Master Bruce
She-Hulk #0.1 - Sweet Home California
Location - Los Angeles, California.
Location - Los Angeles, California.
2 Months Ago...
Many years had passed since Jennifer had last given her old stomping grounds a visit. It really had been far too long, but if she was being fair to herself, she had been rather busy on several fronts. However, her fathers birthday was coming up, as was the 20th anniversary of her mothers passing, there was not much aside from an Avengers emergency that would stop her from taking a break to spend some time with her father. And anyways, she couldn't recall the last time that she had truly taken some time off for herself, there was always something or another that needed doing whether that be reading, writing, punching, or lawyering. It was a good thing that she thrived in that sort of environment or else burnout would have been almost unavoidable. Time spent faffing about could have been time spent saving lives.
The hot Californian sun beamed down happily from the cloudless clear blue sky. The rhythmic sound of the calm waves washing up against the sandy beach from the deep blue sea filled the ears of the beachgoers, as did the smell of the sea salt. Some families had even broken out barbecues which added a rather intoxicating scent of steaks and hot dogs into the air too. Jennifer and her father sat on a bench on the sidewalk just above and behind the sand. Both of them had ice cream in hand. With a peaceful smile Jennifer really took in the moment of relaxation. Moments like these made her think that she really should take more time out of her schedules to really slow down and enjoy some things.
The beach was not the busiest of places today, there was still a fair amount of people but usually it would have been quite packed. That might of had something to do with the 6'10 musclebound green goliath of a woman who was sitting and licking at her ice cream like a child. Beachgoers and passerby's on the street would give her a variety of looks. Ranging from looks of curiosity, surprise, fear, and many in-between. Although it should be said there was some looks of awe and amazement in there too. And some more creepy looks... Back in the day when Jennifer had been first finding her feet as She-Hulk the reactions of the public had bothered her to her core, but over the years she had developed a nifty skill of blocking it out. Ok, maybe that nifty skill was still in development and being tinkered with because it still bothered her a fair amount, but she was good at pretending it didn't for the most part. As soon as they had arrived there had been a fairly consistent stream of people who either started to leave, or began to look about and preparing themselves for some superpowered villain to jump out of nowhere and start causing chaos.
Her father tilted his head up to look at her with a slightly concerned look in his warm brown eyes. He was a tall man himself around maybe 6'3 and for his age he was fairly well built still. He had a short beard that was a darker grey mixed with some shades of lighter grey and even some white. His hair was a short and professional cut and was majority white at this point. "Jen... Listen sweetheart I know you insisted on going out like this but, do you think that maybe you could come down back to your usual self? Might be more comfortable you know?"
If it was not for the fact that her skin was green, there would be a fair chance that a nervous blush of pinkish red would have been visible on her cheeks. "W-well uh... I think it is a bit late for that now. Everyone would see it and y'know and well..." She scratched the back of her head anxiously. Dad this is my usual self...
Jennifer nervously bit her bottom lip, a habit that she had carried with her out of her childhood. "A-anyway. Maybe if we are lucky we could clear out the beach and have it to ourselves huh? I bet not many families can manage that." She grinned pleasantly although could sense worry in her fathers kind weathered face. "Uh, next time for sure dad. I promise ok?"
Shaking his head he placed a hand on her shoulder, the fact that he had to reach up to do it made it rather awkward and silly looking especially from a sitting position, but it was the feelings behind it that mattered. "Jen... It is fine. Whether you are Jennifer Walters or She-Hulk, just spending time with you is enough okay?" There was no masking the embarrassment on her face this time.
Her father chuckled "Well how is the ice cream then? Taste as good as you remember?"
"It's perfect actually... Takes me back to when I would badger you for some money so Bruce and I could go get some." She smiled down at her cone of one scoop vanilla and one scoop strawberry. That was always how she had it, as far as she was concerned there was no other way to. Fondly she remembered one time that someone had asked her 'what about chocolate?', clearly she recalled her response of an enthusiastic 'EWWWW!' If she was honest with herself, mint chocolate chip was actually quite a nice flavour. But, when she was She-Hulk Jennifer always tried her best to avoid green coloured foods. Now nobody had ever said anything to her about it but she felt like whenever she ate something green and there was others around, people thinking of various jokes and quips to say about it. She did not want to give anyone the opportunity to deliver on that... Not that anyone other than herself was even thinking about it.
There was groups of people playing volleyball on the sands of the beach. Further out in the waters there was surfers, closer in there was families splashing about. Children made sand castles and dogs were sprinting around up and down all over the place wagging their tails. Jennifer was half tempted to drag her father down there, but he was not the best dressed for that sort of thing. He had a light shirt on and a pair of trousers from his work, a police radio and gun holster hung at his hip. Her father was always on the job even when off the job. Maybe it was something in the family?
A playful smirk creeped across her face. "So old man. You haven't been thinking of retirement lately have you?" She asked the question in a jovial tone. It was something that they had talked back and forth with each other on a few occasions about. Ever since Jennifer had joined the Avengers she had made several offers to pay for whatever her father needed, or wanted. However, the answer was always the same. That he planned on continuing working on the force for as long as he could. She had never been left wondering where she had gotten her heroic streak from growing up between her father and her cousin.
Her father let out a grumble but not in ill-temper, and waved his free hand dismissively. "Oh come on Jen don't start on that again! I'm the old man here if anyone is to keep bringing up talking of retirement it should be me." He shook his head as he thought about it. "Just what would I do with myself anyway huh? Sit at home on a couch growing a big belly? Watching old westerns and tv all day? Falling in and out of naps as I grow senile? No thank you miss, that isn't for me."
Jennifer raised an eyebrow "Really? That sounds like the life to me. Plus you could get a dog!"
Her father snorted "Oh please, you wouldn't be able to cope with that anymore than I could Jen. We are both busy bodies and always have been. You wouldn't know what to do with yourself. Plus, you haven't aged a day in years."
She feigned surprise at his last comment "Oh dad come on now, you don't have to flatter me like that, I'm not that old yet." Although there was truth to what he said, as far as she or anyone else could tell she really hadn't aged a day since the blood transfusion that gave birth to She-Hulk... Maybe one day that was something that should be looked into?
"It wasn't flattery sweetheart. I am just saying that you might not even reach retirement age for a loooong looong time yet. Who knows in a hundred years when I am long gone you might still be walking about down here just as you are today."
That had Jennifer thinking for a moment. If that was true just what would that mean?
Before Jennifer could get to pondering that point seriously, the police radio on suddenly cracked to life on her fathers waisy. "Requesting back up at the Union Bank. I repeat. I repeat. Requesting back up at the Union Bank. Meta-human perpretrator at the Union Bank, all officers on or off duty requested for back up!"
Jennifer spoke up before her father did, after gobbling down the rest of her ice cream greedily, cone and all. The cold of it hit quite hard and she somewhat regretted having just done that. But standing up she said "Well, we better get going then shouldn't we partner?" A toothy grin beamed on her face as she enthusiastically offered a hand to her father.
Her father took it and stood up, he rather disappointedly put his ice cream in the trash next to him. "Yeah, retirement just suits you perfectly doesn't it?" he commented sarcastically. He took out the police radio from his waist and pushed a button as he brought it up to his mouth to speak into. "Officer Walters en route."
Gamma World - She Hulk Tie In #1
Location - Gamma Base
Location - Gamma Base
Present Day...
Loud snoring could be heard from the room of She-Hulk. If one were to look inside they would see a rather messy room, clothes lay spread out across the floor, as well as several mugs, bowls, and plates making a little collection on a coffee table. At least they were all empty. On the couch lay Jennifer Walters, who had reverted out of her She Hulk form while she was sleeping. Her body was covered from huge pieces of clothing that were far to large to her now in comparison rather petite body. She was not particularly small though, around 5'4 but compared to 6'10...? The contrast was made even greater by the fact that she was had a slim athletic build as opposed to the huge musclebound frame of She Hulk.
A pillow lay over the top half of her face, covering her eyes from the lights above. It would seem like she had felt particularly lazy the night before and instead of getting up to turn of the lights she instead improvised. 'A Fist Full of Dollars' was playing on the TV in her room. On repeat it seemed. She had picked up a love for Westerns from her father, ones starring Clint Eastwood were particularly interesting to her. She had lost count how many times she had watched 'The Outlaw Josey Wales'.
Upon awakening she jolted up into an upright sitting position, the pillow was sent soaring over the edge of the couch and bounced onto the floor. Jennifer rubbed her head. Always waking up with a headache... she twisted her body to sit on the couch as it was intended to be sat on and planted her feet on the floor. So thirsty too. She swallowed, her saliva feeling rather irritating in her dry throat. She picked up one of the empty mugs assuming there was going to be water in it. The feeling she experienced when attempting to take a deep gulp and finding nothing there could only be described as extreme and sincere disappointment. She squeezed the mug angrily in her hand, a mood characteristic of her mornings. It was the fact that it did not instantly shatter in her hand that made her realize the obvious.
"Argh, not again!" She exclaimed to herself in an empty room in frustration. Unfortunately there was a chance that in her sleep Jennifer would be unconsciously shifted out of her She-Hulk form. The fact that nothing she tried to stop it would have any effect made it even more irritating for her. "Just the perfect start of the day..." She slumped her head forward as she spoke to herself grumpily. Standing up she held onto the clothes as good as she could and shuffled over to the sink where she filled up the mug with some cold water. After a few swigs she once more shuffled over to her wardrobe and opened it, looking for some casual clothes that were her current size. Of course she could have shifted back into She-Hulk but... There was always the feeling that her cousin much preferred being around her like this. Like it used to be.
Jennifer bore great sympathy for her cousin and his struggles with his alter-ego. The Hulk for him seemed to be something scary, forbidden, painful. An uncontrollable beast of rage and destruction that he had to engage in battle with constantly, an eternal struggle to keep himself under control. Meanwhile for Jen... It was one of the best things that had happened to her in all her life. There was no pain, it was quite the opposite. One day she wished that her cousin could experience it as she did. If they could somehow switch places for a while... She knew that was a silly thought, Bruce would never agree to such a thing, there was no way he would let anyone else shoulder the burden he bore in his place. In fact, even if somehow, someway, the possibility for such a thing did come to pass. Jennifer sincerely doubted that she had the strength of will and character that was needed to withstand such a thing. The amount of respect and admiration she held for her cousin had grown exponentially from when she was a child, and even back then she was looking up to him.
She made herself presentable, brushed her teeth and began to clean up the room a little bit. Stacking the plates and bowls to carry out later, putting the clothes away, putting the pillow back on the bed where it belonged. Simple things like that. Suddenly she heard a knock on her door, which sent a jolt of surprise up her spine. Hastily she rushed across the room and opened it to find her cousin Bruce standing there, and she was just thinking about him too... Speak of the devil and well you know...
"Hello! Goodmorning, how are you... I-it is morning right?" One thing that Jennifer had not done was draw the blinds and it looked as if Bruce had already been working on something before he came to her room...
"Please tell me it is at least afternoon." Jennifer rubbed her forehead hoping that she had not slept through to the night again. She hated it when that happened.
