Chapter 21: Evil Twin of Mine

AN: I feel bad that this took me a month to get out, but life is hectic. Anyways, I'm really starting to be happy with this story again even though I made some dumb choices at first, back when I was a pretty bad writer, and some bits I'm still not and never will be happy with, but overall, I'm happy with how far it's come, and I'm happy that I didn't leave it at chapter 19.

Also to Agafa Shelly I noticed I'm unable to PM you, but I wanted to say thank you for the review! Any form of support is greatly appreciated. ^^ And thank you again, silverheartlugia2000 for you reviews, as well. And to anyone who add this story to their favorite list, or follows it, or if you're reading this story at all: thank you.

Enjoy-

Everything is dark, and Ben could just hear the sound of someone saying something, but he can't quite make out the words, just the sound, and then finally, he recognizes the voice as Albedo's. He thinks about opening his eyes and getting up, but his body his tired and aching all over, and he wonders if it's best to stay put. He moves slightly, considering it still when sudden pains tell him to not move, and he breathes in sharply. The sound of Albedo saying something brings him back for a moment before he can start to drift back to sleep, but again, he doesn't hear what he says, and not long after that everything begins to shake.

His mind was struggling to understand where he was, and what was shaking, though. For a moment he thinks maybe he's shaking, but he can't tell for sure. All he knows is the shaking gets worse, jolting him randomly and it feels like he's about to die. The sudden pains are sharper with every jolt, and if that's him shaking so badly then surely something has to be wrong.

It all comes to abrupt stop though; rough shaking, a few sharper jolts, like they were being thrown around, and then nothing. And just as it finally ends, something clicks in Ben's mind: they were on a ship. And from what he could tell, they just had a very rough landing.

He tries to open his eyes, blinking a little, but the pains are unbearable, and he wishes he were still asleep. Still, he glances around him to confirm they were in a small ship, probably a ship that only one person was meant to fly in, from what he could tell, and how cramped the cockpit is.

Ben closes his eyes again after a minute, exhaustion sinking back in, and he hears a noise but doesn't attempt to find out what it is, instead he guessed that it was probably something breaking. There were more sounds to follow though, like the sound of distant footsteps, rushing over, and the sound of different voices nearing them, and the sound of someone shouting. So many noises.

He hears Albedo say something too, and then he feels Albedo pressing two fingers against his neck on a spot beneath his jawline. Checking my pulse, Ben realizes, and blinks tiredly, to see Albedo moving away, talking to someone nearby. His eyes fall shut again, and the next minutes are a blur of movement, noises, voices, and eventually Ben feels himself being lifted and laid down on something like a bed. A gurney.

Although he was in and out of it for the most of the ride, the familiar sound of voices surrounded him, and he tried to cling to that, cling to the sounds and voices he knew.

"What do you mean? What happened?" That was Gwen's voice, somewhere nearby. She sounds worried, but tense, and she always hit slightly higher pitches when she was upset about something. He wished he could tell her to relax, and to breathe, and that everything would be alright.

He doesn't know what Albedo says to her, but he can hear her getting more upset about whatever it was. Had something happened? His mind starts to wander as he guesses at what it was. He hoped it wasn't about Max...or Kevin. Was Julie alright?

Suddenly he was getting the urge to ask, he needs to know. Yet, his body isn't working with his mind. He needs to ask, but his mouth isn't working, which only freaks him out more. He struggles to move, to do something, anything, and finds himself grabbing at the sheets at his sides. He grips them tightly, thrashing his arms then, but even that is exhausting.

"Ben! Ben!" Julie...she was okay...she was safe. But then...grandpa Max? He couldn't hear him. But surely he was fine?

He's still gripping the sheets, and he pulls again at them, before a hand lands on his, clearly trying to calm him.

It doesn't work very well, but his helps to take his mind off the matter a little bit. But even so, he's panicking, because he can't move much, because he can't speak, because grandpa Max isn't here...and he doesn't know what the bad news is. He just needs to know. Not knowing is terrifying.

"Please-" he manages to say, but his voice is quiet and raspy, and he struggles to say something more as someone rubs his hand comfortingly. "Ma-" he chokes out, thrashing again, but sharp pains in his ribs and in his leg cause him to stop again, gasping at the pain.

"Ben, it's okay, it's okay." Julie tells him quickly, but her voice was shaky, and it was clear she wasn't so sure that it was okay, after all. He couldn't tell if she was worried about him, or upset about a death.

He moves his arm and another sharp pain shot straight to his ribs, causing him to go still again. He needs to know. He needs to ask her, or something. He needs to know this.

But the talking was more distant now, and the footsteps had mostly faded, and then there were voices he didn't recognize, but they were distant too. He tried to focus, to stay conscious, but everything was fading, and then everything was black.

The waiting room for the Plumber's hospital wing was pretty full as friends and family alike waited for Ben to gain consciousness. Albedo however was just planning on passing through, as he had been seen about as well, and they'd just finished assessing his injuries and bandaging his back. Thankfully none of his injuries were too serious, but the fact that he hadn't been locked up right away had him feeling strange. His future was uncertain, he knew that much.
He was about to walk by a few Plumbers when one of them stopped him, catching his shoulder. He glances back to the Plumber Rook, waiting for his explanation.

"You will need to stay within my sights for now."

Albedo wants to question what this meant, but instead he nods, sitting down in a hard-back chair. The downside to this was he had to witness the family and friends, and crying. Mostly from Ben's mother, who was clearly trying to pull herself together while her husband held her close.

Gwen seemed to be doing much better than Ben's mother, though her eyes were red, and Albedo didn't know if that was because of Ben or because of what he'd told her. Kevin was at her side, not holding her, and not being as openly affectionate as Ben's parents, but rather just there.

Julie also seemed pretty shaken up, though Albedo assumes that was because she was worried for Ben. At least his mother was the only one crying...he guesses it could've been worse.

Looking up at him suddenly, it was as if Ben's mother only now noticed him sitting there before she stood, a mess of feelings on her face. She's angry and sad, her eyebrows drawn downward, her tears still spilling over, her hands in fists and her whole body tense. "You!" She screams at him, pointing with a shaky hand. Rook was in front of Albedo almost instantly.

"Mrs. Tennyson! Please, this will not help Ben any."

"Move!" She yells, though, glaring at Albedo past Rook, "He's the reason this happened! He hurt him...he-he hurt him!"

She pushes forward, clearly trying to push through Rook, who only holds her instead as she trashes and cries. "He hurt him!" She breaks into sobbing instead, clinging to Rook for a moment until her husband pulls her back and holds her tightly.

For a moment, everyone stayed still, and quiet, but soon Rook turns to Albedo with an unreadable expression before nodding his head towards the hall.

Albedo stands uncertainly and follows him out of the waiting room, and they walk for a while, without saying anything. Albedo guessed Rook was just doing this for Mrs. Tennyson, but he doesn't mind it either way.

They ended up walking around outside a bit too, which again, he doesn't mind. The air's warm, and a little humid, but it was still somewhat enjoyable, being able to just walk around like this. No running, no looking over his shoulder constantly, just walking around, taking in fresh air. Although he was still waiting for the price of this freedom. Or at least, the catch.

Surely he isn't just free now. He wants to know why he was able to do this. He wants answers.

But now isn't the time to ask. He would have to wait.

The light in the room was bright against Ben's eyes, and he blinks a few times, wondering why his curtains weren't shut, before he realizes he isn't in his bed room. That being said, he doesn't actually know where he is. A room that was mostly white with bright sunshine pouring in, but glancing around at everything, he quickly learns he's in a hospital.

"He's awake." He hears someone say, and he glances up just in time to see a handful of people walk in; Julie, Gwen, Kevin, Albedo and the Plumber from earlier, who's name he still didn't know.

The Plumber approaches him first, but seeing all of them again at once, and right after waking up, is overwhelming in a way.

"What all do you recall?" The Plumber asks him, and Ben tries his best to remember what happened last, but it doesn't come back to him easily. He knew he had been fighting Vilgax, and then Albedo showed up. He knew they hadn't managed to stop Vilgax, and the Forever Knight...Albedo killed him, and after that...

He can't remember much of what happened after that, but he remembers the feeling of shaking and being jolted. They must have landed roughly, and then, there was something else.

"Where's Max?" He asks quickly, looking around at all of them.

"What? Ben, what do-" Gwen starts, but Ben cuts her off, "Where is he? Where's grandpa Max? Did he...? He's okay, isn't he?"

The Plumber, Gwen and Kevin exchange looks, before the Plumber spoke again. "He is fine, but what do you recall?"

"Someone died?" Ben asks instead, still freaking slightly, now that he remembered that that had been something he had overheard.

Again, a few of them glance at each other, before a few eyes land on Albedo. Ben stares at him too, now, waiting for an explanation of some kind, and finally Albedo nods slightly. "It wasn't your grandfather, it was Cooper."

Ben stares at him, not knowing how to respond, and for a moment it's like his thoughts freeze. Even after going over the words several times in his mind it's still like a sudden punch; unexpected and painful. He forces himself to nod, though, trying to wrap his mind around it.

"I think we should all give him some space." Gwen breaks the silence softly, and the Plumber nods in agreement, but then he starts to leave, the rest slowly following him out, and it feels as if they're taking the light from the room with them, and leaving Ben with this sudden darkness, mixed with his jumbled thoughts. And he can feel himself beginning to drown. "Wait-" He says quickly, "Can I-" And he doesn't know how to ask, or how to word it right, without feeling pathetic.

But they've all stopped, and are waiting for him, so he tries again. "Could Albedo stay? I'd...just like to be filled in on everything."

The Plumber looks like he's thinking about it, but finally he nods. "But please be careful, Ben. Albedo should not be fully trusted, even if it may seem as if you can trust him."

Ben nods to the Plumber, ignoring the look on Albedo's face at the warning. Honestly a warning like that was sort of offensive to both of them though, in Ben's opinion. Like he doesn't know how to deal with Albedo.

And even though Kevin doesn't seem to like the idea—which he makes clear with a distrustful look towards Albedo—he doesn't say anything either. Instead they all head out of the room quietly now, the Plumber saying they'd check on Ben and him later before leaving them alone.

Ben glances to Albedo now, the curiosity growing in him, but he bit back from blurting his questions out. Instead he stalls by taking a long sip from a cup of water on the white bedside table that he hadn't noticed earlier. But trying to decide on what question to start with is harder than he thought it would be; he had too many thoughts and questions to sort through properly. It doesn't help that he feels exhausted, despite the fact that he had just woken less than ten minutes ago.

Before he can think of what to say, or ask, Albedo sighs heavily and beats him to the punch as he sits in the chair by the bed. "You probably should try to get some more rest soon."

And by the way Albedo starts to stare at him, it's obvious that he's looking at some of the more noticeable injuries, cuts, or bruises. Ben looks down at himself now, staring at his bruised and slightly cracked knuckles. He has a small cut running along his arm, below his elbow, and even though he can't see his legs because of the blankets, he knows that they were hurt pretty badly as well.

He reaches up to touch the right side of his face now, along his cheekbone, but he quickly re-draws at the pain there. "Yeah, probably. Thanks, by the way."

"I only did what was asked of me." Albedo told him as he crosses his arms over his chest, leaning back in the chair a bit.

Ben nods, even though part of him wonders why Albedo wanted to point that out. Was he trying to be humble, or tell Ben that he truly didn't care about him? Or if this was him being humble, was that just him trying to trick Ben? But there was no way to know for sure, either way.

"Didn't you have questions?" He asks then, as if trying to get back on-topic. But he isn't wrong, Ben does have questions. Questions that felt wrong to ask, and he didn't even know how to ask them.

"Yeah, um. What happened?" He tries instead of his more direct ones, but Albedo doesn't seem too happy with this decision, sighing quietly.

"So specific." He mutters then, his red eyes annoyed and tired. He sits up, though, resting his chin in the palm of his hand, his elbow on the cushioned armrest of the chair. "What do you remember exactly?"

Ben frowns as he tries to remember everything again, which is mostly easy, but with the details being so blurry it's still difficult enough. "I was fighting Vilgax, and then you came to help, and you killed that Forever Knight." He pauses, glancing up to Albedo quickly, "Not that I, I mean—it's maybe not what I would've done."

Scoffing quietly, Albedo doesn't meet his eyes, but instead stares across the small room that was mostly empty. It isn't very decorative at all, with no paintings or wall art to speak of, no plants; it seems it only held the essentials. "What would you have done, gotten yourself killed?" But before Ben can retort, he continues, "Cooper showed up and we were heading for his ship."

Ben's anger from his other comment fades at that, and he stays quiet, waiting, but Albedo takes a moment, and Ben can't help but wonder if he was struggling with this.

"He insisted that we go without him...because there wasn't enough room in the ship he'd taken."

"But couldn't he have mentioned that sooner? Someone else could have stayed back?" Ben asks quickly, but he regrets it afterwards and wonders if he would upset Albedo.

"Maybe...maybe he hadn't been thinking clearly." Albedo stood suddenly, going to stare out the window now, his back to Ben. "Maybe he had his reasons. Maybe he'd planned it all along." He shrugs, but his shoulders seem shaky, and Ben feels an sudden ache in his chest at the sight.

"I guess it doesn't matter now." Ben mumbles as he watches him, the sunshine making Albedo's already light hair seem more white than usual, and maybe a bit blond in the front that was hit by more direct light.

He shifts slightly on one foot, before nodding ever so slightly. "The kind of thoughts humans have, when something—something like this happens, is...ridiculous."

His composure seems to worsen with these words, and Ben felt like he was watching Albedo fall apart in front of him, but he doesn't mention that, and he glances away. "How so?" He asks instead.

"Humans, and the irrational thoughts like...'Why did it have to be him' or...'It should have been me'..."

Ben stares at him again now, feeling like what Albedo was saying made sense now. Well, it didn't make sense, really—though he understood it. But no, Albedo didn't mean 'humans'. He meant he was having those thoughts.

"Hey, don't do that to yourself." Ben orders him softly. He felt like putting a hand on his shoulder or something, but standing up to go to the window seemed like a bad idea. He doesn't even know if he can walk yet.

"Why not? Don't you agree? It should be me. He was...if I hadn't screwed him up..."

Sighing, Ben almost considers trying his legs after all, but he settles for staying where he is...for now, anyways. "None of that matters. That was in the past, and it's not like you can change it now—"

"Maybe so, but if he'd known the truth and wasn't so blinded—if I hadn't tricked him, hadn't played with his mind—"

"Listen to me!" Ben snaps, and Albedo falls silent again. "It doesn't matter. Because it's all in the past, you can't change that. And more importantly? Cooper chose this, right?"

Albedo laughs humorlessly, and it sounds forced. "Is it that obvious?"

"Maybe. But my point is, Cooper chose this and that means he wanted you to live. And Cooper's not a idiot. You might have tricked him...or whatever, but he knew you. Seems to me like none of that mattered to him, he probably would've chose this, even if you had told him whatever it is you kept from him."

The room was silent for a few minutes, before Albedo spoke again, quiet and bitter. "Only because he believed I was his friend."

"And you're not?" Ben asks, tilting his head, although Albedo still stared out the window.

"I only acted more—friendly with him. I only wanted to use him for my own benefits. Does that sound like something a friend would do?"

Looking down, Ben ran a finger over his rough knuckles absentmindedly before deciding on his response. "No. But you did care about him. You still do, clearly. And that means something."

"Perhaps," Albedo mutters so quietly that Ben barely hears it. He stands by the window a while longer, though something tells Ben that he was done with the conversation, as seconds turn to minutes. After some time Ben lays back against the pillows, wondering if he could get some sleep while Albedo was here. He felt like that might be hard though, with there still being a small trust issue. Though, with everything that had happened, he felt it would be easier than it would've a long time back. Not that he was glad Albedo decided to get them into this mess, but there was that upside.

His eyes were closed when he heard footsteps across the hard tiled floor, and he glances up from where he's laying to see Albedo sitting down in the chair again, leaning back in it. "You should sleep, Ben."

Ben groans, "Then you should be quiet, mom."

"Mm. Your actual mother wouldn't appreciate that. I believe she hates me."

Nodding, Ben closes his eyes again now, resting his head back on the pillows. "As she should." He mumbles then, though he keeps his tone light, and there's no real anger or annoyance in his voice.

Though Albedo goes quiet again, and somewhere in the back of his mind, Ben worries that he might have upset him. But then he hears Albedo shuffling a bit, and his tone is serious and quiet when he speaks again. "Do you think it should have been me?"

The question isn't what Ben expects at all, and for a moment he doesn't know what to say. "I mean...no?"

He hears Albedo sigh. "You don't sound certain. Why don't you stop lying and just admit it?"

"Why don't you stop assuming and let me explain first?" Ben asks back, his tone sharp, and he sits back up slightly now—and tries not to wince before propping himself on his elbow as he stares at Albedo. "I don't think it should have been you. Look, I don't like you all that much, but I don't hate you, especially not after everything else...I already told you, I sort of consider you a friend, in a way. And even if I did hate you, I could never say something like that. It's not like I think you should live instead of Cooper...I just hate that anyone had to die..."

Albedo nods now, staring back at him for a brief moment before glancing away again. "I understand that, actually."

Ben raises an eyebrow, waiting for him to explain, but the silence stretches between them for a minute or two before speaks again.

"If you were conscious, and you had to make the choice between me, him, and yourself?" Albedo asks instead, but Ben decides to go along with it.

"Myself." Ben tells him.

Ben doesn't expect the small smile that plays on Albedo's lip, or the next broken laugh. "I wish I could say that it should've been you."

"Ah, don't worry." Albedo gave Ben a strange look, and Ben went on, "I wish I could tell you that it should've been you, too."

"How kind of you." Albedo mutters, but he still has the smallest of smiles.

"Oh, anytime, evil twin of mine."