Chapter Ten: Message In The Dark
Inside the Rustbucket
Bellwood, California
3:42 AM, November 17, 2000
Alan stared out into the night as he sat there in the ancient R.V. and waited.
At first, he huddled there, sure that he was only a second away from getting spotted by all the people outside. Sure enough that he almost ignored the hissed 'stay here' that he'd heard when he'd been all but shoved into this little booth which looked like it came right out of a MickeyD's - one of the bad ones, with the seats held together with duct tape - even though there was a huge window right there at his elbow by the two weirdest kids he'd ever met. If he wasn't sure that he'd kill himself tripping over the mess on the floor he might have. Instead, he just pulled the blanket that he'd been wrapped in tighter around himself, even though it was so much silvery-tinfoil and almost as noticeable as him, and waited for the screaming that he knew was coming.
He saw how scared and angry everyone looked as they rushed by, lit only by blue and red strobing lights, but none of it was ever directed at him no matter how many people rushed past the deeply tinted glass. If he strained his neck, he could even watch them join the crowd that was gathered around the two police cars that were blocking the R.V. Park's entrance, but mostly he didn't.
Mostly he just looked for the faces he'd give anything to see again. Faces he knew he never would as his flames guttered and dimmed.
He was still watching when the crowd started coming back in ones and twos, their steps so much slower and their heads down as the hours and the cold took their toll until in the end, it was just him and the cops, who looked miserable and cold as they stood beside their cars and took nervous sips of their thermoses as they watched the night, too.
Thermoses that stopped steaming ages ago. Just like his blanket. Just like him.
And Alan still didn't move. He didn't even have it in him anymore to worry about the guttering fire around his arms and head or the cracked black rock of his skin under it that he could see so much clearer now. It looked so much like the campfires that he'd woken up to when his dad took them out camping after they'd all gone to sleep and nobody was around to feed it any more wood.
It was always his favorite part, watching the little sparks as the fire died. But if his went out?
Alan didn't know and he didn't worry about it. He was so tired that he couldn't. He just sat there and waited for them to come back, but hours ticked by with nothing.
No movement, no activity, no Max Tennyson or Ben and Gwen either. And no sign of that girl Michelle, who seemed as lost as he felt when she gave him one last look before she was dragged away.
One last look that stayed with him as the hours went by as he just sat there, too afraid to move in case of burning something even now. Huddled there alone in that blanket and praying that they'd come back soon with just a phone that had been tossed on the table in front of him for company. A phone that was just as quiet as everything else as the dark slipped inside.
It was a dark that felt so good as he felt his head dip forward and…
- o - o - o - o - o -
"-an? Alan?!"
"Ah!" The voice burned in his ears as Alan jerked awake. Burned in his ears and down his throat and into his arm as he realized that he wasn't dreaming it. That someone was calling his name. That the night was spilling in through the side door.
The open side door as something came in.
He didn't scream. He couldn't, but he didn't have to. Not when he felt everything that he would have said rush through his arm and hand and fingers before it erupted out, fire flying through the still air at the shape before he even realized it. And when he did…
When he heard a girl shout, "Hey!" as the air between them went violet. A girl he knew. "It's us! It's - "
Alan felt the burning in his chest turn in an instant into the cold of panic and guilt as he realized what he'd almost done as he crazily tried to pull the dull blood-red flames back. Even more crazily, it almost seemed to do just that even as a violet wall lit up the space between him and the redhead, whose hand sprung out towards him and fingers spread wide as she -
She cast a spell. He hadn't been imagining it.
Any of it.
The girl, Gwen, huffed and blew one of her bangs out of her face as she wore a look somewhere between terrified and exasperated and kept that wall of purple light up between them. "Your reflexes are good, but you need to be a little more selective when you go popping off like that." Then she let out a breath as the fire died down. "And I knocked. With the signal and everything."
"Sorry. I just saw you coming through the door and…" Alan started as he rubbed his face and felt the scrape of stone on stone. He remembered them saying something about that after they shoved him in here - something about a shave and a haircut that made as much sense as anything else that they said. "I think that I - "
The rest of his words died and his voice came to an abrupt squeaking end when a big, shaggy orange thing came charging in through the open side door behind the girl, pushing her further inside even as it got between him and her. Something big enough that it looked like it could have bitten her head right off even before it bared its teeth in a slobbery growl that Alan couldn't have matched even If his throat hadn't closed off in terror.
Alan couldn't make a sound, but Gwen screamed loud enough for both of them as she spun around. Not a mindless shriek before she ran like anyone else would have. No. Of course not. She just shouted one word. One name. "Ben!" Gwen snapped at the thing, her face going bright red and the weird glow around her hand fading as she spun around and smacked the thing, her hand disappearing in the thick orange fur of the thing's shoulder. "I told you to give me a second! What were you even going to do?! Wildmutt's not going to kick any butt in here! Not when his takes up all the room!"
And the huge thing….
The thing just let out a huff of breath at her. One that sounded just like the noise his old dog used to make and said just as much as it lifted its head and eyed the R.V.'s ceiling and the smoldering bits of stuff there. It was a look that should have made Alan feel sick with guilt, but…
"Wh - ?!" Alan tried to ask. "Why doesn't he have any eyes?"
"Wildmutts don't have eyes. They just smell," Gwen said as she rolled hers like it was the most obvious thing in the world. As obvious as the eyeless look that the thing gave her after that and the smirk that lit up her face a second later as she made a show of waving her hand in front of her nose. "What? You do, Doofus! You might have forgotten about that, but I haven't!" Then, off of Alan's blank-eyed stare as he watched her start to pet that thick orange fur. "He can smell other things, too. I guess."
Alan just nodded even though neither of them was looking at him. It was all he could do, his tongue felt numb as watched them. As he watched the thing turn as much as it could in the tight quarters so it could add a growl in with its glare. And when it did…
That was when he finally saw something familiar on the thing's upper arm. Something familiar even though it was just as impossible. Same face as the thing on his shoulder. The thing he'd been touching since they left. His hand ached from the memory as he stared at the same shape on the thing's arm. He stared at it and a half-remembered but never forgotten feeling of pain, wrong, burning filled his senses. A metal bracelet, wide around as one of those old-fashioned handcuffs with tubes sticking out of the side that had been sitting in the case that his dad had pulled out before slamming it on Alan's arm. Something that he'd heard called The Omnitrix and The Watch, both times by Gwen and…That boy with her. Ben.
Oh, God. That thing was Ben. Had to be. Which meant…
"Is that the Omnitrix?" He heard himself ask.
Ben let out another angry huff as he turned away, his hackles still up and Alan had to bite back a laugh because the boy was huge now, but he really did act just like a dog. Just like…
Wildmutt. It fit so well that Alan almost missed the nod that Gwen gave him even as she nailed her boyfriend with another dark look as he pushed past her even as something started beeping.
Almost. God, his head hurt so much, but… "I thought you said that there was only one."
It should have been a question, but it came out as hot as the fire Alan squeezed down with both arms around his middle. A fire that almost exploded out of him again anyway when the world suddenly burned a bright red.
"There was," Ben snapped out before the light even faded. And when it did…
"Where…" Alan started as he blinked past the spots that filled his eyes as he stared at the boy who was standing right where Wildmutt was. It should have been the craziest thing that Alan saw all day, but it wasn't.
No. Despite everything else that happened that day, somehow seeing Ben standing there dressed like he was about to go to bed was just too much, and the image didn't go away even after Alan's eyes cleared. There wasn't anything else that he could be wearing. The sweatpants and the old white t-shirt with a black line going down the middle that he'd changed into were too ragged and old for anything else. He wasn't even wearing a jacket even though it must have been freezing out there considering how much the boy was shivering as he stood there.
Alan guessed, anyway. He couldn't tell.
Gwen was, though. She was wearing the same green one with the white tens on its shoulders and over her heart that he'd seen Ben give Michelle hours ago, but the redhead seemed more at home in it than the olive-skinned girl ever had. For a second, he thought that she must have been the one who had sense, but that just lasted until she unzipped the thing and he saw the thin powder-blue t-shirt under it. A t-shirt with a black cat's face splashed across the front that was just short enough that he saw a bit of her stomach between that and her white pants. Pants that looked too thin and glossy to be anything but pajama bottoms.
Pajamas. They were being chased by monsters and they came back wearing pajamas! They were more ready for action when the girls were in skirts!
Alan didn't know if he wanted to laugh or scream. It was all he could do just to ask, "You can change back?" And even that sounded weak.
"Yes. Usually lasts ten minutes, but sometimes more or less if he gets knocked around or pushes it somehow." Gwen explained as she glared at her boyfriend like she was waiting for him to jump in, and when he didn't like she couldn't tell if she wanted to smack the boy again or pull him into a hug as he stalked away towards the front of the R.V.
Alan wasn't sure if she knew either, but it didn't interrupt her train of thought. "And he can turn into a few different aliens. Ten at first - and I don't know if that's just a coincidence or if Azmuth just really likes the number ten - but he has way more now. Wildmutt was one of his first."
Those words….They were words. None of them made sense, but they were still better than the whirlwind that followed.
"Andweweren'tlying!Wethoughtthattherewasonlyone! Azmuthsaidthathewishedhehadn'tevenmadeeventhatmany… ButwefoundBen'sinhisclosetand - "
Alan just stared at the two of them before he licked his lip and his eyes went back to the door beside her. "Is - " he started, his voice shaking because this was just too much. Too much for tonight. Too much for him to deal with on his own, and Alan couldn't keep the hope out of his voice as his eyes went back to the still open door and he asked, "Is - is Michelle out there, too?"
He tried to make it sound like a joke, but at least she made sense.
"-and we - " Gwen kept going until Alan's question finally sank in. Then she stopped so fast that she almost stumbled and he saw her face crumple before she ducked her head and it disappeared behind her hair. "No," she whispered, her voice breaking as she spun around and yanked the door closed behind her. "We left her at Ben's. It's safer for her - "
Every word sounded like it hurt before they broke and Alan watched her bury her face in her hands and the too-long sleeves of her jacket that covered them and take a deep breath that didn't look like it helped at all before she repeated, "She's safe. They're all… They…"
Alan almost forgot about how weird they were as he pushed himself up so he could do what his father always said he should. Be a man and -
"We don't have time for this," Ben cut him off even before Alan could get out of the booth and made them both jump. He had his back towards them as he stared out the windshield, but that didn't matter. Not when it would be so easy for Alan to spin him around before he slugged him. He almost did. His right hand ached for it. Especially when he heard the little noise that Gwen made. He would have if…
If Ben didn't finally hang his head and whisper. "Grandpa needs us." And when he looked back and asked, "Did he…?"
He looked so desperate that Alan just sank back down. "I would have said something if he had." He stopped there. His mom raised him too well to add any of the other words he was thinking. But he couldn't help looking back at Gwen and asking, "Is he always like this?"
"Believe it or not, he used to be even more obnoxious." Gwen sniffed as she let her hands drop and her arms settled around her middle while she stared at the brown-haired boy. Not that Ben noticed. He'd already turned back and he just stood there, his hand on the headrest of the driver's seat as he stared out into the night.
He didn't even seem to notice it when his girlfriend came up behind him, not that her feet made any noise on the worn carpet as she stepped around the junk that was scattered there. He didn't even notice her bring up her hand for what looked like the smack that Alan was so sure Ben deserved a minute ago. A smack that never landed as she just took her boyfriend's shoulder instead.
Ben jumped anyway, and his hand flew for his Watch until she leaned in close and asked in a small voice. "Are we good?"
No, not small. There wasn't anything small about it. Alan heard that tone before from his mom sometimes when they were traveling around the country and she thought that they had wandered into something sketchy and he couldn't help being glad that Michelle wasn't here even as he looked out the side window at all the R.V.s on the other side. R.V.s that could be hiding anything.
"They're gone now," Ben said, his voice rough. "I checked three times, just to be sure, but - but there were so many of them here, even after they went chasing after…"
Him. Alan knew that even as Ben's voice faded away. Even after they went chasing after him.
He was as sure of that as he was that he'd heard that tone before, too. From his dad after his mom got shot down. After Alan finally saw her lying in that hospital bed with her face covered in bruises and a cast on her leg that looked so white against her ashen skin. A cast that was surrounded by metal rings with pieces that went right through the plaster and the only thing that kept Alan from running to her was the window in front of him and his dad's hand on his shoulder.
Alan felt his hands curl as he watched Ben reach for Gwen's hand. "Most of them…. most of them just got here today, but two… I could smell two of them all over the place. And trust me, they stank when I was Wildmutt. They smelled like that beach we were at, the one where the water was all red because of the gunk that Animo was working on. And it was everywhere. They must have been waiting here for weeks. They were here every time I stopped by just in case Grandpa came home and I didn't even - "
Ben shook his head then, and as he drew his hand up in a fist and drove it down into the old upholstery of the driver's seat. "I didn't even know."
"It's not your fault, Doofus," Gwen said in a tone all of her own as she hugged him close. One that told the world that she wouldn't put up with any disagreement. Not for this. "There wasn't any way that you could have known."
"But - "Ben started.
"The only butt that you better be thinking about is mine, Doofus," she told him.
"Like I can forget anything that big, Dweeb," Ben laughed.
Not that Alan knew why. It was nice, he guessed, his face heating because he couldn't help looking, but kind of small even for someone as skinny as Gwen was. Despite everything that had happened over the last few hours he knew he'd seen better, and just tonight.
Not that he was going to say that.
Especially not after he watched Gwen spin the other boy around so she could poke his chest hard, right over his heart, and pressed on like Ben hadn't said anything. "It is not! And it'll kick yours if you keep saying that. And the bad guys, too. Which I'll bet you anything Grandpa's already doing right now. You'll see. We just have to catch up with him."
"We have to find him first, Dweeb," Ben said, his smile fading. Then something flashed across the boy's face and he let out a groan. "Lady Cat Nerd time?"
"Cat's Meow, Doofus. If I can remember the button combo for Kenko's finishing move then you can remember that," Gwen corrected, haughtily. A haughtiness that turned teasing when she murmured, "Besides, you like it when I'm being a nerd" as she leaned in while Ben actually relaxed enough for a smile and Alan turned away just a second too late because - gross. They kissed like his parents. And, just like his parents, they stopped when they remembered he was there. Stopped, but they were still together when Alan dared a glance back just in time to see the girl press her forehead against Ben's and whisper, "Now stop being such a Doofus. He's fine. You'll see."
It wasn't the first time Alan heard her say something like that, but she sounded so sure right then that even he almost believed her.
- o - o - o - o - o -
"How many secret compartments are in this thing?
Alan all but begged for an answer as he followed Ben around the Rustbucket like he had been ever since the two Tennyson kids started digging around for clues. Ben ground his gears more than Gwen did, but he seemed to have - well, not more answers, but when he gave them he used words that actually made sense. Even if getting him to share was like pulling teeth and besides - obviously - so he followed the boy while she stayed up front.
But if the boy didn't calm down soon, Alan was going to drag her back here so she could deal with her boyfriend again. Especially after he watched Ben kick some junk out of the way that was littering the floor by the stairwell. Junk that Alan almost started swearing he hadn't pushed there, that he hadn't gotten close to before he realized that the other boy hadn't even really paid it any attention as he flipped one of the switches that were waiting by the door and finally turned the lights on.
"About - " Alan started, but that was as far as he got before Ben turned them off again and back on, his face screwed up in concentration as he started playing with the other switches until a bit of the fake wood paneling under the switches let out a hiss of white steam and drop down as another drawer slide out.
And that was when Alan realized that he hadn't even gotten close to figuring out how weird the Tennysons really were as they both peered at the thing that was sitting in the drawer. "Is this it? Stop playing with me, where's the rest of the good stuff hiding?"
Because after the rack of futuristic ray guns that Ben pulled out from behind a wall panel just a few minutes ago, the little thing that he saw now just wasn't it. He didn't even know why Mr. Tennyson even bothered hiding his flashlight, much less why he packed it so carefully in foam so it couldn't move. He wasn't even weirded out by the fact that somebody had welded a pistol grip onto the thing. He'd seen people do weirder things with the junk in his neighborhood, but they would have all been ashamed by the scorch marks around the big round lens at the end.
Don't get him wrong, it looked as alien as everything else Alan had seen in the last few minutes, but only the growing worried look that he saw on the brown-haired boy's face said that the thing was important. That and the soft, "Didn't even know he'd saved this…"
But that was all that Ben said as he looked at the thing, and then the quiet dragged on and on until Alan finally burst out with the question he'd been holding onto since this started. "Your Grandpa is Hardware, right? Or James Bond?" Either would have been crazy a day ago. Now it would have made more sense than anything else. And if his dad really did know Mr. Tennyson, was he a spy, too? Alan tried to wrap his mind around it. He tried and tried, because kicking bad guy butt as G.I. Joe? Sure, but that was as cool as his brain would go. "What else is here?"
"Nothing that wasn't in the old Rustbucket," Ben muttered like he didn't hear Alan at all. "Not right. This isn't right."
"What isn't?"
"The Plumber stuff's all here. Grandpa should've…" Ben brought his hand up and dragged it through his hair, grinding his teeth before he smacked the drawer. "Damnit." He was worried about it, getting more worried by the second, and even if Alan thought Ben was rude, he didn't need his best lead losing his mind.
"How'd you get involved in all of this anyway?" Alan asked, hoping that it'd distract Ben. It was a trick he'd seen his mom use on his dad plenty of times growing up - distract the man from the problem, give him something else to think about. And besides, he wanted to know. The brown-haired boy paused for a moment, then he shoved the drawer shut and moved on like he hadn't heard a word.
"I was ten." Ben finally started from out of nowhere after he opened another compartment that was full of something that looked way too much like a freaking jet-pack, his voice a million miles away as he stared for another second before he shoved that panel back, too. "Well, we were. Summer vacation and the Dweeb decided that she had to come along and ruin what would've been mine and Grandpa's best road trip ever." He stopped then and smiled a little. "Good thing she did. I don't know what I would have done without her. Even if she did…" He stopped again and absently rubbed his cheek as he gave the girl up front a fond look. Not that she noticed. She was too busy pulling at things on the dashboard. "Just take my word for it. Don't startle her. Not unless you want to eat a fire extinguisher. I learned the hard way after the Omnitrix crashed."
"Crashed?"
"In a pod that I thought was a meteorite," Ben said with a nod as he held his left arm up. "Jumped up and stuck onto my wrist when I reached for it, and that was that."
"So what did you do?"
"If you asked the Dweeb? She'd tell you I mostly screwed up, but she doesn't know what she's talking about. I was awesome," Ben admitted, going past the kitchen table to the back of the cabinets over the stove and hitting a hidden button. An entire coat rack slid out of the side of it, complete with crazy suits that looked like something between medieval armor and a spacesuit. Three suits hung there; two smaller ones and an adult-sized one that Ben stared at for way too long before he swore under his breath as he shoved the rack back where it came from. "First alien I turned into was Heatblast." Ben turned around and pointed at Alan. "What you are right now. Set a forest on fire - didn't mean to - before I went Hero for the first time on a giant robot and kicked its butt. Eventually," He said with a cough and a shake of his head. "I got better after that, though. We both did. Especially after the Dweeb started learning magic, and then the three of us were taking down aliens, the Forever Knights, evil wizards, you name it. It was a crazy few months, and the best ever. And Grandpa was always there for us for all of it. Except for…"
Alan straightened up a little as he watched Ben drift off, and the boy's eyes went off somewhere. It was something he'd seen before. The thousand-yard stare, something that his mom had said meant that they were lost in painful memories and needed a moment to come back to themselves. It was bad enough seeing that look on her face every time something reminded her of her helicopter crash. And worse when it was on his dad's.
Seeing it on someone who was barely older than him just put him on edge. It didn't belong on a kid's face.
"Um." Alan started to say, hoping to jar him back to himself. Something else beat him to the punch - a massive burst of noise that came from the front of the RV. Something that sounded like radio chatter. Panicked radio chatter. Ben jerked back to himself and spun around, racing past Alan to the front of the RV. Alan followed half a step behind, careful to control his breathing so his fire would stay down.
They arrived with the transmissions almost overlapping each other, and Alan stared at the projection of a map of the United States, with blinking dots that were red and yellow. Every time one dot was highlighted, the message coming in changed. Gwen whirled around as Ben's hand stopped on the driver's side headrest. "What are you doing, Dweeb?"
"What does it look like, Doofus? I wanted to see if the radio worked the same, too!" Gwen protested as she reached for the volume, and Ben let it slide. He was too busy listening to the transmissions that filled the cabin with a twist of her fingers. They all were.
" - send backup! Send backup!"
" - the suit is just shrugging off everything we hit it with, Avalon, we need - !"
" - cytes are attacking in force - "
"-ger, Yankee Sierra, but you're going to have to - "
Alan stared at the map, barely believing his ears. What he heard sounded like a War. A war that the voices calling for backup were losing. Gwen turned the volume up just a hair and craned her neck closer to the speakers, and Alan leaned in closer as well, forcing Ben to slide into the passenger seat to give him space as the voices just kept coming.
"Whiskey Foxtrot One, this is Avalon, please -"
"Code Red in Site Omega," another one called out, his voice dropping like a stone as Gwen twisted the knob. It was the only one even a little bit calm. "This is Zeta X-Ray One Calling in a Code Red. The police have just found a whole Xenocyte Search and Destroy team wrapped up for them. The army is securing the area, but - "
"Not a priority right now, Zeta X-Ray," a woman answered, and she sounded just as tired as his lunch lady always looked at the end of the day. "We have attacks occurring across the board, so unless - "
"Roger, Avalon," the man said, his voice hard with worry, "but subjects one and two were in the area and I can't find them now and I can't raise Whiskey Tango. I'm heading out, but - "
"I'm rerouting Romeo Oscar. Find them," another man cut in. One with a voice that sounded like he'd crushed coal into diamonds with his teeth and gargled what was left. "Whatever it takes, Zeta. Take X-Ray Two with you. Time she earned her keep."
"Sir," the first man bit out in the same tone Alan used right before he got in trouble for back-talking. And, just like Alan had too many times before, he said it anyway. "With all due respect, I'm requesting Yankee Si - "
Not that the second man cared as he spat out, "Now, X-Ray. Merlin out."
There was silence and static for a moment before the tired woman's voice came back on again. "Repeat, Whiskey Foxtrot One, this is Avalon. Please resp- "
"Who are they?" Alan asked, numb.
"Plumbers," Gwen said quietly, pulling her knees up and curling in on herself, pressing her forehead to her legs. "They're all Plumbers."
"It wasn't just Grandpa or you. They're all in trouble," Ben realized as he stared at all the red dots on the map, and Alan fell back a step, dizzy from that thought. His hand pressed to the carpeted wall and he realized too late what he'd done, but when he stood up straight and jerked his hand away, the fabric wasn't even singed. "I knew that Grandpa was lying when he said that they were shut down, but - How many are out there right now?"
"Not enough." Alan shook his head. Gwen shook her head and let her feet drop back down, and her hand started to reach for the CB Radio squawk. Started to, but then she stopped, and her hand went to the volume knob on the radio instead, turning it all the way off with a click. The projection on the windshield went dark, and the cabin returned to silence. "Damn." He added, wanting to use something stronger, but stopping himself at the last moment. He could shoot fire and fly and he still felt useless. At least he wasn't alone in that. Ben and Gwen looked just as lost.
Ben recovered the fastest, scowling. "Whatever. We just have to find Grandpa. He'll know what to do. He always does." Ben took a breath then, and then he looked Alan right in the eye. "And we're going to find your parents, too. I'm not giving up on them, and neither should you. That's not what heroes do."
"Ben," Alan said, his throat suddenly tight.
Tight enough that Ben started and looked away, his hand going for the back of his head as he mumbled, "Anyway." And then he bolted up from the passenger chair and leaned over the Driver's, his hands sinking into the back of the headrest. "Was anything missing from the hiding spots up here?"
"No. Nothing. All I found up here was Grandpa's flip phone, and it wasn't even hidden. He'd just tossed it in there like he always does," Gwen grumbled as she waved at the big cup holder that was built into the bottom of the dashboard and the gray flip phone that was mostly lost in the shadows at the bottom. "And no, there's nothing on it. Not that he knew how to use it. How about in the middle?"
"No," Ben muttered. "But the aliens missed them. They tore up a lot of other stuff, though."
"How can you tell?" Gwen sniffed as she got up and walked past Alan, her hands waving at everything. "It always looks like this! You know how messy Grandpa is, half the time he leaves some part of the engine on the kitchen table. Come on, all that's left is - "
And then she just stopped. Stopped so suddenly and so completely as her back went ramrod straight that Alan opened his mouth so he could ask her what was wrong, and that was when he tasted the electricity in the air even as he followed her gaze back to the little room at the end of the RV. The one he barely noticed before. The one that had a little pole stretched out across the hall and what looked like a tablecloth hooked onto it so it could be closed for privacy. Or it would have been if it wasn't half ripped away.
And beyond that…
Gwen didn't say another word. She just ran for that cabin, and Ben ran right after her. Worried at what suddenly had the two so excited, Alan followed and hoped he wouldn't set anything on fire. He didn't.
Ben was half into the room and half out, leaning on the door frame for support. Alan stopped behind him and peered in. The room was an absolute mess like a tornado had gone through and ripped open every drawer in the dresser and dumped them all out on the ground. The small closet doors were almost torn completely off their hinges, too, and Gwen was down on her knees scrambling through piles of clothing, looking utterly terrified. That rattled Alan worse than anything because she had been so confident before. So sure that their grandfather was all right. That was gone now, and the proof was laid out in front of them. Or maybe she'd just been pretending to believe it for Ben's sake. But she couldn't now.
Seeing her panic over the mess in the RV's only bedroom, Alan recalled the messes around the rest of the vehicle and saw them in a new light. It wasn't messy just because Max Tennyson was a messy guy. It had been torn apart, probably by the same aliens who had -
Don't think about it. Alan could already feel his temperature rising, and he clenched his fists and breathed long and deep, pushing it back down. The shimmer he'd begun to see around him from the warming air stopped. So did Gwen's frantic digging, as she froze and then let out a relieved sob, yanking her arm back with a precious treasure in her hand. At least she held it like it was. To Alan, it didn't look like much. Just a small, blue-velvet box that was scorched and faded, but somehow intact before it disappeared in her hands.
"It's still here." She whispered, cradling it to her chest.
"What is it?" Alan asked, ready to flinch away because he had no idea what it could be, and after all of the other stuff that he'd seen tonight…
"I thought - when I couldn't find it - I thought they took them, too, but..." She whispered, brushing her finger across the lid. "I found them when I was seven," Gwen whispered and that just made it worse as she flipped the box open.
But instead of more alien stuff, there were just two gold rings glittering inside - one, plain and sized for a man's hand. A big man's hand. The other was smaller and just as plain except for a couple of tiny diamonds that were sparkling at the top around a small round gem that was colorless except for a soft blue sheen. "I thought they were so pretty. Grandpa found me playing with them and he looked so mad for a second. His whole face turned red. I saw him and I just jumped. The rings didn't fit at all and they went flying and I freaked because I thought I lost them and he already looked so mad. Then he just started laughing and picked me up so we could find them together. After that, he let me wear them until Mom… "
Gwen took a shuddering breath as her voice faded away. A shudder that turned into a sigh as Ben finally stopped rubbing the back of his head and knelt next to her, holding her close as she sank into him, his attention never leaving the things in her hands. And when the boy who never shut up finally said something, Alan would have sworn he had a frog in his throat. "Are those…?"
"Grandpa's wedding ring and Grandma's engagement."
"Grandpa doesn't wear rings. He doesn't do bling at all."
Gwen brushed her hand over the stones before she reached for the bigger ring. "Not anymore," she whispered as she pulled the bigger ring out so she could stare at it, and there was only one thing it could be.
"Where's Grandma's…" Ben started to ask as he looked for its mate before he realized something that made him go. "...oh."
Alan felt like he was intruding on something private then, and he stepped back into the hall as Ben moved closer to Gwen. The girl bowed her head as she clutched those two rings. "Grandpa would never have left them here. Not after this," She whispered, heartbroken. Remembering the fate of his parents, Alan understood why.
"No, but that doesn't mean…" Ben murmured, and he sounded so broken. Then he took a breath and pushed himself back up, his arms never leaving her. "And we can't stay here all day, Dweeb."
"I know," Gwen mumbled as he pulled her up, and then immediately winced and turned back around for the jewelry box. "The rings. We can't forget the…" Ben handed her back Grandpa's wedding ring and she set it in the box next to their grandmother's engagement, but something made her stop before she closed the lid. "...If we take the box, we might end up losing it. If I lost them, I'd never…" She scratched at her neck and instantly had a thought when her fingernail hit the gold chain around it underneath her coat and blouse. She quickly pulled it out, including a strange red stone with black carvings that Alan had never seen before in his life, and somehow looked even weirder than the Omnitrix had.
Gwen pinched the chain and nodded, gripping the jewelry box tightly. "Here. It'll be safe on this."
Ben waited. He waved his hand after two seconds. "So take it off."
"No." Gwen chewed on her bottom lip, with Ben hovering beside her. Alan stared, blushing with additional heat that he struggled to push down. He almost wanted them to go back to kissing. At least that he could make faces about. This just made him feel like he'd walked into one of his mom's romance movies. "No. You put it on. You have to take it off. Those are the rules, Ben!"
Ben gave her an odd look, tilting his head slightly. "I put it on you at Christmas. You haven't…Not since last Christmas?"
Gwen squirmed as his voice went squeaky at the end. "That's how it works."
Ben watched her for a while longer, sighed, and then came closer. Gwen turned around and lifted her hair out of the way, and when his fingers came closer and touched her neck, she shivered. He managed to undo the clasp, and for a moment those small golden links pulled away from her skin. "Not even…?" Ben asked, his voice something beyond strangled as he squeaked out, "But you can't get it wet!"
Alan struggled to put together what he meant until he finally did, and then his blush and the wave of heat came back stronger than he could suppress. Alan quickly moved away from the doorway, stepping down the hall and back into the kitchen and living room. He could still hear them though.
"It's gold and stone, Doofus! A little soap and water won't hurt it." Alan twitched a little at Gwen's words and more a moment later when her embarrassed gasp slipped out of the small bedroom along with the tinking sound of one piece of metal hitting another. "Ben?"
"They belong together," Ben told her, as smooth as Denzel ever was. "Now come on. There are still a few more hiding spots we need to check out."
Two seconds later, as Alan still struggled to get his overheating back under control, the Tennyson kids joined him again.
- o - o - o - o - o -
In the end, they never found anything that was missing, that Max Tennyson might have grabbed before the aliens snagged him or after he started chasing them, but they did finally find something which was out of place in a hidden recess behind the microwave.
It was a small, thick metal disk barely bigger than a CD with an all too familiar face on it. Alan was several feet back from it with the red glow of his fire rising and falling in time with his breathing as Gwen pulled it out. Afraid of it, and what it might do, even as she sat it down on the kitchen table like some oversized drink coaster.
"It's not the Omnitrix, Alan." Ben tried to reassure him. Alan looked over and stared pointedly at the watch on Ben's arm, and Ben rolled his eyes. "Well, it's not another Omnitrix. I'm pretty sure. No tubes on it."
"...The one my dad pulled out did have tubes," Alan admitted, though he didn't move any closer.
Ben sat down at the table and Gwen scooted in across from him on her knees so she could lean over the thing even as he did the worst thing imaginable by reaching out and tapping the top of it.
For a second, nothing happened. Then there was a blur of motion as the top of the disk irised open and a metal cone telescoped out from the heart of the thing as a green light spun around the edge almost faster than Alan could see.
After that…
After that, he was glad that he wasn't the only one who jumped when things that sounded heavier than his dad's duffel and thicker than his mom's cast slammed down over all of the windows and the night disappeared. The night, but not the stars as dozens of little lights flashed to life all around them. Most of them were around the dashboard, but enough ran along the walls that Alan wondered what they were all for even as the engine roared to life.
And then it all dimmed back down to almost nothing as the original coned flared to life bright enough that it burned Alan's eyes as it shimmered and shook before Max Tennyson, or a foot-high hologram version of him, appeared over the disk. It was Alan's first time seeing the man. He was an old white guy with gray hair and grayer stubble on his chin. A tired smile. A body that must have been built once before time and age gave him the gut.
"Look at him," Gwen whispered as she reached out and took Ben's hand.
"Yeah, his beard…." Ben said, his voice catching as he reached out with his free hand for the frozen image and its stubble, which was thick, but wasn't a beard. Not yet. "He looks like he did a couple of summers back, after… "
After what? Alan almost asked as the other boy's words faded away with a worried glance at his girlfriend. Not that she noticed. She was too busy leaning forward and studying the image like his mom said he did his math homework, scowl and all as she worried at her bottom lip until Ben's fingertip brushed the light and the world went crazy.
"Mobile Command Center on standby. Authorized users detected," A woman's voice suddenly boomed out from everywhere, sending them all scrambling back. This time Alan caught himself, and he didn't even feel bad for almost blasting the thing this time. Not when violet light flared alongside the red of his fire and he saw Ben's hand fly back for his watch. Not that the voice cared about any of it. No, it just kept going. "Benjamin Tennyson and Gwendolyn Tennyson. One message waiting. Play, yes/no?"
"Oh, damn." Alan breathed. Gwen and Ben shared a look, and then Ben spoke.
"Yes." And just like that, the hologram jumped to life.
"Ben, Gwen. If you two found this, then you're either snooping around again or you're looking for me." Mr. Tennyson paused then for a second and his eyes sparkled. "If you're snooping, you aren't going to find any snacks back here. There might be some in the cupboard if you look close enough." Then the sparkle faded as he sighed. "If you're not, then you should know that there's renewed alien activity on Earth. It's nothing you have to worry about. We're dealing with it."
The hologram blinked for a second, and Ben started to complain. He only got one word out when the image came back with him rubbing the back of his head, looking worn out with lines cut so deep in his face that not even his beard could hide them, the stubble long grown out. "I might have to go away for a while. I'll be back, but I just wanted you both to know that I'm proud of you." The image blinked out again, but this time Ben didn't say anything. Nobody said anything, just waiting to see if their patience would be rewarded. It was. Mr. Tennyson's recording came back, but now…
Now he just looked exhausted as he stood there with two eyes that somehow looked black even though he was a hologram and a puffy nose. A nose he was pinching like it hurt until he jumped and dropped his hand. "Oh, and Ben. I just wanted to tell you that you don't have to worry about the Omnitrix either. I have it, and it's completely safe. I put it somewhere no one will ever find it." Some of the tension eased in the man's shoulders as he added with a slight smile, "And that I'm glad that you've found…"
He paused and his smile faded as he looked around as if he just realized that other people might be watching. "Take care of each other. I love you both. Max out." And with that, the hologram vanished. They waited for it to say more. It didn't. The small projector retreated into its housing, and the lid folded back into place.
"Message end. Repeat?"
"He is in trouble," Gwen whispered as she fell back into her booth, and it was hard watching her last bit of hope die away. "He's been in trouble and we didn't even know."
"He knew that I had the Watch," Ben added, his eyes locked onto the Watch around his wrist as his mind raced away. "He wanted…if someone found this, he said that because he wanted them looking for him instead of us. Me."
Alan saw Gwen nod faintly like having her boyfriend and Grandpa chased by aliens was something that happened every day from the corner of his eye as he stared at the disk. It was their only clue, it was what they spent so much time looking for, and - "What now?"
"Why are you asking me?" Ben questioned him even as he poked at the disk like he couldn't believe that was it either, but nothing happened.
Maybe he would find more on it later, Alan squinted his eyes and crossed his rocky arms. "Because you're the one with all the ideas and who knows what's going on. Mostly. Duh?"
"Thanks for the vote of confidence." The words came out in an exhausted grumble as Ben gave up and just pocketed the disk, even as he nodded across the table. "But she's the one who makes the plans. I just wing it. That's way cooler."
Something about his smirk told Alan that Ben had said that before - a lot which was a problem all on its own - and that it was something that usually drove the girl crazy, but this time…
This time he just watched Gwen let out an exhausted, shuddering breath as her shoulders sank. Then she just nodded and started for the side door, her brain and mouth already running. "The bad guys have either got Grandpa, or he went out and he saw them here when he came back. Either way, we can't leave the Rustbucket here. Has the Watch timed back in?" The last seemed to come from out of nowhere, but Ben just held up his arm and the green glow dial on his Watch like they'd done this a thousand times. "Then go Wildmutt again. Maybe we can follow their scent further down the road and figure out where they were going before we - "
"As if," Ben cut her off. "Stay here. Alan can watch my back." Alan jumped at the vote of confidence, but it wasn't his stare that sent the kid stuttering. "Don't look at me like that, you're Magic Girl! You've got all sorts of voodoo you can do and you'll do it a lot better in here."
"Do you really think that I didn't try already when we were at your house, Doofus?" Gwen snapped, but the angry flare disappeared as quickly as it came the moment Ben's eyes went wide with shock. If it wasn't for her jacket or - well, him - Alan would have thought she was cold as she wrapped her arms around herself and ducked her head. Maybe, if he was deaf and couldn't hear the apology in her voice as she mumbled. "But I can try again. I just wish I had my books."
"You'll kick butt," Ben said as he pushed himself up and made his way to the side door, his hand teasing her hair as he went by while his words teased the rest of her. "Just pretend he's having fun somewhere, Dweeb. You never had any problem butting in when I was."
His shaking hand.
Alan saw it clear as day just like he saw Gwen fight back another yawn even as she half-heartedly tried to swat her boyfriend away. "I was keeping you out of trouble and you - "
"No."
Alan cut her off as he stared at both of them and made himself say the last thing he wanted to, but that he had to because they risked everything just so they could save him. They were both stranger than anyone he ever met, but…
"What?" Gwen asked, startled like she hadn't been even after he almost parboiled her.
But heroes didn't let anyone go off and do something as stupid as rush off and get killed either. Every comic he'd ever read taught him that just like his parents taught him that he shouldn't back down. Not when he knew that he was right. Not even for them. So, for the first time since the night started, he glared right back, and this time not even his flames wavered. "No, we're not doing anything more tonight."
"Maybe you're ready to give up - !" Ben started, his nose flaring and his hands' fists again.
And it was all Alan could do not to do the same because this did feel so much like up, but he bit back the 'go to hell' that was right there on the tip of his tongue because he had to. Because he looked like he was the only one who got any sleep. He bit and swallowed it all down and growled back, "I'm not giving up on anything, but look at us! Look at her! She already looks ready to fall over, and man, you don't look much better!"
"I'll show you who's about to - !" Gwen snapped back as she shoved herself and Alan could see the butt-kicking heading his way spelled out in her eyes. Eyes that so didn't care about the dark rings around them as violet light flared behind her pupils.
They were terrifying eyes that Alan didn't flinch away from for even a second because he couldn't. "Your Grandpa told you to take care of each other, right? Does this look like you're taking care of him?" It was such a low blow, but Alan didn't regret saying it even after he saw her flinch. "Do you really think any of us are ready for more monsters tonight?! I know that you guys are nuts, but you're not stupid, right? Right?"
"We so are!" Ben snarled as he brought his right hand over the Watch. "And if you think anything else then - "
He brought it up, but he never brought it down. He never had a chance.
"Oh, God, Ben. He's right," Gwen whispered, the light disappearing as she sank back into her seat, and those words stopped Ben dead in his tracks as she leaned into her hands. "Besides, your mom will be up soon and - and I can't leave Michelle there alone there much longer. Not when she…" She closed her mouth so fast that Alan heard her teeth click, and when she opened it again, her voice sounded so small as she looked up at her boyfriend. "Grandpa would say the same thing if he was here."
And those words…
"I know," Ben finally mumbled as he let his hand fall away.
"Tomorrow," Alan said, his voice thick as he sagged in relief. And then it just turned into a sag because the word should have been a promise. In all of his comics, it would have been. It sounded so badass when the heroes said it there, but…
But when he said it, all he could think was that his parents were heroes, and it didn't help them. And they were just kids, even with their superpowers. For the first time since he transformed, he felt cold. Chilled right to the bone as he watched Gwen suck in a breath when she heard the word and Ben slump down against the back of her booth like he was being dragged down by the weight of the word.
Maybe Ben would have collapsed altogether if the booth wasn't there. Alan sure wanted to, and he didn't even dare to lean back against the counter behind him, but every bit of his exhaustion was echoed in the other boy's face before it disappeared behind his hand as Ben rubbed his eyes and said the word again. "Tomorrow…."
And reality sank in. What could they really do? This was over, Alan realized. They were already too late. They were too late before they even got out of school. They were just kids and - and it was crazy to think that they could do any -
"Tomorrow…" Ben growled the word again from out of nowhere. It wasn't like before, when he was Wildmutt, but it still filled the Rustbucket as he lifted his head again and the way he said it…
Alan could have sworn he saw Gwen's face glow as she turned in her seat and looked up at her boyfriend, but Ben didn't smile back. There wasn't anything funny in those green eyes then. Not when he looked down at his girlfriend and not when his gaze took in Alan, too.
Took him in with a look that dared the world to tell him no as Ben turned and glared out at the night like the metal cover over the window wasn't even there. "Tomorrow we're kicking so much bad guy butt."
And for the first time that night, Alan didn't argue. He just followed the boy's gaze and grinned. "Hell, yeah."
- o - o - Author's Note - o - o -
I'm sorry about the delay in putting out new chapters, but last year was a bitch and the story kind of got away from us. I know that we usually waited until we had most of the story done, but Erico and I have decided to start posting by story arcs instead. It'll mean smaller updates, but hopefully more frequent ones. So after today, there are four more chapters coming and we hope that everybody enjoys reading them as much as we did writing them.