Chapter 10: Self-Betterment

A week passed in a blur. Jessica spent her off-hours at Stark Tower, for the dual purpose of avoiding Gwen and aiding Laura in adjusting to life outside the labs. The younger girl very quickly became used to her presence, and once she let go of some of her fears, she was actually a very sweet kid. She didn't say much, probably due to her 'handlers' prior treatment of her. But she was very... "Touchy-feely". She guessed that gentle touching was sorely lacking in the girl's short life, which led to them spending a lot of time cuddled up in a cushy armchair together.

She was pretty smart, as well. The doctors testing her determined that she was well above the academic standard for someone her 'age', and they included a complete set of school records in her file, which would put her in Jessica's classes once she was released. Convenient, she mused to herself.

Most of their interactions were quiet talks, most of it Jessica's. Laura was quite content to sit comfortably, curled up in her lap and listening to her talk about anything at all. Which was therapeutic for both of them, after all was said and done.

Jessica had caught her cutting herself a handful of times, but it was getting easier to convince her to stop. Some of the lab techs thought that the pain may be her release mechanism for dealing with unfamilliar situations. Either way, she didn't have to like it...

Avoiding Gwen was becoming a hassle in and of itself. She knew she was being at least a bit silly, if not downright cowardly, but the thought of facing the unattached object of no small number of feelings terrified her.

She'd tried. By God, had she tried...

But they had bumped into each other the morning after she'd moved back in, on her way to the bathroom, and things had gone downhill from there...

To say she was astonished by what had appeared in the bathroom doorway would be drastically understating the situation. Gewn had clearly just stepped out of the shower, and her wet hair clung to her skin as she stood dripping in the doorway.

That wasn't really the problem, though. It was the fact that she was only wearing one loose towel that made her face go red and her pulse race.

Clearly, Peter's libido hadn't been diminished by the cloning process.

If anything, it had been strengthened.

...

Lucky her.

They'd exchanged a few customary plesantries, and Gwen had welcomed her into the family with a hug, one that left Jessica standing in the hallway as heat flashed through unfamilliar parts of her body.

Since then, she'd avoided the blonde girl as much as she could. The last thing she needed was another problem to worry about, especially when she was still at least partially unused to her new body.

She had no illusions about it, of course. The Zoo had provided her with time to... Explore her new body. And they'd given her a detachable showerhead...

Enough said...

School made it rather difficult to avoid her, but at least the whirlwind of her return took the general focus off of the 'new girl'. Things levelled out, and she was almost startled when she realised that she was starting to feel normal again.

For the most part, anyway...

"-rty, Jess?"

Jessica blinked, looking up from the ground. The blonde had shown up to walk with them that morning, prompting Peter to make a sly comment about being surrounded by beautiful women all the time, but she hadn't been paying attention to her friend as they walked. "Huh?"

Liz rolled her eyes and poked Peter in the shoulder. "You've corrupted her, Petey. She was probably a great listener before she met you." She accused, and her brother simply shrugged, smirking. "I asked if you were coming to the party, Jess. Tomorrow night, my place."

Jessica bit her lip, trying not to frown. Laura was being released the next day, and she had promised to help the girl get settled in. "I don't know..."

"Oh, come on! Lighten up, girl! You've hardly even tried to be social ever since you got here..."

"Liz!" Mary exclaimed, indignant for her new friend.

"What? It's an accurate and valid observation."

"Oh, leave her alone, Liz." Gwen said, rolling her eyes at their antics. "She'll open up when she's ready." Everyone else missed the implied double meaning, but Jessica saw the pointed glance in her direction.

Oh, good. Always nice to get a fresh dose of guilt in the morning.

The chatted quietly as they settled into homeroom, and listened, bored, as their teacher started her daily routine. Another teacher came in and started talking about a student TV network, but Jessica tuned her out, instead listening to the scratching of Peter and MJ's pens as they had another of their little private talks.

Talks she wouldn't get any more.

She shook her head. Not today...

The school principal stepped into the room, and they all fell silent and straightened up a bit. Apparently, they were getting another new student. "It seems there's no shortage of people who want to come to school here. She's kind of well-known and she's joining our school. I'm sure that her addition will spark some discussion, though there has already been plenty of that already this month." He glanced at Gwen and Jessica before continuing. "Nonetheless, she's assured me that she's up for that and also to answer any of you who have questions or concerns." He motioned through the door, and both Parkers dropped their pens as the new new girl stepped into the room.

"Class... Welcome Kitty Pryde to Midtown High School."

Mac growled as the clock ticked again. He'd been finished the stupid GED test for ten minutes, but apparently Tony Stark felt that it would be beneficial for him to sit there for the full allotted time.

He was almost ready to bust down the door.

Finally, after the full time had passed, he was allowed to leave. And he honestly had no idea what to do. He had a load of free time, and nothing to fill it with. Not being in school and not having a job, he was left with... Well... A load of free time.

Wandering around Stark Tower proved to be an interesting way to kill time. Stark had given him almost complete access to most of the building, and some of the projects were absolutely fascinating. The man had projects going on in virtually any field imaginable: Sanitation. Nuclear technology. Computer hardware. Robotics. And the expected weaponry and aeronautics. The lab techs were, for the most part, very friendly. Most of them were happy to describe their work, a few even letting him test them out.

But even wandering the labs bored him after a while. His hands were starting to itch, and that usually meant that he needed to find something new to occupy his time. So he went looking for his soon-to-be 'boss'. He didn't have to look far, the man was usually in his office for a few hours before lunch.

"Morning, Miss Potts." He greeted the slim redheaded secretary, who glanced up from her computer.

"Good morning, Mr. Parker. Go right in, he's not busy right now." He straightened up a little at the greeting, a small smile forming as he walked past.

He didn't see her hide her own.

Tony wasn't busy. Not by his standards anyway. He was leaning back in his chair, poking at a projected holographic computer screen and talking with some executive on a headset. Mac sat in the chair across from him, not surprised when the multi-billionaire didn't even acknowledge his presence, wrapping up his conversation after a few minutes and sitting up with a sigh.

"They only love you for your money, Mac." He joked, tossing the headset off to one side. "So, what can I do for you?"

"Give me something to do."

He blinked. "What?"

Mac rolled his eyes. "Look, now that Gwen is gone back home, there's nothing around here for me to do. So, I'll say it again. Give me something to do."

"Why don't you go see a movie? Play some video games? Try and be a normal teen for a while?"

"No job. No money. Give me something to do." He repeated.

Tony laughed. "Oh, is that all that's stopping you?" He reached into his desk and pulled out a folder, flicking it across the desk and into Mac's lap. "Here. This is your half of your care package. Don't spend it all in one place."

"My half?" He asked, leafing through the files. There it was. Everything he needed to be a person again.

"There's more, but you'll get it when you're older."

Mac rolled his eyes, trying not to smile. He stood up, tucking the folder under his arm. "Thanks, boss." He quipped, and left to a light chuckle behind him.

Time to hit the mall.

"Wait... You never broke up with her?" Jessica stared at her brother, and he looked away, embarrassed. "You're an idiot."

"Amen." MJ agreed. Gwen didn't say anything, but she was nodding her agreement. The four of them stared up the bleachers at the lone girl, recovering from the third degree interrogation she'd gotten from the class.

"Well... I was going to... I mean..." They were all staring pointedly at him, and he sighed. "Yeah... I'm going..."

The three watched him go, a wide range ofthoughts and emotions playing on their faces. And when he sat down next to her, Mary let out a depressed sigh.

"My boyfriend is a huge jerk..." She said calmly, and the trio turned away, walking back towards the school.

"Yeah, well... Everyone has their moments..." Gwen commented, smirking just a little.

MJ smirked right back. "Speaking of moments..." She grabbed both of them by the arm and hauled them into the nearby student's lounge, turning them around and plopping them both into a couch. "I've been watching you two, and I think you need to talk about this." Jessica felt her heart freeze in her chest, and the blood drain from her face. "Now, I'm going to stand in front of the door, and I'm not letting you two out until you talk. So there."

And with that, she left, and closed the door behind her.

And when Gwen turned and looked her in the face, Jessica felt the fear rising in her throat.

"So... Uh..." Cool amber eyes blinked uneasily at her. "I, umm... I guess I'll go first... I've kinda noticed that you... Don't really like me..."

It was like getting ice water thrown in her face. "What?"

"I don't know... You don't talk to me, and-"

"Of course I like you." The words came without the thoughts. Gwen's expression became confused. "I-I''m just scared..."

"Scared?"

"I... I th-think... I still like..." She was looking away now, staring at the tile floor, her voice barely a whisper. "Girls..." Admitting it out loud was the hardest thing she had yet done in her short life.

"What, is that all?" Her head snapped up, and she was shocked at the slightly condescending smile on the blond's face. "I'm not terribly surprised. Put a boy's brain in a girl's body, and..." The lights suddenly went on upstairs, and she blushed terribly. "Oh, wow..."

Jessica was now looking at her feet. "He always liked you... But it was never like what he had with MJ... And I can't have her..."

"So... I'm the consolation prize?" Gwen asked, and almost laughed at the horrified look she recieved.

"No! I didn't mean-"

Gwen hugged her before she could finish. "Only teasing, girl. Honestly, I'm rather flattered. I'm the one you 'came out' to, so to speak..." She pulled back just a bit and wiped a tear that had escaped down Jess' cheek. "This whole clone thing really screwed us all up, didn't it? All four of us..."

Four? Me, Peter, Her, and... Jessica blinked, and she knew what was coming. She could feel it. Mac... Gwen was holding her, but it felt like... A sister. (Not that she'd ever had a sister...) "I understand." She said quietly, a little piece of her heart breaking as she pulled away. "I'm sorry..."

"Why? What are you-"

"Mac." She said simply, her eyes returning to her shoes.

"Oh. Oh, you silly thing." And this time, as she looked up, Gwen's face was a lot closer than it had been. The warm fuzzies exploded into tiny lightning bolts as their lips met, and the world exploded into lights.

She remembered each and every kiss Peter had ever gotten from MJ. They were all amazing. But this was her first kiss as a girl. And it was, as the saying goes, something completely different. She felt those lips from her head to her toes. Later on, she would learn that the genetic manipulations of her creation had not only heightened the sensitivity of her spider-sense, but also supercharged every nerve cell in her body. Right then, however, she had no idea, but even if she had, she was too absorbed in the sensation to care.

It only lasted a few seconds, but it seemed to go on for a lot longer to her. And when they broke, she was breathing hard, and the heat was still burning in her veins. "Oh, wow..." She breathed, wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "That... Wow..."

Gwen laughed, her own cheeks a rosy shade of red. "Thanks."

"But.. You..."

She rolled her eyes. "Teenage rebel, remember? I'm not above, err... Experimenting..."

But there was something there. In her eyes. Jessica could see it. Peter had seen the same look in MJ's eyes once or twice, and he'd always enjoyed it.

She was taken.

And, unlike the look she'd seen in MJ's eyes, this look wasn't for her.

Thanks for trying...

Freya always cried after the attacks. Especially the ones in her dreams, where she had to face them alone. She wasn't proud of it, but it was always harder to fight off the demons without her brother to help her. He never complained, though. Only wished that he could help her. In fact, he should be there, right about-

"Shhh... It's over now..." Strong arms wrapped her up, and she cried her fears out. But he was there, as always, and he made her feel safe.

"I'm sorry..." She whispered.

"Don't be." He replied, rubbing her back.

" S'okay..."

They sat for a time, quietly taking comfort in each other's company. Tyr didn't say it, but he knew that she was starting to break. He could feel it in his heart, and it hurt. The frequency of the nightly attacks had increased as well, twice in a week was too much, in his eyes. It would still take them a while to find a way to cross the barrier into reality, but they were locking on ever faster.

The final reckoning was coming.

"I found him." He said suddenly, shaking himself off of that train of thought.

Her eyes brightened visibly as she looked up, and he felt a little weight dissappear off his mind. "Really?"

He smiled. "Of course. We can get there in an hour, but we're probably going to have to force him to see us."

She sighed, nodding. "Well, he is the 'supernaturalist to the stars'..."

They were quiet as they prepared. She gathered her grimoire and cloak, and he picked up his briefcase, and clipped his belt into place. The sword was clipped in place, and the 'notice-me-not' ward restored. They had to be ready for anything. And they were.

The midday air was unnaturally cool as they stepped into the street. Freya looked up into the clouds, and, for the first time in a long while, she hoped.

"Doctor Strange..." She hoped he would have the answer.

A/N: Yeah... I'm sick of making hollow promises. Sorry about the wait. Hope you enjoyed. Still debating how to do the entire Knights arc... I might just let it run in the background, and cut Peter out of the story for a few in-story days... Still haven't made up my mind... I'll be putting up a list in the next chapter regarding where I'm diverging the rest of the Ultimate Uni, just for referance. Also, there have been a few suggestions/requests for the 'ultimate treatment', but none that have really jumped out and yelled "ME! PICK ME!", so I'm still taking suggestions. Please keep in mind this doesn't need to be a Spiderman character, and can be ANYONE from the Marvel Uni, Mutants and supers alike... R&R, and, as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, Stay Frosty. -E. Red