1. Life's touch.

Fifteen year old Benjamin Tennyson was at the end of his rope. Gwen and Kevin were arguing at the top of their lungs. Julie was standing between them with her arms outstretched, shouting just as loudly in an attempt to placate them. Ship was jumping up at each of them, making his peculiar beep/barking sound at a high pitch in an attempt to gain attention. Ben's mother Sandra stuck her head in the room to see what was causing the commotion and promptly withdrew it as the shouting reached a new level. Gwen flung her red hair over her shoulder.

"Be honest for once! Why won't you ask me out?!" Kevin snorted and crossed his arms.

"I've already told you! I don't like being pushed!" he frowned. "Besides it should be ME nagging YOU to go out with me!" This only provoked more noise from Gwen and Julie. Ben rubbed his forehead and glanced at his father Carl out of the corner of his eye. How the man could sit on the couch and continue to read the paper like nothing was happening was beyond him. He did start raising an eyebrow when some creative insults began to mix in with the shouting however. Ben threw up his hands when the doorbell rang.

"What next? A DNAlien attack?" He strode away from the argument and wrenched the door open. If he didn't know exactly who and what the creature standing on the porch was, he would have used the Omnitrix to transform and make it back off. Since he was in the know, he just opened the door wider and stepped to the side. "Hi Grandma Verdona. Come on in. The Anodyte floated through the door space and paused as she started to pass him, one eye slightly wider than the other. Then she turned and gave him what he could only assume was an appraising look.

"You seem stronger since I saw you last month. Been working out? Or maybe you're just a late bloomer." Ben shook his head.

"Don't think so. No energy powers. That's Gwen's thing." Verdona merely shook her head, sending her electric pink hair swaying.

"There's still something different about you. Something that wasn't there a month ago." She drew back and frowned. "I'll just have to test you before I leave. Who knows? I learned my lesson about taking things at face value with Gwen." Her body shimmered and Verdona's anodyte form was abruptly replaced by the human disguise she had used when they had first met her. When she and Ben reached the living room, she raised her hands and covered her ears. "What's all that about?" Ben was sure his face was twitching noticeably.

"They've been arguing about why Kevin won't ask Gwen out. It started out quiet, but it's been going on for almost an hour now. I'm ready to go insane." Verdona's mouth tilted up into a smirk.

"My, sounds like it's quite an issue." Ben snorted.

"Only to her. The rest of us could do without the shouting." When Gwen and Kevin stopped suddenly and drew a deep breath to continue, Ben seized his chance. He shouted as loud as he possibly could, "ENOUGH!" Verdona jumped like she'd been shot. Ben heard a plate smash in the kitchen. Carl jolted so badly he tore his newspaper in two. "What is this, a madhouse?!" Everyone turned to stare at him. Gwen flicked her hair back again.

"Grandma! Stay out of it Ben." She turned back to Kevin and opened her mouth. She shut it when a pillow hit her in the back of the head and made her stumble slightly. Kevin whirled to glare at Ben, who crossed his arms and glared right back.

"Don't give me that look. She's my cousin, I'm entitled." He aimed his glare at Gwen. "For the love of god Gwen, drop it!" He flung an arm out, accidentally hitting a vase full of wilted roses that his dad had given his mom last month on their anniversary, knocking it to the edge of the table. Rubbing away the strange tingling sensation it caused in his hands, he continued. "Stop nagging him. It's annoying for all of us to hear and it makes it sound like you're desperate to suck face." By now Julie was biting her fist in attempt to keep from laughing at Gwen and Kevin's expressions. Ben ignored her.

"Kevin either give an actual reason, or just don't respond." He turned and said over his shoulder, "You two have given me the mother of all headaches, so I'm going out for a while. I really don't want to be hearing the same argument when I come back. It's gone on way too long." He vanished into the hall and a few seconds later the front door slammed hard enough to make the house shake.

The vase of roses wobbled and fell off the table. It would have shattered if Verdona hadn't teleported to it and caught it. She flicked a hand over her shoulder. Carl's torn newspaper mended itself and a gasp from the kitchen told them that the plate Sandra had dropped had done the same. Verdona simply continued to stare at the vase, her back to them. Carl sighed and folded his paper.

"OK. I get the point mom. I know I should have thrown those out weeks ago. I just never got around to it." Verdona shook her head.

"Ben." It was all she said and all she needed to say. Kevin sighed.

"He's been off like that since he turned into a new alien a few days ago. Something he calls Alien X." Verdona snickered.

"That explains a lot." At Gwen's snort she said, "Really it does. Alien X is as old as the universe, and one of the most powerful beings in existence." She smiled slightly even though she knew they wouldn't see it. "Trouble is, it usually doesn't do anything." Gwen coughed.

"Yeah we noticed that." Verdona shook her head again.

"That's not what I mean. I learned about Alien X on Anodyne. It has two sides that control it, and they are complete opposites. Alien X won't so much as move unless they agree with each other. Since they argue about everything that's almost impossible. It's only acted three times in my lifetime as far as I know." Kevin raised an eyebrow.

"So Ben was stuck with a fighting couple when he transformed? I guess that does explain a lot" Carl frowned.

"You kids made it sound like he couldn't change back." After Verdona had first visited them, Ben had decided to broach the subject of her and his alien fighting to his parents. He had figured they wouldn't freak since one of their parents was an alien. He was right of course. About the only thing that had changed was that his curfew was null if alien attacks were involved. Kevin shrugged.

"Far as we could tell, he couldn't. He just…stood there." He shuddered slightly. "I don't scare easy, but that thing, it's scary." Gwen nodded.

"Like the night sky had taken shape. I thought I was looking into space." Verdona nodded.

"Essentially you were. It's what Alien X's body is formed from, the very fabric of space." Kevin shivered.

"Then just as Earth's about to get blasted, he changes into Swampfire. I don't know what happened and he wouldn't say. He just said that turning into it wasn't worth the price. He made it sound like he'd never change into it again." Gwen shook her head.

"I don't know about that. He said yesterday he wanted to work things out with it…them. Maybe he left to do that." Verdona finally turned around.

"Why don't we find out?" She paused and reached behind her. "Carl, there's no need to throw out perfectly healthy roses." She tossed a vibrant red rose onto his newspaper. Carl just rolled his eyes. Verdona held up her hands. She waved one. A bolt of pinkish energy lanced out and swirled into a large ring in the center of the room. The center of the ring crackled and suddenly they could all see Ben striding down the street twisting the dial of the Omnitrix. Sandra walked in as Ben slipped off into the park and behind a tree where no one else would see him. Verdona flicked her hand and they suddenly had sound to go along with the picture. Verdona plunked down on the sofa next to Carl.

"Like I told him, something's different about him." They watched as Ben flopped gracelessly down underneath the tree.

He twisted the dial of the Omnitrix until the projection of Alien X popped up. Feeling slightly silly, he leaned over and said, "Um Serena? Belicus? Can you guys hear me?" To his astonishment, the green hologram actually nodded. "Okay then." He frowned for a moment, thinking. "I think we started off on the wrong foot. So if you'll let me, I've got some new business." The hologram nodded again. Ben drew a deep breath. "To facilitate the resolution of old business, and to help with the process of new business, I move that Serena and Belicus be able to communicate with me whenever and wherever I am if I am not in the form of Alien X."

The response was immediate. "Seconded!" The voice was undeniably Serena's, though somewhat tinny, as if the Omnitrix's hidden speaker was too great a distance from them. Belicus voice was next.

"Spatial-temporal communication movement carried!" The hologram raised a hand and moved it in a circle before disappearing. Almost instantly, Ben's vision was filled with green. An instant later it flickered into an image of Belicus about the size of his head. Ben realized he must have appeared at full size. A few seconds later Serena's head appeared, though without having to shrink.

"Good vote!" They said in unison. Serena shifted so that her mask-like face was pointed directly at Ben.

"Thank you for giving us another chance Ben. We're sorry about before. We were just so excited." Ben rubbed the back of neck, looking sheepish.

"Yeah well, I said a few things I probably shouldn't have." He would have said more, but Belicus cut in looking exasperated and faintly nauseous.

"Oh cut the mush! We're sorry! End of story!" He rotated to shoot a glance at Serena, apparently daring her to say anything. When she remained silent, he turned back to Ben. "You said you'd help with old business?" Ben nodded.

"On a few conditions, yes." Serena gave him a look that he could only describe as curious.

"What kind of conditions?" Ben drew in a deep breath.

"One, you don't trap me anymore. Two, if the situation is bad enough, we forget about procedure until the crisis is over. Three, for every item of old business solved, I get to bring up one item of new business. Fair enough?" Serena and Belicus looked at each other for a moment before turning to Ben.

"Motion carried!" They said together. Ben could have sworn the air flickered. Belicus dropped a little lower.

"Pick a topic of old business and we'll get started." Ben grinned.

"Let's start with tabled motion eighty million and three, saving the dinosaurs from extinction." Back in the living room, everyone's eyebrows shot up. Belicus rose a little higher.

"Excellent. I'll make my case first." He cleared his non-existent throat. "The dinosaurs were a race that destroyed the planet with no care whatsoever for what they did. Their extinction provided the earth with some much needed recovery time. Reviving them would pave the way for an early destruction of the planet." He fell silent. Serena floated up.

"The dinosaurs were just simple animals Belicus. They never had the time to reach the understanding that they were decimating the planet. If they were allowed to live, they could reach that understanding and change their habits for the betterment of the planet." Ben spoke up.

"Could doesn't mean they will Serena. And even if they did, there's a good chance that I won't even exist. They're such an ingrained part of history that reviving them could and probably would destroy trillions of lives that made a difference throughout time. We might not even begin to have this discussion. Can you really let that stay on your conscience? I'm pretty sure you'll remember everything if you change history." Serena shook her head, looking sad. "Therefore, I move that we don't save the dinosaurs from extinction." Belicus smiled.

"Seconded!" Serena sighed.

"Motion carried." She sounded somewhat glum. Then she perked up. "You get to put out some new business now. What'll it be?" Ben grinned.

"I move that planet Pluto be restored to the way it was before the incursions destroyed it." Belicus snorted.

"Pluto was a dwarf planet, not a planet." Serena turned to him.

"That's a moot point since it's destroyed. You're just being nit picky." Belicus grunted.

"I am not." Serena smiled.

"Now you're just being contrary." Belicus grunted again.

"Says you." Ben sat back as Serena moved a little closer to Belicus. He sighed.

"And it begins. I wonder how long this'll last." He watched the two faces bicker back and forth for a moment.

"On the bright side, they'll do wonders for your patience if you do this often enough." Ben whipped around to find a figure in a toga-like gray robe floating in the air less than six feet away from him. A large hood prevented him from seeing the face, but the voice was undeniably male. The figure floated a little closer. Ben saw that he was holding a sphere the color of a ruby the size of a softball. His hands had a curious bluish pattern of wide wavy lines running across them. The figure raised his hands when Ben reached for the Omnitrix.

"Easy now. I'm hardly here to threaten you. There's no need to transform Benjamin." The hooded person gestured to the faces of Serena and Belicus, who had stopped arguing the instant they noticed him. "They're more than enough to deter me from that." Ben slowly took his hand away from the Omnitrix.

"How do you know my name?" The figure laughed.

"I've known about you ever since you were born. It's been a long time since there's been another one like me." Ben shook his head.

"I don't have any anodyte powers." The floating person snorted.

"Did I say you were an anodyte?" He snickered and suddenly vanished. Ben jumped when he appeared right next to him. "We're a little more special than that." He floated away a few feet and held up the sphere. It gave off a burst of light rather like a camera flash. He grunted as Ben blinked to clear his vision. "That's rather strong. I suppose there's some of it on both sides. Even though most of it is through your mother's side." The figure's hood slipped back to reveal a pale mouth as he shook his head. "I should have come years ago." The lips quirked up in a smile. "By these readings, you've been ready since you were five." Ben narrowed his eyes.

"Ready for what?" The man frowned.

"Ready to receive this." He gestured with his free hand. A large box appeared in his hand. It looked ordinary enough, a simple white box with a green ribbon topping it. He tossed to Ben. "You'll have to wait until your birthday I'm afraid. It won't be possible to open it until then." He smiled. "I'll see you again after you've opened it. Hard to say when though." His smile broadened. "At least you won't have to wait long. Tomorrow is your birthday after all. Catch you later!" He raised the sphere before pausing. "By the way, you DO have anodyte powers. I can feel them. They're just waiting for the right trigger." Ben opened his mouth to speak, but he thrust the sphere into the air and vanished in a flash of red and white light.

"What do you mean the right trigger?!" No answer came. He sighed and flopped down. "Who was that anyway? How did he know so much about me?" Serena frowned slightly.

"I've never seen him before Ben." She squinted at the box. "At least whatever is inside of there isn't dangerous to you. I can 't sense anything hostile." Belicus nodded.

"I didn't sense anything dangerous from him. Though I've never seen him before either." Ben frowned.

"Who or what was he?" Belicus and Serena looked at each other before looking at Ben. They looked rather ashamed.

"We have no idea." They said together. Ben sighed. If Belicus and Serena had no idea what the man was, then no one would. He drew in a breath.

"Okay fine. Let's forget about him for now. Can we get back to the topic of Pluto?" They both nodded. Belicus expression didn't change, but Ben had the distinct impression he was trying not to smile.

"I suppose you have a good reason for wanting to restore a dwarf planet?" Ben started to nod and stopped abruptly.

"Sort of. I mean, the only reason it was destroyed was to make an example to Earth. And Earth doesn't even know it happened! It died for no reason whatsoever! Where's the point in that? At least it would have had an effect if anyone on Earth knew about it. And besides, humans aren't going to stay on Earth forever. We may need it someday." He paused and then grinned. "I move that we restore Pluto to the way it was before it was blown up." Serena smiled.

"Seconded!" Belicus nodded.

"Motion carried!" He turned to face Ben completely. "You'll have to transform into Alien X to carry this one out. It involves more than just communication. Ben narrowed his eyes.

"Only if you let me change back." Serena and Belicus nodded.

"We won't keep you trapped like that again." They said together. Ben nodded and twisted the Omnitrix until the figure of Alien X appeared. He slapped his hand down of the dial after it popped up. A flash of green light lit up the area briefly. It died down to reveal the star filled form of Alien X.

"Planet Pluto restoration movement carried!" It said in the peculiar conglomeration of Ben, Belicus, and Serena's voices. Alien X's palm moved in a circular motion, creating a ring of shifting light. The ring shot up into the sky. A small window appeared in front of the standing creature. They all watched as the ring traveled through space at an impossible speed, zooming by whole planets so quickly that they were little more than a blur. It stopped in an area of space that had a few chunks of debris floating around. The ring pulsed and the debris started to fly towards it. The ring burst into a nova of light as the last of debris reached it. When the light faded, it revealed Pluto, once again whole and unharmed. The planet shimmered and suddenly teleported to a slightly different position. Alien X changed back into Ben as the window faded. Serena and Belicus's faces reappeared. Ben frowned.

"Why'd it teleport?" Belicus grunted.

"Had to fix the orbits." He squinted at Ben. "Unless you want to risk a planetary collision. We can always change back all the planet's orbits." Ben held up his hands.

"No, no! It's fine." He looked at Serena. "Do you have any old business you want to bring up?" She frowned, thinking.

"Well, there's…no. Maybe… not now." This went on for several minutes before Belicus let out a bark of laughter.

"Shouldn't have done that." He told Ben. "She's hopeless at decisions like those." Ben grinned.

"Spur of the moment type?" Belicus nodded. "I guess that makes sense." Serena finally stopped muttering and sighed.

"I need some time to think about it. Ask me later." Her mask like face spun around suddenly. "What in heaven's name is that?" Ben peeked around her to see a DNAlien. This one wasn't fully mutated however. Ben could see a human eye and one of the ears was still visible. The captured human stumbled forward, walking with a shuffling gait rather like a zombie. The Xenocyte's one eye was gazing at him with a mixture of malevolence and something he couldn't identify. The human eye however, had a look of desperation and outright fear in it. Ben jumped when Serena's face suddenly grew to its actual size. She floated forward and started glowing, giving off an odd nimbus of green light. The instant the captured human was touched by the light, it froze. The Xenocyte however, started to struggle. Serena smiled.

"Little brute can't stand compassion eh? Ben, there's still time to save whoever it caught!" Ben nodded and strode forward. The Omnitrix started beeping as soon as it got close enough.

"Genetic abnormality detected. DNA splicing error. Should we attempt to repair?" Ben nodded.

"Yes." An instant later he found himself flying inside the Omnitrix. A huge image of the trapped human blossomed in front of him. Ben noted that it was still glowing with light from Serena. He hesitated for a moment before reaching out towards the Xenocyte. "OK. It's just like when I fixed Ken." He tried not to scream as tentacles from the Xenocyte engulfed him and blackness filled his vision. A few seconds later, he opened his eyes to find a lifeless and rather withered looking Xenocyte in his palm and the oddest looking human he had ever seen lying on the ground.

She was slightly shorter than him, wearing a long black dress with voluminous sleeves that were pointed at the end and trimmed with a lace like pattern. He did a double take as he realized that no feet of any kind were visible. The only thing he could see were small black streamers of fabric at slightly irregular intervals that ran the length of the hem. She groaned and sat up, long black hair swinging over one shoulder. A second later, she rose into the air and started hovering, the streamers barely touching the ground. She brushed herself off and rotated in place, looking around. She stopped dead when she saw Ben.

"It's been too long since I've seen another kindred spirit of rarity. You have my thanks for freeing me from that vile creature." Ben frowned.

"Uh…you're welcome. Kindred spirit of rarity?" The creature squinted at him.

"You mean you haven't found out yet?" She sighed. "I can't believe no one told you." Ben threw up his hands.

"OK, enough's enough! First the guy in the robe, now you! What do you know that I don't?!" The woman raised an eyebrow.

"Guy in the robe?" Understanding suddenly blossomed on her face, and she started laughing. "I think I know who you mean. Did he have a red ball about yea big?" Ben nodded. The woman's laughed harder before it degenerated into a somewhat controlled giggle. "Always goes for the mysterious angle, he does. I would have just told you outright. But I guess I have to play along since he got to you first." She held up a hand when Ben opened his mouth to speak. "That is, I'll play along to a point. You deserve to know at least part of what's going on." Ben nodded.

"Thanks." The woman flung her head in a wide arc. Her hair swung upwards and settled into a neat pile except for two long streamers that framed either side of her face. Ben blinked when he saw that her ears were actually pointed like an elf's. She smiled. Ben noticed what looked like a white band sitting on the top of her head, reminiscent of a maid's cap except for the fact that it was spiked straight up instead of ruffled.

"That's much better. Anyway, it's far too open to be bandying information like this about." She frowned. "Speaking of privacy issues…" She whirled suddenly and everyone in the living room could tell she was looking straight at them. "It's not nice to spy on someone, anodyte." She thrust a hand forward at them, causing one over sized sleeve to fly up over it. Back in the living room, black energy crackled over Verdona's image of the park. Then it shattered like glass with a loud bang.

The woman huffed and tugged her sleeve back down. "Nosy busybodies." She glanced at Ben. "Some female anodyte was watching you. I don't know for how long." Ben sighed.

"I bet that was my grandmother. I wonder who put her up to it." He paused. "How do you even know it was anodyte watching me?" The woman raised an eyebrow.

"I've been around for several thousand years, kid. I know my non earthly races." She deadpanned. She paused for a moment, then said, "If she's family I might have ignored it. It's alright for your family to hear what I have to say." She frowned. "I still say she should have asked permission though." She shook herself and floated a little higher. "Never mind that. Like I said, this place is too open." She waved a hand lazily. A large polished black stone dropped into it. She gave it to Ben. "Just hold that in the air when you get home. It'll call me to you. I promise to explain what I can there." She started rise into the air. Ben jumped forward.

"Wait!" The woman paused and looked down at him. "Who are you?" She grinned.

"That would be telling." She raised a hand when Ben started to protest. "I'll tell you when you call me at your home. See you then!" She floated a little higher and vanished in a flash of light. Serena and Belicus floated over to Ben. Serena cleared her throat.

"She's got me curious." Ben nodded and held out the stone.

"What is this?" Belicus squinted at it.

"It's a special type of gem that's used for summoning whoever or whatever's connected to it. They work using whatever mana is around them." Serena giggled.

"They had a great vogue here on Earth for centuries. I think some places still use them. I suppose it will summon that woman since she made it." Ben nodded once.

"Right. I wanna find out what's going on. Let's go home." Belicus grunted.

"Seconded." He said lazily. Serena blinked owlishly at him.

Finally, she said, "Motion carried." All three of them were engulfed in green light and disappeared with a noise like rushing wind. Just before they vanished Ben heard Serena mutter, "Since when do you agree like that without arguing?" Belicus response was lost in the sound. Something Ben was grateful for.

AN: This is the first time I've managed to break my tradition of having a really short first chapter. If you recognize the woman, You'll be able to recognize the meaning behind the title of the story and the chapter. Unless you're an avid gamer however, most of you probably won't. The game she's from has a very small number of entries for it here, and I've only seen one picture of her on deviant art. I'll give her name next chapter along with exactly what she is.

Ahem: This is actually going to be a Ben & Kevin fic. It's the first time I've ever written anything like that, so bear with me. I'm not going to just drop them together out of nowhere.(I really hope no one does that.) I'm also writing my other story, Ties that bind as well, so things are going to go a little slow until I get the hang of writing two stories at once and get a feel for writing these characters. My friend is helping me with this one, so when I do post, it'll be properly edited. (She's the one who requested I write this. She's also responsible for the creation of Ties that bind. The woman is everywhere .) My profile contains news on upcoming chapters so you can always check there.

Ahem: Now on to the rest of the story. Set after Alien X's first appearance obviously, then it wings away. (Slightly.) I love when Ben gets really annoyed in the show, he gets downright acidic and silly at the same time. His little argument with them about the dinosaurs was one I had to add. I nearly fell out of my chair when I first saw it on the show. (You'd think they'd have given it up by now.) Serena and Belicus really struck me as either an old married couple, or two great friends that just like pushing each other's buttons. I especially liked Belicus. He behaves like we all want to at some level.

See you next chapter! Magicia

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