A/N 1: [insert very long, very boring definition of 'stuff', ranging from plotbunnies to flames] can be send to hack_heaven@usa.net. Yes, that's an e-mail address. No, I don't bite ^^
A/N 2: Alikat: *amused* I'm a writer - I'm supposed to be unpredictable ^^
Tiger5913: *grins* How could I possibly forget about them? Don't worry, we're shifting back to them now ;)
Rascal: 'In Noctem' means 'into the darkness', if I remember correctly. Hey, I haven't had Latin since the 9th grade...^^
Ageless: Oh, they like Lae - well, Pheonix and Jhonen do, anyway ;) - but Hal also knows that having her in Jhonen's head is bound to cause trouble. This *is* Lae we're talking about, after all ^^. *grins* And I'm afraid your showcase is gonna be over relatively soon...if I don't go nuts before then -.-
Italics indicates thoughts/telepathy
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Chapter Eighty-Three: For the Sake of the Children
* * *
Seen in retrospect, he should have expected it. Seen in retrospect it had been the only logical thing to do, and seen in retrospect, Ben had no idea of how he could have missed that.
He'd never been social by nature, not even around his friends, and being stuck in a motel with this many people didn't help on it, either. Hoping to get a small break, he'd found a secluded corner of the otherwise empty garden behind the motel, the cool shadows from the surrounding trees soothing heated skin. He'd sat there and enjoyed the solitude, for once not surrounded by constant talking and the tension that was inevitable in their current situation, when he'd heard the muted sound of footsteps in the dry grass. He looked up, expecting to find Ryan or Kyle standing there, but instead found himself looking up in a pair of pale eyes. Ben tensed, his body instinctively preparing for a fight, but Blade remained a few feet away from Ben, watching the boy closely.
"What do you want?" Ben demanded, suspicion clear in his voice as he watched Blade warily, half-expecting the man to attack him. The only reaction he got, though, was a faint smirk, dark amusement shining though.
"That should be pretty obvious, shouldn't it?"
"Jordane," Ben whispered, nodding slowly as he realized what was going on, silently cursing himself for picking a spot away from the motel. He should have seen this coming.
"Very good." Another faint smirk, and Ben found himself growing increasingly nervous. He didn't like the situation one bit, but it was also pretty obvious that Blade wasn't about to let him leave. For a moment Ben considered calling out for Ryan - if he focused his thoughts enough, the other should be able to hear him - but decided against it, at least for the time being. Bringing Ryan into this would endanger him as well, and Ben didn't want that.
"I'm not sure that I can help her," Ben began, bending the truth just a little. No, he didn't enjoy seeing Jordane sick, but healing her would hurt him as well. Besides...she'd been allowed to leave the hospital. That wouldn't have happened if it had been serious. She would survive without his help. "I'm not really that strong, and-"
Blade sent him a dark look, anger clear in his eyes. "Yes, you are. You healed Ryan's cyanide poisoning, we both know that. You're going to help me whether you want to or not, so let's just do this the nice, civilized way and save ourselves a whole lot of trouble."
Ben got up, still keeping a wary eye on Blade. "You can't hurt me - you need me to heal Jordane. Besides, if you try anything, I'll call for Ryan, and the others will be here within thirty seconds."
"Who said anything about hurting you?" Blade asked, taking a step closer, making Ben back away to keep his distance. "I can make your life a living hell without ever laying a hand on you. Now be a good little mutant and go heal Jordane, before I feel forced to drag one of your teammates into this."
Ben's head snapped up at the words, and Blade sent him a cold smile. "No, I can't hurt you, but I *can* hurt Ryan, or Suzuka, or Deirdre. All it takes is two seconds to put a bullet in one of them." He raised an eyebrow, his eyes never leaving the boy. "Do we have a deal?"
Ben sighed. He wanted to believe that Blade wasn't serious, that Ryan and the others would still be safe even if he said no, but knew he was just deluding himself. This was no empty threat, they both knew that. A long moment of uncomfortable silence passed, then Ben moved slightly, uneasily before replying. "All right...I'll do it. On one condition."
Blade raised an eyebrow, vague amusement in his eyes at the fact that Ben had actually dared to demand something in return. "And what would that be?"
"Leave Ryan alone," Ben replied, his voice serious, leaving no doubts that he meant every word. "He's a good guy - he doesn't deserve what you've put him through. Leave Ryan alone, and I'll do whatever it takes to heal Jordane."
Blade watched him for a moment, amusement replaced with a slight frown as he considered the offer. He would be able to get Ben's cooperation without agreeing to his, he knew that, but still...it would take time, and time was not something that was on his side at the moment. Allowing Ben to get away with this would be considerably faster...even if it did mean having to leave Ryan alone. He considered the situation for a moment, then nodded, making his decision. "Deal."
Ben let out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding and nodded, taking a moment to gather his thoughts again. "Good." He paused, then looked up, a bit hesitant. "What's really wrong with her?" he asked. He wasn't stupid - if Jordane had only been suffering from poisoning, Blade wouldn't have reacted this way. And to heal her, Ben had to know what was going on.
Another hint of dark amusement crossed Blade's features. "She's pregnant."
Pregnant? Ben's eyes widened in surprised, his mind desperately trying to catch up with the words. "She's having a...?"
"...Child, yes," Blade replied, pale eyes watching Ben carefully. "Unfortunately, the power suppressants has most likely caused permanent damage to the baby, which is what you're supposed to fix."
"I see..."Ben nodded slowly, his mind still trying to fit together all the pieces of the puzzle. So Jordane was pregnant...well, that certainly explained why she was sick, while the other three had escaped any bad side effects from the drugs. "I'm not sure how much I can do, but...I'll do my best."
"Good. And Ben..." Ben looked up warily, something in the other's voice making him nervous. "If word of this gets out, I'll kill you, and Ryan, and whoever else finds out. Understood?"
Ben sighed and reluctantly followed Blade as he headed back to the motel. "Yeah...I understand."
* * *
"How are you doing?" Kyle looked up at the soft-spoken words, and smiled as he saw Ryan in the doorway.
"Well...my muscles hurt and my head feels like it's going to explode, but other than that...pretty fine," he replied with a wry smile, not moving to get up from the comfortable chair. Moving around too much wasn't exactly painless, and he wasn't very keen on adding to his discomfort. "Nothing a good night's sleep can't cure, anyway."
"And...?" Ryan trailed off, not sure how to put it.
"Mentally?" Kyle looked up, know what Ryan meant. "I'm...dealing. Even with the burning cars, it wasn't as bad as I'd feared. It was...the whole thing happened too fast to really focus on one thing," he finished quietly, mentally reliving what had happened. He paused, remembering a nagging suspicion he'd had all morning, then frowned. "You distracted me with your powers, didn't you?" he asked. "That's why I didn't really notice the fire."
"Yes, I did," Ryan admitted with a soft sigh. "I was afraid you'd get hurt if I didn't."
Kyle nodded slowly. He'd expected it, really, and since it was Ryan, he didn't mind. He trusted him to do what was best, and in this case, keeping him unaware of the fires had been the best option.
"You sure you'll be okay?" Ryan asked concerned, and Kyle smiled faintly.
"Yeah...I'll be fine," he said reassuringly. "When do we leave, anyway?"
"Tomorrow. I talked to Hal, and we decided that it would be best to give everyone a chance to get some rest first," Ryan replied and walked across the room to sit down next to Kyle.
Kyle nodded. "Sounds fine to me," he agreed, then frowned slightly. "Hal, you say? What about...?"
"Blade?" Ryan replied. "He's barely left Jordane since they got back. Hal's unofficially in charge."
Kyle frowned as he considered this new information. It would change things a bit, but for the better - Hal was a fairly good leader, and unlike Blade, she didn't have some personal vendetta against Ryan. "And what about Jordane?" he asked, suddenly realizing something. "Is she going to be well enough to travel tomorrow?"
Ryan sighed. "Honestly...I don't know. Nobody knows what's wrong with her, and how long it's going to take before she's well again."
Kyle looked up, his worry obvious. "And if she's not well enough to travel tomorrow? Then what?"
"Don't worry about that," someone said quietly, and the other two looked up, finding Ben standing in the doorway.
"Ben?" Ryan got up, concern for his friend clear in his voice as he got a closer look at the boy. Pale skin, eyes weary, his body leaning tiredly against the door... "Are you okay? What happened?"
Ben shook his head slowly and stepped inside the room, making his way to the bed with tired steps and carefully sat down. "I'm just tired...'s nothing."
Ryan frowned, his eyes never leaving Ben, subconsciously looking for any sign of what was wrong. "Did you heal Jordane?" he asked, realizing what had happened, and Ben nodded slowly, tiredly, not bothering to reply with words. "Did Blade...?"
Ben sighed. "No...I offered to help her. She's...she didn't look very well, so I figured that I'd help her," he replied, the lie already rehearsed. He had, for the briefest of moments, considered telling Ryan the truth, but decided again it - telling him wouldn't really do anything other than increase the tension between Ryan and Blade, and that was the last thing anyone needed. That, and he didn't want to put Ryan in danger, however small the risk might be.
Ryan didn't look convinced, but he didn't have the time to voice his doubts before Kyle took over, a hint of concern in his eyes, and not just for Ben. "What was wrong with her, then?"
"Poisoning." Another soft lie, and Ben felt a bit of guilt at lying to his friends, but forced it aside, telling himself that it was for their own good. He didn't want Ryan to feel guilty about this - it hadn't been his fault.
"And you're sure you're okay?"
Ben looked up, meeting Ryan's eyes, and nodded wearily, not quite able to shake off the feeling that Ryan suspected something. "Yeah...my head hurts, but I just need some sleep, that's all. I'll be fine."
Ryan smiled faintly. "Then go to sleep. We won't leave until tomorrow, anyway, and we need to be rested." Ben opened his mouth to object, mostly by principles, but Ryan cut him off. "No - you need it, Benji. Go get some sleep while you still can."
Ben nodded, unable to argue against it, and curled up on the bed, too tired to do much else than kick off his boots and pull the covers closer. His head hurt, a dull, constant pain that made it hard to focus, and his abdomen felt sore, each motion he made only serving to remind him of how much he'd had to drain himself to heal Jordane. He was tired, and miserable, and sore, and a small part of him had to wonder if it was really worth it, worth the pain he went through every time he used his powers. It made him sore and dizzy, and occasionally even sick himself, and...was it really worth it?
He felt a hand brush his brow lightly, brushing away a strand of hair. "Sleep, Benji...you need it."
The voice was low, soothing and Ben relaxed, finally allowing the tiredness to catch up with him. He felt the bed shift as Ryan sat down, and he felt some of his weariness fade away, slowly being replaced by the blissful oblivion of sleep, and he sighed softly, readily welcoming unconsciousness. The last thing he remembered before falling sleep was the low murmur of voices as Ryan and Kyle talked quietly, and Ben smiled, the small gesture all but invisible.
Yeah...it had been worth it.