Log: Jen & Matt WHO: Jen Walters & Matt Murdock WHAT: Hanging out WHERE: Barcelona (Bar La Plata) WHEN: Backdated to Saturday, Dec. 10 RATING: PG STATUS: Completed via GDOC.
It was ironic that Jen was just getting her life back only to get upended again. The lone bright spot was that her cousin, Bruce, was also in her new, weird world. Still, she wasn’t going to turn down a free trip to sulk. Nope! She headed to Barcelona with anyone who cared to join her. Who cared if her sorta boyfriend from back home was in the group? Not awkward at all. They could all drink and enjoy themselves.
Her liquid courage quickly led her over to Matt. “Hey, how are you doing?”
Since the food had come highly recommended by the shopkeeper in the bodega down the street from his hotel, Matt had an order of that and the also recommended vermouth as he sat near the bar and soaked up the auditory ambiance. The weather was mild, really only requiring a jacket while he'd been here, but it was draped over the back of his seat now and his sleeves were rolled up.
He was smiling in Jen's direction even before she'd made it to his table. "I'm excellent, thank you. What about you? What have you been up to? Also, have you tried the tapas? I have plenty."
“Well, I won’t turn that down,” she said while plopping herself in the seat next to him. “Is there squid in these?” She beckoned the bartender over and ordered another drink. “Not that I’m against squid. They are cute and all. Just not sure about eating the poor suckers.”
"Not a sucker in sight, promise." Matt laughed, unable to keep a straight face at all. "Just some sausages, some bread, and a really good tomato salad—help yourself. As far as magical things go, it sure beats being compelled to go to the beach or to a pool party. I don't think I would have minded either if I hadn't just gotten here and if I'd had a choice in the matter." He shivered, and it wasn't affected in the slightest. "Oh, the suits I could bring if we could figure out who or what is behind all of this."
Jen chuckled and helped herself to some of the food he offered. “Hmmm, so good, thank you,” she said. But then she frowned. “Yeah, I heard about the compulsion shit. This place is a lawsuit waiting to happen if we ever figure out the nitty gritty.” She sighed. “But will we ever? It has been, what, over a year for some of you?”
"Some, yeah. I think Pepper and her daughter Morgan and Steve were among the first. I haven't dug too much into the network history. Seems a little bit like snooping." He lifted a shoulder with a wry smile, and then sipped at his vermouth. "Most of the time I just skim things anyway. I set up an alert for whenever my name is mentioned, as narcissistic as that probably sounds, but it helps me not miss things. And speaking of… was that really Loki? On the network?"
“Apparently it is him,” Jen replied. “He tells me his point of history is complicated so we’re going out to discuss it. I’m actually pretty excited. I mean, Loki is one complicated creature.” She sipped her drink. “Won’t be my worst date, I’m sure. The worst date is still the guy who set up Intellgencia.” She slapped her forehead. “Oh, right, you don’t know about that. It was basically a dude bro’s wet dream to take down She-Hulk and me.”
Matt's grimace of disgust was completely genuine, even if he was getting just the highlights, apparently. At that point, it was the principle of the thing. "I'm going to be really disappointed with my future self if he didn't help with bringing said dude bro down. What the hell?"
“You were great moral support,” Jen replied, “but the joy of putting him behind bars belongs to me and my friends.” She nudged him. “Seriously though, you were there for me during a real rough spot.” And for that? She wanted to be friends, if nothing else.
He snorted, but nodded as well. "As well it should be, of the damaged party. And I'm glad I could be. Will be? This timeline stuff gets really grammatically confusing. I can't figure out if asking how we met and how you found out about me is risking the time/space continuum or something. There's a reason I went into law and not theoretical physics."
Jen threw her head back and laughed. “Oh, my cousin is probably better for those answers, but I don’t mind telling you how we met if you want to know.” She paused, before adding, “My cousin is Bruce Banner if you didn’t know. Good guy, loves to annoy me…”
His mouth quirked up. On anyone else, it might have been flirty. On Matt, it was just kind of his way of being. "I gathered that from my skimming. Should I be bracing myself for a roundabout shovel talk, even though we're just being friendly? Not that you or I really need one. We're both extremely competent in our own ways. But, yeah, I'd like to know."
“Nah, he’ll just get a headache and blame it on me,” Jen replied. “And we met through the courtroom, appropriately enough. You were defending Luke Jacobson. You won, by the way, jerk. We talked a bit at a bar that night, but you got a call and had to hurry off. Turns out my client, Leap Frog, was holding Luke captive and making him work on a new suit.” She rolled her eyes. “Just another day in the life of a lawyer slash superhero. Anyway, we teamed up to bring Leap Frog and his tadpoles down.”
Matt had to press his fingers to his mouth, but it wasn't enough to stop him from tipping into helpless laughter. "If I hadn't been the Devil of Hell's Kitchen for years, I'd swear you were pulling my leg. I've heard of Luke's work in my time, so I'm not really surprised that I represented him. Honestly, I'd been thinking about commissioning him for a new suit after my old armorer got married and retired to an island in Polynesia. And more power to him, I say." He lifted his glass in salute. "But, really… Leap Frog? That's the most hysterical part of our strangely perfect origin story. How is it being a Hulk, anyway?"
She couldn’t help laughing too. It was a ludicrous story, but her life now. “Being a Hulk? At first, I resented it, but I’ve come to accept it. I can help people, you know? What’s it like being Daredevil?”
"The same—but throw in more frequent visits to medical professionals who are really tired of having to patch me up and a healthy dose of Catholic guilt that I'm still not doing enough." He bought himself a moment or two by taking a bite of bread and tomato. When he went on, his easy smile had turned somber. "It's the life I chose for myself, but that doesn't keep the people in my life from being affected by it, y'know? I constantly struggle with that: putting my loved ones in danger. Or… I did, before getting pulled here. I, uh, kind of miss it."
She tilted her head as she listened. “Yeah, I get it. We were sort of eased into being a family with a superhero because of Bruce so it was easier for me, I think.” She patted his arm gently. “Can’t you be a hero in San Francisco?”
"All that sun and lack of pseudo-gothic architecture? Kind of wrecks the vibe I usually go for." Matt laughed, and put his hand over hers for just a second. "But do you really think that's an option? I thought the idea was to keep our heads down. We attract enough attention just by being there—not to mention all the magical crap we've inflicted in the locals."
Jen shrugged. “If we can’t help the locals, what good are we doing here anyway?” She hadn’t been there long, but she planned on living her life as fully as possible. “Granted, you are right. Your whole dark vibe is off. We’ll have to get you a sunshine suit instead.” Her voice was clearly teasing on the last bit.
He shuddered and drained his glass, then pointed the empty at her. "That, Counselor, is outrageously out of order. I object on the grounds of… of… you're mean!" Matt laughed, full-bellied and nearly doubled over. "Oh, God, Billy and Tommy are obviously influencing me at this point, and not the other way around."
“The kids that are somehow Bruce’s grandchildren?” Jen had jotted down notes about everyone who replied to her entries on the board and who Bruce told her about. “You are playing with children now?” She ordered another drink and added, “I need a chart for who’s who here.”
"Oh, I'm the last person you should come to for said chart. Most days, I feel like I've barely scratched the surface on all the connections around here. But as far as that particular relationship goes, here's what I've figured out: Bruce and Tony created Vision with the help of Thor. Vision and Wanda were together when he was destroyed by Thanos. Together romantically. Wanda's grief was so…" Matt swallowed, no longer as amused by all this as he had been. "Well, let's just say she created a version of reality where Vision was alive and they had two boys together, Billy and Tommy. And… I don't know. There was something about her when I first got here. She was kind. Sweet. And then her boys showed up, and they're kind of a package deal, so… yeah. I'm hanging around with kids on a much more regular basis than I ever did at home. And…this is weird, right? Us talking about this?"
“It's not,” she said gently. “You are a different person, and I meant it when I said I wanted to be friends.” She nudged him in the side and added, “So you like Wanda and her children. I’m happy for you.”
"I do, yeah." The admission came easily, but the reality was far from it. Now, however, was not the time to unpack that particular emotional minefield, so he smiled in the direction of their server when his refreshed drink was put carefully against his hand. He murmured a quiet "gracias" and then turned back to Jen. "What should we toast, Counselor?"
“To magical snow globes, of course,” she replied, grinning, as she held up her glass.
Matt laughed and clinked his glass with hers. "To magical snow globes and new friends!"