* Sorry to make you guys wait so long for an update.

8 years ago

A ten-year-old Ben Tennyson was clumsily moving around - in a failed attempt to dance - on a dance pad following the melody played by the portable stereo. Gwen entered the Rust Bucket without Ben noticing her presence.

"You look like your underwear is too tight."

Ben was so surprised by Gwen's sudden appearance that he fell flat on his face.

"Ha, very funny," Ben said with irony as he stood up again, "Now, buzz off."

"You trust me to help kick alien butt! Why don't you trust me to teach you how to dance?"

"Because you're probably just going to trick me into looking like some dancing doofus." Ben folded his arms.

"You don't need my help to dance like a doofus. So get over yourself and give me your hands." She held out her hands to him.

Ben was hesitant, but accepted her offer. Clumsily, he put his left hand on Gwen's hip as she put her right hand on his shoulder, and held her left hand with his right hand.

"The most important thing is don't step on her toes," Gwen said.

"This is so gross..." Ben said, ashamed to be dancing so close to his cousin.

"Like I don't know that ..." Gwen replied, "Now, just count. One, two; one, two; forward, back; forward, back."

They were dancing slowly, in rhythm with the music. And it was not long before Ben's embarrassed expression turned into a happy smile.

"Hey ... I'm dancing!" Ben said, delighted. He never imagined that dancing could be so much fun. Dancing even smelled good! Or was that scent Gwen's perfume? It would be best not to think about it, of course.

He positioned himself closer to Gwen and slid in perfect sync with her, completely ignoring any embarrassing thoughts that had previously crossed his mind. The cousins danced together for several minutes.

"Oh that is so sweet!" they heard Grandpa Max's voice, breaking the 'trance' and interrupting their moment.

3 years ago

Kevin's garage

"So, Ben, did I tell you about the dance at my school next week?" Gwen asked in a loud voice. She made certain Kevin would hear her, even under his car.

"Yes," Ben replied with no excitement at all. He hated when Gwen did that, pretended to be interested in talking to him, when actually, she just wanted to pass a message on to Kevin.

"A lot of guys asked me to go, but I'm waiting for someone in particular to do it," Gwen said, again loud enough for Ben to understand that she was just sending a hint to Kevin.

"I don't know how to dance," Kevin replied in an uninterested tone, still under the car.

"Ben didn't know either. I was the one who taught him!" Gwen gave Ben a sincere smile.

Gwen waited a while for an answer, but Kevin's complete lack of reaction made her storm off noticeably annoyed.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, KEVIN?" Ben yelled a few minutes after Gwen had left. "Do you know how many guys would give anything to have Gwen practically throwing herself at their feet like this? And you just do nothing?" Ben knew he would give anything to be in Kevin's shoes.

"Do you think I'd like to have to wear fancy clothes and dance in the middle of those preppy boys, Tennyson?"

"I guess not, but any other guy would make an effort for Gwen!" Ben said. "I know I would," he thought.

Kevin finally slid from under the car, with a mischievous smirk on his face.

"That's the thing, Tennyson. Just keep this between us, okay? Man talk. I got the hots for your cousin, obviously. But Gwen is used to all the boys throwing themselves at her feet, doing everything she wants. If I show too much interest in her, she'll walk all over me, you know better than anyone that she's very bossy. Do you know how many guys are into Gwen?"

"All of them," Ben replied. Ben couldn't think of any heterosexual male friend of his who hadn't asked him to introduce them to Gwen. It was extremely annoying.

Kevin chuckled, "So, Gwen already has more than enough people telling her how beautiful and special she is. I have to take a different approach. I know she likes me and I'm playing hard to get. And it's working, don't you see?"

Ben couldn't deny that statement. When they were kids, Ben always called Gwen a Dweeb, and in the end, she really was a Dweeb, to throw herself at Kevin like that. It looked like she had forgotten he was Kevin 11, the same guy who'd tried to kill both Tennyson cousins before - Ben had already forgiven that, but it was still Kevin who should be crawling at Gwen's feet, not the other way around.

Ben's house.

Ben took a deep breath in front of the mirror. Ben still remembered that day on his summer vacation, when he had danced with Gwen, one of the best memories of his life. He wanted so much to repeat that moment. He knew the risks of getting too close to Gwen, the future was at stake. Kevin had to stay with Gwen, otherwise... Kevin 11,000, deaths, destruction... But only a dance wouldn't hurt anyone right?

Ben came down the stairs in a hurry, and his father asked, "Where are you going?"

"To Gwen's house."

Gwen's house.

Ben stood for an eternity at the door of Gwen's house, just gathering courage to ring the doorbell until Uncle Frank opened the door.

"Ben, son, is the doorbell broken? I saw you standing here through the window but didn't hear any sound. How long were you here?"

"Oh, no, Uncle Frank." Ben forced a chuckle, "I just got here, I was about to ring the bell."

"You want to talk to Gwen, right?"

"Yep!"

"Go on, she's in her bedroom."

While going up the stairs, Ben could hear the conversation between Uncle Frank and Aunt Natalie. They kept their voices low, but Ben had good hearing.

"Frank, go there and ask them to keep the bedroom door open. The last time, those two stayed for almost an hour inside Gwen's room behind closed doors, that doesn't look good," Aunt Natalie said.

"Nonsense, honey. I will not embarrass the children like that," Uncle Frank replied.

Ben broke out in a cold sweat and tried to just ignore what Aunt Natalie was talking about as he entered Gwen's room and closed the door.

The redhead was, as usual, studying.

"Hey, Ben!" Gwen smiled at him and closed the book.

"Gwen, I ... I ... I want to dance with you."

Gwen was a little surprised with his request.

"Are you going to have a dance at your school too? Do you need me to give you dancing lessons so you can go with Julie?"

"N-No, n-no. I want to take you to your dance. If you accept me, of course," Ben closed his eyes, waiting for Gwen's reaction.

Gwen just stared at him speechless.

"I understand," Ben said, "that wasn't a good idea, just forget that I asked this and-"

"I'd love to go with you, Ben."

Ben's eyes widened, "Really?"

"Of course, you're a better date than any of the boys who asked me, and a better date than that blockhead Kevin too," Gwen rolled her eyes, "I'm just surprised at your request. Why do you want this?"

Ben gulped, and hesitated a little, "The day we danced when we were 10 was one of the happiest memories of my life. I wanted another chance to dance with you," he admitted sheepishly.

"That's so cute, Ben!" Gwen hugged him tight, and then pressed her lips against his cheek for a long time.

Ben's jaw dropped as he touched his wet cheek, not believing what had just happened.

Gwen looked away, blushing a little.

Ben smiled in bittersweetness. Dancing with Gwen would be wonderful, but it was just a dance, nothing more than that, and Ben couldn't dare to forget that. He couldn't ruin the future and let Kevin 11,000 be born because of his love for his cousin.

Present day

Ben opened his sleepy eyes, awakened by his beautiful cousin shaking him with worry written on her face.

"Ben, where's Dawn? You told me you were going to pick her up at the daycare today!" Gwen said in a distressed tone.

"Lo- Dweeb, of course, I picked her up," Ben said, "She was tired and I left her sleeping in her bed. Then I started to watch TV but dozed off here on the couch."

"Ben, she's not here in the apartment," Gwen said with a pale face.

"What?" Ben's eyes widened. He rushed to Dawn's bedroom and didn't see her there. He made a quick search through the house but didn't find her either.

"Hex... He might have figured out a way to track her. He probably kidnapped her," Gwen said filled with dread.

"No, that didn't happen." Ben tried to reassure his cousin. "If Hex had been here, he would've killed me in my sleep. Can't you feel Dawn's aura? "

"No, the spell I made to hide her from Hex prevents that," Gwen explained.

"Ok, I have an idea." Ben dialed the Omnitrix and turned into Wildmutt, so he could track Dawn down by her scent. He went to her bedroom to begin the search there, but surprisingly he smelled and heard the sound of the toddler's breath coming from her own bed. Wildmutt had no eyes, but all his enhanced senses said that Dawn was still right there.

Ben turned back to normal, but didn't see the child. "It's not possible ..."

"Wait a minute." Gwen raised her hand toward the bed and conjured a spell, "Nega Invisibilitas."

Then Ben and Gwen finally saw Dawn asleep. The toddler had a peaceful expression on her face.

"What happened?" Ben asked, after the two of them left the room and let Dawn continue sleeping without interruption.

"I think she used an invisibility spell unintentionally while she was sleeping," Gwen said.

"She's not even three years old yet. Should that be possible?" Ben's eyes widened.

"No. Dawn is too powerful." Gwen bit her lip. "I'm afraid she'll end up unintentionally manifesting her powers in public soon..."

Then the doorbell rang. Ben and Gwen went to answer it, and it was Lucy.

"Hey guys!" The Lenopan girl tackled them in a triple hug, "Congratulations! But I wish you had told me earlier yourselves."

"Told you what?" Ben asked.

"That you two finally decided to ignore the U.S. prejudice against cousin relationships and begin dating," Lucy stated matter-of-factly. For her, a Lenopan, it was still weird that some places on Earth had a problem with cousin relationships.

"Lucy!" Gwen scolded her, "You're trying to make fun of us again, huh?"

"I swear, today I don't want to pull any pranks on you two." Lucy raised her hands up to show innocence, an Earth custom that she had learned. "When I asked for Ben and Gwen downstairs, an old lady commented that you are two adorable lovebirds. As far as I know, you two are not birds, and that expression is a figure of speech for a passionate couple."

Ben and Gwen blushed in embarrassment, and looked at each other. "Mrs. Agnes," they both said at the same time.

"Oh, so the old lady was mistaken then? That's a shame," Lucy said. "Anyway, Gwen, I think you'd actually be better off with Ben, especially now that Kevin's in jail... Ops, it slipped." Lucy slapped her forehead, "Crap. I had planned to tell this to you in a much more delicate way."

"What?" Gwen folded her arms, "Lucy, that's not funny."

"As I said, I'm not here to pull pranks on you. I actually came to tell you that Kevin was arrested. Dawn's grandparents went missing two weeks ago, and the Plumbers found them in Italy. They said they ran away because Kevin threatened to kill them if they didn't take Dawn back from you, Gwen. "

Gwen collapsed on the couch, "I was going to say I don't believe it, but considering everything Kevin has done in the past, I do believe it."

"Just calm down, cuz." Ben hugged Gwen and kissed her hair in a comforting gesture.

Ben glanced at Lucy, who winked at him and whispered, "Go ahead, Ben! It's your big chance!" Ben flashed a reproving glance at her in response ... Although a part of him felt tempted to follow Lucy's advice.

But another part of Ben felt worried about Kevin. This was the beginning of a fall that would surely lead to the birth of Kevin 11,000 and Ben had to do something to prevent it.

Kevin was locked in a cell without being able to move, bound to a table with his hands, feet and belly strapped by special restraints to contain his powers.

After a long and uncomfortable wait, a man appeared who looked like a hybrid between a human and a Cerebrocrustacean. He had a generously proportioned head, orange skin, red eyes, and was wearing a black uniform.

"Please, you have to get me out of here. They made a mistake, I'm innocent!" Kevin begged.

"Spare me, Levin. I can read your mind and I know there was no mistake." the man folded his arms, "But I invested too much into you to throw it all away like this, so I'm going to let you go this time... after I fix your mind again."

"What do you mean again?" Kevin asked, "You talk like we know each other, but I have no idea who you are..."

"I am Servantis, and you are my masterpiece. How do you think a murderous psychopath was turned into an exemplary citizen? It was me, with my mental powers, who created you, the good Kevin, and separated you from Kevin 11, your original personality. I created the light, and I separated the light from the darkness." Servantis smiled grimly, put his hand on Kevin's head and his eyes glowed, "You just don't remember that. And you'll never remember."

"Aaaaaaaargh!" Kevin cried out in pain. Kevin 11 looked at Servantis with pure hatred. "You son of a bitch! Do as many mental blocks as you want, I'll come back! This will only make me stronger!"

The next day Kevin called Gwen and asked to meet her in a café.

Gwen was waiting for him with her arms folded.

"Gwen, I know you're angry, but it wasn't me," Kevin apologized, "That's why they let me go. They know I'm innocent."

"Who was it then? Lucy pulling a prank on Dawn's grandparents?" Gwen asked, still angry.

"No. It was Kevin 11, my evil self. But he didn't hurt them, and I managed to get behind the wheel again in time. And I promise it will never happen again," Kevin said with sincerity.

"I understand you have a psychological disorder, Kevin, I really do. But from what your evil personality did, it's very clear that he wants to take Dawn from me and I will not let that happen. I really hope you recover, but we can't be together," Gwen sighed.

"No, Gwen, please," Kevin said desperately, "I'm going to do what I should've done right from the start. I want you and Dawn to move in with me."

"What?" Gwen was surprised at the offer, especially at that moment, "Kevin, in your present condition, taking care of a baby-"

"I know, that's what I thought at first too. That I was too problematic to raise a child. That's why I didn't want you to take Dawn in. But, see, even Kevin 11's sick mind had logic: he wanted you back. I was jealous of Dawn, I thought that she was pushing you away from me, and Kevin 11 tried to deal with it with violence, threatening Dawn's grandparents to take her back from you. But if I had agreed that you and Dawn could move in with me when you made that offer months ago, that would've never happened. I want to correct that mistake now. "

Gwen hesitated for a moment. Her first idea really was moving in with Kevin, but now everything was working out so well with Ben, she was simply tempted to follow the old saying "If it ain't broken don't fix it". She didn't know if Kevin would take care of Dawn as good as Ben did.

"And I'm sure Ben would be very happy too," Kevin chuckled. "Julie is a little upset because ever since this started, he has been spending less time with her."

"What?" Gwen was quite surprised, "Ben didn't tell me any of this. Where did you get that from?"

"Please don't tell anyone, but Julie had already called me a few weeks ago to ask me to do what I'm doing now," Kevin confessed sheepishly, "It's not too hard to guess that she's not happy with this whole arrangement and wants more attention from her boyfriend than she's getting now."

Gwen always knew that Julie was upset that Ben had to constantly cancel dates with her because of hero emergencies. It made sense that things were even worse now that he, besides being a superhero, was helping Gwen to take care of Dawn. Ben had probably not said anything so Gwen wouldn't feel guilty, but she realized she was undermining his relationship with Julie, and maybe the right thing to do was accepting Kevin's offer.

But she was still hesitant, mainly due to Kevin's recent 'crisis'.

Kevin noticed the hesitation in Gwen's eyes. He took her hand in his and begged, "Gwen, I know you are worried about this, but you've turned me from a monster into a hero, I'm the best version of myself when I'm by your side. And I love you more than anything. Dawn is important to you, so she'll be important to me too. I promise I will not disappoint you. Please, give me the chance to take care of you and Dawn."

Gwen was deeply touched by Kevin's words. She smiled and said "Yes, Kevin."

Kevin grinned from ear to ear, hugged his girlfriend and kissed her. He felt like the happiest man in the world.

When Gwen came back to the apartment, the living room was full of cobwebs and she had a small panic attack - she didn't like to admit it, but she had a fear of spiders.

But soon she was relieved to see Spider-Monkey swinging Dawn in a hammock made of webs. The toddler was giggling. It was clear that she was enjoying the playtime very much.

"Hi, Gwen," Spider-Monkey said, "Later I'll clean up this mess with the webs."

"Ben, I need to talk to you about something important," she said in a serious tone.

"Ok. Dawn, go to your room and draw me a picture, would you?" Spider-Monkey turned back into Ben again and took Dawn from the hammock.

But the toddler threw a tantrum, "Want to play with Uncle Ben!"

"We will play again later, baby brat, don't worry," Ben kissed the girl's forehead.

"How did the talk with Kevin go?" Ben asked after Dawn had already gone to her bedroom.

"He offered for me and Dawn to move in with him," Gwen said in a neutral tone. Before she was happy with Kevin's declaration of love, but now she felt her heart clenching at the realization that she would no longer be close to her cousin on a daily basis. She would miss these months she had spent with Ben.

"Oh, that's good." Ben's words were positive, but his voice tone betrayed his displeasure at the idea. Gwen thought he'd be happy to have more time for Julie, but that definitely wasn't the case. Ben quickly excused himself and went to his bedroom.

Gwen was packing while Dawn eyed her with a puzzled expression.

"What you doin?" Dawn asked.

"Packing our bags, honey. We're moving," Gwen replied, trying to smile at the girl.

Then Dawn's next words broke Gwen's heart, "Me, Mommy, and Daddy?"

Gwen held her breath, "Mommy and Daddy, dear?"

"Is not Aunt Gwen new mommy? Is not Uncle Ben new daddy?" Dawn asked confused.

Gwen gave the girl a tight hug and a kiss on her cheek. She stopped packing and went to the other bedroom. Gwen knocked on the door and it took almost a minute for Ben to open it. His eyes were wet. He was trying to hide that he had been crying, but without much success.

Gwen closed the bedroom's door and hugged him tight for a long time in silence.

"If you ask me to stay with you, I'll stay," Gwen finally whispered.

"But didn't Kevin offer for you to move in with him? Isn't that what you wanted all along? "Ben asked a little surprised, "You don't want to live with your cousin for the rest of your life, do you?"

Gwen took Ben's hands in hers and stared deep into his eyes, "I want to be with you for the rest of my life, Ben. I know we can build a beautiful family together. I thought Kevin was what I wanted, but now... I think it was because I never had the courage to consider you as an option before."

Ben felt his heart beat as fast as XLR8.

This was the moment he both longed for and dreaded at the same time.

Ben saw several 'lives' flashing before his eyes, flashes of all the visions of possible futures that he had as Eye-Guy. He knew there was only one way to be happy - staying with Gwen. And he knew there was only one way to prevent Kevin from turning Kevin 11,000 - losing Gwen to Kevin.

That decision would be made now.

TO BE CONTINUED

* Thanks to Aurora Nightstar for beta reading this