New York -- Abandoned Lower Level Under the 42nd Street Station -- Manhattan. Monday Afternoon.

[icecoldfrost]

Emma had warned Jack to wear something he didn't mind getting a bit dirty in, but she didn't bother to confirm his suspicions, even after they'd slipped past a grate and down a tunnel, eventually taking a labyrinth set of twists, turns, and ladders.

It wasn't that she didn't trust Jack. It was just what you did down here.

"Hank?" she eventually called, stepping from a tunnel into a space that was actually brightly lit and clean. "I brought a friend, like you said I could."

Well, he'd said 'bring that boy sometime,' but close enough.

[OOC: NFB, for the person with her.]

Comments

[bitten_notshy]

Jack followed her easily, silent in his rubber-soled sneakers. He hadn't been surprised when he realized they were in New Amsterdam, but he had been intrigued and startled to realize he was about to meet Emma's mysterious guardian.

"Hello, sir," he called out, trying to put warmth in his voice.

[icecoldfrost]

"You never call, you never write, I'm starting to think you don't love me anymore, Emma," a woebegone voice stated, echoing from all around them. "I feel neglected."

Emma, for her part, rolled her eyes. "I write you once a week like a always do," she replied pertly, casting her eyes upwards. "Come down from there."

If Jack looked up, he'd see a rather large black-blue creature hanging upside-down from a pipe, yellow eyes watching them with bemusement.

[bitten_notshy]

Jack was startled, as the slight clench of his muscles might show, but he managed not to jump or make any sounds Emma would have to reproach him for later. He thought <<You might have told me about this>> in her direction, then smiled as broadly as he could manage.

"It's nice to meet you," he managed, with a slight bow of his head. "Sir. Emma speaks highly of you."

[icecoldfrost]

"Don't mind him; he needs all the blood flow to his head he can get," Emma replied, sotto voce, although the glance that she shot Hank was bemused and affectionate. "Down, Blue, or I'll hide all your books."

[icecoldfrost]

Hank sighed and gracefully flipped down from his perch, uncoiling to his full height upon hitting the floor.

"So you're Emma's 'Mr. Priest,'" he rumbled, looking Jack over. "If she speaks highly of anyone, she's usually lying. Or wants something."

[bitten_notshy]

Jack laughed, as easily as he could manage under the circumstances. "Both might be the case," he said. "So what lies has she been feeding you about me?"

[icecoldfrost]

"She appears to be laboring under the understanding that you're clever, a detective's apprentice, and a good friend."

Which Hank figured meant that Jack was tricksy, up to no good, and tended to go along with Emma's madcap schemes.

"I've seen you before." He tilted his head, squinting at Jack before nodding his head vigorously. "She's had you here before, with those others. And sometimes without them."

[icecoldfrost]

"You have not been spying on me on my dates," Emma yelled, throwing her hands in the air. "Hank!"

[bitten_notshy]

"Emma, he's just trying to be a chaperone," Jack answered. "... from a distance."

He turned to Hank. "All of that is true, incidentally. She didn't make up entertaining lies about me. And I've heard you're quite bright, a scientist, and watch out for Emma as much as you can."

[icecoldfrost]

"Chaperone!" Hank's eyes lit up and he nodded so vigorously that his ponytail bounced. "Yes. Or, um, backup."

"I watch out for her. I take care of her, and she takes care of me," he continued. "My head is fuzzy. Emma helps."

Emma's blush went from annoyed-embarrassed to modest-embarrassed and she shrugged imperceptibly at Jack. She'd warned him that Hank was...Special.

[bitten_notshy]

Jack didn't mind the Special. He could feel the warmth between the two of them, like a living cord. "Then you're lucky to have each other," he said (and felt a pang that he wouldn't be there for Emma in a matter of days, not in the same way.)

Which made him think.

"Have you ever thought about following her to Fandom?"

[icecoldfrost]

<<Don't you dare, Jack!>> came the fuming thought, even as Hank shook his head.

"Not enough people, too small, nowhere to hide," he answered. "Emma can learn better there without needing to take care of me, and if I stay here, I can understand the dangers and protect her better when she's home."

Emma, meanwhile, was trying to glare a hole in Jack's head. He was not going to try and stick her with an on-island babysitter because of his own protective issues.

[bitten_notshy]

Jack looked sheepish; his protective streak and the fact he wasn't sure what to talk to Hank about had gotten ahead of him. <<Sorry.>>

He glanced idly around the space. He'd gathered not to expect much, but he hadn't realized it still looked so very much like subway tunnels.

... and he hoped to God Emma wouldn't hear him thinking that.

"Better for you to be here, anyhow," he agreed, as his eye fell on an anatomy chart. "it looks like you have work to keep you busy."

[icecoldfrost]

<<You knew I was on my own, Jack. Where did you think I lived, a teen hostel? That's the first place Winston would have looked.>> Emma didn't sound angry, just resigned. It had been a year on the streets before Hank took her in, but this was one of the reasons she'd hesitated so long before bringing anyone down here.

"I do have work!" Hank brightened considerably, suddenly looking a lot more like an over eager puppy than some hulking monster. "I used to know a lot of science, especially about powers. Do you want to see my lab?"

[bitten_notshy]

<<I didn't think about it, all right?>> Jack's mental voice was irritated and slightly sharp. <<You don't like talking about it, so I let it go.>>

He managed a smile at Hank's enthusiasm. "I'm all yours," he said. "I'd be happy to see it."

[icecoldfrost]

Because she was embarrassed. Because she felt defensive. Because Emma didn't like disappointing people, and because she didn't want to be less-than perfect.

Because if she pretended this was temporary and didn't need decorating or cleaning up, she wouldn't feel quite as guilty about leaving Hank by himself while she went to school, after promising to help him.

<<The lab probably has a cadaver or two,>> she warned, turning away to follow a chattering Hank. <<Just so you know. And no, he didn't kill them.>> Probably. Maybe.

[bitten_notshy]

<<I would never think such a thing>>, Jack replied with great dignity.

(Yes, he would.)

"What sort of research do you do, Hanks?" he asked, as he followed along.

[icecoldfrost]

"Biology, physiology, anatomy, genetics," Hank rattled off, giving Jack an approving glance. "Specializing in mutation across mammalian, reptilian, and plantae species. Although my strength appears to be in the evolutionary mutation of homo sapiens and homo superior."

"Don't worry, there's a Rule," Emma supplied cheerfully, swapping one mood for another as she ducked past Hank into the next room. "'No Science On Emma's Friends.' Right, Hank?"

A moment later they emerged in a large cavern, fully-tiled with high ceilings and rows of sinks. It had clearly been a restroom at one point, but Hank had refitted it to serve as his lab. There was a single dissection table, a cadaver tray, and various beakers with projects and jars filled with selected body-parts lining hand-built shelves.

[bitten_notshy]

"I wouldn't be much good to do science on anyhow," Jack said, equally cheerful. "No mutations."

He was discomfited by the bodies, but managed not to show it. His stomach was strong.

"It's amazing all of this fit down here; it must have taken years to gather."

[icecoldfrost]

Luckily there were only two today, both in still decent condition and not hideously messy or smelly.

"No science on Emma's friends," Hank agreed, nodding, before swatting away Emma's hands as she start pulling things off the shelves. "Stop that. How many times do I need to tell you that shaking the eyeball jar will not give you your fortune?"

"It took him years," Emma agreed, making a face and putting back the eyes. "Although we've scavenged some newer pieces from stuff the NYU medical school just tosses in the dumpster, and stuff like that."

"But it is quite the collection, isn't it?" Emma poked at the jar one more time, just to make Hank frown. "I've started naming them, much to Hank's amusement."

[bitten_notshy]

"How often do you get up here?" Jack wondered, hands carefully behind his back as he wandered about.

... don't stare at the things in jars, Jack.

[icecoldfrost]

"Not often enough," Emma said, at the same time Hank replied "Too often."

Emma found herself a mostly-clean section of counter that she could sit on. "Once or twice a month," she clarified for Jack. "Usually just half-days. Long enough for me to make sure Hank is eating, that there's more food left for him, and for us to try and work on his memory."

"I'm thinking about bringing Karla out, and seeing what she can do, since she has more experience with this sort of thing, but..."

She'd wanted Jack to meet Hank first.

[bitten_notshy]

"Ah," Jack said, as he picked up something metal and hooked and tried to puzzle out what it would be used for. "That's about as often as I see my guardian ... Any progress on the memory?"

he aimed a quick smile at Emma, showing he appreciated the honor.

[icecoldfrost]

That was because Emma had the emotional maturity of a five-year-old sometimes, and whenever Jack went off-island on his little trips, Emma made it a point to seek out Hank or cause trouble with some of her girlfriends.

"I remember more at once, or things for longer. Emma is good with puzzles," Hank replied, oddly sanguine about his memory loss. "I know formulas, equations, facts; it's the context that continues to elude me. But I'm better at remembering the here-and-now, and that's a good start."

He looked over at Emma, who was drumming her heels against the cabinets. "I remember enough to be able to tell that our darling little Emma has the potential to become what is known as an Omega Class mutant. Absolutely phenomial power, the top of the scale, in a tiny angry blonde package."

"I'm right here, and I can HEAR YOU, Hank."

[bitten_notshy]

"You say this as if you didn't think I'd guess," Jack pointed out to her. "Not that I'm the expert on mutations, but I've felt what you can do and I know it's just a sliver. You're young."

To Hank, he added, "The question is how we'll keep her from destroying the world."