Happy Birthday

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The portal closed with a brief flash of yellow light, blinding the three Tennysons for a moment before they quickly regained their bearings (a skill developed over years of fighting). Ben stared almost longingly at the vacant space where the portal formerly stood, thinking back to those naïve, innocent times with a slight grimace. He would trade almost anything of his life now in order to go back to that time and be able to rewrite it all, so that maybe—

"Grandpa Max, happy birthday!"

Whipping around so fast his neck almost snapped, Ben's green eyes caught sight of a petite, raven-haired woman riding on a black and green lightboard, which promptly changed into a little mechomorph when she hopped off of it and onto headquarters. It slithered alongside her as she neared the trio, her eyes widening after she caught sight of Ben standing there with a guilty and sheepish look on his face.

"Ben!" She exclaimed. He smiled warmly at the sound of his name coming from her lips, the feeling undeniably like coming home.

"Julie." He murmured reverently when she got close enough, swooping down to bestow an intense and apologetic kiss to her mouth. His large hands were pressed against her small cheeks, slowly sliding down to her shoulders and then further downwards to encircle her waist, pulling her flush against him with enormous strength. Julie was surprised, but it wasn't long before her thin arms reached up, entangling her slim hands in his brown hair and sighing happily when he finally broke apart from her.

"Wow…" She muttered, blushing furiously as Ben grinned smugly at her, his brown locks tousled from her fingers. But then Gwen cleared her throat loudly from behind them, and Julie jumped back from the hero to giggle nervously. "I mean, hi Gwen! Hi Grandpa Max; happy birthday!"

"Hello Julie, I'm glad you came." Max said cheerily, stepping forward to hug the Japanese woman. She was almost swallowed in his build, being much smaller than him and much shorter. But it didn't seem to deter her, as she reached up out of his embrace to hug his neck in a grand-daughterly manner.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." The woman said, reaching into her pocket to produce a gift-cube, smiling when he took it and set it down with all the other gift-wrapped presents. As he did that, Julie was quickly taken aside by Ben's hand reaching out and ensnaring her wrist, dragging her a few feet away. "Ben?" She asked in puzzlement, turning to face when him when rubbed the back of his head anxiously.

"Julie, I just… I want to apologize for… for not… being there." He said, his green eyes flickering upwards to lock with her chocolate brown ones. Julie could see the slew of remorse and guilt swimming in them, a total contrast to the warm feeling that spread through her chest. She reached up with her tiny hand, resting it gently and lovingly on Ben's cheek before rising on her tiptoes to kiss him soundly.

"There was never any need for apologies." She admonished him lightly, burying her face in his chest. He tried to protest, but Julie looked up to him, her head shaking ever so slightly in order to get him to stop. "You're a hero, Ben. When I married you, I knew what I was getting into. I knew you would be working a lot, and you probably wouldn't have lots of time for me, but I love you, Ben. I can handle it."

The truth was, Julie could handle it, but just… not right now. Not when—

"Hey, Tennyson! Did that stick stuck up your ass finally come out, or are you here because there aren't any more criminals for you to throw in the Null Void?"

There was an audible groan from Ben's mouth as his eyes flashed to a broad-shouldered, black-haired man landing on headquarters in a green car striped with black. He stepped out of his ride, a proud and arrogant grin on his face that could have made him a criminal himself. It stayed there even after Gwen had run over to him, throwing her arms around his shoulders and kissing him briefly on the cheek.

"Nice to see you too, Kevin." Ben replied, sarcasm dripping from every syllable of his voice. Kevin E. Levin just smirked in satisfaction, his daily dose of annoying Ben having been fulfilled. Now, he turned to Max, smirking and gesturing to the trunk of his car. Gwen slapped his chest in a vain (and silent) effort to tell him to get Max's gift himself, and then present it to him, but the ex-delinquent just shrugged, instead opting to bend down and place a passionate kiss to his girlfriend's lips.

"Ugh…" Ben groaned, looking away from the grotesque sight of his cousin kissing a man he considered his best friend and his worst enemy all at the same time. Julie just giggled quietly from below him, finding the scene sweet but knowing better than to tell Ben her thoughts.

"Shut it, Ben." Kevin growled after finishing locking lips with Gwen. "Not every couple has their first kiss during their wedding." Ben flushed a furious red, breaking away from Julie to glare ominously at the ex-delinquent, his hand instinctively hovering above the Omnitrix. Kevin responded in kind, his hand resting on the metal of his car, cloaking his entire body green.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Gwen exclaimed, running between the two of them. Julie followed her example, standing back-to-back with the Anodite in order to placate her husband, who was gravitating away from his watch now that his wife was standing in his way. Kevin also responded similarly, letting the metal fade from his body when Gwen gave him a particularly scathing look. "Now what did we talk about?" Kevin sighed exasperatedly.

"Every couple is different, and we shouldn't compare their relationship to ours. Even though ours is obviously the better one." Gwen's red eyebrow rose at the extra bit he tacked onto the end of his sentence, glowering at him but not doing much else. She supposed there was only so much she could push him before he began throwing his own ideas into the mix. He was, after all, a rebel at heart.

"Ben…" Julie said, her tone threatening when Ben decided to stay silent at Kevin's proclamation and (sort-of) apology. The hero sighed helplessly, shoving his hands into his pockets and turning his head away to keep from looking at anyone. It was obvious this was something he didn't agree with, but he said it nevertheless, a tinge of amusement colouring his tone.

"And I shouldn't blame Kevin for having commitment issues."

"I do not have commitment issues!" Kevin replied, indignant. Ben turned to him, his eyebrow raised in that "you really want to argue with me?" way. The ex-delinquent gritted his teeth, backing down and muttering, "I mean yeah, Ben shouldn't blame me for having… commitment issues." He pouted after finishing his sentence, the frown not lifting even when Gwen had given him a peck on the cheek as a thank you. Julie did the same, but her husband reacted in a similar way.

"Now we've wasted enough time already." Gwen scolded, turning to grandpa Max, who was waiting patiently by his birthday table. "It's Grandpa Max's eightieth birthday! We should be celebrating!" Grabbing Julie's hand, Gwen dragged her off to start cutting the cake, laughing and singing the birthday song at the top of their voices. Ben and Kevin looked at each other, before they both smirked and joined in, their voices louder than all the rest.

"—happy birthday to Grandpa Max, happy birthday to you!!!"

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"Ship ship!"

Julie laughed, crouched low to the ground as she danced around with Ship. They were outside Grandpa Max's motor home, dancing to the music playing on the speakers. Grandpa Max was talking with some of his plumber friends, laughing up a storm as they reminisced the "good ole days". Gwen and Kevin had escaped the party hours ago, no doubt heading home for some couple time, which Julie didn't seem to have enough of.

Which reminded her; where was Ben?

Stopping her little dance with Ship, Julie turned her head up to scope the room for her hero husband, a blossoming of worry appearing in her heart when she could not see hide or hair of him. Ship seemed to notice her abrupt emotional change, whimpering and curling around her legs.

"Grandpa Max?" Julie said, walking over to the ex-plumber chatting happily with his friends. He looked up, all smiles at the Asian woman when she called out his name. Originally, Julie was planning to ask him where Ben could've gone, but the look in his face was so jovial that Julie couldn't bring herself to concern him with her own worries. So instead, she smiled at him and rose on her tippy toes, planting a short kiss to his cheek. "I'm going to head home now. It's late, and Ship seems tired." His smile didn't deflate, but he did try to convince her to stay.

"Are you sure? I can just ask someone else to drive you back." He reasoned, but Julie shook her head and chuckled, hugging him briefly.

"No, that's okay. I have a big day at the lab tomorrow anyways; I should probably get to bed." He acquiesced, waving goodbye to her as she left the yard of the Rust Bucket. Ship slithered alongside her, remaining quiet as he changed to lightboard mode and she hopped on him. He didn't make any noise even though he knew that this was not the usual route they took to head home, but rather a route to a place that Julie only went to on her worst days.

It was a place just outside of the city, where the grass still grew and trees still stood tall and proud. Everything was artificial, of course, but it was still probably the best place to put a graveyard.

"Shiip." The little mechomorph droned, transforming back to his normal shape when Julie's feet landed on the lush grass. He slithered away, taking refuge under a tree, as was the norm during Julie's treks to the cemetery. Julie let him be, staring forward to the path that would lead her inevitably to where she needed to be. She set out on the dirt path, hearing the dirt crunching under her shoes and feeling the soft wind blowing chills down her spine.

Julie never liked this place. She despised it even more when the tiny grave came into view, blocked by the form of her husband, Benjamin Tennyson.

The moon was especially bright that night, flickering shadows everywhere, casting an eerie aura throughout the cemetery, though Julie supposed that was the norm. All cemeteries felt like that to her. She supposed that the unsettled feeling in her heart were caused by the grave she stood in front of, and the man kneeling in front of the grave with the haunted gaze shadowed on his face.

"I'm sorry for not being there." He said, repeating his words from hours earlier. Julie understood the meaning behind his apology; she had always known what he was saying sorry for, but the occasion of Max's birthday had allowed her to push back those negative feelings rushing through her heart now. However, she had left the party, and was now surrounded by the melancholy aura of the graveyard closing in around her. It was inevitable for the tears to drip slowly down her pale, sunken cheeks.

"It doesn't matter now, does it Ben?" She said, keeping her distance from him and the grave. But Ben didn't like her answer, and he whirled around to look at her with a livid flash of fury in his body.

"It does!" He exclaimed, standing up. "I left you alone, Julie. During that one time I should've been there for you, I wasn't. And I'm so sorry." For a strange reason she wasn't able to decipher, a surge of hot, violent rage swam through Julie's veins, making her grit her teeth and clench her fists. She couldn't help the renewal of those angry tears sliding down her face, dotting her pink shirt dark.

"Sorry?" Julie asked, her body quivering uncontrollably. "Sorry?!" Her arms lashed out into the air and Ben closed his eyes, accepting the hits she landed on his chest. "Sorry doesn't cut it, Ben! Sorry doesn't heal the scar on my stomach. Sorry won't bring our son back!"

She collapsed into a hysterical fit of tears, allowing her husband to gather her in his arms, stroking her long hair with his hand and letting him pepper the crown of her head with kisses. Julie couldn't think about much else besides the unbearable pain in her heart, emotionally tearing her limb-from-limb as she made out the name engraved in the tombstone through her blurry eyes.

Here lies Kenneth Tennyson,

The child denied entrance into life.

"May Vilgax rot in all seven hells." Julie sobbed out, adding onto the two lines from the tombstone. Her hands pressed against the area just below her stomach, and she could almost feel the fatal scar there from under her clothes. It burned hot, as it always did when Julie came to the cemetery to pay her respects to the child she never gave birth to.

To any children she would've given birth to.

"He is, Julie. I swear he is." Ben said, saying soothing things to his wife, but unable to stop his own tears running down his face. He tried to forget the memories of that faithful night Vilgax had attacked him in his own home, but being near the grief of his wife and his deceased, unborn child, Ben wasn't able to do anything but relive that horrible day all over again.

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The alarm sounded through the control centre, blaringly loud as Ben sat quickly up in the king-size bed, his green eyes narrowed in cold hard determination. A blue screen popped up in front of him, flashing red as "INTRUDER ALERT" blinked menacingly into his gaze. Not many of his enemies could access his home so easily, and a foreboding feeling tunnelled into his heart when he turned to his right, finding the space beside him vacant.

"Julie!"

He scrambled from his bed quickly, the blue screen following his movements as he ran out the door, dialling numbers into the keypad on the screen with desperation. It rang for two trills, before a mini screen popped up in the top-right corner.

"Ben?" Gwen murmured blearily from the little video-com. She had clearly just woken up, but her sleepy nature was quickly giving way to sharp focus as soon as she saw the panicked expression on her cousin's face. "What is it?" Her voice was urgent now, and even without explanations she understood the gravity of the situation at hand.

"Headquarters." Ben said, approaching a corner in his home and getting prepared to turn around it, "Get over here now Gwen, both you and Kevin. There's a break-in, and I can't find Julie—" his voice cut off when he finally rounded the corner with a skid, every reaction in his brain shutting down as the sight greeting his eyes sent clumps of ice crashing through his body.

"JULIE!!!"

She was curled up on the ground on her side, blood pouring at an astonishing rate out of her stomach, coating the floor crimson with her blood. She heard her name falling from his lips, and opened her brown eyes slowly to see him hovering above her, turning her body until she lay on her back. She felt his hands pressing on her stomach, trying to quell the bleeding. It was only then that she remembered what had happened.

"Ben…" She croaked out, grasping at his pyjama shirt with a fierce grip. "Ben, I can't feel him anymore!" She sobbed, the tears adding salt to her open wound even though they fell nowhere near her physical injury. "I can't… I CAN'T FEEL HIM ANYMORE!!" Her hands slapped his away, and she curled up on her side once more, pressing her already bloodied hands into her stomach. "Kenny…my baby… my baby, oh god, my baby!"

And then he remembered the eight-month old, unborn child that was supposed to be resting happily in Julie's womb. Supposed to be.

"Oh God. Oh please God, please no!"

"Indeed, that is how you should rightly address me."

Ben's head lifted up, his eyes filled to the brim with tears as they hardened with fury.

"Vilgax…"

The Chimera's eyes narrowed in cruel victory, his tentacles bristling with excitement at seeing the great Ben 10k's tears. His clawed hand rose, almost in presentation to the hero, whose eyes widened impossibly at the red dripping down the alien's arms. It led his green eyes up to the mass of blood and flesh encased in his enemy's claw. And from it, Ben could vaguely make out a body with little arms and legs and a tiny head curled down into a tinier chest.

Vilgax smiled cruelly, the arm that held the mass of flesh tensing.

"Vilgax… Vilgax, NO—"

His laugh reverberated through the entire city as his claws curled straight through the body of he who was to be Kenneth Tennyson.

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The clock struck twelve, and the large tower on which it was situated chimed three times. Ben broke from his memories, looking up to the looming structure as it cast a large shadow over the ground. Buried in his chest, Julie's sobs stifled to sniffles, and she pushed back from him to crawl over to the grave of her unborn son, clinging to the stone with more tears.

"Kenny…" She whimpered, stroking his name etched in the grave marker and pressing a light kiss to the top of the tomb, a rainfall of tears joining them. Ben watched her for a moment, observing the dishevelled locks of her black hair and her bloodshot eyes with a pang of remorse in his heart. She was unnaturally skinny, even more so than usual, and he lamented in his ignorance of her suffering.

Ben started forward, joining her on the opposite side of the tomb, brushing a few stray locks of her hair from her cheek and feeling her cool, alabaster skin. The chill of it almost singed his fingers, and he wondered how Julie could lay her hand right on the icy top of the smooth grave. But it didn't matter to him now, and he lowered to his knees, laying his own hand on top of hers, letting her fingers entangle with his as both of their heads bowed. Tears sprinkled from their eyes, dropping onto the tombstone and dripping over the edge. They made a trail of wet tears further and further downwards.

Through the name engraved in the stone.

Through the words engraved in the stone.

Through the date engraved in the stone.

'Happy birthday to you… Happy birthday to you… Happy birthday dear Kenny, happy birthday to you…'

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END


A/N So, this is sort of post-Ben 10, 000. (Ken 10 never happened.) I wanted an explanation for why Ben ripped Vilagx to shreds in the episode, and I'm a huge Benlie fan, so I wanted to shove Julie in the future-Ben 10 world. And Kevin too, cause I adore Gwevin. Sorry if it was depressing.

Please review! I'll give you a cookie?

Snowflake Flower