A/N: Ben 10 does not belong to me in the least.
There was a hiss of pain, not his own, and his eyes opened a crack before closing once more at the overpowering brightness. "Sorry 'bout that, Meena." He struggled against the darkness, knowing they were in danger. Those guys… they came after them, attacking them… Something about selling her to the highest bidder? No, he couldn't let that happen. How long had he been out? And it was bright… They had been moved? Where to? Could he protect the both of them with his head pounding like this?
"I'll take it from here…Calico." This new voice was strained, but Calico… Rachel? No, a guy… Jamie.
"Yeah? Well… Okay." He heard his footsteps receding and then, almost inaudible, another set of footsteps, heavier. "Hey, you'll call if he wakes up?"
"Y-yes, I'll call." Meena. She was alright. Another hiss. Hers? It had to be. "T-that stings…"
"It would be much faster if you weren't so stubborn." This man's voice… was familiar to him. Not her brother, he left. "There is nothing wrong with using the talents you were born with."
"The ones you possess, you mean, Fitori." Ah, that's right. Fitori. Her bodyguard, sent by her brother to watch over her. It didn't seem like they were on bad terms anymore though. "N-no, I can deal with this pain."
"You shouldn't have to." He heard movement, but he couldn't force his eyes open. "Your friend seems in pain."
"He tried to protect me, Fitori. He took most of their blows."
"And yet you bear marks as well." They hit her? What happened after he was knocked out? Besides the gash on her leg? "They should pay for attacking you."
"Miss Rachel and Mr. Jamie retaliated against them accordingly, Fitori. Let it rest."
"Not by our laws, D'Aurora. Not by a long shot." Their laws? Were they from the South? An eye for an eye and all that? Wonderful.
"As I live here, those laws do not apply to me, Fitori. And when you next see my brother, tell him I forfeit those laws." There was silence and Pierce was tempted to return to the darkness of unconsciousness.
"You don't mean that."
"He went back on our agreement. Six months now cut to three. I have a month left with this new plan. Everything is now void, Fitori. He went back on his word." She would leave in a month? To return home... For the last time.
"D'Aurora, I can understand why you are upset, but—"
"My name is Meena." These people had too many secrets for him to try to solve with this headache.
"You don't know what you're saying, Princess. I'm here to watch over you, you are my responsibility. I serve your family to the death. But this is something you cannot order me to forget." Yes. Too many secrets.
"Fitori… Raydornner, I'm not leaving. I'm staying here." Well, she was adamant, he'll give her that.
"Correction, you're staying here for him. You can't travel down this path." There was silence once more and Pierce shifted.
"Mr. Pierce?" He forced himself to open his eyes. He saw her smiling, tears in her blue eyes. "You're alright…" And he slipped back into that darkness.
Fitori watched her as she smiled, surrounded by Rachel and Jamie. She was happy, but he couldn't let that get in the way of his duty. He had to protect her, even if that meant tearing her away from this happiness. This was only temporary joy, something that would fade with the passing of time, something she would forget soon enough. She would leave when her time was up, no matter how much she wished otherwise. She would return home.
"So, Kid, tell us. What happened?" Her smile faded and Jamie shot Rachel a look. She kept her gaze level. "Unless… you feel you can't." Meena shook her head, clasping her hands tightly.
"No, it's fine, it's fine… I didn't think anyone but Fitori was watching me... I guess I was wrong…"
"M-Mr. Pierce!" They laughed at her as she pushed the heels of her palms into the earth, raising herself up to look at him. They hadn't hurt her as much as they probably expected, but it still stung. Their hand probably hurt a lot more than her face did. She glared up at them and they laughed harder, but the one who hit her was holding his hand gingerly. She looked to Pierce, whose eyes were narrowed and his jaw set, a frown marring his features. She pushed herself up to her knees, those around her moving back a bit. She rose slowly, watching them all as they grinned at her.
A sound and a thud and she looked back at Pierce, seeing him as he tackled the one who had been right in front of him, sending him crashing the ground. Pierce stood up, sending him a dark look before shifting his gaze to the group surrounding Meena. "There's two ways we can do this." Some moved away from her, towards him, and the others rounded on her. "The hard way. Good. I can't wait to beat some sense into you idiots." Meena turned, lashing out with her nails, narrowly missing one's eyes, but distracting them long enough to run further up the hill where she knew there was a road, and hoping that she could lose them in the trees and darkness. "Run, Meena!"
"Get back here!" Pierce lunged forward, leaping into the attack. Being a Plumber, he'd been through much worse than a couple of kids, but he was still hesitant to actually use his powers. A Plumber had to contain problems, not make them rise to the surface for the whole world to see. But, if it was to save a civilian from danger… He dodged a fist, ducking and striking upwards, the teen coughing out a breath, his eyes wide. Pierce stepped away, looking to the next one coming for him, sidestepping and bringing his elbow down hard on his back, the boy gasping out a breath as he too hit the dirt. He saw one starting after Meena.
"Don't touch her!" She whirled around, a rather large branch in her hands. She held it like a bat, her dark eyes narrowed on the teen who had been coming after her. The boy paused and she swung, sending him rolling down what little incline there was. She grinned at him. "Run, Meena, don't stop!"
"Mr. Pierce, behind you!" He had heard him coming from behind, the large one, their leader most likely. He spun, ducking down and throwing out his leg, sending him back down in a fluid movement, the boy crashing into another of the teens. He gazed around him at the groaning teens, then he looked to Meena. She had dropped the branch by then and was watching him. "Are we… good now?" He shook his head, moving past the currently fallen teens.
"Yeah." She smiled again. "Come on. Let's get up to the road." And so they travelled in silence, sidestepping the brush and stepping over the branches and fallen trees. They saw the top soon enough, having been much further up than they realized. His chest tightened when they cleared the top.
That night… the day he was almost killed… just for being a hybrid. It's not like he was hurting anyone or causing problems. He was helping the world, the universe. And they tried to kill him for that. They didn't give him a choice though, leave the home he had always known or be killed. It's not like he had a ship and some other planet to go to. His chest ached where the scar resided and he raised a hand up, closing it into a fist and pressing against the raised skin. "Mr. Pierce?"
"This is where you found me." He saw the darkened soil, recognized the spot where he had parked the car. This was where he would have died if she hadn't found him. Considering how much blood he had lost… "You saved my life."
"I couldn't let you die, Mr. Pierce. Not if I could do something about it." There was noise behind them and she tilted her head to the side. It was faint. "Is… that Miss Rachel?" He turned, looking down over the hill and back towards the diner, it's lights lit.
"She's probably calling for you. It's been longer than twenty minutes, I can tell you that." He turned back towards the dark, starting towards the road. "Come on. We'll call her on the way down." He heard the crash and whirled around, fists raised, looking for those guys. He saw Meena on the ground, her hands around her leg, eyes closed in pain. "Meena?"
"I-I tripped…" she hissed and he saw the branch covered with blood. He crouched down, helping her to sit up. She gasped and he saw the gash, the blood dripping and running down her leg, staining the ground around it. Now they both shed blood here, both not by their own doing.
"Wow, all that from that branch?" He pushed her hands away, peering down to look at it better. "Well, it's not all that deep…" But it would hurt. Considering how far it travelled… "Can you walk?" She threw her head back, closing her eyes tightly and biting at her lip. "I'll take that as a no." She released her breath in a long, shaking exhale. "We'll piggy-back it then." She looked up at him in confusion. Confusion turned to fear.
"M-mr. Pierce, look out!" Pain in the back of his head and he fell forward, white dotting his vision.
It was that night… all over again…
"Mr. Pierce!" But it wasn't the same. No, he should be fighting for someone besides himself, but already… he felt the darkness returning. His chest ached once again.
"I'm sure we can find a buyer for you pretty quick, Meena. People will bid pretty high for a girl like you." Laughter and his world went black.
A little shorter than my other chapters, I'll give you that, but I wanna stop here for now. I don't plan on continuing this conversation with the next chapter, I'll probably just skip ahead to a few days later.
Woo.
Ah, thank you for reading! Until the next time, ciao~!