"Nine-nine. One hundred. One hundred and one. One hundred and two." Matt said in astonishment.

"Guy. Come on. I got night sentry duty." Hal groaned. He never would have admitted to them, but he liked to hear them talking. He was glad that Ben was back and that Matt was happy.

Ben walked over to his cot, looking for a shirt. He walked over to the couch and started digging through backpacks.

"Pretty gross huh." Ben said, feeling Matt staring at the spikes.

"Can I touch one?" Matt asked.

"…Sure." Ben said slowly, looking at his little brother in confusion.

Matt reached out cautiously and gently gripped one of the spikes. Ben twisted away, groaning in pain, grabbing at his throat. Hal sat up, ready to help. Ben started laughing.

"You jerk. That wasn't funny." Matt laughed.

"I couldn't help myself." Ben laughed, tickling his little brother.

Hal laid back down, trying to get some sleep.

"Ben, what was it like? With the skitters?" The youngest Mason asked.

"What do you want to know? How they smell?" Ben teased, pulling his shirt on.

"No. I'm serious." Matt laughed. "Did they talk to you?"

Ben sighed and thought. "Not like you think it is—you don't exactly have your own thoughts when you with them. It's not like you're thinking. At least not the way you normally do…it's like someone's thinking with you.

Matt gave him a confused look.

"Uhm…Remember when we went camping and you weren't feel well. You were tired and thirsty and your stomach hurt. Well…Imagine if Dad knew everything you wanted before you even asked for it." he said softly.

"You must have been scared."

"When they first got me I was never more afraid in my entire life." He said quietly, reaching out and pulling Matt close. "But after the harness is wasn't that bad."

"Did you miss us?" he asked suddenly, looking up at his big brother.

"I don't know…some bazaaro alien way, I think the skitters actually care about us, you know…they weren't monsters. They were our family. I know it sounds weird. But sometimes I still miss that."

Ben squeezed Matt's shoulder and walked over to his coot. Matt walked out of the room. He kicked off his shoes and flopped onto his stomach.

"Ben?" Hal asked, rolling on to his other side, facing his brother.

"I thought you had to sleep." Ben said, pulling his face out of his pillow.

"It's not important right now. Did you mean it?" Hal asked.

"Mean what?" Ben asked, dropping his arm off the cot, his fingers brushing against the linoleum floor.

"About this skitters."

"I mean everything I saw about them. They did treat us well…they didn't want to hurt us…it's complicated…I—know I don't want to go back." He said changing his train of through mid-sentence.

"I won't let them take you again." Hal said.

Ben smiled and closed his eyes.

Hal stood up and locked the door to their room. He walked over and straddled Ben's hips. Ben buried his face in his pillow, hiding his blushing cheeks.

"Come on. We don't have all day." The teenager said, flipping his little brother on to his back.

"Well, Dad's on a scouting mission and Matt is probably helping Uncle Scott. Nobody is going to come looking for us for I'd say an hour or so. Unless they know you have night duty…" Ben thought. "Then we'd be good until your watch starts."

"Math geek." Hal said, smashing his lips against his brother's.

Hal slipped his hands into Ben's shirt, pushing it up as he ran his hands over Ben's smooth torso. He pulled away from the kiss and pulled Ben's shirt off.

Ben reached up and pulled Hal's shirt off, tossing it on the floor. He put his hands on Hal's back and pulled him down, kissing him deeply. Hal took regained dominance and pulled away.

"What?" Ben whined, raising his hips off his cot, grinding himself again Hal.

Hal took a deep breath, resisting the urge to give in to Ben.

"I want to know if you meant what you said." Hal said, running his fingers over Ben's chest, making the young boy shiver.

"About what?" Ben asked, closing his eyes.

"About missing the skitters." He said.

"And why ask now?" He was on the verge of whining.

"Because I have you wrapped around my finger. I know I'll get the truth out of you." The oldest Mason boy smirked, pushing down on his brother's groin.

He moaned loudly. He placed a quick kiss on Ben's bottom lip before sitting up again.

"Answer." He demanded, grinding his hips again Ben's.

"It's complicated." he said, unfastening Hal's belt.

"Not good enough." He said, grabbing Ben's hands and pinning them above his head.

"It was like having someone know you every thought, without it being weird or strange. Like how I explained it to Matt…" he whined, thrusting his hips against Hal. "Having someone who cares about you know everything you want before you ask…it was…nice."

Hal released his grip on Ben's wrists and pushed himself up, sitting on Ben's thighs.

"You're mad…and heavy." he said, pushing himself up.

He climbed off of Ben and lay down on his own cot.

"Hal…" he said, standing beside him. "I'm glad I'm back. I don't want to be with the skitters. It's like missing summer camp. You miss it, but you don't want to go back. Eventually you get over it."

"Until next summer." Hal muttered.

"I don't want to go back. I want to stay here with Dad and Matt. And you, Hal." he said, straddling Hal's hips. "I couldn't bear leaving you."

Hal didn't say anything. Ben sighed and lay down on his chest. He was gently humping Hal's leg. Hal chuckled quietly.

"Ben." He said, trying to stop laughing. "I know you're only fourteen, but do you have any self control?"

"When I want to." He laughed.

Hal stopped laughing and looked at the door. Ben gave him a confuse look.

"Someone's coming. Get in your own bed." He said.

Ben pouted.

"Go on." Hal said, kissing Ben on the forehead and gently pushing him towards his cot.

Ben lied down on his cot, his back to his brother, but nobody came to the door. He looked over his shoulder when he heard a cot creak loudly. Hal was getting dressed.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I need to talk to Dr. Glass." He said absentmindedly, tugging at his jeans.

Ben noticed the bulge in the front Hal's jeans.

"Shouldn't you take care of the before you leave?" he asked, hopefully.

Hal didn't respond as he walked out the door.

Ben buried his face in his pillow, tears in his eyes, thinking he had upset his brother.

Author's note

Well, that didn't go as I had hoped. Don't you hate when you are writing the writing takes over and before you know it something totally different is written on the page? I actually quiet life it. I love when the story tells itself to me...wow, I sound kind of high. I am not...right now. =D

For most of my author alert subscribers, you were probably hoping for another one of my stories, I am sorry to disappoint. I am having writers block majorly. And the only reason this one is easy for me to update is I am following the time line of the actual show. Once I catch up with the episodes, I have some ideas...back to where I was orignally going with this, if you have any ideas for my other stories, and you'd like to help, don't be afraid to let me know.

Thanks.

- Shelby