#i was completely BSing about the babies being unable to handle Earth's temps so shh idk man i'm just having feelings ok

[redrobin-detective]

Midnight Meetings

Ben went from asleep to awake in an instant. Now normally when this happened, he was in the middle of a nightmare where someone was trying to kill him. Or, better yet, in an actual situation where someone was trying to kill him. He’d wake up, scared and angry with his right hand already slamming down on the Omnitrix even before he was fully awake. But this time, he was calm, peaceful. The unconscious part of his brain knew what had woken him and knew it was not something to fear but an unexpected joy. 

He heard the chittering again, a little louder this time. There was the scrape of little claws at his bedroom window, the soft sound of beating wings and the gentle crackle of ice climbing up the pane.

“Come on in,” he whispered but the small Necrofriggian had already phased through the window and landed rather forcefully on Ben’s stomach. “Ooof hello to you too, someone’s been getting extra helpings of solar plasma, haven’t they?” He teased, gently tangling his fingers along the baby’s delicate wings and twitching little antennae. 

Most of the time when Ben was awakened suddenly in the dead of the night it’s some sort of emergency. Sometimes, though, he gets a visitor. Or several. They came in groups sometimes, the largest being eight all at once but usually just one or two at a time. They’re still so small, their bodies too sensitive to heat that they fade fast in the light of Earth’s sun. So for now, Ben has to make due with midnight visits. He can’t even pretend to be upset about it. It was their special time. 

“Why am I not surprised it’s you, Little Chill?” Ben asked with a breathy little laugh as the alien brought up their tiny claws to bat playfully at Ben’s hands. He’d seen all his children at least once since their hatching, each of them coming for their own visit. His oldest only popped by one or twice and not for very long, Ben suspected they were only satisfying their own curiosity on their parent. The fifth had made multiple visits and loved to zip around his room and play with anything they could get their little claws on. Eight and Nine almost always came together, trading off between toying with him and toying with each other. Fourteen, the youngest and nicknamed Little Chill for his tiny stature, visited by far the most often. About every month and a half or so Ben could usually expect a visit from the littlest of his brood. 

“Don’t you get tired flying from Earth to space so often?” Ben questioned worriedly. He scooted the baby closer and examined them a bit more closely. However, their wings were intact, a bit longer from the last time and they seemed a nice healthy weight. Little Chill fluttered their wings lightly at his probing touch. They were still at that age where a parent’s fussing was enjoyable rather than annoying. Ben could only hope Necrofriggians didn’t end up resenting their parents in their teens like some humans did. 

Tired of being examined, Little Chill shook off his hands and crawled closer until they flopped on top of Ben’s chest. They breathed out a contented sigh, their wings draping over Ben’s shoulder and sides as if wrapping him in a hug. “There were are, baby, come to Mama,” Ben whispered quietly into his child’s fuzzy little head. It didn’t matter that they were different species, that Ben had fingers and toes while the baby had wings and claws. They came from him; they had Ben’s eyes, some of his habits and they had his heart, right from the moment he laid eyes on them. Little Chill chittered softly against his chest and gentle vibration seemed to fill his heart until it was fit to burst. Mothers were such simple creatures.

Maybe that’s why he liked these secret midnight meetings, when Ben and his babies were alone. He didn’t need to pretend that he was okay with his children being off alone in space even if it was normal for their species. Humans didn’t abandon their children so young and Necrofriggians usually never saw their parent again. But he wasn’t a true Necrofriggian and they were a little bit human and humans always came home to their mothers. He never claimed the title out loud but he felt it every time he held his little ones in his arms. Ben raked his fingernails up and down Little Chill’s back, between the wings and got some happy little clicks in response.

“That feel good?” Ben smiled softly. “Wait until those wings get a bit bigger; I’ll show you how to wrap yourself with them like Mama does.” He planted little kisses on their head, getting Little Chill’s mothy dust all over his cheeks but parenthood was often messy. Even for the heart. “Just for a bit, okay baby?” Ben whispered sadly against their head. “I’m too hot for you to lay on me for long and you need to get back into space before dawn.”

A simpering little whine as Little Chill nuzzled closer. They always seemed to get the gist of whatever Ben was saying just like Ben could sense the baby’s reluctance to end the cuddle session. He’s not sure if the understanding was an alien thing or a parent thing. Holding onto his little one, Ben turned to his side and held the tiny, little life close. The two of them breathing and existing together almost as one like they had once before. Ben had saved a lot of lives in his hero career but holding the lives he made himself always hit a little bit different. It made him wonder how his own mother let him walk out of the door every day knowing he very easily could not come back. 

Ben held on as long as he could until his high body temperature began to overheat the baby. Even panting a bit from the heat and their little wings twitching in discomfort, Little Chill still did not let go. It was Ben’s job to keep them safe even if it broke his heart to do so. He could change into Big Chill, let the visit last a little longer but it always made it harder to let go in the end. Another second enjoying the cool weight against him before he lifted the baby off of him and held them up in the air.

“Go on,” he said tenderly, giving them a little bounce like he was a normal parent with a normal child that he could keep. But he was a full time superhero, not to mention still something of a kid himself and Necrofriggians weren’t suited for Earth’s climate. These special little meetings, never long enough, would have to do. “Fly.” 

Taking the cue, Little Chill flapped their wings and rose out of Ben’s hands. He stretched his fingers out, chasing that last little bit of touch like an addict craving a high. They floated there a minute, chittering something or other that Ben did and didn’t understand. There was joy and sorrow, comfort and a plead to stay. Then they looked out the window, up at the night sky and found something else worth chasing. One last look at Ben and they phased out the window and were fluttering away towards the Earth’s atmosphere. Ben got up and crossed the room to watch their flight until they were nothing but another star in the sky. He rubbed his thumb on the leftover dust on his fingers and acted like his heart wasn’t breaking.

It would be better in the morning, it always was. He thought of them often, ached for them, but knew they were where they were supposed to be. It didn’t dull the pain of separation any less. It was still too early to get up so Ben Tennyson, hero of the universe, mother of 14, crawled back into bed and curled around the lingering cold spot left in the blankets and dreamt of fluttering wings and big, green eyes.