Gwen talks about the Charmcaster problem and Ben's night out on the town goes better than expected.


Ben stood in front of the mirror, looking over his outfit for the evening. Blue jeans, white shirt and a bomber jacket combo should do the trick. He smiled, doing a finger-gun at his reflection before he laughed to himself. His phone vibrated on top of the table next to him as he pressed the button for the call.

"Yello!" Placing the phone against the mirror, Gwen popped up on the screen in her own sanctum sanctorum, a pile of books beside her with Kevin in the back watching TV.

"Oh, you're in a chipper mood."

"I'm in Cancún, what's not to love?"

"Well, I thought you would be taking the break-up harder than expected."

"Gwen, I got broken up over a text. I'm in one of the best hotels in one of the most popular holiday destinations on Earth and I'm gonna go on a space trip across the universe next month with my favourite people. Nothing is keeping this guy down!" Ben said, slicking back his hair in the mirror.

Gwen raised an eyebrow at his stellar attitude and looked ready to argue the point when Kevin said something in the background. Ben could only hear Gwen's half of the conversation.

"That's not the point, Kevin! Kai broke his heart and didn't even do it face-to-face," Gwen said over her shoulder.

"So you'd rather she break up with me face-to-face and twist the knife further." Ben's face was tight as he tried not to let his frustration show.

"I'd rather she not break your heart at all."

"Gwen, I've been to the future, somehow me and Kai get together and have a kid so this is nothing but a temporary thing."

"That's not how that works."

"Sure it does, that's life, so it doesn't matter what I do cause I'll end up with Kai anyway."

"I'm not going to even list the reasons why that's wrong."

"How about we agree to disagree?" Ben said, putting his full attention to his cousin who pinched the bridge of her nose. "So why'd you call?"

"Well, I've been trying to track Charmcaster and I've come up with nothing. I've tried everything I could think of but nothing is sticking."

"Have you tried tracking her using her bag?"

Gwen's eyes narrowed at him and she crossed her arms as if he had asked the dumbest question in the world. "What do you think was the first thing I did?"

"Do that."

"Yes."

"And?"

"Well, it worked for ten minutes but when I tried again, it's as if her identity and attachment to her bag disappeared.

"Like with Jennifer Nocturne?" Ben replied. He remembered the young star that was once a big fan of his and her change when she began to fall in love with Captain Nemesis, a superhero who was in reality a selfish fame-seeking fraud. When they tried to track Jennifer down using her childhood toy, Gwen's magic helped but they came upon a problem that neither expected. How identity and perception played a role in magic and when the last vestige of attachment disappeared from the doll, Jennifer had truly abandoned who she was and embraced her new persona. It horrified Ben to learn how the once sweet, cheerful girl turned violent and cruel during her time with Nemesis. Nor did he forget how she had almost killed him too. That was an important lesson that he wouldn't forget. People change, more often than not, for the worst.

"Yeah, like Jennifer except hers was Stockholm Syndrome with a psycho gloryhound. With Charmcaster, it's…it just doesn't make sense. No one abandons their identity that quickly." Gwen pinched the bridge of her nose. "She's powerful, sure, but it's like she doesn't exist anymore.

"What about using her name?"

"I tried that."

"Her real name."

"Her real name?"

"Yeah, you guys talked about how names have power and everything when we were in Legerdomain."

"Ben, that's… actually kind of genius." Gwen hummed in thought as she whirled in her chair and started grabbing some books.

"I mean, I know I am but hopefully that's something that helps."

"It definitely does. And I haven't forgotten about our space trip and Kevin hasn't stopped reminding me every chance he gets." Kevin piped up again in the back and Gwen's face soured. "No, you can't skip out on the investigation and go to Cancún. You still have to get the Rustbucket ready for the space trip."

Kevin said something again and judging from Gwen's stormy face, was probably another foot in his mouth moment. "I'll call you later. Oh and fix your hair a little bit, you've got a strand sticking out in the back." The screen turned black as she finished the call.

Ben looked in the mirror to find she was right. There was a knock at his door. "Come in!"

The door clicked open as Eddie strode in, no longer in his suit but dressed much more casually, yet he still radiated that rich boy vibe in his designer pants and shirt.

"Ben! You look fantastic-oh, you got a strand sticking up at the back there, bud," Eddie said, already grabbing some hair gel and rubbing it in his hands.

"I thought you were coming at eight," Ben said.

"If you're on time, you're late and if you're early, you're on time," Eddie slicked Ben's hair back, using the comb on the table to fix it to something that was more presentable. "I hear you're single and ready to mingle."

"Who told you that?"

"Ah-ah, this isn't about me, this is about you. Now, this is perfect, the girls are waiting downstairs, your outfit is great and we've got dates."

"Dates!?"

"Of course, they're absolute bombshells too."

"I never agreed to this though!"

"You agreed to a night on the town, that includes the company joining us too."

Ben wanted to argue that point, but looking at himself in the mirror now, he could see Eddie had some skill in this aspect of life. Ben looked good.

"Ben, live a little, would you?"

"I am. Living a little."

"Live a little more. Have fun, drink good drinks, be funny and who knows, maybe you'll get lucky."

Ben crossed his arms, his lips pursed in concentration. Why was he so hesitant about this? Five minutes ago, he was arguing with his cousin that there wasn't really any consequence on who he got with because it wouldn't matter anyway. So why not take the plunge?

"Alright, I'm in."

"Excellent!" The two quickly left Ben's suite and made their way to the lobby. In the elevator, Ben wondered what the girls looked like.. He had dated plenty of girls before and he knew the do's and don'ts of relationships so maybe he had a solid chance of having fun.

Eddie waved over to their companions of the night and Ben was stunned. A bronze-skinned girl with ruby red lips in a tight red dress carrying a small purse waved a dainty hand with finely manicured nails at Eddie. If Ben was a betting man, he was sure the woman was a supermodel and that the two made quite a couple. But it wasn't the supermodel that caught his attention though.

It was the best friend that was coming up next to her. Silky blonde hair that reached past her shoulders, green eyes and a predatory grin of a woman who liked to play games. He was appreciative of the outfit she wore, a magenta leather jacket and a white tube top that showed off her toned abdomen, the kind of body you worked hard at to attain through exercise and diet. She wore blue short shorts that revealed her long, slim legs. Capping off her outfit were the heels giving her a little bit more height and she stood eye level with him. Oh shit, she was eye level with him so she definitely knew he was checking her out. Oh, he hated his luck sometimes.

Ben raised a finger at her, "You're-"

"Charmed, I'm sure," She smoothly took his hand in hers and shook, a grin on her lips. "The name's Caroline, handsome. Carol to friends, what's yours?"

"It's B-Kirby, my name is Kirby." Ben wasn't technically lying when he said that it was his name, it was just his middle name. Who knew that he was meeting the girl from the balcony so soon?

"Babe! Did you miss me?" the girl purred, saddling up to Eddie as she pressed her bosom into his arm, the effect not lost on him.

"Camilla! I always do," he said, pressing his lips to hers which she reciprocated and… escalated.

"Should we separate them?" Ben asked, trying to look away from the passionate couple.

"Why? It's a free show." Caroline grinned at his discomfort before she tapped Camilla on her shoulder. "Babe, you can make out with your boyfriend during or after the night out, not before."

"But he's right here," Camilla whined, pouting as he separated from her. Eddie smiled at the group, leading them to the car waiting out front.

"Shall we?"


For all the adventures that Ben went on, one seemed to have eluded him for much of his teenage years and he was beginning to feel the rush of what 'clubbing' was. Eddie had brought them to a club that apparently was hard to get into but with one flash of his card, open sesame. Once they entered, it was high-octane dancing, loudness magnified to feel the bass vibrate in your chest and from what he saw from people coming out of the bathrooms, a quick sexcapade.

He was seated next to Caroline in one of the couches in the corner, nursing a Long Island Iced Tea. She had a fruity Piña Colada. They were watching Eddie and Camilla on the dance floor, grinding against each other, both of them having indulged in plenty of liquor.

"You seem nervous," Caroline took a sip.

"Well, I guess I'm nervous around pretty girls," Ben said before cringing at the line.

"Flattery will get you everywhere." She laughed at his embarrassment for a moment. "So tell me, Kirby, what's a guy like you doing in a place like this?"

"Ah, you know, the usual, just taking a break from… everything." He sighed, taking a massive gulp from his drink. "Life, work… love."

"Ah, love, the one with all the false advertisements about how it'll fulfil you and you'll meet the one."

"Right!" Ben sighed, leaning back into the cushion and drank all of the sweet drink in one go and Caroline called for the bartender to replace the empty one. "I had a sure thing before but then she broke it off because she didn't really want me, she wanted something else. Sorry if I'm bothering you with this."

"No, if we're trading war stories, I've got one that will beat yours, hands down." The noise died down as Ben's interest was piqued.

"Oh yeah?" The couple were blasted with a wall of sound as the music kicked up louder and faster than before.

Caroline smiled, cupping her ear. "What!?"

"Oh yeah!?"

Caroline pointed to her ear, mouthing, 'I can't hear you'.

"I said, oh ye–" He scooted in closer to her which she didn't seem to mind, scooting in with him as well.

Ben grinned, leaning in towards her. "Yeah?"

"Oh yeah." Caroline leaned in, pressing herself to him. "I've only ever seriously dated this one guy way back, found him on my doorstep, passed out. He looked like he got into a gang fight so I took pity and nursed him back to health. He was grateful for my help and I'm not gonna lie, he had a pretty face. We had fun and it was all very fairy-tale crap, you know the kind where it seems like the couple will live happily ever after."

"I sense a 'but' coming."

"But it wasn't. I gave him everything that I could offer him and it wasn't enough. He wanted more, he wanted someone else," she noted bitterly. "Anyways, long story short, that someone else came along and showed me how much of a bastard he was."

"What'd he do?"

"I asked him what my name was and he forgot."

Ben cringed; he felt no sympathy for the guy if he could forget someone like her.

"I'm sorry." The song in the club trailed to an end and Caroline gave him an appreciative look, sensing the sincerity in his words.

"Why? You're not the one who forgot and besides, I'm living my best life now and I'm not stopping!" She shouted the last bit in his ear just as the music exploded in the club once again.

"And what's living the best life like?" They both watched as Eddie snuck his hand up Camilla's skirt which she didn't seem bothered by and actively encouraged.

"Lots of partying, drinking and other fun stuff you can do here."

"I bet it's a fun life."

"Yeah," Caroline looked down at her glass, a flicker of sadness in her eyes, before she raised it. "To shitty relationships and crappy exes."

"Here, here." He clinked the glasses with her and they both downed it, the heat in the club more palpable than ever before as they coughed and choked, feeling the alcohol rush down their throats.

Despite his inebriation, he could sense that Caroline wasn't telling the whole truth, but it was probably a subject that she didn't want to talk about and certainly not in a club setting. He downed the entirety of his own drink, slamming it on the table. "Come on, let's go get ourselves another drink, hey?"

She grabbed his hand, stopping him. "How about we find a nice bar with a pool table, with cheaper drinks and see where the night takes us?"

"What about them?"

"Camilla can take care of Eddie. I'll take care of you."

"Is that a promise, Caroline?"

Caroline smiled, grabbing him by the hand as she led him away from the rowdy club and into the cool night. She hugged his arm into her chest and leaned into him. "Call me, Carol."


"This is the nice bar you were talking about?" Indeed, they had both walked a fair way to the seedier part of town. Ben thought this is how people acquire an interesting story about an untrustworthy stranger in a strange part of town. The bar's entrance was painted in faded white with yellow trim on the edges and there were several flags propped on top from other countries. A giant neon sign read Abuela's in cursive.

"Here we are." Caroline pushed the door to the bar open, tugging him in. "Come on, the bar doesn't bite."

"Abuela's? Who names a bar after Grandma?" Ben asked.

Carol shrugged her shoulders, "Abuela."

The bar had a more homely, welcoming feel to it that Ben couldn't place a finger on. It had a languid energy compared to the high-octane club that Eddie had selected.

Abuela's music came from the jukebox or the mariachi band, the locals were enjoying an easy beer with each other at the tables and an old woman stood behind the bar, wiping it down when she saw them.

"Mi'jita!" Ben had never seen an old Mexican lady move so quickly in his life as she dashed around the counter and pulled Carol into a bone-crushing hug. Caroline's melodic laugh was music though as the old lady fussed over her.

"Abuelita!" Carol returned the hug with a wide smile. "How's my favourite grandma?"

"I'm your only grandma, who's this handsome boy?" Ben got a closer look at the older woman whose hair was completely grey, her sharp blue eyes looked at him with kindness and her mouth stretched into a beaming smile as if she was used to smiling all the time.

"Hi, I'm Ben, nice to meet you. Carol, you didn't tell me you had a sister." Perhaps the alcohol was hitting him more than he thought as it took him a few seconds to register what he just said but by then, it was too late.

"Mi'jita always bringing such a nice boys to my bar." Ben tried to hide his embarrassment again and Carol's laugh only made him want to retreat further into himself. "I'm Sofia, mi'jita's grandma."

"How about you sit down while I fix us some drinks?" Ben shuffled off, slumping onto the chair as he hid his face in his arms.

What was wrong with him? Why did he say that? Oh god, now she was gonna think that he was a sick weirdo who went after grandmas! Ugh, that was it, he was never going to drink again.

"Sex on the beach?" Ben's head shot up from his negative pep talk as he looked into Carol's eyes.

"What?" He asked and secretly, he hoped what she said was what he thought she said. She raised an orange cocktail in one hand, placing it down in front of him and had her own little Pina Colada in the other, complete with a fancy umbrella.

"Right, the drink."

"Night's not over yet, hun, who knows what'll happen at the end of it." She suggested winking at him. Oh, the way she stared made the heat rush from his face to his groin. She was a mischievous scamp, alright.

"How about a game of pool?" she said, rising to the pool table as she got herself a pool cue.

"You sure you wanna play me? Didn't you have like five of those piña coladas?"

"Come on, you're not afraid you'll lose, are you?"

A flash of steel flitted across Ben's eyes, a challenging smirk on his lips as he fetched his own pool cue. "Oh, so that's how we're playing it?"

"That's how I like to play it!" She hit back with her own teasing grin as she got all the balls in place while Ben chalked his cue.

"What are we betting?" Ben asked.

"Loser pays for drinks and if you sink the cue ball in, you have to skull your drink and get a new one."

Oh, a harsh penalty but Ben was always up for a challenge. "Let's see what you got."

The game of pool was made all the more interesting as the two were sloshed as hell with Ben having the disadvantage this time,barely keeping his eyes focused on the cue ball. The further they got into the game, the more fun they were having as the two had shed their jackets. Carol stretched her arms out, pushing her bust out as Ben watched.

"Kirby?" Carol called out, leaning against the pool table. "Wrong end."

Ben looked down at his cue and saw she was right, he promptly flipped it the other way and took aim. Just as Ben was about to take the shot, Carol leaned over from the other side, giving him an ample view of her cleavage and he struck, but not where he wanted to. The balls clacked against each other and his distraction became his destruction as he had sunk the cue ball.

"Ah, drink up!" Carol hollered in victory.

"You distracted me."

"Hey, who distracted who? Not me, I was interested in seeing how you were gonna take the shot."

"Yeah, right."

"No more complaints! Now, skull!"

Ben grimaced, hoping to have slowly nursed his drink but that was unfortunately dashed as he downed his cocktail. He shivered, feeling the alcohol hit harder than before.

"Mi'jita, I got you your favourite, Ceviche and tortilla chips!" Sofia came around with a plate of delicious food, placing it on the table beside them.

"Are you sure this is a bar, I feel like I'm back at—oh that's clever." He giggled, figuring it out finally.

"Isn't it? Oh, Abuelita made us cev-cevic— just trust me and eat it." Carol said, taking a bite out of the food and moaned. God, even the way she was eating was sexual too.

"So you've got a grandma who owns a bar?"

"She's not my real grandma, she's everyone's grandma. The community around here is very family-based, we treat each other like family and she treated me like family when I first came here. And yeah, I got a cool grandma who owns a bar and makes me nice food." Just as she said this, some cream dip fell onto her thigh and she dragged a finger over it, scooping it up. She stared right at Ben, running her tongue over the cream before popping it into her mouth and smiled.

Oh, that was evil. Ben had to win this now. It wasn't about the money or the alcohol, it was a matter of pride. And he had just the thing to rope her in.

"How about we make the game more interesting? If I win this round, you owe me a date."

"Or…" Carol leaned in, her breast brushing his arm. "I'll give you five minutes with me in the bathroom," she purred near his ear.

He stared at her full lips and wondered what he could do with them in five minutes.

"Still on?" she asked.

Ben grinned, "It's so on."


Caroline woke up to a pounding in her head. She turned over in bed. A stream of light hit her face in the right spot though and boy did that annoy her enough to rise out of bed.

She yawned, stretching her back as she rubbed her eyes. She chewed the insides of her mouth, running her tongue over teeth, the lingering taste of strong alcohol in her mouth. She breathed into her hand, sniffed and recoiled. Oh yeah, she definitely went out drinking and drank hard she did, judging by the halitosis.

She fell back onto the mattress, blowing a stray strand of her hair out of the way, groaning as she tried to remember last night's events. She was at the hotel with Camilla, from there, they went clubbing with Eddie and Kirby. Then she invited Kirby to go to another bar. After that, she drew a blank. Maybe flashes of… riding? She was sure there was riding involved but there weren't any horses in Cancun, were there?

She dismissed her half-remembered thoughts, what was the point anyway? Shit happened and she couldn't remember it. No big deal.

Now, she had to assess the damage and see what kind of recovery she'd be making.

She stumbled out of bed with the grace of a newborn giraffe, her bare feet digging into the wool carpet as she used the walls to keep her balance.

She peeked up to her hotel room and suffice it to say, it was about as messy as she was. Designer clothes abandoned carelessly on the floor, cosmetics strewn everywhere and half-eaten food discarded on fine plates. She spotted last night's outfit on the floor, soaked in what she assumed was vomit and hard liquor and found that she was braless and in a pair of soaked panties.

Great.

She took tentative steps around the chaos in the room, her destination being the bathroom which she prayed remained undisturbed by… whatever happened.

She tripped over a heap of clothes, bumping her head on the wall and she hissed. The pounding went from gongs in her head to drills in her ears, and they were meeting in the middle.

Eventually, she made it to her little sanctuary and turned the tap on, splashing some water on her face to wake herself up. The cold sent a jolt to her system as she drank the tap water to wash away the sourness in her mouth. She rubbed her face and looked into the mirror and at the godforsaken mess that was staring back at her. Where there was once was a blonde haired, green-eyed American woman, an all-too familiar face replaced her.

A face that looked at her with such disgust and hatred.

Silver hair hung loosely, on her shoulders, matted and ruffled in places that would be a nightmare to get rid of. Her olive skin still remained though it was darker, more of a natural tone than one earned by tanning. Orchid eyes judged her naked form as if disappointed to learn she had found a new way to sink even lower than she was.

"What the fuck are you doing, Caroline?" she whispered.

She wanted to answer, to appease and stave the judgement from those eyes, to give her at least a half-hearted excuse to justify herself.

She stayed silent.

A sound alerted her that she wasn't alone in the room. Muffled steps on tiled bathroom floors as she whirled around, screaming. A monster made of discarded clothes lumbered forward, its face distorted and twisted in an expression of horror as it reached out to her.

She socked it in its face.

The monster dropped like a sack of potatoes and fell backwards in the tub, scattering shirts, pants and her bra everywhere.

"Ow!" A very regular human male groaned out.

"Shit!" Charmcaster cursed as she rushed forward to help him out. "Hey, if you're gonna sue for assault, be warned you're the one who came up to…me."

She grabbed the last piece of clothing off from his face and held up a cracked mask, sparking from where she hit it, to look down and see the true face of…whoever it was.

Unkempt brown hair, stunning green eyes and a pained expression on his face as he tried to rub the bump at the back of his head. On his wrist was a very familiar watch, one that had stirred emotions of bitterness and resentment and her booze-addled brain was slowly piecing it together. She was beaten to the punch as the stranger in the tub got one look at her.

"Charmcaster?" His voice shocked her into startling clarity as she backed away from him. No, no, no, he couldn't be here. Anyone but him. This was all one big sick joke as he looked up at her and with pure venom, she hissed his name.

"Tennyson!"


Massive shoutout to SnivyAlchemist, ktbl, Sunshowersy and the beta known as delicatefade for inspiring me with this chapter as well as doing beta. All of you deserve puppy kisses.