New story! Yay! This is a continuation from Pain. Like, what happens afterwards...I hope I'm making sense...anyway! R&R! Please?! Enjoy! :DDD


As Hal lay in bed, he found himself thinking about his little brother. When he finally drifted off, Ben was still on his mind.

"Hey boys. Can I talk to you?" Tom asked Matt and Hal.

"Sure," the oldest Mason son said.

Before Mr. Mason spoke again, Matt asked questions. "Why were you in the forest? What happened? Where's Ben?" he asked.

"Well, um, it's about that."

"About Ben and you being in the forest?" Hal Mason was confused as he asked the question.

"Yes. Ben's gone."

"What do you mean?"

"He's gone. He's left. He won't be coming to Charleston with us."

"Why not?"

"He's gone to fight with the rebel skitters."

"He left us? For them?"

"Yes. But he has his reasons."

"And what would those be?" the elder son of Tom Mason was no longer confused; he was angry. How could Ben just leave them? What was he thinking?

"Well, he was angry with himself. About the whole Karen thing."

"He shouldn't have been."

"Well. He was. He said he felt as if we would be better off without him."

"That's not true!"

"I know it's not. But Ben seemed pretty set on the idea. I told him that we would never be better off without him. He's our family, and we love him."

"He should know that."

"Yes. I know. I think he's looking for redemption. Not only from us and the 2nd Mass, but from himself. He needs to do this."

"Why? He should know that—"

"Yes. I understand what you're feeling. I feel the same way. But I couldn't change his mind. And if we can't stop it, we should accept it. If Ben says he needs to go, he's gonna go. We all know how defiant he's become. We just have to wait for when he comes back. When he wants to come back, he will. In his own time."

"Fine."

As the conversation came to a close, the two older Masons looked down at Matt. He looked glassy eyed. Almost as if he didn't want to accept the fact that Ben had left. His eyes held unshed tears. And a few seconds later, those tears revealed themselves.

"Aw. Matt. It's alright. You heard dad. And I believe it. Ben will come back. And if he doesn't, we'll go find him," Hal said to his little brother.

Matt nodded and hugged his older brother, who hugged him back. Then, Tom joined in. For about a minute, they stood there, locked in an embrace, whispering to each other. Then they heard Weaver calling out to everyone that they had to get going on the road to Charleston. The Masons released each other. Hal walked over to Maggie and Pope, while Tom and Matt walked over to the medical bus with Lourdes and Anne.

Then Hal's dream changed.

"Come on! We have to run! They're gaining on us!" Ben yelled to other de-harnessed kids. There were rebel skitters already five yards ahead, running away from something. Then, a dozen of mechs and hostile skitters combined came into view.

"Run!" Ben screamed again. He was more focused on everyone else more than himself. He stood still, ushering the others ahead of him. But they were all so slow. Some of them, you could tell that they were new. Their eyes held fear and confusion. They were running, but not fast enough.

By the time everyone else was out of harm's way, the mechs and skitters had caught up to Ben. He was just about to run and join the others when he got jumped by five skitters. They started to claw at him, drawing blood. Ben Mason couldn't do anything. The skitters dropped him, and the mechs stunned him. Then, they started to drag him away—leaving a trail of fresh blood behind.

"No!" Hal yelled as he sat up. As he looked around, he began to regain his bearings. He was in bed. He was in Charleston. He was with the 2nd Mass. They had come here a few months ago. They haven't seen Ben in weeks. They didn't know if he was alive or not.

And that scared Hal.

For days, he's been thinking about Ben. He couldn't seem to get him out of his mind. Hal knew that his little brother was strong. He could take care of himself. But that thought still didn't seem to reassure the eldest Mason kid. Ben's spikes made him hard to kill—not impossible. Even if he didn't die, he could still get hurt. He could get captured. There was a long list of possibilities—not all of them good. Not most of them good.

The list held more scenarios of Ben getting killed, hurt, captured, tortured, re-harnessed, and many more. The good situations would be Ben coming back to Charleston. Pretty much surviving was the best it could get. And that was hard. For everybody in the 2nd Mass and everywhere else. The people in Charleston and the straggling survivors that no one has found yet.

Everyone insists to Hal and Matt and Tom that Ben is going to be alright. Tom pretends to believe it, for the sake of his two other sons. But his eyes tell the truth. In them, are large amounts of fear and anxiety. He's just as worried as Hal and Matt are—which would be a lot.

Sure Hal and Ben had gotten into some fights. A lot of fights. But Hal cared deeply for his family. No matter how many differences there were between each other, he knew he would always want to be there for them. But when Ben shuts everyone out and runs away, it makes it more difficult—to say the least.

Hal couldn't even begin to understand what Ben goes through. He knew that. But he also hoped that his brother would understand him. Hal tried to make it as clear as possible that all he wanted to do, was help. But Ben always made it so hard. The differences between the two brothers made it a lot harder, though.

Hal Mason knew that the spikes on Ben's back complicated life for him. He got confused about a lot of things, and the oldest Mason child understood that. He was sure anyone could. Hal had always been able to help people. But in Ben's situation, things were a bit different. Sometimes, he didn't know how to help his brother. Not being able to relate to him, made a lot of things harder. He didn't understand what exactly he was going through, how he felt, or how to deal with it.

As Hal lay awake in his bed, he realized that he needed to see Ben. He didn't want to see him. He needed to. He needed to talk to him—to make sure he was alive, safe, and doing well. Ben would be the only thing on Hal's mind until he meets up with him again. And if the kid wouldn't come on his own, Hal would just have to go looking for him.


Okay...so what did you think? Tell me in a review! I love reviews! Make me happy! Lol. REVIEW. And that's an ORDER. Haha, not really. But do it, please?

It's about to get personal up in here.

Did anyone see the Falling Skies episode last night (6/30/13)? I did, and it was AMAZING. SO MANY FEELS. I mean, the brother bonding between Ben and Matt? Awesome. And then there was the whole Pope and Tom situation. I was angry, and happy, and annoyed all at the same time...pretty much. Okay. I've wasted enough of your time and probably bored you to death-that is, if you even bothered to read this. So...yup! Leave me a review! ;)