shadows59 - little moments director's cut

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Little Moments: Director's Cut

Story: Little Moments: Director's Cut

Storylink: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8440324/1/

Category: Ben 10

Genre: Romance/Adventure

Author: shadows59

Authorlink: https://www.fanfiction.net/u/389700/

Last updated: 03/17/2013

Words: 127486

Rating: T

Status: In Progress

Content: Chapter 1 to 25 of 25 chapters

Source: FanFiction.net

Summary: The adventure isn't over just because the summer is. And as the pressure of life and heroing builds, Ben and

Gwen start to count on each other more and more. Ben/Gwen.

https://www.fanfiction.net/u/389700/https://www.fanfiction.net/s/8440324/1/


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*Chapter 1*: Chapter 1: Home: Revised

Title: Little Moments

By: Shadows59

Summary: The adventure isn't over just because the summer is . And as the pressure of life and heroing bui lds, Ben and

Gwen start to count on each other more and more.

Category: Ben/Gwen.

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Up to Secrets of the Omnitrix.

Disclaimer: Ben 10 is owned by Man of Action and Cartoon Network.

Notes: There is no Ken Tennyson. Gwen is an only child jus t like she is in every single epis ode except one. And I don't

know why he is in that one. Also, I want to thank Firiette and Hapcelion for editing this.

Little Moments

Chapter One: Home, again.

Augus t 1998

It was the las t day of summ er and they were almost home.

Finally.

Soon everything would be back to normal. Gwen watched as the forest turned into fields and then even they gave away to

stores and homes. They were all the places she'd camped in, hiked through, or shopped at. It was so familiar that it hurt.

Familiar and safe. She'd lived in Bellwood all of her life and s he'd never had to outrun explos ions there, or fought. Really

fought anyway, with guns and fists. She'd never felt green tendrils wrap thems elves around her body or felt terror as they

dragged her undergr-

For just a moment she forgot the worn comfort of the Rust Bucket and its lived-in stink that somehow seemed like home,

even though it should have gagged her. Instead, she was back in the cramped darkness of the huge Wildvine's mouth,

ust as the last glimmer of light went away. She didn't scream. She remem bered that she didn't. If she did, she wouldn't

have been able to hear the heavy hamm ering nois es at the top of the tunnel that she knew - she KNEW was Ben. She

waited for him to rip away whatever was blocking the tunnel and jump in after her. It didn't matter how big the alien was;

between the two of them it didn't stand a chance. She kept thinking that even as the hammering got quieter.

And then it stopped.

She'd never felt so helpless and alone, but she didn't panic. Not even as the wet stink of rotting plants choked her. Not

then, anyway. She couldn't then.

Now... now s he jus t wanted to curl up in a ball and cry or scream. She didn't. She couldn't. Not with Grandpa Max sitting

in the driver's s eat next to her. She and Ben had been back from s pace for three days, but Grandpa s till looked

exhausted. He was so looked so tired and he didn't even know that they...

That she...

That she almost...

Gwen felt her eyes burn and s he closed them before any of the tears could sl ip free. She leaned her head against the

window so she could l isten to the purr of the Rust Bucket's engine and the sound of the wind ins tead of the hammering

of her heart. The nois e helped a little. Being next to her Grandpa helped more. It always did.

Almost always.

She didn't even have to try to remember the look on his face when they got back. His grin was the first thing s he saw

when the airlock opened and she laughed as he scooped them up in his arms. Grandpa hugged her until it hurt and she


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didn't care. Neither did Ben. For once he didn't complain or try to squirm away from the hug. He jus t stood there and

hugged back. It almost seemed l ike Grandpa was going for a new hugging record - not that she was going to complain -

when he set them down.

His s mile melted away before her feet even touched the ground, and she all the new worry lines that marred his face.

Wrinkles she knew s he'd made.

He was n't angry. He never even raised his voice. It would have been s o much eas ier if he had. Instead he s tayed calm

and reasonable as he used phrases like: 'I can't believe you were s o irresponsible,' 'I spent hours looking for you,' and –

wors t of all – 'I expected better from you.'

Gwen stood there and didn't say a word. She wanted to tell him that she'd left a note, but she knew that Grandpa would

have jus t said that she should have told him to his face. He'd say it even though he had to know that she couldn't. That

she knew that if she did, he might have said no and she couldn't risk it.

Not when the Doofus needed her.

She could have said that. She knew that her Grandpa knew that it was true - he'd spent almost as much time over the

summer trying to watch Ben's back as she had - but she didn't. She didn't because he didn't say anything she hadn't

been thinking since she sneaked aboard Tetrax's ship. It was such a relief to hear som eone else say the actual words

that she s tayed quiet.

But Ben didn't. She expected Ben to gloat like he always did when s he got in trouble, so when she saw her cousin open

his m outh she already knew exactly what he was going to say. She knew and she was ready to start screaming rightback at him.

Except he didn't. Ben didn't gloat or dance around. He didn't even look at her. Instead he tried to stand up for her. Not that

it helped, he barely got two words out before Grandpa sent him to the Rust Bucket for his trouble.

But before that, Grandpa had said the wors t thing of all to them. "Something could have happened to you."

Ben glanced at her for just a moment, just long enough for her to see the guilt and worry in his eyes, before he turned

and s tomped into the Rust Bucket. She didn't panic once when any of it happened, but somehow that look...

That was when s he had her first full sensory flashback - the thorns at her arms , the air more choking that the vines that

surrounded her, and the crushing feeling as the air and light went away.

She was only ten and she almos t…

Grandpa watched them both, his own face going pale, and waited for one of them to say something. He was s till waiting,

because neither said a word about what had happened to her in Azmuth's laboratory.

And she never would, if she could help it.

In just a bit, it wouldn't matter anyway. It would jus t be a crazy memory that would fade away as everything went back to

normal. Tonight she'd sleep in her own bed ins tead of a cramped bunk, in her own room where a certain cousin couldn't

step on her or kick her in the middle of the night when he had to go to the bathroom.

Normal. She knew that if she opened her eyes she'd see normal people as they walked down normal streets during

their normal days.

No more al iens, no more monsters. By Monday the only spelling she would have to do would be in English clas s. In just

a few more minutes everything…

"Gwen?" Max said, his voice was little more than a whisper.

Gwen opened her eyes and held her breath, terrified that she'd let out a whimper, or a cry, or done som ething to scare

her Grandfather. "Yeah, Grandpa?"

If she did, he didn't say a word about it. Instead, he s aid, "I know it wasn't how you planned to spend the summer, Gwen-"

Gwen almos t laughed at the words. She couldn't have imagined this summer, any of it, much less planned for it. No, she

planned to spend her summer at Learning Camp. She remembered the months she spent mooning over the camp's

brochures; at pictures of telescopes, microscopes and a computer lab fancy enough that she actually drooled, which

was all cool, but so not the best thing. No, the bes t thing was that there was the smalles t chance that she wouldn't be


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called a know-it-all or teacher's pet there jus t because s he liked s tudying and could follow directions. And after that she'd

planned for all the hiking and shopping and reading she could stand in between trips to the movies and beach. That's

how she was going to spend this summer, not...

Grandpa must have seen something in her face, because his brow furrowed as lines surrounded his eyes and the

corners of his mouth got deeper, "-but I hope that you've enjoyed these last few months."

She looked at the lines on his face, remembering his smile when he told her about the trip months ago. After she'd

already planned out so many things to do that she made color-coded charts jus t to keep track of it all. Her parents had

watched her do it, they'd even helped her wi th her charts, only to dump this trip on her jus t a week before school ended.

She'd been dying to go to the Learning Camp ...

Not that she wouldn't have loved to spend s ome of her summer with her Grandpa. She'd scheduled in a whole week in

July, and a few weekends besides, but he was n't the problem. No, the problem was lying down in the back of the Rus t

Bucket.

Ben couldn't not be a brat for a holiday dinner, how could they expect her to put up with him for three months?

Twelve weeks.

Eighty-four days.

The sheer horror of just how many minutes of HER life she would have to endure in Ben's presence made her want to

curl up into a ball and cry. It didn't matter how jealous s he'd been last summer when she heard about the month thathe'd spent driving around with Grandpa, she was ready to say no.

She was ready to say it every time she saw Grandpa for the las t year. She was ready each time she heard him talking to

her parents about this summer - about him and Ben being gone for three whole months this time - but he never said a

word about it to her. Which was fine. It left her plenty of time to plan out her own s ummer. She did it to the hour jus t to

make sure that she'd have the best break ever. One that was amazing enough to make Ben beyond jealous when he

heard about it.

She was all set to say no. And then Grandpa showed up with just seconds to spare and her 'yes' came out as an excited

- and embarrassing - squeal.

That excitement las ted right until the annoying little freak jumped into the Rus t Bucket. Three whole months...

The old upholstery on the driver's s eat rustled as Grandpa Max shifted. She didn't have to look at him to know how s adhe mus t have looked when she didn't answer. She squirmed in her seat as she tried to think of something to say. She

squirmed and felt the one thing she hadn't packed away dig into her leg. Her hand went down and s he felt the solid

shape of the small leather book in her Capri's pocket. It was as i f the book wanted to remind her that it was still there.

Charmcaster's spellbook.

If she hadn't come on this s tupid vacation, she never would have seen the thing. She would have spent the summer with

her nose buried in a science book or a computer manual until even she was bored. She never would have changed the

world with jus t a word and a thought...

She never would have floated in s pace; never would have flown between the s tars; never would have seen an alien

world...

Never got grabbed by whatever gooey alien was chasing her equally gooey cousin that week…

Never saved lives…

Never fought…

Never hurt people for real…

Never felt good about it afterwards...

Never wanted to be s ick after she realized how good it felt…

Her fingers traced the outline of the book again as s he s tared out the window. She could roll down the window and throw

the book away. If she did - if she did, she could pretend that this s ummer never happened. She could pretend that the


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last three months were as dull as her father thought they would be.

It would be so easy. Except...

She glanced over at her Grandpa. She knew that this s ummer should have changed how she saw him. Before, she just

saw the man who always had some candy for her, who always made time to listen to her, and who was the only one who

always made it to her tournaments and recitals. Now she knew that he was a s oldier, that he was almost the first man

on the moon and that he was the first man to stand on an alien world. She found out he had risked his life so many

times to protect everyone and never said a word about it to anyone.

This summer should have changed everything. It didn't. He was her hero before the trip, and he still was . She just never

knew how big of a hero he was and it was worth all the craziness in the world to her to find out. "Thank you, Grandpa. It

was a great trip."

"You're welcome, honey," he said, and his face glowed at her words. Then the glow faded as he looked over at her.

"About before…" she froze, and her grin faded as she waited for him to lecture her again. "About what you did. I just want

to say I'm very proud of you."

Gwen just stared.

Grandpa looked at her and some of the lines eased. "You should have told me, but… but I know why you didn't. I wasn't

angry that you went. I was angry that I didn't."

"Grandpa," she said, her voice catching.

"I know Tetrax was right, I couldn't have gone anywhere near Incarcecon without having half the world after us, but I

should have done more."

"We were fine Grandpa. We handled it."

He never had to know that they almost didn't.

"I know you did," Grandpa s aid as he glanced at her again and grinned. "I just wanted... I hope you know how proud I am

of you. And how much I love you, both of you."

Gwen couldn't find the words, so she just got up, wrapped her Grandfather in a hug and kissed his cheek.

Grandpa Max smiled at her and pulled her into a one-armed hug. "Ben's lucky that he has you looking out for him."

"Wish he would act like it," Gwen said with a frown. He never said a word about her knocking him away from the Wildvine.

She didn't plan on it grabbing her instead, but she didn't regret it. She wouldn't have, even if...

It would have been worth it.

And she was n't waiting for him to say thanks either. She knew better, but she wanted something. Sure, she remembered

how happy Ben had been to see her when her and Gluto finally figured out how to get back to the surface and found him

in trouble. Again. How he'd run up to her and given her a hug that had surpass ed Grandpa's best, but since they'd gotten

back to Earth he would barely look at her, much less talk to her.

And when he did, he didn't say anything important. If she had to lis ten to him go on about his s tupid video games or all

the cool places they didn't get to see and all the bad guy butt they didn't get to kick one more time s he'd scream. She

didn't know what she wanted, but she wanted something. Something more than him acting like nothing even happened.

Like she didn't even matter.

But that's all s he got for two whole days, even when Grandpa was n't there and he could have said something. That's all

she got until las t night, when Gluto didn't reform so they could save each other. It was jus t her, all alone in the dark and

screaming as the vines kept getting tighter. She spent what felt like forever trapped there before she finally made hers elf

wake up.

And almost started shrieking because she could still feel something squeezing her. She didn't know that it was the

Doofus, that he'd climbed into the bunk with her and he was hugging her as hard as he could, until she heard his voice

whispering in her ear.

As he begged her to wake up and prom ised that everything was okay.


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Or he did until she jerked away from him with her heart still hammering in her ears. He didn't say a word after that. Not

even when she buried her face in his s houlder so he couldn't see the tears that were burning in her eyes, or when

Grandpa woke them both up for breakfast. He hadn't done anything more than grunt to anyone all day, which was fine

with her.

She just wished that he'd been like that for the whole trip.

A trip, she real ized, that was almost over, she realized was finally over as she looked out the window and saw a familiar

street. They were five minutes from Ben's house, maybe ten. "I better go get him."

"Yeah," Grandpa Max said, his voice thick as he s tared out the window. Then his smile came back, just a little. "Make

sure he'd packed all of his socks, will you? Las t year he left a pair stuck inside the bunk and I tore the Rus t Bucket apart

twice thinking a skunk had snuck in."

"Ew!" Gwen said with a shudder. She could s o believe it. She'd found the nas ty things s cattered everywhere over the

summer - even under her pillow once and THAT got a scream out of her that brought Grandpa running - and s he couldn't

imagine how bad one would smell if it had a chance to stew. "I'm not touching them. Not even with the tongs."

Grandpa smi led a little and shook his head. "Just make sure he packed them."

Her hand went to the book in her pocket. "Maybe there's a j inx in here that would give him a normal nose, just so he can

find out how gross he is."

"Go easy on him, Gwen."

Her only response was a flash of teeth as s he turned and hurried back to the sleeping compartment.

Not that Ben played along. For once he was n't asleep or even playing his stupid video games. He was just lying on his

bunk and s taring at the blank ceiling above him. She watched his right hand as it brushed against the Omnitrix on his left

arm. He didn't try to activate the alien device, his fingers just traced the dial on the front. It was like he just wanted to feel

it, to remember that it was there.

Her hand went back to the book in her pocket as his eyes met hers.

She'd learned so much about her Grandfather over the trip, but that was nothing compared to what she had dis covered

about the boy lying in front of her. Like how he was at least TWICE as pig-headed as she thought.

And that he was probably the bravest person she'd ever met.

But mostly the pig-headed thing. "Well, you're dressed at least." She allowed with a grumble as she glared at his feet

and shuddered. She couldn't believe that he lying in his bunk with his s hoes on. Again. The things were nas ty even

before the summer even started, but after all the goop they'd stepped in...

She shifted in her brand new sneakers - her tenth pair of new sneakers - but he'd kept his no matter how gros s they got.

If he wanted to wipe them over his blankets that was his problem, or it should have been, but he must have stomped the

nasty things all over HER bed as he pulled himself back up to his. "Ben!"

He saw her glaring at his shoes and she waited for him to make som e lame excuse or just laugh like he usually did.

Instead he jus t grunted as his eyes went back to the ceiling. Last day, last day, she repeated to herself as her eyes went

to her poor bunk.

And went saucer wide when she s aw the mess of clothes and comics that he'd dumped on it. She'd heard him going

through his stuff after she'd packed up hers, but - "I thought you - You're supposed to be packed up! We're almos t back to

your house! Haven't you done anything?"

Not that he paid any attention. She had to shout his name two more times before he finally shrugged and s aid, "It'll only

take a second," as he ran his fingers over the watch again.

"Yeah? Well, I hope you're not expecting me or Grandpa to clean this up!" she shouted and shoved a pile of his junk off of

her bed.

The clatter of his junk hitting the floor finally got his attention. He rolled out of his bunk and dropped to the floor with a

thump in front of her as he snapped, "I'll get it!"

"Sure you will! That's what you always say! I'm so glad that I'll be done with your pigsty soon!"


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Gwen almos t thought she saw him wince, but the boy just snorted, "Hey, I'm just counting the seconds," as he crossed

his arms.

"Well, so am I!"

"I've been counting since I saw you in the Rust Bucket!"

"I've been counting since Grandpa told me about the trip!"

Ben blinked at that. Probably because she'd been told but they'd let her presence be a surprise for him. Not that he let it

stop him for long. He took one stomping step towards her and snarled, "I've been counting s ince you ruined m y birthday!"

Gwen huffed at that and took a step forward herself. "I've been counting since YOU ruined MY birthday!" she said and

abbed her finger into his ches t. She stood there and glared at him, their noses just inches apart, as s he waited to see if

he'd dare to say anything else.

She saw his mouth move and...

And they both spun away. Gwen heard the springs of her bunk squeak in protest and more of his garbage hit the floor

behind her as s he s tormed off. He was in her bunk. It must have been too much work for the jerk to climb back up to his

own. She gritted her teeth and shouted, "Doofus!" as s he s tomped back to the front of the RV.

"Dweeb!"

The insult rang in her ears as s he collapsed into the pass enger seat. She hugged her arms to herself as she crossedher legs and kicked her foot back and forth so fast that it was a blur.

"I heard that went as well as ever," Grandpa Max said and there was an edge of laughter in his words for the first time in

days.

Gwen didn't say a word. She just blew her bangs out of her face and tried to figure out what was so funny about the freak

being a jerk.

The rest of the ride pas sed in si lence and, all too soon, they were home. Well, Ben's home anyway.

Gwen's foot didn't even touch the dirt before her mom had her swept up in a hug. "Where have you been, honey? We've

been waiting here for hours!"

Gwen's stomach tightened. "We're right on time, Mom." She glanced over her mother's shoulder. Her dad was standing

ust a few paces away, already in line for the next hug, while Uncle Carl and Aunt Sandra stood back by the porch.

Uncle Carl had his arms crossed and didn't say a word while Aunt Sandra had way too big of a smile plas tered on her

face. "Oh, your mother's jus t exaggerating again." Gwen would have winced even if her mother's hug hadn't become a

squeeze. "We've had a lovely vis it. Isn't that right, Frank?"

"Yeah, it's been great catching up with my brother," her father said, his tone as mild as ever even as he grinned at Gwen

while her uncle scowled and her aunt brushed her short blond hair back with a hand.

"You must have had so much fun," her mother said as her hug tightened to just shy of crushing before she finally pulled

ust far enough back to look Gwen over. She tilted her head jus t a bit to the side and s tared. "You look… you look older."

"It's only been three months, Mom," Gwen said as she wiggled out of her mother's vice-like grip and made herself roll

her eyes even though...

Sometimes - sometimes after a big fight she just stared at herself in the mirror and thought...

"You know that Gwen was born old, Lili," His father said with a grin as the sun glinted off of his glass es.

Gwen didn't have to make her eyes roll for that. It was almos t a reflex now after all the times her father made that joke. So

was the happy little squeak she made as he picked her up and spun her around. "How was it, Honey?"

"Good, except for the little freak," she said as soon as her feet were back on the ground.

"Be nice," her mom scolded even as her lips twitched.

Aunt Sandra glared at the two of them. "Where is m y Benny?" She took a step forward. "Is he okay?"


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"He's fine, Sandra," Grandpa s aid as he came around the R.V. "They just had a li ttle fight this morning."

"Ben and Gwen?" Uncle Carl said as he tried to sound s urprised.

Her father slipped in with a, "Thunderdome," and they both grinned.

Grandpa Max raised his hands. "They got along just fine, Frank." Ben chose that moment to come hop out of the Rus t

Bucket and it took every bit of the self-control she had to not yell at him again when he bumped into her. "There, see? All

limbs accounted for."

They were until Aunt Sandra nearly knocked Gwen and her mother down in her rush to get to her son. Gwen saw her

mom scowl, but for once she didn't say a word. Not when watching Ben try to squirm out of his mother's hug was so

much more fun. Especially when his face went tomato red as he whis pered, "Mom!"

The only thing that spoi led it was the fact that he refused to look at her. And what was the fun of smirking if he didn't see

it?

"Ben!" Aunt Sandra said in the exact same tone before she laughed before she looked her son over. And her eyes s ettled

on the Omnitrix a moment before Ben could hide it behind his back. "What's this?"

And Gwen felt her stomach drop. The only thing s he'd been dreading was not telling her parents, but Grandpa Max was

right; none of their parents would handle the whole 'alien superhero device' thing well. Or 'kick-butt sorceress .'

"A watch," Grandpa Max said and he almos t managed to sound as if the watch was the mos t normal thing ever. "He

picked it up when we first headed out."

Aunt Sandra looked at the complicated band on Ben's wrist with more than a little worry. "It looks expensive…"

"Dad," Uncle Carl s aid, stepping up to take a look. "We told you not to spoil him ."

"It wasn't all that much, a friend helped me pick it out." Grandpa Max looked s o calm that even Gwen almost believed

him. She couldn't help staring him, or feeling just a bit jealous. "Besides , can't a Grandfather spoil his grandkids these

days?"

"Maybe you should go put it up in your room, Ben."

"He's had it on all summer, Carl."

"Yeah, dad. And look, not a scratch." Ben's words tripped over each other as they came out.

Ben's parents looked at each other for a moment, before his mother finally shrugged. "As long as you take care of it."

Gwen saw Ben grin as she let out a little relieved s igh while Grandpa Max's face stayed exactly the same. She tried to

give Ben a l ittle wave, but he still refused to look at her. It was probably for the best. Especially when the words 'alien

superhero watch' were still rattling around in her head. If he met her eyes...

"And what did you get, Gwen?" her mother as ked.

Gwen's heart froze. Her mind raced even as she watched her mother's eyes narrow. Grandpa Max had got plenty of

things for her, clothes and books, but they were all packed up. And none of it was as nice as the Omni…

"Grandpa got me a really cool book," she said and pulled the spellbook out of her pocket. Gwen took a deep breath as

her mother took it from her hands and s tarted flipping through it. "We found it in a pawn s hop down in New Orleans .

Grandpa thinks it's a hundred years old…" She tried to stop talking, but the words just kept coming.

"It's beautiful, honey," her mother said over her as she admired the elegant script and ignored the words. She closed the

book and ran her hand across the cover, probably to make sure it was real leather, before she handed it back. "Take

good care of it. It's something you'll treasure for years."

"Would you guys like some lunch? Frank? Grandpa?" Uncle Carl asked as Gwen put the book away and felt so much

better when it was in its pocket. "We could whip something up, or we could order a pizza? I'm sure the kids have lots of

stories to tell."

Stories? Gwen felt a thousand butterflies hatch in her stomach. They had so m any and they couldn't tell any of them. Not

really. Even on the rare days where they didn't have to be heroes - she'd have to check her diary, but she was sure that

there were two or three - the Omnitrix and the spellbook were s till there, making sure that even the normal days weren't.


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She knew that Grandpa could leave out the weird s tuff, he had plenty of practice, but she didn't know if she could.

Or if she even wanted to.

Her father saved the day with a shake of his head. "Sorry, Carl. You know how bad traffic is, and I'm sure Gwen can't wait

to see her room again."

"And get out of these clothes." Gwen nodded a little too much as she brushed at her blue blouse. "It feels like I've been

wearing the same thing forever. Sorry, Grandpa. Maybe we can have pizza..." the word 'tonight' froze in her throat. There

wasn't going to be any more 'tonight's.' Or disgus ting food for her and Ben to complain about dinner. She'd eat ordinaryfood when she got home and she wouldn't see either of them...

She felt her Grandpa's arms around her before she could finish the thought. "Don't be a s tranger, Gwen," Grandpa said

into the top of her head as he pulled her clos e. "I want to hear all about your first day at school."

"I won't, Grandpa." She buried her face into his Hawaiian shirt and sniffed. "I'll come and visit you every week and tell you

everything. I promise."

"I'll hold you to that."

After several long heartbeats she forced hers elf to let him go. She wiped at her eyes and looked around the yard. A yard

that was s uddenly miss ing one person.

"Ben's gone ins ide," Aunt Sandra said as she gave the house a half-hearten wave. She only met Gwen's eyes for a

second before she shrugged and for the first time that morning looked embarras sed. "I think he had to... Well, I'm surethat he'll be back down in a few minutes if you want to-"

"We have to get going," Gwen's mother said in a clipped tone to cut her off. Gwen watched as her father nodded and

reached into the open side door of the Rust Bucket for the suitcases that she'd left neatly lined up and waiting at the top

of the step.

"Maybe -" Gwen s tarted to say as s he glanced up at Ben's house, at the window she was s ure was his bathroom, but

she felt her mom's arm go around her shoulders and she let herself get led to their car.

"You did have a good time, right Gwen?" her father a minute later as he got in and started the engine.

"I guess so." She turned around in her seat and s tared out the back window for as long as she could. She saw Grandpa

waving at them - and her aunt and uncle - but Ben never came back outside. She waved back just as the car turned the

corner and they were all gone.

It was over. After three months, summer was over. And she didn't...

"Good," her mom said. "Did you see anything interesting?"

And jus t like that, the butterflies were back.

The butterflies didn't go away until she finally went to bed. Gwen imagined them asleep s omewhere and she wished that

she could join them. Instead, she laid there and watched her alarm clock make its slow journey to two o'clock. Her eyes

ached with exhaustion, but nothing she tried helped her s leep.

Not even reading. Her new textbooks were waiting for her on her desk, but she gave up after she read the sam e page

from her computer text three times and she s till didn't remember any of it. She put down her spellbook even faster. The

faded text seemed to dance in front of her eyes before she finally shoved it into her nightstand and turned off the light.

And stared at the ceiling for a sol id hour.

There were so m any things about her house that she'd forgotten. It smelled so clean that it made her nos e tingle. There

wasn't any stink of gas – from the Rust Bucket or Ben – and no aroma of fresh octopus or meal worms. There was jus t

nothing with a hint of lemon.

And the bed was way too big. She had room to roll over. She had room to roll over three or four times. She felt lost in all of

it. She didn't have the wall to snuggle agains t anymore. Maybe - maybe in the m orning she would talk her dad into

helping her rearrange her room a little.


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Those things were annoying, but that wasn't what was keeping her up. No. It was just too quiet. There was no hum from

the air conditioner or the odd creaks that the Rus t Bucket would make all night long. Not that those were the sounds s he

was m issing. She wished they were.

No, she m iss ed the sound of Ben's… Not snoring. Not exactly.

It had been so annoying at first. Grandpa's was so m uch easier to ignore even though it got a lot louder. Ben's… itched

at her. She'd nearly smothered him with his own pillow after the first few nights. Thank God that they'd gotten earplugs…

Earplugs that she'd forgotten about by the third week.

And now, every time she'd almost fallen asleep s he real ized that it was miss ing and she woke back up with her heart

pounding. It wouldn't settle down, not even after she rem embered he wasn't in the bunk above her any more.

Gwen rolled over and screamed into her pillow in frustration.

"Great, just great. Tomorrow I'll have to download chainsaws just so I can get some s leep." She muttered the words just

to keep the silence from getting to her.

She thought it did when she heard a soft trilling sound fill the room. Then she remembered her cell phone. Her stomach

dropped at the sound. Her parents got it for her for the sum mer and the only people she could imagine using it now were

either Ben or Grandpa.

"Please be okay," she whimpered as she imagined Vilgax attacking Ben's home, or the Rust Bucket. And if it wasn't

Vilgax, it could be any of the dozens of other bad guys that they'd stopped over the summer. Like the Forever King, whoprobably wanted revenge for the way that they kicked his butt just a couple of weeks ago at Mount Rushmore.

As if that wasn't bad enough, she also had visions of what would happen to her if her parents caught her on the phone

this early in the morning. Getting grounded the weekend before school started would be so unfair and she knew they

wouldn't give her a break jus t because it was her first night home.

The sheets tangled around her legs as she rus hed to get out of bed, nearly sending her sprawling out onto the floor.

Some of her luck must have still been with her, because s he som ehow managed to catch hersel f and get to the phone

before its fifth ring.

She barely glanced at the number before she stabbed down on the talk button. "Ben, is everything all right? What's…?"

"Dweeb." The phone went dead almost before the word ended.

Gwen's jaw dropped as she stared at the phone in her hand. Then she jumped into her bed and snuggled back under

the covers. She dialed one on her speed-dial before she buried the phone between her head and the pillow, grinning

with anticipation.

He didn't answer for the first dozen rings , and when the phone went to voice mail she hung up and dialed again. She

was willing to wait all night if she had to, or at least until his parents caught him, which would be even better. He wasn't

supposed to be on the phone any more than she was .

"Doofus!" She giggled when he finally answered and hung up before he could say a word.

She set the phone on her nightstand, sure he wouldn't call again but ready just in case he did, and settled on to the edge

of her bed to finally get some sleep.


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*Chapter 2*: Chapter 2: Consequences: Revised

Chapter 2: Consequences

Author's notes: I jus t want to thank Firiette and Hapcel ion for proofreading this . Any mistakes are all m ine.

October, 1998

Gwen stared at her biology text-book and tried to study.

She did. She really did. Her eyes ran over the paragraphs and pictures and every few seconds she glanced over at her

notebook to double-check what s he'd written, but she couldn't focus on any of it. Not even wi th the multicolored highlights

that she'd covered her notes with jus t to get her attention; red for the things that she needed to check again, orange for

the things she was sure that the people she tutored would have trouble with, and green for things s he knew that she

knew. It made her writing look a bit like a Christmas tree, but she didn't mind. It was neat and organized and it made

things so much eas ier for her when she had a test to prepare for.

Like now.

She tapped her pencil on the des k and tried to get into the biology of plants for the fifth time. It was almos t fun during

class when they were cutting s amples up to look at under the m icroscope. Almos t. She usually loved that bit, the chance

to look at the world in a completely different way.

To see things that she'd never seen before.

The pencil tapped a little faster as she managed to get halfway through the line before her eyes drifted away. Her desk

was in front of the window just so she could look outside when she got stressed. She always thought that she had the

best view in the house even though the only thing she could see were the rose bushes in her back yard and the woods

that stretched out behind the fence.

It was always fun to watch, but it was beautiful now; with the bus hes blooming with bright yellow roses as the trees

changed color. Fall was always her favorite season.

She didn't even glance up. Instead her eyes went to her nightstand.

"No, Gwen," she whis pered to hersel f as she tightened her grip on the pencil until it creaked between her fingers . It

almos t hurt to look down again. "The main parts of a flower are the stigma..." she read out loud to herself for the first time

in years. She read out the entire first paragraph and then the next. Each word came a little bit quicker than the last until

they were rushing out of her mouth. Once she actually heard herself she s topped so fast that she almost bit the tip of her tongue as she buried her face in her hands and moaned, "I sound like Ben trying to get out of doing the dishes ."

It didn't make any sens e. She loved science and they were doing real science. Finally. It wasn't like it was English or PE.

The only thing she liked more were her computer classes . Last year she would have...

Last year. Last year her science clas ses seem ed exciting. Now...

Now she was out of her chair and hurrying over to her nightstand before she even realized what she was doing. She felt

guilty every step of the way, right up until she actually touched the little brass knob on the drawer and pulled it open. Las t

year the stuff she learned in science was the mos t amazing things s he'd ever seen.

Now it didn't even compare. She reached inside for the ancient spel l book that was waiting ins ide and s he felt...

The moment she touched the smooth leather she felt...

She didn't know how s he felt. The only thing that even came close was her first karate class. It was alm ost two years ago

and still remembered just how sore and stiff she'd been when it was over. She'd hurt so much that her mom had to help

her into the car like she was a baby. Worse than that was the whole gros s factor as sweat actually dripped off of her.

Even thinking about it made her glance around to make sure that no one could see how dis gusting she'd been. She

should have hated it. She should have quit. Her mother was certain she would. There were a pair of ballet shoes waiting

for her on the passenger seat when her mom came to pick her up, but...

But she grinned all the way home even as s he tried and failed to find a way to sit that didn't hurt. Then s he spent the next

two days jus t babbling about the class to anyone who would lis ten as she counted the seconds until the next one.

And that feeling didn't even compare to how she felt when she touched the spell book. How she felt every time she


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touched the book. She didn't even think about going back to her desk after she picked it up. She just got on her bed and

crawled to the middle of it before she s at down on top of the cross-legged and set the book on her calves.

The half-faded words called to her as she flipped through the book. She mouthed along with the spells s he knew even

though she was careful not to actually say them. There were a thousand things she missed from the summer, but the

bigges t was the privacy. If she found a cool spel l, all she had to do was ask Grandpa to find somewhere quiet so she

could try it out.

Which was so not an option now. Not while the only place she had to practice was her bedroom. It didn't matter how

much she wanted to, she couldn't hide the noise the magic would make. Or the damage. Not just from when the spellswent right, but from when they went all explody on her. It didn't matter when they were in the middle of nowhere, but she

finally got her room the way she liked it and s he wasn't about to mes s it up.

Or give her mother an excuse to sneak something pink back into it.

She flipped though all the spells she'd done and remembered the rush of them all. She been amazing even if it was jus t

for a month. She'd have that even if she could never cast a s pell again. It wasn't like the Doofus needed her to save his

butt anymore anyway, so s he put the book away a week after she got home.

The adventure was over and she had homework.

The book stayed put away for almost a month. Until one night when she wanted to remember what it was like to... She

went through all her us ual spells in an hour before she s tarted going through the rest. There were whole s ections in the

book that she never even had a chance to even think about. Things that were too complicated to do on the road or in afight. Things that either worked or didn't without the drama.

Like the spot she'd marked off weeks ago with a small, round stone that was about the size of a silver dollar which used

to be a bit of Mount Rushmore. She didn't know which President it came from, but it was jus t perfect for what she

needed. She polished the stone until it felt as smooth as glass under her fingertips. Smooth except for the lines that

she'd s o carefully carved into i t over the las t three weeks.

So carefully, but not carefully enough. The band-aid around her left index finger hid the cut, even if it did still hurt

sometimes. Not that a little cut was going to stop her from making her first charm.

From being a charmcaster.

Gwen couldn't wait to see the s ilver-haired girl's face when she found out about the name stealing.

The six lines she carved into the gray stone looked almos t random to her, but they matched one of the runes in her bookperfectly. It looked so s imple, but once she finished it the charm would glow like the sun when she wanted it to. Or

anyone else, invoking the charm was so easy even her cous in could us e it. Not that she would let him. There were so

many times that she wished s he had something like that over the summ er. Especially when Ben was hogging the

flashlight.

Just the thought of her cousin made her itch as she looked down at the book again. The quiet in her bedroom felt so

wrong as s he double-checked the last spell s he needed to finish the charm. She kept waiting for the Doofus to sneak up

and scream in her ear, or throw som ething at her just to make her mess up, or list off all 65 epis odes of Kangaroo

Comm ando and their plots at the top of his voice again. He'd spent a whole day doing just that after she 'picked up' the

spell book as he danced around just out of her reach. He was s o lucky she didn't know any spel ls back then. If she had...

He knew it, too, which was why that annoying little grin of his never left his face. The only time he quieted down and acted

human was when she started to say the words. Then he always went so s till even as his eyes became two huge green

saucers as he watched her. She knew he was just waiting for her to mes s something up, but still...

After all the times he'd shown off with that stupid watch of his, she finally had a chance to impress him. She was finally

the special one again.

She finished re-reading the book and wis hed that he...

She squeezed down on the rock in her hand for a moment before she brought it up and opened up her palm. "Shinne die

luminis," she said in a whisper that seemed to echo off the walls. The magic surged around her hand in a blue aura that

always left her skin tingling.

"Shinne die luminis," Her voice was louder as s he repeated the words. She watched as the energy wrapped itself

around the rock and made it dance in her hand jus t before it lifted the stone free entirely. The soon-to-be charm floated


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ust above her palm and spun as little sparks of power danced between it and her skin. They should have hurt, but she

ust wanted to laugh.

"Shinne die luminis." she s aid for the third time. She watched as the blue energy soaked into the ancient stone and

flowed into the lines s he'd carved until they pulsed with their own light and kept glowing even as the words faded away.

She'd done it.

"I am beyond good, Doofus!" Gwen laughed as she watched the stone float there in her magic. She wanted to pluck it out

of the air and test it, but she knew she didn't have to. She could almost feel the magic in the rock waiting for her to invokeit. "I'm so far beyond good that - "

The words vanished in a surprised s queal as the rock exploded in a flash of blue light and bits of gravel bounced off of

her skin. She heard them clatter against her walls like a brief second's rain before her room was quiet.

Quiet except for her quick breaths as she stared at the air where her charm was just a second ago. It shouldn't have...

Everything she read said that charms didn't do that and she didn't...

And she didn't even know what she did wrong.

That's what really hurt. She blinked away the dus t so she could s tare at the book again even though she'd been so

sure...

Unless she mis pronounced a word. Or something was wrong with her carving. Or -

She could have Doofus-ed it up in so many different ways. She could almost hear him laughing at her and she just

wished -

There was a whole notebook she'd filled up with questions that she wished she could show s omeone. No one else

learned magic by reading a stolen book and trying to say the words until something happened, she was s ure of that. For

all she knew, none of the spells she cast even worked right. She might have just gotten lucky so m any times and thought

that she'd done a good job or... or the magic felt sorry for her. She didn't understand any of it and she jus t wanted

SOMEONE she could -

"Gwen?"

Gwen knew that names had power and hearing hers right then proved it. She thought her heart was racing after the spell

exploded in her face, but that was nothing compared to how it was hammering now. It only went faster when she turned

around on her bedspread and saw her mother peaking in through her bedroom door. "Mom?" Gwen whispered througha dry mouth as she clutched the spell book to her chest. Her bedroom door didn't have a lock. It never had one, and s he

never even thought about asking for one.

She was thinking about it now.

For just a moment, she was sure that the secret was out. She'd thought it right up until she s aw her mother's face. She'd

imagined telling her parents about the magic a thousand different times, and she'd imagined a thousand different

reactions.

Worried never came up. Not even once.

Her mom 's eyes were full of worry now as she slipped through the door and closed it behind her. "Gwen, is everything

okay?"

Gwen was so relieved that she nodded a dozen times before she finally got her mouth to move. "Yeah, Mom, I was just -"

"Studying?"

"Yeah," Gwen said as s he hugged the spell book to herself. Whatever relief she felt shrank away with each step the

woman took towards Gwen's desk. "I just needed a bit of a break." The words came out as small as her excuse as she

watched her mom stop and look down at the textbook.

Which was still on the first page of the chapter. She never even turned the page. She'd been trying to s tudy for an hour

and she never even managed to turn the page.


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She couldn't hear her mother sigh, but Gwen knew that she did just from the way her mother's shoulders moved. It would

have been easier to hear the sigh. "You're taking a break a little early today, aren't you?"

Gwen's shoulder's slumped and she pulled herself to the edge of the bed with one hand while she tried to hide the spell

book agains t her chest with the other. "I know. I just needed a couple of seconds to clear my - "

"Gwen, stop," her mother said and Gwen froze. Froze and then shrank a little as her m other turned and s tared at her.

Stared and ran her hand through her hair. It was a move that Gwen had watched her mother make so many times when

a clerk misplaced something or the lines at the bank were too long. It was intimidating enough on its own, but her

mother's red hair made it so much worse. It was only a few shades darker than Gwen's, but somehow it always lookedmore like fire than Gwen's ever did. She waited for her mother to say something - anything - but she just stood there.

Stood there and thought. Her mother always had s torm-cloud blue eyes, but Gwen swore that she saw lightning in them

now.

Finally her mother moved and Gwen almos t grinned with relief. Almos t. Her half-smi le became an open s tare as her

mom came over and sat down on the very edge of Gwen's bed. Ben's turning into aliens was almos t normal compared

to that. Her mother brus hed at the wrinkles in her s kirt, or where the wrinkles would be if there ever were any - the clothes

wouldn't dare - before she opened her mouth. Gwen braced hers elf for a lecture, but instead she heard, "What's going

on, Honey?"

"Nothing!" Gwen said, her voice almost a squeak, as she sat up straight and waved her free hand over at her desk. "I just

- "

"Gwendolyn Rose Tennyson," her mother cut her off with a shake of her head and the lie died in Gwen's mouth. Full

names were bad enough, but all three? She never got all three names. She looked down at her knees, but she could s till

feel her mother's eyes on her. "What's going on?"

"I just..." Gwen said as she clutched a little tighter at the spell book. "I just needed a break."

"You've needed a lot of breaks lately." There wasn't any anger in the woman's voice, but Gwen didn't really think there

would be. Her mother didn't get angry often. There was dis appointment, though, and that was so m uch worse.

Gwen tried to meet her mother's eyes. Instead she jus t whispered, "I know."

Her mother didn't say anything, but she did reach over. Gwen almos t bolted when she touched the spell book and she

clutched it to her chest for another second before she let her mother take it. Her mother didn't open it this time, she just

ran her hands over the cover. This time she heard her mother sigh, and it wasn't any better. "I know you miss your

Grandpa, Honey."

Gwen didn't say a word. There wasn't a point because it was so obvious ly true. Even if her parents were blind, they'd still

hear her on the phone with him every few days. She'd hoped to spend some time with him in the last few months, but he

was always gone on the weekends. A part of her always worried, despite her Grandpa saying he was jus t seeing

friends, but the rest of her...

She never thought she'd miss the Rust Bucket so much.

"Max always had a way with pres ents, even if he..." her mother started, but she cut herself off before she finished the

thought. Her sm ile faded jus t a little as she held the book out and it was all Gwen could do to not snatch it back. "And I

know that school isn't anywhere near as exciting as your summer was , Honey. So does your father. It's okay that you feel

that way. I would, too, in your shoes - "

Gwen tried to say something to that. Then she tried jus t as hard not to say anything. For jus t a second Gwen tried toimagine her m other on the summer trip. She would have given Ben a dozen lectures before they were out of the city, but

beyond that everything would have been fine right up until the Omnitrix fell from the sky. After that, Gwen's mind just went

blank.

If her mom noticed the look that Gwen was sure her face made, she didn't show any sign. "- but you've moped ever since

you got back and it has to s top."

"Am not."

"You've been home for an hour, Gwen, and you've barely touched your hom ework. Las t year - "

"Mom," Gwen whispered.


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Her mother kept going even as s he somehow managed to sound more disappointed, "Last year you would have been

half way done by now, if you weren't still at school tutoring or working in your clubs ."

"None were meeting today," Gwen said. It was true, but it sounded s o much like an excuse, even to her. "And no one

signed up for help."

Lili kept watching her, but Gwen didn't know why. "And no one came over, either. You used to have friends over all the

time, Pumpkin. I used to think that Marci-"

Gwen's stomach twisted until it hurt just from hearing the name. For just a moment she remembered a squeal of laughter and a flash of blond hair as she chas ed the girl around her bed and tried to grab a little blue book back from

her. "Marci and I haven't hung out in years, Mom."

Her mother's face twisted for a second at the interruption, but only for a second before she reached up to brush some

loose hair from Gwen's face. "She misses you, Gwen. Andi tells me that every time I see her."

Gwen backed away from her mother's hand and s wallowed hard. "She does n't. She so does n't."

"I think her mother knows..." Lili s tarted before she caught herself. "You have to hang out with more people than just your

Grandpa, Gwen. Max is wonderful, but he has his own life and you need friends your own age."

Gwen wanted to say something. She really did, but the words wouldn't come out. So she nodded and said the two words

she was sure her mother wanted to hear. "Okay, Mom."

"Gwen - " Her m other started before she clos ed her eyes and nodded. "I just... I don't like seeing you like this , Honey. Or that you're blowing off your school work after all the hard work that we've - that you have put into i t."

"I'm not," Gwen said. She tried for firm, but it sounded dangerous ly close to a whine even to her. "I'll get it all done. I

promise."

Her mother nodded and leaned over to kiss her on the forehead. "Okay. Call if you need anything, Honey. If you get all of

your work done by dinner, maybe we'll watch a movie tonight."

"My pick?"

"I suppose." Her mother made a show of rolling her eyes, but her lips turned up a little. "If you get everything done. I'll see

you in a bit?"

Gwen nodded and started to get up as her mother went back to the door. She was hal f way to the desk when shestopped and listened as her father's quiet voice came up from downstairs. He never spoke up, but somehow his voice

filled the house. Or his laugh did, anyway. She grinned just from hearing it even as she wiped her hands off on her

pants. "Who's Dad talking to?"

Her mother stopped at the door as her back went so straight that it had to hurt, but she didn't say a word. She stayed

quiet for so long that Gwen started running through the lis t of people in her head that her mother didn't want to talk to but

her father had to deal with. Deal with and laugh. It wasn't that long a list. Gwen lips s tarted to move so she could ask

what Uncle Carl wanted when her mom ans wered, "Your cousin is on the phone."

"Ben?"

Her mother's face scrunched up even as she nodded. "He wanted to talk to you, that's why I came up. Don't worry about

it. I'll tell him you're bus - Gwen?!"

Gwen barely heard her mother shout in surpris e as she slipped by the woman, her heart echoed in her ears as s heraced down the stairs. The Doofus was on the phone. She hadn't heard a word from him s ince the night she got home. If

he was calling her now...

If he was risking her mom ans wering the phone jus t to talk to her...

She was sure that the end of the world would be noisy, but she didn't hear anything outside. She took the steps three at a

time and her feet still weren't as fast as her imagination. Each step came with a new and bigger worry, and her fingers

were white around the spell book when she finally bounced down the last step and raced across the living room to her

father, who was s tanding just ins ide the kitchen with the phone to his ear. He was already grinning when she came

running over, but it only got wider when he saw her. He brushed his fingers against his glasses , but he didn't hand over

the phone.


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"No. No, I never tasted anything that made your grandfather's food taste good. You don't have to save some to prove it,

Ben, I remember what cafeteria food tasted like." Gwen tugged on his arm and gave her father her best sad puppy-dog

look, but he still didn't hand over the phone. Instead his green eyes - eyes that almos t matched hers, but were jus t a bit

too dark - sparkled as he watched her. At least they did until Ben said something that made him wince. "Oh, your mom

made it? I'm so sorry. Get your father to slip you some lunch money then. He was always a soft touch when we were

growing up." Gwen was just getting ready to scream when he winked at her. "I'll talk to you later, Ben. Here's your

cousin."

Gwen didn't wait. She just yanked the phone out of her father's hand even as he let out another chuckle. A thousand

questions ran through her head and she couldn't ask any of them. Not with her father standing right there. Not when shecould hear her mom coming down the stairs. She couldn't even take it back up to her room. Her parents both had

cellphones , but the house phone was s omething from the dark ages. She glared at the curly white cord that she was

sure was the last of its kind on the planet with all the venom s he could manage as her mind raced.

Why didn't they have any code words? They had the whole summer, they could have made up an awesome code.

"Ben?" She finally asked the only safe ques tion she could think of as she strained her ears to lis ten. She felt a little better

when she didn't hear anything blowing up through the phone. She could jus t make out the sound of kids talking, but no

one was s creaming. That was always a good s ign. Almos t, anyway. Unless Ben saw someone following him or -

Everyone else was calm, but Ben's voice was a panicked and annoyed rush, "Gwen? Finally! Where were you?! I called

your phone, but..."

"Mom and dad turned it off after I got back," she said as she glared at her father, who didn't even have the grace to lookguilty. He just shook his head and kept smiling even as he mouthed the word 'no.' She'd spent a night fighting to keep it

ust in case something like this happened - not that she could tell them that - but they wouldn't budge. The only

concession she got was that she could have one if she paid for one herself, which wasn't going to happen. Not on her

allowance. She thought about charging the people she tutored, but - but they needed her help. How could s he? "They

said I didn't..."

"Whatever," he cut her off and the next few words came out in a blur, "I'm in big trouble. Can I meet you somewhere?"

None of the ques tions mattered after that. Gwen grabbed for the kitchen bar and nodded even though he couldn't see

her, "Yeah, I can. Is Grandpa going to…"

"No time. This is urgent."

"How are you going to get here? You can't exactly ride your bike here. Is your mom…?" Gwen closed her eyes at the

thought. She loved her mother and her aunt, but world ending bad s tuff better be coming. That was the only thing worth

the risk of throwing the two women in the same room together without warning.

"No." She could alm ost hear Ben wince at the thought on the other end of the phone. "XLR8. So where?"

Her stomach clenched. If he was going alien after Grandpa made him promis e... And it meant that he couldn't come to

her house. A big blue dinosaur would be hard to explain even if the bad guys weren't after Ben. If they were -

Thankfully, he must have realized that, too. She guessed that the Doofus wasn't quite as dumb as she thought. So,

home was out. And so was any business es. They needed s omeplace private... Somewhere private enough, but where

no one would notice them, which meant... She turned her back on her parents and lowered her voice as much as she

could. "There's a park about half a mile down the road from my house. We can meet there."

"Good, good. I'll see you in five minutes."

"Okay. I'll be in front of…" She stopped and tried to think of a landmark. She brought her free hand up to her eyes as she

tried to remember what the place looked like. She'd been there so many times, but she'd never had to hide in it before.

Why didn't he ever give her a chance to get ready? If she jus t had a couple of minutes she could get her laptop and look

up a m ap of the park and... Did they need her laptop? Should she call Grandpa? Was he even back from Aunt Vera's yet?

"Don't worry, I'll find you." And with that the line went dead.

It took every bit of willpower that Gwen had not to run out the door right then and there. She could already hear the clock

counting down in her head, but she had rules to follow. She turned to her parents and tried to look as annoyed as she

should after she talked to her cousin ins tead of half-freaked. "Mom, Dad, Ben's over at the mall wi th some of his friends

and he needs s ome help picking out a present for Uncle Carl's birthday. Can I...?"


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"No," her mother sniffed as she cross ed her arms. "No. I know that Sandra does n't care if her son is running all over

town on a s chool night, but you have homework. Call him back and..."

"Mom!" Gwen shouted even though s he was already thinking. She could sl ip out her window if she had to. Then it was

one magic disk ride to the ground and... and she was so dead if she got caught. Not that it mattered. Not if it was hero

time. "Please!"

"We jus t talked about this, Gwendolyn." She was wrong. Her mom could sound angry. "You've s lacked off enough, and

I'm not going to let you..."

"Go on, Honey," her father said. His voice was jus t as quiet as her mother's, but he always said he spoke that way just

so his clients and the judges would pay attention. It must work, because it always got Gwen's. "And make sure he gets a

good one this time. Your uncle has enough of Ben's old video games to las t a while."

He sm iled, but her mother didn't join in. Instead the lightning was back as she glared. "Frank!"

"They spent all sum mer together, Lili," her father said. His voice was as calm as her mother's was ups et. "I think that half

of this is because she misses him."

Gwen felt her mouth drop as s he dug her toes into the carpet. "Miss BEN?" She wanted to laugh, but the thought was so

wrong that she couldn't even s tart. She could roll her eyes, though, and that almost made up for it. "BEN? So don't. I just

owe the little freak a favor."

"I'm sure," her father said even as his grin got bigger. He was ENJOYING this? She knew that he loved teasing her, but

still - There were LIMITS.

Like REALITY.

Her mother shook her head and tried to keep glaring, but her lips were twitching, too, now as she kept glancing at Gwen.

"He's at the mall?"

"The bookstore," Gwen said. She didn't know why and she kicked herself as s oon as the words left her mouth.

"Ben's in a bookstore?" her dad asked. His eyes always looked bigger through the lenses of his glasses , but now they

looked almost owl like. He shook his head in amazement. "Are you sure he'll be able to last until you get there?"

Gwen shook her head even as the lie got bigger. "He's not that bad anymore..." He was s o much worse. The last time

Grandpa took them to a bookstore he managed to knock over three whole dis plays through his s pazziness and got them

all kicked out. She never even got a chance to get comfortable.

"Which means he might last ten minutes then?" her mom added as her scowl finally started to go away.

"Which means I have to hurry."

Gwen crossed her fingers and almost cheered when her mother nodded. Gwen knew that she'd never said no to a

bookstore. "The second you get back you s tart your homework." Her face fell just a little, but she still added, "And no

movie tonight."

"Okay. Sorry, Mom. Thank you," Gwen gave them both hurried kisses on the cheek before she dashed out the door. Her

eyes s canned the sky for any sign of space ships or flying monsters or Santa Claus even as s he clutched at her spel l

book. God only knew what kind of trouble Ben had gotten hims elf into, but she would be ready.

As ready as s he could be anyway. She real ly wished he'd said what was going on. What if she left something that they

needed?

It usually took her three or four minutes to make it to the park, but she made it in two, and she only stopped at the

entrance because she had to look around, not because i t felt like someone was stabbing her in the s ide. Or because

she needed to actually breathe. She'd forgotten how big the place was . It always seemed so small when her family

came to watch the fireworks. Even though it was the middle of the week there were s till plenty of people there. Most of

them were jogging. She only winced a little as she followed after them and tried to find somewhere to hide a big blue

dinosaur.

Which ended up being a place that was almos t in the middle of the park. The huge oak tree that was growing there

blocked mos t of the view, and the smaller trees and bushes around it made it seem almos t private. She ducked into it

ust as she felt a burs t of wind race by her.


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And then the black and white suited dinosaur was crouching under the tree and it didn't seem anywhere near as odd as

it should. "What's going on? What do I need to do? Where's the bad guys?" Gwen asked in a rush as she ran up to him

and yanked the spell book out of her pocket for a last second review.

"Bad guys?" The face mask pulled back with a click to reveal the scaly blue face underneath it. XLR8 looked as far from

human as poss ible while still having just two eyes. Alien except for his eyes. Somehow, despite all the changes the

Omnitrix made, every alien form still had Ben's eyes. Well, at least as long as the alien had eyes. Gwen always

wondered why. Just like she wondered why the green orbs looked so confused. "What bad guys?"

"What - ?" Gwen's mouth worked for a second as she waved her hands at him. "I thought you were in trouble! You saidyou were in trouble!"

"I am!" Ben shouted back as he grabbed at the backpack that was hanging by one strap over his left shoulder and

tossed it down to the ground. He knelt and fumbled with the zipper with XLR8's left hand. It took a lot longer for the alien

form's three fingers to catch because of the claws, but he finally managed to get the bag open. He dug around inside as

he said, "I have a major math test tomorrow, and I'm going to be in s o much trouble if I don't..."

"Math…" Gwen cut him off as she stared, and then she glared. And then she smacked him on the back of his head.

"Hey!" XLR8 shouted in surprise as he jumped back. His hand went to his head while he glared at her. "What's that for?"

"A math test?!" Gwen hissed as s he massaged the back of her hand. The next time s he hit him it definitely wouldn't be in

a spot protected by a helmet. Or as dense as his head. "I lied to my parents because you said you were in trouble!"

"I am in trouble! If I don't get an A tomorrow I'm dead!"

"How," she said, and took a deep, cleansing breath. If she beat him up, her parents were sure to find out that she lied.

"How can you be dead if you don't get an A? We've only been back at school for two months. Not even a Doofus like you

can be failing already."

"Well," XLR8 began when the Omnitrix started beeping and a second later Ben was s tanding before her. Two whole

months had passed and he hadn't changed at all. Literally. He was s till wearing the same green khaki's and white and

black shirt he'd been wearing the last time she'd seen him , even if the shi rt was half hidden under a green windbreaker.

It was so s ad. The only way it would have been s adder was if she...

She'd meant to change. She had so many outfits, but... But her white pants and blue shirt were the mos t comfortable

things she owned. That was the only reason s he was still...

She shook her head and glared down at her outfit. Great. He found another way to annoy her. He reached into his bookbag again and pulled out his m ath book. "I sorta got a bunch of 100's on my last few homework ass ignments and - "

"What?" Gwen couldn't help bl inking at that. Or smi ling at the news . "Congratula…." She s tarted to say when s he saw his

eyes dropped from hers. "What did you do?"

"I didn't cheat."

"I never said you did."

"You were thinking it."

"Was not."

"Was so."

"Was…" Gwen caught hers elf. She was so thinking it. "You hate m ath. The only way you'd get a bunch of 100's would

be…" Her next words were a his s that would have done Vilgax proud. "Benjamin Tennyson! Wait until I tell Grandpa!"

"Hey!" Ben raised his hands and shook his head even as he glanced around. "Let's not go running to Grandpa for every

little thing."

"You turned into Grey Matter to do your homework! After Grandpa told you not to use the Omnitrix in town! What if Vilgax

detected it? Or anyone els e? Do you have any idea how many people you put in danger?"

"I didn't!" He seemed to think that was all he needed to say, because he didn't say another word.

He was so wrong. "You didn't think? Yeah. Real newsflash there."


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"I didn't put anyone in danger, all right?" Ben s topped at that like that was all he needed to say. She glared at him until he

knew better. "Grandpa and I have been taking road trips to a Plumber base in the mountains on the weekends s ince we

got back to try to figure out a way to keep this thing," he said and gently smacked the green and white watch on his wrist,

"from telling everyone in the solar system that I just used it. It took a while, but I'm just awes ome enough to do it." He

grinned, but the glare washed that away, too. "He had me turn into Grey Matter so I could look over some Plumber s tuff to

make sure and we were taking a break and I kinda, sorta glanced over at my homework and all the answers jus t popped

up in my head. That and a rant about how useless fractions are. Besides , it's not like I really cheated. I AM the little guy!"

Gwen buried her face in her hands, leaned back agains t the tree and slowly slid to the ground. She should be annoyed.

She knew that. And she was . She so was. They'd been taking road trips without her? Without even asking if she wantedto go? Again? She'd thought...

"Well, I am!" Ben said, misunderstanding her s ilence. Another not surprise. "And who needs fractions anyway? We have

calculators now!"

"We can't use calculators yet. We're supposed to learn to do it the right way first," Gwen said from between her fingers as

she pushed the hurt away and concentrated on the important thing. That her cousin was a world-class Doofus. "And you

can't be Grey Matter in clas s."

"Yeah," Ben said with a s igh as he dropped down into the gras s next to her. "Which is why I need to ace tomorrow's test.

Or else Ms. Drake's going to be all, 'cheater this, detention that.'"

"Which you are. Why should I help you?"

"Because we're family?" Ben asked with what he must have thought was a charming sm ile.

"I have my own homework to do, you know."

He waved that excuse away like it was the smell of millipedes being roas ted. "Please, you had i t all finished before you

left school."

She should have been. She thought about staring at the text-book again and felt another wave of guilt as she realized

that she was just as lazy as he was, not that Ben had to know that. "Well, I still have to review."

"Fine," Ben sighed and thought. "Because I'm a hero and now I know?"

"Swing and a m iss."

He looked at her and his face fell. "BecauseI'lloweyouone?"

She grinned at him and nudged his leg with the toe of her sneaker. "What was that?"

Ben's eyes rolled. "Because I'll owe you one."

"Really?" She brushed her hair back and s tretched out her legs so s he could wiggle her feet in front of him. "You know,

my toenails could really use painting…"

Ben's face turned red as he glared at her. She could almost hear his teeth grinding together as he bit out the words, "So

you'll help?"

She gave him the loudest sigh s he could managed as she tucked her feet back under her. "Oh. I suppose."

Ben shoved his book into her outstretched hand as he gave her a too wide s mile. "Thank you so much."

"Yeah, yeah," Gwen said as she set the book down on her lap. The moment her hands were free she turned and

smacked him on the arm. "Cheater."

Ben was always a sympathy hog - she s till remembered the sad show he'd put on when he had a cold just so Grandpa

would feel sorry for him,and the look on his face when Grandpa made him cold medicine. The one look which made

having to listen to all his moaning worthwhile and hilarious , or it was until he got her sick, too. Unlike him, she didn't

need to pretend. She earned her sympathy - but the gasp he made overdid it even for him. "Oh, I barely touched…" She

turned to glare at him, and spent half of a second trying to figure out how he managed to make hims elf go pale before

she started to feel s ick again. "Ben, are you okay?"

"Yeah, you just took me by surprise is all," Ben said as he forced himself to smi le even as he rubbed the spot she'd just


20/190

hit. "Now, about that test…"

"What's wrong?" she asked as her eyes narrowed to slits as she real ly looked at him. She'd been so exc - worried about

being a hero again that she hadn't really noticed anything but his lucky shirt. Now s he noticed everything. Like the green

windbreaker he was wearing. "Why are you even wearing a jacket? It's not that cold out yet."

And if she didn't think it was cold, he really didn't think it was cold. That was argum ent #318 on the trip: who got to control

the air conditioner. And if he wasn't cold, then the only reason he'd put the jacket on was so... "What are you hiding?"

He started to sputter as he looked for words, but she didn't bother to wait for an ans wer, or even for the question to finishleaving her lips before she grabbed for his sleeve.

"Nothing!" Ben shouted as he shoved her hands away. "Can't we jus t study?"

"If it's nothing why won't you let me see?" Gwen asked as she shoved the book out of the way and grabbed for the jacket

again. She kept waiting for him to use his right hand, but he didn't. Instead he slapped at her with his left. He was just

quick enough - and the Omnitrix stung jus t enough when it smacked her - to s tay away from her hands as he tried to

wiggle away from her. He was almos t out of reach when the words, "You owe m e!" tumbled out of her mouth and they

both froze.

Froze and stared at each other. Ben in surprise and Gwen in dism ay. She hadn't meant to say it. She'd been looking

forward to making him paint her toenails. Sure, he'd do a horrible job, but the look on his face at just agreeing to do it

was s o delectable that she knew that his expression when he actually did it would have been something she'd have

cherished for a lifetime. She even knew what shade of pink she was going to make him use. It was the brightest pinkshe had. She hated the color, but it was going to look so funny on his hands when he made a mess . And she knew he'd

make a mes s. It was a once in a lifetime chance and - "And I can't believe I'm saying this, I so can't believe it, but if you

want me to save your butt I want to see what's wrong with your arm."

Ben stopped and stared at her. She could see the gears of his brain creaking as he tried to figure out if it was a trick.

"That's i t?"

Gwen sighed as she brus hed her hand over her sneakers, but she nodded. "That's it."

He stared at her as his brow creased and his mouth tightened into a line. Finally he nodded and started pulling up his

sleeve. "I was riding my bike home from s chool las t week when I saw this guy grab an old lady's purs e. I changed into

Wildmutt and you should have heard him scream when he s aw me coming at him. Dude was fast, too. He ran into an

alley and went up a fire escape. I was jumping on to a dumps ter so I could get pounce on him when the Omnitrix timed

out. Dumpsters are harder than they look." He laughed as he said that like he thought it was a joke.

Gwen barely heard him. At first she concentrated on the way he winced as he pulled the sleeve up, but then she saw the

bruise start. It was a sick yellow just above his elbow and turned into a mix of purples the further up her got. She'd seen

some horrible bruises before from karate. It was a kind of ritual to show them off before class , and she'd had some that

were hideous but she was so proud of. She'd never seen anything like this. By the time he had the jacket pulled up to his

shoulder she couldn't hear anything over the pounding of her heart. Halfway between his shoulder and his elbow there

was almost a line of dark purple. Her hand shook as s he reached out and brushed her fingers agains t it, but she heard

him hiss in pain and s he yanked her hand back like touching it hurt her.

"It's getting better. I've put ice on it and everything. You should have seen it a couple of days ago." Ben rambled into the

silence. "Besides , it barely hurts anymore. At least as long as no one goes around poking it, anyway." He gave her a

sharp look as he s tarted to pull the sleeve back down, but she caught his hand in hers.

"You could have broken your arm! You probably did break it!" She said and glared at him until he let his hand drop. Then

she reached down and ran her fingers over the bruise again. He still gasped, but this time she didn't pull away as shetraced the mark. It felt so hot under her fingertips...

"It's fine." He brushed her hand away and made a show of flexing his arm. He winced a few times , but everything did

seem to work. "It'll take more than some old dumpster to stop this hero."

Gwen just shook her head. "Why didn't Grandpa take you to the emergency room, Hero?"

"Hey, look a m ath book. You love math, right? Plenty of math in here."

Her hands went to her mouth. "You didn't tell Grandpa?"

He gave her a shrug. A one shoulder s hrug where he was very careful not to move the other and still he winced with pain.


21/190

"It's no big."

"Of course it's big! Its way big! Its bigger than Way Big!" She nearly bit her tongue as she fought down the shout she felt

building up. The last thing they needed was for someone to come over there and see what she was s creaming about.

She took a few deep breaths to calm down even though it only made her stomach hurt more. "Why didn't you tell

Grandpa? Does he even know you're going hero again?"

"Of course he - " Ben said as he fidgeted and yanked the sleeve back down. Like he was smart enough to trick her. He

might as well have had a big neon sign with the word liar on i t over his head, it was so obvious. He knew it, too. She

could tel l by the way he exhaled. "I didn't want to bug him ."

"You didn't... What's wrong with you? You need someone to watch your back!"

"I didn't during the summer."

Gwen glared at him even though it felt like he'd jus t slapped her. "We were always there, Ben. Maybe not right at the

moment you got yourself into trouble, but we were right behind you."

Ben either saw the glare or maybe he heard the hurt in her voice – or he was only half the insens itive clod she thought he

was - and he realized what he had jus t said, because his eyes went right to the grass . "Yeah, I know. But who am I going

to tell? Grandpa's gone to visit Aunt Vera and I can't say a word about the watch to anyone else. No matter how cool it

would make me at school."

Gwen wanted to hit him again. She wanted to so badly. If she could have reached his good arm she might have done it.

"What about me? You know, Lucky Girl?"

"What about you?" The words should have hurt, but they didn't. He sounded more clueless than anything. "We aren't

exactly roomies any more, or even neighbors ."

"So? You managed to get here tonight, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but…"

"Either you take me with you when you feel heroey, or…" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She didn't want to

have to say what she was about to say, it would get them all into so m uch trouble, but all she could s ee was the mess of

bruises his arm had turned into.

No, what she saw was so much worse than any bruise. She'd imagined it so many times during the summer in the

middle of the night after a big fight, but she always managed to ignore i t because they never got hurt. Not really. Evenwhen s he almost... She didn't get hurt. Not like this. She knew that the bruis e shouldn't seem worse than that, but it did

and she couldn't just... "Or I'll tell my mom and dad."

"You wouldn't."

"Would too."

"Please." He snorted at her as he shook his head. "We'd both be grounded for the next fifty years i f our parents knew

what we did over the summer."

"Maybe we should be." Her hand drifted back to his arm even though he covered it up. She didn't know why she had to

keep touching it. Maybe that was the only way it seemed real, or maybe she needed the reminder as much as he did.

"We did a lot of stupid things over the summer."

His face flushed an angry red as he smacked her hand away. "What? How could you... We helped people!"

"I know we did," she s aid as she took his hand to keep him from storming off. "But this isn't a game, Ben."

He stopped and grinned. Somehow he actually grinned. "It is to me."

"Ben..."

"Besides, can you imagine what they'll do to Grandpa if they knew?"

"We probably wouldn't see him again until we were eighteen." Gwen's heart broke as she said the words. Eight years.

She couldn't imagine not seeing Grandpa Max again for eight years. She was only ten, and she couldn't imagine not

seeing him again for what was bas ically her whole life. She couldn't imagine dealing with her parents alone for that long.


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She'd just talked to him on Monday and now that she really thought about it, she couldn't remember if she'd told him she

loved him . She couldn't imagine him gone, but she couldn't stop either. Grandpa Max wouldn't want her to. "But he

wouldn't want you getting hurt any more than I do."

"Well – I'll tell them about your magic book…" His green eyes were on fire as he yanked his hand free and pus hed

himself to his feet. "Lucky Girl."

Her's burned right back as she jumped up. She felt her hands tighten even as s he saw him make his into fists. "Do it

and I'll…" She tried to think of something horrible enough to threaten him with. Maybe brains of a toad. No, with Ben that

would be an improvement.

The last time they'd fought – really fought, not jus t traded insults - they'd been seven. She couldn't remember what the

fight was about, she just remembered screaming and crying and both of them needing tons of band-aids when the fight

was over. She'd heard her father say it was like pul ling two cats apart. It was the las t time they'd spent any time together

except for a few minutes during Christmas break until the last summer.

And that was without magic or the Omnitrix. Now…

For just a second she imagined them fighting now with everything they learned. They'd trained together so many times ,

but they'd never really...

Her only thought was that it would be so cool to watch.

But if she knew that if they did, or if she let him storm off now it wouldn't be years before she saw him again. It would be

never because he'd go out and get himself hurt. Or worse.

She couldn't even think the real words behind the 'and worse.' And she knew that if she wasn't ready to even name it,

then there was no way she could face it happening. In a flash s he saw Grandpa Max – she knew it would be Grandpa

Max, not her parents or Ben's – as he knelt down in front of her and...

And he'd have the look on his

shadows59 - little moments director's cut

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