A good, clean glimpse at Ben and Gwen, if they could've been.
(New fic is up and on its little toddler legs! Yay! Needless to say (but I'll say it anyway) this is a multi-chapter fic, so stay tuned for chapter two coming up. I've wanted to write a Ben 10 fiction in awhile because I loved Alien Force (and Ben 10, of course) but didn't like or understand some things they did, such as character's personality changes and so on. So here's the beginning of my what-if piece.)
I own nothing. Yadda yadda yadda. It belongs to the creaters. All that jazz.
Chapter One
A Perfect Day
April
"Ben, dammit! Give me the remote!"
It was supposed to be a good day…
Gwen Tennyson had woken up to sunlight and the rustling of a slight cold wind knocking a tree branch against her window. She'd combed her red mane out until it was as tamed as she could get it, pushing her bangs out of her way. She had dressed humming, pulling on her blue sweater and favourite jeans with an actual smile on her face.
She hadn't smiled in days.
Ben had been 'going hero' a lot more than usual lately. That was okay. Usually. Gwen got the chance to save people, act like a hero herself if only for a few seconds while Ben was pulling some creepy alien out of a caved-in wall. But ever since Kevin came into their lives, agreeing to go heroing with them, Ben had changed. Not everyone would've noticed, but she did.
He was moody. He threw himself into his hero role like he was trying to run away from something but not succeeding. There were days he just completely ignored she existed and went out to save people all by himself. That worried Gwen. But not nearly as much as it made her angry. It hurt a little, too, that he didn't trust her to tell her what was wrong. And if she ever brought it up, Ben said she was being stupid and quickly changed the subject.
Gwen learned to not bring it up.
Ben's house had been easy to walk to; only a mile and some. Bellwood wasn't that big anyway – only a mall, a Mr. Smoothy's, some other stores that were necessary, but nothing ever worth tourists talking about. Except for the aliens. But there weren't too many tourists who wanted to go to a town to have a twenty foot slime monster acid-zap their car.
It was a little chilly out, being the beginning of April, and her nose burned a bit from the wind, but there was a bright sun warming her face and she refused to let imperfections in the weather slow her down.
Any usual day her parents would have given her a lift. Well, maybe. Most of the time they were too busy planning which party to attend or what college Gwen should go to, even though she was still barely in high school. So maybe they wouldn't have given her a lift.
When the door to the Tennyson house had sprung open, Aunt Sandra's polite grin put Gwen a little on edge. Sandra Tennyson was known for many things, but a fan of Gwen's side of the family wasn't one of them. Her and Lili were just as likely to agree as disagree, erupting into a full blown argument at a moment's notice. Still, today was a good day, so Gwen had smiled back every bit as politely.
"Ben! Gwen's here!" Aunt Sandra called over her shoulder and from the living room, Ben's arm had popped up in a casual wave from the couch. With a grin, Gwen had trotted up to the couch, weighing between putting her legs, rather heavily, across her cousin or simply laying her entire body on him.
He would make tons of complaints.
He wouldn't really mind, though.
That was before.
They had even been getting along for once, playing around and trading some pointless banter. That all ended when she had reached for the remote, switched to DVD, and slid in her absolute favourite movie in the world. Before they knew it, the remote was being gripped between them like a hostage, insults flying everywhere.
They quickly forgot that they were fifteen.
Sometimes that little fact was easy to forget. Gwen still felt ten at moments when she was with Ben and they were on some sort of adventure – alien-related or not. That's when she could feel ten again. And then she would catch her reflection in the toaster or in a glass and she'd have to snap back to being a teenager.
Somewhere along the line Ben had been able to wrench the remote from her fingers, holding it backwards over the couch just out of her reach. She may have been taller than him while standing, but sitting down she was at a disadvantage. Stupid long arms.
"But you've watched this movie twelve times!" Ben complained, still keeping the remote a centimetre away from her hands.
"I don't care. Give it."
"It's my house," he pointed out angrily.
"It's my DVD Player."
She had brought it from her house halfway across town. She had lugged the thing almost two miles, and just because it didn't look heavy didn't mean it couldn't get heavy. No matter how much she had wanted to leave it at home, seeing her cousin's face was worth it. Her parents had bought Gwen her own two Christmases ago and she would never let Ben forget it. That same Christmas he had gotten a video game he'd really wanted; no matter how cool that was, it hadn't been as cool as a DVD Player.
He stretched so far back that Gwen was sure his arm would pop out of its socket. "This movie is stupid. All they do is kiss!"
She couldn't believe it. Fifteen and he still hadn't gotten a clue about anything important.
"It's called 'romance,' Dweeb. And it's an amazing movie!"
"It's stupid, Geek!"
That was the last straw.
"Veni!" Gwen hissed and stretched out her hand, concentrating her energy until a spark shot from her fingers, encircling the remote and yanking it from his fingers.
Ben glared at her. "Hey! That's not fair! Mom!"
Aunt Sandra's voice had the right mixture of annoyance and tiredness to get their attention. "Ben, Gwen! Don't make me come in there."
"Sorry, Aunt Sandra." Gwen stared angrily down at the prize in her hands, wondering if she should push play, if only to annoy him. "Tattle tale," she grumbled.
Really. What had he been thinking? Probably nothing at all, knowing him. What if Aunt Sandra had come in and saw Gwen using her powers? A couple of phone calls, a few talks between parents, and secrets would come out; Ben sneaking out, Gwen running around everywhere, the stories, the lying. It wouldn't be long before they knew about the aliens, the Omnitrix, all of it. They would know everything.
All she could do was glower at the remote, not even bothering to put it down as she thought about how badly her cousin had screwed up. And Ben didn't try to get it back.
She glanced up, ready to start another fight, and her words caught in her throat. His big, acid-green eyes were staring right at her, his hand up like he had planned to reach for the remote but stopped.
For a second, he looked like he was going to say something.
For a second he looked…he looked…
And then there was a knock on the door, an impatient rap, and Aunt Sandra was running to answer it and Ben was leaning back against the couch. When Kevin walked in, dressed from head to toe today in black, Gwen's cheeks were flaming and she tried to will them to stop.
"Hey, guys. What's going on?"
Gwen practically jumped on him, grabbing his arm and dragging him to the couch. Ben complained with a grunt when they plopped down obviously too close to him. "Kevin! You want to watch a movie with me, right?"
"Sure." His smile was huge. "No problem."
"Careful, Kevin." Ben's voice was a warning.
Kevin's smile froze. "Uh-oh." His eyes flashed to the screen. "One of those gushing dramas?"
"Yup."
"I'll pass, Gwen." He made a face that looked like he smelled something gross. Then he slapped his hand on his knee, giving Ben a mischievous grin. "And now that there's two guys in the house, you know what that means?"
"Super Sumo-Slammer III?"
"Exactly."
Ben snatched the remote from Gwen's hands and turned off the movie just when Tom Hanks was going to kiss Meg Ryan. That was the good part.
"You guys are no fair," Gwen whined, crossing her arms angrily over her chest.
"And using your alien-gifted powers on me is completely fair," Ben snapped back.
"Like you haven't been doing that since you were ten."
"She's got a point, Ben."
Ben slumped down on the couch, glaring at his feet propped up on the coffee table. "I don't use them on you."
"Fine." She rolled her eyes. She knew that this argument wasn't going anywhere. Especially when you had someone like Ben on your hands. And especially when he had somehow slipped into one of his moods. Gwen pointed her thumb at the TV. "Enjoy your play-offs, guys."
"It's called a 'match,' Gwen," Ben grumbled.
Gwen only smiled in reply. She knew what it was, and he knew that she knew. She had played enough Super Sumo-Slammer games with Ben over the years to recognize the jargon anywhere. The buzz of annoying her cousin lasted only a minute or two, though. After that there was a painful disappointment that set in.
Fortunately, she only had to sit through twelve matches of shouting, shushing, and saying words that she hadn't realized they knew, before Kevin decided to leave. After a particularly close round of cyber butt-kicking, he grabbed his jacket and stood up. Gwen recognized that move; he used it hundreds of times when he had to go somewhere and didn't feel like saying anything about it.
"Wait," Ben called, standing on his knees and leaning his forearms on the back of the couch. "No emergencies?"
Gwen sighed, wondering why he hadn't asked this question sooner. A building on fire would've burned down by now. More importantly, she was the smart one. She should have thought of that, not Ben.
Kevin shook his head. "Nah. I just wanted to hang out. It's been really un-busy lately." His eyes moved uncertainly from the door to Gwen. "Want to come with me, Gwen? I could drive you home."
The question caught her off guard. "Uh."
No one knew Aunt Sandra was there until she laid her hands on Gwen's shoulders. They all jumped and exchanged looks, each wondering how much she had heard and if it had made her suspicious. They waited for the questions, the screaming…
But Aunt Sandra only smiled and looked sideways at Gwen. "That's extremely kind of you to offer, Kevin. Why don't you go?"
Gwen's stomach dropped. She liked Kevin. A lot. He had proven himself a valuable member of their team since day one and about a thousand times more afterward. Still, she couldn't completely trust him. There had been too much in their past to simply forget it all after a few favours. Even if it was unfair, life didn't work that way.
"You don't have to," Ben said with a shrug. "You can stay for dinner if you want."
She could have hugged him. That would've been too weird, though.
"I am pretty hungry," Gwen admitted. She looked over at Kevin, feeling more than a little guilty. "I think I'll stay."
For a second, he honestly seemed hurt and Gwen wanted to kick herself, though a blink later he was wearing the same smarmy grin he always had on.
"Your loss," he said, shoving his black hair backward. With a roll of his shoulders, he slipped into his jacket and waved at Aunt Sandra. "Bye, Mrs. Tennyson. See ya guys later."
"Bye, Kevin."
The door closed and Kevin's green muscle car was just a blur in the window as it roared away.
Aunt Sandra rubbed her forehead. "Oh, Lord. If she stays, just promise me you won't fight."
"We'll try." Ben's smile wasn't convincing.
"Thank you." His mother sighed heavy enough to make the stray hair in front of her face fly like a kite's string. She took a step away before changing her mind, snapping back to them. She jabbed her finger at them, frowning. "And no more TV."
Gwen supposed that Aunt Sandra thought taking the TV away would remove the problem. Well, if she did think that then she was very wrong. With nothing to focus their attention on, they would pick up their argument right where it left off, only it would be about something entirely different.
"And go outside!" Aunt Sandra added, giving Ben a pointed 'don't start anything' look.
Gwen dropped down to the ground as Ben jerked open the sliding door and padded out onto the porch. From her backpack she tugged out a brown-covered textbook. She had a huge French test tomorrow on adjectives and she couldn't afford to fail. It wasn't like she thought she was actually going to fail, but Gwen knew there was always that possibility.
So, textbook held securely at her side, she followed Ben outside. He was sitting on the patio, his leg kicking back and forth absently as he looked down at his jeans. Hesitantly she dropped down next to him.
"What's wrong?"
Silence.
Gwen hated it when he didn't answer her. She asked the question, he answered it. Simple as that. With Ben, though, he always wanted to give her a challenge.
Ben didn't answer, anyway. Probably thinking up new ways to get himself killed. Little weirdo.
When he finally spoke, she almost didn't catch it. "Do you really like him, Gwen?"
"Who?" She looked up from conjoining adverbs, having only half-listened to his question.
"Kevin."
Now this made no sense at all. Not even if she had listened.
Gwen shrugged. "Well, I try to trust him, if that's what you mean. I think he's a good guy. Deep down."
"That's gotta be way deep down."
Her glare was heated. "Ben, at least try to get along with him. I like him."
"Yeah, well, you would."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"The whole 'good girl dates a bad guy' thing? Preppy girl and tough guy? Ring a bell?"
Somehow, though she didn't know why, she felt offended. "I'm not dating him. I think he'd be a great friend."
Sure, Kevin had gone from a weird, scrawny kid to a pretty good-looking – albeit sometimes greasy – guy. There was just no way she could think of him as anything more than a potential friend right now. Gwen needed more time. She couldn't forget him as a kid, so angry and hurting that he was willing to hurt or kill anyone just for the fun of it. Just because he wanted to. It wasn't really his fault, being that he had so many people who couldn't understand why he was what he was. And the whole part where his own body's absorbing powers made him crazy didn't really help.
She still heard his voice saying "Nobody's innocent! They just haven't had the chance to make fun of me yet!"
It chilled her inside whenever she thought about it.
Trapped in her memories, Gwen watched the sprinkler clapping water back and forth across the yard and wondered absentmindedly who would water their lawn in April. The setting sun was casting rainbows through the droplets of water onto the soggy grass.
Seeing the mud, Ben jumped to his feet, tearing off his sneakers and ripping through the yard, diving and tearing through the spray of the sprinkler. Crazy, stupid boy. Only he would be that right mixture of brainless and nuts to get himself soaked in April. Good thing Bellwood was known for its warm springs.
An idea occurred to her then.
Gwen slapped her book cover closed and hid it behind her back. "Don't you dare splash me."
He smiled from ear to ear and let out a whoop as he jumped over the wave of water. He suddenly screeched to a halt, his feet sliding in the mud. Whipping around, Ben put his palm against the sprinkler, making the water shoot up and over to her. It missed her by a good meter, but it splashed at her feet and legs, drenching her favourite pair of jeans.
She should have been mad, really, but she wasn't. She should have marched straight inside and told Aunt Sandra enough to make her ground him for a month, but she didn't. She couldn't pass up this opportunity.
With a wicked grin, Gwen rushed around the yard after him and every time she passed the sprinkler, she ran her hands through it, giggling when it sprayed Ben in the eye. He rubbed at his face with the bottom of his black t-shirt and glared at her the best he could with one eye.
This was war.
Even before he thought about chasing her, Gwen started to run. She loved to stretch her limbs this way. It had been almost a month and a half since she had gone heroing – it felt so good to let the breeze blow through her hair. She didn't actually mind the mud seeping into her shoes. She'd never tell Ben that, though. Never. Too many nicknames could be thought up using 'Mud' as inspiration.
Something squeaked behind them but neither looked back. They were both too busy trying to fling mud at the other, laughing so hard that they kept missing. Plus they recognized that sound too well; Gwen swore she heard it in her sleep. The screen door had made that certain squeak since Uncle Carl had to rehang it when Gwen and Ben tore it off the hinges after one of their cardboard box races had gone wrong.
It had been all Ben's idea, but she got blamed for it too. She hadn't even wanted to ride it.
"Ben!" Aunt Sandra stepped out of the house with a frying pan in one hand and a How-To book in the other. Shaking a strand of blond hair out of her face, she peered at them. "What are you doing? You're getting your clothes wet! Come in here – supper is almost ready!"
Ben put his hands around his mouth and called, "We'll be in soon, Mom!"
Aunt Sandra went back into the house shaking her head and muttering something Gwen couldn't catch. Probably about the nasty laundry day she was going to have tomorrow. A moment later sounds of clinking dishes and rattling ice cubes in glasses wafted out into the evening.
Suddenly there was another rattling sound, louder and more booming, with a quick pop noise that made Gwen and Ben almost jump out of their skins. It came from the house to their left, abandoned for years as far as Gwen knew anything about it.
A family lived there before they, well, moved away. Gwen could faintly remember playing with their kids about five or six years ago. They up and left one day and no one was quite sure what the family was like or where they'd gone.
A loud thud brought her quickly out of her thoughts and she shook it off just in time to see Ben slinking toward the fence. He put his socked foot against the wood and heaved himself up, peeking over.
"Ben!" Gwen hissed, trying to drag him away from the fence but failing when he held on all the more. "You can't just –"
"Shhh." Ben wrapped his fingers around her arm and hauled her up. "You know you're curious too."
She was about to offer a retort, of course she wasn't, but she knew deep down she was, which killed her because he was right. Hardly anyone moved into Bellwood. Out? Sure. In? Not so much.
Grunting just so he would know how this was completely against her will, she held onto the fence and looked over.
A moving van sat parked in the driveway, its back open and facing the disgruntled house. Five people were unloading the van quickly and mechanically, as if they were under some sort of deadline. Two of the five were dressed in Harry and Hank's Moving Co.'s clothing.
There was a lady dressed in delicate linen of dark browns. She had a simple grey shawl – or headscarf – draped over her brown curly hair. Her body was tiny, so small and delicate she looked like a little doll. She seemed to have a gentle calm to her even though she was fidgeting like she was really nervous about something. She looked like the kind of woman that would make a wonderful grandmother.
"Be careful with that box! It has antiques inside!" the lady called to the movers. They didn't seem to hear her. Shaking her head, she turned to the man next to her. "Honey, are you sure we should've moved here? I've seen the news about all the alien activity here. Are you sure it's safe?"
The man was a serious-looking sort, with black bushman eyebrows and a short beard to match. His dark hair was streaked with white, like a skunk, on the sides, and Gwen bit her cheek so she wouldn't laugh at how big and brawny he was compared to his wife.
Total opposites.
"It's fine, Mary," the man answered, sounding frustrated. Obviously this wasn't the first time she had asked this. "All this alien stuff is just to pull in tourists. I bet they've only seen one or two walking around."
"I hope you're right."
The woman put down a large box, wiped her forehead, and stared straight ahead. Gwen and Ben froze, praying that she wouldn't notice such small teenagers hanging onto the side of their fence.
The woman screamed then, pointing a finger directly at them.
The man dropped what he was carrying so fast, Gwen was scared he was suffering a heart attack. The man's eyes swept the small yard for a frightening second before he locked onto what his wife was screaming at. He stepped forward a few paces and shook his fist at Ben and Gwen. "You!" he shouted. "Who are you?!"
Beside him, his wife had recovered from her shock quickly. She pushed her rumpled hair behind her ears.
"Honey," the woman panted, grabbing his husband's arm. "They're just children."
The man sighed very loudly, making the black whiskers of his moustache flicker. He waved them over with a single swish of his large hand, obviously prepared to wait as long as possible until they hauled their butts over to his property.
It was supposed to be a good day.
Their cheeks burning with embarrassment, they leapt over the fence and walked up to face the music. Gwen checked over her shoulder, trying to seem discreet, at Ben and puffed out a gust of air from her nose. He wasn't saying anything.
Of course he wasn't saying anything.
Gwen planted her feet in front of them, took a breath, and start talking.
"I'm sorry," she said. "We didn't mean to break a law or –"
"It's okay!" boomed the man as he took Gwen's hand and shook it violently. He very nearly popped her arm out of its socket. "There's no harm done. Forgive my wife." He points to the lady. "She's jumpy because of all this talk about aliens on the news."
"Oh. Yes." Gwen smiled and let out a breath of air she hadn't even realized she was holding in. "We're all a little nervous about that."
All except anyone who had an alien for a best friend or a laser-carrying grandfather.
The man nodded. "It is a problem," he agreed. He took her hand again. "What is your name?"
"I'm Gwen Tennyson." Gwen motioned behind her. "That's my cousin."
Ben's mouth moved, like to say his name, but nothing came out because that was when the door to the new neighbours' home screamed open and a girl stepped out.
The young girl was short, probably all of five-foot-two, and smaller than her mother, if that was possible. Her short hair fell a little past her chin, pitch black like her father's and straight, with eyes as deep as her hair. She wore a simple dark black t-shirt underneath a baby pink sweater, and Gwen had to take a second to be amazed at her courage to wear a white miniskirt in this weather.
Ben was so transfixed that he barely seemed to notice anything until Gwen nudged him with her elbow.
"I'm Gwen," she said to the girl.
"I'm Julie." The girl shifted the box in her arms to give them a small, shy wave. "Julie Yamamoto."
Ben shifted from one foot to the other, shaking out his wet hair. He blushed as he squeezed a huge wave of water out of his shirt.
"Uh, hi."
That second, Gwen was pulled between laughing and feeling mortified for him. He must've noticed how stupid that sounded too because he blushed two shades darker.
That was kind of cute.
Julie bared her teeth and again shifted the box in her arms. "We're your neighbours, so I guess we should get along and be friends."
Ben's blush had pretty much reached night light glow when he ducked his head. "I'd like that."
Gwen hid a snort behind her hand. Oh, of course he'd like that.
Mr. Yamamoto cleared his throat, putting a protective hand on his daughter's shoulder. So close to the same time that it was unnerving, Gwen felt her own hand grabbing Ben's arm.
"Julie," Mr. Yamamoto said, "let's go inside. We have unpacking to do."
"See you later!" Julie called to Ben as Gwen dragged him away.
The image of Ben's awkwardness went through her head and made her face scrunch up with anger all over. She shook off the very idea of him being cute, stomped her feet into the ground until she felt like a tree and performed a very childish act that would make a four-year-old look like a grownup.
Gwen stuck her tongue out at Ben, raspberrying him, and took off running before he could make a sound. She sprinted up the front porch steps, through the living room, snatched up her DVD Player, practically tearing the cords out in the process, and grabbed her book from the back patio. Gwen made sure she slammed the door on her way out.
This hadn't been a perfect day at all.