EmeraldMoonGreen, who owns Kristin, requested this one. Here you go, Amiga! Enjoy!

I only own Rachel. Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. Also, I got some inspiration for this story by the series "3-2-1 Penguins!" which belongs to Big Idea, the same ones that created VeggieTales.

We'll Always Care

Kristin stumbled into the Mansion, glad to be there. It had been a rough day at work for her and at school too, and she was glad it was over and she was looking forward to seeing her friends at the Mansion. She spotted Tetrax first.

"Hi, Tetrax," she said.

She was stunned when he turned to her and growled. "Stay out of my way, kid," he said sternly and walked away. His words stung and she went searching for Rath, hoping he'd be more pleasant. But when she found him, he was in a bad mood.

"What do you want?" he growled at Kristin.

"I was wondering if we could…,"

She didn't get to finish as Rath roared loudly. "RATH DOESN'T WANT ANY COMPANY NOW!" he yelled, making Kristin jump and look at him in shock. He had never raised his voice at her and it scared her a bit to where she quickly headed out, spying the Vladat brothers' room immediately and went in, finding Vamps grumbling as he was going through some files.

"Vamps?" she called.

"WHAT?!" he asked angrily, making her jump as he turned quickly to see who had interrupted him and he saw Kristin looking at him with a shocked face and tear-filled eyes.

"Well, what is it?" he asked a bit harshly.

"Nothing," she said, but her voice was soft and tearful, something that pierced Vamps' mind as he saw she was crying and he had just made her feel worse.

"Kristin," he said gently and reached for her, but she ran out and he heard her sobs echo through the house. He felt guilty and that guilt grew as he heard her sobs fade away and the front door slammed, making him wince as he realized she was heading away from the Mansion. Now he really felt like a jerk.

He stepped out of his room and found Rath gazing down the stairs where Kristin had gone, and he looked upset too that he had snapped at Kristin. He glanced up at Vamps.

"Did you see where she went?" he asked him.

Vamps shook his head. "No, I didn't," he said. "I'm afraid I snapped at her when I shouldn't have."

"I did too," said Rath sadly. It was somewhat surprising to hear the tiger alien confess he had been wrong as he almost never did so, but as he had a soft spot for Kristin, he hated seeing her sad and he hated himself for making her upset.

Tetrax came in, seeing their faces and instantly knew. "She ran away?" he asked.

The other two nodded and Tetrax sighed, running a hand over his face. "Come on," he said.

Knowing that he was going to go look for Kristin, Rath went to join him but Vamps stayed behind as the sun was still out. "I'll keep an eye out for her," he promised as the other two headed out and he kept his eyes and ears open.

It was probably a good hour before Rachel came home with Kristin beside her as the girl had told her what had happened and the owner of the Grant Mansion had made up her mind to give her three brothers a stern lecture when she saw them. She got Kristin settled in the living room and went to find Tetrax, Rath, and Vamps. She found Vamps in his room and she opened her mouth to give him a piece of her mind when she saw his expression. His face was filled with regret and sadness. That stopped Rachel cold and he looked at her.

"Did Kristin come back?" he asked quietly.

"Yes," said Rachel slowly as she tried to regain her composure.

He stood up. "I need to talk to her and apologize," he said. He then saw her face. "I guess you were about to give me the third degree about that, right?"

She then looked at him sternly. "Yes, I was," she said. "And I still am. I can't believe you yelled at her, Vamps. She already had a rough day and your actions, along with Tetrax's and Rath's actions didn't help at all!"

Vamps flinched a bit, but didn't interrupt Rachel, who was glaring at him. "I found her crying in town, Vamps. She was crying thanks to you, Tetrax and Rath. What have you got to say for yourself?!"

Each of Rachel's words hit Vamps hard and he looked down, ashamed of himself. "Nothing," he said. "Because nothing justifies my actions."

At that, Rachel's face became a little less stern, but he could see she was still unhappy with him and he didn't blame her. Rachel then moved aside. "She's downstairs," she said.

Vamps didn't waste a moment and headed down to see Kristin, who saw him come in and she looked away, but he saw her red, puffy eyes and that upset him that he was part of why she was now looking miserable. "Kristin," he said softly. "I'm…I'm very sorry," he said. "I shouldn't have yelled at you, no matter how stressed I was from a bad day."

She glanced up at him and he reached a hand out, but she flinched, and he felt guilt hit him even harder now and he took one of her hands and gentle squeezed it. "I'm sorry again," he said and stood up, walking out. He didn't feel much better because he knew words alone wouldn't help Kristin feel better, but he hoped it would be a start for her to perhaps forgive him.

Tetrax and Rath came home and Rachel immediately gave them both a stern lecture as she had done to Vamps and both the tiger and bounty hunter were ashamed of their actions, apologizing to Kristin, but they could see she wasn't ready to forgive them either. They didn't blame her one bit.

That evening, Rath was lying down, but he couldn't sleep as he thought about Kristin. He felt so terrible and he tossed and turned to get comfortable, but guilt was preventing him from getting to sleep. He decided to maybe look over some files when the door opened and he saw Kristin hesitantly come in. She looked at him fearfully, but he sat on the bed and gently patted the spot beside him, a silent invitation to join him. She sat down and looked at him and he swallowed hard.

"Kristin, Rath is sorry for yelling at you," he said. "Rath had a bad day, but that doesn't excuse Rath from yelling at you."

"I know," she said softly. "I hadn't meant to bother you and I'm sorry for that."

"No, Kristin," said Rath gently. "You owe no apology to anyone."

He gently wrapped an arm around her and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. Seeing the guilt in his face made Kristin see how upset he was about the ordeal and she hugged him, feeling him return the hug a moment later and felt a few tears hit her shoulders. She had never known Rath to cry at all, but now, it made her tear up and she cried a little too. After a moment, they both calmed down and Kristin snuggled into Rath's hug. "I forgive you, big guy," she said.

Tetrax and Vamps were watching them and Rath saw them, but he wasn't upset and gestured them in. Kristin saw them when she was gently pushed back from Rath as he gently turned her to face their friends.

Tetrax apologized to Kristin and wiped away her tears, telling her it wasn't her fault they had had bad days. She hugged him and forgave him and turned to Vamps, whose emotional pain showed clear on his masked face and she hugged him, forgiving him as she told him she wasn't angry at any of them.

Her words took away a bit more of the guilt they all felt, but they were still a bit upset. "Kristin, will you allow us to make it up to you?" asked Vamps.

"Of course," she said. "What do you have in mind?"

Over the next three days, Kristin found out what they had in mind as Rath took her to an interspace ice cream stand that had the best ice cream in the galaxy and they had gotten a little sugar high, but had fun; Tetrax took her to a championship space game tournament where they had played against some tough competition and had won a few of the games, having fun, and finally Vamps took her to a concert with her favorite band. Each day, she had had a blast and her smile made the three aliens feel much better.

Rachel was waiting for Vamps and Kristin when they came home and gestured to the living room where Rath and Tetrax were. Kristin immediately hugged them and they returned the hugs.

"Thank you for giving us a chance to make it up to you, Kristin," said Tetrax.

"Yeah, thanks," said Rath.

She smiled. "Thanks for the great times," she said sincerely. "I'm glad to have you as friends."

"Not just as friends, Kristin," said Vamps gently. "You're family to us."

"Really?" she asked.

"Yes," said Tetrax. "Because we care about you more than just a friend."

"You're part of our family," said Rath.

"And no matter what, we'll always care about you," said Vamps, smiling at her warmly.

Kristine smiled and hugged them all again and they returned the hugs. Rachel smiled and let them be, knowing things were better now between Kristin and the three aliens.

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GoldGuardian2418