So sorry for all the chapter swaps etc etc! Something went wrong with my laptop when I was fiddling round with a few things and I ended up deleting chapters and uploading the wrong ones and then managed to incur the wrath of the dreaded Blue Screen Of Death. What a nightmare! So once again, sorry!

Hopefully everything is now fixed...

UPDATED 02/08/2012

Well, here we go! Hope you all enjoy the latest chapter. And I hope everyone watching the show is enjoying it as well? What did you think of the latest episode?

WE ALL BLEED THE SAME WAY

DANCERINTHEDARK101

Summary: [Set between S1 and S2] The three months where the Mason family dynamics changed so much; where Hal became the leader, Ben decided to pick up a gun and fight; and Matt was left just hoping his family came back alive.

CHAPTER 2

-FALLING SKIES-

Bang… bang… bang… bang…

Ben felt the kick of the semi-automatic weapon gripped in his arms as he fired off round after round. The simple black and white target nailed to a tree was decimated by several holes; many near the crudely drawn bullseye, but most were situated around the edges.

He had only been shooting for the better part of an hour and it was taking him a lot longer to get the feel of the weapon than he had first thought.

Lowering the weapon, Ben flicked on the safety and stared at the target, angry at himself. It was just after two o'clock in the afternoon; he would have to stop soon and that annoyed him. After Captain Weaver had given Hal the go-ahead to train him with a weapon, his older brother had taken him aside and very sternly told him exactly what was expected from him.

"You will obey either mine or Captain Weaver's commands at all times, is that clear Ben? And I will not be giving you a weapon until I have run through all the basic safety and information you need to know."

So that was why, after several hours of seemingly endless lectures about weapon safety, how to take care of the weapons and other relevant information, Hal had finally taken him to the impromptu armoury and told him to pick out a weapon. Whatever gun he chose was going to be his responsibility, so he was going to have to choose carefully.

Hal had teased him as he had slowly looked through the large amounts of weapons, looking for the perfect one. It had taken the better part of 20 minutes before he found the one he was looking for. It was a semi-automatic; black, sleek, with a scope and it looked lethal.

Feeling someone move behind him, Ben turned as saw his older brother leaning against a nearby tree with somewhat of a smile on his face.

"What?"

Hal laughed; must have been the look on his face or something. "Nothing…" he said, still smiling. "Just never thought I'd see the day that my geeky little math freak of a brother picked up a gun; and willingly at that."

As quickly as it had come, the smile dropped off Hal's face and Ben sighed.

"Yeah…It's the world we live in, not the world we want," he whispered, echoing his brother's words from earlier. He had never thought he would have ever picked up a gun either. Back before the invasion, he was quite happy to sit back and work on his homework or read a book. Now he was being trained in the art of weaponry by his sixteen-year-old brother.

The blonde-haired teen watched as Hal pushed himself off the tree he was leaning on and ambled over, gun still strapped across his back.

"Okay, let's see what you got kiddo."

Ben glared. Hal was always calling him 'kid' or 'kiddo' when in actual fact; he wasn't even that much younger than the sports freak himself!

"Hal, I'm fourteen. I'm not a kid anymore."

When Hal didn't reply, Ben sighed and raised the weapon to the firing position again, staring through the scope at the white target pinned to the tree. Hal came up behind him and nudged his right leg forward, correcting his stance. Shifting slightly, Ben closed his eyes, flicked the safety off and breathed out, letting the exhale calm his slightly frazzled nerves. It was going to take a while before that wore off, he thought.

Pressing the trigger, Ben let a few shots off. The weapon recoiled, but Ben held fast before flicking the safety on again and looking over to the target. He smiled when he saw three small bullet holes piercing the inner circle of the bullseye.

That was something he had noticed getting better over the past few weeks; his eyesight. Ben found that he was able to see much better in the dark and everything seemed clearer and sharper. At first it had given him headaches, not accustomed to the sudden change, but after a few days they had diminished enough not to hinder him.

He hadn't told anyone about the changes he felt. The increased vision, sharpened hearing, even the incredible strength and stamina; that at night left his muscles aching and severe cramps rocking his body.

"All right little bro!"

A hand clapped him on the shoulder and Ben turned to see Hal standing behind him, a small smile adorning his features. Lowering the weapon, Ben also saw Captain Weaver, Maggie, Dai and Pope standing behind Hal. They were looking on with significantly different expressions, Ben noted. Weaver looked mildly impressed, but wary at the same time; Maggie definitely looked impressed, but there was a hint of something else that Ben was pretty sure was aimed at his older brother, not him. Dai looked completely shocked, so much so that his mouth was actually hanging open and Pope… well Pope looked pissed.

Shrugging his shoulders, the middle Mason looked back to Hal. "Are we done for the day?" At Hal's nod, Ben leaned closer to his brother. "Then what's with the audience?" he whispered.

"They just wanted to come see how you've been handling everything," was the answer he got, but Ben knew that there were other reasons behind the unexpected visit.

-FALLING SKIES-

Ben was woken the next morning by someone shouting his name and shaking him awake. Groaning, he tried to roll over and go back to sleep (which he'd actually managed to get some that night), but his plans were foiled as someone grabbed his arm and actually pulled him off the stretcher.

"What the hell!" he shouted, very awake and pissed off. He glared up at Hal, who was staring down at him with a worried look on his face.

"What's wrong?"

"Get geared up; we gotta go," was Hal's response before going back to strapping on his belt with his knife and other essentials.

"Hal!"

"Look, Ben I don't have time for your questions!" Hal snapped. Ben froze. "There's a group of Mechs and Skitters heading this way and there's not enough time to get everyone out so we have to make sure they don't get here."

Mouth open, Ben nodded. That had to be a new track record or something. One day of weapon training and he was already going into combat. Taking in a deep breath as he heaved himself off the ground, he realised that he wasn't afraid. He was pumped, ready for action. Where had the fear gone?

Quickly throwing on a pair of dark jeans and a black t-shirt, he grabbed a pair of worn sneakers and tied them up before reaching for the belt Hal had thrown at him moments earlier.

The belt had a sheath attached that held a wicked looking hunting knife and a few other things dangling off it that Ben had no idea what they were. Reaching over the camp stretcher, he grasped the strap of his gun before checking the safety was on and slinging it over his back. Lastly, he picked up his favourite pair of fingerless gloves and slipped them on before racing out of the tent.

He found his brother with the Captain, Maggie, Dai and Pope's Berserkers. They were standing around a pickup truck, reloading clips of ammo and discussing the next cause of action. Ben bit his lip as he made his way over, unsure as to what he was actually supposed to be doing.

"Ben!" called out Weaver. Nodding in response, the middle Mason walked over, hiding a wince as the gun slung across his back grazed across one of the spikes in his spine. It sent a jolt of pain through his back, but he quickly dismissed it. That kind of thing happened all the time. It was just a matter of getting used to it.

"Hey Hal. Captain Weaver." He nodded at each of them as he spoke. "What's up?"

"I take it Hal has briefed you as to what has been found?" At his confirmation, Weaver continued. "Right. Here's what we're going to do. Pope and his Berserkers are going to head in first, scope the place out and do a quick recon of where we could position our troops for optimum firing range and limited damage control. Then Hal, Maggie and Ben are going to do a sweep and get into position for the long range guns to be most useful. I want to keep Ben out of the immediate action if we can help it. Then Dai, his team and I will be bringing up the rear. We must NOT let the Mechs and Skitters through, at least giving the civilians and the rest of the fighters a chance to pack up and get the hell out of there. Any questions?"

All shook their heads. At that Weaver nodded. "Alright. Pope, get your Berserkers all locked and loaded and ready to go in ten. Hal, Maggie; get Ben sorted with ammo and meet me at the red pickup in five. Dai, get your team sorted and onto the bikes. We'll regroup at the water plant and head out from there. Now, go!"

Hal and Maggie took off and Ben raced after them. They arrived another pickup where they immediately started sorting out ammo and checking their weapons. Ben stood there, unsure what to do for a few minutes while the two older fighters organised their guns. When Hal finished, he turned to Ben.

"Alright, hand me your gun." Ben did so and Hal started to pull out a few extra clips and fill them with bullets before handing them to Ben and instructing him to put them on his belt for easy access.

"It's probably gonna get pretty messy out there Ben. You sure you're up for it?"

"I'll be fine, Hal. It's not like I'm gonna be in the middle of everything. You and Weaver are making sure of that." He didn't mean for it to come out so sarcastic, but to be honest he was a little pissed that Weaver intentionally put him on long range weapons to keep him out of the way.

Hal sighed, reaching up and rubbing his forehead. "Ben, you've only been trained with a weapon for one day. We just wanna make sure that you're safe. That's all."

"Yeah, sure"

Hal shook his head. "Whatever, just listen to what Weaver or I say, alright? Good. Now, let's roll out!"

Guns in front, ready to fire if necessary, the two Mason brothers and Maggie headed to the nearest truck and bikes that would take them to where the Mechs and Skitters were headed their way. They had no idea what was in store for them and whether or not everyone would make it back safe and unharmed.

Neither Ben nor Hal saw the small figure peering out of a tent, golden curly hair flopping in front of green eyes that were wet with tears.

As his brothers left to go fight the aliens, Matt Mason sat alone in his father's tent and cried, hoping that the last of his family would come back to him alive.

Another chapter down =] Thanks to everyone who has read/reviewed etc so far! Sorry there was no action this chapter – the fight with the Skitters and Mechs will definitely be next chapter XD

Thanks for taking the time to read! Let me know what your thoughts are.

Thanks again

-Rachel