July 1, 2016

Plumber's Outpost, Mojave Desert; 9:42 am

Gwen's head pounded as the familiar rhythmic beeps of a heart monitor assaulted her senses. She felt a chill and pulled the blanket up to her neck, trying to block out the cold air. She figured Max had fixed the AC in the Rust Bucket, but it smelled far too clean. Her eyes fluttered open, taking in the blinding fluorescent light.

She appeared to be in some kind of infirmary. Empty beds surrounded her save for one blocked by a white curtain. Gwen tried to lift herself off the bed but felt a tug at her ankle. She lifted the blanket and found herself handcuffed to the bed frame. The heart monitor quickened in pace. A door opened, and Gwen's hand glowed a vibrant pink ready to attack her kidnapper.

"You're awake, miss Tennyson." A woman in a white coat entered the room. She appeared to be in her late forties and paid no mind to the magic aimed at her. "I'm sorry about the restraint, your grandpa's orders."

Gwen dispelled the magic at the mention of her grandfather.

"Where am I?" Gwen asked.

"You're in a Plumber base. Your grandfather brought you and your cousin here six days ago after a fight in Phoenix."

"Is Ben okay!?" Gwen screamed.

The woman opened her mouth to speak but quickly shut it. Max entered the room dismissing the woman with a nod.

Her grandfather looked horrible. Dark bags hung under his disappointed eyes. The wrinkles in his brow had deepened into a valley of worry. He looked so broken yet gave off an air of intimidation.

"How much do you remember?" Max asked with a heavy sigh.

"I struck Ben with lightning and fell out of the sky," Gwen whispered. She knew how serious the situation was, but she couldn't help but feel like a little girl in the principal's office.

Max pulled the curtains revealing an unconscious Ben.

"The Omnitrix protected him from any physical harm but not psychological," Max said. "He had already been comatose when we found you two."

Gwen wanted to get a closer look but was still bound to the bed.

"You both won't be allowed to leave until you've undergone a physical and mental exam. After which, I'm taking you back to Bellwood." Max's face turned serious. "If you try to leave without my permission, every Plumber in this facility has been given strict orders to neutralize you. So please don't let it come to that."

Gwen could feel the sweat pooling beneath her. This man wasn't her grandfather. He was a warden, and she was his prisoner.

After numerous tests, the woman from before, Dr. Beck, was given the okay to remove Gwen's restraint. She was allowed to wander the facility and was given a room to stay in until Ben woke up. It was a small room with only a bed and her bag. Having not eaten in who knows how long, Gwen went searching for food

The cafeteria was mostly empty save for the sole person manning the kitchen. The worker handed her a tray of food but continued to watch her as she took a seat. Gwen was debating returning to her cell when a young man and a woman sat across from her.

"Good to see you return to the world of the living," the woman said. She had tan skin, black hair, and brown eyes. Gwen couldn't shake the feeling she knew her from somewhere.

"I'm sorry, but do I know you?" Gwen asked.

"It's me, Kai," she gave a sad smile.

The gears turned in her head as she recalled the little Navajo girl. The man couldn't help but laugh at the look on Gwen's face.

"I told you she wouldn't remember you," the man said.

"Fuck off, Kevin," Kai said with an eye roll.

"Kevin…." Gwen looked at the man before her and tried to play it off as Kevin being a common name, but then she saw the man's name tag. "KEVIN LEVIN!? But how you look so-"

"Handsome?" Kevin asked with a smile.

"Normal," Gwen corrected him. The man before her had slicked-back hair with an undercut and muscles bulging through his jumpsuit. A far cry from the scrawny delinquent in New York. "How did this happen?"

"It's a long story," Kevin said. "A couple of years ago, I escaped the Null Void and wandered around for a few months. I still looked like a monster, so I couldn't exactly show myself in front of others. So I'd sneak around at night and take food from dumpsters or break into stores if I was really desperate. Then, once the cops found me, I'd run to the next town and do it all over again."

Kai looked at him with pity but kept quiet as he continued to speak.

"It was the Fourth of July, and everyone was out lighting fireworks, so I had to hide in a warehouse until it was quiet enough for me to leave. But that was when the Plumbers found me. Ben was dealing with some shit back then. If your grandpa hadn't been there, he might have taken me out then and there. But he offered me a choice: go back to the Null Void or join the Plumbers."

Kevin was smiling, but Gwen could tell that this was a painful memory for him.

"They said that if I turned myself in, they'd find a way to get me back to normal. It was a pretty sweet deal. Too bad for me, that meant being locked up in a cage and experimented on for a year."

"It wasn't that bad, Kevin," Kai said. "He still was a wanted criminal, so they couldn't just let him walk freely. He was allowed to go out for missions with Ben, and Max was there every day overseeing his treatment."

Gwen recalls how little she saw her grandfather during that time. She knew it was Plumber business but had no idea he was helping Kevin.

"Max was always making sure I was comfortable in my cell," Kevin chuckled. "He snuck me off base a couple of times. Not like anyone would have the balls to tell the big man no."

Kevin and Kai were both laughing at that. Gwen couldn't help but feel alienated from it all. She'd heard her father talk about his childhood and could never understand his disdain. But the more she learns about her grandfather, the less she can recognize him.

"How long did that go on for?" Gwen asked, trying to steer the conversation back.

"Until my eighteenth birthday," Kevin said. "Azmuth was helping by that point, and they found a way to neutralize the mutant gene keeping me stuck like that, but it would completely get rid of my powers."

"And now he's our fearless leader," Kai said, smacking him on the back.

"Substitute leader," Kevin corrected. "At least until Ben takes over. If Max ever lets him."

"Why wouldn't he let him?" Gwen asked. They gave her a look making her flush. "Right, stupid question."

"Look, Gwen," Kai started, "I know you two aren't as close as you used to be, but Ben's changed a lot."

"I wasn't joking when I said he'd have taken me out," Kevin said. "I've read the reports; Ben's ruthless if he's left unchecked. And it's not like you're any better." Kai elbowed him. "Bitch! You know my ribs are broken."

"That's enough," Kai said sternly.

Kevin was about to argue with her but stopped when he saw the look on Gwen's face.

"What?" Gwen didn't know why they were staring at her until she rubbed her face. When did she start crying?

"Sorry, I didn't mean anything by that," Kevin said.

"It's not your fault," Gwen said. "I guess I just don't know my own family as well as I thought I did."

Kai shares a look with Kevin before leaving. Now that the two were alone, Gwen couldn't help but fidget under his gaze.

"Look, whatever happened between you and Ben is between you and him. But you gotta understand that this hasn't been easy on Max," Kevin said. "He single-handedly reformed the Plumbers into what they are now. All so that you and your family could live happy, normal lives. Something like that can't happen without some sacrifices."

"I already knew that," Gwen sighed. "What I don't know is why he changed so much. I can't even recognize him anymore."

"Ben was in a dark place for a long time; hell, he may still be. I don't know all the details, but from what I heard, he was a menace. He got into fights any chance he got, didn't matter who. Still, through it all, your grandpa never gave up on him. Hell, he never gave up on any of us."

Gwen remembered the stories. The late-night phone calls her father tried to hide from them. The sadness in his voice as he comforted his brother.

A single question had formed in her chest like a rock getting heavier with every passing second. She knew there was no reason to ask it since she already knew the answer, but she needed to let it out.

"Why did this happen?"

"That's something you'll have to ask him yourself."