Hi there. This is my third Ben 10 story, though it is the first one, which is longer than one chapter.

Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN ANYTHING OF BEN 10. I only own the plot for this story.

I thank Otaku Maiden for being my betareader. At the moment I cannot think of anything else say about this fanfiction. Enjoy!

Takes place at the end of the episode Vengeance of Vilgax.

Pairing: Pierce x Ben

Warnings: AU, Shonen-ai (boy x boy), probably OoC (If you don't like any of them, please press the back button NOW)
Tell me if I forgot any warnings you think I should list.


The Beginning


"We were on TV all over the world. So much for my secret," Ben sighed after he had turned back to human. It had been bad enough that Kevin had mutated again because of him and now everyone knew about his secret.

"Well, I used Plumber Tech to block the transmission about half way through. Nobody saw Ben Tennyson," Max said and laid a hand onto his grandson's shoulder. A small smile made its way onto Ben's lips. However, he was still worried.

"How are the others? I know they got injured yesterday," Ben said the concern evident in his voice. Max was surprised. He hadn't told Ben that the kids had been injured. He motioned for Ben, Gwen and Kevin to follow him and led them to the Rust Bucket.

Alan, Cooper, Helen and Manny were sitting at the table. They looked up the moment Max and the others entered.

"How did it go?" Helen asked. They were dying to know how it ended. They hadn't seen the outcome since Max had jammed the signals.

"Ben kicked Vilgax' butt," Kevin stated as he stepped into view. The kids cheered at that. They wouldn't have to worry about Vilgax for a while now.

"Where's Pierce?" Ben asked noticing that the blue-eyed teen was nowhere to be seen. The temperature in the room seemed to drop instantly and a depressed look made its way onto Helen's face.

"Guys," Ben asked again. He didn't like that reaction, especially the look on his grandfather's face. Alan pointed at the back of the RV, which was currently shielded from view by white curtains.

Ben started walking towards the back of the RV. He noticed that Gwen and Kevin were about to follow him, causing him to slightly turn around. He gave them a pointed glare to show them that he wanted to go alone. The two of them stopped in their tracks. It was a rare occurrence for Ben to glare at them so they stayed where they were. Ben turned back and slipped through the curtains.

The light in the back was dimmed. Ben noticed a tray with food and water standing on a small table next to the lower bed. He raised his eyebrow. Usually the beds were only installed overnight nowadays, since the space they took up was needed during the daytime.

What the hell is going on?, Ben thought as he stepped up to the bed. He was able to hear the voices of the others faintly. They seemed to have a hint of sadness and, in his teammates' case, shock.

Now that his eyes had adjusted to the dimmed light he saw a person lying underneath the covers on the lower bed. He gently pulled back the covers, but let them fall back as soon as he got a look at who was underneath them. It was Pierce and he didn't look good at all.

Ben cast a quick look towards the curtains making sure they shielded him completely from view. Then he turned back and placed his left hand on Pierce's forehead. Closing his eyes he concentrated on scanning the other boy with his powers. The Omnitrix' dial plate started blinking in a steady rhythm, but it didn't take any action.

After a while Ben withdrew his hand, while the Omnitrix changed its blinking pattern into a constant glowing. Ben had paled slightly at what he had learned due to his action. He briefly wondered if the others knew this already.

Three broken ribs and a serious internal injury. If he doesn't get treated soon he's going to die, Ben thought with a silent sigh. He didn't want to alert the other occupants of the RV.

'Your diagnosis is correct,' said a voice, which sounded almost like Ben's, but there was something different about that voice. Ben's eyes widened slightly. He was surprised. He had experienced too many strange things to be shocked. He carefully looked around the room, but didn't see anyone.

'On your wrist,' stated the voice calmly. The voice had a mechanical touch. Ben raised an eyebrow directing his gaze to the Omnitrix.

'Let me guess. Artificial Intelligence having developed a personality of its own,' Ben said. He already knew that the Omnitrix could read his mind. Since the accidental transformations kept happening after its recalibration, he figured it out due to the aliens selected by the Omnitrix worked very well for the respective situations.

'Correct,' the Omnitrix replied. Ben laughed quietly as not to attract the attention of the others. First he surprisingly had awoken his Anodite heritage, which had happened during the time his parents had grounded him after finding out about the Omnitrix, and now the Omnitrix had developed a real personality.

'Is there anything I can do for Pierce?, Ben asked, even though he didn't know if the Omnitrix would answer. At the same time he had no idea what to do. He made a mental note to apologise to the Omnitrix as soon as Pierce was out of danger.

'Use your mana,' the Omnitrix suggested. Ben knew that it was suggesting that because mana was present in every living being. That fact would allow him to speed up the healing process, but he had never used mana in such a way. Hell, he couldn't even do half of what Gwen could do, which wasn't really surprising since he had only recently discovered his inheritance of 'The Spark', as Grandma Verdona called it. Speaking about her, Ben wondered what she would say if she knew that he had inherited 'The Spark' ask well.

The Omnitrix seemed to have read his mind again, since it told him that it couldn't get worse. There was currently no active Plumber Hospital on earth and the nearest one wasn't really close either. Ben gave a sigh. He had to decide fast. Using mana to speed up the healing process would take a while and the others were probably already wondering what was taking him so long.

Ben took one last deep breath to calm his nerves. Then he placed his right hand on the spot where he had detected the internal injury. The other hand was placed on the edge of the bed for support. Ben had no way of predicting how much this action was going to exhaust him.

A faint magenta glow appeared around his right hand. Ben forced the mana to seep through Pierce's skin towards the internal injury. He knew he wouldn't be able to heal the other boy completely. So he opted for closing the internal injury, since the broken ribs would be fine healing by themselves.

The minutes passed slowly for Ben. He felt like it had been hours since he had started the procedure, when he finally withdrew his hand. Pierce looked a little healthier now, but he still didn't move. To see the full effects of his actions, he would have to wait twenty-four hours for the final check-up.

Ben raised himself from his kneeling position. The aftermath of his actions kicked in immediately and he felt the exhaustion wash over him. It was a miracle he made it back to the others without tripping over something. He leaned onto the back of the couch to support himself.

"We were starting to worry. You were gone for almost thirty minutes," Gwen stated, not noticing that Ben was a lot paler than when he had left. Ben didn't answer. He didn't even notice the worried looks the others gave him. Instead he only saw the floor coming closer. Everything went black before he met the floor.


I hope you enjoyed reading it. Critique and Comments are always welcomed ^^