Jupiter [Marvel Phase I]

thirteen.

"So, what have you been up to recently?"

If Jenn's mouth had been empty when Harry asked, she wasn't sure what she would've done. Probably screamed, like she did whenever Dev jumped out from behind a door. As it actually happened, Jenn just choked on her shepherd's pie.

In the embarrassing minute that followed, Jenn tried to wash it down with water while Harry fussed over her. The whole time, she silently prayed he forgot his question.

He didn't. Once Jenn was done wiping the tears from her eyes, Harry asked the same thing again. "You've been out a lot recently," he added this time.

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that," Jenn began. "It's just a lot of end-of-semester work...term papers, studying for exams. And I know you don't like The Grindhouse, but they're right nearby and Dev's mum isn't a fan of girls staying over late."

"You're right. I don't like The Grindhouse," Harry replied. He gave her The Look - the one all parental figures have mastered - but said nothing more on the subject. Of course that was the one thing he paid attention to. Jenn rolled her eyes as Harry went on. "I just assumed you'd taken on a new project is all."

Jenn tried not to let her panic show. It was easy to cover a wince with another forkful of food. "Well, sorta," she shrugged after composing herself. This technically wasn't going to be a lie. "Dev and I have a side-project at the moment. Welding goggles that offer better definition while still working as an effective filter."

"Not that I don't admire your entrepreneurial spirit, but shouldn't you be working on other things right now? Namely picking your theses topics," Harry said.

Oh, right. That. Jenn had been so focused on this whole "Jupiter" thing she nearly forgot how close she was to graduating. Technically, the electrical engineering degree was just a coursework masters, so it didn't require a project. That particle physics doctorate, however...

"Well, it's just the one thesis, really," Jenn began, willing her heartbeat to resume a normal pace. "But I was thinking of doing something relating to electromagnetism?"

"Now you have my attention!" Harry laughed, settling into his chair. "Like uncle, like niece, huh?"

"First of all, it's 'former legal guardian'. We're not related by blood or marriage," Jenn wagged a finger at him.

"Fine," Harry sighed, but it was done with a smile. "Then what's the second thing?"

Actually, there hadn't been a second thing. Not at first, anyway. But after Harry asked, something did come to mind. It was a question she'd been meaning to ask for weeks, if not months. When the time was right, she kept telling herself, when they both weren't busy and had time to talk things over. Well, now was definitely the right time, yet Jenn still found herself hesitating.

"Speaking of family," Jenn paused to wet her lips after they suddenly went dry. The way Harry was intently watching her didn't help. "What were they like? My parents, I mean?"

And there it was; the one thing Jenn and Harry never spoke about. It was an unspoken rule. Jenn knew the barest objective facts, but Harry never uttered a word about them. Not even a passing comment. Jenn wanted to blame part of it on herself. Harry probably thought her moratorium on the subject was part of her grieving process, but that wasn't exactly the case. For years, Jenn had hoped to remember things on her own. However, she was coming to terms with the fact that those memories no longer existed in her brain. But considering recent events, she was more curious than ever.

For his part, Harry's tense expression remained unchanged. He was statue-still until he needed to blink and then he completely deflated. "Well," Harry let out a long breath, taking off his glasses to clean them. "What is it you wanted to know?"