A/N: This story has totally been on the backburner. My bad! I'm just really slow. This and "Lullabies of New York" are getting totally neglected… I apologize. Time for a shorter, but fun chapter. I've been eager to write this… Had it planned since the beginning. Gwen's POV.

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Ben 10. If you look at all the previous disclaimers, you'll also note that I do not own this plot. And if you look again, I'm writing it! Must I remind you every time?

"Gwen?" He really sounded pitiful. My cousin's face was caught between shocked, heartbroken, relieved, surprised, and afraid. I felt bad for him.

I didn't know what was going on for all those years I was gone, but I knew the last thing I'd heard before leaving Earth for what I'd thought would be the last time. I'd heard his scared cry. "GWEN!" And for some reason, in the darkest nights when not even Kevin could settle me down to sleep, I'd hear Ben's call ringing in my ears. I'd hear him screaming out, desperate for me to be safe, to come back, to not fall into the darkness. But I had. And maybe all this time, he'd been beating himself up about it. I didn't know. How could I know? I wasn't here. I was in the Null Void. I was a prisoner.

I stepped onto the grass and out of the portal. It took no time in closing behind me. I hadn't really conjured it up; it had just appeared out of nowhere and I stepped through, putting enough faith in my abilities. I'd gotten us back to Earth, hadn't I?

"Hi, Ben." I tried to figure that I looked like a rabid girl. I mean, my hair was pretty messy still, my clothes weren't in the greatest shape, and let me just say that I saw myself in the mirror on the bus that we were on and I'm covered in a lot of red dirt to the point of looking almost tan. I wouldn't blame him if he were afraid of me. I did look a bit feral, a bit dangerous. My hair was longer and braided back as it lay down my back; I wasn't the same girl anymore. I'd changed so much in the course of… four years. Well, that made sense.

"You…" His forehead furrowed, dark lines cutting across it as he stared at me hard with a confused expression. "You're not… dead?"

No, I'm not. I was hiding for four years in a prison since you couldn't find me. We were just playing hide and seek the whole time. Guess what. I won! Wow, Kevin did rub off on me… "I'm standing right here, Ben." I tried to force a bit of a smile. The tension in the air could be cut with a knife. Kevin was still ready to spring at any second, I could see it by the way his muscles were so defined and rigid. Ben was afraid; horrified to say the least. He was probably wondering how Kevin and I had appeared at the same time. Coincidence? Or conspiracy? And then there was me, stuck in the mix, wondering how to stop my boyfriend from killing my cousin. "I'm not dead."

There was a pause in the action. It was as if the whole world had stopped moving for a few moments. Ben and I locked eyes, his afraid and mine confident. We'd spent too much time with each other, friends forever, teammates in war. He was family. I didn't want to hurt him to keep him from hurting Kevin, but then again, I didn't want to hurt Kevin to keep him from hurting Ben. I didn't want to hurt anyone, but I was the only one who could mediate this. It was an impossible scenario.

Kevin watched me. I felt his eyes looking me up and down to see if I'd changed. I could feel his hurt. I'd betrayed him in an unthinkable way. I knew it too, that was what bothered me the most. I'd left him behind, even if only for a few moments, after he saved my life countless times and after everything we'd been through. I didn't blame him for being so possessive because I'd been the only person he'd talked to for the last four years. I was a bit possessive of him too, but he didn't have the concept of family like I did. He didn't have the option of having someone to go back to. Kevin's record was what distanced him from the rest of the world; it was what had put him in his confinement to begin with.

His dark eyes stared me down for the longest time before he sucked in a deep breath of the air. He always did that to calm himself down when he knew he was either about to do something stupid or when I'd done something stupid and he was about to call me out on it. Then Kevin's obsidian gaze swung back to Ben for a long moment.

Deciding, that's what he was doing. I should've been able to see it in his eyes. Choosing to side with me and live forever with the burden of knowing he couldn't kill my family or to take on his nemesis for revenge. His smile was a flat line. There was no familiar sparkle or glimmer in his eyes. His muscles were still tense, the gears of his mind spinning as he weighed the consequences. Lose me or lose his chance.

Four years leaves a lot of pent up anger. I would know. I was mad that I hadn't been found yet, but I don't think I had ever blamed Ben. Not that I remember anyways. Kevin knew he could blame Ben. He could blame me just as much. And Grandpa Max. We were all in on sending him to his penitentiary, but he didn't know that. He could only blame Ben; it was Ben he hated, Ben who he despised, Ben who he wanted to kill in cold-blood.

But then there's me, the other option. Side with me and I could keep him safe from Ben. Side with me and I could take him in. Side with me and I could protect him the way he protected me. Just joining me instead of attacking Ben would mean all of his problems ending, a new life unfolding right before his eyes. And his world would be repaired in the blink of an eye.

Kevin took a step towards me, his decision made.

I could keep him safe from Ben. I could take him in. I could protect him the way he protected me. I could fix everything.

I was what he wanted. I was what he needed. I needed to fix him, to heal him, to help him. It was who I was. It was what I had to do. He needs me more than he knows; I'm his bridge to humanity.

So he stepped towards me, making his choice. He'd side with me. He wouldn't attack.

I'm not completely sure on what happened in the heart-pounding moment after Kevin moved towards me. It was only a single step, but it was enough to set Ben off. His green eyes flashed with fear- I could see it- and all his pent up fear was released in a single moment. He misread the situation. He must've seen Kevin coming at me instead of him. Attacking his long lost cousin in an attempt at the ultimate revenge… It was something I could see Kevin cooking up, but he would never hurt me, I knew that. Ben didn't know that; Ben saw a monster, a killer, a beast. He didn't see the boy who had been haunted by demons all these years. He didn't see the boy who had saved me. He didn't see the boy who had brought me back from the brink. He saw someone who was going to hurt me.

All I knew was the flash of green light that made Kevin turn into a blackened silhouette for a long moment until it died away to reveal a blue-winged freak. The same kind from…

I fell backwards, cringing and cowering away, using my hands and feet to push myself away from it. It was hanging overhead with its beating wings and the sun reflecting off the black and blue that covered its form… The thing that had tried to kill us so many times… The thing that had scarred me. The thing that had left me battered and broken for so many years… The monster of my nightmares.

There wasn't any time for thinking. I was paralyzed with fear. Sure, I'd seen hundreds of these things, but never on my home turf. This was the place that I'd wanted to be for so long because it was safe from the demons and the torment. Then one of the most dangerous things in the Null Void is there, staring down at Kevin like he's prey. And all I know is screaming and shielding myself with my arms, unable to focus on trying to use any of my powers. I couldn't think. I could hardly breathe. I wanted to come home to be safe… To be safe from the monsters… To be away from the danger… To be safe… And the tormentors followed, that was all I could think of. I'd released them when Kevin and I had gotten through and now they were coming to kill us.

I could only watch as Kevin was brutally attacked.

A/N: Length isn't what I'd like, but I just needed my details in there. The lack of dialogue is compensated for with the imagery and the plot. Review?

~Sky