Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10 or its sequels, spin-off and related characters. All is the property of Man of Action and Cartoon Network. I'm just borrowing them for some non-profit entertainment.
Lock Eleven
Chapter Two: Warning
Gwen wasn't sure what to make of the dark, sullen looking boy that was introduced as 'Devlin'. There was no surname given. It was about to be changed to Tennyson anyway, they were just waiting on the paperwork. There was no need to mention his association with one of their most persistent enemies. It was amazing how much like his father he really looked. If it weren't for the eyes he would look like a time-displaced Kevin 11. But while Kevin's eyes were a brown so dark they might as well have been black, Devlin's were a midnight blue.
"Hi, Devlin." She tried to give him her most friendly smile. "I'm Gwendolyn. Pleased to meet you."
"Uh, same." He did not try to shake her hand. Or even close the distance between them.
Devlin was sticking close to Ken, as if afraid to leave the other boy's side. As if the moment he let go of Ken's hand they would all turn on him and kick him out on the streets, or throw him in the Null Void with his father. Poor thing. It really was telling of the abuse he must have sustained growing up with Kevin as a father. That he was still so hesitant to trust other adults, even after proving that they did not hold him accountable for his father's actions. Gwendolyn's heart almost broke for him. It couldn't have been easy.
Since Devlin wasn't about to make the first step, Gwendolyn took the initiative. Crossing the space between them, she knelt down to be on eye-level with the boy.
"I can only imagine what life must have been like for you." She said, and she imagined the worst. Gwendolyn had known Kevin when he was a child, had seen him grow up right along side, yet always at odds with her cousin Ben. She knew what kind of monster he was. "But that's behind you now. You're safe here, and you're a member of the family now." Or at least, he would be as soon as the final paperwork was pushed through. She spread her arms open wide. "So, why don't you give your old Aunt Gwendolyn a hug?"
This did not have the effect she imagined it would. Instead of putting the boy a ease, Gwendolyn seemed to have put him on edge. Devlin took a step back, eyeing her suspiciously. "I- I'm not used to the hugs yet."
Gwendolyn wanted to cry for him. What kind of child wasn't used to being hugged? What had Kevin done to him? She knew he was petty, selfish, and maybe a little not-quite-completely-sane. But to never hug his son? Gwendolyn was amazed the boy didn't try and leave sooner. Why even try to free Kevin from the Null Void in the first place?
Ben stepped in to save the situation. "We're still working on a few things. This is a huge adjustment, us compared to Kevin. Devlin just needs some time. Right, kiddo?"
He gave the boy a tentative slug to the shoulder. That, at least, didn't seem to bother him. He was used to being patted (or punched) on the shoulder, but hugs were strange and unfamiliar territory for him.
Gwendolyn strengthened, deciding it was best not to push the boy. Let him come out of his shell and join the rest of the family at his own speed. "Alright, well, I just got back from way, way, far away. You know what that means…!"
It was clear by his expression that Devlin had no idea.
But Ken jumped up and down excitedly and yipped. "Souvenirs! Souvenirs! What'd you bring me?"
"My, so greedy." Kai huffed, putting her hands on her hips. "He must get it from his father's side of the family."
"Hey!"
Kai and Gwendolyn shared a laugh at Ben's expense. After a moment or two, Devlin joined in on it. Just a couple short hesitant chuckles before he lapsed back into a withdrawn silence. Ken didn't seem to get what was so funny, though, and Ben did not find it amusing at all.
"Oh, you're so bad, Kai." Gwendolyn muttered.
Kai's laughs also pattered out. "It comes from spending to much time with Ben. He's a bad influence on me."
"I'm standing right here!" Ben sounded so indignant.
Gwendolyn flashed him a patient smile. "We know."
That shut him up. He was outnumbered by his wife and his cousin and couldn't expect any help from the kids. Not that he would have liked having to be rescued by the children. He grumbled something noncommittal and crossed his arms over his chest with a hmph.
"Oh, don't be a grouch." Gwendolyn crossed to where she had deposited her baggage by the door and unzipped her suitcase. Out from it she pulled a second -smaller- bag. Tied shut with a draw-string and looking only marginally full. She reached into the bag and pulled out something that looked suspiciously like a snow globe. "Here. Have a miniature of Blon City. Its the capital of Raxacoricofallapatorius." Ben looked disappointed. Gwendolyn didn't care. She reached back into her bag. "And for Kai, here's one to match." She handed out a second -identical- snow globe. "Now, for the newest member of the family… I knew I had to get something special. So… Here's a miniature of Blon City from Raxacoricofallapatorius in a snow globe."
Devlin seemed just as thrilled to receive his souvenir as Kai and Ben had been. He accepted the token politely but wordlessly, staring at it as if he didn't expect to get one. Did Kevin never bring him back gifts when he traveled? But then again, what kind of gifts would he bring back from the Null Void for a small child?
"What about me, Aunt Gwendolyn?" Ken pestered, as if he actually wanted the crappy snow globe she was passing out to everyone.
Gwendolyn put on a startled face for a moment. She tried not to smile as she looked in the bag in mock horror. "Oh, no! It looks like I must have forgotten yours, Kenny. I'm sorry."
There was clearly one other heavy -snow globe shaped- object in the bag.
"Aw…" Ken looked so sad. Devlin shot him a sideways look, probably disbelieving that his friend couldn't clearly see that his cheap souvenir was still in the bag.
"But maybe you can conjure one if you wish real hard." Gwendolyn suggested, allowing that amused smile to cross her lips now.
Ken screwed up his face in concentration. He closed his eyes and moved his mouth, forming non-sense words. Absolutely nothing special happened. After a few moments of watching Ken make funny faces -of which Kai took several pictures- Gwendolyn finally gave in.
"Oh! It worked!" She made a flipping motion with her hand, twirling the bag around her wrist. It disappeared before their eyes, leaving just the snow globe in her hand. "Here you go. Your very own Blon City from Raxacoricofallapatorius."
Ken's eyes lit up as she handed him the globe. He flipped it upside down and shook, watching the glitter and fake snow drift around in the fluid. He was the only member of the family who actually liked the gift. Devlin had a feeling his enjoyment had more to do with that disappearing bag trick Gwendolyn did rather than the actual souvenir itself. She was supposed to be a sorceress after all. What was the point of having a bad-ass magician in the family if you didn't get to see her do magic every now and again?
"Now, I'm starving." Gwendolyn said. "What do ya say we all go out for a big family dinner. My treat!"
"Will Cooper be joining us for this family dinner?" Ben asked. "He called to let you know you left something at his place, by the way. I'll tell you what it was when the kids aren't around."
Gwendolyn made a face. Somewhere between patience, irritation, and forced sweetness. That was one thing she and Ben were always at odds about. Her lifestyle choice. It was really none of his business, but that's what married people did. Stuck their nose into single people's business and passed judgments on what they thought they knew. As if his own home life was above scrutiny. Ha! Gwendolyn knew just how un-perfect his marriage to Kai really was. He wouldn't divorce her because of Ken, so he made himself feel better by finding fault in Gwendolyn's private-life.
"No. Cooper will not be joining the family."
…
Devlin was still getting used to all of this.
Being included.
It was not something that happened to him often. His father was always somewhere else. Working. Or stuck in the Null Void. Always to busy to include Devlin in his affairs.
But, as negligent as Kevin was, he still wasn't as bad as Devlin's mother. Even when she did have time she could spend with her son, she didn't. Always saying he was his father's child and so his father should be the one to deal with him. Devlin stopped being her problem the moment he was cut from her womb. Or so she informed him on multiple occasions.
So, going out to dinner with the Tennysons was a new experience for him.
They all sat around a round table, talking and chattering about the things Gwendolyn had missed while she was away, people they all knew but Devlin hadn't met yet, various adventures -or misadventures in the case of Devlin and Ken.
"And Kevin looked so gross in his alien form!" Ken was narrating, waving his arms animatedly as he recounted the tale. "With a flaming head, like the Atomic Skull from my comics! And he had these tentacles coming out of his butt! Ew!"
"Tentacles!" Gwendolyn gasped, her cheeks turning a bright shade of pink at the mental image.
"No." Ben said quickly. Shooting Gwendolyn a look Devlin didn't know how to interpret.
"But its true!" Ken insisted. "He had four of them."
"They weren't coming out of his butt." Devlin clarified.
"I know he did." Ben ruffled his son's hair. "I'm just telling Gwen to stop thinking what she's thinking. I know what you're thinking, Red. No."
"And I think, I know what you think I was thinking, and I think I'm insulted." Gwendolyn replied calmly. But the pink glow was still in her cheeks as she took a sip of wine and pointedly avoided eye contact with everyone else.
The dinner progressed in much the same way. Someone would tell a story. Someone else would make a silly comment or a funny face and someone else would tease them for it. Devlin liked that. The easy, light-hearted teasing. It was so different than what he was used to hearing. His parents didn't talk often, but when they did it was usually at a high volume and they threw out the F-word every other sentence. Or the C-word, the B-word, the A-hole phrase, the sh-word, etc. Devlin actually had a very colorful vocabulary thanks to them. But he got the feeling that he shouldn't use any of those words at a polite family dinner.
And then someone said, "Okay, Devlin, its your turn."
"My what now?" He blinked. Devlin hadn't exactly been following the conversation word for word. He was drifting off into his own unhappy memories and had lost track of what everyone was saying.
"Ken told a story, then I told a story." Kai explained. "Then Gwen did. Then Ben. Then Max. Now you're the only one at this table who hasn't shared one."
"Oh." Devlin paused, casting his brain around for a story he could share. Did he even know any stories? "Um… Well, this one time when I was nine, my dad took me to work with him. Ya see, there was this guy who used to run hyperdrive-motivators for him. -That's level twelve technology, by the way, its contraband on a lot of worlds.- But the guy got spooked by the Plums on his last delivery and dumped the cargo before he even got to the checkpoint. Needless to say, the client wasn't happy, and so Dad wasn't happy. So, when he took me to work with him, he taught me how to break a guy's fingers. It was a little hard at first, but after a while I got the hang of it. Its kinda like snapping twigs. Ya just gotta bend them back far enough until you hear the pop. That's when you know- why are you all looking at me like that?"
Everyone at the table was staring at him with wide eyes and open mouths. Shocked and horrified. Their food forgotten on their forks.
There was a pregnant silence.
It began to stretch on into awkwardness… and then out beyond it.
After a few moments longer, Devlin got sick of being stared at. "May I please be excused? I need to use the toilet."
He slid out of his seat and made a B-line for the restrooms. He didn't actually have to go, he just needed to get away from the table for a bit. The Tennysons were nice and everything, but they were so different from him. It was sometimes uncomfortable. Devlin splashed water on his face, as if that would clear his head. He stared at his reflection in the mirror.
How was he ever going to pass as a Tennyson? He looked nothing like any of them. They were fair skinned and lightly freckled. Ginger-haired and emerald eyed. While he was pale, almost pasty, and dark haired. Like his father. Devlin looked like his father. His father who was Ben's greatest enemy. He grew up listening to his father harp on, and on about how terrible Ben Tennyson was and how much he hated him, and that Devlin should hate him too.
And for a while Devlin thought he hated Ben too. But then he met Ken and by extension Ben and realized that they weren't that bad. They were actually really, really cool. Cool and nice. Good.
Too good for him.
He didn't fit in.
In the mirror, Devlin saw the bathroom door open and someone else walked in. He came up to the sink next to Devlin and began washing his hands. Devlin should get back to the table. If he lingered in here much longer they might send Ken in here to check on him. Or worse, Ben or Max. The last thing he wanted after that embarrassing story-fiasco at the table was to have to have Ben come in and collect him.
The man next to him finished washing his hands. He reached into his pocket and pulled something out, setting it down on the marble countertop with a soft metal clink. "The Boss sends his regards."
He left.
Devlin froze.
He stared down at the thing the man had left by the sink.
A padlock. A plain, generic padlock. Broken.
Devlin stared at the broken lock for a moment. Afraid to touch it. He glanced around. The man who left the lock was gone and there was no one else in the bathroom. Devlin reached under his shirt and pulled out a chain around his neck. At the end of which was his own padlock. Old, steely gray, with the number eleven carved into it with deep scratches. A padlock pendant was the mark of a member of the Lock Eleven. The number on it was the number of abilities he had. The abilities of ten aliens, plus the power to absorb energy -all of which he had inherited from his father.
His father who was the Boss of the Lock Eleven -and the Boss had just sent him the warning.
No one left the gang. If you were in the Lock Eleven, you were locked in for life. There was no leaving the Lock.
Devlin scooped up the warning and stuffed it in his pocket before anyone else could walk into the bathroom. Then he stuffed his own lock pendant back under his shirt. Even with all this going on, being adopted into the Tennyson family and all, it never even occurred to Devlin to take it off. A change in family name didn't mean he was leaving the gang. No one left the gang! But, apparently, his father thought differently.
The warning was just that -a warning. A last chance. Come back and we'll pretend nothing ever happened, or else wash your neck because someone will be coming for your head. Considering that Devlin was an eleven, that someone would probably be his father. Aside from himself and Kevin, there wasn't anyone in the gang higher than a nine. There was no way a nine could take down an eleven. So Devlin could expect a fatal visit from his father soon.
Or else he could go home to Saturn Colony and beg forgiveness.
Maybe if he groveled really, really well, Kevin would't punish him to hard. Devlin had never actually been hit by his father before. Not unless you count being smacked to the side when he got between him and Ben. But aside from that, Kevin had never raised a hand to him. In fact, he never really dealt with reprimanding him at all. That job was left to his mother and her punishments usually tended to be some version of being locked away in his room alone. Devlin had witnessed his father punish members of the gang that displeased him and he did not look forward to the experience. He liked his fingers, and ears, and knees the way they were!
Devlin was so scared, he failed to realize the implication that Kevin was back out of the Null Void already. Maybe if that thought had dawned on him, he might have warned Ben or Ken and asked the family for help.
But he did none of these things.
Instead, Devlin returned to the table in a bit of a daze. He slid into his seat and stared at his food wondering what he was going to do.
The dinner flew by in a blur after that. No one asked him to share a story again and that was just fine with Devlin. He didn't need the distraction. He needed to figure out what he was going to do. The smart thing to do was to go back. Go home to Saturn Colony. But… he didn't want to. Devlin really did want to live with the Tennysons. His father wasn't as terrible as his mother was, but Ben was so, so much better! He saw how much the man loved Ken and how happy and comfortable Ken was. At ease around his parents, not tense and on guard all the time like he was. Devlin wanted that for himself. But that was something he would never have with Kevin.
Inversely, the Tennysons weren't his family. It was nice of them to pretend to be and all. But a pretense was still a pretense. Kevin was his family. With Kevin was where he belonged and they both knew it. They were the same, Devlin and Kevin. They shared the same abilities, strength, and weaknesses. His father taught him how to transform at will, how to control his energy cravings, how to function like a person even when he didn't feel like one. True, Kevin never hugged him, or praised him, or really encouraged him at all. But it wasn't like he ever really hurt him.
And, unlike the Tennysons, if he didn't come back, Kevin would kill him. Son or no son.
Or, Kevin would kill everyone around him instead. Then drag Devlin home.
These were the thoughts running though his head on the way home.
It wasn't until he and Ken were tucked into bed, kissed good night (no one had kissed him goodnight before!), the light turned off and the door closed, that Devlin took out the locks again. His own lock marked with the eleven, and the broken lock that served as a warning. Try and leave the Lock and we break you. Devlin held them in his hands, feeling the weight of the metal. Aside from the age difference, the number, and the breaks, they were the same. Kevin acquired them in bulk. Everyone got one on a chain, marked with the number of abilities they had. No one got a broken lock.
Or if they did, they buttoned down and reaffirmed their loyalty -and never ever spoke of the warning again. Once was enough.
One way or another, once was enough.
Devlin sighed and touched the cool metal to his forehead. What was he going to do..?
Stirred by the motion, or maybe the heavy sigh, Ken opened his eyes and leaned up in bed. He couldn't have possibly seen in the dark, but from the starlight streaming in through the window, he saw the basic silhouette of Devlin holding something in his hands. "What's that?"
Devlin jumped, as if caught doing something he shouldn't. "Nothing. Go back to sleep."
Ken hesitated for a moment. Then he laid back down in bed. But he didn't go back to sleep. "Hey, Dev, do you really know how to break a guys fingers?"
"And other things. Yes." Devlin nodded, putting the locks away. He was a Lock Eleven. That didn't change. Even if he wanted it to. Devlin's knowledge and skills just weren't something that fit in here with these people and this family. They were to nice. To kind. To caring. To forgiving. Devlin wan't nice, or kind, or caring, or forgiving. A kind person didn't know how to break fingers, pop knees, or cut off ears -how to cause pain without fatally wounding the victim. A forgiving person wouldn't be having this debate, a forgiving person would set aside his grievances with his parents and go home.
But that simple truth was the deciding factor that proved that home was exactly where be belonged. On Saturn Colony with Kevin and the Lock Eleven.
Devlin waited until Ken was asleep. Really asleep, not just resting. When he was sure the other boy wouldn't wake up again when he moved, Devlin crawled out of bed and dressed. He gathered up the few possessions he'd accumulated in the past few weeks. Everything that could fit in his pockets -he needed to travel light. But that didn't stop him from grabbing the snow globe that Gwendolyn had given him. Cheap and crappy as it was, it was still the first -and only- souvenir anyone had brought back for him from one of their trips. His father had certainly never thought of him while he was away.
Devlin picked his shoes up, and padded softly in his socks to the door.
The place was eerily quiet. But not everyone was asleep.
A light was still on in the living room and Devlin risked a glance inside to see who was up.
Gwendolyn was reclining on the couch, her attention absorbed in a book. Devlin didn't recognize the title, but it was written in a looping archaic script and looked very, very old. One of her magic books maybe? She was supposed to be a sorceress, after all. She didn't seem to notice him and that suited Devlin just fine. He continued past the living room to the door. It was only there that he put his boots on and ducked outside.
He didn't want to leave the Tennysons. He liked living with them these past few weeks. But this was not where he belonged. He was a Levin, and he belonged with the Lock Eleven. If he didn't go back, they would kill him -or kill Ken and the others.
The door shutting behind him was the last sound from this house he would hear. It was sort of poetic in a sad sort of way.
Inside, in the living room, Gwendolyn thought she heard the front door close and she put her book down to investigate.
…
Kevin wasn't about to risk getting to close to the Plumber's Headquarters and by extension Benji's home.
He waited on a rooftop close by, watching the building. Waiting for his errant son to appear.
And he wasn't disappointed.
Creeping out of the hanger, slowly at first, to make sure he wasn't followed. But gaining more speed as he gained confidence, was Devlin on his hoverboard. Kevin watched him glide through the air a few moments, gauging his course. When he decided the kid was on his way to the spaceport, Kevin was satisfied that Devlin had taken the warning seriously and was coming home. He decided to be compassionate and let the kid ride with him on his personal ship. It was far faster than any public transport shuttle. More comfortable too.
Kevin took a moment to shift his form slightly. Only slightly. He wasn't going full alien, just shifting his bio-field enough to change one small part of his shape. It wasn't as easy as it was to just let loose and transform fully, but it wasn't very difficult either (anymore). After a couple deep breaths and a bit of concentration, Kevin had wings.
He leapt off the rooftop and followed his son.
Devlin's hoverboard was custom. The kid refurbished it himself and made it faster than the average, assembly-line hoverboard. But that wasn't really saying much when the average, assembly-line hoverboard was designed for children and hence forth, couldn't achieve great speeds. Kevin caught up with his son easily.
He was planning on having the first word, but Devlin caught sight of him out of the corner of his eyes first. Turned to see his father coming up alone side him and was so startled that he threw himself off balance. "Dad!"
The kid went plummeting down toward the street.
Kevin had to likewise dive to catch him.
"Sloppy." He reprimanded the kid as soon as Devlin was safe in his arms. The hoverboard, suddenly finding itself without a ridder activated its safety mode (very inaccurately named) and was hovering motionless where Devlin left it, waiting for its rider to return or an adult to come and deactivate it. Kevin deposited his son back on the board. "Don't jump out of your skin just because someone passes you on the right! What if it hadn't been me? Don't do your enemy's work for them! You're no use to me splattered on the pavement."
Devlin looked so beaten down. What had happened between the last time they saw each other and now? When the kid got between him and Benji he was willful and strong. Rebellious and independent. Now, all of a sudden, he was broken and submissive. Like a puppy that had been kicked one to many times.
"Yes, Dad." He said, averting his eyes.
"Head up, Devlin." Kevin admonished, lifting the kid's chin. "You're the future Boss of the Lock Eleven, you lower your eyes to no one."
He resumed flying, heading once again in the direction of the space port. It took him only a couple seconds to realize, however, that Devlin wasn't following him. Hadn't moved at all, in fact, from the spot where he hovered. The repulser disks of his board giving off a soft hum. Kevin paused to look back at him.
"Devlin. Come."
Still, the boy did not move. "Dad… I wasn't trying to leave the Lock. I swear. I just… I just…" The kid took a shuddering breath, as if terrified to say what he was about to say. "The Tennysons aren't like us. Ken knows other kids our age and they come over a lot to hang out. Its fun. Ken's mom is really nice to him. She still fights with his dad, but to Ken she's nice. She never blames him for shit that's her problem and doesn't get mad or yell at him when he wants her attention. She doesn't lock him in his room and try to pretend he doesn't exist. And she's nice to me too. Its weird. But… its cool. My mother's not like that and- I just-"
Kevin sighed. God damn it, Leeta. Even after death, she was still making life difficult for him. He closed the distance between them, placing a hand on Devlin's head. "I have made sure she won't hurt you anymore." He informed the kid. "Now come with me. If you make me say it a third time I won't be happy."
Devlin still didn't move. He just stared skeptically at his father. "How can you be sure? You're never home and she always is!"
"I am sure." Kevin insisted. They were probably still ripping up the tacky carpets she'd soaked into. "She can't hurt you anymore."
Then it dawned on him. Devlin's midnight blue eyes going wide when he realized what his father was saying. "You- you killed her. Didn't you?"
And he did not look the least bit sad about that. Surprised, yes. Resigned, sure. But sad? No. Devlin was not sad to hear of his mother's death -and at his father's hand. And Kevin was surprised to find that Devlin's silent acceptance of this fact bothered him. True, Leeta was a self-centered whore-bag deserving of every bit of scorn that could be piled onto her. But she still had been Devlin's mother and a boy should care when his mother is killed.
After the silence between them stretched on long enough and Kevin was about to lose his patience, Devlin said, "I still don't wanna go back. I'm not leaving the Lock. Really. I promise. I just… I want what Ken has. And I won't have that back home."
Now Kevin really was going to lose his temper. He grabbed Devlin by the front of his jacket, pulling the boy up to his face so that they were eye to eye. "Now you listen to me, Devlin Eli Levin, and you listen good. You will not stay here. You will not live in my enemy's house. You will not play with his brat. What you will do is come back with me. You will relearn to hate them, like you should. You will master your powers and maybe absorb more abilities -I'll allow that to be your choice- and when you're older and when you're ready, we'll come back here and we'll kill them together. A nice little father-son bonding activity."
"But-"
"No more 'buts'." Kevin tucked the kid under one arm, grabbing the hoverboard with the other. If Devlin wasn't going to come under his own power, then Kevin would just carry him to the ship. Kicking and screaming if necessary.
They were about to fly away when something shot out from a nearby rooftop and struck Kevin in the back.
He tumbled in the air a bit -nearly dropping Devlin- before he corrected his flight enough to land. He set Devlin down (threw him down was more like it) and looked in the direction of the blast. Following its trajectory to find its source. Kevin expected to find a sniper wielding some high-level technology canon. Instead, all he saw was a woman with her hand outstretched. Hooded and clocked all in blue.
"He said he doesn't wanna go with you!" She shouted. "Dragging him along anyway is kidnapping!"
"And I suppose you're going to stop me?" Kevin sneered.
The woman lowered her hood to reveal red hair pulled up into a tight 'action-girl' style pony-tail and blazing green eyes. Gwendolyn Tennyson. Benji's cousin. So, Devlin was followed after all.
"Yeah. I am!"
...
