Ben's Breakdown
Ben sighed as the Rustbucket approached Bellwood. Normal…that word burned in his mind. The idea of being the loser again after a summer of awesomeness was the last thing Ben wanted, but yet here it was. "Gwen, do you remember when Enoch made me live my worst nightmare, and it turned out to be school?" Gwen sighed and nodded. "Get to the point, Doofus." Gwen said with a mild glare. Ben found an odd sense of comfort in that look. "Gwen, I don't like school because of JT and Cash...the two ogres you saw…and the fact that school is just boring." Gwen took a moment to wonder where Ben was going with this but let the boy continue to decompress to her. "Then, I got this," he pointed to the Omnitrix. "Everything changed after that." Gwen smiled at him. Her warm smile made Ben's cheeks heat up slightly. Why does that keep happening to me? Ben thought in confusion as Gwen said, "You're better at learning on the job." She sighed. "You're too curious about the world around you to just sit by and learn about it in a confined classroom." Ben nodded, not really that surprised that Gwen could read his subtle language so well. She did an excellent job of it in the heat of battle. It seemed to Ben at times that they were a soul spit between two bodies. The next thought almost knocked the breath out of Ben. She completes me.
Ben blinked as his mind came back to the world. Is that what love is? Ben wondered. Is it not about beauty but about compatibility? Ben had a theory to test, and he knew exactly how to do it. "Gwen, have you ever thought about…boys?" Gwen's face turned red. "Ben! That's none of your…" The thought died in Gwen's throat as she felt warmth on her hand. She knew it was Ben's, but she did not move her hand. "Ben, what are you doing?" Ben looked into her eyes. "Xenon..." The mention of that event sent a cold shiver down Gwen's spine. "I have to tell you, Dweeb. Part of me died when you were taken." Gwen looked at Ben as she struggled to keep from crying. "Gwen, I realized something that day. If you were ever taken from me..." Ben turned away from her to hide the tears building in his own eyes. Gwen moved her hand to squeeze Ben's. "Let it out, Ben. I'm safe." Gwen said encouragingly. Ben lost control in that moment and sobbed into her arms. "I can't lose you again Gwen." Ben said as he sniffled. "The pain…" He whispered. Gwen pulled Ben close. "Shhh…I'm here, Ben." She said comfortingly as she ran a hand through his hair.
Max saw Ben's breakdown coming immediately when Ben and Gwen came back. The boy was scarred It wasn't until the night before they headed back to Bellwood when Max witnessed Ben and Gwen have simultaneous Night Terrors. All Gwen did was scream Ben's name over and over in her disturbed sleep. Ben kept whispering, "I'm sorry, Gwen." Ben also growled and roared in an animalistic way and shouted curses at the imagined drones as he thrashed and punched in his sleep. Now, Max knew exactly why both of them were so deeply affected by the event on Xenon. They were in love. He thought of the events over the summer and chuckled. It was obvious in retrospect, and he would be there for them. His sons would most likely be a different matter entirely, and the fact worried Max. He was not worried for Ben and Gwen. No, the man was worried for his sons. If Ben and Gwen were told they couldn't be together, they would fight tooth and nail for each other, and no one would be able to withstand them.
To that end, Max talked to his sons. First, Max talked to Frank. The younger Tennyson was surprised when his father stuck around beyond dropping off Gwen. "Son," Max began. "I've been lying to you for years. For the sake of Ben and Gwen, I have to be honest." With that, Max wove a tale of his being recruited by the Plumbers, his exploits as an Alien Earth Cop, and finally, Max came to Ben and Gwen. "Ben found this device called the Omnitrix. It changes the host organism into different alien species. Ben got the attention of an old foe: Vilgax. Together, Gwen and Ben fought him and put him on a one-way ticket through deep space." Max braced himself for Frank's reaction to what Max was about to reveal. "Are Ben and Gwen ok?" Frank asked, clearly worried for his daughter. "They developed a bond over the summer that won't be easily broken, so don't test it." Max warned. Frank raised an eyebrow at Max's particular phrasing. "What do you mean by 'Bond', Dad?"
Before Max could answer, a loud crash jarred both adults from their conversation. On top of a pile of roof materials and rafters, Ben groaned in his XLR8 form. Gwen ran to Ben and checked on him. "V-Vilgax…" Ben groaned weakly before he reverted back to human. Gwen's eyes blazed with power as the cyborg titan looked through the hole in the roof at the humans. "The Omnitrix…give it to me! Now!" Gwen glared at Vilgax as she flipped through her spell book quickly. "This is the last time you hurt Ben, Vilgax!" Gwen glared at the giant warlord. "Anima Absum!" At her words, a blue field surrounded Vilgax. She screamed at him and put an enormous amount of energy into the spell. Frank watched in horror as his daughter's power drained the life from the massive warlord until the monster was nothing but a light grey husk. Then, Gwen turned her attention to Ben. Frank noted Gwen's body take on a similar blue field. Then, Frank saw how deeply the Bond his father mentioned went as Gwen kissed Ben without hesitation until he began to stir in her gentle embrace. "Vilgax…?" Ben asked weakly as he smiled at Gwen. "Vilgax is done, Doofus." She said gently before she kissed him again.
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Author's Note: If I do make this a multi-chapter story, updates will be slow.