Ben10 & Digimon Tamers
Heroes and Humanity
Part 02: Humanity and Heroes
What Happens in Bellwood... – Chapter 54
Originally Written: Wednesday, January 18, 2017 255AM to Sunday, January 29, 2017 1111AM
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A/N: Sorry for the late upload. I hope you enjoyed the holidays and have a Happy New Year. I'm not your mother, but try to celebrate responsibly. Thanks for reading!
He glanced up for a moment, strands of white hair flopping in front of his eyes. A lady sat in a chair off to the side, dressed in a sharp black blazer and pencil skirt ensemble.
He wouldn't have cared what she was wearing, but Saya was obsessed with shoes that were actually shaped like the wearer's feet. The interest in the fact that such a thing was even an issue slightly intrigued Albedo, so the thought that she even knew or apparently realized outside her makeup obsession that "shoes that were shaped like feet were very good things" stuck with him.
He had to say that his counselors shoes were indeed shaped like feet. He wouldn't mind if the properly shaped shoes lead the feet they were on out the door, but the ID mask wearing woman had thirty more scheduled minutes of meeting time with the great Albedo, who Ben Tennyson desperately wanted to kill. He held in a shudder and lowered his head.
The counselor with wavy deep auburn hair and the stern face of an older woman who saw way more things than any human being wanted to see started stopping by for scheduled meetings shortly after Ryo had placed him under this house arrest for "his own good". She'd been by for a few weeks now, waiting for him to say something incriminating. Still, she seemed more trustworthy and competent than Tennyson, so he tried to keep his complaints to a minimum.
He looked down at a D-Terminal, various pieces of the item spread out over the small table. He snorted as he remembered her asking what he was doing. He immediately started speaking in coding and advanced technological language, as though he were speaking to a colleague. Somehow, it took him longer than he expected to confuse her. Either that, or she was really good at faking understanding.
His working D-Terminal sat on his lap, where an unanswered message from Jenrya taunted him on its screen. An opaque box sat on the floor next to him, full of various tools waiting to be used.
He looked down at the D-Terminal on his lap. He laced his screwdriver on the table and typed in a reply to Jenrya, "At least she's not staring."
"Staring?"
He looked at the woman. She had returned the look just long enough for him to confirm that she had heard him. Her eyes weren't green, and he found that much more calming than he'd like to admit.
"To talk to someone will do no harm."
"Depending on the topic and who that person is, beg to differ." He pulled at his red jacket sleeves. "Cumbersome earth genes..." He murmured, "I almost prefer you would stare. At least I would know why you persist on coming here. You wear an ID mask, but you're not a plumber."
"If I took off the mask, would that help?" Her voice was calm and soft.
He wondered if he heard it before. It seemed familiar, but he couldn't place exactly where he had heard it. "Help with what? I'd still be stuck in this oversized cage, just waiting for someone to send the 'Hero of Earth' on over to cause havoc for no other reason than that it's what he's good for."
"You're referring to Ben Tennyson, yes? You really think-"
Albedo's glare promptly hushed her. He pointed a finger at her. "You won't catch me again."
"I had no idea I had."
He silently fumed. He clenched his fists and glared at the table. Those two plumbers on the roof made sure to keep his temper in check. He had no desire to figure out how well they could fire whatever weapons they had on them.
Just twenty minutes until she left and then some other plumber whose only concern was if he was coming or going would nag at his brain and person. He was used to such goons from his time in Bellwood and growing up. He could concentrate with them hounding around him.
The woman however looked right through him with both interest and disinterest. He hoped that Ryo hadn't thought bringing her around was a good idea. He'd have to have a few words with him if he had.
He opened up a game on his D-Terminal, the one not sitting on the table with its internal circuitry exposed. "I'm sure you've realized I don't have any information of worth to you."
"Perhaps I have information for you then?"
He looked at her, narrowing his eyes. "Do you know who I am? What information could you have for me? Honestly, a human having information that could assist a grand galvan such as myself? You almost made me laugh. Unfortunately, I think you're being serious, and that is quite sad."
"A galvan, hm?"
"We just went through an alien invasion, and you're wearing an ID mask. If you don't know what a galvan is-" He looked away. "What is with humans who don't know everything or anything thinking that they know more than me? I'm fully aware of what I see, hear and learn, more than most on his accursed rock." He folded his arms, and closed his eyes, "You, you nearly did it again. What is it that you want from me?"
"I'm a psychologist, but you knew that. I say it every time I come and every time I leave."
"And your interest in me?"
"To assist you."
"And what would I need help with?" He cracked open an eye.
"What do you think you need help with?"
He shut his eyes tightly, "Nothing. You won't catch me."
"Probably not." She shifted in her seat, a short, yet slow movement. "I hope you'll come to see that I'm not your enemy."
He stood up and walked out the room. A part of him wondered how professional it was that she was in her apartment, before he reminded himself that no part of this building actually was the apartment he shared with Jenrya.
The plumber guard shared a look with him as he stood next to him. He leaned up against the wall, looking down the hallway. He learned quickly that there was only so far he could go in the building before the guards became sour with him. Right now, he wouldn't be able to turn the corner down the hall, so he was stuck looking down it.
That woman sought to learn things about him she had no right to know. She would and may say differently, but he knew it'd go right back to Tennyson. Maybe even the two goons that unceremoniously dragged him throughout Hypnos like a trash bag.
Against his desire, especially right next to a guard, he openly shuddered. A side glance told him the guard had paid him no mind. The guard just looked down the hall, occasionally tapping the blaster on his hip. He was almost inclined to believe the plumber's disinterest, being that plumbers, over time, quickly rose in rank as some of the most incompetent people in the universe, but they all seemed to pay a bit more attention to him than he'd ever wanted any of them while he was in this overgrown cell.
He resisted shaking his head, "I'll go mad if I keep calling it a cell."
"It's an apartment." The guard replied, voice in an even tone.
Albedo stiffened, 'Stupid habit.' He focused on making sure his thought was actually thought this time.
