Chapter 8:

Ben grew more and more worried as time dragged on and there was no sign of his family. It had been quiet for ages now; surely if they were okay and coming to get him, they'd have found him by now. Every time he tried to make his way to the door, to set out on his own in search of them, Nick's parents insisted that he wait just a little longer. From what Nick's father was saying, it seemed that he thought the President would soon be strolling down the street, telling them that it was all okay, and Nick's mother kept saying that she'd cook them all a nice meal as soon as the power came back on. Ben wanted to scream in frustration. He knew that if he were to leave, Nick's parents would be unlikely to physically stop him, but something prevented him from making a determined effort, allowing them to easily change his mind. Ben didn't want to admit it, but he was terrified; not of the dangers he could face outside - those didn't seem real sitting in Nick's living room, with its outdated flowery wallpaper - but of what he might find when he did make it home. His family could simply be missing, and he'd never see them again. They could be hurt or- Ben shook his head, trying to stop his mind from going there, even though that seemed to be all he could think of. He felt so torn between his desperate need to be with his family, to feel some semblance of safety again, and the fear of discovering that something terrible had happened to them.

Ben kept thinking about the last time he'd seen his family. His dad had been leaving for work, and all they'd exchanged was a quick goodbye hug as he'd rushed off to an early morning meeting. His mom had urged him to be safe at Nick's, and to come home if the situation changed at all. Matt had been arguing with their mom about whether or not he needed to take a scarf with him, and Ben had ruffled his little brother's hair as he followed Hal out of the door. The last time he'd seen his older brother, he'd been teasing him about Rita ignoring him, and Hal had given him a half-hearted shove, calling him a jerk, before walking over to his lacrosse friends. Ben couldn't help but think that none of those partings had been proper goodbyes, and he vowed that when he found his family he'd make sure they all knew how much he cared about them, even Hal. He just had to get back to them, and he knew that everything would be alright. So long as they were alright. Which they had to be. The alternative was unthinkable.

Glancing at the window again, Ben felt a sudden determination take hold of him; he needed to leave and set out to find them. There was a real possibility that they could be hurt and need his help. He stood up, taking a shaky breath, wondering what the journey home would be like after all that had happened. As he expected, Nick's father was at his side in an instant, trying to get him to stay put. But this time, Ben felt sure that he needed to leave, to be with his parents and his brothers again, where he belonged. Deep down he also knew that he needed to find out if any of his fears about their safety were founded. He shrugged Nick's father's hand from his shoulder, and made his way to the door, ignoring the protests from Nick's parents.

"It's too scary to go outside; why would you want to?" Nick's little sister Anna sounded so scared, and so sad, that Ben paused in his tracks for a moment, and turned to answer her, "I have to find my family, I've waited too long already." Anna seemed to consider this for a moment, before she nodded.

"You shouldn't go on your own," she told him seriously.

Nick looked up from the floor for the first time in hours, "Dad, you should go with Ben. Anna's right, it's not safe for him to go alone."

"No! It's too dangerous!" Nick's mother burst out, standing up and taking her husband's hand, as though she was trying to physically keep him there, "It's not safe out there."

Ben resisted the urge to snap 'You were perfectly fine with my family being out there!' He didn't need to be reminded of how dangerous everything had suddenly become. But he could understand her reluctance to have her family be the ones in danger.

"It's not safe for the kid out there on his own." Nick's father said slowly; Ben could hear the fear in his voice, and knew that he really did not want to accompany him.

"That's why he should just wait here. We should all wait here." Nick's mother looked a little guiltily at Ben, but she continued, 'It's not worth the risk, we should-"

"My family is worth the risk!" Ben almost shouted, unable to hold in his pent up frustration any longer. Everyone just looked at him, shocked at the outburst. Through the stunned silence Ben heard what sounded like footsteps crunching on Nick's pebbly driveway, and from the sudden panic on Nick's parents faces it was clear that they'd heard it too. Nick's mother reached over and took Anna away from Nick, while his father moved to stand in front of his family. Ben was still stood next to the front door, unsure of what to do.

"Ben, get back!" Nick's father whispered, motioning for Ben to step away from the door. They all jumped at the sound of a knock on the door, but the second knock that followed soon after was so distinctive, that Ben couldn't help but smile. He knew that knock, he'd heard it countless times before and it had never sounded more welcome to him than at that moment. Ignoring the desperate whispers from behind him, Ben fumbled with the lock, and swung the door open.

In an instant he was engulfed in a bear hug, and after a moment's shock Ben felt tears well up in his eyes as he held his older brother close. He could see his father in the doorway, with an expression of such intense relief and love that Ben felt the familiar feeling of security wash over him.

"Ben, you're okay, you're okay!" He could hear Hal saying in his ear, sounding like he was almost crying. Ben struggled to fight back the lump in his throat; they'd found him, they'd come for him, he wasn't facing this on his own anymore.

"You aren't hurt, are you?" Tom asked, looking suddenly more concerned. Ben shook his head, "I'm fine; I'm not hurt." He managed to smile at his dad, before he added "Although it's getting a little hard to breathe Hal." Hal abruptly released his little brother, and took a step back, wiping his eyes, and looking a little embarrassed. Something suddenly occurred to Ben.

"Where are Mom and Matt? Are they okay? Why aren't they with you?" He asked quickly, a little panic rising in his chest again. Tom placed a reassuring hand on Ben's shoulder. "They're fine, they're at home. They're worried about you."

"Yeah, and Matt was desperate to come with us, I think he wanted to find you single handed." Hal added with a grin. Ben laughed, easily imaging Matt's little face all determined and brave and so overly eager to help.

Tom pulled both his sons into a hug, barely able to contain his relief that they had found Ben alive and safe. Over his sons' shoulders he suddenly became aware that they weren't the only people in the room; when they'd first walked in all he could see was Ben. He assumed these people were Nick's family and that they'd been sitting there quietly, allowing his family to have their moment of reunion. He took a step towards them, offering his hand for Nick's father to shake.

"Thank you for looking after my son."

Nick's father shook his hand firmly, "Anyone would have done the same."

"We were just offering to go out with Ben, and help him find you when you got here," Nick's mother smiled at Tom as she took her husband's arm. Ben couldn't see the point of disagreeing with her now. He felt like the terror of the last few hours had almost been completely erased by the presence of his dad and older brother.

"I'm glad your family is okay." Nick's father said quickly, and Ben thought he looked a little uncomfortable at his wife's exaggeration of the truth.

"Yours too." Tom replied, before turning to look back at his boys. "We really had best be going, my wife will be worried sick." He thanked them for taking care of Ben again, and headed out of the door, with Hal close behind. As Ben began to follow, he felt a hand on his arm.

"Be careful." Nick said, sounding to Ben like he was saying a final goodbye.

"You too." Ben replied sincerely. Then, to his surprise, Anna threw her arms around him, and whispered "Stay safe with your family." Ben patted her head, waved an awkward goodbye to Nick's family, and followed his dad and brother outside. He couldn't shake the feeling that he might not see his friend ever again.

Tom and Hal were waiting for him at the end of the driveway, and as Ben walked over to them he began to take in the appearance of the street. It looked so much more real now than it had through Nick's window; the bits of debris scattered on the street, the smell of smoke from fires burning nearby, the absence of streetlights or the sounds of cars. He couldn't believe that any of this was actually happening.

"Are you okay?" Hal asked him, clearly noting something in his expression.

Ben nodded, "Yeah, it's just a lot to take in." He gestured at the street around them.

"It's a lot worse in places, and there's some pretty bad stuff out there, so just focus on where you're putting your feet, not on what you can see around you. I found that helped." Hal responded, and Ben couldn't help but wonder what it was his brother had seen; Hal wasn't usually the type of person to worry about that sort of thing. Ben snapped out of this train of thought as his dad called "Boys!" from a little down the street. Hal gave Ben a sad smile, before hitting his shoulder lightly, adding "It'll be fine." They made their way over to their father, who reached out to take a hold of them.

"We have to keep moving, as quickly and as quietly as we can. No stopping unless I say so, okay?" They both nodded, and Tom pulled them in for another hug. His sons were being so brave through all of this, and he just wanted to hold them close and keep them safe forever.

"We'll be back with your Mom and Matt in no time, and I'm sure that once we're all together things will start to look brighter. Our family can get through anything."


A/N:

I am so unbelievably sorry that it's taken me this long to update! I didn't want to leave it this long, but the combination of uni and the hiatus just really slowed me down! However, with the show starting back (how amazing has S4 been so far? I'm loving it!) I am on a Falling Skies roll once again, working on this fic and some videos :) I plan to start writing chapter 9 as soon as this is posted!

Thank you so much to anyone who is still reading this, and hello to anyone who has just found it!

Thank you to FallingSkiesxxxHalMason, ChocolatteKitty-Kat, Nettie84047 and MoonlitShadowsoftheHumanSoul for your reviews – they really do mean so much!

C.A. Carter: Thank you so much for reading! Sorry it took me so long to reply, but they should be more regular now! :)