Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10.

A/N: Set during the episode 'Back with a vengeance.' Depictions of violence, like, pretty bad. If you feel this should be in M, send me a pm or drop it in a review, I'm no good at judging that.

Grabbing Gwen's hand, Ben tried to smile encouragingly at her. It wasn't easy with Kevin looming behind the girl, crystal hand resting on her neck, restraining. She looked back fearfully. He knew she didn't agree with what he was doing, that this was a poor decision. But it was his to make.

Wordlessly, he held out his left arm to Vilgax, offering up the Omnitrix. The watch for Gwen's safety. That was the bargain. It seemed like a good deal to Ben.

Part of him knew they would never play fair, though.

So he wasn't surprised when Kevin wrenched Gwen away and cast her into the indigo depths of the Null-Void, even if he did want to cry out for her regardless. He wasn't surprised when Kevin knocked him to the ground and used the Wildmutt arms to pin him down, one claw on the chest and the other pinning the Omnitrix. The claw on his chest sank its claws deep into the skin.

He was surprised when Kevin lowered his flaming hand to his shoulder and squeezed.

White hot pain shot through his nervous system, and he flailed around and struggled in his efforts to just get away from the pain, his left arm twitching uselessly in Kevin's hold while his right clawed at the arm pinning him down. Both efforts were futile. Distantly, he heard someone screaming, crying, begging. It sounded like him. It sounded nothing like him.

"Enough." He didn't know who spoke, Ben could barely think past the searing pain of Kevin's hand sinking through his muscles, burning as it went. "We are here for the Omnitrix, not to torture the brat."

"Just preparing the meat," The monster grinning down at him said before raising his crystal arm, "before I cut it." and chopped down with one swift motion. Ben lost any sensation of his arm past his torso. He looked, but what he saw didn't make sense. His arm was too far from his body, it wasn't attached he couldn't feel his hand he only saw blood leaking sluggishly from his chest where was his arm-

Kevin's flaming hand found the open wound and he pressed down on it, searing it shut. Ben only found enough presence of mind to scream through the pain. He heard a voice beg, to please make it stop, but all it he heard beyond that was the sadistic laughter of his captor. The monster grinned down at him again.

"Cant have you bleed out." He said, eyes dark, one of the furry hands coming up to trail his jaw, tenderly, before lashing a cut into it. "I'm going to make sure you live to suffer before I kill you."

Removing his hand, the pain retreated only slightly. Kevin stood and moved over to the severed limb, picking it up before burning it to ash in his flaming hand, leaving only the Omnitrix.

Ben wasn't watching him anymore though. Instead he desperately tried to crawl away from the monsters, and they paid him no mind as they squabbled over the watch. Or at least he thought that was what was happening, his mind was nearly incoherent with pain. But his crawling was clumsy and he toppled to the side, landing on the burn wound and his mind blacked out for a few seconds. Through the haze of tears, he did see something fly towards him, landing before him.

A part of him wanted to smile. Even like this, he'd recognize that hair anywhere.

"Ben! Are you al-" She started asking, pulling him up from where he lay suffering on the ground and onto his knees, but stopped with a gasp when she saw the… damage.

He whimpered, a sob tearing from his throat, and for once didn't care that she saw him be pathetic. Immediately he felt Gwen's arms around him, pulling him close, and the ground disappeared from beneath him as they took off, leaving the now fighting monsters to their devices, going at breakneck speed for the distant light.

Ben cried into her suit, but throughout that a part of him was nagging him. He had to tell her something important, but he couldn't reach it. The thought kept slipping away.

A flash of light brought them back into their world, and he saw the portal close behind them. "Grandpa!" Gwen cried. "Help!"

"What is it? Are you-" Grandpa gasped as Gwen had when Ben's injuries came into view as the boy's legs gave out from under him. Gwen at least managed to guide his fall so that he landed gently and not on his bad side. Ben felt unconsciousness tug at his mind, but in a flash he was wide awake again, turning to Gwen.

"Get down!"

For once, she didn't question him, and neither that grandpa. The old man threw himself to the ground while Gwen threw herself over Ben and covered them both. The place where the portal to the void had been pulsed, the fabric of this dimension shuddering and releasing a blast that was strong enough to shatter all the nearby windows and crack the pavement.

His world went dark.

In the past, Gwen had often joked that she wouldn't mind if Ben slept a day or two away and left her well alone.

She'd never have thought that the experience would be so terrifying.

Looking at the small boy under the covers, she had to wonder how she ever could have thought that at all. Grandpa's Plumber tech had done wonders to heal up the wounds, they were already turning into scars. It made the ruined mess of Ben's torso slightly easier to look at.

His left arm was gone, torn off at the chest, shoulder to fingertips. The opening it had left had been burned shut, and probably would have looked smooth if it hadn't been for the terrible scars forming over it. The wounds from Kevin's claws were healing better; of the cuts, only two would scar. One of those was on his face though, peeking out from his jaw and across his cheek. Ben probably wouldn't mind that much, he'd say that one would look 'cool', or something.

They'd kept him in a coma for two days. When Gwen had asked why, grandpa had merely looked at her sadly, and told her 'you wouldn't want him awake for this.'

She had to agree; if the wounds had felt as terrible as they'd looked…

Grandpa had said that the injuries were stable now, and the worst of them was past. Ben was no longer in danger, and should be waking up soon. She intended to be there when he did. So she sat next to him on the bed in the Rustbucket's backroom, warmed only by the light of the setting sun, waiting. She did doze for a bit, but was shaken from it when a soft voice came to her ears.

"Gwen?" Ben rasped. She immediately shot up to move over, helping him as he struggled into a sitting position. She made for a glass of water they'd had at the ready for when he woke, sitting on a small stool they'd used as an improvised table. Ben ignored the glass she offered him, latching onto her shoulder instead, prompting her to look him in the eye.

He looked a bit out of it, though that was probably the morphine. "Are you okay?"

She nodded, smiling encouragingly. She really wasn't, not when Ben was like... this. "I am, doofus. Drink." She offered the glass again, and this time he allowed her to press it to his lips. He took a few hearty gulps of it before spluttering half of the last one back up when he coughed. Returning the drink to the stool, she slapped his back lightly, but didn't say anything.

They sat in silence for a minute as Ben caught his breath, before the boy took a fortifying breath and looked to the side, at his arm. Or the lack thereof, really.

The silence stretched, and she could see Ben's face flash from confusion, to rage, to sadness, all in the space of a second before he finally scrunched his eyes shut and curled in on himself, jaw clenched, teeth grit. She put her arms around his small frame, mindful of the still tender flesh, cradling his head to her chest as he shuddered. She could hear him try to hold back his sobs before the damn finally broke.

The wail that tore from his voice was filled with more sorrow and rage than anyone should ever feel, much less a child.

"I'm sorry." She said, feeling tears well up in her own eyes. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have gotten caught, I should've helped, I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry." She clung on tighter, but after a while she felt him still in her arms, slowly sitting up again.

His face was tear stained, tired. He still smiled at her though, one small hand clutching the hem of her shirt like a lifeline. The smile was frail and broken, a mockery of the sunny thing it was supposed to be, but it was sincere. "Don't be. I'd do it again."

Gwen stilled as well, shocked, torn between pummeling him for his stupidity or to never stop hugging him. She didn't even bother to stop her jaw from dropping, but quickly recovered with a shake of her head. "The morphine is getting to you. Go sleep it off." She commanded with a stern look.

Ben snorted, but was clearly too tired to argue, as he let her ease him back down and pull the covers up. "How long did I sleep anyway?"

He'd actually been in an artificial coma but… Gwen sighed. "Two days."

The boy actually grinned at that, but both his expression and the words that followed felt fragile. "I knew I wasn't sleeping to my full potential. New record!" His gaze drifted to her, vulnerable. He looked so small in that moment, it made her ache. His mouth struggled to formulate words for a moment, before a sningle one fell from his lips.

"Stay?" He asked her, so softly that she almost didn't hear it.

She scoffed. "Good luck getting me to leave, idiot."

She didn't know what was harder on her heart: the teary relief in his eyes or the wobbly smile he gave her. She'd take both.

Max's gaze trailed over the fields where he'd parked the RV, tracking the sun as it slowly peeked over the horizon, breaking over the morning fog. He hadn't slept. He couldn't. He'd just spent his night sitting in the driver's seat.

The old man had been many things in his life, and some of them weren't good. He'd failed many people, his children most of all. At least, that had been the case for years. But now, he could honestly say that he had failed his grandson more than even them. Not only had he allowed Ben to be dragged into his world, he had failed to keep the boy safe while at it.

And the worst of it was, that he wasn't bearing the punishment for those mistakes, but Ben was.

He pressed a hand over his eyes, pushing back tears. He didn't deserve to shed them. But how could he not when his poor grandson had lost a damn arm-

A small hand fell on his shoulder and he looked up to find the object of his musings stand beside him. The boy eyed him hesitantly. "You okay there, gramps?"

Max almost snorted. Of course, leave it to Ben to worry about others even when… maybe Gwen was right about his hero-complex. "I should be asking you that." He answered instead, voice hoarse.

Ben shrugged, an awkward movement now that is was lopsided, and moved to the passenger seat, pulling a blanket already in the seat around him. It hit the horrifying scars effectively. If it weren't for the healing cut that rose from Ben's jaw up to the middle of his cheek, he could have pretended that the boy was fine.

The child looked small as he pulled himself into a ball under the blanket, staring at the horizon with a neutral expression, eyes catching the morning sun. They were just like his grandmother's, one more reason why he adored his grandchildren.

Ben didn't answer though. Max didn't blame him; it was a stupid question under the circumstances. Perhaps a better question would do, a distraction from all this. "What happened that caused the explosion at the end? After you two came back."

Ben didn't look away from the rising sun, but he did smile, so Max figured this was a good topic. However, the answer the child gave was chilling. "Turns out the Omnitrix had a self-destruct mode. We won't be seeing them again."

Max stared at the boy, proud that he had managed to do to Vilgax what a nuclear bomb hadn't been capable of doing… but mostly horrified when he realized that his own foolishness had turned his child into a killer at ten years old. Before he could formulate a response, a voice came from behind them.

"Didn't think you had it in you." Gwen slid up and leaned against the side of Ben's seat, looking down at the boy. He finally turned his face away from the horizon to grin up at her.

"You know what they say about cats in a corner." The boy quipped and Gwen snorted.

"Always figured you were more of a dog person than a cat person. And I'm using 'person' in the loosest possible way here."

Max was about to chastise her for being this rude with Ben being as frail as he was, but the boy's snickering forestalled him. "Depends on the cat." He eyed Gwen cheekily. "Sometimes they start growing on me."

The girl rolled her eyes with a smile. "Of course they do. So," She turned to Max. "I guess we're heading home?"

He nodded. "Yes. Ben needs to recover. And his parents need to know, best they find out in person than over the phone." Silence reigned for a moment before Ben softly broke it.

"Didn't you say you wanted to go to Salem?" He asked Gwen, looking out at the horizon again. Gwen in turn looked at the boy with surprise, before a small smile tugged at her lips.

"I did say that. And perhaps some time to… get used to this, before you get home, won't hurt. And it would be a pity to end the trip on a sour note anyway." She gave Max a meaningful look. He understood.

"Alright," he said, damn him if he refused his grandchildren anything today, starting the engine. "you get started on breakfast, I'll get started on driving. This early, we should be able to cover some distance."

Ben cheered. "A normal breakfast! Hallelujah!" He almost sounded like himself again. Almost.

Gwen laughed at his antics. "Perhaps you should first put some pants on, doofus."

The boy froze, color draining from his face, before flushing beet red a second later. He averted his gaze to the floor and muttered something, too low for them to hear.

"What was that?" Gwen asked, leaning in and cupping a hand to her ear. Ben blew out a frustrated breath before he repeated himself.

"I may need help with that." He grumbled, embarrassed.

Gwen sighed and shook her head, before reaching out to grab Ben's hand to pull him out of his seat. "We can look for easier to put on clothing in the next town. For now, let's get this over with."

She pulled him away, but when they reached the kitchen, he heard them stop. Max turned around to see Gwen was looking at their joined hands, biting her lip. "Thanks for saving me." She said softly, looking up at the other child, seeming to forget that her grandpa was there as well. "And I'm so sorry that it cost you so much." Her eyes were slightly teary as she spoke.

He couldn't see Ben's expression, but he could see their hands. His squeezed hers tightly. He could hear the grin in his voice when Ben answered, and this time, he did sound like himself.

"Best bargain I ever made."

A/N: Had some angst to work out of my system.