"Perhaps it's just a malfunction sir, nothing to worry about?"

"Nothing to worry about? That boy, that insolent little creature was able to pull her out of the dream and back into reality! I think that is something worth worrying about!" He snapped.

The man's shoulders were tense, his fists clenched. His assistant, a small man of only 5'2, stood in the center of the room, his insides trembling. Though he wouldn't dare show it since his boss might become even angrier if he expressed weakness.

"It's almost as if I can't reach her when he's around. He makes her feel safe. I need her vulnerable and afraid, open. It's the only way I can get into her mind." He stood there, crossing his arms and staring out his window.

"So… sir… What should you have me do?"

The man paused, an angry, uneasy silence filling the room.

"Find me everything you can on Benjamin Tennyson."

Jackie sat in the car, looking out her window as Ben drove on. For every familiar street or tree, there was a sharp pang of fear as they drew closer and closer to her previous home. Jackie pressed her head against the cool window, closing her eyes for a brief moment.

She felt like she was going to be sick.

There was so much that she just didn't want to deal with. She blocked out Kevin and her father because they had left, whether on purpose or because of another reason, she didn't know. But she believed deep in her soul that they were both still here and alive and breathing, unlike her mother.

Her mom was different.

They hadn't had the perfect relationship, with the constant secrets and running and god knows what else her mother had kept from her. Jackie trusted her mom with her life, but that didn't mean that she didn't hold any resentment to her mother making it so that she had to depend on her in the first place.

It was always running, never any explanations.

Jackie was never an easy child, and all of her friends as a kid were also, and mostly Kevin's friends. Wherever he went, she was two feet behind. Kevin never minded, in fact, it seemed as if he preferred it. Even at a young age, Jackie had the talent of attracting boys with that little smile of hers, and Kevin had a much easier time of keeping an eye on her if she was always near him.

So Jackie never really had to make friends, they were just always there, thanks to her brother. And after Kevin left, and the constant moving, Jackie didn't have anyone besides her mother. She didn't really know how to make friends, and knowing they'd be leaving in a few months' time, she never even bothered to learn how.

She kind of hated her mother for that.

It was a lonely life, the kind of life they had lived. There were so many nights when Jackie would come home, and her mother would be locked in her room, typing away on her computer, working on something she refused to talk about. Sometimes they would go weeks without speaking an actual sentence to each other, Jackie at school while her mother worked at some terrible paying part time job, coming home only to be locked away in her room for the rest of the night.

Jackie knew her mother loved her. Sometimes she would lay awake late at night, and she would hear her door creak open and feel her mother's stare. It was those nights that were hardest to fall asleep.

Jackie's heart went cold when she caught sight of her neighborhood. Ashburn was printed in faded golden letters on an old wooden sign that was displayed on the front of a narrow road. As Ben turned into the road, Jackie's heart began to speed up. She clenched her fists, turning them white. She could feel Ben constantly glancing at her, but she kept her eyes ahead, frozen. Ben began making turns that felt familiar, and suddenly, she found herself on First St. and she felt like she couldn't breathe.

Houses passed by and Jackie could feel herself growing tense and rigid. Finally, when it seemed as if time had passed far too quickly, but not quickly enough, Ben pulled into the driveway into an old two story abandoned house.

It was just like she remembered; only more broken.

The house seemed far too big for only two people, with five bedrooms, a large kitchen, living room, three bathrooms and an old dusty attic that would have fit in great in a scary movie. The house itself was old, dating back into the 50's. It has a balcony in the front, with a porch wrapping around the bottom of the house. It was old, dusty, broken glass everywhere, windows broken, the door unhinged and even the trees out front looked menacing. Jackie had remembered being flabbergasted when she saw the house for the first time, wondering why on earth her mother had picked something so large for the two of them. But the people in town weren't all fond of the house, as the neighborhood itself didn't have a very good reputation, and they had got the house in a very cheap price.

Jackie sat there, staring at the house that had haunted her memories for the past month. The car shut down, and Jackie could feel Ben's stare.

"Jackie, we don't have to–"

"Let's get this over with."

Jackie hopped out of the car, walking briskly to the porch. The gravel crunched under her feet, each step having to be forced. She could hear Ben jump out of the car, slamming the door as he hurried to catch up with her.

Jackie walked up the porch steps quickly, and ducked under the unhinged door. She stopped when she got to the old rug her mother had insisted on buying, studying her surroundings.

The house could've been beautiful, if it had actually been truly lived in and given a little love. But that wasn't even close to an option anymore. There was soot everywhere. Tables were over turned; drawers ripped open, chairs smashed, dishes broken. Jackie felt a flash of hot anger at the familiar site.

"It just… It pisses me off that they think they can turn my life upside down and expect me to go without a fight." Jackie said lowly. Ben walked up to her side, slowly. He out his hand on the small of her back, delicately.

"We can go." He said softly.

"You know we can't."

Jackie headed for the stairs, not flinching at the creaking her steps caused. She heard Ben following, wondering why on earth he'd stuck with her throughout this mess.

They came to a room at the top of the stairs that led to a hallway on the other side. It was dark, light only coming in through the lost shingles on the rooftop. Jackie walked ahead, slowing down as her eyes surveyed the damaged room. Much like downstairs, everything was either turned over or broken.

They finally came to a door that was almost closed, a sliver of light shining through. Ben kept watched Jackie hesitate, but push the door open with almost a force of anger.

Jackie stood there, at the opening of the room without saying a word. Ben's eyes were immediately drawn to the floor, where a large faded blood stain was apparent. It seemed as if someone had attempted to clean it, but hadn't succeeded, or cared to do it very well. There was a desk where a computer had once been, all the electronics smashed or clearly taken. There were signs of struggle everywhere.

"This was her work room." Jackie said quietly. "They took everything, but my mom had files hidden in here, somewhere. I tried looking before I took off, but… I didn't have enough time to search properly. We need to find them today."

She walked gingerly around the blood stain, and started moving through the wreckage in the room. Ben frowned, but did the same.

He knew there was a story to her mother and the blood, but he didn't want to push. But at the same time he felt that he should because it was obviously something that hurt her every moment of every day.

"You have got to be kidding me." He heard her mutter angrily with a twinge of annoyance behind him.

Ben spun around and raised an eyebrow. "What? You found them already?" He asked incredulously.

Jackie had opened a door in the wall, kneeling as half of her body was inside and the other out. He could hear her shuffling and grunting, pulling with her a large, dusty, worn box. She blew away some of the dust, opening the top.

Inside were file after file, all labeled with a word that wasn't in the English language, or any language; from Earth.

Ben gave a low whistle. "How'd you know that was in there?"

Jackie sighed. "My mom…. Showed me this little hole in the wall the night before I left. When the men came, they threw apart this place, looking for files that she'd hidden. She didn't give them up and they didn't find them, so I knew they were around here somewhere. My mom doesn't like being too far away from the things she needed, and I figured they might be here since the last time I didn't look so well. And well, they were."

Jackie was silent as she picked up the box. She didn't look at Ben as she walked away, again, gingerly avoiding the blood. Ben walked out after her and debated whether or not to get her to talk more about her mother.

They walked back outside, Jackie putting the box in the car, getting ready to get inside herself when Ben called out.

"Wait, Jackie." He saw her visibly tense, as if she'd been waiting for him to do that all day.

"What happened to your mom?" He asked softly. Jackie slowly stood up and turned away, rigid with anger or fear, Ben couldn't tell. Probably both.

"Just talk to me." He continued as he walked to her. His hands were jammed in his pockets, and he stood right behind her. She turned around, her eyes shining with something that resembled tears, anger, angst, bitterness and everything Ben wished he could wipe away.

"Can you please leave this one alone?" She asked softly, looking up at him. They were less than a foot away; Ben could lean down and meet their lips, something he'd wanted to do what seemed like forever.

But Ben gave her a small smile instead and said, "Come on Jacks. You know me better than that."

Jackie bit her lip, and Ben had to fight the urge to tell her not to damage her pretty mouth. But he stood there, waiting for her answer.

"The night before I left… My mom was freaking out. I think she knew they were coming. She dragged me to the work room and told me she loved me and that she was sorry and she opened that concealed door in the wall and shoved me inside. God, I was pissed. I was yelling at her and asking her what the hell her problem was. And she put her hand over my mouth and told me to be quiet. I remember she looked at me and she told me not to make a sound. I was so confused and scared and when I didn't say anything I thought she was going to cry. So I promised. And she looked at me and she said, 'Promise'. I couldn't even say anything, I was too freaked out. So I just nodded.

"Then I heard cars pulling up and doors slamming. My mom shoved me inside, and she told me she loved me, and not to let him find me. She moved a desk in front of the door, but not straight against it, so I could get out if I needed. But there was a crack in the wall, off to the side, so it was to where I could see everything.

"My mom walked away and sat at her desk. And suddenly it was as if she turned into a different person. She became calm and controlled. And the door burst open and these two huge men in suits walked it and asked her where I was and where the files were. My mom didn't say anything. They kept asking. She kept silent.

"I stayed in the wall, completely frozen. I was praying to God that they would leave, but of course they didn't. They told my mother if she refused to cooperate, they would have to use force and she still didn't say anything.

"They…. They grabbed her and threw her on the ground. They beat her. They kicked and slapped and punched and you name it, they did it. She didn't say a word. It was like she…. I don't know. I knew she was in pain and I wanted her to scream, fight back, I don't know, do something. I wanted to get out, to attack those, those monsters, but I didn't. I hate myself for it. I stayed inside like she told me. Because I promised. Because I was frozen, because I didn't know what to do. It was like… Hours passed by in minutes. All I saw was my mom's bloody body and these assholes that didn't know when to stop.

"When they were done, they just cast her aside and went through the rest of the room, and they came next to me and I swear to God my heart stopped beating. It felt like it was years before they left. As soon as I heard the door slam and the car take off, I pushed the door open and I went to my mom. She was gone. I don't know how long I sat there, sitting in her blood. I think I was in shock or something, I don't know. But I got up and I buried her in the backyard, tried cleaning her blood off the floor the best I could. Took off the next morning. I didn't, couldn't stick around. Sometimes I wake up in the morning, still expecting to hear her grumbling or her typing or her yelling goodbye to me as I walk out the door. We didn't have the perfect mother daughter relationship but God, she was my mom. I didn't even get to tell her I loved her." Her voice cracked.

Ben pulled Jackie into his arms, enveloping her into his body. Jackie was shaking, but she didn't cry. She didn't say anything; she just stood there, leaning into Ben.

Ben pulled away slightly, looking down at her. "Wanna get outta here?" He asked softly.

Jackie's eyes were dry, but he could see she was at the end of her rope. She nodded quickly and Ben pulled her in and gave her another hug before letting her go. He watched her get into the car, and then turned to get inside himself.

Ben started the car, glancing at Jackie. Her hands were shaking and she struggled to put on her seat belt. He pulled out of her old house, and kept an eye on her as they made their way back to the motel.

He realized that no matter what, he would be there for Jackie. Always. But Ben also knew that it wasn't him that she needed right now. She needed family. More specifically, she needed Kevin. Ben wouldn't bring it up anytime soon, but he could tell that Jackie needed family more than ever, especially for her to heal. He wouldn't push, but he needed to find a way to get the siblings, or mostly Jackie, to start talking again. It wasn't healthy for her to keep everything bottled up inside the way she did.

And if anyone would know how to break through Jackie's walls, it would be the guy who taught her how to put them up in the first place.

Jackie was quiet the entire ride back, but Ben didn't mind. He felt like Jackie was one step closer to accepting what had happened to her and her mother, and he didn't want to damage anything.

It was late when they pulled into the motel, they had only stopped at a fast food place to take burgers on the go and eat them in the car. Jackie hadn't eaten much, but Ben convinced her to eat at least half of her burger.

As they walked into the room, Jackie grabbed a pair of clothes and headed to the bathroom. Ben heard the shower turn on and waited a moment, before grabbing his phone and not thinking twice before dialing an all too familiar number.

"It's about damn time Tennyson." A gruff voice answered on the second ring.

"I sent you a text yesterday afternoon." Ben rolled his eyes.

"Messaging someone 'still alive for now' isn't exactly comforting Tennyson." Kevin snapped.

Ben smirked, but grew serious as he explained that they had found the files that- hopefully- contained useful information.

"All we need is a number, an address, something, and we can take a lead from there." Ben finished confidently.

"Well I guess we'll go through everything when you guys get back. I don't want the risk of anyone seeing anything while you guys are over there. Just keep the box safe and get back in one piece." Kevin said.

Ben hesitated a moment, wondering if he should give Kevin any details, but before he could decide, Kevin beat him to it.

"How is she?" Kevin asked suddenly, cutting off Ben's internal struggle.

Ben sighed. "Honestly Kevin, not too good. I don't know if she's really… Accepted that your mom is gone. I feel like she's been on the run for so long and she was constantly moving that she had no time to grieve. I don't know man, I'm worried."

Kevin was silent for a moment, before hesitantly asking, "Do you know what happened?"

Ben sighed again. "Yeah, and it's not good Kev. It's bad. Really bad. But she'll tell you in her own time. You guys just need to, I don't know. Start talking again." Ben winced as Kevin barked an angry laugh.

"Yeah and then hell with freeze over and pigs will start flying and you'll start acting normal." Kevin said sarcastically.

Ben rolled his eyes but said nothing. He knew how hard this was on Kevin, even if he refused to talk about it.

Suddenly, he heard the water cut off and Ben quickly spoke into the phone.

"Look Kev, Jackie's about to get out of the shower and I don't really want to explain to her why I'm on the phone with you. It'll just start us fighting and I just—"

"Yeah, yeah. You just wanna bang my sister."

Ben froze. Was he really that obvious? Not that he really wanted to "bang" Jackie, not that he would mind, but it's not like it was on his mind 24/7, more like 25/7 and besides he really liked being with her and smelled nice all the time and she had great legs and pretty eyes and shit, was Kevin going to kill him? Ben had lived a long, healthy life, but he at least wanted Jackie to know why he suddenly went missing because—

"Chill the fuck out Tennyson. I'm not blind. If I had a problem with the way you looked at my baby sister, I would've ripped your guts out a long ass time ago." Kevin said wryly after Ben struggled with what to say. Ben let out a deep breath, Kevin snickering at his old time friend.

"Seriously though Tennyson, it won't be easy having the hots for my baby sis. She's tough as nails and she's a pain in the ass and she'll probably give you a really tough time. But I don't know man, maybe she'll come around. Give her some time. And keep an eye on her. And use condoms. I'd rather cut off your hands rather than let you touch her, but I'm trying to be realistic." Kevin said thoughtfully after a beat of silence.

Ben could feel himself flushing as he could hear Kevin's smirk.

"Shut up Kevin." Ben's voice was a notch higher than usual and he wanted to reach into the phone and punch his so called friend square on his face.

"Whatever man. You'd better go before my sister catches you talking to me and gives you hell. Text me tomorrow morning before you leave. Later Benji." And the phone went dead.

Ben heard the bathroom door suddenly creak and he hastened to close his phone and shove it in his pocket. He turned around quickly and froze as Jackie walked out in another large, but not quite large enough sleep shirt that teased Ben as his eyes went straight down to her legs, and back up again.

Jackie didn't seem to notice as she absentmindedly dried her hair. She sat down on her bed gingerly looking up at Ben, quirking a brow.

"Why are you all red?" She asked curiously. Ben mumbled something unintelligible and grabbed his sleep clothes as rushed to the bathroom before Jackie could ask any more questions.

When Ben got out of the bathroom after a quick shower, the room was dark and Jackie was in bed already. Ben tried to be as quiet as possible, but a voice called out to him softly.

"Umm… Ben?" Jackie said hesitantly.

Ben turned to her, not sure if he should walk over or not. He stayed where he was and replied, "Thought you were asleep. What's up?"

He could feel Jackie's apprehension as she fidgeted in her bed. Ben frowned, wondering what it was that was making her so uncomfortable.

"Could you… I don't know… Just…. Sleep tonight… With me?" She mumbled.

Ben shot her a warm smile, though she probably couldn't see it.

Jackie scooted to make room for Ben as he walked over and made himself comfortable in her bed. He was about to turn away, so she'd be more comfortable when he suddenly felt a pair of small hands wrapping around him.

He turned to face Jackie, lying on his side. She shrugged, almost shyly.

"Sorry, it's just… I can actually get some sleep with you. Sorry if it makes you uncomfortable, if you wanna go you can, I just—"

Her hands had suddenly began shifting away, but Ben placed his hands on top of hers.

"I'm fine." He said softly, pressing his forehead against hers. She looked up at him, and Ben had to stop himself, once again, from reaching down and pressing his lips against hers.

"Go to sleep babe." He murmured softly, pressing his lips against her forehead instead. She took a deep breath and buried her face in the crook of his neck. Ben pulled her tight up against him and closed his eyes, wishing for the millionth time that he could hold her in his arms forever.

It scared him. It absolutely positively scared every kind of shit imaginable inside of him when it came to the way he cared about Jackie. But it was like he couldn't help himself, he couldn't stop.

He wasn't really sure how much longer he could hold off before he did something stupid.

But for now, he'd be perfectly content with holding her at night when the rest of the world wasn't watching, keeping her close and her monsters at bay.

AN: Hey guys, I know it's been awhile, sorry about that. I'm rubbish at updating. This chapter came out different than what I expected, but I like how it turned out. Now with some of Jackie's story out there, hopefully the plot will move along.

Quick shout out to the ever so kind AnimeLover824, whose review made me get off my ass and finish this chapter. Thanks for reading and please remember to REVIEW.