Ben stood there in the field, stunned. He didn't move for several minutes. His mind raced, replaying the fight repeatedly. The image of Gwen, dead, shot into his mind. He could see it clear as day, as if that image was obscuring his vision. Ben dropped to his knees and clutched his head in terror.

"Why did I do that?" He asked himself, trembling. "I didn't have to." Tears started stinging his eyes, he hadn't cried in years. "I could have killed him another way." He said, tears dropping onto his knees. "I could have trapped him in diamond and gutted him. I-" He couldn't finish the thought, he started breathing heavily. His heart was pounding so hard and so fast he swore it was going to explode. He didn't know how to handle the panic he was feeling.

Ben started running with no clue where he was going. He ran into the streets, his lungs burning. Ben tripped, landing on his back on the busy sidewalk. He couldn't move, panic and fatigue keeping him glued to the ground, coughing and gasping for air. No one stopped to help him, or even look at him. They stepped over and around him. Ben felt so alone.

Ben recovered enough to get up and go sit on the curb. He sat there, his brain going from frozen in terror to racing like he was Grey Matter and back again. He breathed fast and deeply, crying. He clutched his knees to his chest and rested his head on his knees. He felt like he was going crazy. Maybe he already was crazy, and this was what sanity felt like.

Someone touched his shoulder lightly. "Hey, are you alright?" It was a female voice. Ben turned quickly to the woman, his eyes wide. "Whoa there, it's okay." She said soothingly. She had long black hair and ice blue eyes. Her tanned skinned was freckled across her nose and she had on nice makeup. "What's your name?" She asked

"B-Ben." He stammered, his voice trembling.

"Hello Ben. My name is Alice." Her voice was so soft and gentle. "Are you okay?" She asked. Ben shook his head no, his voice trapped in his throat. "What's wrong?"

Ben mentally latched onto her, using her to help pull him back to reality. He gulped and said, "I don't know." He started shivering, adrenaline wreaking havoc on his nerves.

"I think you're having a panic attack right now. Have you ever had one before?" Alice asked, keeping her eyes locked on his. Ben shook his head no. "Let's breath, okay, follow me." She took in a deep breath through her nose, Ben did the same. The let it out slowly through her mouth, Ben followed along, his breath coming shaky.

"In. 1…2…3…4…5…" Alice said, guiding Ben. "Out. 1…2…3…4…5…" She repeated it a few times before she instructed, "Start counting with me."

"In. 1…2…3…4…5… Out. 1…2…3…4…5…" Ben echoed her. With each breath in and out his heartrate slowed a little bit. His breathing steadied and his mind stopped racing. The last thing to stop were his tears.

"Do you want to talk about what happened, I got a while before I got to be where I'm going." Alice asked, letting go of his shoulder.

Ben shook his head, "It's a long story, you wouldn't believe me. Even if you did you would turn me into the police and I really don't want to go through that hassle." Ben said, his honesty surprising him. He was thankful to Alice, when others stepped over him, she decided to reach out.

Alice furrowed her brow but said, "Okay then, I understand." She reached into her purse and pulled out a business card. "If you ever want to talk to me." She said as she stood up and handed him the card. Ben took it and read it.

"Alice Myers

Psychotherapist

555-8943"

Ben looked up, looking for Alice, but she was gone. She had walked away while Ben was reading. He felt sad for some reason, but that sadness quickly turned to apathy. He pocketed the card and turned into Big Chill. He headed home, flying slowly and skimming the top of buildings.

He phased through his walls and landed on his couch. He closed his eyes and rested, struggling to keep his panic in check. There was a noise from further inside his house and Big Chill snapped his eyes open. Silently he glided through his house, he almost looked like a ghost. He found the person in his room, rummaging through his dresser.

"Well, hello there." Big Chill said as he grabbed the intruder from behind.

"Fuck!" The man yelled in surprise. Big Chill started dragging him backwards, using his wings to help. The intruder was strong for his size but not strong enough. Big Chill forced him onto his back and froze his arms and legs to the ground.

"You know, it's not very nice to go robbing people." He said with a smile. He floated over the robber, laying just above him. "Now, just what were you thinking?" He asked.

"I was thinking that you're the idiot that doesn't have a door." The man spat, struggling to break the ice.

"Oh, I see. So that just gives you the right to steal all my shit, right?" Big Chill said sarcastically.

"Fuck you, you freak!" He screamed, bucking his whole torso. Cracks started to form on his restraints.

"My, my, my. You really love that word, don't you?" He leaned in close to the man, their noses almost touching. "I was actually thinking of just putting a tracer on you but now you've insulted me." Big Chill said, a wide smile on his face. "Answer me this, are you the only one here?" He asked. The man responded by spitting in his face. "This is the thanks I get for giving you one last chance?" Big Chill hissed. "I'm going to enjoy this." He took a deep, icy breath in and caressed the man's face. He put his thumbs in the corners of his mouth and forced his mouth open.

The man struggled, thrashing his head and biting Big Chill's thumbs. No matter what he did it didn't detour Big Chill. Big Chill kissed the intruder and sent his icy breath down into his lungs. The man let out a horrible gagging sound and Big Chill pulled back. Ice spilled out of his open mouth, Big Chill could see that his tongue was frozen as well.

"Did you know that when things get frozen solid, they get fragile?" Big Chill asked, setting the intruder free from his icy prison. He started scratching at his throat, tears streaking down his face. "And your lungs are thin." He added as he pulled back his fist. The man rolled over, his knees to his chest.

Big Chill smashed his fist into the man's back the rolled him over and did the same to his throat. When he hit his throat there was a satisfying crunch and it left an indent. Big Chill just shattered his trachea. He watched as the man writhed in pain and fear. His mouth was opened wide, but he was unable to make a sound. "Shouldn't have spat in my face." Big Chill said with a chuckle. When he finally stopped moving Big Chill went to check the rest of his house, to make sure that no one else was intruding. Sadly, there were none.

He deactivated his Omnitrix in the kitchen and looked for something to eat, he never did get to eat his cereal. He decided on some canned soup and while that was heating up, he wandered around the house, taking in the damage. Everything was thrown everywhere, though some of that may have been his normal mess.

Ben caught a glance of himself in the mirror and stopped dead. For just a second, he didn't have a head, but when he turned to face the mirror it was back. His heart raced as he touched his reflection, something seemed wrong. He looked wrong but he couldn't place it. It was almost like it wasn't himself, but it was himself. Ben looked into his own eyes and saw his eyes, same with his nose, lips, cheeks, jaw, but when he looked at his whole face it just wasn't him. He punched the mirror, the twisted reflection cracking, blood dripping down it.

The fresh pain gave something else for Ben to focus on. He turned away and kept his eyes glued to the floor. He sat down at the table, picking fragments of glass from his hand. "I must be cracking." Ben said as he picked out a larger piece, he tossed it on the floor carelessly. The smell of the soup filled the room, letting Ben know that it was heated up enough. He didn't have any clean bowls, so he just ate it straight from the pot.

"Why is my life such a mess?" He asked himself aloud, the silence allowing his mind to wander. 'Maybe because you're a villain.' He heard a small voice say. Ben snorted, what a ridiculous thought. The people he killed were villains, if anything he was an antihero. 'What about Myers?' Ben stopped, his spoon half way to his mouth.

"He doesn't count." Ben growled after a minute of thought. He ignored everything else the tiny voice said. His mood got worse and worse, he felt like he was going to explode any second. He got up and started pacing his house, going up and down the main hallway. After the fifth time he passed his broken-down door he picked up and tried his best to fix it. He continued to pace back and forth, he felt like he was stuck in a loop unable to do anything else. Ben forcefully grabbed a door handle as he passed it just to stop himself. His hand shook around the brass knob, he dropped to his knees his eyes burning with tears that threatened to spill over.

He opened the door that he was clutching onto, it was his bedroom. Ben forced himself to stand back up if only to go lay on his bed. The robber had thrown a lot of things onto his bed while he was searching Ben's room, but he didn't care, he laid down on top of it all.

Laying on his back, memories came flooding back to Ben. The memory of the first night after Max died, he and Gwen held each other, neither of them able to stop crying for more than an hour. The memory of when their parents arrived and tried to take them out of the Rustbucket; they had managed to hold out for three days before food ran out and they had to leave. The memory of Ben's first kill, how bad he had felt and how Gwen comforted him. The horrified look on Gwen's face when she saw what remained of Kevin.

Even when he got more twisted Gwen was still there, the only ray of sunshine in his dark, twisted vortex of a life. She had defended him when Azmuth tried to take away the Omnitrix. She had tended to his wounds when he had deactivated the safety protocols. They used to have fun, he remembered when they were 15 and they went to the beach; it was the perfect day. She was always the voice of reason in fights, stopping him before he went too far and understanding when he had to do what he did best.

But things weren't all sunshine and rainbows back then. He and Gwen had fought all the time. It seemed like for every good memory he could bring up he could bring up just as many bad ones. Their fighting just got worse over the years, sure they would never stay mad at each other for long, but it just got worse. Their fights started to get violent, it started out with just pushes and shoves but over time it escalated. The memory of the last fight forced its way into his thoughts; the feeling of her throat in his hand, the struggle to control his instincts.

Guilt crept through his heart like a jaguar stalking its prey. It had been a long time since he even thought about Gwen, aside from glimpses of his conscience here and there. Then that Gwen came along and shook everything up, now he couldn't stop thinking about anything.

There was a cell phone right next to his face, it was Ben's. He sat up and grabbed it, he hadn't used it in a long time. "Since I left Bellwood." Ben said aloud. He tried to turn it on, doubtful that it was still charged after all these years. The phone lit up, still 30 percent charged.

That was interesting, there was a new voicemail, dated back to a couple months after he left. He clicked play. "Ben, I don't know if you're ever going to get this." It was Gwen. "Your phone keeps going to voicemail, I wish you would just turn your phone on." She sounded so sad. "Look, what I need to say is that, if you ever want to talk to me again, just call. Will you do that? Call? For me?" Ben felt tears run down his face. "I don't hate you, you know." She said after a few seconds of silence. The voicemail ended shortly after that.

The image of the Gwen that was here this morning popped in his mind, her motherly smile. Ben checked his contacts; her number was saved under "Doofus". If she answered than it was a sign, he decided and pressed call. One ring… two… three… four…his heart started to sink. "Hello?" Gwen's voice trickled through the phone. Ben jumped, his heart racing.

"Gwen?" Ben asked, hardly believing it.

"Ben?" Gwen's shocked voice asked.

"Y-yeah." He stammered. "I, uh, got your voicemail." He said lamely, his mind drawing a blank on what to say.

Gwen chuckled. "That was a long time ago."

"I hope not too long." Ben sighed.

"Of course not, what have you been up to?" She asked.

"Oh, you know," He paused, thinking of what to say. "Working for the police." It wasn't a lie. "What about you?"

"I'm a social worker." Ben flinched, of course she would do something like that.

"I, uh-" His voice cracked, and he swallowed hard. "I was wondering if you could visit." Tears fell from his eyes as he asked. Ben was sure she could hear him cry. "I really want to see you." He said. "I need to see you." He corrected after a few seconds.

There was a brief pause that felt like it lasted an eternity. "As luck would have it, starting tomorrow I have a couple days off. I could be there by tonight if I push through this paperwork." Ben could here the rustling of paper. "Text me your address, I need to get going before my boss catches me on my phone." Gwen said with a chuckle and hung up. Before Ben could change his mind, he rapidly typed out his address and sent it. He groaned in apprehension, already regretting his decision.

"Nothing I can do about it now." Ben sighed. "If I told her I changed my mind she'd come over anyway." As he pushed the clutter off the bed, he cursed his moment of weakness. Why did he have to call Gwen; her showing up here was just going to lead to disaster. Between the fight this morning and the panic attack that came shortly after Ben was already exhausted, he laid back down and did his best to get some sleep.

The sound of the doorbell ringing woke him up. Immediately pain radiated from his jaw, making him groan. It appeared as if he had rolled over in his sleep and slept on his injured side. The doorbell rang again, and he shuffled over to the door, unable to open his mouth enough tell them to wait.

Standing at the door was Gwen, beautiful and perfect as ever. Her auburn hair was pulled back in a bun and she was still wearing a dress suit. Ben was stunned into silence, he didn't realize that he had slept for so long. "Hello Ben." Gwen said with a friendly smile. Her smile turned into a small frown. "What happened to your face?" She asked reaching her hand for his injured jaw.

"Some asshole punched me." Ben muttered as he stepped back. "Come on in." He said as he walked further inside. As Gwen followed him, he became acutely aware of how much of a mess his apartment was. There was trash littered everywhere, several drops of blood were dried in the entryway to the kitchen. The cereal he had spilt that morning still lay on the ground, dry and soggy at the same time. Ben sat on the couch and grabbed the painkillers from the coffee table. He took a couple dry, the dull, burning pain a special kind of hell.

"I could have just healed your injury." Gwen said as she sat next to him. Her hand glowed with her magic and she slowly reached out again. Ben didn't fight, letting her touch him this time. The pain slowly melted away as Gwen's expression turned more worried. "Oh, Ben," She whispered. "time has been tough on you, huh?" Warmth spread throughout his body as in one fell swoop Gwen healed all the injuries she could. From aches that never left him to the injuries that never fully healed she healed him.

It was only after the pain dissolved that Ben realized just how much pain he was in all the time. "I haven't felt this good in a long time." Ben said, astonished by the difference.

"I'm guessing about ten years." Gwen said with a playful smile.

Ben chuckled nervously. "Yeah, about that." He sighed, his heart swelling with joy. Gwen's very presence seemed to soothe the twisted thorn bush that was his heart. "Why did we ever fight?" He asked, the memories of his anger seemed so silly.

"Because you were hurting." Gwen said seriously and then put on a smile. "And you were an idiot." Her tone was playful.

"It's not funny." Ben snapped his temper flaring.

Instantly Gwen's face returned to serious. "You're right, I'm sorry." She sounded sincere and professional.

"Don't use your clinical voice with me." Ben growled, insulted that he was being treated like one of her clients.

Gwen blinked a few times but then nodded and put on a friendly smile. "How about we switch subjects." Gwen suggested. "Why don't you tell me why you invited me here out of the blue." It was obvious that she was being careful with how she worded things and how her tone came across. Ben had to admit that she was good.

Ben sighed, begrudgingly letting go of his anger. "Something crazy happened this morning." Ben said slowly, not sure how to say what he wanted to say. "I-" his voice cracked, a vivid image of Gwen's corpse flashing in his mind. He swallowed nervously and said, "I was visited today by another Ben and Gwen, us from a different universe." His heart pounded as he retold the story. His voice cut out when he got to the part where he killed Gwen, unable to handle the shame and guilt he felt and so he skipped over it, going on to describe how he had, had a panic attack and that a kind woman helped him. "I-I don't know what to do, I feel like I'm going crazy, Gwen." He said, covering his mouth and choking back a sob. "What's wrong with me?" He asked desperately, he looked into Gwen's eyes and felt like he was losing control of his own mind.

Gwen took a few seconds before answering slowly. "Maybe seeing us, what we could have been, triggered something in your psyche and now your whole outlook on morality is changing." She paused for a second in deep thought. "The brain doesn't like to change it's outlook, it's easier for it to stay the way it is than to change anything and it will fight hard to keep the status quo." After a few seconds on Ben not responding she added, "I think that your emotional outbursts are caused by your brain trying to protect you from a paradigm shift."

"Why does it hurt so much?" Ben asked. "Why do I feel so guilty when I've never felt guilty before?" He quickly added.

Again, Gwen took a few seconds to answer. "I think it's because of the paradigm shift, suddenly your conscious is waking up and telling you all the bad things you've ever done. It hurts, it's going to hurt, but on the other side of that pain is beauty." Gwen put a reassuring hand on his shaking shoulder.

Time froze, in an instant two thoughts came to mind. He was angry, he felt pitied and belittled, he couldn't stand for that. At the same time Gwen's warmth sunk through his thick hoodie and the gesture felt good and inviting.

As time resumed guilt and shame consumed him, filling his aching heart and stuffing his mind with images of his evil deeds. Tears blinded him as he lunged at Gwen, wrapping his arms around her and holding her tightly. The impact caused them to tumble sideways and Ben wound up pinning Gwen to the couch. Ben sobbed openly and loudly, all of his grief, guilt, shame, pain and fear he had repressed for nearly twenty years came flooding back to him all at once.

Gwen wrapped her arms around him, holding him closely. She gently shushed him and rubbed his back comfortingly. She didn't say a word, didn't try to make him talk it out, just let him get all his tears out. Her blazer and blouse were quickly soaked through and she was in an uncomfortable position but she didn't try to move. Gwen understood that this first wave of emotions needed to be left to run its course without being disturbed.

Even as Ben's tears ran out, he couldn't stop sobbing. It hurt the amount of crying he was doing, both emotionally and physically. His chest burned and ached while sparks danced in his closed eyes. His soul was in the process of being ripped to shreds, every demon he ever had taking its turn in baptizing him in fire. Ben wished he could talk—had so many things he wanted to say—but couldn't catch his breath long enough to even say "sorry".

An hour passed before he finally stopped crying. Still, he didn't let Gwen go. The concept of letting go of the only comfort he had was unfathomable. "There we go." Gwen said softly, finger combing his filthy hair. "It's okay now, I'm here for you." Ben's breath shuddered, his emotions threating to spill over again. His head pounded and throbbed in time with his heartbeat, he moaned with the pain even though he had painkillers in his system they didn't do nearly enough.

"I don't want to feel this way anymore Gwen, it's like I'm not in control of my own actions." Ben said, his voice just a hoarse whisper. "I'm so scared." He confessed. "Please, help me." He squeezed his eyes shut tight, trying to fight the fear that pricked up and down his spine like a thorn bush.

"I will." Gwen said soothingly. "I promise. First, how about we sit up, your arms must be asleep by now." She suggested gently. Ben nodded; it was true, he couldn't even feel his arms anymore. They sat up slowly, both stiff and hurting. Ben groaned as the change in position caused his head to hurt even more.

"I hate crying." Ben grumbled, clutching his head.

"Crying purges negative emotions, it's good for everyone to cry once in a while." Gwen said as she examined the large wet spot on her shoulder and chest. "You just so happened to be putting it off for a long time." She smiled and dried Ben's face off with a hankie she pulled from her pocket. "Come on, you need to bathe." She helped Ben stand up and encouraged him to show her his bathroom.

They walked into his bathroom. Messy was doing it a massive injustice; Ben never once cleaned this room and it showed. Clothes and towels littered the floor, the sink was cluttered and splattered with dried toothpaste and shaving cream. The bath shower combo was no better, soap scum and other kinds of grime had built up and most of the bottles in there were empty or almost so. Gwen was clearly disturbed by the state of the room but brushed it off in a second and didn't say anything about it.

"Get undressed while I run the bath, will you?" She said, turning on the faucet. Ben's emotions were too numbed and his brain's too full of fog to object so he stripped while she adjusted the temperature. He sat on the closed toilet while he waited for the tub to fill, spacing out. Gwen had to take him by the hand and guide him into the tub. The water was hot, but soothing. Gwen bathed him in silence, Ben barely present. The water turned brown and Gwen had to drain the tub and fill it again before continuing.

Ben sighed with satisfaction as Gwen started to rinse the shampoo out of his hair. "Thank you." He said. A small, easy smile crossed his lips.

"It's nothing." Gwen said as she started lathering her hands. "You're my cousin and I'd do anything for you." She smiled and started washing his face, being careful not to get soap in his eyes.

"Isn't it weird to be bathing me though?" He asked, closing his eyes.

"It's true I never thought I would bathe you." Gwen chuckled. "Though I don't think it's so weird, what with how often I had to undress you to treat your wounds. It's also clear that you needed this, you must have not bathed in months." She rinsed the soap off his face. Truthfully Ben hadn't bathed since he tried speed dating a couple years ago. Whenever he had started to stink, he threw on more deodorant and new clothes.

Gwen pulled the plug that stopped the tub from draining. "I need to ask you something." Gwen said, her voice grave.

"What is it?" Ben asked, his heart sinking. His brain started playing out worse case scenarios when Gwen didn't answer until she had grabbed a towel and came back with it.

"Do you actually want to change?" She fixed him with an intense look.

"W-What do you mean?" Ben stammered, the question catching him off guard.

"In my line of work, you see a lot of people who swear they'll change but never do. Turns out that you actually have to want to change. You can't force someone to be a better person and you can't just mean it in the moment, it has to be something that you genuinely want with all of your heart." Ben forgot just how serious she could be, her grave tone and sharp eyes looked like they were scrutinizing every inch of him. "Whatever you decide I'll be sticking around for a few days." Her gaze softened. "I'm here for you Ben." As the last of the water drained away, she handed him his towel.

Ben felt strangely numb and hollow. He had felt emotionless before but nothing quite like this. The difference was hard to define and Ben didn't bother. They walked into his room together, Gwen let out a small yelp of shock when she saw the body of the robber on the floor. "Oh yeah, forgot about him." Ben said casually.

"Oh, yeah I forget about dead bodies in my room all the time." Gwen said sarcastically walking up to the corpse. She tried to bend its elbow but it was stiff as a board. "He's going to be hard to move out of here." Gwen said. There was a flash behind her and she turned around, Ben and turned into NRG

"Not really." He said taking the elbow and snapping it with a loud, snapping, pop. Gwen flinched at the sound "See?" NRG said, using the robber's hand to wave at her.

"That's messed up, Ben." Gwen said, flatly.

NRG shrugged. "Whatever, are you going to help me or not?" He said, taking the shoulder and snapping it as well. Gwen shook her head, NRG started breaking all the joints to make the corpse movable again. She wound up walking away, it had been a long time since she was exposed to Ben's particular brand of gruesomeness and she couldn't handle it yet.

NRG rolled his eyes; she hadn't been a wuss in a long time. It's not like this was the worst thing he had done around her. "She'll get over it." NRG thought as he finished up. Finally, the corpse was pliable again…well, kind of. It was at the same time floppy and stiff. He picked him up and for a brief time wondered if he ever learned the robber's name. It had only happened a few hours ago, surely if NRG had learned his name he'd remember. It didn't really matter; the man was dead and it's not like he cared if NRG remembered his stupid name. It was probably something stupid, like Eric.

NRG started stuffing him in his suit while walking down the hall. By the time he passed Gwen in the living room only his legs stuck out at an awkward angle. "Can you even see where you're going?" Gwen asked.

NRG scoffed. "Please, I could walk this place blind." Right before he tripped. He landed face first, at least it pushed the corpse all the way in his suit.

"Yeah, blind." Gwen teased.

"I will melt you." NRG grumbled as he got back on his feet.

"How are you even going to dispose of him?" Gwen asked, following NRG out of the apartment.

NRG drew in a deep breath through his nose and let it out slowly, heating himself up. With every exhale he got hotter. He could smell the corpse burn, could see the dark smoke drift off its body. The flash point was sudden, going from smoking to a raging inferno that spilled out of his vent. In minutes the fire was extinguished, leaving only a large pile of ash and bone fragments.

"Damn…" Gwen mumbled. "When did you learn that?"

"Just recently believe it or not." Ben said when he turned human.

"Uh, Ben?" Gwen said, covering her mouth with a snicker.

"What?"

"You're naked."

Ben looked down. "So, I am." He mumbled, uninterested. "If anyone has a problem with it, they can bite me." He turned around and walked back inside. By the time Gwen caught up with him he was already back in his room, putting on a pair of pajama pants he found on the ground. He flopped down on his bed with a deep sigh. Something dug into his shoulder but he didn't care enough to move.

"You're just going to lay down on all of your stuff like a dragon?" Gwen asked.

"Yeah, got a problem with it?" Ben snapped.

Gwen rolled her eyes and her magic flared. Suddenly he was floating above the bed and all the stuff on it flew away, they were put delicately on the ground. "You may as well sleep under the covers." Gwen said as she used her magic to tuck him in. Ben blinked, unsure of what to feel. Gwen had just violated his space by levitating him but at the same time he couldn't remember the last time he was tucked in. Gwen sat on the edge of the bed and looked down on him with tender eyes. "Sleep well, Ben." She put a hand on his shoulder and smiled. "Goodnight." She said as she turned off the lights on her way out.

"Goodnight." Ben echoed softly. For a while he just laid in the dark room, his eyes open wide. Today had been such a wild roller coaster of emotions. Apathy, anger, panic, guilt, hope, sadness. His eyelids started to droop. He had only been awake a few hours the whole day but he was still exhausted. His blinks were slowed. Gwen's words echoed in his ears. "Do you actually want to change?" He yawned. "Yeah, I do." Ben mumbled aloud. He rolled onto his side and closed his eyes, warm and pain free, except for his headache, but that was going away on its own well enough to ignore. He drifted off into a deep, dreamless sleep.

000

Gwen explored the apartment, finding much of the same, the whole place was absolutely filthy. There was this musty, unpleasant odor that hung in the air that she doubted Ben could smell. There were no clean dishes and the fridge was all but empty. The panty had some junk food and packets of minute oats. Gwen sat on the couch and sighed heavily; this was going to be a lot of work. She started to wonder if it was worth the effort but the image of Ben's half-starved state filled her with determination. She may have healed his physical injuries and scars but there was a lot that she couldn't fix with mana alone. He seemed to be at the bottom of a fatal spiral, she feared that she may be too late to save him.

She yawned. Whatever had to be done would have to wait until tomorrow. For now, they both needed sleep. She laid down on the worn-out couch and, using her arms as a pillow, fell asleep.

Fear not, those who are reading only for a gruesome story, murder still awaits. Ben's not going to change that quickly. Just, right now he needs to get his shit in order. Please excuse the bad attempt at symbolism, I tried my best. Ben is in bad shape; between the constant injuries he has suffered and the piss poor way he takes care of himself his body is on the verge of shutting down. I'm trying my best to communicate just how messed up he is in all aspects of his life. (YD)