Part Three: Noble Lie
A/N: Since this is set in my version of the Fusion Fall universe, Ben has the Omnitrix, not the Ultimatrix. I think the Ultimatrix is too big and clunky and I've yet to see an ultimate form of alien that rocks my socks. I'll stick with the Alien Force lineup.
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"Really, Ben, I don't mind."
"But his sisters are really . . . intense."
"Are they going to zap me with laser vision?"
"No," he said a little helplessly, knowing he was close to whining a bit. "They're not allowed to use it in the house."
Julie laughed. "Then I should be safe."
He looked over at her for a moment as he drove. "I'm sorry to do this to you."
"I know you wouldn't enjoy anything we did if you didn't settle this first. It's too important to you."
"You're right."
She nodded, seeming to feel the matter of apologies and spoiled plans was ended. A little sound of awe escaped her as the car approached DexLabs headquarters. She had never been here before, and with her enthusiasm Ben found himself admiring the place anew. Even on this dreary, rainy day the sleek glass and steel building was impressive. It was deceptive in its appearance, Ben knew, because a lot of it was underground. Dexter owned a huge tract of land that reached all the way to a county park on the outskirts of Downtown, so there were additional facilities – including housing, hangars, a runway, manufacturing plants and a foundry – well out of sight behind the main building.
"Dexter owns all this?" she asked softly, her dark eyes wide.
"All this and a lot more," Ben said, making no attempt to conceal his admiration for his friend's achievements. "He's been inventing stuff all his life. As soon as he got a chunk of money he started patenting and producing the things he invented. He's sold a few of the patents, but he keeps a really tight lid on his null-void technology and all the weapons systems and aeroships he makes."
"Are weapons his specialty?" she wondered as they pulled up to the gates. An armed security guard waved them to stop.
"By default. He's a laser and robotics whiz-kid, and that just lends itself to blowing things up. Professor Utonium is an expert in genetics. He made his daughters. They're the military's dream team when it comes to fighting Planet Fusion." As he spoke Ben opened the window and smiled at the guard. "Willet, how goes it? I'm here to visit the Utoniums. This is my girlfriend, Julie Yamamoto."
The guard peered in at Julie. "How do you do, miss? May I see your ID? Will you be visiting as well?"
Julie glanced at Ben to answer as she handed over her driver's license, and quickly he said, "Yeah, she'll be with me."
An ID check, a signed log book, a few phone calls, and one visitor's badge later they were on their way. Julie was bemused by it all.
"Tight security," she commented as she saw more guards on patrol, adults as well as KND operatives.
"Dexter's our best bet for winning this war. Mostly we're just holding the Fusion monsters back until he and Utonium can figure out how to beat them once and for all."
"You've got a lot of confidence in him."
"You will too, once you get to know him."
He parked in the underground garage. It was a longer walk to the front entrance from here, but he didn't want Julie to get wet. She looked around with great interest, amazed that anyone, especially anyone so young, could have achieved all this in just a few years.
The main entrance was milling with members of Earth's Combined Forces. By now many of the fighters were veterans. Despite the fact that the majority of them were children, they had a battle-hardened look about them and carried themselves and their weapons with confidence. Julie was pleased and impressed by the respect afforded her boyfriend by the fighters who passed them as they moved through the large foyer.
He stopped at the security control center to double check Julie's clearance and the first person he spotted was Morton, chief among the three sergeants in charge of security. He looked more comfortable in his uniform than his suit, though Ben knew the man well enough to read his body language. The sergeant was not happy. Not by a long shot.
"How is he, Morton?" Ben asked without preamble.
"Mad as all get-out, sir," Morton replied in a mono-tone.
"Loud or quiet mad?"
"Quiet."
"Oh." Quiet mad was the worst kind of anger out of Dexter. It was so much easier and over with faster when he erupted and vented his fury. "I had a talk with my grandfather. I had no idea."
"He figured that out on the spot."
"Good. Another look like the one he gave me before and I don't know if I'd survive."
Morton looked at Ben curiously, wondering at the statement. "You're one of the last people that ever has to worry about that, sir. Take it from me. O'Hara is holding elevator three if you want to join her."
He gathered Julie and walked her across the entrance to the elevator, his mind awhirl as he pondered Morton's words. Julie let him stew, recognizing his mood and his need to get a handle on the situation and his feelings. Ben was used to acting on instinct in relationships and battles. His intuition served him well and usually he was right even if he had to give things a few tries. He certainly was stubborn enough not to quit.
Down halls, through doors, past two more checkpoints, through an atrium housing an oriental garden with a koi pond, another short elevator ride, and Ben paused before a plain white door in a hallway lined with plain white doors. As he rang a buzzer on the door, Ben gripped Julie's hand tightly, the only thing that betrayed his anxiety. She smiled softly, knowing how deeply he cared about setting things right again. It had been the right choice to come here even though it would more than likely consume their whole evening. There was no way Benjamin Tennyson could have rested easy otherwise.
The door opened to reveal a tall, handsome man with dark hair and mild gray eyes. He smiled in greeting as he gestured them inside the comfortable home.
"Ben. It's been too long."
He swallowed nervously. "Professor, I -"
The Professor shook his head, reaching out to rest his hand on the teen's shoulder. His voice was almost choked with emotion. "How can I ever thank you? I don't even have words for how grateful I am to you for everything you've done for me and my family."
In light of Max's conduct toward this man and Dexter's subsequent fury, Ben didn't know how to respond and so he reached up and covered Utonium's hand with his own. He wasn't entirely sure of what he'd been expecting, but such gratitude came as a welcome surprise. Then again, Ben had no idea of what he would have done if Utonium had been angry.
"Thank you for coming." Looking at Julie, so petite and pretty at Ben's side, Utonium said, "You must be Julie. My daughters and I have been looking forward to meeting you. I wish the circumstances were better. I'm so sorry the plans for tonight have fallen through. I hope you'll stay and have dinner with us here instead." He sighed, looking back at Ben. "Dexter's in no shape to go out now. It's . . . it's been a hard month. It would be too much on him to go out again now."
"I'm glad he's on his feet," Ben replied. A little desperately he added, "And I'm sorry he's upset. I . . ."
"He's not upset with you, Ben," Utonium said. "He's upset for you."
That surprised the young man. He frowned the least bit, not entirely sure he'd ever had anyone so troubled on his account before.
Seeing Ben's puzzlement, Utonium said, "Let's sit down and talk a little, shall we? I think there's a lot we need to clear up."
Ben glanced down as Julie tensed, and he followed her line of vision to see the three Powerpuff Girls hovering in the open space over the living room. They must have heard their voices and came to investigate. It occurred to Ben that Julie had something in common with each of the Utonium girls – she was smart, girly, and an outstanding athlete. He figured they had to be burning with curiosity to meet her. Up to this point she had only ever been a name. By the looks on their faces they each wanted to see if she measured up to what they had imagined and if she met the standards they had set for their brother's best friend. Who needed sisters when he had Dexter's?
"Hey," he called to them, trying his best to sound casual. "This is my girlfriend, Julie Yamamoto. Julie, meet Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup Utonium. Three out of four of Dexter's sisters."
Julie smiled. "It's a pleasure. I've heard a lot about you."
Pink, blue, and green eyes glared at Ben until he blushed. Buttercup growled, "Well, he hasn't told us much about you."
"Yeah! No fair, Ben!" squeaked Bubbles.
"Well, now's your chance to get to know one another," said their father. "If you'll excuse us, Julie, Ben and I need to talk for a little while."
Blossom saw a chance to find out exactly what had happened at the high school from an eyewitness and quieted her sisters with a glance. "Julie," she said in her most pleasant, diplomatic tone, "we were going to go downstairs and make some tea-"
Began Buttercup, "No, we-"
Blossom smacked her sister on the arm without looking and shut up Buttercup's murmuring. Without skipping a beat, she continued, "-to go with the cookies Mr. Green made. Would you like to join us?"
Knowing she was about to get grilled but certain she could handle the younger girls (in conversation at least), Julie smiled and said, "All right. Take your time, Ben. You know where I'll be."
Slowly he released her hand and watched her walk away. When he looked up, Utonium was watching him watch Julie. The older man smiled and gestured for Ben to join him.
"She's a lovely girl," the older man observed, holding a door open.
"She's as nice and smart as she's pretty." He entered the suite's library, a small, dark-wooded room that smelled of leather and old paper. He glanced at the shelves and noted everyone in the family had a book case to themselves. It was easy to guess who owned what books at a glance, so varied were the tastes of this family - everything from text books to comic books.
Utonium gestured for him to take a seat in one of the leather chairs and immediately said, "First, let me assure you that your friend Reinrassig and his family are all well. His son Jernrassic escorted us back here to earth. I heard from my HighBreed assistant, Dangarin, and he reported that the serum we devised has shown excellent results so far." He shifted, leaning his elbows on his knees. "I should have gotten in touch with you much sooner, but I've been focused on Dexter's health and some follow-up research for the HighBreed doctors. I hadn't realized Max never told you where I was and why."
"How is Dexter? He was pretty fired up before."
"When he comes looking for a hug I know it's bad."
There was no arguing that. Dexter initiated physical contact only very, very rarely.
"Grandpa Max said he sent you some letters. He asked me to tell you again how sorry his is."
"Yes, I got two letters from Max. Both pretty much said the same thing and explained his standing in this matter. I understand his logic even though I can't agree with it. He was acting to save a race of needed allies . . . as if I wasn't trying to do exactly the same thing. He knew that I would want to leave as soon as I heard Dexter was injured, but somehow he seemed to think I'd abandon the HighBreed to their fate by leaving. I've no idea where he got that notion. When Dexter couldn't sleep, Mandy contacted Shaan and they found out what Max had done. I hope you'll forgive me, Ben, but I'm not in a very forgiving mood right now, especially in light of my son coming home so upset on what should have been an enjoyable day for him."
"I'm sorry," Ben heard himself say softly.
Utonium looked at him with understanding. "Don't be. Don't take that responsibility on your own shoulders. You're not to blame in this. My apologies for my choice of words, but you're as much a victim in this as any of us."
"But the Fusion wanted to know about the Omnitrix!" Ben exclaimed. "I helped to set Dexter up!"
A strong, warm hand closed over Ben's wrist, grounding him. "Have you read all the reports? Have you seen all the supplements Dexter has added as he remembers what happened?"
"No. Not in the field. Stuff like that can only be accessed here 'cause of security."
"You have the clearance, but I'm not sure if you'd want to read his reports or not. They're highly disturbing. That Fusion mimic wants more than the Omnitrix. You said it yourself – it wants to challenge Fuse. But there's more to it. Reading between the lines, that thing is twisted and perverse and it wants to possess and control Dexter. It was only a matter of time before it made a move like it did and we're fortunate worse didn't happen."
Worse. He was afraid to imagine what could have been worse. He looked at the Professor, feeling slightly sick at the thought of what more the Ur-Dexter wanted from his friend.
"He's alive, Ben, and he's getting better. His lab is repaired. His sister is safe. You weren't Infected. Computress has been restored. This facility is more secure than ever. We know what we're facing. Yes, we were lucky. It could have been a disaster."
It all sounded so rational when he put things into perspective this way. Utonium gently squeezed Ben's wrist before releasing him and sitting back in his chair.
"Professor? Can I ask you something?"
"Of course."
"When Dexter came home before, what was he mad at?"
"Himself. Max. The situation."
"Himself? Why is he mad at himself?"
It was Patrick Utonium, the wise and loving and slightly overbearing father, who answered.
"Because for a split second he doubted you. He never expected to see Max there today. He thought you knew what happened. He assumed Max would have told you about Reinrassig. He never expected that you would be kept ignorant of something so important to you. When you greeted your grandfather so enthusiastically, he thought for an instant that you knew and didn't care."
A long sigh escaped the teen. "Professor, I would never-"
"I know, Ben. So does Dexter. Your confusion convinced him otherwise."
Meaning Ben Tennyson was a rotten liar. "Yeah, he was giving Grandpa Max that laser-eyed look."
"Sometimes I think he can put the girls to shame."
"He said . . . he said Grandpa Max had no concept of how he felt."
"I'm sure he's right. Max probably thinks Dexter is mad at him because his actions kept me and Dexter apart. That's not the case. He understands Max's reasoning and can see the logic of his lying for the greater good with a lot less bias than I can. Dexter is mad at your grandfather because his interference hurt me and you. He's far more concerned about our feelings on the matter than his own."
"But he's the one that was tortured!"
"He's not the only one."
The softly spoken words gave Ben pause. He blinked, remembering the spike of fear he'd felt at that first alarm when the Fusion Dexter had burrowed through the bedrock beneath Dexter's laboratory. He would never really lose that sickening feeling of dread as he and Mandy and the Kids Next Door had assessed the wreckage, praying that Dexter was alive in the ruin of his lab. Even the fastest aeroship in the fleet seemed to move in slow motion as they had streaked across the country to Pennsylvania on a rescue mission. He'd never really thought about it, but Utonium was right. Those days had been pure torture. At least he'd been able to act, unlike the Professor.
"See what I mean?" Utonium asked gently after a few moments.
He nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I do. You're right." He stood up, his limbs stiff from tension and sitting still too long. "Can I go talk to him?"
"He's in his room." Utonium rose as well and for a moment he studied the young man before him. Abruptly he crushed Ben Tennyson close in a tight hug. Ben hesitated, and then returned the embrace just as tightly, realizing that today he needed it as much as Utonium did. The Professor tried to smile without tearing up as he drew away, but he wasn't very successful.
"Thank you for my son, Ben."