Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Kenji would be lying if he said he was doing okay.

A lie he’s told many times up to this point. So much has happened. So much will continue to happen.

He was scared, to be honest.

Scared of what will happen to these dinosaurs, scared of the people after them, scared of what will happen to his friends… But he wasn’t a coward, at least he didn’t consider himself one. He knows from experience that the best way to combat your fears is head on. So in any given moment where he feels fear is overtaking him, he jumps headfirst into the fire… sometimes literally.

The chips hadn’t been a big deal. It was a super calculated low risk high reward mission. Sure they were found out moments later but hey, that had nothing to do with Kenji.

Bumpy’s egg had been different.

Kenji couldn’t explain it, but he had some sort of connection to Bumpy’s egg. From that egg would hatch a new life, and Kenji wanted to protect that life. From the moment it was laid he knew he would do anything for it, no questions asked. Maybe somewhere deep down inside him he had the desire to give the egg something he didn’t have. Maybe he didn’t want to think about that right now.

So no, Kenji didn’t hesitate to jump into that fire for Bumpy’s egg. Nor did he hesitate to jump into the raging sea when the egg had gone overboard. Whether those decisions were related to his emerging fears or not didn’t matter. What mattered was that the eggs were safe.

Yaz tried to talk to him about it later on the lifeboat. Kenji had been holding onto the eggs protectively ever since he brought them back.

“Hey.”

Kenji glanced over at her. He could already tell by the tone of her voice what kind of a conversation this was going to be.

“Are you okay? For real. I mean running into fires, jumping off boats. Lots of daredevil stuff.”

Yaz looked at him with all the patience and understanding in the world, waiting for his reply.

“It’s just…”

Kenji considered telling her everything. He knows she would be supportive, tell him that his fears are valid, that they’d always be there for him. But he just couldn’t. Saying it out loud, putting all that into the world, it made it real. He wasn’t ready for that. Not yet.

So he put on the classic Kenji smile and began to speak. “Bumpy’s egg is in there. I couldn’t let it get hurt.”

Not the full truth but also not a complete lie.

Kenji gestured to his head. “Despite the water in here, I hear you. Safety first, yeah?”

Knowing Yaz wouldn’t be satisfied with that answer, he walked away before she could get the chance to question him further. He approached the rest of his friends, who were trying to figure out where exactly they were supposed to be headed. Darius gave Brooklynn’s phone to Ben to figure out what he could while everyone else discussed what they knew.

Kenji truly had no idea what was ahead of them. Castaway at sea is just about as lost as you can get. It’s funny how, looking out, there are no obstacles in their way, open air for miles upon miles. But no matter how open the air is, the sea will continue rocking against them, and they have no choice but to become slaves to the current.

__________

Ben doesn’t know what to think.

I mean, what do you do when you find out that maybe your dead friend is possibly alive? But it’s also completely probable you were just seeing things? To say he’s freaking out is honestly an understatement.

In another world he’d be screaming the good news from the rooftops, but he needs that proof more than he needs the sun. Well, maybe at this particular moment he needs both.

Ben has been trying to get the solar powered charger some sunlight for he doesn’t even know how long. The faster he charges the phone the faster he can analyze the video better and the faster he can find out if he’s crazy or not. For the love of god he hopes he’s not crazy.

But for some reason the universe seems to love taunting him, throwing him occasional rays of sunshine that last about four seconds. After he finally got the phone turned back on, the cruel universe once again spat on him in the form of a ‘No Service Available’ pop up.

“No! Stupid phone!” He was still trying to be quiet, as the rest of his friends had been sleeping, but apparently he hadn’t been doing a very good job. A yawn escapes from a voice behind him.

“Morning. Or um… afternoon?”

“Sorry Yaz. I didn’t know you were awake.”

“Yeah, not exactly the easiest place to sleep.” She rested her head on the windowsill of the lifeboat next to Ben. “Find anything out on the phone?”

“Nothing I can confirm. The cell service, much like the sun, is a little spotty. So, I haven’t made any headway.” He shows her the phone screen and in a flat voice he complains, “Two percent.”

Yaz chuckles at this and Ben takes a deep, contemplative breath.

He couldn’t tell anyone until he was one hundred percent sure what he saw was real. Imagine how much everyone would hate him if he instilled false hope. Imagine how much he’d hate himself.

“The last thing I want to do is steer us down the wrong path because I thought I saw something that I actually didn’t.”

The other was clearly clueless without context. “Uh…okay. Well luckily the currents doing half the work for us. Hopefully we can figure out where to go next once we’re on shore.”

“Yeah…”

…

Turns out the shore wasn’t much better.

Ben had been trying for a signal since they got here and so far he’s had no luck. Somehow, miraculously, he managed to get a signal, but he lost it just seconds after. He was getting frustrated, and was considering calling it a day. He gazed at the tree tops, defeated. That’s when he got an idea.

It had been a while since he last climbed a tree, that much is true. It took more out of him than he’d like to admit, but he made it up. And after a bit of reorientation and fending off flocks of birds, he achieved his signal. And, well.

That was definitely Brooklynn. Posted one week ago. She was definitely alive.

Ben was hit with a quick series of intense emotions. First came relief. Brooklyn was alive! He wasn’t crazy! They could all be together again and the Camp Fam would finally be whole again! Next came the confusion, what really happened that day if Brooklynn lived? What has she been doing all this time? Then, for a brief moment, Ben let himself feel betrayed. How could she keep them in the dark for so long? They mourned her for goodness sake. They felt grief and sorrow and regret. Once Ben realized his thoughts he quickly discarded them. Surely she had a reason for all this, there’s no way Brooklynn would leave them like that unless it was absolutely one hundred percent necessary. Surely.

He’s got to tell the others.

…

Ben doesn’t know what happened.

He planned to tell them, he really did. Ben was going to walk up to them and tell them what he saw. He really was. But…

Could he really do that to everyone?

He means, everyone had come so far hadn’t they? They made it all the way out here and had gone through hell for this. They had been through so much. So, so much. And despite it all, each of them were able to smile. Smile like there was nothing wrong in the world, like they weren’t constantly just barely escaping death, like maybe this was some sort of vacation for them.

Who was Ben to taint that?

So in the end, he couldn’t do it.

He resigned himself as he barely tuned in to the bubbling conversation around the campfire of their upcoming journey upriver. He tried to match his face and energy to everyone else but his knowledge weighed on him. It weighed on him heavily. So heavily that he was being dragged deeper and deeper and the surface was disappearing and he couldn’t breath and he was drowning.

What kind of friend would he be if he dragged the others down with him?

Chapter Text

Ben had contemplated trying to get in touch with Brooklyn. He had no way of knowing if it was of any use. Was she in a place where she could reply? Even if she was, would she reply? She hadn’t reached out so far, would Ben knowing she’s alive suddenly change that? Only one way to find out.

So he sent her a message.

As of now Ben was at a crossroad. He could go after Brooklynn by himself, try to talk to her in person. But if the authorities couldn’t track down the DLN, how could he? And how would he explain his sudden leave to the rest of his friends? ‘Hey guys, Brooklynn might be alive so I’m gonna go find her real quick, don’t wait up!’ Yeah right.

And then there was the matter of telling them. He definitely saw her in the background of that DLN video, and that was enough for Ben to believe she’s alive. But that doesn’t mean that it would be enough for everyone else. She’s supposed to be dead, after all, one foggy video that’s only seconds long would hardly be enough to convince them.

So he’s been keeping up with any DLN news, scouring video after video in hopes of finding something that no one could argue against or call him crazy for. So far, no such luck. For that reason he decided to send her a message. There’s a chance she won’t get it, and an even higher chance she won’t reply, but as of now this was the only thing he could decide on.

For now, hiding out on the side of the Mballos house, he would continue to analyze each DLN video and article for something, anything, that would clue him in on Brooklynn. He was in the middle of reading a report on their latest raid when a voice startled him.

“Hey, Ben!”

Ben let out a small scream as he hid Brooklynn’s phone from any potential prying eyes, but Yaz was too far from him to see anything.

“Can you see what you can scavenge from the lifeboat?”

“On it.”

…

The walk back to the life boat wasn’t that bad. With all the things weighing on his mind he made quick work of the short hike.

He began to gather supplies from the boat, carrying as many water bottles as he could. If only he could find some rope… While searching, he dropped a few bottles, one rolling under a seat. When Ben bent down to grab the bottle, he spotted something attached to the underside of the seat. As he picked it up and examined it, he found it was some sort of device with a flashing bright red light.

Uh oh.

__________

Kenji hated racing Yaz.

She always cheated! And got too distracted by racing that she would forget what they were actually supposed to be doing!

So Kenji let her run off while he went, at his own pace, to gather some fruit with the eggs. He found it calming here, with Aminata and Zayna. They were decent people, and they were able to coexist with the dinos. Just being here made Kenji feel a little better. It’s not like his fears had completely disappeared, but here they were quieter, only in the back of his mind and not consuming his every waking thought. Here, with his friends and the eggs, it was at least bearable.

He had found a decent amount of fruit and was making his way back. He decided to supply his trip with the soundtrack of his awesome rapping skills.

“Big egg like a dinosaur did it, Kenjiii!

My eggs are runny, gonna steal your honey

Gotta separate the yolks cuz I’m rapping for my-”

All too suddenly, darkness.

When Kenji came to, the case that he’d tried so hard to not let out of his sight was gone.

…

Kenji made his way back as fast as his legs would carry him.

“Someone stole the eggs!”

“What?” Yaz exclaims, already seemingly out of breath.

Kenji didn’t know what to do. They needed to get the eggs back. How could he let them be taken away? Who knows what whoever took them is going to do with them? He needs to get the eggs back.

Darius was clearly overwhelmed by the state of things. “How did this happen, I don’t-”

Ben stomped a foot, “Because we were tracked!”

The whole group went silent at his statement.

“This was on the lifeboat.” He shows off the small black device, clearly broken where Ben must have smashed it.

Darius was the first to react. “A tracker? That means the Broker knows where we are.”

“We can’t stay and wait for them to find us. We have to go upriver, and rescue Geba and the eggs”

Yes. Good. The eggs. Good thinking Ben. And Geba’s missing, too? They need to go get them. Now.

“Alright only take essentials, we gotta get outta here now.”

And so they hurriedly broke off, grabbing what they could. Ben was helping Kenji with the water when Zayna announced she'd be joining them. That was good. If she was with them, they could probably get the eggs and Geba faster. The faster they go the higher chances of the eggs being safe. Faster was ideal. Faster was essential.

Chapter Text

“Okay! Let’s go, people! Time's-a-ticking!”

“We know Kenji.” Darius groaned as he was stocking one of the boats. He was putting in the water bottles one by one as if lives weren’t on the line!

Kenji placed a box with the rest of their supplies, “There’s also something to be said for alacrity. It means ‘brisk readiness’. Word of the day calendar.”

He wasn’t trying to be annoying but, there’s only so many ways he can express his impatience without… going too far.

Darius was clearly getting annoyed regardless. “Yeah, I know what it means.”

“Do you though?” Kenji grabbed another box from Zayna.

“I’m going as fast as I can!”

“Well, it’s not fast enough! Who knows what kind of bad things are happening to Geba.”

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves, Kenj.” Sammy then gritted her teeth, clearly warning Kenji to tone it down. “You’re scaring the poor girl.” Referring to Zayna.

“Well she needs to learn that life is sometimes a cruel mistress.”

It’s not like Kenji wanted to scare her. He was just stating the reality of the situation. Hell, he was scared, too! That’s why they needed to leave as soon as possible. Why couldn't everybody see that?

They left Mrs. Mballo and were finally getting started on their journey. But, for some god forsaken reason, Ben felt the need to keep what must be two school buses (yes that is a valid form of measurement) worth of space between their boat and Darius, Zayna, and Sammy’s.

“Ben! We gotta keep up with the others. Go faster!”

“We’re not that far behind, Kenji. You remember the Gyrosphere on Nublar? I will not have that happen again.”

Kenji rolled his eyes. Of course he remembered the gyrospheres. He thought about them more than he cared to admit. Then he saw Ben take out Brooklynn’s phone. He’d been glued to the damn thing lately. Kenji slowly crept up behind him so see what could have him so invested. On the screen read an obviously sketchy message.

“ Do YOU want to make six figures in just two weeks?! Heck, yeah!” Kenji exclaimed, scaring Ben in the process.

Ben hugged the phone close to his chest, “Why does everyone keep looking over my shoulder like that?! You ever heard of privacy?”

Kenji raised his hands in surrender, “Sorry, sorry.” He then leaned in closer to Ben’s face, gesturing to the phone with his chin, “But uh, hate to break it to you, that message might be a scam.”

Ben didn’t back down, his voice dripping with sarcasm, “You think?”

“I do think.”

Kenji held Ben’s gaze for just a few moments before backing off, making his way back towards the front of the boat. “Now that that’s settled, Captain Kenji’s gonna need you to focus on the ol’ rudder.”

Just as he said that, as if right on cue, Ben let their boat ram directly into a tree. Kenji, after getting their boat unstuck, gives Ben a sterner look this time.

“Bro. Focus.”

Ben puts the phone away, apologetic, “Right. Sorry.”

_________

Ben was currently trying to explode Kenji with his mind.

He’d been nagging him for the whole trip, blaming him for how slow they’re going, glaring at him, accusing him of not caring about Bumpy’s egg, Ben was more than a little pissed at that last one. It wasn’t long before he had enough and told Kenji to steer the damn thing if he wanted to complain so much. Then Kenji had asked about what he was doing on the phone. And for some reason, Ben almost accidentally told him. He wouldn’t admit it to anyone but Kenji did tend to… have that effect on him. Sometimes. Rarely. Irrelevant. BUT he saved it at the last second and told Kenji he was finding what he could about the Broker, an answer that seemed to satisfy Kenji, at least for now.

Then they came across the Brachios, and Kenji insisted they go through them.

He even chose to emphasize that the Brachios are harmless by bellowing at them with a little dino dance to accompany it. Ben almost found himself thinking it was cute.

Almost. Right, wasn’t he mad at this guy?

Anyway, they were making their way through the Brachios, when all of sudden they got scared and started thrashing about. Darius’ boat in particular was getting tossed around in the water, and was just about to get stomped on when Kenji rammed them out of the way. They all piled into one boat and were able to get a safe distance away when Kenji did it. He jumped in the water and swam to the other boat, surrounded by Brachios, just to get the flare gun.

Ben didn’t like this. He knows the others have noticed it, too. Lately Kenji had been risking his life at every opportunity he got. Honestly, it scared Ben.

Kenji, despite it all, did make it to the other boat and shot the flare gun. Zayna steered their boat up to him as soon as the path was clear. Yaz joined Kenji on the other boat. Hopefully she would talk some sense into him. As for Kenji, he looked proud, he even said it was fun. That scared Ben, too. He really hoped Yaz would get through to him.

…

They carried on until they reached a resting point. As soon as they docked, Ben went to the other boat to retrieve Brooklynn’s phone, which he had left there during the mess with the Brachios. He checked the notifications, still nothing.

Then, he got an incoming call. From Brooklynn.

He quickly excused himself from the others. After he was what he considered far enough he took a deep breath and answered the call. Brooklyn’s face appeared on the screen.

She’s not dead. she's not dead! “B? You’re alive!”

“Ben. No time to explain everything but you’re all in danger.” Brooklynn pants on the other end.

Ben somehow finds it in himself to chuckle at this, “We know, we know.”

“Do the others know about me?”

The panic in her voice started to become apparent, worrying Ben. “No. I-I’m the only one th-”

“Good. Keep it that way.”

“What?! Why? I-I don’t understand. Where are you? Are you safe? What’s going on?”

“I’m fine. I’m fine!” Brooklyn all but yelled in a tone that clearly indicated the opposite.

“Brooklynn? We can help. We’re in Sen-”

Desperation began to seep out of the journalist’s every word, “No! Don’t tell me anything. If I know then- I-I need more time to figure things out but I can’t do that and keep you guys safe. Just don’t do anything stupid and stay away! It’s for your own good, you have to trust me!”

“Brooklynn-” Ben pleaded.

“Tell no one!”

“Brookl-” Ben was interrupted by the abrupt end of the call.

He tried to call her back but was instead met with a user not found page. She deleted her account.

Brooklyn was in danger. She’s been in danger for who knows how long. They needed to find her. Ben’s breath began to speed up and the world around him began to spin. She wouldn’t die before he could see her again, right? She would be okay, right? How would he tell his friends that she was alive if she died for real before they could even-

“Come on, Ben!” His thoughts were interrupted by a voice calling out to him. He steadied himself as much as he could before heading back to the boats.

Chapter Text

Now back on the river, Ben’s mind fought over what to do. Brooklyn was insistent that he not tell anyone, but how could he not? It was clear she was in danger and they had to help her! But she must have had a reason for wanting him to keep it to himself. But h-

“Hey. You alright bud?” Yaz asked from behind him. His internal dilemma must have been more apparent than he realized.

Ben paused, thinking. “Okay. I think… I need to tell you something.”

At that very moment, because of course it had to be right then, something began to rock their boat.

Darius kept a close eye on the river. “Whoa. There’s something there.”

They all watched in silence as the creature under the water approached the side of their boats.

“Oh, come on. We just got back in the water.” Sammy complained.

The creature in question revealed itself to be a hippo. Sammy even called it cute before it bared its teeth in a threatening bellow and made a jump for their boats.

They tried to get away from it, but it moved just as fast if not faster than their boats in the water. The beast made a dip below water and emerged right in between the escaping boats, tossing them to the side. Kenji, as some sort of last minute resort, began to throw their fruit into the water. Surprisingly, this actually worked… until Kenji accidentally hit the hippo right in the head.

The outraged hippo then put its weight on the back end of Ben, Yaz, and Kenji’s boat, aiming to get the contents of the boat (the fruit and also them) into its mouth. Ben began to slide down from the other end, his midsection landing on the thwart of the boat, knocking Brooklynn’s phone from his fanny pack directly into the hippo’s mouth.

“No!”

Kenji, with seemingly no hesitation, tried to make a grab for the phone, reaching his hand dangerously into the hippo’s open mouth. Yaz yelled at him to stop and forcefully pulled him back just as the hippo was closing its mouth.

The phone was gone.

His only connection to Brooklynn is gone. What does he do now?

Somehow, while Ben was lost in thought, they managed to escape the hippo. Now they had wrecked boats to deal with.

…

They made it to Zayna’s uncle’s place. Ben debated going back for the phone. How he would get it, he didn’t know. Yaz said he couldn’t, but that phone had everything on it. What if Brooklynn called and wanted to explain where she’d been? What if she called to ask for help? Not to mention that without that phone, there was absolutely no way the others would believe him. How was he going to tell them, now?

Zayna lent him her phone. Not that it mattered, though. It was Brooklynn’s phone he needed. His head was spinning at a million miles a minute and he began to pace back and forth. He had finally decided on telling them! So, why-

“Ben, please tell me you’ve given up on trailing the hippo to a bathroom.”

Ben stopped his pacing to face her, “I’ve got to get it back!”

“Hey, hey hey!” Yaz puts up her hands in a calming manner, “Just take a deep breath, okay?” Ben began to pace again. “No one’s mad at you for dropping Brooklynn’s phone. It’s okay. All good.”

All good? All good? As if! “No, it’s not!” Ben began to put distance between them.

Yaz followed right behind, “What is going on? Why do you need it so bad?”

Ben stops, “I just… do! I-I-I can’t- ” Ben was struggling to breathe.

Yaz snapped her fingers at him, “Ben! I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s up.”

Ben was mindlessly grabbing supplies and handing it to Yaz. “I-I want to! But I promised B-”

Ben stopped himself. Yaz gave him a confused look.

“You wouldn’t believe me, anyway.” Ben went back to grabbing supplies, “I mean, I wouldn’t believe me! You’d just say ‘Where’s your proof?’ ” Ben placed two oars in Yaz’s already crowded arms. “Well, all my proof is gone! Dissolving in the stomach of a weirdly aggressive beast!”

“Okay wait just, slow down, okay? Proof? Proof of what?” Yaz looked at him over the now mountain of things she was carrying.

“Okay.” Ben began to ramble, “Say you had a… friend who found out a secret that changed their whole perception of reality. Like seriously mind-blowing stuff. And they were forced to keep the secret. Say that friend wanted to tell you, but was nervous to, because they didn’t know how everyone would react, or if everyone would be mad, or even believe them, or if it would even be safe to say anything! What if they waited to say anything and then something bad happens and they never get the chance!” Ben got in Yaz’s face, desperate. “What should I do! Um, I mean ‘they’. What should that friend do?”

“I-I don’t know!” Yaz shook her head, frazzled. “I’m so sorry, can you just run through it again?” She had been distracted.

Before Ben even got the chance to attempt that whole spiel again, they were interrupted by Sammy, who dragged Yaz away, leaving Ben with Zayna.

They stood next to each other awkwardly for a few moments. “So um,” the young girl started, clearly not knowing how to interact with the man, “You like oysters?” She holds up a blue bucket filled with the creatures.

“Um…”

Before he could reply, the Suchomimus attacked.

…

And they had left Yaz behind. Great.

Sammy was not happy but who could blame her? Ben would react the same if it were his girlfriend. Which he definitely had and did not make up to seem cooler and less lonely. Definitely.

They were making their way back when Darius all but forced Ben to switch boats with him so he could talk to Zayna, which, much against his wishes, left Ben alone with Kenji.

It’s not like he didn’t want to be around Kenji or anything. He just didn’t want to be left alone with him. Not after their earlier… fight? Argument? Whatever it was, it had left Ben unsure of where he stood with Kenji. Where he should stand with him.

“Well look who it is… the Kenjinator.” Ben tried as he reached out to Kenji.

“My main man, Benny.” While Kenji reciprocated the verbal sentiment, he turned away from Ben.

Ben retracted his hand, disappointed. He moved to start the engine.

_______

This was all just so horrible.

They continued on like that, on opposite sides of the boat in silence, a terrible mix of both tense and awkward, when Kenji heard some rustling in the nearby bushes.

“Hey, over there” He gestured towards the riverbank. The rustling continued, eerily, until the movement revealed itself to be just a small compy.

Great. Wrong again. “Never mind.”

“Kenji?” Ben asked, seemingly hesitant.

Kenji’s thoughts couldn’t help but leave his head. “I shouldn’t have done that.”

“Done what?”

“Run right at the Sucho. It was gonna leave us alone, but I did it anyway, and now Yaz is gone, and… It’s my fault. Why do the people I care about keep getting-” He stopped himself just in time to hide his voice breaking, not wanting Ben to know the full extent of how emotionally wrecked he was. Even though Ben probably already knew.

Kenji put his head down on the side of the boat. Why was his life so frustrating? “I don’t know how much more I can take.”

“You’ve been through a lot. It can’t be easy.” Ben stopped the boat, giving Kenji his full attention. “I get it. I got stuff I can’t figure out how to talk about, either. And I’m sure you’d rather talk to Yaz, anyway. She’s way better at this stuff than I am.”

Kenji shot Ben an appreciative grin. “You know, you’re surprisingly not that bad.”

“We’ll get her back.”

“I know. You know, you can talk to me about your stuff. If you want.” Kenji gives him his best attempt at a welcoming smile

“Ummm. You don’t. Want to hear my stuff.” Ben let out a curiously nervous chuckle.

Kenji turned his body around, fully facing Ben and giving him all of his attention. “No really. I can be a good listener. Try me out.”

“Well, uh…” After a few seconds of silence, Ben’s breath started to pick up, his fingernails digging deep into his legs.

“Whoa, whoa! You don’t have to tell me if you aren’t comfortable-” He pushed too far! There he goes messing everything up ag-

“No! No. I’m going to tell you. I am going to tell you, just-” He took a deep breath, seemingly stabilizing himself. He paused for a couple hour-long seconds before he spoke next.

“Brooklynn… is alive.”

Silence.

He must be mishearing. Kenji chuckles, “Wow something is seriously wrong with me. I thought I heard you just say Brooklynn was alive.”

“That is what I said.”

Silence.

“Ben…” Kenji’s expression shifted from one of lighthearted confusion to one of sympathy. Ben must have been having a harder time dealing with Brooklynn’s death than he thought.

“Stop. I’m not crazy or delusional or lying, don’t give me that. You can be mad, confused, whatever. Just don’t talk to me like I’m crazy. Please.”

“Why…” Kenji searched his mind for the right words. “...do you think that then? That she’s alive?”

“At first I saw her in the background of a DLN video, so I messaged her. I wasn’t really expecting a reply-”

“Ben, anyone could’ve used her account or-”

“Please just- let me finish.” After a couple seconds of contemplation, Kenji gave a small nod.

“I wasn’t really expecting a reply. And I didn’t get one. She video called me, asked me not to tell anyone, to keep it to myself. She didn’t tell me why. She didn’t tell me anything, really. I was gonna tell you guys sooner but things kept happening and I lost the phone and I was still trying to figure everything out even before then, but without the phone how could I ever-”

“Ben!” Kenji almost yelled, bringing Ben’s rant to an end. They locked eyes and Kenji took a couple breaths before he continued.

“I… Okay I really don’t know what to say right now. This is like…”

“A lot.” Ben finished. “Trust me, I know. But I wouldn’t be telling you this if I didn’t know 100% that it was true; if I hadn’t… seen it with my own eyes.” Ben’s gaze left Kenji’s at that last part, locking in on the bottom of the boat.

Kenji was at a loss for words. Ben genuinely believed that Brooklynn was alive. Obviously it’s Kenji’s first instinct to completely dismiss any of this. He had to learn first hand that this kind of denial could only cause harm. Kenji also knew that it’s a little late for Ben to still be on the first stage of grief and that he wouldn't just make something like this up. There had to be somebody out there messing with the man. Right?

Kenji looked over to the blonde across the boat. His eyes were still zeroed in on some random spot on the floor of the boat and his leg bounced rapidly, slightly shaking the small vessel. Ben, above all, didn’t want to be treated like he was crazy. But what he was saying was crazy. No doubt about it.

But there was a deeper part of Kenji that wanted to believe it. The logical part of his brain knew how impossible it sounded, but how could his heart ignore this? Worst case scenario he indulges in a fantasy and they’re left with the same grief they had before. When compared to the alternative, that he shuts this down and Ben turns out to be right, the choice seemed obvious.

The two sat in silence for a couple minutes before Kenji spoke again.

“Okay. I’m going to believe you.”

“What?”

“Look, I’m gonna be honest here. I’m not ruling out the possibility that this could just be some sick, twisted trick to get us to like- I don’t know- get distracted or emotionally screw with us or something. But, you clearly believe in this and… yeah. Right now, I think I need some time to process and junk but… I’m going to believe you. It just might take me a while.”

After a few moments of processing, a smile blossomed on Ben’s face. A smile so genuine and bright that Kenji swelled with pride at the fact that he was the one who caused it.

“Thanks Kenj. Really.”

Kenji couldn't help but mirror Ben’s sentiment.

“Anytime Ben.”

Maybe Kenji wasn’t a total screw up after all.