"No, I'm not sane, Bruce. Anytime I get angry with one of my clients I feel my blood boiling. I almost turned into this green thing in the courtroom today!" she growled and pressed her cousin on a wall. "How do I fix this?!"
"Y-You can't. I-I've tried everything. But yo–you're still in control of this form." Bruce didn't even mind being choked at that point and started patting all over his cousin's shoulders. "How are you doing this?"
"Doing what?"
"Staying under control. Why aren't you destroying things?"
"Because I don't want to?" Jennifer let her cousin down. "I know this is different from yours."
"Jennifer, this isn't just different—this is actually pretty amazing," Bruce said, his eyes softening. "I know you might be angry with me for passing on this… condition, but honestly, I'm relieved. You're not struggling like I did. You've got control. You can harness that strength on your own terms."
"I don't want this!"
"You're stuck with it," Bruce replied, "This is your life now, Jen. Learn to control it."
"What about you?" she asked.
Tony chimed in just then. "He's not going anywhere until he gets a handle on that temper. I mean, I barely managed to keep the Jolly Green Giant in check with ten Iron Guardians. Seriously, the guy's a walking liability."
Bruce nodded, his eyes reflecting a deep weariness. "I've tried everything. Every possible cure, every remedy... even attempted to… end it all. But nothing works. The bullets I shoot at myself—he just spits them out. Poison doesn't touch him. I'm trapped in this nightmare. There's no escape, no cure."
"Fascinating!"
All heads turned to look at Susan.
The pretty blonde, in her party dress, embarrassingly hid behind Tony. "I mean, that's so sad."
"You want his blood sample?" Tony asked nonchalantly. "I've got bottles full of them."
"I'd love some!" Sue chirped.
Jennifer glared at Tony. "Is that all he is to you? A research subject?"
"No, don't say that," Bruce stopped her. "Tony's been helping me all this time. He's done more for me than anyone else. I'm safe down here, for others and… from myself."
"So you're going to stay here?" Jennifer asked.
"Until I can control this beast inside me, yes."
Jennifer sighed and looked down at her own body. Taking long, deep breaths, she slowly started to change back into her human form. A regular-sized, five-foot-ten woman. Brown hair, green eyes, curvacious, and exactly the particular nerd's type.
The bathrobe slumped around her, the hem now almost reaching the ground as the tight collar around her neck now plunged into a deep valley that threatened to expose her soft peaks once more.
"At least inform me when you come out," Jennifer requested, unconcerned about her clothes at this moment.
"I will." Bruce then looked towards Tony. "Can you help her, Tony? I know you've already done more than enough, but I can't just walk away and leave Jen like this."
I'd be happy to help her, Tony though, but kept it to himself. His eyes almost strained to not look at the peek-a-book game Jen's nipples were playing.
"Help with what?"
"Yeah, help with what?" Jen asked seriously.
"Being a hero," Bruce said, trying to ease Jen's confusion. "Look, Jen, your powers are going to come out sooner or later. Before the public gets wind of it, you need to control the narrative. Just be what Tony is—a hero in people's eyes. You don't fully grasp how strong you are with these Hulk powers. There's a lot of good you can do with them."
"But I'm just a lawyer," Jennifer said, her feet backing up a little.
"I used to be a normal genius playboy billionaire philanthropist," Tony chimed in, "Now I'm a superhero genius playboy billionaire philanthropist."
"..."
"What?" Tony shrugged as eyes focused on him. "What I mean is that she can be a Superhero Lawyer."
"Sounds exciting," Sue chirped and enviously looked at Jennifer. "I'd do it if I was in your shoes."
"Me too, if I could control the Hulk," Bruce said, stepping closer to his cousin and giving her a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "You're a really good lawyer, Jen. You've always been about helping people through the law, and now you've got a chance to do it in even more impactful ways."
"I-I'll think about it," she replied and chose to leave for now. "Take care of yourself, Bruce."
"You too, Jen."
With that, they all left Bruce back in the locked room and returned to the ground floor of the skyscraper. None of them joined Tony back up, however. As Sue prepared to leave, Jennifer hitched a ride with her.
Tony chuckled in silence. It was clearly visible that Sue was interested in Jennifer's strange condition.
A little tired, but highly refreshed after the fantastic hours with Sue, he chose to return to doing his research and work on various projects. There was so much to do anyway, and with the election coming closer, he felt a greater pressure to increase his positive digital and physical footprint amongst the people.
"Jarvis, what's the status?"
"Sir, the signal from space has been confirmed. It is not a secret military satellite. For reasons yet unclear, I was unable to detect it until employing Stark Industries' latest space observatory, which utilizes Arc Reactors."
"So the Arc Reactor had something to do with it?" Tony asked back and threw his shirt away before reaching for the screen in his lab. "Do we have fixed coordinates?"
"Indeed, Sir. It is related to the Arc Reactor. The coordinates have also been duly recorded."
Tony nodded for a long time, considering something. There was so much to do that he had to first ponder if it was worth prioritizing.
"Jarvis, how fast can we slap some space-faring upgrades on the Destroyer Armor?" He asked.
Jarvis made some quick calculations. "Sir, based on my initial assessments, the integrity of the new Destroyer Armor is already robust enough to endure the harsh conditions of space. However, the internal systems, including life support, sealing, and propulsion mechanisms, will necessitate a minimum of two months for complete design, testing, and integration."
"Two? I can do two." Tony lit up excitedly at that. "Punch it, Jarvis. Project name… Starman."
"Projected Starman created, Sir."
"And turn up the music."
####
You never realize how quickly time passes when you do something you enjoy.
Two months went by and Tony rocketed from the East Coast to the West Coast. It was time to show his face to the world again and give an interview to his favorite journalist at the same time. On top of that, blasting off into space from California without being noticed was easier thanks to the Pacific.
"Sir, you have an incoming call from Ms. Potts."
"Boss?" Tony quickly picked up the call, unbothered by his flight. "What can I do for you?"
"Help me, Tony," Pepper responded, her voice unsure for some reason, "Things are falling apart."
"What happened?"
"It seems the government is hitting back at Stark Industries. They're clearly upset about your involvement in Sokovia and the way you called out the Department of Defense. Nearly all of our government contracts are being canceled, and the reasons they're giving us are just ridiculous," Pepper revealed, and further sent him image files. "Look at them. They're claiming that our bulletproof glass is defective. That our engines are subpar."
"Subpar?" Tony frowned. "Did they find some new suppliers?"
"None of the guys they're now hiring are better than us. They're just trying to push us out of the picture."
Soon enough Tony found some hints about who was spearheading the entire thing. He noticed rare mentions of General Ross and Senator Stern. Even the Secretary of Defense was mentioned in a few places.
"How many times do I have to knock some sense into them before they get the memo? Don't worry, Pepper. I'm off to give an interview and trust me, this one's gonna be spicy," Tony replied and sorted out all the files that Pepper sent. Then, he looked up the new bids that were made, followed by a comparison of all the new companies with Stark Industries.
Pepper yelped at that. "Tony! Don't! Don't do something crazy this time."
"Crazy? They're the crazy ones. Pepper, let's be honest; they need me way more than I need them. You've got 100 senators, 435 representatives, and a President who changes every four to eight years like a wardrobe. But there is and always will be, only one Tony Stark!" Tony proudly and somewhat narcissistically replied.
"Tony, you know it's not the Congress or the President who really runs things. It's the bureaucrats, the ones who stay in their departments for decades. They're the think tanks, the ones who shape policies and drive diplomacy. And right now, they're not exactly on your side." Pepper sternly tried to talk him out of it. "We need to be cautious and strategic this time. They already hate you."
"Oh, they're gonna hate me even more once I reveal what I've got in store for this interview," Tony smirked.
"They'll kill you, Tony!"
"They can try."
Beep! Beep!
He ended the call and went full speed to California. What he initially thought was going to be a boring interview was suddenly too damn exciting. Sure, Tony was a part of the whole 'lobbying' and 'buying your way in' system that all the others were. But he also believed that these systems shouldn't hinder societal and technological advancements. His Arc Reactor was already seen as a threat by energy companies.
"Hah! They're going to despise me after this."
There was no greater fun than fucking over a multi-billion dollar industry. And this time, it was all fair game, as he had the alternative ready to be rolled out.
______________________
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