After School Activities

Author's Notes: Sorry this took so long, I wanted to finish and update yesterday, but bad weather and thunderstorms wouldn't let me, due to the fact that I don't want my computer to fry.

The light in his eyes was fading. She was trying desperately to keep him with her. Her powers should have been enough but she was panicking.

She couldn't keep her concentration and he was losing too much blood. Kevin was going to die! Gwen tried harder; she wasn't going to lose him!

He coughed up blood, he tried to speak. Ben was at his side, encouraging him, trying to tell him he'd be okay.

"Ben, take care of Gwen…you have to promise me," he wheezed.

"I will," Ben told him.

"Kevin, you can't die! I won't let you die!" Gwen felt the panic overwhelm her. It was the same every time, she would always lose him. Still, she tried, hoping that somehow the dream would become a reality and he wouldn't die this time.

"Gwen…Gwen…" he tried to tell her goodbye, tried to get everything he wanted to say out loud, but he couldn't find the voice. The light was fading, it was time to go.

"Kevin! Kevin!" Gwen burst into tears and began screaming.

"Dammit! Dammit!" her agonizing cries of grief terrified the Forever Knights. They had unleashed Hell upon themselves.

"Merchcus Veridactus!"

The power ripped out from her hands and exploded, tearing Forever Knights apart, killing them instantly. Ben was knocked unconscious. The only one left was the man who killed Kevin. Gwen trapped him in a barrier of Manna and began beating him and kicking him. Her hands found their way around the Knight's throat and with her tremendous strength, snapped his neck.

'Gwen, stop!" Ben called to her. "That's enough."

"What—what did I do?" Gwen gazed at her cousin in horror.

"Gwen, you killed them, you lost it and killed them," Ben said. "I can't justify it any other way."

"Take my badge, my days as a Plumber are over," Gwen tried to give it to him.

"No, the only ones who know about this are you and me. If the truth comes out I'll tell them I did it. We have to go and…tell Kevin's mother what happened."

Gwen turned her attention back to Kevin's lifeless body, and gasped in terror as Kevin's eyes shot open, no longer were they the eyes of her sweet, endearing boyfriend, they were the eyes of a mindless madman. It was just the way it was before when he'd absorbed the Ultimatrix. Except this time, he was in his human form. The unknown power that she couldn't understand or explain seared through his veins. It took all the good things about him and even his feelings for her and twisted them into something ugly.

"You betrayed me! How long was it before you forgot all about me? How long was it before he became the center of your thoughts instead of me?"

"Jason's my friend. Kevin, I would never forget you!"

"Liar! "I'm going to take everything from you, just like it was taken from me! It's what you deserve!"

He was draining her power, the agonizing scream that tore from her throat only made it worse. She couldn't fight back, and no one was coming to save her. Kevin Levin was going to kill her…

Gwen's eyes snapped open as she screamed, waking in a cold sweat. She calmed her breathing and wiped the perspiration off her face. It was just a dream. She would be fine in the morning.

Jason…why did she talk about Jason in her dream? She'd kissed him, but that was more of an impulse than anything.

I love you…

She'd heard him say it, and he'd truly meant it, he wasn't very good at expressing his emotions, he told her that he'd always had a hard time talking to Batman about his problems.

Gwen saw his vulnerability, his weakness. His bad temper and shades of gray morals made hero work difficult for him. His impulse to lash out and brash recklessness were also his shortcomings that needed to be fixed.

He was torn between his desire to be a hero, to protect and serve and the instinct to kill the evil people who committed atrocious crimes. He was teetering on the brink and she needed to pull him back before he took a dark path that would eventually destroy the good man that he wanted to be.

The more time they spent together, the closer they became, after homework and saving the world, well she saved the world, he politely declined involving himself in Plumbers activities, they would do nothing but talk for hours and hours about everything.

She'd gotten him to open up about his time as Robin and feeling the pressure of trying to live up to everyone else's expectations of him in that role, of having to deal with Batman's criticisms of him when he lost his temper and went a little too far on the battlefield.

"Jason, did you kill Felipe Garzonas, that diplomat's son?"

"I startled him and he slipped. I couldn't grab him in time."

"Knowing you, you'd lie through your teeth to my face."

"Gwen!" Jason seemed indignant. "I'm being honest, I swear to God!"

"Even if you couldn't save him, you feel that he deserved it."

"He raped a girl and was going to get away with it because of diplomatic immunity. He also coerced the girl into committing suicide! Scum deserved what happened to him, but I didn't throw him off the roof!"

"Jason, just because he did terrible things doesn't mean you or I have any right to go kill them."

"I know that," he let loose a frustrated sigh, "It's just it seems like it would be better if the bad people would drop dead."

"it would, but we protect people, we don't kill them. That's not our call."

"I understand that, but it's just…hard."

"Kevin once thought like you do, but if you learn to control your bad temper and stop being so angry, you'll be better for it."

"I just wish it were easier," Jason sighed.

"Nothing in life is ever easy; you of all people should know that."

"You're right. Well, I have to get going," Jason told her. "I have some errands I have to run."

Jason headed toward a secret base he'd converted from an abandoned warehouse district.

He dismounted from his motorcycle and entered the warehouse. After so long, he was finally ready to return to the vigilante lifestyle. He opened the box he'd received containing his new helmet. It had plenty of good features including a radio and his domino mask had night vision in it, along with being made of the finest metal alloys and being bullet proof, he also had a failsafe mechanism that would weaponize his mask if he needed to.

His new weapon had also arrived, it was a knife called a Kris, or Keris, and it was a very unique blade because of its strange curves and design, it was a stabbing weapon, and it was also very lethal. It was also one of the few weapons that could cut through Batman's utility belt, having it would come in handy if he ever had to fight his old mentor for some reason.

He put on his blue jeans and his body armor, which was made of the finest materials available. It was expensive too, cost him $45,000.

He put the bright red domino mask in place over his eyes. He placed his red mask over his face and pushed the button on the back to close it. He was ready to go.

He got onto his Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle, it was used, but it was definitely in good shape. He knew that it could be traced if he bought it new, besides, he didn't want to be found, but he didn't have time to get the latest gadgets for his bike. He was ordering special equipment from Kord Industries, along with other toys.

He heard the engine roar as he revved it up and he drove out of the warehouse. He'd been keeping eye on the extra-net, studying the people he'd be fighting. He'd also kept his eyes and ears open for any criminal activity. He'd concocted a deal for the Forever Knights that they couldn't refuse and he had told them that he had a shipment of alien tech to sell them.

Ben and Gwen had caught word of an illegal alien tech deal involving the Forever Knights and they arrived, Ben jumping down from a building to land in front of them.

"We've been tricked!" the Knight glared at the figure above them. Ben realized they weren't looking at him, and he gazed up and saw a man in a mask. He was dressed in jeans and a leather coat and gray body armor. He was also on a large motorcycle on top of the roof.

"Of course you have," the helmeted figure told them. Ben had never seen him before.

"So you're the Red Hood," the Forever Knight observed.

Red Hood crossed his arms, "Very astute. What was your first clue?"

"Some kind of vigilante then," Ben frowned. "Whose side are you on?"

"It doesn't really matter, as long as I stop the bad guys."

Ben saw the motorcycle and heard the engine rev as the figure, beyond all expectation, rode down the wall! He heard the tires screeching and saw the figure land on the ground, pulling the bike to a halt.

The figure somersaulted while removing a pair of pistols from holsters.

"Forever Knights, say hello to the Desert Eagle Mark XIX!" Red Hood shouted. "And just for kicks, you get two!"

Ben was impressed, he'd seen those guns before, but they were usually only dual wielded in the movies, because the kickback was so strong, and you had to hold them with both hands normally. There was only one conclusion: This guy was awesome or crazy. He remembered a video on YouTube where a lady hit herself in the face with a Desert Eagle because of the kickback.

Gwen decided it would be a good idea to stay out of the 656 feet firing range as much as possible; hopefully this guy could actually shoot straight and not hit her or Ben.

Forever Knights hit the floor, clutching their legs and shoulders as they were shocked that gunfire penetrated their armor. They were so used to advanced technology that they had forgotten all about good old American ammunition.

Just as soon as it began, it was over. Ben realized he'd have to get medical attention for the Forever Knights before they bled out. Gwen saw the vigilante pulling away and speeding off into the night.

"Gwen go get him! I'll handle this!" Ben called for Plumber's back up and asked for a medical team to treat all the gunshot wounds. Whoever this guy was, he was going to stir up a whole lot of trouble.

Gwen managed to find the red Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle, speeding down the highway, she saw it pull off into an abandoned warehouse district and she pursued, getting off the semi truck she had been riding on.

She had decided to search under and overpass, hoping she'd see him riding past her.

There was a loud roar, she saw the Red Hood on a red Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle practically landing on her. She saw him coming and raised her gun and fired. Being a Plumber, she had her firearm with her, just in case she needed it for backup, she'd modified it so it fired bullets instead of lasers because Kevin had found a way to modify bullets so they would be unaffected by laser shields.

Two bullets went through his hand and Gwen quickly sent him flying backward as she kicked him away with a flip.

Jason grunted she was good; he'd managed to find a place to hide. The bullet had gone through his hand; he could bandage it without too much effort. Still, it hurt a lot, but fortunately he had some high end field bandages to seal it off.

He quickly bandaged his hand and stepped into view.

Gwen was about to attack him, but saw him point the gun at her, he aimed toward a tall building and fired, she realized it was a grapple gun.

"Come on, it's a nice night for a run!"

Being trained by Bruce, he'd not only mastered martial arts, but acrobatics as well, along with le parkour and free running. He was curious to see if Gwen could keep up with him.

She followed him up to the roof, using her Manna to create steps for her to climb. She saw him leap from one rooftop the next, using somersaults to break his fall. He was good, he was like those people who filmed themselves and put it up on the internet for people to see.

He kept moving, leaping from rooftop to rooftop without even breaking a sweat. He came to an open stairway and instead of running down the stairs, he leapt through the railings and began running toward the entrance of the building. He fired the grappling gun and once again took to the rooftop.

Gwen followed, getting up on the roof before he did.

"You aren't going anywhere!"

"Just watch me!" he laughed. He jumped off the roof, landed on a railing and somersaulted off it, landing as he broke into a run. Gwen followed him, using her own acrobatics to keep up. She landed a short distance away, and began looking for him.

Gwen froze. She felt the cold steel of the blade against her neck. Her eyes glanced down to see the strangely designed weapon dangerously close to cutting her.

"Hey, did you honestly think you could just follow me around and I wouldn't notice?" Jason smiled under his mask, the fact that she kept up with him was impressive.

"I'm not sure I like a guy who runs around shooting guns and throwing knives at people," she looked at him. The expression on his face was hidden, but she didn't need to see him to know he was amused.

"I didn't kill anyone, so you can relax."

Managing to shove him away, she assumed a fighting stance and he began to laugh. "Cute!"

"I suppose me with my Kris is hardly fair. How 'bout I give you a handicap?"

He tossed her a Bo staff. She caught it and stared. "You expect me to fight you with this."

"Of course! You take Taekwondo, Jujitsu, and karate; you have to have some weapons training in all that don't you lovely Gwen? Let's see how you do!"

"You know too much about my life."

"I know everything about you."

"Are you my personal stalker?" Gwen asked.

"No, just a guy who can't resist a pretty girl," Red Hood chortled.

"You don't take any of this seriously do you, I'll find out who you are."

"I'm sure you will," Jason said.

"Tell me what you're doing here!"

"Let's flip a coin," Red Hood took out a silver dollar, he flipped it with his fingers. "Heads I tell you. Tails we go out on a date."

They began to fight, the staff whizzed through the air, clashing with his Kris, Gwen recalled hearing about the strange weapon and that it was supposed to give the user good luck. The irony, this was not his lucky night. And there was no way she was going to go out on a date with him.

They fought for a few minutes, but it was a very deadly battle. Gwen kept avoiding the slashing attacks aimed at her head and kept hitting him in the ribs, which she felt, was useless because she realized he was wearing body armor.

She decided to aim for his head and began elbowing him hitting him with the staff across his masked face. Jason felt his head ringing; he was starting to get dizzy and felt his feet fly out from under him.

"You're not getting out of here, not until I find out who you are," Gwen said, holding the staff to his neck.

"That's really not up to you," Red Hood told her.

"Well you're in for a surprise," Gwen was about ready to use her powers to pin him against the wall.

"I'm not the only one…I'm not sure if it's my speed or the sharpness of the blade…but most don't even feel it go in."

"Oh crap!" she exclaimed, looking down at her shoulder. How had that happened? She hadn't even seen it leave his hand. The pain, it hit her and she could feel it through her whole body. The pain was so bad, she started to cry.

She tried to pull it out. Gwen was horrified; she was pinned to the wall!

"Stop struggling. That knife isn't coming out of that wall. Not at the angle you're at."

Jason leaned forward, placing his elbow against the wall, looking thoughtful.

"Choice time. I can pull that out and you can run away as fast as you can. Or I can pull that blade down all the way from your shoulder to your hip. It'll hurt like fire for fifteen minutes, then you'll be dead from blood loss."

He felt a little bad that he'd used the knife, but he had hoped to get away without being unmasked. He supposed he owed it to her to tell her the truth, and fix her up. He pulled out the knife and placed a bandage over the open wound.

"That's a fairly far-end field dressing for the modern soldier," Red Hood explained. "It adheres as well as closes the wound with an antibacterial adhesive agent…Stops the bleeding cold."

Gwen fell to the floor, exhaustion hitting her in a wave; she tried to steady the field dressing and nearly lost it.

Jason draped himself over her body. She was breathing heavily from sweating after their fight. He placed his gloved hand over the bandage and held it in place. He made sure it would stay. Between the angry expression on her face and the fact that she had been crying, he couldn't really read what mood she was in.

"C'mon, up," he ordered. "This is the part where you try to stop me and I beat the hell out of you."

"I thought you were supposed to be on my side."

"What can I say? Moral ambiguity is fun, but," he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "If you want to be technical about it, yes, I'm on your side."

All he got was a glare from her. Jason chuckled; he did like the look in her eyes when she was angry.

"Ah, would you look at that," he showed her the silver dollar he flipped earlier. "It's tails. I guess it's a date then."

"Please let me up off the floor, and stop crushing me with your weight! My shoulder really hurts!"

"No, I think I'm comfy down here, how 'bout you?"

"Get off me!" Gwen growled, much to her dismay she could not move her hands and legs, she just wished she was in a better position so she could groin shot him real good.

He used his gloved fingers to wipe the tears from her eyes; he really did feel bad for making her cry.

"Well, I've had my fun playing games, so I might as well tell you who I am," Jason pushed the button on the back of his Red Hood mask so the back would come off so he could remove it. His arm slipped around her waist.

Gwen's eyes widened in surprise. "Jason!" She was angry; he hurt her and lied to her. What was he getting at? Did he think this was a game?

"Why are you surprised? You knew I lived a double life before, did you think I'd just go back to a normal life after I recovered?"

She couldn't say anything. Jason looked at her and turned her to face him. He smiled and pressed his mouth to hers.

There was silence between them when he pulled away and he wondered what was on her mind.

"Sorry for the knife, baby, but I had to keep up the charade."

"You're not acting very sorry. Will you let me up now?"

"Yeah, get up," he helped her to her feet.

What's that look on your face for?"

"Oh, for this," Gwen swiftly brought her knee up and slammed it right between Jason's legs. He doubled over and groaned in pain.

"The groin. Why is it always the groin?" His voice pitched up a few octaves.

"Because that's what you deserved you jerkass, you stabbed me in the shoulder with a knife!"

"Hey, if I went easy on you, that wouldn't have been fair would it? Besides, I wouldn't let you die."

"You say one more word, I'll kick you again, a whole lot harder too."

"That's fine with me," Jason conceded wanting to keep his reproductive system intact and the pain was starting to subside a little.

"Why do you have to act like such a pervert?"

"Honestly Gwen, all men are perverts, or do you not read TV Tropes?" Jason laughed.

"Not all of them, and yes I have heard of TV Tropes."

"Oh yes, even your former boyfriend, I heard about his little joke about Ben and Jennifer Nocturne."

"It also says I kiss my cousin," Gwen told him. He gave her a startled look.

"What?"

"Just go look it up, our pictures on there for some reason."

"You should probably go home now," Jason told her. "I'll see you at school tomorrow."

"You have a lot of nerve acting like it's no big deal that you stabbed me in the shoulder!"

"Are you still mad at me? You can heal that can't you?"

"I think so, but you didn't have to go so far with your charade."

"So these are your after school activities, huh?" Gwen raised an eyebrow at him.

"Yeah, you could say that," Jason laughed.

"Hey! What's going on here?" Ben Tennyson demanded as he entered the area at a full run.

"Jason?" he stared at Gwen's wound. "What'd you do to Gwen?"

"I got a little carried away in our fight."

"If I'd have been here—" Ben began.

"—You wouldn't have let that happen, I know. She'll get better, don't worry."

"Listen, you play by our rules, or I'll put you down real quick," Ben warned him.

"I could like that about you, you seem far too nice," Jason laughed. He didn't know Ben had a dark side.

"I would try but she'd probably not let me."

Ah, so Gwen kept him in check. Jason was also not surprised. She was a good kid, but tended to be too trusting of other people.

"I have to get home," Ben sighed, "I got a big interview tomorrow and I have to get some sleep. But if you ever do anything like that to Gwen again, I'll beat your face in."

"Who's coming over tomorrow?" Jason asked.

"Clark Kent from the Daily Planet, he said they want to interview me," Ben told him.

Much to his surprise, Jason began to laugh.

"I think that's the best thing I've ever heard you say!"

He walked away, still chuckling. Clark sure did have a sense of humor. The Last Son of Krypton and the Alien Hero both in the same room. He hadn't seen Clark in years, not since he rescued him from Mongul with Batman and Wonder Woman on his birthday. Worst birthday party ever. He had to go home; after all, he did have school tomorrow.

Gwen looked at Ben in confusion. "What's so funny?"

"I have no idea."

Author's Note: I hope you all found the Cowboy Bebop references. Hee-hee!