I don't own Ben 10.

Ben was regretting going shopping. Sure, he got some new clothes that looked nice but his mom and Gwen kept buying more and more stuff. He didn't want to say anything to Gwen but if she knew his family's financial situation she wouldn't be asking for more clothes. He had to say no at least ten times when his mom tried to buy him a second pair of shoes. He was wearing a pair of Uncle Frank's when he walked into the ma but now had some new Nike sneakers on.

The whole, 'we can only afford to eat once in a while' thing was getting to Ben as his mom was spending so much money. Finally he asked her about it when Gwen went to the bathroom, "Mom, we really shouldn't buy anything else. We are tight on money right now," she shot him an angry look.

He stopped talking and she turned around, "Ooh a jewelry store, we haven't been in there yet. Here, hold my bags for me," she handed Ben ten bags and walked into the store.

Meanwhile, Gwen walked out of the bathroom and over to her cousin who was wobbling under the pressure of so many bags. "Where'd your mom go Doofus?" He motioned with his head the store she went into and they started hearing yelling from inside.

"What do you mean it's not working?" Sandra shouted at the woman at the register. "It worked fine at the last store I was at."

The ten year olds ran into the store and saw Sandra yelling at the scared girl. Behind the counter the manager stepped out and tried escorting Sandra away, "Don't touch me, get away from me!" she screamed and pushed the man away. "I don't want your stinking necklace anyway." She threw it at the manager who luckily caught it and then she stormed off.

"Time to go kids," Sandra stated angrily and walked right past them towards the door.

Later on, Ben and Gwen were hanging out in her room while Sandra took a nap. They had to make sure they were quiet as they walked downstairs and left for Ben's. Their other parents would be home soon and they wanted to check out the remains of Ben's house first.

The front door was burned off to ashes since it was opened inward during the fire. The two of them walked in the opening and looked around Ben's living room. Nothing looked salvageable. The couch was gone, there was shattered glass on the floor from the windows and lamps Carl had just bought to replace the old ones. Gwen walked into the kitchen but it looked the same as the living room, everything was burned to a crisp.

The stovetop looked fine except covered in ash, but what Gwen found surprising was that the flames had been able to destroy the sink, fridge, freezer, the oven had exploded. She heard creaking and saw Ben carefully checking each step as he climbed the stairs. One of the steps cracked and his foot went through it but he pulled it back out and fortunately didn't rip his new pants.

Gwen followed him upstairs and they first checked out his parents' bedroom. In fact, it looked almost unscathed, well compared to the rest of the house. The bed looked fine although one of the blankets had caught fire before they were able to put it out. Ben opened the unburnt dresser and saw a bunch of clean, folded clothes inside.

After checking the closet and seeing that nothing inside had made it, the two of them continued in silence over to Ben's room. A quick glance in the bathroom showed that the toilet had fallen through the floor after it burned enough. The wood floor was feeling very unsturdy now and they were careful where they stepped.

The frame around Ben's door and the door itself were missing, vaporized in the inferno. He stepped inside his room and saw that it wasn't even recognizable. All the furniture had burned completely, nothing remained. His windows were still shattered and he walked carefully across the floor to where his bed used to be. He had a wooden frame but there were some metal springs and he felt them underneath his shoe amongst the ash piles.

They stayed quiet for a while just standing there. Finally Ben spoke, "How did it all burn?" Gwen looked at him sadly. "I mean, there's nothing left, no pictures, no toys, no clothes, No Anything!" He shouted, getting angrier with each word.

"You've still got your Jeter card," she whispered, trying to assure him not all was lost.

"This thing," he reached into his pocket. He changed pants but he wasn't letting the card away from him for a second. He gazed upon it for a few seconds and then growled, "Nevermind, it doesn't matter," he pocketed it angrily. "I didn't need any of those things anyway.

Something caught his eye for a second and the glint made a grin flash across his face. "What is it? What did you find?" Gwen asked excitedly. Ben walked over to a pile of ashes that was his dresser. It had his trophies on it and was surprised when he first walked in that they didn't survive. He pushed the dust aside and reached in, but the metal was all melted. Most of the trophies were made of plastic and the ones he had that were actually metal, looked all deformed and broken.

Why the fuck did this happen to me?! He stood up fast and punched the wall next to him, his fist flew straight through it. Wood splintered outwards as his hand entered the wall. He was surprised and pulled his hand out with blood all over it but the physical pain wasn't bothering him that much. A cool breeze blew into his room and he realized that it wasn't his room anymore. Nothing that made it his was still there.

"Let's get out of," the floor made a loud cracking sound and Ben stopped walking. He was in the center of the room and Gwen was in the doorway but their eyes linked and they both mouthed the same words, 'uh oh.' The floor beneath the boy cracked and started falling to the living room below, "Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh," he opened his eyes and saw he was in a blue bubble. "Oh, thanks Gwen, ahhhhhh" the bubble disappeared and Ben fell down the hole into his living room. He fell on a pile of wood and shouted, "Ouch!"

Gwen ran down the stairs, jumping over the broken one to get to Ben quicker. "Are you alright?" She asked, helping him on his feet.

"What was that for?" He questioned as he rubbed his butt.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, "I don't know what happened, I used my magic and could barely focus. It gave me this massive headache that is still hurting."

"I know what it is," Ben started and Gwen looked at him oddly. "It's a side effect from that spell you used yesterday. It might be a while before you can use spells at a hundred percent again." She frowned but didn't argue, knowing he was right.

They left the house and got in about the same time as Ben's dad. The ten year old boy pulled his father aside after Gwen went upstairs and told him about the incident at the mall. Carl sighed and went over to the guest bedroom where he went inside to help his wife.

When Lili and Frank got home, the house was buzzing with activity. Everyone had an idea of what they wanted for dinner and finally they all just agreed on getting pizza. It was a quiet meal and then the adults all stayed up to watch some tv afterwords.

While Ben was in the bathroom getting ready for bed in his new pj's, Gwen was sitting at her desk, looking at the work her parents gave her for the day. She hadn't touched it and apparently they didn't notice she hadn't done the day before's either. In exasperation, she got off her chair and let herself drop onto the blow up mattress on the floor. She heard a small, POP, and then a hissing noise following and she stood back up quickly. It didn't look like it had deflated too much and the hissing sound stopped when there was no weight on it. Just then she heard footsteps coming over and got back in her desk chair.

Ben stepped in the room and the first thing he did was fall onto his bed. Instantly he heard a hissing noise and Gwen turned around with a frown on her face, "You popped it Doofus."

"I'm sorry," Ben got off of his still partially inflated bed. "Don't tell your mom or dad please, they've been so nice to let us stay here, I don't want them to know I popped your guys' mattress." Gwen felt smug, she didn't want to tell her mom anyway and Ben was practically begging her. "I'll be fine."

"Well, alright then." She stood up and turned the lights off. That was mean, tell him you were the one who popped it. He's had a rough couple of days, she sat there in the dark feeling bad for a few minutes before realizing something. The almost silent hissing sound was gone and she turned to the side of her bed. Ben's blow up mattress was completely deflated and he was now lying on the hard wood floor. Ben I'm sorry. If I could fix... uhh, "Hey Doofus," she was glad he couldn't see her face because she was red as a ripe tomato, "come up here."

"Huh?"

"It's going to be uncomfortable sleeping on the floor, if you want you could, you could come up here." He was surprised she would let him do that even though he was the one to pop the bed. He almost stood up but then froze.

"I can't," she frowned. Now she felt even worse and it was just because it would be weird? "If we're touching we'll have nightmares, again."

"So we just have to make sure we're not touching alright? Come on, come up here," he listened to her and climbed up on the bed. He grabbed the sheet his Aunt gave him to use and pulled it over himself.

After about ten minutes, Gwen felt the bed shaking and turned on her other side so she was facing Ben's back. "Are you shivering?" She asked and he stopped shaking.

"No I'm fine," she tapped him on the back and he rolled over to face her. Their eyes were adjusted and they could see each others' green eyes. "Okay, you got me, I'm cold. What do you expect though, all I've got is this sheet."

"You didn't say anything about it yesterday," she mentioned suspiciously.

"Yeah, and I wasn't going to say anything today either," she felt bad again for breaking his bed and not knowing he was cold and sighed.

"You can go under the blanket," his eyes grew double in size. "Just make sure you're completely wrapped in that sheet so we aren't touching. Got it?" She barked the orders.

"Yes ma'am," Ben replied and crawled under the warm blanket with her. They faced each other for a little under the blanket and then realized what they were doing and rolled onto their opposite sides so their backs were to each other. It was so much warmer under the blanket than it was on his blow up mattress and he was secretly happy it popped. He could feel the warmth radiating from her body and he felt so comfortable.

Gwen felt the heat as well and smiled as she faced her wall. This dream spell stinks, she wanted to feel his warmth around her. She nuzzled into her blanket carefully, the deep breathing from Ben was starting to become snoring.

It wasn't long before she fell asleep either. Her eyes closed and she started sleeping but her eyes shot open in the middle of the night. Gwen thought something had woken her up since she heard a rumble, but it was quiet in her room besides Ben's snores. As she sat back and closed her eyes she felt the bed shake and heard the rumble again. This time Ben sat up fast with her and they looked at each other in the dark.

They hopped off the bed and ran over to the window. Gwen gasped as the ground shook again and a red light flashed in the distance. Their neighborhood was fine but far in the distance, exactly where Chicago was, they could see explosions forming around the city. Plumes of smoke were rising in the lit up sky and the two kids turned to each other.

"Gwen I have to go, I understand if you can't." Ben walked over to the door.

"Where do you think you're going?" Gwen asked.

"Something's happening, I've gotta go..."

"We're partners remember?" A grin went across her face and Ben smiled. "Now, turn around, I'm getting into my Lucky Girl costume." Ben blushed and turned to face the door of the now lit up room. He looked down at his wrist and started twisting the dial until he got to his fastest alien. Gwen cleared her throat and asked timidly, "Can you zip this up?" Gwen's suit took a minute or two to put on mainly from her having trouble to zip up the back. If they were on a tight schedule it made sense to have Ben help right?

The brown haired boy turned and his mouth opened as he saw Gwen's bare back. The zipper was down almost all the way to her waist and he blushed as he walked over, "Uh, sure, I guess," he pulled up the zipper fast but made sure not to get Gwen's hair caught in it. "Alright let's go," he slammed down on his watch he had preset. The masked lizard appeared in his place and he pumped his fist. "Just what I wanted," he picked up Gwen and shot out the door. He moved so fast the front door was open and closed without a noise. None of the other Tennysons had woken up from the rumbling or the exiting children.

Ben sprinted to the outskirts of the city and his mask raised in awe as Gwen gasped. The whole city was under attack by drones coming down from the sky. Screams were sounding throughout Chicago, so Ben decided it was time to go in. "Wait," he stopped and looked down at the girl in his arms. "What's the plan? We don't even know who's attacking."

"BEN TENNYSON, WHERE ARE YOU?" The boy looked at his cousin after hearing the shout over all the explosions.

"I'll give you one guess," both of them recognized the voice.

"Vilgax." They said in unison and Ben chilled out for a second. Vilgax was not someone to just charge in after with no plan of attack. He tried it before, never worked out great for anyone.

"Gwen," Ben lowered her from his arms so she touched the floor outside the city. "Stay here," he commanded.

"What!? No way Ben, I'm coming with you," Gwen shouted back at him. He was not leaving her here to confront the most powerful creature in the universe by himself.

"It's too dangerous," he replied. Looking back at the city, he could hear much better with his alien senses, the shouts of people dying individually weren't reaching Gwen, but he could hear them scream. "I don't want anything to happen to you."

"And I don't want anything to happen to you, which is why I need to be there. Even if you could take Vilgax down by yourself, there will be a moment tonight when you'll need me more than ever before, and that's why I will be there." He stared into her eyes and grabbed her by the hand, "Good, now instead of going after individual drones, we have to take out the big boss. With him down, the assault on the city will end, now let's go."

And again you surprise me Gwen, the brown-haired boy sped off with his adopted cousin in his scaly arms. They reached Main Street and Ben stopped, looking down the road at a skyscraper where Vilgax was standing in front of. "Hop off," he released Gwen and she stood next to him, mask on and fists raised.

"You have come Tennyson," Vilgax shot his fist out fast and the skyscraper behind him began to crumble. It was already pretty damaged by the attack, but the falling building still made a scary impression on the ten year olds. "Now, Give me the Omnitrix!" his voice boomed over all other noise in the area and he started charging down the block.

"Never!" Ben shouted back and sprinted behind the charging tentacle alien. He jumped and kicked Vilgax twenty-seven times in the back of the head before landing and sprinting around the tyrant. The green monster spun but the other alien was already behind him again and Ben swiped Vilgax's legs out from under him. On the overlord's way to the ground, he lashed out and knocked Ben backwards ten feet, throwing the boy on his back. Vilgax jumped forward and raised his arm to slam down but was hit by a ball of blue light.

Gwen had her arms raised and a volley of blue light balls were shooting out of her hands at the evil monster. They all hit their mark and Gwen cheered, "Yeah!" The smoke began to clear around Vilgax and she looked over to see if he was really finished. Instead he burst through the clearing smoke and attacked Gwen, knocking her back with a punch that threw her across the street, skidding on the ground.

"Gwen!" Ben was back all around Vilgax. He punched and kicked and slapped Vilgax with his tail before the monster could even see him. The speedy alien appeared above Vilgax's head and kicked hard and fast right down on the skull. XLR8 bounced off the kick and landed on the pavement next to Vilgax. He looked on the ground and at his foot was a metal pipe, "I end this now," Ben started and was about to charge forward when he heard a voice.

"Ben No!" He turned around and saw Grandpa in full Plumber gear. The boy wasn't paying attention and Vilgax was up again and dove for the boy, kicking him in the back with all his force, sending him flying into a building down the block. "I'll handle my own mess," Max stepped up and pointed the giant Vilgax-killing gun at the alien it was made for.

"Max Tennyson," the tentacle-head alien hissed. "You foiled my plans for the last time." Vilgax tore down the street for the man at the corner. A light formed at the end of the gun and charged before Max fired. It hit Vilgax square on and shot him back ten feet. Max lowered his goggles and smiled, it's all over. "Tennyson! You have no idea what I'm truly capable of," Vilgax appeared out of the smoke again, singed all over by black burn marks but he didn't seem phased by it at all. Max started charging it again but the next shot missed as the monster jumped out of the way faster than thought possible.

No, there's something different about him. He's changed, the last time they defeated Vilgax, it came at a price to the monster's own body. This time, the repairs didn't just fix him, they made him faster, stronger, better than he was before.

"Grandpa run!" XLR8 shouted, freeing himself from the rubble he was trapped under. "I'll take care of... no," Ben whispered as he flashed red and turned back into a normal boy.

"Help your cousin Ben," Vilgax was too close now and Max threw the gun on the floor. The old man pulled out a metal pole that after pressing a button, extended five times its length and started sparking electricity. Now speaking only to the alien, "You aren't the only one who got some upgrades."

Meanwhile, Ben took his grandpa's advice and ran over to where Gwen was on her knees coughing. The one hit from Vilgax was enough to throw her pretty far and she was hurting from it. "I, 'cough', I got up a small forcefield that lessened the force of the blow, but he still broke right through it. 'Cough cough' He's different Ben," the brown-haired boy turned back around and saw Max dodge two sure kills from Vilgax's right arm. His grandpa swung with the pole and it hit Vilgax on the arm, making the alien scream in pain.

Come on, come on, Ben was playing with his watch but the red light was still showing up. Maybe it will go faster if I do this, or this, he looked up and saw Vilgax grab Grandpa by the wrist that held the pole and lift the man up off the ground. With his free arm, Max swung and punched the alien overlord in the mouth. His feet were no longer on the floor and Ben watched as Vilgax raised the arm that wasn't holding up his grandfather.

Gwen tried to get up but her stomach was in so much pain. She heard a crack after being hit and from experience, she knew what happened, "Regenerus Repairica," she succeeded in not screaming in pain as her snapped rib, reconnected itself. She turned over to her grandpa during the pain and saw him turning his head over to them slowly. Vilgax had a huge green fist pulled back and she couldn't tell, but it looked like the alien was smiling. "Grandpa no!"

"Gwen don't look, it's a dream," Ben shouted at her and she turned to him. He was still staring over at Vilgax holding their grandpa but she kept her eyes focused on him.

That's right, we were in the same bed, he must've rolled into me while we were sleeping. Doofus, "Well, wake me up any time now," she saw tears well up in Ben's eyes.

"J-just, don't turn around Gwen, you're dreaming," she heard a crunch and knew what the boy had just witnessed.

After Gwen turned around, Max looked into his grandson's eyes and mouthed, 'You too.' Ben shook his head slightly and glanced back at his watch but it was still red. "Die," Vilgax said quietly and slammed his fist forward. It was sickening the sound, Gwen didn't see it but the sound of the squish and the cracks, it was disgusting and disturbing. Ben watched as the fist went through his Grandpa not unlike his own nightmare. The difference was that this time it was happening, and there was nothing he could do to help. Max looked down at the arm in his gut and looked back up at Ben, "Don't kill him."

"Ha, hahaha, Max Tennyson, you really want your last words to be begging for your grandson's life? How pathetic." Vilgax laughed evilly and twisted his arm but Max didn't drop his gaze, instead he looked away from his grandson and into Vilgax's eyes.

"I wasn't talking to you," Max managed to say as his eyelids closed.

Vilgax had no idea what the man meant and turned around to see Ben standing ten feet behind him. He pulled his fist out from Max's body and let it drop to the floor so he could see the boy's reaction. Ben didn't flinch as the body dropped in front of him.

Gwen was still looking at where Ben was standing before, trying to process what just happened. It's a dream right? If it's a dream why hasn't it ended yet? But if it isn't a dream... she turned her head slowly and heard people's screams coming from all around her. She looked at the burning buildings, under attack from flying robots that no one but they could defeat. Then her head turned back over to Ben, who was standing between her and Vilgax. On the floor in front of him was a body, and the body wasn't moving.

"Your death won't be quick," Ben seethed through his teeth and the giant alien faltered for a second.

"What did you just say to me boy? I've defeated entire worlds of warrior races, and you think you can defeat me now? Now when I have more power than ever before," he raised a fist and clenched it, bulging his muscles all over his arm.

"I'm going to tear you to pieces," the tentacle covered alien looked down at the watch on Ben's arm and saw it was still red. Ben still stepped forward anyway.

Grandpa, grandpa get up, Gwen stood and felt little to no pain in her stomach. She walked over and fell at the side of the man. Ben had now walked past the limp body and stood right in front of Vilgax, staring him in the eyes. "Grandpa please," she pleaded into his ear. She ignored the giant hole in his body but if she looked in, she would've seen blood and organs, including a beating heart still inside the body. It was slowing down and Max was able to open his eyes again and see the beautiful red hair his favorite little girl.

"Stop him," he whispered. Max felt so tired, he just needed to close his eyes. "You are the only one who can," his eyes started to close again as his heart neared not beating at all.

"Grandpa I love you," Gwen cried as she pressed her forehead against his.

"I love you too sweetheart," she looked down and the man had his eyes closed. No, no no no no no, tears spilled out of her eyes all over his face as his heart stopped beating. No Grandpa, you can't die, you just can't.

Vilgax knew that once the watch turned green again, Ben might actually pose a miniscule threat, so seeing as the boy was foolish enough to walk right up to him... The monster reached down but Ben slid between the alien's legs popping up behind him. With the pipe he had hidden behind his back, Ben spun and with all his strength slammed the pipe into Vilgax's left kneecap. The alien screamed and fell to that knee while thrusting a fist backwards and hitting air.

As soon as the pipe hit its mark, Ben jumped backwards and got over to the overturned car next to them. He climbed up and stood on top as Vilgax turned around with rage in his eyes and looked up at the Tennyson boy. He looked down at his watch and saw the red spin away into a bright green glow. "Any last words Tennyson?" Vilgax got back up and yelled.

"Just one," he slammed down on his watch and two extra arms grew out of him. At the same time his skin turned red and he grew five times his normal size. "Die!" He jumped off the car and with his top two arms, he smashed Vilgax back several feet. The green alien pressed a button on his wrist and all the drones in the city suddenly stopped attacking people and converged on their location. Ben looked around at the sky and saw all the robots flying around the air.

At once, they all moved down from the sky towards Ben. Gwen looked over at him and raised her arms to help, clearing the tears from her eyes. Now is not the time, she formed blue balls in her hands and shot them up at the sky, slamming into the first five droids. "Quickly, stop Vilgax, I'll hold off the robots."

Ben didn't turn to face her but instead charged over at Vilgax who was running at him already. The two of them met and clasped hands together. They pushed back and forth but Vilgax was pushing harder. With his other two arms, Ben clasped them together under his stomach and plowed up into Vilgax's gut. The green alien was shaken for the split second that Ben's other arms needed to push him back and down to the ground.

He stepped on Vilgax's arms and started pounding the galactic ruler in the face. His giant red arms grabbed onto tentacles and pulled back as hard as possible, ripping them off and sending purple liquid flying everywhere. "Rarrrrr!" Vilgax screamed in agony as Ben tore at him. The monster raised his legs and kicked Ben in the back, knocking the boy off him and into a truck. "You are going to wish you hadn't done that," Ben reached behind him and grabbed the truck he made an indent in. With two arms he raised it above his head, and threw the truck up in the air. Vilgax looked up and saw Ben jump fast above the truck and pound with all four arms into it. The vehicle shot so fast to the ground, the alien didn't have time to think about it coming. He was hit head-on by the truck and slammed into the street.

As Ben came down, he smashed some drones in the sky and they plummeted to the ground. He landed and ran over to Gwen, knocking a drone away from her that was sneaking up from behind. "They just keep coming!" Gwen shouted. Vilgax was down but the robots seemed endless, there was a giant warship sitting in the sky, keeping the flow of robots out of it constant. Suddenly the droids stopped lowering and froze in mid-air. High above them Ben and Gwen heard a creaking noise of something opening. "Ben," he noticed it too and as the sounds got louder, he turned back into a child.

Gwen was sweating and feeling pretty tired from all the magic use, Ben stood there emotionless, staring up at red night sky. A much louder creaking sound came from right in front of them and the kids looked down at the street. The semi that was slammed into the ground, was being lifted back up in the air. With one squeeze, Vilgax pressed his palms together and flattened the front of the truck. He had smoke coming from his body, and looked very, very pissed.

"Up there," Ben looked back up after his cousin spoke and saw things dropping from the ship. Landing on top of buildings, on the street, giant robot drones like the ones that attacked them on top of Asmuth's lair dropped down.

"Ben Tennyson," Vilgax stepped slowly out of the hole Ben made for him. "I am going to tear that watch off of your cold dead body."

"Ben," the boy looked at his cousin at his side. He hadn't spoken to her since Max was... "Grandpa wanted you to let him live. But now, now I think we're done for," she looked terrified and Ben snapped out of it. He looked back over at Grandpa's body but although anger spread through him, saving Gwen was more important.

"I wish this was a dream Gwen." She looked up from the ground into his eyes, "That this was all a nightmare and would go away if we just let them finish it. But it's not. We have to survive. We have to defeat him, or so many will die. All those people will have died in vain, Grandpa will have died in vain."

"He will have died in vain if you kill Vilgax, that was his final request. He doesn't want you to be a murderer, no matter what happens," the giant robots all dropped down to the street and started moving in on them. Vilgax started laughing, he'd done it, the Omnitrix was right in front of him, ready for the taking.

Ben used his hand to wipe a tear from Gwen's cheek as it rolled down. "Gwen," he whispered. All the giant robots were encircling them, eight in all. "I need you to know something, something I wanted to tell you for too long but didn't."

Vilgax stepped between two of his robots and stepped up tot he kids. Even with everything happening, it was still only a short time since Ben turned back into a human, and Vilgax was still feeling the pain from some of the hits Fourarms and XLR8 gave him. The alien monster stopped as he saw the children standing so close to each other, Gwen wrapped her arms around Ben and he pulled her in close. Humans and their petty feelings, after I get the Omnitrix, I'll finally blast this planet to microscopic bits.

"I love you Gwen," he said it and she hugged him tighter. "More than just a cousin, I'm in love with you because of who you are and everything you stand for."

She pressed her head up against his and spoke into his ear softly, "I know, and I love you too, in the same way." All the times Ben envisioned telling Gwen, he always thought she'd yell at him which is why he waited until they were about to die, but she didn't. Instead she did the one thing he never expected, she accepted him. He pulled his head away from hers but kept his arms around her and looked into her eyes. Her arms were wrapped around his neck and she stared back, green into green.

"Crush them," Vilgax ordered and the robots lowered their arms to point at the ten year olds standing next to a corpse of a man in a Hawaiian shirt. Red beams began to form at the end of their arms and it was about time to end this.

Gwen stared into Ben's eyes and heard Vilgax's order. It was the end but there was one thing she wanted to do first. She leaned forward, still in Ben's embrace, and closed her eyes. Ben looked at her and pulled her body in, pressing her against his as he leaned in as well. Their lips connected and it was like the world ending got lifted off Gwen's shoulders, she felt like he was all she wanted and if this moment could live forever as her last, she would be happy.

Ben's eyes shot open and he released the kiss, "NO!" He lifted Gwen and sprinted at the nearest robot. Vilgax thought they had given in, submitted to their defeat, he was wrong. Gwen opened her eyes and looked into the determined look on Ben's face. He ran between the legs of the giant robot and behind it. Unfortunately the order to fire was still in effect and the other seven drones fired their beam at the kids who were now behind the eighth robot.

The alien's eyes opened wide as he saw his own machine blasted to bits. He growled and ran over to the explosion, digging past it to where the crushed robot fell on top of the kids. "Where is it? Where is the Omnitrix?"

"Looking for this?" he turned around and standing on top of the head of the broken robot was Ben Tennyson. Gwen wasn't with him and he was smiling wide, his worst fears came to live, but with them came his best dreams. "I'm going to teach you a lesson you won't soon forget," he twisted the dial and slammed down on it."

No, it can't be. Vilgax backed up and shouted, "Attack Attack ATTACK!" the giant drones were now not seeming so big as the giant alien stood towering above the skyscrapers around them.

"Remember me?" Ben shouted in his deep voice and reached down, grabbing two drones and throwing them into another two. Gwen watched from her safe little area hidden in the scrap pile as huge explosions rocked the area. With his foot, he crushed two more of them and then reached down to the last one, picking it up and bringing it above his head. "Let's see how your ship likes a robot getting thrown at it," Way Big looked up and saw a huge beam of light shoot from beneath the ship and slam into his chest. "Oof," he stumbled back and dropped the drone. It spun around upon hitting the ground and attacked his left foot which he was putting most of his weight on now that he was off balance.

Vilgax saw the chance and sprinted towards the monster, jumping in the air and pulling his punch as far back as he could before slamming it into the giant's stomach. Ben gasped as he felt the wind get knocked out of him and fell to one knee. The beam of light shot out of the ship again and hit him in the head, knocking him to his other knee. He felt the pesky robot at his side and pressed his hand down on top of it, crushing it beneath his weight.

In the same place Ben hit him when he was small and Vilgax was big, the green alien warlord punched Ben in the kneecap and the boy screamed. He looked over and snatched Vilgax with his right hand. Another beam of light shot from the ship but this time Ben moved his head and it flew past, hitting the road behind him and incinerating everything. "Gwen!" he turned around but the little pile she was under was untouched. Everything else around her was scorched and he figured play time was over. "Vilgax," He held the monster in his right hand, knowing he had enough power to squeeze the life out of him or crush him like a bug, "Never come back." He brought back his arm and threw the alien at his own ship as it was charging another blast. Vilgax flew into the giant laser and it blew up in his face, smashing the ship to pieces but Ben threw him so hard, he didn't stop with the explosion and flew straight out into space again.

"Ben!" Gwen got out from hiding and ran over to the alien on his knees, panting loudly. "Are you alright?" she asked seemingly ridiculous as he was the giant monster and she was a little girl.

"Yeah I'm fine, Way Big is pretty strong, he can handle giant incinerator cannons, huge robots, and the most evil thing in the universe." Gwen laughed and saw him blink red before turning back into a small child just like her. He started taking deep breaths and not breathing out and Gwen saw him wheezing. "Way Big," Ben breathed in but he couldn't breath out well, "is much," he breathed in again, "stronger than Ben." He fell on his stomach and couldn't control his breathing.

"Someone help!" Gwen shouted as Ben lay on the ground. People started walking out of their buildings now that the threat was seemingly gone and Ben looked up to see them. He turned to Gwen and couldn't speak but he shook his head rapidly and she understood. "Let's get out of here then," she put him in a bubble with her and they lifted off the ground. Other people backed up that hadn't seen what went on but the majority of the people walking out of their buildings started clapping. Ben fell unconscious and Gwen shot away in the little bubble she made that was draining all her remaining power.

They made it about halfway home before Gwen couldn't handle it anymore and dropped down to the ground. They landed on a field somewhere between Bellwood and Chicago and Ben laid still next to her as she was panting and holding her knees with her hands. "Ben, hey Ben," she shook him with one hand but he wasn't moving. More worried she started shaking him and tapping his cheek with her hand, "Ben, come on Ben wake up, please Ben."

She pleaded but he didn't move a muscle, "I can't lose you Ben. Not now, please," she begged but he didn't move. Finally she heard a whimper, quiet as a mouse, but it came from Ben. "Ben, you're alright! Listen to me, come on, you're fine."

His eyes opened shakily and his first sight were two beautiful green eyes looking back at him. "I think my knee is shattered," he wanted to say so many things that were on his mind but the most pressing was the pain that sent him into shock. As Way Big he barely felt it, but as a ten-year old boy, having that much pain pressed upon you at one second, it was too much for him to handle. Not only was his knee shattered, but he had broken ribs, and his head was hurting like crazy.

"I'll fix you right up," she got off her knees and pressed her hands to meet Ben's head but he grabbed them before they made it.

"No," she felt her legs wobble and fell back to her knees, "You did enough tonight. You saved the world, I can wait until tomorrow."

"I didn't do anything," Gwen admitted shamefully. "I hid while you fought them all, by yourself."

"Yeah I know," he said and she looked at him with a hurt look. "You didn't save the world because you blew up some robots, you saved the world the same way I put out the fire," he shut up and Gwen remembered what she told Max. All the times he saved her during the fire allowed her to put it out.

"But I didn't..." she looked into his eyes and no longer saw what she had been seeing for weeks. What shrouded his eyes ever since he returned from his excursion around the world. The fear was gone, the bloodlust and hatred were nowhere to be found in his eyes.

"You did," he reassured and tried to sit up to make better eye contact, but lying on his back was all he could do without causing himself immeasurable amounts of pain. Gwen was too tired to speak anymore and laid on her back next to Ben as the sun started to rise in the distance.

After an amount of time neither of them cared to think about, Ben sat up and looked at Gwen sleeping peacefully on the grass. The sun was now in the sky, though still low, and if they were going to make it home before anyone woke up, they would have to book it. "Gwen, Gwen get up," she mumbled something and opened her eyes confused about where she was. "It's time for us to get home," Ben looked sad and Gwen knew why, "we need to be there when they get the phone call."

She didn't know how she would be able to carry him with them when she was leaving the city. It crossed her mind as she was lifting into the air with Ben, but he was so, so delicate, that moving him could... She didn't want to think about him coming apart on her so she left him there for the citizens to determine who he was. He was still wearing his Plumbers' suit only it had a huge hole in the front and back.

Gwen stood up and reached down to Ben's knee. "No don't, save your strength."

"Shut it," she retorted and pressed her hands to the kneecap. Ben screamed in pain, you were going to walk on that? His care for her still surprised her when it came to things like that, his knee was in excruciating pain but her being tired was enough for him not to just restrain himself from asking for help, but deny it when offered. Muttering the simple heal, she felt the bones reattatching underneath the skin and Ben yelled louder, his voice cracking. For a second, Ben's vision got blurry and he knew he was going to pass out, but he couldn't do that, not now.

Gwen reached for his stomach but Ben jumped up onto his feet with a smile and said, "Let's go," she knew he was still in pain but as long as he was able to run, he wasn't going to let her use up any more energy on him.

The boy transformed and carried Gwen back home on his back as Wildmutt. Anyone who looked outside early in the morning saw a cat riding on a dog's back. Apparently, they were some of the only few to be woken up from the tremors in the city. All the others who did wake up, just went back to sleep ignoring the sounds. If it was something bad, they thought, what were they going to do about it? Ben reached his lawn and went inside his burnt house where he waited for the watch to time out and then transformed back into a little boy.

They walked up to the front of her house and Gwen climbed up the gutter to her window which she unlocked earlier in case they needed a way back in. Ben didn't know if he would be able to do the same but he didn't have to as he was lifted off the ground and levitated up to the opening and pulled inside.

"How often do I tell you how cool it is that you can do that?" Ben asked as he was placed down on the floor of Gwen's room.

"Let me think, never," they laughed.

"Well it is," Ben commented and lay on the floor staring up at the ceiling. They both laid back on their beds, even though Ben's wasn't inflated, and stayed quiet for a long time. It got brighter and brighter in the room but it wasn't like the kids were trying to sleep. Their eyes were glued open because when they shut them, all they saw was their grandpa. Gwen saw him lying on the floor dying, and Ben saw him with a fist through him.

"Ben, is he really gone?" Gwen asked while staring up.

She felt the bed shake as Ben crawled in next to her and hugged her, "Everything will be fine. If Grandpa could see us now he'd be so proud." She felt tears coming to her eyes again but she didn't want to cry, not now. "Um, Gwen," she looked at him, "I think you should get changed."

After Gwen was back in normal clothes, while Ben looked away, she got back into her bed and laid next to him over the blankets. They comforted each other until footsteps were heard approaching and Ben quickly laid on top of the deflated mattress. "Kids, get up," Lili pushed open the door and looked down, "Ben what happened?"

"Oh," he looked down and made an obviously not surprised face, "it must have popped during the night. Sorry."

His aunt glared at him for a second too long and then snapped, "Breakfast in five."

The kids walked downstairs and into the dining room where everyone was sitting. The phone rang and Frank picked it up, "What? Really? That's terrible," he walked out of the dining room and into the living room where he turned on the tv. The others all followed him in and the ten-year olds gulped as they saw the television. ALIEN INVASION FOILED BY CHILDREN was the headline on the television as pictures of Chicago flashed by. The city was no longer burning, people were out on the street picking stuff up and helping out. Hopefully nobody got a clear shot.

"Sorry I'm going to have to call you back, hello? What can I do for you officer?" Everyone turned to Frank who held the phone to his ear for a couple extra seconds and then his face dropped. He let go of the phone and it fell on the floor, shattering on impact.

"What, what happened?" Lili asked.

Frank turned straight to his older brother, "It's dad. He was, he was in Chicago," the room was silent, "he died in the invasion." Sandra gasped and fell to the floor. Lili asked again what had happened and when she got no reply she knew she'd heard correctly, her sobs were muffled and hidden. "They said it's pretty frantic down there but we can go down, he's at the hospital there." Carl still had yet to move from his position as Frank spoke.

"Then let's go," the older brother said and walked into the kitchen to grab his keys. Frank nodded and spoke calmly and quietly to his wife before getting the keys as well. Both Ben and Gwen were so exhausted they thought they might pass out standing next to the door, waiting for their families to get ready. They took two cars, for the first time since they went up to Gwen's room the night before, the two of them were separated.

As Gwen followed her parents over to her car, she stopped and turned around to come face to face with Ben. "Don't worry, I'll be right there the whole time," Gwen's parents turned around to see what was taking her so long and Gwen reached in and hugged Ben warmly. They didn't remember the last time they did that to their daughter.

When they arrived at the hospital, they were brought down to the morgue and the boys went to identify the body. They walked back out a minute later looking just as they did when they walked in and Carl said, "Alright, we'll take the body." Frank nodded but the mortician was quite shocked.

"Uhh, the proper procedure is to have the,"

"Screw the proper procedure," Carl snapped. The rest of the Tennysons looked at the two boys oddly, "He had some specifications on what to do with him when he died, and when to do them. Frank, let's go," they walked back into the room and Frank turned back out, "Get outside, we'll be there soon."

The women and Ben stared after them not knowing what was going on but if Grandpa really did want this, they weren't going to argue. They had wrapped Max in a white cloth and the two boys carried him over their shoulders out of the building. He was put in Ben's car and during the trip to somewhere they weren't told the location, Ben asked, "What did Grandpa Max want to happen to his body?" Sandra winced and Carl sighed.

"Ben, this isn't a matter for children," he quietly said.

"I'm not a kid anymore, tell me," he said it with such conviction that Carl started to explain.

"We were young, Frank and I. Our mother had just died and we were scared, we didn't know what to do so we turned to Max. He looked at us and looked so... aside from the other night I never saw him like this. Your Grandpa came to us and the first thing he said after we lost our mother was, 'When I die, you are to do just as I just did to your mother. Burn my body as soon as you hear about my death. I made her a tombstone in the backyard and scattered her ashes over it,' then he paused and as he walked out the door, not to be seen for three months after, he whispered, 'don't even bother with mine.'" Carl stopped and couldn't believe he just said that. He'd never told anyone about that and never brought it up with Frank after that night.

"We're not going to listen to him though," Ben stated.

Carl pulled off the main road onto a dirt path, "No, no we're not."

The cars pulled up at a cabin in the woods that Gwen and Ben recognized quite well. The entire afternoon, Frank, Carl, Ben, and Gwen chopped wood for the pyre. At sunset, the fire was built and Max was laid on top of it. It was doused in gasoline and lit on fire by Carl who wouldn't let anyone else argue to do it. During the fire everyone was silent, finally Lili started speaking, "Max was my father-in-law, but he was also my dad. My father died when I was little, but Max led me down the aisle, he danced with me at the wedding, he did everything my father never had a chance to do. I loved him, and he was a great man."

Sandra didn't wait a second after Lili was finished to start talking, "We were in a bad place. It was our problem and nobody else's but Max didn't care about that. All he cared about was that we were his family and we were in trouble, he saved my husband, and my son." Ben looked over at her but she was staring straight into the burning rubble.

"I did terrible things, lots of terrible things. I did them to gain my father's respect even though I knew that he disapproved of them. But I also know that he would have forgiven me for everything I ever did because that's the sort of man he was. Family came first to him, even when it seemed like it was work. He was once gone for three weeks and I broke my leg fighting my brother," Carl grinned a little at the recollection, "he called our dad on a number we were to use only for emergencies and he told him to come quick, I was hurt. In under thirty minutes, Dad kicked in the front door with a gun in his hand and saw me lying there with my leg bent the wrong way." Frank laughed at his own story, "I remember being so afraid, afraid that he thought it was something much worse and would be so mad at us. Instead he picked me up, and we went straight to the hospital where he stayed with me until I recovered."

Frank became silent and they all stared at the fire for a little longer as it got bigger and they could no longer make out the outline of the man inside the flames. Finally they heard Carl clear his throat and started listening, "My dad, he was the greatest man I've ever known. I hated him, for a long time I hated him. Even when I looked for his approval, even when I laughed with him, I hated him for everything he put me and Frank through our entire lives. Then, one day when I was sixteen, dad was leaving on short notice and I wanted to see what could possibly keep him from his children all the time. I snuck aboard his prized possession, that Rust Bucket, and went with him to work." Gwen and Ben glanced at each other with their mouths open for a second and then looked back at the fire.

Carl continued, "I barely believed it then, and even now, with everything that's going on, it still seems unbelievable. The rv jolted to a stop and I made sure I didn't come out from hiding until I was sure he wasn't in the vehicle anymore. When I got out, I walked over to the window and was about to step out of the car when I saw it; my father had a huge gun in his hands and was blasting these giant white tentacle monsters." Gwen looked around and saw her mom glare over at Carl for making a joke but Frank elbowed her in the side. "I was so shocked I forgot where I was and what I was doing there. One of the monsters, which I learned later on were aliens, was near the door and looked through with its one massive eye and saw me. It ripped open the door and I ran to the back, slapping the tentacles away as it grabbed for me. I screamed." Carl paused and looked deeper into the pyre's fire. "Dad heard me shout and he saved me. We never talked about it again, he drove me home without a word and dropped me off, never saying a thing. Back then I told Frank about it but he told me I was seeing things, I'm now one hundred percent sure I wasn't. Max had a responsibility, I didn't blame him after that and I learned how to survive on my own because he had other stuff he had to deal with. I loved him, and he loved all of us."

Carl ended his speech and smiled, he was so happy to get that off his chest. For thirty minutes, the family stayed gathered around the fire and it continued to burn as Sandra patted her husband on the back and started to walk away with him. Lili and Frank started to do the same but the four of them froze as they heard another voice, "Grandpa," Gwen started. "He," the others walked back over and stared into the fire again, it was the only place to look at a time like this, "he was exactly the man we all thought of him. He was caring but responsible, gentle but tough, he loved every one of us more than I can say." She looked to the side at Ben who nodded to her, "This summer, I learned so much about my Grandpa that I wish everybody knew about him. I learned how he fought aliens and worked with Nasa, but it wasn't just what I learned about him, it was what I learned from him." The rest of the family besides Ben were shocked that Gwen knew what she was saying but no one interrupted to tell her to stop saying nonsense. She was afraid of that but after Carl spoke, she no longer feared that possibility. "When I was sad, I could cry in his arms and he didn't do anything but he didn't need to. All he needed to do was be there, when we had a rough day fighting aliens, when a boy said something mean to me," Ben winced, "and I knew that he did it because he cared so much about me. Last night," she paused and took a deep breath, "Grandpa died trying to save people from aliens. He did so not because it was his job, he did it because Max Tennyson cared about everybody, tried to save everybody. His death was not in vain, because in a way he saved all of us." Gwen looked into the flames and tears finally streamed down her face, "Thank you Grandpa, I'm going to miss you."

Both sets of parents stayed silent as Gwen finished, none of them knew what to say. Frank was mad that his father could involve Gwen in his crazy job but now he realized that she was right, his death brought them all together, it saved them. On one side of the fire, Carl and Sandra stood hand in hand, on the other were Frank and Lili also holding hands. Ben and Gwen were standing there for over an hour now and Gwen moved her hand over and latched onto Ben's. Neither of them looked down but all the parents saw the motion, "I'm sorry Grandpa," Ben whispered over the crackling of sparks from the fire. Louder he continued, "I'm sorry." Tears came to his eyes and he didn't try to hide them, not like he always did, "If I was stronger, if I could have stopped it," Ben swallowed back some tears because it was becoming difficult to speak. "This summer Grandpa taught me many things too. Not the fishing, and the surviving in the wild, though he did teach me those, it was the life lessons that he taught me. And I failed to carry out those lessons in my life," Sandra opened her mouth to tell her son anything to make him feel better but Carl squeezed her hand and kept her silent.

"A week ago I found out my parents weren't eating because they couldn't put enough food on the table for all of us," every person there turned from the fire to Ben with mouths wide open, "so I ran away. I left because I was a burden, a nuisance, I wasn't wanted." Sandra had tears in her eyes and the others were barely keeping their composure. "I left and ran, I ran so far," he let the tears in his eyes start to run down his cheeks, "I failed him. He taught me to think of others first and that's what I thought I was doing, I thought I was helping my parents by being gone. But that wasn't the real reason I left, it was because I was selfish. And then I did something terrible, a lot of somethings." The tears continued to go down Ben's face and he sniffed back some so he could continue without breaking down, "I killed people. With my watch I could turn into different aliens and using it I was helping people, I helped them all summer. And Grandpa always told me I never had to kill anyone, that everyone could be saved. That fire monster that flew out of my room wasn't trying to kill me, that was me escaping from the fire." Ben took a breath and got back on track although he was crying and finding it difficult to keep on talking. "I failed Grandpa, yet he still came for me. I was in the middle of nowhere in a desert, and he found me and took me home. When I told him what I'd done, I thought he'd be ashamed or disappointed, but he just took me home and forgave me. I didn't think I was able to be forgiven, I thought that when I died, and I didn't expect it to take long for that to happen, I would be going to hell where I'd be punished for everything I've done."

"Ben, this is," Frank squeezed his wife's hand to get her to shut up.

The brown-haired boy continued, "Last night I was going to redeem myself, I was going to right my wrongs and save everyone. I was given the opportunity, because the world was at risk and someone had to stop it. We went to the city by ourselves but Grandpa was there, he was there because that's where he needed to be. In the end the world was saved, but I didn't save everyone. Had I been stronger..." he cut himself short, "If there was more time..." the tears returned but there was no holding them back now, "I'm so sorry Grandpa, I'm sorry I let you die." The fire was wavering during Ben's speech as no one added any extra fuel to it. As he finished, the last of the flames flickered and went out.

Ben turned around with Gwen's hand still in his and walked off towards the cabin. "Wait," he stopped and waited, waited for someone to shout at him for disrespecting the best man in the world with his lies. He turned around and his parents dropped down to their knees and hugged him. Gwen's parents stood in front of her as she watched Ben's family hug and then they knelt down as well. Her face was of complete and utter shock as her parents hugged her and apologized into her ear.

"I love you," Sandra said to her son and the others all did the same to their own kid.

They returned home and all went into Frank's house to go to sleep. Ben and Gwen were so exhausted they didn't even care about being caught and just made sure not to be touching each other when they laid down on the same bed and passed out.

The next morning Gwen woke up and worked out, she made herself some breakfast and got ready for school. Ben got up much later than her and walked downstairs as well. They looked at each other and smiled as they passed each other in the kitchen. It was tough losing Max, but last night was exactly what they needed to get them through it. Frank walked downstairs as the kids were getting ready to go, "All set?" he asked walking into the kitchen and grabbing the coffee Gwen made for him. The two kids nodded, Ben had on a new backpack that Carl went out and got him earlier on. His father left it on the couch with his name on it and a bunch of notebooks inside.

As Ben shut the door behind them, Frank turned on the tv and instantly spit out his coffee all over the place. "Well that cat's out of the bag."

The bus pulled up to their stop and the bus driver who usually just nods and lets kids on, smiled and said, "How are you this morning?" They looked at the woman confused and said 'good' before sitting in their seat. Every kid on the bus was edged to the side of their seat so there was space next to the aisle for someone to sit next to them.

When the kids got to school, they got off the bus and started walking for the front door. All around them kids were looking at them and smiling and finally one random kid they didn't know walked up to them and said, "Thank you so much."

Another kid passed by them and grabbed Ben's shoulder, "Dude, you rock." Finally one kid started clapping and everyone in the area started clapping with them.

"Uh, Ben, what's going on?" Gwen asked.

"I have no idea," he responded.

They were out all day Sunday, but all anyone else was doing was watching the news. Hundreds of amateur video takes from apartments and offices all down main street videotaped the entire invasion. From the attacking robots, to the evil alien, to the girl in the black costume that was distinguished as Lucky Girl from reports earlier in the summer. They got on tape, Ben transforming from XLR8 to Ben, from Ben to Fourarms and back, and the same with Way Big. People had taped Max's demise and he was recognized as a national hero for taking on the alien threat, and for giving Ben enough time to transform again.

The cameras were able to zoom in and they had perfect images of Ben's face. It was only a couple of hours after showing it that they had confirmation from many viewers of who it was they were showing. Then they unmasked the 'secret' identity of Lucky Girl as everybody who knew it was Ben had a pretty good idea of who the girl was considering her orange hair.

Ben and Gwen figured this out later that morning and had to go through a lot of awkwardness leading up to finding out. Everyone knew everything, and it wasn't what they expected. They thought people would call them weird and not accept them if their secret ever came out. They'd be different and being different wasn't usually okay in school. Not one person told them this though, they were only thanked. At lunch all of Gwen's friends talked the entire lunch period about how cool she was and it wasn't that she didn't like the attention but people weren't talking to her like that because they knew her, only because she'd done something great.

Ben had it much worse since he had not a single friend yet now everyone seemed to find him to be the best person ever. After school ended Gwen and him walked down the street talking about their weird days but there was one thing they had in common, "Ben, I missed you today," he looked at her and she knew he felt the same way. "When we're together I feel, complete. I feel like that's what I want forever but we can't have that."

"I know what you mean, people might smile at me now but it still doesn't change that you are my only friend. But you're more than just a friend to me," they stopped on the sidewalk and walked into the park. Ben felt his stomach feel so much better after Gwen healed it earlier and remembered her own cracked ribs, "Can you forgive them?"

"Ben," Gwen looked away and swallowed, "I could never forgive them. They," he put his hand under her chin and turned her head to him, "they burned your house down." He didn't look away, or even blink, he just continued to stare into her eyes, "they almost killed you and that is something unforgivable. I love them, but forgive them? No. What about you?" Her parents burning his house down wasn't unsurprising and it had crossed his mind but the confirmation made it so much worse.

"I meant what I said Gwen, they can't support me. My mom has 'problems' and when she lets those problems take control of her she's scarier than my dad ever was. I know they love me, and I love them back, but I don't think I can even live with them anymore." Ben looked up at the sky, "Dad had a drink last night, he said it was only one but then it will be just two then three. I don't want to have to go through this again."

"Then let's leave," Ben looked into her green eyes and she was serious. A smile spread across her face and he looked down. "Ben," now she was the one to lift his chin so they could see into each others' eyes, "You asked me to come with you when you left and I said no and it was the biggest mistake of my life. By far. This is our chance, to leave and become more than what we are, where no one will say things because they know that I'm your cousin, even though we're not blood related. I want to leave with you so we can help people, but also so we can help ourselves and each other. What do you say?" She pulled her hand away and he continued looking into her face.

They sat on that park bench looking into each others' eyes for quite some time. Gwen couldn't take it anymore and said, "Ben can you please tell me what you're thinking about because it's driving me..." Ben leaned in fast and grabbed the back of Gwen's head at the same time pushing her towards him. Their lips met and they embraced each other for who they were, what they are now, who they want to be.

The kiss seemed like it would go on forever but finally it broke off and Ben was smiling and had bright red cheeks and Gwen looked the same. "Of course I'll go with you. I'd go with you to the end of the universe and back just like you did for me."

"And if I lost you I'd try just as hard as you did to get me back." Gwen responded and they stood up, leaving their backpacks on the floor next to the bench.

"I love you Gwen," Ben grabbed her arms and she smiled as he asked, "Do you really want to run away together?"

"Absolutely, because I love you too." She lowered her gaze to the watch on his wrist and he grinned, doing just what she wanted him to do. Ben twisted the knob and slammed down, "You've got to be kidding me, Stinkfly?"

"Hahaha, I know you love it?" he lifted her up and flew away and he was right. She loved it.

A/n Thank you for reading my story, I hope you enjoyed it and I would love to hear feedback to help with future stories.