I haven't seen ben10 in years but I found this in my drafts from aaaaages ago and figured I might as well publish it. I'm not entirely sure where this is placed in the canon (somewhere after her grandma-being-an-alien episode), but it basically takes on an au edge towards the end anyway so it doesn't matter too much.
I'm still a bit undecided about the ending. If people want more then I'm happy to oblige. Tell me what you think!
Note: I have no idea how the laws in the US work in regards to youth and the legal ages of when they can do stuff without parental consent – so I'm going off what happens here in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Title taken from Kimbra's song 'Good Intent'.
It wasn't the first time that her mom had blown up at her for a late night of crime-fighting alongside her cousin and Kevin – but this was new. Gwen had barely walked in the door after Kevin had dropped her off before her mother had slammed the door behind her, fury emanating off her in palpable waves. Her father stood in the doorway between the lounge and kitchen, watching the two from a distance. He was forgiving where her mother was harsh – and it was then that Gwen realised that this wasn't going to be an argument settled quickly.
"It's not your job to save the world, let alone Bellwood!" Lily had shrieked, wringing her hands while her father kept himself away from the brunt of the confrontation, clearly leaving this fight between the two of them. Typical. Her mother had been yelling for nearly ten minutes now and Gwen was beginning to grow tired of the same repeated reasons. What would you know, she thought viciously, as Lily made another screeched point. I saved twelve people from being covered in alien goo that does god-knows-what. What did you do today? You dusted the house, and made dinner.
"You can't stop me mom – you and dad are always telling me that I need to do good in the world, help people-"
"Yes, but not by almost killing yourself in the process! Your father and I were worried sick! And then you come home and expect us to be okay with that?"
"YES! BECAUSE IT'S THE RIGHT THING TO DO MOM!"
There was a shocked silence – her voice had been more than her own in that moment – there was a guttural edge to it that she felt in her skin, in the marrow in her bones. Gwen could feel the ends of her hair crackling with the force of her magic. It was all over her skin, vibrating like bees. She could almost see the lilac seeping through her skin, she could practically taste it in her mouth – saccharine and heady and right. Lily went to open her mouth, but Gwen beat her to the punch.
"I don't care what you say mom – and I'm not going to stop either. You can't stop me – nobody can. People need help and I can help them! This is what I want to do – what I'm going to do." She took a shaky breath, glancing between her parents, who were wearing identical expressions of shock. "I'm going to bed now. 'Night."
She quickly turned and all but ran up to her room, climbing the stairs two at a time. Closing the door firmly behind her, Gwen sunk onto her bed, curling into the patterned duvet. This was something new – she'd always been a good kid. Was this the dreaded 'teenage rebellion' phase she was meant to go through? Granted, hers were a little more high stakes than 'but Daddy I love him!', but still. It wasn't like she was doing anything wrong – hell, she had saved lives tonight. They all had – what was wrong with that? Tracing the patterns on her duvet, Gwen closed her eyes and focused on her breathing, on the inhalation and exhalation. Slowly, she felt the residual magic leave her skin, crackling and fizzing to nothing. Time passed.
She could hear murmurings downstairs, and occasionally, her mother's raised voice. She drowned them out, focusing on the sounds outside. A car had stopped nearby, and two people had walked out. One person was jumpy – light, unable to keep still for long. The other was steady, but cautious. They were getting closer and – ah. There were a few moments of harsh whispers between the two before she heard them climb onto the roof. There was a light tap at the window.
"Can I come in?" a muffled voice asked. Sighing, Gwen sat up and moved towards the window. It was Ben – alongside Kevin. They slipped into her room with practiced ease, Kevin warily eyeing her bedroom door.
"How much did you hear?"
"Enough," replied Ben easily, flopping onto her bed and kicking his shoes off. "It doesn't matter though – you do you, Gwen. I'm not gonna stop you if don't wanna do this hero stuff anymore, but I think you'd be wasting your powers if you didn't try to help people – and you're really good at it too!"
Gwen walked to her desk and grabbed a few of her magic books, bringing them back to her bed, sitting down next to Ben. "I know, Ben. But Mom's been antsy about it for a while and…I don't know. It's not like my grades have been suffering or anything."
Kevin snorted. "Yeah, like that would happen."
Gwen rolled her eyes. "Very funny, Kev. But I don't know what to do. They're my parents and I love them, but they don't understand y'know?"
"So what are you gonna do then?" Ben asked, sitting up on the bed.
The question hung in the air for a while.
"I'm not going to stop," she said finally, flicking through the pages of her magic volumes distractedly. "It doesn't matter what Mom or Dad think – I can't just sit around when shit goes down and I can make a difference."
"Good," Kevin said shortly. "You'd go crazy in an hour if you stopped y'know."
Gwen smiled softly. "Probably. But you guys should probably go now. Mom won't be happy if she finds you two up here."
"Yeah, we should go Kevin – Aunt Lily gets terrifying when she's angry. Once, I accidentally broke a vase when I was playing tag with Gwen and-"
"I'll be down in a minute," Kevin interrupted, motioning to the open window. "Do you need a ride home?"
Ben shook his head, grabbing his shoes. "Nah, I think I'll walk home tonight. See you guys tomorrow?"
Gwen nodded wearily. "We'll see you at Mr Smoothie. 'Night Ben."
He slipped out onto the roof and cautiously slid the window back down. It was a few minutes before Gwen bothered looking up at the older boy who had settled himself on the carpet, leaning against her door.
"I don't know whether I should take advice from you," she joked, closing her book and placing it by her side. "You're technically a criminal, right?"
Kevin shrugged. "If you're struggling with conscience now it's a bit late. But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about." He rolled his neck from side to side. "Your parents won't let this go, y'know. Every time you go out now they're gonna fight you. Take away shit from you in a petty attempt to keep you kerb side."
"They wouldn't-"
"They will." He stared at her. "I bet you right now that they're down there talking about what they're gonna do. Your dad will come up and explain, sadly, that you mean too much to them and you can't act that way when they're just trying to protect you. You gotta take a stand now."
"And do what exactly?"
Kevin rubbed the back of his neck. "Don't give them the upper hand. You won't get that if you stay here."
"What, I just run away?" she asked, sitting up properly. "I couldn't just go to Ben's."
He ducked his head. "You could always crash at mine. Or we could go on a road trip – long enough for them to be grateful you ever came back."
"You're actually being serious."
"Yeah. I don't want you to- us three, we're a good team, right? Me and Ben wouldn't last an hour without you."
"But you're saying we should go on a road trip and leave Ben here?"
Kevin sighed. "I never said it was a good plan. But tonight was the biggest night we've had all month. Ben would be fine."
Gwen slid off the bed, sitting opposite him on the floor. "You really think they'll be that harsh."
"They're parents – of course they will be. But this isn't their choice to make – it's yours. You won't be happy here though, that much I know. You're not happy now."
She chewed on her lip, resting her head on her knees. "They'd call the cops," she said finally. "It wouldn't matter where we went."
"You're sixteen now, right?"
"Yeah."
Kevin shrugged. "That's old enough that the state will turn a blind eye – they have with me. How else do you think I can rent a house?"
"But-"
"Look," he said quickly, running a hand through his hair. "You don't need to decide right now. But they are going to be harder on you – and they won't care about how you feel in all of this – because it's all for the 'greater good', right?" He snorted, standing up and dusting off his jeans. "Give me a call if you want out, yeah? I'll come grab you and we'll leave for a week or something."
She stood up slowly, watching as he threw one last accusatory glance at the door before sliding the window back up and climbed out onto the roof cautiously.
"You'll be okay, yeah?" he asked, watching her carefully. Gwen nodded wearily, grasping his hand for a moment before letting go.
"I'll be fine Kevin. Go, I can hear someone coming up the stairs."
He smiled at her briefly, before landing softly on the grass and quickly disappearing into the night.
There was a knock on the door, and she could feel the flare of magic in her fingers. "What?" she asked harshly, sliding her window down swiftly.
Her dad opened the door, an apologetic look on his face. "I'm sorry we had to yell at you sweetie, but-"
"Mom yelled." Gwen said shortly, moving from the window ledge and collecting her magic books from her bed. "You stood there and let her."
Her father had the grace to look a bit guilty. "Yes, well, you also yelled, Gwen. We're all guilty parties here if you want to get technical about it."
"What do you want?"
"Your mother and I…we had a discussion, and we both think that there needs to be a few changes around here. We understand why you want to help people – but it is just so very dangerous and your mother can't cope with you out at all hours doing god-knows-what." He sighed heavily, avoiding her hard stare. "You won't be going out with Ben anymore, nor that Kevin boy – or anybody, really. You're grounded. You've lost your cell phone rights too." He held out his hand expectantly.
Sonofabit-
"No, you're right Dad," she replied quietly, closing her eyes tightly and balling her hands into fists at her sides. Breathe, Gwen. Ignore the feeling. It is only there because you allow it to be. "Can I text Laura from school so that she knows? We've been working on a cross-class project and I need to let her know that she'll need to find me at school instead of texting me."
He paused, before nodding. "It needs to be down in the lounge in twenty minutes, alright?"
"Yes Dad," she said, watching as he closed the door behind him, feeling her muscles tense up. She only had twenty minutes.
As soon as the door closed she dove for her coat, finding her phone and quickly finding Kevin's name in the contact list. It only rung once before he picked up.
"Gwen, what's-"
"No time," she whispered quickly, awkwardly craning her neck to hold the phone between her ear and shoulder as she dug around in her closet for her duffle bag. "I need out. You need to get here in five."
There was a beat before he replied. "I'll be here in two," he replied, and she could hear the engine revving in the background. "Don't worry about clothes – grab your books and your wallet. I'll cover the rest."
"Thank you," she breathed out, shoving her phone into the bag and opened a drawer under her bed, piling book upon book into her bag. She couldn't hear anything from downstairs, which was generally a good sign but right now she didn't trust her mother. The ultimatum had obviously come from her and Gwen could only hope she hadn't been paying attention to whatever schoolyard gossip Gwen had mentioned from the last month – Laura had dropped out of school and moved Canada with her boyfriend. The irony was not lost on her.
There was a soft tap at her window and she nearly shrieked, before recognising who it was.
"Give me the bag," he said softly once she opened the window. "Is there anything else you need to bring?"
She glanced around her room, before darting back to grab her coat. "I'll live without the rest," she answered tiredly, climbing out of her window awkwardly – she really should invest in more pants. He stood next to her, duffle bag slung over his arm.
"You alright?" he asked, linking his fingers with hers. She squeezed his hand tightly.
"Hopefully," she replied, hopping onto the created platform, tugging Kevin's arm. "C'mon. Dad said twenty minutes. That means ten to mom."
He nodded, jumping quietly onto the grass and watched her house carefully as they darted down the street. "We'll be fine," he said, throwing her bag into the back seat once they reached his car, parked a few houses down.
Gwen shook her head, sliding into the passenger side and sunk down in her seat. "Just drive, Kevin," she mumbled, curling her knees up.
"Will do," he said, starting up the engine and swiftly pulling out onto the street. It didn't take him long to leave the city limits – eventually the lights faded behind them and Gwen rested her head against the window, eyes glassy and wide.
He had been driving for over an hour before he pulled over – they were on the old highway that few knew about anymore, and the Milky Way stretched out before them like guiding lights.
"Where are we?" she asked finally, following him out of the car to where he leaned against the bonnet.
"I needed a break," he responded. "And so did you."
Gwen shivered in the cool air. "But where?"
He gathered her quickly into his arms, covering her hands with his. "Somewhere south of Bellwood," he said. "We'll keep going in a bit. You looked like you forgot how to breathe."
She half-laughed, half-sobbed, turning in his arms so she could bury her head into his chest, arms snaking around his neck and slim fingers resting at the base of his neck. "Thank you," she murmured, gently stroking his scalp. He pressed a kiss into her hair, watching the road for any sign of light.
"S'alright," he replied, rubbing her back slowly. "You needed this."
