Gamma Woes

"... and then Howard found me. I thought my goose was cooked, but he helped me out, helped piece a few things together and then brought me here and explained about you, Walt."

Walt nodded and helped Jen refill her plate with her favorites as he thought. Jen smiled. "Thanks," she said and he quickly smiled back telling her she was welcome.

She watched him as he thought. Studied and sized him up. She'd dealt with a lot of unsavory characters both professionally and personally in her time... but, wardrobe aside, she didn't get that vibe from him. He had a habit of making direct eye contact. He'd looked at her but hadn't stared, leered or made comments... though she thought he'd liked what he'd seen. The clothes they'd picked out for her had been comfortable and pretty concealing.

He wasn't hard on the eyes either. A little older and more rustic than her usual preference perhaps... but he was almost as tall as her and was powerfully built. He moved carefully too. Not just like someone who was trained or graceful but someone who understood strength and power and how to control it and be aware of it and others. And speaking of...

It was obvious that he was sleeping with at least one if not both of the women he'd brought with him. He was very attentive and they both couldn't have been more obvious in their attraction to him. It had been the biggest warning flag that had made her suspicious at first... but that had disappeared quickly. He was like a Teddy Bear with them. Very sweet and not controlling at all. There was a lot of mutual respect and trust between them... and he was polite and considerate with both her and Howard. He'd even brought Howard gifts despite being his employer.

He had a generous and giving nature despite having wealth. He was kind, considerate and respectful despite having power. He was charming, well mannered and polite despite his rough edges. She was in a tough situation but he was not only willing to help, he didn't appear to have any intention of taking advantage of it. She smiled adding a that information up. She didn't trust him 100% completely yet... but she did trust him and had a "good feeling" about him. He wanted to help her. That was rare.

Walt crunched on an egg roll as he thought piecing together what he knew. He nodded and wiped his mouth. "Alright so basically you're a little hazy on the details but you remember a fight and mystery attackers along with some others. They attacked the Avengers Mansion and also the Baxter Building which explains why that bunch hasn't been showing up as well. I'm willing to bet there's more groups and things that've been hit and are trying to keep it secret so they don't appear weak."

Howard nodded and redilled Walt's glass for him. "Seems most likely. That's also why it's been such a pain in the tail feathers. Anyone who got hit and then sees the public devastation to the Avengers will start looking around and thinking maybe they got lucky and need to focus on tightening theur own security more than looking for who done it. Paranoia starts setting in working in the opponents favor."

Walt nodded and sipped his drink looking at She-Hulk. "You weren't in control of yourself and at each location they sent you, they had you cause extensive damage and use your gamma powers to the point of weakening you. But during the last one the control slipped and you managed to get away. That may or may not have been "accidental", but it's too soon to speculate. Gamma radiation was found at both areas so Shield and others are looking for you and possibly your cousin but he's been away. They've had enough time by now to have probably found DNA samples to match you... so you did the unlikely thing and went into hiding. That's not like you Jen." He held up his hand. "I'm not saying it was wrong. Infact it's smart and likely what I would have done myself but it's not really your usual M.O.... can you walk me through your thought process on that?"

She-Hulk smiled and nodded. "You're not wrong. That's exactly the opposite of what I would encourage most of my clients to do... but I can recognize a frame up when I see one... I, and possibly others, am being used to cover up the tracks of whoever did this. They could have used me to attack but they didn't. They had me smash the place up. Make it look like a "Hulk" style rampage. There should be a ton of surveillance footage and pictures but there's been none of that. They had me exhaust myself leaving gamma paterns, destruction and other red herrings behind. This was a frame job of somekind from start to finish."

Walt nodded. "Yes... you're not wrong. You were smart to realize it too, Jen. I have some old back channel connections with Shield and others but I don't want to use them or tip them if they're looking for you... but this sounds exactly like the folks I'm looking for..." he sighed and shook his head. "Jen, I'm so sorry. You got caught up in this mess and they're after me. That makes what happened to you my fault. I'd like to try to help you if you'll let me?"

She-Hulk smiled. "That's a kind offer but how would you do it?"

Jubilee raised her hand excitedly. "Well first we'd get you somewhere that's not in the middle of the city. Come stay at the old Xavier place! Some of the X-Men might be able to help too if you let them. You might even be able to hide out on Krakoa if need be in a pinch."

Walt nodded. "I can probably get you some better disguise options then just oversized hoodie and sunglasses. Some real high-tech gadgets and the like. Plus you're smart, Jen. Having someone like you around will definitely help in figuring stuff out."

Gwen nodded. "You can even help when we're actively on investigations searching elsewhere where you aren't wanted. And even if you'd rather not help I can find some world or universe to help you hide out on until we fix things... maybe you could keep an eye on my dad fir me or-"

"What?" Jen said. "Other universe-"

"Oh! Oh oh oh!" Jubilee laughed. "You could help babysit my Shogo! Do you like kids? I bet he'd love a big sweet Shulkie nanny!"

"N-Nanny?!" Jen said her eyes bugging out. "Uhh... I'm not really sure- hey waitaminute! Don't just go calling me weird cutesy nicknames you-"

Jubilee giggled and hugged her causing some of the others to laugh too. "Sorry! If ya don't like it I'll come up with another and-"

Walt cleared his throat. "Ok. Everybody calm down a moment. Jubes, Gwen. It's Jen's decision to make if she wants to come with us and what she wants to do if she does. Jen, nobody's trying to pressure you into anything you don't want or aren't comfortable with doing. The number one immediate priority is keeping you safe and out of the trouble that's looking for you. We can provide you a place to stay that's somewhat convenient for that and with no strings attached."

Gwen nodded. "Walt's right. Sorry if it seemed like we were being pushy."

Jubilee sighed and nodded. She gave Jen another squeeze before letting go. "Yeah. Totally the same. There's no pressure. I just... I got excited thinking about you coming home with us... but I totally want it to be your decision to do that. I-I think it'd be a lot of fun but no matter what it's important that we help you and you decide how best we can do it!"

She-Hulk smiled and sighed. She pulled Jubilee in for another hug and nodded. "You guys are sweet..." She looked at them all and even winked quickly at the reader. "How do I say "no" to that?" She nodded at Walt and Gwen. "Thank you. I'll take you up on the kind offer." She laughed. "Besides it's the best option on the table currently!"

Howard laughed. "It's almost your only option!" He refilled everyone's drinks. "Unless you want to turn yourself in for something you didn't really do despite massive amounts of too convenient evidence saying otherwise... or you keep sleeping in my cramped filing/back room?"

Jen laughed accepting the refill. "Convincing argument! Alright, I guess I'm going with you guys. It sounds like my best chance to clear my name and settle the score with these jerks."

Walt grinned. "Alright! I'll drink to that!"

Gwen smiled and nodded. "Me too!"

"And me!" Jubilee said smiling raising her glass. "The three musketeers!... and Walt and Howie and Logan and my sweet Shogo and-"

"Howie?" Howard blinked and then laughed shrugging. "Oh, what the duck?"

They all laughed and drank.

[Walter Stark Penny Polendina F.R.I.D.A.Y Neopolitan Pyrrha Nikos Nora Valkyrie Yang Xiao Long Blake Belladonna Kali Belladonna Sienna Khan Willow Schnee Glynda Goodwitch Zwei Ahnassi Lifts-Her-Tail Senko Sayoko Shinozaki Roberta Cisneros Haruna Sasha Blouse Ilulu Raven Manami Aiba Tsuyu Asui Haruhime Sanjouno The Baroness Demona Mystique Pirotess Lydia Aela the Huntress Serana Mission Vao Curie Ada PAM KL-E-O Merida Gwen "Gwenom" Stacy Jubilation "Jubilee" Lee and Jennifer "She-Hulk" Walters

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On the Road Again

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