2000.
Los Angeles High School.
A teenage girl with pale skin, and frizzled dark hair. She was petite and with average height. But her personality, to the people, spoke more than her size ever could.
Fifteen-year-old Jen sneaked through the corridors. With a classmate. The pair kept quiet, as it was closing time. The perfect opportunity for them to sneak into the library.
Jen had arranged this for her and her friend, whom she admired deeply. As she was also running away from a problem at home.
"How are you so sure the guard's--?" He asked her, as they quietly walked into the school library.
"I know Mr. Owens. He understands anyone when they have a problem." Jen said. "He won't tell anyone."
"Yeah, but--" The boy said. "won't he get fired if the Principal finds out he's in on this?"
Jen shrugged. "Then let's make sure the Principal will never find out." she smiled and pointed to the windows.
The boy raised a brow at Jen.
The girl smirked,
"What, Daniel? You too pure of a boy to lie about spending a single peaceful night in the school library?" She said.
"No, sometimes I guess I gotta do dirty to do what's right." Daniel said, as he shut the library door then walked over to the shelves with Jen. Both with flashlights that helped them navigate through the shelves.
"Speaking of what's right. What's up with you? And . . . may I ask, how does this comfort you?" Daniel asked.
Jen looked at him, seen how he was just genuinely confused. She bit her lip.
"My cousin Bruce." She said.
"Your . . . " Daniel said.
"There was this girl who'd do the exact same thing with him."
"They'd spend the night in the public library. Just to help him escape his dad who was . . . no good." Jen said as she leaned against the shelf, took a little rhyme book then stared at it as she went.
"Abusive." She said.
"Drinker?" Daniel asked.
Jen raised a brow. "I think so." She looked down. "I just, always heard my mom, talking about those times she saw Bruce walking outside and then asking him where he got all those bruises."
She looked straight.
"He always lied about them. Said he was clumsy. But really, he was trying to protect his dad."
"I never understood that." Jen said.
"Like, how could you have the strength and willpower to protect someone who was---hurting you?" she said.
Daniel pondered, as he stared blankly.
"All that shit made a mess out of him." Jen said. As she imagined the scenario of Bruce being physically abused by his father Brian. She gulped, and this heavy feeling climbed up her throat. Until it forced her eyes to tear up.
"I don't know why. But I could imagine how hard it was." Jen said.
Daniel stood beside her and squeezed her shoulder reassuringly. "Where's your cousin now?" he asked.
Jen looked at Daniel then his hand. "He is 31, and working full-time as an instructor in Culver University with his girlfriend. Biochemistry, y'know . . . all that smarty stuff." She said, as her smile returned.
"What you said about protecting--" Daniel started.
Jen raised a brow. "Protecting someone you---who was hurting you." She said. "That just sucks, doesn't it?"
"I guess, from what I could tell about your cousin?" Daniel said.
"Yeah?" Jen said.
"Maybe there was a part of his dad that was good and, he believed in that." He said. "Or atleast he thought so."
"You mean like Star Wars? Luke and Vader?" Jen asked. "Seriously?"
Daniel was nearly rendered speechless. "Really? I don't even watch Star Trek." He said.
"It's Star Wars, you idiot." Jen stifled a chuckle. "See, in that story. Vader is Darth Vader, the evil bad guy with the sword. Luke is the main hero, the good guy with the sword." She said.
". . . Vader was Luke's father. And Luke believed there was good in him. I mean, he already killed his mentor infront of him, and chopped his hand off. But no, Luke kept believing there was good in him."
"That paid off in the end. Vader sacrificed his life for Luke's and died a good man, a father to his son." Jen said.
"But on part of my cousin's story?" Jen blew disappointingly as she leaned on the shelf.
"Bruce probably had memories of how good his dad was before all that."
"His story wasn't anything like Star Wars. It was different." she said.
"After years living under that roof, with his dad's fists raining on him like an abomination. His dad came across the wrong person--a cop, and got arrested when he found out what he's been doing to Bruce."
After all that. Jen's eyes laser-focused onto Daniel's.
"I'm just glad he's doing fine."
"So what's up with you?" He asked.
Jen sadly looked at him, in anguish at herself. She took a quick deep breath, "I lashed out at someone today." She said. "Everyone in class saw, and it's like they were all afraid of me."
they were all afraid of me.
Present Day, 2022.
Supermax Prison, Damage Control.
In her containment cell, Jen stood up to see her friends walk into the room. All three concerned. There came Nikki, Pug, and Mallory.
"Hey, guys." Jen said.
"Hey, buddy. Are you okay?" Nikki said.
"Yeah, just---" Jen pointed around. "Getting used to . . . " she noticed the stern look on Mallory's face, and discontinued.
"Okay. So . . . Pug. Did you manage to get a hold of Bruce for me?" Jen asked.
"We left multiple messages already, and don't suppose it was easy when I was literally contacting the freaking Hulk." Pug said.
"So nothing." Jen said, she sighed. "He left for some unfinished business on that planet . . . Sucker, or something."
"We need to get to brass tacks." Mallory said.
"Of course." Jen looked down. "We need to identify every individual who hacked my private information. And who knows whatever lurks beyond what they call themselves?"
"These Intelligencia guys sound big. There's a lot of stuff going down here that we still don't know." Jen said.
"A while ago, four guys attacked me and tried to take my blood. Failed miserably. Then I find out days later, one of em's trying to make their lives better with Blonsky. He's not half-bad anymore, but I prefer to be cautious." She shrugged at her friends.
"Slow down, Jen. What we need is to discuss your case." Mallory said.
"Of course. What?" Jen stared down at the floor as she held her head.
"I-I'm sorry, guys. I . . . I got angry."
"There were witnesses." she said.
"No, Jen. You are valid to feel every pain in your body." Nikki said.
"Sure, but--" Jen began hyperventilating as her eyes drifted off to the side.
"I wasn't ready for this." she said.
"He was right. Bruce was right."
"What are you talking about?" Nikki asked.
"When I first got my powers. Bruce taught me back at Mexico, that I wasn't ready to go out there and move on as if nothing's changed." Jen said, she didn't know what to feel at the moment. She did not want to get angry either, not even at the slightest.
"Jen." Nikki said.
Jen looked at her friends and grit her teeth. "I wasn't ready." she said, her voice dissolving into sorrow.
"All I knew was that I was angry. But . . . people saw a monster."
"Jennifer." Nikki sadly looked at Jen, her voice also breaking.
The latter slowly shook her head, teary-eyed and conflicted of everything. A world had washed down on her.
"It's never gonna go away." Jen said. "I ruined it, Nikki. It's never gonna go away. The way they see me?"
"That is not true." Mallory said.
Silence clouded the room for a moment.
"You are Jennifer Walters: Attorney at Law."
"That is who you have been your entire life." Mallory said.
"A big shake-up on the papers about you, does not stand a chance against your willpower. So don't let it hold you back."
"Who are you kidding?" Jen asked. She wanted to prove that Mallory was wrong about her. That she supposedly wasn't all that good.
"My entire life. Even before She-Hulk."
"I was just a girl. Just a girl, and not all good."
"Everytime I heard that someone was talking behind my back, there were always times that I would just---lash out at them!" She said.
"Then everybody around me, everyone in the room would be staring!" Breathing heavily, as she reinstated old grievances.
"What happened at the gala. I'd say that's the 100th time it's happened to me.
The people around you staring at you in fear? I guess Bruce and I weren't so different."
"It's haunted me my whole life. Everytime." Jen said.
"Everything. All this. Happens. All because of . . . feelings." she said.
"First, my cousin becomes a fugitive. I lose friends, I lose people, I lose people I love. I get pushed away by people I feel for. "
"I get the feeling that I'm worthless. I get these powers, and now I am much more emotionally vulnerable than I have ever been in my . . . entire . . . LIFE!" she screamed, as her head twitched from releasing negativity.
Silence loaded up the room some more, before letting them take up their time again.
"Jennifer." Mallory called to her.
Nikki gazed at Jen, with teary eyes. "I'm here for you, okay?" she said, sadly.
Jen allowed tears to stream down her cheeks, as she slowly laid down the floor in order to stare at the ceiling. At the same time, a moment to share with her friends.
"If you believe your feelings are causing the worst things in your life. Then use them to your advantage, and let them spark the best things." Mallory said.
"Flip the script." Pug nodded.
Jennifer was quiet, as she looked up at them. With a plain expression. But she was just glad they were there for her.