Chapter Text
The rhythmic chime of the electronic monitor beside him slowly swam through Ben’s mind, pulling him from the bleakness through which he floated. His eyelids fluttered, revealing a blur of white tiles and dim fluorescent lights that slowly sharpened with each blink. His right hand clenched as his left lifted to his forehead, a groan escaping his lips. A weight draped against the small portion of available bed space stirred slightly. His eyes widened and his head snapped to the side as he heard the person beside him slowly push themselves to a seated position in the chair shoved next to his cot.
“Ben?” exclaimed a bleary eyed Sam as she forced herself awake. The dull pink hues of the early morning hours crept across the grey sky beyond the large hospital windows behind her, lighting the side of her face softly.
“Sam?” Ben croaked, his throat scratching to the point where even a simple word stabbed like a thousand needles. Sam watched him grimace as he spoke and dove for the plastic cup of water beside her.
“Here,” she said, gingerly handing him the cup as he dug his forearms into the plastic bed and struggled into a reclined seat. He gratefully accepted the cup and brought the cool liquid to his lips, relishing the sensation as the icy water slipped down his parched throat.
“Thanks,” he said, his eyes shimmering as the realization of Sam’s being here and his surroundings slammed into him. “Not just for the water Sam, but for everything. Even though I couldn’t speak, I saw what you did to save me.” His eyes met hers, then traveled down to the bruises blooming on her neck. “I’m...I’m so sorry I wasn’t strong enough to…” his voice trailed away as he clenched the cup in his hand. He crushed the soft plastic beneath his whitened knuckles.
“Ben, I know that wasn’t you,” said Sam as she placed a gentle hand atop his clenched fist. “You don’t need to take the blame. I’m okay, and you’re okay. That’s what matters, in the end.” She smiled as she met his eyes, a smile that glimmered in her eyes and radiated through every inch of her skin as her fingers tightened over his.
“Sam,” Ben breathed as he slid his free hand over hers, squeezing her fingers. “I know we just met.” Ben swiped his thumb against the back of Sam’s hand, his heart fluttering. Nervousness bubbled in his stomach, threatening to release what little contents it contained. He could feel the words that he wanted to say brushing against his lips, screaming in his mind, but his apprehension kept them chained.
“Yeah, I know,” said Sam, her eyes suddenly downcast. She kept her hand placed on top of Ben’s, but her grip loosened slightly. She bit her lower lip, as if she too was struggling to procure the words she was desperate to say. She seemed to make a decision as she suddenly snapped her gaze to meet his, her eyes burning fiercely.
“I...I know I’m not experienced in...this,” she motioned towards their clasped hands. “But I need to be honest with you, and with myself. I’ve been crazy about you ever since we met, and the insanity of the last twenty four hours has only made that more clear in my mind. I was nervous to tell you because I know it's kind of soon to admit, but I feel like I just can’t fight it anymore.” She snapped her eyes closed and lowered her head, as if the mortification sat like a heavy weight on the back of her neck. Ben’s eyes widened as her confession swirled in his mind, chipping away at the chains which kept his thoughts tethered. He released her hand, his mouth slightly agape as the swell of emotions crashed over him.
“Ben, I’m sorry, I was too…” Sam started, but he gently slid his hand beneath her chin and lifted her eyes to meet his.
“Sam, don’t apologize for saying what you think,” he said gently, his eyes stinging. “I didn’t respond immediately, not because I’m upset, but because I...I feel the same way.” His mind screamed to retract the words and save himself from future heart ache, but his heart smashed the thoughts aside, taking center stage.
“I’ve been slowly falling for you after the day we met, but I’ve been...holding myself back,” said Ben, his eyes shimmering. “I didn’t want to rush things and lose what we were building between us. I was afraid of making that leap, because I’d done it before, and it ended quickly.” A tear slipped down his cheek as his emotions crested, overtaking him in a mixture of sadness and overwhelming joy. “Hearing you say what I’ve been thinking for weeks...Sam I’m honestly so happy I could cry. Heck, I am crying.” He chuckled as he swiped away the stray tear. Sam giggled along with him, tears flowing freely down her own cheeks.
“When I’m out of the hospital, do you want to go out with me?” Ben said, nearly breathless as the words whispered from his lips.
“I’d love that Ben,” said Sam as she squeezed his hand. Ben felt as if he were soaring higher than any height he’d ever achieved with his many flights across the sky. He slipped his hand from beneath Sam’s and cupped her cheeks, pulling her closer until their lips caressed one another. Sam slipped her hands behind Ben’s neck, crushing her lips against his as they lost themselves in the kiss for a moment. The slightly frantic beep of the heart monitor in the room brought them back to the present. They reluctantly pulled apart, though Sam’s eyes seemed to burn with the same passion he remembered from the kiss before her door after their first date. The fire behind it left Ben begging for more, but he shoved the feeling aside, saving it for a moment when they could truly have some privacy.
“So...I noticed you’re calling me Ben now,” he said carefully as he threaded his fingers with Sam’s.
“Yeah, I found out in the process of figuring out how to save you,” Sam said as she chewed her thumb with her free hand.
“I’m sorry you had to find out that way,” said Ben, his face falling slightly. “I wanted to tell you during our first date, but I was afraid.”
“Afraid of your dad finding you?” asked Sam.
“A bit of that,” said Ben. “But even more than that, I hated having to lie to you from the start, and I was afraid of how you’d react when you found out that I wasn’t the person you thought I was.”
“I won’t lie, I was a little upset about it at first,” said Sam, tightening her fingers around Ben’s. “But it wasn’t because you lied about your identity. I understood that, and I would have understood if you told me from the beginning. I was more upset that you didn’t tell me at all.” Ben cast his eyes down at the scratchy white bed sheets spread over his legs, bracing for disappointment.
“But Ben, I realized pretty quickly that was a lot for me to expect of you.” Sam reached over the bed and gently slid her hand over his cheek, tugging him to meet her smiling face. “I know that you would have told me when you were ready. I understand. Just don’t keep things from me in the future, okay?” Ben smiled warmly, happiness flooding from his chest and racing through every inch of his being. He slipped his hand along Sam’s wrist, his fingers brushing the back of her hand.
“It’s a promise,” he muttered. They sat in silence for a moment, Ben relishing the warm touch of Sam’s hand resting on his cheek, when he suddenly remembered the major question still rattling about his skull.
“My dad, what happened to him?” he asked. Sam slipped her hand back at her side, the other still firmly laced with Ben’s. She fidgeted in her seat nervously, her free hand gripping the edge of her chair.
“Eva made sure he got an ambulance once she got the rest of our friends out of the building,” explained Sam. She seemed reluctant to speak for a moment, but forced herself to level her gaze with Ben as she continued. “When I broke your dad’s mind control, it was like there was a violent...recoil. Eva told me that he....”. Sam paused as she swallowed back tears. “He’s never going to fully recover. The recoil burned away most of his functionality.” She couldn’t keep back the tears anymore as they broke free in a pained sob. “Ben, I’m so sorry. When we came to save you, I never thought...I never imagined I’d end up…”. She devolved into sobs that shook her frame, her fist clenched in her lap as tears stained her dirtied jeans.
“Sam,” exclaimed Ben as he released Sam’s hand and swung his legs over the side of the bed. The IV attached to his hand rattled slightly as the IV pole squeaked closer cot. His unsteady feet hit the floor, but he ignored his body’s urge to crash to the ground. He slipped his arms around her, crushing her against him in a comforting embrace.
“Don’t apologize for what my father forced you to do,” he said as he buried his face in her hair and gently stroked her back. “He deserved every ounce of what he got. He did something similar to my mom. He used his mind control on her so frequently after she tried to leave him that it rotted her mind. It’s fitting that the same happened to him. I’m just sorry you had to be involved at all Sam.”
Ben held her as her sobs slowly subsided, his hand gently traveling up and down her spine. Sam broke away a few moments later, her face puffy and cheeks damp with tears. Ben removed his hand from her back and brushed away the remaining moisture. He rested his hand against the side of her face, his thumb brushing her cheek. He felt the overwhelming urge to close what little distance remained between them, to crash his lips against hers, but he fought it. He knew if he relented, he wouldn’t be able to stop.
“You said Eva got our friends out. Why don’t you tell me all about how you came to my rescue, I’d love to hear it. You can skip the end bit though, I already know how the story ends.” Ben winked cheekily, causing Sam to chuckle. She nodded and took a calming breath before animatedly launching into the tale of how she assembled a rag-tag rescue squad and broke into the fortress that was his father’s penthouse.
--------------------------- Five Months Later ---------------------------
Sam fished the keys to her apartment from her purse and slid the key into the lock. A pair of strong hands wrapped around her waist as she felt stubble brush against her neck. Ben rested his head on her shoulder, his musky cologne wafting tantalizingly into Sam’s nostrils.
“So we’re going to your place tonight?” he purred seductively as he nibbled her ear lobe. A groan escaped Sam’s lips as it felt like she couldn’t open the front door fast enough. She shoved against the steel door as soon as the lock slipped free of the latch. Her core thrummed as they crashed through the entryway, shoes abandoned quickly as Ben’s hands traveled to the button of her pants. Their tongues danced as their lips crushed against one another, both feeling the desperate need to be impossibly closer with each passing minute. Sam slipped Ben’s shirt over his head with ease and ran her fingers seductively along his abs, following the scruff of his abdomen to the belt holding his pants to his waist. She tugged and quickly rid him of the belt as well as he quickly did away with her shirt. Ben wrapped his arms tightly around her lower back, and suddenly they were floating through the apartment towards her bedroom. Bowser snoozed on the sofa, blissfully unaware of Sam and Ben as they drifted towards the bed, their limbs tangled with one another.
Ben deftly snapped the fasteners of Sam’s bra free and allowed it to drop to the floor a foot below them. He ran his hands along her chest, thumbing her breast as he slowly made his way downward. Sam moaned as his fingers inched closer to where she desperately wanted them to be. Ben smirked as he skimmed a finger along the line of her underwear teasingly. Sam snapped open a telepathic communication with Ben, as her lips seemed unable to function.
“Just come inside, I can’t take it anymore,” she screamed along the channel, flooding him with the white hot lust raging through her bones as his own began to pour down the link. Ben growled as he flicked her underwear to the ground and floated her gently to the bed. He bent down and kissed from her shoulder up to her ear in that methodically slow way that set her ablaze with desire.
“So you want me right now, huh?” he purred as his hand slipped up her thigh. Sam gasped and shuddered at his touch. She used her telekinesis to rip off Ben’s jeans and boxers, her only barrier to the melding of their bodies that she so craved. He grinned as he removed his hand and positioned himself just before her gates. She felt the rumble of his passion down their telepathic link. Unable to wait any longer, she closed that gap between them.
They gasped in unison as Sam felt him slowly enter her. She lost all sense of her surroundings as they danced against one another, grinding faster until that ecstasy of climax suddenly screamed through her every fiber. As Sam felt that shuddering electricity rumble through her, she felt a second wave slam into her brain and tingle through her as Ben climaxed along with her.
They both tumbled into the sheets as they broke apart, sweat and gasping for breath. A moment of silence settled between them. A silence that wasn’t strange, but rather comforting, as they drank in the presence of one another. Ben turned and pulled Sam to his chest, his hand lazily tracing circles on her stomach as his hazy eyes roved her face.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever get over to this telepathic sex,” he murmured as he buried his head in her neck. “It’s the most addicting thing I’ve ever experienced.”
“I don’t think I will either,” breathed Sam as she felt his warm breath caress the shell of her ear. She ran her fingers through his hair, feeling the rumbling of desire slowly building once again within her.
Along the link, they had a twin thought, which was I hope I don’t have to ever stop experiencing it.