Benediction

"Kevin?" Gwen called to him as she saw him walk back into her room. Ben had left, insisting he had recovered and had gone out to look for the Joker again

Kevin placed a computer down on a desk and didn't say anything. Gwen saw Kevin, hard at work his hands flying across the keyboard of a laptop computer.

"Do you ever sleep?" she asked, he turned around to look at her.

"The most I get is two hours," he replied.

"In a night!" Gwen was shocked.

"In a week," he looked at her. "I'm used to it. Crime doesn't rest so I don't. And right now, we have more things to worry about than sleep."

"Who is Batman?"

"His secret identity, why should I tell you?" Kevin seemed amused.

"It's not like I'm going to tell anyone," Gwen looked at him.

"If I told you and then I decided to attack him, you'd try to warn him, wouldn't you?"

"I wouldn't let you do something like that! It's not even a funny joke!" Her glare was enough for him to wince.

"I'm kidding, but if you honestly must know, Batman is Bruce Wayne."

"The billionaire playboy, please, if someone's going to be Batman, it's not going to be him."

"That's why telling you the truth is ridiculous, because you don't believe it, I can prove it many times over."

"I can see he has the money to do it, but when does he have the time, I'm always hearing on TV that he's dating a famous celebrity every other week."

"A lie to keep the media guessing."

"And the martial arts?" Gwen continued.

"Years of training."

"His reputation as a detective?"

"Also, years of training."

"And his gadgets?"

"Come straight from prototypes used in Wayne Enterprises, Kord Industries, and Queen Industries."

"What does he know about Ben?"

"Everything that's known to the public, but he also knows things that only you'd know."

"That's easy because it's public. What does he know about me?" Gwen asked, still skeptical.

"He knows your grade point average, where you go to school, where you take martial arts and where you're planning to go to college; he also knows you're dating me, which doesn't make him too happy."

"He give you a lecture?" Gwen laughed.

"No, but he hasn't interfered because he knows you're a good influence on me. I just know he has too many things to worry about now to come and stop Joker himself, or he would be out there with Ben chasing that freak."

"How do I know once we catch Joker, you won't kill him?" Gwen's face was stern.

"Because killing him doesn't matter to me anymore, someone would just figure out a way to bring him back to life anyway. All I care about is stopping him before he can kill everyone in Bellwood."

"But we couldn't stop him! He took out Ben without even having to touch him! How are we supposed keep this from happening if we can't lay a hand on him!"

"It's not your fault; you guys haven't faced someone as unpredictable as the Joker before."

"I Know, Kevin, he's eight shades of crazy," Gwen said, half serious.

The serious look on her boyfriend's face surprised her; she was expecting him to make a joke.

"Do not treat this lightly, and don't write him off as simply being insane. It's not that simple. He's not like the others. He has no code. No methodology. No goals. You can't hope to understand him because his desires are fluid. They change. He can't be predicted. He can't be reasoned with."

"And if you're careless with him…you'll die. Do you understand? It's something Bruce told me about him, and it's true, I know that better than anyone."

"Can Ben still beat him?"

"Yes, Ben can still beat him," Kevin smiled. "Joker's lost before and he'll lose again."

Gwen did not look very reassured.

"Gwen, we're going to be all right, I promise," Kevin told her.

Gwen unexpectedly fisted his shirt and pulled him close. Pressing her lips to his in a heated kiss. His eyes widened in surprise.

His mind traveled back to when he was fifteen years old. Talia Al Ghul, the daughter of Ra's Al Ghul had thrown him into the Lazarus Pit out of love for Bruce, hoping that if she returned him to his adopted father he would love her.

But they both knew that wouldn't happen. He had wanted revenge so badly; he had even rigged a bomb to explode on the car. He'd nearly gone through with it but he realized he wanted Bruce to know it was him, so he had set out to learn the darker arts from various teachers she supplied him with. He killed most of them, because many of them were scum, an assassin named Egon who trafficked children as sex toys, a surveillance expert who was a pedophile, a small arms expert who ran a smack ring filled with poison, a martial arts expert who had planned to murder her husband and children. Shurik Ivanko, a bombs expert who had been hired by the Ivgene Clan of Russian mobsters to set off bombs in London to make it look like a terrorist attack. He put down the reptiles, because they deserved it.

He knew Talia was stalling him, but it didn't matter. He'd found out from one of the gangsters that the Joker had planned to put chemicals in Gotham's water supply where the flames would spray out when people used their tap water. He'd found out where the Joker was and shot him in the leg. He had planned to pour gasoline on him and set him on fire, but he realized that he wanted Batman to see the Joker die. So he had let him live.

He had confronted Talia about it. Talia had told him that Ra's Al Ghul was dead and that Batman had brought it about. She had told Kevin to punish him, punish him for all of them.

Talia had kissed him. They had sex in the hotel room; it had been a good experience from his point of view. He had always had a paternal relationship with her, but if he had to sleep with her to get something, he would do it. He hadn't given a crap that she looked like she was in her early to mid thirties, Bruce's age, and that he was 15 years old. She was actually much older, because of the Lazarus Pit she had extended her lifespan, so she could be several hundred years old for all he knew.

It wasn't about him loving her, he knew that. Kevin was having sex with her because he knew she needed a Bruce Wayne substitute, what he wanted from her were the connections she had, and the money to get his revenge.

Sex had been nice, but it was in no way special to him, he didn't really care about it, he wanted revenge and he'd do whatever it took to get it, even if it meant using his body to get people to do what he wanted.

Over the years he'd learned things about women, how to seduce them, how to win their confidence and steer them into the nearest bed. Sometimes he did it for the reason that he needed into a criminal organization. Other times he needed information out of them.

He'd never particularly enjoyed sex; it had been a pleasurable experience, but nothing memorable. He knew how to make it an unforgettable experience for the women he seduced because of techniques he learned, but they were just techniques, like martial arts or anything else he learned, there was no emotional attachment or significance to his encounters.

Kevin suppressed a sigh; he dearly wished that his first time had been with Gwen. He had nothing to give her, he was bitter that he had never found sex to be anything special or meaningful at all. The intimacy and closeness of his relationship with her just made the guilt worse.

He knew he could treat her like any other girl he'd flirted or slept with, but she was better than that. Gwen meant too much to him to just act like she was a casual hookup or using her to get what he wanted.

"You're not up to this, you need to sleep."

"Can't sleep that's why I'm up."

He couldn't bring himself to say anything.

"Kevin…" Gwen murmured in his ears.

"Yes?" he queried.

"I love you," her mouth found his again. "I need to know that everything's going to be fine."

"It will be, don't worry," he reassured her. His hands found their way around her waist and pulled her closer.

"I want you…" she whispered.

"You're…you're not the first person I've had sex with," he admitted with a sad look on his face.

He was startled she did not look surprised by this statement. "You don't think I know that you could have your fill of pretty girls. Any girl would want you."

"But there have been so many, every time I had sex, I'd lie to these girls, told them I loved them, told them that they meant something to me. I told them whatever they wanted to hear so they'd sleep with me. I said it so many times and it didn't matter to me, and now that I know you, I don't feel I can honestly tell you how I feel about you. The words "I love you" are easy when you don't mean it. It's something I can't bring myself to say when I do."

The guilty look on his face was genuine.

"Kevin, there is no way you could lie to me, and I wouldn't know."

"Did any of them ever get pregnant?"

"Not that I know of," he admitted.

Gwen reached out and touched his cheek. "I know that you have a hard past and that not all of it's pretty, I'm sure you've done things you've not even told me about, but I accept you for who you are now, not who you were then."

Gwen looked thoughtful.

"What was her name?" Gwen asked, unperturbed by this conversation.

"The first person I slept with? It's the same Talia who wrote that letter you read, and her father is a very powerful man. Hopefully, you won't have to deal with either of them."

"Why?"

"Manipulation," he replied. "I needed her to do something for me, that's all. I didn't love her or anything."

"What was her reason?" Gwen rested her head on his shoulder.

"She saw me as a substitute me for Bruce, I suppose. I didn't really care though."

"But she's twice your age!" Gwen was surprised, she'd always guessed he could be the type to sleep around when he had other girlfriends before he'd met her, but considering the woman was twice his age was very unsettling. Gwen gathered her thoughts in a response.

"I think it's very sad," Gwen ran her fingers through his hair.

"Sad?"

"Yes, it's sad. You've always had good things, but you always lose them, and then you blame others for the loss, lashing out like a child."

He didn't know what to say.

"Everything about you is broken, but that's all right, there's nothing wrong with imperfections. This old Kevin, the one who hates and manipulates and kills out a misguided sense of righteousness. That is not the Kevin Levin that I know, that's not the person I fell in love with."

"Gwen, I haven't changed that much," he sighed.

"You have, you just don't know it yet."

"Really?" his eyes seemed to shine with a glint of happiness.

"Yes," she resumed her heated kiss. He kept his arms around her waist and moved her over to his bed. They tumbled together in a messy, needy heap.

"You're looking at me, Kevin," Gwen sighed.

"I can't ogle my girlfriend?" he laughed.

"Gwen, I love you," he whispered. "You mean more to me than anyone I've ever met. I told you I've said that before, but I know that I mean it tonight."

Gwen pulled him down on top of her. "It's all right Kevin. That's not how you are now. I know you, and I know you won't hurt me."

She kissed him gently. Gwen ran her fingers over his clothed chest and removed his shirt.

Kevin didn't hesitate for a moment; he lay her down on the bed and wrapped his arms around her shoulders as he pressed kisses to her neck.

This night held more significance to him than any night in his life. He loved her, and he would show her that. He promised himself that he would make love to her. He wanted Gwen to know everything he felt for her and that he needed her far more than she needed him.

"I slept with girls before, but I only love you, just you. Gwen I—"

Gwen kissed him again, interrupting him.

"You don't have to tell me something I already know."

Kevin pulled restlessly at her shirt, taking it off.

The world fell away and for a short time, it was just the two of them. Kevin lost himself for a long time, no matter what happened to them, even if they broke up or grew apart, he was never going to forget that night as long as he lived.

Kevin woke up the next day feeling rested and content. "Gwen…"

He knew she was gone; she had school the next day. He got up and slipped into some boxers as he wandered around his safe house. He found a handwritten note on the table. His mom had been gone away on business so she didn't know he was gone from the house.

I'm meeting Ben later this afternoon. Still can't pinpoint when Joker's going to strike. Come in your get-up if you want, but nobody dies, do you understand me, Kevin Ethan Levin?

I love you. You make me happy.

G.

What put it in her mind to do that, he didn't know, she even wrote notes like Talia did. That was kind of creepy.

He knew Ben wouldn't go to school that day and that he'd still be searching for the Joker.

Ben knew that Gwen was still recovering and that Kevin was with her. He couldn't rely on all Kevin's high tech gadgets to help him locate the Joker, but he could guess that since the Joker Venom was going into the water supply, the maniac would be hiding near the reservoir.

Ben found an old abandoned warehouse with a lot of men going in and out of the building.

Ben transformed into Four Arms and leapt out; he threw minions into the walls and pummeled them until they all took off running or lying on the floor unconscious.

Ben transformed back to normal as he heard a smattering of applause greet him.

"Well, well, the Alien Weirdo finally found me," Joker cackled. "This looks like the ultimate showdown."

"With good guys, bad guys and explosions," Ben retorted. He sent a signal to Gwen and Kevin's Plumber badges to summon them to where he was.

"Who do you think you are, Mr. Rogers in a bloodstained sweater?"

"You wish, Joker, you wish. I don't know, maybe someone will write a song about it," Ben prepared to fight.

"Well then, let's tango!"

This was going to be the hardest fight of his life, and he hoped that he'd be up to the challenge.