Ben10 & Digimon Tamers
Heroes and Humanity
Part 02: Humanity and Heroes
The Beginning – Chapter 16
Originally Written: Wednesday June 17, 2015 329AM to 508AM
A/N: Thank you for the 400+ views. It pleases my soul. Sorry for not updating last week. I am uploading two chapters this week (today) to make up for it.
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"How hard is it to find one man!?"
Henry watched Yamaki snap at a plumber with unfortunate luck this morning. He wrapped his jacket around himself, folding his arms when he finished.
"Well, give me something. A hint to his location! Anything! I swear if my boss shows up you're all fired!" Yamaki pointed to random plumbers as he yelled.
Henry shifted his place on a bench in the lobby. Hypnos, the current official name for the Plumber side of things was a large area within the Tokyo Metropolitan building. It made it very easy to get lost and run into something you weren't supposed to if you weren't careful. Once you were deep enough within the building, one came across a multitude of checkpoints. A quick flash of a pass or Plumber's badge was the only way to get through, even if you passed facial and retinal recognition. Sometimes a quick DNA test was taken for the really high up individuals.
Henry found that invasive, but understood why. With the outing of aliens and digimon and previous events that Hypnos had been involved in, no one wanted to see another incident like with the Devas. No one wanted an alien impersonating Yamaki, for example, and using Hypnos to carry out whatever Alien vendetta they happened to have. He figured a country like America could afford security that tended to be a bit more lax when you had Ben Tennyson living on your land.
In that regard, Henry could see a bit where Albedo got his dislike of Ben from. Henry hadn't seen much of Ben's work, but the man wasn't very serious, on the outside at least, about the great responsibility he had. Only when there was no other choice but to be serious, was he.
Back when he dealt with the more Digital World related things, Henry was pretty serious about everything. Rika was too serious for a time there. No one had time to not be serious when the Devas showed up and afterward. The whole thing got so crazy. So for him, looking at Ben was a bit like looking at Kazu to be the one everyone expected to save them whenever an alien that wasn't a digimon showed up with nefarious intentions.
Still, Henry had trouble fully seeing what set Albedo off. As he watched Yamaki walk off, speaking to Dr. McCoy, Henry wondered how Yamaki would react to knowing that Albedo was in his apartment. He lowered his eyes, looking at his knees while he listened to the occasional sound of a scanner and plumber security and staff speaking.
He knew it was selfish, and not good for anyone, but he had no idea how to tell Albedo about the new risks with Juggernaut. Sometimes, the white haired male just looked broken, looking at Henry with clearly sleep deprived, bloodshot eyes while he blatantly told him he had things to do or just was not tired. Henry feared the male would break. He had wanted Juggernaut to change him back to his Galvan form after all.
Just the chance that Albedo could have Juggernaut within him, become so giddy and insane at the prospects and Hypnos attempting to remove the program from his person sent chills through him. The thought that when he got Juggernaut to the level Henry did, that Albedo would run off and pretend he never existed or that anything that happened between them never did... It made Henry's insides feel heavy. A weight he knew he wouldn't be able to carry. Albedo confused Henry so much, but still...
Henry looked down at his hands.
When Albedo showed up again, it was as though the male had never left. That something had indeed gone wrong, but it wasn't Albedo's plan backfiring on him. Maybe it was Albedo's plans backfiring on him, but a different plan? One that hadn't sent Henry into the hospital in worse mental shape than Trang had ever left him. Maybe it was the same mental shape, but it hurt so much because Albedo was so gentle, so doting, so caring in his odd way that Henry wasn't able to do anything besides fall in love with him.
He closed his eyes, 'Why are you doing this to me?' His mind asked, voice ready to speak the question, but no one needing to hear around for him to question.
The lobby's background noise remained, but nothing more. Even the voices trickled down until people and aliens only spoke occasionally as they passed and as the morning went on.
Then slowly, the rhythmic clicking of something against the tiled floor. Henry looked over. A metal cane settled sturdy against the floor, a pale scarred hand holding a portion of it near the top, gently resting on it. The hand was mostly supported by the braces connected to the cane, wrapped security around the wrist, from what Henry could see was also scarred.
"Enjoying the view, pretty boy?"
Henry's eyes widened. He looked at the black haired male, who's marred lips curled into an amused, damaged smile. Nearly dull eyes looked at Henry, the left eye almost purely innocent almost the wrinkled lines of a badly scarred face.
"It's been a while, Jenrya?"
"Trang..." Henry locked eyes with him.
To Henry, the male looked as though he'd topple over on his side and lay on the ground, either helpless or too tired to get back up on his feet. The first onset of wrinkles from age, weaved in and out of the lines of leathery skin. Trang moved stiffly as he turned to get a better look at Henry, and as he limped even so slightly as he moved, Henry knew instantly why Trang had that cane.
Two plumbers stood at the security booth, probably working to fully obtain Trang's security clearance.
Trang licked his lips, "Imagine my surprise when these hotshot government goons showed up to my doorstep a few weeks back. Just minding my business, enjoying life as a free man." He spoke with a sharp stern voice, with just a slight raspiness to it. Still, it was the same voice that Trang had used time and time again to send shivers up Henry's spine. "Then these guys tell me that I've been exposed to some kind of potentially, dangerous," Trang's voice got dark, angry, as he glared at Henry, "virus."
Henry looked away, shaking in his seat.
"Tell me I gotta have some tests done." Trang chuckled, a dark bitter tone that sent the wrong kind of shivers up Henry's spine.
Henry shrunk in his seat, feeling cold. Hard as he tried, the reason why he came to Hypnos this day wouldn't come to his mind. It remained elusive, no matter how much Henry grabbed for it.
"Momentai Jenrya." Trang tilted his head, knowing his place in the world, in Henry's mind. "I'll be your scapegoat."
Henry stared at him, tears brimming in his eyes. His heart sped in his chest, unyielding, forgiving.
"I'll keep our secret, baby." Trang smiled again, muscles and skin straining as though no longer used to nor fully capable of performing the action. "Who knows what you'd do to me, or someone else if I didn't."
"I'm sorry." Henry whispered, blinking as tears dripped down his face. Never let your attacker see you cry, they say. Can you cry if you're the assailant?
Trang lowered his head, shaking it. "Don't lie, baby. You're not good at it."
Henry frowned, "You were going to hurt me. You did hurt me. You hurt me. So much Trang..."
Trang pointed to him, locking eyes with him. "Which is how I know you're not sorry." Trang smiled a bitter smile, the kind elderly use when they are angry at the world, and unsatisfied with their lives. Small, broken, what's left of them so fragile, the wind could easily blow it away and that would be the end of that. The kind where they are still fighting, because fighting is all they know, and all they have left, for there is nothing else they can find, even as they wildly, blindly reach and search for it. "You and I baby. We're just like the rest of the monsters out here."
The two shared a long look, longing and perhaps regretful, or perhaps just completely uncaring. Trang leaned heavily on his cane, breath coming out long and dragged, almost wheezy. Henry looked at him, taking in the damage, the pain and marring and scarring and nerves and feeling he hurt and killed. He folded his hands in his lap, as though saying some prayer, begging and pleading and asking for just a smidgen of forgiveness.
"Hey!" A plumber Henry didn't recognize yelled at Trang. "We ordered you to not speak to anyone you weren't asked to." The male snapped, "Get moving." Another plumber came up along his right, gently grasping his arm.
"I got it." Trang muttered, cane snapping against the ground as he slowly trudged along. "Been doing this for years." He looked back at Henry.
Henry looked at the male, who stood awkwardly, taking risk, supporting all his weight on that hopefully sturdy cane.
"Momentai Jenrya!" He called to him.
Henry recognized Trang's strained smile, as an old one he used to give Henry when the dark haired male was so proud of his baby, for achieving something he hadn't before. When his baby was being so useful and not cheating. Henry lowered his head.
"We've all got our lives to look after!"
"Cut it out, now!" One of the plumbers yelled.
Henry took a deep breath, focusing, as the sound of that cane clicking echoed down the hall. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Henry scolded himself. "Why did you come here today?"
Didn't Albedo call him a glutton for punishment, once?