Protecting Him, Protecting Her

Chapter 12: A Problem Arises

A/N: PLEASE!!! Read the note at the bottom I really need all your help!!!! Enjoy.


"Kevin."

Her voice was distant, soft, and quiet, but there was a pain in it. A type of pain that tore at his heart and sunk deep into his skin.

"Kevin."

Her voice sounded again, becoming more clear to him. He slowly opened his eyes, the light of the moon shinning into the room.

"Kevin."

Her voice sounded for the third time, only this time he could hear her perfectly. He shot up in bed looking to his side. There next to him lay Gwen, tossing and turning in what seemed like pain. Kevin stood from the bed and walked to her side and knelt down next to her.

"Gwen." he called softly resting his hand on hers. Her skin was clammy and slick, her eyes screwed shut in agony. "Gwen." he called again this time a little more worried. Her cheeks were flushed and he rested his hand on her forehead feeling the fever on her skin.

"The power." she moaned.

"Gwen, Gwen, come on babe wake up." Kevin called. "Please babe." he practically begged.

"Kevin." she gasped suddenly her eyes snapping open. To Kevin's dismay her beautiful green eyes glowed with the color of her mana.

"Gwen?" he questioned.

"Kevin." she started, looking toward him. "The power." she continued.

His eyes widened in realization and he quietly scooped her up into his arms and carried her down to the car. His destination; the pit (see Ben 10: Alien Swarm movie). It was only 11:30 and knowing Max he would still be in his office.

As he drove, Kevin hooked up his badge to the consul of his car and dialed Max.

"Kevin? What are you doing up so late, we have early training in the morning?" Max asked when he answered.

"That's going to have to wait. Something's wrong with Gwen. We're on our way in." Kevin explained. There was a pause, then;

"I'll leave the entrance to the underground garage open, come in through there." Max explained.

"Right, Levin out."


Kevin parked in the underground garage and jumped out, rounding the car and opening the passenger's side, lifting Gwen out. Her body was limp but her eyes were still open, glowing their unnatural color.

He ran as fast as he could toward the infirmary, Gwen cradled in his arms. Just as he reached the door, it flew open to reveal Max and Verdona.

Without a chance to question them, that ushered him into the room.

"Put her on the table." Verdona said. Kevin did as he was told and gently placed her on the table. Verdona then moved to the head of the table and place her hands on Gwen's temples. Verdona's eyes then began to glow just as brightly.

The tension built as Max and Kevin watched them in silence. Neither woman moved in the next five minutes, the men growing anxious. Finally, Verdona relaxed her hands falling to her sides as she took a deep breath. She turned to the two men, a sullen expression on her face.

"It's as we feared." she said. Kevin watched the two older people confused.

"What do you mean? You knew about this?" he asked upset. Max sighed.

"We suspected something like this may happen." he explained. Kevin paused, suddenly realizing her didn't know what this was.

"What's wrong with her?" Kevin asked.

"She's loosing control." Verdona explained. "It's a somewhat common thing among half breeds like Gwen." she paused. "Her powers are trying to take over. Her basic primal instinct as an Anodyne is trying to break free." Kevin looked at Gwen worried.

"Well what can we do?" he asked. Verdona sighed.

"I'm not quite sure yet."


"So you're saying that because of that weird crystal Frankie used on her, when she broke free it set off some chain reaction." Ben questioned looking in on his cousin through the picture window in her infirmary room.

"And now she's loosing control?" Julie continued, hugging ship to her. The rookies stood around them looking just as sad. Max only nodded in response.

"Is there anything was can do to help her?" Helen asked looking into the room herself. The sight of a dejected Kevin keeping a close vigil over her only made the scene that much more heavy.

"Verdona is working on it, but honestly she doesn't know. This has never happened before." Max explained.

"Never?" Pierce asked surprised. Max shook his head no.

"The gem Frankie used is used on Anodyne to detain criminals. It's ideal because it recycles the natural energy Anodytes give off and creates an impenetrable barrier around them."

"But if it's impenetrable, how did Gwen break out?" Manny questioned.

"Verdona believes that is was her human emotion." Max explained. "When she saw Kevin in trouble her energy exploded, but the consequences are as you see."


Gwen moaned as consciousness crept into her body. Her body burned, her head ached, she felt like she had just run a triathlon.

"Gwen?" she heard softly above her. The voice was so familiar, so calming and yet they sounded worried. Who was it, whose voice was it? She shifted a little then heard the voice again.

"Gwen?"

"Kevin?" she groaned softly. As if the ability had just returned she opened her eyes adjusting then to the face above her. She smiled lightly at him. "Hey." she spoke softly. He smiled back but she could tell it was forced.

"Hey." he replied. 'How are you feeling?" he asked. She thought for a moment.

"Sore." she finally answered, trying to sit up. Pain shot through her body and she was forced to fall back again.

"You shouldn't move too much." Kevin said.

"What happened?" she asked. Kevin paused to look at her. Unsure of how to answer. "Kevin?" she questioned worried when he didn't reply. Kevin took a deep breath and sat down next to the bed, moving the chair closer.

"Um…" he paused again.

"Spit it out Levin." Gwen finally snapped. He looked up at her surprised.

"Your powers." he said. "Your loosing control." she starred at him blankly.

"W…what?" she stuttered breathlessly.

"When you broke through that barrier the other day, your powers kind of….over loaded your human form."

"What's going to happen to me?" she asked. It broke his heart to see how scared she was.

"I…I don't know." Kevin replied. "But your grandmother is here and she's going to try to help you."

Gwen looked away sadly. Kevin stood from the chair and moved to sit on the bed next to her. Her wrapped his arm around her.

"But I promise no one's giving up." he continued.


"I've got it!" Verdona exclaimed, charging into the control room of the pit. Everyone looked to her surprised.

"You found a way to help Gwen?" Ben asked hopefully.

"Well…no." Verdona replied. "But I did find a way to delay the process."

"Really?" Max questioned surprised. Verdona nodded. "What is it?" he continued.

"Cryogenic Containment." she explained. "By containing Gwen in suspended animation we can delay the take over of her body and it should give me plenty of time to devise a more permanent solution." Verdona sighed. "It's not the best solution, but if Gwen has any hope of keeping her humanity it's the only option I can come up with."


A/N: Chapter 12 is done! It's really not all that action packed but it's sort of the foundation to all the mushy stuff between Gwen and Kevin I'm writing.

Also I want to change the name of this story so I will leave the vote up to you. Here are your options:

Tales of Gwevin

Life, Love, and Gwevin

Shades of Green, Tints of Black

The Trials of Life and Love

(Or leave it as it is)

Drop me a review and let me know.

-RED