Day 10 - Afterparty at the Baxter Building

Reed and Sue Richards had withdrawn -- there were children to put to bed and science would not wait for formalities, after all. Most of the casuals had left. Of the ones who were left... there was an interesting collection, really. Jennifer Walters and Janet Van Dyne. Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, and Don Blake. Jean Grey and Kitty Pryde. Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm.

And Mary Jane Watson and Gwen Stacy.

"I... feel weird, being around so many legends," Gwen said, sipping a beer.

"You should," Tony said. He was drinking Doctor Pepper. "You should feel entirely weird and out of place, because God knows you're weird and out of place."

"Oh behave," Janet said, giggling. She was drinking a cosmopolitan. As was Jen. They were more or less sitting in a circle. Coats off, ties loosened. Hanging out. It was oddly like being at camp. "It's been a long time since one of these presentations turned into something more or less nice. I feel like we never just hang out any more. God, I miss the old Mansion."

"Feh. Too fancy fer me," Ben said. He was drinking beer. Of course. "I miss the Baxter Building. Th' real one. Before everything happened to it and we rebuilt it nine or ten times. That building was from the old New York, not ugly towers of glass and shame."

"Why do I feel like you were saying that to me?" Tony asked.

"'Cause I was. You know what th' problem is with makin' your building always look like it's on the cutting edge?"

"I'm pretty sure you'll tell me no matter how I answer, so I'm just going to say 'pancakes.'"

"Cutting edge lasts like a minute, and then yer building looks old fashioned. The Empire State Building? The Chrysler Building? Those got timeless class!"

"The Chrysler Building couldn't be more locked into an era," Jen said, laughing. "Come on, Ben! It's art deco gone horribly wrong!"

"You mean horribly right! Trust me, Jennie, I got experience with that."

"Horrible, anyway," Johnny said. He had a beer, too.

"The weird thing to me?" Steve Rogers said. "Midtown is... this mix of unrecognizable and absolutely what I remember. Even Times Square, which couldn't be weirder and more different and... it's still exactly the same."

"Minus quite so many hookers an' bums," Ben said. "I miss 'em. They gave the place character."

"They're still there," Kitty said. "You just have to look for them." She looked at Gwen. "So... is everyone here... y'know... in the know? Is the lodge tiled? Have we all met under the sign of four?"

Tony looked around. "Okay, anyone who doesn't know Spider-Man is Peter Parker raise your hand. We'll have to ask you to leave the room so you don't find out Spider-Man is Peter Parker."

"Dang it!" Kitty said. "And I was comfortable, too." She got up.

"Sit down," Mary Jane said. "I know you know--"

"Yeah, but I'm outta beer." She snagged one from the ice chest that Johnny had brought in when the people in suits had left. "Okay. I know we joked around about it a little, but who does have the return-from-the-dead record?"

"There's a guy in the midwest named Mister Immortal," Doctor Blake said. "It's... stunning just how wrong that name is. His power is coming back to life, not living forever."

"I did it once. That's enough," Gwen said. She paused. "Well... sort of."

"Sort of enough?" Mary Jane asked.

"Sort of... once." She looked at her beer. "None of this gets back to Peter?"

"Okay?" Janet asked, eyebrows arching.

"...I'm... finding myself... remembering... things my clones did. I mean. I remember a lot of stuff I shouldn't anyway -- and that is a long story. But... this is different. It... I keep seeing things... first person. But... not like me. Like a dream. And I have no idea why. None of the other Jackel-class clones do that, even if they have the memories of the clone-ee." She shivered. "One of them got married to a guy. For years. He was a clone of the Jackel. That was Gwen Miles. The one Abby-L killed. Which I also can almost remember doing. I seriously don't understand what's happening to me."

"We should have asked Doctor Strange to stay," Steve Rogers said. "Or Doctor Voodoo."

"Mm. I know that trick," Jean said. "I remember Madelyne just like I remember Young Jean and all those mes." She looked around. "Has everyone here come back from the dead at least once?"

There was a long pause.

"Jesus Christ," Tony said. "Really? All of us? Mary Jane -- you?"

"Yeah. This guy named Jared. Split in two. Good Jared, evil Jared. Evil Jared killed me. Good Jared brought me back to life. It was like... twenty minutes? I don't really try to get in the grey jeans club--"

Mary Jane froze.

"...oh my God," Jean said. "Tell me that's a thing. Tell me there's a grey jeans club! Is that -- is that a Hank thing? Did Hank and Bobby come up with that?" She looked delighted.

"I can't confirm or deny grey jeans club," Janet said. "But finding a good neutral grey denim that works on all skin tones is harder than you think. We ended up having to go cool grey and warm grey. Theoretically. Or not. That's not an admission. None of this was my idea."

"Wait. When did you die, Kitty?" Johnny asked.

"There's some disagreement," Kitty said. "Was I alive in the bullet flying through the cosmos or was I dead? I was... oh God, I swear I only just thought of this pun... Schrödinger's Kitty." She paused. "But I wasn't breathing or eating or communicating. I count that as dead. God knows getting out of that thing was like coming back to life."

"It counts," Jean said. "I mean... do we count Steve in the ice all those decades?"

"I sort of do," Steve said. He was cradling a beer in his hands. He had maybe had three sips since he opened it, Gwen noticed. "I mean, understand... I've died a few times since then. Including that time I was shot twice and therefore got unstuck in time because..." He paused. "Has anyone ever figured out a reasonable explanation for that?"

"The Red Skull was going to pull you back and torment you. And officially do other things, but it was pretty much torment. He's... he's got so much hate..."

There was another pause. Gwen realized after a couple of moments everyone was looking at her. She realized after that that she was the one who spoke up.

"...so. The... process... that brought me back. Exposed me to... events. To 'get me caught up.' But I seem to know a lot more than just those events. I know things I shouldn't from before the bridge. I know things that have nothing to do with me or..."

"Tell me something crazy about myself that you know and shouldn't know!" Jen Walters shouted gleefully.

Mary Jane looked at Jen. "...how do you do that?"

"Eh. Enough crap happens, you learn to look for the fun bits. G'wan, Gwen. Crazy, embarrassing... give us something."

Gwen stared at Jen, then shrugged. "Well, you once had a tail."

Jen blinked. "How--"

"It was that or the topless photo spread they accidentally color corrected. Or the cockroaches."

Jen started giggling. "Okay. Whatever happened, you definitely got the goods on me."

"I wish I didn't." Gwen drank the rest of her beer. "It may be cliche for people in Peter's life, but it's a lot of responsibility, and I don't understand why it's happening." She looked at the bottle in her hand. "Originally, we thought it was because I... saw things... as I was being brought through time... but I've been 'remembering' things from before t-the bridge. And that had nothing to do with it. And I mentioned the clone memories. If anything... it's like I'm learning more all the time, and I don't know why."

"I admit it's disconcerting," Steve said. "But for my money, your concern about it says good things about you. I have to admit... I'm curious how far it goes. Is there anything you can point to that wouldn't be dangerous or damaging -- just an example of--"

"Bernie Rosenthal."

Steve paused, then chuckled, flushing slightly. "Okay."

"I agree with Steve," Johnny said. "You seem to be handling it." He chuckled. "Ol' web-head doesn't deserve you. Or Mary Jane." He paused. "Wait, which--"

"Don't ask," Gwen and Mary Jane said in unison.

"Fair enough." He finished his own beer. "So. Absolutely no one tells Reed about this, right?"

Gwen's hand clenched reflexively into a fist.

"Why not?" Mary Jane asked. "I'd think his advice would be useful."

"Look, I respect my bro-in-law more than almost anyone. And Reed, my sister, Franklin and Valeria... even this giant orange load? They mean more to me than I could say."

"Aw, I'm misty over here," Ben muttered.

"But... Reed... sometimes... assumes he knows what's best for everybody. His brain's so big he sometimes thinks that means he's got to watch over everyone -- keep them from things that are too dangerous for them, or that he figures they aren't ready for."

"Wow, that's not insulting at all," Janet said.

"Yeah. That's the thing. Reed... forgets there's more than one way to be smart. And isn't always great at asking permission or advice." Johnny rolled the bottle in his hands. "If he knew Gwen was beginning to 'know' things without explanation, he'd want to study her to find out why... and contain her if necessary. And if she knew things he actively thought were dangerous--"

Gwen opened her mouth, then visibly **** herself to close it. She looked at Jean, then Janet and Steve. "I can... I can see wanting to know more about this," she muttered. "But not..."

"Yeah," Ben said. "Stretcho? He means well. He always means well. But there's lotsa reasons he works best when the rest of us are with him. Mind if I ask what's got you so pissed off, though?"

Gwen looked at Ben... she slowly **** herself to relax. "It's nothing," she said. "And... I appreciated his coming to Peter's defense before. The same with all of you."

"Spidey makes some bad decisions," Johnny said. "For example, his clothes sense, his hair, his pizza choices--"

"Pizza choices?" Jen asked.

"I can see liking Hawaiian pizza, even if it makes no sense. But pepperoni, mushroom, pineapple and olives?"

"Oh God," Jen shuddered. "Forget I asked."

"The point is... he screws up. But I've never known anyone who'd throw himself into hopeless odds to save his worst enemy's life the way he would. Admittedly, for good reason." Johnny snorted. "Pete's got a lot of problems, and way too many are his own doing, but he's the only guy outside the FF I unreservedly trust." He glanced at Jen. "You count as FF for these purposes."

"Aw. I like you too, Johnny." Jen chuckled. "Of course, he joined up too--"

"He joined the Future Foundation. To replace me. When I was dead. Totally doesn't count."

"Peter's... not unlike Reed in his own way," Doctor Blake said. "Both are smart enough to come to immediate conclusions. Both immediately act on them. And both sometimes don't consider other possibilities in the process. It's interesting, since their processes are almost completely different. Reed's always deductive. Peter's always inductive." The doctor smiled a bit. "Honestly... what Peter's always needed... is exactly what Reed has. Other perspectives. Other people he can trust implicitly -- to have his back, to question his choices, and to make sure he remembers he doesn't have to do it all alone."

"Imagine that," Mary Jane said, smiling just a touch.

"So let's not be downers," Kitty said. "Maybe this whole Inanna thing will give Spidey the support he needs. And give Peter the chance to finally be the guy we all know he can be."

"It's good you're starting with this presentation," Doctor Blake said. "Reach out to the rest of us. I admit, I'm excited to be a potential resource -- a medical perspective on your research and a potential doctor for your clients."

"I already talked about the legal side of things," Jen said. "There's a lot of test cases that still need to be made. And laws that'll need to be written -- and they're complicated."

"Don't I know that," Janet said. "I don't want to sound all one percentish, but Gwen? When you talked about dealing with your life post-probate? That hit home for me. I've got both family money and business money, and I can tell you right now no one wants to give that cash up when you've come back after being declared dead." She looked a bit sheepish. "Though the driver's license was easier for me to work out, I admit." She paused. "And you mentioned you weren't looking for cash -- that you had an endowment. I'm glad to hear that. It'll tell what name I'm writing on the check."

Gwen blinked. "Seriously, we--"

"Shh. Money's never an issue until it's the only issue. And since you're in charge, MJ, I figure it's not going to get wasted too quickly. Besides, Tony'll need some additional cover if he's trying to keep his name away from this."

"I'm pretty sure I never said anything about being connected to this in any way," Tony said.

"Precisely. Normally you'd be trying to horn your way in." Janet grinned. "Don't kid a kidder, Stark. I've known you too long. Heh. You, me, Thor... Steve, more or less." She half-smiled, wistfully. "Hank."

Jean arched an eyebrow, looking at Janet. "Don't you figure he'll be coming back, too? I know that Ultron--"

"Of course I figure Hank will come back," Janet said. "And at some point we'll try again and we'll fail again, because Hank can't balance what he needs with what he thinks he needs. He's a hero. And he's a scientist. And he's a man. And... he struggles with mental illness, and every time he gets to equilibrium something happens that makes him pull on spandex or a reducto-suit or a helmet to talk to insects and he comes out and he tries, and eventually he goes off the rails. Again." She sighed. "Everyone here's come back to life, either metaphorically or literally. And every one of us has had to rebuild from nothing, and we've all risen to that challenge because deep down none of us are finished. We have more we need to do. More we're driven towards."

"Every time the Phoenix came back, we did what the Phoenix needed," Jean murmured. "Even when it seemed far away. This is my first life... maybe ever... where it's about what I need."

"The struggle never ends," Steve said, also speaking softly. "And that need's stronger than..."

"Than the sense that we've earned the chance to rest."

That voice was new. Gwen and Mary Jane turned to look. The others didn't seem surprised.

Carol Danvers was at the door to the small lecture hall. She was in jeans, a t-shirt, and a bomber jacket. "Sorry," she said, looking around. "I'd gotten here late and I didn't get the dress code memo. I saw things from the control room, and wasn't sure if I should come out."

"Why not?" Mary Jane asked, softly.

"Few reasons," She walked over, nodding to Steve, Tony, and Ben, then pulling one of Tony's Doctor Peppers out of the cooler. "Technically I never died. I had my memories and powers sucked out of me long term and became a new person with new emotional connections. I was torn into four separate beings at one point. I was made a completely different being under the psychic control of a monster who took me away as a brood mare. I was divided into two as a 'gift.' And I got to feel one version of me die, and got to feel like the bad guy during that." She opened her beer, then looked at Gwen. "And because something about you freaks me out. Which isn't the same thing as saying you're dangerous -- because I don't think you are. Riddle me that."

Gwen blinked. "Why would I freak you out?"

"No clue. You're not going to absorb my life, memories, and personality with a touch, are you?"

"Hey, c'mon," Kitty said.

"That was a low blow. I admit it." She looked at Mary Jane and Gwen. "I'm not sure what's actually going on with Spidey and you two. I think... think it's a good thing? But I'm not sure. There's something about all this..."

Gwen rubbed her temples. "Yeah. I can understand that. You're... Carol, right? You were close to Peter?"

"Missed a shot. We'd have probably gotten closer, back during the time Osborn ran the show, but then we had different paths after the Asgardian siege. I went from 'Ms.' to 'Captain.' He got... superior..."

Everyone groaned at that one.

"Anyway. I worry about him. Who doesn't?" She squatted between Steve and Tony.

"So what is it that feels weird about Gwen?" Doctor Blake asked.

"If I could tell you more than that, it would feel like something, instead of just 'weird.'"

"Do you have anything?" Mary Jane asked Gwen.

"Not... really," Gwen said. "I... remember things about her. But they're fuzzy." She shrugged. "Maybe it's all that time she spent in space. My 'memory' seems to mostly focus on Earth."

"Interesting," Doctor Blake said. "Do you intend to be a client of Inanna's, as well as one of its directors?"

"Absolutely," Gwen said.

"Then maybe we'll figure that mystery out." He looked at his empty mug -- he preferred to pour his beer into a mug instead of drinking it out of a bottle. "Another?"

"Got you covered," Kitty said. "Lemme finish mixing up fresh cosmos for Walters and Van Dyne." She grinned. "Annnnnd..." she scooped out a beer, smoothly cracked it open on her suit's belt buckle, and poured in one move, tipping the glass before sliding through the table itself and handing it to Doctor Blake while handing the two cosmos in the same turn.

"Jeez," Ben said. "You been holding out on us during poker nights, Kitty?"

"I worked at a bar during college," she said. "Full on 'bartenders dancing on the bar' style. I got game, and no one can claim otherwise." She sat down, sipping her own beer. "So what now?"

"We've taken possession of the building, and we're working on gear for the inside, as well as appointing suites for clients," Gwen said. "Honestly, we'd love advice on outfitting the clinic, as well as on hiring." She chuckled. "It all sounds so grown up."

"Shouldn't it?" Steve asked.

"In one sense? I'm younger than Kitty was when she was tending bar. In another I'm MJ's age. I'm never sure which one counts."

"On your worst days? You'll feel the pains of both extremes," Steve said, quietly. "But on the best days? You'll feel their strengths and joys, instead. Sometimes I feel old, sometimes I feel young. Mostly I feel 'me.' That's what I shoot for."

"And if that doesn't work," Jean said. "Wear something skintight and wiggle a little when you walk. It's harder to feel old when you're making people drop their stuff just by passing by."

That got a laugh. And despite herself, Gwen laughed too.