It was so much later than she's allowed out, and her parents knew that she didn't have a mission. Oh my goodness her mother would tear a strip off of her tommorow. But it was worth it. She was curled on the hood of his car. His car. As much as she jested about the work he put into the thing, it was one of her favourite places to be. His arm around her, looking up at the stars. It was better than their last secret rendezvous she had to admit to herself, since this time there weren't other cars around. He reached his hand up to her head, and played with her hair. He was trying to get her attention. She looked at him, and pulled herself onto him, held his face and kissed him. He brought a hand to her waist and pulled her in, she ran her fingers through his hair. When they broke she looked deep in his eyes and asked him, almost at a whisper.
"Do you love me?"

She had told him how she felt about a week or so ago, and at the time she didn't want to push him to say anything. He was more frustrating that she could have ever imagined, but occasionally the payoff was worth it.

She knew the answer. Of course she knew. But that didn't stop her from wanting to hear him say it. She loved him, without a doubt she was certain.
When he didn't answer, she dropped it. This was such a perfect night, one she would already be in trouble for at daybreak, so why ruin it with a fight? So instead she kissed him again, and again, and again, until she stopped taking breaks in between.

She snuck back in her window at 3:30, and watched him drive away in his car. His car.

That memory came back to Gwen, uninvited, as she, Ben, and Mason were planning how to get back to Osmos V. She had been trying to meditate, see if she could focus on Kevin through the few objects of his that she had with her, but it only brought back one distinct moment of time. It was nice to be nostalgic, but it was not helpful. Her meditation ended as the argument between the other two had heated up. Mason had mentioned the refugee ships that left the planet occasionally, and suggested that they try to sneak onto one and enter the atmosphere of Osmos without detection. Ben did not like this plan.

"Wouldn't the guys running the ships just, I don't know, stay safe? Not return to osmos?" Ben asked.

"No, they charge a hundred qualson per person to get out. It's too lucrative to leave with their ships."

"A hundred whatevers. So what? That's not that much."

Mason stared at him blankly "Well, I don't have time to explain the intricate economic system of osmos to you, but 100 qualson is a lot."
"We have ship!"

"Who will be detected-"

"Can you guys just stop fighting," Gwen interrupted them before Ben shot back, "It doesn't matter about money, if Mason thinks that sneaking back in on a refugee ship, then that's the best thing to do."

_
They took a few days going over their plan, fine tuning it as much as they could. They were now in ship, headed toward the drop spot that Mason recalled from his escape.

"We just have to wait. They won't want us on board for free, you don't have any money do you?"

"I thought we already covered this." Ben pointedly unfolded the pocket of his plummer suit.
"Right, no cash," Mason sighed "Guess I just really don't want to sneak onto these guys ships."

They staked out longer than any of them would have liked, but eventually, Mason alerted them to the sight of an extremely large cylinder.

"That's what Kevin left in." Ben whispered, Gwen shushing him immediately.

They witnessed people leaving in all different conditions. Some were emaciated, some were full. But regardless of how shaggy or dapper they appeared, they all looked terrified. There were about fifteen in total, all looking equally relieved and distressed. Then, after they were all gone, three other people stepped off the deck. They were taller than average, and two of them were heavily built. They were the captains of the ship, and the leaders of the operation. All of them looked extremely well off.
They walked into the stop, to refuel, or eat, who knows. But it was exactly as Mason predicted it. Once they were out of sight, Ben, Gwen, and Mason all ran up to the capsule. Ben began fidgeting with him omnitrix, eventually stopping at Goop.
"You guys ready?" He checked with his team.
"Just hit the damn thing, will you?" Mason was getting antsy.
"Ok, hope this works!" Ben slapped his wrist and felt himself morphing. He could feel his body shrinking, and condensing. He could tell the transformation was complete, and he looked at his hands which were not green, and were not slime.

"Grey matter? I wonder why creator Asmuth did not work out the glitch when designing the product. Poor Galvin design."

"What's happening?" Mason looked at the building and back at Ben, panic evident on his face.
"Sometimes the watch doesn't work for him." Gwen answered.
"Mason, absorb the metal of the ship and slice it open." Ben said.
"How am i supposed to do that?" Mason was speaking out of an almost closed mouth.
"Form your arms into blades."

"What?" Mason looked at Ben, as if he was speaking nonsense, "Osmosians can't do that."

"We don't have time to argue like this. We have only five minutes to get in." Ben looked at the unguarded entrance to the passenger compartment of the ship. "Perhaps I could fiddle with the wires. Wait for me to open the cargo dock, and head on. I'll meet you there somehow."

"I'll help you get in, you need me, I'm osmosian. I'll get you on deck and then run back down here."

"Sounds like a plan," Gwen was starting to get nervous, "Now can we just hurry?"

The two boys took off toward the deck where the refugees had just exited.
Mason absorbed the door material, and covered Ben in the same metal. Effortlessly, they moved through the wall.
"I was unaware that osmosians could do that." Ben said, once they were inside.
"Only on specifically built osmosian things, like the ships. The controls are over there. Quick, they're kinda hard to figure out."

"I am currently morphed into the smartest species in the universe, along with the physical transition, I have the exact brain capacity. I'm certain that I can figure it out. You go wait with Gwen. I'll see you shortly."

Mason nodded and ran off the ship to wait with Gwen.

"He's on?" She asked him, he nodded as a response "Good."

Mason looked at the ship, and could not believe what he was about to do. Something about his face must have betrayed him, because Gwen looked at him.

"No turning back now."

"I know…."

"You're scared." It wasn't a question.

"It was so hard to leave. I don't want to go back to risk my life for some….guy I don't even know."

Gwen glared at him. "He's a good person. He's going to help finish your war. More than you did, anyway."

Before Mason could answer, the door opened a small amount. He and Gwen entered as quickly as they could.
Gwen held ship on her lap, and tried to keep him from making any noise.

In the control panel, which was really just a slab of stone, Ben tried his hardest to sort it out. It was not complicated to operate, but it required powers that he did not possess. He had managed to collect a small amount of osmosian DNA from leftover remnants of the refugees, and was able to tap into the inherent power, he just now hoped it would be enough to close the door again.

"Ever see a more miserable shipment?" Ben could hear voices outside.
"They keep getting more desperate." Came another.
"We could start charging more, people are dying to leave." Said the first voice again.
Ben hid away. He had to now just hope that what he had done had closed the door, successfully hiding Gwen and Mason. He almost chuckled to himself. Hope was so illogical, he had done all he could and the math and science should be sound enough. But then again, even the most sound science needs experimentation.
"Hey come look at this!" Came a new, third voice.
Ben was very nervous.

"Did we end up having much cargo on the last shipment?"
"Not too much."
"Footprints, quite a few."
"And they stop-"
"At the cargo door…"

Ben's tiny heart was racing, even if he had managed to open the door, if they saw the footprints, the plan would all be pointless."
_

In the cargo bay, Gwen and Mason were too quiet to even breathe. Their eyes were shut, as if somehow closing them would keep them from being discovered. They could hear the voices outside.

"Something's not right. I swear, no one came with anything, not this trip."
"Yeah, otherwise we'd have more money."
"You don't think…."
"Stowaways?"
"Who'd want to go back?"

"I'm going to check, just in case."

A third voice, from far away called out. "Guys, we have to leave. Our opportunity for undetected re-entry is ending soon. Get your a sses on deck."

Gwen let a small amount of breath to escape her lungs. Relief.
"We think there might be stowaways. We're just trying to-"

"If there are," came the third voice again, "Let them stay on the ship. We can charge them when we land. And besides," there was a small pause, "Who in their right mind wants back on Osmos." There was some small laughter.

"I guess it's their funeral."

"Yeah, you hear that, whoever's in there? You're going to fucking die."

Mason put an arm around Gwen, and narrowed his brows in a mixture of worry and attempted comforting. He mouthed "we're okay", and listened as the other guards walked away.
Gwen couldn't tell when they started moving. There was a loud blast, and then it felt very steady.
She looked at Mason, who was now pacing.
"Are we…"

"Yeah, we're heading. I hope Ben's ok."
"He is. He can handle himself" Gwen dismissed him.
Mason bit his bottom lip, "I just wish I remembered to tell him to get some fabric...it would make us more comfortable."

Gwen crossed her legs, and rested her hands on her knees. She closed her eyes. "Let's not worry about comfort."

"You seem pretty comfortable now.
"I'm meditating."
Mason seemed to understand, so he quieted down and sat, waiting for Ben.

_
Ben found his way through the small crevasses of the ship, all of which were filtering air from the outside. He navigated these spaces until he found himself able to climb downward. He peered in the tiny pores of the metal, trying to catch a glimpse of the rooms beyond, and finally he saw a flash of red hair.

He knocked on the wall.
Mason stood up. "Ben?" he whispered.
"I'm in the wall, just use your powers to get me out, the omnitrix will turn me back any second."
Gwen stood up. "Hold on." She focused her attention on the wall, and shot streams of pink manna from her hands. They dug into the small porous openings, and pulled apart a small hole. Ben leaped through and Mason caught him before he hit the ground.
"I could have made that jump, you know."

"Well I didn't know." Mason turned his attention on the metal in the wall, absorbing it, and fixing the hole.
Ben phased back. "Well, I think that worked perfectly."
"Except they know we're here." Mason said.
Gwen thought about the conversation they had overheard. "But they don't seem to care, as long as we pay them."
"Let's not worry about that now," Ben stretched out, "We have what, six hours? Let's just sleep for a bit, and figure it out as we get close."
Mason turned to Gwen "Is he always like this?"
"Unfortunately."
"But I do always work things out, don't I?"
Gwen sighed and went back to mediating. Mason looked at the two Tennysons having their alone time, and sat down to join them.
Gwen was focusing on Kevin's energy. It was proving difficult due to the pronounced distance, but holding objects of his close seemed to be helping, however often they only brought memories, and not anything recent. When they left she had thought just enough to bring a few things of his, but in the excitement only grabbed those which were easy to find. One was grease towel that he almost always had with him, but had been misplaced in the garage on the night she asked if he loved her..The other was one of his jackets that he last wore about two weeks before that. She knew that the grease towel would only make her think of him and his stupid car, so she carefully folded his jacket and put it on the floor in front of her. She cleared her mind, and focused on the jacket.

They were on his bed at the garage. He was on top of her, their faces inseparable, their bodies entwined. She brought her hips up to meet his, wanting to be closer to him. Her whole body was on fire. She so badly wanted to give into her desire. Kevin had one hand on her breast, and the other on the pillow by her head. He worked his lips from her mouth to her neck, where he kissed her again and again. She let out a moan.
He moved his hand from her breast slowly downward, falling on her stomach. He turned it so that his fingers were toward her feet and started going further down. He lifted his head from her neck, and looked at her, eyebrow raised. She hesitated. Oh god she wanted him to keep going, but she just couldn't, not today. She shook her head 'no'. He brought his hand up to her hip, and kissed her on the cheek.

He sat up, and smoothed out his hair that she had been tussling. His shirt was off, as was hers, and he tried not to look at her as he brought a pillow in between them.
Gwen rolled her eyes and let out a laugh. "If you need to take care of that…"

Kevin blushed. "Uh, yeah."
She smiled at him, and sighed "I'm sorry."

"Don't, uh, don't worry about it," He said, still a deep red on his face, "But I am going to...I'll be right back.
Gwen picked up her shirt from the floor, and put it back on over her bra. Then she lay down, head facing the doorway, propped on her hands and waited for him to come back.
When he did, she rolled over so that he would hold her. He pulled her in, and they both lay together.
"Kevin."

"Hmm?"
"I love you." She could hear his breath hitch , underneath her head, his shoulder tensed. "You don't have to say it back today." 'although it would be nice' she couldn't help but think.

She opened her eyes, and the jacket fell to the floor of the ship. It had been levitating along with her. These objects were too linked with personal memories between the two. If only she could have grabbed a sock or a shoe, or something that didn't specifically involve them. Focusing on those memories made her angry. She was headed off to fight for him, and he still wouldn't have the courage to say anything to her. She was also frightened. What if she never got to be all his, for an intimate moment where it was only them. What if she never got to hear him say anything because he was hurt, or worse, insane.

She wanted to talk to someone, but Ben was asleep. Mason was awake, but she had not made up her mind about him yet.
It didn't matter, because when he saw her looking distressed, he scooted toward her.
"You okay?"

"I guess I'm just worried."

"Yeah. The war is pretty intense," he looked at her, "sorry, that's not helping."
She sighed and got ready to meditate again.
"I'm worried too."
"I know. You almost dodged the mission."
He sighed. "I'm trying so hard to be tough."
"What do you mean."
"I mean I'm trying to be brave, to be a soldier. I don't know if I'm good at it yet, but I think I want to be."

"Why are you just 'trying' to be tough? Why not be tough."

"Because, it's not who I am. When all the adults left, everyone my age was just waiting until they were old enough to join the fight, but I wanted to stay back and look after all the kids. I'm not a fighter, it's just," he sighed "It's not who I am" he repeated.

Gwen skeptically looked at his large build.
"I'm serious. That's why I ran. I was about to be drafted, sometimes it's volunteer, sometimes it's not."
"So why try to be tough now? Just be you. And don't run away again."

"No. If I'm gonna get Lacey back, then I need to be the man she needs."

"Excuse me?" Gwen almost shouted, causing a sleeping Ben to stir, she lowered her voice again, "Why does she need anyone?"
"That's not what I meant. I mean, she's a fighter. And she needs someone as big and badass as

she is to be able to keep up with her. Go to war with her. Not run away."

"Look, wars need nurturing types too. They need people to be medics, look after kids….."
"So?"
"So that's what you bring to the table. Being soft doesn't mean you have to be afraid, it just means that you have different things to offer," Gwen felt like she did when she was first explaining to Kevin that there was nothing that a guy was 'supposed to do'. "Look, maybe your ex just needs someone to be there emotionally, nurturingly. And then when something goes wrong, she has your back."
"But I'm the guy."
Gwen narrowed her eyes.
"But she's the badass." He said, in defeat.

"Exactly," Gwen looked at him, "You know, wars need people to raise kids, and stay home and make people safe."
"I know, but the draft…"

"You ran," Gwen finished for him, "You made a mistake. But the way to fix it isn't by trying to be something you're not, it's by going out there and giving what you can."
"I guess."
Ben let out a snore.
Mason looked over at him, and back at Gwen. He looked as solitary as he did when they met him a few days ago. "I really don't want to fight."
"We'll try to make it so you don't have to."
"Thank you. That means a lot. I'm just…"
"You're an innocent. You're not a soldier you're a citizen. Ben and I understand the difference."
Mason nodded.
They all spent the rest of the flight in relative silence, until Mason pointed out that they were descending. To the Tennysons, it didn't feel like anything had changed at all, it was the smoothest ride they had ever been on, however Mason assured them that this is what it felt like when compress tanks began nearing the ground.
"Osmosians are highly sensitive, I know that we're about to land."
Gwen trusted him and nodded "And we still have no idea how we're going to get out."
"What if we cut a hole in the bottom and jump out?" Ben offered the solution calmly, as if it was the simplest thing in the world.
"Are you crazy?" Gwen asked, "They'd see us if we use our powers to break the fall, and if we don't use our powers to break the fall we'll get smashed on the ground!"
"No, it will work!" Mason exclaimed, "Osmosian tanks and ships are fast, but low flying. We'll have to be fast though!"
Gwen couldn't believe what they were about to do, but having no better plan, she shot a ball of hot mana at the centre of the floor, blasting a hole big enough to fit them all at once.
"We'll jump together!" Ben called, now shouting due to the sound of air whipping around them.
Gwen's heart was in her chest.
"We're getting close to the ground!" She called out.
"I'll count us down," Mason told them, "I know how close we can cut it."
"Good enough!" Ben yelled.
"One"
Gwen could barely breathe.
"Two"
She bent her knees ready to jump.
"Three!"
They all shot out of the hole within a fraction of a second from each other. Gwen was surprised by how quickly she hit the ground, it must not have been a far fall at all. That's not to say she wasn't a little bruised.

She looked around for Mason and Ben. Ben stood up far away from her and began running toward her. Mason was only a couple yards in front of her, smiling as he lay on the ground.
They were on Osmos.

Author's Note: Hope you like this long chapter with some almost sex. Review if you like it.