I claim this to be the first Rook/Ben fanfic ever! Therefore, I have decided to name this pairing "Broken"! Don't like it? Too bad! XD

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of this fic.

Love After Love

When you're dealing with aliens and other weird stuff, secrets become an integral part of your life. This was even more true for Ben Tennyson. At the age of ten he chanced upon the Omnitrix, a device allowing him to transform into one of ten alien creatures. He'd made both friends and enemies during that fateful summer, alongside his grandfather and cousin.

Of all the people he'd met, there were none like Kevin Levin. A typical renegade and bad-boy; one of those kids that slip out from under the radar of adults and gets left behind. More than Vilgax had Kevin caused trouble for Ben, not only because he was Ben's greatest enemy, but because he was Ben's greatest weakness. It wasn't until Ben was fifteen that he realized he was in love with the raven-haired ruffian.

A year later, and Ben found himself neck-deep in a secret that no one but he and Kevin knew. To the public that knew the trio of teenage heroes, Gwen Tennyson and Kevin Levin were an item. Had been for several months. What they didn't know, was that behind closed doors and curtains, Ben and Kevin had their own relationship.

If Kevin had to describe the difference between the two, he would note that Gwen was soft, sweet, and most importantly, safe. He'd always lived on the edge of danger, making one bad choice after another; a girl like Gwen would keep him grounded. But with Ben? With Ben it was all about the fiery passion, the quips, and the unmistakable chemistry; there's a very fine line between love and hatred, and Kevin had felt nothing but hatred for Ben for a very long time.

Ben and Kevin had been together behind closed doors for half as long as Kevin had been with Gwen. It had started out with Kevin and Ben sharing a few beers together, despite the fact that they were underage. Kevin had made a challenge of it to rope Ben in, otherwise the emerald-eyed goody-two-shoes would have never consented! And so with both young men happily drunk, all of their inner-most feelings came spilling out. Neither remembered exactly who started it, only that it ended with them waking up with splitting headaches, naked, in Kevin's bed. Truth be told, it was awkward at first, realizing both what they had done, and the feelings that had caused it, but eventually they realized how right it was. The only problem was that Kevin was with Gwen. Neither of them were willing to give up this new thing they shared, and so met regularly in secret to share their hearts with each other.

Now, seven months later, and here the three of them were: one the side of a street, Zombozo all tied up and looking dejected, while the three discussed Gwen's departure from the team.

"Come on, you have to admit you love this stuff as much as I do, Gwen," Ben pointed out while Kevin looked at the brain canister with a critical eye, as if he couldn't believe what he was holding, "I can't believe you're really gonna leave!"

"Yeah?" Kevin retorted, "wouldn't you skip a few grades of high school if you had some brains?" He then tossed the canister to Ben who caught it purely out of reflex.

"There are plenty of colleges right here near Bellwood you could go to," Ben said, knowing full well it wouldn't make a difference.

"Not quite the same as the Ivy League," Gwen pointed out; effectively destroying Ben's argument.

Ben looked down dejectedly as he realized that his teammate, his cousin, was leaving him.

Gwen took a few steps forward until she was just inches in front of Ben and said, "I told you, we spent years saving the world. I just wanna see some of what I've been saving."

"I know, I get it," Ben replied, truly understanding Gwen's point of view, but not willing to budge simply out of principle. He then looked up to his best friend and secret lover with a smile and said, "Well, hurry back Kevin, the Troublesome-Two-o is more than enough to take on whatever the universe dishes out!" And in reality, Ben was looking forward to more one-on-one time with Kevin.

Kevin's face, however, sent warning signals to Ben, as the raven haired man looked down at his shoes in embarrassment and said, "Uh, heh, I'm not coming back, Ben." Kevin kept shifting his eyes so that they would look anywhere but at Ben's face; he knew he wouldn't be able to stay strong before it. "I found a place near campus."

Ben's mind came to a halt as he tried to slowly piece together, and deny, just what Kevin was implying. "So, this is goodbye?" he asked with a slight quiver to his voice, as he looked back and forth from Kevin to Gwen, realizing Kevin had made his choice. Ben couldn't bear, now, to be anywhere near this place!

"Of course not," Gwen replied, completely missing the non-verbal communication going on between her boyfriend and her cousin, "there are holidays, and semester breaks! And besides, we're cousins. It's not like we're never gonna see each other again, right?"

Ben had to control every urge to hiss out that he never wanted to see his boy-stealing cousin ever again. Instead he looked into his cousin's eyes, pretending to still love her, and said, "Right."

"Later, man," Kevin said, trying to draw a quick and painless close on his relationship with Ben, and move on with his soft, sweet, and safe life.

Were the circumstances different, the two young men would have shaken hands, hugged, maybe even offered each other a bro-fist. But this was different, things between them were different. Kevin simply stepped away from Ben, and simply drove off with Gwen.

Hours later and Ben found himself with a new partner, and a new mystery. Someone was out for him, sending their damnable four legged monster after him! Thankfully, Psyphon was being locked away by the Plumbers, and a previously unknown underground alien city had been discovered. It was therapeutically distracting for Ben, who had lost a great deal that morning.

Ben and Rook ended up spending the next hour sharing chili fries and trading biographies. Of course, Rook already new most of Ben's past as it had been part of his Plumber's training. Ben, though, got the chance to learn more about Rook and his homeworld of Ravanna, but that wasn't Ben's only interest. Ben had to admit that Rook was pretty easy on the eyes; tall, sharp-featured, and had a nice smile. He wasn't quite as bulky as Kevin, but he certainly wasn't as thin and lithe as Ben. His heart ached at the similarities between Rook and Kevin.

The two parted ways amicably and Ben returned home, only to feel the weight of losing Kevin come crashing down on him. With his door locked, he was free to let loose the tears he'd been holding back all day.

Ben spent the next day and a half locked away in his room. Sometimes he cried, and sometimes he just laid on his bed, trying not to think about Kevin. His parents quickly grew concerned for their son, as he even refused food! They quickly called Max to inform him of their son's state, and from there, it didn't take long before Rook discovered what was going on.

Rook may not have been the sharpest tool in the shed when it came to human culture and mannerisms, but he was very observant. It didn't take a genius to guess that Ben was in mourning for his previous teammate's abandonment. Feeling a measure of responsibility in the matter, he decided to pay his new partner a visit and speak to him. He calculated that his chances of getting through to Ben would be greater if he brought a peace offering: a large order of chili fries and a cucumber-tangerine smoothie.

Late that night, Rook sneaked across the suburban neighborhood where Ben resided with his parents, and easily deactivated the security alarm before locating the window to Ben's room and forcing it open without a peep. Taking a look around Rook's breath caught in his throat as he saw his partner lying on his bed with a dead look in his red and puffy eyes.

Ben turned his head, hearing his window curtains ruffle, and jumped when he saw Rook leaning through his open window, staring at him. Once he regained his posture, he frowned at Rook and hissed, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"Your parents called Max," Rook replied, "I overheard and decided to speak with you. I didn't realize the loss of your teammates would affect you so."

Ben sighed and sat back down on his bed, the dead look returning to his eyes.

Rook allowed himself entrance and climbed the rest of the way into Ben's room. Standing before Ben, he held out his food items with a smile, jostling them a bit so that they'd make noise and catch Ben's attention. Ben simply looked up and seemed to look right through them.

Rook frowned and placed the food items on Ben's desk before standing 'at-ease' in front of Ben. "If I may say so, sir, I sympathize with you. When I left Ravanna to come to Earth, I left many friends behind. I miss them just as they miss me. But, I do not allow myself to weep forever on these notions; I have a job to do, as a Plumber, and I mustn't allow my emotions to cloud my judgement, or keep me from my duties altogether."

Ben looked up into Rook's eyes with anger, and said, "How dare you! How dare you come in here with your damn gifts, and your damn military attitude, and say right to my face to just get over it for the sake of my duty! You have no idea what it feels like! You have no idea what it feels like to fall completely for one of your teammates while they're publicly in a relationship with someone else who doesn't make them feel nearly as happy as you do! You have no idea what it's like to watch as your teammate leaves you for the other person!"

Rook's eyes widened in surprise at the outburst, and the new information that came with it. Ben, however, looked even more miserable than before.

Rook eased his arms and legs, standing in a normal posture, and said, "I am sorry. I did not realize that you and Mr. Levin were-"

"Don't," Ben said weakly, "just don't."

Rook took in Ben's defeated posture, sitting on the bed, and said softly, "If it means anything to you, I promise to never leave you, Ben Tennyson."

Not seeing a response from the boy, Rook hung his head and made to leave, however, a bit of movement from the corner of his eye caught his attention. He spun around quickly and caught Ben around the middle as the boy tripped over some dirty laundry that was haphazardly strewn across the bedroom floor.

For the next minute or two, neither of them said anything, they just stood there looking into each other's eyes, searching for something from each other. Rook made to let go of Ben and leave, but before he could remove one finger from Ben's trim waist, he found his lips being assaulted by those of the emerald-eyed boy.

The kiss lasted a dozen seconds or so, but for the two young men, that was practically an eternity! With eyes closed, and passions flaring, they allowed their lips to dance across one another, with the occasional tongue trying to sneak it's way in to foreign territory.

Eventually, they parted, but still remained where they had been: Rook standing in the middle of Ben's bedroom, with the young brunette wrapped in his arms. In that moment, Ben felt his heart start to stitch itself back together, slowly. He would never fully get over Kevin, but of course, one can never expect to get over their first love.

As the two young men remained where they stood, gazing into each other's eyes, smiles upon their faces, Ben said to Rook, "Stay with me?"

"Always, I promise."

End