Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10 or any of its affiliating characters.
Well, since a few devoted readers requested it – I decided to add two new segments to Jail Bait. This story is a Gwen/Ben family semi-fluff piece with angst.
The silence during the car ride home made Gwen feel uneasy.
Each time she turned her head to say something, the look of depression in Ben's face and the tears that wanted to fall but won't (either due to exhaustion or Ben's will to not let them fall), made her stop herself. 'Kevin is so getting an earful!' she thought, trying to think of a way to comfort her cousin. "Ben," Gwen whispered, trying to get his attention.
"I don't want to talk about it, Gwen." His voice sounded bitter. Gwen would have given him attitude for the biting tone, but considering the things Kevin said to Ben – even as a joke (a tasteless joke) – Ben had every right to be pissed right now.
Gwen didn't realise that the car stopped and that they were at her place already. "Come on in, Ben." She invited him inside the two-story home.
"Not interested." Came the icy response.
"Benjamin Kirby Tennyson!" She rebuked. "There is no way I'm leaving you to drive when you're this upset! Uncle Carl and Aunt Sandra would kill me if I left you like this! Now get your ass in the house now!" She hated using such language, but yelling was the only thing she could do to make Ben move out of the car and get inside the house. Plus if something did happen to Ben while driving upset, not only would her family be disappointed in her for not stopping him, but she would forever feel the guilt. 'Ben's the baby of the family – I have to look out for him.' She thought. Even though they share the same birthday, she was the eldest of the two. 'There's no way I could ever forgive myself if something terrible happened to him in this state of mind.'
As the cousins reached inside the massive home, Ben sat down on the sofa in the living room, while Gwen went inside the kitchen. 'I can't run off to Mr. Smoothy or Burger Shack to buy Ben's favourites, so I better find stuff in here. Let's see...Mom made some cookies yesterday, so I should bring the cookie jar to Ben since he loves them so much...' She pulled out a cookie jar from the pantry and started to look inside the freezer. 'Aha! I knew we still had some cappuccino with chocolate chips ice cream! I think this should cheer Ben up a little.' As she entered the living room with the sugary-treats, what she saw broke her heart. The tears that Ben refused to shed in the car were finally falling and he was hyperventilating.
"Oh my god – Ben!" Gwen yelled, setting aside the junk food on the coffee table to hold her cousin to comfort him. 'Forget yelling at that jerk Kevin – he's going to get blown up!' She inwardly seethed. "It's okay, Ben...it's okay." The redhead tried to sooth the brunette. It broke Gwen's heart to see Ben so emotionally fragile.
"What made Kevin think that getting raped in jail would be funny?" Ben rasped in laboured breaths.
Gwen paled. She held Ben's shoulders and leaned back, to look at the green eyes that almost mirrored her own. "Ben, were you...?" She couldn't bring herself to finish the thought.
"For God's sake, no!" came the annoyed response. "I was incarcerated for only a few hours and in solitary confinement!" Ben gave his cousin a 'how stupid could you be' expression, then let out an exhausted sigh. "But how insensitive can that jackass be? What if I was attacked? You know how traumatising that would have been – even worse, that someone I thought to be my friend thinks that it was funny?" Gwen had to admit – Ben was right. Just being imprisoned was traumatising enough, but to joke about being physically abused? That was crossing the line. "If that was his way of getting back at me for accidentally mutating him, he's crossed the line." Ben said, moving away from the sofa to start pacing in the living room.
"Ben, that was the past. You've already apologised, a lot, for the accident. I'm sure Kevin's moved on from that." The young anodyte said, trying to convince herself more than the Ultimatrix bearer.
"Gwen, we're talking about the guy who held on a vendetta against me for five years." Ben deadpanned.
"That's true." Gwen pondered. Even though she was dating Kevin, his ability to hold onto grudges and his immaturity made him unbearable to be around sometimes. Sometimes she preferred Ben's company; even though he could be a little cocky immature bitch, he has shown – on numerous occasions – to be humble, compassionate and loyal. Right now, Ben's compassionate nature seemed strain. 'Can't blame him.' Gwen thought. 'If I were in his shoes right now, I'd probably think of a way to retaliate.' She turned her attention back to Ben, motioning for him to take a seat next to her again. "So, what are you going to do?"
The brunette sat down beside the redhead; she looked directly into his eyes again. An ominous glimpse was present in his eyes, a foreign expression that never showed in Ben's sweet demeanour; that worried her. "Ben?" She whispered. "What are you planning?"
The word that came was barely audible and malevolent. "Revenge."
The next instalment will be the last one. And boy – is Kevin ever gonna get it!