwen suddenly shrieks once they make it to the main room. Kevin doesn’t understand why she’s screaming but Max does and he swears under his breath.

“I thought I told them to lock them in the ship!” Max mutters angrily. Kevin realizes now that Gwen screamed because she saw her captors. And god dammit, now Ben’s awake. Ben’s eyes shoot open and he wrenches himself from Max’s arms pulling Gwen down to the ground with him. His eyes rapidly scan each figure in the room and then the open door. Kevin expects him to bolt for the exit but his eyes lock onto the four aliens that held them captive. And Ben actually leaves Gwen in Kevin and Max’s care as he lunges for the tied up aliens. He weaves past the Plumbers on guard as they try to stop him with way more energy than Kevin was expecting. Ben then barrels into one of the bound aliens knocking them both to the floor and grabs them by their collar with both hands before he starts slamming their head repeatedly into the floor. Gwen has stopped shrieking but she’s whimpering in Kevin’s arms as she watches with wide eyes as her cousin doesn’t stop his assault. He’s switched targets to the other three still standing; punching the aliens hard enough for them to fall flat on the ground, his strength definitely enhanced by his mix-and-match arms. And he doesn’t hold back. Ben swings at them frantically, jumping between them even when they go limp underneath him.

Max has to pry Ben off of them like he’s wrangling a wild animal. Ben is snarling and spitting to try and get back to trying to maul the aliens that held him and Gwen as prisoner. Max curses and drops Ben and only when Max turns around does Kevin see a bite mark. Ben bit his grandpa’s arm. Ben tries to continue his attack but the other Plumbers quickly overwhelm him. One of them straps a muzzle to his head though Kevin isn’t sure where and why they had one. Ben yells in frustration at being restrained and that’s the only warning Kevin has before Gwen elbows him right in the gut. It knocks the wind out of him and he drops Gwen as a result. He doubles over coughing and tries to get his breath back and as he’s wheezing, he sees Gwen try and use her mana to pull the Plumbers off of Ben but she was right earlier. Something is blocking her abilities so all she’s really doing is physically attacking the Plumbers. She’s trying to use her martial arts skills but it’s clear that desperation is dulling her normally precise movements. Still, she’s a force to be reckoned with. The Plumbers eventually clamber off of Ben and give the two of them space. Ben’s still riled up and breathing hard from struggling but as soon as he sees Gwen, he rushes to her, his body returning to complete human form. He puts his now human hands on either side of her head and touches their foreheads together briefly before he scans her for injuries. Gwen allows him to assess her before pushing his hands aside so she can check him. He doesn’t give her the chance though because he pulls her to his chest and glares at everyone in the room with lips pulled back to show his teeth. Kevin is starting to feel frustrated because what little trust he built up with Ben and Gwen has been ruined by the other Plumbers. Well, here goes something. Kevin walks over and crouches down in front of them. Gwen’s eyes seem to clear up and she smiles but Ben growls at him through the muzzle.

“I’m gonna take that off so don’t bite me,” Kevin announces. Gwen pointedly stares at Ben and the aggressive display of exposed teeth and growling disappears but it doesn’t stop how intensely Ben is watching Kevin’s every move. Kevin doesn’t walk behind Ben, he probably wouldn’t let him, and instead faces Ben as he unbuckles the muzzle. It’s harder since Kevin is just doing it by sense of touch alone but he undoes it fairly quickly and tosses it aside. Ben regards him and it’s the most human expression he’s made thus far. It’s almost reminiscent of the look that Ben gives Kevin when he does something ‘heroic’.

“Alright, enough with the drama. Let’s get you both back to Earth, okay?” Kevin says as he grabs one Tennyson in each arm around their torsos like unruly cats. They’re both worryingly light but Kevin will accept it for now if it means he can carry them together. Amazingly, neither of them struggle in his arms as he marches them towards the exit. It’s another staircase up to the surface but neither of them are heavy and Kevin thinks it’s fine that he’s carrying them. It’s what a team does. If his team is weak, he needs to be strong and support them. Ugh, when did I get so soft?

It’s only when they reach the doorway at the top of the stairs that Ben gets antsy and wriggles out of Kevin’s grip and lands on his knees on the steps. Kevin places Gwen next to him before she can try and get out of his arms and hurt herself. Ben is staring outside like he’s never seen it before. But to be fair, his simplified brain has only known that prison cell. Kevin walks ahead of them to at least show Ben it’s safe. Gwen stands and follows behind him. Ben looks like he’s about to pull her back until Gwen crouches down in front of him.

“You don’t need to say anything. We can go whenever you’re ready,” Gwen says soothingly as she cups Ben’s cheek. Ben nods and stares out beyond the door. Kevin watches the Plumbers behind Ben to make sure they don’t approach too quickly or loudly to spook him. They’re being smart and keeping their distance thankfully. Otherwise Kevin isn’t sure he wants to deal with Ben freaking out and realizing he can’t go back to his safe corner inside his cage. Gwen eventually stands up from her crouch which has Ben doing the same. He steps forward hesitantly before looking to Gwen for reassurance. She smiles at him and offers her hand, which he readily takes.

Ben’s looking around nervously like there could be threats but there’s nothing but empty streets and decorative trees overlooking a large body of water. Kevin idly wonders if Ben thinks he’s on Earth on not some planet lightyears away. Gwen nods to Kevin and he takes the lead to getting them to the ship. They get to the loading ramp of the ship when Kevin hears Ben’s shoes shuffling like he got startled. Kevin whirls around and sees that Ben has turned around and pressed his back as close as possible to Gwen. His teeth are bared and there’s a low growl coming from his chest. The Plumbers had emerged from the underground hideout and of course that scared Ben. But with so much open space and no way to get back to his safe room, Ben is frozen. Kevin clicks his tongue in annoyance, which has Ben turning his head so he can look between Kevin and the rest of the Plumbers.

“Lead the way, Tennyson. I ain’t gonna stand out here all day,” Kevin drawls as he crosses his arms over his chest, hoping he comes off nonchalant enough for Ben to lower his guard. And that Ben remembers all the good things Kevin just did for him. Ben regards him briefly before transforming into some combination of Cannonbolt, Echo Echo, and Goop. He then scoops Gwen up and curls into a ball before multiplying into copies and rolling away in different directions. The Plumbers freak out and start chasing after the different versions of Ben. His strategy is surprisingly smart, it gives Kevin some hope that he’ll be able to recover, but Kevin can already tell which one is the real one. It hasn’t even been that long knowing this skittish, traumatized version of Ben. It’s obvious he’d want the most enclosed space possible which is the inside of the ship seeing as he can’t go back down to the room.

Kevin ambles up the ramp and is proud of himself for being right. Ben is hunched over Gwen protectively in the smallest corner of the ship. He growls at Kevin’s approach initially but stops once he sees who it is even without Gwen’s reassurance. “How did you know?” Gwen asks, sounding surprised.

“I think I’ve got him figured out now,” Kevin supplies. Gwen smiles at him.

“Are you going to tell the others?” Gwen asks, the smile dropping from her face. Her voice quivers slightly like she’s afraid of the Plumbers too. Kevin shakes his head.

“Nah, let them chase the fake versions of Ben. They’ll figure it out once Ben calls the copies back.” Then Kevin sits a little ways away from them to give them space. Ben seems a bit nervous about the new environment and sidles close to Gwen. His posture is tense and still but he isn’t looking around like he thinks there are threats in the room. It’s like how he acted back in their prison cell. He knew he could protect Gwen in that space but it was a matter of when there was going to be a threat. Gwen on the other hand keeps twitching her head around like she’s looking for danger in the various nooks and crannies of the ship. Kevin is about to speak up and soothe her but Ben beats him to it with a paw hugging her close and a soft rumbling sound coming from his chest. She relaxes into him and hums in response, her eyes drifting closed. Kevin doesn’t move from his spot and simply watches the Tennysons get used to their surroundings. He feels like an outsider but when Gwen and Ben have only been with each other held prisoner inside of a room for months, of course he’s going to feel like an outsider.

After a few minutes, blobs of green goo slither across the floor from the door to the ship and re-form as Ben’s copies before returning to him. Ben promptly transforms back to human form with only a few armor plates covering his arms and his hands looking like Echo Echo’s.

“The Plumbers will be back soon. Think you both’ll be okay?” Kevin asks.

“It’ll be weird but I think we can manage,” Gwen replies. Ben frowns but he seems amicable enough. Sure enough, the Plumbers start filing back in with Max walking in last. His arm is bandaged where Ben bit him but Gwen and Ben don’t react to seeing it. Normally they’d be apologizing for hours but whatever they went through has them both content with the outcome. Max walks towards Ben and Gwen with a sad smile on his face. They both watch him unblinkingly but Ben doesn’t growl at his approach. Kevin keeps an eye on them just in case he needs to step in. It’s kinda sad that he’s considered more trustworthy than their own grandpa now.

“Hey kids, are you settling in?” Max asks casually. Ben doesn’t respond, duh, and Gwen gives a chirpy ‘mhm!’. “Do you want any blankets or food?” Max inquires. Gwen processes the question and Kevin sees Ben swallow.

“It wouldn’t hurt,” Kevin says for the Tennysons. He gets up and walks away from them, gesturing with his chin for Max to follow him. “When you give them the food and water, Ben’s gonna be weird about it but just let him do his thing,” Kevin explains once they’re out of earshot of Gwen and Ben.

“What do you mean?” Max questions.

“I gave them food and water before and Ben wouldn’t let Gwen have any until he had it first. He’s gonna walk around for about fifteen minutes before he gives anything to Gwen,” Kevin explains. Max hums in thought as he picks up some water bottles and rations and a blanket.

“That makes sense. The aliens that had them prisoner were running experiments on them,” Max says in a hushed tone. Kevin bristles and he clenches his fists. Max continues. “They wanted to know how to defeat Anodites and once they found a way to nullify Gwen’s powers, they had wanted to simply torture her.”

“I’m gonna pound them to dust,” Kevin threatens. Max’s gaze hardens; his eyes narrowing, brows furrowing, and lips drawn down in a slight frown.

“I want to just as much as you do but we have to follow protocol on this,” Max insists without leaving room for argument. Then his expression evens out in a way that shows his age. Looking into Max’s eyes, Kevin can see the years catching up to him with how weathered his wrinkles are and how tired his eyes are. “In the end, Ben got the worst of the torture because they had wanted the reputation of defeating Ben Tennyson. Or rather, that was the reasoning they gave.”

“Gwen mentioned they switched to only torturing Ben because he became too violent when they tried to take her away,” Kevin supplies. Max raises his brow but he remains silent. “Sounds to me like they didn’t want to sound like complete losers for getting their asses handed to them by Ben. Still, did they say what they did to Ben?” Kevin demands.

Max shakes his head. “No, but it’s not like knowing is going to help Ben right now.” Max sighs and adjusts the food, water, and blanket in his arms so he can pinch his eyes and the bridge of his nose. He runs his hand down his face before taking a breath and continuing. “Both of them are going to need extensive therapy and rehabilitation. Ben’s going to need speech therapy for sure,” Max explains. “How am I going to explain this to their parents?” he mutters under his breath. Kevin sighs and runs his hand through his hair. It’s frustrating that he can’t punch his problems away and he can’t punch Ben and Gwen’s problems away. Max sees Kevin’s irritation and puts a hand on his shoulder and smiles.

“They’re gonna need you by their side to help them through this,” Max says. He pats Kevin’s shoulder before walking back to Gwen and Ben with the water bottles, food, and blanket. Kevin follows behind and stands where he can supervise the interaction. Ben and Gwen are still huddled sitting cross-legged on the ground but they turn in sync upon Max’s approach and watch his every move. Ben moves in front of Gwen when Max crouches down with the supplies, his arms back to normal. Ben’s eyes narrow and his lips curl back to show his teeth but he doesn’t growl. Not until Max extends the food towards him does he start growling. Seeing that Max looks a little lost and Gwen isn’t speaking up, Kevin clears his throat. Three sets of eyes look at him.

“Set it down, he’s not gonna take it otherwise,” Kevin instructs. Max nods and sets the food and water down before backing up. Ben stops growling and watches Max step away. Only then does he snatch the food and water. Interestingly, he spares Kevin a glance and blinks slowly at him before turning his attention to what’s in his hands. Ben does as he did before with the water: unscrewing the lid and drinking a mouthful before pacing around. Only this time, Ben falters once he stands up. He glances around at how much space he has and how many people are in the room. He whines long and sad like a lost dog at his predicament.

“What’s wrong, Ben?” Max asks. Ben doesn’t respond nor does he acknowledge Max; he’s too much in his own head. Gwen seems similarly frozen as she has a rather vacant stare down at her hands. It’s like she wants to eat and drink but because Ben didn’t finish his role, she can’t continue. Man, Kevin would kill those aliens if he could. They really messed up his friends. And anyone that messes with his friends deserves to get messed up themselves. But Kevin quells his anger and frustration because Ben is already looking at him defensively. How the guy can sense aggression now is terrifying. Ben’s expression evens out and he starts walking back and forth, seeming to have come to some conclusion.

Kevin is rather amazed. Ben is pacing the same length he was back in his prison cell. Gwen perks back up now that Ben is moving again and is watching him. Ben finishes walking and hands Gwen the bottle he had even though it’s been way longer than fifteen minutes. Maybe Ben has been counting his steps the whole time instead of waiting fifteen minutes. Regardless, Ben takes a ration and opens it, takes a bite, then hands it to Gwen which is a change in what he did last time. Still, Kevin is glad he changed it up because now Gwen can eat and drink without waiting for Ben’s weird ritual.

Ben seems to remember that Max is there with a blanket and he looks at it longingly. His eyes dart between Max’s face and the blanket in his hands. Max blinks in understanding and walks forward slowly to place it on the ground for Ben before stepping next to Kevin. Ben sets down his food and water to inspect the blanket. He crawls forward a little and snatches the blanket from where it’s folded on the ground. It spreads out from the movement and Ben meticulously examines it. For what, Kevin isn’t sure but Ben ends up rubbing the fabric over his bare arm and furrowing his brow. He drags the blanket over to where he can sit close to Gwen while keeping an eye on Max and Kevin. Gwen watches him as she eats her food as if she’s curious about his thought process too. Ben shakes the blanket a bit before looking at his arm where he rubbed the fabric on it. Seemingly satisfied with his whatever he was doing, Ben drapes the blanket over Gwen’s shoulders with a smile before finally opening his food and water. Gwen returns the smile and pulls the blanket closer around herself.

“Thank you, Ben. And thank you grandpa!” Gwen thanks. Ben’s eyes dart to Max after Gwen mentions him and he huffs before offering him a smile. Like after Gwen’s approval of him and the proof the food, water, and blankets were safe, Ben is now okay with his own grandpa.

Rex opens his eyes to darkness and a weight in his arms. He’s not entirely sure why he’s awake given that the alarms aren’t blaring signaling an EVO attack. Looking around his room, it appears that nothing is amiss. Including the weight in his arms as he recalls that Ben stopped by his universe for a simple visit. His boyfriend is sleeping somewhere between on his side and on his stomach but most definitely on top of Rex. It had only taken one night way back when they first started sleeping in the same bed for Bobo to complain about Ben’s snoring and it took one more night to figure out that Rex’s bed was just hard enough that if Ben slept on his back he snored. So the sleeping arrangement was adjusted so Ben would sleep either on his side or on his stomach, which was fine by Rex because that would mean Ben would be sprawled out over his chest regardless.

Sensing that nothing was actually amiss, Rex decides that he’ll try and fall back asleep. That is, until he hears Ben stirring in his sleep. Rex freezes, worried that he somehow woke Ben up with his thinking but Ben’s eyes remain closed. Then Ben starts mumbling as his face becomes pinched and tense. His breaths become rapid and unsteady like he’s in the middle of running from danger so Rex shakes Ben to try and wake him up. Only it doesn’t work. If anything, it only seems to make things worse. Ben flails uncoordinatedly within the tight quarters of Rex’s cot, his arms now hitting mostly Rex and anything else around him. His mumbling turns into half shouts and cries that don’t sound like anything comprehensible to Rex but he can hear the desperation all the same.

“Ugh, great, now the kid’s got nightmares on top of the snoring,” Rex hears Bobo groan from across the room. “I’m outta here.” And with that, Bobo trudges out of the room with a blanket in tow most likely to the gym or a random lab room to sleep. Which leaves Rex alone with Ben now as the brunette is getting increasingly upset.

“Now I can’t ask Bobo what he meant,” Rex grouses as he blocks a flailing limb. “Ben, c’mon man wake up! I didn’t even know nightmares could make you move in your sleep like this!” Rex manages to pin Ben’s arms to his sides by hugging him only to get headbutted for his efforts. He blinks the stars from his vision and narrowly avoids a second impact by shifting his head slightly. He can taste blood in the back of his throat so he keeps his head tilted back to keep it from running out of his nose. Rex entwines his legs around Ben’s to keep him from kicking too since he got very close to getting kneed in the crotch. With Ben properly immobilized, Rex takes a deep breath and focuses on Ben’s babbling. He’s still not actually saying anything coherent but his voice is becoming more strained. Either Ben is closer to waking up or he’s falling deeper into his nightmare because Rex can actually pick out words in his noises.

“Nngh, nno! Let…go! L…let me ggo!” Ben struggles. Rex has him pinned from his elbows up so he’s not too worried about Ben hitting him but he hears some beeping accompanied by a green glow and he’s trying to turn on the Omnitrex in his sleep! Ben whacks his wrist against Rex and the bed a couple times like he’s trying to pop the dial up. Then he must figure out, still in his sleep that he can mess with the Omnitrex behind his back. Rex can see the glow from whatever hologram Ben has selected so Rex loosens his hold so he can snatch Ben’s left wrist away from him. Ben’s writhing and half-speaking returns with a vengeance as he tries to free his hand from Rex’s grip. He flails his left elbow the best he can and ends up knocking it into the wall a couple times before realizing he could push them over the edge of the bed.

They both tumble onto the floor in a heap with Ben momentarily stunned from getting the wind knocked out of his lungs and the fact he probably hit his ulnar nerve in his bid for escape. Either due to the delay in time between popping the dial and activation or the reset button was hit in their fall, the Omnitrex became inactive, the harsh glow from before retreating to its usual one. Rex takes the opportunity to pin Ben onto his back and straddle his hips then building his Smack Hands to immobilize Ben’s arms. He forces them straight on either side, keeping slightly more pressure over Ben’s left wrist so he couldn’t wriggle the Omnitrex. Now that it isn’t imminent that Ben transforms into an alien in his sleep, Rex can catch his breath.

Except, now Ben is suspiciously quiet and still beneath him. Rex strains his ears for even the sound of Ben breathing and that raises alarm bells in Rex’s head. Ben’s face is slightly distressed but is bordering on serene, which is a shocking contrast from earlier. Right as Rex leans forward to see if Ben’s chest is even moving, his green eyes shoot open and he’s immediately gasping for air like he broke the surface in a lake. Rex leans back in fright but he keeps his hold on Ben. His green eyes nearly glow in the dark but they’re hazy and unfocused. They keep trembling and darting around, not entirely seeing Rex over him. Rex reasons that they’re seeing whatever Ben was seeing in his dreams. Rex waits patiently for Ben to fully wake up and come to his senses but as the minutes tick on and Ben’s breathing is still heavy, Rex speaks up.

“Ben, it’s me, Rex,” he assures softly. Ben shakes his head imperceptibly. Rex can feel him straining to lift his arms underneath his Smack Hands. Then he tests out how free his legs are and Rex only has a millisecond of warning before Ben attempts to raise and twist his hips to throw him off. Lucky for Rex, he builds the Punk Busters so he’s now very stable. Ben isn’t going anywhere.

“Rex wouldn’t- he wouldn’t imprison me. You’re just wearing his face,” Ben hisses. And that sends Rex’s heart straight into the floor. He still thinks he’s dreaming, right? “You’ll never get the Omnitrex. If you want it so badly, you’ll have to kill me first!” Ben challenges.

“Wha- no! Ben, snap out of it! Seriously, I’m not going to hurt you!” Rex insists. Ben barks a laugh right in his face.

“Yeah right! Everyone that pins me like a bug plans on hurting me!” Ben counters, the white of his teeth flashing in the darkness. He’s putting on a brave face with his usual smolder but Rex can feel him trembling underneath him. Rex wasn’t sure he wanted to know that this is a reoccurring thing that happens to Ben. That makes this all the more depressing. He’s aware that Ben goes through some crazy stuff in his universe but to have multiple kidnappings and threats on his life all because of his alien watch to the point it haunts him in his dreams is…horrifying? Unsettling? Maybe having amnesia is a benefit because Rex doesn’t ever dream like that except for when he’s put under for nanite extractions. Rex furrows his brow and disassembles the Punk Busters, hoping that Ben doesn’t try and buck him off again. He wants to release him because it’s becoming clearer that Ben can’t distinguish that what’s happening now is different than every time before. And Rex doesn’t particularly want to add to the pattern.

“If I let you go, will you use the Omnitrex?” Rex asks. Ben snorts at him.

“Duh, of course I will,” Ben retorts with an eye roll.

“Then I can’t let you go, Ben. I don’t want you attacking me,” Rex sighs. They’re at a stalemate now and Ben is glaring up at him, still not quite seeing Rex. To be fair, the room is still dark. Rex mentally smacks himself in the head for this oversight. Maybe if I turn the lights on, Ben can see what’s going on? Rex takes a breath and disassembles his left Smack Hand. He leans forward and bends his elbow so his forearm is now what’s bracing Ben instead of his hand. With his hand free, he can communicate with the nanites in his room. Blue circuitry spreads from his hand accompanied by the usual chirping from the microscopic robots as Rex turns on the lights abruptly. Ben recoils at the sudden brightness in the room, turning his head and screwing his eyes shut. His right hand shifts under Rex’s like he wants to cover his face from the offensive lights. Rex waits patiently for Ben to adjust to the change in brightness and recognize him so they can address this or put this all behind them. After a minute or so, Ben slowly opens his eyes and glances at Rex from the corner of his eye. Then he turns his head so he can see Rex straight on.

“Great, now I can see you’re wearing my boyfriend’s face to get to me,” Ben snarls. “Don’t think this changes anything, whoever you are!” And, oh boy, Rex’s sinking feeling has gotten deeper than that trench he and Six met Serge in. He wants Ben to look to his left and see the Smack Hand pinning his arm because who else in their shared universe can do that? But then again, with the amount of tech in Ben’s universe, it might not make a difference. Rex is running out of ideas for getting Ben to recognize him.

“Ben, it really is Rex! What can I do to convince you I’m not someone wearing my face?” Rex asks, bordering on begging. “Do you need to, like, feel my face to prove it?” Ben scoffs and rolls his eyes.

“It might help convince me,” Ben agrees. Rex nods and leans back, freeing Ben’s right arm. Ben flexes his fingers and stretches his arm but Rex is still on guard. Turns out, that was the right call because Ben reels his arm back and tries to punch Rex right between the eyes. Rex catches his fist in his palm and deflects it before grabbing Ben’s wrist.

“Seriously, dude?” Rex yelps. Ben tries to yank his hand back but Rex is still stronger than Ben so he’s unsuccessful. Rex takes Ben’s hand and pulls it to his face so he can touch it but Ben hasn’t uncurled his fingers from when he tried to punch him. “I’m not gonna let you go but if you relax your hand, you can feel if I’m wearing a mask or whatever,” Rex instructs. Ben gives him a skeptical look but he does unclench his fist. Slowly, Rex brings Ben’s fingers to his face and lets him feel around his skin for whatever it is he thinks Rex is wearing. His blunt nails scratch against Rex’s chin, cheeks, and forehead as if feeling for an actual mask. Ben then has his whole palm over Rex’s eyes and he grips his cheekbones like he can pull this supposed mask from his face. Seeing as the only thing covering Rex’s face is skin, Ben’s eyes widen.

“If you’re really Rex, tell me something only Rex would know,” Ben challenges hesitantly. Something only I would know? How specific does he want me to be? Rex swallows the lump in his throat at the pressure of proving his innocence. The stakes never felt higher and Rex is sweating as the seconds tick by. He doesn’t want to take too long to think of something because that would be suspicious but he doesn’t want to say something too vague that Ben could discredit. Rex’s eyes widen and he smiles, deciding on his fact.

“The day we first met, I only asked that you trust me and you knew I was going to shoot you out of my Slam Cannon,” Rex settles on. The words slowly sink in and Ben’s eyes lose their defensive, sharp edge. Then his green eyes widen and he looks like he’s about to panic again until he just…sort of shuts down. Like after deciding that Rex wasn’t wearing a mask, the false bravado fell away and a different “mask” was put on. Ben takes a deep breath and goes limp underneath Rex. Seeing that Ben was no longer trying to fight him, Rex disassembles his remaining build and allows Ben his freedom. The brunette sits up and inspects the bruising that appears on his bare arms. Rex valiantly looks anywhere but Ben’s arms, opting to study his face instead. Ben, feeling eyes on him, looks up at Rex’s face and winces. Ah right, his nose.

“Geez, did I do that?” Ben asks lightly. “I’d say people would think I was abusive but we’ve both got bruises.” The joke is in poor taste but Rex thinks commenting on it now would only drive Ben away so he lets Ben continue his layers of façades. Even if his attempts at jokes fall flat.

“It’s okay,” Rex accepts. It’s not. “Though, I think we’re gonna have to stop sleeping together because I don’t particularly want a repeat of tonight,” Rex points out. Ben laughs but it sounds stilted, scripted even. Like the kinds of laughs he has for the cameras and reporters.

“I didn’t think I was that good a fighter in my sleep,” Ben jokes. Rex frowns but he knows what Ben’s doing. Rex does this all the time after all. He deflects to lighten the situation even if it’s not the right time or place. Because the world is full of horrors and you have to stay sane somehow. Rex quickly replaces his frown with a smile he knows doesn’t look real and chuckles at Ben’s expense.

“As if! It was like trying to wrangle Bobo if he was wearing a blindfold!” Rex retorts playfully. Ben’s positive farce only lasts so long before he curiously reaches out and gently touches the arch of Rex’s nose. Rex feels a dull ache there until Ben presses down and he hisses in pain. Guess when Ben headbutted me, it bruised. “I heal fast,” Rex assures, knowing that Ben was going to fret over him. Ben frowns and withdraws his hand, green eyes scanning Rex for more bruising. Seemingly not finding any or he’s just mentally categorizing them, Ben finally looks around and takes in his surroundings. Thankfully nothing got destroyed, which Rex pats himself on the back for. Ben takes a couple deep breaths before standing up. He offers a hand to Rex and pulls him up from the floor when Rex takes his hand.

“I should probably get out of your hair then,” Ben mumbles. Rex hasn’t let go of Ben’s hand from when he helped him up so he gives it a reassuring squeeze.

“Do you want to talk about what happened?” Rex asks tentatively. Ben doesn’t meet his gaze; he keeps it firmly affixed to where their hands are connected. He’s quiet for a couple minutes and when he finally speaks, Rex flinches despite how quietly Ben speaks.

“What’s there to talk about?” Ben mumbles angrily as he lets go of Rex’s hands. He gives a subtle shake of his head before he raises it to meet Rex’s eyes. He has that fake smile plastered on his face again. It makes Rex feel distant and walled off from Ben. It hurts that Ben won’t open up about himself to him. He should know that I am the person who would understand what he’s going through the most so why doesn’t he tell me anything? Rex balls up his fists and tries not to let his frustration show on his face but judging by Ben tensing up, he failed. “Why don’t we just go back to sleep?” Ben suggests a little too cheerfully, no doubt intentionally ignoring Rex’s irritation. “I’ll just sleep on the floor or something so I don’t punch you in the face again.” Rex simply watches Ben settle on the floor without a blanket and bunch up his jacket under his head as a makeshift pillow. Rex rolls his eyes because of course Ben chose to sleep on his back on the floor so he can pretend to snore. Rex may be an idiot sometimes but he likes to think he knows Ben’s tricks. Fine, let him pretend to sleep. Rex takes the blanket from his bed and drapes it over Ben before padding out of the room and shutting off the lights.

“Sleep tight, I’ll be right back,” Rex whispers into the room, knowing that Ben would hear him. Ben doesn’t respond but Rex knows he got the message loud and clear. He probably shouldn’t be leaving Ben alone but he has questions that he knows Holiday will answer. He didn’t check the time so he feels guilty for most likely waking her up but he needs information. Rex checks her office first to see if she decided to fall asleep while working and sighs with relief that she actually went to her sleeping quarters this time. Then the guilt crawls back in for interrupting her much needed sleep. Huh, two green-eyed brunettes in my life working too hard to ever get any sleep. He knocks on her door and waits, listening carefully for any movement behind the door.

“It’s Rex,” he announces. “It’s not an emergency, I just have a question.” He hears shuffling on the other side followed by silence until the door opens. Holiday’s hair is down and her pajamas are slightly askew. If younger Rex were standing here, he’d consider himself the luckiest man alive to be seeing Holiday like this. Considering he’s happily with Ben, and he’s been quite invested in Holiday and Six’s relationship, she’s simply a tired doctor standing in front of him. “Sorry to wake you Holiday but Ben had a nightmare and I’m not sure why he acted the way he did.” Her eyes flit to the middle of his face, where his bruised nose is.

“Did he hit you in his sleep?” Holiday asks, gently taking his face and inspecting the bruising. Her brows are furrowed and her lips pursed, like she wants to have a word with Ben after he wakes up. Holiday isn’t really his mom but right now, she really feels like one. Ready to defend him and get to the bottom of his hurts.

“Yeah, but I don’t blame him. He was having a nightmare and thought I wasn’t me,” Rex explains. “Which is what I wanted to ask about. Is it normal to try and fight someone while you’re asleep?” Holiday stills, averting her gaze as she mulls over the question.

“Yes, but it’s because the nervous system between the brain and the muscles fails to paralyze your body while you’re asleep. That means that whatever you’re doing in your dreams reflects in real life,” Holiday explains. “Is this what happened with Ben?” Rex nods. Holiday sighs and retracts her hand from Rex’s face and places it on her chin contemplatively. “It’s possible that Ben has REM sleep behavior disorder but he’s rather young to be having it,” Holiday mumbles to herself. Rex shifts and twiddles his fingers, which Holiday notices. “I take it you know more about why this might be happening?”

Rex debates whether or not to tell Holiday about what happened when Ben woke up but then figures there’s no use lying to her. Besides, she’ll be able to come to a conclusion on how to help Ben. “Even when he woke up, he was still acting like whatever he saw in his dreams was real. He thought I was an imposter trying to steal the Omnitrex from him. Probably because I was holding him down but I had to hold him down! He was trying to activate the Omnitrex in his sleep! It wasn’t until I convinced him I wasn't trying to steal the Omnitrex that he stopped fighting me. I’m not even sure he was aware he was awake until then.” Holiday purses her lips and walks away from the door. She paces around in her room, chin in her hand while Rex hovers in the doorway. He doesn’t want to interrupt her thought process. After a couple moments, Holiday looks up.

“Then the REM sleep behavior disorder probably stems from tactile memories of being held down while his captors tried to steal the Omnitrex. His body probably has a hard time differentiating between an actual threat and a perceived threat, even in his dreams. You know, this is a symptom of post-traumatic stress disorder. Have you asked him about any of this?” Holiday extrapolates. Rex shakes his head. Holiday sighs. “You should sometime. Maybe he’ll open up about it and we can work on finding ways to prevent him from hurting you in his sleep again.”

“I already took away sleeping together privileges until we find a solution,” Rex chuckles, pointedly not commenting on the ‘maybe he’ll open up about it’. He knows Ben won’t open up about it. At least not tonight. He really wishes Ben would talk to him but what could he even say? Sorry you have nightmares so real that your body reacts to it like you’re awake?

“Good. I know you care about helping him but you shouldn’t get hit for it,” Holiday points out. Rex shrugs and looks at the floor.

“Yeah, well, I kinda bruised his arms too from holding him down,” Rex says sheepishly. “So we both have injuries from tonight.” Holiday sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose.

“I have half a mind to zip Ben inside of a sleeping bag,” Holiday grumbles. Rex snickers at the mental image of Ben wiggling inside of an enclosed sleeping bag instead of trying to fight him in his sleep. It lessens the hurt of Ben pushing him away.

“Not a bad idea,” Rex agrees. “Thanks for everything, Holiday. I’ll let you get back to sleep.” Rex waves goodbye to Holiday and hears her shut her door with a click. He pads back to his room, hoping that Ben hasn’t moved from where he “fell asleep”. Unfortunately, Rex wouldn’t be so lucky. Rex nearly has a heart attack when he walks back to his room and sees Ben standing at his closet rummaging through everything. Rex tiptoes around to see if Ben’s eyes are open and they are in fact closed. Maybe I will zip Ben inside a sleeping bag so I don't wake up and he’s just standing there. It then occurs to Rex that Ben is talking to himself under his breath. He strains to catch what Ben’s even saying, wondering if it’s even coherent words.

“I checked in there already, don't worry,” Ben mumbles. Rex stands back and watches, wondering what will happen if he starts talking.

“Hey Ben, what’s going on?” Rex asks casually. Ben closes the closet door and turns to Rex, which is eerie. Then his eyes open. Rex smiles and waves as if he didn’t walk into his room with Ben standing at his closet while asleep. “You doing okay?” Ben blinks and looks around before his eyes drift to Rex’s.

“Yeah, I’m alright,” Ben replies belatedly. He forces a smile on his face. “Just looking if you have another blanket I could borrow!” That’s a lie. What shocks Rex more is the swiftness of the lie. Ben had only just woken up and he was already puzzling out how to explain why he was standing there. Not to mention, Ben’s usual tell of his left eye twitching didn’t even happen! There’s an ugly, twisting emotion in Rex’s chest that he can’t name but being constantly dismissed like this is making it worse. Rex frowns.

“Can you stop lying to me, Ben?” Rex demands, not even bothering to hide the annoyance in his tone. This makes Ben’s smile falter so Rex continues. “I just want to help you and you keep shutting me out! I thought that I was the one person who understood you and how it felt to be a hero. What changed in your head that I’m being treated like a civilian? Does Gwen even know you have nightmares this bad? Does Rook?” Rex rants. Ben’s smile has completely fallen from his face and is now replaced with a glower. His arms have crossed over his chest and he’s standing straighter, a posture of petulance.

“No, Rook doesn’t know and I want to keep it that way! And of course Gwen knows, she’s my cousin! We grew up together!” Ben’s eyes widen at his admission and Rex notices before Ben can school his expression back to what it was before. He clearly didn’t mean to let that slip, which means this problem has been happening for years. But Rex doesn’t want to jump to conclusions. He wants Ben to say it.

“There! You just tried to act like you didn’t say something important! You’re trying to avoid me again! Ben, c’mon! You hit me in the face, the least you can do is enlighten me on what’s going on with you!” Rex shouts. He knows he’s playing dirty by bringing up his bruised nose but he wants Ben to spill. Ben takes a deep breath and uncrosses his arms. Rex tries not to wilt once Ben’s eyes take on a dangerous edge to them. They hold a promise of the feral ferocity of a mountain lion with its back against a wall. Rex knows he should be calming Ben down instead of riling him up but his emotions are getting away from him. Holiday would chide him for it but those breathing exercises she suggested never worked for him in the first place.

They stay in this stalemate for what seems like ages; both of them in each other’s faces with clenched fists at their sides. Rex refusing to let Ben run away and Ben refusing to provide answers. The tension reaches a head when Ben reaches for the Omnitrex. Rex, seeing the movement, swiftly intercepts Ben’s left hand and pulls it away in an iron grip before Ben’s right hand can make contact with it. Ben cries out either in pain or frustration, Rex doesn’t bother to decipher it right now, before he tries to punch Rex in the face for the second time of the night. Rex blocks the attack easily and twists Ben’s left arm so it’s behind his back and kicks behind Ben’s knees forcing him flat on the ground. Rex sits himself on the back of Ben’s thighs so he can’t buck him off effectively pinning him to the floor. It’s quite similar to the hold he had on Ben earlier so Rex is having a sense of déjà vu. Except this time he doesn’t have Ben’s green eyes staring back up at him. Just the Omnitrex glowing its sickly green back up at him with an alien he doesn’t recognize on the dial.

“Rex, c’mon, get off me! This is entirely unnecessary!” Ben insists, doing his best to wriggle free from Rex’s hold. Rex uses his other hand to pin down Ben’s right hand above his head to still him. He doesn’t miss the strangled gasp underneath him. “Okay okay, seriously Rex, you can let me go!” Ben continues. Rex can hear his voice wobbling this time but he did an okay job at hiding it. Once he noticed the slight stammer in Ben’s voice, he realizes that Ben has stopped struggling and is now trembling instead. Like the last time Rex had him pinned.

“I’ll let you go if you tell me what’s going on, Ben,” Rex says evenly. Ben freezes, then tries to turn his head and look at Rex. He manages to train one green eye on Rex. And Rex almost feels the wind get knocked out of his lungs at how desperate Ben’s eye looks. It’s the familiar expression he sees in the eyes of children who have EVOs snapping at them with sharp fangs and too many teeth. The anger and frustration leave Rex feeling hollow. The comment Ben had made the first time Rex pinned him comes rushing to the front of his mind. ‘Everyone that pins me like a bug plans on hurting me, Ben had said. How could he be so stupid as to pin him again. Rex relaxes his hold on Ben, allowing the brunette to wiggle himself free if he wanted to. He doesn’t. He stays still and limp beneath Rex, his breathing strained like he’s trying to control it. Seeing as Ben wasn’t going to get up by himself, Rex stands up and gently picks Ben up to place him on his bed. Ben simply allows Rex to manipulate his position, his gaze glassy and distant. Rex leans Ben against the head of his bed, drapes the blanket over his legs, and arranges the pillows around him so he can sit upright. Then he waits for Ben to snap out of whatever it is that’s happening.

Rex eyes drift to the bruises on Ben’s arms where he held him down. Guilt settles in Rex’s chest at being the reason for those bruises. All of the adrenaline from trying to stop Ben from transforming has ebbed away. Rex sits with his knees to his chest trying to quell his tumultuous emotions. He needs to calm down because he clearly crossed a line he didn’t know was there and now Ben is catatonic in his bed. Rex wishes Holiday were here but it’s still late at night and he already woke her up once. He caused this; he needs to fix it. Rex focuses his attention to Ben whose breathing is no longer strained and controlled but rapid and panicky. Ben curls in on himself and fists his fingers into his hair, his eyes wide and haunted as his breathing turns into stuttering hiccups. Rex wracks his brain for what he could do to help Ben calm down and get some air. He sifts through what little of his memories he has of his life and finds one from the early days of being in Providence.

It was just after the incident with Dr. Fell when he had strapped Rex to a table to eliminate his nanites. Rex had woken up in his sterile, white room gasping and sobbing with no one to comfort him. He had longed for the soft touches and calming words from people he no longer remembered at the time but all he had was a fuzziness to his vision from lack of oxygen and an empty room. Eventually, Holiday rushed in because she saw him through the camera in his room and consoled him. She petted his head and told him to look at her and breathe like she did. It helped and Rex felt he was safe and taken care of.

She then asked him, “What are five things you can see?” Rex looked around and worried that there was too little in the room to see. He had answered the camera, the bed, the walls, the door, and Holiday.

“What are four things you can feel?” Rex wasn’t sure how to interpret that question so he told her how he felt emotionally. Holiday did her best not to laugh at his expense and clarified that she wanted to know what he physically felt. Rex had told her he could feel the blanket over his legs, how cold the room is, how sore he felt after the operation, and her hands in his hair. Holiday smiled and praised him but her brows were furrowed. Rex later realized it was because she felt bad about what happened with Dr. Fell.

“What are three things you can hear?” Rex had strained his ears and closed his eyes to listen more closely. Like the previous answers, there hadn’t been much to hear in the room. He answered with his heartbeat, Holiday’s breathing, and a caged EVO snarling. That one had surprised Holiday and she paused to listen for the EVO noises.

“What are two things you can smell?” That was an even harder question. Rex had detected the easy answer, her perfume, and he loathed to say the second, antiseptic. Holiday apologized for the antiseptic smell and promised him an actual room and not a cell meant to contain EVOs. Rex had been excited at the prospect of his own room but Holiday had said she had one more question for him.

“What is one thing you can taste?” Rex had wrinkled his nose at that one. He crossed his arms and stuck his tongue out childishly. Holiday chuckled and took pity on him. She gave him a piece of unlabeled hard candy and he identified the flavor for her. Holiday had praised him for answering her questions and gave his head one last pat before withdrawing from him. Rex had felt cared for and comforted and knew he wouldn’t be spending long in the too white room.

Rex brings himself back to the present with a deep breath as he adjusts his position to be kneeling in front of Ben. He then gently takes Ben’s hands out of his hair and positions them so Ben has both of his hands around Rex’s. Ben clenches Rex’s hand hard like he’s holding on for his life. Rex squeezes back, though not as intensely, as he runs his hand through Ben’s hair like Holiday had done for him. Rex swallows the ball of guilt and nerves in his throat at seeing Ben like this but he steels himself. He has to be Ben’s anchor while he’s adrift at sea.

“I don’t know if you can hear me, Ben, but you need to breathe with me, okay?” Rex ushers softly. He exaggeratedly takes very slow, deep breaths and waits for Ben to mimic him. Ben’s eyes acknowledge Rex and with a subtle nod, he follows Rex’s example. The distant look in Ben’s eyes becomes more focused as Rex guides his breathing. It takes a few repetitions for Ben to regulate his breathing but Rex can tell once he does because Ben relaxes his vice grip on Rex’s hand. He takes a solitary breath outside of Rex’s example and slumps into the pillows. But he keeps his gaze on Rex. It’s calculating and wary like a stray cat that was just handed a bowl of food. There’s a veneer of trust between them at the moment. Rex hopes he doesn’t screw it up. He takes a breath.

“What are five things you can see?” Rex asks softly. He takes his hand off of Ben’s head to force the lights on in the room. Not abruptly but bright enough that Ben could see distinct shapes and not just shadows. He then resumes petting Ben’s hair in slow rhythmic strokes. Ben regards him, clearly not expecting the question but there is recognition in his eyes. They wander the room before settling back to Rex.

“Bobo’s hammock, your closet, your handball, the Omnitrex, and you,” Ben answers. Rex nods encouragingly.

“What are four things you can feel?” Rex asks, emboldened by Ben’s participation. Ben closes his eyes and Rex knows he’s trying to focus on what he can feel.

“Your hand in my hands, your other hand in my hair, the blankets, and the pillows,” Ben answers, opening his eyes. Rex offers Ben a slight smile and a nod.

“What are three things you can hear?”

“Your voice, your fingers in my hair, and my heartbeat,” Ben decides on. Rex finds it interesting that Ben’s answers are different from his despite the circumstances being similar. When he was a kid, he didn’t even think of answering Holiday’s voice.

“What are two things you can smell?” Ben inhales and grimaces slightly.

“Bananas…and sweat,” Ben settles on. Rex chuckles at the ‘bananas’ answer. It brings him back to when Ben accidentally wore his jacket and commented that it smelled like bananas.

“And what is one thing you can taste?” Rex finishes. Ben purses his lips, clearly struggling to come up with something. Rex may not have a piece of candy to make this question easier but he does have an idea. “Can I give you a hand with this one?” Ben quirks a brow but a genuine smile makes its way onto his face as he nods. Like he knows what Rex is about to do just like when they defeated Alpha together. Rex withdraws his hand from Ben’s hair and leans forward slowly, closing his eyes as his lips connect with Ben’s. Ben makes a soft little whine in the back of his throat as Rex deepens the kiss. Ben sighs into his mouth before chasing Rex’s when he pulls away. It feels like a conversation without words, all of the earlier animosity between the two melting away between their tongues. Rex breaks away first and opens his eyes. His breath gets caught in his throat at the sight of Ben. Half-lidded eyes, slightly parted lips, and flushed cheeks. Rex smiles proudly to himself that his kissing was good enough to leave Ben in such a daze. It doesn’t make up for the earlier situations where Ben was left in a very different daze but it’s a step forward he hopes. Ben wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and huffs a laugh. Rex smiles and asks again, “What is one thing you can taste?”

“You,” Ben answers easily. Rex gives Ben a more chaste kiss this time right on the top of his head then brings Ben’s hands up to his face where he leaves tiny kisses along Ben’s knuckles. He keeps his lips pressed against the back of one of Ben’s hands and closes his eyes, the glow from the Omnitrex bleeding past his eyelids. He takes a breath.

“I’m sorry for earlier. I was hurt and angry that you were pushing me away and I ended up hurting you instead. I made you feel unsafe with me. I shouldn’t have pinned you down, at least not the second time. You don’t need to tell me anything you don’t want to, I’ll support you either way,” Rex says evenly. He should remember by this point that sometimes he needs to put his own pride and emotions aside because what he thinks is best for their partnership might not be the best for the other party. Rex opens his eyes and leans away from Ben, pulling his hand from Ben’s grasp. But Ben surprises him. He keeps his grip on Rex’s hand. Rex stares at Ben, wondering what’s going on inside his head. Based on the determined look in his eyes, it’s something important. Rex waits. Ben’s hands are trembling around Rex’s and he takes a shaky breath before speaking.

“The reason that Gwen knows about this is because she was there when it started,” Ben begins. He swallows nervously so Rex brings his free hand over to their clasped hands and places it over them with a gentle squeeze. He doesn’t say anything; he doesn’t nod his head to urge Ben to continue. He’s lucky to be getting answers right now. Ben takes a couple stuttering breaths and Rex exaggerates his slower breathing in case Ben needs to match his again. Ben takes notice and does actually follow along with Rex’s breathing until he is able to consciously breathe slower. He swallows again. Ben’s fingers twitch around Rex’s hand like he wants to fidget with something but he also doesn’t seem to want to let go of Rex either. Seeing as Ben is clearly struggling with this, Rex speaks up.

“You don’t have to say anything else,” Rex says gently. Ben nods.

“You can ask Gwen about it, I don’t mind,” Ben concedes. Deference. Rex finds that he’s okay with that. He’ll call Gwen later to ask but he’s a little afraid of what she might say if he tells her what happened. She’s beautiful but she’s terrifying sometimes. Same could be said for Ben actually.

“She won’t try and beat me up if I tell her about tonight, right?” Rex asks, hoping to lift the mood. Ben snorts before giggling to himself.

“Oh, she totally will,” Ben laughs. “Hope you know how to defend yourself against magic.” Rex groans exaggeratedly and runs a hand down his face.

“I’m so doomed,” Rex complains dramatically. Ben rolls his eyes and releases Rex’s hand so he can pat Rex on the shoulder reassuringly.

“I’ll bring you flowers at your funeral,” Ben says solemnly. Rex laughs heartily at the absurdity yet complete normalcy of their conversation. Then, he surprises himself with a yawn, which gets Ben laughing at him. “Third time’s the charm?” Ben asks. Rex rolls his eyes.

“I did say I was taking away sleeping together privileges but I have a couple ideas so maybe I’m taking back my decision,” Rex replies with a smirk. Ben raises a brow.

“Will I find out what these ideas are or will I be lucky and find out now?” Ben teases. Rex reclines against the pillows next to Ben since he looks too comfy to move them underneath the covers.

“Unfortunately, you’ll find out next time. For now, we’re gonna sleep sitting up this time. We’ll find out if you snore this way too,” Rex jokes as he closes his eyes. “Now sleep, I’m tired.” Ben chuckles and Rex feels him throw an arm over his chest and a leg over his before tucking his head under Rex’s chin. He can feel Ben’s breath on his bare skin and is overwhelmed by the sheer relief that Ben still wants to cuddle with him after everything.

This isn’t a new sensation for Rex but he’s come to know its presence like a looming shadow. It always starts out with a lack of feeling overall until something touches him. An EVO smacking him around, Holiday resting her hand on his arm while she gives him a checkup, Bobo slapping him on the back, or Six literally kicking him during a sparring session. Then every touch feels like fuzzy static that he absolutely craves like the gravitational pull of the moon on the ocean. He’ll make up reasons for Holiday to give him a health exam, he’ll roughhouse with Bobo to the other EVO’s chagrin, and he’ll demand that Six train with him just so Six could land a few hits. Without the contact, his skin just feels too empty and vast like a stagnant lake. Rex knows it’s not ideal, especially when he ends up with bruises from hitting his arm against corners while wrestling with Bobo or getting knocked around too much by Six. Holiday confronted him after his third “health scare” that day and the increasing number of bruises blooming across his skin.

“Rex, is there something you want to tell me?” Holiday asks suspiciously. Rex fidgets from where he’s seated on the scanner and tries not to look at her. Guess I’ll just rip off the bandage. Maybe Holiday will know what’s wrong.

“Is it normal to feel like your skin doesn’t fit but when someone else touches you, everything is okay again?” Rex confesses. Holiday’s eyebrows rise in shock before wrinkling in a way that’s all too familiar. Then she surprises Rex by giving him a hug. It feels like there’s an electrical current where Holiday is touching him and Rex honestly wants to cry with joy. She pulls away from the hug but keeps her hands on his arms.

“It is, Rex. It’s a normal response for a boy your age to want human contact. I know the conditions here aren’t conducive for that but we can try and help alleviate the feeling. Just let us know and we’ll do our best,” Holiday assures. “Why don’t you message Ben? I’m sure he’ll understand.” Rex perks up. Why didn’t he think of that before?

“That’s a great idea! Thanks Holiday!” Rex cheers as he gives Holiday a quick hug before hopping off the scanner. He dashes to his room and flops onto his bed, taking his phone out from his pocket. Ben had Kevin modify his phone the last time he was in their universe so that they can message without too much delay across dimensions. Rex pulls up Ben’s contact and shoots off a quick message that hopefully doesn’t sound too desperate. Okay, maybe it’s a little desperate but it’s fine because Ben is currently typing, which means he’s not in the middle of a fight with an intergalactic nuisance of the week. Rex’s phone pings with a new message and he feels like he’s vibrating with how elated he is. Ben is totally on board with his request for cuddles! A portal appears in the middle of Rex’s room and just as Ben walks through, Rex is right in front of it barely able to contain himself.

“Whoa, someone’s eager,” Ben teases, patting Rex on the chest. Rex backs up to let the portal close before scooping Ben up in his arms and carrying him to his bed. “Well, hello to you too, Rex!” Ben snickers.

“Hi Ben,” Rex finally greets breathlessly. He deposits them both onto the bed and arranges them so Ben is flush against him. It felt like sparks at first when he picked Ben up but now it’s dissolved to relaxing murmur that soothes his skin. But he needs more. The rest of his body thirsts for that rush of sensation to the point he wants to cry. He’s not sure he could explain to Ben that he needs the brunette to touch him everywhere so he can finally feel comfortable in his skin without coming off as crazy.

Ben watches Rex curiously, his green eyes glimmering with mirth. Rex wonders what it would be like to dive into them. Ben tilts his head and props himself up on his elbows, drawing contact away from Rex that he mourns. The brunette uses one hand to gently caress Rex’s face with calloused fingers. It sends little tingles wherever Ben’s pale skin touches his and he wonders if this is how the desert feels when it rains. Ben smiles all sweet and loving as Rex winds his arms over Ben’s back pulling him as close as possible.

“You weren’t kidding about wanting cuddles,” Ben comments. Rex’s jacket suddenly feels like it’s getting in the way. He needs more skin-to-skin contact.

“I need to take my coat off,” Rex says abruptly. Ben gives him an odd look but he gets off of Rex to allow him to sit up and frantically yank the red, leather jacket off of his body. Now it feels like his pants are too constricting but if he took his pants off, Ben might get the wrong idea. Rex looks back at Ben and he has an unreadable expression on his face. He really hopes Ben isn’t put off by this. “Sorry, I wanted to be able to feel you,” Rex admits sheepishly. Something seems to dawn on Ben if his widening eyes are anything to go off of.

“Are you touch-starved?” Ben asks. Rex furrows his brow.

“Is that what I’m feeling? Holiday said it was normal but she didn’t tell me it had a name,” Rex asks in turn. It certainly sounds accurate. He does feel like he’s starving for touch. Ben gives him a sympathetic look before pulling Rex into a hug, one hand in Rex’s hair and the other pressed against the space between his shoulders. He positions his legs so he’s in Rex’s lap with his calves squeezing the side of Rex’s thighs. He’s holding Rex tightly and it’s comforting but it doesn’t feel close enough. Rex wraps his arms around Ben and hugs him. He reaches his hand up Ben’s shirt to grip his skin, which elicits a small gasp from the brunette. Ben drags one of his hands down from Rex’s head all the way down to the hem of his shirt. He mirrors what Rex had just done and trails his full hand under Rex’s shirt, touching as much skin as he can. Rex shivers from the contact and squeezes Ben tighter, who grunts in response.

“Can’t breathe,” Ben wheezes as he taps Rex’s shoulder with the hand that isn’t under his shirt. Rex hastily loosens his grip and apologizes, recalling that Ben doesn’t always appreciate such constrictive holds. Ben sighs and takes a deep breath before resuming what he was doing. He pulls back and stares at Rex with the detail of a microscope and while it’s a little unnerving, Rex matches his gaze. Without speaking, Ben lowers his eyes and slowly pulls Rex’s shirt up exposing his skin to the cold air of the room. Rex merely follows along and lifts his arms up once his shirt is up to his chest. With the shirt gone, Rex’s skin feels both worse and better. It feels vastly empty but with the proximity to Ben, it’s electrically charged like it knows the void will be filled soon. Then Ben surprises him by taking his own shirt off.

“Skin-to-skin contact works best,” Ben mutters, as if he has to justify himself. Rex nods then pauses to fully take in Ben’s body. There are a few new bruises that he didn’t see the last time they saw each other but Ben is looking thinner. Rex doesn’t comment on it; now isn’t the time. Ben’s eyes also wander over Rex’s skin, no doubt categorizing his own new bruises to bring up later. Ben is doing what he can to help his situation; Rex shouldn’t add to his worries right now.

“Then is it okay if I take my pants off?” Rex asks hesitantly. Ben smirks initially before it melts into a sympathetic smile. Wordlessly, Ben sits up and unzips Rex’s pants. He hooks his fingers under the edge and pulls the fabric down, his knuckles dragging across Rex’s bare skin.

“Lift your hips up,” Ben orders softly. Rex obliges and his pants come off with some ease. Once Ben has his pants down to his knees, he starts to have some trouble. They are slim pants after all. Ben has a hand fully gripping Rex’s thigh as he attempts to yank the fabric off of him but his success has run out if his scrunched face and slightly bared teeth is any indication. Rex finds himself laughing at Ben’s expense earning a half-hearted glare sent his way.

“I got it, I got it,” Rex placates as he leans forward to get his pants off the rest of the way. Though, the entire time, Ben didn’t move his hand from Rex’s leg. He keeps it there with just enough pressure to ground Rex. Once Rex is fully disrobed except for his underwear, Ben looks him in the eyes. He licks his lips, averts his gaze briefly, before looking at Rex again.

“Do you want me to also-?” Ben starts, beginning to undo his own pants. Rex finds himself nodding. Ben returns the nod and removes his hand from Rex’s thigh so he can work on shucking his pants. He makes much quicker work of his own pants given that they’re way baggier than Rex’s and tosses them on the ground next to the rest of their clothing. Then he sits on Rex’s lap with his calves caging Rex’s thighs once more. Ben explores Rex’s chest with open palms, avoiding the bruising when he can. Wherever Ben is touching feels like someone warm touching frigid skin. It tingles and burns but god does Rex need more. Rex wraps his arms around Ben again and draws him closer, pulling both of them down until Rex is lying on his back and Ben has his fingers splayed over Rex’s chest. Ben searches Rex’s face for something before settling chest to chest with him and entwining their legs together. His forearms cage Rex’s head and he scoots himself down just so he can tuck his head under Rex’s chin. Nearly every inch of Ben is touching Rex but he feels like he needs more. He feels like he needs Ben under his skin, as creepy as that sounds. Rex wonders idly if this is what Breach’s thoughts about him were like.

“Ben, it doesn't feel like enough,” Rex says, not expecting how distraught he sounds. Ben pushes himself up and stares down at Rex, his brows furrowing.

“I’m not sure how much more of you I can touch right now,” Ben admits. Then his eyebrows shoot up in what must be a revelation. “I can turn into Goop? He can cover every inch of you.” Rex shakes his head, not missing the deflated look Ben has on his face.

“I don’t want to feel like I just cut my way out of an EVO,” Rex confesses. Ben’s downtrodden expression shifts to one of understanding and he tilts his head in thought.

“How about Upgrade then?” Ben suggests. Rex finds himself perking up at that proposal. Ben sits up so he can tinker with the Omnitrex before slamming the face of it when he picks out the hologram he wanted. In a flash of green light, Ben’s human form is replaced with a primarily black, blobby alien with green circuitry covering its body. Ben leans down and flattens himself over Rex like a blanket. Rex’s skin practically vibrates from how Ben is nearly enveloping him. He wonders if the feeling is actually their nanites thrumming against each other. In Rex’s eagerness, he starts absorbing Ben’s alien form much to the other’s surprise. Ben covers every inch of Rex, minus his face.

Rex exhales and sinks deeper into his bed. At last, he feels at ease. He feels like he’s in a hot bath except the water is Ben. Rex closes his eyes and immerses himself in the feeling of his and Ben’s nanites humming together. It’s exactly what he needed. Both his skin and cells are lovingly enveloped over every inch of him, extinguishing his burning desire for contact.

“Don’t fall asleep on me,” Ben chuckles. Rex grumbles a complaint, which has Ben laughing more. “Or do! The watch will time out eventually so enjoy this while you can.”

Passing through the temporal rift between dimensions, Rex’s tail is already wagging beyond his control. He can’t help that he’s always excited to visit his boyfriend! The portal closes behind him and Rex fully takes in that he’s in Ben’s room, like he had hoped. Only, the cat hybrid wasn’t present. Rex’s tail falls still upon the realization that Ben wasn’t there. He perks his dog ears up to listen for any telltale signs of anyone even in the house but he can’t really hear anything. It could be that everyone is just out for the day since a cursory glance out of Ben’s bedroom window signals that it’s midday.

Rex walks out of Ben’s room and peeks around the halls. There aren’t any sounds coming from Sandra and Carl’s room nor from downstairs. He tilts his head and listens again for any signs of life in the house before he goes outside to try and find Ben. Now that he’s out in the hallway, he can hear very soft breathing coming from the living room. Rex tiptoes down the stairs following the sound of the breathing and the sight that greets him has his tail wagging but he quickly snatches his own tail so the sound of it swishing in the air doesn’t disturb the scene.

Ben is asleep sprawled out on the couch. He has one arm strewn over the back of the couch while the other is dangling over the arm of the couch. His legs are mostly straight across the entire length of the couch though one knee is slightly bent. His brown, striped tail is hanging off the side twitching sporadically, reacting to whatever Ben is dreaming of. And, Ben’s black shirt has ridden up to reveal his pale midriff. Rex pieces together that Ben had most likely started his couch time sitting upright but as he lost consciousness, slowly sunk down in the couch thus his current position. He feels kinda creepy for staring and for the fact that his tail started wagging upon the immediate sight of the cat hybrid napping peacefully but hey, can you blame a guy? They’re past the stage of their relationship where they’ve already changed in the same room so Rex is well accustomed to how Ben looks without his shirt on but something about just his midriff showing has Rex excited. It’s like a creamy sliver of surprise that Rex wants to reach out and touch. Or just bury his face in. He reasons that this is the same feeling when you see a cat sleeping with its tummy exposed. Ben’s a cat hybrid so surely it’s the same?

Rex certainly has the same impulse to reach out and put his full palm on Ben’s exposed stomach like an actual cat. But that would wake Ben up from his much needed sleep. He barely gets any sleep these days so Rex really shouldn’t disturb him. But he really wants to. The milky skin of his belly is tantalizing in a way Rex is not willing to decipher too deeply at the moment. Is it because he’s a dog hybrid and showing underbelly is considered submissive? Is it because, as a dog hybrid, he feels the need to stick his nose into everything? Is it because Ben’s a cat hybrid and cats rarely show their underbelly thus making this a rare treat? Whatever the case, it’s like a siren call.

Rex lets his tail go and it’s back to wagging wildly. Stupid tail. Maybe if he deludes himself enough, he can simply be excited to see Ben in general and not because his midriff is exposed. Well, it can be both. As a treat. Rex slowly approaches Ben’s sleeping form and crouches down next to him. He tentatively reaches his hand out, palm open, towards Ben’s exposed belly. Even through gloves, Rex can tell that Ben’s skin is soft and pliant. He gives it a gentle squeeze but apparently that was enough to wake Ben up because suddenly, Ben is curling around Rex’s hand with his clawed fingers digging into Rex’s arm. Rex cries out from the pain of being impaled by 10 tiny knives. Does Ben ever cut his claws? What the heck!

“Rex?!” Ben exclaims, now fully aware that he’s sinking his needle-sharp claws into Rex and not an intruder. He sheathes his claws and uncurls from around Rex’s hand, which is still firmly planted against Ben’s midriff. Ben regards Rex’s hand before looking up at him with a brow raised. “Seriously, dude?” Rex offers him a sheepish smile.

“What? I couldn’t resist!” Rex admits, gently slapping Ben’s midriff. Ben snorts, his tail twitching in amusement.

“I’m not an actual cat y’know,” Ben says with a smirk.

“Yeah, an actual cat would have run away by now,” Rex counters, finally removing his hand from Ben’s abdomen to inspect his arm after rolling his jacket sleeve up. Thankfully, Rex only counts 6 little beads of blood. Ben’s cat ears fold back against his head, no doubt feeling guilty for attacking Rex in his sleep.

“Let’s clean those, I don’t want them to get infected,” Ben suggests. He sits up on the couch and swings his legs over to stand, pulling Rex up off his knees. He all but drags Rex to the kitchen sink where he washes the little puncture wounds with an efficiency and gentleness that tells Rex he’s done this before. Perhaps to Gwen and Kevin. Rex finds his tail wagging once more at the fact that Ben is taking care of him. Once Rex’s arm was cleaned and dried, Ben sighs and looks up at Rex. “So, care to explain why you came into my house just to touch my stomach?” Ben starts. Rex crosses his arms and looks up and away from Ben.

“Weeell, I didn’t come here just for that. I came for a visit and saw you napping and couldn’t resist,” Rex admits, finally looking down to meet Ben’s gaze. His green eyes appear amused, his slit pupils slowly rounding out. He blinks slowly leaving his eyes half-lidded. Holiday had told him some cat facts when he and Ben first started dating. She mentioned that cats blink slowly like that to show they trust someone. It has Rex’s heart soaring and his tail wagging faster. Ben peers around Rex and snorts, his own striped tail relaxed and still, the end curled slightly. It had taken Rex an embarrassingly long time to figure out that that means that Ben was amused or happy and that if his tail wags, he’s not happy.

“Hm, well since you interrupted my nap, guess your time here will be spent napping with me,” Ben decides. “Seeing as you can’t keep your hands to yourself.” He pads back to the couch before flopping back in the divot he left behind. Rex follows behind and looks at Ben with the best puppy eyes he can manage. Ben rolls his eyes and scoots closer to one side to give Rex room to lie on the couch as well. Rex then crawls on top of Ben and plants his cheek against Ben’s stomach. He doesn’t care that his legs have to be bent so he can fit on the couch. Ben chuckles at Rex’s behavior before carding his fingers through Rex’s hair. He scratches behind Rex’s ears and Rex feels like he’s in paradise. He’s partially aware that his tail is thumping the back of the couch every time it wags but Ben doesn’t seem to mind the repetitive noise.

Rex figures he threw caution to the wind the moment he placed his palm against Ben’s exposed midriff so with the same courage he uses for charging at EVOs, he pushes Ben’s shirt up so he can rest his cheek against Ben’s bare skin. He chances a glance up at Ben to gauge his reaction and finds that adoration shimmering in Ben’s green eyes breathtaking. Then, a soft rumbling that Rex can feel through where he’s lying on top of Ben has his ears perking up. Ben is purring. Rex nuzzles his face into Ben’s stomach, earning him an amused snort.

“I can’t believe you’re enjoying this,” Ben scoffs. Rex gives him a mock offended look before nipping Ben’s skin. The cat hybrid ‘mrrps’ in surprise before tugging on Rex’s ear in retaliation. Rex laughs and reaches an arm up to pat Ben’s chest.

“Sounds like you are too,” Rex says with a smirk. Ben’s purring stutters and he folds his arms over his chest, unintentionally pinning Rex’s hand against him, and flattens his ears against his head. “You can’t deny it.” Ben sighs deeply and unfolds his arms, his ears straightening as he resumes stroking Rex’s head. Rex withdraws his arm and lets it dangle over the side of edge of the couch.

“You’re lucky you’re cute. Otherwise I would’ve kicked you off the couch by now,” Ben grumbles. Rex chuckles and buries his face into Ben’s soft belly, enjoying the warmth. He should do this more often as stress relief. Ben always visits Rex when he needs to take a break and escape the limelight and Holiday does tell him he needs to find more relaxing activities when he’s off-duty. This is the purrfect option! Rex finds himself drifting into unconsciousness from Ben’s fingers scratching against his scalp, claws away of course, and the fact that Ben had resumed purring. The combined sensations the purring, rhythmic petting, and warmth from Ben’s bare skin is like a soothing balm to Rex’s brain. As he slowly falls asleep, he swears he hears Ben utter something under his breath but Rex has already been pulled into dreamland.