Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10: Alien Force.

Pairing: Kevin.Ben
Summary: After a battle with a strange new foe, Ben finds himself in quite the predicament.

Author's Note: This is just the introductory chapter, so there isn't much Kevin.Ben. However, I guarantee you that for the second chapter, you will totally get slammed by Kevin.Ben first thing. In the very beginning. Lol.

Mind's Eye

"What...the...?"

Ben Tennyson woke up with a pounding headache, throbbing and pulsing in his mind as he sat up slowly. He briefly touched his temple, rubbing the area with a deepset frown. His peridot eyes scanned his room for a single moment before shaking his head, attempting to match up the jumbled memories from last night.

First, there was the alien. She was new, different, completely strange. She, at first, pleaded with the team not to attack her, but as her patience had worn thin, so had her temper. In short, she had snapped, yelling at the team like there was no tomorrow. Ben closed his eyes--here was where it got important.

He remembered transforming into Humongousaur, launching himself at the alien just in an attempt to shut her up. However, right when he touched her, right when the outermost molecule of his skin had brushed hers, she simply...

...disappeared.

And then he remembered nothing.

"Do you think he's awake, yet?" A voice drifted into his room, heavy with worry and panic. Ben sat up slowly, wincing as his growing joints ached. Then he got out of bed and walked over to the door, pulling it open just in time to see Kevin and Gwen standing there debating something.

"He can handle himself is all that I'm saying!"

"Doesn't mean you have to be such a dipwad about it--Oh...Ben!" In a rare moment of affection, the orange-haired girl grasped onto her cousin and gave him a hug. "You're awake."

"Mm," Ben replied softly, his peridot eyes going back and forth between Kevin and Gwen. "What happened?"

Kevin opened his mouth to speak, the black-haired boy clearly annoyed, before Gwen elbowed him quickly in the stomach. Ignoring the indignant grunt of pain that Kevin let loose, Gwen smiled. "I'm glad you're okay. We were worried about you last night."

"What exactly happened?" Ben asked.

You didn't listen to me, that's what happened.

"Did you just say something?" inquired the brown-haired boy, looking at Gwen with confusion. She stared back, equally confused.

"Er...no?" Kevin had recovered, and was now standing next to Gwen and crossing his arms.

"I didn't either, Tennyson."

"Then what was--"

They can't hear me, you know.

"There it is again!" Ben yelled, frantically pointing into a random direction. "Are you guys telling me you can't hear her?!" Kevin and Gwen shot each other confused looks, and then went back to looking at Ben.

"Ben...we can't hear anything," Gwen replied, worry now spreading onto her delicate features. The emerald-eyed girl placed her hand against Ben's forehead, checking to see whether the boy had a fever or not. But Ben pushed her hand away with an annoyed glare.

Man, you really have a problem with listening to other people, don't ya? the voice said, giggling.

"She's talking as I'm talking! You can't hear her?! She's laughing now!" Ben growled, attempting to keep his frustration under control.

"Who?" Kevin asked, and Ben placed his hands at his temple, trying to stave off the impending migraine that was definitely going to come soon.

For the last time, they can't hear me! Man, you seriously have some control issues. I mean, I've told you five ga-fucking-jillion times, THEY CANNOT HEAR ME. So you might as well stop now, otherwise they're going to dump you in the loony bin, mmkay? the voice muttered, now annoyed.

"Ben, maybe you should rest still..."

"Yeah, Tennyson," agreed Kevin, "hearing voices inside your head isn't exactly normal, the last time I checked."

"Kevin, stop being such a jerk!" Gwen scolded, and Kevin rolled his eyes in a very valley-girl-ish way.

"Whatever." He took a step towards Ben, who automatically took a step back.

"I'm not being crazy," Ben protested. "Can you guys really not hear herrrr--?!" A yelp of surprise escaped his lips as Kevin picked him up in one swift, easy motion, tossing the boy over his shoulder. Ben blinked, momentarily stunned, before he started attacking Kevin's back. "Oi, let me down! Let me down!!"

The voice was laughing. Ben was not.

"Ow, what the hell, you little prick?! I'm trying to help--ow! Stop punching my back!" Kevin yelled.

"Let me down!"

"I'll drop you!" Kevin threatened.

"I--"

"SHUT UP!"

There was a long pause before Kevin turned around, Ben still dangling from his shoulder. Gwen was frowning, obviously annoyed as hell. "Listen, Ben, you're going to go back to your room and rest, and yes, Kevin is going to carry you there. No, Kevin will not be dropping you, as long as you stop punching him. Now GO!"

Kevin swallowed and nearly ran back to where Ben's room was, dumping the teen on his bed and grinning.

"Later, Tennyson."

"WAIT, YOU--"

Bam! and the door shut close, leaving Ben alone with...whatever it was in his head.

He swallowed, unsure of how to approach whatever the hell was going on. "Uh, okay. Let's just list out what's going on," he muttered to himself. "One: I passed out last night. Two: I wake up this morning and now I can hear voices. Three: that thing from last night disappeared, and--"

I resent being called a 'thing', you know.

"GAH!" Ben yelped, looking around, expecting to see the girl-creature-thing from last night. There was no one else in the room with him. "H...Hello?"

For a moment, there was no answer, and Ben felt stupid for even trying. Maybe he was just hallucinating. Maybe he was still passed out, and--

You should try pinching yourself if you think you're still dreaming.

--that's right, he should try pinching himself, so that's what he did.

All that got him was a throbbing arm and even more confusion.

Hehe. You're pretty funny.

Question One from the category of "Things That I Should Never Have To Ask":

"...Are...Are you inside my head...?"

Bingo. You get ten points for getting the answer right, Ben.

Question Two from the category of "Things That I Should Never Have To Ask":

"Okay, uh," Ben stuttered. He was really unsure of how to approach this matter. "How did you get inside my head?"

If you haven't connected the dots by now, you're not very smart. I'm from last night. You know, the crazy 'alien' girl that you attacked without listening to?! Now the voice was annoyed. Lovely. I mean, gawd, Ben. I yelled like...sixty bajillion times 'don't attack me!', and you do the exact opposite.

Ben's reply was dry. "Well gee, I'm so sorry. But when you're faced with a lot of foes that go 'don't attack me!', you kind of stop listening after a while."

If the voice had a face, Ben was pretty sure she would be scowling.

Whatever.

Ben sighed. This entire situation seemed completely unrealistic; however, the word 'unrealistic' was beginning to gain different boundaries in Ben's life.

"Could you--whatever you are--'enlighten' me on what happened last night?"

First of all, I take offense to that 'whatever you are' that you threw in the middle of the sentence. Second of all, what happened last night, and, in turn, the results today, are both completely your fault.

"Oooof course," Ben grumbled with a grimace. "But what exactly--?"

I'm getting to that. Impatient, aren't you? Ben grimaced again. Anyway, when you transformed into that huge alien-tail-whipper-thing and rocketed yourself at me like some kind of demented spaceship, I got absorbed into your consciousness. There's not really another way I can describe it.

"A...Absorbed?! You got absorbed into my consciousness?!"

You know, even if you repeat what I just said, it's not going to change the situation at all.

"How?!"

Hm...how to explain this. Okay, well...basically, I'm...what you might call a 'ghost'.

"A ghost," repeated Ben dumbly. He stared at his hands, then clenched his fists. "What the hell?! Ghosts aren't real!"

Believe what you want, the voice said airily. But back to the subject...most souls pass on after death, either to heaven, hell, or to be reincarnated as a human. However, some of the souls are forced to stay behind. The situations vary: sometimes the souls have a strong attachment to Earth and cannot leave until they fulfill their wishes; others are to remain here forever, as redemption for their numerous...'sins'. Earth is, in fact, like purgatory.

"So...what are you, then?"

I...did some things in my human life that I'm not proud of. And so, I've been forced to stay behind in that cornfield that you found me in.

"Why the cornfield?" asked Ben, curiosity permeating his mind.

That's where I died.

"I...I see," Ben muttered, much calmer now. The girl--no, ghost...whatever--in his head was obviously not some figment of his imagination, so he wasn't going crazy. She didn't seem to be evil--annoying, sarcastic, and viciously blunt, yes, but not evil. And so, Ben ruled her out as a threat. In order to sort out whatever was going on, it was obvious that the two had to cooperate. "So...how do I get you out of my head?"

I'm not completely sure yet. I know that one option is to wait, like my previous 'container' did. However...that option takes at least ten years, and I don't want to be stuck in your messy subconscious for that long.

"The feeling's mutual," Ben replied dryly, annoyed. "So...when can you figure it out? How to get out of my head, I mean."

Give me three days. I'm sure that I can find some kind of way out...I think.

"You think. Great."

Hey, don't go getting all snippity on me, Ben Tennyson. You're the one that chose to attack me, and you're the one that got us both into this mess. If you had just chosen to listen to me, then we both would be happily separated and completely free of each other.

"I just told you why I--how do you know my name?" Ben began, but was interrupted by his own question.

I'm in your subconscious. I know everything that you know: Gwen, Kevin, the Omnitrix, blah blah blah--

"Wait, so you know what I'm thinking?!" yelped Ben.

Yup. How does it feel to have your innermost thoughts and privacy invaded?

"Shitful," came the angered reply. "Damn it!" Ben stood up, pacing back and forth in his room angrily. He kicked at a dirty pile of clothing, watching as the articles of clothing went flying across the room.

If it makes you feel any better, I guess I'm sorry.

"Oh, gee, thanks for the sarcastic apology." The voice laughed, and Ben relaxed slightly. "So...what's your name, anyway?"

Hm...it's been a while since I last introduced myself to anyone. My name is Yu-li.

"...Yu-li," repeated Ben. He could feel a slight wave of approval washed over him, and he knew that it was Yu-li's emotions, not his.

You should rest, now. When I get absorbed into someone's consciousness, they are not accustomed to the secondary presence, and the body can end up even more exhausted than you think.

"Mm," Ben grunted, already closing his eyes.

Sleep well, Ben Tennyson.

Yu-li's mutter was accompanied by a soft laugh.

OKAY. So.

I know that this idea is probably shitty and/or whatever, but I actually really enjoyed writing this.

Yu-li is an OC, but she's not going to make Ben 'fall in love with her' or any stupid shit like that. Secondly, she does not have super-powers; the whole 'absorption into someone's consciousness' idea is from my definition of ghosts.

GAH, FEAR IT.

(Please?) Rate and review?

.oblivion's pen