Alex heard the front door close and breathed a sigh of relief. Now there was just one. He could deal with just one right? He heard footsteps and looked up to see Ben standing in the doorway again.

"Are you hungry?" Ben asked. "Snake says you should eat." Alex hesitated before nodding. "Well come on then." The blonde reluctantly left the sanctuary of the bathroom and followed Ben into the kitchen.

"Sit." The older man pointed to a bar stool by the island, facing into the kitchen. Alex sat. He watched Ben look around his kitchen before his eyes lighted on the bread sitting on his counter.

"How about toast?" The man asked. Alex nodded agreeably and Ben set about making it. He set four pieces into the toaster. Even though Alex knew it was coming, he still jumped when they popped back up. Ben just calmly grabbed the toast and spread some jam on it. He put two on a plate and set it in front of Alex, then took two for himself. It was good.

"My mom made the jam," Ben rambled. "She goes and picks strawberries every year and then makes these huge batches that she gives to me and my sisters. I have two. And K-unit of course. They're family." He paused. Waiting to see if Alex would say anything. Alex just watched. So the older man continued.

"I'll be up front. I don't really know what to do here. Sorry if I'm just rambling. And I'm supposed to be the one that's good with kids," he chuckled nervously. Ben glanced at the clock and sighed. "I suppose it's too early to just go to bed. What should we do?" Alex waited for him to decide, hoping the answer wouldn't be like the last few times he was asked that question. He shuddered. He didn't like what men meant when they asked him that question.

"I have an idea." Ben wandered over to a cupboard in the living room and grabbed a box out of it. Chess. It had been a long time since Alex had played. He watched Ben meticulously set up the board.

"Uh… I don't remember who goes first," the older man mumbled sheepishly.

Alex carefully turned the board so the white pieces were on his side of it and made the first move using the Reti Opening. Ben stared for a moment at Alex. The blonde shifted uncomfortably under his stare and kept his eyes glued to the board. Ben opened with Petrov's Defense and proceeded to get his ass kicked. After the game was done, Alex carefully turned white to the other man's side.

"Again?" Ben asked. Alex nodded, not looking at him. Ben shrugged and took the first turn this time. He opened with The King's Pawn Opening. Alex opened with The Queen's Gambit. And Ben got his ass kicked again. And again. And again. Until finally, Alex yawned. It was getting late now. Ben paused resetting the board, looking around.

"I think it's probably time. Let's go to bed." And there it was. The moment Alex had been dreading. Alex reached over with shaky fingers to finish resetting the board. He didn't want to go to bed with this man. He didn't want to be touched and drooled over. He didn't want to touch him.

"Alex, I'm not playing another game," Ben admonished. Alex ignored him, the panic building. He accidentally knocked over a pawn and hurried to right it again, succeeding only in knocking over two more.

"Hey, hey. What's up?" Ben asked, finally noticing something was wrong. He grabbed Alex's hands and Alex jerked away, standing suddenly. He could feel tears starting to well up and he tried to blink them away. Some of his master's friends just liked it more when he cried.

"Alex?" Ben stared at the boy, bewildered. What happened? One second the kid had the ghost of a smile on his face as he kicked Ben's ass at Chess and the next his whole body was shaking in fear. "Alex, it's ok," the older man soothed. "What's wrong?" He took a step forward and Alex took a step back. Ben wracked his brain for anything that could have set Alex off. If he was a younger kid, a less traumatized one, Ben might have thought this was just a tantrum so they could play more chess. But that clearly wasn't it. If it was, Alex wouldn't look so terrified. Ben could see the tears threatening to burst. It was heartbreaking. He took a step away from the kid and held his hands up in surrender.

"Alex, you're safe," Ben soothed. "I'm not going to hurt you. No one is ever going to hurt you again." And then the tears spilled over. Alex let out a choked sob. And once they started they didn't stop. Alex sank to the floor, arms around himself like he was trying to keep from shattering. Ben felt so helpless. He wanted to go comfort the blonde. To hold him and tell him everything was going to be alright. But Alex was so fragile right now. He couldn't be touched let alone held. So Ben just waited, occasionally murmuring how Alex was safe and how he and K-unit wouldn't let anything happen to him. Finally, after what felt like hours, the river of tears eased, leaving Alex looking exhausted. But the blonde didn't move from the floor. Ben hesitated.

"Alex?" He hadn't really expected a response and there wasn't one. Slowly, the older man picked his way over. Alex was asleep. Ben guessed it wasn't surprising. The boy had been through a lot. He carefully scooped Alex up and the blonde stirred only slightly, whimpering.

"Shh. Just sleep. You're safe," Ben whispered. He walked down the hallway to Alex's room and deposited the boy onto his bed. He wrestled for a minute with the idea of changing him into pajamas and then decided against it. It might wake the poor kid. Instead, he grabbed an extra blanket out of the closet and draped it over him. Ben took one last look at Alex as he left the room. The blonde looked so thin and pale in the harsh moonlight streaming through the blinds. And young. How could someone cause so much trauma to him? Ben sighed and gently closed the door. It was going to be a long road to recovery.

AN: Thank you everyone for all your support! You all are why this story continues!