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.
If It Can't Break Out of It's Shell
Chapter Two: What Can We Do About Kevin?
Devlin looked at himself in the mirror. His father always clothed him in things second hand. Whatever he could find cheap and easy that worked as a general fit for the boy. But Gwendolyn bought his school uniform for him brand new, and tailored for him. He was a bit too skinny for his height, so the shirt and sweater vest had to be taken in at the ribcage.
When Gwendolyn first saw him, she feared her son was undernourished, that Kevin hadn't fed him well enough. But after a day of clothing shopping with him -for play clothes and necessities as well as his school uniform- the sorceress realized that he was just small framed. Slight and lithe -like she was. In that respect, at least, he resembled her more than Kevin.
Stepping out of the dressing room, the young Osmosian modeled the uniform for his mother. 'Mother'. It was a concept as strange and alien to him as the idea of the 'school uniform' he was now wearing. Kenny's school did have uniforms, and Devlin never had a mother before. There was a lot he was going to have to get used to in his new life away from his father.
"You look so hansom!" Gwendolyn smiled.
Devlin was still getting used to that too. Complements and positivity. His father never paid him a complement, not once. Unless backhanded complements counted. "Uh. Thanks."
The touchingly awkward moment was interrupted when Gwendolyn's phone rang. Her ordinary, terrestrial cell phone. "Go ahead and changed back into your street cloths." She told the boy as she pulled out her phone. "This is the High Magus. Go ahead. Ben? Hey, what's up? You don't usually call me on my cell."
Because -usually- when the Hero of the Universe calls his cousin -the High Magus and sorceress-plumber- its because the universe is in danger and he needs her help. Calls from Ben usually end up coming through her Plumbers badge, not her cell phone. They didn't really socialize outside of work as much anymore. Not since Kevin disappeared with Devlin, Rook took his new job as Warden of the Void, she was named High Magus, and the gang just generally all went their separate ways.
"...okay, sure." Gwendolyn was just putting her phone away when Devlin came back out of the dressing room. Once again dressed in his black and gray shorts and hooded vest combo he had a personal fondness for. He passed the white shirt and red sweater vest to her for her to pay for and the sorceress smiled down at him. "How would you like to spend the afternoon with Kenny?"
"Can I? Yeah!" Replied the Osmosian enthusiastically.
"We'll just drop our stuff off at the house and then head over to Ben's headquarters."
"And on the way you'll tell me more of what happened between you, Dad, and me, right?"
…
After uploading the video of her ultrasound to Spacebook -like every other irritating expecting mother in history- Gwen's plan was to spend the rest of her day putting together furniture and unpacking boxes of books. But when she came back down the stairs, Kevin was already halfway through building the second bookcase.
"What's this?" She asked, smiling. It was a pleasant surprise to see her husband doing something constructive -something constructive that didn't include adding new weapons to his indestructible, 'everything proof' car.
"Working with my hands helps me relax." He reminded her, not looking up from what he was doing.
She sucked in a breath at the reminder that he was tense and actually needed to relax. Kevin had been irrationally suspicious, pessimistic, and cynical ever since their son from the future appeared in the middle of Plumbers HQ. Just because little Devin -or was it Devlin? Spanner wasn't exactly clear the one and only time he said her son's name- just because little Devin didn't know who she was.
Okay, maybe that was a worrying thought. Even if she was dead eleven years in the future -and for some reason the idea of being dead didn't seem to bother her- Kevin should have at least told their son who his mother was. He should have grown up with Ben as a doting uncle -or a negligent, workaholic uncle- and been regaled with tales of their exploits together as bedtime stories. But he didn't even know she was his mother. That did bother the sorceress a little bit. Just not enough to make her decide she didn't want the baby.
Kevin, on the other hand, automatically assumed the worst. Not just the worst, but the worst of the worst, and decided it was reason to never have children. Ever. Gwen didn't kow what exactly he was imagining in his head, but she did know that his mind easily went to places much, much darker than her's or Ben's might go. Whatever the Osmosian assumed happening to her in the not too distance future would be much, much more gruesome and/or painful than what Gwen might guess.
"Besides," continued the Osmosian, "I don't want you trying to do any heavy lifting or working with dangerous tools right now. I don't know how that thing inside you will affect you."
"Affecting me how?" She crossed her arms over her chest, trying to decide if he were calling her weak and fragile and she should be insulted. Or if he honestly didn't know how pregnancy worked and legitimately thought manual labor was bad for her -even at this early stage.
Her opened his mouth to respond. Realized he actually didn't know how to phrase his answer in a way that wouldn't get him slapped and denied the privilege of sleeping in the same bed as her, and closed it again. "There's... there's no right answer to that question."
She continued to stare at him for a few moments after that. But after the Osmosian went back to work, she decided to just drop it. After the train-wreck he almost caused at the sonogram appointment, Gwendolyn decided not to push him or push her luck with him. Kevin loved her. But he also had a terrible track record of behaving himself when he didn't get his way. For the moment, at least, she should just leave him to his work. Let him do what he needed to do. If it helped him come to terms with what was happening.
"Alright." Gwen sighed. "But don't put any of my books away. I have a specific order planned for them."
"I wouldn't dream of it." He assured her.
…
"This is boring!" Devlin groaned from the back seat -because Gwendolyn wouldn't let him sit in the front seat. "Where's all the fighting? When do I come in? What actually went wrong? Why does the dog hate me too?"
She pulled the car into the driveway and killed the engine.
"Its important so that you know where Kevin and I were emotionally at the time." Gwendolyn informed her son, as she released the child safety locks. The sorceress began pulling bags out of the trunk while the boy climbed out of the car.
Zed was lounging on a dog bed on the front porch. But the moment she saw the Osmosian the Anubian Baskurr bolted back around the house to the backyard -which seemed to have become her sanctuary from the boy. Devlin really wished he knew what it was he did to make the dog so fearful of him. When he visited the past and met her for the first time -literally, the first time for both of them, form both their ends of the timeline- she liked him instantly. Now she avoided him like a fatal disease.
Devlin turned away from where Zed had disappeared around the house and instead took some of the bags from Gwendolyn. He could carry his own stuff. Although, the Osmosian had never owned so much at any one time living with his Dad. Gwendolyn was really trying to spoil him. Either that, or this was how much clothing and shoes a normal child was supposed to have and it just seemed like a lot to him because Kevin always gave him so little. Honestly, Devlin didn't know.
"Okay. I get that, that might seem important to you." The Osmosian told her. "But I wanna know what happened, not how you felt!"
His mother offered a gentle smile. The kind of patient and understanding look adults gave children when they understood what they wanted, but were going to ignore it all together. "I understand your frustration, but understanding how we felt is important to understanding why we did what we did."
She unlocked the door and waited in the doorway for the boy to run his new things up to his room.
Devlin came back down the stairs a few moments later. "Look. I was there. I already know how you felt. You wanted me. Dad didn't. But somehow I ended up with him and not you. That's what I want to know."
He climbed back into the backseat of the car and Gwendolyn continued on their way to Ben's.
"Can't you just skip ahead a little bit?"
The sorceress reclaimed the driver's seat. "No. If you want to hear the story from me, you'll hear it the way I'm going to tell it." She informed him in a tone that Devlin was beginning to recognize as her 'because I said so' voice. "Or, if you want an abbreviated version, you can wait until Ben decides you're ready and he can tell you his version."
The Osmosian pouted in the back seat. "I bet his version would be less touchy-feely and more about things."
Gwendolyn cracked a smile of amusement. "I guarantee you, his version will paint him as some sort of voice of reason, or champion of compromise. But that's not what he was. All he did get in the way, step on our toes, and try to impose his opinions as if they legitimate solutions."
Devlin thought about what he knew about the Hero of the Universe. He had known Ben -the contemporary Ben, native to this time- for a little over a month now. That was plenty long to get a sense of the man, but not nearly long enough to know him very well. Even without his impromptu trip to the past to see early Ben 10,000, Devlin got the sense that he wasn't really all his hype made him out to be. But he didn't realize the Hero contributed to that hype. "Would he really?"
Yes. Yes, he would. But Gwendolyn didn't have to insist on it. Ben was -overall- a positive role model. The sorceress didn't need to tear him down. Especially not since Devlin would need a positive male figure in his life and that obviously wasn't going to be Kevin.
"You know who actually would be good to hear the story from if you don't wanna hear it from me?" She said instead, changing the subject. "Ben's old partner, a Revonnahgander named Rook Blonko. He and Kevin used to hang out in the motor-pool a lot together and became pretty good friends. Rook's Warden of the Void now and spends most of the year in the Null Void, though. So you probably won't meet him for a while."
"I met Rook." Devlin informed her. "In the past. He was with Ben." A pause. "He was with Ben a lot. About as much as Kevin was with you."
Gwendolyn opened her mouth to say something. Thought better of it. Closed it again.
"Ya know who I haven't met yet?"The Osmosian changed the subject for her. "Kenny's mom. Mrs. Tennyson. Kai. Where's she?"
"Kai keeps very busy." The sorceress began gently. "In addition to being a deputized Plumber, she's also holds two doctorates of pre-colonial archeology, and xeno-anthropology. When she's not discovering pre-European empires or protecting sacred lands, she contracts out as mediator and diplomat for various alien groups wanting to make peace with other alien groups."
"Ah, so that's why she's been gone so long." Devlin nodded as if this explained everything. "I was beginning to wonder if Kenny didn't have a mother either." A pause. "I mean- that is- Sorry, Gwendolyn -I mean, Mom. Its just, It was just me and Dad for so long. I didn't have a mother until a couple weeks ago and-"
"It's okay, I get it." The sorceress assured him. "This will take some getting used to for both of us. But, for the moment, I want you to have a good time with Kenny and -at least try- to stay out of trouble. We're here."
She pulled into the Headquarters motor-pool.
Excited to see Kenny again, Devlin unbuckled his belt and hopped out of the car the moment Gwendolyn cut the engine and released the child safety locks. The sorceress sighed. It was a little strange, but -sometimes- her son displayed personality traits from not just both his parents, but from Ben as well. Was it something he picked up during the weeks the Osmosian was in the care of the Hero of the Universe, or was he always that way? Pieces of Ben that slipped in through the Omnitrix which Kevin absorbed when he was younger.
Ben met Gwendolyn in the garage.
Devlin gave him a cheerful clip of a "Hi, Ben!" Before pushing past the Hero of the Universe and heading upstairs to find Kenny.
As soon as the young Osmosian was out of the room, Gwendolyn fixed her cousin with a serious and business-like glare. "Okay, what's so important that you didn't want to mention over Plumbers channels and demanded I come up here so we can talk about it in person?"
The Hero of the Universe looked behind him where Devlin had just disappeared into the elevator. He was gone, and there were no other Plumbers around to overhear. Ben closed the space between them and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a single Null Grenade, and passed it to the sorceress. Gwendolyn held it up, emerald eyes going wide when she recognized her own husband as the one that was in it.
"You didn't put him back in the Null Void!?' She exclaimed.
"Was going to." Ben began. "But Rook said it was a bad idea. Now I'm asking you, since you knew him so well. What should I do with your baby-daddy?"
Her first knee-jerk reaction was to tell Ben to let him out. She would take care of him. He was her husband after all, and even after their years of estrangement, his kidnapping of their son, and all the other terrible things he did as Kevin 11,000, she was still in love with him. But Gwendolyn couldn't take him home with her. The fact that he was still -technically- a criminal aside, he kidnapped her son, and did nothing but tear down and emotionally abuse him these past eleven years. As much as Gwendolyn wanted Kevin back in her life, she couldn't allow him anywhere near Devlin.
Instead, the sorceress sighed. A heavy, despondent sigh of resignation. The solution was not going to be easy, and it was not going to be fast either. "We need to draw out the excess energy inside him." She reminded her cousin. "Just like we did when he was Ultimate Kevin, just like Kwarrel helped him do when he was Kevin 11. I have a spell for it, but it will have to be done in stages. Otherwise he body could go into shock and die."
"You want me to release him to you." Ben concluded. It figured. Of course Gwendolyn would want him to hand her lover over to her.
But the sorceress shook her head. "Not yet. I've got Devlin with me right now and I wanna keep Kevin away from him. Wait until he starts school, summer's almost over anyway. Once Devlin will be gone for most of the day we can set Kevin up in my library at Friedkin and I'll take care of him then."
"So, I'm just supposed to sit on this for another week?" Asked the Hero of the Universe.
"Ben," Gwendolyn huffed, "remind me again how long its been since Devlin broke Kevin out of the Null Void and then helped you defeat him? A month? Five weeks? If you can sit on it that long, what's one more week gonna do?"
"Okay, okay, jeez." Ben grumbled. He hated it when she made good points. Why was she always the one who got to make good points and logical arguments?
"Is that all you asked me over for?" She asked.
"Pretty much. Why?"
"Because I promised Devlin a playdate with Kenny. So now you get to watch them while I run a few more errands." The sorceress informed him.
"What? But I've got hero things to do." Ben tried arguing back.
Gwendolyn fixed him with a razor glare. "You're telling me, that hanging out downstairs in HQ and hoping for an alien attack is more important than spending time with your own son and your godson." A pause. "Tell me again, exactly how many of Kenny's birthdays have you actually attended over the last ten years?"
"Oh, don't do that." The Hero of the Universe growled back at her. "You know how bad I feel about missing his important days."
"Well, today's not an 'important day' but it could be important to him if you were to just spend time with him when you can." The sorceress informed him. "I promise there will still be monster battles and alien invasions after the boys start school in a week." Then Gwendolyn doubled down on her argument. "And, when Kai comes home and asked Kenny what he did while she was away, he can brag about how much time he got to spend with his dad -and won't that just make her jealous."
The Hero of the Universe heaved a sigh. When did his marriage with Kai become about one-upping each other in the eyes of their son? What ever happened to the days when their marriage was based off xenophilic fantasies over Blitzwolfer and willful delusions of true love? Or better yet, the days when they pretended their marriage wasn't based on sex and illusions at all. "She's always getting onto me about missing his birthdays. But she was the one who missed his birthday this time."
And it was Kenny's tenth birthday. A very important number in the Tennyson clan.
Ben heaved another sigh. "You're right." And he turned around and walked back to the elevators that would take him to the residential levels of his headquarters.
He found the boys in the living room. They had Kenny's hoverboard out on the coffee table and it looked like Devlin had just started taking it apart while the younger boy looked on in wonder. Looked like the young Osmosian was showing the young changling how to customize his Ride. Like father, like son -it seemed. Devlin was more like Kevin that Ben felt comfortable with. Of course, that was to be expected since he was raised by the man these past eleven years and Gwendolyn hadn't yet had a chance to add in her influence. But seeing the boys together made Ben feel a strange combination of equal parts nostalgic and sad. He missed Kevin -the good Kevin. The Kevin that was his friend.
The Hero of the Universe cleared his throat. "What's going on here?"
Both boys looked up startled. As if they'd just been caught in the act of rule breaking. Admittedly, Ben had never expressly forbidden his son from customizing his hoverboard. But then, Ben had also never actually imagined it as a posibility before either. It hadn't even occurred to him that, that was a thing people could do. Of course it would be Kevin's son that would bring the idea back into his house.
"Dev was just showing me a few things." Kenny tried to explain, a very Ben like 'i'm just an innocent child, nothing to see here' grin on his face.
Devlin blinked, halfway between confusion and suspicion. He didn't understand that normal parents might think it would be dangerous for their children to be customizing their own toys that ran off of alien hover technology. Of course, Kevin wasn't a normal parent. He probably thought it was strange that children didn't add or expand on their disproportionately advanced toys. Kevin Levin was may things over the course of his sordid life. None of those things was a good parent, but one of those things was a fantastic mechanic and alien technician. The Osmosian wouldn't be able to live with himself if he didn't make sure his son was equally as skilled.
"I was just showing Kenny how to make his board more maneuverable." Devlin informed him.
"More maneuverable, huh." Ben crossed the room and sat down at the coffee table across from them. "Show me too."
"Uh, well, okay." He must have made the Osmosian nervous. The boys hands were more hesitant and less sure than his father's. Then again, that could easily be attested to age and inexperience as much as the fact that he had a grown-up for an audience.
"Ya know, I used to watch your father do this with his car all the time." Ben added. Then remembered that it was actually Rook he watched work on the proto-TRUK. Kevin did most of his mechanical work in his own garage attached to Gwendolyn's house. Ben usually only ever saw the Osmosian when he was pissed off about something and looking to the wielder of the Omnitrix to give him something to beat up.
He had originally meant it to put the boy a ease. But only after the words were out of his mouth did the Hero of the Universe realize that this might actually make Devlin more nervous. The young Osmosian's hands that were just a little unsure before suddenly shook as he removed a hover-plate. Even Kenny looked a little shocked and worried.
Ben sucked in a breath. "Maybe I should explain. You see, Kevin and I used to be friends..."
…
Rook had the hood of the proto-TRUK up and was tinkering with... something in there. Ben didn't really know what. Engines and machines might as well be Gwendolyn's magic as far as he was concerned. Rook and Kevin might understand them, but the Hero of the Universe did not. He sat in the passenger seat, both doors hanging open, one foot propped up on the dash, ans scrolled through his Spacebook feeds wondering if his wife had posted anything today and when she was coming home.
Gwendolyn had uploaded a video of her sonogram. He clicked the video more out of a board curiosity rather than any real desire to actually see it. But all it was, was a gray-on-gray blur of undulating shades and tones, so he quick watching it and kept scrolling.
That was about when the father of Gwendolyn's formless sonogram pulled into the Headquarters motor-pool.
He cut the engine and climbed out of the driver's seat -and slammed and door shut after him. Kevin never slammed his car doors. He got pissy when other people accidentally slammed his car doors. Kevin loved his car more than he loved his unborn child -that wasn't saying much. Sometimes Ben wondered which he loved more, that car or Gwendolyn -that was saying a lot.
"You alright there, buddy?" Ben asked, turning off his phone and sliding out of the proto-TRUK.
Rook looked up. Noted that the Osmosian was just huffy and not in a 'we need to gear up and go save the world right now' panic and turned his attention back to his own work.
"Your cousin is crazier than me!" He snarled at the Hero of the Universe.
"That sounds like something I might have said in my Best Man's speech at your wedding." Ben leaned against the side of the proto-TRUK and tried to make light of whatever it was the Osmosain was upset about today.
This little comment did little to sooth his frienemy's foul mood. "You wanna make jokes, Tennyson!"
That was when Rook leaned back from the hood of the proto-TRUK, wiping oil from his hands. "It has been my experience that he usually does. Ben thinks he is rather humerus. I do not understand many of the jokes, but I believe he usually means well."
"This isn't funny!" Kevin roared at both of them. "Don't either of you remember? When that kid came from the future he knew who I was, but he had no idea Gwen was his mother. Aren't you worried how or why that might be? Isn't it likely that thing in her belly will killed her? How can you just make jokes?"
Ben's eyebrows came down as he gave up on making light of the Osmosian's mood and fears. Truth be told, the Hero of the Universe was a little worried about his cousin's murky and unknown future. Ben had met his future self before -multiple times, actually- and by this point in his own personal timeline he'd been the future self and met his past self at least once. He knew how wobbly and confusing time travel could be. He also knew that constantly worrying about the future and psyching yourself out was not the way to find answers or solve problems.
"Don't assume that just because I'm not crying like a little girl like you are that I'm not worried." Ben informed the Osmosian. "But you also have to remember, we've met another me from farther in the future. Ultimate Ben 10,000. Remember? And he talked like Gwendolyn was still alive and doing fine. President of Earth and a shoe-in for a second term. Remember?"
"Yeah. I remember." Kevin growled. "I also remember that Ultimate you didn't mention anything about her having a son -or any children for that matter. For all we know, Mr. Ultimate Ben 10,000 could have been from an alternate timeline. One where I didn't get Gwen pregnant with an evil mutant spawn that's gonna kill her!"
Or worse, an alternate timeline where they never got married at all. Kevin didn't know which possibility bothered him more.
Rook closed the lid of his truck and began packing his tools away. "I have read many of your Earthling folktales and legends." He said. "One in particular stands out as relevant to this situation. The Greek prophets of Delphi would tell people their futures, but only part of it -usually the bad parts- and the people would strive their hardest to try and avoid their fates. But all their actions to prevent it inevitably ended up being the very things that caused their terrible fates to begin with."
"How is that relevant." Snarled the Osmosian.
"Have you considered that the reason your future son didn't know his mother was because of something you did and not your offspring's fault at all?" Rook elaborated.
"Like what? Toss him in the Null Void like Tennyson did to me when I was just a kid?" Kevin raised a brow.
"Ooh, damn. You could cut someone with that chip on your shoulder, Kev." Ben commented in an attempt to lighten the mood. "That was over twenty years ago. Shouldn't you be over it by now?"
The Osmosian's only response to this was just to glare at the younger man. Admittedly, that did happen during one of his formative years. It shouldn't be surprising that Kevin still carried some resentment about it. What was surprising was that, that happened between them at such a pivotal age for both of them and Kevin and Ben were still able to form a meaningful and trusting friendship.
The Hero of the Universe locked eyes with the Osmosian, noted his vehement glare and immediately regretted the question. Yeah... What kind of asshole was he to basically ask, 'shouldn't you be over your childhood trauma by now?' Ben sucked in a breath. "Anyways... um... Ya know what I'm over by now? You and Gwendolyn both talking non-stop about this pregnancy. You about how its gonna kill her and destroy all our lives, and her about how wonderful and magical this experience is and how happy she is to finally be having a child with the man she loves. Ugh. Gag me."
Never one to pass up the prospect of a fight, Kevin crossed the space between them and grabbed the Omnitrix wielder by the front of his shirt. "Oh, I'll do more than just gag you."
Rook sighed. "I will call your wives and inform them to meet us at the hospital."
…