Disclaimers: All characters derived from Television series Ben 10 Alien Force and all related content; none of the aliens and the like belong to me. Storyline and plot are my boasting rights and I beta chapters by myself.

Happy birthday, my country. May our government be ever less money grabbing than other nations!
I feel so patriotic for saying that. I'm proud of myself.
Anyway, here's the second instalment. While I could have been writing a Drarry fan fiction now, I'm glad I'm not. I'd be too obsessed with it. Bevin is a much "easier on the eye" couple to write about.

Enjoy, readers. Thanks if you reviewed.

Gwen looked undyingly uncomfortable and Ben finished off his apple by the time Kevin decided he had processed enough of what all of them had said. He suddenly had the feeling of a massive hangover hitting him. It wasn't fair that they were hitting him with all this information while he was still in bandages, for God's sakes. "That doesn't make sense. The Ultimatrix is just a data storing device, we've already determined that. With the best technology available to mankind." Kevin blinked and faltered. No matter how good human technology was, there was no denying that... that alien technology was undeniably more advanced than theirs by far.
"Whatever Rojo said was only the start. From now till then, we have no clue how much time Ben has left." Julie said seriously, and Ben shook his head.

"Soon. That's all we know. I don't know what I can do from now till then, but I'm going to use this watch to help the world as much as I can before it moves onto another unsuspecting wielder." Ben chuckled softly. Gwen rounded on him, glaring. Julie gave him an overly concerned look as Kevin processed the pure selflessness that Ben was displaying to him, not for the first time.

Gwen turned to him angrily and shook her head. "We're not letting you give up your life because of the Ultimatrix. There must be a way... some way." She said softly. Kevin thought there was something that laced her tone, aside from the usual concern and care. Desperation. Her cousin was about to die for the betterment of the human population, and she was struggling with being helpless to stop it from happening.

He suddenly felt like he was going to throw up and stumbled out of the bed, falling onto the floor. He never knew how badly he was injured till he coughed up what he never knew he'd digested into a bin that Julie had swiftly brought to him. Groaning, he stood up and leaned against the bed. Ben looked at him and shook his head. "What if there isn't a way?" Kevin asked weakly, still nauseated. He guessed that it was probably because he was unused to the simpleminded way in which Ben just emanated a sickly sweet caring vibe.
"Then I guess dying this way isn't such a bad thing after all." Ben smiled.

Gwen glared at him and Julie spoke up. "Honestly, Ben, Kevin, don't be so pessimistic. I'm sure there's a way to reverse the Ultimatrix's effects..." she stopped when she saw Ben shaking his head. Without another word, Ben headed towards the door and opened it, stepping outside. Kevin sat down on the bed and for the first time in a long time, felt just as helpless as Gwen.

"Shit."

The following days were painfully slow. Kevin woke up, read whatever Ben brought him and waited for some miraculous report from the doctors to tell him he could self-discharge from where he had learnt was a small and private but comfortable clinic. It hadn't been as expensive as admitting him to a community funded hospital, so they had taken him there instead. The treatment was equally if not more extensive and while the other three were content with the deal they had, Kevin simply wanted to check himself out of the place.

Today, Ben had taken him a Gaming magazine and some Japanese food with a kickass name that he couldn't pronounce. Julie had cooked it for him, and he attacked the food with a generous appetite. He felt the awkward atmosphere hit him between the eyes. He cleared his throat and was about to say something when Ben looked up at him.

"I broke up with Julie." He said simply.

Kevin choked on his Ebiko rolls.

"What?" he asked drily. Ben refused to meet his eyes as he shook his head. Kevin repeated his question with an incredulous tone. "What? Ben, why... you and her... I thought..." he stumbled. Ben nodded.
"We had it. It was real." He told Kevin. Kevin put his fork down and pushed the tray away from him. Ben stared, but Kevin didn't feel hungry anymore. He allowed the uncomfortable silence wash over both of them for awhile before he looked at Ben again.

"Is this because..."

"Yes." Ben answered instantly.

Kevin felt the bile rise in his throat. He'd once thought that Ben was so lucky to have the Ultimatrix strapped to his wrist, that the childish boy was privileged enough to be able to steal all the limelight and always get his face plastered across the television. The he was lucky to be a kid's hero. That Ben was the luckier of both of them. With what they had learnt yesterday, his perspective had completely changed. No matter how many times he would have appeared on the television, he would never have wanted that God damned watch on his wrist if he knew he'd lose his life. And though Ben never voiced it, he was sure he felt the same way.

"Did she ask?" Kevin questioned. Ben nodded, and smiled softly.
"Yes, she did." He said, rather unnecessarily. "I told her what I thought. That while what we had was real, it was better for us to have ended the relationship early. I didn't want her to be broken when I leave." He said.

Kevin couldn't stop himself, couldn't stand the tone in which Ben was saying what he did. His arms reached out and grabbed Ben by the collar. "DAMN YOU, TENNYSON!" He yelled. Ben's eyes were wide with shock as Kevin held him firmly, standing up, though it did hurt his ribs. "Stop... stop talking like your life is over! Don't you dare say any of this to Julie or Gwen ever again..." He slumped over from the effort of getting up and Ben's arm came behind him to support him. Kevin's weight was too much for Ben, apparently, and he gasped and winced as Kevin fell over on top of him.
"Ugh..." Kevin groaned with pain as a doctor ran into the room. He glared at both of them.

"Mr Levin, I believe I told you to take it easy. There will be no more public displays of affection from now on. Mr Tennyson, unless you prove that you can behave yourself in the hospital ward, you will not be permitted beyond the doors of this room." He warned.
Ben and Kevin stared at him as he exited the room with a maddening flourish of his fancy white robe and click of a pen tapping against a black clipboard.

Ben looked up at Kevin as the door clicked shut. Both boys finally realized how close they were and they cleared their throats at the same time. Slowly, Kevin got back up. The logistics were weird. He groaned softly, and Ben sat down in the chair he was previously in. As Kevin regained his breath, the room was completely quiet and they were back where they started, as if their confrontation had never even happened. A long time later, Kevin shook his head and Ben lowered his eyes.

"I'm sorry."

The Osmosian didn't look at him. "If you're really sorry then stop talking that way. It's not helping anything if you keep talking like you're going to leave all of us so soon. It's only hurting Gwen and Julie. It's scaring them."
'And me.' He surprised himself.

Ben looked up at Kevin and nodded. He bit his lip and both of them jumped as his cell phone buzzed with tenacity. He picked up the call and Kevin could hear Gwen's concerned voice sifting through the speaker. "How's Kevin?" she asked. Ben smiled softly and Kevin bristled at the sight of the young boy, releasing a soft shudder as he thought about what was going to happen to him; destroyed by something he'd never welcomed into his life.

"He's okay. Do you want to talk to him?"
"It's okay... Just tell him I'm sorry I couldn't visit, I'm bogged down with work at the firm."
Kevin picked the phone from Ben's hands, much to the boy's irritation. Kevin smirked and it was, for a second, almost like it had always been. He'd miss moments like these. "Don't worry about it, Gwendolyn." He teased, knowing she didn't find much comfort in her name. He could literally feel her rolling her eyes on the other end of the line.

"Alright then. Get well soon Kevin; I have to go now. My supervisor will skin me alive if he knows I'm using the office line for personal calls." She sighed and hung up.
Kevin handed the phone back to Ben, who slid it back into his pocket. Kevin took the magazine and took the liberty of flipping absently through the content of it, scanning the lines with vague interest. He stopped at the page featuring Assassin's Creed II, remembering. He turned to Ben, who was watching him. As Kevin's movement stilled, his dark green eyes raised to meet Kevin's hardened onyx eyes. His eyes widened slightly, before settling into a dull smile. "What?" he asked.
Kevin shook his head. "Nothing."

An awkward silence.

Ben took the dishes and started washing them in the sink. This alone was enough to alarm anyone; Ben had no cleaning tendencies. This meant that he was brooding about something. And Kevin didn't need to be a rocket scientist to figure out what it was. He hated to think that Ben was going to live every moment of his life like there was a deadline for him to meet ever since yesterday. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. "Leave them." He told Ben.

"It's fine."

"FOR FUCK'S SAKE, I SAID LEAVE THEM!" Kevin yelled. The doctor burst into the room, glaring at them both. He spoke pointedly at Ben.
"I think you need to leave now. Mr Levin needs time to recuperate and he will get it, forcible or not." He said harshly. Ben dropped what he was doing and turned to go.

"I'm scared, Kevin. I'm sorry." He said. Kevin looked at him and didn't say a word as Ben left.

Oh dear. Poor, poor Ben... poor, poor Kevin. In fact, I should be sued for writing such a sad story. I'm sorry everyone. Please don't hit me.
Reviews would be nice. I need to know what everyone likes to read.
Till next time~