Cape and Cowl

Summary: Kevin Levin's happy life was shattered after the murder of his mother. He left Bellwood for seven years, traveling the world, the galaxy to enact his vengeance…to become the zenith of human potential.

Disclaimer: I own nothing, Batman belongs to DC Comics, and Ben 10 belongs to Man of Action and Cartoon Network.

Loss

"All sense has left my life..." –Kevin Levin.

Kevin was walking his mother back home; they'd spent the night at the movies, seeing a film his mother had wanted to watch. They'd been enjoying their time together, he heard footsteps approaching them.

"Hand over your wallet now!" the mugger demanded.

In any other circumstance, Kevin would have fought him, but he didn't want his mother to get hurt, this wasn't like Ben and Gwen, they had powers and they were also agile, his mother was just an ordinary woman.

"Okay dude, here," he slowly handed him the wallet.

"The pearls lady, quick!" the man snarled.

"Wait—!" his mother's voice spoke.

There was a sound like thunder, Kevin would never forget it. He had absorbed metal, preparing to be shot, but he never felt the bullet's impact.

The man hadn't fired at him. He watched his mother fall to the pavement. The mugger turned and ran.

Kevin gasped, reaching for his mother, he hadn't fought back, he'd done the right thing and given the mugger the money, he'd still shot his mom to death. Kevin reached out, holding her in his arms.

"Oh God! Oh God! Mom, please don't die!" He was trying to use his powers to seal the wound, but his mother wasn't an Osmosian, she couldn't absorb anything to staunch the bleeding.

"I'm sorry mom, I'm so sorry!"

"Kevin…it's okay…it's okay…I'm…so…proud of you…I…I love…" his mother's eyes shut, she didn't speak again.

"No…No!" Kevin screamed, agony filled his voice. His mother was dead, and he couldn't save her, he couldn't use his powers quick enough to seal the gunshot wound, even his powers that had saved his life couldn't save hers.

He heard the sirens wailing as the police arrived. An officer approached him. "Hey son, you're going to be fine."

"Officer Gordon, we have the description Kevin gave us, it seems to be that Joe Chill, we put out an A.P.B. on him, hopefully, we'll get him."

"See kid, we'll get him for you, I promise," James Gordon smiled, he'd seen this happen far too often, but there was definitely something different about Kevin Levin.

Kevin didn't say anything. He saw Ben come running towards him, Gwen was on his phone, asking about him.

"Kevin…I'm very sorry," Ben consoled his friend. This had never happened to him before, he tried to comfort his friend.

He handed Kevin the phone, Gwen's voice spoke. "I'll be there as soon as I can."

Gwen arrived the next day; he met her at the airport.

"Kevin!" Gwen called to him. She ran to him and held him in her arms. "I'm so sorry about your mother."

"Thanks, I'll be okay," Kevin reassured her, he gave a small, half hearted smile.

They had his mother's funeral a few days later, giving her immediate family time to get there. They didn't say much to him, they just gave their condolences.

Suddenly, he saw a familiar face walking towards him. "Tommy! Tommy Elliot! I haven't seen you since I was ten!"

"Hey, Kevin, it's nice to see you, despite the circumstances. I'm sorry about your Mom, my dad died in that accident and Mom died of cancer a few months, ago….so I understand how you feel."

"Thanks, are you going to be staying?" Kevin seemed to cheer up at the sight of his friend.

"No, just here for the funeral, then I head off to medical school, I want to study to become a surgeon."

"That's great! I just wish we could have met differently," Gwen smiled; Kevin's childhood friend seemed to be very nice, although Kevin hadn't really talked about him.

"Ah, this is my childhood friend, Tommy Elliot. Tommy, this is Ben Tennyson, and Gwen Tennyson, his cousin, and my girlfriend," he added with extra emphasis.

"The Alien Hero! It's nice to meet you; I've heard stories about you!"

"Of course," Ben smiled. "Kevin doesn't talk about you much."

"That's all right," Tommy smiled. "It's nice to meet you too Gwen."

Tommy paid his respects to Kevin's mother. "She always used to make the best cookies."

He turned to leave, "Listen Kev, we need to get together again, maybe before I leave, I still have that old war game we used to play. Maybe you're smart enough to beat me."

"Maybe when I'm in a better mood, maybe before you leave tomorrow."

Tommy nodded, appreciative.

Ben watched the young man leave. "He's nice. You never talk about him. You should have had him visit."

"He is pretty nice, for a rich kid, his parents had lots of money. I met him when I used to go to school. He was a classmate."

"He's polite, smart, and handsome, he did seem preoccupied with something though."

"Don't know what it was, he did say his mom died of cancer recently. That must be it," Kevin frowned. He was concerned that Gwen had commented about Tommy's looks, he was good looking no doubt there.

He took his mind off his friend and his thoughts returned to his mother. He looked down at her grave.

"Mom, you know I'm sorry…" Kevin looked at the tombstone, still grieved.

All the others had left, except for Gwen and Ben, who stood behind him.

"I'm going to be leaving town for awhile," Kevin told them.

"You don't have to go," Ben looked at him.

"My powers couldn't save her Tennyson, I took all the precautions so she wouldn't get hurt and she still died! I can't do anything right!"

"Kevin," Gwen tired to reason with him.

"It's not the same," Kevin snapped, "It's not like you guys, we can take a lot in a fight, Mom was just normal."

"How long are you going to be gone?" Ben asked.

"As long as I need to be," Kevin looked at them. He walked away from them.

He went home and began packing his bags; he took some money he'd saved up. He was going to search for a way to get revenge; he was going to make that man pay for what he did.

Gwen arrived at his house, she found him in his room.

"Do you really have to go?" Gwen looked at him, gently touching his cheek.

"There are things that I have to do and I can't do them sitting around here," he threw a shirt into the suitcase, zipping it.

"I'll come back to Bellwood when I'm ready," he smiled.

"How long will that be?" Gwen asked.

"I don't know, but I'll e-mail you a lot, I'll Skype if I can," he leaned in and kissed her deeply. "Goodbye Gwen, I'll miss you."

He met with Tommy for one last war game before his friend left for med school. He left Bellwood, knowing he'd be gone for a long, long time.

Six Months Later…

Kevin had been in France, training with Henri Ducard, learning how to track criminals. He had finished his training and was preparing to leave. He saw a figure approaching him in the darkness.

Kevin stared at the figure hidden in the shadows, "Who are you?"

"Someone who understands your pain," the female voice answered him. "You have the potential to be a great man. I believe with the proper guidance—that could still be the case. I believe you deserve that chance."

"What can you offer me that I can't find anywhere else?" Kevin asked.

"My Father has taken an interest to your plight Mr. Levin; despite the fact that you've become fabulously wealthy I know you want something that society has not given you, justice for your mother. My father can help you get that, he can teach you how to fight and give you everything you need to become a beacon of Justice."

"Who is your father?" Kevin asked.

"Ra's Al Ghoul, he is a wise man and he can help training you to become stronger."

"I have trained with masters of every field I've wanted to learn, why should I meet with him?"

"Because he knows you can save your city, not Ben 10, not the Plumbers, not the police, you, and you alone."

"Tell him I'll see him," Kevin followed her.

"What's your name?"

"My name is Talia, Talia Al Ghul; we will fly to my father's headquarters in Egypt."

They arrived in Egypt and set out into the desert. They arrived at a large stronghold; Kevin entered the building and was lead through the halls and through a large doorway.

"Greetings Kevin Levin, I am Ra's al Ghul, I hope you have come here in search of true justice, a righting of wrongs for both you and this poor, pathetic planet."

"I'm just here because I've been told you can help me learn what I want to know, martial arts, tactics, that sort of thing. Even with my powers, I was still helpless. I don't ever want to be helpless again."

"I shall teach you some of what you wish to know, but I have many connections, I can supply you with teachers."

"I can find my own teacher, but I will accept your offer to stay and learn," Kevin said politely.

"I'll have Ubu show you to your room," Ra's gestured to a big, burly servant. He escorted Kevin out of the room.

He looked at his daughter, "Talia."

"Yes, father?" she asked.

"See to it that young Gwendolyn will have nothing to do with him, get her out of the picture."

"We can kill her easily, but he would suspect something if anything happened to her," Talia wondered what could be so special about some girl.

"You are a woman and my daughter Talia, I'm not so simple, you know what to do. Breaking a woman's heart is easy enough."

"Yes, Father," Talia turned and left.

"The Anodite's influence on him is too strong. If she's out of the way, I can mold Kevin Levin into whatever I wish him to be."

Gwen stared up at the large nightclub that had just opened up in Bellwood, the Iceberg Lounge, owned by a fat little man named Oswald Cobblepot. Still, she had reservations about the place, she heard that both human and aliens frequented the place, mostly the criminal element. It wouldn't hurt to check it out; she wouldn't cause trouble until she could get something on him.

She didn't like what Bellwood was turning into, the alien crime rate had remained steady, with the Plumbers keeping busy, the human crime rate had gone up, and she'd even heard rumors that a crime Boss named Carmine Falcone had moved into town, setting up a large mansion in the middle of the city.

Up on Crest Hill, she'd noticed construction crews were beginning to construct something big. Along with another building in the middle of town, a large corporate building for an up and coming business that had appeared out of nowhere. She hadn't gotten many details about this businessman, apparently, he'd made billions dealing in technology and he had decided to call Bellwood home.

She sighed, the world was getting darker, her city was becoming dirtier and the relative feeling of safety and security was starting to slip away. Gwen decided it was time to leave.

Suddenly, someone stopped her, "Oh, hello there." She turned and looked at the plain looking, dark haired young man. He was about her own age, maybe a little older.

"Ah, sorry for that dollface, I couldn't help it, I wanted to thank you for coming tonight. You're the only one in this audience of deadbeats who gets my jokes."

"You're welcome Mister…" Gwen couldn't remember his name.

"Joe, Joseph Kerr," he smiled. "Would you like to come here for lunch tomorrow Gwen Tennyson?"

"How do you know my name?" Gwen asked.

"Girl as famous as you, you're hard to miss," he smiled.

"This better not be a date, I do have a boyfriend."

"No, just a thank you dinner, that's all."

"All right, I'll humor you, I'll see you tomorrow." Gwen walked out and headed home, checking her e-mail, maybe Kevin would write her, he usually wrote to her about his travels and sight-seeing, he also mentioned that he was studying abroad.

There was an e-mail, it was from Kevin. She opened it and read it. It was unusually short.

I won't be e-mailing you anymore. I've moved on and found someone else. I don't love you; I never did in the first place. You were never there for me when I needed you. You'll never understand my pain. Move on with your life, I have already. Don't even bother to write back. I won't respond.

Gwen jumped to her feet; the chair fell back behind her. She wrote back a response, but it wouldn't go through. No matter how many times she sent the e-mail it wouldn't go through. She cried quietly to herself. This wasn't fair, everything had fallen apart, her city was slowly being taken over, her boyfriend was gone and she was too busy fighting aliens to attend college again.

She headed to the park and sat down on a bench, wanting to be alone with her thoughts.

"Hello beautiful," a voice said cheerfully.

"Joe, hi, I was kind of hoping to be alone for awhile," Gwen sighed. He put a hand on her shoulder.

"Turn that frown upside down Gwen, I like it when you smile," Joe grinned at her, his eyes were filled with amusement.

"Kinda hard to laugh when you have a bad day."

"Well how 'bout I lighten the mood with a joke, he gestured theatrically. "See, there were these two guys in a lunatic asylum…and one night these guys decide they don't like living in the asylum any more. They decide they're going to escape!"

Joe stretched his hands grandly, "So, like, they get up onto the roof, and there, just across the gap, they see the rooftops of the town, stretching away in the moonlight…stretching away to freedom…"

"The first guy jumps right across with no problem. But his friend, his friend daren't make the leap, y'see, he's afraid of falling."

He gestured with his hands, "But the first guy has an idea…He says "Hey, I have my flashlight with me! I'll shine it across the gap between the buildings. You can walk along the beam and join me!"

Joe was trying not to laugh, "B—but the second guy just shakes his head. He suh—says…"What do you think I am? Crazy? You'd turn it off when I was half way across!"

Gwen began to laugh, her eyes brightened and a smile crossed her face, "I think I needed that!"

"Putting a smile on people's faces is all I want to do. Who's for Chinese?" he asked.

"Chinese sounds nice to me," Gwen got up and followed him, she felt better, she still wondered about Kevin, why he'd not even called her when she'd left him messages, begging him to talk to her.

Gwen would try to do her best to cope without Kevin, she had to wonder if she'd made a mistake somehow and should have gone with him when he left. She couldn't think about that now, she didn't want to. She turned her attention to Joe, following him to his car. She wondered if she would ever be able to feel happy about anything again.