Ch 11
Ben's heart sputtered and stopped, breath disappearing.
"Daddy? You there?" Maxine screeched again, "Daddy! Mommy's alright!"
His heart started again and he gulped air, "What's going on?"
"We found an alien!" Maxine spoke excitedly, "we found her at the park, hiding from the normals. She's pretty beat up; Mommy's patched her up as much as she'd allow, she's really skittish—"
"What park are you guys at?" Ben demanded.
"Bellwood Memorial Park."
"I'm on my way."
Maxine hung up and Ben turned to Kevin, "I need to teleport you to the clearing where Gwen and Cooper are overseeing things."
"Fine."
The brunette waved his hand and his comrade faded out. The black SUV sped up, roaring around the corners and sliding into a curbside parking spot outside the gate of the park.
He flashed into the hidden patch where he sensed his family to be, coming to a stop in front of Julie.
He saw over her shoulder a small girl; she was pale, other than the rainbow of bruises that marred her otherwise flawless skin. There was a layer of peach fuzz upon her, obviously shaven, head that was bright crimson. Her eyes were violet, though the left one was swollen shut; freckles dotted the high, bony cheeks beneath them. Her lower lip was swollen on the right side, forcing her mouth open and showing that she was nearly toothless. Her face, under the contusions, was rather angular. The dress she wore seemed to be made of a large burlap sack with the appropriate holes cut to make a dress, she was barefoot. Under the 'dress' she seemed to be skin and bones.
Her right arm had clearly been broken, and had remained untreated, at a younger age as she held it at an unnatural angle, her knee and ankle of the same side were bulgy, her toes of that foot curled.
All in all she looked like a, much abused, human child of six years…except for the thin, flimsy wings that were torn to ribbons. They looked as if they had been overlarge butterfly wings; shimmery, they were various shades of pinks and reds, sprouting from her shoulder blades. She was perched on a huge root, in a half crouching half standing posture, eyes staring at him fearfully.
Julie motioned to the girl helplessly, whispering, "She says her name is Rose, and that she ran away from an orphanage that kept her locked in the basement and beat her because of her alien parentage. She said she's half Bellea—"
He nodded, "Humans usually call her people faeries…"
"What are we going to do with her?"
He shrugged, sighing, "We're gonna take her in, what else can we do? Let me guess, her parents are dead."
"Bingo. She's twelve. Mom was in exile, Dad was a normal cop. Dad died in line of duty, when she was four, Mom died not long afterwards of an unknown cause—"
"Broken heart probably, Belleans survive through their emotions…" he took a deep breath, "Cover me, I'm going in."
He approached with slow, measured steps; "Hello Rose, I'm Ben. I mean you no harm okay? I just want to help you—"
"Are you from the orphanage?" the girl demanded, "A hunter? How much did that old crow pay you? I'm not going back, you'll have to kill me!"
His jaw dropped, "No, no. I'm a Plumber—"
"Show me your badge then!"
He showed her the watch and she was mollified.
"I want to take you back home with me and my family," he continued, "you'll be happy and safe there. We'll have to document your injuries and then I'll be able to heal them."
"My wings too?" she asked, "They were always so pretty, they made my mom so proud."
"I'll try, I can't make any promises…I'm only used to healing humans." He held out his hand to her, "Trust me."
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She sat curled up on the couch, staring at the odd beings that bustled about her. They seemed to accept her without any reservations which unnerved her to no end. Suddenly a stuffed animal was put into her lap, her head snapped to the side and she saw Maxine, the other girl had placed the stuffed puppy. It was bedraggled, from years of being well loved, and missing a button eye. It's back had a large purple stain, probably grape juice or some other such liquid, faded by age.
"He was my Daddy's," Maxine explained, "he gave him to me but it looks like you need him more. He's named Mr. Snuffles but you can rename him if you want…"
"Why are you being so nice to me?" Rose asked, "I mean your family is connected to the Plumbers and everything but you guys look so human, so normal."
Maxine grinned, her green eyes alight with mischief, "Nobody but my Mommy is normal in this family…"
"Why do you call those two teenagers your parents? You're way too old to be their biological daughter, did they adopt you?"
"Nope…well Mommy did sort of…Daddy laid me…" she laughed as she shifted into her natural form, "Maybe you've heard of my Daddy, he's known as Ben 10—"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Your dad is who?!"
"Ben 10," Maxi repeated before launching into an explanation, "one night a year and a half ago one of the aliens he can turn into laid eggs. Me and my brothers hatched—"
"There are more of you guys? Of Ben 10's kids?"
"—About twenty, but I'm the only girl, my brothers are in space. I'm supposed to be out there too but I have some human in me and I got really sick so a few months ago two of my brothers brought me home and I've been living on earth ever since. Now when Daddy laid the eggs he and Julie, my Mommy, were dating, they're now engaged and the wedding's in a few months, so me and my brothers consider her our mommy and she allows me to treat her and call her such. I'm in a private school. But even without the watch Daddy would still have alien blood in him because my great grandma, on his side, Verdona is an Anodite—"
"A what?"
"Massively super-powerful cosmic energy being that can control manna—"
"What?"
"Life energy, everyone and everything alive has manna. Anyway there's a whole planetful of these beings. My human Great Grandpa Max was a Plumber; they met, fell in love and had two kids, both boys, my Grandpa Carl, Daddy's dad and my great uncle Frank, my aunt—whose really mine and Daddy's cousin but I call her Aunt because she's so much older than me—Gwen's father. Now see Anodite powers go mostly down the female line so my Daddy, my Grandpa and my uncle were all perfectly human looking and acting, Grandpa and Uncle Frank still are, but Daddy found the watch and soon became a hero and unlocked all these powers including his dormant Anodite powers. But Uncle Frank had a daughter who developed these powers, which she and my Daddy thought came from magic but turns out they're from their alien grandma, when she was ten and on vacation during the summer that Daddy found the watch and then I was born and came back and got really mad one day and found out that I have them too!"
"What about him?" Rose pointed to Kevin, "He looks dangerous!"
"Oh he is," Maxine said wisely, "He used to be a really bad guy, Kevin Eleven—" Rose sucked in breath, eyes going wide in shock, "He's one year older than Daddy, Mommy, and Aunt Gwen. He has the power to absorb things; when he was younger he used to absorb energy but then one day he absorbed the watch's, when he met Daddy he tried to steal the watch, energy and got turned into a monster mutant mixture of Daddy's aliens. He tried to kill Daddy, Aunt Gwen, and Great Grandpa Max but they trapped him in the Null Void—"
"Where?"
"An interdimensional prison, a literal hell, only the worst of the worst of the worst of alien criminals get sent there. Fast forward five years into the future, Great Grandpa Max's just gone missing, Daddy's just put the watch back on—"
"Back on?"
"Yeah, they had been able to get it off at the end of that first summer, he lived a normal life until Great Grandpa Max went missing; so anyway, he and Aunt Gwen had just become unofficial Plumbers and they and an official Plumber, Max's junior partner, go to bust up an illegal tech deal and find that Kevin Eleven, older wiser and human again, is brokering it. They break it up, the buyers and sellers scram but they caught Kevin. Nobody but Aunt Gwen was able to convince to help. They found the sellers, the Forever Knights which was an organization that was based upon the desire to destroy a dragon that was actually an alien; last month they threatened the family so Daddy killed them all, Daddy's really overprotective, especially of Mommy because she's been a normal human all her life and is the newest person to join our world; but anyway the official Plumber died but Kevin owed him because he died to save Kevin's life so Kevin became an unofficial Plumber, his dad was an official Plumber but he died when Kevin was really little and his new stepfather kicked him to the streets because of his power, he said he just wanted to get revenge for that Plumber and for not getting paid for that deal he brokered, but really he fell for Aunt Gwen, hard, and she fell for him just as hard, they've been dating for a year now and he allows me to call him my Uncle because of that. He's a really good guy now, sure he has his moments but he had a rough childhood and he was in the Void for five years or so, so we forgive him and Aunt Gwen's helping him with his issues…besides he only absorbs matter now. He's a big teddy bear underneath that tough charade."
Suddenly Julie appeared, "Are you hungry Rose?" she asked softly.
The girl was about to reply "No" when her stomach growled, making her flush, "A little bit…"
"What did they give you to eat at the orphanage?" the older girl asked gently.
Rose frowned, "Gruel and water, not enough for me to live on so I caught rats and bugs, collected rainwater in an old jam jar I found, I had to use own wings for filters…Sorry I'm pattering on…"
"No, it's alright," Julie assured, "how about a couple pieces of toast then? So your stomach won't react too badly…Hmmm…" she looked the girl up and down, "you seemed to be about the same size as Maxi…Maxi can she borrow some clothes?"
The little moth-girl nodded, her wings folding back from her head; "C'mon Rose, I know a perfect dress for you."
Rose folded her newly healed wings about her body like a robe and followed slowly. Julie sighed before arms wrapped about her waist; she reclined her head onto his shoulder and found him smiling slightly, "She's ours. Cooper finally finished the paperwork. You and I are now the proud guardians of Rosalyn Saran-Tennyson…"
"Good, so what's the story?" she closed her eyes; being lulled by his pulse, coming from his throat.
"Well my mother had a twin sister that was put up for adoption at birth," he launched into the fabricated history, "This sister, named Wanda—"
"Wanda?!" she snorted.
"Hey! I'm telling you the story," he pretended to be affronted, "we'll work out the details later—Anyway, Wanda grew up, had Rosalyn, died of cancer when she was four. Rosalyn was found wandering the streets six years later and they ran her DNA for an ID because she wouldn't cooperate, they came across my Mom's DNA on the national donor registry and contacted her. We've agreed to adopt her…you feeling okay Julie?" he asked concernedly as he had just noticed she was paler than usual.
"Hmmmuh," she said sleepily, "just with everything going on I haven't been sleeping that much ya know?"
"Huh." was his reply before he picked her up into his arms and carried her to their room. He settled her into the bed and blankets before making a pod sprout from his palm.
"What's that?" she blinked wearily as he plucked it and cracked it open to reveal brownish powder. He dumped the powder into one half of the shell, discarding the other.
"One of the aliens I have produces a powder that induces a dreamless sleep in most mammalian life-forms. When I sprinkle it onto you I need you to shut your eyes and take the deepest breath you can manage."
"Kay."
"Ready?" he asked as he took a pinch of the substance and held it above her face.
"Yeah…" she shut her eyes and as soon as she felt the grains of powder hit her face she inhaled and they entered her lungs and her bloodstream. She felt her muscles relaxing, going slightly numb. Her eyelids drooped heavier than before and soon dropped shut.
"Goodnight Julie." was the last thing she heard before she dropped off to slumber.
"Ni En," was her garbled reply, "Ov ooh."
She was asleep before she could hear his chuckled, "Love you too Jules."
He shook his head amusedly before bending down to plant a soft, quick kiss upon her lips. Straightening back up he set the unused powder, in its' shell, on the bedside table and took his leave. He paused as he stepped outside the threshold of the room and snapped his fingers. The window dropped silently, locked itself, and became indestructible. The doorway sparkled as a manna wall went up, visible for a mere second before fading from view. The door silently shut itself as well, its' hinges bracing and reinforcing themselves as the lock clicked into place, the wood being strengthened and reinforced.
He then went off to make Rose her toast, having been eavesdropping on the conversation. Plate of toast in hand he made his way to Maxine's room.
He found the girls, really just Maxine while Rose sat on the bed with her knees drawn to her chest, rummaging through Maxine's extensive closet. Being Ben 10's daughter did have some benefits, she had been given clothes (robes, dresses, gowns, armors) by intergalactic governments seeking favor with her and, through her, her father. That didn't mean that Ben hadn't bought a fair portion of her clothes himself…okay, that's a lie. He had given Julie and Gwen a five thousand dollar limit on a credit card with the instructions to get Maxine a decent earthly wardrobe.
"Ah ha!" the moth-girl exclaimed, pulling a robe from a trunk. The robe was a dark maroon color with cuffs that flared from the wrists widely and it covered the legs to where the hem brushed the floor. "I found it!"
"Maxi," he interrupted, "you know that's only for special events. Here you go Rose; I've got it about as soft as possible. I've gotten a friend working on some false teeth for you."
"Thank you," she whispered quietly as she took the plate, "for everything."
"No problem," he saw something from the corner of eye, "Maxine, a shirt and PJ pants will do her just fine."
Maxine pouted and pulled from her closet a lilac blouse and pajamas with cute puppies frolicking across them after various things.
He was about to approve the choice when a low alarm began going off.
"Intruder alert. Intruder alert. Intruder alert.—"
The morph was instantaneous; gold replaced green, coarse yet silky white fur replaced plain Caucasian skin and dyed cloth. The white muzzle over took the human face as the morphing continued. His ears changed and migrated to the top of the head as he fell forward onto paws sheathing deadly claws.
The whole transformation took only seconds to complete from start to finish, his upper lip curled back in a vicious snarl as his eyes glinted.
"Maxine," he barked, his frame beginning to vibrate from his growls, "get yourself and Rose into the Room."
"Right!" she raced to her bed and yanked up the skirt before grabbing Rose and yanking her beneath the bed to the entrance of the panic room.
He fazed through the walls in a bounding gait, racing to get to their room. He found her form, still inert with sleep, being aimed at by a poison tipped dagger which was held by a reptilian humanoid assassin. It was aimed at her heart. He leapt, his mass hitting the attacker's, and knocked his foe backwards.
Quickly, efficiently, his jaws clasped about the being's throat before he ripped it out. Moving downward he plunged his snout deep into his enemy's chest, tearing out the still beating heart. Tossing back his head, he threw it into the air and gulped it down in mid-fall with a snap of his jaws. The door banged opened and he flipped about growling and snarling at the enterers. Bluish-green blood smeared the white muzzle and he was too far gone in his animal instincts, to protect his chosen mate, to realize these beings were not a threat to her safety.
He positioned himself between the humans and his mate.
Kevin and Gwen stood just on the threshold stunned; their eyes flitted from the bloody corpse, to the transformed, bloody, wild Ben and to the unconscious yet still breathing Julie.
The redheaded young woman made to step inside the room but the raven haired youth pulled her back, "He won't hurt her, he sees us as the threat."
"But he knows us!"
Kevin shook his head, "Right now he doesn't, he's going on instinct right now. We are the threat in his mind."
He quietly shut the door, saying, "C'mon Maxi and Rose are probably in the panic room…"
Wolf-Ben sniffed around the door frame and then trotted back to the bed. As he was going by instinct he really didn't remember putting her to sleep and he instinctually knew this wasn't a natural slumber yet she wasn't dead either. His chest reached the edge of the bed in height and length he was as long as the bed. He nudged her arm with his nose, whining softly; she didn't stir. Standing on his hind legs he laid his front onto the bed as his long reddish tongue reached out and licked her cheek. Nothing.
He whined before falling to the ground; he laid down against the bed, head upon his forelegs. His ears were pointed back towards her, his nose and eyes scanning the room for threats.
He stayed in that position for several hours, only moving when she roused. She sat up, rubbing her eyes. Even in the dim light she saw the corpse of her would be assassin.
"Ben?" she called and he barked, drawing her attention to him. She noticed that, although he responded to his name, there was no sign of his humanity in his eyes.
"Do you know who I am?" she asked.
"Mate." he replied.
"My name?"
"JJJJJJulie," it came out a growl, the J sound being hard for the alien mind to get the mouth to make.
"Was I attacked as I slept?"
"Mate was attacked, I kill threat."
"Thank you, but I'm perfectly safe now so you can turn back now."
He whined before humanity came to his eyes and he turned back. He stood up and immediately she flushed and averted her eyes.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
"Your clothes, they're gone."
"Oh. Sorry." he immediately covered himself and hurried to his closet to get dressed.