The large shuttle landed on a large pad at the mid section of Ben's headquarters in Black Hills. Tetrax's ship was fast and didn't even spend more than a day in space. That's what you get when your a fearless mercenary.
"Tetrax," Ben started, holding his hand out in thanks to the tall tetramand, "thank you for everything. Without your help I would be space dust."
"Just remember that you don't have to do everything alone." He pointed to the four Tennyson family members lined up in front of them, behind Ben. "I'm glad I could help, and I will just be a call away."
Ben nodded. He truly, and finally, understood what he had. His family, and friends, were the best anyone could ask for. It wasn't until then did he really understoof what kind of support was around him. He eyed his family. Kenny, Devlin, Max, and most importantly, Gwen. They were always supporting him in any situation.
As kids, Gwen had outwardly mocked him and continuously given him a hard time, but whenever he was depressed or in trouble, she was right beside him. It was more than just being strong for each other, it was fearlessly standing up for one another.
They exchanged rough goodbyes and waved as the large metallic ship spread its wings once more and took off - leaving only the sounds of heavy jet engines.
Ben turned around once more to face his family. "Guys...I can't tell you how bad I feel for putting you all in danger."
Max stepped up and put his hand on his grandson's shoulder. "Ben, like Tetrax said, we're all here for you - because you've shown us that you would be there for us."
"Yeah Mr. Te- I mean, dad." Devlin remarked casually.
Ben looked at them all, giving his amazing family a nice run-down. However, he took a mental note of Gwendolyn - who was unwilling to face him and had her hands cupped together as she stared off to the side.
Smiling a false smiling, Ben looked down at his two sons. "How about we play a little baseball in the training room?" he offered.
The ten-year-olds' eyes lit up.
"Really?" Kenny shouted. He hadn't spent time with his father in months - if not years. Playing baseball was like receiving a priceless Christmas present.
"Sure," Ben replied before adding in additional information, "just go get a bat and some gloves and I'll meet you two down there. I just need to get something from my room."
They two adolescents nodded eagerly and raced off into the tall tower that they lived in to retrieve their equipment. Max followed them and said that he would get something ready for dinner.
"He's cooking? Oh no...Gwen, I think you might want to leave so you won't have to get food poisoning." he chuckled. Max wasn't the best chef, and his foods usually were made with exotic ingredients which smelt of rotten fish.
Gwen didn't respond at his comment, she continued to appear zoned out of reality and stare blankly off into the distance.
Ben moved over to her and gripped her arms. "Hey...is everything all right?"
The orange-haired woman sharply turned her head to face the man holding onto her. "Yeah...I'm just a little tired that's all. I should get some rest."
Ben nodded. She had been given healing stimulants and had a growth supplement injected into her leg wound. Her back had been snapped back into place flawlessly. It was amazing what technology, which was advanced by thousands of human years, could do for a person.
With a small limp, Gwendolyn headed into the large tower-like headquarters in search of her guest room - which Ben had always kept open for her. Just in case she ever needed a place to stay when she wasn't out roaming the galaxy.
As soon as Ben made it inside he headed up to the top level, where most of his radio equipment was, and radioed Ultimos - leader of the Galactic Enforcers. A few years back, they had decided to make their home on Earth and would usually handle anything Ben wouldn't - which was typically nothing.
However, he decided to tell them to take care of any incoming threats for a few days, as he was too tired for anything at that point.
"Really?" Ultimos had asked, astonished.
"Yeah, I've been having a rough week. Besides, I think you guys could use some excercise."
Saluting Ben from the monitor screen, Ultimos gladly accepted his joke as an offer. The two said a formal goodbye and Ben shut the monitor off.
Now it was time to fulfil his little agreement he had made with his kids. Ben walked into a nearby hallway and headed towards his room. Opening the slender metal door, he walked in the room. It was dark and lit only by the hall light from the open door. Having mentally remembered the placement of things from the room, he skipped turning the lights on and headed towards the right corner - where a large chest full of miscellaneous supplies were kept.
Opening the container, he felt around for an old leather glove his grandfather had given him for his fourteenth birthday. Normally, a glove wouldn't stay fit for over twenty years, but the one Max had given him was made from a special Zodiac leather. It grew in size to fit the wearer's hand and stayed slick - never to decay.
Turning to exit the room he suddenly felt as though he was being watched. Anyone could have snuck into the headquarters while he was gone and turned the alarms off undetected. After all, he hadn't gone over the system's camera records or alarm sensors since he had been back.
What confirmed his suspicion to one-hundred percent was the sound off crisp breathing when he stopped moving. Dashing for the light switch on the wall close to the entrance of his room, he flipped the rectangular lever and the medium-sized room was flooded with light and color.
"Gwen?" Ben asked in surprise as he spied his cousin sitting on his bed with her hands on her sides.
She was...crying? Between sobs she said, "I thought I told you...my name is Gwendolyn."
Ignoring her snappy remark he narrowed his eyes in sudden concern. Why was she sad? Did he say something earlier on the ship? Maybe something he did caused her to feel bad.
"You know...it's so hard, Ben. I don't know how much longer I can keep this up."
Something was definitely eating away at her mind. Gwen's thoughts were conflicting on different levels, as if two hurricanes had met and failed to merge with one another.
Ben walked over to the edge of his bed and sat next to her, leaning in close to let her know that he was listening - to her and focused only on her.
"What's hard? Gwen...tell me."
Her green eyes disappeared behind her eyelids. She was contemplating on explaining how she felt, but was fearing that it would be the end of Ben's hero days. Was she selfish for wanting to tell him her feelings only so that she wouldn't have to deal with the pain that was brought for bottling them up?
Suddenly, a rough and crisp hand found its way to the side of her cheek. It caused her to freeze as if she had been drowned in an icy ocean, but soon she relaxed and let the hand cup around her face.
Ben turned her head to face his own face, looking at her with such pure passion - something that he had hid from her ever since they were kids.
"Please, tell me what's wrong. I can't stand to see you like this?"
"And why not?" she said defensively. "You always seemed to show that you didn't care before, why start now." It wasn't a good way to start a conversation, but it was simply in her nature. She and Ben had always argued and teased each other for years - ever since they were kids. It was almost impossible for them to fabricate a normal talking mood.
However, if Ben had learned one thing over his years of being a father, then it was to be patient.
"Look, I'm sorry if what I have done as...ever... hurt you. I promise that I never meant to make you feel bad or cry. I guess...I guess I just wanted your attention." He took a deep breath. Ben was jumping into a deep pit - a hole which he could need see the end of. But it was time to take chances, to stomp in triumph over his fear.
"Gwendolyn, " he started with her full name to make sure he had her entire attention, "you're beautiful and smarter than any girl - woman - I have ever known. Someone like you should be out making a big name for herself, not stuck with an arrogant hero like me. Your face should be plastered all over magazines, and your mind should be talked about mercilessly on television. Why do you stay here with us, when you could be more famous than anyone in the world right now?"
Never in her life had she expected Ben, her cousin who had constantly tried to bring her down, to say anything close to what he had just told her.
"Do...you really mean that?" she asked nervously. The air was fragile, as if it was fast moving glass. A wrong move could shatter it into such small pieces that it would be impossible to reconstruct.
"Every word, and I have always thought of you like that."
Ben swallowed audibly, his stomach was light and his heart was pounding against his rib cage, as though it were about to spring free and dance along the floor beneath their feet.
Gwen looked all over his face for any signs that he could be lying, or simply saying those things to make her feel better. But she could find none.
With his hand still against her cheek, he slowly maneuvered it around the back of her head and laced his fingers through her bright orange hair. The color of her eyes blended so well with the perfect hue of her hair.
Pulling his hand towards him, he brought Gwendolyn's head with it. Slowly, their faces became merely inches apart, until they were right against each other.
Gwen allowed Ben's lips to press against her own as he kept his muscular hand interlaced with her hair locks. The feelings that were now running like electric voltages throughout their bodies were scary, ever so scary, but at the same time they were blended with freedom and spirit. They had never felt so reformed, and no matter how wrong it may have seemed, it felt so right.
Instead of leaving the physical guidance up to Ben, Gwen decided to release her tight grip from the mattress and put her own arms around the man in front of her. Ben's body felt warm as her hands guided up to the middle of his back and finally rested on his shoulders - holding tightly onto him as she pushed even closer, wanting an everlasting feeling.
They both would rather suffocate from lack of air than release the connection of their lips. Going on for as long as they could, simply daring each other to be the first to pull away.
Gwen was the first to make the step forward. She moved back just a few centimeters and spoke softly.
"So you think, just because you kissed me, that it will make up for all of those hard times?"
Ben smiled as their faces nudged together once more. "Is it working?"
"It's going to take more than one." she snickered and allowed him to kiss her repeatedly, starting with her forehead and moving back towards her lips.
Gwen then pulled away. She suddenly realized the consequences that could come from what she had just done. Looking guilty, she apologized.
"I-I'm sorry...I...we shouldn't have done that."
Seeing her get up, Ben took her soft hand and begged her to stay with him. "No, it's okay."
"No it isn't! If anyone found out about this...Ben it could ruin you. Everybody would look at you with disgust, and you wouldn't be the great 'Ben 10,000' anymore."
"It doesn't matter. I don't care who hates me...as long as you don't. Gwen please stay." he pleaded, making his eyes look as pathetic as possible.
"I can't. I'm sorry Ben."
She left the room, switching off the lights - as if trying to black out the memory that had now formed in her mind. Oh how she wanted to experience it again and again, but she knew it would just complicate his life. She cared more about his reputation then her own feelings.
Ben closed his eyes and fell backwards onto the soft mattress. Battling tears that were inevitable, he could still feel the burn on his lips where Gwendolyn's had been - her sweet and innocent touch which caused a storm to brew inside his head. What had he done wrong?