Chapter 2: Consequences

Author's notes: I just want to thank Firiette and Hapcelion for proofreading this. Any mistakes are all mine.

October, 1998

Gwen stared at her biology text-book and tried to study.

She did. She really did. Her eyes ran over the paragraphs and pictures and every few seconds she glanced over at her notebook to double-check what she'd written, but she couldn't focus on any of it. Not even with the multicolored highlights that she'd covered her notes with just to get her attention; red for the things that she needed to check again, orange for the things she was sure that the people she tutored would have trouble with, and green for things she knew that she knew. It made her writing look a bit like a Christmas tree, but she didn't mind. It was neat and organized and it made things so much easier for her when she had a test to prepare for.

Like now.

She tapped her pencil on the desk and tried to get into the biology of plants for the fifth time. It was almost fun during class when they were cutting samples up to look at under the microscope. Almost. She usually loved that bit, the chance to look at the world in a completely different way.

To see things that she'd never seen before.

The pencil tapped a little faster as she managed to get halfway through the line before her eyes drifted away. Her desk was in front of the window just so she could look outside when she got stressed. She always thought that she had the best view in the house even though the only thing she could see were the rose bushes in her back yard and the woods that stretched out behind the fence.

It was always fun to watch, but it was beautiful now; with the bushes blooming with bright yellow roses as the trees changed color. Fall was always her favorite season.

She didn't even glance up. Instead her eyes went to her nightstand.

"No, Gwen," she whispered to herself as she tightened her grip on the pencil until it creaked between her fingers. It almost hurt to look down again. "The main parts of a flower are the stigma..." she read out loud to herself for the first time in years. She read out the entire first paragraph and then the next. Each word came a little bit quicker than the last until they were rushing out of her mouth. Once she actually heard herself she stopped so fast that she almost bit the tip of her tongue as she buried her face in her hands and moaned, "I sound like Ben trying to get out of doing the dishes."

It didn't make any sense. She loved science and they were doing real science. Finally. It wasn't like it was English or PE. The only thing she liked more were her computer classes. Last year she would have...

Last year. Last year her science classes seemed exciting. Now...

Now she was out of her chair and hurrying over to her nightstand before she even realized what she was doing. She felt guilty every step of the way, right up until she actually touched the little brass knob on the drawer and pulled it open. Last year the stuff she learned in science was the most amazing things she'd ever seen.

Now it didn't even compare. She reached inside for the ancient spell book that was waiting inside and she felt...

The moment she touched the smooth leather she felt...

She didn't know how she felt. The only thing that even came close was her first karate class. It was almost two years ago and still remembered just how sore and stiff she'd been when it was over. She'd hurt so much that her mom had to help her into the car like she was a baby. Worse than that was the whole gross factor as sweat actually dripped off of her. Even thinking about it made her glance around to make sure that no one could see how disgusting she'd been. She should have hated it. She should have quit. Her mother was certain she would. There were a pair of ballet shoes waiting for her on the passenger seat when her mom came to pick her up, but...

But she grinned all the way home even as she tried and failed to find a way to sit that didn't hurt. Then she spent the next two days just babbling about the class to anyone who would listen as she counted the seconds until the next one.

And that feeling didn't even compare to how she felt when she touched the spell book. How she felt every time she touched the book. She didn't even think about going back to her desk after she picked it up. She just got on her bed and crawled to the middle of it before she sat down on top of the cross-legged and set the book on her calves.

The half-faded words called to her as she flipped through the book. She mouthed along with the spells she knew even though she was careful not to actually say them. There were a thousand things she missed from the summer, but the biggest was the privacy. If she found a cool spell, all she had to do was ask Grandpa to find somewhere quiet so she could try it out.

Which was so not an option now. Not while the only place she had to practice was her bedroom. It didn't matter how much she wanted to, she couldn't hide the noise the magic would make. Or the damage. Not just from when the spells went right, but from when they went all explody on her. It didn't matter when they were in the middle of nowhere, but she finally got her room the way she liked it and she wasn't about to mess it up.

Or give her mother an excuse to sneak something pink back into it.

She flipped though all the spells she'd done and remembered the rush of them all. She been amazing even if it was just for a month. She'd have that even if she could never cast a spell again. It wasn't like the Doofus needed her to save his butt anymore anyway, so she put the book away a week after she got home.

The adventure was over and she had homework.

The book stayed put away for almost a month. Until one night when she wanted to remember what it was like to... She went through all her usual spells in an hour before she started going through the rest. There were whole sections in the book that she never even had a chance to even think about. Things that were too complicated to do on the road or in a fight. Things that either worked or didn't without the drama.

Like the spot she'd marked off weeks ago with a small, round stone that was about the size of a silver dollar which used to be a bit of Mount Rushmore. She didn't know which President it came from, but it was just perfect for what she needed. She polished the stone until it felt as smooth as glass under her fingertips. Smooth except for the lines that she'd so carefully carved into it over the last three weeks.

So carefully, but not carefully enough. The band-aid around her left index finger hid the cut, even if it did still hurt sometimes. Not that a little cut was going to stop her from making her first charm.

From being a charmcaster.

Gwen couldn't wait to see the silver-haired girl's face when she found out about the name stealing.

The six lines she carved into the gray stone looked almost random to her, but they matched one of the runes in her book perfectly. It looked so simple, but once she finished it the charm would glow like the sun when she wanted it to. Or anyone else, invoking the charm was so easy even her cousin could use it. Not that she would let him. There were so many times that she wished she had something like that over the summer. Especially when Ben was hogging the flashlight.

Just the thought of her cousin made her itch as she looked down at the book again. The quiet in her bedroom felt so wrong as she double-checked the last spell she needed to finish the charm. She kept waiting for the Doofus to sneak up and scream in her ear, or throw something at her just to make her mess up, or list off all 65 episodes of Kangaroo Commando and their plots at the top of his voice again. He'd spent a whole day doing just that after she 'picked up' the spell book as he danced around just out of her reach. He was so lucky she didn't know any spells back then. If she had...

He knew it, too, which was why that annoying little grin of his never left his face. The only time he quieted down and acted human was when she started to say the words. Then he always went so still even as his eyes became two huge green saucers as he watched her. She knew he was just waiting for her to mess something up, but still...

After all the times he'd shown off with that stupid watch of his, she finally had a chance to impress him. She was finally the special one again.

She finished re-reading the book and wished that he...

She squeezed down on the rock in her hand for a moment before she brought it up and opened up her palm. "Shinne die luminis," she said in a whisper that seemed to echo off the walls. The magic surged around her hand in a blue aura that always left her skin tingling.

"Shinne die luminis," Her voice was louder as she repeated the words. She watched as the energy wrapped itself around the rock and made it dance in her hand just before it lifted the stone free entirely. The soon-to-be charm floated just above her palm and spun as little sparks of power danced between it and her skin. They should have hurt, but she just wanted to laugh.

"Shinne die luminis." she said for the third time. She watched as the blue energy soaked into the ancient stone and flowed into the lines she'd carved until they pulsed with their own light and kept glowing even as the words faded away.

She'd done it.

"I am beyond good, Doofus!" Gwen laughed as she watched the stone float there in her magic. She wanted to pluck it out of the air and test it, but she knew she didn't have to. She could almost feel the magic in the rock waiting for her to invoke it. "I'm so far beyond good that - "

The words vanished in a surprised squeal as the rock exploded in a flash of blue light and bits of gravel bounced off of her skin. She heard them clatter against her walls like a brief second's rain before her room was quiet.

Quiet except for her quick breaths as she stared at the air where her charm was just a second ago. It shouldn't have... Everything she read said that charms didn't do that and she didn't...

And she didn't even know what she did wrong.

That's what really hurt. She blinked away the dust so she could stare at the book again even though she'd been so sure...

Unless she mispronounced a word. Or something was wrong with her carving. Or -

She could have Doofus-ed it up in so many different ways. She could almost hear him laughing at her and she just wished -

There was a whole notebook she'd filled up with questions that she wished she could show someone. No one else learned magic by reading a stolen book and trying to say the words until something happened, she was sure of that. For all she knew, none of the spells she cast even worked right. She might have just gotten lucky so many times and thought that she'd done a good job or... or the magic felt sorry for her. She didn't understand any of it and she just wanted SOMEONE she could -

"Gwen?"

Gwen knew that names had power and hearing hers right then proved it. She thought her heart was racing after the spell exploded in her face, but that was nothing compared to how it was hammering now. It only went faster when she turned around on her bedspread and saw her mother peaking in through her bedroom door. "Mom?" Gwen whispered through a dry mouth as she clutched the spell book to her chest. Her bedroom door didn't have a lock. It never had one, and she never even thought about asking for one.

She was thinking about it now.

For just a moment, she was sure that the secret was out. She'd thought it right up until she saw her mother's face. She'd imagined telling her parents about the magic a thousand different times, and she'd imagined a thousand different reactions.

Worried never came up. Not even once.

Her mom's eyes were full of worry now as she slipped through the door and closed it behind her. "Gwen, is everything okay?"

Gwen was so relieved that she nodded a dozen times before she finally got her mouth to move. "Yeah, Mom, I was just - "

"Studying?"

"Yeah," Gwen said as she hugged the spell book to herself. Whatever relief she felt shrank away with each step the woman took towards Gwen's desk. "I just needed a bit of a break." The words came out as small as her excuse as she watched her mom stop and look down at the textbook.

Which was still on the first page of the chapter. She never even turned the page. She'd been trying to study for an hour and she never even managed to turn the page.

She couldn't hear her mother sigh, but Gwen knew that she did just from the way her mother's shoulders moved. It would have been easier to hear the sigh. "You're taking a break a little early today, aren't you?"

Gwen's shoulder's slumped and she pulled herself to the edge of the bed with one hand while she tried to hide the spell book against her chest with the other. "I know. I just needed a couple of seconds to clear my - "

"Gwen, stop," her mother said and Gwen froze. Froze and then shrank a little as her mother turned and stared at her. Stared and ran her hand through her hair. It was a move that Gwen had watched her mother make so many times when a clerk misplaced something or the lines at the bank were too long. It was intimidating enough on its own, but her mother's red hair made it so much worse. It was only a few shades darker than Gwen's, but somehow it always looked more like fire than Gwen's ever did. She waited for her mother to say something - anything - but she just stood there.

Stood there and thought. Her mother always had storm-cloud blue eyes, but Gwen swore that she saw lightning in them now.

Finally her mother moved and Gwen almost grinned with relief. Almost. Her half-smile became an open stare as her mom came over and sat down on the very edge of Gwen's bed. Ben's turning into aliens was almost normal compared to that. Her mother brushed at the wrinkles in her skirt, or where the wrinkles would be if there ever were any - the clothes wouldn't dare - before she opened her mouth. Gwen braced herself for a lecture, but instead she heard, "What's going on, Honey?"

"Nothing!" Gwen said, her voice almost a squeak, as she sat up straight and waved her free hand over at her desk. "I just - "

"Gwendolyn Rose Tennyson," her mother cut her off with a shake of her head and the lie died in Gwen's mouth. Full names were bad enough, but all three? She never got all three names. She looked down at her knees, but she could still feel her mother's eyes on her. "What's going on?"

"I just..." Gwen said as she clutched a little tighter at the spell book. "I just needed a break."

"You've needed a lot of breaks lately." There wasn't any anger in the woman's voice, but Gwen didn't really think there would be. Her mother didn't get angry often. There was disappointment, though, and that was so much worse.

Gwen tried to meet her mother's eyes. Instead she just whispered, "I know."

Her mother didn't say anything, but she did reach over. Gwen almost bolted when she touched the spell book and she clutched it to her chest for another second before she let her mother take it. Her mother didn't open it this time, she just ran her hands over the cover. This time she heard her mother sigh, and it wasn't any better. "I know you miss your Grandpa, Honey."

Gwen didn't say a word. There wasn't a point because it was so obviously true. Even if her parents were blind, they'd still hear her on the phone with him every few days. She'd hoped to spend some time with him in the last few months, but he was always gone on the weekends. A part of her always worried, despite her Grandpa saying he was just seeing friends, but the rest of her...

She never thought she'd miss the Rust Bucket so much.

"Max always had a way with presents, even if he..." her mother started, but she cut herself off before she finished the thought. Her smile faded just a little as she held the book out and it was all Gwen could do to not snatch it back. "And I know that school isn't anywhere near as exciting as your summer was, Honey. So does your father. It's okay that you feel that way. I would, too, in your shoes - "

Gwen tried to say something to that. Then she tried just as hard not to say anything. For just a second Gwen tried to imagine her mother on the summer trip. She would have given Ben a dozen lectures before they were out of the city, but beyond that everything would have been fine right up until the Omnitrix fell from the sky. After that, Gwen's mind just went blank.

If her mom noticed the look that Gwen was sure her face made, she didn't show any sign. "- but you've moped ever since you got back and it has to stop."

"Am not."

"You've been home for an hour, Gwen, and you've barely touched your homework. Last year - "

"Mom," Gwen whispered.

Her mother kept going even as she somehow managed to sound more disappointed, "Last year you would have been half way done by now, if you weren't still at school tutoring or working in your clubs."

"None were meeting today," Gwen said. It was true, but it sounded so much like an excuse, even to her. "And no one signed up for help."

Lili kept watching her, but Gwen didn't know why. "And no one came over, either. You used to have friends over all the time, Pumpkin. I used to think that Marci-"

Gwen's stomach twisted until it hurt just from hearing the name. For just a moment she remembered a squeal of laughter and a flash of blond hair as she chased the girl around her bed and tried to grab a little blue book back from her. "Marci and I haven't hung out in years, Mom."

Her mother's face twisted for a second at the interruption, but only for a second before she reached up to brush some loose hair from Gwen's face. "She misses you, Gwen. Andi tells me that every time I see her."

Gwen backed away from her mother's hand and swallowed hard. "She doesn't. She so doesn't."

"I think her mother knows..." Lili started before she caught herself. "You have to hang out with more people than just your Grandpa, Gwen. Max is wonderful, but he has his own life and you need friends your own age."

Gwen wanted to say something. She really did, but the words wouldn't come out. So she nodded and said the two words she was sure her mother wanted to hear. "Okay, Mom."

"Gwen - " Her mother started before she closed her eyes and nodded. "I just... I don't like seeing you like this, Honey. Or that you're blowing off your school work after all the hard work that we've - that you have put into it."

"I'm not," Gwen said. She tried for firm, but it sounded dangerously close to a whine even to her. "I'll get it all done. I promise."

Her mother nodded and leaned over to kiss her on the forehead. "Okay. Call if you need anything, Honey. If you get all of your work done by dinner, maybe we'll watch a movie tonight."

"My pick?"

"I suppose." Her mother made a show of rolling her eyes, but her lips turned up a little. "If you get everything done. I'll see you in a bit?"

Gwen nodded and started to get up as her mother went back to the door. She was half way to the desk when she stopped and listened as her father's quiet voice came up from downstairs. He never spoke up, but somehow his voice filled the house. Or his laugh did, anyway. She grinned just from hearing it even as she wiped her hands off on her pants. "Who's Dad talking to?"

Her mother stopped at the door as her back went so straight that it had to hurt, but she didn't say a word. She stayed quiet for so long that Gwen started running through the list of people in her head that her mother didn't want to talk to but her father had to deal with. Deal with and laugh. It wasn't that long a list. Gwen lips started to move so she could ask what Uncle Carl wanted when her mom answered, "Your cousin is on the phone."

"Ben?"

Her mother's face scrunched up even as she nodded. "He wanted to talk to you, that's why I came up. Don't worry about it. I'll tell him you're bus - Gwen?!"

Gwen barely heard her mother shout in surprise as she slipped by the woman, her heart echoed in her ears as she raced down the stairs. The Doofus was on the phone. She hadn't heard a word from him since the night she got home. If he was calling her now...

If he was risking her mom answering the phone just to talk to her...

She was sure that the end of the world would be noisy, but she didn't hear anything outside. She took the steps three at a time and her feet still weren't as fast as her imagination. Each step came with a new and bigger worry, and her fingers were white around the spell book when she finally bounced down the last step and raced across the living room to her father, who was standing just inside the kitchen with the phone to his ear. He was already grinning when she came running over, but it only got wider when he saw her. He brushed his fingers against his glasses, but he didn't hand over the phone.

"No. No, I never tasted anything that made your grandfather's food taste good. You don't have to save some to prove it, Ben, I remember what cafeteria food tasted like." Gwen tugged on his arm and gave her father her best sad puppy-dog look, but he still didn't hand over the phone. Instead his green eyes - eyes that almost matched hers, but were just a bit too dark - sparkled as he watched her. At least they did until Ben said something that made him wince. "Oh, your mom made it? I'm so sorry. Get your father to slip you some lunch money then. He was always a soft touch when we were growing up." Gwen was just getting ready to scream when he winked at her. "I'll talk to you later, Ben. Here's your cousin."

Gwen didn't wait. She just yanked the phone out of her father's hand even as he let out another chuckle. A thousand questions ran through her head and she couldn't ask any of them. Not with her father standing right there. Not when she could hear her mom coming down the stairs. She couldn't even take it back up to her room. Her parents both had cellphones, but the house phone was something from the dark ages. She glared at the curly white cord that she was sure was the last of its kind on the planet with all the venom she could manage as her mind raced.

Why didn't they have any code words? They had the whole summer, they could have made up an awesome code.

"Ben?" She finally asked the only safe question she could think of as she strained her ears to listen. She felt a little better when she didn't hear anything blowing up through the phone. She could just make out the sound of kids talking, but no one was screaming. That was always a good sign. Almost, anyway. Unless Ben saw someone following him or -

Everyone else was calm, but Ben's voice was a panicked and annoyed rush, "Gwen? Finally! Where were you?! I called your phone, but..."

"Mom and dad turned it off after I got back," she said as she glared at her father, who didn't even have the grace to look guilty. He just shook his head and kept smiling even as he mouthed the word 'no.' She'd spent a night fighting to keep it just in case something like this happened - not that she could tell them that - but they wouldn't budge. The only concession she got was that she could have one if she paid for one herself, which wasn't going to happen. Not on her allowance. She thought about charging the people she tutored, but - but they needed her help. How could she? "They said I didn't..."

"Whatever," he cut her off and the next few words came out in a blur, "I'm in big trouble. Can I meet you somewhere?"

None of the questions mattered after that. Gwen grabbed for the kitchen bar and nodded even though he couldn't see her, "Yeah, I can. Is Grandpa going to…"

"No time. This is urgent."

"How are you going to get here? You can't exactly ride your bike here. Is your mom…?" Gwen closed her eyes at the thought. She loved her mother and her aunt, but world ending bad stuff better be coming. That was the only thing worth the risk of throwing the two women in the same room together without warning.

"No." She could almost hear Ben wince at the thought on the other end of the phone. "XLR8. So where?"

Her stomach clenched. If he was going alien after Grandpa made him promise... And it meant that he couldn't come to her house. A big blue dinosaur would be hard to explain even if the bad guys weren't after Ben. If they were -

Thankfully, he must have realized that, too. She guessed that the Doofus wasn't quite as dumb as she thought. So, home was out. And so was any businesses. They needed someplace private... Somewhere private enough, but where no one would notice them, which meant... She turned her back on her parents and lowered her voice as much as she could. "There's a park about half a mile down the road from my house. We can meet there."

"Good, good. I'll see you in five minutes."

"Okay. I'll be in front of…" She stopped and tried to think of a landmark. She brought her free hand up to her eyes as she tried to remember what the place looked like. She'd been there so many times, but she'd never had to hide in it before. Why didn't he ever give her a chance to get ready? If she just had a couple of minutes she could get her laptop and look up a map of the park and... Did they need her laptop? Should she call Grandpa? Was he even back from Aunt Vera's yet?

"Don't worry, I'll find you." And with that the line went dead.

It took every bit of willpower that Gwen had not to run out the door right then and there. She could already hear the clock counting down in her head, but she had rules to follow. She turned to her parents and tried to look as annoyed as she should after she talked to her cousin instead of half-freaked. "Mom, Dad, Ben's over at the mall with some of his friends and he needs some help picking out a present for Uncle Carl's birthday. Can I...?"

"No," her mother sniffed as she crossed her arms. "No. I know that Sandra doesn't care if her son is running all over town on a school night, but you have homework. Call him back and..."

"Mom!" Gwen shouted even though she was already thinking. She could slip out her window if she had to. Then it was one magic disk ride to the ground and... and she was so dead if she got caught. Not that it mattered. Not if it was hero time. "Please!"

"We just talked about this, Gwendolyn." She was wrong. Her mom could sound angry. "You've slacked off enough, and I'm not going to let you..."

"Go on, Honey," her father said. His voice was just as quiet as her mother's, but he always said he spoke that way just so his clients and the judges would pay attention. It must work, because it always got Gwen's. "And make sure he gets a good one this time. Your uncle has enough of Ben's old video games to last a while."

He smiled, but her mother didn't join in. Instead the lightning was back as she glared. "Frank!"

"They spent all summer together, Lili," her father said. His voice was as calm as her mother's was upset. "I think that half of this is because she misses him."

Gwen felt her mouth drop as she dug her toes into the carpet. "Miss BEN?" She wanted to laugh, but the thought was so wrong that she couldn't even start. She could roll her eyes, though, and that almost made up for it. "BEN? So don't. I just owe the little freak a favor."

"I'm sure," her father said even as his grin got bigger. He was ENJOYING this? She knew that he loved teasing her, but still - There were LIMITS.

Like REALITY.

Her mother shook her head and tried to keep glaring, but her lips were twitching, too, now as she kept glancing at Gwen. "He's at the mall?"

"The bookstore," Gwen said. She didn't know why and she kicked herself as soon as the words left her mouth.

"Ben's in a bookstore?" her dad asked. His eyes always looked bigger through the lenses of his glasses, but now they looked almost owl like. He shook his head in amazement. "Are you sure he'll be able to last until you get there?"

Gwen shook her head even as the lie got bigger. "He's not that bad anymore..." He was so much worse. The last time Grandpa took them to a bookstore he managed to knock over three whole displays through his spazziness and got them all kicked out. She never even got a chance to get comfortable.

"Which means he might last ten minutes then?" her mom added as her scowl finally started to go away.

"Which means I have to hurry."

Gwen crossed her fingers and almost cheered when her mother nodded. Gwen knew that she'd never said no to a bookstore. "The second you get back you start your homework." Her face fell just a little, but she still added, "And no movie tonight."

"Okay. Sorry, Mom. Thank you," Gwen gave them both hurried kisses on the cheek before she dashed out the door. Her eyes scanned the sky for any sign of space ships or flying monsters or Santa Claus even as she clutched at her spell book. God only knew what kind of trouble Ben had gotten himself into, but she would be ready.

As ready as she could be anyway. She really wished he'd said what was going on. What if she left something that they needed?

It usually took her three or four minutes to make it to the park, but she made it in two, and she only stopped at the entrance because she had to look around, not because it felt like someone was stabbing her in the side. Or because she needed to actually breathe. She'd forgotten how big the place was. It always seemed so small when her family came to watch the fireworks. Even though it was the middle of the week there were still plenty of people there. Most of them were jogging. She only winced a little as she followed after them and tried to find somewhere to hide a big blue dinosaur.

Which ended up being a place that was almost in the middle of the park. The huge oak tree that was growing there blocked most of the view, and the smaller trees and bushes around it made it seem almost private. She ducked into it just as she felt a burst of wind race by her.

And then the black and white suited dinosaur was crouching under the tree and it didn't seem anywhere near as odd as it should. "What's going on? What do I need to do? Where's the bad guys?" Gwen asked in a rush as she ran up to him and yanked the spell book out of her pocket for a last second review.

"Bad guys?" The face mask pulled back with a click to reveal the scaly blue face underneath it. XLR8 looked as far from human as possible while still having just two eyes. Alien except for his eyes. Somehow, despite all the changes the Omnitrix made, every alien form still had Ben's eyes. Well, at least as long as the alien had eyes. Gwen always wondered why. Just like she wondered why the green orbs looked so confused. "What bad guys?"

"What - ?" Gwen's mouth worked for a second as she waved her hands at him. "I thought you were in trouble! You said you were in trouble!"

"I am!" Ben shouted back as he grabbed at the backpack that was hanging by one strap over his left shoulder and tossed it down to the ground. He knelt and fumbled with the zipper with XLR8's left hand. It took a lot longer for the alien form's three fingers to catch because of the claws, but he finally managed to get the bag open. He dug around inside as he said, "I have a major math test tomorrow, and I'm going to be in so much trouble if I don't..."

"Math…" Gwen cut him off as she stared, and then she glared. And then she smacked him on the back of his head.

"Hey!" XLR8 shouted in surprise as he jumped back. His hand went to his head while he glared at her. "What's that for?"

"A math test?!" Gwen hissed as she massaged the back of her hand. The next time she hit him it definitely wouldn't be in a spot protected by a helmet. Or as dense as his head. "I lied to my parents because you said you were in trouble!"

"I am in trouble! If I don't get an A tomorrow I'm dead!"

"How," she said, and took a deep, cleansing breath. If she beat him up, her parents were sure to find out that she lied. "How can you be dead if you don't get an A? We've only been back at school for two months. Not even a Doofus like you can be failing already."

"Well," XLR8 began when the Omnitrix started beeping and a second later Ben was standing before her. Two whole months had passed and he hadn't changed at all. Literally. He was still wearing the same green khaki's and white and black shirt he'd been wearing the last time she'd seen him, even if the shirt was half hidden under a green windbreaker. It was so sad. The only way it would have been sadder was if she...

She'd meant to change. She had so many outfits, but... But her white pants and blue shirt were the most comfortable things she owned. That was the only reason she was still...

She shook her head and glared down at her outfit. Great. He found another way to annoy her. He reached into his book bag again and pulled out his math book. "I sorta got a bunch of 100's on my last few homework assignments and - "

"What?" Gwen couldn't help blinking at that. Or smiling at the news. "Congratula…." She started to say when she saw his eyes dropped from hers. "What did you do?"

"I didn't cheat."

"I never said you did."

"You were thinking it."

"Was not."

"Was so."

"Was…" Gwen caught herself. She was so thinking it. "You hate math. The only way you'd get a bunch of 100's would be…" Her next words were a hiss that would have done Vilgax proud. "Benjamin Tennyson! Wait until I tell Grandpa!"

"Hey!" Ben raised his hands and shook his head even as he glanced around. "Let's not go running to Grandpa for every little thing."

"You turned into Grey Matter to do your homework! After Grandpa told you not to use the Omnitrix in town! What if Vilgax detected it? Or anyone else? Do you have any idea how many people you put in danger?"

"I didn't!" He seemed to think that was all he needed to say, because he didn't say another word.

He was so wrong. "You didn't think? Yeah. Real newsflash there."

"I didn't put anyone in danger, all right?" Ben stopped at that like that was all he needed to say. She glared at him until he knew better. "Grandpa and I have been taking road trips to a Plumber base in the mountains on the weekends since we got back to try to figure out a way to keep this thing," he said and gently smacked the green and white watch on his wrist, "from telling everyone in the solar system that I just used it. It took a while, but I'm just awesome enough to do it." He grinned, but the glare washed that away, too. "He had me turn into Grey Matter so I could look over some Plumber stuff to make sure and we were taking a break and I kinda, sorta glanced over at my homework and all the answers just popped up in my head. That and a rant about how useless fractions are. Besides, it's not like I really cheated. I AM the little guy!"

Gwen buried her face in her hands, leaned back against the tree and slowly slid to the ground. She should be annoyed. She knew that. And she was. She so was. They'd been taking road trips without her? Without even asking if she wanted to go? Again? She'd thought...

"Well, I am!" Ben said, misunderstanding her silence. Another not surprise. "And who needs fractions anyway? We have calculators now!"

"We can't use calculators yet. We're supposed to learn to do it the right way first," Gwen said from between her fingers as she pushed the hurt away and concentrated on the important thing. That her cousin was a world-class Doofus. "And you can't be Grey Matter in class."

"Yeah," Ben said with a sigh as he dropped down into the grass next to her. "Which is why I need to ace tomorrow's test. Or else Ms. Drake's going to be all, 'cheater this, detention that.'"

"Which you are. Why should I help you?"

"Because we're family?" Ben asked with what he must have thought was a charming smile.

"I have my own homework to do, you know."

He waved that excuse away like it was the smell of millipedes being roasted. "Please, you had it all finished before you left school."

She should have been. She thought about staring at the text-book again and felt another wave of guilt as she realized that she was just as lazy as he was, not that Ben had to know that. "Well, I still have to review."

"Fine," Ben sighed and thought. "Because I'm a hero and now I know?"

"Swing and a miss."

He looked at her and his face fell. "BecauseI'lloweyouone?"

She grinned at him and nudged his leg with the toe of her sneaker. "What was that?"

Ben's eyes rolled. "Because I'll owe you one."

"Really?" She brushed her hair back and stretched out her legs so she could wiggle her feet in front of him. "You know, my toenails could really use painting…"

Ben's face turned red as he glared at her. She could almost hear his teeth grinding together as he bit out the words, "So you'll help?"

She gave him the loudest sigh she could managed as she tucked her feet back under her. "Oh. I suppose."

Ben shoved his book into her outstretched hand as he gave her a too wide smile. "Thank you so much."

"Yeah, yeah," Gwen said as she set the book down on her lap. The moment her hands were free she turned and smacked him on the arm. "Cheater."

Ben was always a sympathy hog - she still remembered the sad show he'd put on when he had a cold just so Grandpa would feel sorry for him,and the look on his face when Grandpa made him cold medicine. The one look which made having to listen to all his moaning worthwhile and hilarious, or it was until he got her sick, too. Unlike him, she didn't need to pretend. She earned her sympathy - but the gasp he made overdid it even for him. "Oh, I barely touched…" She turned to glare at him, and spent half of a second trying to figure out how he managed to make himself go pale before she started to feel sick again. "Ben, are you okay?"

"Yeah, you just took me by surprise is all," Ben said as he forced himself to smile even as he rubbed the spot she'd just hit. "Now, about that test…"

"What's wrong?" she asked as her eyes narrowed to slits as she really looked at him. She'd been so exc - worried about being a hero again that she hadn't really noticed anything but his lucky shirt. Now she noticed everything. Like the green windbreaker he was wearing. "Why are you even wearing a jacket? It's not that cold out yet."

And if she didn't think it was cold, he really didn't think it was cold. That was argument #318 on the trip: who got to control the air conditioner. And if he wasn't cold, then the only reason he'd put the jacket on was so... "What are you hiding?"

He started to sputter as he looked for words, but she didn't bother to wait for an answer, or even for the question to finish leaving her lips before she grabbed for his sleeve.

"Nothing!" Ben shouted as he shoved her hands away. "Can't we just study?"

"If it's nothing why won't you let me see?" Gwen asked as she shoved the book out of the way and grabbed for the jacket again. She kept waiting for him to use his right hand, but he didn't. Instead he slapped at her with his left. He was just quick enough - and the Omnitrix stung just enough when it smacked her - to stay away from her hands as he tried to wiggle away from her. He was almost out of reach when the words, "You owe me!" tumbled out of her mouth and they both froze.

Froze and stared at each other. Ben in surprise and Gwen in dismay. She hadn't meant to say it. She'd been looking forward to making him paint her toenails. Sure, he'd do a horrible job, but the look on his face at just agreeing to do it was so delectable that she knew that his expression when he actually did it would have been something she'd have cherished for a lifetime. She even knew what shade of pink she was going to make him use. It was the brightest pink she had. She hated the color, but it was going to look so funny on his hands when he made a mess. And she knew he'd make a mess. It was a once in a lifetime chance and - "And I can't believe I'm saying this, I so can't believe it, but if you want me to save your butt I want to see what's wrong with your arm."

Ben stopped and stared at her. She could see the gears of his brain creaking as he tried to figure out if it was a trick. "That's it?"

Gwen sighed as she brushed her hand over her sneakers, but she nodded. "That's it."

He stared at her as his brow creased and his mouth tightened into a line. Finally he nodded and started pulling up his sleeve. "I was riding my bike home from school last week when I saw this guy grab an old lady's purse. I changed into Wildmutt and you should have heard him scream when he saw me coming at him. Dude was fast, too. He ran into an alley and went up a fire escape. I was jumping on to a dumpster so I could get pounce on him when the Omnitrix timed out. Dumpsters are harder than they look." He laughed as he said that like he thought it was a joke.

Gwen barely heard him. At first she concentrated on the way he winced as he pulled the sleeve up, but then she saw the bruise start. It was a sick yellow just above his elbow and turned into a mix of purples the further up her got. She'd seen some horrible bruises before from karate. It was a kind of ritual to show them off before class, and she'd had some that were hideous but she was so proud of. She'd never seen anything like this. By the time he had the jacket pulled up to his shoulder she couldn't hear anything over the pounding of her heart. Halfway between his shoulder and his elbow there was almost a line of dark purple. Her hand shook as she reached out and brushed her fingers against it, but she heard him hiss in pain and she yanked her hand back like touching it hurt her.

"It's getting better. I've put ice on it and everything. You should have seen it a couple of days ago." Ben rambled into the silence. "Besides, it barely hurts anymore. At least as long as no one goes around poking it, anyway." He gave her a sharp look as he started to pull the sleeve back down, but she caught his hand in hers.

"You could have broken your arm! You probably did break it!" She said and glared at him until he let his hand drop. Then she reached down and ran her fingers over the bruise again. He still gasped, but this time she didn't pull away as she traced the mark. It felt so hot under her fingertips...

"It's fine." He brushed her hand away and made a show of flexing his arm. He winced a few times, but everything did seem to work. "It'll take more than some old dumpster to stop this hero."

Gwen just shook her head. "Why didn't Grandpa take you to the emergency room, Hero?"

"Hey, look a math book. You love math, right? Plenty of math in here."

Her hands went to her mouth. "You didn't tell Grandpa?"

He gave her a shrug. A one shoulder shrug where he was very careful not to move the other and still he winced with pain. "It's no big."

"Of course it's big! Its way big! Its bigger than Way Big!" She nearly bit her tongue as she fought down the shout she felt building up. The last thing they needed was for someone to come over there and see what she was screaming about. She took a few deep breaths to calm down even though it only made her stomach hurt more. "Why didn't you tell Grandpa? Does he even know you're going hero again?"

"Of course he - " Ben said as he fidgeted and yanked the sleeve back down. Like he was smart enough to trick her. He might as well have had a big neon sign with the word liar on it over his head, it was so obvious. He knew it, too. She could tell by the way he exhaled. "I didn't want to bug him."

"You didn't... What's wrong with you? You need someone to watch your back!"

"I didn't during the summer."

Gwen glared at him even though it felt like he'd just slapped her. "We were always there, Ben. Maybe not right at the moment you got yourself into trouble, but we were right behind you."

Ben either saw the glare or maybe he heard the hurt in her voice – or he was only half the insensitive clod she thought he was - and he realized what he had just said, because his eyes went right to the grass. "Yeah, I know. But who am I going to tell? Grandpa's gone to visit Aunt Vera and I can't say a word about the watch to anyone else. No matter how cool it would make me at school."

Gwen wanted to hit him again. She wanted to so badly. If she could have reached his good arm she might have done it. "What about me? You know, Lucky Girl?"

"What about you?" The words should have hurt, but they didn't. He sounded more clueless than anything. "We aren't exactly roomies any more, or even neighbors."

"So? You managed to get here tonight, didn't you?"

"Yeah, but…"

"Either you take me with you when you feel heroey, or…" She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She didn't want to have to say what she was about to say, it would get them all into so much trouble, but all she could see was the mess of bruises his arm had turned into.

No, what she saw was so much worse than any bruise. She'd imagined it so many times during the summer in the middle of the night after a big fight, but she always managed to ignore it because they never got hurt. Not really. Even when she almost... She didn't get hurt. Not like this. She knew that the bruise shouldn't seem worse than that, but it did and she couldn't just... "Or I'll tell my mom and dad."

"You wouldn't."

"Would too."

"Please." He snorted at her as he shook his head. "We'd both be grounded for the next fifty years if our parents knew what we did over the summer."

"Maybe we should be." Her hand drifted back to his arm even though he covered it up. She didn't know why she had to keep touching it. Maybe that was the only way it seemed real, or maybe she needed the reminder as much as he did. "We did a lot of stupid things over the summer."

His face flushed an angry red as he smacked her hand away. "What? How could you... We helped people!"

"I know we did," she said as she took his hand to keep him from storming off. "But this isn't a game, Ben."

He stopped and grinned. Somehow he actually grinned. "It is to me."

"Ben..."

"Besides, can you imagine what they'll do to Grandpa if they knew?"

"We probably wouldn't see him again until we were eighteen." Gwen's heart broke as she said the words. Eight years. She couldn't imagine not seeing Grandpa Max again for eight years. She was only ten, and she couldn't imagine not seeing him again for what was basically her whole life. She couldn't imagine dealing with her parents alone for that long. She'd just talked to him on Monday and now that she really thought about it, she couldn't remember if she'd told him she loved him. She couldn't imagine him gone, but she couldn't stop either. Grandpa Max wouldn't want her to. "But he wouldn't want you getting hurt any more than I do."

"Well – I'll tell them about your magic book…" His green eyes were on fire as he yanked his hand free and pushed himself to his feet. "Lucky Girl."

Her's burned right back as she jumped up. She felt her hands tighten even as she saw him make his into fists. "Do it and I'll…" She tried to think of something horrible enough to threaten him with. Maybe brains of a toad. No, with Ben that would be an improvement.

The last time they'd fought – really fought, not just traded insults - they'd been seven. She couldn't remember what the fight was about, she just remembered screaming and crying and both of them needing tons of band-aids when the fight was over. She'd heard her father say it was like pulling two cats apart. It was the last time they'd spent any time together except for a few minutes during Christmas break until the last summer.

And that was without magic or the Omnitrix. Now…

For just a second she imagined them fighting now with everything they learned. They'd trained together so many times, but they'd never really...

Her only thought was that it would be so cool to watch.

But if she knew that if they did, or if she let him storm off now it wouldn't be years before she saw him again. It would be never because he'd go out and get himself hurt. Or worse.

She couldn't even think the real words behind the 'and worse.' And she knew that if she wasn't ready to even name it, then there was no way she could face it happening. In a flash she saw Grandpa Max – she knew it would be Grandpa Max, not her parents or Ben's – as he knelt down in front of her and...

And he'd have the look on his face that she'd only seen once before. She didn't remember how old she was, but it was before she started school - it might have even been before preschool. All she really remembered about the day was the big bundle of yellow roses that she was carrying and that she and her mother spent the whole morning together picking out which ones to take from the bushes in the backyard. She remembered how pretty they smelled and how heavy they were in her arms.

Her parents were so quiet as they walked on either side of her. Usually they pointed things out to her when they took her on walks, but they didn't say a word this time even though she'd never been in that park before and there were so many weird-looking things around. She remembered that, and how surprised she was when she saw Grandpa Max standing there waiting for them in front of a big and shiny stone with Ben and his parents. Ben was fidgeting in his mom's arms until he saw her. She grinned back and almost went running to him as he started shouting, 'down,' but...

But she went to Grandpa Max first to show him the flowers. He didn't even glance at them. Or her. He was just staring at the stone and...

And the look on his face...

That look was as far as her imagination could go. It was as far as she prayed it would ever go.

It was as far as she'd let it go. She forced her hands to relax as she stared at her cousin. "I'll tell them myself," she said in a whisper.

Ben froze in disbelief and she waited. He glared at her even as she looked at him. Finally, he let himself slump back against the tree. "I can't believe you. It was just an accident. A few bruises," he muttered as he shook his head.

"I know," she said. "But it could have been a lot worse." He looked at her, clearly not believing that anything worse could ever happen. He'd never believe it. If he believed it then...

If Ben ever stopped to think about the consequences, he wouldn't be Ben. He wouldn't, so she had to. She nodded and said, "I'm going home to tell them right now." With that she turned away. She turned, but she couldn't make herself start walking.

"They won't believe you."

"They'll believe me when they see me stick the television on the ceiling." She'd been dying to tell her parents the truth anyway, to show them what she could do. Maybe they'd be proud. They'd definitely be surprised. She clutched the spell book to her chest and knew that - either way - it would be the last special thing she ever did.

But the Doofus wouldn't be able to get himself into any more trouble, so she took the first step. And then the next.

"Fine."

She stopped and turned back. "Fine, what?"

"Next time I'll come and get you." His voice went high and scratchy as he parroted her words back.

Gwen swallowed hard. "You swear?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"Swear on your comics, Ben."

He whispered something that sounded a lot like a word that he wasn't supposed to know before he stood ramrod straight and slapped his hand to his forehead in a salute. "You can burn all my comics in front of me if I don't come and get you the next time I go hero. Now, can we please get back to the real problem?" he asked and waved down at the forgotten math book.

"Fine." She nodded and felt light-headed from the sudden rush of relief. She walked back to the tree and fell more than sat back down. She took a few deep breaths and picked up the book while Ben fished into his backpack for his notes. Her hand brushed against the grass and she made a face. "Okay, I want something else, too."

The look he gave her could only be described as public restroom dirty. "I am not painting your toenails. You said…"

"I know." Now that it was over she let herself sound a bit bitter over that, but that wasn't the problem. Instead she glared down at the green grass and her bright white pants. "But next time you need help with school you have to bring a blanket or something for us to sit on."

"What makes you think there'll be a next time?"

"3/4 times 5/8."

"Wha?"

"There'll be a next time."