I do not own Ben 10
"Don't go daddy." Five year old Kevin grasped his father's legs. Devin smiled sadly.
"I have to Kev…. I have a job to do. It will be over soon. Then I'll be home before you know it." He ruffled his son's hair. Kevin held on tighter.
'"Daddy please….."
Devin sighed. "I promise it will be fine. When I get home we can go play some baseball. I'll spend a whole weekend, just the two of us."
"What about me?" April Levin walked into the room folding her arms. Devin pried Kevin from his legs and walked over to his wife. "Who said I forgot about you?" He kissed her tenderly on the lips.
Kevin made a gagging noise. "That is so gross."
"You'll think differently when your older."
"Sure….." Devin grinned at his wife and held out his arms. Kevin ran to them. Devin wrapped his arms around his son and wife.
"I promise I'll be back soon. You be good for your mother."
"Dad…"
"Kevin…"
Kevin Levin grunted. "I promise."
"No funny stuff. I don't want you using your gifts without me here. I don't think your mother wants to have to deal with any of our appliances shorting out." He laughed. "I seem to remember a little incident with the toaster last week."
Kevin laughed. "That was really cool."
"Kevin, I don't think that exploding toasters could really be cool…"
Devin hugged his wife and son one more time. "Just behave yourself."
"Okay daddy. I love you."
"I love you too. Now I got to go save the earth."
Kevin laughed. "Like superman."
"Exactly. "……….
Kevin Levin sat the picture down. That had been the last time he had seen his father. He would never admit it, not even to his friends, but he missed him, a lot. The ordeal with Ragnoarok had not made things any better. That creep may have been dead but it had done nothing to assuage Kevin's anger.
Kevin peered into the living room. His mother was crying. Some older man put a hand on her shoulder.
'"I'm so sorry." He walked out the front door. Kevin ran to his mother.
"Mom what's wrong?"
She looked up, teary eyed. "Oh Kevin…."
"Mommy?" he asked worriedly.
She held out her arms. Kevin ran to them. "That, that was a friend of your father's. He… he.. " she sobbed. "he won't be coming home."
"What do you mean?" Kevin's heart was racing.
"he…he.. he's dead Kevin. He can't ever come home."
Kevin felt tears sting his eyes. Dead, his dad couldn't be dad. His dad could do all source of neat things. He had powers. His dad was a hero. Heroes weren't supposed to die…
His mother held him close.
His mom hadn't been able to cope. She had lost it and Kevin had been sent to foster care. Things had gone from bad to worse. He went from home to home, finally ending up on the streets. Nobody wanted a strange kid like him. And Kevin, Kevin he had never been the same. His dad wouldn't have been proud. But things were getting better, a little. Maybe, just maybe his dad would be happy. He would have been angry at Kevin for ending up in the no void. But now Kevin was a plumber. "Just like you dad."
He remembered when he was younger. It seemed to him that heroes died young. Villains, they lived a long life. Caring about other people only got you in trouble. But lately he knew better. He understood why his dad had sacrificed himself.
"Your dad was a good man." Max told him.
"He put others before himself. He loved you Kevin. I'm sorry he never made it home."
Kevin said nothing. "He would have been proud of you son."
Kevin backed away. "I'm not your son."
Max simply nodded as Kevin walked away he could hear Max say "Your more like your father then you could ever know…….