5Saving Ben
Chapter Four
Jimmy was on kitchen duty when he found out that Tom and his team were back and that they had brought back Ben. A random person working at a giant pot whispered the news and Jimmy dropped his knife onto the table and sprinted out of the room as fast as his legs would allow him.
He caught Ben, Tom and Hal just as they were walking into their family tent and the two older Mason men kindly left the two teenagers alone. Ben let off a big smile when he caught sight of his best friend and took a step towards him until he noticed the look on the other boy's face.
"What's wrong Jimmy?" Ben asked softly.
"Ben, I...I'm so sorry for not hearing the Mechs...for getting sloppy. Its my fault you were taken." Jimmy looked as if Ben being taken had torn him apart and Ben tried to comfort him.
"Its not your fault Jimmy, I should have listened to you when you warned me that we should leave." Ben said as he lay a hand on Jimmy's shoulder.
"But..." Jimmy started to say but Ben interrupted him.
"No buts...Its not your fault. What happened doesn't matter now because its all over. I'm back and not only that but we managed to cause some serious damage and kill an Overlord. That would never have happened if I hadn't been taken." Ben's attempts did appear to console the boy who suddenly looked up with intrigue.
"Did you just say you killed an Overlord?" Jimmy asked with some amazement.
"Well my Dad did it...but yeah, we killed an Overlord!" Ben replied proudly.
"Dude...that is so bad-ass!"
It wasn't long before people started talking. In fact after Ben and the rest of the team that had saved him had slept off their journey and got back to work, the stares and whispers were the first thing to greet the middle Mason son.
People didn't do it very obviously but whenever Ben would turn his head he would see a smattering of people quickly adjusting themselves in an attempt to appear as if they hadn't been staring. Ben had been used to the looks he got due to the fact that he was a 'razorback' as people had dubbed him but those whispers had mostly died out before he left.
Now they were back and Ben had good enough hearing to know exactly what they were now saying about him. There were a lot of different rumours actually and he wasn't sure which one he liked the best. The one that said that they had done something to him on that ship and that he was now no more than a ticking time bomb that was waiting to lead the aliens to the 2nd Mass was one that Ben thought was a reasonable fear.
The one rumour that he absolutely hated however was the one that said he had knocked out Jimmy and ran off with the aliens in the hope that he could get his family to come after him and then he and his alien pals would have killed them.
It made him lose control of his anger so much when he first heard that one as he couldn't believe that people would think he would hurt the ones he cared about like that. He had had to take a long walk and had to take his aggression out on a random tree to ensure he didn't do anything he would regret.
One thing that seemed to make the people of the 2nd Mass trust Ben less was that Rick had constantly been following him around. Nobody trusted Rick so they automatically assumed that the two de-harnessed kids must be plotting something together.
Of course they weren't, Ben didn't trust Rick either and on top of that the boy never really said anything so it was hard for them to get through a day together let alone plan an alien raid together. If Ben was honest he was getting really sick of having Rick around all the time and constantly left hints for the boy to leave and do something else. One time he even explicitly said as much but the boy just smiled and stayed put.
Ben eventually decided that he needed to go to Weaver to ask if Rick could be assigned to a different job but when he heard voices inside the command tent when he was still a decent distance away he paused.
The voices were distinctly Weaver, his father and Pope and Ben busied himself over a nearby table as he listened in on their conversation.
"...out of line Pope!" Tom's angry voice filtered through the tent flaps.
"Do you have any evidence to back up your claims Pope?" Weaver said calmly just after Tom had finished speaking.
There were a few seconds of silence before Pope asked, "Do you even know what happened up there? Can you be sure that he told you everything?"
"Of course I can, I trust my son." His father's impassioned declaration had Ben smiling and he felt his heart warm up a little bit.
"Weaver said you found him with the Overlord, tell me Mason...did he tell you anything about what they had a chat about?" He left an implication in the air that Ben may have made a deal with the Overlord or may have been accomplices with him and it made Ben feel sick to his stomach at the thought.
He desperately needed to know that his Dad didn't think that of him. That he would never believe that he would side with the aliens. He needed to know that his father trusted him.
But all he could hear from inside the tent was silence.
He only let himself bear the torment and accusation that the silence held for a few moments before he tore away in the other direction. Everything passed in a blur as he ran and he thought he even heard some people calling his name but he blocked it all out as the fact that his father didn't believe in him burned through his soul.
Ben didn't stop as he reached the perimeter of the camp and ran straight through the barricades and the fact that the guards didn't tried to stop him was a testament in his mind to how much people didn't want him in the 2nd Mass. In reality the guards hadn't tried to stop him because he had been running almost faster than the human eye could comprehend so by the time they noticed someone approaching their position, they only had time to raise their guns before the blur was gone.
Very soon, Ben started to hear other footfalls against the soft muddy ground around him that sounded distinctly human. The fact that this person was able to keep up with him made it immediately obvious that it was Rick now running alongside him and saying nothing.
Before too long, the sandy haired boy started to feel his anger build towards Rick for following him even when he was trying to run away. With blinding speed, Ben stopped running, spun into Rick's path and slammed the taller boy into a nearby tree, causing it to shake at its roots.
Rick's face showed no change in emotion at the change in position, if anything he seemed to be smirking slightly.
"Why the hell do you keep following me!" Ben shouted into the boy's face as he slammed him against the tree again. This time the tree actually started leaning to one side.
"I was waiting for this moment Ben. This moment when you realise that the humans don't care for you and that your true family are the only ones that will ever love you." Rick explained, seemingly unperturbed by the way Ben was assaulting him.
"Do you mean the Skitters? You think our real family is the Skitters?" Ben asked with genuine disgust in his voice.
"They would never abandon you Ben, they would never not trust you." If Rick was planning to say anything more he never got the chance to because a second after he said that Ben's family didn't trust him, Ben's fist collided with his jaw. There was no satisfying sound of bone breaking as Ben was hoping for but Rick's head did whip to the side with the impact and the punch had been cathartic.
"My family may not believe in me but I would never go back to the Skitters, I hate them!" Ben took a deep breathe and then realisation dawned on him. "That was why you came back to the 2nd Mass wasn't it? You came back to try and get me to rejoin the Skitters and that was why you were following me around!"
Ben stumbled back away from the boy he had at least thought of as a friend but now he could see as the manipulative shell of the human he once was.
"Just leave Rick." Ben demanded in a defeated voice without making eye contact.
"What?" Rick asked with real confusion colouring his features.
"I said leave, start walking back to your family and don't ever come back to the 2nd Mass. You even try to and I'll make you regret it. Your putting everyone I love in danger and I won't let you do that." Ben was firm and unyielding in his tone and Rick could see that there was no chance that Ben would come with him. After a few unsure moments, Rick relented and started to walk off in the opposite direction of the camp.
When he was too far away from Ben for anyone with ordinary hearing to be able to hear him, Rick turned back and said, "I hope you can live with your decision Ben." With those final words he took off at a run into the trees and disappeared.
Ben didn't regret his decision of not going with Rick for a second but he knew that he might regret the decision he was about to make. He was going to leave the 2nd Mass as well because nobody wanted him there. It was better for everyone if he just slipped off quietly.
"Ben?" In his despair, Ben had missed the incredibly loud footfalls of his brother coming up behind him and so when he heard his name called out he span around to see Hal.
The confusion on Hal's face was obvious and it was clear from his panting that he had been running to catch up with Ben non-stop since the younger boy left the camp. Ben briefly wondered how Hal had seen him when he was running so fast but the thought was fleeting and soon disappeared.
"Ben, what are you doing all the way out here?" Hal asked, taking a few steps closer to his brother and finding it a good sign that Ben didn't retreat from him.
"I...I followed Rick out here and he...uh he left...for good." Ben put a fake smile on his face and held eye contact for a little too long.
"You never were a good liar Ben. When you were 10 years old you would swear up and down that you hadn't been the one taking Dad's books and putting them back in the wrong order but we could always see right through you." Hal said and he saw a guilty look pass over Ben's face.
"I heard Dad, Weaver and Pope talking about how the people don't trust me, how they want me gone. Then Pope said...something and Dad didn't defend me. It looks like he doesn't trust me now either so I might as well leave. Everyone would be happier." Ben looked close to tears and Hal felt tears prickle at his own eyes as he witnessed his little brother's pain.
"Look, I can't speak for Dad but I trust you Ben and I can guarantee that if you left I would follow you so don't make me leave the comfort of my camp bed." Hal said which produced a weak smile from Ben. "But really man, your my brother, whatever Pope said, he's full of crap and me and Dad and even Matt will always stand by you."
By this point Hal was close enough to Ben to pull him into a hug and the younger boy immediately started to cry when his face hit his older brother's chest. "I love you Hal."
"I love you too Ben."
"Where the hell have you two been?" Tom asked with great concern on his face when he saw his two oldest sons walking back into camp. He was first alerted to their presence when Matt, who had been keeping vigil by his side, ran off past the barricades.
It had resulted in a group hug between his sons that had warmed his heart but he still needed to scold them for worrying him so much.
"Sorry Dad, we decided to go for a run and seeing as the aliens are in chaos I thought it would be pretty safe, especially with super boy here." Hal finished with a slap to Ben's stomach.
Tom was not a stupid man. He had been a Professor before the invasion so despite the fact that Hal was a very good liar, something about the story made him suspicious. He looked to Ben to verify if what Hal was saying was the truth and immediately recognised the guilt hidden in his middle son's eyes.
Tom very quickly came to the conclusion that Hal was covering for his brother and so let the issue slide whilst there was a crowd around them.
"Just be more careful in the future." Tom warned softly and the two boys nodded.
"You couldn't have taken me out with you guys?" Matt whined to his brothers when his Dad was finished.
Both Hal and Ben looked down when he spoke as if just suddenly remembering he was there and they both laughed.
"Maybe next time." Ben answered and Matt pouted because he knew that a 'maybe' was as bad as a 'no'.
"You guys must be tired, why don't we go back to the tent?" Tom suggested pointedly and Hal realised that he hadn't bought their lie for a second.
When they were back in their family tent and away from prying eyes and ears Tom turned to Hal and Ben and asked, "Why did you really leave?" his tone left no room for lies and Ben wasn't really able to anyway.
Hal just looked at the floor as he gave his brother time to vent his feelings without interruption. Just as Tom was about to ask again, Ben spoke up and said, "I heard your conversation with Pope." Ben started and had to look away from his Dad as he continued, "I heard that the people around here don't trust me... that you don't trust me." The last part was said in a whisper and realisation dawned on the oldest Mason man suddenly.
"You heard Pope's accusation?" Tom asked Ben.
"Yes and your silence afterwards said everything I needed to know so I ran." Ben explained but this time he didn't feel the need to cry. He just felt angry.
"Ben, you ran away too soon. I was so shocked at what Pope was implying that it took me a second to respond." Tom leaned over and made Ben look at him as he carried on, "I shouted at Pope, tried to swing for him and Weaver said some stuff about him trying to turn us against each other and Pope left the 2nd Mass."
The look in Tom's eyes as he spoke was all sincerity and love and Ben knew that his father wasn't lying because Tom had the same inability to lie as Ben had.
"You do trust me? You know that I would never make a deal with those creatures right?" Ben was half pleading for his Dad to say the words to ease the hurt that had unknowingly been caused an hour or so before.
"Of course I do. You're my little boy no matter what happens."
At that moment, Ben could finally say that he was home.
A/N: I just wanted to say thank you to The-Fiction-Fangirl for reviewing and I hope you all enjoyed the story.