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.

…Before Its Ever Even...

Chapter Three: Devlin's Situation

After school, Kenny and Devlin went to Burger Shack for a snack and to do a bit of homework before the former headed home and the latter went to therapy. Usually, both boys would get their snack and stay and hang out. If not at Burger Shack or Mr. Smoothy, then at one of their respective homes. But, Devlin had therapy after school twice a week. So, for two days out of every week, they went their separate ways after snacks, heading off in opposite directions.

Devlin watched Kenny for a bit. Tracking the younger boy with his eyes to make sure his hoverboard was, in fact, heading in the direction of Plumbers HQ.

After the Osmosian had adjusted to his own life, and his primary focus was no longer his inadequacies and irrational fears, it didn't take him long to realize that the Tennysons' home-life was not as harmonious and perfect as they tried to lead others to believe. Kai spent long periods of time away from home, and when she was around, there was an undefined tension between her and Ben. It didn't take a rocket scientist to recognize that Kenny's parents weren't as happy and in love as they tried to appear. There was trouble in their marriage.

Kenny didn't talk about it, but Devlin knew that he saw it too. After all, if Devlin whom did not live with them and only ever caught an outsider's glimpse of their relationship could see it, then there was no way Kenny -their son whom lived with them- would miss the unacknowledged distance between his parents. Kenny might not talk about it, but he did look for excuses not to go home sometimes.

That was why, whenever they parted ways, Devlin always watched to make sure he did, in fact, head home.

Satisfied, that the direction his cousin was taking was at least the correct one, the Osmosian hopped on his own hoverboard and headed to Dr. Borges' office.

When his mother first arranged for him to see a psychiatrist and have regular therapy sessions, Devlin was very resistant. He'd never been psychoanalyzed before and did not like the idea of having another person in his head. He compared it to being dissected. Cut open and poked around inside of. But after attending regular sessions for a year now, the young Osmosian had to admit that therapy was actually really great. It was nice -almost cathartic, in a way- to be able to vent and unload all his frustrations and fears on another person without the fear of judgment or condemnation. Therapy was actually pretty awesome.

Devlin checked in with the receptionist and sat down in the waiting room, remembering to also text his mother that he'd gotten there safely and that she didn't have to worry about him. He tried to be a good and responsible son. Gwendolyn worried about him almost irrationally. She knew he could take care of himself. But, because of the way he was kidnapped when he was still just an infant and she couldn't track his mana to find him, the sorceress would still always be afraid of losing him again.

He was called in for his session and the Osmosian flopped down in the over stuff and unnecessarily comfy chair. "Sorry I had to miss our last session. But there was this thing smashing through downtown and Kenny and I went to help Ben."

"I saw it on the news. You were quite the hero." She nodded.

"Oh, I didn't really do much." Devlin brushed off her complement. He still hadn't quite figured out how to take complements. Positivity and praise made him uncomfortable. He wasn't used to it yet.

"Why do you say that?" Dr. Borges asked. She did that a lot. Took what he said and made it into a question. Used it as a tool to help him examine himself, realize what aspects of his self-view were flawed or faulty and worked with him to change them. At first he thought it was just clever manipulation -and maybe it was- but it wasn't the bad kind of manipulation meant to control a person. It was clinical manipulation meant to improve a person's mental and emotional health. After all, without self-awareness there could be no self-improvement. Without self-improvement people stagnated.

"Well, I just protected the crowd and stuff." The Osmosian explained. "It was Ben and Kenny that really beat the monster. I was just back-up and support."

"I'm sure the people in the crowd you were protecting feel differently." She told him flatly. "To them, you weren't 'back-up and support', to them you were the person who saved their lives."

"Creature." Devlin corrected. "I was in my mutant form. I was the creature saving their lives. And I'm pretty sure a lot of them were just as scared of me as they were of the thing tearing up downtown."

The corners of her mouth turned downward in a slight frown. "Devlin, you are aware that you're still a person regardless of what form you're in. Your shape doesn't make you any less who you are."

"That's great and all, Doc, but it really doesn't seem that way when people scream and cry when they see me just as much as when they see whatever flavor-of-the-week alien invader Ben is fighting." The Osmosian informed her. He did not add the fact that he sent the first eleven years of his life being told that he actually was a monster. They talked about that enough as it was. "I really wish I had a power that I didn't have to transform to use. I wish I could stay looking like this, but still be able to fight alongside Kenny and Ben."

For half a moment, Devlin thought she was going to remind hm that he didn't have to fight alien invaders. He was only twelve years old. Just a child, and it was -technically- 'child endangerment' for Ben (and Gwendolyn) to allow him to fight along side them during their battles. The only reason Dr. Borges hadn't yet called child protective services was because she knew that Devlin was actually much, much better off remaining with his mother whom both understood and wanted him. The Osmosian felt needed and validated, which was something severely lacking in his life prior -and the alien invader monster battles were a part of that. So, instead of saying anything, Dr. Borges waited to see if the boy was going to say more.

When it became abundantly clear that she wasn't going to interject anything, he continued. "Dad doesn't have to transform to use his powers. He knows how to absorb and copy matter. Instead of transforming he just covers himself in stuff."

"And why can't you do that?" Asked Dr. Borges.

"Because I don't know how." The Osmosian informed her. "Dad never taught me how, and now we don't speak."

She didn't answer instantly. Dr. Borges tapped her stylus against her tablet. "Its been a year since you last spoke with him, hasn't it?" She finally said. "And you're mother has exorcised him of the elements that made him unstable. As I understand it, he no longer presents a physical danger to you. -However, considering the history of emotional abuse you have with him, I cannot recommend you see him."

"But if I were to ignore what you say and confront him anyway, no one could blame you." Devlin was Kevin Levin's son, and Kevin Levin was a contraband dealer and backroom broker. He understood the importance of nuance.

But -as usual- Dr. Borges did not appear to be playing any of the games his father taught him. "Instead, I would recommend you develop other abilities on your own. Something that might not require you to engage with your father. Speak to your mother and Ben and maybe figure out how to absorb matter without getting your Kevin involved. Or explore some other powers your father might not have even achieved yet. You never know what you're capable of until you try."

Everyone, it seemed, was determined to keep Devlin and Kevin apart.

As usual, he was there when Devlin came to Headquarters the next morning to pick Kenny up for school.

It looked as if Kevin was just getting in as well. He entered the bullpen from the motor-pool door cutting in front of Devlin whom was coming from the pedestrian street access. Yawning loudly and holding a large paper cup -presumably coffee- in one hand. Long ebony hair swaying behind him. It struck the younger Osmosian then that -over the course of his short life- he'd seen his father's retreating back far more often than his face. Kevin was always finding excuses to get away from the boy, either work -deals to broker, product to sell, items to steal, or targets to dispatch- and if it wasn't work, then it was good ol' fashioned revenge that drew him away. Nothing to be gained but fleeting personal satisfaction.

Looking back, Devlin should have realized his father hated him sooner.

But then, Kevin hadn't been in his right mind back then. Half-insane off an overdose of power from Ben's Omnitrix the night of the kidnapping. Gwendolyn had since then cleansed the Osmosian of all the surplus energy that made him that way. Kevin Levin was a different person now -or so everyone kept insisting. Devlin wouldn't know. He hadn't spoken to the man since the night of the faithful confrontation between him and Ben at Plumbers Headquarters. That was over a year ago. Who knew which way his father's mercurial moods swung?

Across the bullpen, the lift doors parted and Kenny came stomping out, looking frustrated and upset. Either he'd just been chewed out by his mother about goofing off in school, his apparent responsibility, and being too much like his father. Or else, he had to sit and listen to a similar toned argument between his parents over breakfast. Devlin could guess either. Ben and Kai did not have the harmonious and affectionate marriage they liked to project the image of.

Kenny locked eyes with him and picked up his speed, darting across the bullpen.

Kevin paused in his step, thinking he was the one the boy was approaching. Kenny gave the older man a cautious look -he didn't quite trust the Osmosian after their first meeting- before darting behind him and grabbing Devlin by the shoulder. "Let's get the hell outta here. I don't even mind getting to school early."

Finally noticing Devlin for the first time, Kevin spun around. He blinked at the boy. "How long were you back there."

"Its okay, Dad, I'm used to being ignored by you." Was all Devlin managed to say before his cousin dragged him out of the bullpen by the sleeve of his cardigan.

It was the most words they had exchanged in a year.

Devlin waited until they were outside, coasting through the air on their hoverboards before asking why Kenny seemed so anxious to get away from home -even if that meant going to school.

"You're so lucky you don't have to actually see your parents together." The younger boy announced. "Your dad's not allowed to see you, so you don't even know if he and your mom fight. But, like, if they fight, why even stay together, ya know? Like, what's so great about staying together if you make each other so miserable all the time?"

The corners of his mouth turning downward in a contemplative frown, Devlin remained silent. His own parents had their own fair share of problems -lots of complicated problems- but they were still together. Sort of. In an unconventional sense of the word. But they were trying to make their relationship work. Because they wanted to. Because, to spite everything they did to each other, against each other, behind each other's backs, etc. at the end of the day, Gwendolyn Tennyson-Levin and Kevin Levin still wanted to be together. Devlin didn't know why Ben and Kai insisted on remaining together. He spent a good amount of time with Ben over the past year, but not as much with Kai. He didn't have as intimate an understanding of them and their relationship as he did of his own parents.

"Duty, maybe?" Devlin finally suggested after the silence between them dragged long enough.

After all, Kevin hated him more than almost anything else in the universe, but he still raised Devlin for eleven years. Not because he wanted to, but because he felt he had to. Maybe Ben and Kai stayed together for the same reason -duty, responsibility- because they had already been married for for over fourteen years, because they had a child together, because they were a celebrity couple living in the public eye and had appearances and reputations to maintain. Any one of those reasons could explain why they insisted on remaining together.

"On Zabin, marriages are arranged between Blues and Reds to help keep the peace." Explained the Osmosian. "They don't want to marry each other, sometimes they don't even like each other. But they do it anyway. To make alliances. Protect their Houses. Keep the peace. They do it out of duty."

Kenny glared at the older boy skeptically. Zabin had been a war-torn planet since before either of them were born. If was wasn't Reds versus Blues, then it was Blues versus Blues, or Reds versus Reds, Purples versus all of them. Each faction clawing at the others, climbing over each others corpses, burning Houses and cities to the sand just to rule over the ashes.

At least, that's what the Plumbers reports that Kenny knew he wasn't meant to overhear said.

"Does it really work, though?" He asked at length. "Keep the peace."

Devlin thought back to his earliest memories. Back when he was still newly kidnapped, a baby, and Kevin on the run with him, it was difficult for the older Osmosian to stay on the move. Devlin was difficult and fussy. Loud. Unable to walk yet, or speak, or understand commands. Kevin needed a place to hide them, go to ground until Devlin was old enough to move on his own. The eternally war torn planet of Zabin was perfect for that. Devlin's earliest memories of his childhood were of Zabin.

They called his father the 'Armorer of the Divide' because he sold arms to all sides of the unending civil wars. He gave them weapons, armor, and shields, and in return they made him rich. Kevin profited from their strife, and if two powerful factions looked like they might sue for peace, he sabotaged their efforts. Kept his revenue stream flowing. There was no profit to be made from peace when your living was to make war. Through one means or another, all peace efforts on Zabin failed.

But that was supposed to be the old Kevin, so the young Osmosian tried to push it from his mind.

Devlin didn't answer Kenny's question.

"That's what I thought." Nodded the other boy, interpreting his cousin's silence as the answer. "I wish my parents would just get along. I mean, they're supposed to be in love, right? They've know each other for, like, forever."

"Just knowing each other isn't enough, though." The Osmosian told him. "If that was all it took to make a marriage work there wouldn't be nearly as much divorce as there is. Its gotta be more than that. Like, they've gotta want the same things out of life. You're dad's really into his role of Hero of the Universe. It, like, defines him as a person, makes him who he is. Even before I ever actually met him, I knew that about him. He likes wielding the Omnitrix, being a Plumber, and fighting aliens, mutants, and monsters. That's what he wants to do with his life. While your mom..." Here Devlin paused. He didn't actually know Kai all that well. He hadn't yet had many opportunities to get to know her. She didn't actually spend that much time at Plumbers HQ -and when she did she was usually arguing with Ben, and like hell was Devlin gonna get in between that! "Your mom has other interests."

Kenny continued to look skeptical. "Oh, yeah? They why are your parents trying to be together?" He asked. "I have never met two people with less in common than Aunt Gwendolyn and Kevin Levin. What keeps them together?"

Equally obsessive personalities and unacknowledged masochism. But the Osmosian wasn't going to say that out loud. "Sheer force of will and a complete disregard for their own mental health." (He said this fully cognoscente of the fact that wanting to reconcile with his father might also be disregarding his own mental health.)

Shaking his head, Kenny looked like he was going to say more. Continue arguing the point with his cousin. But they had already reached the school's campus and neither of them liked discussing their home-lives at school. It being ideal fodder for gossip aside, they were both relatively high-profile children, being the sons of the Hero of the Universe and the High Magus, a casual statement overheard out of context could start a media shit-storm that neither of them wanted to be responsible for. Let the adults do as they pleased, the children would not be the ones to create any new viral hashtags.

They stashed their hoverboards in their lockers, pulled out books and headed for their first class.

"We're really early." Kenny noted as they entered the class before anyone else was there -not even a teacher.

"You're the one that was in such a rush to get out of HQ." Devlin reminded him.

Back when his mother had tried to get him to attend her old private school, the idea of formal education had been new and novel to Devlin. For that reason, and that reason only he had found it interesting. But unlike Bellwood Prep, Bellwood Public -the current school he attended with Kenny- was actually fun.

Not in a conventional sense, but the Osmosian found it... entertaining.

Classes had been much more structured at his old private school, with emphasis placed on respect. At his current public school, Devlin could see that the teachers tried to maintain that same discipline, and culture of respect. But, often times, that just wasn't possible. Class sizes were larger, student demographics more diverse, personalities clashed, cultures clashed, preconceived prejudices clashed. Devlin loved watching the teachers slowly degrade into desperation or apathy as the semesters wore on. He wondered if any of them were going to cry before the year's end. He hoped so.

In his geometry class, a paper airplane sailed through the air and lodged itself right in Devlin's tight twist of a man-bun. He reached up to pull the projectile out of his hair, ignoring the teachers ineffectual shouts of "Who threw that!?" and unfolded the paper to discover it was a note from another student across the room. It simply read 'Did you bring it?'

The Osmosian hastily scribbled 'Deal at lunch.' on the paper before throwing his reply back.

"I saw that, Levin!" The teacher barked, glaring as if a normal human like him could even dream of being intimidating to a kid who fought inter-planetary invaders alongside Ben 10,000. "ISS, now!"

Shrugging as if it didn't affect him -and in fact, it did not- the Devlin packed up with textbook and unused notebook, took the paper that would inform any security guards that he wasn't wandering the halls aimlessly, he was on his way to ISS (In School Suspension), a place they sent unruly children to get them out of class for a period in the hopes that their removal would lessen distractions for the rest of the class. (It had varying degrees of success.)

Most of the ISS staff knew Devlin and Kenny both pretty well by now. The Osmosian wouldn't go so far as to call them 'friends' but they were cool.

The ISS faculty member looked up from an e-reader when Devlin walked in. "Ah, I was wondering when you'd show up. You're partner-in-crime arrived just a few minutes ago."

The Osmosian followed the adult's pointed finger to see Kenny sitting at a desk playing a game on his phone. But before Devlin could go pull an empty desk over next to where his cousin was sitting, ISS member stopped him.

"Did you bring them?" He asked, looked at the younger man expectantly.

Trying to suppress the smirk that pulled at the corners of his lips, Devlin reached into his bag and pulled out a bulky square package, wrapped in brown paper. "First editions. Original cover art. As requested."

He placed the package on the desk.

The older man reached for it. Ripping the paper off part way, he revealed three hard-cover books. Ripping the paper off completely, the three books proclaimed themselves to be Star Wars novels with unfamiliar titles: 'Heir to the Empire', 'Dark Force Rising' and 'The Last Command'. The ISS supervisor looked like he was about to cry. "Ya know, you're too young to know this, but... before the Disney buy-out, there was this huge expanded universe of Star Wars adventures. They built up the Galaxy, filled it with so many cool characters, and new technologies, and challenging enemies. But these... Zahn's books... they were the best. Not just the best, they basically made the Expanded Universe what it was. Ya know, Tom Jung, the same artist who did the movie posters for the Original Trilogy did the cover art for the first editions. For a long time, these were widely accepted as Episodes VII, VIII, and IX."

He caressed a hand down the front of "Heir to the Empire" -almost reverently.

It made Devlin feel a bit awkward. He read the books after he acquired them to see what the big deal was. The boy would admit, they were pretty good. Talon Karrde was pretty a cool character. But they weren't anything Earth shattering or world changing. But, like he said, the Osmosian was a generation younger than him. He cleared his throat. "Anyway... did you bring the item I asked for?"

"Oh. Right!" The older man pulled his jacket off the back of his chair and withdrew from a pocket of it a plain manila envelope. This he passed to Devlin. "As requested."

The Osmosian opened the envelope just enough to check its contents before reclosing it and slipping it into his bag. "Pleasure doing business with you."

Their trade concluded, he found an empty desk and dragged it over to where Kenny was so that he could sit with his cousin. Devlin was much better at brokering deals now than he was when he first came to live with his mother. It took him a while, but he finally figured out that -contrary to his father's example- it was much easier to get what you wanted out of people if you offered them what they wanted in return as opposed to threatening them with bodily injury.

"Hey, nerd." Muttered the Osmosian. "What're you in for."

With a sigh, Kenny paused his game and tossed it onto the scratched-up and graffitied desk. "Okay, so, I was in history and, like, we just started talking about Andrew Jackson-"

"Oh boy." Devlin had a feeling what was coming before his cousin even began.

"And I might have disagreed with a few things mentioned in the textbook..." Kenny continued, slowing down as he spoke to consider his phrasing of this story. "...and I might have accused the publishers of being flat-out dirty, rotten, no good, liars and white supremacists." A pause. "And I'm pretty sure I also accused Mr. Scott of casual racism."

Yup. That sounded about right. Kenny didn't really care much for school as a general rule. But there were a few scattered details within certain subjects that he felt very, very passionately about. Native American history was one of those things, and the public school system's seemingly perpetual boner for a Euro-centric view of history and spread of civilization upset him to a degree that one could easily apply the term 'rage' to.

"I might have also stood up on my desk and shouted that Andrew Jackson was responsible for one of the largest genocides in American history and no one talks about it." Kenny finished. "Which reminds me-" He stood, climbing onto his own chipped and gratified desk and started shouting "-I just wanna make sure everyone knows that the history books are lying to you! The founding fathers were all assholes!"

Devlin sighed. Kenny got like this sometimes. Hopefully he'd calm down by lunch.

The ISS faculty member supervising them looked up from his newly acquired Star Wars novels. "Tennyson, sit back down before you fall down and hurt yourself, and I have to fill out an incident report!"

Lunch finally rolled around and both Devlin and Kenny were released from ISS.

They made their way through the halls, headed to the cafeteria.

"Save a spot for me in line, okay." The Osmosian patted his cousin on the shoulder just before they left the corridor. He had a meeting to get to.

Devlin saw the piece of paper before he saw the girl holding it. It still had the creases in it from when it was folded into a paper plane. 'Did you bring it?' Technically, he hadn't brought her item, but he knew that -so long as he was sent to ISS before lunch- he would have it ready for her by the time they made their trade. She was leaning against the lockers. The Osmosian came up beside her, startling her.

She jumped with a short clip of a yelp. "My gawd, Devlin, you can be so creepy!" But she composed herself quickly. Brushing her hair back behind her ear, she flashed an excited grin. "Did you bring it?"

He withdrew from his bag the same manila envelope that was given to him in ISS. She made a grab for it, but he snatched it out of her reach before she could close her hands around it. The Osmosian held it above his head where she had no hope of getting at it. Devlin was already one of the tallest kids in their grade. "Did you bring the item I asked for?"

With a huff, as if paying compensation for goods desired was an inconvenience for her, the girl turned around and began dialing in the code to her locker. When it opened, she pulled out a round metal industrial storage canister. "Its still in the testing phase, not due to be available on the market for another two years. This is one of the prototypes they're using. Things go missing from the test labs al the time. Still, if my mother knew I took this for you, she'd kill me! I don't even know how you knew about it. There haven't even been any press releases yet!"

She opened the canister so that Devlin could check the contents inside. If there was one thing everyone knew about Devlin Levin, it was that he always checked the payment before finalizing the deal. When he was satisfied, he passed her the envelope.

Opening it, she thrust her hand inside and pulled out a lanyard, and on the end of said lanyard was a backstage pass to a concert that had -supposedly- been sold out for weeks. The girl shrieked with glee and draped the lanyard around her neck. Only after she was wearing it did she check the date on the pass. "Ooh! That's tonight. I better get ready!"

She slammed her locker shut, threw her backpack over her shoulder, and sauntered down the hall in the exact opposite direction of the cafeteria. She was heading for the campus gate. Apparently, getting ready for a concert that didn't start until seven PM required her to ditch school that would have gotten out at 3:30 anyway.

But whatever. That wasn't Devlin's concern. He got what he wanted. Slipping the canister into his shoulder bag, the Osmosian sprinted to the cafeteria to find Kenny and the place in line he was saving.

"Hey, nerd." He squeezed in next to his cousin.

"You finish your drug deal?" Kenny asked.

"I never deal in drugs." The Osmosian assured him. Devlin was a broker. He negotiated deals and made trades, but there were two things he didn't do business with: drugs and weapons. Drugs because he himself was on several medications and understood the vital importance they played in maintaining health and sanity of daily life. He did not approve of idiots cheapening that purpose with unmoderated recreational use. He found it personally insulting. And weapons because his father dealt in weapons and Devlin was no Kevin 11,000.

But if someone wanted something else that was hard to find, or hard to get, that he could do. If someone wanted, not just a book, but a specific publication of a book, from a specific year, with specific cover art, Devlin had a connection for that. If someone wanted an all access pass to an event that was sold out, or limited access, or invitation only, Devlin knew a guy for that. And every time someone asked him for something, his network grew. A student who used his mother's library at Friedken might also have a part-time job at a used book store. A member of his school's ISS faculty might have a brother who organized events at the Bellwood Convention Center. A girl in his math class might have a parent who works as an imagineer at a company that makes commercial accessories and tech for his hoverboard. Devlin wasn't exactly 'social' in the conventional sense of the word. He didn't actually have a lot of friends. But, if you needed something, he knew a guy who knew a guy for that.

Kenny just rolled his eyes.

He waited until they got their food and were seated before asking what it was the Osmosian had brokered for this time.

With a grin that was pure, undiluted triumph, Devlin reached into his bag and pulled out the canister. He unscrewed the lid and slid out what looked like a thin sheet of rolled-up... jelly? The Osmosian unrolled it, laying the 'jelly' out on the table. "Its a Command Sensitivity Membrane." He explained. "Its supposed to be able to recognize the slightest of shifts in weight, or foot positions on your hoverboard. Its meant for stunt boarders so they can do more complicated tricks without the rider losing control of the board. I'm gonna see if I can program it to control a weapons system instead."

"For the love of crap, why!?" Kenny blinked at his cousin. The food on his plastic fork falling back to his tray.

The Osmosian only shrugged. "I'm sick of using my mutant transformation when we work cases with your dad. I still wanna do it, but I don't wanna use my powers. So -obviously- I need equipment to make up for it. I can equip my hoverboard with plenty of alien tech and weapons. But just putting them on doesn't mean anything if I can't actually use them. Hoverboards are hands-free, so I need a control system that will respond to my foot movements instead. Hence the CSM."

Devlin carefully rolled the jelly-looking membrane back up and slid it back into its canister.

"Why don't you wanna fight in your mutant form, though?" Kenny asked. "You're mutant transformation is cool! You can use almost all of my powers at once and you don't have to switch bodies to do it, or worry about timing out, or waiting for a recharge."

"Maybe I just don't like my mutant form, okay." Devlin shot back. "Maybe I don't like my Osmosian powers. Maybe I wanna do something else."