July 20, 2016

Fifty Miles West Of Memphis, TN; 1:43 am

Gwen felt like she was on fire. She was flying through the night sky like a comet. She was without her usual disc of light, yet she flew at a speed that should not have been possible. She'd never performed such a feat, but she knew she could because she'd seen Gwendolyn do it. However, her older self had the Charms of Bezel. This Gwen had no such aid.

The mana skin ability she had once used as a crutch had evolved. The vibrant energy that coursed through her veins oozed out and engulfed her body. She was unsure of the extent of this new power, but she could only hope it would be enough to save her cousin.

The GPS showed her approaching Ben's location with a lone building ahead of her. It appeared to be a cabin but was hardly bigger than a shed. Gwen would have thought she was at the wrong place, but she could see the van that took Ben parked next to it. With a fire in her chest, she stormed towards the building.

Inside, Ben was on the ground blindfolded with his hands bound behind his back, drifting in and out of consciousness. The drug they had given him had left him immobilized, but it wasn't strong enough to completely knock him out. He listened to his kidnappers whenever he could to try and make out what their plan was.

"Was it a good idea to leave them alive, Dex?" one of the men asked. Ben hadn't heard this voice before. Until now, he'd only heard the two men that cornered them in the Rustbucket. Just how many of them were there?

"Client's orders," Dex answered. This was the man who had come out of the bathroom, and it seemed he was the one in charge. "And what the fuck is with this amateur-hour bullshit? You know better than to call me that in front of the target."

"That shit we gave him is strong enough to knock out an elephant. The kid's not waking up anytime soon."

"This isn't just some kid." How he said the word "kid" gave Ben the impression that this was more than just a job for him. "Where the fuck is Fox?"

The other man awkwardly cleared his throat. "He's passed out in the car."

"For fuck's sake," Dex muttered. "You two are supposed to be on lookout, so get out there, wake his ass up, and do your fucking job!" There's shuffling followed by a door opening and closing. Anxiety fills Ben's chest as he feels Dex approach him. "Some kid," he groaned. "I know better than to underestimate the power in that damn watch. It's changed you even when you're not using it. You're not quite human, are you?"

The man's accusations rung true in the young hero. He'd suspected as much, but it wasn't until recently that he learned of the Omnitrix's long-term effects on a growing child. It held an incredible power that Ben needed just as much as it needed him. Still, he kept his composure and did not give Dex anything.

"Don't get too comfortable," Dex said, his voice trailing away. "We'll be back on the road soon." Again, the door opened and shut, and then there was silence.

The fuzziness was returning, but Ben tried to force it back. He didn't know how long until Dex or someone else would come back. Hell, he had no idea how many others were here, wherever he was. But he had to get back to Gwen and Max.

Another wave of dizziness hit. "Just breathe," he told himself. He clumsily pulled his arms under him and shimmied his leg through the gap between his arms. It was a maneuver he'd many times in practice and a few embarrassing moments in the field. However, he'd never attempted it while drugged. When he tried to pull his other leg through, he stumbled, falling to the ground with a thud.

His head was spinning, but his kidnappers would be back soon. He pulled his leg the rest of the way through and removed the blindfold, the bright lights temporarily blinding him again. He frantically blinked for his eyes to adjust and took in his surroundings. He was in a small wooden room with two windows and a single door. He forced himself to stand and moved to one of the windows, swaying as he did. A sigh of relief escaped his lips when he found it unlocked, but the sound of a scuffle from the door quickly swept it away. Ben knew he couldn't outrun them in his current state, so he took a gamble and opened the window before quickly hiding behind the door. Not a minute later, the door swung open, nearly smacking him.

"Where the fuck did he go!?" It was the man who was talking with Dex earlier. He rushed into the room to check the window, but then a vibrant bolt of light stuck his back, forcing him to the ground.

"Where is he!?" a fiery voice demanded. Even in his delirium, Ben knew exactly who it was. But his breath hitched once he saw her. Gwen was surrounded by her newfound magic. It pulsed and glowed with an intensity only matched by the anger in her voice. The man tried to pull his gun on her, but it was quickly enveloped in light, followed by the gut-wrenching sound of bones cracking. "Where is my cousin? Where is Ben!?"

The sound of footsteps on the other side of the door pulled Ben out of his trance. A man pointed a gun at Gwen, but before he could fire, Ben slammed the door into him, causing them both to stumble. The man was the first to recover, and with one quick motion, he aimed the gun at Ben and fired. "Fuck the orders."

Ben had been shot plenty of times, but it was always when he was in one of his alien forms, and when he wasn't, he at least had some kind of body armor to protect him. It still hurt like hell in both circumstances, but he had enough adrenaline to keep fighting. Maybe it was the drug, or the shock, or both because this time, he just felt numb.

He was on the ground, watching the lights flicker across the ceiling. There were flashes and echoes of crackling. Then he blinked and was in the sky, the wind blowing against his face. He blinked again and was in a barn surrounded by musky hay. The last thing he saw before losing consciousness was the panic on the face of the girl he loved.

Gwen lifted his shirt and gasped. There's so much blood. She tries to recall the impromptu lesson with Hope in her kitchen, but this is so much different. Hope was shot in the side and luckily missed anything important. She was bleeding but was well enough to guide her through surgery. Ben, on the other hand, had a large hole in the center of his chest, blood gushing out into rivers down his sides.

Gwen had to act fast, but she didn't have any of the tools she'd used that day. There was only one option left. She placed her hands on his chest as if she were preparing to perform CPR. A faint pink glow emanated from her palm and pulsed through him. She could sense, almost feel, every inch of his flesh, and deep within it was the bullet. She forced her mana to slip through the wound and take hold of the foreign object.

Ben's heart rate was slowing. With one quick motion, Gwen pulled the bullet out of his chest, firmly grasping it in one hand and healing the would with the other. The immense power needed to pull her cousin back from death's door was taxing and putting a strain on her body, but she'd pay the price a thousand times over if she had to.

"Don't you dare leave me," she cried. "Not again." She felt the wound close, and the toxins fade from his system. She continued to pour her energy into him until his heart pounded a steady beat once again.

When she finished, Gwen collected water from a nearby pump and tried to wipe away the blood. So much of it had soaked into their clothes that Gwen was sure it'd never come out. Still, what else was she supposed to do? She'd used up all of her mana, and neither of them was ready to walk the egregiously long trek to the nearest town. So she lay next to him and watched the rise and fall of his chest as she circled the space where the hole once was with her finger.

Ben wasn't sure how long it had been since he passed out. Hell, he wasn't sure of a lot of things. The whole night had been a foggy blur since he'd been drugged and kidnapped. He turned his head to face the moonlight peaking through the window. When he tried to sit up, he felt a familiar arm holding him down, and the sudden movement jolted Gwen from her sleep. Their eyes met. Pools of emerald mirrored one another's save for Gwen's, which were red and puffy.

"Hey," Ben said nervously.

Gwen's eyes began to water. She clenched her fist and lightly smacked his chest. "Don't you ever do that to me again!"

"Okay, okay, I promise! Just relax for a-"

"Relax!?" Gwen shot up and pinned him with one arm. "Do you have any idea how close you were to dying tonight?" She shoved the bullet in his face. "I had to pull this out of your chest, Ben. I quite literally hold your life in the palm of my fucking hand, and you have the audacity to tell me to relax? If I had made even the slightest mistake, you'd be dead!"

Before she could react, Ben pulled her arms and flipped them over so he could hover over her. He pinned her arms above her head even though he knew she wouldn't fight back. "But you didn't," he said without an ounce of doubt in his voice. He loosed his grip and trailed his hand up her wrist, and softly grasped the hand that held the bullet. He carefully rolled it over her palm with his thumb. "You're so incredible, Gwen. The greatest thing to ever happen to me."

"You're just saying that because I'm mad at you. We both know neither of us would be here if it weren't for that stupid watch." Despite her words, Gwen pulled her other hand from his grasp and placed it on his bare chest. His heart was racing, and she was sure her own was thumping right along with it.

He leaned in, his forehead pressed against hers. "I'd give up everything for you."

She tilted her chin, her breath hot against his lips. "Even the watch?"

"The watch and the rest of the universe with it." And that was all she needed to hear to finally close the gab between them.

AN: So for those interested there is an explicit continuation of this chapter on my page. A Chapter 44.5