Jupiter [Marvel Phase I]

twenty-two.

By the time Jenn made it home, she'd forgotten all about the apology she was drafting for Dev. Her presentation, the revisions on her thesis project - those were gone too. It had been a conscious choice at first. She wanted to practice her arguments before the inevitable confrontation with Harry.

That all changed the moment she stepped onto the street. A car drove past playing some song from the nineties and Jenn was thrown headlong into her memories.

It had been a grueling day in training. She could still feel a deep ache in her muscles, but at least it was over now. On their way back to the barracks, they passed the munitions manufacturing lab. The labs were typically empty by now, but one scientist had yet to leave. Clearly assuming he was the last one left in the facilities, he'd decided to blast his music. The absurdity of watching a grown man nod along to bubblegum pop...

She turned back around, seeking a specific pair of eyes out from the crowd. Her sister was already staring in her direction, barely concealed grin on her lips. At the sight, she lost the battle with her own smile and broke down in laughter. Oh, the warden had been so mad at her-

The beeping of the car's horn cut the memory off. Even then, Jenn could still recall what happened next. She grit her teeth and tried to refocus her efforts.

Only to find she couldn't. Everything she passed on the street only served as the key to another memory. A nearby kebab stand was part of the same chain one of the communications officers always brought in on weekends. Someone read out a phone number, but all Jenn could see were the faces of S.E.R.A.H. Project soldiers with those designations. Another woman wore the same perfume as one of the doctors.

It was all too much. The information in that file was no longer the key to unlocking her past, like Jenn had pictured. It was a bullet, shattering glass. There had been the initial crack, sending spider-like veins rippling out in every direction. Each sound, or smell, or sight was another leak in the dam. Memories were drip, drip, dripping in from all sides. Then a stream, then a flood. Jenn was drowning in scenes from her past - things she was only remembering for the first time.

Once she finally made it through the front door of her tower block, it was a relief. Her memories of this building only stretched back ten years. Nevertheless, the fragments of her once-forgotten past continued to swarm her mind. Voices echoed over one another, competing for her attention. She had to get away, only to quickly realize there was no way to escape her own mind. Jenn rushed through the front door of her flat, slamming it harder than she meant.

"Jenn?"

The sound of her name rung above all the noise. No one called her that before. It was recent, rooted in the present.

"Jenn, is that you?"

But the voice...it had been there since the beginning.

"Jennifer?"

Swallowing the past down, Jenn forced herself to return to the present. The familiar syllables of her name and the even the lighting in her flat were all unique to her current life. It was a tether she could use to focus.

"Yeah, it's me," Jenn called back. Her voice felt strangely hoarse.

"Ah, you're back from Devraj's earlier than I expected," Harry called. It sounded like he was in the kitchen. She followed the sounds of cooking as he continued, "Well, this was supposed to be a surprise for tomorrow, but I was planning to make your favorite dinner for your birthday."

True to his word, Harry was working intently over the stove when Jenn finally got to the dining area. If he heard her approach, he didn't turn around. From this angle, he hadn't changed much in the last decade. His hair had gotten grayer and he'd gained some weight, but he looked the same making pot roast as he did squinting into a microscope. Jenn's stomach turned.