Work Text:
PUNCH.
The red metallic robot-like alien was knocked back, skidding along the street. Civilians cried out in terror, running away from the invader, taking cover in the spaces between the city’s buildings and ducking behind overturned cars. The alien grunted, propping itself on its arm, looking at its opponent.
On the other side of the street, was a figure hidden by a large dust cloud. None of the civilians could see the figure inside, panting and sweating profusely. The alien wobbled, stepping forward to catch its balance. With every breath he took, pain swept over him.
I need to take them.
The alien began to move, attempting to roll on its side to stand again.
Four Arms wouldn’t give it the chance.
With a grunt, Four Arms leapt into the air, leaping the distance of the street, and landing square in the center of the alien, cracking the asphalt beneath them. He stood above the creature in the crater his impact created. It glared up at the Tetramand. It seemingly wanted to say something, probably some insult Four Arms had definitely heard before. The alien weakly grabbed onto his legs, not able to squeeze much further.
Four Arms raised his fist.
PUNCH.
PUNCH.
PUNCH.
Four Arms used all four of his fists to pummel the alien further into the crater. His growl grew into a roar as he smashed the creature into oblivion. Black blood coated his red fists, soaking into his gloves. His knuckles began to bruise, tearing themselves apart, but Four Arms couldn’t stop himself. His body moved on its own, the last of his adrenaline pumping through him. He felt his blood burn through his veins with every punch, that exhilarating and terrifying feeling pushing him further.
Panting and with shaky legs, Four Arms stood up. He looked down at the creature between his shaky, bleeding fingers. The alien invader was beaten to a pulp. Four Arms carefully watched for any movement more than a twitch, but all he saw was the artificial gasping for air of the alien.
That took too long to deal with. It wasn’t enough, I need to be more. I need to be better.
Four Arms crawled out of the crater, leaving the alien behind. He tried to take deep breaths, but all he could manage were shallow ones. Sweat poured off of him, despite Tetramands being used to extreme heat. The dry hot air of New Mexico stung him, and closed up his throat. I need to take them. It’s been too long. I’m—
The civilians of Santa Fe began to rush out of their hiding spots, cheering for Ben. Parents carried their children towards the hero, the kids reaching out, wanting to touch and thank Four Arms personally. Teenagers and young adults used their phones to record and take pictures. The camera flashes blinded Four Arms. He blinked away, trying to get rid of the light spots blinding his eyes. The cacophony of noises: the cheers, the gratitude, the offers and demands, made his head pound.
Four Arms tried to gently push his way out of the crowd, but they continued to surround him, waves of excitement and gratitude pouring out of their lips. The crowd asked for autographs, pictures, a new alien—Four Arms couldn’t understand them all. He needed to focus on getting out of the crowd, out of the heat, somewhere private, somewhere he could—
“Ben!”
That voice—
Four Arms whipped his head around towards the familiar sound, but even as he stopped, the world continued to whip around him. Sounds and colors blended together, creating a mess of senses Four Arms was unable to decipher: the crowd of people, the blazing heat, the muscle fatigue, everything was too much as his legs gave out under him.
Four Arms felt himself transform as he hit the hot asphalt road. He gasped for air, but all it did was dry his throat even further. He tried to move, but his body refused to listen, unable to do more than twitch his fingers.
The crowd panicked, gathering around him. Some cried out for help, while some rejoiced for a chance of virality. Ben 10, the real Ben 10 in human form!, hadn’t been seen in months. They shuffled towards Ben, much too close to him. Ben shut his eyes tight, unable to catch his breath in the hot and stuffy air on the ground, as he tried not to focus on his extremely tight muscles and pounding head.
A strong voice rang out above the crowd. “Everyone, step back! This is official plumber business! Give him some room!”
Ben felt a pair of hands roll him onto his back. He gasped at the movement, his body protesting every slight change. The sun beamed down on him, light piercing through his eyes—
A shadow – a silhouette – blocked the sun.
Ben could barely manage a squint, but he could see a slender figure above him. He could feel their hands under his head, their fingers gently tangled in his hair, slightly propping him up.
The last thing Ben saw before succumbing to darkness was a lock of thick hair falling out from behind the mysterious person’s ear.
Ben’s eyes shot open as he gasped for air.
He coughed as his dry throat rejected it. Ben struggled to control his breathing. He clutched his shirt, feeling his chest rising too much, as he tried to take in any amount of oxygen he could. He could feel his body totally fatigued, barely able to move. Ben had sat up when he coughed, but he immediately had to lay back down and turn to the side, unable to do much else.
Ben forced himself to move his other arm down to his pants pocket, and reach for his painkillers.
He found nothing.
He froze, heart beating quickly in his chest.
He forced himself to close his mouth and stop coughing, inconsistently wheezing instead. He dug his hand further into his pocket, as if what he was looking for would magically appear. Ben dug through all of his other pockets, unable to find it.
Ben sat up, slower than before (slower than he would have liked). His head spun as he did, but it didn’t matter. I need to find them, I need to take them—
“Here.”
Ben jumped and whipped his head towards the voice. The man standing at his side was the last person he was expecting – Wes Green. He was wearing casual clothes, a floral button shirt tucked into his pants with a belt. His face was tanned and spotted, after spending his years of retirement in sun-bathed New Mexico. The wrinkles on his face stretched, as he smiled down at Ben. He was holding a steaming mug of something out to Ben. He didn’t seem taken back by Ben’s nervous jump. He only continued to softly smile as he leaned forward, offering the mug to Ben again. “Take this.”
With shaky hands, Ben took the mug into his hands. He took a sip of the tea, before immediately pulling it away from his mouth. The burning liquid didn’t sting as much as the bitter taste.
Wes wasn’t offended, he only chuckled. “It’s sage tea, with lemon and honey. Drink. It will make you feel better.”
Ben looked incredulously at the man. Wes wasn’t one to be known as hospitable. And Ben barely knew Wes, only really knowing him through his grandfather and –
“About time you woke up, Sleeping Beauty.”
There, standing at the end of the hall with a relaxed pose and mischievous look, was Kai Green. She was also dressed in more casual clothes, a worn-out t-shirt and a pair of loose joggers. Her long hair was down, only held back by a red-orange headband. But her signature side bang still stuck out brushing her cheek.
Ben could hardly look at her.
That didn’t deter Kai as she approached him, arms open wide. “It’s good to see you.”
Time froze for Ben as Kai walked towards him. She would give him a hug? Him? After what happened between them?
Kai leaned in before suddenly pulling away, pinching her nose. “Pee-eww!” With a dramatic wave in front of her face, clearing the imaginary air, she said, “You are in desperate need of a shower.”
Kai grabbed Ben’s arm and peeled him off the leather couch. Ben hadn’t realized he sweated in his sleep until the embarrassing ripping sound came from his skin coming off the couch. He didn’t really feel dirty at all. Running across the ocean as XLR8 always kicked up the water around him, blasting him with water and clearing any excess dirt off him. Ben couldn’t remember the last time he took an actual shower.
Kai dragged him down the hall, and stopped in front of a door. Opening it, she pushed him in. The sudden wave of smells hit him all at once, causing his dizziness to come back in full swing.
Ben gawked at what was in the bathroom. Bottles of all kinds - shampoos, conditioners, and body wash - lined the bathroom shelves. The sink countertop was filled with a variety of soaps, face wash, and moisturizers. Each bottle had its own unique scent, all of which Ben wasn’t familiar with. He couldn’t make out the one (or multiple?) Kai used for herself, but it could have been buried under all the other smells. Ben hadn’t expected to see so many in the first place. Kai seemed so down-to-earth, he was expecting something reminiscent of his own bathroom back when he was still living with his parents: a single bottle of shampoo and a bottle of unscented body wash when Ben felt like putting in the extra effort.
It was so much different than what Ben expected from Kai.
“Use as much as you need,” Kai said, picking some off the shelf and pushing it into Ben’s arm. Kai had handed him multiple bottles, all which penetrated his nose and made his head spin. He felt like he was one step away from falling over.
Kai pointed at a laundry hamper, “You can go ahead and leave your clothes in there.” And with one last look thrown over her shoulder, she said, “Use anything you want, because you definitely need it,” and shut the door.
Ben stood dumbfounded, unable to follow how he ended up standing in the guest bathroom of the Green house.
He had turned the shower on to the hottest temperature it could be, and scrubbed his body until it was raw. The water turned brown as it slid off his body. Ben couldn’t bring himself to use any more than the most basic shampoo and conditioner he could find. Scented soaps never really appealed to him. He preferred to eat fruit, not smell like it.
Ben stepped out of the shower. He had left his clothes on the floor, planning to put them back on afterwards, but they were gone. The laundry hamper had also been emptied. Instead, Ben found a pile of neatly folded clothes on the bathroom countertop. Ben picked up the top layer and held it up. It was an oversized graphic tee with a wolf howling in front of a full moon. They were… pajamas?
That morning, he had fought four villains in a row. He didn’t have the time for breakfast, and by the time he was in New Mexico, it was almost lunch time. Ben looked out at the small window above the shower. He couldn’t make out much, but he could see colors of pink and orange filtering through. The sun was setting. That meant Ben must have been out for hours.
Ben slipped on the shirt with the corresponding pajama pants and socks. They hung off his body, despite Ben hitting a second growth spurt. As he glanced at himself in the mirror, he couldn’t bring himself to even smile at the ridiculous clothes. He needed to get his own clothes back as soon as possible. He needed to get back to patrolling. He needed to get back to the real world.
Ben stepped out of the bathroom into the hall. The smell of food wafted through the air. Ben’s stomach flipped at the smell, making him nauseous – not that it was bad. Ben could smell it was well-seasoned; he just couldn’t stomach it.
Ben looked around in the hall. It was covered top to bottom in framed pictures, replicas of historical artifacts, and cacti-themed decorations. He could see the rest of the house was decorated just the same. In the foyer where Ben had entered, he could see a shoe rack filled with dirty shoes, the dried mud falling onto the floor. There was a tall cactus placed by the door, next to the shoe rack.
The living room was just a few feet away, where Ben had slept. The thin blanket that had been placed over him when he was asleep was no longer there. The couch was cleaned, the Ben-shaped sweat stain on it wiped away. The living room also had its walls decorated with various memorabilia and artifacts. The small countertop tables were filled with miniature cacti plants and research papers.
Ben faced the front door. He could walk out now, with no shoes and in borrowed pajamas, transform into XLR8, and run off. Just as he reached for the doorknob, his hand poised just above it, he stopped. He looked over the wall of photos. He didn’t recognize most of the people within them, with the obvious exception of Wes and Kai.
One picture captured his eye. A photo of a young Wes and Max in plumber uniforms, arms thrown around each other’s shoulders. They were both grinning widely, in the middle of laughing.
Ben’s face hardened as he looked at Max’s right arm.
Grandpa Max cried out in pain, a desperate scream Ben had never heard before. Before Ben could even process it, he was running towards where he last spotted his grandpa. Ben should have been the one facing Vilgax, not him. He was equipped with the latest Plumber tech. It was so powerful, it needed to be attached to his arm just to fire. Ben skidded to a halt, finding his grandfather on the ground, clutching the spot where he was bleeding profusely. Ben could see his side was coated in a thick layer of blood. Above his grandfather stood Vilgax—clutching a mess of human flesh and plumber tech in his hand. Ben watched as Vilgax’s fist shook with increased pressure, before fully crushing it, blood and sparks speckling the ground below. Ben’s body froze, it refused to move no matter how much Ben needed it to. He shouldn’t have left him alone, Grandpa told him to handle the army, but he should have been the one fighting Vilgax. Ben should have been the one to lose an arm, not his grandpa. Ben could barely make out his own wail as Vilgax laughed—
Ben snapped his head away, unable to look any longer. He hadn’t realized he stopped breathing until he was gasping and panting for air.
Kai came around the hall, in her own set of pajamas. “There you are!” Kai said, latching on to his arm. “Come on, we can hang out in my room.”
“Kai,” Wes called out from the kitchen, “no boys allowed in your room, remember?”
“Grampaaa!” Kai whined, “I’m not a little girl anymore.” Kai was still holding onto Ben’s arm, Ben unable to pull away. He felt whiplash from reminiscing over painful memories to this light-hearted sit-com atmosphere.
“I know how handsy Tennyson men can be,” Wes comments. Ben blushed furiously at the implication, but Kai only rolled her eyes.
“Come on,” she whispered, pulling Ben down the hall.
Ben had really only known Kai as the rough-and-tough adventurer, not afraid to walk through spider webs, roll around in dirt, and eat bugs. Her room reflected that. She had plenty of maps and artifacts of her own hung up. There was a large map spanning one wall, with notes written in chicken scratch and pictures of old artifacts and blurry creatures pinned to the wall. There were also various pushpins tacked onto the map, with red string wrapped around connecting one point to another. It was hard to look at, Ben couldn’t make out anything in the mess of it all. It was confusing, but at least it was familiar.
But seeing the rest of her room: the college posters, the strings of lights, and the photos of people his age he didn’t recognize, Ben felt like he didn’t know her at all.
As Ben took in the sights of her room, she pushed all the miscellaneous papers and clothes under her bed, clearing the hard wood floor beneath it. She pointed to the floor, “Sit.”
If Ben didn’t feel like he was going to fall over, he would have argued with Kai, contending how he is not (and never was) a dog for Kai to command. But after everything between them, Ben kind of wanted to listen to her for once. He didn’t mind playing along; even if it was demeaning, it was nostalgic.
Kai dug around in her dresser, pulling out a deck of cards. She playfully held them up, slightly shaking them. “Wanna play?”
The sun continued to set as the two played the card game Kai had suggested. Ben grew frustrated with every round. “I win!” Kai cheered. “How many times is that now, Tennyson?” she mocked, cupping her ear with her hand, leaning towards Ben.
Ben grumbled, grinding his teeth together, a sour look on his face. He was hunched over, shoulders slumped forward, and Ben could feel his eye twitching in frustration. He tried to keep his cool, even as his brain pounded against his skull. Ben’s hands shook as he almost crumpled the remaining cards in his hands.
“Dinner is ready!” they both heard Wes announce. Ben was grateful for the reprieve as Kai set down her playing cards. Ben did the same and followed her down the hall to the dining table.
Wes set a large pot of soup on the place mat set on the table. As Wes pulled the lid off the pot, a large puff of steam rose out. Ben caught a whiff of the strong smell coming from the pot, his stomach tying itself into knots.
Kai followed her grandfather out of the kitchen with three bowls. As she made her way around the table, she handed one to Ben with an expectant smile, which he could only take with shaky, hesitant hands.
Ben’s stomach turned. He hadn’t eaten a real meal in months. He had been living off of gas station snacks and fast food handouts. Ben’s picky eating habits had gotten worse over the years, and much worse over the last few months. Bile rose up in his throat just thinking about anything else.
Wes placed a full bowl of soup in front of Ben however, taking the empty one from Ben’s hands. “It’s an old family recipe,” Wes said with a wink and smile, “I’m sure you’ll like it.”
Ben cautiously picked up his spoon, looking down at the orange soup again. He could feel his body tensing up, his stomach ready to reject it. Ben glanced up at Kai, who was sitting across from him. Kai was quietly slurping soup from her own spoon. She looked up as well, catching Ben’s glance. Ben really didn’t want to throw up in front of her.
He dipped his spoon into his soup, taking in as little as he could. Kai and Wes watched as Ben raised the spoon up to his lips.
Ben tasted the soup.
The broth was thick, and yet, it didn’t overwhelm him, as each seasoning seemingly blended and elevated one another instead, coalescing into a new flavor he had never tasted before. The soup went down his throat easily. Despite being hot, it soothed his throat instead of burning it, allowing Ben to really open his throat and breathe for the first time since he woke up.
His stomach rumbled as it adjusted to it. Despite feeling nauseous previously, at the taste of something new and delicious, his stomach demanded more. It growled loudly, Ben realizing just how hungry he was.
Ben took several more spoonfuls of soup, before giving up being civil all together. He picked the bowl up with both hands and tipped his head back as he slurped it all down.
He set his bowl down with a satisfied sigh. The rim of his mouth was dirty, soup dripping down his chin.
He looked around the table, where Wes and Kai only stared with amazement. He was suddenly aware of how loud, fast, and rudely he ate. He could feel his face warm, turning red with embarrassment.
But Wes only laughed. “I told you would like it,” he said as he took Ben’s bowl once again to fill it up. “Eat up, there’s plenty to go around.”
Ben vigorously scarfed down his second bowl, and his third, and his fourth, until he was completely full. Wes and Kai didn’t say anything about Ben’s rude eating habits. Eventually, the large pot Wes had set out on the table was completely empty.
As Wes and Kai cleared the table, and Ben awkwardly still sat at it, he said, “I should get going. I need my clothes back.”
Kai, who was currently pulling all the place mats off the table, said nonchalantly, “They’re still drying, which doesn’t matter because you’re staying the night anyway.”
“I’ll make up your bed on the couch,” Wes added as he washed the dishes. Kai looked over her shoulder, giving her grandfather an unimpressed look at the unneeded insinuation.
Clutching his arm, Kai led Ben down the hall, allowing himself to be dragged along again. “C’mon, I’ll go easy on you this time,” Kai teased. But as she looked back at Ben, all she could see were Ben’s shadowed eyes, mind distracted.
Kai’s smile slipped off her face, knowing Ben wouldn’t notice anyway.
“Ben?”
Ben stopped rummaging through the couch at the sound of Kai’s voice. He had been trying to be as quiet as possible while he turned the house upside down looking for his pills, but obviously he was unsuccessful. He couldn’t find it in himself to care. Anger had been bubbling inside him all day. He didn’t want to admit it, focusing on his body aches instead, but the overwhelming feeling of being trapped was driving him mad.
“Sill drying, huh?” Ben turned to face Kai, showing to her that he was wearing the clothes he came in with. He found them still in the dryer, but they were completely cold, done drying hours ago. Just another way to keep Ben trapped here.
Kai looked away, guilty of getting caught. If they were teenagers, Ben would have poked fun and teased her about catching her in her lie, but in his current state, he could only focus on finding his pills. He turned back to the couch, stuffing his hand down the sides, looking for the pill bottle he must have dropped in between them. If they weren’t in the couch, he really would have to tear this house upside-down, and he really didn’t want to do that to Kai and Wes (although he would if it came to that).
“What are you doing?” Kai asked. It was a different tone than the fake one she’s been putting on all day. Ben felt a small bit of relief, finally knowing he hadn’t fallen into a totally different reality where Kai was actually nice to him.
Not stopping his search to look at her, Ben responded, “I need my pills.”
There was a pause before Kai mumbled, “You don’t need your pills.”
“I do!”
The bark reverberated throughout the house. The house seemed to shake by the sheer volume. The two don’t move. Even the night was silenced by Ben’s outburst, complete silence blanketing them. Neither of them said a word until they could hear the crickets returning to their chirping.
Ben huffed and glared at Kai, before quickly turning his attention back to the couch. He had half a mind to just rip the damn cushions off the couch, find his pills, and get out of there. He couldn't attack Kai, but he also didn’t know how much longer he could hold himself back.
“I do,” he reiterated, “I’m not strong enough without them.” As Ben grew older, and his victories made headlines across the universe, it attracted more and more dangerous villains to Earth. Eventually, Ben had reached his prime, becoming the best he could be. But the villains kept coming… always growing stronger, coming back smarter, being better in every way. Ben could barely keep up… until he couldn’t. He was too slow, too dumb, too weak to win. He wasn’t good enough anymore.
But with his pills, the pain just seemed to slide right off. The pills propelled him forward, pushing him to keep fighting. He could hardly feel his muscles growing too tight from the constant bruising, or his bones aching from being cracked a hundred times. He was finally free, able to push past his limits. He was finally able to continue protecting the Earth and the lives that lived there. He could still be a hero.
All he needed were his pills.
Kai didn’t say anything as she watched Ben search. She stood in the hallway, blanket wrapped around her shoulders, watching the tragedy unfold. When Kai and her grandfather found him passed out in the street, her first thought was that he was dead. He looked worse for wear: skin bruised beyond recognizability, splotches of alarming red and sickly blue covering his body. His face was flushed. His breathing was shallow. His hair was greasy, sticking to his face. Kai had lifted his head as delicately as she could to stop any blood from rushing to his head too fast.
Kai hadn’t seen Ben in years. Her only way to keep up with him was…
Kai watched as the live broadcast showed Ben. Well, it wasn’t Ben, it was Cannonbolt. He was fighting some alien Kai hadn’t seen before. He seemed tough. This alien had claws that slashed at Cannonbolt hard exterior. Even with Cannonbolt durability and defense, the claws still left their marks, digging deeper into Cannonbolt’s shell with every swipe. Cannonbolt didn’t look good. He was being beat down again and again. Miraculously, Ben pulled through and defeated the alien. The crowd cheered as Ben transformed back. He was taller, more muscular. His clothes were dirty with what Kai had hoped was just mud and not dried blood. Scars littered his arms. He had horrible bags under his eyes. His blooming beard was dark, probably from the same layer of dirt that coated his hair. He looked incredibly worse for wear. But despite everything, he still forced a smile and waved at the crowd cheering his name.
That was the last time Kai saw Ben… in human form anyway.
Kai squeezed her own blanket, spotting Ben’s discarded blanket on the floor. She steeled her nerves, and said, “You should get back to bed.”
Ben, without turning around, said, “I can’t sleep. I slept enough earlier.” The world needed him out there, not in here sleeping the night away. Who knew what went on while Ben was sleeping the day away. He couldn’t risk that again.
“You barely slept at all,” Kai retorted. Ben was so restless in his sleep. He was constantly shifting on the couch, mumbling in his sleep, and face always contorted into a deep grimace. He sweated bullets, even though Kai had given him the thinnest blanket in the house.
Ben slowed his search to a stop.
The two didn’t move. Kai didn’t know if Ben was reconsidering her words, but she prayed he was. Kai shuffled over to Ben, crossing the living room. Kai stood next to him, waiting for Ben.
When Ben looked at her with tired eyes, she gently grabbed his hand. “Come on…”
She guided him down the hall back to her room. Ben didn’t speak. He stopped right before her door, but a gentle tug pulled him into her room.
She led him to her bed. It was large enough for two. She pulled Ben down onto the bed.
Ben tried to prop himself up on his elbows, meekly trying to escape, but Kai quickly followed, falling on top of him and covering both of them with her blanket. She settled herself between Ben’s legs, head resting on his chest, preventing him from getting up.
“H-Hey!” Ben grabbed Kai’s shoulders. He wanted to push her off, but his body was too fatigued to do much more than shake her. Kai only wiggled on top of Ben, making herself comfortable and closing her eyes.
As time passed, Kai fell asleep, heavy on Ben’s chest. Ben gave one last glare at Kai before giving up. He laid an arm across his eyes and let out a deep sigh. He couldn’t believe he still had a soft spot for Kai all these years later. She was still attending college, perhaps getting a doctorate. Ben had seen the Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in her room already. She was clearly leading a happy and fulfilling life. She didn’t need him around, dragging her down or casting a shadow over her achievements.
But despite all these thoughts, Ben couldn’t stop himself from enjoying the intimacy and laid an arm on her back as he closed his eyes.
I’ll need to make a quick stop in Undertown, Ben thought as he stepped out onto the front porch.
Wes, who was standing in the door frame now, spoke up. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay for breakfast?” It was a useless question to ask, since he already knew Ben’s answer, but he wanted to voice it, put it out there for Ben to hear and remember.
“I can’t,” was Ben’s reply. “I’ve stayed too long, I should really get going.” Ben tried not to focus on the tremor in his hands. His body couldn’t afford to stay here any longer.
Wes sighed, reluctantly accepting Ben’s answer. He dug something out of his back pocket, holding it out to Ben. He opened his hand to reveal Ben’s bottle of—
Ben quickly snatched it out of Wes’s hand and clutched them tight to his chest. He turned away from Wes, hunched over the bottle like a lifeline. It only took a moment for Ben to realize what he was doing; how desperate and pathetic he must have seemed. He looked shyly over his shoulder at Wes, who only had a sad smile on his face.
“You should take this too.” Wes pulled a second item out of his back pocket. He approached Ben and pulled his hand out, and placed an Omnitrix badge in the palm of his hand. “It has a message on it, from your grandfather.”
Ben slowly pulled his arm back, looking down at the Omnitrix badge cautiously. Ben gazed down at it, unable to take his eyes off. The shake in his hands didn’t help, as he wonders where he went wrong. The plumber’s badge didn’t look right in his broken hands.
“You’re not alone,” Wes said. Ben looked up at him, realizing he had been staring down at the recorder for too long. “You have lots of friends and family who want to help you and support you. You don’t have to face everything alon—”
“Thanks,” Ben cuts him off. He didn’t need to hear nonsense like friendship will always save the day. He knows it doesn’t.
Ben turned and walked down the path.
“Ben!”
Kai ran out of the house, in her slippers and pajamas, almost tripping on the way out. She reached out and gripped Ben’s free hand.
Ben looked at Kai and Kai looked at Ben. They both had something they wanted to say, but they couldn’t help but remember the last time they were in this position.
“Why won’t you go out with me!?” Ben was furious. He had finally grown up, gotten serious about his hero work, just like everyone wanted. He was taller, more muscular, grew out his facial hair to hide his baby face. He threw out his toys, stopped eating fast food, confessed to his crush. He was in his prime, at his peak. He only used the medicine to get back on his feet, to keep fighting. He had to be stronger, quicker, better. Why didn’t she understand? (Why didn’t she love him back?)
Kai was quiet but stern as she faced him with tears in her eyes, “This is not the Ben Tennyson I want...”
Kai couldn’t be in a relationship with Ben like this – Ben running around the world, more concerned with others than himself, destroying himself in the process. Ben couldn’t be in a relationship with Kai – she deserves someone better, someone smart like her, someone to meet her on her level.
They both looked into each other’s eyes, and both saw a familiar longing. What could have been? they both wondered.
Ben slipped out of Kai’s grasp.
Without a word, Ben transformed into XLR8, blinding Kai with a green flash of light for a moment. When she opened her eyes, she could only see the blue streak of the after-images of XLR8 fade away.
Kai clutched the hand that she had held Ben in just a moment ago. She couldn’t shake off the overwhelming grief that Ben had decided to let go of her hand and not the pills clutched in the other.