A/N: Ben 10 does not belong to me in the least.
"Pieeeerce… Ohhh, Pieeeerce…" Manny was tempted to get a cat toy and brush the feathers on their sleeping leader's nose. "Wakey wakey, Pieeerce~" Helen zoomed in from the other room, crossing her arms and tapping her foot in annoyance.
"Manny. I told you not to bother him. He's resting." She hissed at him, careful to keep her voice low, lest she unwittingly wake her brother herself. Manny leaned back, pushing himself away on the rolling office chair and crossing his own arms, pouting. "Don't look at me like that. It's been a rough couple of weeks for him. He deserves to be able to rest without you waking him up to bother him." Manny slouched further in his seat, avoiding eye contact with his comrade and sorta girlfriend.
"It's just so boring around here… no new missions because Pierce is now suddenly so danger-prone. Him going out and being a hero… That girl is trouble, I tell you. T-R-O-U-B-L-E. Trouble. Something's always going on with her. Human traffickers, bodyguards, Forever Knights—"
"Now that wasn't her fault and you know it!"
"—getting sick, sibling issues, and probably so many other things we don't even know about!" Manny ignored her outburst, continuing with his brief list. "I say we cut all ties with her! The sooner, the better!"
"You guys know I'm awake, right?" Came the bored tone of their fearless leader. They froze, Manny turning slowly to see Pierce sitting up with his arms crossed, a brow raised. "It's really hard to get some sleep around here with you two always bickering. Now, what is it this time?" Helen glared at Manny, who rose, a smile on his face.
"Hey there, Pierce! You're awake! We were just talking about you!" Pierce gave him a look. Manny rubbed at the back of his neck, looking to Helen for an explanation. "Well, uh, you see…" The phone rang and Manny lunged for it. "Yeah? What?" Helen went over to her brother, making sure he was alright. "What? No way, Calico. He's not doing it." Pierce looked over at his friend curiously while Helen poked around his head. "Ohh no, no no no no no. Definitely not with that trainwreck." They could all hear her screeching after those words left his mouth. Pierce could almost make out the words too. "I'm serious! He isn't leaving this room until he's been cleared by a proper doctor! And definitely not to go on some date with you and that girl!" Helen rolled her eyes. Pierce recrossed his arms, narrowing his eyes. He had a pretty good feeling he knew who 'that' girl was. "Yeah, like that makes it any better! He's probably a freak like—"
The doorbell rang, cutting him off. They all fell silent, looking through the doorway and down towards the man door that served as their front door. "Calico, are you standing outside right now? Why? The doorbell just rang." Pierce rose and Helen helped him up. Being the most normal looking one of them all, he always answered the door. "Look, Calico, we're busy. Bye." Manny hung up, shifting out of sight while Pierce stumbled to the man door, Helen zooming into the back room to stand beside him.
Pierce opened the door. A redhead with violet eyes he didn't know was standing there, looking around boredly with his arms crossed. "Can I help you?" The man's eyes shifted toward him, taking him in.
"So you're the guy…"
"What?" The man stepped past him and into their home without warning. "Hey, you can't just—"
"Nice place you got here. Just to let you know, there's some people hiding in the back room." He smiled at Pierce like he hadn't just walked in without permission. "How's that concussion treating you, hm?" Pierce tensed, narrowing his eyes. "Not expecting that, huh? Hey, you guys wanna come out? The more the merrier and all that, right?" They saw no point in hiding, he knew they were there. "Wow. I've never seen anything like you guys before, but, I guess that's to be expected, all cooped up at home. Ahh, she's so lucky she gets to see the world." He stretched and they shuffled towards Pierce, eyeing the newcomer warily. He rolled his shoulders. "So you're the guy she's wasting her time on."
"I don't know who you are bu—w-wha…?" The man removed his face—correction, ID mask, revealing long, dark green hair bound back in a ponytail with dark green marks under his eyes in the shape of upside down 'L's. "I think you'd better start talking." Of-course, he couldn't fight if this guy was aggressive, but Manny and Helen could.
"How rude of me. I'm Dakaro Covron Resura. Here, I go by Connor Whitaker. Meena is my younger sister." Connor, or Dakaro, they weren't sure(but Pierce thought 'Covron' sounded familiar) grinned at them.
"Great, more siblings," Manny scoffed. Connor's eyes shifted to take him in, then they returned to Pierce.
"That's all well and good, but why are you here?" Helen asked of him, worried about the way Pierce's eyes were twitching. "Pierce?" He waved her off.
"I see she's been careful. But not careful enough, considering you're still alive." Their eyes narrowed on him, wondering at the meaning of his words. "Ah well. You want me to fix that for you?" Pierce opened his eyes wide briefly before they returned to normal, trying to stave off the migraine and the urge to faint. "I see you say no, but I insist."
"What're you talking about?" Helen watched him carefully.
"Your concussion. I can fix it for you. Just like how Meena saved your life from those who wished you dead all those weeks ago." Pierce glared at him. Connor laughed, shaking his head. "You don't honestly think she used some sort of medicine to save you, do you? From that scar? I'd guess you would have died if she hadn't found you at that moment. Lucky she did, right? But then again, with all the trouble you're causing… Maybe I should just let you suffer through it." Pierce blinked, wondering how he knew what his scar even looked like. He was wearing his jacket after-all.
"Look, we don't know what you're talking about, get it? I suggest you leave." Manny stepped up, trying to intimidate him. Connor raised a brow at him. "Get lost." Manny took another threatening step forward. Connor ignored him, returning his eyes to Pierce.
"She won't come home. Not in a few months when she must, not ever. Because of you. She won't leave because you're here." Pierce's lips pulled into a frown, eyes narrowing further. "She's become… fond of you. My brother will try to bring her back by force, because she doesn't want to leave here."
"Is she…" Connor paused, letting him speak. "Is she sick? Is that why Syrus wants her to come home so badly?" Connor was silent for a long time.
Then he gave a shrug. "If she doesn't come home at the end of her time, bad things will happen."
"Like?" Manny questioned. He didn't like this girl, but he didn't exactly want her to die. Connor smiled.
"Well, for one, Syrus will come back and that's just about the worst thing I could plague a person with. My brother." Pierce couldn't say he didn't agree with him. "But other than that, I'd rather not think of it. She needs to come home." He continued watching Pierce. Pierce stared back at him.
"Why would she even leave then, if she was needed back at your home?" Helen questioned quietly, wary of how Connor was staring at her brother. Connor snorted, running a hand through his hair, his bangs falling back into his eyes.
"A question my brother asks himself every day." He shook his head, blowing out a breath. Pierce shifted, putting his weight on his right leg. "And so I come to you."
"Why?" Connor shook his head.
"Didn't you hear a word I just said? She likes you, Smart One. Tell her to come home, when her time is up. Our brother took back what he said, so she needs to take back hers. That she needs to take responsibility for her actions." Pierce's eyes narrowed. "Hey, she promised." Manny snickered, punching his shoulder. Pierce hissed as the world spun briefly.
"Someone likes you!" Manny laughed. Helen frowned at him while Pierce righted himself. Connor watched them for another few moments, teasing(Manny) and scolding(Helen), before stepping up, putting his hand on the back of Pierce's head, bringing his face close. He gazed at him silently while Pierce tried to pull away, the gesture familiar to him.
"You have survived death many times." Manny stopped laughing, frowning at them, Helen watching on in confusion. "And you've been with her every step of her way here. But it's time you let go."
"I don't—"
"Of-course not." Connor smiled. "This might sting." Manny lunged forward as energy surged through the room, sending them flying back, papers rocketing skyward. Pierce fell forward, the energy pushing at him, pressing against his head, pulling at his scar. He looked blearily at Connor, who held him up calmly, his eyes glowing faintly. Just as quickly, the energy faded and Manny and Helen could rise again. Manny curled his hands into fists, glaring at the green haired man before them. Connor pulled Pierce up, holding to his shoulders and leaning down a bit, peering at him closely. "That should do it." Pierce pulled away, but Connor didn't seem offended. "Of-course, she'll kill me if she finds out, but hey. I couldn't let you suffer with it. It was her fault, after-all."
Oddly, Pierce felt no pain. His ears weren't ringing and the world wasn't spinning. "W-what… what did you do?"
"I got rid of that concussion for you."
"You did what?" Helen held Manny back, who was seething and seeing red. Connor crossed his arms. "But, how did you…?"
"The same way Meena saved your life. For me? It's nothing. For her? Those few days you were out let her recover. She's not trained. Yet. But she's made astounding progress here." He shrugged, turning and starting towards the door.
"Wait, Connor," Manny glared at Helen, who ignored him, "Or Dakaro." Connor paused, but didn't turn around. "You're not human." Manny snorted, as if that was the understatement of the century. Connor looked over his shoulder at them.
"Like you are? Or Rachel and her family? No, but you should all understand that." Helen let go of Manny, sure he wouldn't attack their 'friend'.
"Are you a Plumber's Kid? You and Meena? And your other siblings? Like us?" Pierce was still a little surprised at how good he felt, considering he felt like fainting not two minutes ago. Connor simply smiled, then faced forward once again, walking through the door and disappearing.
"C-covron!" He held her up easily, walking through the door with her in his arms. "I can walk!"
"No you can't." Well, alright, she would give him that one, but she had crutches. "Come on, I'm your brother. It's not like—" he wasn't prepared for the hisses and boos and the glares of the young men in the diner waiting for Meena to come in. He blinked, stopping. She frowned, tapping his shoulder, signaling for him to let her down. He did so carefully, watching the lot of them. "Should I be afraid?"
"Very much so, Darling," Rachel appeared beside him, smirking, her hand around his arm. He smiled down at her, earning more boos. "Well, I see you got you little sister here in one piece, Connor. I guess you're not totally useless." She raised her voice so the boys could hear and stop glowering at him. Meena wobbled a bit and she reached out a hand, steadying her. "Meena, Honey, come sit down." She led her to the counter, seating her on a stool. Meena smiled gratefully and Connor crossed his arms behind her. "Hey, I have some good news, Kid."
"Yes?" Rachel smiled triumphantly and Meena blinked up at her curiously.
"You, me, Connor, and Pierce. Seven o'clock. Friday night." The brunette tilted her head to the side while Connor's eyes narrowed a bit. Rachel's smile grew.
"What's on Friday night?" Rachel saw the guys all leaning in, trying to listen, while the others in the diner eyed them all warily, wondering why they were acting so strange.
"Our double date." Meena's eyes widened while groans resounded around the diner, Lyle looking around quickly, startled by the sudden noise. "Pretty great, huh?" Meena pulled on her arm. "Yes, Darling?"
"I-I thought you were dating Mark?" Meena had yet to meet the ever elusive Mark, but she had been sure they were dating.
"Oh, we are." Meena's brows knitted together in confusion. "It's more of an on-off thing, ya know? Right now, we're off because I caught him with that—ahem, well, that's not important." Meena looked even more confused while Connor raised a curious brow.
"So I caught the cat?"
"Please. You wish. No, I just wanna get those two together and not having one or the other's life threatened in the process." Rachel smiled at the other girl fondly. "Of-course, I still have to talk Pierce into it, but that shouldn't be too hard."
"M-Miss Rachel, Mr. Pierce has a concussion! You can't expect him to do something so—so—he's in no condition to do anything, much less go on a date! I'm sorry, but I'm not going." There were cheers and Meena looked startled. Lyle threw up his hands, stalking into the back room, fed up with the infatuated fools.
"Don't be so quick, Meena." Connor remarked calmly. "He might be up to it. And don't you want to do all you can, experience all you can before you come home?" His voice was quiet and Meena sobered immediately. Rachel hissed at him and he closed his eyes. "Perhaps this would be a good idea, little sister." Meena looked hurt and Rachel was tempted to lash out at him.
"Covron…" She looked down and Rachel turned on him, balling her hands into fists, golden eyes narrowed in hate. "Fine…" Rachel looked at her quickly, then back at Connor, wagging a finger at him threateningly. "I suppose… it would be fun… Wouldn't it, Miss Rachel?"
"Oh, the best, by far." She gave him another dark look and he shrugged. "We'll have to get you a dress." Meena tilted her head to the side.
"What for?" Rachel's grin turned wolfish, making her look even scarier than her typical grins.
"Oh, this'll be fun."
Have I stated yet of my immense love of Rachel? Seriously. I'm so glad I thought her up. Ahh, another new chapter and all that lovely stuff~ We're getting a bit serious, but hey, nothin' wrong with that~!