2. Haunted

…Devlin…?

…Devlin, honey?

"Devlin…?"

"Go away, Kenny," Devlin mumbled sleepily, rolling over and covering his head with his blanket. There was a snort from the side of his bed, and he quickly realized, even in his groggy state, that it was not his adopted brother standing in his room. "Kenny…?"

"Guess again, short stuff," a rather pretty female voice replied. Devlin flipped the bedspread off his head and peered at his guest, his eyes widening when he saw that it was Gwendolyn.

"Uh… Hi, Aunt Gwendolyn," He greeted rather shyly.

"Your mom sent me to come get you guys for breakfast," she replied. As he fully gained consciousness, Devlin saw that his 'aunt' was almost entirely clad in blue, her long red hair with streaks of blonde tied in a ponytail. She had her arms crossed at her chest and a smile across her lips, all traces of the sadness from the night before gone. "Why don't you get ready while I go attempt to rouse Kenny," she said, a warm smile on her face.

"Yes, ma'am," Devlin replied politely, throwing his covers off as Gwen left. It took him a record time of fifteen minutes to shower, dry, and dress, and he was soon running down the hall to see if Kenny had beaten him. As he passed the top of the stairs, he heard bits and pieces of conversation floating up from the kitchen, but he kept going instead of stopping to listen.

He opened Kenny's door without knocking, prompting a girlish shriek to erupt from the startled ten-year-old. This made Devlin begin to laugh uncomfortably as Julie rushed into the room. Upon seeing her adopted son gasping for breath and clutching his sides with a huge smile on his face, along with the lack of color on her son's, she just sighed and retreated back to the hallway. A faint "What happened?" from Gwen could be heard from downstairs, and Julie's reply of "Devlin's torturing Kenny, again," made Devlin break into more laughter.

"Not funny, Devlin," Kenny mumbled, regaining composure.

"Dude, yes it was; you should have seen your face!" he replied, finally managing to stifle the chuckles racking his body.

"Anyway," Kenny huffed, "Are you ready to eat?"

"I was ready before you. That's why I'm here,"

"Oh, really?"

"Duh; can you not see me standing here?"

"Okay… Race ya'!" Kenny yelled before bolting out the bedroom door past his brother.

"Not fair!" Devlin whined, racing after him. Using his somewhat enhanced speed (due to absorbing and XLR8 in the Null Void), he quickly caught up to him on the stairs.

"No running on the stairs!" Ben yelled from the kitchen as he heard them coming, but the boys ignored him. Seeing that Devlin was catching up, Kenny stuck his foot out to trip his brother, resulting in Devlin doing a face-plant on the carpet at the foot of the stairs. Kenny dashed past to his chair. Gwen was about to go to the fallen boy's side and see if he was okay, but Devlin quickly got up and raced to his chair as well.

"You cheated!" he said, pointing an accusing finger at Kenny.

"Did not," he scoffed back, a small smile spreading across his lips.

"Then what was that?" Devlin asked, slightly hurt that his brother would try something like that.

"Bending the rules," Kenny stated simply, not even looking to see Devlin's reaction and reaching to grab a piece of bacon off the plate on the table. Julie swatted his hand away. If he had looked, he would have seen the black-haired boy open his mouth to protest, and then after processing the explanation, close it in frustration. He couldn't argue with that logic. Gwen started to smirk, Ben joining in with a chuckle.

"Either way, I still don't like it," Devlin huffed, crossing his arms across his chest.

"That's just 'cause you lost," Kenny responded. Devlin was about to shoot back a counter-remark, but Julie silenced them.

"Now boys, no arguing at the table," she scolded.

"Sorry, mom," Kenny said hanging his head in dramatic remorse.

"Sorry, Julie," Devlin apologized, mimicking Kenny's drama. He sneaked a look at him, managing to stick his tongue out at his adopted brother without the Asian woman noticing.

"Mom!" Kenny whined, "Devlin's mocking me!"

"What?" Devlin asked, looking up at Julie and blinking innocently. Gwen actually let out a laugh at that one, and was amused at how similar the boys' attitude toward Julie was to how Kevin and Ben acted to her as teenagers. Thinking about their young plumber days made her slightly sad, but she dared not show it and ruin such a happy moment here.

"Guys," Julie warned, and immediately the boys quieted down. Turning to Gwen and Ben leaning side-by-side on the counter top, she added, "Why don't you sit down. It's almost ready," She turned around to reveal the heaping platter of pancakes in her hand.

"Mmm; looks delicious, Jules," Ben smiled, giving his wife a kiss on the cheek. Devlin and Kenny groaned, joined by Gwen as she sat down. Devlin was a little surprised by this, and smiled.

As soon as the 'okay' was given, the pigging-out began. Devlin didn't realize how hungry he was after barely eating anything the night before, due to avoiding Gwen. He was glad that all the butterflies from yesterday were gone, and happily began to dig into the meal. Seeing the rate of the food being consumed by his brother, Kenny immediately took it to be a competition and began to shove food rapidly down his throat, also. Noticing this, as well as the fast pace at which the pancakes were disappearing, Ben had to cut in. "Slow down, guys, or someone is going to end up choking." Instead of answering, both boys slowed their chewing silently.

Once everyone had finished eating, they all sat around table, completely full. Kenny suddenly sat up, remembering something. "What's you bring us from off-world, Aunt Gwendolyn?" he asked excitedly.

"Your birthday was only a couple of weeks ago. What makes you think that I got you any more stuff?" she laughed back.

Kenny began to pout, but answered her anyway, "…Because you love us?" Devlin was listening silently, secretly a little shocked that Kenny had included him in that last statement. He had no idea if Gwendolyn loved him, seeing as they had only just met. The concept of a real family was still new to him, and still slightly confusing. Gwen only laughed again.

"I believe you're holding high standards, Kenny! If those are the conditions for keeping you two for nephews, then I'm glad I packed a few extra things on the return trip." As she said the second thought, she looked right at Devlin, which made the butterflies return briefly. Julie glared at her son for being rude, but didn't say anything.

"Really? You brought us stuff?" Kenny said, excitedly jumping from the table.

"And you can have presents after you help clean the kitchen, for being so pushy, young man," Julie scolded. Devlin remained quiet as he got up and brought his plate to the sink, dumping its contents in the garbage disposal and beginning to rinse it. Kenny followed, still pouting. "Devlin can sit with us in the living room. He hasn't been properly acquainted with Gwendolyn yet, and he was well behaved." Devlin put his plate in the sink and followed the adults out towards the aforementioned seating area.

As they walked, Devlin kept sneaking glances at the redhead in front of him. This was it; this was the moment of truth. Julie and Ben sat in the loveseat, while Gwendolyn perched herself on the couch. She smiled at the nervous black-haired boy, and patted the cushion next to her. "Come sit." Devlin slowly made his way over to the spot next to the sorceress, and sat down cautiously. Gwen laughed, "Oh, I don't bite." This got him to smile, and he felt himself relax slightly. "So, how do you like living with my dork-of-a-cousin, and his lovely wife?" Julie blushed at the compliment, and Ben stuck his tongue out immaturely.

"It's really nice here, and I like hanging out with Kenny," Devlin replied softly, suddenly becoming shy.

"Well—" Gwen was cut off when the brown-haired ten-year-old came bounding into the room, and flopped onto the couch.

"Presents!" There was an awkward pause, before everyone burst out laughing at the innocently joyous expression on Kenny's face.

"Fine, fine," Gwen managed through giggles. She stood and made her way towards the stairs, "I'll be right back," she turned to continue up, but paused. "Devlin, do you want to help me carry some stuff?"

Devlin hesitated, but then stood and followed her. "Sure, Aunt Gwendolyn."

"Excellent," and with that, the two made their way up to the second level of the house. When they entered Gwen's room, the first thing Devlin noticed was how dark it was. Almost the entire place was decorated in a navy blue, and the curtains were closed, giving the room an eerie feel from the small slivers of light. When Gwen threw back the curtains, it did little to brighten things up. The atmosphere slightly shocked the boy, as he had expected something more… perky from such a peppy woman. "The things are in my closet. I'll be just a moment." The redhead disappeared into the large double-doored second room, and left Devlin to look about.

The item that caught his eye most was a small, framed picture sitting on the mahogany dresser. It was the only photograph in the room, and its vibrant colors greatly contrasted everything else in the place. He made his way carefully over towards it, and picked it up, almost gasping at what he saw.

There were three people in the picture, and they all looked to be teenagers. On the left was a boy in a green sport-jacket, with brown hair and a goofy smile on his face. Devlin could make out the Omnitrix on his wrist, so he assumed that this was Ben when he was younger. The teenager was giving bunny-ears to the second person in the picture, a taller boy with long, dark hair and obsidian eyes and a mischievous grin on his features. He was well-built, and wore a dark shirt and jeans. In the picture, he was sticking his tongue out at Ben, and had his arms around a third figure. She had long, red hair, and wore a blue sweater and skirt. She looked to be in the process of rolling her eyes at the other two boys' antics, but had a content smile on her face. Obviously, it was Gwen.

"It's hard to believe that was years ago," a voice said softly behind him. Devlin jumped in surprise, and almost dropped the picture as he turned to face the redhead. "It seems like just yesterday." She took a deep, shaky breath, and seemed to shake herself. "No use dwelling on the past, though." She turned, and Devlin could just make out the glint of a tear on her cheek.

"I'm sorry for asking, but who's the other boy in the picture?" He asked nervously, and then instantly regretted it.

"You mean Ben?" Gwen replied softly, making her way back over to the closet after dropping a package on the bed.

"N-no, the other one; the one with dark hair," Gwen hesitated in her step, but didn't turn around.

"That, Devlin, was your father," she replied softly, before disappearing back into the closet. Devlin looked back down at the picture, and couldn't help but notice how happy Kevin looked in the scene. It was nothing like the stoic, cold man that he had grown up with. He sighed, and gently placed the picture back on the dresser, before making his way over to the bed to collect the packages.

"Alright," Gwen said as she emerged once more, "I think that's it." Her voice was back to the happy note it always seemed to carry, and she gathered up a second bag before slinging it over her shoulders. "You ready?" Devlin nodded. "Good, then let's get this over with." The boy had no idea what she meant by that, but, then again, he hadn't seen Kenny when he received new presents.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, both were almost tackled by an over-excited ten-year-old. "What'd you bring? What'd you get us?" he kept repeating as he bounced up and down in front of them.

"Jeez, Kenny, calm down! You'll get your present in a second!" Gwen laughed as she made her way back over to the sofa, Devlin trailing not far behind. He was still slightly shaken-up by the events in Gwendolyn's room, but the sorceress seemed completely unfazed and acted as though nothing had happened. She grinned as Kenny didn't even seem to hear her. "Yes, Ben, he definitely is your son."

"Why thank you, Gwen," her cousin replied politely, though there was a mocking glint in his eye. "I take pleasure in the fact that we bear such resemblance to each other." Kenny paused in his excited movements only long enough to look at his father strangely. The redhead rolled her eyes and sighed.

"I'm still not entirely sure how I'm related to you…" she laughed, before dropping her bags in the center of the family room. Kenny made a dive for them, but was caught by the collar of his shirt by his father.

"You have fifteen seconds before I unleash him, Gwen," he said gravely, shaking his head. Julie, who was sitting on the couch, stifled her laughter. With this warning, the sorceress began furiously digging through her packages. "Ten seconds," with an unhappy grunt, she moved onto the next bag, still digging. "Five… four… thre—"

"Found it!" Gwen emerged from one of the boxes with an odd cube-shaped object that was glowing an eerie purple. Kenny's face visibly fell at the sight of it.

"Aw, Aunt Gwendolyn, it's not another one of those creepy dog things, is it?" he whined, shoulders slumping. This earned him a laugh from Ben and Gwen, and a rap on the back of the head from Julie.

"Kenneth Benjamin Tennyson! That is no way to receive a gift from a family member!" she snapped.

"But, Julie, you said yourself that you 'hated that stone mutt and wished it would spontaneously crumble into dust'," Ben chuckled, using air quotes for added comedy and ducking when his wife blushed and tried to take a swing at him, as well. Gwen just laughed and shook her head at the two.

"For the record, no, this is not another 'stone mutt'." She rolled her eyes at her cousin's wife, grinning in response to the glare she received back. "This, my dear Kenny, is a hyper-jump cube; level six technology – extremely advanced stuff." She knelt down in front of her gaping little cousin, who stared at the little glowing object in awe.

"So… what does it do…?" he asked, never taking his eyes off the present. He made a grab for it, but the redheaded sorceress quickly stood to keep it out of his reach.

"It will jump you to wherever you wish in the blink of an eye, similar to a transporter disc." She said, twirling the little thing with her fingers.

"Cool!" the brunette exclaimed, making another grab for it.

"Gwen!" Julie exclaimed at the same time, staring at the other woman with a mixture of confusion, worry, and shock.

"What?" Gwen shrugged, continuing to keep the cube from the boy's reach as he kept jumping for it. "I had Grandpa Max reprogram it so that he can only jump to and from places inside the base." Julie visibly sighed with relief, happy that she would still be able to somewhat keep track of her son. Ben rolled his eyes at his wife.

"No fun!" Kenny whined, as Gwen let him catch the hyper-jump cube. The ten-year-old immediately took the object in his hands, eyes wide and happy demeanor returned. "So how does it work?" he asked.

"Figure it out, squirt; now, onto Devlin." Gwen responded, ruffling the brunette's hair fondly and diving back into her bags. After a few moments without coming up with anything, she shook her head and sighed, glaring down at everything spread out before them. Kenny and Ben were absorbed in trying to figure out the mechanics of the ten-year-old's little cube, and Julie had gone to get a mug of tea from the kitchen. "I could have sworn it was here…" she mumbled, going back through the first bag once more.

"Really, Aunt Gwen, it's alright."Devlin replied softly, still standing where he was. She turned to look up at him with an expression he didn't understand, before returning to rummaging through the things.

"I could never forget you, Devlin; I want you to know that. It's in here somewhere, I know…" she said the first part so quietly that the black-haired boy thought for a moment that he had imagined it. Before he could ask her what she meant, however, Gwen stood back up, a look of triumph on her face. "Got it," in her hand, she held a little oval object with a small round button in the center. She held it out to Devlin, that same confusing expression on her face for just a moment, before she laughed slightly. "Go on; it's not going to bite you."

Reluctantly, Devlin reached out and took it from her, rolling it over in his hands a few times and examining it; trying to figure out what it was. Then, a thought struck him. There was no way… "Is this what I think it is?" he asked, gazing up at the sorceress.

"If you're thinking what I think you're thinking you think it is… then yes." She laughed again. "Go on, press it." Sure enough, when he did, the air in front of him shimmered a little bit before a hoverboard appeared before the shocked eleven-year-old.

"But… how did you… and I…" he stammered, staring in wonder at the beautiful - yes, he had just mentally described the sight of the machine as beautiful – piece of technology before him. It was his hoverboard, all right, but just… modified a bit. The old anti-gravity thrusters on the bottom had been completely replaced with a newer, more advanced model; the old, chipping silver paint that had once coated it had been replaced with a chrome finish; the worn leather footholds had been re-laced with a synthetic strap. It was, for lack of a better word, amazing.

Gwen put an arm around the little boy's shoulders as he stared. "Your father liked to go fast," she said almost silently. "I assume – if you're even related to him a shred – that you do to. Why don't you take it out for a spin?" she smiled down at him serenely, and, with a nod of encouragement, Devlin did just that.

That night, Devlin laid back in bed and thought over all that had happened. He had learned things about his father without even realizing it at the time, but, here in the silence and darkness, he did. So Kevin had been close with the Tennysons – Gwen in particular. They had been friends. His father had liked to go fast, just like him, and he had looked somewhat like Devlin did now when he had been a teenager.

He had learned other things, too. His aunt wasn't scary in the least, and she seemed to like him more than Julie and Ben, even. She had known what he would like, how he was, and what he was thinking. He knew right away that he loved her. And – even for a split second – he wished that she was his 'mother' instead of Julie. It was so quick, though, that he didn't even realize that he wanted it.

The black-haired eleven-year-old rolled over in the knotted sheets and closed his eyes once more. A bolt of lightning flashed outside the little window above his bed, but he didn't let that worry him. Tonight, there would be no dreams of the demon father he loathed.

But where he was sleeping peacefully, a woman down the hall was tossing and turning, being haunted by nightmares of a devil that she loved, a hope that she shattered, and a son she had lost.

AN: Gosh, I am so sorry that this has taken me so freaking long to put up. I just... I don't know. Well, I really hope it was worth the wait. Hopefully I'll have the next chapter up in less time. :)

Please review!