Chapter Text
Bellwood is a quaint town, far from the hustle and bustle of life in bigger metropolitan cities. That’s where you spent the majority of your life ever since the death of your parents, having been given compensation by the Plumbers and your parents’ own life insurance bequeathed unto you. It was fun for a while, when you were 15 going on 16 where you suddenly became very aware of how rich you were. You’d blown a good chunk off, acting out in rage and grief for being left alone in the world. Deep down, you blamed yourself for how much more important it was, for a time, that you could go on more adventures than the safety of your family.
And now you paid the price.
Enough partying, enough getting into trouble, and buying all the riches in the world to fill your void at such a young age. So very young and so very alone, the only people who could understand - who were truly privy to the fact that no, your parents did not die in a car accident but rather in the crossfire between aliens and – Plumbers? Ben Tennyson?
You rubbed your neck tiredly as you studied your face in the mirror, noting that your new home was still in disarray. So many boxes still sealed, and those that were unpacked had been done half-heartedly. Several family framed pictures of you, your mother, and your father laid on the mantlepiece of a fireplace - your dearest treasures. It might have been a luxury for an 18 year-old to suddenly be able to buy a house, but you’d decided that once you were of age you’d very much like a home that could be yours forever.
No more being looked after by a babysitter sent by the Plumbers, no more CPS - just yourself. But being in the system as long as you’ve been, you’d made enough friends and connections to know you’re definitely one of the lucky ones. Many others were still suffering, children slipping through the cracks and without even a smidge of inheritance money to help. So after you’d turned 17, you made it a mission to use whatever money you had to invest in organizations to help them.
It would never be as hands-on as being an agent of the Plumbers, but it helped. And that’s all you could ask for now. Your future might not be what you envisioned it to be, but it was good - perhaps better than the life of danger and adventure your younger self begged for.
Days were now spent mostly in therapy, Zoom calls with the board of directors for these organizations, strategic planning, and all while earning your highschool diploma. Your network applauded you for your dedication in your youth, welcoming you into their ranks with open arms, and you could feel it - the tether to the Plumbers, to the stars beyond loosening.
So why on Earth did you choose Bellwood to make your forever home?
Because, despite everything, you were trying to retether yourself to the stars beyond. However, spitefully, you’d only allow this if any of the Tennysons even remembered you.
As your gaze moved back from the pile of boxes in the living room to your reflection, you noted how different you’d looked since growing up. No longer a tomboy, you’d embraced a more societal appropriate look - but in truth it was a rebellion against who you once were. Where there once stood a tomboyish girl who hated pink and longed for adventure, now was the young woman who took her place; pink and lovely, skirts instead of shorts, hair always done instead of messy.
You wiped a stray smudge of tinted chapstick from the corner of your lips, smiling at yourself in the mirror; only for it to falter at the last minute.
“What am I doing?” You asked yourself, eyes widening as you recognised the reality of your situation. “Why am I - what have I done?”
Rubbing your eyes tiredly, you paced the floor for a while only to still when you hear a large boom from a distance. You hastily ran to an open window to see what was happening, only to see what you’d only glimpsed in breaking news segments before vehemently shutting the TV off. It was Ben as a large alien, one you’d never seen before, fighting off a robot shooting fire from its mouth. The building shook as he continued to fight in the distance, when suddenly you saw dots of pink appear in the sky – appearing to aid him in the fight.
“Gwen.” You muttered to yourself, fingers quivering upon the window sill.
Soon enough, from the corner of your eye, you see a man running down the street - towards the fight. One second, he’s flesh and blood with dark hair and dark eyes. Then another he touches the pavement and his being takes on the material of gravel. You gasped and clamped your mouth with your hands, you remembered him before - you’d met only once.
You tried to run, but he made eye contact with you before you could. His own eyes widened in response, his lips hanging slack as he stared at you. Even villains knew what happened to you, even Kevin did.
“Stay there – ”
“Don’t tell him – ”
The both of you pause before Kevin grunted out an agreement, taking off full speed at the fight again.
Meanwhile you closed the window, drew the curtains shut, and sank to the cold floor. Your heart followed suit, dropping to the pit of your stomach as the loud noises continued on. You winced every time they did, staring up at the swaying paper-mache ceiling lamp; would you lose your home now? After the first day of getting it?
You shook your head, surely not. As the ground trembled, you managed to get yourself to the kitchen to try and make a cup of tea; trying to ignore the very real, very terrible danger outside your doors. You’d even managed to make a cup for Kevin, wondering if he’d try and find you again.
Crawling onto the couch with a blanket, you stayed still and drank your tea - the noise finally subsiding, yet you had no courage left to try and take a look. As your stare lingered upon your door, you thought back on Kevin Levin. He was there on the day your parents were caught in the crossfire, four different children watching as real adults died before their eyes.
He was only a bit taller than you then and had only said a single line of an insult to you before the fight began. It was all he ever said to you before the incident, the second was him telling you to stay inside, and the third was the muffled ‘It’s me’ outside your door that came after 2 knocks.
His mug was now cold and night had descended upon the quaint town you’d soon call a home.
“Are you alone?” You called, hand hovering over the doorknob.
“Yes.”
You swung the door open and stepped aside, nodding politely - unsure of what else to say. Kevin was much the same, rubbing his neck awkwardly as he stood in the middle of your living room. His eyes scanned the room, noting the unpacked boxes and cold mug of tea on a coffee table. He moved to the fireplace, staring at the pictures on the mantle, and finally spoke.
“It really is you.” he mumbled, before looking over his shoulder at you with what could only be described as a difficult smile. “Miss Stargirl herself.”
Your heart squeezed painfully at the name, it was a dumb name you picked for yourself - for that dream of being a Plumbers agent that never came true.
“Sorry,” was Kevin’s hasty reply, turning around fully this time with wide eyes and hands held up. “I didn’t think it – well – “
“It’s fine,” you said, almost as hasty as Kevin, gesturing to the cold mug on the table. “I didn’t expect to see you here, in Bellwood.”
“Same here.” he said, taking a careful seat on an armchair adjacent from yours. “... I thought you didn’t want anything to do with the Tennysons ever again.”
“Same here.” You laughed bitterly, staring at him. “I thought you hated them.”
Kevin frowned, drinking from his cold mug of tea, “Not really.”
Chewing on your bottom lip, you stared down at your mug. Also cold but now empty.
“Gwen and me are dating,” he said suddenly, causing you to almost drop your mug.
You stared at him, bug-eyed, as your mind raced to try and put two and two together. Your jaw went slack as you searched his eyes for any indication for a lie, but he could only offer you an annoyed stare.
“What?” he ground out.
Straightening in your seat, you replied, “Uh. No – nothing, it's just uh, um. Congratulations.”
“Thanks.” he mumbled out, “Got a problem with it?”
“Aside from being surprised? No.” You scratched your cheek, “Now that I think about it, I don’t really have any say in who she’s with now. I mean I haven’t spoken to her in a while, after all.”
“A long while.” Kevin replied, thumb playing with the rim of his mug. “She talks about you often, you know that?”
Your heart feels like it stopped beating for a while, your entire body stilling.
“She’s wanted to send you a connect request on that site you’re both on – Linkedin?” he said, wiping his face tiredly. “She keeps track of your… achievements. All those donations, the work – ”
You laughed sadly, softly. “So she’s still at it with university, huh?”
“She wants nothing less.” he replied, just as soft with fondness. “But she also misses you as a friend.”
“Kevin Levin,” you quirked a smile. “I never thought I’d see the day you’d be smitten for a girl like Gwen.”
The old Kevin might have fired back, might have even gotten annoyed. But this Kevin – he only stared at you, gaze wavering between something somber and something else. Like he was thinking of someone, and you knew it was Gwen.
‘I never thought I’d see you again either,’ that stare seemed to say. ‘Neither would Gwen or Ben, so won’t you –’
“No.” you said, already anticipating his question. “At least, not in the way you might think.”
Kevin arched an eyebrow, “Go on.”
“I mean I hardly look like I did when I was a kid, and I’m planning on not saying anything until either of them say something.” You rubbed your eyes tiredly, “Considering Gwen may know already – ”
“Trust me when I say Ben doesn’t.” Kevin interjected, “The only reason why I recognised you was because Gwen can only talk about you with me, she doesn’t want Ben to – well, get hurt.”
“Get hurt, huh.” You sighed, absent-minded.
“If it weren’t for the fact that I’m an unwilling participant in her stalking, I wouldn’t have recognised you as you either, Star.”
You looked at him strangely, “Star?”
Kevin grinned, “Want me to call you dweeb like the old times instead?”
A beat passed before you finally laughed, a small good natured one that hinged on those first words he said to you all those years ago.
‘Dweeb number two is fighting with us?’
‘I have a name, doofus.’
“Ben doesn’t even have Linkedin,” he shrugged. “Not looking to bulk up his portfolio for university either.”
“He doesn’t have to,” you added.
Kevin pointed a finger at you, “Unfortunately, you’re right. That and he loves Twitter, or is it called X these days? I don’t know, not much of a social media buff. Anyways he just fools around there more often.”
You hummed, “I’m still looking into university. I’ve just come to Bellwood for a gap year in the meantime.”
His eyebrows shot up at that, “Meantime? You sure? Because by the look of things, it looks like you just bought the place –”
“I did.”
Kevin whistled at that, “Rich and stupid then. Wow.”
You shot him a glare, “Excuse me – ”
“Star,” he began, putting down his mug and staring at you seriously. “I also left for a while after what happened. I left the solar system to get away from this all. Turned to stealing, into conning - at larger scales. I didn’t come back until I was ready to at least tolerate things. But you – man, I don’t know what you’re thinking.”
You frowned at him, eyebrows furrowed as you considered his answer.
“... I left for bigger cities,” she admitted. “The big apple, Los Angeles - did all kinds of stuff with my money. I didn’t find anything there, and I don’t think you did either with your own travels.”
Kevin was silent, if not slightly annoyed you were right on the money.
“So I’ve been going to therapy, I think I’m doing well.” you mumbled, “Well enough to get more of this like, exposure therapy thing. Maybe if I get used to seeing them in person, I won’t have to avoid billboards or tabloids with their faces – ”
You looked around the house again, still devoid of much furniture.
“Then once I’m done here, maybe I’ll just turn this into an Airbnb. Or sell it again once I do some renovations.” Shrugging, you turned back to him with a wry smile. “Property prices are definitely going up in time.”
Kevin stared at you strangely before quirking an incredulous smile, “Okay, so you might not be so stupid then.”
You’d opened your mouth to reply, enjoying the surprising but not entirely unwelcome reunion with Kevin Levin, only to be stopped by his phone ringing. Digging it out of his pocket, Kevin’s eyes went wide momentarily before he turned back to you.
“It’s Gwen.”
You fought to keep your nerves under control, your fingers going to fidget with the sleeves of your shirt.
“Unless she has a tracker on you, feel free to answer.” you said, waving him off.
He stared at you, panic in his eyes.
“Oh.” You deadpanned, “Be so forreal right now.”
“I am – ”
“GET OUT.”