"I still think this is a bad idea," Pierce said.

"But I think it's a good idea. And I outrank you," Ben said with a smirk.

"I'm going to have plan a mutiny on you," Pierce said, making Ben laugh.

"Hey, the way I see it, if you're going to help, you may as well help as yourself. Not as someone else. This..." Ben trailed, holding up the ID Mask Pierce brought with him with two fingers as if it was something unclean. "...does you no favors. And I speak from experience."

"Still..." Pierce said hesitantly.

"Just go in," Ben said, pushing him inside and following right after.

The place in question was an orphanage located in the center of the city. Pierce had let it known that he wanted something to do with his time, and volunteer work had come up. Ben didn't really need to think long about why he had chosen orphanage work.

"You two look a bit out of place to be considering adoption," the woman at the desk said.

"No ma'am. I'm too young, too busy, and too straight to adopt a kid with this guy," Ben said with a grin, which earned him a glare from Pierce. "He's here for some volunteer work."

"You are aware he's..."

"That really shouldn't matter. He's here to help, and you accept all volunteers don't you?" Ben asked with a raised brow.

The woman raised her eyebrows at how the statement sounded authoritative with a thin veil of politeness on top. And on someone who was less than half her age, no less.

"Ben, I still don't think this is a good idea," Pierce said in a hushed tone.

"You - quiet." Ben barely spared him a glance before turning back to the woman in front of him. "If him being here bothers the kids that much, then we'll leave. Otherwise, he should be free to help, right?"

"Very well. One moment please," the woman said, getting up out of her chair and walking away.

"Was that really necessary?" Pierce asked.

"I wasn't being rude. I was pointing out her rules, and I did it the same way I make Manny focus on training," Ben told him.

"You aren't in charge of that woman," Pierce reminded him.

"No, but the woman should know her policies on volunteer work. 'Any help will be appreciated' is what they said. Simple as that," Ben said.

"Being Magister sure has made you way more bossy," Pierce said.

"No. It just made me realize that it's not such a bad thing to be more authoritative. It makes people take you seriously. I'm sure that is exactly why Gwen is the way she is," Ben said with his arms crossed. "Besides, I'm an Anodite. We get what we want by any means necessary."

"Nothing I say is going to change your mind about that, huh?" Pierce said with a sigh.

"No. I'm very stubborn," Ben said before looking to the side. "Here she comes."

The woman at the desk walked back to them, and she looked at Pierce a little warily before speaking.

"Follow me, Mr..."

"Pierce," the Plumber in question said.

"You'll get plenty of stuff done with this guy around. He's a hard worker out in the field, and will be a hard worker here. Do let me know if everything goes smooth, won't ya?" Ben said, giving his partner a cheerful wave and walking off.

"So that's Ben Tennyson," the woman said.

"Yeah. He's also my boss," Pierce said in a somewhat awkward tone.

"I can see why. Some adults aren't as bossy as he is. Regardless, I'll get you started," the woman said.

"Did you have to do that?" Gwen asked.

"I didn't have to, but Pierce is a good guy. He deserves to have his efforts appreciated as Pierce. Not some random guy called Jack Birmingham or something," Ben said distastefully before taking a sip from his drink. "People on Earth aren't the biggest fan of aliens that aren't me. I get why considering a lot of the troublesome ones come to Earth, but it still sucks for people like Pierce, Manny, and Helen."

"Like the fact that the latter of them have to wear ID Masks in order to attend school?" Gwen said, grabbing one of the chili fries they were sharing.

"I tried talking to Rozum about allowing some leeway on that, but no dice. Said it'd be far too possible that they'd cause a public panic. So they have to remain undercover," Ben said with a frown. "On top of that..."

"Don't even talk about it. Because it's just going to make the both of us more upset," Gwen said, holding up a hand and gesturing towards the books on the table in front of them. "This is what we need to be focused on. Unless you'd rather spend most of your summer in school?"

"Whether I study or not, I would never do so bad to end up in summer school. Those days are over. And slow down on the chili fries, woman!" Ben said, pulling the basket back when he noticed more than half of it was gone. "I've only had a few."

"What? They're delicious," Gwen said with a smile that Ben found too alluring to be legal. "Besides, it's not my fault you're too caught up in your woes to get in on them."

Ben raised an eyebrow before taking a thumb and wiping it across the corner of her mouth, catching a bit of chili and sucking it off his thumb. Gwen looked dumbfounded by the gesture, and Ben only grinned devilishly.

"Huh. You'd be surprised how much better that tastes than usual," he said before grabbing a chili fry and eating it whole. Then he gave his girlfriend an innocent look. "What were you saying?"

"You are so in for it, Benjamin Tennyson," Gwen said, her eyes narrowed. But it wasn't a threatening look in any way.

"Am I? Show me what I'm in for, Gwendolyn Tennyson," Ben said with the Anodite Grin on his face. "No one's here."

He was right. Her parents were out, and left the house to them. And it was quiet on the alien front for now. But there were more pressing concerns.

"Focus Gwen," the female Anodite thought before sliding Ben's chemistry book in front of him and going back to her own book.

"You are no fun at all," Ben said with a pout.

"And you clearly inherited Grandma Verdona's penchant for not taking anything less than life or death seriously," Gwen said with a roll of the eyes. "Now focus."

"I'm focused alright," Ben said with a smirk, and Gwen was immediately wary of the look in his eyes.

"Ben..." she warned.

"Oh, come on. You're a teenage genius and I have aliens with brains the size of the TV. I think we can afford to take a little break," Ben said, putting a hand on her leg and teasingly moving his fingers along her leg in a way he knew would send shivers through her before he gently kissed her.

"You are... a terrible influence," Gwen said through the kiss, trying to push him away. But her attempts had almost no effort put into them.

"I know," Ben said, a smile on his face as he linked his hands with hers. The skin on their linked hands slowly disappeared, revealing the Anodite skin underneath. It felt nice.

"And here I thought you two would be studying," an amused voice said, which gave Gwen enough willpower to actually push Ben away to the other end of the couch. A loud, disappointed groan was the only noise that came from him.

"Hi grandma," Gwen said in an embarrassed tone, rubbing the back of her head.

"Your timing couldn't have been any more terrible!" Ben exclaimed, making his grandmother laugh.

"You were expecting Natalie?" Verdona questioned, aiming the question at Gwen.

"Yeah. But I'm very glad it's not," Gwen said, unconsciously licking her lips. "She's still a bit... awkward about this. On top of the fact that I was supposed to be studying."

"If you and Benjamin were studying each other's lips, then I'd say you were doing a very good job of it," Verdona said with a smirk, and even Ben had the decency to blush.

"You needed something?" Ben asked after clearing his throat.

"I just wanted to tell you that I had a surprise for you two once you finished your exams. Just make sure and prepare yourself for a load of fun," Verdona said with a cheerful looking smile.

"You're not gonna even give us a hint, are you?" Gwen asked.

"Not in the slightest. Just do well. And try and keep your hands to yourself long enough to know everything you need to know," Verdona said with a devilish grin before teleporting away.

"I must've traveled cross time at some point, because Verdona just told me to focus on studying long enough to pass my exam," Gwen said with some surprise.

"Everything's bound to happen once. Now I'm really curious as to what she has planned," Ben said thoughtfully.

"How about we actually study, and find out after we finish our final exams?" Gwen suggested.

"And finish where we left off?" Ben said with a smirk. Gwen rolled her eyes, but smiled all the same.

"And finish where we left off," she agreed, causing Ben to pump both of his fists in the air. "Dork."

"Baby, you know it," he said with a wide grin before looking at his chemistry book.

"I know for a fact I aced that French exam," Gwen said with a satisfied smile.

"I'd imagine so. You studied it on top of all the other stuff we had to do," Ben said as he stretched his arms out like he was just waking up. "I'm just going to enjoy the fact that we don't have to juggle school on top of aliens."

"Me too. As for the Verdona surprise, she's probably going to stop by when she's ready," Gwen said.

"I usually would," Verdona said through the mana link, surprising both Ben and Gwen. "But there is something that you need see at Natalie's house."

"Is it important?" Gwen asked.

"Somewhat. You can judge for yourself once you see," Verdona said before the link died.

"Wonder what that was about?" Ben asked, and Gwen only shrugged.

"Um... excuse me," a nervous voice said, and both Ben and Gwen turned around to see three teens from their school looking at them. None of them were people either Tennyson interacted with.

"You needed something?" Ben asked warily, expecting them to be the kind of teenagers they usually dealt with.

"We're big fans of yours. But we've never had a chance to talk," the only girl of the group said.

"Listen if this is about..."

"It's not," the guy with black hair interrupted, and he rubbed the back of his neck nervously when Ben raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Um... sorry. It's just..."

"What Michael here is trying to get out is that you've done a lot of for us. And thanks for that. But also... we're glad to see that you're happy. With each other," the blond guy said, and Ben and Gwen's eyes widened in surprise. It took a little self control for Ben not to drop his jaw.

"Never heard that before?" the girl said in a knowing tone.

"No. Not at all. Not from anyone that wasn't Kevin and a couple of family members," Gwen said, managing to gather her wits. "I wasn't expecting that to change."

"Well... you two smile more when you're around each other. That's a big sign that you're happy, even if it is with your own family. I mean... well, I guess you don't need anyone else telling you how weird it is for what's probably the millionth time, but you should be allowed to do what you want to do," the guy named Michael said.

"Seriously! You defend everyone on Earth from aliens and criminals and all kinds of stuff, so you should be allowed to date who you want. Just because you're amazing doesn't mean you're perfect, and a lot of people seem to think that," the girl said, and both Ben and Gwen smiled at that statement.

"I've never heard anyone sum it up as good as that. I mean, clearly we're too amazing to be normal, but we're still not perfect," Gwen said in a self-assured tone, and Ben grinned like a fool at that statement while earning smiles from the other three teenagers.

"We just wanted to let you know that not everyone is completely against your decision. There are probably more people if you squint enough," Mike said.

"Thank you. I get that we may not have ever met, but to hear it from other people does mean a lot to me," Ben said in a sincere tone.

"To me as well. It's nice to not everyone is just flat out against this," Gwen said in a tone just as sincere.

"We were hoping that's what you'd say. So... see you next year?" the black haired guy said.

"We'll have to talk more then. I don't forget faces," Ben said, and all three teens smiled before walking away.

"That was nice. Something that was actually positive about us for once," Gwen said.

"I only wished it happened more. But I'll take anything good," Ben said before raising his hand and teleported the both of them to Gwen's house.

Appearing at the front door in a flash of light, Gwen zapped open the front door with a snap of the fingers, and walked inside.

"You're not going to change their minds."

"His mind is not the one I care about. It's certainly not a very well mind if..."

The two ladies that were conversation turned around when they realized they had visitors now. One was Natalie, and the other was someone Ben hadn't seen in a very long time.

"Hi Mrs. Walton," Ben said in a tone so polite, that Gwen almost believed it was even though she knew better.

"Benjamin," the woman said curtly, and Ben hardly refrained from rolling his eyes. Then he turned his gaze to his aunt, who was looking awkward.

"I wasn't expecting you two," Natalie said, which earned her two bewildered looks.

"Verdona asked us to be here," Gwen mentioned.

"What?" Natalie said before laying her eyes on Verdona, who just walked around the couch and into her view. "Verdona..."

"Natalie, I understand you wanted them to not be here for this, but in my experiences, it's always better to get things like this over with," Verdona said before turning to her grandchildren. "Your mother didn't want you here for this meeting. But I disagreed."

"You haven't been to Bellwood in a long time," Gwen said to the grandmother that wasn't an Anodite.

"Florida is such a nice place to live. I can't say Bellwood compares," Mrs. Walton said with a gentle smile. "How are you Gwen?"

"Glad to be out of school. Wanted to see what was Verdona's big surprise that she mentioned earlier," Gwen said slowly.

"Could it wait?" Mrs. Walton asked, looking to Verdona.

"That's why I invited them," she said with a nod.

"Then you and me can talk," Mrs. Walton said to Gwen before looking at Ben. Her eyes flicked towards him almost dismissively. "If you would..."

"Gladly," Ben interrupted tersely, but Gwen put a hand on his arm.

"Stay," she said.

"I'd rather not," Ben said with his lips pursued.

"Stay," Gwen insisted, linking her hand with his. Natalie's mother looked at the gesture with a distasteful look on her face.

"Alright," Ben conceded in a soft tone.

"Benjamin..."

"What? I certainly can't tell my girlfriend no," Ben said with a smile so insincere, he made Albedo look like a genuine human being.

"You are so not helping," Gwen said sternly before sitting down in the chair. Ben stood at her side with his hand still holding hers.

"You are actually ok with this?" Mrs. Walton said, looking at her daughter.

"I wasn't initially, no. My daughter and nephew were a couple. And that was extremely difficult to process. But I didn't feel the need to abandon them. The both of them are amazing people, and you know as well as I do how amazing. And they are both mature enough to make their own choice," Natalie explained calmly.

"Thanks Aunt Natalie," Ben said with a grateful smile. He was glad to hear that from his aunt out of all people.

"I don't understand. You despised Ben when you were younger," Mrs. Walton said, looking to Gwen.

"I didn't despise him. His behavior just annoyed me a lot when we were younger. He was an immature goofball, and I had color coded timetables before I was even in middle school. It was two different classes clashing," Gwen explained.

"You could say that again," Ben muttered.

The Tennysons had never gotten along with any of the Waltons. On Thanksgivings, the air wasn't exactly hostile, but it certainly didn't feel like a family gathering. And Gwen was more of a Walton than a Tennyson when they were younger, while he was a bit of a brat at that age when it came to things he didn't like. You do the math.

"What's this about grandma?" Gwen asked rhetorically. "Do you think talking about how Ben used to be is going to suddenly make me stop dating him? Because the Ben I'm dating now is mature than most people. They don't make law enforcement leaders in intergalactic police out of immature children."

"No, but I'm sure they would give it to a teenager who has far more fame than I would consider healthy," Mrs. Walton said.

"I don't like my fame. It's more trouble than it's worth," Ben said, his tone level.

"Really?" Mrs. Walton said with a raised eyebrow.

"People change. I've changed," Ben said, his tone not changing.

"And this change of attitude suddenly gives you an urge to date your own cousin? Messing around with the likes of my granddaughter?" Mrs. Walton said, her eyes narrowed to slits.

"I'm dating her because I love her and she loves me. If I cared about the opinions of everyone who disagreed, we wouldn't be having this conversation. But I don't," Ben said sternly.

"You don't know what that kind of love is," Mrs. Walton said.

"You don't know the first thing about me or what I feel," Ben snapped.

"If you think you've found true love at your age with your cousin, it's clear you've deluded yourself," Mrs. Walton said, and Natalie started rubbing her temples while Verdona looked like she was trying very hard to control herself.

"I guess that makes me deluded as well," Gwen said, her lips pursued as she watched the interaction.

"More like confused. A girl with your responsibilities can't have had many opportunities to meet good boys your age," Mrs. Walton said.

"He's deluded while she's just confused. I can see what kind of person Natalie was unfortunate enough to be raised by," Verdona thought distastefully.

"I'm not confused. There are a lot of things a girl my age could be confused about. But being in love with my cousin is not one of them," Gwen told the woman firmly.

"I don't believe it. You had always been such a proper girl while growing up. You were so against the idea of being anything like Ben. And then all of a sudden it's a public scandal about how Ben Tennyson is dating his cousin, Gwendolyn Tennyson," Mrs. Walton said, barely sparing Ben a glance.

"Very public. That's part of the reason I never attended the reunion. I didn't feel like I should try and justify myself to a bunch of people who may as well be strangers. Because as long as the important people in my life accepted my decision, then I could live with the rest of the world sneering at me," Gwen told her.

"You don't consider your family important?" Mrs. Walton said with a frown.

"They are family by blood. But the people around me are real family. Mom. Dad. Aunt Sandra. Uncle Carl. Grandpa Max. Grandma Verdona. Kevin. And of course, someone who's a bit of an exemption," Gwen said, giving Ben a gentle smile that he returned. The smile disappeared when she laid eyes on her grandma, who was now displaying an open expression of distaste. "Other people's judgement won't ever stop my decision. And neither will yours."

"I told you," Natalie said, who was sitting upright in her chair with her gaze locked on her mother. "You won't change their minds."

"I'm trying to prevent her from making a mistake," Mrs. Walton said.

"Then why come down here?" Ben said, and his tone was so commanding that it caught his grandaunt off guard.

"You clearly haven't been paying attention if you're telling me that," Mrs. Walton said with a pointed look of derision. Verdona's eyes flashed angrily, Gwen clamped down on her teeth angrily in order to keep her mouth closed. Even Natalie looked irritated, but Ben didn't seem bothered by it at all. He expected this kind of dismissiveness.

"It's clear you think you're here because you think Gwen made a disastrous mistake trying to date me, but I'm sure you understand the fact that people have to learn lessons the hard way in order to really remember them. I've understood that for years, and you're more than four times my age. You don't like Bellwood. You never have. And you came all the way down here to try and talk about something that could've been handled over a phone or video call. So why come down here?" Ben questioned.

Something about the gaze in Ben's eyes threw Mrs. Walton for a loop. Everything about his demeanor seemed calm except for the fact that his eyes looked as if they were holding back a storm.

"Gwen's shown you that she doesn't care what people say. And people can't deny Gwen the scholarships and entry into the big schools that she's guaranteed to be accepted into. Her grades will be good enough to where people would have to be biased in order to not let her in, and that's one problem I could solve efficiently," Ben said, his eyes flashing dangerously. "She is on a road to success, and dating me doesn't change that. So the only reason I can think of that you would come all the way down here is because you just care about how this looks. How it isn't socially acceptable to date your cousin. That it, by extension, just makes you look bad."

"Ben..." Gwen warned, but Ben shook his head. And she knew there was no getting through to him when he had that look in his eyes. She'd have to physically drag him from the room, and that was something she did not want to do in front of her grandmother.

"You don't know the first thing about what I want," Mrs. Walton said, and it was here that her tone dropped in temperature. "Look at the situation Gwen is in because of you."

"Stop acting like Gwen isn't smart enough to make her own damn decisions!" Ben snapped, releasing his hand from the girl in question. She calmed him down, but he wanted to revel in his anger for a moment. To stop playing coy and get to the point.

"Gwen is one of the smartest people I know. We discussed everything that was going to change when we made this decision. And she had just as much of a grasp on the situation that we put ourselves in as I did, if not more. Yet you want to pin everything on me because you believe I'm the cause of her choosing to date me? I couldn't make Gwen do anything if I wanted to, and I most certainly don't. If she wants to date me, that is her decision. You can't change that. And neither can the other idiots that tell me what I'm doing is disgusting and wrong. That I should date a cute, worthy girl who isn't my cousin. Well, I love her. So their opinions are worth less than dirt to me, and so does yours."

It was then Ben stood to his feet, his expression schooled, but his demeanor betraying a bit of his anger. Despite that, every ounce of him just oozed control. And Gwen believed that was when Ben was at his strongest.

"Now, I'm going to excuse myself. Grandma, just call me back when someone specific has left the premises," Ben said, disappearing in a flash of green light.

"He certainly is appreciative of your talents - no question about that," Mrs. Walton said, and it was here that Verdona fixed the woman with an expression of disbelief.

"That's what you got from that whole thing? 'He's appreciative' her talents?'" the Anodite said sarcastically.

"There wasn't anything else of note," Mrs. Walton said, sitting up straighter in her seat.

"How about the fact that he loves and is devoted to his cousin, and you should likely stop trying to change that?" Verdona questioned rhetorically.

"I wasn't aware that your grandson directed you," Mrs. Walton said coolly.

"If you think my opinion on this was influenced by Ben, then you're even stupider than I initially took you for," Verdona snapped, not even bothering with the niceties her grandson did.

"I can see where Benjamin gets his sense from," Mrs. Walton said disdainfully.

"We have sense," Gwen said in a calm tone. "But we won't be when that idea of sense isn't sensible."

"You think it's sensible to date your cousin?" Mrs. Walton asked.

"On paper? No," Gwen said, her tone freakishly calm. Natalie could tell she was angry, but maintaining a fragile sense of calm, which was a major sense of deja vu for her. "But I'm happy with Ben. Every day, teenagers and other adults look at me like I did something horribly wrong despite the fact that we are happy with each other."

"It's already enough a headache as well as a pain in the ass. And then you come here, waving around the idea that our love for each other is just a mistake. Like it's something I'll grow out of. But we have all changed for the better. Me, mom, Ben, and Verdona have all changed, and you haven't been around for a single second of it," Gwen said, crossing one leg over the other and sitting in a very proper manner.

"You don't have to agree with my decision. But you can't come around here and act like Ben is the worst thing that ever happened to me, because I most certainly won't stand for that. Because after everything he's been through and done for my sake and the rest of the world, he deserves far more respect than that. You wouldn't even be here to talk this way about him if it weren't for him and what he's sacrificed," she continued, quickly tapping her foot on the ground to work out some of her anger. "I do love you grandmother. In that easy, detached love you have for family members that you rarely see. But that only means you are on the list of people whose opinion has no relevance to me when when it comes to choosing who I decide to date. And if it really is a bad idea like you claim it is, then I'm sure we'll find out sometime in the future, won't we?"

Though it went unsaid that Gwen already knew what that future entailed - the two of them happily married to each other.

There was silence after Gwen's statement, while Natalie and Verdona's gazes kept darting between Mrs. Walton and Gwen. The intense gaze in her eyes had eased up somewhat, but it was still there as she stared down the grandmother that wasn't an Anodite. And just like Ben, her eyes were waiting for her grandmother to say something that would unleash that storm behind them.

"And you're sure about this Gwendolyn? You don't know what the future may hold," Mrs. Walton said.

"You'd be surprised," Gwen said with a secretive smile. "But regardless, it is my decision. I've learned to make hard, painful decisions. It's avoidable in this line of work. If you can trust me to help save the world, why not trust me to make a good decision as to who I fall in love with?"

"Because they are two entirely different things. But I can see that I'm getting nowhere with how I'm doing things," Mrs. Walton said before standing to her feet and going up the stairs.

"This is why our families never meet anymore," Natalie said with a sigh.

"I've definitely grown less tolerant of people like that," Gwen said, looking to her mother. "You'll have to excuse me when I say I don't want to interact with Grandma Sarah for a while."

"It's fine. I can't imagine I would've just sat there while she talked to Frank like that," Natalie said in an understanding tone.

"I just barely kept myself from flying off the handle," Gwen admitted.

"You think she's done trying?" Verdona asked.

"Even I can't say. But even though she's my mother, there are few lengths she'll be allowed to go to. I should have stepped in when she started talking to Ben in the manner that she did," Natalie said with a tight lipped frown.

"Ben's handed worse than someone bad mouthing him. Her words are less than nothing to him. Speaking of which, it was nice of you to stick around," Verdona said with a smile, causing Natalie and Gwen to look around them. Ben suddenly appeared in the middle of the room with a grin on his face.

"You knew? I thought I did a good job of keeping myself hidden," he said.

"Oh, you did. Certainly an excellent display of the technique. But you can't hide from an Anodite experienced enough to feel what little mana you do leave," Verdona told him.

"Can't win em all," Ben said with a shrug before looking to Gwen with a smile. "Thanks."

"As if I'd let anyone talk about you like that," Gwen said with a scoff.

"How do you feel?" Ben asked.

"I'm ok. I don't like having to fight with family, but I'll fight with anyone until the end on this," Gwen said before looking to Verdona. "Let's stop talking about that. Since that's over, mind telling us what your big surprise is?"

"I'm taking you two to Anodyne," Verdona said with a wide, pleased smile on her face. Both Gwen and Ben's eyes widened. "Surprised?"

"Yeah, a little. But..." Ben trailed.

"Still a little unexpected," Gwen finished for him.

"Well, I figured now was an excellent time to at least introduce you to the kind of lifestyle our kind lives. Plus there are teachers there that could help you with releasing your Anodite form better than I can," Verdona said, looking to Gwen in particular. "I wasn't very knowledgeable on that kind of thing, but I thought I was informed enough to help you master that."

"I've been working hard at it," Gwen reminded her.

"Yes. But mastery is what you strive to achieve, and I'm not sure the route I put you on is even the right one. But there are people who can. Besides, it gives you a chance to show off what the other Anodyne youth could be if they had a little more initiative," Verdona said with a smile. "Your mother wanted me to immediately whisk you off there and keep you there until her mother left, but like I told you before, I didn't really agree."

"I should've known you wouldn't have listened," Natalie said with a glare at the woman, and Verdona at least had the decency to look somewhat guilty.

"It was likely that this discussion would've happened at some point. Whether it wasn't today or a year from now doesn't matter. Besides, you know Benjamin has a tendency to face things head on, and Gwendolyn's always there with him," Verdona said with a smile.

"She's got you there, Aunt Natalie," Ben said, and the woman shook her head with a sigh leaving her lips.

"Tennysons. I tell you, this family can drive someone crazy," Natalie said, and every Anodite in the room had the Grin on their face.

"We love you too mom," Gwen said, giving her mother a hug.

"So when do you two want to leave? If you want to go, that is," Verdona said.

"We'd have to make sure the team can make do while we're gone, and plus there's still the research we have to do in order to get back to Ledgerdomain, but I definitely want to go. And I'm sure Gwen does too," Ben said, looking to the girl in question.

"You really have to guess? Of course I want go. But someone here has to fulfil a promise they made," Gwen said before grinning at Ben.

"Oh?" Verdona asked, looking to Ben who was also grinning.

"I said I would take her dancing tonight. No more school means a lot more free time. Plus it's a promise I fully intend on keeping because I really wanted to go as well," he told her.

"Well, then by all means, dance your night away. When would you be open to go then?" Verdona asked.

"Once we go over everything with Kevin and the others. God, I can see it being a nightmare between Kevin and Manny without us there," Ben said, shaking his head.

"I'm sure Pierce and Helen will help keep him in line," Gwen assured him.

"And who's going to keep Kevin in line? You know how he gets," Ben said with a pointed look.

"Yeah. I do. But I'm more than sure he can handle it. Kevin's proved he can take stuff seriously if you give him the right motivation," Gwen said.

"Then I'll threaten to scrap his car if he screws up badly," Ben said with a grin, and his girlfriend only rolled her eyes.

"Try and actually think of a more reasonable solution," Gwen said with a hand on her hip.

"Don't worry. I'm sure Max is willing to take control until we get back," Verdona told him.

"No, our team has to be able to function on their own when we're not there. Kevin can be a little rash, but so can I, and the Plumbers put me in charge of an entire galaxy," Ben said with a shrug. "He'll be able to handle it. When they're in the middle of a fight, that is. Outside of that, I'm not sure."

"At least you'll be lightyears away so you don't have to hear the bickering," Verdona said with a grin, and Ben smiled.

"Isn't that the truth?" he said.

"I should let you two know one thing," Natalie said, causing Ben and Gwen to look at her. "If you come back and I learn that I'm a grandmother, Earth will need to find two new heroes to take your place."

"Mom!/Aunt Natalie!" Gwen and Ben exclaimed with a blush on their faces.

"Oh, come on Natalie. These two are at least responsible enough to use protection," Verdona said with a devilish grin, making Gwen bury her face into a pillow while Ben put his hands over where his ears would normally be. He had closed his eyes and started saying a mantra to himself, making Verdona laugh.

"I know there are almost no rules to speak of on this planet of yours, so please do me a favor and be the responsible girl I know you are," Natalie told her.

"I promise mom. Nothing's going to get that out of hand," Gwen assured her, making her mother smile.

"Good. Now you just have to get your father to believe that Ben means the same thing. After he's had a talk with Carl," Natalie said with a smirk that was more evil looking than Verdona's, and both cousins looked at each other with a worried look.

"Crap," Ben and Gwen said at the same time.

A/N: Yup. Ben and Gwen are going to be spending some time on Anodyne. It's only going to go on for a few chapters, and I took some liberties for those segments, but it should at least be somewhat interesting.

Ok, and serious question here. I get that it takes decades for an Anodite to fully master their abilities, but there was no reason why Gwen couldn't have just stopped by for like a week, and picked up some easy, but useful skills? Just saying.

Also, it took me like ten minutes to figure out how to publish chapters on this app. Not really important. Just wanted it to go on record.