Disclaimer – Still own nothing.
To scienceficfan24 – Thanks for your review! I will definitely be writing more chapters for this story and have at least three more stories for Falling Skies I will be writing. Hope you like this chapter!
AN – And I'm back! I am trying to get these chapters written and posted faster than I have in the past, but again, I can't make any promises. I am basically working two jobs right now, and have been working on my Teen Wolf fic, my Supergirl fic, and a brand-new Falling Skies fic that I haven't started posting yet. Now that my Teen Wolf fic is finished, I am hoping I will have more time to work on this story. As of right now, I only have four more chapters that I am planning to write and post for this story. If anyone has any suggestions for missing scenes from episodes of Falling Skies, or expanded scenes, or scenes in between seasons, please let me know! Other than that, I hope you all like this chapter!
Enjoy!
*Ben tells Matt the truth about what's going on with their Dad and Hal*
It doesn't take long after Anne tells Ben and Maggie the truth about his Dad and Hal that Ben realizes that Matt doesn't know. After all, there is no way Anne would tell his youngest brother and not him. Matt would be more likely to do something stupid if he knew while Ben would be logical about it. It was the reason why he had let Anne talk him and Maggie into staying with the 2nd Mass instead of rushing off to go find his Dad and rescue his brother from Pope.
However, despite Matt's tendency to be extremely reckless at times, especially if he was angry and/or worried about someone, Ben knew that Matt had a right to know where their older brother and Dad actually were and what was going on. So, Ben made his way over to the pickup truck where the kid he was looking for was helping two others unpack the vehicle.
"Hey Matt. How's it going?" Ben questioned with a small grin so his little brother wouldn't know that something was wrong.
"It's going." Matt replied, grinning back. As his older brother continued coming towards, the curly-haired kid asked, "Have we heard anything from Dad and Hal yet? If they were scouting ahead, they should be here."
Biting back a sigh, Ben said, "Why don't you come with me? I want to talk to you."
Matt didn't say anything for a long moment. The fact that Ben didn't immediately answer his question already told him something was up, something was going on. Coupled with the nervous look in his brother's eyes and that he suddenly wanted to talk to him, probably alone told him that whatever was going on, was something bad. So, wordlessly, Matt nodded and followed Ben away from the small crowd.
"Where are we going?" Matt questioned as they continued walking away from the camp the other 2nd Mass members were setting up.
"Somewhere quiet." Ben answered, keeping his eyes on the road they were walking down. Matt stayed silent for another few minutes, following his brother closely, but when they turned down another road that was completely empty, he stopped in his tracks.
"What's going on Ben?" Matt demanded to know. Ben stopped walking when Matt said that, just now realizing his little brother had stopped, then came forward to stand in front of him.
"Just so you know, I only just found out the truth myself, I was kept in the dark too." Ben said, needing Matt to know that first before he told him about Hal and their Dad. If Matt thought that Ben had been aware the entire time and didn't tell him, his younger brother would be furious with him.
"The truth about what?" Matt pushed, getting more and more worried the longer Ben kept from telling him what was going on.
"Dad and Hal didn't go scouting ahead." Ben started, then waited until his knew that Matt processed that before he finished, "Pope kidnapped Hal, and Dad went after him to get him back."
"Pope kidnapped Hal?" Matt repeated what his brother told, his voice cold and eyes full of fury.
"Yeah." Ben confirmed. Matt didn't say or do anything for a few seconds which started to concern the older sibling, but then he took a deep breath and started marching away from Ben and the direction of the 2nd Mass. Instead, it looked as though he was heading in the general direction of Chinatown.
"Whoa." Ben called out as he rushed towards his little brother, stood in front of him to stand in his way, then asked, "What are you doing?"
"I'm going after them." Matt stated, his voice tightly controlled, though it was easy to hear the anger in it. He tried to march pass the teenager, but Ben grabbed his arms to keep him in place.
"No Matt, you can't." Ben told him.
"Why not?" Matt shouted the question as he struggled against Ben's hold.
"Because we have no idea where they are, and it's too dangerous." The older brother answered, still trying to hold Matt still. While he was much stronger then his younger brother, he didn't want to use too much strength because he didn't want to hurt him.
"Not as dangerous as Dad rescuing him alone." Matt pointed out, slowly stopping his struggles so he could focus on Ben.
"Matt, we'd have no idea where to go, no idea what's going on, we could end up getting in the crosshairs and if we did that, and got hurt, Dad and Hal would kill us." Ben tried to explain.
"What if Pope already killed them?" Matt then asked, the anger replaced by overwhelming fear. If Pope had already killed their Dad and older brother, then they would have no way of knowing. The only way they would eventually figure it out, is that they would just never come back.
Ben tried to keep himself calm when Matt asked him that. Ever since Anne told him and Maggie the truth, he had the same fear, that their Dad and Hal were already dead. But Matt didn't need to know that. What he needed, was to stay calm and not do something stop, so Ben asked, "What if Dad's already rescued Hal and they're on their way back?"
"Matt, if Dad and Hal don't come back soon, we'll talk to Anne and Weaver," Ben started, causing Matt to look up at him in slight confusion before Ben finished, "and head out together."
"What if they don't let us?" Matt wondered. After all, Anne and Weaver kept the truth from them so they wouldn't go after their missing family members and still didn't want them to go now, so why would they let them go later?
"As if those two could actually stop us." Ben replied with a knowing grin, causing Matt to smile slightly in return. If there was one thing that everyone, especially Anne and Weaver knew about the Masons, is that they were very stubborn. Even if the two leaders literally ordered them to stay put when they didn't want too, they wouldn't listen.
"Do you really think Dad and Hal are on their way back?" Matt questioned, his voice begging for reassurance.
"I think Dad and Hal are too strong and stubborn to let Pope stop them." Ben answered. The younger brother nodded, but lowered his head, still clearly worried about Hal and their Dad. Not able to really come up with anything else to say that would comfort the curly-haired kid, Ben wrapped his arms around him and hugged him tight. Matt quickly returned the embrace.
After a minute or two, Ben pulled away, stood up straight, and as he put his arm around Matt's shoulders, he said, "Come on, let's head back."
*Tom and Hal talk after they are reunited at the farmhouse*
Tom carefully and gently unwrapped the bandage on Hal's arm so he could check the injury while his son sat patiently on the bed. After the father and son had been reunited, Hal had introduced Tom to Isabella, quietly informing him that it was because of her that he escaped Pope, which immediately made the father give her a grateful smile.
Tom then introduced Hal and Isabella to Willie and Alicia, explaining how they found him and saved him from the hornet. Once introductions were made, Alicia led them to the spare rooms before heading downstairs to continue making supper. Isabella went into one room while Tom led Hal to the one he was in before, wanting to check his son over more thoroughly.
Though the parent had looked over his oldest a few minutes ago when Hal first arrived, he wanted to make sure that his son was indeed alright. The memory of hearing his child screaming through the walkie-talkie was as clear as day to Tom. He knew something bad had to happen to get that reaction from Hal.
As Tom looked over his son again, he saw the blood stains on the left sleeve of Hal's sweater. Without giving Hal any warning, Tom reached out to grab his arm. Hal quickly realized what his Dad saw and pulled up his sleeve to reveal the blood-soaked bandage on his limb. Tom then had his son sit down on the bed while he sat down beside him and started taking off the bandage so he could check the injury.
Once the bandage was off, Tom felt his breath catch in his throat at the sight of the wound on his eldest's arm. It appeared as though the limb had been nearly sliced in half by a knife. Even though the injury had been stitched up, not very neatly though, Tom could tell the wound was deep, and had obviously been bleeding despite the stitches. It wasn't bleeding anymore though which was good.
"Dad?" Tom looked up at the young man when he heard Hal call him.
"It's not your fault Dad." Hal told him, seeing the guilty expression on his father's face. He knew that his Dad was blaming himself because Pope only kidnapped him to get revenge on him for Sarah's death, but it wasn't his Dad's fault. As the leader of the 2nd Mass, he had to put them first and that's what he did. Pope, so consumed in angry and hate refused to even try and understand that. The only person at fault his kidnapping and his injuries was Pope.
"I'm going to get the first aid kit. I'll be right back." Tom said, not responding to his son's earlier statement or meeting his eyes. Without another word, he stood up and left the room as quickly as he could without running. Once he was out of the room, he paused in the hallway and wiped his eyes, taking a deep breath as he did so.
Hal was wrong, all of this was his fault. Though Tom knew he made the right decision in choosing to destroy the Overlord's factory and the skitters he was creating instead of going to save Sarah, everything that Pope did afterwards was to get back at him for making that choice. If he had managed to help save Sarah, Pope would never had kidnapped up Hal, his son wouldn't have gone through who knows what while being held hostage and wouldn't be hurt right now.
"Tom?" The former history teacher was pulled from his thoughts when he heard his name and looked up to see Alicia slowly walking towards him, first aid kit and bottle of water in her hands.
"I figured you might need this." Alicia said, holding out the kit and bottle to the father, who gave her a small, grateful smile and reached out to take them.
"Thanks." Tom responded.
"No problem. Is your son alright?" Alicia then asked, having seen how the young man looked when he arrived at the farmhouse and the upset expression on Tom's face.
"Yeah, he'll be okay. He's tough." Tom told her, sounding more like he was talking to himself instead of her.
"Good. If you need anything else, just let me know." Alicia said.
"Thanks." Tom replied, again giving her a grateful smile. The mother returned it before she turned around and started walking away and down the stairs. Tom then headed back to the bedroom where Hal was, opened the door, and went inside.
To the father's surprise though, Hal wasn't sitting upright on the bed anymore. He was lying down on his side, and appeared to be fast asleep. Tom immediately made his way over to his son, putting the kit and water bottle on the bedside table and laid his hand on his son's shoulder, shaking it slightly, just to make sure that Hal was okay, that he hadn't fallen in a coma or anything.
"Hal?" Tom called in a gentle tone as he continued to lightly shake his son's shoulder. He stopped though when he heard a quiet moan, and Hal's eyes started fluttering open.
"I'm okay, just tired." Hal said quietly, and started to move so he could sit up but his Dad gently pushed him back down.
"No, lie back down. I was just making sure you're alright." Tom told his son, who was apparently to tired to argue. As Hal laid back down on the bed, the father whispered, "Get some sleep. You're safe now."
Hal was asleep within seconds. Even though Tom had told the young man to go to sleep, he couldn't help but be a little worried about that. The bruises on his son's face were obvious and he wasn't sure if Hal had a concussion or not. And if he did, he was pretty sure that he shouldn't be letting his boy sleep, at least, that's what he heard. He wasn't a doctor after all. But, it also had been a few days since Hal had escaped Pope, so if there was something wrong with his head, Hal and Isabella would've known about it by now. So, Tom let his son sleep, deciding to wake him up in about an hour to check, just to make sure.
While Hal slept, Tom grabbed the first aid kit and pulled out some antibacterial wipes and started cleaning the young man's arm, being very careful to not cause it to bleed again and to make sure he didn't accidentally hurt his son any more than he already had been. As soon as Hal's arm was clean, he grabbed some gauze and wrapped the injury up so it wouldn't be exposed and get infected. Once that was done, he started cleaning the small mess he made.
After doing that, Tom grabbed the chair by the desk and dragged it over to the bed as quietly as he could, not wanting to wake Hal. He then sat down in the chair beside his son and gently grabbed his hand. After spending two days filled with fear and worry over his oldest who was being tortured and threatened, there was no way he was letting Hal out of his sight for a while, not until they were back at the 2nd Mass at least.
As Tom continued his watch over his boy, he noticed that Hal didn't have a blanket, so he stood up and pulled the blanket that was lying at the edge of the bed and draped it over Hal. The movement caused Hal to stir slightly, and not wanting him to wake just yet, Tom placed his hand on Hal's head and gently shushed him.
"I love you." Tom whispered to his son, his voice barely audible, before placing a small kiss on Hal's head. He then sat back down on the chair and got comfortable, knowing he wasn't moving for a while.
*Hal finds and talks to Ben*
Hal surveyed the crowds with a careful eye as he searched for Ben. He, Isabella and his Dad had arrived in Fayetteville about half an hour ago, reuniting with the 2nd Mass, his youngest brother and his stepmother and Maggie, but he hadn't seen his middle brother at all yet. After asking around for a few minutes, it became clear that no one knew exactly where Ben had sneaked off to, so Hal was left looking for the blonde with no clue where to find him.
Though Hal knew that Ben would show up sooner or later, most likely at next mealtime or when there was a shift change for those on guard, the oldest felt a strong urge to check on Ben. After spending at least two days as Pope's prisoner, nearly constantly being told that he was going to die, he just wanted to his family and Ben was the only one he hadn't seen yet. Not to mention, he wanted to make sure his younger brother was alright, having been traveling and fighting without him and their Dad watching his back, as well as, well, because of everything that happened with Maggie.
Hal was completely thrown when Maggie practically ran up to him and placed his hand on her neck, showing him that her spikes were gone. He was surprised that she was able to do that and was still okay, and was happy they were gone, though now he was feeling confused because of Isabella. But when he first found that they were gone, Ben immediately came to his mind, along with all of the obvious thoughts.
After finding that Ben wasn't with the rest of the 2nd Mass, Hal started walking down the streets of Fayetteville, thinking that maybe his brother had just gone for a walk or something. He was proven right when he saw Ben walking down an empty street. He started heading towards him, about to call after him, but before he could, the blonde suddenly turned around with his gun raised and ready to fire.
"Whoa! Easy there geek." Hal said as he threw up his hands in a 'I surrender' gesture. Seeing who it was, Ben immediately lowered his gun.
"Hal. You're back." Ben stated with a relieved tone. As Hal started walking closer to him, Ben then saw the very visible black eye and the cuts on his face. The relief he felt at seeing his brother was suddenly replaced with worry and he asked, "Are you alright? Where's Dad? Is he okay too?"
"Slow down. Yes, I'm fine, Dad's with Weaver at camp, and he's fine." Hal answered his brother's questions as he came to stand in front of the teenager.
"Good, good. When Anne told us about Pope kidnapping you and how Dad went after you without any backup, we were worried." Ben said before adding for emphasis, "Really worried."
Hal gave his younger brother a reassuring smile, placed his hand on Ben's shoulder and said, "Well, don't be. I'm okay, both me and Dad are fine."
Ben nodded, but looked down at the ground, as though he was unable to meet his older brother's eyes and Hal had a fairly good idea why.
"Are you alright?" Hal wondered after a moment of silence.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?" Ben replied, looking back up at Hal with a defensive look in his eyes. The older brother knew that he should back off, but there was just one thing he wanted to make sure his younger brother knew first.
"If you're not, you know you can talk to me."
"Yeah, I know." Ben responded, though they both knew that they would probably never actually talk about what was going on, because it had to do with Maggie.
Ben would never feel comfortable talking to Hal about how he really felt about his brother's girlfriend and how much it hurt when she took the spikes out, nor did he feel like he even had the right to. Regardless of his own feelings and the way the spikes acted, he had deeply hurt his brother and talking about it would probably only make it worse. And he was positive that though Hal just told him he could talk to him, he didn't actually really want to hear it. That would just be too awkward and painful. From the look in Hal's eyes, he knew it too.
"It's getting late, we should head back." Hal broke the silence, seeing the sun setting off in the distance. Ben nodded, and together, the two started making their way back to the 2nd Mass.
*Hal and Matt talk about Pope*
It was late at night when Hal finally headed off to bed. After reuniting with his family and doing a short patrol, his Dad and Weaver, and Anne actually kind of teamed up on him, practically ordering him to get some rest. While he wanted to fight it a little, not wanting to others to think that something was wrong as nobody outside his family and Weaver and Maggie knew the real reason he and his Dad were gone, he was exhausted. So, he went without much complaint. As he was about to lie down, the door opened and Matt came inside.
"Hey buddy." Hal welcomed his youngest brother with a wide smile. Matt tried to smile back as he came further into the room, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Hi." Matt said, his voice quiet and his head lowered. Hal frowned a little in concern when he heard his brother's voice. When Matt stopped in his tracks and kept his head down, the dark-haired soldier grew more worried causing him to reach forward, gently grab Matt's arms and pull him closer.
"Hey, hey what's wrong?" Hal inquired, voice filled with worry at his brother's silence.
"I'm sorry." Matt finally answered quietly, so quiet actually that Hal barely heard him.
"About what?" Hal pushed, needing to know what was going on.
"Pope." The older tried not to tense at the mention of the criminal's name, keeping his focus on his baby brother.
"You're going to have to give me more than that buddy." Just as Hal said that, the pieces fell into place, "Wait, you're not thinking it's your fault for what Pope did, are you?"
Matt didn't say anything, but the look in his eyes and his silence answered the young man's question. Hal immediately pulled his younger brother into his arms and held him tightly. Matt quickly returned the embrace.
"Oh buddy. None of what happened is your fault. None of it. Pope made his own choices, he's the only one to blame. You are in no way responsible for his actions." Hal tried to convince the curly-haired blonde.
"He was my friend, I trusted him." Matt reminded him, his voice muffled a little because he was pressing his head into Hal's neck.
"I know." Hal responded, rubbing his brother's back comfortingly.
"But then he threatened Dad, hurt you. I thought he was my friend." Matt told him, sounding completely miserable, causing Hal to tighten his hold.
"He was once. But when Sarah died, he snapped. He was so hurt and angry and blamed Dad for it. It had nothing to do with you." Hal stated, hoping that Matt would believe him. Hearing that, Matt slowly pulled away from his older brother so he could look him in the eyes.
"Then why do I feel so guilty?" Matt wondered.
"Because he was someone you trusted, and when he did what he did, he betrayed you and hurt people you care about, which also hurt you. Somewhere in your brain, you have this idea where if you didn't trust him, he couldn't have hurt you." Hal tried to explain as Matt moved so he could sit down on the cot beside him.
"That doesn't really make sense." Matt replied.
"Guilt is a strange, illogical thing buddy. Sometimes, it doesn't make sense. It's called misplaced guilt." Hal told him.
Matt nodded, then looked down at the ground as he thought it over. After a minute of silence, he said, "It sucks."
Hal chuckled slightly at the simple yet truthful stated and agreed, "Yeah it does."
The younger Mason smiled a little at the sight of his older brother laughing, but then his eyes were drawn back to the black eye, bruised cheek, and cut on his lip. Even though Hal had already said he was okay, Matt couldn't but ask again.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Hal wrapped his arm around Matt's shoulders, pulling him close again when he heard the question.
"Yes, I'm fine. I promise." Hal replied before giving his younger brother a light kiss on the top of his head. Matt laid his head on Hal's shoulder, snuggling a little into his childhood protector, actually, his protector even now. He didn't really want to leave.
"Can I," Matt started, pausing for a moment due to a sudden feeling of embarrassment, but he ignored and continued, "Can I stay with you tonight?"
"Of course you can buddy." Hal immediately answered, looking down at Matt to give him a small smile. The brothers then laid down on the cot, which was a little harder then it used to be as Matt wasn't so small anymore, but the two quickly got comfortable and fell fast asleep, safe and sound in each other's arms.
AN – Hope you all liked this chapter! Next chapter will have missing scenes from 5x08. See you all then!
