Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10. Otherwise, Gwen 10 would totally have gotten its own spin-off darn it.

A/N: So Car45 and I often hash out plotbunnies together and then sort of toss a coin who gets which (because we usually end up getting twitchy fingers). I lucked out and got this one: takes place after Gwen 10 and during 'Washington B.C.', and in this one, Gwen still has the Omnitrix after they defeat Vilgax.

Ben glanced up from where he'd been relaxing (not brooding!) by the campfire to see his grandfather coming his way with a bucket of water. Time for bed, it seemed. He didn't want to go into the RV just yet, so was pleasantly surprised when, instead of pouring the bucket over the shrinking fire, the older man put it on the ground and sat down beside Ben on the log. He smiled at the boy, giving him a pat on the back. Ben smiled back, albeit it weakly. Three months, a year, twenty, grandpa would never stop being grandpa.

"Still sore that she snapped at you?"

Ben pulled up his knees to his chest, grumbling into them. Gwen had kicked him out of the RV with the instruction 'not to come back until he understood personal space', which Ben thought was unfair, as all he did was sit beside her. It wasn't his fault that he'd grown used to being able to sit next to her without trouble, or that she was in a bad mood because she couldn't get the Omnitrix to work consistently-

He sighed. Grandpa noticed. Eyeing him carefully, the old man reluctantly opened his mouth again. "What's really bothering you, Ben?"

Ben considered not answering him, or making something up, but frankly? It would be nice if someone understood. He'd been banging his head against this problem for days, and Gwen had always told him that if he couldn't fix something himself, he should get help. At least now, she wasn't around to gloat over him actually listening to her advice. Which was entirely the problem.

"...she hates me." He muttered, miserably. It had taken Ben a while to put his finger on it, but the week since they'd defeated Vilgax had driven the point home. Gwen, this Gwen, utterly despised him. And Ben was still learning to deal with how much that stung, because to him, she was still the dweeb he'd learned to rely on, to care for, and he'd gotten used to Gwen caring as well, under all that snark. This one… didn't.

Grandpa Max seemed slightly mystified though. "Unfortunately, yes. I was under the impression that that feeling was mutual, though." He asserted, mildly.

Ben snorted. He would've thought so too, before going back in time. They'd never stopped fighting after all, and friends didn't fight all the time, right? But compared to this Gwen, he had to conclude that his relationship with 'future' Gwen had been very friendly.

It wasn't so much in the things this Gwen said or did, but in all the things he'd come to expect that weren't there anymore. This Gwen didn't look at him with trust and a fond sort of annoyance. This Gwen didn't let him voice stray thoughts and listen. This Gwen didn't let him sit beside her just to enjoy the company, occasionally going out of her way to explain some magic mumbo jumbo to him, using him as a sounding board. This Gwen didn't joke around with him, or understood half of the references he made.

This Gwen didn't take him by the hand to show him the steps of a dance. This Gwen would sooner break those hands at the idea.

"Not anymore." Ben mumbled, sulkily kicking a rock into the fire. Beside him, grandpa was silent, looking at him like he was starting to see the pieces of a puzzle fall into place. Well, if that cat is out of the bag anyway... Turning fully to the man, Ben's lips worked silently for a moment before he grit his teeth, forcing what he felt past his lips. "I miss her, grandpa. I miss Gwen."

Okay, that got him a shocked look he did not think he deserved. At his glare, grandpa crossed his large arms over his chest, closing his eyes, exhaling a breath. He was thinking, Ben knew, and the boy appreciated that for a change rather than wanting the man to hurry up. After a week of not being taken seriously about anything by Gwen, even if he had more experience with the watch she was probably fiddling with right now, being taken seriously by someone was a comfort.

"She's still here, you know." Grandpa Max told him, and Ben felt a sharp pain shoot through his chest.

"No, she's not!" He snapped, suddenly angry, standing. Grandpa Max looked surprised at his outburst, but sod it, he needed to get this out.

"She's off in some different timeline, while I'm stuck here with you two!" He knew that he was yelling but he couldn't bring himself to care, or to stop, a week of confusion spilling out. "Stuck with a grandfather who's still weighing every word he says, wondering if he should tell me things I already know," Grandpa Max winced at that. Good, he should. "and a cousin who hates me and I- And I-" He felt the energy drain out of him and sat back down on the log, dropping his head in his hands. He was not going to cry. He wasn't!

After he steadied his shaking breath, he continued, whispering. "I-I just want her back." He croaked, not caring that he sounded pathetic. It had taken him days to come to terms with it, but it was the truth.

A sudden warm embrace took him off guard, but he quickly melted into it anyway, burying his face in grandpa's chest. He wasn't crying, but it was a close thing. Still, he savored the comfort; he hadn't known he needed a hug this bad until he got one. One more reason to miss Gwen, he guessed. She was always very good at telling when he needed one, even if he squirmed while getting it.

"How alone you must feel..." the man mused and Ben grit his teeth. But he didn't deny it. He felt like he had lost parts of himself; like he lived with a stranger. Like he was a stranger. Grandpa hadn't changed much toward him over their three months on the road. Gwen? Gwen had changed a lot, more than he'd ever realized until he came back. And he wanted her back but he couldn't-

"This Gwen isn't the one you love." Grandpa started, loosening his embrace and kneeling before Ben, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. Part of Ben wanted to protest at the use of the word 'love', but he didn't have the fight in him. At this point, even he wasn't certain what his relationship with Gwen had even been. "But that doesn't mean that she can't be."

Ben looked at the old man, feeling confused. He knew what grandpa meant, but... "It won't be the same." Even he had to wince at the hurt in his voice. Grandpa squeezed his shoulder.

"No, it won't be. You have a head start right now, and you need to help her to catch up. But there is nothing stopping you from being her friend again. Who knows, given that you have that three months head start, you guys will be even better friends by the end of summer than you were." The old man shrugged. "Or you can just keep doing what you're doing. Seems to be working."

Ben shook his head vehemently. No, what he was doing now was not working, and another week of it would drive him nuts. And for that matter... grandpa was right. This was not the Gwen he knew, but it was still Gwen. He had a chance to be her friend, and for longer this time. He would be a fool to waste it. Taking a steadying breath, he nodded resolutely.

He missed his friend, and, one way or the other, he was getting her back.

Problem was, he had no idea how to go about it. His past (future?) bond with Gwen had evolved over time; they'd stumbled into it. It had been natural.

And he had no idea how to rebuild that bond without another three months of constant life and death situations. He tried being nicer, but it made her suspicious. He tried banter, but she'd take it personally and tear into him, and he really couldn't muster enough dislike to match her cutting remarks. And their neutral game was…

Ben dropped his head on the table, groaning. Across from him, Gwen looked up from where she was tinkering with the Omnitrix (again. One of these days, she was going to get it to lock up. He hoped she wouldn't be stuck as Stinkfly for a day…) and quirked a brow at him. "Did your last brain cell finally call it quits?"

Ben groaned. "Yes, the inspiring sight of your fumbling finally caused it to blow it's brains out."

Gwen snorted derisively. In his head, he could imagine Gwen teasing him for just getting overloaded at the sight of her awesomeness, which would get the ball rolling on that dispute-

"Please, even your brain cells have no brains to blow out, idiot." Ben wanted to sigh again. Not funny. No attempt to keep the conversation going. Just a hard kick to his ego to shut him down as quickly as possible, or send him off in fury. Before he could let that fury take hold of his mouth (or, more likely, just go to bed again because at least then he could pretend everything was still normal) grandpa spoke up from the driver's seat.

"Be nice, Gwen. By the way, kids, we'll be in Washington in a bit. Any ideas what you'd like to do?" He asked, smiling at them through the rear-view mirror. "And if you could decide without fighting, that'd make your grandfather very happy."

Gwen immediately shot up out of her seat. "There's this super cool exhibition at the museum of natural history! We gotta go see it!" She gushed. Ben grimaced. Last time they'd been there, after hours, they'd met Dr. Animo and tore up several blocks when they got caught up in his plot. What was it again? Resurrect the chicken? He remembered there was a bird in there somewhere.

Part of him wanted to guide them down the same route they'd gone before. He kind off knew the immediate future for some things at least, if he kept things mostly the same, there wouldn't be many surprises, which meant less of a chance of things blowing up in their faces. And that meant not going to the museum of natural history, and probably having another fight with Gwen. Great. Before he could open his mouth, grandpa butted in again, sounding mischievous, of all things.

"Actually, I think Ben deserves a pick me up after all the rough spots he's been through lately." Gwen spluttered at the not so subtle reference to all the rough spots she'd put him through. Ben grinned at her cheekily, knowing he held all the cards now.

"Hmm let's see, wasn't there a Sumo Slammer event…?" He mused. He thought that was one of the reasons why they'd had those special cards in the cereal boxes… man, that felt so long ago. Seeing Gwen squirm at his suggestion was it's own special brand of delight. He could vaguely remember liking it more though.

"Sumo Slammer event it is than?" Grandpa asked, eyes twinkling. "Are you sure about that, Ben?"

Ben smirked at his cousin, watching her sweat. Yeah, it still had it's appeal. But it was pretty clear that he was the only one following the steps of this dance, and that wasn't going to change if he didn't shake it up. His grin widened and Gwen sunk back in her seat, a groan forming on her lips.

"Nah, natural history museum sounds great. Let's dweeb it up."

He didn't know what he found more endearing, Gwen's shocked expression, or the delighted squeal that followed.

"I think I did the right thing." Ben remarked, dangling from the beak of a giant cockatoo on top of the Washington Monument. The bird made a befuddled noise.

"Yeah, I hear ya. Still ended up in the exact same, err, reverse, situation. But hear me out: I think scored major brownie points today. That's gotta count for something, right?" And had he ever. Gwen's mood had been through the roof all day; not even the ungratefulness of the police for all the people she rescued from a burning building on their way to the museum could get her down. When they'd walked up to the entrance of said museum, she'd bounched in place, squealed, and actually hugged him. It had taken all his willpower not to cheer right then.

It had made him giddy enough to actually listen to her as she gushed endlessly about the many exhibitions. He'd stopped bothering to read the information signs or pay attention to the guides; Gwen knew way more than either of those. He still didn't know how she could get so exited about all the details, or get exited about the exhibitions when she already knew everything about them, but her happiness had been impossible to resist once he decided that he was not going to rain on her parade. Maybe he should've tried that sooner; a happy Gwen was way more fun to hang with. He hadn't even noticed that it was time for dinner until grandpa had pointed it out, much to both their disappointment.

Not that pizza for dinner could stop Gwen from just continuing on about what scientists knew about various dinosaurs and their habitats, and he really hadn't wanted to stop her. If he were honest with himself, he'd admit that he actually rather liked it when she raved at him. It was one way to get her undivided attention, at least, so he'd kept the questions coming and she'd kept the answers coming and it worked.

Right up until a tyrannosaurus had blundered down the street during their pizza dinner (ha! He did pay attention when she explained the weird names!). Darn Animo and his timing. Gwen had been out of her seat so fast that she'd forgotten her backpack, so he'd slung it on as he followed. Retrospectively, he had to conclude that this ridiculous giant parrot was just attracted to the purple monstrosity, because of course it snatched him up.

Cue, current situation. Still, he had a killer view. And was making new friends.

The bird made an amused sound and he snorted. "It wasn't that bad, actually."

Another sound, and Ben gasped, blushing. "Okay that is, totally out of line man!"

Down below, he saw the RV halt. If he recalled correctly, this was the part where the bird got up and started circling them, leaving his 'victim' stranded on top of the tower. Now, though, he just kept on dangling from the bird's beak. It didn't seem to care much that they had guests. Ben shrugged. Guess that's what a positive attitude got him. He whistled to get the bird's attention.

"D'you mind? We got butts to kick."

"Why are we keeping the bird?" Gwen asked, exasperatedly across the booth. Ben looked up from where he was feeding the large white parrot on his shoulder, grinning. At least it was a manageable size now, after Gwen had soundly kicked Animo's ugly butt to the curb.

"Because grandpa's awesome like that, and me and Vilgax get along famously. Even if he did crap over my favorite shirt." He grumbled, glancing forlornly at the black t-shirt he was forced to wear as a result.

In the driver's seat, he could hear grandpa stifle laughter. He'd been very on board with the naming choice. Across from him, Gwen rubbed her temples. He knew that habit: she kinda got what was going on, but hadn't quite grasped the how of it yet.

"So you suddenly turn nice, manage to hold a conversation for longer than thirty seconds, and now you befriend a giant bird monster?"

"Hey! He's not that big anymore. And he's sensitive about it." Vilgax backed him up by hiding in his neck sulkily. "See what you did? Rude."

Gwen looked at him like he'd grown a second head. "Are we both this crazy by the end of summer, or is it just you?" Ben barked a laugh, finding that, for the first time that day, thinking of the Gwen from his timeline didn't hurt. The bird laughed along with him, which was awesome. "Dweeb, you are ten times crazier than me by the end of summer." And ten times cooler, but he kept that thought to himself. No need to inflate her ego that much. Then again, judging by the way her right eye was twitching, maybe a little positive reinforcement would be good.

"Thanks for the save when Vil accidentally dropped me, by the way." He told Gwen, sincerely. It still didn't come easy to him, praising her, but her answering smile immediately informed him that he'd made the right decision. She looked as happy as she had when he told her he wanted to go to the museum, and wasn't that a riot?

"What can I say, it's just what heroes do: saving doofusses." She quipped. He grinned, privately enjoying the double irony of her 'parroting' his words back at him from so long ago.

"Yup, I'd be a pancake without my dweeb." His brain caught up to his tongue a second later and he felt heat creep up his face.

Instead of freaking out about his choice of words, though, Gwen reached across the table and ruffled his hair, grinning. She snickered at his protesting sounds. "Oops, sorry freakazoid, I was aiming for the bird, but I got confused because of that bird's nest that you call 'hair.'" Her hand stayed in his hair for a moment longer though, and he looked at her, finding her looking back with a searching expression on her face before she quirked a small, shy smile at him.

"Thanks, Ben. You made my day."

He totally did not sit there gaping like a fish as she stood and went to prepare for bed. He didn't. Really. Shut up.

"What just happened?" He asked the bird on his shoulder. The bird laughed at him and that was it darn it, he was renaming the blasted chicken 'breakfast.'

A/N: Guess you could say Ben puts on sunglasses found a wingman. Hope you all liked it. I always liked the idea of Gwen 10, and sorta wondered how Ben would actually cope with losing his Gwen. The bird was just the drugs kicking in. I regret nothing.