Chapter 74: All You Need is (That One Beatles Reference)

As promised, I deleted the author's note and replaced it with this chapter. Though, it may not be as proofread as it normally is. Like I said, I still have exams to do, and I was actually in a study group for most of the day. Long story short, I'm tired and I might miss a few things. Sorry in advance.

This chapter starts to delve more into Ben's psyche, which was touched upon last chapter. There are going to be angry outbursts courtesy of PTSD and other stressors. It's not going to be pretty, and it's going to worsen in future chapters. You have been warned.

Also, I ripped off a move from Danny Phantom. I regret nothing.

On with the chapter!

"What do I keep telling you, 'boid?" the smaller Vreedle growled out in a thick, low drawl. "If we destroy it, we won't get paid!" He calmed down some. "And that would be…?"

The bigger one closed his eyes and thought. "Bad." He had a remarkably high-pitched voice; it was a stark contrast to his big build.

The smaller one smiled. "That is correct." He aimed his laser at Ship and his humans, his brother falling suit. "There's no reason we can't do this nice and civilized like," the smaller Vreedle called out to them. "After all, we gots the law on our side."

"And you clearly don't know who we are if you're taking the law into account," Carter snapped back, her hand placed behind her back.

"Who exactly are you, anyway?" Newt asked, stalling for time.

"We're repo men." The younger one pointed to himself. "I'm Octagon. This is Rhomboid." The bigger one waved.

"You're named after geometric shapes?" Newt spluttered incredulously. "What, did your parents hate you or something?"

"Like you're one to talk, Newton," Carter pointed out with an eye roll.

"We're the Vreedle Brothers, ma'am and sir, and we provide quality service for all repossession needs throughout the galaxy," Octagon went on to say. "No questions asked."

Rhomboid nodded. "Mm-hmm. Because we're what you'd call uncurious."

"We aims to be repossessing that there glob of Galvanic Mechomorph," Octagon explained.

"What?" Carter cried out in shock just as Ship leaped into her arms. "But that doesn't-!"

Octagon got a sheet of yellow paper out of his coat. "We have here a court order authorizing us to procure said glob in question."

"So hand it over!" Rhomboid ordered. And then he smiled. "Thank you kindly."

Octagon walked over to Carter, holding the sheet of paper out in front of him so she could read it. Eyes quickly scanning it, she clicked her tongue. "It's official. But the guy who wants him back said-!"

"Be that as it may," Octagon cut her off as his brother loomed over them all, "we presently gots ourselves a payin' job to complete here forthwith."

Carter and Newt slowly backed away. "Come on, Tennyson," Newt snarled under his breath.

"Step away from the glob!" Rhomboid ordered, still smiling at them.

Ship gave a cry, trying to disentangle from Carter's arms. "No weapons," she hissed. "If they knew about you, who knows what would happen." She glared at the Vreedle Brothers. "Back off, Baz-El told me-!"

Whatever she had to say was lost when a green blast exploded in front of her. Smoke was once again sent into the air, debris flying around. Carter closed her eyes and held Ship close, Newt's body close enough to cover the both of them.

"JETRAY!"

The three of them looked up. "Man, are you a sight for sore eyes!" Newt shouted out happily.

"You guys okay?" the flying alien called down at them.

"We're good!" Carter yelled back. "But these guys won't listen to me when I tell them to back off!"

Jetray narrowed his eyes at the Vreedles. "You heard her. Now back off!"

"Blast the freak!" The two brothers shot at the hero, red and blue lasers lighting up the sky. Bobbing and weaving through the attacks, Jetray added his own green laser to the light show, searing the ground in a beam that sent the repo men running.

The Vreedles ran over to the side of the house, the beam following them and destroying the lawn in the process. "Seriously?" Carter groaned. "This is the second time in five minutes my backyard gets destroyed!"

"Sorry," Newt and Jetray said in unison.

"I'll wrap this up fast with Humungousaur," Jetray told them as he flew over.

"No, wait, I got this!" Newt shouted, running over as well. Eyes widening in alarm, Carter ran after him, just in time to see the Vreedles panting in front of their ship, Echo Echo in front of them, and Newt skidding to stop in front of them all.

"Okay, new plan!" Newt didn't wait for a reply; he plucked the little alien right off the ground and put him on his shoulders.

"What-are-you-?" Echo Echo asked.

"Newt, don't, you haven't tested that out yet!" Carter shouted as she slowed to a stop.

"Say hello to my Ghostly Wail, motherfuckers!" And with that, Newt let out a devastating shriek, golden rings erupting from his mouth. The sheer volume of his attack was enough to break teeth, and the force of it sent the brothers and their ship skittering across the street.

And then Echo Echo opened his mouth.

The rings grew larger and more intense, rapidly erupting from Newt's mouth as he continued to wail. The sound grew exponentially louder- was glass shattering in the distance? Was the earth cracking apart? - and Carter was forced into kneeling, tears pricking her eyes, her eardrums ready to burst.

But it was even worse for the Vreedle Brothers. The full-frontal assault sent them and their ship careening into the air, their screams muted. Somehow they made it into their ship while in midair, and somehow they were able to get away, their yellow ship puttering into the night sky.

Newt finally slowed his Ghostly Wail, the rings becoming smaller and smaller until they were nonexistent. He slumped to the ground, panting, and Echo Echo jumped off his shoulders and turned back into Ben.

He immediately turned to Carter. "Are you okay?"

She had stood up at that point, and was sticking a pinky finger into one of her ears. "Let me get back to you on that; I can still hear ringing."

And then they heard the sounds of someone spitting onto the ground. They both turned to Newt, who was on his hands and knees, coughing up something dark and metallic-smelling.

"You just had to try out the Ghostly Wail, didn't you?" Carter snapped at him. "You just couldn't wait to practice it in a controlled setting. And now you're spitting up blood. What, is your throat cut up on the inside?"

Newt looked up and nodded his head. Blood was dripping down his chin.

Carter gave a long-suffering sigh, her hand already glowing blue, a ball of water cradled in her fingers. "You're all going to be the death of me." The ball went into Newt's open mouth, and soon his throat was glowing.

As Carter moved her fingers a bit so the water could seep into all of Newt's cuts, Ben had to ask, "Won't he choke?"

"He won't if he doesn't move," she answered, peering down her cousin's throat to get a better look. The water then escaped his mouth in a rushing river before collecting itself into a small orb. Tendrils of dark red blood swirled inside it. Carter threw the orb onto the grass, ignoring the splash as she conjured up another ball, this one the size of a large marble. That too went down Newt's throat.

Ship gently nuzzled Ben's leg. He absentmindedly scratched his head as he stared at the two cousins, watching as the girl quickly healed the boy. His eyes kept flickering over to Carter almost involuntarily. The way she was acting around Ben… it was like normal. It was as if their fight never happened. Had it even been a fight? He couldn't tell, and he was too heartsick to care.

Ben wanted to tell her. He really, really did. But every time it thought about it, his throat closed up, and his legs felt like giving out on him. How did he do this before, all those weeks ago? What had been so different?

You almost died, Ventus told him flatly.

…Ben had to admit, that was definitely a factor. But he'd also been happy, so incredibly happy to be alive, to see his friends alive and healthy, to see his girlfriend sleeping peacefully, healing slowly but surely. He'd just been so happy he could have burst.

But right now, Ben just felt like someone was choking him, clawing at his insides, destroying him from within. And he knew it was his problem, that the only way to stop this feeling was to tell the truth to the right person.

And that was just so incredibly hard to do.

Later, at Kevin's auto shop

"Do I have scarring down my throat?" Newt opened his mouth wide.

Evan peered down it, turning on a penlight and sending the beam into the darkness. "Not as far as I can tell."

"Of course not, Carter's good at not leaving scars," Sam pointed out from Kevin's lap. The two were sitting on the hood of the Dodge Challenger, his arms wrapped around her waist, her back against his chest. She was holding the court order the Vreedle Brothers had left behind.

"From my understanding, not always," Gwen said, hands on her hips.

Evan and Sam both gasped, hands to their chests. "How dare you!" they cried out melodramatically.

Carter rolled her eyes. "Can we please focus? It's only a matter of time before Tweedledee and Tweedledum come back." Ship, who was at her feet, bleated out his agreement.

Sam quickly scanned over the note. "It certainly seems legit, but it could be another Vulcanus." Kevin leaned over her shoulder to look at it.

"Nope, it's real," he told them. They all stared at him. "What? I used to do a little repo work back in the Null Void."

"Yeah, that's in your file," Newt muttered under his breath.

"What?"

"So the Vreedle Brothers really do have the right to repossess Ship?" Carter asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ship!" the pet in question bleated.

Carter picked him up and scratched his head. "We're not going to let them take you," she reassured him. She then turned to the others. "We can't have the Vreedles using him as a weapon, or anyone else. And it would suck not seeing this guy after several weeks of exploring." Ship purred in agreement.

"Is that what he does?" Gwen asked curiously. "I thought he stayed with Newt most of the time."

"Oh he does," Newt quickly agreed. "But he also likes to go out on his own."

"Oh, you're such a great uncle," she teased him, poking his cheek.

Newt gave Gwen a half-smile. "Hey, I can't control him. Ship does his own thing."

"Ship!" Ship agreed.

"We need to go right to the source and straighten this whole thing out," Sam told them, forcing them to become serious again.

"Baz-El told me that I could keep Ship," Carter said. "I tried explaining it to the Vreedle Brothers, but they didn't want to listen. And I don't think the person who hired them would be willing to either."

"That's why we'll go to the High Court," Kevin spoke up. "It's on the planet Coda-Coda. It's kind of far."

"And you're not taking Ship there," Carter said, narrowing her eyes. "I'd rather have him as far away from the bad guy as possible."

"That's fair," Evan said, shrugging his shoulders. "But we do need a way off planet."

"Don't worry." Kevin gave them his trademark salesman smile. "I got a ship."

"You mean the spaceship you borrowed from that guy from the moon that one time," Sam deadpanned.

"Yeaaaaah."

"You told him you were going to give it back!" Ben exclaimed.

"And I will." He averted his eyes, smiling. "Eventually."

"He's incurable," Evan groaned.

A good chunk of time later

"Was it such a good idea to separate the guys from the girls?" Newt had to ask. "This feels like it's gonna implode in our faces."

"Chill, Newton, we can handle ourselves," Evan reassured him from the shotgun seat. "Kevin has some experience at court, my lawyer stepmom taught me a few things, you're a good orator, and Ben's, well, Ben. We'll be fine."

"Sam's also pretty good with court stuff," Newt pointed out. "It comes with her family. A Carter's always been good at speaking. And Gwen's diplomatic; I'd honestly feel better if she was speaking for us."

"Yeah, Gwen would be good at situations like this," Ben mused. "Maybe we should have brought her along."

"You all know we're trying to dodge asteroids, right?" Kevin said as the ship neared a Pluto- sized space rock.

Evan quickly took the joystick and pressed down. Blue lasers erupted from the ship and hit the asteroid dead center. The asteroid exploded, bits and pieces of it flying out into the vacuum of space.

"You all make good points, but someone needs to defend Bellwood from the Vreedle Brothers." Evan leaned back comfortably in his chair. "Besides, now we both have mandatory girls' and guys' nights out."

"The question now is, do we want a guys' night out?" Kevin pondered out loud. This was followed by murmurs, none of which actually answered the question.

Newt turned around in his seat to face Ben. "I suppose, now that you're trapped here with the rest of us, you have to tell us what's up with you."

Ben looked at him, startled. "Uh, what do you mean?"

"Something's up with you, Tennyson." Kevin eyed him, using the reflecting surface of the windshield to look at him. "Has been for a while. We're all a little concerned."

"Nothing's up with me," Ben said too quickly. "Look, can we just focus on getting to Coda-Coda? That's kind of more important."

"I told you, the planet's kind of far," Kevin reminded him.

"I barely know you, and even I can pick up that something's bugging you," Newt pointed out.

Ben curled his fingers into fists and gritted his teeth. "I told you, I-!"

"Guys, look." Evan held up his hands. "We're pressuring him into talking with us. That's not how we're supposed to do it. We should let Ben tell us when he feels comfortable."

"You do realize that he's got a hero complex the size of Canada, right?" Kevin said flatly. "He probably thinks he can't tell us anything because he has to be strong all the time or some bullshit."

"…Good point."

"Oh come on!"

"He's right, you know," Newt sang. Ben sent him a withering glare.

"Okay, let's start with something small," Evan proposed. "Why are your eyes red?"

Ben started, and then felt around his eyes. "…Huh. Must be from when I was helping my mom with dinner. I had to cut onions."

"Oh." Newt deflated a bit. "I hear chewing gum while cutting onions will stop the tears."

"Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."

"But there's more to it than that," Evan pondered, leaning his chin into his palm. The intense stare he was sending made Ben squirm in his seat. It was like he was trying to mentally dissect him, trying to pry into his brain and see what was making him tick.

"There isn't," Ben mumbled half-heartedly.

"Fibber," Kevin teased.

"It involves Kitty, doesn't it?" Newt said out loud. From the way he winced, Newt knew it was right on the money.

Both Evan and Kevin breathed out of their noses and exchanged a look. "We're getting somewhere," the younger brunet said.

"Did you two have a fight?" Newt asked gently.

Ben raised an eyebrow. "She didn't tell you?"

"I want to hear your side of the story."

He sighed deeply, his shoulders sagging. He suddenly looked ten years too old, his eyes aged and hollow while they nested inside a young face. "It wasn't a fight," he mumbled, staring at the metal floor.

"But there's a rift," Evan stated. "Can you tell us when it happened?"

"…A few days ago."

"Can you tell us what it was about?" Newt asked softly. Ben grimaced, his knuckles whitening as he gripped the armrests of his chair. He refused to take his eyes off the floor.

"Was it something you said?" Evan prodded. He gave a curt nod.

Kevin groaned. "Did you say something stupid?"

"Depends on your definition of stupid," Ben muttered.

"It was about the L-word, wasn't it," Newt stated, leaning back in his chair. Ben's eyes flickered to him before going back to the floor.

"L-word? You mean lesbian?" Kevin asked out loud. As one, the other three boys turned to stare at him incredulously. "What?"

"The other L-word, genius," Evan snapped at him.

He thought about it, his eyebrows scrunching together. "…Lesbians?"

Evan slapped him upside the head. "Are you kidding me?!"

"Hey, watch it, I'm driving!"

"How does Sam deal with you?!" he roared. "How in all the layers of hell do you not know the word 'love'?!"

"…that was my third choice."

"Well, whoop-de-freaking-do!" Evan collapsed into his seat, one hand over his aching head.

Once the two had calmed a bit, Kevin piped up, "You told her you loved her?"

Ben clasped his fingers together and closed his eyes. "Yes."

Kevin gave a low whistle. "Damn. That's serious. And I guess she didn't take it well?"

"She might have, if I said it at a different time."

He arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"He means he said it after he defeated Vilgax," Newt spoke in place of Ben. He noticed the way the other boy tensed up and lightly grabbed at his heart.

"Ah, so you said it because you were happy to be alive, and you had to express it." Kevin nodded in understanding. "Classic trope. I don't blame you for saying it."

"You're also forgetting the fact that Carter essentially brought him back to life," Evan pointed out. "So there's a bit of the rescue romance trope going on here."

"Does that count if they were dating beforehand?"

"I think so," Newt mused. "I mean, the two were only dating a few months before the whole thing went down, so while it's a bit more stable than the usual rescue romance, there are still some elements that can make it one."

"I think Carter thinks that way," Ben said, his hands clutching the armrests. "It's all classic movie tropes, and she's seen enough of them to come up with reasoning like that. Well, that and…"

"And…" Kevin turned his head and eyed Ben out of the corner of his eye.

"…I kind of… told her when I thought she wasn't listening."

For a second, silence. And then Kevin broke it. "What the hell?"

"I was scared, okay?!" Ben suddenly yelled, startling them all. "I thought I was in love with her at the time and I was terrified of her reaction! And then I pretended for two weeks afterward that I never said anything, because I thought if I did everything would just go back to normal! But it didn't and now I can't even talk to her like before and it sucks! ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?!" He seethed quietly, glaring at everyone who dared to make eye contact. His screams echoed throughout the hangar, bouncing off the walls before disappearing into the thick silence.

His voice tiny, Newt said, "We're sorry. We were just trying to help."

Ben threw away the ripped apart pieces of his chair and snarled, "Next time, don't."

His voice as placating as possible, Evan said, "We can't do that. If something's bothering you, we want to know."

"You can't take care of everything by yourself," Kevin added quietly.

Ben took a deep breath and threw himself bodily into his chair, counting to ten once, twice, three times. "Well," he finally said, "if you do want to help, tell me: how do I fix this?"

Newt swallowed and looked at Evan before answering back, "I guess… tell her the truth."

Evan nodded. "Carter would appreciate it."

"And if I can't?" Ben said, his voice cracking slightly. "What if I'm still too scared to tell her the truth?"

Kevin's eyes widened. "Oh my god. You're actually…"

"Yeah." Ben leaned back in his chair, hopelessness in his every motion. "I am."

In Bellwood

"He did what?!"

"Oh my god Gwen, keep it down," Sam groaned into her hand. Ship, who was strapped to her back, gave a confused bleat.

Carter sipped her smoothie nonchalantly. "He said he loved me. Didn't we just go over this?"

Taking a deep, calming breath, Gwen opened her eyes. "You two been dating for, what, a couple months?"

"Yeeep."

"And he thinks he's in love."

"Yeeep."

"He's an idiot," Sam deadpanned.

"That's long been established, moving on." Carter made a waving motion with her hand.

"So, for two weeks afterward, Ben never seemed to follow up on that…" Sam pondered that for a moment. "Well, that makes sense. You were probably stressed from recuperating. And saying 'I love you' to someone in general can be pretty scary. Pretending it never happened could have been a better option at the time." She shook her head. "I honestly can't blame him."

"Neither can I," Carter admitted. "Hell, it's what I would do in his situation."

Gwen softened a bit at that. "I guess. The situation's still pretty messed up though. Is that what you're concerned about?"

She winced. "Uh, no. Not that exactly."

"Isn't it obvious?" Sam asked, genuinely curious. "She's worried that since she literally brought Ben back from the dead, he owes her and that translates to love. A bit of a rescue romance trope, if you think about it in a certain way."

Gwen arched an eyebrow. "Huh. I never thought of it that way." She looked at Carter. "So what happened when you questioned him?"

"He froze up, and then got the call about what was going on with the Pyroxivors," Carter explained. "We haven't really talked until today. I'm giving him space until he figures it out."

"Yeah, that's probably for the best," Sam said. Ship nodded in agreement before nuzzling her cheek. She smiled and patted him on the head.

"And if he means it?" Gwen had to ask. "If he does genuinely love you for you, what will you say?"

Carter raised an eyebrow. "Isn't it obvious?"

It took a moment for Gwen to realize it, but when she did, she leaned back in shock. "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

Sam sighed and gave a weak smile. "Figures."

"But you both barely started dating…" Gwen grumbled.

"True, but we spent a lot of time together, and then there's the whole alien thing," Carter pointed out. "You can't not have strong feelings for a person after you help stop an alien invasion."

"Not to mention the two of you were pretty attached at the hip," Sam agreed. "And let's face it, after what all of us went through together, it feels like we've known each other for years."

Gwen gave a fond smile at that. "That's true. I'm just worried about this blowing up in your faces."

"You and me both," Carter groaned.

There was a lull in the conversation, where everyone took a breather to enjoy their drinks. And then Sam started. "Considering we're being hunted down, should we really be out in the open?"

"It doesn't matter where we are, we're always getting shot at," Gwen pointed out. "And we've got the home field advantage, so that's a plus."

"I guess," Sam said begrudgingly. "And I bet Cordelia wouldn't want us to accidentally destroy her house."

"I especially don't, since I live there," Carter said flatly.

"But wouldn't your house be the safest place for an attack?" Gwen furrowed her brow. "Or yours?" she asked Sam. "I mean, your family is in the weapons business."

"True, but our security systems are kind of…lacking," Sam said sheepishly.

"Why?"

"Well, most threats to our families get taken out by Slayers," she explained. "If they're not, they're taken care of inside the house."

"Both of our houses are booby trapped," Carter added.

"...Booby trapped."

Sam and Carter nodded.

Gwen face palmed. "Why am I not surprised?" Ship dislodged himself from Sam's back and slithered over to Gwen, resting his head on her arm. Smiling a little, she scratched his head.

Sam gave Carter a concerned look. "And are you sure you should be out? I mean, there's going to be a big battle pretty soon…"

Carter smirked and pointed upwards. "See those?"

They all looked up at the night sky, right in time to see numerous storm cloud rolling through. "Damn, I totally didn't see those before," Sam admitted.

"They also don't look like they're going to fall anytime soon." Gwen gave Carter a look. "I know you can absorb water to heal yourself and gain energy and everything, but you can't depend on the weather."

"There are also fire hydrants all over the place. Not to mention the sewer system," Carter added.

"Eeew," said Gwen and Sam, leaning away from her.

She shrugged. "Hey, desperate times call for desperate measures."

And on that cue, they heard the sounds of an airship slowly descending near them. They all stood up, throwing their drinks to the ground and running out onto the street in a matter of seconds.

"Should we run?" Sam asked the other two girls. Ship suddenly jumped onto Carter's back and molded himself into a backpack of sorts.

"If we run, they'll just go after us," Carter pointed out. "I say stay and fight. Gwen?"

Her hands glowed pink. "Stay and fight, but run if we have to."

"That seems fair," Carter and Sam said in unison.

As they talked, the dust from the airship filled the road before disappearing into the night air. In its place were the Vreedle Brothers, weapons locked and loaded. "We'll be taking that their Galvanic Mechomorph now. And a coupla smoothies to go," Octagon added as he and his brother walked up to them.

Gwen gritted her teeth and sent a mana blast at the brothers. They were sent back right into the front of their airship, their weapons falling to the ground. Gwen then sent a tentacle around them, wrapping it around their waists and lifting them into the air.

Unfortunately, Rhomboid had grabbed his bazooka in time, and he sent a searing red blast at the ground. The laser hit the ground and slid towards them; Sam sent up a fire shield just in time for the explosion to hit. Unfortunately, the sudden flames were enough to distract Gwen for a second, and her mana rope disappeared. The repo men fell to the ground in a heap.

Carter summoned a handgun and started shooting at them, purposefully hitting the ground before the enemy so as to startle them. And startle they did, for the brothers ran and hide behind their airship to escape the onslaught of bullets.

As Carter quickly changed the clips on her gun, Ship slithered out before her and turned into some sort of alien death ray. An orb of green energy emerged from the cannon, ready to fire at the brothers.

"Ship, stand down!" Carter ordered him. The alien pet instantly changed into his original form, looking dejected.

He then jumped to the side and covered his head as another energy blast was sent at Gwen. Gwen, who did not throw up a shield in time, was sent flying across the road. Another, more concentrated blast was sent at Sam, hitting her in the stomach and sending her skidding across the pavement. Blood spurted out, and the scent of burnt flesh wafted through the air. Sam gave a short cry of pain as she fell to the ground.

Carter gave a withering glare to the Vreedle Brothers, who slowly approached her. "The glob. Now," Octagon growled.

"Carter!" Gwen yelled.

Carter's glare intensified. "Okay, you know what? I was going to spare you." The air turned chilly, her warm breath fogging. "My new friends are all about saving people's lives and other altruistic bullshit, and I want to be a part of that. I really do." Her hair grew patches of ice.

"But I'm seriously pissed off right now," Carter continued. "So pissed off, that I could just kill you where you stand and not even care what my friends say. But you know what? I'm going to give you one last chance to go away. I suggest you take it."

Octagon took a deep breath. "And I'm gonna ask you nicely: step away from the glob."

"Well, I did warn you," Carter said as her eyes glowed blue.

But whatever she was about to do never happened. Because Ship was suddenly gluing himself to her feet.

"…what the hell," she said, her eyes back to normal.

The Galvanic Mechamorph was slithering up her body, becoming a skin tight body suit that covered her from neck to foot. Green circuit board markings covered the suit, glowing eerily in the dark. A green see-through mask covered her eyes, vaguely giving off the appearance of lab glasses.

Carter looked at her gloved hands in shock. "…huh," she said dumbly before looking up at the stupefied faces of the Vreedle Brothers.

And then she heard it, the low, nearly snarling voice of her pet. He sounded all around her- he was all around her- and then she understood.

Carter smirked and said, "Well, this just got interesting."

I based Carter's modified Ship suit off of the Mechamorph suit Ben and Rex created from Heroes United. I thought it was really cool and less generic looking than Ship and Julie's design. I mean, it's kind of cool, but it's still nothing I haven't seen before.

So, thoughts anyone?