SI-Jack

AN: I wrote this non-SI/SI when I realized that sticking me in the marvel universe would actually go something like this...

I whistled happily as I headed to the mall. There were several books I wanted to pick up, that Shelly had called to say were in, and I was going to try my hand at picking up Shelly as well. She hadn't said yes yet, but as she got to know me the 'no' was getting a lot weaker.

— Thirty minutes later —

Shelly hadn't said yes, but her 'no' hadn't made an appearance either. I'd gotten a tentative 'maybe' and a lot of blushing.

— Three months later —

It was mine and Shelly's two and a half month anniversary. I wasn't even aware two and half months constituted an anniversary. Thank god for secretaries!

She was closing and locking the door to the bookshop when I arrived. Just goes to show what a quiet small town Shadybrook is when the mall closes at nine pm.

"Hello, love," I purred in her ear. Only to find myself flat on my back with her astride me and her right fist drawn back to do some serious damage and unless I'm mistaken her eyes had a slight glow to them.

"Eep! you startled me," she said looking extremely guilty, like she'd been hiding something from me.

I played it off while trying to figure out what was going on. Glowing eyes and fighting skills could mean a lot of things. "You have the reflexes of a cat-man," I teased, mentioning the teenaged attempted super villain.

"I can't believe you hired him," Shelly said, climbing off me, much to my displeasure.

"He's a good kid, he just didn't know how to deal with his emerging powers," I explained. "I mean try and imagine you're a teenage boy and suddenly in addition to the usual muddled mess of hormones you get saddled with a group of feline powers and instincts."

Shelly tilted her head to one side and suddenly stretched just like I'd seen cat boy do on occasion, but on her it sent all sorts of interesting sensations through me. "I want to kill and eat something and then destroy the curtains!"

"I think male cats have a different set of instincts than female ones, honey, but nice try. Anyway so suddenly evolution has the poor boy by the balls, literally and he is driven to mark territory and challenge the alpha male. The best way to do that, to his hormone addled mind, was to put on a cat costume and try and rob my store."

"I still don't get it," she admitted.

"He needed to prove he was a man so he challenged who he saw as 'the man' in town," I said haughtily.

"Not that I'm disagreeing," Shelly smirked, "but what makes you 'The Man' in Shadybrook?"

"Oh that's simple, his mom needed a man to come around and do all those things his missing father isn't around to handle," I said casually, enjoying the jealous feline growl she began and then forcefully suppressed.

"Her boyfriend is all thumbs, so he wasn't able to do much repair work himself and so young Tom imprinted on me as alpha male. The fact that her boyfriend is a vegetarian probably had something to do with it too."

"How do you figure?" she asked as she finished locking up.

"Well, cats are carnivores, so no herbivore is going to fit the role of alpha male."

"And how does that lead to you hiring him?"

"Well, despite having the proportional speed, strength, etc. of a cat, the boy is only sixteen and has had no martial arts training, so since I took him down so easily I knew he'd listen to me. So I put him to work and have given him exercises to practice to control his instincts."

"How do you know what'll work?" she asked curiously.

I shrug. "I'm just using common sense things like meditation and study to identify what are human instincts and what are the cat's."

"And that works?" she asked as I walked her to my car.

"I also showed him how to safely express some of his instincts, and on the whole it seems to be working out. He no longer has any desire to be a villain."

"Are you sure he isn't just playing along to look for weakness?" she asked suspiciously.

I chuckled. "I have him running the extermination section of the store, so he goes from property to property spraying for termites and spreading his scent a bit."

Shelly's eyes get wide and she makes a face. I could tell she thought he was peeing everywhere.

I laugh. "He actually has a gland for marking territory and one drop of that in the bug spray will make rodents vacate a house like you wouldn't believe. So he feels like the town is his territory and our customers get some added protection against vermin. When he get's older and I've trained him on how to run a business I'll simply split the extermination section off into its own company. He's a good kid."

"What if he ignores all that and tries to become a supervillain?" Shelly asked.

"Then I'll sell him on EBay as a sex slave to a Japanese girl's school," I say cheerfully.

"What?!"

I shrug. "The Japanese are a strange people. There are several all female high schools that have standing orders for a catboy for sex-ed. Apparently the battle of the sexes in Japan has some weird rules about cat people not counting. So a cat is fine too!"

"You're kidding," Shelly said flatly stunned and unsure about what to believe.

"Nope, they really are that weird."

"You'd sell Tom as a sex slave?"

"Well if it's a choice between him in Japan surrounded by nubile Japanese teens or sharing a cell with the Juggernaut who thinks he has a pretty mouth..."

"Ewww!"

"Exactly, so I give him a shot at taking control of his life and future as a productive citizen, but if he can't handle that I give him a future as a pampered pet living out my... I mean his wildest fantasies."

"How do you know enough to handle all this? I mean there isn't any courses on how to raise a catboy or catboys in Japanese society, you'd have to pull together a lot of diverse facts to plan this all out!"

"Over specialization leads to extinction," I said with a grin. "I've always tried to be more of a Jack-of-all-trades."

I don't know why that phrase 'Jack of all trades' made her tense up, but I do know that ten minutes later I was having dinner alone as shelly begged off, saying she was having female troubles. I don't quite have her cycle down, so it's possible, but something tells me there's more to it than that.

I called and cancelled our reservations at the one French place in town. They are rarely crowded but being French requires reservations or they refuse to be rude to you. I know it's weird but the black French Canadian couple who run the place just loves the American stereotypes on the French, so most people play along. They go so over the top that it's camp and a lot of fun.

As I put away my cell phone I feel something bite me on the back of the neck and everything goes back.

*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*0*

"I have you now, Jack!" a feminine voice that sounds a bit familiar calls out.

"Hardly, Jill, because once more I have kidnapped your boyfriend and allowed you to find me just so you can watch him die!" a male voice gloated.

"You can drop the act John, you slipped up tonight. I know who you are and I can't believe I was falling for you!"

"What?" He was clearly confused. "Are you on drugs? Listen I kidnapped your boyfriend, same as last time and I'm going to kill him, same as last time!"

"Liar"

"What?" He was still clearly confused, but now annoyed as well.

"You slipped up, John," the female repeated. "If that's even your real name, You said your favorite phrase before mentioning you consider yourself a Jack of all Trades!"

The man's voice was both annoyed and condescending, "Apparently one of the powers you chose today was insane bitch, but rather than argue with you."

There was a click and the screen slid away showing me Jack of all Trades and Jill of all Powers.

Jill was wearing a tie dyed leotard and a tiny mask. Not being native to this universe or an idiot I immediately figured out she was Shelly, and pretty damned surprised to see me. She also looked damn good out of those horned rimmed glasses and baggy sweaters.

Jack... looked like he was trying to cross the look of a librarian and Tim the toolman Taylor, by way of Batman.

He sent a small electric shock through the chains and I started cursing him in German. It's a good language to curse in when you're annoyed, of course if I was pissed I'd use Russian and homicidal always calls for Klingon.

"John!" she called out worried, making Jack laugh.

"He's toast and I've arranged for you to have a front row seat!" Jack gloated as a glass panel slid down separating me from them.

Tears were already falling from Jill's eyes as she figured I was another casualty in her war with Jack.

"Any attempt to break the glass will release enough current into the chains and floor to kill an elephant, so I'm afraid your boyfriend is on his own!" Jack grinned.

There was a clang as one of the manacles came loose, surprising them both and bringing a hopeful look to Jill's eyes.

"Bah! Even if he knows enough about escapistry to get out of the manacles he'd have to know how to disarm the bomb inside the left one for that to do any good. Only a true Jack of all Trades could escape one of my traps."

There was a second clang as the left manacle came loose and they both watched speechless as I dropped the deactivated timer to the floor and straightened my clothes, making sure I had all my tools with me. Apparently Jack was way overconfident, probably why he wears a cape since he can't fly, and didn't bother to search me.

I walk over to the control panel on the wall and find the controls won't respond without answering some questions first, but I could see the game was rigged since although one answer in each of the three questions was close there was no correct answer for them. I looked at him and rolled my eyes.

"What? I'm a fucking villain, I cheat!"

I unsnap my multitool from my belt and flip out the Allen wrench set so I can take apart the panel.

Jack is all but drooling. "Why don't I have a tool like that?"

I don't even look up. "Genetics."

"Ha, Ha, very funny. Well I see you have passed everything I put in there. You have proved to be a Jack of at least a few trades and while I hate to do this I am a villain so I put in something extra to insure I'd win." Jack whipped out a remote and pushed a button, filling my cell with a billowing green fog.

Jack and Jill stared into my cell, Jill horrified and Jack looking a bit regretful but triumphant as Jill fell to her knees crying.

I'm a bit of an ass, but I couldn't resist grabbing my throat and falling backwards into the mist that was filling the cell.

"Well," Jack said, now that his evil plan was complete and my cell was enshrouded by green. "With that out of the way..."

I thumped a hand against the glass palm first pulled it down like one last gasp of life was left in me before I expired. It always looked cool in the movies.

"As I was saying..."

I thumped my hand against the glass again this time flipping him off before letting the hand fall away into the gas.

"As I was..."

This time I gave him a pressed ham. Sure mooning him was childish, but then so are super villains.

"You're immune to poison gas, aren't you," he said dryly as I began using a glass cutter to score the glass in a human sized oval.

"Hey! We aren't immune to the gas!" Jack complained hitting another button that turned on a fan that quickly sucked the gas out of the room in seconds.

I put a hand on the glass above the large hole I cut and as I drew back my hand to pop out the circle I saw Jack smirk until I lifted my feet off the floor before hitting it.

The glass popped out neatly and the floor sparked as I swung my legs out. I can't really do a Spiderman, but since I'd chosen Adaptation I could choose a few different utility ones, like not needing to breath for an hour at a time or a weak wall clinging power.

Sure being Superman was probably fun, but as a starting character your powers are a lot weaker so I figured being a poor man's Batman with the ability to adapt would be safer.

I never thought I'd end up living as a character I designed for a game or I would have chosen differently. As a player I usually get into fights left and right to level up as quickly as possible, since first level characters tend to die a lot, but as a character I'm not really interested in leveling so much as living.

Jack reaches for something behind his back, probably an exploding boomerang T-Square or some other silly gadget, so I reach for something behind mine.

Jill is still paralyzed in shock as we draw down on each other. I turn out to be just a tad quicker, but that's probably because I'm wielding a small twenty-two while he actually does whip out a T-Square and pull back his arm to throw it. I shoot him in the knee and the game's over. He falls to the ground and clutches his leg cursing a blue streak.

"You shot him!" Jill accuses me.

"He'll live," I reassure her.

"Heroes don't shoot people," she said firmly.

"I never claimed to be a hero," I pointed out and now Jill is looking at me horrified and Jack is looking nervous.

"I'm not a villain or a criminal, I'm your average US Citizen who is perfectly happy to kneecap someone who is trying to kill him. Heroes have to abide by a higher moral standard and some really dumb rules. As a US citizen I have a whole lot less trouble dealing with murderers who try to kill me."

Jill is clearly thinking about what I said as I pull out my cell phone and check the signal strength before calling the local police station.

"Yeah, can I talk to Detective Swanson, please? Thank you. Hey, Swanson. Yeah, it's John. Listen I have Jack of all Trades here. Yeah. I shot him in the knee. He's alive at the moment, but if his hand moves an inch closer to that remote of his that's probably going to change."

Jack froze and slowly moved his hands back on his leg.

"I don't have poor impulse control. As long as he tries nothing and waits for the police I won't shoot him again. Yeah. Uh-huh. Twenty four times. Because that's how many bullets I had on me at the time. Well he was annoying. I didn't shoot him all those times just because he was annoying. No, just twenty of them. The first one was a warning shot. In the foot, why? Well anyway, I think Jack's more intelligent than that. No, he's not going to bleed out before you get here. He's not laying in a pool of blood. More a puddle and a small one at that. How about I bandage him so there's no danger? Large cola, fries, no pickle. Thanks man, I appreciate it. I missed dinner. She cancelled, said it was feminine trouble and I got kidnapped after that. I'll explain when you get here."

"You shot a man in the foot to get his attention?" Jack asked, looking at me like I was a wild animal.

"It worked," I pointed out.

"And you shot him three more times for what reason?" Jill asked.

"To take him down so I could cuff him for the police," I explained.

"And then twenty more times because he was annoying?" Jack asked as politely as possible.

"He was some kinda nut who thought that because he healed from everything he was the new messiah."

"And that annoyed you?" Jack asked carefully as I bandaged his knee.

"No, that was amusing. The way he thought everyone should bow to him and women should be lining up to accept his seed with no backtalk annoyed me. I kept shooting him because he kept trying to escape. Shoot him in the heart and a minute later he's up again. Eventually I ran out of bullets and just parked my car on him."

"And that killed him?" Jack asked.

"Nah, but he didn't have the strength to escape and with the radio on I didn't have to listen to him blather on, so I was happy. Of course that got me a bit of a strange reputation with the police."

"I thought you were just a store manager," Jack said.

"I'm also a private detective, a bounty hunter, an electrician, a fireman, and a dozen other things as needed. I own the local franchise of my store because S-mart has always been handy to have around and makes a good profit."

"You're a true Jack of all Trades and quite ready to kill, so what is the difference between us?" Jack asked confused.

I shrugged. "You work against society and I work for it."

"But we are better than those... walking Darwin awards!" Jack protested.

I nod. "In some ways yes, in others no, but you have to look at the big picture. An ant nest has a lot of specialized workers and it's functioned perfectly for millions of years. Human society is much the same and me and you are simply all purpose cogs in the machine. By working to make the machine run smoothly I get a moderate amount of everything; fame, fortune, thrills and so forth."

"But you could have it all!" Jack protested. "Rule the city and have everything you desire."

I laughed. "Rule the city and I'd have to do so much work I wouldn't be able to enjoy the fruits of my labor. No, I found a man who would do a good job as mayor and I worked on getting him elected. I saw a fireman who had the potential to be brilliant in the field and I gave him the money to go to school. End result? I have a successful business in a thriving little town, where others in the area have begun to fall apart and I barely have to do anything to keep things that running. What more could I want?"

"Women?" Jack tried.

"I have a girl I like and really more than two is pushing it stamina-wise after thirty, so a harem is a pipe dream and just sleeping around a lot gets boring by your early twenties anyway."

"Power?" Jack asked.

"To do what? I can do everything I want to legally and if I want life or death thrills I can go bounty hunting."

"Money?"

I grinned. "Bounty hunting again, catching the criminals in capes pays pretty well as does owning my own store. Anything I want that I can't buy I can probably build."

Jack fell silent, a thoughtful look on his face.

The sound of an approaching siren broke the silence and Jill stood up. "Well if you have everything under control, I think I'll vanish. I'm just glad the man who murdered my old boyfriend will be brought to justice."

I snorted. I'd seen the picture Shelia had of her ex and Jack's mask barely covered his eyes.

"What?!" she asked offended by my casual dismissal of her boyfriend's death.

I reached over and pulled off Jack's mask, causing Jill to gasp. "Jack! You're alive?"

"How did you know?" Jack Sawyer asked, staring at me in shock.

"I bought five points of common sense," I said and just shook my head at their confusion.

"How about I go talk to Detective Swanson, while you two work the whole not murdered ex bit out, alright? Just remember if I come back and you're not here I'll find you and shoot you, but not in your other knee," I promise cheerfully.

Jack looks at me and nods. "Sniper rifle?"

"I was once bitten by a radioactive CIA Agent, I'm quite good," I quip evilly before leaving.

I meet detective Tom Swanson at his car as he flipped off the siren.

"I see you, but I don't see him. Does this mean he's dead or under a vehicle?" Tom asked.

Tom is a mix of Irish and Indian and a couple of years older than me. He'll make one hell of a police chief in a few years.

"Neither, he's inside. Turns out he faked his own death trying to break Jill of all Powers so he could make her his bride or something like that."

"So what do we have on him?" Tom asked, handing me the food I'd requested.

"Well," I said thoughtfully between bites, "multiple attempted robberies, but Jill foiled those before he could make enough to legally charge him with them. It's pretty obvious he isn't really a hardened killer yet so maybe some trespassing and criminal mischief."

"What about his attempt to kill you?" Tom asks flabbergasted.

"Meh, I may have gotten through to him with my two points in 'give gay ass speech'."

Tom blinked.

I sighed. "Never mind. Let's just say he's no longer the criminal he was and since I shot his knee out he isn't likely to be again."

"Another rehabilitation case?" Tom smirked.

I shrugged. "What can I say, sometimes you have to shoot them to get their attention, but once they are listening you can debunk a few myths and straighten them out."

"Like what?" Tom asked as I finished off my fries.

"Like, 'crime doesn't pay', that's a lie and everyone knows it, so by trying to make them believe what they know to be false you become an enemy and everything you say suspect."

"Well saying 'crime does pay' doesn't tend to discourage crime all that much," Tom retorted dryly.

"Oh, but it can," I grinned. "All you have to do is let them know how much less it pays. Sure getting ten grand knocking over a jewelry store seems like a lot of cash, but factor in the amount of time and equipment needed and you'll find that saying 'Do you want fries with that?' pays much the same and you're less likely to end up sharing a cell with Bubba. So after they get caught a couple of times and still continue I have to wonder if they're really in it for the money."

Tom laughed so hard he had tears coming from his eyes. Once he recovered he looked at me and grinned. "I'm stealing that for my speech at the mayor's award ceremony this year."

He'll make a great police chief in a few years, it just takes a few words here and there to make it happen.

"I'll go make sure Jack is still breathing and tell him we're downgrading his criminal record a bit, provided he co-operates. Let the hospital know it's safe to send an ambulance and we'll be done here in two shakes."

He nodded and waved me off already grabbing the mic on his CB to call dispatch as I head back in.

Jill quickly moves away from Jack when I arrive, which does not bode well for my love life, but then I tend to avoid dating heroes. Way too much baggage and mental problems in my opinion.

"I had a talk with Tom and since I refuse to press charges for the kidnapping and murder attempts, you're only going up for trespass and malicious mischief. I figure six to eight months in minimum security which means the state will be paying for the knee reconstruction and physical therapy. You'll probably get some heat for the fake death, but unless you used it to dodge bills or collect life insurance they can't really do much. An ambulance should be here shortly, so make sure you aren't carrying anything you don't want to show up in a police report."

He starts removing some small items and I make them vanish, but have him keep a collection of non-lethal weapons, explaining that he was known to carry weapons so if he had none they would be suspicious, but if he had non-lethal it would help his case.

Jill's eyes flicker between us as she chews on her bottom lip. I can already tell what's going through her mind and it doesn't make me happy. Oh well, I'll just have to break it off first, because no girl who chooses her ex over me is worth it, especially after everything he did to her.

As soon as Jack is taken away on a stretcher with enough morphine in him to make him happy I shot him, Jill tries to take me aside, but knowing what was coming I decide to pre-empt her.

"Jill, Shelly, It's been fun, but I'm afraid we're not compatible," I say putting a hand on her shoulder and plastering an obviously fake look of sorrow on my face.

"What?" she asks stunned.

"I live a dangerous life and it's obvious you just aren't cut out for it. I mean, I took down Jack and you weren't able to do anything while he was trying to kill me. I'm just glad he didn't take you hostage to save himself."

"And as Shelly, I'm so much stronger?!"

She had a good point, but I wasn't telling her that.

"I wasn't planning on introducing Shelly to this life and she's not pretending to be a hero so she would have been safe. Shelly was a little dull, true, but I had hopes that she would learn to live a little. Oh well, That's all water under the bridge now."

"P-pretending?! Dull?!"

"I need someone who knows how to hold firm when things get tough. Someone who understands commitment."

Jill winced, probably thinking about how she had planned on breaking up with me.

"Maybe that girl who runs Bat's Belfry. She looks fun and I know she doesn't break under pressure. Why just a month ago I saw her fighting something I would hesitate to attack without backup," I lied.

Jill is about to go nuclear. She hates Beth, who runs Bat's Belfry with a passion, so the idea that I'm dumping Shelly for Beth.. Well short of running over her cat, there are few things that would piss her off more.

"I've got to go or I'll end up wasting both my tickets to the play. I'm sure you'll want to check on Jack anyway, so Toodles!"

I walk away, having just cut both feet out from under her with my final comments, reminder her that we were celebrating going out and that I knew what she was planning before I'd broken up with her. I'm a bit of an ass I know.

A bolt of lightning from the blue slams into me and I can feel my muscles expand as I level up. I chose shape shift and immunity to poison as my new adaptations. I up my social skills and general knowledge another point, and add two points to occult.

I ignore Jill's questions and wave down Tom who had circled back around when he realized I didn't have a ride.

"Did you just get struck by lightning?" he asks rolling down his window.

"Yep."

"Are you ok?" he asks with genuine concern.

"Not really," I admit. "I was supposed to be celebrating an anniversary with a wonderful girl and instead end up kidnapped and have to escape several death traps and to top it all off she decides to dump me for her ex."

"Ouch." Tom winces in sympathy. "And the lightning?"

"Just gaining more abilities," I reply honestly. Tom often handles tracking down the bounties he sends me after and he works much better if he knows what I can do.

"Wow, didn't know lightning could do that for you, so what did you get?"

"Immunity to poison and shape shifting. Any deadly toxins will immediately be rejected, but I should still be able to use aspirin etc... and the shape shifting is just a minor thing changing features and sizes. Probably skin, eye, and hair color as well, I'll have to check."

"That'll add a larger safety margin against some of the bounties available. I've withheld several names from your list, because of the danger involved making it really not worth the risk, but if you are immune to poison a couple become easy money. I'd advise making some changes to your bounty hunter ad so anyone looking for him doesn't find you. Add an extra layer of protection between you and vengeful criminals."

I grinned. Tom was much better than I was in his field. Specialization and teamwork makes all the difference.

"Sounds great. Well I have two tickets to Doom's latest play. He rewrote Phantom of the Opera, it's now called Tears of Rust and an Iron Heart."

"Wow, I've been trying to get tickets to that all week. My wife wants to see it," he admitted, but I could see he was interested as well.

I searched through my pockets and passed them over. "Take them with my blessing, I'm not really in the mood after the way my night's gone."

"You sure?" he asked reluctantly, knowing how badly his wife wanted to see the show.

"I'm sure. I saw the opening show in New York when I was after that lame-o who could mask his presence using pheromones."

"Wow, I'm told that was sold out months in advance and the Fantastic Four were there."

I cleared my throat. "Well I may have just may mind you, have written a letter, gay ass speech in text + 2." I grinned as Tom rolled his eyes, "about how emotions showed the strength of the soul."

"You're the one that convinced Dr. Doom to write plays?!"

"I just pointed out that Reed was rather unskilled in that area, obsessed with facts and logic, where a more well-rounded, and need I say better, man could shine."

"How did you know Doom could write?"

"He's Doom. There really is little he can't do. Plus the man has lived. He's been through highs and lows that most people can't imagine. These plays are just a small challenge to Reed. If Reed ignores the challenge he is admitting Doom is better than him in this category, if Reed responds he'll lose as Doom releases his masterpiece, The Man in the Iron Mask, which will crush Reed's puny attempt and make everyone forget there was ever a play before with the same name."

"Sure you aren't underestimating Reed? I mean Reed Richards is one of the most brilliant minds on the planet."

"In science he is close to unbeatable, but Doom is one of those that comes close, while splitting his efforts between mastering magic and science while ruling a small country. So while Reed may or may not be superior in one area, Doom is superior in many. Plus I know Doom's true origins and trust me when I say fantasy doesn't compare to reality. To accomplish what he needed to, Doom was forced to become a True Jack of all Trades. No other human on earth comes close."

"Doesn't he come off second best against the Fantastic Four and fail to take over the world a lot?"

I snickered. "Reed was his roommate in college and he respects Sue. If he really wanted them dead, he'd use a death ray satellite or a bomb. Doom does what he does for two reasons. 1. Entertainment, being a ruler makes you a little jaded and 2. To protect his country. Doom is one of the big boys and every country surrounding him knows it because of his stunts. The leaders know that Doom will come straight to their door and handle things man to man if they send an army to invade. So Doom insures his people are safe and plays the world's biggest practical joke at the same time."

Tom looked at me and shook his head. "You have the strangest way of looking at things but I suspect you're right.

"So, do we have anything on the horizon? Because I really don't feel like sitting around my house and moping tonight."

"Just got a new hunter on the roster, specializes in occult matters. I can call and see if she needs a partner for tonight since she seems to have found where three of our runners have gone to ground together."

"That'll work. What's the number?"

I quickly programmed it into my cell phone and hit dial.

"Bats? huh. Small world. Swanson gave me your number, said you'd joined our merry little band of lunatics and needed a hand to make sure no one snuck out the back while you were setting fire to their porch. Shelly? Please can you actually see her as a hunter? She'd probably freeze up at the first sign of danger. Nah, she's just what she appears to be, a mousy bookstore owner. Turns out her ex is alive. That's what I said! got it in one. Yeah Yeah, Coffee sounds nice, but after the adrenaline spike has faded. Because during you may end up doing things and people you wouldn't normally do. Really? Well I guess that works, sounds a lot more fun too! Sure, I can be there in about three hours, I just need to grab my car and a change of clothes first, see you then, bye."

"So I take it you don't mind pairing up with her?" Tom asked dryly with a smirk on his face.

"Nah, she's got a quirky sense of humor and a great bod," I replied absently planning out a route to where she'd tracked the three a little over a hundred miles away before I realized what he'd said. "As for work related matters we'll just have to see how our styles match."

Tom chuckled. "I"ll drop you off real quick. I gotta hustle if I want to make the play."

He pulled away and I noticed Jill was still standing there. I was momentarily concerned, but really except for dumping me for her ex she was a sane girl and completely out of my life.

Right? Right!

I really don't want to know what would happen if I were faced with a jealous ex who could switch powers sets to mimic any hero she knew enough about.

I wonder if I should feel bad for Jack.

Typing by: Stephenopolos

AN: Still too active a character for my lazy self to play.