Author's Notes: Thank you to Mandi, I own nothing, more at the bottom!

Chapter 7

Ben had the basement of the house. He had the higher rank. He got paid more. He paid more rent and so, he got the largest bedroom, as it were. The basement had been four small rooms, he had knocked down the walls, except for the tiny bathroom. They shared a shower, which was upstairs, a kitchen and a family room.

It wasn't much and Andrew was getting married soon so it would be changing, but it was home enough. And Ben's basement was quiet, when he wanted it to be, a bit removed from the rest of the house.

Which was good because Finley didn't want to be part of the house. When they had arrived yesterday to the empty house, both Marcus and Andrew being on base, Finley had curled up on the ragged couch and dozed until Ben had made him move to the bed, where he slept for awhile, then stared at nothing for a while.

Ben had raided the library and the local blockbuster, hoping for something to distract his brother. Finley read a bit and watched the movies and talked to Ben but...his brother seemed very much alone and not, Ben thought, entirely there.

Ben was worried but...he wasn't frantic yet. It was a rare thing for Finley to let anyone get close to him anymore but when he did let someone in he became dependant on them emotionally. Whatever had happened between him and Alexander, and Ben still didn't really understand that, it would take time for Finley to heal from it.

Ben sat on the bed beside his brother. Finley lay on his side curled around a pillow. His eyes were half open and he looked like he was watching the movie that played out on the small tv screen. Ben knew if he asked Finley would not be able to name him one character.

Ben sighed. Finley didn't move. Ben could still hear the rattle in his breath too clearly. He reached out and, slowly, began rubbing his little brother's back gently.

Finley stirred just a little, turning his face up and whispering, "Sorry."

Ben shook his head. His fingers very gently ghosted over Finley's mussed hair. "What for?"

Finley frowned, "Not sure. Just am."

Ben smiled sadly, "Me too, Fin."

Alexander knew he was in trouble when he pulled up in front of the house. Hell, he had known he was in trouble two seconds after that phone call.

He hoped Finley was here. He couldn't imagine where else he would be, unless he hopped a plane to Canada to stay with his uncle.

That meant facing Ben, not something he was looking forward to doing. He wanted to see Finley, talk to Finley, see if he could figure out what was going through his head and then fix the mistakes he had made and they had made and just...fix things, make them right again.

Ben was sitting on the front porch, drinking a cup of coffee. It had been Marcus' turn to make it which meant it tasted about the same as motor oil with just as much kick to it.

Finley hadn't slept well that night. Correction, Finley hadn't really slept. Oh, an hour or so, before Ben woke him from a nightmare.

He wouldn't, and Ben thought maybe he couldn't, sleep after that. Not until a headache had grown with surprising speed and knocked him flat. But that wasn't sleeping, really, that was the pain medication rendering him unconscious.

He looked up, at the sound of the car stopping and his eyes narrowed. Almost unconsciously he cracked his knuckles and rose from his seat on the porch.

Alexander saw him and had to stop himself from flinching at the look in Ben's eyes. It

felt...worse somehow. He liked Ben, he knew he could be friends with Finley's brother, given a little more time, since they had only met three times.

He hadn't wanted something like this to happen. Ever.

"Give me one good reason," Ben began conversationally, "why I shouldn't beat you to a bloody pulp right now?"

Alexander swallowed but met Ben's gaze. It helped that he doubted Ben would actually take things that far. "I could have you charged with assault if you do."

Ben smiled unpleasantly, "You wouldn't though. You know that'd hurt Fin."

"So would beating the shit out of me," Alexander retorted. "I love your brother."

"Funny, he's rather unsure of that," Ben's face darkened. "You fucked up. You fucking hurt him."

"I never meant to," Alexander replied quietly.

Ben snorted and ran a hand through his short hair. "Yeah? Well, you did."

"I need to see Fin," Alexander said, forcing himself to remain calm. "I need to talk to him."

"You think I'm going to let you anywhere near him?" Ben laughed. "Fuck you."

"He won't stay here forever," Alexander countered.

"He'll be here long enough. Couple of weeks at least, I'd guess," Ben informed him. "You've been around for a few months, I've been there for Fin for his whole life and through more than you can imagine. You think he's shaky now. You don't have a fucking clue. I know I can influence his decisions. I haven't before, I've made sure I didn't but don't think I won't this time, to keep him safe."

"Safe? Damnit, Ben, I love him!" Alexander kept himself from shouting but only just. "Doesn't that count for anything? I love him. This was all a stupid mistake."

"A stupid mistake that left him with a broken heart and pneumonia. If I hadn't been coming over, if I hadn't found him, he would be worse, maybe a lot worse," Ben replied with just as much force. "You can't fuck up with, Fin. You can't. He sat out in the rain and cold all night because of this stupid mistake, you fucking asshole. He's practically a zombie because of this stupid mistake. I don't care if you love my brother if this is going to be the result of you loving him."

"He what?" Alexander asked, looking shocked. "I...Fuck! Is he okay?"

"No, he's not okay," Ben replied shortly. "But he will be, I'll make sure of it."

"I...Jesus," Alexander muttered. "Ben, I never meant for this to happen. I'm sorry it did. But I love him. I love him. And I don't want to lose him."

Ben looked at him hard and rubbed a hand over his face. "You know, if you were anyone else we wouldn't be having this conversation."

"Yeah, I know," Alexander replied.

"You say you love him, that you're sorry," Ben stated. "Prove it then. To me."

"To you," Alexander echoed.

"Yup," Ben nodded suddenly. "Yeah, you prove it to me. If you do, I'll give you the chance to prove it to him."

"How on Earth am I supposed to do that?" Alexander questioned.

Ben shrugged. "Don't know. Figure it out."

He went back, sat down and picked up his mug again. Sipping the liquid slowly and grimacing. It was too early for this.

Alexander stood there on the lawn for a few moments, thinking. He glanced up at Ben, grimaced and walked up onto the porch and took a seat beside him.

Ben raised an eyebrow at him.

Alexander met his gaze. "I'll leave if you don't want me sitting here."

"I don't want Finley to see you," Ben told him. "But I doubt he'll be coming upstairs any time soon."

"He okay?" Alexander asked, and Ben could clearly hear the worry in his voice.

"Headache but no, he's not, anyway," Ben replied. "He needs time."

Alexander fidgeted and Ben knew that the other man wanted to go to Finley. Ben took another sip of his coffee. "If he is coming out front I'll tell you and I expect you to leave."

Alexander stiffened but nodded shortly.

"You do realize," Ben said mildly, "that if he saw you here at this moment he would take you back no questions asked."

Alexander's lips disappeared into a very thin line.

"I'm not letting that happen," Ben continued. "He needs to think about it. He needs to question."

Ben shook his head, "Even if there wasn't this...situation we're in he needs to start doing that again."

Ben finished his coffee with a few quick gulps, stood up and went inside without another word.

Marcus was tired when he got home. What he wanted to do was have a beer and watch the hockey game. Andrew and Ben made that difficult seeing at they were not fans, especially when it conflicted with their sports.

But Andrew was with his girl for the night and Ben would likely stay with his brother, poor Fin.

The television was his!

And who the hell was sitting on his front porch?

The man nodded to him as he came up the steps but didn't say anything. He looked, Marcus thought, rather preoccupied.

"No offense but who the hell are you and why the hell are you on my front porch?" Marcus questioned as a greeting.

The man smiled and shook his head. "Ask Ben. He'll understand better than I do."

Marcus blinked, refused to smile and turned to go inside. He liked this guy, whoever he was. Shaking his head, he went inside.

Ben had the tv. Fuck.

"I don't know why people watch golf," Ben commented, squinting and not quite picking out the little white ball against equally white clouds. "Even if it is for charity."

"Good thing we're watching hockey then," Marcus replied on his way to the fridge. Success! "Want a beer?"

"Yeah," Ben replied. Marcus smiled as he heard the channel change.

He passed Ben a bottle and opened his own. "How's Fin?"

Ben shook his head. "Headache hasn't improved. He's sleeping now, sort of. If it's still like this tomorrow I'll take him to the clinic."

"They've lasted longer before," Marcus pointed out.

"He didn't have pneumonia before," Ben replied, taking a swig from the bottle and grimacing slightly. "I don't know why but I always feel like Canadian beer when there's hockey on."

"Your damn uncle spoiled you, that's why," Marcus told him. "Why is there some guy on our front porch?"

Ben snorted, "You don't want to know."

Marcus looked at the screen. Pre-game commentator crap. He looked back at Ben. "Who the hell is he?"

"Fin's boyfriend," Ben replied.

Marcus was about to take a swig of his beer but put it down and stared at Ben as if he had grown another head. "That guy?"

Ben took a swallow and nodded. "Yep."

"Why the fuck aren't we beating the shit out of him?" Marcus asked.

Ben shook his head. "It's a bit more complicated than that."

Marcus snorted. "He fucked with Finley."

"Yeah, but I think a lot of it might've been a mistake," Ben sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "I think they both fucked up. He was a prick and Finley overreacted."

"But he was a prick and Finley got hurt," Marcus reminded Ben. "So...Why aren't we kicking the shit out of him?"

"Because Finley loves him," Ben replied. "And he loves Finley. They're just being fucktards about it."

"Oh, okay," Marcus took a swallow of his beer, not entirely happy, not entirely sure he wanted to know.

Ben glanced sideways at him, "If he fucks up again or if he doesn't get his act together enough now, then we can smack some sense into him."

Marcus nodded, "Good."

"Is Finley any better?" Alexander asked as soon as Ben come out onto the porch again. The sun was just setting but the sky had been so grey all day it hardly made a difference.

"No," Ben replied, standing in the doorway. "He's out, still, again. I don't know."

Alexander shifted. He wanted to be able to go to his lover but he wasn't entirely sure he wouldn't just make matters worse. "Fuck."

"Yeah, pretty much," Ben sighed. He opened up a beer, his third of the night. "You want one?"

"No thanks," Alexander replied.

Ben smiled a little at that. He disappeared for a moment. "Here."

He handed Alexander a cup of coffee. Alexander looked at him in surprise as he sat down. "Thanks."

Ben just nodded. Alexander took a sip. It wasn't how he liked it, too much milk, not enough sugar, and it was a bit...thicker than he thought coffee should be, but he wasn't about to complain.

"You planning to spend the night out here?" Ben asked.

"Unless you want me to leave," Alexander told him.

"Don't care," Ben replied.

They sat in silence for a few moments. "Have you got a vaporizer?"

Ben blinked and look at him. "A what?"

"It's a machine. It works as a decongestant by putting moisture into the atmosphere of a room," Alexander replied. "It'd help Fin. If you put the right scented oil in it, it can also help with headaches. Lavender usually works for Finley."

Ben just looked at him. Alexander shrugged. "It works. My mother insists my siblings and I have a vaporizer somewhere in the house, both my brother and my sister had breathing problems as children and my brother gets migraines from time to time now."

Ben smiled just slightly. "When Andrew's mom calls she always asks if he has Vic's vapour rub on hand just in case he gets sick."

Alexander chuckled and took another sip of coffee. Ben took a swallow of beer. "I wouldn't know a vaporizer if it bit me in the ass."

Alexander looked at him and put down his mug before standing up. "I'll get one."

Ben raised an eyebrow. "Now?"

Alexander smiled thinly. "I'll find one."

Ben shrugged. "Okay."

"Need anything else?" Alexander asked.

Ben shook his head and took another swig of beer. Alexander nodded once and got out his car keys. "Okay then."

"Ben?"

Ben looked up and leaned over, taking the cold clothe off of Finley's forehead and eyes. He looked dazed but there wasn't quite as much pain in his eyes. It was still there but...well, he could open his eyes and keep them open, so that counted for something.

"Hey, sunshine, feeling any better?" Ben asked quietly.

Finley's head lolled to the side a little and he let out a soft grunt. "Bit."

"That's good," Ben said, pushing a few strands of wet hair back from his little brother's forehead.

Finley's noise wrinkled a tiny bit. "Smells different."

"Yeah, someone suggested it might help a bit," Ben told him.

"Oh," Finley's eyes were distant.

Ben hesitated for a moment. "Alex...called. Suggested it."

"Oh," Finley whispered. "He..."

Finley coughed a bit and a flush crept into his pale cheeks. Ben shushed him gently. He stopped, closing his eyes again.

Ben got up and dampened the clothe again. He laid it on Finley's forehead. "Think you can sleep some more? It would be good for you."

Finley mumbled something that sounded vaguely like assent. Ben replaced the cloth over his eyes. For a moment he left his hand against his brother's mussed hair.

"Rest, Fin," he murmured. "Get some rest."

Author's Notes: Wow, glad no one killed me for that last chapter. Or for updating late. Yeah, I had an article published in the school paper that's been on the back of my mind AND I went to a meeting for the feminist mag on campus and found out they are planning to turn it into a girlie magazine, basically. Pissed me right off. I had to leave early before I throttled someone and buy the new Green Day cd as therapy. I'm glad writing this doesn't make me feel like throwing up like writing articles does.

athelas63: Heh, well Ben didn't kick Alex's ass...but it's not entirely over yet. As for Fin getting better...well, I'm not sure he can, not entirely, but there is room for improvement.

EntSpinster: Yeah, Alex is getting to the point of stopping his wandering's. He just needs to actually DO IT. Ben is...past the point of exploding. I can't say too much without giving too much away but the explosion or moment of madness as it were has already passed. Ben wouldn't have an explosion be fatal anyway but part of that is that he won't leave Finley all alone. And there won't be a Laurie, I can tell you that, but Irving does have a daughter who will be around at some point or other...

PrincessFAz: There will be at least one, if not more than one, flashback chapter BUT I won't be writing in detail what happened to Fin at any point during the time it was happening. After, yes, but not during. That being said, Fin was taken prisoner in a hostile situation and they weren't playing by the rules of the war.

Circini: Someday, eventually, this may morph into an original piece. We'll see.

Chibikaz: Well there's a chance, he's just got to earn it.

Hopeless Delirium: If anyone outside of the reincarnated person gets Eric, it'll be me, and I'll fight you for that! :-)

Someone Stupid: Aw, you're not stupid. Rambling reviews are good. Annie...yeah, Annie took over the role that was going to be split between Eve and Eric. She just kinda barged into it so...shrugs In Dreams is also being worked on but I have more finished of Reborn.