I'm so sorry to all of you. I took down chapter 3 to fix some typos that were pointed out to me so when I reposted it, it must've alerted some of you. Also, I apologize for this chapter. I didn't like it when I wrote it, but there always needs to be a filler chapter somewhere before the action starts! So to those of you who were tricked, I'm very sorry so here's the next installment!

Disclaimer: Done with this… You all know by now that I don't own Ben 10 AF so I'm going to stop putting a disclaimer.

Chapter 4

His first impression when he opened his eyes was that he had died. It was so bright that he had to squint. Heaven was bright and assumed white, but he knew he was alive when the scent of disinfectant and death hit his nostrils. He opened his eyes wider and realized he was in a hospital room with the stereotypical white walls and uncomfortable beds. He had just sat up when a door to his left opened and a doctor in a lab coat walked in.

"Hello there, son. Do you know where you are?" He asked kindly, pulling out an eye examining tool.

"Uh, a hospital." Ben replied, blinking back tears as the doctor shone the light in his eyes.

"Good, and what about your name?" The doctor held up a finger, indicating that Ben needed to follow it with his eyes. He did so while telling him his name.

"Alright, you have no memory loss, but you received a slight concussion, so your vision will be blurred or doubled for awhile." Ben nodded slightly when a question presented its self within his mind.

"Uh, was anyone else here?"

"Yes, they're waiting outside. I'll send them in." He gave Ben a smile that said 'feel better' and left. As soon as the doctor was gone an orange blur entered the room and practically tackled him onto the bed, pulling him into a hug.

"I'm so glad you're okay! How do you feel?" Gwen asked, stepping back to give Ben some air.

"I've been better." Ben smiled, looking at Kevin who walked in and leaned against the wall, attempting to maintain a level of cool despite the fact that he was in a hospital.

"I see your head's still intact." Kevin greeted with his usual cocky grin.

"Yeah, no thanks to you." Ben frowned, getting the implied message within the smile.

"I might've had something to do with it." Kevin looked to the ceiling feinting innocence which he just couldn't seem to pull off. Ben shook his head and looked back to Gwen to see her staring at the ground, obviously unhappy.

"Gwen? Something wrong?" Gwen looked up quickly, but did not smile.

"Well, I was worried. We both thought…"

"Thought what?" Ben asked, unable to pick up what the unfinished sentence held.

"Remember Ghostfreak? Yeah, he was never there." Kevin stated casually, yet the information still managed to devastate Ben.

"W-what? But, I saw…"

"The doc said it was your random fever."

"Were you sick before we went to explore the ship?" Gwen asked, hoping that this was one of the normal 'hide your illness' stunts he pulled.

"No and no. I know I saw him. Maybe he just made it so only I could see him." Ben said firmly, refusing to believe that what was being said was true.

"If that's so then why? I mean, he hates both of us." Gwen reasoned, sitting on the bed next to him. Ben scowled; she was treating him like he was unstable.

"Yeah, but he's never tried to possess…" He let the sentence trail off when he remembered Gwen had been possessed before. "Well, he wants the power of the Omnitrix, so why not?"

"Gwen told me your little ghoul friend got fried to a crisp." Kevin added.

"About three times. He's always managed to come back."

"Well, did he possess you?" Ben frowned.

"I don't know, I was knocked unconscious."

"Hey, if you had damaged my car, then you would've gotten more than a concussion."

"This is serious! If he is back, then we have to do something!"

"Ben, the doctor said it was when your temperature spiked. You were seeing things." Gwen spoke gently, trying to calm him, but he wouldn't have it.

"You think I imagined that… that…!" He could no longer form a full sentence, stuck to sputtering incoherent words.

"Cool it, Tennyson. If the doc sees you having a conniption, he'll force us to leave and you'll never get discharged." Kevin said, leaning off the wall to prove that he was serious. Ben stared at them for a full minute before taking a calming breath, and considered what they said. Why not a delusion? I mean he had suffered a pretty bad trauma awakening.

"Okay, so if I really was seeing things, then why do you still look like you think I'm crazy?" Ben saw Kevin exchange a grimace with Gwen.

"Well, what really got us was the watch. It spoke again." Ben looked at Gwen like she was the one who was crazy. The watch hadn't spoken again in months, ever since the DNAlien incident with Ken, Gwen's older brother. He had tried talking to it to garner some response, but the watch refused to speak unless it was some kind of alert.

"What did it say?" Gwen told him. Ben frowned. "Why would it say that? There was nothing around for it too…" The information sunk in like a poison, making him feel sick.

"No, no Ben! We think the watch had a short or something! That shock you got probably just messed up the watch for a second." Gwen soothed, putting an arm on his shoulder.

"When has the watch ever been wrong? What, I'm just asking." Kevin defended after the look Gwen threw at him. Ben breathed. Okay, maybe he had fallen into a coma and this was just a dream. No, he was too resilient for that. So this was happening. Well, all he had to do was get the watch to talk again and tell it to repair so maybe all is well. They could go back and destroy the ship, getting back to their lives afterward. He relayed this idea the Kevin and Gwen, who seemed delighted that he was thinking positively.

"That's a great idea! Are you feeling well enough to be discharged?" Ben's look told her and she walked out of the room. He stood up from the bed and stretched. His vision was still hazy, but not so bad that he couldn't see. As he made to follow Gwen, a cough came from behind him.

"I don't think you want to walk out looking like that." Kevin smirked, pointed to Ben's current choice of clothes. Ben looked down and made a frustrated sound.

"I can't believe they changed my clothes for just a couple hours stay." Ben muttered, looking for his clothes. Kevin pointed to the stand and watched Ben grab them before disappearing into the bathroom.

"Longer than that. You were under for a few days." Kevin enjoyed the startled noise that came from the bathroom, snorting into his hand so Ben couldn't hear him laugh.

"Kevin, don't mess with him! He was kidding Ben." Gwen sighed with a knock on the door.

"I knew that…"

Ten minutes later they were all in the car discussing how to attack the situation from there.

"What about the ship?" Kevin suggested, one arm controlling the steering wheel while the other rested on the open window.

"He's right. If we're going to start somewhere, it might as well be from where this all started." Ben agreed, but Gwen looked reluctant.

"What if something happens again? I think you should give yourself some more time to heal. Kevin and I could…" Oh, there was the face. It wasn't a pout but it looked defiant. Ben never enjoyed being left behind, even if it was for his own wellbeing.

"I agree, we don't need you freaking out on us again." Ben knew Kevin wasn't trying to be mean. They both cared and, he appreciated it. He should probably just stay home. He was outvoted anyway.

"Okay, fine. Drop me off at-Do my parents know about this?"

"Not really. You were there for only there for about eight hours." Gwen smiled, knowing his parents would just think he was back early from scary movie night. The ride to his house went much quicker than he cared for, but he got out anyway, pausing at Gwen's window.

"At least call to tell me what you find?"

"You'll be the first to know." Ben nodded, satisfied and set off toward the house, stumbling once before he reached the door. Kevin was gone before he looked back, and he turned back to the door silently, fumbling with his house keys. He managed to find the right key and put it all around the keyhole before getting it in, fuming about his poor coordination. He thrust the door open and closed it quietly.

His parents were talking amongst themselves in the kitchen. They paused to greet him and ask him about his night. Ben had to try hard not to laugh, imagining how the hypothetical conversation would go. 'Oh, yeah, it was great! First there was this meteor that turned out to be an enemy's space ship that crashed in the desert. But you know us reckless teenagers, we had to explore it and, guess what? I got electrocuted and a concussion! Oh and I went temporarily insane. That was the funnest part.' He settled for an "it was alright" and escaped to his bedroom under the pretense that he was tired, which he was, but he wasn't sure if he could actually sleep.

As soon as he reached his room, he threw off his jacket and fell face first onto the bed, his pillow softening the blow for his already tender skull. So he could be a tad crazy and had a DNA issue, that wasn't so bad. Okay, a huge lie, but he had to think a little positively or else he would freeze up with all the pressure. Somewhere in between thinking about Ghostfreak and wondering about Kevin and Gwen, he fell into a light slumber. His dream began in a dark place where, it seemed, nothing existed except himself. He floated in this place of nothingness until a chuckle reached his ears. He looked around the dark space but found nothing as the laughter increased to an unbearable volume.

"Who's there?!" He shouted into the dark expanse. His answer was the laugh subsiding. He knew that voice, it was so familiar it hurt.

"Why, don't you remember me? I was the basis of you last little excursion." Ben shivered when he finally realized who he was speaking with.

"I know you're not real! This is all a dream from all my stress."

"Oh, I'm very real Benjamin, and you know it. How else could we be having this little chat?"Ghostfreak replied amusedly, his raspy voice sounding like he was so close yet was nowhere to be seen. Ben knew he was right; his subconscious had never been this elaborate with his nightmares, nor had he ever been so in control. But he didn't feel very in control at the moment.

"So what, now that you've successfully possessed me, are you going to continue with your cover the world in darkness schemes?" Ben spat at him, where ever he was.

"No. I don't quite have control yet, but give it time. For now, all I live is to serve your desires." Ben knew what he was trying to do. Tempt him into darkness. He had just watched several scary movies hours ago, he knew the drill.

"Yeah, well, good luck with that. I don't have any."

"Lies will get you nowhere, Ben. I see into your darkest thoughts and dreams. You have nowhere to run and I shall conquer." The laugh resounded once more, battering his eardrums. He was close to shout when a noise outside his mind forced him awake. He shot up right with a gasp and quickly looked around for the source of the noise when he realized his cellphone was ringing.

There it is. I apologize for this chapter being late too. My mother and I came to a disagreement that made me so mad I couldn't write for a couple of hours. I got it together though, so here it is, and I hope it didn't disappoint! Later! Xangabell3