Chapter 39: An Aftermath of Sorts

The next few weeks are going to be hectic for me, so updates will be coming on Fridays for a while. The time span will be the same-a new chapter every two weeks-but a day early, until I say otherwise.

Also, for the people who reviewed, I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I've actually been waiting to use that Sailor Moon joke for a while now, and I'm happy that you found it funny. Or at least nostalgic.

On a final note: I'm going to continue the male pregnancy gag by explaining why it wouldn't work for humans. So for all you readers who like to read pregnant male stories, you're out of luck.

Gwen blinked. "Male pregnancy."

"Uh-huh."

"Can you even make a joke about that?"

"In the right situation, and since Ben's Necrofriggian DNA went berserk, it was too good of a chance to pass up."

Gwen shook her head. "You Valentines are impossible."

Newt gave her a cheeky wink. "That we are, fair lady. Oh my god, is that cheesecake?" He stared at the waiter with wide, exaggerated eyes as he put down a slice of the pastry in front of the blonde.

"Well would you look at that, it is," Gwen said sardonically as the rest of the table was set. She was smiling slightly as she watched her school friends' politely small talk with their dates. It had been awkward introducing Newt to them due to his feminine features-nearly everyone thought he was a girl in disguise. He surprisingly took that well. And after a few minutes of talking to him, all of Gwen's friends knew he was a guy. No one could fake a masculine voice that well.

Though now that Gwen thought about it, the dance wasn't all that fun. Sure, it was great seeing her friends all dressed up and acting like the society people they weren't, but they were so hung up on being prim and proper that the entire affair seemed stiff. And then there was Newt cracking sarcastic jokes and putting smiles on everyone's faces. Everything he said was charming and polite but the laughter that followed wasn't polite and short. In fact, it was downright heartfelt.

"You're a total schmoozer, you know that right?" Gwen had told him while they were waiting for dinner to start. Newt had been fooling around with his place card on the round white table, shaking his leg and making the white cloth covering the table move slightly.

Newt then stopped twitching and smirked at Gwen. "It comes with being a politician's son. You learn to charm and impress people and in return they give you what you want."

"It's sad that you think that way."

"Yeah, well, that's the way of the world," Newt had pointed out with a shrug. "I've always believed in Social Darwinism and I've never been afraid to use it to my own advantage."

"Social Darwinism?" Gwen had arched an eyebrow at that. "Is your dad by any chance a conservative?"

New had given her a look. "I thought it was obvious, what with my upbringing and all."

Gwen had shaken her head. "So did Carter and she told me that your grandparents are more liberal."

Newt had grimaced. "They're more Independent, or perhaps Green? Either way they don't agree with the main parties but they're still more liberal than most doctors."

"I guess your dad doesn't agree with them."

Newt had shuddered and his voice turned into a whisper. "If they talk, it turns into a screaming match. And he's not happy that I'm willing to experiment. He thinks that I should only like girls."

"But you gotta admit that some guys are cute," Gwen had whispered back, even though it was very bad manners to whisper when it wasn't an emergency.

Newt gave her a smile. "Yeah, but when it comes to guys, I'm more of a 'look, but don't touch' kind of person. At least, not yet."

Gwen fixed him a serious look and said, "There's a time and place for everything, and that's college."

"You sound like Evan!" Newt had blurted out with a laugh, and from then the conversation turned to more lighthearted topics. What had been a stiff and cordial affair had turned into a laugh track of fun. Gwen couldn't picture a better night than this.

After dessert, as everyone was too stuffed and exhausted to do anything but sit and be lazy, jazz music started playing. The dancing was supposed to begin.

"Really? Now?" Gwen hissed, her stomach gurgling in protest. "You've gotta be kidding me."

"Don't they usually give you half an hour to digest first?" Newt asked rhetorically. His tablemate didn't say anything, and Gwen was angrily staring at the deejay.

Newt sighed and stood up. "May I have this dance?" He held out a hand for Gwen to take. She fixed him an incredulous look before taking his hand.

As he led her to the dance floor, she hissed, "What do you think you're doing? Everyone's staring at us." Which indeed was the case; all eyes were on them, some staring at them before flicking to their dates angrily, but most lazily.

Newt blinked and said, "That's the point." He put one hand on her hip and held the other in her hand and slowly they began to waltz.

"You can actually dance?" Gwen asked thoughtlessly before cursing herself. Of course he knew how to dance; didn't he once tell her that he took lessons about these things?

But Newt merely chuckled and said, "I took cotillion for five years. I picked up a few things."

A few other couples had daringly ventured onto the dance floor and were swaying to the music. They weren't very good dancers; more like they were simply close to one another and moving their hips slowly to the jazz number. Only Gwen and Newt were actually doing a dance number.

"I thought for a school full of rich kids you had to know how to dance ballroom classics," Newt mused as he eyed the other couples.

"Do the kids at your school know how to waltz?" Gwen asked dryly.

"Actually yes," Newt answered back honestly. "My school's always been anal about raising proper society kids, so ballroom dancing is a given. I guess it's not the same here."

"I don't remember every hearing of a school like that in Washington D.C.," Gwen said as they reared a corner of the floor. Another few couples were joining them.

"It's for kids who come from old money," Newt explained. "Which doesn't mean anything except paying thousands for a public school education, which is a complete waste if you ask me."

Gwen raised an eyebrow. "Don't you think you're being a little harsh?"

"Not really," Newt said. "I've been in public school and in private school. It's basically the same thing except in private school everyone thinks their better than everyone else. Which, now that I think about it, isn't that different from public school," he added as an afterthought.

Gwen stared at him. "You really believe that, don't you?"

He shrugged. "Hey, I could be wrong. Your school might be better than public school."

"It is. I've seen Ben's homework; it's really not that good," Gwen said in a conspiratorial whisper. "What I don't understand why he doesn't try harder. He could get a scholarship to my school if he put his mind to it," she added bitterly.

"Ben's really that smart? No wonder Carter likes him," Newt joked before turning serious. "But maybe Ben thinks like I do. Or maybe he thinks that your school is full of rich snobs. Or that it's like Degrassi."

"You watch Degrassi?"

"I saw one episode of it," Newt said hastily. "It wasn't as awful as I thought."

"I wasn't going to judge you on that," Gwen assured him. "But I don't think that's the reason Ben doesn't go to Bellwood Prep."

Newt pursed his lips. "Maybe he doesn't want to wear a school uniform."

Gwen's eyes widened. "Knowing Ben, that'd be the case."

By then nearly everyone was on the dance floor and the slow jazz number turned into an upbeat pop tune. Newt and Gwen moved their legs to the song, conversation halted as they danced.

And then Gwen turned to the sky and pointed upwards. It took Newt a second to pay attention. He looked up and gasped: silver stars were littering the night sky like a painting. Beautiful constellations were mapping themselves out near the heavens, and he could have sworn he just saw a shooting star.

Newt looked at Gwen and she beamed. Utter elation was welling inside her. She could feel bubbles of happiness popping in her stomach and she let out a laugh as she saw Newt's stupefied face. He must never get to see the stars back in D.C. He was like a little kid on his first camping trip, loudly pointing out the Little Dipper to his loving father.

The two of them huddled close as the teenagers around them danced wildly. It was almost awkward, their position, but when they ignored the hollering and yells of their peers and looked above, they just smiled secretly and swayed gently. This moment was charged, yet there was no romance. They were simply enjoying each other's company in the only way they can. They were having fun, and that was all that mattered.

The motorcycle dipped towards the pavement during the turn, and Ben shut his eyes. Which was silly, considering he was the boy who defeated evil alien overlords and other threats on a daily basis.

Then again, it was a motorcycle. There was hardly any protection against the elements, only the spare helmet on his head and his familiar green jacket. And Ben wasn't the one driving it; he was in the backseat hanging onto Carter as she drove him home. The fact that he wasn't in control worried him.

For a second his eyes were glued shut, but then he opened them and simply stared to the side. It was nighttime, the sky clear with the stars overcast and even a few shooting stars dotting the map. The houses they were passing were a mere blur, the lights fusing together like a straight line of white brightness. It was breathtaking and Ben didn't want to blink.

But blink he did, and no sooner had he done so his house pulled up. He groaned as the engine purred to a stop.

"Here's your stop. Did we make curfew?" Carter asked him as she leveled the bike and took off her helmet. Ben took a quick look at his phone and nodded.

"We got about five minutes before my mom calls and yells at me," Ben said as he put his helmet behind him.

Carter smirked devilishly. "In that case, shut up and kiss me."

"Well aren't you assertive." Ben pressed his lips to hers. She shifted torso to face him, one hand on the handles so the bike wouldn't tip over as they moved. A flicker of annoyance passed through him and Ben broke off the kiss.

Carter gave him an irritated look and said, "What's wrong now?"

Ben's brow crinkled. "Isn't this weird?"

"What's weird?"

"Our position." Ben gestured to the seating arrangement. "Isn't the girl supposed to be behind the guy when they kiss on the motorcycle?"

Carter gave a little giggle. "And then when they finally break away, the girl looks longingly at her boyfriend as he speeds off into the night, blowing kisses at his back," she said melodramatically, hands out and before her like a hammy actor.

"And when the girl finally gets home her parents are waiting for her. They warn her to stay away from that dangerous boy, that he's up to no good," Ben said, playing along.

"And then the girl says that they don't understand her or their relationship and angrily stomps to her room." Carter had dropped her melodramatic tone by the end, and now she was giggling up a storm at the clichéd fifties analogy. Ben couldn't help but join her.

"Though you are fairly dangerous," Ben admitted slyly, his eyes fox like.

"I will not deny it," Carter declared. "But only if you admit that you're dangerous too."

"I am not-! Oh, wait…" Ben muttered as he self-consciously put a hand over the Omnitrix. Carter smirked and pecked his cheek.

"You're adorable sometimes."

"And you have to leave because it's now my curfew," Ben said as the lights over the driveway turned on.

Carter jammed her helmet back on and revved the engine. "Adieu, dear lover! Until we meet again!" she cried out like a clichéd romantic.

Ben waved as he hopped off the bike and shouted, "Godspeed!" as she drove off into the night. He turned around to the glaring lights and said quietly, "Time to face the music."

Sam was in the car, replaying the video where Big Chill's children swarmed around them before taking off into the night. In the film, for a split second, a Necrofriggian baby hovered near the lenses, bulbous green eyes staring into the screen as it purred. And then the camera was jerked away, and the moth child floated near its brothers and sisters.

"When did you take this, anyway?" Sam asked Kevin as he drove through the night.

He shrugged. "When no one was lookin'."

Sam thought back earlier when she was getting all the maggot goo off her. "But how? Ben's kids were on the planet for, like, thirty seconds before they flew into space. And everyone was paying attention to them. I think we would have noticed if a camera was watching them."

"Ah, but you didn't," Kevin pointed out. "And now we have proof that male Necrofriggians can give birth."

"Okay, I can buy that, since it's a species I'm not familiar with," Sam began. "But if Ben was pregnant while he was human…"

"Is that even possible?"

"That's just it; it isn't," Sam explained. "They've done studies on why men can't give birth. Men are more accustomed to short-term pain, like getting shots, while women can handle long-term pain, like childbirth. And quite frankly, men don't have the reproductive organs to actually push a baby out of them."

"So if Ben was pregnant as a human…"

"It's impossible. But if it did happen, then he'd have to abort that freak of nature."

"Harsh."

"Not harsh; merciful. I told you, guys don't have the organs to give birth. Can you imagine what it'd look like if the baby actually came out of a human male?"

Kevin allowed himself to imagine it and his face rapidly grew a mottled green color.

"That's what I thought," Sam said smugly.

"That is…disgusting," he said before putting a hand over his mouth. He breathed deeply through his nose for a good minute as his face returned to a more normal color. He then shook his head to get rid of those nasty thoughts and returned both hands to the steering wheel.

"Feeling better?"

"I'll live. I've seen worse."

"So are you actually going to keep this video?" Sam pointed to the frozen frame of Necrofriggian children.

"Well, yeah. It's decent blackmail to hang over Ben's head whenever he pisses me off."

"I doubt that'll work," Sam pointed out. "Who's going to believe that these things came from Ben? They look like CGI effects for some monster movie."

"That…I hate it when you're right," Kevin groaned as he turned a corner. All the blackmail threats that were forming in his mind flew away, leaving him dejected. And then he thought of something that brought a smirk back to his face. "But what makes you think that Ben will realize that?"

"If he doesn't himself, then Gwen and Carter will tell him," Sam told him. "That is, if Evan doesn't delete the video."

"Why would he delete it?" Kevin asked.

"'Cause this is proof that aliens exist," she said. "Even if people dismiss it as a hoax it's still proof. And Earth isn't exactly ready to deal with aliens. Knowing Cordelia's paranoia, she'd say that other planets will use this video as a way of worming into Earth's defenses and destroying the planet from the inside."

"That is…wow," Kevin said, unsure of what to say. When he first met Cordelia, he thought of her as a crazy, cruel bitch. Yes, she was Carter's grandmother, but the truth still applied. She was like the female Joker or perhaps Harley Quinn-sexy as hell, but still freaking insane. To think she was also paranoid…

"Well, when you're five thousand years old, paranoia tends to come for the ride," Sam said in a half-joking manner. "'All's fair in love and war,' I suppose."

"You'd know that best of all," Kevin stated. Sam froze body rigid. She narrowed her eyes at him, but he was looking at the road, calm as ever.

"What do you mean?" she said coolly.

"I mean, when it comes to war and getting the guy you want, you Slayers know best," Kevin elaborated. He was looking at her calmly, like what he was saying was scripted.

"And how would you know that?"

"Well, when we first met, you used my words against me so we could start dating," he said with a shrug.

"You mean about Gwen?"

"I mean, it made perfect sense know that I think about it," he hurried on, "and I don't blame you for using it to your own advantage. I'd do the same thing if I was in your shoes."

Sam slumped in her seat, eyes wide with disbelief. "And you're not angry?" she asked incredulously. "How? Why?"

"First of all, we both brought up really good points, like how Gwen is way too good for me."

"I thought that at first, but now that I know her better, you two do seem to fit each other rather well," Sam admitted sheepishly. "The whole 'opposites attract' thing works for you. But Gwen is like a newborn bunny-"

Kevin interrupted with a snort. "A bunny."

Sam smiled. "Yes, a bunny. They're cute and cuddly but they're also naïve to a fault. They trust almost blindly and see the good in everything. They give everyone the benefit of the doubt even if they don't deserve it." She frowned. "But the world isn't like that. It's full of hungry wolves that'll eat the cute little bunny for breakfast without a second thought."

"Huh. I guess that does apply to Gwen," Kevin admitted. Gwen herself was far tougher than a weak bunny rabbit, but she was awfully trusting. The comparison rather worked.

"That's why I was opposed to the two of you dating," Sam confessed. "She's innocent and you're jaded. You've always known it's a dog-eat-dog world and you know that not everyone deserves a second chance. She's an idealist, you're a pessimist. If you two started dating it wouldn't work out in the long run."

"You really think so?"

"It's the only logical explanation."

"But people's feelings aren't logical."

"I know that for a fact," Sam stated. She remembered something. "Wasn't there another thing concerning you and Gwen?"

"Oh, yeah," Kevin said, remembering himself. "Another thing is that when I met you, Gwen and I weren't exactly an item."

"But you had feelings for each other."

"Are you holding it against me?"

"There's no reason to."

"Okay then. Anyway, while we did have some sparks goin' on between us, it died out when I met you. I wanted to ask Gwen out, but I waited too long because…"

"You were insecure."

Kevin grimaced with a faint blush, but didn't deny it. "By the time she asked me out, it was too late. There was really nothing holding me back asking you out."

Sam shook her head. "That's the problem with girls these days. When it comes to dating, they're told to wait so the guy can ask them out. If they want to feel desired the guy has to make the first move. They're told that to go after the guy you want is wrong. But to get what you want you have to take it, and damn the consequences."

"'All's fair in love and war,'" Kevin stated with a smirk.

"I felt bad for Gwen, since she actually had the guts to do it," Sam said, "but she was too late. Waiting around never helps your chances."

"You make a good point," Kevin attested, "but I'm an old-fashioned kind of guy. The guy does the askin'."

Sam gave him a sly smirk. "Oh, I know."

He chuckled. "Oh, yeah, how?" She stayed deceptively silent. "Sam, how do you know? Sam?"

Evan angrily ended the call, his super strength nearly destroying his cell phone. He huffed as he sat on top of the Billions' Tower, the tallest building in Bellwood. Security was tight there, but Evan had enough training to skirt around the guards and temporarily jam the cameras. Still, it wouldn't do to stick around for much longer.

The night had started around well enough for him, what with him getting together with an African goddess and all. But then Ben had to defy the laws of frigging nature and give birth to twelve little alien babies. The thought first stunned Evan into a state of disbelief. And then he got angry, since that meant that he had to help get Ben back to normal.

Not only did he have that on his brain, but the others were accusing him of trolling ten girls for dates. For one thing, it wasn't ten girls; it was more around seven. And he hadn't been trolling them. He had seen some girls around town and started a conversation with them. Afterwards they swapped numbers. How was that trolling?

Okay, if Evan had to be honest, maybe he did flirt a little. But that was to be expected, since the girls he had been talking to were very attractive. And yes, maybe he had been looking for a little action, but mostly he had been looking for a conversationalist. Smart girls had the tendency of being great to talk to.

But why was it that whenever Evan tried talking to a supposed smart girl, they giggled and talked in high-pitched voices? What, were they trying to be cute? And then they pretended they didn't have an opinion, squealing like fan girls whenever Evan tried to talk smart. It was unbelievably infuriating.

Maybe that was why Evan didn't have a problem dumping them after he went out with them. They acted so vapid and airheaded that he didn't think that they would mind. They would simply leech onto the next boy that looked at them.

Why, oh why couldn't there be more smart girls? Girls that could string a sentence together without having to use 'um' to continue; girls that could talk politics with him whenever the need arose; girls that weren't afraid of their intelligence and flaunted it for the world to see. Evan knew there were girls like that out there. So why couldn't he find them?

His cell phone lit up and Weezer's "Smart Girls" sounded through the night. It was the girl he had been with earlier, the one who refused to answer the phone since he left to save Ben. Evan had called nearly five times since the event, and now she wanted his attention. He pressed the ignore button on his phone and put it away.

Sam and Carter knew Evan's preference in the female gender. They knew that he wanted intelligent girls as a girlfriend. They knew that until he discovered said girl in the multitude of airheads he talked to, he would cast the rest off until they showed some signs of critical thought. It was harsh and cruel, but they understood. Bless them, they understood!

Lights were blinking on in the hallway. Evan could see the brightness from the windows underneath him. He stood up and summoned his wings, his beautiful green wings with tawny spots on even the devil part. He jumped off the building, letting himself get suspended in midair before flapping his wings and flying away.

The stars were twinkling silver, the moon full and bright. He imagined Gwen and Newt at the dance, moving in tandem to some jazz number. He imagined Carter frightening Ben on the motorcycle, trying to get him home before curfew. He imagined Sam and Kevin driving off into the night, talking about something serious and unconcerned with the world around them.

Three different couples. Six different lives entwined together, if only for one night. For one night they belonged together, forcing the universe to accept them as a part of the everlasting existence.

Evan was the odd man out, the one that didn't fit in.

He flapped his wings once and then coasted through the night air. His phone was ringing again, but he didn't pick up. There would be time later. He closed his eyes, savoring the euphoric feeling of flying before opening them.

It didn't matter. He was Evan Force, leader of the Pride. One day he would find the person he would share his youth with, if only for one night. He would force the universe to accept them as part of the everlasting. He would make Fate see that they were more than chess pieces in the heavenly game.

But for now, he would fly solo.

This chapter is dedicated to the smart girls who aren't afraid to go after what they want. You rock, ladies!

Seriously though. Have you guys ever noticed that whenever there's a hot guy around, most girls talk in high-pitched voices and say things that make them sound cute? And how they brush their hair back and give said guy the fluttery eyes but never actually say anything to him? If they're so interested, why don't they, I don't know, actually go up to the guy and start a conversation? Is that really so hard?

Also, didn't anyone else find it weird that Kevin had a video of the Necrofriggian kids? The episode doesn't show him filming them; hell, he doesn't even have a camera on him. Methinks the animators made a mistake. XD