Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10 or its sequels, spin-off and related characters. All is the property of Man of Action and Cartoon Network. I'm just borrowing them for some non-profit entertainment.
(A/N: This fic is a sequel to one of my other Ben 10 fics, "Roots". Which is in turn a sequel to my first Ben 10 story, "Thorns". I do recommend reading at least one of them first as they all take place along a fanon AU and are a mix of several different series canons. It will make much more sense to you if you read them in order. However, each story is also its own self-contained adventure -rather like episodes in a series. So you can still pick and choose ones to read and -hopefully- not be too confused. Anyway, you have been warned. Enjoy!)
Growth
Chapter One: Aftermath
"Check it out!"
Two students bent over a phone between them, watching a video that had been shared on one of their Spacebooks, or Tumbrls, or whatever social media site they subscribed to. That didn't matter. Devlin only needed a casual glance over their shoulders as he passed by to recognize it as one of the cell phone videos of himself and his father fighting on the soccer field last week. He lowered his head and walked faster, hoping neither of them would look up and notice him.
It wasn't bad enough having a pariah like Kevin 11,000 for a father. It wasn't bad enough having Kevin in his life suddenly making things even more awkward for him. It wasn't bad enough suffering almost constant cognitive dissonance between the reputation of what Kevin was supposed to be and the reality of who he actually was. No. He also had to live with every poorly thought action and impulsive mistake his father made from now on shoved back in his face every day by people who were supposed to be his peers!
Kevin was ruining his life!
(And had been ruining it since before he was even born. But that was an emotional crisis for another day.)
And the worst part was, he wasn't even allowed to hate the man for it. Not openly. If Devlin tried to avoid the man, blow him off, or walk away before Kevin had his fill of 'father son bonding' then Kevin would blow his secret wide open. That Devlin hadn't actually been under Servantis' mind control during the whole Rooters fiasco. If that ever came out -forget taking the Psychologicals- Devlin would be kicked out of the Plumbers Pre-Academy program so fast the ink on the REJECTED stamp wouldn't have time to dry.
So he had to play nice with Kevin. Smile at the man that was ruining his life. Call him 'Dad' and let the evil bastard drive his car.
It was kriffing torture!
Kenny was already waiting for Devlin by the school's main gate. Head down, completely absorbed in whatever hand-held game he was playing this time. Devlin tapped him on the shoulder.
"Ready to g-"
And Kenny totally flipped the kriff out.
He jumped back, startled. Dropped his Nintendo 4DS. And sputtered some gibberish before he was able to compose himself and pick his game back up.
That was another thing.
Ever since the Rooters fiasco -ever since Devlin absorbed Kenny's faux-Omnitrix, transformed into a new mutation, went insane, and tried to absorb all of Kenny's life energy- the younger boy was jumpy around him. They didn't have the cool and easy more-like-brothers-than-cousins relationship they used to have. It almost felt like… that is, if Devlin didn't know any better… He would have thought Kenny was afraid of him.
But that was crazy. Kenny and Devlin had been together since forever. They grew up together. They were family. They were best friends. They always had each others backs. Kenny couldn't be afraid of Devlin!
Except Devlin did try to practically eat him back at the Rooters base. Absorb all his mana -his life force. Effectively kill him. That would be both a shocking betrayal and terrifying ordeal. There was no denying that Kenny had a perfectly justifiable reason to be afraid of his cousin.
"Sorry, Dev, I was really absorbed in that level." The younger boy attempted to salvage some dignity. "What'd you say?"
But before Devlin could repeat himself, his car pulled up.
An acid green GTO Judge with black racing stripes. Devlin's car. But Kevin was driving. It was one of his punishments for the Rooters fiasco: no driving privileges; and part of his bargain for Kevin's silence in what really happened: let the man drive it with no protests or fuss. Devlin had to grit his teeth and bite his tongue every time he saw that man sitting in his seat!
Kevin honked the horn twice to get their attention and only succeeded in increasing the number of stairs Devlin got.
Suppressing a snarl, the young Osmosian tried to grab his cousin's hand but Kenny pulled away. He tried to make it look casual. He wasn't jerking away from Devlin, he was adjusting the strap on his backpack. But Devlin wasn't fooled. Kenny was trying to avoid being touched by the Osmosian. After all, if an Osmosian can't touch you, they can't absorb you.
"Looks like Kevin's taking us to Group again." The younger boy hopped over to the green and back muscle car, pulled the door open and claimed the front passenger seat.
Kevin made a face at having Ben 10,000's spawn sitting next to him instead of his own sullen and disgruntled progeny. But Devlin was more concerned with the fact that Kenny appeared to feel safer sitting next to Kevin 11,000 instead of him! Kevin had torn through the universe terrorizing planets and absorbing the powers and abilities of 11,000 different aliens. That was way worse than anything Devlin had done! But the defining factor was that Kevin's evil thing happened before Kenny was even born. He knew of it, but was removed from it. It didn't effect him.
What Devlin did, however, was done to him. It happened to Kenny directly. There was no way to justify, compartmentalize, brush off, or ignore that.
Suppressing a forlorn sigh, Devlin opened the door to the back seat, sat down, and forced himself to say, "Thanks for taking us to the shrink." A pause. "Dad."
It still felt strange calling him 'Dad' instead of 'Kevin'. The word tasted wrong in his mouth and sounded foreign to his ears. It wasn't a title he ever expected to call anyone by. For the first sixteen years of his life he didn't have a dad and that was what he was used to. Calling Kevin -or anyone, to be fair- 'Dad' just felt wrong.
The drive to their therapist might have been bearable if Kevin didn't insist on attempting to make small talk with him. Devlin would have much preferred to just drive in awkward silence. But, no… Kevin had to insist on trying to get to know his son at every kriffing opportunity. Like doing it at home wasn't enough. It took so much energy not to snap back at the man to just shut-up and leave him alone for five minutes! Jeez!
"So, what's school like, anyway?" Kevin asked as they merged into the usual after school traffic.
"Terrible." Kenny answered for him, once again playing his game and not bothering to look up from the screen.
Reflected in the rearview mirror, Devlin could see that his father was -once again- displeased by Tennyson's offspring inserting himself in place of Devlin. But he didn't comment. Instead he continued. "It can't be that bad. I remember Gwen used to love school! She loved it so much she stayed in it well into her twenties."
"She was working on two separate doctorates!" Devlin snarled. The way Kevin said it, it sounded like his mom was held back or something. Gawd, Devlin couldn't stand him!
The car was filled with a tense silence for a beat.
Then, "What did you do, Kevin?" Kenny asked, voice full of forced chipperness. "Since you never went to school."
Kenny was usually really good at making idle chatter. But Kevin made him feel awkward too. He was new to the family and threw off the dynamic. He was a grown-up same as Dad, Aunt Gwendolyn, and Great-Grandpa Max, but they didn't appear to share authority with him. In fact, the way they acted toward Kevin it was like he had to answer to their authority within the household. But he wasn't on an equal level with Kenny and Devlin either because he was an adult and they were not. Kenny didn't know where Kevin stood within the family and he didn't know how to behave around him because of it.
"Oh, lots of things…" Kevin answered vaguely.
"Like what?" The younger man pressed.
"Well, if you really must know, I was a smuggler, broker, hitter, wheel-man, and grifter." Kevin supplied expecting the boy to be shocked or mortified by his past criminal occupations.
Instead, Kenny said, as if proud of himself, "I know what two of those things are!"
In the back seat, Devlin couldn't help but smack his face with the palm of his hand. To spite the fact that Kenny was only thirteen months younger than him, he still could be such a child some times.
Kevin was also at a bit of a loss. He paused. Then asked, "Which… which are the three you don't know?"
Seriously, how could a Plumber's kid not know what a broker, smuggler, hitter, wheel-man, or grifter were?
"What's a hitter?" Kenny asked.
"Hired muscle." Kevin supplied for him.
"And broker?"
"Middle-man."
"And wheel-man?"
"Getaway driver." This time it was Devlin who answered and he regretted it the moment he saw Kevin smile in the rearview mirror. His evil criminal father was pleased with him knowing that -or maybe just joining the conversation finally. Either way, ugh!
"Or just a driver in general." He elaborated. "Doesn't matter if you're running from the Plumbs, driving to a gig, or back from a deal, every crew needs a wheel-man."
"Ah, so you were Dad and Aunt Gwendolyn's wheel-man!" Kenny smiled, putting Kevin's past occupation in a more positive light. "And this was the car!"
Kevin only nodded.
Devlin wanted to puke.
The car pulled up to the Terran Plumber's Academy office building. While the actual Academy itself was a satellite that orbited the Earth, the office remained rooted firmly to the planet's surface in Bellwood. It was where prospective cadets could enlist, concerned parents could make inquiries and request information, cadets picked up their schedules, or left notice of absences, and -finally- where the Academy sanctioned councilors and psychiatrists held sessions.
Ally -Alan Albright's daughter- was waiting for them outside. She, Devlin and Kenny all attended the same therapy group along with Herminie "Minie" Armstrong -Helen and Manny's daughter- and a senior year Academy cadet named Dylan Billings. All five of them being the children manipulated or just outright kidnapped by Servantis and his Rooters. They all went through the same ordeal, so they all attended the same therapy group.
That, right there, was a true show of just how different the Plumbers were now. Back when Kevin was their age, nobody ever tried to make him, Tennyson, or Gwen attend therapy after any of their insane life-threatening adventures. But then, metal stability of badge holders wasn't really a priority back then. Just getting the job done was the priority. Any lasting effects in the aftermath could be sorted out later. But after Kevin's rampage sixteen years ago, the Plumbers realized that maybe assessing members mental and emotional states was also important.
Hence the kids' therapy. Hence the mandatory psychological tests at the end of every term.
No more Kevin 11,000s. Never again.
Kenny practically jumped out of the car the moment it slowed down enough for him to do so. Kevin's foot wasn't even completely on the break yet. Guess being in the car with not one, but two Osmosians was a bit much for him. Either that or he was just anxious to see Ally.
"Hey!" He rushed up to her. "Been a while!"
"No it hasn't." She snorted, absentmindedly scratching one of her cornrows. She was contemplating shaving her hair again. Summer was almost here and it was getting hot. "We saw each other on Sunday at the Academy. Gawd! Its like I can't get away from you anymore!"
Kenny took her hand in his, closing the space between them. "Or maybe the universe is saying we're meant to be together."
With a scoff, Ally pulled her hand away. "Or maybe we just live on the same planet, attend the same Weekend Academy, and are being forced to go to the same shrink twice every week. Oh! And you're an idiot."
Devlin remained in the car, having a small mental crisis. He didn't want to go to Group and sit in a room while their shrink told them that it was okay to feel bad and that they shouldn't be ashamed because this horrible thing happened, blah, blah, blah. But he also didn't want to stay in the car with Kevin and be subjected to his awkward idea of 'quality time'. The young Osmosian was having a difficult time choosing the lesser of two evils.
"Out of curiosity, you ever talk about me at this thing?" Kevin asked, watching his son in the rearview mirror.
That made Devlin's decision for him. He'd rather sit and listen to a shrink deal out soft-science redirect than put up with Kevin 11,000 try to form some sort of meaningful connection with him. "Can't talk about Group, Dad. Confidentiality agreement. Remember?"
"I thought that was just for the shrink?" Kevin asked, only partially skeptical. Truth be told, he'd never been to a therapist even once in his life and had no idea what it was like or what the rules were.
But Devlin was already out of the car and either didn't hear his question or was ignoring it.
Rolling down the passenger side window, Kevin called after him. "I'll be back to pick you up at five thirty."
"Okay." Kenny answered for Devlin.
"Thanks for dropping them off again, Mr. Levin." Ally waved at him with a smile. Of the three of them, she was the only one who had a truly positive experience with Kevin. After all, he was the one to actually free her and Billings from Servantis' mind control. Sure, her dad still kinda resented him, and everyone else in the universe thought he was the most evil thing since the invention of evil. But, in Ally's one and only first hand experience with the man, Kevin was the hero.
"Let's go." Devlin grabbed the waving girl by her other wrist and pulled her towards the entrance of the building. He tried to grab Kenny to, but the younger boy pulled away. Moving to Ally's other side, he took her other hand.
"The hell is this? An unarmed escort?" She growled at both of them. She pulled her hands away and walked a few paces ahead of them. "Ugh. You're both idiots."
Devlin shrugged. He didn't care, he just wanted to get away from Kevin. Kenny didn't seem to mind Ally walking ahead of him either. She had a very nice backside in his opinion and would not turn down an opportunity to admire it.
"Dude, try not to be so obvious." Devlin hissed at him.
"I am not!" Kenny snapped.
Ally paused to look back at them. Kenny had to flash her a goofy smile to put her at ease while Devlin just shook his head. Sometimes, Kenny was such a helpless doofus.
Billings and Minie were already there when Ally, Devlin, and Kenny entered the room.
"Way to keep the rest of us waiting, Fake-Tennyson!" Billings snapped the moment Devlin entered the room. Dylan Billings was almost eighteen, two years older than Devlin and on the cusp of aging up into the real Plumbers' Academy at Galvan. But to spite the older boy's seniority, Billings and Devlin had been bitter rivals almost from the first moment Devlin entered the Weekend Academy. All because Devlin, in his infinite assertive bossiness, managed to usurp command of a combat scrimmage from him.
"Shut-up, Billings!" Devlin snapped. The feeling of contempt was mutual.
"Ooh, great come back. You sure showed me." Billings scoffed with derision, folding his Necrofriggian wings over his shoulders.
"What? We're not late." Kenny said, looking at his Omnitrix as if it were a real watch that could actually tell the time.
The therapist clapped her hands twice to call everyones attention to her. "All right, everybody, now that we're all here lets settle down."
Devlin quietly took the seat in the circle that was farthest from Billings, expecting Kenny to take the empty chair next to him. But instead, his cousin took the empty seat next to the therapist. Speedy -that is, Herminie- sat next to Devlin with Ally on his other side. Of course Kenny wouldn't sit next to him. Why would he. He didn't sit next to him anymore at breakfast, he didn't sit next to him in the car, hell!, they might still sit together at lunch, but Kenny now seemed to always be sitting just out of arms reach of his older cousin. Ever since Devlin absorbed his faux-Omnitrix and tried to kill him.
The Osmosian tried not to let it bother him. He did a 'bad guy' thing, he deserved a 'bad guy' treatment. Still… he and Kenny had been together for as long as Devlin could remember. He used to think nothing could divide them. That they were closer than blood brothers. Apparently, he was mistaken.
"Before I begin, is there anything anyone wants to share?" Asked the therapist.
"I designed my Hero Uniform for when you finally tell my parents I can beat up bad guys like everyone else!" Minie happily announced. She pulled a folded piece of paper out of her jacket pocket and passed it to Devlin, to pass to Ally, to pass to Kenny, to pass to the therapist.
"That's the Flash's costume, Speedy." Kenny informed the little girl as he passed the drawing to the therapist.
"Its a very lovely uniform design." She said, barely glancing at the child's drawing. "Lets take a moment to talk about this. Most children your age aren't so firm in what they want to do with they grow up. Are you sure you're still gonna wanna fight dangerous criminals when you're older?"
Minie made a face of displeasure. "Yes." She growled. "And don't tell me that that's unusual for a kid my age, either. Plenty of people know what they wanna do when they're really young! My mommy and daddy knew they wanted to fight aliens and protect people when they were kids, now they're both Plumbers! Kenny's dad has been doing the exact same job since he was my age! And Devy's mom too! In fact, Devy and Kenny both also wanted to be Plumbers since forever and now they're going to the Weekend Academy. So stop telling me I'm not gonna wanna beat-up bad guys when I'm old! Its really starting to bother me!"
Always one to support anyone who stuck it to shrinks, Billings offered the little Tetramand-Kineceleran hybrid an approving smile. "Kid, I like you. You can sit next to me."
"I am sitting next to you." The little girl pointed out, still using her annoyed voice.
"Yeah, but now you've got my approval." Billings explained.
Minie gave up and slumped in her chair. There must be something about growing up that turned everyone into feathers-for-brains. Seriously. Every person she met over the age of thirteen was a complete idiot who didn't understand anything and seemed incapable of grasping even the most obvious. How did the world keep turning with morons like this in charge?
After it became apparent that the girl was done, the therapist turned her attention back to the rest of the group. "Does anyone else have anything to share?"
They all remained silent.
"Dylan, have they made in progress in trying to revert you back to full human?" The therapist prompted.
"Bite me." Billings snapped back, ruffling his Necrofriggian wings in irritation. He had a strict 'never be nice to shrinks' policy.
Forcing a patient smile on her face, the therapist decided that if he didn't want to talk, he didn't have to talk and moved on. "Ally, how are you grappling with the issues you mentioned in our last session? Almost killing your friend's father and your own father while under mind-control."
The Pyronite girl drew her legs up and hugged her knees when she said, "Dad and I had a bit of a heart-to-heart about it. Apparently, I wasn't the first time someone he trusted tried to kill him. Apparently, it happens a lot in his circle of friends. He told me not to worry about it, so I'm trying not to let it bother me. Water under a bridge, ya know. Or, at least, water near a bridge."
"Oh? Who else tried to kill him?" Kenny asked, genuinely curious.
Ally just looked at him like he was the biggest idiot in the world and the answer should have been obvious. Who among their parents' friends had a pre-inclination to going crazy and trying to kill one or more of them? When the faux-Omnetrix wielder still didn't seem to get it, her else flicked momentarily to Devlin, then back to Kenny.
"Huh?" He blinked at her a moment longer. Then, "Oh. Oh! Right. They, uh, they tend to do that. But like you said, water near a bridge, right?" To Devlin, "Am I right?"
"Yeah." Devlin croaked, throat suddenly and inexplicably dry. If everything really was all right, all fine and dandy, water under a bridge -or, water near a bridge, then why was Kenny still so hesitant to get near him? Clearly, water near a bridge was not the same thing as water under a bridge.
"He speaks!" The therapist exclaimed. "Devlin, while they've got you talking, is there anything you'd like to share with the group?"
In all their sessions thus far, Devlin had not shared once. He offered snarky remarks or sarcastic commentary, but he did not share any of his own, feelings or fears. But then, how could he when the things he feared was all of them learning that he hadn't really been under the Rooters' control and everything he did at that time was of his own volition? That he was really just as evil and his father was -as everyone else was afraid he would turn out to be. And, because of that, his own father was blackmailing him.
Nope. Devlin definitely couldn't share.
"I have nothing to say." He informed the therapist.
"Surely there must be something you need to get off your chest." She insisted. "You only just absorbed to much energy and lost control recently, what was that like for you. It must be difficult coming to terms in the aftermath. Let us help you."
Devlin did not glance at Billings who looked expectant and smug. Yeah, no. Even if he did want to talk about that -and he did not- Devlin was not about to open up about absorbing Kenny's faux-Omnetrix and expose his weakness right in front of the one person on the Earth who hated him the most. Not a kriffing chance in hell!
"I have nothing to say." The Osmosian repeated.
With a sigh of resignation, the therapist gave up. She didn't get anything out of him before and she wasn't about to get anything out of him now. The boy just seemed determined never to open up. But that just made her more sure of the fact that he needed to confide in someone. If not her and the group, then at least someone. A person more experienced than him who could (at least somewhat) understand what he went through. More than a therapist or a support group, Devlin just needed someone to understand him.
"Alright then." She called everyone's attention back to her. "Almost all of you -except for little Minie here- are enrolled in the Weekend Academy. I'm sure you're already aware that your Psychologicals are coming up. Magister Wheels has asked me to assess whether or not you're ready to take them along with all of your peers, or if -given your ordeal with Proctor Servantis and his Rooters- we should postpone them until you've recovered."
This announcement was met with mixed reactions.
"What?" Kenny exclaimed. "So, you're gonna single us out for something that's not our fault!"
Ally looked relieved. She had been waging a small internal battle with herself and her own conscience ever since waking up from Servantis' mind control and actually wasn't sure if she even wanted to be a Plumber anymore. Some extra time before taking the psychological exam and committing herself to another year at the Academy actually sounded nice. It would give her time to reflect on who she was and what she really wanted. "How long of a window do we have to postpone?"
Before the therapist could answer, however, Billings cut in. "I'm just two months away from turning eighteen! I've almost aged up into the real Academy. If our Psychologicals are postponed what happens to my admission? Will I have to wait a whole extra year before I can enlist? You can't do that to me!"
Devlin was the only one to remain silent (-discounting Minie whom had no opinion). Truth be told, he wasn't even sure if he could pass the psychological exam now. Not now that he'd been a bad guy. Take it with everyone else or postpone it, would it even make a difference? The Psychologicals were created for the express purpose of preventing psychopaths like Kevin 11,000 from becoming Plumbers. Now that Devlin had 'Pulled a Kevin' would the test show he wasn't Plumbers material anymore. That he was just as evil as his father.
What could he do?
...
