Chapter Text
“Yo, anyone hear from Tennyson, lately?” Tyler asked his friends, fiddling on his phone as they waited for class to start. “It’s been like, a week. What’s his face on the news is always going on about things the little menace blew up.”
“Don’t listen to Harangue, he’s a biased old grouch,” Aria said with an eyeroll. “Jimmy Jones’ blog is the place to keep track of Ben 10 and, according to him, Ben and the Plumbers are on a deep space mission. It’s gotta be big, they took almost all their heavy hitters with them.”
“Deep space,” Miguel sighed, resting his head on his desk. “Some dudes have all the luck. Do you even know what I’d do to go into space, even for like 5 minutes? We have aliens in Bellwood but I want to see different planets, new cultures.”
“Or change your shape and form any time you want,” Aria pouted. “I bet he’s kicking butt right now while we’re waiting for homeroom.”
“Certainly was more interesting when Tennyson was here,” Tyler snorted looking over at the vacant seat. “Dude’s lucky he can skip out of school and stuff. It was cool the few weeks he was here after being outed before he went full online.”
“He’s a fulltime superhero,” Aria scolded, adjusting their glasses as the bell rang. “He doesn’t have the time for normal school hours plus villains kept interrupting class to get a piece of him. Seeing the action up close and personal...” They made a face, “okay yeah I miss it too but it seriously wasn’t safe for anyone.”
“Probably got tired of the constant adoration,” Miguel grumbled. He glanced up at the clock, “also Mrs. O’Hara is late, what’s up with that?”
“Probably waiting for her tea to finish steeping,” Tyler said absentminded, going back to his phone. “Ugh seriously, where is Tennyson? The news is so boring without him.”
The sound of a commotion in the hallway stopped the trio’s conversation, along with everyone else’s. They waited, curious for what all the raised voices were about. The door opened and Ben Tennyson staggered in. He gave a lopsided smile and leaned against the doorframe like it was the only thing holding him up.
“Sorry ‘m late,” he slurred, drifting a bit as he made his way over to his empty desk and practically fell into it. “Traffic was hell this morning.”
“Uh that’s not the only thing that looks like hell,” Tyler whistled softly. Ben 10, hero of the universe, looked like a train had run him over then backed up for good measure. His hair was sticking in all directions and his left cheek had a nasty bruise with a several stitched up cuts going down through part of his lip to his chin. His left arm was in a sling and wrapped securely with gauze but the ends of his fingers peeking out were limp, purple and mottled. He wore a hospital gown underneath his iconic green jacket paired with pink sweatpants. Ben’s eyes were vacant, his pupils blown wide as he stared at everything and nothing.
“Holy shit what happened to him,” someone whispered.
“I thought he didn’t go here anymore?” Another added.
“Christ, I know he’s like a hero or whatever but isn’t someone watching out for him?”
“Mr. Tennyson,” Mrs. O’Hara boomed, hustling in with a stern expression but she seemed nervous and unsure of what to do. “You are in no state to be here right now, young man. I’ve contacted your grandfather and someone is coming to take you home or possibly to a hospital.” Her expression faltered, “are you- are you alright, sweetie? Can I do anything?”
“Oh yeah,” Ben drawled, leaning himself over on top of the desk. “Totally fine and ready to learn. If I don’t keep my grades up they’ll kick me off the soccer team.”
“Ben, buddy,” Eugene said slowly, turning in his seat to look at his former friend. “You haven’t been on the team in months. School wouldn’t let you play with your whole hero thing going on,” Eugene grimaced. “Remember?”
“Course I remember,” Ben said, his voice clear for the moment. “So glad you and the other guys backed me up at the time.” Eugene winced while Ben just moaned and grabbed at his head with his one working hand. “Ugh what hit me? My head hurts like crazy.”
“Probably some mega big and scary alien dude,” Tyler noted dryly, “you’re like super concussed, Tennyson.”
“M’yeah probably,” Ben mumbled laying his head on the desk with a gentle thump. “Don’t mind me, carry on, I’ll read over the notes later.”
“Ben, I don’t think you’re supposed to sleep with a concussion,” Miguel said, reaching over to ever so gently jostling Ben’s good shoulder. The other teen gasped and jolted away from Miguel’s hand with wide, fearful eyes. His right hand slammed instinctively down where his watch was hidden beneath layers of gauze.
“Ow, goddammit, mother-” Ben groaned, leaning over his injured arm as he panted, trembling with pain and terror. “Don’t touch me, please don’t touch me! Everyone keep away from me or I’ll-!”
“Alright, yeah man sorry ‘bout that,” Miguel squeaked, throwing his hands up in surrender. A few of the chairs around Ben screeched as they scooted away, giving the teen hero some space but also separating him even more from his classmates.
“Is he gonna be okay?” Brittney whispered to Nikole as they watched the confident hero they both had pictures cut in the shapes of hearts taped inside their lockers shiver and shake. “Should we do something?”
“Excuse me,” a rough voice asked. They turned to find a tall alien with blue fur standing awkwardly in the doorway. He himself looked worse for wear, with part of his fur singed and his lower arms covered in bandages. His eyes locked immediately on the shaking teen. “I represent Magister Tennyson. My name is Rook and I am Ben’s Plumber partner. I will be taking him back to HQ for treatment.”
He strode forward confidently and sighed as he leaned down and assessed his partner. “Can you walk?” He waited a beat before sighing, “no, that would not help matters. Forgive me, I am going to pick you up now. Don’t fight me.”
With telegraphed movements, he gently scooped Ben into his arms who tensed up but didn’t move. “I am not sure whether to be impressed or infuriated that you got past our security in your condition,” Rook said almost fondly as he carried the teen who looked pitifully small in his arms.
“Imma a hero,” Ben ground out as he squeezed his eyes shut at the movement. “It’s what I do.”
“Your only job right now is to rest,” Rook explained wearily. “You saved 5 galaxies the other day, a break is deserved.” He paused to nod his head at Mrs. O’Hara. “I apologize for the interruption, we will be on our way. Thank you for caring for him. Do not worry, Ben is tough. He will be back to normal in a few days.” That said, Ben and the alien were gone.
“Holy shit,” someone said quietly from the middle of the silent classroom.
“What a joke,” Spencer grumbled, “we haven’t done anything to take care of him.” He turned to glare at Eugene, “Ben’s right, we just let the school kick him off the team. I don’t think any of us have reached out to him after he stopped coming in. He’s one of our own and we abandoned him.”
“Is he really,” Eugene frowned, “is he really one of us? Because that? That wasn’t normal and, I don’t know about you, but I don’t want any part of it.”
“Children!” Mrs. O’Hara announced, clapping her hands loudly to gain their attention. “I know that was, very unsettling for us to see but we’re already ten minutes into the period and I have things to go over. I do think it would be nice if we all signed a get well card to wish Ben a speedy recovery. Let him know we’re thinking of him even when he isn’t here. Now, moving on, Fall Fest is just days away and we need to get our final preps in order.”
Three days later, aliens who looks like a mix between squids and parrots invaded the high school’s Fall Fest. The attack had barely started when Ben 10 swooped in and saved the day.
As he powered down, he glanced over at his classmates hiding behind various overturned booths. His face was free of marks, his left arm was out of the sling and his eyes clearheaded. The only evidence of his injury earlier in the week was his obvious discomfort. Without a word, he loaded the would be villains into the back of a Plumber’s van and left.