A/N: So originally I was going to continue this until I finished the episode in one very long chapter, but I decided it was best to split this upcoming adventure up into parts instead. Good news about this is that this means I have the next two chapters already done. Hopefully I'll finish the fourth part soon. In the meantime enjoy this lovely chapter.

Family Dialogue

Ben could easily tell Gwen was nervous by the way she hid herself behind his back, by how she tightened her grip on his jacket, and by the frequent deep breathing she was making. Seeing how panicky she was, Ben soon stopped walking and turned around to comfort Gwen with a hug. She gladly accepted it and tightly wrapped her arms around him.

"Ben, I don't think I can tell them this," Gwen muttered sadly bringing a serious look to Ben's face.

"I won't pretend to know how hard this is for you, but we both agreed this was the best course of action right?" he stated causing Gwen to lift her head to look at Ben.

"Yeah, ok…I'll try," announced Gwen with a little hesitation.

Ben realizing she was still a little nervous decided to plant a tender kiss on her forehead before giving her a warm smile.

"Hey, don't worry. I'll be right there with you," Ben reminded her causing Gwen to crack a smile of her own.

"You're right. As long as I have you with me I'll be fine," she replied with growing confidence.

With that settled, they continued walking with held hands to the dining room. When they arrived, Ben's parents were already there. Carl was sitting at the head of the table while Sandra was putting the last dish on the dining room table. Both adults quickly noticed the two teens entering the room and Sandra spoke to them.

"Ben, take your seat and Gwen I'm assuming you're staying for dinner?" she asked.

Both Ben and Gwen gave each other a look, silently communicating with each other before Gwen spoke.

"I was sort of hoping that I could stay longer," she answered with her head slightly lowered as she began rubbing her arms in anxiousness.

Carl looked at Gwen with confusion having noticed how small her voice had gotten when she said this.

"Gwen, you know you are welcome to stay in this house anytime," he told her with assurance yet to his surprise Gwen seemed to have become even more uncertain.

"Can I stay for a few days…or weeks then?" she asked with a stutter while lowering her head even more.

Both Carl and Sandra's eyes widened at the question, surprised by what they just heard.

"Gwen, why do you need to stay here?" asked Sandra.

Gwen was too scared to speak and so Ben decided to take over.

"Mom, Dad, Gwen needs a place to live," commented Ben while allowing his arm to wrap around Gwen to comfort her.

Gwen moved in closer to Ben while she burring her head in his chest to avoid looking at Ben's parents. Sandra noticed the children's actions toward each other and could tell something was not right which made her worry.

"Is something wrong at home Gwen?" she asked as she moved closer to the two.

Gwen glanced briefly at Sandra as the woman reached them and noticed the concern her aunt showed towards her. Seeing the sincerity in her aunt's eyes gave Gwen enough courage to speak.

"Yeah, there is another me already living there," Gwen murmured though it was loud enough for Sandra to hear.

"Another you?" questioned Sandra completely thrown off.

Ben knew that he would have to be the one to tell his parents since Gwen wasn't ready to tell the story herself.

"You guys might want to sit down. This is going to be hard to swallow," Ben said sternly to his parents letting them know how serious this conversation was going to be.

Carl and Sandra looked at each other with worry before turning back to Ben and Gwen.

"We can discuss this after dinner then. There's no point in letting all my cooking go to waste," Sandra replied with a sigh before they all joined Carl at the dinner table.

It was quiet at the dinner table as the family ate their meal. Carl and Sandra would take occasional glances at Ben and Gwen between bites, while Ben would take worried glances at Gwen when he noticed that she still hadn't eaten a thing, As for Gwen, she keep her head down to avoid looking at anyone while moving food around on her plate with her fork. When their meals were almost done, Ben frowned when he saw that Gwen still hadn't taken a single bite of food. Realizing that Gwen was not going to eat on her own, a smirk came to Ben's lips as an idea came to him. Stretching his arm across the table in front of him, Ben swiftly took the fork out of Gwen's hands before using it to take a large bite of food from her plate.

"Ben, give me back my fork!" Gwen exclaimed in surprise when he did this causing the smirk on Ben's face to grow.

"What? It's not like you were using it," he replied smugly before he quickly took another bite of food from Gwen's plate.

"Quite stealing my food!" she angrily yelled to Ben.

"Hey, it's not my fault you're too slow," answered Ben with a grin as he took another bite from her plate.

"You're asking for it doofus!" Gwen warned now sitting up straighter in her chair and glaring at Ben.

However Ben ignored her warning and took another bite with a grin on his face.

"Still too slow dweeb," remarked Ben to which had had enough.

Before he knew what hit him, Gwen had made a strong kick at one of the legs of Ben's chair causing the chair to fall down and bring Ben with it.

"Oww!" exclaimed Ben when he landed hard on the floor.

"Hey doofus, look up," commented Gwen with a grin.

When Ben heard this he instantly looked up and his eyes widened when he saw the floating pitcher surrounded by mana right over his head. Before he could react the pitcher turned upside down and poured the liquid and several ice cubes all over his head.

"Ahh cold!" screamed Ben, jumping up in shock from the chillness of the containments that were poured on him.

The fork that Ben had managed to keep in his hand during the whole thing had suddenly flow out of his hand and into Gwen's. Ben then turned to Gwen with an irritated look to which her grin grew.

"Now who's the dweeb?" she mockingly asked before taking a bite of her own food with a pleased expression on her face.

Carl and Sandra had been watching the exchange between the two cousins. They had too noticed that Gwen hadn't eaten and one of them had planned to say something to her but then Ben had beaten them to the punch. They had to cover their laughter when Gwen had pulled her little stunt on their son. Both had felt a sense of nostalgia as it reminded them of how Ben and Gwen had acted together when they were younger. Seeing that her son was now drenched and seething, Sandra figured she'd better intervene before Ben decided to retaliate.

"Ben, why don't you get cleaned up," Sandra suggested to her son.

Ben let out a sigh of frustration as he conceded to his mother's orders.

"Fine," said Ben in defeat as he began to leave the table.

Yet just as Ben passed by them to head to the bathroom, both had caught a small satisfied smile on Ben's face. They had wondered why Ben had that smile until Carl and Sandra noticed that Gwen was now in a better mood as she was happily eating up the food on her plate. Sandra smiled when she realized what Ben had done for Gwen.

"Good job Ben," thought Carl as he too had discovered Ben's true motive for picking on Gwen.

By the time Ben returned to the dining room, his parents and Gwen were clearing off the table. Ben was glad to see that Gwen seemed more comfortable around his parents now and felt it was definitely worth being humiliated by her for. Ben feeling in a good mood himself joined his family in helping them clean up. After everything was put away and cleaned up, Ben and Gwen were ready to tell Ben's parents about Gwen's situation. Carl, Sandra, Ben, and Gwen decided that the living room would be the best place to have this discussion. Ben and Gwen were sitting on the couch together and Ben's parents were sitting across from them in two separate recliner chairs. Gwen's nerves were starting to come back knowing that what she was about to tell her aunt and uncle would not be easy. Ben then grabbed her hand and squeezed it to remind her that she wasn't alone in this. She gave Ben a grateful look and gather up her courage to speak.

"I-I'm not the real Gwen…I-I'm a clone," she began causing Carl and Sandra to go into complete shock.

"A clone?" asked Carl, trying to wrap his mind around the concept.

Gwen glanced at Ben briefly and he nodded encouraging her to go on.

"Yes, I was created by the Highbred to be some kind of secret weapon. Yet somehow I knew what they were doing was wrong and I didn't want to become their tool so I managed to escape. The problem was that I didn't know what to do after I gained my freedom so I risked going to Ben for help," she told them in a soft voice.

Ben knew it was his turn to tell his side of the story and did his best to swallow his guilt knowing that they were twisting the truth.

"She found me afterschool and told me she was a clone. I honestly thought it was just Gwen joking with me until she brought me to her house where I saw another Gwen already there. When I discovered that she was telling the truth the only thing I could think to do was bring her back here," explained Ben.

After hearing all of this Carl turned his attention to the girl that was beside his son.

"So, you're not really Gwen?" he asked causing her to lower her eyes.

"No, all I have are her memories and powers," she answered solemnly.

"Does anyone else know about you?" suddenly asked Sandra causing the girl to start fidgeting in her seat.

She was about the answer her aunt's question until Ben answered for her instead.

"No, only you two know about her. I didn't know how Gwen would react to having a clone and Kevin would probably like the idea too much," Ben told them which surprised Gwen at first before she soon understood.

"He's trying to make it easier for my double too," realized Gwen as she could see how it would be easier for the other Gwen to pretend that she didn't know anything about her.

Carl and Sandra were silent letting all the information sink in their heads. There was more that they would have to ask the two teens, but right now they knew that they had to decide if they were going to let Gwen's clone stay with them or not. To Ben and Gwen's surprise, Sandra suddenly stood up and walked over to Gwen. She then placed both hands on the side of Gwen's face and stared intensively into the girl's eyes as though she was looking for something. This made Gwen nervous as the way her aunt looked at her reminded her of how she was constantly scrutinized during her imprisonment. Sandra could see the fear growing on Gwen's face but most of all she could see just how vulnerable and fragile this girl truly was.

Sandra had a look of pity on her face as she released the girl's head and turned her attention towards Carl. Husband and wife looked at each other silently communicating before they both came to a decision.

"You can stay," announced Carl with a smile.

"Really?" asked Gwen looking up at them with relief and amazement in her eyes.

"Oh course, clone or not you're still family," remarked Sandra with a warm smile of her own.

Gwen was so happy about the news that she jumped from her seat and hugged her aunt and uncle.

"Thank you so much Aunt Sandra and Uncle Carl!" she cried joyfully.

"Of course Gwen," commented Carl.

"Besides we need someone to help keep Ben out of trouble," joked Sandra earning a "Hey!" from Ben which the three chuckled at.

"Come on Ben, why don't you help me get the guest room ready for Gwen," Carl instructed as he got up from his seat to head to the said room.

"Sure thing," replied Ben as he followed behind his father.

"While their doing that, why don't we see if we can find you some spare cloths for now," suggested Sandra to which Gwen was quick to respond.

"Ben has a set of my spare cloths in his room," she told her aunt causing the woman's eyes to widen.

"He does?" asked Sandra to which Gwen just nodded her head to.

Sandra made a mental note to question Ben on why he had some of Gwen's cloths around later.

"Ben, where are Gwen's spare cloths!" she shouted out so that she could be heard.

"In a duffle bag in my closet!" shouted back Ben.

Sandra was definitely going to ask her son about the cloths later. She told Gwen to wait while she got the cloths for her. Sandra then went to her son's room and got the duffle bag out of the closet. She unzipped the bag and saw that it was filled with Gwen's folded cloths. Wanting to see how much was in it, Sandra began taking everything out of the bag. Sandra was amazed to find that there were three sets of Gwen's normal outfit, two pajama sets, and five sets of undergarments.

"I'm almost afraid to ask him about the underwear," thought Sandra with a shake of her head.

"At least this will hold her for a while," she commented as she took the cloths in her hands and headed back to where Gwen was waiting for her.

It didn't take long for Carl and Ben to straighten up the guest bedroom and soon they all helped Gwen get situated into the room. Yet as this was happening Gwen made an agonizing groan as a slight ache went through her head. Ben was right by Gwen's side in an instant when he noticed Gwen in pain and carefully placed his arms around her.

"Gwen, what's wrong?" he asked with worry in his voice.

"I-I'm intercepting a telepathic message," she stated before her eyes turned completely pink.

Soon a circular distorted image was projected before everyone in the room and to Ben's surprise he could make out a familiar face in the projection.

"Helen?" Ben said in shock before the image of Helen spoke.

"H-Hello…Gwen can…y-you hear me?" asked Helen in a static like voice.

When the image was begging to blur Gwen face scrunched up in concentration as she put more power in the connection to make it more stable.

"Now, she should be able to hear and see us," Gwen told them after the image was now clear.

"Helen, we can hear you. What's the problem?" asked Ben with a serious look on his face.

"Oh thank goodness you there too Ben. We really need your help," Helen replied in a distressed voice.

"What's the situation and how bad are we talking?" he questioned having a gut feeling that he wasn't about to hear any good news.

Just before Helen could answer a load explosion sounded off in the background before the sound of battle could be heard. Helen quickly glanced briefly behind her before turning back to Ben and Gwen with a frightened look on her face.

"There's no time to explain! We need you guys here now! Hurry!" she shouted before she speeded away from the screen.

"Helen, what's happing?!" shouted Ben with growing anxiousness.

"I'm going to see if I can expand the image," Gwen stated as she extended her hands and lit them with mana.

She spread her arms which caused the circular image to expand and now they could see a much large picture of what was happening in it. What they saw was chaos. Whatever place Helen was transmitting from was being wrecked by hordes of Null Guardians. The sound of crashes and screams were made before more explosions took place. They watched as Helen soon raced back into view and took out a few of the creatures. However she was soon being tied and bound by one of the Null Guardian's tentacles causing her to struggle to break away. Seeing this, Ben knew there was no time to waste.

"We need to get there and fast!" exclaimed Ben as he continued watching Helen struggle.

"I can create a portal there but I'll have to end the transmission first," Gwen explained in a sever tone,

Ben didn't like the thought of losing the image for a second but knew it was for the best.

"Do it," instructed Ben.

Gwen complied as she ended the connection causing the projected image to disappear and her eyes to return normal. Gwen was getting ready to open the portal before Sandra's voice interrupted her.

"Exactly where is this place you both are going?"

Ben and Gwen both turned to her having almost forgotten that Ben's parents had been in the room the whole time. Both Carl and Sandra had worried looks on their faces waiting for one of the teens to answer the question. Ben knew his parents won't like it but he had to tell them or they would be even more worried.

"The Null Void, it's a place were bad guys are held," remarked Ben.

"It's a prison?" asked Carl in curiosity.

"For aliens," added Ben.

"And you're going there?" Sandra said with worry for her son.

"He won't be going alone. I'll be there with him," remarked Gwen sending a small smile in Ben's direction.

Ben smiled back at her before turning back to his parents.

"Mom, Dad, they need us. We have to go before it's too late," he proclaimed strongly with determination in his eyes.

When they saw that look in their son's eyes, they knew there would be no point in trying to stop him.

"Just be careful," Carl told them placing his hand supportively on Ben's shoulder.

"And keep each other safe," Sandra replied as she gave Gwen a caring hug.

"We will," Ben and Gwen answered with sincerity in their voices.

"Let's do this," Ben told Gwen and she nodded in agreement before her eyes turned pink once more.

With her hands in position, several floating small pink circles appeared and started spinning around before a portal to the Null Void was opened in front of them. They could see the same place that Helen had been in, but now it looked abandoned.

"That's can't be good," commented Gwen with a frown.

"Definitely not good, come on," Ben announced as he and Gwen took each other's hands before jumping into the portal.

A/N: So now this story is going into the episode line up of Alien Force. However I guarantee that the way I do this episode will be a much more interesting. I haven't decided when I'll post the next part yet. I may do it when I finish the entire "Voided" episode or if enough people ask for it sooner.

P.S. In case anyone was wondering why Ben and Gwen came up with that lie for his parents is because they decided that telling them Gwen was a clone was a better situation for his parents to handle than learning that their niece was imprisoned for six months on another planet.