In a normal relationship, she'd be able to give her boyfriend a call while he was away. Check up. Tell him she loved and missed him.

But when was the last time her life was anything close to normal?

Staring at the locket, Gwen couldn't stop her heart from squeezing tight enough to simulate suffocation.

No matter what, though, her hope continued to burn. Unlike Ben's, the flame hadn't dimmed. She wasn't sure if he had any left anymore.

Gwen felt like she was the only one remaining optimistic. Even Grandpa Max's outlook was darkening. But she couldn't let herself think Kevin wouldn't come back to her. She loved and believed in him too much for that. Somewhere, somewhere inside that amalgam of aliens, Kevin, her Kevin was fighting his way out. She knew it. She just…she couldn't understand why Ben ceased having faith.

Kevin sacrificed his sanity, his control, himself, for the entire universe. Ben was too blinded by the negative to think about his best friend, and not solely the shell on the surface. He was too angry, refusing to look past the physical.

But Gwen didn't have the ability to be angry with Kevin. It wasn't his fault. He stopped Aggregor the only way he could, which meant it was now their job to help him. Not take away his life after he'd done something heroic. Ben wasn't being fair.

God, did she miss him. His presence in her life was so significant she was uncomfortable, uneasy, incomplete, without it. Without him. She didn't feel right.

Gwen definitely didn't revolve around Kevin. But the two of them falling in love forged a strong bond between them, withstanding anything the universe could dish out. She knew it could withstand this. Even when it stretched so far she continuously experienced raw, physical pain, sticking sharp needles into the very space in her heart he managed to find.

That man, the man she loved, was still in there.

A rogue tear splashed against the surface of the glass, spilling atop her and Kevin's younger faces.

He gave this to her after the Omnitrix incident last year, when he thought he became a monster. She'd scrutinized every book in her arsenal, ventured back in time, to fix what only he believed to be broken. She would do anything and everything in her power to save him now. In her gut, and in her heart, she knew he wasn't just gone. Her Kevin didn't give up. No matter what Ben believed, no matter what anyone believed, Gwen didn't harbor a single sliver of doubt he gave in. He was a hero.

Gwen wouldn't stop fighting for Kevin. He had all of her belief, all of her heart. That meant something. Those weren't given to just anyone. Kevin earned them. He deserved them.

And loving someone more than anything or anyone else meant she did whatever it took, no matter what. Even if she and Ben were on opposing sides, even if she was alone, she wouldn't give up on him.

She'd never done it before. She wasn't about to start now.