now you see me

“Easy for you to say. You didn’t just return to a world with half of its people gone.” Half of the whole universe, to be exact. 

“No, and I can’t imagine how it feels. I’m honored to finally meet you, Carol. I’ve heard so much about you.”

“Oh so scientists do eat! I’ve always wondered that.” Matt teased. “You don’t ever get concerned about the food and your experiments getting in each other’s way?”

“I may genuinely take you up on that offer,” Roger nodded, before turning away from Sue and wrinkling his nose at the creature. Retrieving the protective gloves and proper container to capture the mutated bird, Roger approached with caution, “—if this thing bites me- I swear—”

“If it bites you we need immediate shots and vaccinations.” Susan shook her head. “Thankfully, we’ve avoided that.” She carefully reached out to take the bird in the cage. “You can drop your gear into the bag. I’ll burn it.”

“Consider yourself lucky.”

[ We’ll get tater tots later, will that make you feel better? ]

“Mmm, yes. Tater tots will be your replacement.” He pointed to the woman in front of him. “It’s been promised.”

“Tater tots are replacing me? So you’re substituting human flesh and meat for a potato, oil and salt based snack? It’s a literal strange and makes me wonder how your taste buds must work but I’ll refrain from asking more questions.”

“Good question. We’ll have to see.”

“Look at us still talking.” Susan ran a hand through her tangle of curls. “Maybe it’s a sign I’m supposed to take a break.”

“What’s your problem?” 

“I miss my husband. Today more than usual.”

“Oh, thank you, Dr. Storm. I’m surprised you even remember my name since you’re, well, really smart and really busy, I’m guessing. Peter would have loved to talk science with you. He loved talking science with anyone and that was most often not me due to general incompetence.”

“Of course I do. You gave a speech at a major event, a good one at that, and stayed composed even though it was a hard subject matter. You vocalized what a lot of us feel but can’t put into words.” Her smile was gentle. “I would have loved to talk to him too. If we added Reed to the mix I’m sure the discussion could have lasted days.”

“You’re saying that because of Spider-Ham, aren’t you? Man, people always jump to him first. No problem though, Dr. Storm. I’m on it.”

“I was more referring to the rapid influx and mass amount of variations,” Susan replied slowly. “But sure, we can make this about Porker if you like. Once you find out, feel free to stop by the Baxter Building.”

“Fair ‘nuff.” Jimmy replied with some amusement. “Nice to meet you, Susan.” He said as he gave her hand a firm shake. “If you’re going to make me get into that I’m going to need another drink.” His tone was light but he was serious. “Weird amnesia.” He stated. “Last thing I remember was waking up in tattered clothes in the Yukon. I’ve got this friend who’s a telepath but she can’t get much out of my head. The healing factor complicates thing.”

Once she pulled her hand back Susan tapped a nail lightly against the glass. She had so much she couldn’t bring herself to work on. It was an inspirational rut. A writers block, of sorts, but she couldn’t afford that level of procrastination. “Tattered clothes in the Yukon? That’s a complicated origin story. Can I ask who your telepath friend is, if it’s not an intrusion? Short of giving you an MRI it sounds like science may not be able to fix this.”

Nate let out an understand huff of laughter and took a sip from his own glass. “Ain’t that the truth. Dealin’ with your own powers and shit plus theirs makes life way more interesting. To say the least.”

“I think it’s every day, actually.”

“It sounds tedious, to say the least.”

“That seems fair. How is your research coming along, Dr. Storm?”

“I’ll just have to be quiet then.” 

“Can you do that?”

“Well, I s’pose you’ll never know. Your lifespan is too short to find out.”

“Isn’t there always?”

“How about we get a little bit more specific then?”