A/N: There is a lot of mpreg in this. If you don't like it, then just ignore this entire chapter. This centres around Ben and Rook's relationship after Omniverse, stretching from Ben's 18thto the events of 'The End of an Era'. It's also a lot shorter than the previous chapter but a lot of stuff happens during it.
The first few weeks of Ben and Rook's courtship were almost like a honeymoon for them, at least according to Ben. Although during their tour of the universe (which was more accurately a tour of a few galaxies) they did not mate like one would do during a honeymoon, Rook enjoyed it very much. Gwendolyn was 'over the moon' about their relationship and both she and Kevin were there when they visited Revonnah in case Father decided to reject his son's choice in mate. Unsurprisingly, he did so, along his Mother and his sisters Shim and Shi. His younger brother, which Rook now mentally referred to him as since he struggled to comprehend that his beloved and his brother shared the same name, was overjoyed about Ben possibly one day becoming part of the family and had started to refer to Ben as 'Brother Ben'. Shar, when they visited her at the Plumbers Academy, was also supportive of their relationship, although she was less enthused than their brother.
Overall, the subsequent year was much like the previous one with Ben and Rook bringing miscreants to justice, although their hand-holding increased and kissing was not uncommon, whilst they waited for Ben's soul mark to appear.
With little thought about the future, few could have considered what followed past Ben's eighteenth.
Truly, Rook should not have been all that surprised about the consequences of mating with his beloved. Ben had proven himself many times to be the exception in most rules and really Rook had seen stranger things in the time he had known Ben.
But when the two, on Ben's 18th birthday, overjoyed when Ben's soul mark said 'Rook Blonko' on it, had finally mated for the first time, the possibility of pregnancy should not have been an issue, considering Ben was male.
Realistically, Rook knew that Spanner had to come from somewhere. Although it was fourteen years too early for Spanner to be born and nobody from the future had mentioned Ben 10,000 or even Rook's future self as having additional children.
The only being not surprised about the pregnancy was Azmuth. The Omnitrix had been designed to allow others to 'walk in the shoes' of other aliens, and according to Azmuth experiencing the mating rituals of other species was important as well. However, after Ben had produced fourteen Negrofriggian offspring in his fifteenth year (which surprised not only Rook but everybody who wasn't Gwendolyn and Kevin), Azmuth had disabled this function. The changes to Ben's human form, however, were already complete as Ben now had a fully-functioning female reproductive system alongside his male one. When Ben and Rook had mated, the female system had recognised the possibility of reproduction and had done so.
Ben was pregnant.
Hiding the pregnancy from the outside world was difficult and, in Rook's opinion, unnecessary. People would begin to worry if the Saviour of the Universe suddenly disappeared only to return with a half-Revonnahgander child. However, Ben's pride dictated that the pregnancy be hidden which was difficult considering Ben still had to go to school. Luckily, Kevin had a spare ID mask so at the very least Ben could attend classes and an excuse was made that Ben had temporarily stopped fighting to focus on graduating high school.
It was also fortunate that after the universe was recreated the Earthling governments had decreed it necessary for Ben to have a tower for himself to keep Earth safe after he graduated, so the child at least would have somewhere safe to grow up in. Understandably, Ben was enthusiastic about this although Max then decided to move Plumbers HQ into the tower for additional safety requirements.
He was very protective of what would soon be his future great-grandchild.
Rook thought this advancement beneficial since Ben couldn't use the Omnitrix until after the birth less he wish to deform the infant before it was born and thus needed extra protection. Rook then decided that after the birth Ben should be properly trained in hand-to-hand combat in case the worst ever happened and Rook was unable to help him.
Their son was born in early September. Although being slightly early he was otherwise healthy. A Revonnahgander in every way besides his markings being the same shade of brown as Ben's hair. They named him Renoir after one of Rook's favourite stories on Revonnah about a hero who came to save his people from an invasion. Whether or not the story was true did not matter as the effect was still the same. And since Ben and Rook were not married yet Ren took both their names.
Kevin found the name amusing, often referring to Rook and Ben's son as 'Ren 10'.
Being a Magister was more difficult than Rook had previously anticipated. Although considering he was the youngest Plumber ever to be named Magister he was decent at the job.
Leading his own team of Plumbers without the help of Ben was strange in its own right. But Ben was still recovering from giving birth and Max thought the numerous missions would be a perfect opportunity for Rook to gain extra experience. Ben just thought that Max was trying to keep the two soulmates away in hopes of stalling the conception of another child – of which Rook was both glad and despondent about. He and Ben were not planning on having another child until around the time Spanner was supposed to be conceived, but keeping two soulmates away for an extended amount of time was dangerous for their mental health. Although the concerns were directed more towards Ben as a human whose biology required contact with their soulmate than towards Rook whose people could survive being away from their mates and be unscarred by the ordeal.
Still, Rook was content about his current life. He had a mate and child who loved him, a new family in the form of the Tennysons (since he was still not on speaking terms with anyone in his birth family besides his brother and Shar) and an occupation he thoroughly enjoyed.
What could go wrong?
Maybe Ben had a point about the universe hearing when it was being challenged.
Ben's second pregnancy was just as unplanned as his first, perhaps even more so since they had been using protection ever since Ren was born. But after being separated for a month whilst on a mission, neither Rook nor Ben thought to take necessary precautions to avoid conception. Which had led to Ben getting pregnant for a second time just after his 20th birthday. However, upon finding out Ben was pregnant for a second time nobody thought this pregnancy would be any different from the first one, and indeed it was not besides Ben being slightly bigger with this child than he had been with their son.
The birth, however, was much different from the first.
Being trapped in Vilgax's mothership was not the ideal environment to give birth in, especially when one is forced to give birth by themselves. Rook did not know what transpired on the ship, but when the Plumbers finally infiltrated the mothership there was almost nothing that was not destroyed. Vilgax was eventually found barely alive with Ben as Rath beating him into the ground. It took thirteen Plumbers to wrestle Ben off Vilgax's broken body. The baby, a girl, was found in an unlaunched escape pod not long after Gwendolyn had subdued Ben by cutting off his air supply to cause him to faint.
Rook was the one to name her Gwendolyn, in hopes of it convincing his beloved to come back to them.
Looking after two children by oneself whilst also being a Magister-ranked Plumber is extremely difficult. Ben was never around long enough to do anything besides eat a sandwich before turning into XLR8 and zooming off to stop another criminal. Something had happened on Vilgax's ship that had changed Rook's beloved from an egotistical but caring hero into a strict and serious man who bore near no resemblance to the Ben Rook had fallen for four years ago.
After being transported to Ben's Headquarters, Ben had completely ignored everybody including Rook in favour of 'fiddling around' with the Omnitrix. It was during this self-imposed isolation that Ben had unlocked the Omnitrix's Master Control and had not turned back into his human form since.
Azmuth had been contacted after Ben had been a Kineceleran for a month. Azmuth's response to the situation was simply to let Ben continue what he was doing as "he will snap out of it eventually".
Rook was tired of waiting for 'eventually' to happen. He wanted his soulmate back.
Never had Rook been so thankful that Kai had accepted a station at Ben's Headquarters. Although Rook was still wary of Kai, he needed help raising his children and Kai was willing to 'lend a hand'. Kai had long since given up on finding her soulmate herself and was focusing on finding more alien artefacts to teach the youth of Earth about those beyond the Sol System.
The two never conversed much beyond greeting each other a good morning but they took shifts between them with Rook going on a Plumber mission one month and Kai going on an expedition the next month. Gwendolyn and Kevin also tried to help but they were often distracted by their own lives to stay at Headquarters permanently.
But the pain of losing his beloved was almost too much for Rook to bear. He could only imagine what it must be like for Ben.
It took ten years for Azmuth's 'eventually' to arrive in the form of Ben's 10-year-old self. Out of everyone, Ben and Gwendolyn were the only Earthlings not surprised by this as they had expected this to happen when they'd visited the future – now, the present – twenty years ago.
This did not stop the hurt that grew within Rook.
Gwendolyn had known that this would happen and she never stopped it. Yes, it would cause a rupture in the time-stream but she could have at least done something to comfort him beyond "it'll all work out". Ben still would not talk about what had transpired on Vilgax's ship and likely never would, even to his own soulmate.
It took ten years for Rook's soulmate to return to him. It took even longer for Rook to forgive him.
Devlin was a strange-looking child. According to Ben he looked much like Kevin did when he was eleven and went through his first mutation. Rook still considered the newborn his honorary nephew, if not through his relation to Gwendolyn then through his friendship with Kevin.
Or at least he did, before Kevin stole away with Devlin.
Losing Devlin nearly destroyed Gwendolyn. She spent years trying to find him again, but to no avail. Kevin and Devlin were simply gone. Nobody, not even Ben, could find them. It was as if they had never existed. To make matters worse, Gwendolyn's brother Ken had died in a car accident merely a month after the disappearance. He had been looking for his nephew and his car had fallen off a cliff on a slippery road. Gwendolyn had lost not only her husband and son, but also her brother.
This time, Rook took the incisive to comfort Gwendolyn, even though she had not comforted him.
Ben's third pregnancy was planned. Spanner was due to be born within a year and even though tensions between Rook and his mate were still negative, the stability of the time-stream depended on the birth of their final child.
Ben named him Kenneth, after the cousin he had lost.
Watching his children grow often made Rook think about his own family – his biological family – most of whom he had not seen in many decades. Were his sisters doing well? Are his parents still alive? Does he have any living nieces or nephews?
Rationally, Rook knew that he probably did. Although neither Shar, stationed light years away on another planet, and his brother, a travelling space mechanic, were not mated that did not mean that Shi and Shim were not. Revonnahgander tradition – if it still existed after all this time – told that family was the central point in any household so Rook probably had at least a couple of niblings. After twenty-one years of effectively not seeing his first family beyond one sister and his brother, Rook still wondered what had become of them.
He would likely never see them again. He was not welcome on Revonnah again after the news of him courting Ben was told.
Ken's tenth birthday was the only one Ben attended and the only one Rook missed. He and Gwendolyn were sent off-world for what was supposed to be a short mission that then spanned several months. However, Rook considered that since his mate was now forty-two years old he could last a while without him.
Coming home to see that Ben had adopted a child was not what Rook had expected Ben to do. Especially since that child was Devlin, now in a more humanoid form than Rook had seen him in previously, and was near traumatised from the time he had spent alone with Kevin in the Null Void. Both father and son were now attending therapy, separately, but a more pressing matter had to be considered.
During the time that Kevin had spent in the Null Void he had gathered a following. A following that now called themselves the new Rooters and Plumbers now stationed in the Null Void were unable to contain the imposing threat that was over 11,000 different species of sentient aliens, along with countless other non-sentient species, running riots in the pocket dimension. A leader was needed, and Max decided that Rook was the best Plumber for the job.
Rook left not a week after returning to watch over the Null Void. It seemed ironic and definitely the universe's doing that twenty years ago Ben had been obsessed with his occupation and had left his mate alone with two children to care for. Now Rook was doing the same thing.
Four years of separation from his beloved was nothing compared to the ten years of separation Rook had experienced over a decade and a half ago. But when Max retired and declared Rook his replacement, Rook accepted the position with minimal afterthought. Kevin was now rehabilitated and ready to become the Magister of the Null Void. What had happened in the past was happening again as Rook met his past counterpart and fought in the Time War.
What had changed was the attitude between Ben and Rook. Their relationship was now much like it had been when they were teenagers with the figurative weight of the universe on the shoulders. But despite everything that had occurred between them in the intervening decades between their past counterparts and themselves, they were still Rook and Ben.
Overall, when Rook awoke on the day after becoming Earth's Magistratus next to his beloved soulmate, he still wished that things had gone better for them all. He wished that he had not lost contact with his family. He wished that Ben had not temporarily lost himself. He wished that Kevin had not gone insane and stolen his son. But nevertheless, everything had happened as it should and the universe was still stable.
They had all done what they were meant to do.
A/N: I admit that this chapter isn't as good as the previous one but I didn't have much to go on. I made this fic as an experiment in how someone unaccustomed to fate would react to their lives being effectively outside of their control. The previous half was about someone not being able to choose who they love, with this half being about Rook knowing how the future will turn out but not knowing the process which resulted in the finished product. If you think about it like that then I find that the idea of soulmates and time travel becomes slightly disturbing, although you might not find it that way.
Most of what is in this half of the fic I got from the Ben 10 Wiki about what happens in the future. Canonically what happens is that when Ben is about 20, something happens that leads him to mutilate Vilgax (what this 'something' is has never been stated) and afterwards he spends the next ten years obsessively fighting crime across the world as XLR8 to get it done quickly before moving onto the next criminal. He's stated to have hardly ever been in his human form during this time and had stopped naming his alien forms. Then, in 'Ben 10,000' (part of the original series) he is visited by his 10-year-old self (and Gwen), fights Dr Animo and Vilgax again and somehow reforms himself in the span of about a day. Kenny is born about two years after the events of 'Ben 10,000' which leads to the events of 'Ken 10' where Kenny gets an Omnitrix of his own. Interestingly, in 'Ken 10' Kenny has an older sister called Gwen but in Omniverse she no longer exists. It's during 'Ken 10' that Kevin is captured (and assumingly re-re-re-reformed, however many times it is, since he's a Plumber in 'The End of an Era') and Devlin is adopted by Ben.
I've made Gwendolyn Devlin's mother. Officially, Kevin met Devlin's mother on a Saturn space colony and apparently Kevin and Devlin's mother were married. I've changed this so that Gwendolyn is Devlin's mother since I don't think Kevin would willingly break up with Gwendolyn and anyway during 'The End of an Era' Kevin and Gwendolyn are apparently dating. Devlin could still be born on a Saturn space colony, though, just with Gwendolyn as his mother. I highly suggest reading the 'Elevator Monolauge' series on Archive of Our Own for a possible scenario in which this may play out.
The name 'Renoir' I got from 'Love After Love Drabbles'. The reasoning why Ben and Rook named their son 'Renoir' I made up myself. I love this name since now Ben's children are called Ren, Gwen and Ken, like how Ben and Gwendolyn's names rhyme (in their nickname form).