Boy, I put more shipping in this chapter than I thought I would.

Also, my story hasbeen read over 1,000 times, andI'm happy about that, but it would even nicer if more people would review! Reviews make me feel fuzzy inside...

Anyways, enjoy the chapter!

'Fessing Up

Why? Why couldn't she have just continued to hate Kevin? If she had, this decision would be infinity times as easier to make. But she couldn't deny it anymore. She was falling for the raven. And seeing him with that icy blade held to his neck…

Gwen was dying inside bit by bit. She was just about ready to say her decision.

"Gwen, tell me! What does he want you to do?" Nikki demanded.

"Nikki, just shut up," Gwen pleaded.

Nikki furrowed her eyebrows. If Gwen would just think and calm down, maybe she'd think of a plan where everything would out. But if she were in a similar situation with Ben, she'd probably be under the same pressure. Nikki shook her head, atleast she'd would hesitate as long with her answer as Gwen was. "No! I wanna know what he told you to do!" Nikki retorted.

"Please, just…stop," Gwen begged.

The plea fell deaf on the younger teen's ears. "Tell me." Nikki ordered through gritted teeth.

Gwen gave up. Making this choice was hard, but Nikki…she was making it even worse. "I'll save Kevin's life if…if I surrender…the Earth," she responded, the last words of the sentence hanging on a thread.

"Gwen, just save the damn Earth! It's okay, really –"

Gwen wept even more, hating Kevin for what he just said. "Listen to the boy. Save your useless planet and have one less useless human," Oro added.

She wanted to strangle the man so badly. Kevin was far from useless, but so was her home planet.

"I'll count down the seconds you have, idiot girl," Azuri insulted. "10, 9,"

"I'll be okay Gwen!"

'No you won't. You'll be dead,'

"8, 7, 6"

"The Earth's more important than me,"

'I hate you so much! Now you decide to play hero,'

"5, 4"

"Listen to me! You don't want an ex-con!"

'Then why am I having a hard time making this decision?! Of course I want you…'

"3,"

"Please Gwen; you'd harm billions of people for a worthless person like me?"

'Yes I would! As selfish as it may be, I would. And you're not worthless, not at all,'

"2,"

"Just forget about me!"

'No! I don't want to…and I can't,'

"1,"

"Gwen!"

The redhead fell to her knees, sobbing into her hands. "Have the Earth! I don't care anymore!" Gwen screamed.

Oro lifted the blade up from the boy's neck, Gwen running over him to wrap her thin arms around his neck. "You are so far from worthless," she cried into his shoulder.

The raven shook his head. She had just made the stupidest decision she could ever make. But it felt so good to know that she cared about him more than Earth or life itself. Next to Ben, Nikki fumed. She could give Gwen a piece of her mind later, but she had to stop this. "You are not getting away with this," she growled.

Azuri scoffed at the younger girl. "What can you do? You might be one of the most useless humans out there, as if that worthless rock you call Earth and its people weren't insignificant enough," Azuri laughed.

Nikki walked up to her, her eyes an incandescent white. She wrapped her hands around the girl's neck. "You really don't want to see my kind angry," she warned.

The blue woman easily pushed Nikki's hands off of her. A piercing crack of thunder echoed in the ship. The sky grew ominous, as Nikki advanced towards the nervous creature with a cruel sneer. Her arms raised above her head, the lights above quaking until they exploded, shards of glass flying everywhere. In the now dim room, her glowing eyes could still been seen, and with all the absorbed electricity, she grabbed Azuri by the neck, yanking her up off her feet. The currents of electricity ran through veins, the power being conjured up to fingers. The power was released at an instant, the electricity overloading the victim's body.

A deafening scream pierced the silence. Nikki threw the corpse against a wall, her eyes searching for Oro. That was when she felt a balled fist pound against her stomach. Falling foward, her eyes glimmered more, the electricty turning her eyes a threatening blue hue. Ice shot out the skin of Oro knuckles. Nikki's hands surged with millions bolts of electrical energy. "You're dead!" they both screamed at each other. A sharp, icywhoosh broke the silence, a flash of lightning pierced through the darkeness.

THUMP!

Three bodies lay on the floor.

"She's waking up,"

"That was…wow,"

"Y'think she can hear us?"

"Nikki?"

Nikki felt a cushion underneath her; she frantically felt the sides of her. She was on a mattress, a faded plum blanket covered her legs. Ben's jacket was still around her shoulders. She could remember scarcely what happened. There was yelling, flashing, and then…well, the rest was gone. Her stomach was sore, but had no clue why. And now the girl was in bed, for who knows how long.

She looked to her left, her eyes trailing upwards. Denim jeans. More denim jeans. Denim bulge. The girl blushed, realizing exactly was the 'bulge' was. Black tee shirt. 'Please don't tell me I was just staring at Kevin's…bulge,' she prayed.

More black tee. A smiling face with green eyes. Brown hair. Back to green eyes.

"Nikki, what are you blushing for now?" Ben asked.

Nikki shut her eyes tightly as she shook her head. "No reason,"

Ben knelt down next to the bed, meeting her eye level. "Do you remember anything?" he asked caringly.

Nikki nodded in response. "Barely. I remember Kevin almost getting killed, me getting angry and…that's about it,"

Ben was amazed at how much she had been unaware of. "Y-you don't remember causing a blackout?" he stuttered in incredulity.

Nikki golden-brown orbs shared the same disbelief as the green ones before her. "I caused a blackout?" she asked with such innocence that Ben's desire of kissing her almost took over him.

On his shoulder, the kneeling teen felt a rougher hand on his shoulder. "Let it go, Ben. She needs her rest," Max said from behind.

Ben lifted himself off his knees, stepping aside for Miranda. Nikki sat up so her back could lean against the wall of pillows behind her. "See Mom, I took care of everything," Nikki tried to reassure her, but the effort was unsuccessful.

"But you got hurt. Nicole, I was so scared I lost you,"

Nikki eyes narrowed at her mother. "Can't you call me Nikki? And you didn't lose me. I'm right here. So stop worrying," Nikki replied harshly.

Her mother's face reddened with fury. "Nicole…you just don't understand,"

And with a turn of her heel and walked out, leaving a misunderstanding Nikki with her arms folded, still believing that her mother's worrying was unneeded.

Her arms loosened as her gaze smoldered at the sight of Gwen. She didn't forget, or believe, the stupid decision that that girl had made that put billions of people's lives in peril. But a request said in a harsh tone, which she was debating on using or not, would not get her little discussion with Gwen very easily. "Gwen, can I speak with you," she asked sweetly, emphasizing the fact she wanted to speak with the redhead alone.

Gwen turned to the people behind her, the males nodding their heads and left, the metal door slid to a close as they stepped out of the room.

The girl stand turned to the one in her bed, her eye burning into her skin like a close candle. "Nikki, what's the matter?" Gwen asked clueless.

"I should ask the same about your brain," Nikki offended.

Those words lit the fire of her anger. "Okay, what's with the cruelty?"

Nikki narrowed her eyes again. "That little stunt, that's what –"

"You have got to be kidding me," Gwen groaned to herself.

The words reached the younger girl's ears. "You've got to be kidding me that you'd make such a stupid choice! You're always the one telling me and the guys to think of others before yourself, to think things through,"

Gwen's green eyes darted to the floor, her cheeks hinting her embarrassment. It was a stupid move, and she could have caused the harm in an unimaginable number of people's lives. "So what's the whole point of this? To rub in my face that's I'm not perfect?"

Nikki thought about it. Was that what she was doing? She shook her head. "No, I'm wondering why you would even consider killing all of Earth's power for…"

She trailed off. If she had finished her sentence, Gwen would have certainly assaulted her.

Gwen tried to fight off the urge to hit her. "How…how could you say that? You act like he's like some guy we hardly know,"

"Well, I don't exactly know him. He always angry," Nikki said so emotionlessly, she wondered if that creature still dwelled in her.

Gwen, on the other hand, knew Kevin had a softer side, where'd he actually pull that guard down for someone else. This little girl before her couldn't even realize that Kevin had already done that – for her! He wouldn't even be on this ship if he hadn't found that little part of himself that actually cared for the tan girl.

"I bet you'd she do that same thing for Ben," the Anodite grumbled to herself, her words almost inaudible.

Almost inaudible. Nikki scratched at her arm, her fingers leaving white ashy marks. The uncomfortable feeling in her stomach returned, and a pain substituted it as she thought about her and Ben switching places with Gwen and Kevin…

Maybe she did have a hard time understanding other's troubles sometimes. "You're probably right," she sulked.

Never in her life had she imagined a boy could cause her so much pain and emptiness if they were to disappear, like if he were to puff into a smoke. And she could tell that Kevin would cause that for Gwen if that were to happen. "You really love him don't you?"

Gwen looked up instantaneously, her face's rosy tint reddening into a more crimson hue. She backed out of the room, desperately trying to get the button next to the door to slide open.

As she watched the teen urgently try to escape her question, unintentionally she had answered it. Nikki folded her arms behind her head, not too surprised by the wordless answer.

"So is he going to be okay?"

Miranda looked at her father who, even thought he had bandages over the giant wounds, kept bleeding. Even with her attempts of healing him, the come out was failure. She lowered her head. "I…I don't know,"

Miranda's gaze trailed over to the jewel settled by her boot. She picked it up with protective gloves, examining the destructive beauty. "We still need to get rid of this thing,"

Max nodded, but that wasn't his main concern. His main concern was his follow teammate. Miranda sighed, but a tiny bit of hope was lifted in her heart when she saw her father's mouth twitch, like he trying to say something.

The twitching stopped, as did this feeling.

Gwen stepped out into the hallway, bumping into a shoulder. A muscular shoulder clothed in black. Instinctively, her hand when to grab her nose, the lack of red on her hand lessening her worry of a broken nose. She looked up at Kevin's the expression on his face embarrassed with a hint of him being slightly peeved. "Sorry," he mumbled and continued his path down the hallway, trying to avoid her.

She grabbed his wrist, he shook it off. "What did I do now?" she ask irritated at the number of people who were mad with her.

He ignored her question, and as he tried to walk away again she pinched a piece of his tee in between her fingers. "Gwen…" he grumbled.

"Kevin…" she mocked.

"You shoulda just saved the Earth,"

Gwen couldn't believe what she was hearing. Did he want to die? "Isn't that a compliment? Y'know, that I'd want you to live rather than saved the Earth? And we saved the Earth anyway,"

"Why would you want me over your family, friends and all that junk?!" he snapped.

Gwen frowned. "But…you are my friend,"

In the back of her mind, a weak voice kept taunting her with the fact that she'd rather be much more than his friend.

"Did you want to die?" she asked.

Kevin wasn't sure if he could answer no to that truthfully. For a minute, he actually believed that she would be better off without him. There were guys with good grades and good looks that came from good family. He drop out school before he even met her, and his family had deserted him a long time ago…

At least he was conceited enough to concluded he had one out of the three.

He stepped forward, one step further away from her. Gwen should know he wasn't one to open up, not even to her, easily. Her kind voice chimed in again, more worried than the first time. "Did you?"

Kevin's fought against his trembling lips, wanting to tell her everything. But as the stubbornguy he was, he wouldn't have it.

"Did you? Kevin, please…" Gwen asked again.

That voice, it was like sweet honey, and it was melting him. But the faint weeping he could hear behind him is what crushed him. Kevin spun around, grabbing her by her arms and pulling her closer to his chest so speedily the girl's vision was blurred for a moment. Their lips met. He ended the kiss, hugging her tightly. "Your crying is killing me already," he whispered into her ear.

Gwen could almost swear she saw a something running down his cheek which he tried to hid along with the rest of his heartbroken expression. A tear?

knock, knock

"Who's there?" a tired voice asked.

"It's me," a familiar voice replied.

"Hi, Me!" she joked.

The same smiling green eyes returned to her gaze, that weird feeling in her stomach returning as well. It was a fluttering type sensation…

She sat up, the brunet pulling up a chair beside her bed. He balanced a tray of something she couldn't see as he was taller than the bed. Ben settled into his chair the tray of bland hospital food coming into her view. Nikki grimaced. "They actually have hospital food here?" she asked, backing away from the tray that now lay on her legs.

She stared at her tray: baked potato, void of sour cream or butter, a tiny bowl that was covered in foil, a container that was supposedly filled with a beverage, and a peanut butter sandwich. "Sorry, that's all they had," he apologized even though the limited selection of food wasn't his fault.

Digging into his pocket, Ben pulled out a small container of butter to Nikki's relief. She uncovered the small bowl and squealed of delight. It contained ten strawberries, one her most beloved foods in the world. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she squeaked, taking a bite of her favorite fruit and smiling.

She gulped half of the strawberry down, tossing the rest, including the leaves which didn't bother her much, into her mouth. "The drink is strawberry too," he pointed out, receiving a satisfied smile from the girl before him. Nikki swallowed the last of that strawberry turned to Ben. "Mom asked you to do this didn't she?" she asked.

Ben shook his head. "Nope. I did it out of my own free will," he admitted proudly.

The fluttering in her tummy increased. "Thank you," she said one final time.

Not many words were spoken in the ship after that. Ben would visit Nikki's little room, the brunette frequently feeling this fluttering inside her every time he'd stay. Gwen was still wondering how should could have cracked Kevin like she did. Miranda sat at her father's bedside, the EKG indicating he was still alive, but the lack of movement telling her otherwise.

The twitching began again, at the corners of his mouth like before. But unlike last time, they twitched more and more, actually opening. "Dad?" she whispered excitedly.

"Mir…Miranda?" he whispered back.

Miranda exhaled a sigh of relief. She had her father and her daughter, finally, the feeling of this weight on her shoulders fading.

The redhead had come to the conclusion that Kevin had indeed shed a lonely tear. As much as thought about it, as much as she tried to make no sense of it, and as hard as she believed her imagination decided to scramble her vision, the truth couldn't be hidden.

Kevin, Mister I'm-Tough, Mister Macho Man, Mister Don't-mess-with-me-or-I'll-break-your-neck…Kevin of all people, cried right into her shoulder. Her shoulder. Was this sign of him opening up or was she just overanalyzing the moment as she does with most things? And did her tears brought tears to his eyes? Maybe she was thinking about the situation a bit too much, because a migraine began to chew at her brain.

She put a hand to her head and let out an irritated sigh. Her fingers unconsciously crawled to touch her lips, the memory of what had just happened returning to her. The kiss…was it to shut her up? If it was, it sure did its job and replaced her question with a headache and stress. Gwen could almost remember the feeling up his lips on top of hers; it hurt at first because he put so much force into it, but the pain lessened as the pleasure of the moment finally reached her, only to disappear seconds after the feeling became addictive…she wished she wasn't so love struck.

Gwen scanned over the hall, not a door opening. Nor the sound of any footsteps. Ben was probably drooling over Nikki. He had been so worried about her, maybe that was an understatement, and ever since he got her back the green-eyed boy would frequently visit her little 'hospital' room, staying there for hours and his breaks from the room less then ten minutes.

Why couldn't Kevin be with her like the way Ben was with Nikki? Why couldn't he be more open with her and not try to keep so much bottled up inside? Yes, he did reveal himself…but there was still so much more. She'd be so much happier if he would just let go, if he –

"Gwen?" a voice broke her trance.

She looked up to see Kevin face, who wasn't exactly looking at her unless she unknowingly became the floor, and she could feel the awkwardness in between them. "Yeah?"

"Don't tell anyone, okay?" he pleaded.

A plea? From Kevin's mouth? 'Don't overanalyze', she silently warned herself.

It was probably just to keep up his emotionless, badass image. The one she wished wasn't so much a part of his life as it was.

Nikki wondered why she wasn't getting tired of this boy's presence. Or his smile. Or his green eyes which appeared to be emeralds, glinting in the light…

She could feel the red creep onto her nose. Groaning, she covered her face, giving her friend who knew her all too well that she was either blushing or upset. It was obvious which one was the cause of her action. "Y'know you blush a lot. And sometimes it's for no reason," Ben stated, boredom in his voice.

'You would think I'm blushing for no reason,' she thought.

"Whatever," she muttered.

"You never answered my question either,"

Nikki raised a brown eyebrow. "What question?" she asked.

Ben sighed with a smile. "Y'know, the one I asked you when your kept bugging me about making a move on you," he reminded her.

Nikki's eyes widened, and then narrowed. That question. "Don't start Ben,"

"You want me to ask it again," he asked, slightly flirtatious.

The anger in her started to build up again. "Do you wanna get hurt? Because if you don't stop, I will hurt you,"

Out came her aggression. That was nothing to play with, and his 'danger zone' had learned that lesson the hard way years ago. Sometimes, she could become more like Kevin than anything or anyone else, giving kids in the upper school bloody noses if they looked at her the wrong way when they intended grade school.

"Just answer it Nikki. It's a simple question,"

'A simple question? A simple question?!' she thought furiously, the words more untrue to her than anyone could believe.

Nikki anger-filled eyes simmered into confusion and unease. The clouds in her mind fogged her thoughts. Her tongue tangled up the unspoken words in her mouth. "I…I think,"

The room quake and shuddered, rocking back and forth and almost throwing Nikki onto the floor.

From the control room, Max called out "We're heading home!"

Nikki let out a sigh of relief and noticed Ben wasn't in his chair, he was on the floor, rubbing his chocolate hair that looked so cute since it was ruffled up by his fingers, his slight pout adding to the cuteness. She smiled, gazing at the boy who seemed as irresistible as a giggling two year old. What was she thinking? Ben was her friend, just her friend…

Right?

Wow! I left two pairing cliffies! I am going to be in big trouble now…

Well, all I can say is keep reading as that's the only way the Mr. Cliffhanger will leave (and the only way to avoid angry readers). And I think I accidently added some OOCness in there.

And remember: Story + Reviews equal happy and motivated writer!

Stay Tuned!