Well, um… while typing I only wear pants on days that end in a "y", so I hope that answers your question. Lol Have any of you other peoples started school yet? I'm utterly jealous of people who still have a vacation. Anyways, here is the next installment, and I promised on a Saturday, so here it is!

Chapter 8

"Well, I don't blame him. If I had a freaky alien inside me, I'd be having some pretty messed up dreams too."

"Are you even listening to all that I'm saying? Because-"

"I know, I heard you. Like you said, maybe you rattled him out of it." Gwen didn't look so sure of this even though that described it almost perfectly.

"Do you really think so?" Kevin sighed. This was maybe the third time she had asked, and, as much as he enjoyed comforting her, covering the same question over and over wasn't exactly appealing.

"Yeah, I do, but if you wanna be sure, let's go inside and make sure."

"But, he'll want…"

"He doesn't care, Gwen, and I'm sure as hell not going to sleep outside." Kevin made his way down to the window sill, despite a protest from Gwen and made his way inside. He turned back to the window to help Gwen down. After all, chivalry wasn't dead if you wanted to go out with a girl. The both turned in time to encounter Sandra at the door.

"Dinner's ready." She said quietly, looking sympathetically at her sleeping son. Kevin wasn't aware that that was aimed at them until Sandra looked up and spoke directly to them. "Is he hungry?"

"Thanks Aunt Sandra. We'll find out and be right down." Sandra smiled kindly at them before turning to leave, closing the door gently behind her.

"Yo, Ben, time to wake up!" Gwen jumped, suddenly realizing that Kevin was no longer beside her. Instead, he crouched right next to Ben's face, attempting to startle him awake by shouting in his ear. "Get your ass up if you're hungry!"

"Kevin, I don't think he'll want to be deaf when he wakes up."

"He's not waking up. Look," Kevin grabbed the front of Ben's shirt and lifted him off the bed a few inches before dropping him, proving his point. Ben was completely undisturbed. "I told you your cousin wasn't normal."

Gwen, however, looked concerned. Ben had never been that heavy of a sleeper, his awareness increased by many months of saving the town at a moments notice. He appeared to be sleeping, what with the gentle rise and fall of his chest as well as the small amount of saliva running down the side of his face. She gently patted his cheek.

"Come on, wake up." She urged. She placed both her hands on his chest and attempted to run a little of her power through him, getting his systems more active so he would be forced awake, but to no avail. Kevin tapped her shoulder and she looked to him, noticing that he looked like he wanted to try again. Gwen hesitated, knowing Kevin wasn't going to be nice about this, but stepped aside anyway.

Kevin pulled him into an upright position, holding him up by his shoulders before giving him a shake that would make a seven-point earthquake seem like a gentle rocking. Ben's head lolled on his shoulders before he groaned.

"Mm awake…" He mumbled, eyes still shut. Gwen breathed a sigh of relief.

"Hungry?" Gwen asked softly. Ben didn't reply so Kevin gave him another quick shake, roughly about a five on the Richter scale.

"Wha…?" Kevin pushed him back hard enough that his body bounced as he hit the bed.

"She asked if you want dinner." Kevin reiterated, not as kindly as Gwen.

"Nuh hungry."

"Do you feel alright?"

"Tired." He yawned. He was becoming less and less coherent as unconsciousness swept him away once more.

"Ben?" Gwen made to wake him again when Kevin grabbed her outstretched hand.

"Forget it, he's down for the count."

"But, I'm-"

"What, worried? Yeah, I know, you and two other people. Well, I'm starving, so I'm going downstairs. He probably needs the sleep anyway." Kevin added, mostly as an after thought, before heading out of the bedroom, not giving Gwen the chance to protest.

Sandra and Carl asked no questions when they hit the bottom step without their son, probably assuming what they already knew. Kevin was glad they were having pizza, finger food being one of his favorite types of food.

"Did you find anything?" Gwen asked politely.

"One possible one, but neither of you would like it. Even I'm pretty sketchy about this one." Carl replied with a frown.

"Why?"

"Well, we asked other plumbers first, connections to your grandfather. They themselves knew very little about genetics, but they all directed me to the same person." Carl hesitated, knowing he was about to devastate at least his niece. "Doctor Animo." Gwen squeaked while Kevin choked, grabbing a napkin so he wouldn't have a spit take to talk about later. Even he knew of Doctor Animo. He was the top in criminal genetics and gene splicing. Everyone under ground, and even a little above, knew him.

"What?!" Gwen shouted, shock widening her eyes.

"I know, I know, I didn't like the idea either. Especially with the under breath comments the others threw about him. But if all else fails…"

"Good luck trying to even see him. He's locked up tight in a maximum security, government controlled prison. No one can even get in." Kevin remarked, shooting down the idea he thought rather disgusting himself.

"Isn't there anyone else?" Doctor Animo would rather splice them both with frogs than help Ben with a predicament that he would probably find suiting for the hero. Gwen knew that Ben himself would reject it anyway just as the evil doctor's name was mentioned. Gwen shifted uncomfortably in her seat as Carl thought.

"Well, I came into contact with a man named Seven…"

"He's named after a number?" Carl ignored him.

"He knows alien mechanics like the back of his hand, even genetic engineering ones. I arranged a meeting with him." Gwen looked ecstatic.

"That's so great! When?"

"Tomorrow at noon, behind the Nordon apartment buildings."

"Alright, but let us go instead." They all looked to Kevin. "Dealing with Plumbers can be as dangerous as dealing with criminals, something could happen. And if anything does happen, Ben will probably go alien on my ass for not saying anything." Gwen smiled, know Kevin wasn't so fond of Echo Echo, or Humongasuar for that matter.

Carl looked thoughtful while Sandra looked a little worried. She knew they had ways of defending themselves, as she had seen first hand on one occasion, but she couldn't kill the instinct to worry for her niece, or the fact that they could be endangering her friend either.

"Obviously you know how this works better than we do, but can I trust you'll be able to defend yourselves when push comes to shove?"

"No worries pops. We've handled things like this before." Kevin grinned cockily, careful not to add the words "on a daily basis" in there lest he ruin the reputation he'd earned. Carl nodded, confident that this boy would keep Gwen safe. He had only seen some of her powers, but he knew her fighting spirit. She shared it with her cousin.

Dishes were removed quickly as Kevin and Gwen made to sneak back upstairs when Carl stopped them.

"The extra bedroom's open for use. I'm a little busy to worry about co-ed sleeping arrangements, so do what you like."

"Thanks, Mr. Tennyson." Kevin using manners was new to Gwen, but when she turned around she realized other things were on his mind. Things that would deserve an energy slap if ever uttered.

"Couch." Gwen said forcefully, eyes narrowed.

"Aw, come on, you know I was kidding." Kevin consoled, backing up a few steps. Gwen made it final as she walked away, shutting the door behind her. Kevin frowned and sighed. Sometimes she just couldn't take a joke. He looked a little ruefully at the couch before deciding that at least someone should watch Ben. He snuck upstairs, shutting the door quietly behind him.

Ben, of course, was in the exact same position they had left him. No tossing of repositioning at least. Nope, he was just not normal in Kevin's book. He sat on the floor and watched Ben for maybe a minute before his eyes wandered to the open window. Darkness took him once but he shook the fog from his head. He only lasted so long, however, and unconsciousness welcomed him, greeting him with his preusual dreams.

The darkness lifted ever-so-slowly that eventually he was forced to open his eyes in wonder to where all that light came from. He squinted and found the window still open. The light was unbearable. He had to shut the window. He rose from the bed and stumbled a little, feeling like he had gotten no sleep while the clock had told him that he had maybe gotten at least a full twelve hours, possibly more.

Something caught the corner of his eye, and he turned to find Kevin asleep against the opposite wall. He was going to be so sore when he woke up. He reached for the opposite side of the window, being as that was where the strings that controlled the blinds were, before pulling back, hissing at a sudden intense burning in his hand. As that happened, the blinds suddenly slammed down.

He blinked, unsure of what was going on. Maybe he had knocked the blinds as he pulled back? Why did he pull back in the first place? He inspected his hand and found to marks on it. Perhaps it had been his imagination. But then, how had the blinds fallen on their own? They had a pull string, so knocking them out of place was out of the question. All he knew was that during that time, he had wanted the sun blocked to end the intense burning.

He looked to Kevin and saw that he had slept through all of this. He shook his head. Why did most weird stuff happen when they had their backs turned? He supposed he would never know so he settled for waking Kevin. Everything was just getting stranger and stranger.

Damn! I missed the deadline by 46 minutes! So close. Oh well, at least it's out there. What do you think of Doctor Animo's return? Lol He just popped into my head through a random plot bunny. Anyway, it's midnight so I'm going to sleep. Good night to some and good morning to others!