A/N: So I'm toasty and warm and cuddly and time to write something emotionally heartwrenching. Oh, and I'm watching "The Final Battle" and I was watching "Ben 10: Alien Swarm" earlier… So far, I'm not seeing anything Elena-esque on the previews of "The Transmogrification of Eunice" yet… Oh well, story time! Kevin's POV.

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10.

"What do we want to do?" I asked Gwen before hunkering down under the little bit of shelter we had found beneath the lids of trash cans. Vegas was harder to pickpocket and people were just cruel to kids tryin' to make a living. "We can't make it here for very long. It's dangerous for you and I'm not exactly fond of leavin' ya alone somewhere for a few hours while I stake out a place for cash."

"Taking me with is always a choice," she reminded me, curling into my body to share the warmth of my blood pulsing through my skin. The nights in the city surrounded with desert easily dropped to forty degrees at night and that was dangerous for me and Gwen, being wrapped in a wing or two each. She had one wrapped around her waist as a tight skimpy skirt and another around her chest. I had two patched together to function as shorts. Yeah, they were warm, but they weren't meant for these kinds of temperatures, especially not the way we were wearing them.

"I do better on my own," I told her quietly, pulling her tightly to my chest in a protective way. I was freezing and I could only imagine how cold she was. "I've always flown solo except for when that moronic cousin of yours stepped into my life and turned me into that... monster." I couldn't keep the hatred from my voice.

That kid would pay for what he did to me. He would pay dearly. He was the only monster I could think of. He was vicious and cruel, not giving me a second look when he tossed me into Hell. Ben Tennyson was going to be a dead man if he weren't dead already. He deserved to die for what he did to me.

And for what he did to his cousin. She was with me for four years. Four years. Four years of her life were wasted in a world of bloodshed and tears and pain and misery and suffering. Not once did he come try to find her. Not once did we hear anything about someone searching for a little red-haired girl. Ben never searched for her.

I wasn't sure what I was angrier about, the ay he dumped me into the Null Void like a piece of or the way he just left his cousin to die without ever going after her.

"You're better now," Gwen assured me, voice soft and gentle. She was too sweet. I had never been shown the sort of kindness only she could give. "Don't worry about it." Her head found it's way into the crook of my neck and I couldn't help the little sigh that escaped me. I still remembered the scared little girl that had fallen into the Null Void on accident; now, she was the love of my life.

"Alright, whatever," I sighed, trying to keep from shivering in the cold.

"So do you have a plan?" she asked, emerald eyes staring up into my face with that hopeful green gaze of hers. "I mean, I don't know what you want to do or anything, but I was thinking..."

Something tugged on my heart. The way her voice sort of dropped off made me pause and listen to her a little harder. I guess being with her for so long had set me off to know every little thing about her. "You want me to take you home, don't you?"

Her gaze strayed away from me but it didn't keep her from being so snuggled into my chest. "Kevin, I can't... Home is where I belong. I would love to stay with you forever, b-"

"But you have bigger places to be, better things to do." I turned my gaze to face the trash cans that were lined up on my right, Gwen curled into my chest to the left of me. "Don't worry, I'll move on. I've done it hundreds of times before."

Mad? Me? No. Upset beyond belief? Easily. I was used to being left behind and kicked out and neglected, but it was harder when Gwen had been with me for so long and since I was so emotionally attached to her on every level. She was what really made me think about what I wanted to do when I finally got out. And I had made my decision. I had wanted to stay with her. But now, it was ruined. She was leaving me behind. And where did I have to go?

"Kevin, I don't even know if they'll still be there," she said, taking my face in her hand and turning it so I had to look at her. "And I can't do anything without you. I can't get anywhere without you to take me there."

"So now I'm your tool?" I asked her, trying to keep the words from rolling off my tongue like poison.

Her face twisted in a mix of anger and regret. "Kev, come on. You can stay with Ben. My aunt and unc-"

I recoiled like I had been struck. "Are you serious?" I snarled. "Stay with the one who trapped us in there?" I pushed away from her, moving so I could stand up and be free. The idea of being trapped in a home with the one who had made my life miserable was the worst thing she ever could've suggested. I began to pace the alley, panic in my mind. If I had to go anywhere near him again… I wasn't sure I would be able to control myself from wanting to kill him. "Gwen, have you even considered the possibility that he did that to you on purpose like he did to me? Did he even look for you? Did he even take care of you? No, I did all that stuff. It was me. Not Ben. That…. that… He didn't do anything for you, got that?"

Gwen stared at me with a soft, but hurt expression. "Kevin-"

"I don't want you goin' anywhere near him. He didn't do anythin' for either of us so why go back to him now?" I spat, trying not to totally lose it. My anger was boiling in my blood, making me furious. I wasn't sure if I was gonna make it for a while. "He took care of himself before, why would he need you back now?"

"Why would you need me now?" she snarled back at me. "You just said-"

I had to say it before she started saying things we would both regret. "I need you, Gwen. I love you. I don't want to go anywhere without you. Four years in Hell and I grew to love you. Got that? I'm not going there and they don't deserve you." I turned back to stare at her, now standing with that long scarlet braid laying across her back and neck. "They won't understand you either. No one understood me when I tried to tell them and I was considered a freak. They won't look at you the same as before."

"I have to go home," she insisted; faint tears glistened in those deep emerald orbs. I could sense the desperation coming off of her in waves. She really wanted to go home.

I turned away again, unable to keep my voice level while she stared at me with those hurt and broken eyes. "I'll take you home," I told her quietly, folding my arms across my chest, unsure on how we'd even be able to get back. We'd be going half way across the country. "But I'm not gonna stay and I'm not gonna promise you that I won't feel the urge to kill that stupid cousin of yours."

A small smile touched her lips. "You should really look at things differently."

"He left you," I snarled. I couldn't help the tension that rose in my limbs, making me stiff with fury. "He left you to die."

"Kevin-"

"You should want to kill him the same way I do. Those are years you won't get back." I stared out of the open mouth of the alley as cars zipped past on the streets, sloshing up water from the broken fire hydrant a few blocks down that I had busted. "He ruined your life the same way he ruined mine. We should be out to kill him for doing this to us."

Gwen was silent for a long time after that. We ended up curled up again together for the night. It was a cold, quiet night.

A/N: Plotline approaches… Review it!

~Sky