am-books Chapter 66: She-Hulk
Chapter 66: She-Hulk
Chapter 66: She-Hulk
A/N: Here's the new Chapter! Which also means the next four chapters are up on my Patreon for early access as well as the chance to vote on the direction of the story!
Even with the weekend over, Thaddeus just can't escape these damn heart to hearts.
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Thaddeus has been a very naughty boy, but Jen has to admit, she wasn’t expecting him to react quite like that. Maybe look guilty and shrink into his seat at the sight of her, sure... but this? Well, this was interesting. And also hilarious. Though not everyone feels the same way.
“Excuse me, young man?! Mister Cummings, I will tolerate no form of sexism, bigotry, prejudice, or discrimination in this classroom, do you hear me?! If you have an issue with Ms. Walters, you are more than welcome to leave!”
Neville Norbert is a small, somewhat unassuming man. And despite his earlier words, they aren’t actually good friends. In fact, Jennifer’s interactions with the Criminal Justice Professor have been relatively limited over the years, ever since their first meeting where she’d found herself facing off against him in his first ever court case... and thoroughly mopping the floor with the man.
In the aftermath, Jen had felt bad enough that she’d offered him her number in case he needed some tips or advice or what not ever. Neville had taken that offer and ran with it and yet even with her help, he’d fizzled out within six months, jumping from law to teaching shortly after.
Still, they’d stayed in touch, talking every so often here and there. So when Jennifer found she needed an ‘in’ at Empire State University sooner rather than later... well, the Criminal Justice Professor had been the perfect way to stick her foot in the door. Serendipity made manifest.
Unfortunately, Neville had found a terrible moment to finally discover his backbone because Jennifer could see in Thaddeus’ eyes that the younger man was actually considering taking that offer and running with it just to escape her for a little while longer. And that, obviously, would not do.
Stepping forward, Jen places a hand on her incensed former colleague’s shoulder, calming him down with a smile.
“That won’t be necessary, Neville.”
Then, she looks up at Thaddeus, smiling toothily.
“Mister Cummings, was it? Let’s talk after class, shall we? I hope whatever issue you might have with me can wait until then.”
Thaddeus flushes, recognizing well the trap she’s put him in. If he storms out now, he looks unimaginably weak in front of everyone. Of course, the gamble is whether he’d actually care about their opinions or not. In the end though, he slumps back in his chair, mostly seeming resigned to having a talk with her eventually either way.
And he’s right to be resigned. Jennifer didn’t call in this favor with Neville just to be stonewalled by the very reason she’s here.
With Thaddeus seemingly ‘giving up’, Jen smirks and nods, before giving Neville a nod as well that sees the mousy man scurrying back to his own desk. Leaving her by herself as the center of attention at the front of the lecture hall... just the way she liked it.
“Now then... let’s get started, shall we?”
To be fair, she feels like she gives a decent enough lecture. It wasn’t anything she’d written down or prepared too much for ahead of time, of course... but then, someone like her with all her years of experience didn’t need to plan ahead for something as simple as giving a lecture to a bunch of coeds. She would never act this lackadaisical in a real courtroom situation, but she knew how to command the attention of a room and hold it, and that was more than enough for these people.
Eventually her time comes to an end. Neville gets up to clap profusely and prompt everyone else to do the same, before announcing that she would be back soon for more of her planned series of guest lectures. While that’s happening, Jen only really has eyes for Thaddeus... who stares back at her seemingly nonplussed.
Finally, as most of the audience files out of the room, Neville clears his throat and asserts himself once more.
“Mister Cummings. I hope you aren’t going to try to scurry away.”
Thaddeus wasn’t doing anything of the sort, and the way he stiffens in outrage at the presumption almost has Jen barking in laughter. As is, she manages to keep it together even as Neville turns to her and gives her a nod.
“You can use my office to have a chat with him.”
Huh, that was a lot of trust. Most people would assume she wanted a one-on-one chat with the seemingly sexist or bigoted jock because she was going to physically intimidate him. But not Neville, not if he’s not worried about his office getting partially demolished in the first place. Jennifer starts to raise her estimation of the unassuming professor up a few notches... only for him to lean in and give her a conspiratorial whisper.
“I’m due for a few renovations anyways, if you know what I mean.”
Nope. Right back down. Her smile becomes far more plastic as she gives Neville a nod and then heads for the office. Thaddeus doesn’t slouch or drag his feet or anything like that, so they wind up meeting at the door. Holding it open and gesturing him inside, Jennifer gives Neville one more nod before closing and locking the office door behind her.
“Why are you here?”
That was... hard for Jennifer to stomach, truth be told. Not much was known about the Hellfire Club. If you asked most people, they wouldn’t even know it existed. Those who did know were split into a few camps. First, there were those who would just shrug and say that the Hellfire Club was just a Gentleman’s Club for the rich, powerful, and influential. Because on its surface, that’s what it was.
Second, you would have those who were actually part of the club itself, but obviously they weren’t talking. And Third, you had the camp that Jen fell into. Call it what you wanted... but her experiences as both lawyer and heroine had given her a unique insight into that organization of the rich and powerful... enough to know they were up to no good. Enough to know that something was rotten and stank to high heaven about the whole damn group.
Unfortunately, facts didn’t care about feelings and Jen had never had hard, concrete proof. Until now, maybe. But first, she had to know.
“Thaddeus, what happened Friday Night? What constitutes a promotion to White Knight in the Hellfire Club?”
The younger man hesitates for a long moment before letting out a sigh.
“I killed a man.”
Needless to say, that admission sends a jolt of electricity up Jennifer’s spine. She definitely wasn’t expecting Thaddeus to confess to murder, even if part of her had been deathly afraid that something like that (or even worse) WAS the prerequisite for such a promotion. And yet... the way Thaddeus just cops to it does give Jen pause. And even if they’ve only known each other for a short time, her instincts tell her to give him a chance to explain himself.
After a brief pause while he waits for her reaction, Thaddeus continues.
“I guess your source was good enough to know about my promotion, but not good enough to know about the shakeup in leadership. Still, do you know who the Black King was?”
Jennifer immediately notes the word choice, even as she slowly nods.
“Sebastian Shaw. Business Mogul.”
And corrupt bastard, she was sure. Again, she’d never had proof of it... but Shaw’s shit smelt too much like roses for its own good. It was obvious that something stunk to high heaven somewhere.
“He was also a mutant with no small amount of power. He tried to kill me Friday night because I refused to hand over my date for the evening. Instead... he bit off more than he could chew.”
Well damn. Jen doesn’t think Thaddeus is lying to her. But she can tell he’s holding a lot back about the encounter. And... fair enough really. She wasn’t entitled to all of his secrets. Except, she was still an Avenger. That meant she had a duty to investigate this, even if it took her places she didn’t want to go. At the same time though... she’d be happy to not have to take Thaddeus down for murder.
“So it was self-defense then?”
The hesitation is damning, but finally Thaddeus nods.
“... Yeah. It was self-defense.”
A half-truth, Jennifer intuits. Shaw started it and Thaddeus finished it, but things were never quite so black and white. No, it was more than likely that there’d been a moment where Thaddeus had Shaw at his mercy and could have let the other man live. A moment where the younger man had to decide whether to deal with the threat to his life permanently or refrain from becoming a killer.
Obviously, she already knew which option Thaddeus chose. And she now knew why he’d received his promotion. Because apparently the Hellfire Club was just that kind of place, where killing the Black King meant you were promoted to White Knight. Ugh, Jen had never been a particularly big fan of chess, truth be told.
Ultimately though, she now had a choice to make. Just from the way Thaddeus had started out by confessing to murder before explaining that it was in self-defense, Jennifer could tell it was eating at him. Maybe not eating at him too much given he had no trouble coming to class today after a weekend to get over it, but still.
She could take him in right now. She was an Avenger and he’d just admitted to killing someone. This could be the big break they needed to finally drag the Hellfire Club’s malcontents kicking and screaming into the light. But it would permanently ruin her relationship with Thaddeus. And maybe that was a small price to pay... but what if there was another way?
The whole reason she’d called in that favor with Neville had been because her plan was to slow roll this impromptu investigation. She hadn’t wanted to scare Thaddeus away. His reaction to seeing her, however, had been so pronounced that she’d moved up her timetable.
That wasn’t to say she should keep accelerating things though. You caught more flies with honey than vinegar, after all...
-x-X-x- The Vote: [ ] She can't ignore what he's told her, take him in for official interrogation - 7%[X] Actually, his reaction was kind of curious wasn't it? Question that further - 81%
[ ] Best not to spook him, slow roll it and make sure he knows she's on his side - 12%
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