A/N: I love me some Balex. (Ben/Alex -- GET IT? XDD In a father-daughter way you sickos.). R AND R.
Summary: He had failed so many others. It was about time he did something right.
Hunting
She was angry. He knew that. She was twelve and angry and didn't understand that he had rules for a reason. But mostly, she was just twelve. And twelve year-olds tend to be angry because they finally understand that emotion. And because they're so close to leaving childhood behind they just don't see it anymore. Their eyes are fixed on turning thirteen, convinced that something will be different.
From his experience, Ben couldn't say they were right.
But maybe her life would be different. That was his hope, anyway. That she could change and be different from him. That she could live in this world without fear or tears. He had always counted on her to be his child. But the girl in front of him was clearly leaving that place far behind.
"I don't care what you say. I want to go and I'm going."
"It's eleven o'clock at night, Alex. Hunting isn't for girls."
"I don't care! I'm going with them!"
"Alex, I said no." He calmly turned back to his work, reading over the latest order from Jacob, reviewing some photos he been given by Richard. Alex stomped away and down the hall, slamming her door. She came back out a few moments later.
"Is it my hair?" He turned around. She held a pair of scissors in one had, her thick dark curls in another. He sighed and took off his glasses.
"No, honey. It's not your hair."
"Then why can't I go?"
"Because it's late."
"But the boys are going!"
"You're not a boy."
"I want to be."
"We all want things we can't have, Alexandra. Now give me the scissors and go get ready for bed."
"No!" She ran off with them and shut the bathroom door. He wondered if she would do it. If she would really cut off her hair. When she had been smaller, she'd demanded he brush it, especially on rainy nights when the humidity curled and twisted it together and she'd wake up in the morning with a rat's nest. He stood outside the bathroom door, listening for the quiet sound of the scissors, but he didn't hear it. A moment later the door opened. She wiped tears from her eyes and handed him the scissors.
"I just wanted to go," she said quietly. He kneeled down to wiped her cheeks and smiled, pressing his forehead to hers.
"You really want to go into the jungle and learn to hunt with a bunch of gross smelly boys?" She shrugged.
"Karl's there." He pursed his lips. Yes. Karl. Then he smiled.
"I know he is. But that's because that's where Karl needs to be. You need to be here. Safe and clean and asleep."
"But he's the only person my age and...and I just wanted to be with him." Ben sighed and hugged her tight.
"Well, you can be with him tomorrow. But hunting is for the men, not for you."
"Why aren't you hunting?" He shrugged. "It's because you're in charge, isn't it?"
"I suppose so, yes," he said quietly, not bothering to think about the real chain of command that existed.
"Okay," she said, sighing. "I'll get ready for bed."
"Good." He kissed her and went back to his desk.
She came back and hugged him and, for a moment, he wanted to cry. Maybe because she was growing up. Because she was leaving the child behind that he had raised and cared for and entering into a new world that he would have to deal with head on. It was frightening, in a way. Lifting her from an infant to an adult was not a journey he could plan out. But he could try.