Disclaimer: Don't own AT ALL.
A/N: Oh. My. God. That was...that premiere was just...I CANNOT put it into words at all. We got a major plot to follow though, which is always good :D And that cute lil' kiss on the cheek that Kevin gave to Gwen? Awww :3 Also, to the people that don't know this already, Osmosians can't absorb energy cause it causes . WE WAIT THREE SEASONS TO LEARN THIS. You know, this would've helped us out A LOT. But we know why Kevin was the way he was when he was a kid! 'Cause he must've absorbed energy, went coo-coo for Cocoa Puffs and became a-well, you know the rest. So anyway. Here you are! :D
Big Damn Table
51. Water
She felt so useless. Utterly, totally, completely useless.
She was always labelled the bookworm. The smartest girl in class. She was always elected in the Female category for Most Likely to Succeed. Yale, Harvard, Princeton and Dartmouth were sending her acceptance letters every month it seemed. Everyone looked to her for help in all her classes, providing after-school tutoring. She was the "Mother Hen" of the group because she looked over Ben and Kevin, making sure everything was well balanced and provided the knowledge when it was needed.
Despite everything that she was, she managed to screw it all up.
She let Aggregor get away with the piece of the Map of Infinty, because of the careless mistake. She had let her guard down, and the most powerful alien that existed was only closer to controlling the Forge of Creation.
"Hey, Gwen!"
Gwen opened her eyes, her surrondings tinted darker by her sunglasses. Her eyes burned and were a little wet. She wiped the corner of her eyes as Ben ran up to her. She sat up on the beach towel, clearing her throat.
"Wanna play volleyball? We found this really cool ball on the beach and thought you'd wanna play."
Gwen fought a smile. Ben was able to make her smile, no matter what mood she was in. He was such a goof-ball. "Ben. You found a dirty ball left alone on the beach. Do you even know where it's been?"
"The ball making factory?"
"Ben..."
He laughed, shaking his head. "Just messin' with ya. So hey...uh...you alright?"
"I'm fine Ben. Thank you." She kept her voice clear and strong. Her throat felt thick, like her voice was going to break at any moment. "I'm just going to lay down over there, where the shallow end is, okay?"
"Alrighty then. Have fun with that." Then Ben ran off to Kevin and they begun their game without her. Gwen smiled at the two of them already arguing about whether the ball hit the mark or not, then untied the sash from her waist, letting the breeze wash over her a little. Taking a few assuring deep breaths, she tried to cleanse and focus her mind. She was going to be okay. They were all going to kick Aggregor's ass and the Forge of Creation would be untouched.
She walked toward where the water met the sand and then heard Ben shouting and the swish of sand.
"You're ditching me? Loser! Cheat! Come back 'ere and fight like a freaking man!"
Gwen turned to find that Kevin had ditched the game, running to her. She smiled as Kevin rolled his eyes, ignoring Ben's ranting. "He'll go Echo Echo and play with himself. Not that he already doesn't-"
"Kevin!"
"Just kidding," he chuckled. "So. Mind if I join you?"
"I don't mind."
His hand touched hers tentatively before they continued, making Gwen's heart almost leap out of her chest. Any signs of tenderness and affection was always nice to see, and it was usually when they were alone. Which was something to cherish, because they were so busy with their last meesly years of high school and Plumber business, that there barely was anytime for them to have together.
She took his hand with a soft yet firm grip, smiling. They sat down on the wet sand and let the water seep through their toes as it moved toward them. Kevin sighed heavily. "This is really nice. Just being a human and not worry about some aliens attacking us."
"I don't know about that." Gwen smiled, looking at Ben. He had turned into Echo Echo, like Kevin had said he would, already arguing with himself about hitting himself. "Guess you were right."
"The kid's predictable. Even at his most random moments." Kevin pursed his lips. "If that makes sense..."
Gwen laughed. "Sounds about right to me."
Kevin smiled, his eyes trailing back to the water. His eyes froze on her arm. "How...is it?"
Every happy emotion that she had, left her and the most unsettling feeling settled in her stomach, seeming to drag her back down. She looked at where the poisoned needle had injected into her skin from one of traps. It was slightly swollen around the area, but it was also misshaped, pale and rough. It was sore for the past couple weeks. "It's...fine." Her voice came out thick and she cleared her throat.
It didn't fool Kevin. "Gwen. What happened back there. It wasn't your fault."
She felt her eyes burn again and her heart beat wildly in her chest as anger and frustration flowed through her veins. "But I-"
Kevin put a hand to her mouth, his forehead resting on hers. The gesture shocked her, but it relaxed her, her body slumping forward, leaning against him. His hand still held hers with a nice, comforting pressure, letting her know that he needed to put his input in. "No buts," he said softly. "Gwen, Aggregor was two steps ahead of us the whole time. He had it all planned out. We set the traps so he could run through them after us with no problem. He knew we were going to be struggling with the wall. What happened with those needles, it wasn't your fault. Actually, it's kind of our fault."
"You're not at fault here, I-" The words died on her lips as he gave her a stern look. He had never been so serious with her. She knew this had to be something worth listening to. She pursed her lips and nodded for him to continue.
"I could have saved you when Ben could've changed to Humongasaur. I beat myself about it all the time. So listen to me Gwen. Understand that none of that was your fault. We do make our mistakes. And hey..." He trailed off, smirking. "We'll be able to kick his mutant ass later."
Gwen fought a smile, but it was no use. She laughed, shaking her head. "I guess we can do that."
"Yeah. All we have to do is make sure that he doesn't get all of the pieces. We need to save at least one."
"Right, right." Gwen leaned her head on his chest, smiling. "Thank you Kevin. I needed that."
"No problem Gwen. I knew that you needed that. You've been kinda down lately. I didn't like that, so I did something about it."
She leaned in, kissing him on the cheek. She pulled back with a grin. "Guess you're not the only one that needs to be watched closely."
A/N: YEEGAD! Urgh...I don't know how to end these things sometimes, but hey, whatever :P Was this bad? Good? You tell me!
