Disclaimer I do not own Animorphs or Ben 10

Chapter 18: On Duty

Tobias' POV

I was flying over the streets of our town, keeping watch over the brown haired kid that we saw morphing in the field. I flew, letting the hawk mind fly. It was good to let it take control a bit. Besides it makes me look like I'm a real hawk.

That day was a great day to be out flying. I had a big meal the other day, so I didn't need to eat for a while. It was very warm and the thermals were spectacular. I had to consciously try to stay level, otherwise I would shoot up into the sky. Which on any other day it would be fun, but I'd loose sight of him. Keeping an eye over someone who we suspected to be a controller was normally my job. Well, the reasons are obvious. The others try not to mention it whenever we have a new suspect, but I made my peace with it. No school, no family. Well, unless you count my aunt and uncle as family, though, they were never really family to me and neither was I to them. I don't think they even noticed that I disappeared. Anyway, I am pretty much a hawk now.

I started following him after school had ended, but in the during that time I kept watch in a tree. He was easy to spot, fortunately he sat next to the window. I didn't really know much about this Ben guy, but it seems that he became friends with the others. I guess that's why the others were so shocked when they saw the alien morph into, or demorph to Ben. I can't say much, since I never "officially" met the guy. But one thing bothers me. The way that Rachel acted when we discovered him. I can't explain it, but, I don't know. It was like, she was trying to believe that the thing wasn't Ben. I don't understand why, but it felt weird, that she was trying so hard to not believe it. If I was back in my human body, I'm pretty sure that it might've describe it feeling like someone dropped a heavy ball in my chest. It wasn't really a physical feeling, but. Shit. It's so hard to describe that feeling. It's like I felt it without feeling it. I know that it makes no sense at all, but I just did.

I really don't know what I'm feeling. Maybe I'm just over thinking it. . .

X

Well the rest of the day there was not much to talk about. Tailing controllers isn't very exciting, especially when we still aren't sure if this "guy" is actually with the Yeerks. Well from what I've seen so far he's pretty much normal. But that doesn't make any difference whether or not he's a controller. Aside from keeping an eye on him, I kept watch for known controllers that come into contact with him, and so far there haven't been any.

I followed him all the way back to his place, and I was pretty surprised that it wasn't in one of the typical suburban areas, where every house looks just like the one next door. Most of these houses looked different from the other. Well, this dude must come from a pretty loaded family.

I circled around the house getting a look from all angles. They had a pretty big back yard, a lot bigger than most. They also had a large tree, which is good for me. Although I can't really tell, but it seems kinda weird that a home with a yard that big doesn't have stuff like a old swing-set or maybe even in the tree a treehouse. If a kid like that, in a neighborhood like this I'm pretty sure they'd have something. Or maybe they just moved in, that could make a lot more sense to me, since he just came to school out of the blue, from the the others told me. They told me that he said hat he just moved here, so it makes even more sense.

Aside from the yard, it was a fairly large place. I landed in the tree, hoping that they had the usual large glass sliding doors. Which they did. It got me a good view of the inside. The first thing I saw, was the kitchen. I don't really care much about interior design, but it looked pretty nice in there. Place was clean and had a kind of modern feel to it. I looked around the yard, hoping that they didn't have a dog. But, even if they did have one it can't reach me from up here in the tree. But I am worried that the dog might start barking up at me and make him come and take a look. And if he was a controller, and if he saw me, he'd probably morph and kill me on the spot.

Thankfully, there was no dog, nor cat for that matter. Which, after the incident when we snuck into Chapman's house. I was glad they didn't have one.

Just then, I saw him enter the kitchen and open the fridge. He was still wearing the same black shirt and jeans that he wore to school. Well, so far from what I can see, he seemed to be alone in the house. I guess both his parents were working. The driveway was large enough for two cars and was completely empty. I watched him grab a tub of ice-cream from the freezer and a bowl from a cupboard. He got a couple scoops of ice-cream and put back the tub in the freezer. You know, Its been forever since the last time I had Ice-cream. It's not like I ate ice-cream often, but it's something that I rarely got. I don't really miss it, I just can't for the life of me remember the last time I had some.

The moment he left the kitchen I took off from the tree I perched in and headed to the front of the house. I landed on a tree in a neighbors yard that was not too far. I could still see the front of the house and through the windows clearly. And there I waited.

X

A couple of hours later a car drove into the driveway. It was still light out and I could see a blonde woman who I guessed was his mom. I couldn't see much of a resemblance between them. She then went inside the house. Around an hour later another another car parked in the empty side of the driveway. It was probably the dad. By this time, it was too dark for me to see easily. My eyes were made to hunting in the day. Not for messing around in the dark. I wonder if there were any owls in the area. I hope not.

Several lights in the house were turned on as it got darker. I stayed in my perch, trying to fight away the boredom of this part of tailing someone. It's not like I'm in one of those cop shows where they are keeping an eye on some guy's apartment. I don't have anyone to talk to and I can't just go out and grab a mickey D's if I get hungry.

I should've brought Ax. I mentally sighed.

This is gonna be a long night. . .

X

I watched the sun rise slowly over the horizon that I could see from my small perch in the tree. I take it back about yesterday being great. Because right now, I was covered from head to talon in dew. And I don't mean the amount of dew that normally clings onto the tips of my feathers in tiny droplets, making me look like I was covered delicate in jewels. Heh, I like that description. Rachel told it to me when she came for a visit early one morning, before I woke up.

No, it wasn't that kind of pleasant dew. I could feel the weight of the water on me, it was getting annoying. I flared open my wings and my cold muscles stretched, while droplets of morning dew flew in every direction. After my wings were cleared I shook off the rest of the water, from my head to the tips of the feathers on my tail. Now that was much better. The tips of my wings were slightly damp, but that isn't much of a problem.

I looked over to the house I was keeping watch over. Both cars were still parked and from what I could see from the outside, nobody was moving around yet.

I take that back. Someone was getting up. I could almost see a silhouette through the blinds of the window. I knew from last night that it was Ben. His room was in the front of the house on the second floor. Damn, what kind of guy wakes up at the break of dawn? This guy is definitely an alien, yeerk or not.

He opened the window and looked out to the sun. His hair was messed up and his PJ's were loose around him. I stared at him as he looked over at the sun before pulling his head back in the window. He grabbed something hanging in his room and walked out.

I waited in my perch for him to get out and go to school and it wasn't until it was almost time for school that he came out. Does this guy wear anything other than that black shirt, jeans, and white jacket?

Whatever. . .

When he got out of the house he started walking the same route he took getting home. It was only when he was far enough away that I jumped off my perch and took to the air. I didn't need to struggle to gain some altitude this time since the morning warmed up a lot quicker. But it was a while before I got a proper updraft to gain enough altitude to seem inconspicuous. I caught sight of him quickly when I got high enough. It would have been bad if I lost sight of him. Well, it's a good thing that this tailing thing is gonna be for three days. If he was a yeerk either today or tomorrow, I'm gonna find out.

He took the bus to school and I trailed behind. Relaxing a bit, since he isn't going anywhere in a bus. Hm, I wonder if there are any good sized squirrels at school.

It wasn't long before I got to the school and I spotted him in the crowd of kids. The bell had probably just rang since most of them were rushing to get to their class before the teacher. That is one of the things that I don't miss about being human. School. I never really enjoyed my time there and it wasn't really that the classes were hard. I was pretty smart, but it's just the fact that I was bullied a lot that made my time at school hell. Back then I used to think that I couldn't escape that cycle. I was neglected at home an at school I was bullied almost everyday. Probably other kids like me would've just given up and killed themselves. If it weren't for Jake and Marco I would've probably killed myself too. At the time, I thought that I was in hell. Until the time that we first got into the Yeerk pool, then I found out that a real hell was. Being trapped against your will, being controlled by something otherworldly, foreign, unnatural.

That makes my situation back then seem not so bad doesn't it?


I continued tailing him after school. And I was right, there was a nicely sized squirrel in the field behind the school. It wasn't particularly big, but it did feel good to eat something. Even if it wasn't that filling.

He did boring normal stuff for the rest of the day. He went to the mall for a while then went around the park. And for some reason he was alone. That was the main thing that made me wonder if he really was a controller. Normally when people are turned into controllers through the Sharing they start acting differently. They seem like the Sharing made them better people of some shit like that. They start hanging out with other members of the Sharing and on the outside looks a lot happier than before. But underneath all that it is all just an act. The Yeerk inside is in control and the real person is probably screaming inside their own heads. But Ben doesn't seem to e hanging out with a lot of Sharing members. I mean whenever he meets with a group of people they talk a bit before separating. I guess he's pretty popular.

He kept walking aimlessly through the town. I guess he was out exploring. He had just moved into town after all. You know, getting familiar with the streets and where all the good food stands are. I know a good hotdog stand that was run by a old man and every Thursday without fail, he'd be at the corner of the old construction site. He was a good man. He sometimes gave me free hotdogs and told me stories while we sat on the bench nearby if I happen to pass by after school. And if I had the money, I'd buy it myself, but he always seemed to accept the money with a heavy heart. He knew that I didn't have much money to spend really, but I really wanted to repay him for his kindness. To me, he seemed to be the closest thing I had to a grandfather. I wonder how he's doing, and if he ever thinks of the little kid that he used to give free hotdogs to every once in a while, wondering what had happened to him.

From one place to another he walked. He didn't seem the least bit tired from all that walking. And at that time it was starting to get a little dark. Doesn't this guy have a curfew? It's a school night for Christ's sake! I can't keep following him around at night. I was gonna lose him if he kept this up.

I was so worried that I might lose him in the night, that I almost didn't notice that the air currents started to shift and the hawk mind was begging to find a place to land. Soon enough I realized why. It started to drizzle. then the rain started to pour. A flash of lightning and the boom of thunder. At that point the hawk mind screamed at me to find a place to land, almost taking over forcing me to get to the closest shelter.

But I resisted and kept focusing on Ben. He had to find a place to get out of the rain sooner or later. And he did. But to the place that I least expected. It was the Mcdonalds where one of the entrances to the Yeerk pool was located. I was relieved that he went inside the place. Because I knew of a little alcove on the side of a nearby building which gave me a good view of the place, and even better it was deep enough that it kept me out of the rain. Then and only then did did the hawk mind calm down when I was out of the rain. I shook off the rain before it got into my feathers and hopped to get the full view.

It was a bit difficult to see through the pouring rain, but the Mcdonalds had large windows and I could see Ben at the cashier. The left most one. Now it is the moment of truth, if he goes with the employee to the back behind the counter then he is definitely a controller even if he wasn't human or at least he sided with the Yeerks. I watched and at any moment he'd say the code phrase "Happy-meal with extra happy". Then the cashier left, but Ben stayed in place. He simply waited. Then the girl came back and gave him a loaded tray. He paid her and left to get a seat. He sat next to the window and slowly ate his food.

I watched him for the next few hours. I guessed he was waiting for the rain to subside or maybe use the phone to call his parents and get home. This was probably enough evidence to say that this guy isn't a controller. I really doubt that any controller would go to this particular Mickey-Ds alone and not go down the the Yeerk pool. So that leaves the other question. If he wasn't a controller and if he was an alien or maybe some kind of freak of nature, then what was his agenda? He seemed too normal from what the other Animorphs have told me. This time, I really have no idea what to make of this guy.

I kept watching. People started to leave the store. Either in their cars or picked up by parents or walking home for those lucky enough to have brought an umbrella. And strangely Ben didn't leave after he ate. He fell asleep on the table he sat at. I could't see him all that well through the rain and the fog that had collected on the glass of the place. Then I saw movement and Ben left his table. I looked over to try and fin where he was headed. It seemed that he was heading somewhere that I couldn't see from my vantage point. I tried hopping around to get a better angle, but I couldn't spot him. Where did he go?

I kept trying to spot him from the outside,but he seemed to have disappeared. Eventually the store had to close and the employees left, locking up the place. But no sign of Ben. I didn't see him go out the front doors. There was absolutely no way he could get past me. Unless. . . Unless he went through the passage to the Yeerk pool.

That has to be it! There isn't any other way he could have gotten out of that place in this downpour. But I had to make sure, just in case. Because there is no way in hell that anyone in their right mind would leave a kid alone inside there. I had to check inside the store to find out whether or not he actually used the pool entrance to get back home or if he was still there.

X

All throughout the night the storm got harder and harder. Huge bolts of lightning spidered its way across the sky. And it to make it worse didn't go down the next day, so I had to wait it out for the entire day. It only stopped for almost an hour before coming back again in full force.

It wasn't until later in the evening did the storm finally pass and I got a chance to get inside the Mcdonalds. It wasn't really that hard to get in since I went into my roach morph and crawled under the gap, before demorphing and morphing into human.

The place was dark and there was absolutely no sign of him. He definitely had to have used the Yeerk pool to get home. But I had to make sure. So I flew over to where his house was and there he was, home.

There was no question about it, he was with the Yeerks.

X

I went and reported to Jake about what I saw the next day and he now knew about what side Ben was on. And from the look on his face, he didn't seem to take the news that well.

It was good to finally get that tailing thing done. I was hungry as hell and I needed to get some proper sleep.

I just hope that no new hawk took over my clearing while I was away.


A few days later we had a meeting about what we found out and what was gonna happen next.

And after that, it wasn't long before we had to do something about it. And when we did, it was something that we never expected.

Authors Notes: Happy New Year! (Belated) To all my readers! The Writing gears have started to roll again and I have been writing like a madman the past few days. I feel that 2013 will let me write more stories and let out chapters at a better pace than one every couple months. I really am getting back into the writing mood and getting back into the groove which is a good thing to be happening. And no this isn't some kind of new years resolution crap, but something really changed in me that makes me want to write. I hope you guys are still following and reading, I hope I am not disappointing you guys too much.

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