A New Path
Chapter 1

Ben frowned as he looked himself up and down in the mirror. He took a few steps back to see below his knees and turned to the side, as if doing so would drastically alter his appearance. It didn't.

"I'm eighteen already, and I run around every day and lift stuff. When are the muscles gonna kick in?"

Ben knew he was going to be more built one day. He'd seen Ben 10,000 many times, and that was his future, right? That was going to happen someday? Well, at least in some timelines it would happen. Ben sighed. Even after dealing with it for years, space-time mechanics and different timelines and everything Paradox had taught him was still confusing.

As far as he understood it, it was written in stone that he would become Ben 10,000, marry Kai Green, and have a son named Kenny in at least one timeline. But he'd met many Bens from different timelines which had branched off at some point in his life. That meant that other timelines could branch off at any...well, time, right? That maybe in some versions of reality, he didn't grow up to be Ben 10,000 and have that life?

Ben sulked childishly for a bit as he pondered never gaining those muscles. But then his train of thought came to a fork in the tracks and chugged on down a new route, as it often did when Ben let himself think about different timelines. Yes, he'd been down this route before, although he tried to avoid it. Not because it was unpleasant - rather on the contrary. It was kind of too pleasant. And since Ben wasn't even 100% sure how the timeline thing worked, he couldn't guarantee that this particular thing was even possible. If it turned out not to be, he'd just be letting himself down. But how could it not be possible? Why couldn't it happen? Some other version of him in some other timeline would fulfill whatever "destinies" he'd been informed of.

Some other version of him that didn't have a crush on his partner. His very alien, very male, and very probably-shouldn't-like-him-this-way partner.

Ever since he had met Rook a couple of years ago, Ben had had a soft spot for the Revonnahgander. At first he had tried his best to not get friendly with his new partner, the goodbyes with Gwen and Kevin still hurting and the fear of being left again bubbling up. But within weeks Ben found himself incapable of escaping the Rook's charms, and begrudgingly allowed himself to call Rook a friend. This friendship had stood through many tests, and it was while they were on a spaceship one night, returning from a mission, that it had bridged another gap. On Ben's part, at least.

He was sat next to Rook, playing a game on his phone, when he idly quipped that he couldn't wait to get back to Bellwood for chili fries. And he hadn't been kidding, having missed his favourite food for the past week off planet. Ben then glanced over at Rook and caught the moment when a warm, amused smile spread over his face. Ben didn't know why he was smiling, and Rook himself didn't really know either. Perhaps it was the simple joy of knowing that with their success on this mission, they still had the privilege of being able to enjoy their favourite meals. Or perhaps he just liked to see Ben be happy. In any case, the expression was genuine.

Ben smiled back, and in the span of a heartbeat or two, something had changed between them. Ben was of course no stranger to physical change, as he went through it every day at will, but this was something different. Nothing shifted in his DNA, but it felt as though something had shifted in his brain; clicked into place. Ben felt a somewhat familiar rush of emotions fill his chest, albeit somehow clearer than ever before.

He liked Rook. He liked Rook.

This crush had persisted for some time now, and Ben had been forced to tread carefully around his partner. It felt great, as crushes usually do, but it opened up a whole new can of worms as well. Ben was determined to not let his feelings affect his working life with Rook, and he had succeeded for the most part. He was pretty sure Rook hadn't ever caught him stealing glances at him while they rode in the Proto-TRUK or patrolled Undertown on foot.

The whole timelines and destinies and what-have-you business was also an issue, although Ben often came to the same conclusion he had today when his thoughts slipped into this territory. If there were so many versions of him in so many other timelines, and the possibility for new timelines to branch off at any time, why couldn't it be possible? Not all timelines should have to lead to the same final destination.

But even if the universe would allow it, Ben thought gloomily, there was no guarantee that Rook would ever return his feelings. Rook and Rayona had amicably broken up as Rook's career on Earth kept them apart ever longer, and Rook hadn't started dating anyone else. Still, there was nothing telling that he even swung that way, let alone had feelings for Ben. At least Ben himself hadn't picked up on it. For once, he hoped he was being dense and overlooking something.

What were Revonnahgander's views on homosexuality anyway? Ben realised that he had no idea, since the topic had never come up. Suddenly immensely curious, Ben wondered who he could ask. Asking Rook would seem way too obvious...Ben knew that he wasn't exactly known for his subtlety. Who else did he know who could help him? As he came to a realisation soon after, Ben quickly headed out of his house and made his way to the Plumber's headquarters.

The first person he ran into after arriving in the central control room was Magister Patelliday, who arched an eyebrow, surprised to see Ben when he wasn't on active duty.

"Ben, what brings you here? I thought you said you were going to steer well clear now that you finally got a day off!"

"Yeah, yeah, I was gonna." Ben started, waving off the question. "But something came up. Could you, uh...put me in contact with Rook Shar?"

Patelliday seemed a bit puzzled, but then again, he had heard much stranger things from Ben. He warily made his way over to the communications system in the room.

"Any particular reason you need to get in contact with your partner's sister?" he asked while pressing some buttons.

Ben pushed through a sudden rush of nervousness and tried to stay as nonchalant as possible.

"Just have a simple question for her, that's all. No biggie."

Patelliday looked like he only halfway believed the response, but let it go anyway, leaving the room once he had started the call for Ben. As long as the kid didn't blow up the control room, his personal calls were none of his business.

"Hello? This is Rook Shar," came over the speaker several moments later, and a screen flickered to life with an image of the young woman's face.

"Hey Shar, it's me, Ben." Ben smiled and waved at the screen.

"Ben! Hello! Good to hear from you! I trust you and my brother are doing well there on Earth?"

"Yeah, we're doing good, nothing of cosmic importance has happened recently. Look, uh, Shar, could you...could you maybe answer a question for me? Really quick?"

Shar looked a bit confused but nodded her head anyway, curious as to what was getting Ben visibly worked up. If nothing of importance had happened, what was so urgent?

"Okay, so…" Ben started, breaking eye contact with the Shar before forcing himself to look back up. "I was wondering...and I have a good reason, I swear...if you could answer some things about Revonnahgander culture for me?"

"Alright…" Shar said, drawing out the word. Now she was really curious.

"Cool. So what I wanted to know is...what are Revonnahgander views on, uh, homosexuality?"

Ben found his heart beating a little bit faster, realising just how much he cared about the answer. Shar blinked a couple of times, then seemed to grin for a nanosecond. Ben wasn't even sure if he'd seen that correctly, but he could swear that for a moment, Shar seemed to know exactly what the subtext to his question was. Before Ben had time to decide how he felt about that, Shar began to speak.

"Well, since Revonnah has such a family-centric culture, and birthing children is still an important part of many unions, homosexual relationships are quite rare. When one does happen, though, it is more or less accepted. At the most, it might be seen as a minor nuisance by family members who were expecting someone to have natural born children, but it is not put under the sort of scrutiny that it can be put under on Earth. If I understand correctly, much of Earth's aversion to homosexuality is derived from scripture. There is no such scripture on Revonnah which speaks against homosexuality, so the degree of aversion is relatively low."

Ben took this in with uncharacteristic silence, and felt a kind of weight lift off of his shoulders once Shar finished speaking. At least this was good news. Even if Rook never felt the same way, at least he was unlikely to be disgusted by Ben's feelings on principle. Ben looked at the screen and smiled.

"Thanks, Shar. That's all I wanted to know. I don't wanna keep you from Plumber stuff for too long anyway."

Shar smirked good-naturedly and shifted the blaster in her hand.

"Any time, Ben Tennyson. Say hello to my brother for me when you see him, alright?"

"Sure thing, Shar. See you later!"

The two exchanged quick waves goodbye and Ben ended the call, making the screen go black.

So, sudden new crisis averted. But this left Ben back at his original square one. He wasn't sure if he should risk telling Rook how he felt. Maybe he should just wait a while longer, and see if he could pick up on any signs that Rook liked him back? Maybe he should ask for more help? Shar did seem to have an inkling of what was going on, in any case. Sighing to himself, Ben trudged out of the Plumber's base. Maybe a smoothie would calm him down.