HAS IT REALLY BEEN A WHOLE WEEK SINCE I'VE UPDATED?! Because it feels like longer than that. Wow. I seriously can't believe how popular this fanfic is, really I didn't think anyone would like it. ;D

But that just goes to show what I know. So, enjoy this chapter it took a lot of effort because I really was not in the mood for editing and it took me days to actually get around to doing it.

SO, I'll quit wasting your time HERE IT IS!

Lost and found ch3

imperfect families

"I don't quite understand Magester," Rook said shaking his head side to side, his face looking down and his hand scratching the back of his head in thought. Max sighed as he leaned forward to place a hand over Rook's shoulder. "Ben needs help Rook," he began. "And you're the only one who can help him."

"So I have been told," Rook nodded and looked up to see both Gwen and Kevin behind Max. "But what can I do?" he questioned with a shrug. Max stopped his pestering for a moment and looked both ways, scanning the room around them for anything alive or anything that had the ability to hear other than him, his grandchild and Kevin. He looked up to Rook with a serious persona covering all others. "Rook, there's something you need to know about Ben."

Rook frowned and tilted his head to the side, "What are you about to tell me?" he asked in both curiosity and concern. Max looked down for a moment to pull his words together then glanced back up to Rook. "Ben isn't human."

"I know that," Rook shrugged the hand off his shoulder, "Magester I know Ben's not really human, although he may look human he's-"

"It's not like that Rook, he has the omnitrix, but even without it he's different," Max leaned in close so that Rook was looking at him and only him. "He's an Anodite like Gwen and like his grandmother."

Rook blinked and narrowed his eyes down to the old man. "I know," he said flatly. Max's mouth dropped to the floor and he shook his head in disbelief.

"B-but how do you know-"

"Magester I told you the day that I brought him back, I saw Ben and he was an anodite," Rook stated plainly. "Remember when I said they were using him for a power source?"

Max's expression was pure horror and he shook his head, "Oh. My apology's I wasn't really paying attention."

Gwen stepped forward, "Wait a minute," she said raising her hand, "You mean you saw him as a full anodite?" Rook nodded in response.

"It wasn't until I turned off the drainer that he reverted back to normal Ben," he added. He watched as Gwen's face scrunched into a shocked expression.

She shook her head, "How did he even get to that stage, I mean it took me years to learn most of my ability's and suddenly Ben can just change when ever he wants to?" she babbled. Rook Shrugged, really not knowing how to explain any of this because it barely made sense to him.

"I'm telling the truth, I don't quite understand how he'd inherited the anodite jeans especially seems he is male and it is rare for a boy to inherit such jeans , but I know that he is able to go through the transformation, probably not by choice, but only when he is at a weak or desperate state," he shrugged. Gwen ripped from Rook's hands and backed away.

"What do you mean desperate?" she asked, her eyes wide and filled with fear for her cousin. "What else did they do to him while he was there?!" she screamed out suddenly, her eyes beginning to stream purple light. Kevin put his hands over Gwen's shoulders and held her close to his chest. She gasped slightly and he eyes returned to their normal colour. Rook lowered his raised hands and sighed, "I am not certain of what they did to Ben, but I know it was not pleasant, he won't talk to me about it."

Kevin glared up at Rook, "You ever asked him?" he asked raising an eyebrow. Rook's ear twitched a bit and he frowned shaking his head.

"No." came his response.

"Well ask him and find out," Kevin muttered rolling his eyes. Rook shook his head quickly.

"I can't ask him something like that, he could get angry or sad or who knows what he might do if I arise such memories," Rook looked down and then back up. "I can't make him do anything he doesn't want to." He shrugged his shoulders sadly. Max sighed and placed his hand back over Rook's shoulder.

"Please Rook, Ben won't be the same if we don't make him that way."

Rook stared at the large screen in front of him. He was in the corner of the room, leaning against the wall and staring at the images the doctors had wanted to show so very badly. He, Max, Gwen and Kevin were the only ones in the room. All stared at the screen as a range of pictures appeared on screen. Most of the pictures that had been shown made Gwen feel uneasy and sick. Kevin didn't seem to react, but rarely did he ever show signs of sadness around any human or alien for that matter. Max was calm, but still very shaken by the images that he saw.

Rook was different, instead of watching and thinking something like 'that must have hurt' he stood alone, just watched and thinking just how wrong all of this was.

They changed the picture again and this time it was different. At this moment in time all they'd shown were pictures of Ben's limps, all of which had small and very faint bruises on them and pale, sick skin.

The next one came as a shock to everyone. They all gasped and Rook's eyes widened at the sight of Ben's naked chest on the screen, three long and very dark scars were crossed over his stomach and up to his right shoulder. Gwen hid her face in Kevin's chest, begging for comfort.

"We are not sure what these scars are or where they came from, but hopefully we can get our answer soon," the doctor said. "He wasn't so keen on letting us take photographs of these scars and seemed even more distressed when we tried to touch them, we imagine that he is scared of them," he shrugged. "We did however get something out of him when we attempted this, he said something that sounded an awful lot like monster," he stated and changed the picture once more to show a more accurate image of where the scars ended. In this picture Ben's face could be seen. He looked very pale and Rook could see that he looked almost as if he was about to cry. Although to anyone else he looked angry, but Rook could see the slightest tear in Ben's eye.

Rook turned around and walked out of the room, slamming the door behind him and leaving everyone alone inside. Gwen jumped when the door slammed and Kevin glared at the exit, imagining Rook behind it.

Rook shook his head once he was outside and covered his mouth just encase his stomach wasn't as strong as he believed it was. In a second Max emerged from the room and came to stand next to Rook. He placed his hand over Rook's shoulder.

"Rook, are you alright?" he asked. Rook shook his head and turned around to look down to Max. He squinted his eyes shut and then reopened them to glare down at Max. "Why would they do that to Ben?" he asked, disgust fueling his voice and intoxicating his tone.

Max looked down, "I don't know why anyone would make those marks on Ben, maybe it's their way of making him scared of them or just to mark him so they-"

"That's not what I'm talking about," Rook interrupted, "How could they take those photographs of Ben?" he grit his teeth and pointed to the door that he and Max had walked through.

"It was evidence," Max explained.

"No that was wrong," Rook said shaking his head, "Ben didn't want to, but they made him." Rook covered his mouth again and leaned his forehead against the wall. "It is cruel what they put him through."

Max sighed, "Rook, you know we're just trying to help Ben and we can't help him if we don't know what's wrong with him."

"Yes," Rook pulled off the wall and removed his hand, "But, I still don't see the humanity in this," he rolled his eyes. Max glared at Rook then.

"Rook I know it seems wrong, but we're trying our best, we can't try any harder and this is the only way, don't tell me what I'm doing is wrong, we're doing it for Ben, NOT YOU!" Max suddenly shouted. Rook took a step back and stared at Max in shock.

"Magester, I did not mean-" Rook stopped when he heard a loud smashing noise. His eyes widened and he turned around to see a number of scientists and doctors racing into the one room. "Oh no," Rook said and then he raced off to join them. Rook pushed passed the crowd and ran into the room. What he saw next shocked him.

It was Ben's parents sitting in the corner of the room, Ben standing in front of them and shouting at the top of his lungs. "I'm not your son any more am I?!" he screeched. "I'm just a little freak now, now that I'm part alien huh? Well Gwen's the same as me you know, Ooooooh wait! was it just me in general that you hate?!" he shouted. His mother bawled her eyes out and pressed her face to his father's chest. He stared up at his son in absolute shock.

"Ben!" Rook called. Ben twisted his body around to stare at Rook and glared at him with hate. Rook shook his head, "Ben please stop."

Ben's glare turned into a frown and he stared sadly at Rook. "I'm hurting people again," he whispered, tears filling his vision. Suddenly Ben's left arm was gripped by a large hand and another on his other arm followed. Ben screeched as a number of doctors grabbed hold of him and threw him onto the table in the centre of the room. He shook his head and arched his back to break free. He screamed in protest, "No! Let go! Let go of meeeee!"

Rook watched as Ben fell flat onto the table when one of the doctors injected him with a syringe. Ben stared blankly at the wall as he slipped into a deep sleep.

Rook stared in shock as this happened and turned around to see Ben's grandfather standing behind him. He looked grim from the experience and looked up to Rook. Rook's shocked expression dropped and he gave a sour look to Max. "I want to be the only one to talk to Ben," he demanded.

"Are you alright?" Rook asked as he sat on the other side of the table. Ben turned his head towards Rook and frowned. Ben nodded and unfolded his arms as he began to speak.

"It doesn't hurt me, but it makes me sleep for a while, long enough to lock me away anyway," he muttered as he looked down to the ground.

There was a long silence between them then and Rook felt a part of him break. He felt sad for Ben. All that he'd been through and no one giving him at least some comfort, just asking him again and again to remember all the horrible things that happened to him and tell them in detail what it was like. He looked down to his and Ben's hands on the table. When he reached to hold onto Ben's it shivered away from his, not wanting the comfort. Rook took his hand off the table and rested it on his lap. He looked at the ground for a moment, a frown on his face.

"They took a lot of pictures of me," Ben said. Rook looked up to see Ben staring at him with a blank expression. Rook blinked for a moment and then nodded.

"I know, I saw them."

Ben shivered at the response and he pulled his knees closer to his chest. He looked away from Rook, trying everything to prevent eye contact. "How many other people did they show the photos to?" he whispered.

Rook frowned when he saw Ben do this. It was exactly as he'd imagined, taking those photos just gave Ben another reason to not trust anyone in plumber HQ. Rook sighed aloud, "Not many, only your family members."

Ben shrank again and lowered his chin to his knees. "They all saw me like that," he murmured. Rook blinked at Ben and shook his head.

"Ben, I'm sorry," he whispered.

Ben shook his head, "That's why my parents wanted to talk to me yesterday," he said. "Mum just kept crying and dad just kept asking me about them."

Rook leaned in to hear more clearly what Ben was telling him. Ben sniffled and wiped his eye as he began to tear up again. "He said that once I was better they'd take me home and we could be a family again."

Rook smiled at Ben and nodded, "That's wonderful," he said. Ben looked at Rook with a sad expression, he shook his head.

"Am I not apart of the family now?" he whispered. Rook's smile dropped and he looked away from Ben and to the floor. Ben let out a shaky sigh and turned in his chair so that he was facing Rook. "All of them keep saying that," Ben almost growled. "That I'm different and that they're going to fix me, but what is there to fix anyway? I was always an alien, but they treat it so differently when it's permanent," he looked down and began to cry.

"I don't want to be this you know, I wish everything just went back to the way it was before the lab and before all the tests and before all the-" Ben stopped and widened his eyes. He looked up and saw Rook staring at him. "What tests Ben?" Rook asked.

Ben looked away and crossed his arms, "I don't want to talk about it!" he hissed through grit teeth. Rook frowned and leaned forwards across the table, taking Ben's hand in his own. "Then we won't," he whispered. Ben looked up at Rook, almost shocked by the response and then looked down to Rook's hand over his. "Thank you," Ben almost chocked out.

Rook just gave Ben a small smile and nodded in response. Ben looked down and then back up to meet Rook's gaze. "What was your childhood like?" he asked.

Rook was surprised by the question, but began to explain. "Well, If you really want to know, my childhood was a good one, I have three sisters and one brother, a mother and a father, they are all wonderful people," he smiled in thought. "My sisters, Shar, Shim and Shi all looked up to me, I am the oldest after all, my brother does the same, we call him young one, I was very popular as a child, I seemed to get along with almost everyone I came across, especially a certain female named Rayona, my father, Da was a very good man, he taught me a lot and never let me down, my mother, Bralla was also very kind to me, she is probably the best thing about my childhood, she was the mother that everyone always wanted," he said.

"That's nice," Ben mumbled into his knees.

Rook smiled despite knowing that practically everything he said to Ben was a lie, but he didn't want Ben knowing any of the bad things that happened to him while he was growing up.

"What are those marks on your arms?"

Rook looked up to see Ben staring at Rook's arms that were crossed on the table. Rook took his arms off the table and away from Ben's sight. He wasn't wearing his normal proto-tech armour that day and just wore a normal black, short sleeved shirt. Over his arms were small, but very noticeable scars. He told everyone that he'd gotten them on a fishing trip when he was very young and he didn't want Ben to know what really happened either.

"I get into a lot of fights being a plumber," He lied. Ben didn't question it and just nodded at him.

"What ones did you see?" Ben whispered, breaking Rook out of thought.

"What?" Rook asked looking up at Ben and tilting his head slightly to the left. Ben sat in the same position and stared at Rook.

"What pictures did you see?"

Rook frowned and looked away, he felt uncomfortable talking to Ben about such things. Ben just tilted his head to the side, "Did you see the ones on my back?" he whispered. Rook looked up to Ben and shook his head. Ben looked down and chuckled lightly. "They're worse than the ones on my stomach."

Rook looked up to Ben and shook his head, "Who did that to you?" he asked.

Ben glared down to the table, "I can't tell you." Rook slumped in his seat, he was getting quite tired of all these games that Ben played with him. "It's time for you to go now," Ben murmured.

Rook's eyes widened and he turned around to see a doctor poking his head in the door. Rook looked back at Ben and gave him a light smile. "Next time," he whispered before he walked out the door.

Rook walked out of the room and into the elevator. It didn't take him long to reach the surface and once he did he walked out. He scanned around for Max, wanting to tell him the new information when he heard a noise from behind him. Rook heard a loud scream that sounded a lot like his name followed by some cursing.

He turned around and was caught off guard as a fist flew into his cheek. He fell to the floor, but never caught sight of his attacker. The attacker crawled on top of Rook, punching and slapping Rook hard in the face while screaming words of anger down to Rook. Rook's arm flew up and he hit his attacker in the cheek. This caused them to fall off Rook and Rook stood. He covered his bleeding nose and looked down to see Kevin sitting on the floor.

Rook tilted his head to the side, "Kevin what do you think you are-" he was cut off when Kevin's fist once again met his cheek and Rook grabbed hold of it. "Kevin!" he shouted and grabbed hold of Kevin's other fist. Rook yelped when Kevin kicked him in the knee and he fell back onto the ground, holding onto his knee as he stared up at Kevin.

"Do you think it's funny?! You want Ben to suffer?! You think this is all just a stupid game huh?!" he screamed. Gwen ran next to him and grabbed his shoulder.

"Kevin stop!" she shouted. He turned and glared at Gwen.

"No! Did you see what he did Gwen?!" he shouted.

"That could have been anybody," she muttered. Kevin laughed and shook his head.

"Bullshit! He's a fucking snitch and he deserves a face full of my fist!" he grit his teeth. Max came through the crowd of plumbers that had crowded around the three. "What's going on here?!" he shouted. Kevin pointed down to Rook. "This bastard!" he yelled.

Max looked down to Rook on the ground and then back to Kevin. "Kevin what did you do?!" he said sternly. Kevin let out another laugh, "Ask him what he did!" he hissed.

"What did I do?" Rook asked as he picked himself up and off the floor. Kevin looked up at Rook with a thick glare plastered to his face. "You know what I'm talking about!" he growled. He looked to Max and pointed to Rook as he shouted out for everyone to hear, "This guy told the paparazzi!"

CLIFFHANGER! MUAHAHAHAHAHAH!

Also, don't be mad at Kevin, he is a cool character and I intend to at some point make him and Rook friends... some how... :/

Until next time!

-Serinablackcat98 out-