XXIX.

They had never been inside the ranger station, but it had served as a congressional point for their secret meetings for so long, it only seemed appropriate that they save it for their farewell to those campgrounds; save the best for last.

It wasn't the way Jimmy had always imagined. There was a layer of dust over everything, but it wasn't dank or rundown inside. The wood appeared polished by the elements, a golden white color. Through cracks in the roof, splintered rays of sunlight cascaded across the interior, and weeds and flowers poked through its floorboards. A long lost tribute to a time when humanity was overrun by Mother Nature and nothing else.

"I do have to tell you something," Ben confessed, "And I don't think you're going to like it."

Jimmy leaned against the far wall of the ranger station, folding his arms across his chest and glaring down his nose at Ben, who stood tentatively in the doorframe.

"You're not going to make me share my feelings, are you?" Jimmy asked, half-serious.

Ben made a face.

"God, no. That would hurt me way more than you, and I mean physically, when you punch me in the face," he replied, half-joking, then donning a more serious tone, he whispered, "It's about what Weaver wanted to talk to me about. He's going to go over things with all the fighters in the morning, but I guess some scout groups brought back intel that's going to mess with our move. Weaver's got a plan around it but…"

Jimmy straightened, his eyes intent on the other boy.

"It involves me doing something by myself. Something really dangerous," Ben explained, "Hal's against it but he says it's my decision."

"I'm against it too," Jimmy said without hesitance.

"I'm not asking for your permission," Ben steadily informed him.

"Then why are you telling me?" Jimmy demanded.

"Just because. I don't know. I wanted to be the one to tell you," Ben shrugged, taking a few steps forward with hands in his pockets, eyes searching the floor, "I didn't want you to be surprised tomorrow."

"Well, fuck, Ben, what difference does it make? I'm surprised now."

"I'm the only one that can do this and the 2nd Mass has to make it through, it doesn't stand a chance if I don't," Ben argued.

"Why are you the only one?"

"You know why!"

Jimmy bit his inner cheek and glared petulantly at the ground. He hated the Skitters more in that moment than he ever thought possible. Why did it have to be Ben? Why did they have to harness him of all the children in the world and make him special? Why couldn't he have just come to the 2nd Mass as the Ben before, the shy bookworm who tore his father's favorite book to shreds because he couldn't play lacrosse? Instead he had to be this Ben, the Ben that was the only one who could save the 2nd Mass, the Ben that Jimmy couldn't lose. It wasn't fair.

Ben put a hand on Jimmy's arm and gently touched their foreheads together.

"I just wanted you to know," he whispered, "I'm not just doing this for the 2nd Mass, I'm not just doing it for my brothers," he bent forward to look up into Jimmy's eyes, "I'm doing it for you."

Jimmy rolled his eyes and muttered sarcastically, "My hero."

Ben smirked, catching Jimmy's mouth in a soft kiss that led to another and another and another. He leaned Jimmy against the wall, melding their bodies together, and plunged into a breath-taking kiss that lasted for a few heartbeats and lingered for a lifetime.

"I think this is how I like you most," Ben admitted, gasping for air against Jimmy's mouth.

"You would, you perv," Jimmy teased, blushing from his roots all the way to his toes.

"Exactly like this, fighting with me every step of the way," Ben insisted, pressing his mouth hot against Jimmy's again.

It was amazing to think how far the boys had come in the span of only a few short weeks, from those tentative, clumsy first kisses, to an explicit knowledge of the other boy's mouth. Their lips worked with one another synchronously, merging as one, parting as one. Jimmy welcomed the warm tongue that dipped into his mouth, delving deep inside and tempting a low whimper from the back of his throat.

Ben laid one hand flat against the wall beside Jimmy, using it to hold himself up as the rest of his weight leaned into Jimmy. His other hand twined with Jimmy's bandaged one, their fingers lacing together.

Jimmy worried about his free hand, hanging at his side, concerned about where it would go and what it would do there; he wasn't entirely certain he had full control of his actions at that moment. He desperately wanted to touch that bare flesh under Ben's t-shirt again, to feel it ripple beneath his fingertips and his hand twitched subconsciously that direction.

It was Ben that made that move first this time, though, sliding his hand up under Jimmy's shirt, tickling the skin across his stomach, touching the twisted flesh where Maggie's fiery hot blade had sealed the skin, and darting back out as though it too were burned. He pulled away slightly from Jimmy, his eyes searching the other boy's expression, but for what, Jimmy wasn't sure.

Then Ben brought Jimmy's bandaged hand up and dropped it gently to his own shoulder, and he peeled back the fabric of Jimmy's shirt to reveal the crisp line of his collar bone. Ben's eyes lingered a moment on Jimmy's own, then he dropped his mouth to the exposed flesh, a delicate brush of his lips. He dotted kisses along the collarbone, feeling out the other boy's reaction. When his tongue tip peeked out, took a brief taste of that delicate, pale flesh, Jimmy gasped, surpised, his fingers curling around Ben's neck.

Ben paused. He glanced at Jimmy, almost as though asking permission, and Jimmy tentatively bit his inner cheek and nodded shortly, not entirely sure what he was agreeing to but he would agree to anything that boy asked, knowing he would trust Ben with his entire body. Ben curled forward and captured Jimmy's collar roughly in his mouth, tracing his tongue along the bone, and suckling the skin there raw.

Jimmy's breath seemed intent on racing his heartbeat, which seemed intent on hammering a hole out of his chest. He squeezed his eyes closed, grasped Ben's shoulders for support, feeling his legs losing strength, but Ben too was losing his footing and eventually they slipped to the ground.

Ben found Jimmy's lips with his own again and it was Jimmy's turn to explore the inside of Ben's mouth. Jimmy traced the top of Ben's bottom lip first then massaged every contour of Ben's gum walls until a sumptuous groan erupted from deep inside of Ben, and he shuddered and rest his full weight across Jimmy, burying his face in Jimmy's neck.

"I hate when you do that," Ben said in a tone that suggested the complete opposite was far closer to the truth. He lifted his head to flutter a few kisses across Jimmy's cheeks and brow, then connected their mouths once more.

They repositioned, Jimmy lying back on the dusty floorboards, Ben resting atop him, guns and knives aside.

"I can't talk you out of doing what Weaver asked of you?" Jimmy whimpered as Ben dragged his tongue along Jimmy's jawline.

"Nope," Ben answered, locking their lips once more.

"Even if I begged?" Jimmy pressed, and Ben paused.

The phrase carried an interesting affect when it came from a flushed Jimmy, panting desperately for air, and writhing pleasantly beneath the other boy.

"Especially if you begged," Ben responded, planting a kiss on Jimmy's forehead, then to his temple, to his cheek, to the very tip of his nose, "But then again…we'll never know for certain unless you try."

Jimmy jabbed Ben in the side, and Ben grimaced, moaning painfully between laughs.

"You're such an ass," Jimmy muttered, happily accepting the kiss that fell to his lips.

"You said it," Ben reminded Jimmy between heavenly nips at his mouth, "And it's really not my fault the things that come out of your mouth."

Jimmy slid his hands up along Ben's clothed back, rising and falling over every taut muscle, and then he drew the other boy down by the shoulders.

"It really kind of is," Jimmy replied, decidedly ending their conversation with the kind of kiss that ached within.

Jimmy opened his eyes a few hours later. He wasn't entirely sure when he'd passed out, somewhere between the comfort of Ben's arms around him and the soft caress of Ben's mouth on his neck. Jimmy lay alone in the ranger station, his field vest curled beneath his head. He hadn't put it there but he didn't have to think hard about who had. He lifted himself up and groggily rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He felt all at once completely drained and entirely refreshed.

It wasn't too late in the evening, the sun was still out but its rays didn't cut as drastically across the room as they did when he and Ben had first arrived. He flinched at the crack of gunfire outside and shivered, the air was beginning to grow chilly, and night would fall soon.

Jimmy pulled himself off the ground and stumbled towards the ranger station doorway. He found Ben outside, lining up tin cans in his rifle sight. Jimmy leaned against the wall, mainly for support, as he gazed appreciatively at the other boy. Ben fired, his shot grazing the can-target, knocking it to the ground but not quite hitting its mark.

"Don't forget the wind," Jimmy called out advice.

Ben glanced at him, and then lined up his shot for the next tin can. He fired, again the can fell, but the bullet was still off.

Jimmy sighed, "Here."

He crossed over to where Ben stood and gestured for Ben to raise the gun, which he did.

Then Jimmy helped maneuver Ben's body, explaining in a low whisper, his lips brushing against Ben's ear, "You have to factor in the wind. Right now it's pushing about five kilometers south by southeast…"

Lined up by Jimmy's expert hands, Ben fired and the bullet hit the next tin can dead center. He slipped the rifle over his shoulder and turned, drawing Jimmy forward into a fierce kiss that blazed through Jimmy from his very core.

"You ready for patrol tonight?" Ben questioned, leaning their foreheads together.

Jimmy scowled, glaring up at Ben. Reluctantly, he grumbled, "Sure. Let's go hunt some aliens."


A/N: I have to be quick, got to go to class in a couple hours but I got a bunch of stuff I need to do beforehand. So I hope no one was expecting Ben and Jimmy to do much more than have a heavy make-out session in this chapter, even though I have a feeling some people were...oh well. Patience is a virtue, you know. Also, I don't quite know what it is Jimmy does with his tongue, but it seems to drive Ben crazy, so whatevs. Use your imaginations. Oh yeah, and it doesn't come up, but Jimmy definitely got his first Ben-hickey in this chapter. Another thing I forgot to mention last chapter, I kind of get the feeling that if Hal had decided to try and stop Ben and Jimmy being together, Maggie would've kicked his ass...not that Ben couldn't do it himself, but you know.

Right. Let me know what you think! I'm off to wal-mart, then to buy a parking pass, eat breakfast, pack my backpack, review my readings for class today...anyhow, please review.

To my awesome reviewers, as always, you guys are awesome. You make my bleak, bleary eyed school days, a little brighter. I'm gonna do an uber quick shout-out to everyone. CrazyXCrossovers, Anon - thanks for stopping in again, u-know-u-luv-me-99 (hope you got something useful from those comments), Greg - you know, I always make that mistake...and you would think I should know better, what with living in a city built around vice... corruption...greed...sin, thanks for the heads up, and as you can see, ranger station and no Hal interruptions. Facepalmer123, Infinity Squadron - you changed your penname, I like it. DaiHai3 - good to see you again, Greg - is it bad that everytime I see 'guest', my first thought is that it's you? Cookie97, Hal's thoughts at that moment were probably something along the lines of..."Okay. So there's that," and then he left. 2nd Mass Redneck, yay, you found time to stop in! I hope everything is going well with you...wow, that is a hilariously awkward story...though, it sounds like you were being an adult about it. I didn't know I was showing off...my apologies. I don't know where Avid's at, I'm beginning to think I'll never hear from him again. It's sad, but the show must go on. Sigh, I hope he's doing well in school though...I hope I do well in school...I hope you do well in school...

Crap, I got to go. See you all...Saturday!