AN: Soo... Has it really been that long since I've updated? Really? Wow. I suck.

I hope that whatever interest my old readers have had in this story is still somewhere in there, because believe it or not I do actually want to finish this fic (though it seems like it'll never happen... *sighs*).

I hadn't necessarily lost interest in this story, I just.. didn't know where to go from where I left off. Since I never actually planned out this story, I just go where the inspiration takes me, which has been nowhere lately.

I've also stopped writing now that I've gotten older and with work and college, writing took the very back seat of my life.

But I DO want to write again. No telling when I'll update again though, I'm sorry.

I do have a couple of ideas for the next couple of chapters, so those will probably be out sooner than later.

Please please READ AND REVIEW.

Ben sat down at the table, looking up at a large monitor that was almost as large as one in a movie theater. Files were displayed across the screen. His cup of coffee was almost gone, as he needed the extra help to stay awake that morning.

His mind seemed unable to rest the night before, as he was thinking about Jackie all night long. And it was very hard not to think about her when she was in his arms; with her leg thrown on his while she clutched his shirt at night… Ben groaned aloud. The night after they got back from their little trip, he crawled into bed with her without really asking out loud. He knew how hard it was for Jackie to admit when she needed something, and he didn't want to give her the chance to say no if he asked if she wanted him to sleep with her. He has seen the look on her face that night, and knew what she wanted from him without her having to voice it out loud.

It worked out pretty great for the both of them. So to speak, anyway.

They had continued their little nightly arrangement ever since. And even though they slept together, all they did was sleep. And maybe cuddle a little bit. Other than that, nothing had really changed between them, except for the fact that sometimes Jackie was willing to stand a little closer to Ben in the daytime. Maybe it was pathetic that he treasured that little fact, but he was going to take what he could get.

Ben knew that this thing between them— well, this thing that he seriously hoped was reciprocated— was delicate and complicated. Ben had to suppress the constant urge to kiss Jackie and to pull her into his arms during the day, so that way he wouldn't scare her off. It seemed to get harder every time, but he didn't want to ruin things between them- whatever this was. He knew how Jackie was, and he wasn't about to risk losing her.

"Whatchya lookin' at?" A voice suddenly asked behind him. Ben smiled softly as he turned around to the voice that had become so familiar to him in such a short amount of time.

"Just the alien reports that the system stored while we were gone. Kevin and Gwen scanned through them, but I need to go over everything thoroughly, just in case." Ben turned back to the files on the computer.

"How does this thing work anyway?" Jackie asked, pulling up a chair next to him as she studied the documents on the screen.

"This baby right here is programmed to alert the plumbers anytime there's a detection of non-human organisms within the town, besides the regular animals I mean. And by plumbers I mean me. And Kevin, Gwen and Grandpa Max, but the reports come directly to this computer, well, directly to our system. The program is usually able to identify what organism we're dealing with, and Grandpa Max typically sends out a team to deal with it.

But there are other jobs in other towns, states, cities, whatever. Grandpa Max is kind of the head hancho, and he takes frequent trips whenever he needs too. And then we man the decks while he's gone. We have all kinds of equipment, kind of the best of the best since Grandpa Max is in charge. We can also look up what the other teams are up to and what other organisms turn up in the U.S. All top notch stuff." Ben grinned cheekily.

"Can it translate alien languages?" Jackie asked, her eyes focused on the screen, sipping her cup of coffee.

"Yeah, to an extent. Usually we just scan whatever item we need interpreted and the program translates it, but it's a rough translation at best. Not to mention that there are hundreds of different languages among hundreds of planets and then there's different dialects to consider— kind of like here on earth. So when you scan a language, sometimes it doesn't even pull up a translation, but related languages with similar patterns in writing and dialect. Which is what happened when I scanned those files we found at your mom's house. The related languages the computer pulled up were way too many to narrow down. Because you see…"

Ben pulled up a new set of documents and began flip through them, displaying several different inscriptions and symbols on the monitor that Jackie took to be different kinds of alien languages. She found herself entranced by the foreign images, unable to tear her gaze away from the screen.

"Here they are." Ben pulled up the files they found at her mother's house, and several different images popped up with strange names labeled on top of the image.

"When we scanned the files, all of the main languages used throughout the galaxy popped up. The kind of rough language most alien life forms use when traveling from one planet to another, like a base language of sorts. There are many different types of base languages, and when I scanned the files… Well, it seems like the files were written in the base language of all base languages. If you get what I mean." Ben grimaced. "I'm terrible at explaining things. You should really ask Gwen, she gets all sciency and stuff and uses the proper terms…"

"No, wait— I get it." Jackie threw an amused look at Ben. "Basically, the files that were hidden in my mom's house were written in an ancient base language. So ancient that pretty much all the other languages kind of… Originate from it. Like a huge tree of languages, and the language that we found written in my mother's files is at the root of the whole… Language system."

"Yes. Exactly." Ben sat back and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"So what have you been doing to try to narrow it down?" Jackie started clicking through the files, her eyes scanning through the images.

"I've been looking for common patterns, symbols, whatever—trying to make some sense of it. But it's been over a week and still nothing." Ben groaned and sat back in his chair, kicking his feet up on the control counter and closing his eyes.

"So I haven't missed much since you've been leaving me out of the research while the rest of you guys try to work on this stuff?"

Ben peeked one eye open, glancing at Jackie. Her voice was light but she held herself in a tense manner.

"I just thought you might want a break after everything." Ben said cautiously, sitting up slowly.

Jackie shrugged, still a bit stiff. "Like you said, it's been over a week and you guys are no closer to figuring out what's on those files. I think it's time for me to get off my ass and start helping."

Ben looked at her, frowning. "Okay, but if you need to talk—"

"I'm fine Ben." Jackie said tersely, rolling her eyes. Ben held back an eye roll. If he had a nickel for every time she told him that…

Jackie stood up. "Where are the files we found the other day? I think I'll work better seeing them right in front of me."

"What? You don't want to use Tiffany?" Ben asked, cocking an eyebrow.

"Tiffany?"

Ben gestured to the computer screen. Jackie rolled her eyes. "Um, no. I think I'll manage."

"Suit yourself. She's the best system out there." Ben patted the control panel fondly. He stood up, but Jackie held up her hand.

"Just let me know where everything is, I can do it on my own Ben." She told him, a twinge of annoyance edging her tone.

"Alright, alright." Ben sighed. "The files are down the hall to the left, there's a little storage room. The boxes are on the table. If you need any help, or any company just…"

"Thanks Ben." Jackie called over her shoulder, already walking away.

Ben let out a harsh breath, frustrated. He contemplated going after her, just to make sure she was okay. Knowing Jackie, she had most likely blocked out everything she had felt a week ago and bottling things up was not good for her. But Ben decided against it, she'd most likely give him the silent treatment again if he pushed her too hard.

Ben just groaned and made his way to the car shop.

He needed a break.

Jackie leafed through the pages, a single light bulb hanging over her head. For all the savy technology Ben proudly showed off, the little storage room was a dump. But for Jackie, it was perfect.

It was far down the hall from everything else; the room gave her some breathing space away from everybody. Plus it was silent, allowing Jackie to be in her mind and be able to think clearly.

Jackie looked at the first page of the documents, studying the strange symbols. It looked a bit like some strange hieroglyph, the symbols and pictures painting some kind of message that Jackie couldn't recognize.

Jackie skimmed from page to page, frowning. Suddenly something caught her eye. In one of the pages, there was a symbol, or picture— Jackie couldn't tell— of a figure suspended in what seemed the sky. There were small circular shapes around the figure that Jackie assumed were stars. The figure had what seemed to be long, thick flowing lines coming from the head which seemed like hair. What Jackie thought to be the hair of the figure flowed away from the figures' face. Jackie studied the page closer, a feeling of familiarity coming over her.

Jackie shook her head slightly. Why on earth would some sketched figure in her dead mother's files seem familiar to her?

Jackie glanced at the page, almost wearily. There was only a somewhat heart shaped circle for what seemed to be the face, and there were what seemed to be arms and hands spread out, away from the body. Because of what seemed to be long hair, Jackie assumed this figure… or creature… Was a female.

Her stance was powerful, her face tilted slightly upwards, her long thick hair flowing and wisping away from her face. Her arms were spread out, her legs together as if she were standing. Whoever, whatever she was—radiated power; despite the crude drawing and the complete lack of detail to the face and body.

Jackie could feel herself frowning once again, unable to shake the familiar feeling. Below the picture of the creature, were three hieroglyphic looking symbols. Jackie studied them carefully, staring at them. As she continued to stare at them, the symbols began to move.

It seemed as if they were... vibrating? Jackie blinked, but the symbols only began to swim in her vision. Suddenly, there was a powerful pounding in her head. Jackie dropped the file and clutched her head with both hands, squeezing her eyes shut.

It was as if a thousand voices began speaking all at once, and Jackie couldn't understand a word that any of them were saying. They were getting louder and louder and…

"Jackie, you okay?"

It was as if someone had switched an off button. Jackie blinked, and slowly removed her hands from her head. Had all of that really just happened?

She turned to look at who interrupted the voices, wondering if she could say 'thank you for stopping all those voices, I thought my head was going to explode' and not sound crazy. Then she froze.

Kevin was leaning against the doorway, a look of concern displayed across his face. Jackie's heart twisted. It was still such a shock to her every time she saw him. Sometimes she couldn't believe he was real; and suddenly all she wanted to do was throw her arms around him and cry, cry and beg him to chase away the monsters, just as he did when she was a little girl. He had always been her knight in shining armour.

But then she remembered that he was here, and he was real, and he left her. He left her all by herself, all alone to deal with a broken mother and no father.

The thing was, Jackie had always thought that maybe if she had been a better daughter, her father wouldn't have left. And Kevin had always told her that it wasn't her fault, he reassured her over and over again that daddy leaving had nothing to do with her. And then Kevin left. And Jackie had felt betrayed and angry; for the longest time, she was convinced that she was the reason daddy and Kevin had left (and in all honesty that kind of thinking wasn't something that had changed over the years). And despite her father's disappearance devastating her, it was Kevin's leaving that forced her to grow up and realize that there was so such thing as a knight in shining armour, not for her; and she wasn't anything like the princess that Kevin had claimed she was because princesses don't make the people around them disappear.

And she hadn't forgiven Kevin for that. For leaving. For breaking her heart. For anything.

Jackie clenched her jaw and turned back to the files in front of her, not really seeing anything. She could feel, rather than see, Kevin hesitating, and then heard him come into the room. Jackie tensed.

"Can… can we talk?" He asked softly.

Jackie didn't say anything; she just sat there, unmoving. She had made it a priority to avoid him, only really bumping into him once and that alone set her off. But she knew he was there, nearby, hovering. She didn't know how to feel about that.

"Jackie, it's been weeks."

"Kevin, it's been years." Jackie mocked, not looking at him. Kevin flinched.

"Okay. I deserved that." He sighed. She glared at him. He rolled his eyes.

"Okay. I deserve more than that." It was her turn to do the eye rolling.

Jackie stood up, and started toward the doorway when Kevin's tired voice stopped her.

"I want to talk about mom."

Jackie once again, froze. She could feel a hundred different emotions suddenly pushing through her. She closed her eyes, trying to get control of herself.

"I need to know Jackie. Despite everything… She was my mom too. I deserve to know."

Jackie bit on the inside of her lip, drawing blood. It was a stupid thing she did when she was upset. She tried to distant her pain with more… pain.

"You really wanna know?" Jackie said, a sarcastic tone easing its way into her voice, turning around. Kevin shot her a look.

Jackie studied him for a minute. 'He really wants to know? Fine. What the fucking hell.'

"She was beaten to death." Jackie said bluntly. She saw Kevin still, his face paling, his eyes boring into her. Jackie continued, looking down at her nails, in an almost casual tone.

"Some guys came to our house, beat her to death and took off. She locked me somewhere safe and I watched the whole thing. Front row view and everything." Jackie continued, without looking at her brother. "It was a real blast, having to bury my own mother's broken body all by myself. And it was the time of my fucking life having to run away from a couple of guys who spent way more time at the gym than what was good for them. Is that what you want to hear Kev?" She spit out bitterly. "How I had to watch our mother die? That I wastoo weak to do anything, too weak to do shit? Is that was you're thinking, dear brother? That maybe you could've done something? That you could've saved her? That I should've done something? Well I already fucking know that." Jackie finally looked up at him, expecting— wanting— to see anything than other what she saw.

Sorrow. Pity. Concern.

Suddenly Jackie was furious. How dare he feel pity for her? "Well say it then. Say it. You may have abandoned her, but I let her die." She hissed.

Kevin's eyes were rimmed red. But they bore into her as he leaned forward, his tone firm.

"Listen to me Jackie. And listen to me good. This was not your fault. Do you understand me?"

Jackie scoffed and looked away but Kevin stepped forward, grabbed her chin and forced her to look back at him. She wouldn't meet his gaze.

"You didn't let her die." Kevin said softly. "She saved you, successfully. You are her last victory."

Jackie still didn't meet his gaze, but the awful heavy weight she'd been carrying for so long suddenly seemed ever so slightly lighter than it had been.

She was suddenly pulled into a tight, familiar embrace. Jackie closed her eyes, feeling hot tears continuously falling down her cheeks. When did she start crying?

Once she realized she had already been crying, it was hard to stop. A sob escaped her, then two, then three and suddenly she threw her arms around her brother and held on tight. Kevin just held her, he held her and let her cry like he always did, slightly rocking her, as best as he could standing. It was something that he had done when they were kids.

"It was my fault Kev." She cried softly into his shirt. "They wanted me in the first place, I should've done something, I should've stopped them, I should've…"

"You should've what Jackie?" Kevin asked. "Should've died along with her?"

She didn't say anything.

Kevin closed his eyes, sorrow filling him as he realized what his sister was saying in her silence.

"I meant what I said Jackie. You are her final victory. You gave her that. She wanted you to live. Don't take that away from her." He said softly.

Jackie still didn't say anything. She slowly stepped away from him, refusing to meet his gaze. She made her way to the table, her hands shaking as she started putting away all the files back in the box. She tried to gain control of herself.

Jackie carried the box to the doorway, pausing to glance back at him.

"This doesn't mean I've forgiven you." She said, although Jackie's words didn't have the bite and venom they once had. She just sounded… tired.

"Think about what I said." Kevin told her seriously. "She loved you Jackie. So do I."

"Yeah." Jackie muttered, looking away. She walked out the door.

All she could think is how wrong they were in doing so.

Kevin knocked on the door, both hoping she'd answer and that she wouldn't.

He saw a flash of bright red hair and freckles before he fully saw her face. And actually, he was most definitely hoping she'd answer.

"Kevin I didn't expect…" Gwen trailed off when she saw his face.

She opened the door silently and Kevin stepped in, knowing he must look especially terrible to make Gwen go silent like that. She closed the door softly.

Gwen didn't say anything, just walked over to the couch and softly padded the spot next to her. She just waited as he sat down, looking at him. She grabbed his hand and squeezed it. Kevin sat there for a minute, then he spoke, a faraway look in his eyes.

"She watched her die." Kevin's voice was horse. He turned to her, his eyes slightly puffy, rimmed red. "She had to bury her. She… God Gwen." Kevin struggled to continue. He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose with his other hand.

Gwen squeezed his hand and put her other hand on his shoulder. She still didn't say anything, letting Kevin take his time.

"I can't… I can't tell you everything… I don't… I don't even think she told me everything. But… She blames herself Gwen. She thinks she should've… She should've died with her." Kevin's voice cracked. "I can't… I can't… I should've been there Gwen."

Gwen swallowed the lump in her throat, her eyes brimming with tears. Kevin looked so small, so broken with tears running down his face. She had never seen Kevin like this, much less cry. She slowly brought him into her arms, letting him collapse into her. He buried his face in her neck, and though he wasn't outright sobbing, she could feel his tears on her skin.

Gwen didn't say anything, she didn't know what she could say. Seeing him so devastated broke her heart. And while she knew how monumental it was that Kevin came to her when he was at his weakest, she still didn't know what the right thing to say was.

All she knew was that she needed to be there for him in the best way she could.

She hoped that was enough.

Jackie could feel the wind blowing through her hair, whipping around her face.

No helmet, going over 100 miles per hour on a bike (it's not her old bike, but it's a bike all the same and that very serious danger is still there and that's what she loves about it because this is when she finally feels freedom), with only her backpack strapped to her back— just the way she liked it.

She didn't care that she was running away; she didn't know where she was going, only that she needed to go.

AN: Meh. Not too sure about the ending. Also not sure how many of you guys care, but I didn't focus so much on Ben and Jackie this chapter, but more on Kevin and Jackie because I think it's about damn time we start delving into their issues, and also some hints of what's to come (if I ever finish this damn thing).

PLEASE let me know your thoughts! Thanks for reading :)