Rosto's Girl asked for this one. Here you go, Amiga! Enjoy!
Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. I only own Rachel.
Even Heroes Need Someone To Chase Away Their Nightmares
Rachel leaned on the kitchen counter and gave a somewhat tired sigh, a smile coming to her face as she could smell the cake she was baking in the oven. She had just finished cleaning part of the Mansion and doing laundry and now baking a cake. She then look in a deep breath and closed her eyes, jumping with a gasp when she felt two arms wrap around her from behind. "Hello, Beautiful," a familiar voice whispered in her ear.
Letting out a breath of relief, she turned around to face her fiancée, Rook, who had a big smile on his face despite looking a little tired. They both kissed and Rachel wrapped her arms around Rook's neck.
"Hi, Honey," she said. "Long day at work?"
"A little," he said.
Ben then came in, looking like he was ready to collapse and fall asleep. Rachel looked concerned. "Ben? You okay?" she asked.
"Long day," he said. "Had to face Psyphon again."
Rachel sympathized with Ben. Psyphon was not only dangerous, but also tough. Fighting him could take a lot out of someone. She moved over to him. "You can crash here for tonight if you want," she offered.
He looked up at her. "You don't mind?" he asked.
She smiled. "Family members are always welcome to do so and you're a member of this family," she said, playfully poking his ribs, making him flinch and smile.
But that evening, Ben bolted awake, breathing hard as his mind woke up and the bright moonlight outside chased away the shadows. Finding his shirt soaked with sweat, the hero changed his shirt and rubbed a hand over his face.
He had woken from a nightmare that Psyphon hadn't been captured by him and Rook, but had gotten away and destroyed everything. Feeling horror fill him, Ben quickly got up and walked quietly down the halls, checking the rooms and finding the aliens all sleeping, along with Rachel and her sisters and the little ones. He felt better seeing they were all alright, but he was still upset from his nightmare.
"I think I'll skip the monster movies for a bit," he said to himself as he walked into the living room, sitting on the couch.
Just then, the nearby communications computer beeped and Ben went over, looking at the paper that had silently printed out. 'Hey, Ben. Come on down,' it said. 'Entrance is underneath chair. Press button in the wall.'
It only took a minute to realize that the To'kustar brothers had sent him the message. Wondering how they knew it was him, he went over to the wall and found the panel and pushed the button, watching a chair and rug move aside to reveal the tunnel entrance to the To'kustar's quarters.
A moment later, he was sliding down the tunnel and landed on the soft bed with a grunt from the impact. Apparently his entrance amused the two giant aliens as he heard them chuckling before he sat up. "Hey, guys," he said. "How did you know I was upstairs?"
"We heard you," said Ultimate Way Big with a smile.
"You okay, Ben?" asked Way Big.
The hero shrugged. "Yeah, just couldn't sleep," he said, which was partially true.
The taller giant gently picked Ben up in his hand. "Did you have a nightmare?" he asked gently.
Ben's whole face went red at that and the brothers knew that was the reason the boy was up. "What happened in your nightmare, Ben?" Way Big asked gently, one large finger rubbing the boy's shoulders carefully.
Knowing he couldn't get out of telling them, since they would no doubt tickle him if he refused to tell them, he sighed. "It was about Psyphon," he said. "About today's earlier battle, only it ended differently. Psyphon escaped and destroyed everything."
The brothers gave Ben sympathetic looks. "That is awful," said Ultimate Way Big before looking at his younger brother. Catching his older brother's train of thought, Way Big nodded and they both headed over to the huge bed they shared and the taller giant placed Ben on the huge pillow before both he and his brother settled down too.
"Um, what are you doing?" Ben asked, confused.
"Keeping watch over you and keeping those nightmares away," said Way Big.
Ben now looked really embarrassed and was about to get up when a hand came over him and gently pinned him down. Ultimate Way Big looked at him.
"You'll be able to sleep better," he said to him.
Ben still looked embarrassed. "I…um…," he went to protest when Way Big suddenly wiggled a finger into Ben's ribs, making the hero yelp in surprise and giggle, making the two giants chuckle.
"Time for you to get a giant tickle torture, Ben," Way Big said teasingly as he kept gently poking the boy's ribs and wiggling his finger into the boy's sides. Ultimate Way Big began tickling Ben's stomach, which made Ben laugh harder and he tried to squirm away, but just then, Way Big began tickling Ben's underarms.
"AHHHHHH! NO! STOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOP!" Ben pleaded as he tried to protect his underarms, but the giants didn't let him up and Ultimate Way Big smirked.
"Perhaps we should use our winning tactic, brother," he said.
Way Big grinned and lifted up Ben's shirt to expose the boy's stomach and Ben yelped as he quickly curled up to protect himself, making the brothers laugh. "Come on, Ben," said Way Big teasingly. "You're not completely cheered up yet."
Ben shook his head. "I'm totally cheered up," he said quickly, a huge smile on his face.
Ultimate Way Big cocked an amused eyebrow. "I'm not totally convinced," he said as he grabbed Ben before the boy could try to run.
Ben looked up at the taller giant and, glad no one beside the giants were there, decided to plead his way out of this. "Ultimate Way Big, I'm really tired," he said, and he wasn't lying. He was feeling tired.
A gentle poke in the stomach made him laugh a little and the taller giant smiled. "Alright, I'll make a deal with you, you agree to stay down here with us for the rest of the night to keep your nightmares away, and I'll tickle you for only a minute," he said.
"Or, we can tickle you for an hour," said Way Big with a mischievous smile on his face.
Ben gulped, knowing the giants were experts on tickles, but he wasn't too afraid as he knew they wouldn't hurt him or tickle him too long to where he'd be in pain. He then gave it some thought and looked up at Ultimate Way Big.
"If I agree, you promise it'll be just a minute I have to endure a tickle torture from you?" he said.
The taller giant nodded to the boy. "I promise, Ben," he said sincerely.
The hero finally nodded. "Okay," he said, unsure if he was right in his head to agree. Then again, one minute wasn't so long. He felt the giant place his lips on Ben's exposed stomach and the boy braced himself, but a moment later, Ultimate Way Big began humming and Ben instantly let out a cute squeal that made Way Big laugh heartily.
"Nothing tickles as bad as that, hmm?" he asked teasingly.
Ultimate Way Big then stopped. "Your turn, Way Big," he said, handing the boy to him.
Ben realized the giant had only tickled him half a minute and felt Way Big start humming against his stomach before he could protest again. The boy couldn't stop laughing as he realized he should have remembered the deal included both the brothers tickling him to pieces.
After another half minute, Way Big stopped and Ben tried to get his breath back, coughing a little. One finger rubbed his back while another rubbed his shoulders, which helped a lot.
"Doing okay, kid?" asked Way Big.
Ben nodded. "Yeah," he said before yawning. "Now I'm really tired."
The To'kustars chuckled and lay back down and Ben settled down on the pillow between them before sitting up. "Um, guys? You won't tell anyone about this, will you?" he asked nervously.
Ultimate Way Big turned to look at Ben with a smile. "Ben, there's no shame in seeking help when you have nightmares," he said. "Because even heroes need someone to chase away nightmares."
"My brother's right," said Way Big. "But we'll keep it between us, okay?"
Ben looked at them. "You promise you won't tell anyone?" he asked.
"We promise, Ben," said Ultimate Way Big with a gentle smile before he yawned tiredly. "Good night."
"Good night," Ben said and heard Way Big also say good night before he fell asleep, feeling lucky to have two awesome friends like the To'kustars.
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GoldGuardian2418