More Than Ever

Chapter 1: New Beginnings

AN: So this did better than I expected, and I will be continuing it. ^^ I'm calling this chapter one, and the first chapter you read is kind of the story before the actual story, call it a prologue I guess.

Also, I will be switching between writing for Escape and writing for More Than Ever, and I will be writing as much as I can for both of them, but as I edit my own stories, and still juggle rl things they won't always get updated. I will try to go for monthly updates at best, or if I'm feeling up to writing instead of gaming/art in my free time I will update more often than monthly, no promises. I won't make you guys wait a year, though, like I did with Escape and so many other fanfictions. So yeah.

Enjoy-

Albedo shivered against the cold wind as he was led outside, trying to blink the sleep from his eyes. He supposed this strategy was to make sure he wasn't awake enough to hurt anyone or run away, but he was not warm enough to consider either, anyways. It was freezing and as he was pulled along he could easily see his breath like a puff of clouds in the night, dissipating into nothing.

As if being freezing cold and tired wasn't enough, his right knee was still pretty badly messed up from the week before, and his lower thigh and side were still injured from just the other day, so he really had no plan of running. He didn't even want to. After Ben left, he'd sat in that bed for hours just thinking of what a change would be like. What being free would feel like. Somehow the thought of not living on the streets seemed weird to him. Sleeping on the streets and being in a constant state of running was something he'd grown used to, and in a way, he relied on that. Habits were dangerous like that.

He was shoved in the passenger seat of some vehicle then, letting his earlier thoughts derail as he buckled up silently and glanced towards the open door, watching Ben's partner, Rook, walk by, and probably to the other side to get in. The door's open a moment longer before Ben climbs in through the passenger side, shutting the door without a word.

Rook climbs in on the driver's side then, leaving Albedo in the middle and feeling a little uncomfortable. He glanced towards Ben again, who was staring out his window silently, looking tired and possibly annoyed. Though, wasn't Tennyson always complaining?

Albedo nearly sighs at the curiosity eating at him now. Where were they going? Why was Ben annoyed? Why were they doing this at such a late hour?

They hadn't really said anything the whole time. Albedo was handed a pair of dark jeans and a black long sleeve shirt and red hoodie coat. His colors and everything, the hoodie even had the stupid backwards 10 and design that Albedo preferred. But why give him that? They didn't think it was weird that he dressed as Ben's opposite? They didn't see that that implied they were enemies? After that they had simply pulled him along. He'd been too tired to really think clearly at first, but now he was regretting not questioning them earlier. It'd be weird now, right?

He actually did sigh quietly this time, crossing his arms and appreciating the red and black contrast. Not that he'd tell them that.

"Yes?" Rook asked then, looking as annoyed as Ben. This confused Albedo further, and part of him wondered if it was because of him that they were annoyed.

"Where are we going?" Albedo asked instead, deciding to not voice his other thoughts.

Surprisingly it was Ben who answered, running a head through his brown hair. "Well, Max agreed to give you a chance, but since we don't exactly know how to handle this situation I'm gonna be the one who has to watch you. So you're coming with me."

Albedo glanced back to him again. He supposed that made sense, but he wasn't sure how he felt about the arrangement. He was staying with Ben? How exactly? He pushed he thoughts to the back of his mind, watching the road before them, but suddenly Rook was pulling onto the side of the road. Albedo looked past Rook to see a house that he recognized as Ben's. Or Ben's parents house, rather.

Ben got out then and motioned for Albedo to follow him. Albedo stared at him wearily but stepped out, trying not to hurt his right knee or left thigh too much, then he followed Ben around the van and up to the sidewalk of his house. Ben turned to the van again though and leaned onto the driver's door a bit. "I'll see you later, Rook."

"Be careful, Ben." Rook told him, his voice somehow icy. Ben laughed it off though. "You worry too much. I can handle myself."

"Ben, I am serious." Rook's wild eyes met Albedo's, and something clicked in Albedo's mind. Rook was angry with him because he feared for Ben. Of course. Then was Ben angry at Rook for being concerned?

"Yeah, I realize." Ben muttered angrily, but Rook only frowned at that before quickly saying, "He cannot be trusted."

Ben said something so quietly that Albedo couldn't quite hear it, then he turned away from Rook, briefly meeting Albedo's eyes before going up to the door. Albedo followed him silently, considering running. It'd make the situation easier on everyone, surely. Ben was used to chasing, Albedo was used to running...everybody would be happy. Except Albedo was still cold, fairly tired and in a considerable amount of pain.

He watched as the door opened, Ben's mother greeting Ben happily before hugging him, and Albedo found himself glancing away, down the long, dark road, but just then he heard Ben. "Hey, not going anywhere, are you?"

Albedo glanced towards him and walked closer to stand with Ben on the doorstep, ignoring the weird look Ben gave him. So, no, he wasn't going anywhere. Was that so weird?

"Oh, you must be Albedo..." Ben's mom begins politely, trailing off. Albedo nodded silently, not knowing what to say.

After a moment she moved to let them in, a small smile on her face, but she also looked weary. Ben grabbed Albedo's arm and led the way in, and there was something weird about walking into the house so calmly, even with his used-to-be enemy there that just freaked Albedo out. He wasn't scared easily, but this...trust Ben seemed to have was scary. He had to be faking it.

Albedo took in the rooms and decorations around them as Ben led him into the living room, Ben's mom following. The living room was spacious, with a TV right in front of a coffee table, two soft green couches on different sides of the coffee table, and a small bookshelf was off to the side of one of the couches. The wooden flooring was dark brown color, the walls a mocha-yellow shade. But one of the things that really stood out was the Christmas tree sitting in one corner of the room. It was clear someone was still decorating it, some boxes of different colors and kinds of ornaments off to the side of the tree.

"Ben, you should help with the tree! You have time off right now, don't you?" Ben's mom questioned quickly, going over to the tree and grabbing a red and gold ornament. Albedo stood there feeling out of place as Ben sighed and crossed his arms. "Yeah, kind of...but mom, I need to sort out the whole...Albedo thing."

"What Albedo thing?" Another voice asked. Stepping into the room, Albedo recognized the man as Max Tennyson.

Ben faltered, smiling. "Uh...I just meant, him staying and all."

"It's fine, isn't it? This was your idea." Max said, looking a bit humored.

"Yeah, yeah, it was. Kind of."

There was silence for a moment, and Max quickly spoke up again. "It'll work out. Hey, put him to use and let him help with something." Max joked, smiling now as he glanced at Albedo.

Albedo quickly looked away. "I could just stay out of the way."

Another minute of silence, and Albedo glanced to Ben to see him staring at him, before Ben quickly spoke up. "No, he's right. You could help." Ben mumbled as he gestured towards the tree.

"I really don't-" Albedo started, but Mrs. Tennyson quickly cut in, "If you're going to be staying, you might as well get used to the place, right? You can just look around, if you want, sweetie."

He nodded to this, wandering away from them. Max left the room then, going back to the kitchen where an interesting smell was emnating from. Albedo settled for staring at things in the living room, instead, inspecting their books and decorations until he was bored. He walked back towards the tree then, watching Mrs. Tennyson decorate while Ben would occasionally help, but it was clear that Ben wasn't really into decorating. Albedo couldn't blame him, it looked pretty tedious. And to think this was the hero he'd been fighting against all along. He didn't have much room to speak, though, considering Ben rescued him.

Still, the situation felt awkward to Albedo. Like he was looking through the window at a normal family. A family he just didn't belong in. Was he stepping on their moment by being here, so to speak? He turned away, a heavy feeling in his chest that he couldn't explain, and he quietly headed back through doorway and small hall, going through a different door, past the front room. It didn't take long to find Tennyson's room, on the far side of the house, in a small hall just past the main room. He stepped into the room as the door was already open, the scent of Ben somehow stronger in the small room, with a slight hint of food.

Thankfully the smell of food wasn't really a bad smell. It just smelt of chili-cheese fries, kind of, which really just made Albedo hungry. Tennyson's room was also surprisingly clean. There were some clothes here and there, but aside from his video game controllers, shoes, and a soccer ball, not much was wrong with the room. It was cleaner than it usually was. Albedo frowned at the confusing thought; Ben's room, clean? The very idea of hilarious. Though Albedo again realized that he really didn't have any room to speak. He'd been living on the streets for the last year or so.

He sighed at the thought and decided he'd be nosy. He walked over to Ben's bedside desk, a small lamp and an old Mr. Smoothies cup were the only thing on top of the desk, so Albedo opened a few of the draws, shutting them back when he didn't see anything interesting. He wasn't really looking for anyting, though. He was looking just to look.

He glanced around the room, the pictures and posters reminding him just how much he didn't know Ben. Sure, it was easy to say he did. To feel like he understood, but he was an outsider to Ben's life. An enemy. How would that change? How could it?

Albedo stepped over to a dresser drawer now, looking above it at a bookshelf with action figures lined up inside it. On the dresser itself were books and loose papers and a mess of other things. It kind of looked like someone just tossed everything that was on the floor onto the dresser. And Ben probably did.

Just then he heard talking in the front room, and he moved to the door to listen to a familiar voice greeting Mrs. Tennyson. Gwen Tennyson, he realized. Perhaps visiting due to the upcoming holidays, Albedo supposed. Humans often did that.

Moving closer to the door, Albedo tried to make out the words they were saying, but footsteps grew closer and he straightened up just as someone walked in, standing just in front of Albedo. He glanced up from the pair of sneakers to see Ben staring at him, and Albedo quickly took a step back. "Seriously, chill." Ben mumbled then, walking past him.

Albedo turned to see Ben sit on the bed to take off his shoes. How...normal. "So...I'm going to be living here?" Albedo asked then, feeling uncomfortable, though he wasn't sure why. He knew Ben was a kind person. It was one of Ben's flaws, always willing to help. And yet, Albedo's favorite thing about Ben was how he fought for what he wanted. What he believed. Even when they were more like enemies, and even through all the scheming Albedo did, he still liked Ben for that much.

"Well," Ben looked at him, "It's more like, you'll be going wherever I go. So yeah, for a while you'll be living here. I didn't exactly want this, I was actually hoping they'd just let you go. But we couldn't really work that out. You know, still too many Plumbers who can't take my word for it. They're too stubborn. But Max got them to let me watch you. Some of them still aren't happy with it." Ben made a bit of a face, looking annoyed. He shook his head then, standing up. "And you get to spend the holiday with my family."

"Oh, joy..." Albedo mumbled without really thinking. He quickly glanced at Ben then, "Sorry-"

"It's alright, I'm not really into it that much. Compared to fighting crime, though, it's pretty nice to just hang around with my family."

Albedo nodded, not really understanding him, though. "Um, thanks for working this out, though. For helping me."

Ben nodded back at him. "Just don't betray my trust."

Albedo glanced downward, staring at the floor before meeting Ben's eyes again. "I won't."

Ben stood up then as another person stepped into the room. Gwen. She looked at Ben before looking to Albedo, and maybe it was just Albedo, but he could literally feel the tension in the room. "Hi, Ben." Gwen greeted, walking to him despite how high-alert she still was. Albedo felt her high awareness of the whole room, and he felt like any move he made would be judged thoroughly.

She smiled then, an uncomfortable, almost sad smile, and hugged Ben. After the brief hug Ben smiled back. "Gwendolyn." He greeted in return.

"Albedo." She mumbled then, looking at him now. Albedo simply nodded, trying not to set her off. She stared at him openly, even glancing him over a bit, and he felt like he was being dissected. Ben cleared his throat then, "Look, Gwen, I'm giving him a chance..."

"I know," she snapped lightly, then she moved closer to Albedo, standing directly in front of him, but Albedo didn't step back, meeting her fierce green eyes calmly, "Listen here, if you try anything stupid then I will hurt you. And if you so much as bruise Ben...I will mess you up so badly that you'll wish you stayed in your prison cell."

Ben stepped forward then, pushing her back, "Okay, I think he gets it."

"Well, he better." Gwen mumbled, pulling away.

"So much for Christmas spirit." Ben grumbled then, and Gwen moved to leave the room, saying over her shoulder, "Watch yourself, Ben."

"It's...it's not going to be easy at first." Ben told him, "It might take everyone some time."

Albedo stared at him. "I know. I don't really expect anyone to ever see me differently, but thank you for the chance to at least change who I am."

Ben glanced at him now. "I see you differently, already."

"How?" Albedo asked, watching him.

"I'm not sure. The last couple of times I saw you, before you-went off the map, I could tell something had changed."

Albedo recalled one of the last run-ins they had, staring at each other from a distance, Albedo tired of running, and Ben seemed to being having a bad day, angry about something as he drank his smoothie. In the small parking lot of Mr. Smoothies, neither of them spoke. Albedo finished his fries, and stood, and Ben just watched as he left. Albedo still remembered wondering why Ben didn't chase him. He still remember being thankful to Ben for letting his have his freedom. That was...nearly a year or two ago.

"I guess I have." Albedo mumbled then, "Why didn't you ever try to chase me, the last few times?"

Ben frowned, looking like he was thinking. "It didn't seem like you were doing anything wrong. And weren't you...injured, or something? It seemed like you were."

"I was. I'd gotten into a bad situation with a drunk alien." Albedo said then, with a nod.

"Yeah," Ben paused then, "What have you been doing? Since you disappeared?"

Albedo stared at him, then he shrugged. "Mostly just surviving. Sleeping in back allies...taking whatever I could find. I...I did steal some things." He admitted then, worried of Ben's reaction. But he just nodded.

"I guess you're an adult now, aren't you?" Albedo asked after a moment, giving Ben a subtle once-over. Ben was still very skinny, still pretty lean, but somehow he looked more...mature. Maybe it was his eyes, or the beginning of facial hair on his chin.

"Yeah, I am. That noticeable?" Ben asked in return, glancing downward to inspect himself as if worried.

Albedo couldn't help smirking. "No, I can tell because you're finally starting to act mature."

Ben glared, "Well, I'm sorry, old man."

It was Albedo's turn to glare, rolling his eyes, and Ben laughed, "Don't talk about my age then!"

"Boys," they heard Sandra shout, "Are you two going to join us?"

"Ever celebrated Christmas?" Ben asked then, and Albedo shook his head, "Good, you're in for a treat. And a headache."

Albedo stared at him wearily, but Ben only laughed a bit and grabbed Albedo by his shirt sleeve, leading the way back to the living room where Sandra, Gwen and Kevin were.

Fantastic.