The cave was silent, save for the slow, echoing drip of water from its ceiling. Dust hung in the air like ghosts of time passed, and the stone walls were littered with the aftermath of rage: shattered equipment, scorched panels, fractured glass. Whatever once stood here as a laboratory had long since decayed into a tomb of bitterness and grief.

Ben stepped quietly over debris, his shoes crunching against broken circuits and discarded hopes. The glow of the Omnitrix dimmed on his wrist, as if even it could sense the weight of what was coming.

"Albedo…" Ben's voice was soft, like he was afraid speaking too loud would cause everything to shatter again.

In the darkest corner of the lair, slumped against a wall, sat a figure who barely resembled the arrogant genius Ben once knew. Albedo's white hair was a matted mess. His red eyes were dull, ringed with exhaustion. His usual red jacket, an inverted version of his own, was gone, replaced by an oversized blanket and a ragged scarf wrapped tightly around his midsection.

"Go away," came the response, hoarse and sharp, though trembling. Albedo didn't even lift his head. "You don't get to be here. Not now."

Ben didn't move. "I just… wanted to see you."

"You wanted toseeme?" Albedo laughed bitterly, a broken sound. "After vanishing for months—no word, no explanation—you show up toseeme like I'm some failed project you tossed aside?!"

Silence.

"Get out, Tennyson."

Ben took a step closer. "I know, Albedo… I know you're—"

"Don't!" Albedo snapped, voice rising. "Don't you dare pity me."

"I'm not pitying you," Ben said, gently, carefully. "I'm saying I know you're pregnant."

The words hit the room like a meteor.

Albedo's breath hitched. He slowly turned his head for the first time, staring at Ben with wide, quivering eyes. His lips parted, but no words came out—just shallow, panicked gasps as everything he tried to bottle up came rushing back.

His body moved before his mind caught up. He stumbled forward and crashed into Ben's chest, arms locking around him with a strength born of desperation. His fingers clutched at Ben's green jacket as if it was the only thing keeping him from drowning.

"You bastard," Albedo sobbed into his shoulder. "You selfish, stupidbastard! Why did you come back now? Why—why—do this to me?! Is this just to hurt memore?!"

Ben held him, silent. He didn't try to justify himself or stop the tears. He just let Albedo scream, his own eyes stinging with guilt.

"I needed you," Albedo whispered, his voice crumbling. "You left and Ineeded you. I thought—I thought I was going todie, Ben."

Ben's arms moved instinctively to return the embrace, to finally hold Albedo after so long—but before he could, Albedo shoved him back with surprising force.

"Don't," Albedo spat, his voice cracking. "You don't get to comfort me—not after everything you did!"

Ben froze, guilt plain on his face.

Albedo's hands were trembling, clenched into fists at his sides as his shoulders shook. "Do you haveanyidea what it was like?" he hissed, barely holding himself together. "To look in a mirror—or even a puddle—andsee youstaring back?"

Ben opened his mouth, but no words came.

"You left," Albedo went on, voice rising. "You left, and every single goddamn day I had to look atyourface—youreyes,yourmouth,youreverything. The face of the man I—" he choked, turning away, wiping at his face furiously. "The man who meant everything to me. The man whobrokeme."

Ben took a hesitant step forward. "Albedo, I—"

"Ihatedyou," Albedo snapped, spinning back toward him, red eyes blazing through tears. "I hated you so much for what you did, but I hatedmyselfeven more for still wanting you. For still waiting. For still waking up every morning hoping you'd come back."

He touched his chest, just above his heart, then his stomach, where the softest curve of new life had begun to form beneath his layers.

"I wasfinallycoming to terms with this face," he whispered. "I told myself that sharing your face was… wasworthit. That even if I couldn't have you, carrying your child—beingyou, in some broken, mirrored way—meant I wasn't alone."

Ben's breath caught. He didn't know pain like that. He didn't knowhowto respond.

"And then you pulled that stunt," Albedo finished, his voice thin and cold, like glass on the edge of cracking. "Youran. You made me believe I was just another mission gone wrong. A mistake."

The silence that followed was suffocating.

Ben lowered his head. "You're not a mistake, Albedo. I swear, I never thought of you that way. I was scared. Not of you—of what I was feeling. I didn't know how to handle any of it. And that's not your fault."

Albedo glared at him, arms wrapped protectively around himself. "And now what? You think you can just walk back in, say you're sorry, and we play house with a kid neither of us planned for?"

And then Bensnapped.

"Look at me!" he suddenly screamed, voice breaking mid-sentence. "Look at me, Albedo!"

Albedo flinched at the force of it, stunned. Ben's fists were clenched at his sides, his jaw trembling—not with anger, but something far more raw.

Tears welled in Ben's eyes, fast and furious, streaking down his face before he could even try to stop them.

"I'm not some hero in this," Ben choked out, voice thick with emotion. "I'm not the guy who walks back in and fixes everything with a hug and a smile! I—God, I don't even knowwhyyou'd want me around!"

Albedo opened his mouth, but Ben didn't stop.

"I'd be aterriblefather!" he cried, gesturing wildly. "Do you get that?! I've ruined every single relationship I've ever been in—Julie, Kai, even Gwen barely talks to me anymore. I spend half my life getting flung across galaxies, saving people who don't evenknowmy name, and the other half wishing I could just benormal! What kind of man like that could ever be fit to raise a child?!"

His voice cracked again, breaking into sobs as he slumped against the wall, burying his face in his hands. "I don't have time for a baby. I don't have the rightheartfor it. I don't even know if I have ahometo give it. I'm… I'mbroken, Albedo."

The confession hung in the air like smoke—dark, cloying, and inescapable.

Albedo's breath hitched, watching him crumble like that. He'd always known Ben was reckless, impulsive, emotionally constipated—but this? This wasreal. This was the boy behind the Omnitrix, stripped bare and terrified of what it meant to be loved and needed.

And maybe, just maybe… Albedo finally saw himself in that brokenness.

He took a slow, shuddering step forward.

Then another.

Ben didn't look up. Not until he felt the touch of cool fingers against his cheek, wiping away one of his tears.

Albedo crouched beside Ben, his hand still brushing against his cheek, fingertips trembling slightly. The walls around his heart weren't gone—but they'd cracked just enough to let this moment slip through.

"Is that why you left?" he asked quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. "Because you were… afraid?"

Ben didn't answer right away.

His eyes, still wet with tears, searched Albedo's face—searching for judgment, rejection, maybe even resentment. But there was only that same pain, softened by the ache of understanding.

"Yeah," Ben finally breathed, nodding. "I was afraid."

He reached up slowly, taking Albedo's hand from his cheek and holding it between his own. "Afraid of how real it was. Afraid of how much I cared about you. Afraid of what it meant—to have fallen for the person I was supposed to hate."

Ben let out a shuddering breath, eyes closing for a moment. "I panicked. I thought I'd ruin you. That I'd mess everything up like I always do."

He opened his eyes again—greener than ever, shimmering with something raw and real.

"But being away made me realize something," he continued, sitting up straighter. "I wasn't protecting you by leaving. I was just hurting the both of us. And I've hurt you enough, Albedo."

Ben reached out, and before Albedo could move, he gently cupped his cheeks with both hands—firm, but not forceful. Just grounding. His thumbs brushed softly against the flushed, tear-streaked skin as he held his gaze with unwavering intensity.

"You're mine," Ben said, voice low but certain. "You became mine the moment you bore my face."

Albedo's breath caught in his throat.

Ben's fingers tightened ever so slightly, pulling their foreheads together until they were only inches apart. "Not as some copy. Not as some rival. But as the one person who could understand me in ways no one else ever could. That meant something then. It means everything now."

Albedo didn't respond right away—his throat was too tight, his heart too loud. But he leaned in, not pulling away. Not this time.

"…Idiot," he whispered, breath brushing against Ben's lips. "Youreallyare the worst."

Ben gave a faint, broken smile. "Yeah. But I'm your worst."

Albedo closed his eyes, letting his forehead rest fully against Ben's. "God help me… I think I still want you."

Ben exhaled, a laugh breaking through his tears. "Then maybe we've still got a chance."