The Touch
By Chibi Hime
AN: Ben 10: Alien Force belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action.
Gwen stepped back, her steps slightly unsteady in the rubble.
She'd only meant to appeal to him.
To reach out in a way that wasn't a threat or a challenge, like everyone else always seemed to do.
To do what Ben had tried and failed at so often in the past.
She didn't know what she did.
All she had done was touch his shoulder and simply say:
"Kevin, people could be hurt."
That was all.
She hadn't mentioned anything about herself or him.
For an instant, he glared at her and she was fully prepared for him to snap at her.
But he didn't.
She'd managed to reach something inside their former enemy, but for some reason, it sat uncomfortably in her stomach. It wasn't at all like she had imagined it. She had imagined him scoffing, telling her off, just like she had always seen him do to Ben. Gwen needed him to do that, to prove he was exactly what she remembered.
But he didn't do that.
He didn't say anything.
But he did do something.
He stared at her.
Their eyes met and Gwen could swear those eye burned through her.
It was the most piercing and uncomfortable stare Gwen had ever experienced in her life. She found his quiet focus incredibly unsettling. It was a look this thing...this young man, shouldn't be capable of. It went against everything he was. It was deep and contemplative and possessed by an intense need that she could not comprehend.
It frightened her. Such a human expression on that face was so alien to her. It was even more unusual in her mind than the Plumber agent who thankfully spoke, breaking the silence between them.
What had it been? Three...five seconds? It felt like an hour.
She pulled her hand off of his shoulder, but his gaze lingered on her for a few more tense moments.
She was so relieved when he finally looked away, not to mention when the next words out of his mouth indicated he still had himself as the first on his list of priorities. It was a relief. It was familiar, but when she blinked, all she saw was that look. The all consuming look of want, need and...appreciation...these were not the things he was capable of or wanted...were they?
Gwen would worry about that later. She was relieved that his eyes were mostly restricted to the road, as he, for lack of a better word, insisted on driving. She caught them darting over to her side of the car occasionally, but she busily looked out the windshield at the road.
She didn't know what she'd done.
He realized that.
Kevin could understand that.
But it was more than that to him.
She wouldn't believe how much more it was to him.
He felt her slim little hand on his shoulder.
It was unlike anything he could remember feeling ever. It was small and warm. He could feel her body heat through his shirt. Kevin wasn't sure if it was his powers enhancing the feeling or if it was something he was willing himself.
Her touch was soft, comforting and reassuring.
It didn't hurt or hit or pinch.
Gwen's...that was her name, wasn't it? Yes. He remembered her now.
Kevin had never felt her touch, though.
Now he did and it promised so much.
She had no idea how much.
He knew she didn't mean what he felt, but that didn't make it any less real.
He remembered his mother, how her touch had never been comforting or loving, but quick and frightened. He hands had felt cold and uncaring. Even she had been afraid of him before she got rid of him.
But Gwen's hand wasn't like that at all.
He didn't know a woman's hands could feel like that.
In an instant, he felt a need to know more of this, to feel her warm, slender body against his...if this was what her hand felt like...he could only imagine the rest of her.
But it was more than that. It wasn't lust. It was the overwhelming need for understanding. She had shown him, in that simple touch that it was possible. It wasn't impossible anymore. Years in the Null Void, trapped in that grotesque shell of a body had cemented in his mind a layer of impregnable isolation. It had only proven what he had always felt on the inside. But not...here...in a train yard, of all places, he had that image shattered...all from a single touch.
That warm little hand drew itself away, but he could still feel its imprint on his shoulder and he knew in an instant that he would follow her anywhere and do anything for her. That one single, beautiful touch had told him...no...promised him so much and for the first time, he wanted it.