A Missing Scene
Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10 and/or Ben 10: Alien Force and/or Ben 10: Ultimate Alien and/or any and/or all concepts and/or characters. They are copyrighted to Man of Action and Cartoon Network Studios. I am a mere Fanfiction author. With far too much time on her hands and no social life.
Rated: T
Ben Ten Thousand watched his past self and those of his comrades. He had accidently spilt the futures of himself and his cousin to them but he hadn't had the chance to tell about that of his enemy turned friend and he could see it eating away at both the man in question and the redhead who would be President of Earth. He knew that with the past in question the future was unbelievable at best, inconceivable at worst… 'Or maybe not so much' he realized as he watched the two interact. Often times he had wondered, doing what they did how they had managed to keep it all together in regards to their relationship but now he remembered. They had always been strong together, barely separable from each other…
"Hey Ben," he suddenly called to his younger self, pulling out his wallet. He had had an idea.
"Yeah?" Ben Ten asked, coming to him.
"Sit down," he motioned to the chairs, "I wanna show you something…" he opened his wallet, emptying it of his credit cube, unlimited, and identifications and then opening the photo section to a picture.
"Do you recognize her?" he asked his younger self, tapping the woman shown before holding the photo out to him. It was of a woman, no older than Ben Ten Thousand himself was, and two kids, one boy and one girl who both had electric green eyes and dark hair.
Ben Ten frowned, taking the picture and trying to discern anyone he knew from the photo. Then he smiled, realizing who it was. The bright green and black bracelet on her wrist was a telling clue, "Julie."
"Yes," Ben Ten Thousand smiled, "Julie Tennyson."
"Tennyson?" Ben Ten echoed with surprise, "You mean…?"
"Yep, she is crazy enough to marry our sorry butts." Ben Ten Thousand softened, "And give us two beautiful children, Ken and Ailyn Tennyson."
"But the boy, Ken," Ben Ten had noticed something, "he has a Watch…but you have the Watch so…?"
"Special tenth birthday present from Uncle Azmuth, it mimics the original Omnitrix and has parental controls…we all figured it was only fair since Julie has Ship and Ailyn's an Anodite…"
Ah, and that was the magic word; Gwen was drawn into the conversation, "Your daughter's an Anodite?" she conjured her own chair.
"Yep, gives you a run for your money too. Grandma nearly created a new star when we learned the gender…"
"And Julie…" Ben Ten asked shakily, "she handles having them alright right? No complications, no problems right?"
"Only weird thing was that she began burping up bubbles but that was only with Ailyn…."
Ben Ten let out a sigh of relief, sagging back in his chair, "What does she do? 'Cause I know she won't be staying home with the kids…"
Ben Ten Thousand grinned, "Bingo, she's an omni-disciplinary scientist, though she works mainly in astrobiology and chemistry…she's been able to bring several species back from extinction. Her favorite accomplishment is having been able to pull the petro-sapiens out of the history books…"
"Wow."
"And she's a great mother and still playing tennis in a semi-professional function and hosting dignitaries for Gwen and us…"
"Wow."
"Is Ailyn being trained properly?" Gwen asked worriedly.
Ben Ten Thousand grinned, perfect opening.
"Yes, you and Grandma are training her right alongside your own daughters…"
You could have heard a pin drop and it was amazing that Kevin had been able to steady his shaking hands enough to keep the ship up without the slightest dip. Ben Ten Thousand knew his friend was having to suppress his own despair and horror at the thought of having lost Gwen…
"Yes," Ben Ten Thousand strode onwards in the conversation, formulating a plan, "twin girls, Aaralyn and Evelyn, exactly the same age as Kenny; they were all born on the same day, in the same hour, on same minute, even the same second…"
The cousins groaned, having hated having the same birthday as long as they could think for themselves.
"Devlin followed five years later…no Anodite powers of course but he inherited his father's power…here, I have a picture of them…" he flipped through the photos, finding the one he wanted. The children pictured were identical to Ben's own except their hair was straight black.
Ben Ten Thousand stood up, ambling over to the third teen, saying, "If it helps there was nothing anyone could have done to stop it…"
"Shut up Tennyson," Kevin's shoulders began to shake uncontrollably.
"Everyone but Grandpa Max and Grandma Verdona was against the whole thing…"
"Shut up!" his voice was shaky now.
"Even at the start, especially at the start…"
"I said shut up!" his voice was breaking, his knuckles going white against the steering.
"Nobody really trusted him ya know? It was all too fast and suspicious, even though the chemistry was there since the moment they met again…"
"Please…" his voice was weak now, pleading, "please, no more…please…" he may even have been crying.
"Even she was wary at first, considering everything…but the way he looked at her…"
"Ben!" Gwen jumped in, "Stop it! You've already got your revenge for whatever happened between you two, leave him alone! He hasn't done anything to you!"
"Please, please, tell me I'm dead." Kevin begged; he couldn't stand having gone evil again or losing Gwen, "please…"
"What?" Ben Ten Thousand laughed, "No, you're not dead, you idiot. I would've have killed you twice if you'd've died." He yanked the photo free from Gwen's clenched fist, smoothing it out, "You're in charge of Earth's defense, you're a top Plumber alongside me and Gwen, all three of us are ranked number one in the organization, you even got your GED. You're training your son in his power—"
That was worse. He had a kid but not with Gwen. It was amazing the ship hadn't taken a nosedive yet…but then again, he'd never hurt Gwen…even if he lost her eventually…
"Ben," Gwen's voice was shaky now, her eyes welling with tears, "stop it! Stop it now! You aren't supposed to tell us these things for good reasons!" She was shaking….
"You have two beautiful daughters with their mother's powers…" Ben Ten Thousand continued without care.
"Ben, shut the he—" Gwen's eyes widened before she grinned, having realized…
Kevin however was still in the dark and it was an out and out miracle the ship was still up.
"Gwen," he had to leave, "take over…" he was about to collapse.
She did as told without complaint, drying the tears of relief that had fallen. Kevin made towards the cargo bay, Ben Ten Thousand following.
"Piss off." Kevin snarled when they had gotten to his car. The car that had probably cost him Gwen. He had probably paid too much attention to it and…well, the future wasn't set in stone. He had the advantage over the man who stole her away, he would make things right. He would make things the way they should be. He would make it to where no man could ever even think of making her leave him…
"You don't want to change the future," Ben warned.
"Then you don't know me!" he was contemplating shoving both the annoying bastard from the future and his once beloved car out of the cargo hold. The car would be destroyed completely, falling from this attitude, but would the asshole be? Probably not, lucky bastard….
"Your kids…"
"Probably little monsters!"
"No, they're angels; their mother is a very good woman…seriously, it's not worth it…"
"If she's not Gwen then she isn't worth it! Nothing's worth saving without Gwen! Not her, not my spawn, not the world, not even the universe! Nothing's worth anything without Gwen!"
"She's happy Kevin." Ben pled, "Trust me. She couldn't be happier…"
"She will be with me; I'll change to make her happy. Everything if needed." Kevin sounded so broken.
"You really do love her don't you?"
"Yes, more than you'll ever understand…"
Ben smiled, "Good, then I know she made the right choice…C'mere. I have something you need to see…" he smoothed out the photograph he held even more, before giving it to his friend. "Meet Aaralyn and Evelyn and Devlin Levin…" it was the same photo that he had shown Gwen, three kids eating ice cream in the park.
"Levin?" Kevin whispered, "Don't mess with me like that…"
"I'm not messing with you Kevin. Those are your kids by Gwen…You're her husband, the First Lord or whatever they call the President's husband…she never left you, never even looked in another man's direction…and it's not like other men haven't tried…even other aliens…lords, dukes, princes, kings, even gods have tried to woo her…"
"She chose me…" Kevin was in awe, the sort of awe one would enter when receiving a divine epiphany of some sort…
"Yes she has, consistently, even when offered immortality, powers beyond her wildest dreams, she's chosen you always and she always will."
"Our kids…"
"Oh yeah, they all inherited that temper and resourcefulness you both have, plus many other traits…"
"She had my kids…"
"Nearly murdered you in the delivery room, all three times…What're you doi—? AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" with one well aimed kick Ben Ten Thousand was brought to his knees and forced to hold himself.
Kevin strode out of the cargo bay, leaving the crippled man on his own, his heart soaring. He and Gwen made it. She didn't leave him. Giving her a kiss, he booted her from the pilot's seat, pulling her back down into his lap when he had taken her spot. Eon would never know what hit him.
"Hey, where's Ben Ten K?"
"Shut it Tennyson."
THE END