Work Text:
The sequence of events that brings Jen to Katy goes like this: have a cousin who’s a Hulk, go on a road trip with said cousin, crash car and smash it up beyond repair (and incidentally acquire superpowers), miss the bus on your first day back at work, get an Uber.
‘Hey! You Jen?’ The woman leaning out of the window of the battered red car beams at her. (At least she’s more cheerful than the last driver she had. He talked about his D&D campaign for the entire forty-five minute drive. She never got a word in after ‘Hi.’)
‘That’s me.’ Jen gets into the passenger seat, realising too late that she didn’t comb her hair. She runs her fingers through it. ‘No offense, but I’m running really late, so...’
The woman holds up a finger. ‘Say no more,’ she says, with a concerningly mischievous grin.
Minutes later, Jen is reconsidering her decision to get an Uber. Katy (whose name she soon learns) drives like she’s in a heist movie. The little car rockets through the tiniest gaps in traffic and beeps its way through when there isn’t one.
‘Have you ever been told you aren’t living up to your potential?’ Katy asks casually as they ride down the sidewalk to avoid a parked van.
‘Yeah, my cousin says that a lot lately,’ Jen gasps, gripping the holy-shit handle and hoping Katy won’t notice her green knuckles.
‘Literally the reason I had to move out. My friend’s a superhero now and suddenly my family want to know when I’m gonna save the universe.’
Jen laughs, a little hysterically. ‘Story of my life. Ever since my cousin got superpowers, nothing I do comes close. Made it through law school but I can’t throw a bus...’
‘No way! It sucks, right? It’s like, how am I supposed to live up to that?’ She cuts in front of a truck, who blares the horn at her. ‘I miss San Francisco but I just had to get away for a while, you know? I mean yeah, I got fired from my job as a valet, but I killed a dragon! – long story, had to be there – and I found something I’m good at: I drive fast.’
Jen is torn between fearing for her life and being just a tiny bit in love with this terrifying woman. If she survives this, she’ll have a hell of a story to tell Nikki.
They screech to a stop. Jen’s hair is wild again, and half the contents of her bag are scattered under the seat, and she may never get an Uber again, but she’s five minutes early for work. ‘Wow. That was... really fast.’ She turns to Katy incredulously. ‘How many traffic laws did you just break?’
‘Pfft. You’re the lawyer, I don’t know. Anyway, thanks for being my first customer!’ She winks.
Jen gets out on shaky legs and watches her speed off. Maybe today won’t be so bad after all.
She opens the app and gives Katy five stars.
The sequence of events that gets Jen fired goes like this: attend court, prepare to give closing statement, get interrupted by a superpowered woman who puts everyone in danger, Hulk out to prevent the jury from having a desk thrown at them, “She-Hulk” makes it on the news… boss fires you for being a liability.
And because her boss decided to fire her at the bar when she wasn’t even at work, she now has to walk in there with a hangover and clear out her office.
‘I’m gonna quit too,’ Nikki insists, hefting Jen’s potted plant under her arm. She glares at anyone staring at them as they pass.
‘No, you’re not. This is my mess.’ Jen swallows a lump in her throat as the elevator doors slide shut. ‘They were jerks anyway. I’ll find another job. Somewhere no one knows who She-Hulk is.’
She snorts. ‘Jen. Everyone in LA knows who you are.’
‘Well, they still need lawyers in Antarctica.’ She checks her phone. ‘My Uber’s here.’
‘I’m coming round later with ice cream and we’re gonna make a battle plan, okay? Maybe this is a good thing! You were way too good for this place anyway.’
Outside, a red car is parked haphazardly on the sidewalk.
For the first time that day, Jen smiles. ‘I’ll be home before I know it.’ And she steps out of the building and into the unknown that is the rest of her day.
‘Hey! You finish early?’ Katy is beaming, but her face falls as Jen approaches with a potted plant in one hand and several bags of things in the other.
‘Not exactly,’ Jen says with a sad smile, and to her shame she feels a lump in her throat.
Katy gets out. She’s shorter than Jen by a foot or two. Without a word, she helps load up the trunk with all of Jen’s things. The potted plant is strapped into the backseat. ‘That everything?’
Jen nods. She sinks into the passenger seat with a groan, just wanting to disappear.
Today, Katy doesn’t drive fast. They wind through the midday traffic, the radio babbling between them. Finally, Katy turns it down. ‘Do you wanna talk about it?’
‘No.’ Jen folds her arms. Then she sighs. ‘Yes.’ And she finds herself telling Katy the whole story. Not just getting fired, but everything that led up to it.
‘Wow, your boss is an asshole. Why did he fire you for saving someone?’
‘Exactly!’
‘I saw you on the news last night. I told Shaun I was She-Hulk’s uber driver but he didn’t believe me.’ She glances over. ‘So Bruce Banner is your cousin?’
‘Yep.’
‘I know Bruce! Well, kind of. It’s more like he’s friends with my friend. They have a lot of video calls. And that’s a whole other story.’ She drums her fingers on the steering wheel. ‘Hey, do you wanna get lunch?’
It’s been the shittiest day, but somehow Jen finds herself smiling back. ‘My schedule’s pretty open right now.’
‘Oh thank god, I’ve been dying to talk to someone normal. You wouldn’t believe the shit people admit to when they’re in the back of my car.’
They pull up at a McDonald’s and eat their spoils in the back seat, the potted plant between them. As it turns out, Katy has also had a strange few months: discovering her best friend is the son of a semi-mythical figure and also has a badass sister, driving through a shifting magical maze and finally killing a dragon with a bow and arrow.
‘Wow. And you’re like, okay after all that?’
‘Oh, yeah.’ Katy smiles and shrugs, dunking a fry in her hot chocolate. ‘Wong’s been really helpful, you know, easing us into all the weird shit. We hung out at Kamar Taj for a while but it got kinda boring after a while. I don’t really know what I wanna do with my life, but I don’t want to be a wizard.’
‘Bruce keeps telling me it’s nice there, but he couldn’t give me a reason beyond books and peace. I’d rather be somewhere with wi-fi.’
‘I can’t believe your cousin is the Hulk. But I can kinda see it actually, you have the same hair.’ There’s something disarming about Katie. Maybe it’s the way her jacket slides down towards her elbows, revealing her bare shoulders, or the way she gesticulates so much she drops sauce in her lap, or her instant sunny smile. Before they’ve even talked for an hour, Jen knows they’re going to be good friends. By the time Katy drives her home, they’ve exchanged numbers.
The sequence of events that leads to Jen asking Katy out goes like this: meet up regularly for (platonic) lunch dates, Nikki says you obviously have a crush on her, realise that oh shit maybe you do have a crush on her, panic, text Bruce, Bruce says that Shang-Chi says that Katy talks about you all the time and you should definitely ask her out, panic more, plan out this whole speech and finally pluck up the courage to ask –
‘Jen, are you okay?’
Jen blinks. Katy watches her from the driver’s seat, looking concerned. She’s wearing glittery pink lip gloss today. It really suits her. ‘What? Oh yeah, I’m fine.’ They’re going to watch a movie tonight. Katy invited Shang-Chi. Jen invited Nikki. Mysteriously, neither of them could make it and she’s starting to wonder if there’s a group chat they aren’t a part of.
‘I know all the She-Hulk stuff has been a lot.’
She laughs. ‘Understatement.’ Now all the Intelligencia stuff has blown over, she’s looking forward to getting back to a (relatively) normal life. The thing is, she’d rather like that normal life to have Katy in it.
The sun is setting behind them, and they rumble down the darkening roads. After everything she’s faced, this should be easy, but Jen’s heart is pounding so hard that she just might turn green.
‘If you Hulk out I think my car will explode. Are you sure you’re okay? You’re so quiet tonight. It’s weird.’ Katy throws glances at her between turns. ‘I didn’t really wanna say anything, but I’ve been super worried about you. I think I’m driving Shaun crazy. I was just watching the news all the time and wishing I could do more to help.’
Jen looks at her. Katy’s brow is furrowed as she watches the road. ‘I’m okay now. I promise.’
‘Because I care about you, you know? Like, we’re friends, but I really really care about you. When I didn’t see you for a few weeks, I…’ She sighs. ‘It just didn’t feel right at all.’
Lights appear in the distance; they’ll be there soon. She-Hulk would smash this. Everyone wants She-Hulk.
But Katy wants Jen.
‘Hey, Katy,’ she says casually, ‘do you want to go out sometime?’
Katy laughs hesitantly. ‘Uh, well we are going out, to the movies?’
‘No, I mean do you want to go out-out? Like, dating? With me, maybe?’
The car swerves to the side of the road and screeches to a stop. Katy turns to her. ‘What?’
‘Not if you don’t want to,’ Jen says hastily, ‘it was just an idea…’
‘Hell yes I wanna date you!’ There’s that sunshine smile again, and suddenly everything is okay. ‘I may have mentioned you to Shaun a couple times and he keeps telling me to go for it, but I still wasn’t sure…’
‘Oh, him and Bruce are absolutely in league with each other. And probably Nikki too.’
‘I may have also told Nikki that I liked you.’
They both laugh at the absurdity of it all. Katy looks so beautiful in the dim light that Jen can’t resist reaching out to tuck back a stray strand of hair. Then resting a hand on her cheek. Then leaning in…
Katy grabs her collar and pulls her in the last few inches. The kiss tastes of raspberry lip gloss. She wants a million more.
‘So,’ Katy says, a little breathless when they finally break away, ‘how would you rate your Uber experience today?’
With a grin, Jen boops her on the nose. ‘Five stars.’