Chapter 8
Max entered the house and went directly to her room. She was exhausted. Heat always sucked all her energy with all the push-ups and cold showers and all the other things she had to do to keep herself from jumping the first guy she saw. And this time had been even worse. Even the small glimpse of two X5s ready to fight for her had been wreaking havoc on her autocontrol during the peak of her cycle. Nevermind that they were her brothers. Her heat hadn't wanted to even think about that. They were two males in perfect shape and wanting her.
She had spent the last four days holed up in a motel room in a deserted area of the city. Thankfully she had been really fast in noticing and she had no problem in controlling herself until she was safely locked in.
Usually she was good to go after three days, but this time she wanted to make sure her heat was totally over and there were no residual pheromones in the air when she went back, so she'd waited another day.
Max left her bag in the floor by her bed and slumped on top of the covers. She was planning on sleeping for a day now that she could. It was always better not to sleep when she was in heat. Her dreams weren't a great help. And she didn't have to go back to work until the next day.
She heard a noise and looked up to see Ben passing by her door on his way to the training building. He was lost in thought and hadn't realized she was back.
"Hey, you ok?" She called after him and a second later his head appeared on her door again.
"Maxie! You're back. How are you?" Ben asked glad to see her back and a little concerned for her, after all it was his first encounter with heat and he didn't know what to expect.
"I'm fine. Back to normal, thank god!" She said smiling. She was still lying on the bed, her upper body leaning on her elbows. "You guys didn't do anything stupid, did you?"
"What, like fight for you?" He said teasingly and she blushed.
"Yeah, that." Max said self-deprecatingly. "I should've just called or something, I thought it was too soon and if I didn't get close you wouldn't even know. Silly me. But I had never been near an X5 while in heat, and ordinary guys can't smell me so..." She left the sentence hanging.
"It's ok, Maxie. The moment you left our heads cleared and Zack explained what had happened."
"He knew?" Max asked surprised, though if she thought about it she wouldn't have been. It was Zack, who had been watching over them all their lives and there were six of them affected by heat.
"Yeah, he did." Ben said, not going into detail since Zack hadn't been really forthcoming about the whole thing and Max wouldn't let it pass like he had done. She can be such a girl sometimes, he thought.
"So... you're going to the gym?" She changed the subject noticing his reluctance to say anything else.
"Zack's waiting for me there." He said nodding.
"Have a good session, I'm going to catch some shut-eye. I'll see you guys later, ok?" She said laying down and closing her eyes, not even bothering to get inside.
"Sleep well, Maxie." Ben said and left.
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Max was still sleeping and Zack had gone to the city after their session to get some food, so Ben was 'alone' for the first time in a long while. He knew Zack wanted to show him that they trusted him to be on his own, that they weren't afraid he was going to lose it the moment he was out of sight.
Ben laid down on the couch in the living room with Zack's book on his hands. He'd read it already and he'd been thinking about it quite a bit the last two days. Zack wanted him to draw something from it, and Ben thought he had. What Zack was trying to get him to understand was that our morals, ideals, values, and the basics of right and wrong come directly from our surroundings. If there is no civilization around us, we lose those values. But if, on top of that, you are encouraged on a daily basis to show the wildest part of yourself, there is no way to stop it. There was nothing wrong with him per se, he was the product of Manticore's twisted idea of a healthy environment.
The fear of the unknown can be a powerful force, which can turn you to either insight or hysteria. Ben had spent his childhood making up stories to explain things they didn't understand. And his stories had gone to the limit with the Things he couldn't explain, the Things Manticore kept hidden in the basement. The Nomalies.
The beast from the book, the Lord of the Flies, is in the souls and minds of the boys, it stands for the primal instinct of savagery that exists within all human beings. The boys are afraid of the beast, because it exists within each of them. It existed in all of them, too.
He was supposed to have found some kind of balance once he got outside, but his own fear of the unknown hadn't let him do that. So he needed to do it now, and his siblings were there to help him succeed. He would be alright. Max could be his own personal Piggy, without the dying part of course.
Ben smiled at the idea, and then he just smiled.
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Epilogue
ONE MONTH LATER
Ben pushed his bike a little bit further and passed Max in her Ninja, crossing into her path to avoid her answering move. He could hear her cuss him out and slow down almost imperceptibly so that they wouldn't crash. The next second she was already by her side, her hair flying wildly into the night, and a smile lighting up her face. Max revved up her baby and left Ben behind the exact moment they crossed the gate to their property, whooping excitedly to celebrate her victory and Ben couldn't help his laughter. Max was never more alive than when she rode her bike.
They stepped off their rides and she pointed her finger at his chest. "You could have killed me with that last move, mister! What do you have to say for yourself?" Max said in feigned indignation.
Ben put his most innocent face and stepped back a little. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Maxie."
"Idiot." She said laughing.
They walked their bikes to the garage and parked them beside Zack's. Ben saw the bag on the floor by the door and turned around looking for him.
Zack was watching them from the door connecting the garage with the gym and he was smiling. "Good race?" He asked them.
"The best, I so kicked his ass." Max told him.
"You're leaving already?" Ben asked.
"Yeah. We've been talking about it for days now, and I can't postpone it any longer. I have to swing by Zane's and then I'll check on Krit and Syl, it's been a while since I went all the way there to see them and I want to make sure everything's fine."
Max walked up to him and hugged him. "You tell them I miss them all, and it's your fault that I can't go see them, you hear me?" She said and then she pulled back to look him in the eyes. "You'll be back soon, won't you?"
"You know I will. I'd come even if just to check on you, but I've been thinking I might make this place my home base. I never really had somewhere I could call home, always from one of you to the next and looking for the unaccounted in the meantime. But I've got all of you now. And I'm thinking I can come stay here when I'm not with any of the rest. What do you say?"
"Are you kidding? It'll be great!" Max exclaimed, totally pleased with the idea.
"Yeah, you know it." Ben agreed. He was going to miss having Zack with them, but he knew he had to leave.
"Now, be good. Don't go pulling any jobs like last week's," Zack looked meaningfully at Ben, "at least, not while I'm away. I don't want to miss all the fun." He said, winking at Max.
She laughed and wondered if maybe this whole thing hadn't been as much for Zack as it had been for Ben. She had never seen Zack so relaxed and, dared she say it, happy before. Zack let her go and hugged Ben in that guy kinda way.
"Keep an eye on her, ok? You know she's a wild one." Zack told Ben and jumped away laughing to avoid Max's punch.
"I will." Ben said seriously. "See you soon, big bro."
Zack took his bag and mounted on his bike, revving up the engine he gave a last look to his siblings and left.
Ben walked up to Max and put an arm around her waist. "So what are you making for dinner?" He said on their way to the house.
"You wish, pal. It's your turn to cook. You lost, remember?" She said and Ben rolled his eyes.
Fin
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Well, that's the end. I want to thank all of you guys who took the time to review, especially northernmoon (you're the best, girl, thank you so much for your words), and I hope you had a good time reading this story. I know I did writing it. Ben is such an amazing character, I always thought they could have done so much more with him.
I guess this is it... oh yeah, please review!