"Kevin, you don't have to leave." Gwen said with a trace of hesitancy in her voice. There was only an hour until his ship left, so she wanted to make her words count. Maybe if she said it just right, she could convince him.
He shrugged, noncommittal, the same way he approached everything in his life, even her. "Yeah, I do. The Plumbers could use someone who knows the alien criminal underworld like I do, and Ben has more than enough backup here. You don't need me anymore."
"No," She stepped closer to him. "You're a part of the team, too."
She hugged him tightly, pressing close and resting her cheek on his chest. Her eyes squeezed shut, and she only relaxed when he put a hand on top of her head.
"Hey, don't do this." he said softly, and it startled her.
She let go and stepped back, swaying a little without him to lean on. "I'm fine, it's fine. Just...don't forget that we'll have a place for you here."
He grabbed a lock of her hair (still impossibly long, still impractical for protecting the world, but somehow she made it work), twining it between his fingers, and their eyes met.
Her face was stubborn and set; challenging, but also amused. Even at eighteen, she'd never be as tall as him, but she always intimidated him a little, and it didn't piss him off like it should've. She had that effect on him.
"I won't."
"And try not to traumatize the newbies," she added quickly. "Especially Alan."
"No promises."
A/n: K/G is my Zutara; something I never thought I'd like until I tried it, something darkly delicious. Posted quickly because this is simple and I needed a little instant gratification. The title and a line from the summary come from 1997's Tennessee Song.
(Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10: Alien Force.)