A/N: So, according to the official sources, Gwen saw Kevin between the original Ben 10 series and Ben 10 Alien Force. I've been looking up way too many young Gwen/Kevin pictures lately, and this is what came about. A clandestine romance between Gwen and Kevin in six between-episode interludes that can exist alongside official canon. The interludes pair up with the episodes Kevin 11, Lucky Girl, Framed, Tough Luck, Back with a Vengeance, the last interlude occurs between the two series. Enjoy.
Interludes
-The First Interlude-
No five star hotel, no day spa, no real shower, just another RV park. Gwen didn't want to feel resentful, even if it was all Ben's fault, but, well, it was all Ben's fault. Going to sleep angry would ruin her mood for tomorrow as well, so, unable to disregard her frustration, Gwen left to get some fresh air. It wasn't like Ben hadn't had a rough day too, he had made a friend who understood what it was like to have powers who then stabbed him in the back. That had to suck. Of course Ben had made that friend by being a rude overzealous prick who didn't care about anyone but himself. Conflicted, Gwen threw a rock into the irrigation ditch she'd come across.
"Stupid Ben. I'm never going to have any fun this summer, am I?" Gwen asked as she threw another rock.
"Poor princess, what'cha gonna do, go crying home to mommy?" he stepped out from the darkness into the pale light of the street lamps.
"Kevin?" Gwen scrambled to her feet.
"Aw you remembewed me, I'm touched," he switched from baby talk to an obvious snarl of disdain.
"You tried to kill my cousin only four hours ago, give it a rest already."
"Speaking of, where is dear Benji? I was thinking of knifing him in his sleep."
"Like I'd just come out and tell you."
"Why not, you seem pretty pissed with him yourself."
"He's family! You'd have to cut off my toes before I'd tell you anything."
"Okay," Kevin knocked Gwen to the ground. The switchblade flashed in the darkness. Kevin smirked. Gwen rolled to her hands and knees. A swift kick to his ankles knocked him to the ground. The knife was booted into the murky water before he could recover. "Bitch," he spat.
"Grow up!" Gwen shot back, then turned and started walking away. Stepping into some green gloop, Gwen nearly toppled over as her foot was suddenly stuck.
"Nobody walks away from me," Kevin snarled before Stinkfly's eyes disappeared into his normal face again.
"You still have Ben's powers," Gwen gasped.
"All ten," he bragged, strutting over like a peacock, "so what do you say now princess, tell me where Ben is and I'll let you and the old man live."
"I'd rather die," Gwen said darkly.
"That can be arranged," Kevin leaned over her. Gwen tried to shove him away, but the shove only carried to his ankles, he'd accidentally stepped into the adhesive goo he'd shot. "Damn it!"
"You're pathetic," Gwen said darkly.
"You're pathetic!" Kevin shot back weakly.
"What a perfectly pathetic couple we'd make," Gwen growled as she tried to wrestle her shoe from the gloop.
Kevin was motionless, not to mention turning red.
Gwen glanced up at him. Her green eyes caught the moonlight. Her confused lips making a perfect "o" shape. Turning even redder, Kevin pulled his foot out of the shoe altogether and took off running in the opposite direction.
"Okay, what was that?" Gwen asked in confusion.
-The Second Interlude-
Gwen let out a heavy sigh from the tree branch she was sitting on. Almost meditatively she stroked the cat mask in her hands. "Boo!" a face of bright yellow eyes and thin black lips suddenly appeared in Gwen's peripheral, making her fall into a bush. Kevin's silky black hair danced as he was nearly doubled over from laughing.
"Jerk!" Gwen grumbled, picking herself up, "What are you doing here?"
"Why do you think? I'm here to fight your stupid cousin," he zipped down the tree, and his skin lost its pale blue hue, taking on a muted red, and growing a couple new limbs, "although you and me could go a round if you've got some new skills. You should be more careful about letting your picture get taken," he held up the article on Lucky Girl.
Gwen sighed again, which made Kevin hesitate. "I had powers," she let the mask hang limp, giving herself a half-hug with her free hand.
"What happened?" Kevin's skin paled back to its normal shade.
"The power came from these magic charms, the Charms of Bezel, an evil magician named Hex dropped one, and I became Lucky Girl. The charms… they were too much power for one person to hold… they were too tempting to use. So I destroyed them."
"Well that's stupid."
"Was not! Power tends to go to people heads, Hex, Ben, you," Gwen added the last one smugly.
Kevin snarled, turning red again and throwing Gwen against a tree, wrapping a distorted hand around her throat. "How about growing up with a step-father who treats you like you should never have been born? How about getting kicked out of your own home by the mother you thought cared? " Gwen's eyes were wide with fear, but Kevin continued raving. "How about living on the streets, stealing food just to stay alive? Getting betrayed by people you called friends, and having them call you a freak? You think that doesn't go to someone's head?" Gwen's eyes softened then, and Kevin dropped her in a hurry, turning away, "Where's your stupid cousin? I wanna punch something."
Gwen stared, Kevin's shoulders trembled from his emotional outburst, fighting was his way of dealing with pain, and by the sounds of it he had a lot. "Ben will wipe the floor with you," but just because Gwen understood didn't mean she would let him take his pain out on her cousin.
"I have all his powers," Kevin snarled and turned back at her.
"You have a reflection of his powers, you're just his shadow."
"The powers don't go away, they just keep getting stronger, even if I can't beat him now I'll beat him eventually!"
"Your transformations are totally half-assed; if you're not strong enough to pull off a real transformation I'll never acknowledge you as strong enough to fight Ben."
"You'll never acknowledge me. I didn't realize I needed your permission to beat the crap out of someone," Kevin was smiling now, and returning to his normal appearance.
"Well, now you know," Gwen smiled back.
"Oh, and what's stopping me from just going and beating him up anyway?"
"Your pride, I've challenged you to prove you're strong enough, so prove it."
"You know, normally a street rat like me just takes whatever they want," Kevin called, as he backed away and into the woods.
"You don't want to fight that badly," Gwen said in an observational tone, crossing her arms.
Kevin turned away, stalking off into the woods. Once he was out of sight he pulled out the lock of fiery hair he'd stolen.
-The Third Interlude-
Gwen stared out at the water. Alright so she had to walk about a mile from where they were camped out to get there but now she was downstream from the golden gate bridge. Something had happened on top of that bridge, aside from Kevin getting a face full of government bazooka. It made Gwen's stomach churn from not knowing, she couldn't sleep.
It was a stupid idea, she wasn't even sure why she had thought to come all the way over here. "Kevin!" she yelled across the water. There was no way he'd wash ashore here, it's not like she had the luck charm anymore, although finding him really couldn't be considered good luck. "Kevin!" she yelled again.
This time she was answered by a deep groan, it didn't sound like Kevin, although maybe it sounded a little like Heatblast Kevin. Gwen followed the source of the sound, stepped around some bushes and gasped. Her voice caught in her throat, and for a moment it felt like her heart had stopped. It couldn't be Kevin, but no one else could possibly become an amalgamation of the aliens in the Omnitrix.
"Kevin?" Gwen asked softly, putting a hand to his red skinned chest. He groaned, at least he was still breathing, cold, but breathing. Then he roared to wakefulness, throwing her against the ground, and hovering over her. "Cool it will ya?" she snapped at him.
"Gwen?" his voice softened. Something in the way he said it, almost reverent, Gwen felt her cheeks starting to get warm. Then it dawned on Kevin what he currently looked like and he pulled away, crouching at the water's edge. "What are you doing here?"
"The RV is about a mile west of here," Gwen sat up, observing the boy turned monster.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"You can completely become Ben's aliens now, so I have to acknowledge you, and tell you where to find Ben, since you're always so raring to fight him."
"I could become his aliens, now I'm stuck like this," Kevin roared and smacked the water.
"So you don't want to fight Ben?" Gwen asked, crossing her arms sceptically.
"I'm gonna kill him," Kevin snarled, still not turning to look at Gwen.
"You won't," Gwen said easily, "but I acknowledge your right to try." Kevin didn't reply, so Gwen continued, "We're headed for the state border, as much as I don't really want to see you and Ben duke it out, it's gotta be better than twelve hours of windmills and grass." Gwen waited, watching his shoulders heaving up and down.
"Stop staring at me," Kevin growled quietly. "I'm a monster, a freak, I already know it, you don't have to make it worse."
"Sorry… I guess I'll go then," Gwen stood up, and then turned away, "if you're in the mood to fight Ben you know where we're going."
"Why'd you come out here?" Kevin's voice stopped her.
"I… I was worried about you I guess…" Gwen didn't look back, just waited, Kevin stayed silent. Eventually she would have to start walking back to the rust bucket… eventually.
-The Fourth Interlude-
Gwen traced the shape of Lucky Girl's mask. Last time she sat in a tree doing that Kevin had shown up and scared her. Now Kevin was out there somewhere, out in the stars a million miles away. Not that she cared or anything, she just… didn't like not knowing... or something.
"Kevin can take care of himself," she whispered to herself, while staring up at the heavens. He had the power he absorbed from the Omnitrix after all. A shooting star danced through the stratosphere. "I wish I knew that he was alright," Gwen said before letting out a deep sigh and dropping to the ground, turning back to camp before she heard a thump from behind her.
With widening eyes, Gwen picked up the small disk. On one side was scrawled:
Gwen
Watch it alone.
Kevin
It took a minute. Gwen was in shock at first; then she had to hunt down the button to turn it on. Kevin appeared as a hologram and Gwen felt strangely calmed from seeing the three-eyed glare.
"Gwen.
It seems I'm in space; although your piece of shit cousin probably told you that already. Some space rat set up this message for me. It's keyed onto your genes or something like that so it should reach you at some point…
I just wanted to say that I'm not asking your permission to beat up anyone I have to in order to get back to Earth.
Don't even tell me that it's a stupid reason to send you a space telegram, because I already know.
I'm not asking permission because it would be a waste of time and energy figuring out how to send you this and figuring out a way for you to send something back. Maybe I'm assuming too much… assuming that you want me to show up… but at least I make things like windmills more interesting. That said, I'm sure you can guess that the first thing I'm doing when I show up is trying to kill Ben some more.
Well... I guess that's it.
I'll see whenever I see you."
The hologram disappeared. Gwen wasn't sure what emotions were going where. Her wish had come true, she knew he was alright. That made her happy. Kevin was on his way back. Strangely enough that made her happy too. He still wanted to kill Ben. That was annoying. There was something else too though. It felt too short. Somehow it felt like Kevin had missed saying something important.
Holding the holo-projector to her chest, Gwen smiled and thought over every word. "Wait… how did he get my DNA in space?"
-The Fifth Interlude-
"I'll see you whenever I see you."
The hologram disappeared for the umpteenth time that night. "Idiot!" Gwen groaned into the darkness, although she wasn't sure if she meant Kevin or herself. Kevin was stupid enough to team up with Vilgax; stupid enough to get trapped in the null void; stupid enough to try and kill Ben rather than escaping with them.
Gwen rubbed the bruises on her ribs and shoulders. Kevin wasn't exactly skilful at having a delicate touch. Of course, in the heat of battle he really wouldn't be thinking about that sort of thing. "And why am I defending him?" Gwen yelled, "Stupid, stupid, stupid!"
Glaring at the hologram disk she let her frustration out. "You're an idiot! It was your stupid obsession with hurting Ben that got you into this whole mess. You could have been friends! You could have come with us! Ben offered that didn't he? You could have at least said something to me rather than focussing all your attention on a damn grudge!"
With a sigh Gwen curled up her knees. She could've said something. She could've reached out rather than pretending she didn't know any more than her cousin or Grandfather. She could have told Grandpa Max or Ben about the times she saw him, or about the hologram disk. It might've turned out differently if she had. He might not have been lost forever.
Gwen lifted the disk to eye level, and hit the switch.
"Gwen…"
-The Final Interlude-
Gwen hummed as she left class, her first day at the prestigious Bancroft Academy. Thankfully her extraordinary grades had overcome the horrible impression Ben had made two summers earlier. All the students were gathered by the gate, whispering. Gwen drifted over just to know what had them all so unnerved, and there he was, leaning against a tree just outside. He was just as pale as the first day they'd met, he might have been a bit taller, but she had gotten taller too. No wonder her classmates were afraid to step past the Bancroft gate, Kevin looked so out of place in a high class neighbourhood. Plus looked like he was ready to kill someone, but that was normal. Gwen strode right out through the crowd of her peers and put a hand on her hip, "I'm not going to tell you where Ben is if that's why you're here."
"If I could track you down to this prep-shit school I think I could find you dumb cousin without help!"
"Well for all I know you tracked me with that stupid space-mail you sent."
"Yeah, I'm sure you carry it around," Kevin rolled his eyes.
Gwen blushed, and then snapped, "How did you even get my DNA anyway?"
Now Kevin blushed. "I'm not here to fight Ben, okay?" he responded severely. "Sure I'll beat him senseless if I ever see him again, but I'm not about to go looking for him."
"Then why are you here?"
"I need you to do something with me," Kevin grabbed her arm and started pulling her away.
"What are you doing? Let me go or I'll…"
"You'll what?" Kevin asked, "Scream? Those stupid rich kids won't come to your rescue."
"I can fight you off myself! I'm not as helpless as I was the last time we met."
"Last time you shot me and left me to rot in the null void, got something better than a gun?"
"Yes," Gwen clenched her free hand into a fist, gathering magic.
"I'm not here to hurt you, alright?" Kevin's grip loosened, his hand sliding down her arm and wrapping around her hand instead. Her hand was warm in his, but she had become uncharacteristically silent so he glanced back. Planning nearly went out the window when he saw her sweet pink flush and her eyes transfixed on his hand around hers. In that moment all he wanted to do was wrap his arms around her, hold her close so that every part of her was touching him. He turned away with his cheeks probably turning red too based on the temperature. There was a plan. He was sticking to the plan. Plans were good. Plans meant he wouldn't get carried away and lose control. Calm was important, and his calm returned as they arrived at the nearby river.
"What now?" Gwen asked as he stopped. She tried to ignore the pang of loss as he pulled his hand away, and the millions of more intrusive questions that raced through her brain.
"I'm getting rid of this," Kevin untied the lock he wore around his neck, and held it out towards Gwen for a moment.
"Why?"
Kevin wanted to snap, it would save him from explaining, but at the sight of his glare she crossed her arms with determination. Knowing she wouldn't take no for an answer made it easier, although he had to turn away to say it. "It's sorta symbolic… It's the first thing I stole, back when I thought that lying cheating and stealing made me strong." Kevin hocked it fiercely down river, revealing for a brief moment the muscles that hard labour had built in him.
"Kevin?" Gwen said softly, managing to get him turned around, "Why did you need me? Couldn't you have thrown it away on your own?"
"I needed a witness," Kevin said, it wasn't a lie, per se, he did want a witness, but having Gwen standing there also made him want to get rid of it more.
"You're turning over a new leaf then?"
"I'm not strong enough for that," Kevin held back his sigh, "Stealing is fun, cheating is easy, lying is useful, actually they're all useful, but relying on them makes me weak."
"Oh," Gwen shuffled back and forth. She looked too cute in that uniform. It made it too obvious that she was so completely out of his league. The plan was to ask, but he was too afraid of the answer to forfeit his chance by asking. He'd never ever thought of girls like that before a slip of the tongue in a moment of shared frustration. Green eyes still sparkled under fiery hair. Lips still held that perfect 'o' shape.
"Gwen," Kevin whispered, and he stole, at least this once more. As she lifted her head his lips caught hers and she froze in shock. Her lips were silkier than he'd imagined. Peach lip balm. He couldn't quite bring his hand to caress her cheek or convince his arm to wrap around her waist. She wasn't pulling away though. Kevin was loathe to pull away, but every moment he lingered was a moment closer to retaliation. If they started arguing now he'd probably end up doing something stupid. He pulled his lips away and turned from her at the same time, he didn't want to know what expression she would wear when she came back to her senses. He imagined it would be revulsion.
Gwen wasn't sure she was breathing. Kevin had kissed her. Now he stood there, with his shoulders shaking. That was what she had been waiting for wasn't it. Even if she had been waiting for the words, the action meant the same thing; longing. Now she was at a loss for words, until she saw the shift in Kevin's stance signalling that he was about to run.
"Wait!" Gwen grasped at his shirt, forcing him to trip and pulling herself down with him. "Where… where will you go?" she asked, while he was pinned beneath her.
"I don't know…" he tried not to sound too happy but he could feel her warmth against his back, and the subtle hints of her body maturing.
"If you have nowhere to go…"
"I was…" if he said it to her he definitely would, "I was thinking of going to see my mom, haven't seen her in a while."
"I… I still worry about you sometimes…" Gwen was nuzzling, actually nuzzling his back.
"Don't worry, I'm going to get a lot stronger from here on out."
Gwen smiled, remembering what he'd thrown away as weakness, "I'll be waiting then," she pulled herself off of him.
He tried to ignore the pang off loss as her weight disappeared, as her footsteps tapped the pavement when she ran. It took all of his strength just to keep him on the ground, so much strength in fact he had absorbed the pavement beneath him on instinct. He would have to get stronger than that. Gwen deserved someone strong.