"Ben, hold on, we're almost there-!" Gwen said frantically. It sounded as though it was coming through a tunnel. "Kevin, drive faster!"

Cold. Ben was cold; bone chillingly, mind numbingly cold. A splitting pain drove up his chest as he drew in a shuttering breath. He held it in, not wanting to jostle his wounds. Waves of pain crashed upon him, but he tried desperately not to let go of reality. But it was too great. He was overcome, pushed into darkness.

This wasn't the first alien they'd run across with a gun—but this gun was more of a blaster. Huge in diameter with a power beam to match. Ben watched as it blew a hole in the side of his car. He muttered a cuss. Then, the alien directed it at an unconscious Julie.

"It's going to be alright." Julie breathed, stroking Ben's hair as he came to. He could feel that his head was on her lap, but he could no longer figure out where he himself was. He couldn't make sense of his surroundings. "We need to get to Max's fast."

"See if you can stop the bleeding," Kevin ordered. Then he turned to Gwen and, in a quieter voice, asked, "Even when we get there are you sure there's anything Grandpa can do?"

"There has to be something. Has to be." The last part sounded a little unconfident, despite Gwen's usual positive demeanor.

Driving, Ben thought. We must be in a car. A bump caused him to lose his breath and he cried out in pain. Julie took his hand with hers and, with the other, began to put pressure on the wound. Ben screamed again, electric flashes sparking in his vision. Inky black flooded his vision as he slipped out of the world's grasp.

Ben transformed into Humongousaur—the first alien to be displayed— and leapt in front of Julie. The beam hit with bone crushing force, and felt like an explosion. He didn't expect this much pain, even through Humongousaur's thick skin. The Ultamatrix gave out as Ben collapsed. The world span as he was sucked down into himself.

Reality hit Ben hard again. Throbbing, burning, freezing, bleeding. Spinningmovingfalling. Nausea crashed into him with such a strong force that he immediately began to dry-heave. He fought for air in between spasms.

"How much longer?" Julie demanded.

"I'm driving as fast as I can!" Kevin replied, irritated.

"About five minutes," Gwen replied for him.

Everything began to grow blurry. The pain ripped at him, a tiger that had leapt onto his chest and began to tear away his resolve. He felt his body begin to shake as he drifted away, off to another place...

"Gwen, he's losing too much blood, he's gonna…"

Julie stared in horror. "He's gonna bleed out! Ben!" She loosed his hand from hers and made a move to shake him, but Gwen stopped her.

"Don't. His wounds are bad enough. I don't think there's anything we could do to get him back with the state he's in." She bit her lip, a nervous habit.

Julie stared at her with fear-filled eyes. Then, Ben's breathing pattern unhitched. She looked down at him, his face construed with pain as his body was racked with more spasms. It was so horrible, seeing the Ben she had grown to love, a strong, selfless man, to be inflicted with such hurt. Curled up in the back seat of Kevin's car and shaking with pain, he seemed so vulnerable and young. He gasped for air, as though he wasn't getting nearly enough. Just when Julie thought she might break, Kevin spoke up.

"Look, Ben's got a lot of heart. He'll pull through this, because he knows if he doesn't, he's gonna get pounded."

Though it made little sense, the comment made Julie's fears retreat for a moment. She stared out of the window, hoping for a sign that they were close to their destination.

"Turn here," Gwen directed. Then she turned back to Ben. "We're going to have to get him in the trailer without moving him too much." She winced involuntarily as he moaned.

"You could make a board with your manna," Julie suggested.

"Yeah. Kevin will have to help get him onto it."

Kevin neither agreed nor declined. He kept his eyes straight ahead, looking determined.

Just then the car came to a stop outside of an old looking trailer. "The Rust Bucket," muttered Gwen.

Kevin jumped out of the car and slinked around to open Gwen's door and then Ben's. Julia stayed in the car, Ben's head still on her lap. Gwen and Kevin began to pull Ben out of the car, ever so gently.

"What's going on out here? A surprise visit for your favorite grandpa—oh, no!"

Gwen didn't even turn around to greet her grandfather. "Ben was hit with an alien blaster. It got him square in the chest." She then created a flat surface with her manna, which Kevin placed Ben on. "What can you do?"

Just then, Ben's eyes slid open.

He was pulled back—again. Ben didn't want to be in this world where he hurt. Lord knew he was in pain, but for the life of him he couldn't remember what to do about it. He searched his surroundings with his eyes, things registering a second after he saw them—Julie, Kevin, Gwen, all of their faces laced with worry. And another face, one that he recognized as—

"Grandpa. . . Why—"Suddenly he was overcome by a fit of coughs. Blood sprayed onto his lips, which he found strange. He'd never bled from the mouth! What a novelty. When they subsided, he found it harder to grasp for air then before. His lungs were too tired to drag it in.

"Don't speak, save your energy. Everything is going to be okay, Ben," his grandfather chided in a wise manner. Ben began to nod but stopped when electric flashes of light began to flash behind his eyes. A wave of pain caught him up and it was all he could do to not scream. The tiger was back, perched on his chest, its claws digging into his skin, its weight preventing him from breathing. More words came and went, but he didn't understand a single one. He squeezed his eyes tightly shut, but even when he opened them he couldn't see anything. It wasn't all black, just too blurry to make sense of.

He felt like he was floating, into another environment. One that was brighter. Then another wave of pain took him and set him on fire, he was burning, that he was sure of. He cried out until it was all gone—everything.

"He's unconscious," Gwen stated.

"We have to get what's left of his shirt off. The wound's infected, probably because of all the dirt and debris on it," Max replied.

Julie looked up from where she sat on a little padded bench in the trailer, feeling useless. "An infection? Already?"

Max didn't bat an eye. "Alien technology. It probably speeds up the infection rate, if not causes it all together."

Hot tears were forming in Julie's eyes. Seeing Ben like this—she couldn't stand it. And to think, it was all of her fault. Had she not come along on the mission, he wouldn't be in this position. All she ever did was put other people in danger like that. A tear streaked down her face, and she would have flicked it away had her hand not been covered in Ben's blood. Ben's blood.

"I know what you're thinking." It was Kevin. "You think it's your fault he's—"Kevin hesitated, unsure if he wanted to say what they were all thinking—" like this," he decided. "Well it isn't. Even if you hadn't been there, one of us would have been the target, and Ben would have done the same thing. That's just Ben. He wouldn't undo it if he could."

Julie nodded. That made sense. Still, she could stand thinking that all of this was to protect her. She pulled her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. She didn't look at Kevin, seated across from her, or Gwen and Max, working hard to save Ben's life. She stared straight out the window, wishing she could run straight to the woods outside. But she wouldn't, Ben needed her. She owed him that. And, though she didn't admit it often, she needed him.

"Julie, look in that first aid kit and get me a syringe and a vial of morphine," Max said, rather urgently, referring to the kit on the table in front of her. She nodded, pulled the needed supplies out, and then handed it to him. "Thank you," he replied. "This is all I can do here; we'll have to get him to a more acclaimed Plumber hospital. We need to do it fast, too; he still stands a risk of bleeding out. But for now we've killed the pain and stopped some of the bleeding." Sure enough, Ben could have been sleeping if Julie didn't know better. Gwen and Max had dressed the wound on his chest, and there was a cut on his temple that she was just now noticing, and his skin was sallow and clammy, but other than that he looked good as new.

Oh, who was she kidding? Stop trying to fool yourself, she thought.

"Where's the nearest one?" Kevin asked, eagerly. "I'll drive him."

"The nearest one is about 20 minutes into town, but he needs to stay lying down. It'd probably be best if we took him in the Rust Bucket," Max replied. Kevin, who seemed rather put down, nodded. "But you can drive," Max added, and Kevin perked up considerably.

"Gwen, take him back to the bunk beds. I'll call into the hospital and tell them we're coming," Max said, pulling out his Plumber badge.

Gwen nodded and floated the manna gurney into the back area where the beds were. Julie followed and helped Gwen situate Ben in the bottom bunk, careful of his injuries. Gwen climbed up onto the top bunk and lay down, while Julie found herself sitting Indian-style on the floor. She took Ben's cold, clammy hand, and held tight to it. I won't let you go. I can't let you go. She studied his face, pale and placid. Like someone had sucked all the life that had once illuminated it out. There was no expression—no pain, no joy, no happiness, no indicator that he was still in there. That was beyond terrifying. Tears sprung from her eyes as she realized that he could die. It had been an idea before, wandering around in her mind, floating in and out of her ears when others said it, but it had finally sunk in. She placed a hand on his forehead. Cool, sweaty. She lifted the sheets to search for a sign of the infection, but instead she saw bled through bandages. "Gwen, Ben needs to be…" she paused. How did she phrase that? "For lack of a better sentence, Ben needs to be changed."

Gwen climbed down the bunks and retrieved the medical kit. She flipped it open and grabbed the gauze and cotton, then went to work on Ben's wound. Julie was amazed at her accuracy and speed. But then again, it wasn't her first time.

It was silent until Gwen spoke up. "Ben and I grew up on this old thing. Well, at least we bonded here. I used to think he was just a stupid goofball. He still is, but…" Gwen trailed off, looking at her cousin. Tears ran down her cheeks, a subtle reminder that Ben belonged to others, too. Julie was caught off guard.

Gwen laughed, but it was small and halfhearted. "I'm sorry," she said, wiping at the tears. "It's just. . ." Gwen looked up at Julie, her face serious but soft. "He loves you. I can tell, the way he looks at you."

Julie kind of felt like throwing up. She looked at the boy—no, he was a man now—she loved. He loved her too! What splendid news! But he was . . . she couldn't stand the thought. But there it was, in her head. He was dying. The man she wanted to spend the rest of her life with was dying.

Julie shook her head. "I love him too. I want him to know. . ." She was at a loss for words. Her eyes studied Ben's profile. She couldn't say it, so she mouthed it. I love you. I love you.

Gwen finished up with the wrapping. "I'll be right back," she said, but Julie knew it was more to give her privacy than to put the med kit up.

Julie looked at her and nodded, then smiled, a small thanks. Once she was alone, Julie turned to Ben. Everything hit her like a wave. Her shoulders slumped forwards, relaxing into the sobs. She took Ben's hand again, which she had let go of while Gwen dressed his wound, and kissed his fingers. She cried silently, whispering "I love you" at intervals. She thought that maybe if she said it enough, he would wake up and tell her that this was just a trick to make her say it. Maybe this was a silly dream.

But she knew deep down that it wasn't. This was the real deal; Ben was seriously injured, dying. "I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry. This is my entire fault; I should be where you are. I'm so, so sorry."

A hand landed on her shoulder. She turned her head, a tad embarrassed, to see Max. "They've arranged an escort so we can get there faster. Everything will be okay." Julie nodded and began to stand. "No, you can stay back here, don't worry," he said, giving her a kind smile that made her heart melt.

"Thank you," she whispered her voice a little hoarse. Max smiled again and walked back towards the front.

Julie leaned her head against the bunk bed and was soon fast asleep.

The Tiger was in a cage, strung up high above Ben. Its glinting green eyes studied him, memorizing its prey before it went in for the kill. Even though the Tiger was at bay, Ben could still feel the pain of its last inflictions. He lay in the dark, the only visible thing was the Tiger. Suddenly, the cage dropped a staggering amount, stopping about three feet above Ben.

"What?" he whimpered.

"That which is holding me back is growing thin. I will be back and stronger than ever soon," the Tiger purred. Its voice was silky smooth, terrifying and relaxing at the same time. Ben could feel heat radiating from the cage, pure and evil and monstrous. It made his chest tighten.

I have to do something, he thought. He attempted to kick the cage, only to find that he was immobilized. He tried to free himself from his bonds, but he was stuck, his struggles only making him feel exhausted. He panted, trying to get oxygen to his lungs. He felt numb in his fingers and toes. The feeling began to creep up his feet, his hands, higher and higher . . .

The cage dropped the remaining distance, crushing Ben in the fall.

Ben's screaming woke Julie up. No, it wasn't screaming, it was worse. Some kind of strangled cry of suffering. Gwen was rushing back to the bunks, a frightened look on her face.

"I thought you gave him morphine!" Julie said angrily. Why was he still in pain?

"We did. It must have worn off." She knelt down next to Julie as Ben started convulsing, his body writhing involuntarily.

"Well give him some more!"

"We can't, we've already used too much and it's addictive. We're almost to the hospital," she said. "Hold him still."

Julie held on to Ben's shoulders, securing him to some degree. His skin was cold to the touch.

Gwen pulled back the blanket to inspect the bandages, which were bled through. "I'll be right back."

She returned and began to unwrap Ben's bandages. What lay underneath caught her and Julie off guard.

"Oh, my God…"

The wound was awful. The infection had taken over, festering the it beyond belief. A yellow tinge ringed the outside of the wound, white specks in the blood. Some kind of sickly green scab had begun to form. Around the wound the skin was dry and swollen and red.

"Grandpa!" Gwen called, anxious.

Ben gasped for air between clenched teeth, and for a second Julie wondered if his molars would split. A sudden hitch in his breath alerted what came next; a fit of coughs overtook him, blood spraying from between his lips.

"What is—" Max stopped, clearly awestruck. He then looked towards the fro

nt of the RV through the window. "We're coming up on the hospital, we're going to have to let the doctors take care of it."

"I'm so sorry. It's all my fault, I should have stayed awake. If I had I would have noticed that—"

"No," Max said, cutting Julie off. "You wouldn't have known. None of us would have. There's no way to. Don't blame yourself."

Julie bit the inside of her cheek to prevent from crying. She closed her eyes and said a little prayer.

The RV came to a stop a moment later. Kevin hurried from the front seat to the back and gently picked up the writhing Ben and carried him out the side door. Julie followed, with Gwen and Max in hot pursuit.

By the time they made it outside, Ben was strapped on a gurney and being rushed inside. The group followed but was stopped at the door. "I'm afraid you're going to have to go around," the guard said, pointing to a sign reading "Emergency Entrance Only".

"This is an emergency, that's my cousin!" Gwen shouted at the man.

"I'm sorry ma'am," the guard said, "But rules are rules. The front entrance is—"

Kevin punched the man. "I don't like rules."

The four hurried inside, spotting the gurney with Ben being carted into what looked like an operating room. As they hurried that way, a doctor stopped them. "Who let you in?"

"The guard," Gwen said, agitated. "Now if you'd excuse us—"

"No, I'm afraid I can't. This is the emergency ward. No visitors. Nurses, doctors, and hospital staff only. Allow me to escort you to the waiting room."

"Doctor," Max spoke up, "My name is Max Tennyson. And that is my grandson, Ben Tennyson. We're not going anywhere until we know his condition."

The doctor blinked, stunned for a second. "I didn't—I'll talk to his doctor immediately. In the meantime, if you would wait in the waiting room—"

"I don't think you understood me, we will not leave until we know his condition."

"Well we don't know it yet."

"We can wait."

"Let's just go to the waiting room," Julie said quietly. She didn't like this part of the hospital, so sterile and serious. It scared her. "Please," she added.

Everyone looked at her, as if they'd forgotten she was there. There was a long pause before Gwen spoke up. "Okay," She said. "Lead the way, doctor."

"Can you hear me? If you can, blink once."

Ben blinked. A bright light was shone into his eyes, and suddenly he was brought to his senses.

"His pupils are blown. Heart rate is 157 bpm." The pain reentered his chest, but he didn't have the energy to do anything about it. He was absolutely spent. He couldn't even keep his eyes open, and dragging in a breath was getting harder and harder…

"He's hypotensive. Kid, stay with us," a detached voice said. Ben wanted to respond, but his mind couldn't string together words, much less spit them out.

"He's entering hypovolemic shock. We need a blood transfusion, stat! Come on, kid…"

But Ben was sucked away.

The wait was agonizing. Terrifying. All the most horrible emotions a person could imagine rolled into one and multiplied by one million. And the fact that the doctor had left without a single word to make them feel better made them feel even more hopeless. And everyone was feeling the blame.

Kevin, for calling Ben for back-up, Gwen for telling Ben to put the stupid watch back on in the first place, Grandpa, for not reaching it first, and Julie, for being so downright helpless.

So when the doctor came in, all were glad for a distraction, but nervous for the news. "What's happened?" Max asked.

"I'll get to that in a moment. First I would like to formally introduce myself, I'm Dr. Carltyn. I'll be Ben's overseeing doctor."

"Yeah, yeah," Kevin mocked. "We don't care. How's Ben?"

The doctor looked out the window for a moment, staring at the sky that was beginning to darken. Dusk had fallen. Then he sat down in a waiting room chair and positioned his elbows on his knees, lacing his fingers together.

"When you brought Ben in, he'd lost so much blood that his heart could no longer pump enough to his body. He'd also evidently been hit by a ray gun of some kind that sped up the infection rate, which affected how his system responded to the traumatic bleeding. Instead of stopping it, it was trying to bleed it out. He's gone into hypovolemic shock, and it's very serious. He's undergone cardiac arrest and respiratory failure so he's been moved to the ICU. We've managed ease him out of the shock, but he's still on life support. We've done as much as we can."

"Is there a chance he'll… survive?" asked Kevin.

"Yes, but it's… it's slim."

Gwen immediately took to the offensive. "But there must be more you can do! You're a hospital with alien technology for crying out loud! If we wanted to hear that Ben is going to d—"she stopped, choking on the words. Tears rolled down her cheeks. "There must be more you can do."

"I'm sorry, ma'am, but we're out of options. We've just got to wait it out."

"Can we see him?" Julie asked, her face stony cold.

Dr. Carltyn nodded. "One at a time."

Kevin had moved to comfort Gwen, and Max was on the phone. He glanced up momentarily, his face saying "you go first".

So Julie followed the doctor to the ICU, which to her surprise was rather empty. There were only three rooms filled, but she didn't intrude on the privacy of the first two. The third was Ben. In it, a nurse was checking the EKG and setting some other electric thing that Julie couldn't identify.

"Could you give them some privacy?" Dr. Carltyn said to the nurse. She looked a little peeved but left anyway. The doctor followed, shutting the door behind him.

Julie pulled a chair up next to the bed. Ben's eyes were shut, and there was a tube down his throat, another down his nose. An IV stood next to the bed, a bag of blood, a bag of saline, and two others. He had on one of those horrible hospital gowns, his dark hair sticking to his still-sweaty-forehead. She reached out for his hand, but there were needles in one and some kind of monitor thing on the other. She didn't want to be there, because Ben sure wasn't. The air in his lungs wasn't taken in by him, and the beat of his heart was equally as fake. This shell of him scared her, she wanted to run. When would he come back? She wanted to be there when he awoke, but not have to see him like this. God, this was all her fault! Why did she have to be so in the way? So persistent? So stupid?

Julie didn't want to see the shell of Ben. So she got up and left.

They all slept in the waiting room. Julie called her parents to tell them she wouldn't be home for a month, not giving them an explanation. She couldn't think of a good enough excuse, so she didn't bother.

The first night she thought about all the ways things could have gone, how she could be the one dead, or maybe Kevin or Gwen. How all of this could have never happened.

The second night she thought of all the things she'd been cheated of. Going on vacation with Ben, buying a house with Ben, marrying Ben, having kids with Ben.

The third night she thought of all the good times she'd had with him. Their first date, which had been a disaster. Their first kiss. Their fights. All of it, playing back in her head.

The fourth night she cried.

This went on for 11 days. Max called Ben's parents, who came out on the first day but had to leave for some kind of meeting being held to discuss arrangements. They called daily. Kevin sat with Gwen, Max was almost always in Ben's room, and when he wasn't Gwen was. Kevin would go in occasionally, and would always come back with red eyes. Julie couldn't go in there. She knew it was horrible. It was wrong on so many levels. But she couldn't see Ben so… broken. Everyday they'd hear the same thing from the doctor. "We've done all we can, we just have to wait" and they'd hear how it's a miracle that he's still alive. Gwen would come talk to Julie, and Julie would play her role in the conversation, but her heart wasn't in it. Her heart was dying in the ICU.

On the twelfth day, Julie went into Ben's room. It was on a passing whim. She sat in the chair positioned by the bed and stared at her soul mate. The tubes were still intact, but the IV only had two bags on it now, neither of the contents she knew of. She listened to the rhythm of the EKG, a steady beep-beep-beep.

"I bet this is hard for you, Julie," a wise voice rang out.

Startled, Julie looked up. "Paradox!" she exclaimed.

"I foresaw this, as well as your reaction." His words were factual, void of emotion.

She looked at him with pleading eyes. "Make time go back, please. Make it me instead of him."

Paradox shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't, Julie. Too much… controversy over the matter."

"But it's not like it would be the first time you did it!"

"Yes, I know, my dear, but this one you will just have to tough out." Paradox walked to the other side of the bed and knelt down next to Ben. "My, the got him good."

"And it's all my fault. I shouldn't have been there; I should have minded my own business," Julie wailed.

"Oh, no! Don't think such a thing! Ben would feel horrible to know you felt guilty."

"Tell me if he lives," she begged. "Please, just tell me."

"Shh," he put a finger over his lips. "No spoilers," he sang, and with that, he was gone.

Julie found herself more uncertain than before. She reached out for Ben's hand and took it this time, regardless of the needles. She pressed her forehead to his fingers and cried. "Ben, I'm so sorry. . . So, so sorry…"

His fingers moved. No, no, I'm imagining things. But there it was again, the slightest pressure. Julie looked up to see Ben's eyelids moving, ever so slightly, and then opening. Julie jumped up and pressed the nurse call button, though keeping a firm hold on Ben's hand. Tears streamed down her face, and he smiled as much as the tube would allow.

The grumpy nurse from the first night walked in, her hips swaying like she thought this was a fraud. But when her eyes landed on Ben, she raced out of the room. No more than three seconds later, at least half the staff had raced in, checking monitors and levels and charts. They shooed Julie out of the room, who ran down the hall to the waiting room to tell her friends.

"Ben is awake!" She cried, smiling for the first time in what felt like years. They all leapt up from their seats and hurried into the hall outside of Ben's door. They waited there for what felt like ages until the doctor came out, not surprised to see them. People filed out after him.

"Good news or bad news?" he questioned.

"Bad news," Julie said, feeling more animated than she had in weeks.

"He's suffered brain damage. Not enough to leave him handicapped, but it will take time for him to get back in the swing of things. If he doesn't remember who you are, don't worry, it'll come back. Just no saving the world for a while."

The group let out a nervous laugh.

"Good news is that he's stable and will need about a month of physical therapy before going home. Or at least that's the projected time." Everyone nodded. "Alright, you can go see him now."

The group raced forward, everyone crowding into the room. Ben smiled at the site of them. There was a long pause, where everyone was suddenly unsure of what to do. But Julie knew. She hurried forward to him and gently gave him a hug, then pulled back and looked him dead in the eyes.

"I love you." She didn't expect an answer. If he had brain damage, he probably would remember her. But it felt good to say it.

Ben struggled for a minute, like he was trying to get his mind working. But then, he said something that surprised them all.

"I love you, too."

AN: I know, I know, I'm a total failure at one shots since I'm writing an epilogue. But I feel that the whole thing is a little unresolved, so I have to wrap it up. OKAY ON TO THE EPILOGUE.

It took two days to remember everyone's name. Three days to remember how to read and write. Five days to get out of bed and a week walk around the ward. Eight days to get rid of the slur accompanying the brain damage. Nine days to remember what happened to hospitalize him. On the eleventh day he was dangerously close to relapsing, but on the twelfth he showed everyone how strong he was. On the fifteenth day he began to grow antsy, wanting out of the hospital as soon as possible. On the seventeenth day he used the Ultamatrix to sneak out (and ended up getting caught), and on the twentieth day he started to work out again, against doctor's orders. On the twenty-second day Ben's wish came true; he was released.

"There's no point in keeping him here anymore," the doctor had said confidently. "But get some rest."

Ben, Julie, Gwen, and Kevin all agreed it was good to be home. Julie's parents went crazy on her, and she was grounded for a month. Ben would come over nightly though—although Julie's parents didn't know. All they did was talked. Julie never realized how important talking to him was, not until it had almost been taken away.

But now, he sat on her window sill, talking animatedly about the new Sumo Slammers movie, as if nothing ever happened. And maybe to him, nothing did.

But Julie would never be able to forget the hell she went through when she almost lost him. She didn't dwell, though. It wasn't something she liked to revisit. Instead she watched him, as he displayed action scenes with his hands and made weird sound affects with his mouth.

And she promised not to ever let go of him again.