Chapter Three: Reconnecting
Author's Note: I wrote this chapter and plot idea before I heard about the shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Please keep those people in your prayers, 'cause that's just way too tragic and messed up.
"This group is giving us a hard time, Major," Batou frowned. "You'd think that they'd have come after the Prime Minister by now."
Section 9 was scattered about the building. Togusa, Saito, and Borma were on the roof and Gwen, Batou and Kevin were there as well, but they were observing the guests. Ishikawa was busy back at the base keeping tabs on everything.
"Status report, anyone see anything suspicious?" she asked.
"No, nothing yet, no signs of anything unusual," Batou replied.
"Same here," Kevin added.
"All's clear here Major," Togusa looked around, scanning the roof.
"Nothing here either, I'm going to circulate," she walked off. Gwen saw Ben and Julie there with Kenny and they were all nicely dressed. They weren't normally the types to go to anything involving politics, but Prime Minister Yoko Kayabuki had personally invited him to ask his opinion on the Extraterrestrial Anti-Crime Unit act that would create a task force to assist him. Ben was against it, he was trying to convince her that the Plumbers could handle the situation and that the government didn't need to get involved.
"Hello Ben," Gwen greeted her cousin. It wasn't public knowledge that Gwen was still alive since the news of her apparent death in the plane crash had been on record no one knew of her new identity.
"Major Kusanagi, I hope I'm not in your way," Ben said quietly. In her cyberbrain he added. "Is this group even going to show up?"
"Ma'am," Devlin said, trying to keep a serious, "I-have-never-met-you-before" expression on his face.
"You're just fine, Ben," she said, still serious. She added, "I'm sure they'll show. This is a very important get together and they wouldn't pass up this chance with so many powerful people here."
Suddenly, the lights went out, Gwen immediately ordered the others to switch to night vision only to find that Batou wasn't responding.
"Togusa, do a sweep, I'll see to Batou. Ben, get over to the Prime Minister," she rushed over to her subordinate. Ben and Kenny were already gathered around Prime Minister Kayabuki.
Gwen checked Batou, he was just unconscious, and yet it appeared to her that he had somehow had his electronic power drained.
Both cousins looked up at the same time and saw a shadowy figure running towards them. They both moved quickly, Ben transforming into Spider-Monkey and Gwen vaulting into a flying kick. They hit him head on and the figure stumbled back. It suddenly removed a pair of guns and started firing. Kenny moved, and quickly activated the Omnitrix to turn himself into XLR8 to grab the Prime Minister and pull her to safety. Devlin managed to create a shield and tried to block all the bullets, but he heard someone scream and rushed over to help them.
"Saito, he's headed for the roof, if you can, take the shot!" she ordered.
Ben and Gwen were running at full tilt, he'd transformed into XLR8 as well, she could still manage to keep up with him, he could go faster than his current pace, but it was dark in the building and he didn't want to startle the attacker before he had adequate backup.
Arriving on the roof, they heard the gunfire of Togusa, Borma, and Saito.
"Major, I tried to go for a headshot but I didn't hit him in the vitals, I blew off the helmet instead and he took a dive off the roof, we jumped down to find him, but he just disappeared.
Ben and Gwen both came to an abrupt stop as they saw a dark figure vanish. He was using active camouflage and she was trying to backhack the assassin's brain, suddenly, her connection stopped, someone had managed to stop her backhack, whoever they were they were really good.
"Dammit! He got away!" they exclaimed in unison.
"And he looked awfully familiar too," Gwen said quietly.
"I'm sorry, Major, my cyberbrain just shut off unexpectedly," Batou said. "By the time I came to, I didn't see anyone there."
"Well something happened," she scowled. They'd managed to avert disaster but that was a close call. They were going to find these guys and stop them for good.
She was laughing, smiling as they stumbled into her apartment. He managed to shut the front door and she practically jumped into his arms.
"Gwen, easy," Kevin laughed. "You're heavy!"
"I am not! Besides, you're strong enough to hold me up!" she protested. Gwen wrapped her arms around his neck. She'd twined her legs around his waist and he had to maintain his balance while supporting her.
"What is it Gwen?" Kevin inquired.
"Don't you want children? We're getting married tomorrow. And I've always wanted a family." She'd never looked happier, except on the night he'd proposed to her.
"I don't know," Kevin frowned, looking thoughtful.
"Do you really have to think about it?" Gwen asked, gently kissing his lips. Kevin began responding, his mouth moving with hers.
"No, I really don't think so. We'll have a few I suppose," he murmured. He kissed her again and inhaled deeply. Who was he to refuse her anything?
"You really don't mind doing this before the wedding?" Kevin asked.
"We're getting married tomorrow, it won't matter anyway," she smiled.
"As long as you're okay with it, I love ya Gwen, you know that?" he asked sweetly.
Gwen snapped out of her reverie. The memories were becoming more frequent. Kevin Levin brought back so many things to her cyberbrain and the resolve to not to care or let her emotions get in the way of their work relationship was starting to waver. But she'd almost married him! It was the day of her wedding when he'd gone crazy and absorbed so much energy he'd transformed again, he'd tried to ignore the feeling but he couldn't control himself. They'd never gotten married due to the fact that they'd started fighting; having Devlin and then the accident and it didn't really matter to her because she had a new identity now.
Devlin. Her son. She felt remorse that she'd never been able to raise him herself. She hadn't been able to tell Kevin because she feared he would hurt him if he found out, or manipulate him into becoming a criminal. She'd been happy that she was having a baby, but she never imagined that it would have been without Kevin in her life.
She promised herself she'd do her best to raise Devlin. She'd had little experience with children, even though she hadn't really liked them. But during the investigation concerning the Individual 11 and their leader Kuze, she'd rescued a boy named Chai from some Yakuza thugs and he'd showed her the drugs he was planning to smuggle out for money.
For some reason, she'd felt sorry for him, but she hadn't known why. Now that her memory had returned it was probably due to the fact that Kevin had been a street kid when she'd first met him. After she'd stormed the Yakuza's building to rescue him from the deal he'd gone to that would definitely end up with him dead, she'd told him to make a good life for himself.
She wondered what had become of Chai, hopefully he'd gotten out of the street gangs and had a good life for himself in Taiwan. She'd slept in the same bed with him, shirtless and she remembered the questioned he'd asked her. He'd asked her if cyborgs with full prosthetics had sex, she'd answered him, "You care to find out?"
She didn't think too much when it came to her sexuality; she'd experienced intimacy with both men and women. Mainly for the sake of having the experience and discovering just who she was, rather than romance or love anything like that.
It would have bothered her old self and she would have never seen herself saying something remotely like that, but she was very different now than she was back then.
Maybe she'd gone out and done those things to find a connection like the one she had once shared with Kevin. Her girlfriends Kurutan and Ran were people that she'd had a connection with but it wasn't the same, her bond with Kevin had been truly special and no one had ever replaced that, not even Batou, whom she felt close to, or Kuze, the terrorist who had once been her hospital bedmate after the plane crash and the first boy she'd ever loved since she began her new life.
Julie was her best friend and even before her memories came back, they had become friends again. She knew that Julie was married to Ben and never had any sort of intimate relationship with her, after all Ben kept claiming that they were cousins and even she knew there were things you just didn't do.
Julie didn't even mind that Gwen was bisexual; deep down Gwen suspected that Julie knew she missed Kevin, but hey, Julie was not going to tell her that the first boy she'd ever loved was a crazy psychopath. Not that she remembered it anyway.
Ben had thought it was a little strange, considering how she'd always been close to Kevin when she was younger, but did not voice his opinions about her lifestyle either positive or negative. He just accepted her and loved her, and all he really wanted was for her to remember him and that they were family.
Deep down, she had enjoyed watching over Chai and in her heart she knew she'd wanted children and a family, but had no idea where those desires came from. Now she'd have to bond with her son Devlin.
What was she going to do about her side business? She supposed she could stop and that they probably wouldn't notice she'd quit visiting, it wasn't that important to her anyway. It was something she did in her off time, more like a hobby than anything. Perhaps it was the thrill of e-sex or the fact that it was illegal and very lucrative, it seemed hypocritical since she worked in government, but it still made a lot of money, not nearly as much as her government job, but if she quit and just had her business she'd still make plenty of money to live comfortably.
Still, she might quit soon, she didn't want to have to explain herself to her son, nor have other people make fun of him because of her. She wasn't selfish; she decided she'd probably stop once she got custody of Devlin.
She put it out of her mind and finally finished filling out the custody papers. Hopefully, she'd be able to take Devlin home soon. She was looking forward to having her son in her life again.
Devlin and Kenny were running, desperately trying to find cover, trying to avoid being hit. They sprinted across the field looking for the nearest bunker.
"Whatever you do, don't get hit!" Devlin shouted. "We just have to take them out and then we win!"
Despite being 10 and 11 they were very formidable paintball participants, they were offered spots in the tournament due to the fact that they were Ben10,000's son and nephew and the sponsors thought that having a big name in the roster would draw the crowds, and it had.
"Just one more shot," Devlin muttered. He managed to somersault behind a bunker as he continued firing.
"Showoff!" his opponent shouted, trying to hit him. Kenny poked his head up and fired, knocking him over.
"Devlin and Ken Tennyson are declared winners by the judges!" the announcer said loudly.
They were given a trophy and some very nice gear as a prize and Ken saw his dad coming toward them.
"Hurry up and get changed, I need to go see your Aunt Gwen," Ben told them.
"Really? Sweet!" they exclaimed in unison. Ben drove them to the Government building.
Devlin and Kenny followed Ben into the Government building. It seemed to Devlin that the government building was really boring with a lot of people working on computers.
They headed down to the lower levels and he saw a lot of people working on more computers. It seemed so dull.
"Ishikawa, where's the Major?" Ben asked a guy who was sitting as a computer.
"She's on break, I think she's at the shooting range," he said, "Down that way." He pointed to a room down the hall.
"Sorry, Kenny, Dev, you can't go in there," Ben said, "It's too loud and you're probably not allowed in there anyway."
"Aw!" the boys complained.
"Just entertain yourself," Ben told them.
"That's no fun," Devlin scowled.
"Mind if we use this computer to watch a video of our tournament mister?" Kenny asked.
"Sure, what kind of tournament?" Ishikawa asked.
"Paintball," Kenny replied.
"Sounds fun," he said, he took this disc and pulled up the video.
Ben found Gwen who was busy practicing with her gun. She looked at him when she heard the door shut.
"Hello Ben, so you're the one that the Plumber's sent." She stopped firing and put it down. "Didn't think they'd send you to debrief me, or is this just an excuse to pay me a visit."
"Yes, they sent me, since I can turn into aliens who better than me to debrief them? Unfortunately I don't have time to train them because I'm always busy. Gwen, I brought Devlin and Kenny with me."
"I see," she began walking out with him. She saw Batou, Saito, Togusa and Ishikawa gathered around a computer screen.
"You boys are pretty good," Batou smiled. "Call us in twenty years, we'll recruit you."
"You're just saying that to be nice, Mister Batou," Devlin said.
"Just call me Batou, you're making me feel weird with the Mister thing."
"Fine, we're pretty good, but not that good."
"You're the youngest person I've seen who can make shots like that."
"Aw come on," Devlin laughed.
"Must be 'cause of your mom," Kenny joked.
"Your mom? I thought you were both Ben's kids," Batou said.
Saito watched as Devlin scored a headshot on the screen. "You got a lot of potential, both of you, if Ken retired from the hero business and joined the military; you'd both have real good careers."
"You've watched me on the mega screens?" Kenny asked. Saito nodded, he's periodically watch the fights if he had the time, it was kind of nice that Nihama had its own heroes.
"I'm not that good," Devlin told them.
"Don't be so modest, that's one Hell of a shot son," Gwen said.
"Major? He's yours?" Batou asked. That was a surprise.
"Yes, I had him a long time ago," she told him.
"You have him with Kevin?" Batou asked.
Devlin stared. "How do you know about my dad?'"
"He works here kid," Batou told him. "I'm surprised he hasn't seen you yet. Probably working on his car in the garage."
"Heh, figures, he never cared about me, mom's got a legit reason for not being around, but dad's just a jerk."
"I still have plenty of lunch time left, we'll eat out," Gwen told him.
"Okay, will you show me around?"
"Nope," she replied. "Don't want you to get into trouble. Come on Devlin, you come to Kenny, your dad won't mind. Let's go."
Both boys followed her out. Kevin walked into the room.
"Where's she going, and who's the squirt?" Kevin asked.
"Yours I think, at least that is what she says; you left her with a baby. No wonder she hates you," Batou said.
Kevin was stunned, he'd seen the boy; he was his very image. But when? He hadn't ever remembered Gwen even being pregnant, even when he was insane, but he did recall she'd disappeared for five months. Maybe that was why.
"Hello Kevin," Ben said calmly. Kevin was a little nervous. He would have preferred that the hero were angry and yell and scream at him, but the man was very calm and his tone was almost conversational.
"Is that kid really mine?" he asked.
"You have no right to call him yours, but he's Gwen's son, yes," Ben said.
"When did that happen?"
"She found out she was pregnant soon after you went insane. She didn't want to tell you because of what you might do. Considering how close you two were, I'm not surprised."
"I loved her, still do," he muttered.
Batou chuckled. "You're a selfish son of a bitch; you aren't capable of loving anyone. The Major's too good for someone like you."
"If you really loved Gwen, you wouldn't have nearly killed her by draining her life force. She was your fiancée and she almost died because of you, and if I hadn't arrived and kicked the crap out of you, she would have."
Batou jumped to his feet and slammed Kevin against the wall.
"If I have known this before, I would have shot you dead you bastard!" he snarled. "You're lucky she didn't remember this or she'd have killed you when we caught you."
"She was your family, and you almost killed her!" Togusa joined in. Being a married man with children, he knew what it was like to have a family. Anything that had to do with domestic disputes set him off.
"Take it easy boys," the Major's voice echoed in all their heads. "Taking all your anger out on him won't help. I'll deal with him later."
"Whatever you say, Major. You got lucky Kevin," Batou snarled. "I'll be watching you."
"Don't waste your time, it's not like she'd have anything to do with me now," Kevin brushed off Batou and walked away.
He had a whole lot to think about and he still had to figure out how to reconcile with Gwen, but it seemed impossible. Still, he had to try; it was the only thing in his life worth doing.
Devlin looked around at the very nice restaurant that his mother had taken him to. He'd ordered something he'd wanted off the menu. He was very happy to be with his mother and she seemed to smile more than when she was at work.
"So, tell me about your life," Gwen prodded. Devlin began to tell her some stories, mainly his school life and martial arts classes he was taking. He sometimes helped Kenny with hero work, but didn't treat it like a full time job.
"How would you boys like to help me with something?" she asked. Devlin and Kenny both leaned forward.
"What?" they asked in unison.
"Since Ben can only debrief us since he has his hero work, and my team doesn't have any experience with extraterrestrials, I would like to train them using Kenny's alien heroes since you have the omnitrix and Devlin, I know that you've inherited some of my old powers and some from your father. I'll ask Ben of course, but I'm sure he'll approve since I'm making this my responsibility."
"We'll really get to help you, Aunt Gwen?" Kenny asked.
"Once I get approval from the Chief, we'll get started," she said. Gwen knew she'd have no problem convincing the Chief, convincing the rest of her team might be a challenge.
"All right!" both boys exclaimed.
"But you can't tell anyone about this, got it?" she ordered.
"Yes," they nodded. They were just excited to be a part of something so cool and secret.
They finished eating and she took them back to headquarters.
Section 9 Chief Daisuke Aramaki greeted her. "Did you enjoy the time with your son Major?"
"Yes I did. I have a proposition, I request that my son and my nephew help train the rest of my team on how to engage extraterrestrials since they aren't our normal area of expertise, I have plenty of experience fighting them but not the others."
"What about your cousin, does he approve?"
"I'm going to discuss it with him."
"if he approves then you have my permission to proceed. Don't forget about the Veritas investigation," he reminded her.
"I won't Chief," came her reply. She turned and went to find Ben, who was telling some of her team old stories of the old days.
"Sounds like you've had an interesting life, Major," Saito said. "Magician, marital artist, you've got quite a bit of experience under your belt."
"I just can't quite believe you weren't a normal human to begin with," Togusa said. "An Anodite energy being? I find it kind of far-fetched."
"It's true," Kevin said, walking into the room. "I was there when her grandmother told her."
"He's correct," Gwen said. "Ben, what have you found out?"
"Concerning the Veritas, group, I haven't been able to dig up ulterior motives besides the ones on the broadcast, but I did find out who their leader is. And it's not good."
"Who is it? You sound like you know him," Gwen said. This couldn't be good.
"Mike Morningstar is the leader even though he didn't appear on the television; I've learned it's him."
"Michael, there's a face I never want to see again," she sighed.
"Major, who's Michael?" Batou asked.
"An old nemesis, someone who's never really left me alone," Gwen explained quietly.
"More like your personal stalker," Kevin smirked. "He's a real creep."
'You were just jealous because I liked him."
"That was before he tried to kill you."
"So did you."
"You two, let's not get into an argument," Ben warned. "Just stick to the current events."
"I haven't been able to find their hideout, but I'm still working on it. I'll let you know if I find anything."
"Ben, I need to talk to you in private," Gwen approached her cousin. She linked with him.
"Ben, I want to have Devlin and Kenny help train my team so they can handle any alien threats. But I need your permission. I wouldn't want anything otherwise."
"Julie, what do you think?" Ben asked his wife.
"It'd be good if Kenny got some more experience and training would help him," She answered him through her cyberbrain. "As long as she thinks he'll be okay I'm fine with it."
"Good, we'll get started right away. Ben, please unlock the aliens you face the most in the Omnitrix for Kenny," Gwen cut off the communication.
"You sure about this Major? They're kids," Togusa asked.
"Yes, my cousin's been doing hero work since he was ten years old. They'll be fine, and having some experience with alien beings before hand will make fighting any we come across much easier."
"Saito, Batou, get the paintball guns, we have to start training. Devlin, Ken, get follow Togusa downstairs. We're going to start training right away."
"All right!" both boys shouted. They followed Togusa down to the training area.
Kevin watched them go; the ache in his heart grew worse every second. He'd have to find a nice stiff drink after work.
Kevin staggered down the street, half drunk. He'd felt depressed again and wandered down the street. He stumbled through the doorway of a building.
"What do you need big guy, we provide all kinds of things," a man at the front counter said. "You look a little lonely, could hook you up. You want a sex bot or you could try e-sex."
"Wha that?" Kevin slurred.
"E-sex is when you engage in sex through your cyberbrain, directly through your nervous system, handsome guy like you could make good money off it if you want too. But you can only do it with members of the same gender, 'cause it really hurts if you try it the other way."
"I jus' got lost," he murmured, that did not sound like his idea of a good time. He liked pretty girls anyway. He should have gone to the red light district instead. He wasn't even sure how'd he'd gotten into this place to begin with.
He stumbled down a hallway looking for the bathroom. He finally managed to find one that said restroom and he knew that if he could get there and vomit he'd feel a lot better.
He heard soft noises coming from another room. Curious, he pressed his ear to the door.
His eyes widened. He couldn't believe it, Gwen was one of the people on the other side of that door.
"But you can only do it with members of the same gender, 'cause it really hurts if you try it the other way."
He was confused, she certainly didn't act like a lesbian, he'd never seen her with another girl, but they weren't friends anymore so he had never been able to spend time with her outside of work so he couldn't confirm it either way.
It made him so angry, he could hear the pleasurable sounds they all made and it reminded him of that night they'd spent together, the night before everything had fallen apart for both of them, and the only night he'd been truly happy. He wouldn't have been so angry if she'd had another boyfriend, but it seemed to him that he wasn't good enough for her anymore and that she found comfort in other women just didn't seem like her.
But he realized that she wasn't really the person he knew anymore was she? He hated himself, if he hadn't gone crazy they would have had a wonderful life together, no cybernetic bodies, no fighting and arguing, just them and their son. They would have been heroes. Sure her life was just fine and she had everything she'd ever wanted, but he'd always be the one left on the outside, and it was his fault.
He had to get out of here, he couldn't take it anymore, he barreled into the men's restroom and found the nearest stall to puke in.
He'd never felt so miserable in his life, not when he'd turned into a monster after messing with the Omnitrix, not when he'd gone crazy at the Forge of Creation, not when he'd lost his mind on his wedding day. The major difference between then and now, was that she'd always been there, always cared about him, always wanted to help him.
Now he was alone, and she wasn't there for him.
He didn't think his cybernetic body could cry, but he saw the tears dripping onto his hands. He was too miserable, he didn't have anyone to turn to, all the nights he'd spent out, all the women he'd been with, they'd just eased the ache of the fact that Gwen wasn't there, but now she was, and it tormented him beyond reason.
He'd always been a sap for romantic movies, but he knew that life didn't work that way.
He managed to get out of the bathroom and saw a small alcove where he could sit out of sight. He continued to cry as quietly as possible, he would never forgive himself if someone saw a 42 year old crying like a small child, he wondered if his cyberbrain was having a breakdown.
He heard someone walking toward his direction. He shut off his vocals and sat there, turning away, hoping whoever it was didn't notice him.
The footsteps receded and he left, whoever they were they went into the lavatory. He wandered into the street and began walking; he had to get as far away from her as possible. He would return to what made him feel most comfortable, life on the street. It suited him best, and she wouldn't care anyway.
Gwen was preparing to leave; her friends didn't know her real name and still called her Motoko. She came out of that room fully dressed. She thought she heard something coming over from a comer near the restroom but decided it wasn't her business and went into the restroom. Still, she wondered who it could have been and had a funny feeling come over her. She put it out of her mind. She had work to do tomorrow.
