"I love you."

"You're lying," Gwendolyn let out a broken sob as she stood in Kevin's arms, trying to resist the urge to grab him around the waist and hold him tightly. "You're lying."

"I never lie."

"Liar."

"Okay," Kevin admitted, still hugging Gwen close to him. "I am a liar. I'm a liar and thief and I'm no good. But I love you!"

"Let go of me, let go of me!"

"Not until you listen to me!" He barked, pulling back to look her in the eye. She controlled her sobs just long enough to listen to what he had to say. "I've done a lot of things I regret, but the one thing that I would give everything to change is the day I left you."

"What good is it?" Gwen asked, wiping tears from her eyes. "Your words were never any good, Kevin."

"I didn't want to leave you like that," Kevin said desperately. "I-I-I didn't think things would get out of hand like they did! One day, I was just trading some tech with some old friends…the next thing I know—"

"You're back to being an inter-galactic crime lord," Gwen said sharply. "And there was no more room for me in your life."

"You're wrong!" Kevin barked loudly. "I always wanted you with me! But you had…you had a future, a family, you had everything! If I took you with me, everything would have been ruined. You would never be able to go back to Ben and everyone else." Kevin looked at the ground, staring at his shoes. "But my God, Gwen. Every, single day of my life, I ached because you weren't there with me. So much so that when I looked at Devlin I resented him."

"He's our son," Gwen said, tears coming to her eyes once more, her voice cracking. "You made him do awful things. You told me you loved him."

"I do love him!" Kevin insisted. "I love him more than anything! B-but…but I saw myself in him! Whenever he transformed, I saw the awful thing that ruined my life!"

"That wasn't his fault, that was yours, you son of a bi—" Gwen reached to slap Kevin, but he caught her hand and pulled her close to him, much to her dismay. She struggled, but it was no use.

"I want him back. And I want you back. I want everything I ever missed out on back. I want my life, Gwen…" Gwen's eyes widened as she heard a very unfamiliar sound – Kevin was crying. Tears were welling up in his eyes. "I want my life back Gwen. I want my parents to love me…I want to meet you and love you and be with you. I want Devlin to have a father he can rely on – someone he isn't scared of. I've screwed up Gwen…but I want it all back. If I could do it again, I would do everything differently! Everything!"

Gwen was overcome with emotion. She and her lover held each other, sobbing into one another's hair, grasping at each other. It wasn't so much romantic as it was desperate. They were both so miserable without the other, and here they were, sobbing out their misery to each other, crying over lost time. Images flashed before their minds: Devlin taking his first steps, Gwen pregnant with a second or third child, Kevin and Ben working side by side to fight against rogue aliens, Devlin attending school and Gwen fussing over his outfit, Kevin putting his hand on her shoulder when the bus arrived, telling her very slowly to 'Let it go'.

But that was all gone. They had missed it.

"Well, I suppose I could give you another chance. After all, I will owe you a favor later."

The two jumped and turned abruptly to see a man with brown, slicked back hair and a hook nose looking at them. He was wearing a lab coat and had his hands in his pockets. His face wore a knowing smile. "How'd you get in here?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah, and who are you?" Kevin barked, embarrassed that he had been caught crying in front of a complete stranger.

"Oh yes, I forget, we haven't met yet," the man said, stroking his chin. "I'm afraid I can't tell you who I am – my name escaped me awhile ago."

"What are you—"

"I'm asking you," the man said, "do you want me to give you two another chance?"

"How the hell are you supposed to do that?" Kevin asked, sneering. "Get out of here before I—"

"I could go back and find some way to get you out of that nasty Null Void earlier," the man said, stroking his chin. "Yes, I believe Ben told me something about it later. Yes, if I got you out of there earlier…well things might not be so difficult for you. Then again," the man said, frowning. "I can't guarantee everything. Your future is still yours, Kevin."

"…What…what are you talking about?" Kevin asked. "You can…time travel?"

"Well, in a sense," the man said. "It's far too complicated to explain now. Look, I'll give it a try. Your current situation is pretty miserable, so I don't think things can get any worse. It's worth a shot."

"You can fix my life by going back in time?"

"I'm not going to make any promises," the man said. "And you won't even remember me saying any of this, considering, if I change the future, that timeline will take over, and none of this will ever have happened."

"B-but…"

"Well, of course I'll remember it," he said. "After all, I exist outside of time so—" the man took out a pocket watch and smiled down at it. "Yes, I think three years in the Null Void is enough time for you to learn your lesson. Toodle-loo!"

With that, the man disappeared without so much as a sound, leaving Kevin and Gwen alone, staring at the spot where he had just been.


A fourteen year old Kevin sat in the null void, flexing his now-human arm. He cursed to himself – ever since his amalgam had worn off, he had been a sitting duck amongst all of these super-powered alien freaks. He had been reduced to hiding out in caves, hoping nothing hungry would find him. It had been nearly a month since he had seen the light of the Null Void day.

But in his boredom, Kevin had been practicing to use his absorption powers in another way. After the disaster with Ben's omnitrix, Kevin had sworn off energy absorption. But by concentrating on matter, he had been able to coat himself with a thick shell of anything he touched. His skin had become synonymous with his cave walls more than once a day, and he had gotten pretty good at controlling his powers. Too bad even a super-powered human was useless against a horde of evil aliens.

"Man…I've gotta find a way out of here," he sighed, lying down on the cave floor.

As if to answer his call, a "BANG!" came from the back of the cave, sending Kevin reeling forward. Kevin felt a strong sucking motion coming from the back of the cave, and he turned around to see a tunnel had been opened in seemingly nothing. "Wh-what the--?!" Kevin shouted, but it was too late. His fingers slipped from the rocky ground of the cave, and the next thing he knew, he had been sucked up by the portal.

In a mere moment, Kevin felt his shoulder hit hard ground. He looked up and gasped to see tall buildings, a missed sight, around him. He realized he was in an alley-way…

"Back on Earth…" he whispered, looking around. He stood up and laughed, "YEAH! I'm BACK ON EARTH!"

Kevin continued to scream and cheer, people walking on the sidewalk turning to look at him with confused glances. "This is too awesome!" Kevin laughed. "I have no idea what happened, but I'm outta there man!" Kevin spun on his heel and walked down the alley, whistling with every step. He turned the corner and stopped his whistling almost immediately as he saw a group of men wearing trench-coats and carrying what seemed to be laser guns out of a sci-fi movie. "Oh hey…sorry. Didn't know this alley was taken," Kevin spun on his heel to walk the other way, too happy at his escape to be bother by a bunch of gun-wielding sci-fi geeks. But he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder, a firm grasp making him unable to move.

"You picked the wrong day to see us, kid," the man snarled, poking the barrel of his gun into Kevin's back. "Too bad, you seemed to be in a good mood."

"Oh hell, no!" Kevin shouted, reaching out to touch the brick building beside him. He immediately absorbed the red brick and spun around. With a quick super-powered punch, he crushed the laser gun of his assailant. All three gasped, the other two raising their weapons "I just got out of the Null Void! I'm not getting offed the second I come back!"

"Null Void?" one asked, raising his eyebrow. He turned to the others, signaling for them to lower their weapons. "What do you know about the Null Void?"

"I've only been there for like…three years!" Kevin sneered. "What's it to you?"

"…you must have a pretty impressive record to get thrown in there," the man smirked. "A little criminal streak in you?"

"You could say that," Kevin frowned. "Now if you'll excuse me—"

"Wait," the man said to him. "How'd you like to make some money, kid?"

Kevin realized that he was flat broke after spending three years in the Null Void. His base had probably been ransacked by now, and even if the forty dollars that he had thought so large a sum at eleven was still there, it couldn't buy him anything he would need at fourteen. He could always pick pockets again, or maybe mug people now that he was older and stronger, but that was a messy business. He'd prefer to make his money at least slightly legitimately. "What do you want me to do?"

"Be the middle man in a deal for us," the man said, smiling.

"What are you talking about?" his companion asked, walking forward and gesturing at Kevin. "We can't trust this kid!"

"He's a human," the man reasoned. "They'll trust him more than us. And they're more willing to make deals when there's a middle party that's on everyone's side."

"Hey wait," Kevin interrupted the men. "Aren't you guys humans too? Cause you may not be all that pretty to stare at, but you look like humans to me."

"Well, looks can be deceiving," the man smiled craftily at Kevin. "Now, before I tell you anything else…are you in?" The man stuck out his hand, and Kevin was horribly reminded of his last handshake – he had shared it with Ben, asking the boy if he wanted to be Kevin's friend. He frowned at the out-stretched hand. How could he trust a stranger's handshake if he couldn't trust his own?

"This is just the beginning, kid," the man said. "If this works out, we'll use you again. Intergalatic middle-man – it pays well."

Kevin stared down the alley as an expensive mustang pulled up to the crosswalk. He frowned, realizing that he had basically been living like a street urchin for years. A little money, a real place to live, all of that was sounding nice to him. "Fine," he said. "But I don't shake hands."

"Suit yourself," the man shrugged. "What did you say your name was again?"

"Kevin Levin."

"Well Kevin," the man said, sliding his hands into his pockets smoothly. "Welcome to our world."

With that, the man led Kevin and his associates out of the alley, talking animatedly about the deal that Kevin would be brokering. Kevin listened with great intent, so much intent, in fact, that he didn't notice a man with dark brown hair and a hook nose walking out from the alley he had just exited.

"Well, my goodness," the man frowned. "That didn't exactly work out how I thought. I hope nothing dreadful will come of this," he shrugged. "Then again, I can't spend eternity fixing peoples' love lives. Oh wait," his lips contorted into a cheeky smile. "I can, can't I?"

And with that, he disappeared back into the alleyway, not a trace of his existence left to be seen.


So yeah, I love Paradox, so I whored him and his time traveling out to explain how the Ken 10 timeline AND the AF timeline can exist. XD (Of course Ken 10 has been declared not canon, but still...)

I hope you enjoyed all these! :3