Author's Note: I own nothing.

37 Discovered

Sandra and Carl Tennyson were relaxed people. They had long ago adopted the parenting style that Jen would do what she would do. So long as she wasn't hurting anyone and she wasn't in any danger herself everything was fine.

Except it wasn't fine. Not after what they'd seen her do, turning into a plant-like alien to fight an eight foot tall creature. Carl had always known about aliens. His mother was an Anodite after all, that was hard to keep a secret. Most mothers on Earth didn't float around the house, or randomly shed their skin in favor of appearing as a being of pure energy. The first time Sandra found out Carl had been worried that she would leave him; but she had been as she was about most things, remarkably relaxed. But when Jen was born they had agreed that they didn't want her to have anything to do with aliens. It was just too dangerous for their little girl.

Their point seemingly was proven when Jen arrived home that night, after disappearing during the fight despite their attempts to follow her, there had been too much fire and the collapse of a building. She had a shining black eye and a mostly healed cut under her eye, a few inches higher and she might have lost it. Of course the two of them fretting and panicking did nothing to help the situation. It seemed to be doing nothing more than scaring Jen. Revealing what they'd seen on the street had true fear flashing through her eyes, it only got worse when they questioned her about what really happened to Grandpa Max. She simply shut down, sitting on the couch, staring down at her feet like they were responsible for all of her current problems.

Sandra spotted it before Carl did. But Sandra was a nurse, she'd seen the signs before. Her daughter, her little girl had a near textbook case of PTSD, and they had triggered it. Her hands were shaking, she was pale and looked beyond scared. When Carl threatened to remove the Omnitrix sheer terror blinked through Jen's eyes as her father pulled her to her feet by the arm she wore the Omnitrix on. It was then that Sandra noticed a scar on her wrist she had never seen before.

It had to be a few years old as it was heavily faded. She caught her daughter's hand, pulling her away from her father for the moment so the scar was in direct light.

"When did this happen?" She kept her voice calm and level. Using her nursing voice on her daughter wasn't something she often did but she didn't want to scare her more than they already had. She seemed to have done the right thing though as Jen tensed but then quickly deflated like a burst balloon.

"When I was ten, a warlord named Vilgax wanted the Omnitrix. He tried to take my hand off with it." Her response was so quiet that even though both adults were quiet they almost didn't hear her. But despite Sandra's glare Carl still tried to take off the watch, breaking most of his power tools and six sawblades in the process. Sandra sent Jen off to bed after that. She had to talk to her husband.

Jen made up her mind the minute the door clicked closed behind her. She emptied her school bag and began to refill it. She took the holo-viewers Grandpa Max had left behind. She took the recorder Azmuth had given her and the hoverboard she'd gotten from Albrasix. She had no idea what had happened to the one from Tetrax, it was probably still in the Rustbucket somewhere. She stuffed a few changes of clothes into her bag. For a moment she thought about getting her toothbrush, but she didn't want her parents to catch her. Instead she snatched up a pen and paused again. What was she supposed to say? She'd lied to keep her parents safe for five years. But that didn't change the fact that she had indeed lied to them. She could hear them down the hall, they were arguing. She shook her head and scribbled down two words on a piece of paper from her desk.

She set the paper down on her pillow and pulled her phone out of her pocket tossing it down onto the bed next to her pillow. She pulled open the window and pulled the hoverboard out of the bag on her shoulder. She hopped aboard, thanking her very few lucky stars for the low cloud cover tonight as she took off into the night.

Sandra tapped softly on her daughter's door.

"Jen sweetie? I have dinner." She didn't answer. "I know there's more to the whole Omnitrix thing than you've told us so far. I'd like to know the whole story. Your father was trying to help you when he tried to take it off. You know he would never hurt you." The silence persisted. "Jen? Sweetie?" Sandra gently opened the door.

The room was empty. The large window was hanging open. The plate fell from her fingers, shattering on the floor. Carl was there in moments. He'd been on edge since he'd seen his little girl, his only child fighting that giant creature downtown. He spotted the note first. He picked it up in trembling hands and held it out to Sandra.

'I'm sorry.' Was all it said, scribbled in Jen's familiar and famously bad handwriting. Jen had run away.

Kevin had just finished eating when the pounding on his door began. He stood and made his way over to it as the noise persisted.

"I'm coming, no need to bust my door down." He paused to absorb the metal of his doorknob in case he needed a quick weapon; you could never tell in this neighborhood. He was not expecting to find Jen at his door.

"I thought we were meeting at the waterfront." Jen pushed past him as he released the metal on his hand. It was then he noticed that the brunette was in tears. "What happened?"

"My parents saw us fighting the Highbreed! They know about the Omnitrix." Her voice was shaking. "Well they saw me fighting the Highbreed, I don't know if they saw you and they didn't say anything about Gwen. But they tried to take it off." Jen was shaking like a leaf. "I couldn't go to Gwen, Uncle Frank and Auntie Natalie would have just sent me home and it would have gotten her in trouble too. Cause they only know about her powers, not the whole saving the world thing! And the Rustbucket is the first place they'll look. I didn't know where else to go." Her voice cracked as she slumped onto his couch tears streaming down her face. Kevin nodded.

"Ok. Lose the jacket." Jen looked up at him, confused on top of the fresh tears.

"What?"

"Lose the jacket. You wear it basically everyday. If they go to the cops to report you missing it'll be the first thing they describe. You can't stay here either, it's the first place Gwen will look." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed a number.

"Hey Coop. You still got that spare room? Not for me, for Jen. She'll explain when we get there. Thanks man." Jen took off her jacket as Kevin disappeared into his room, reemerging with a black hoodie that he tossed to her.

"Keep the hood on that up. Anyone see you coming here?" Jen shook her head.

"I hoverboarded, so no. Low cloud cover tonight. What about the Highbreed?"

"Let Gwen and I do some recon at the waterfront tonight." He rummaged in a box and tossed Jen a phone very similar to his own. "It's a burner but I'm assuming you remember your cousin's number?" Jen nodded. "Answer it when it rings. I remember the number for that phone. Hoodie on, come on." Jen nodded as she pulled on the hoodie. It was about two sizes two big for her but it hid her well. The only disadvantage was that it didn't allow for easy access to the Omnitrix. But she grabbed her bag and headed out the door with Kevin. She'd clearly come to the right place. But he would know how to run away and not be found. He'd done it once after all.

They arrived at Cooper's house and Kevin nodded for her to get out.

"I'll meet Gwen at the waterfront. We'll do recon, if it looks serious I'll call the burner. You and Coop can work on your little project you got going. I'll let Gwen in on what's happening and we'll figure out what to do ok?" Jen nodded and paused as she made to get out of the car. She turned back and hugged Kevin. It was brief, light and made slightly awkward by the fact that he was still buckled into the car. But it was the first time she'd done that.

"Thanks Kevin."

"Don't mention it." She nodded, grabbing her bag and heading inside.