The XXX-Gene Ch. 40 (Marvel) (Patreon)

A/N: This idea was just too good to pass up.

-x-X-x-

Well, Thaddeus supposed there wasn’t much point in getting luck-based superpowers if he didn’t use them. And what better time to test them out than in a low stakes situation like this should be? Hopping in the hotel room’s shower, he quickly rinses off and then gets dressed. Then, as he’s heading for the door, Thaddeus focuses on that part of him that feels very, very lucky now… and drifts.

Rather than moving with the intent of getting back to ESU as fast as possible, he instead moves with the intent of seeing what fate itself has in store for him. He’s really letting Lady Luck take the wheel here, but seeing as she already got him into bed with two versions of Domino for the price of one, Thaddeus figures it’s worth giving her some leeway.

He soon finds himself in the elevator, but instead of heading for the garage floor to get a private car back to his dorm, his finger slips and he hits the button for the lobby of the hotel. Eyebrow raising at the obvious application of his new ‘super luck’, Thaddeus waits as the elevator makes its way down to the ground floor and then dings, opening up.

Nobody and nothing seems to be obviously waiting for him on the other side, so Thaddeus just keeps moving on his way, eyes sweeping over the lobby but ultimately his feet taking him towards the doors of the hotel themselves. Maybe he would run into someone just outside that he wouldn’t have otherwise by going to the garage? Or maybe-

“Hey good-looking! Come have a drink with us!”

Blinking, Thaddeus comes to a stop right at the front doors of the hotel, turning on his heel to look over at the hotel bar, where a group of three women are sat at a table. One of them, smiling brightly, is the one who called out to him and is waving him down even now. Oddly enough, there’s also an empty glass bottle on the table between them all, pointed unerringly in his direction.

Well, if this wasn’t an obvious sign, Thaddeus didn’t know what was. Smiling good-naturedly, he just shrugs and saunters over to the women, curious to see what Lady Luck had in store for him.

-x-X-x-

“We did try to warn you, Sue.”

“It was pretty obvious yeah… but still sucks. Sorry you’re dealing with this.”

As her friends both console her and do the ‘I told you so’ thing at the same time, Susan Storm just groans, slumped over the table in the hotel bar the three of them had chosen for this little… excursion. She’d been the one to call Janet and Jennifer to be fair, so this was her own fault in the end. But as Jennifer rubs soothing circles into her back, she can’t really bring herself to regret it. Even if they get to say they told her so, she appreciates their company in these trying times.

“… Yeah. I guess I was stupid for not seeing it earlier. I got so caught up in his brilliance, I suppose I just thought eventually he’d turn that brilliance onto me and give me the time of day, you know?”

Sue is well aware of Janet and Jennifer sharing a glance over the top of her slouched body.

“We know, honey.”

“How could we not know? You’ve literally spent years trying to make wedding bells happen.”

Sue groans at that, while Janet is quick to step in and try to soothe that particular ache.

“It’s a good thing you two didn’t wind up getting married, Sue. Breaking up is hard, but getting a divorce is a whole other ballgame. Little Leagues versus Major Leagues, by a long shot.”

“Yeah Janet is right. I haven’t done much in that area, but I know friends who handle divorce cases specifically and let me tell you, it ain’t no walk in the park most of the time.”

Sue tries not to get too huffy as she lifts her head and looks between her two friends. Out of everyone she knew, these two almost certainly knew what they were talking about when it came to divorce. Janet Van Dyne, aka the Wasp, had been forced to go through a somewhat acrimonious divorce with Hank Pym just a couple years back.

Meanwhile, Jennifer Walters, also known as She-Hulk, was a lawyer by trade, so when she talked about those friends of hers, she was talking about divorce lawyers who’d been in the thick of it.

All three of them were ‘dressed down’ for this occasion to hopefully avoid being recognized. Janet, fashionista that she was, was wearing a stylistic poncho-cape combo that hid her mutation, a pair of beautiful wasp wings, from view. Jennifer, meanwhile, was currently in her non-Hulk form, which while not exactly a secret identity, wasn’t nearly as recognizable or visible as She-Hulk was.

Sue, meanwhile, could only rely on a ball cap and a ponytail to try and hide her distinctive blonde looks. On top of that, she was wearing a brown jacket over a red top and a pair of black pants, about as far as she could possibly get from her signature blue jumpsuit when she was running around as the Invisible Woman, a member of the Fantastic Four.

On top of being as discreet as the three of them possibly could be, they’d specifically chosen a random hotel bar instead of a normal bar because not only was it not as likely to be super busy at this time, but also because anyone who was in a hotel bar was probably more focused on their own things and whatever their plans for the day were, over being busybodies.

So far, so good. So far, Sue had been allowed to wallow in her own little pity party with Janet and Jennifer’s help without anyone bothering them. Now though, she does whine a little bit as she looks at the other two women.

“But what if marriage would have fixed everything? What if I decided to act too soon? What if-!”

Suddenly, Jennifer’s finger is against Sue’s lips, cutting her off.

“Nope. Nah-ah. You’re working yourself up into going back to him, again. For like, the sixth time. Girl, it’s time to face facts. Reed Richards might as well be asexual for the amount of time he has for you. And you’re one of the hottest babes around, too! If you can’t pull him away from his work long enough for a single romantic evening… there’s nobody who can.”

Sue hates how much sense Jennifer is making. And Janet, of course, has to team up on her as well.

“Jen is right, Sue. You’ve told us about it time and time again. Reed might be the smartest man alive, but when it comes to women, he’s either a complete idiot… or just doesn’t care enough to devote himself. Look at how many times he’s barely fought to keep you two from breaking up. He never fights to get you back either. It’s always you who has to come crawling back to him.”

That causes Sue to wince, because that’s also true. And Reed was always so… understanding about it all too, that was the worst part. On both ends! When she would break up with him, he’d act like he totally got it, like she deserved better but knew he couldn’t give it to her. And then when she’d come crawling back, he’d welcome her with open arms and a smile, not even expecting an apology or anything from her.

She needed to stop the cycle somehow. She needed to find a way to quit Reed Richards for good. It was just… difficult. He was everything that Sue wanted in a life partner, except for the bedroom. And she felt like some sort of basic bitch cavewoman for allowing that to matter so much, but it was true.

Suddenly, Jennifer snaps her fingers.

“You know what you need, Sue? You need a wakeup call. You need a rebound guy. How long has it been since you had sex, huh?”

Sue sputters, but thankfully Jennifer just waves a hand as she begins looking around humming.

“Don’t bother answering, we both know it’s probably been years. Look, you and Reed are broken up right? So it’s not cheating if you have a fling. You’re so caught up in a future with Richards that you’re ignoring all of the opportunities being as cute and sexy and hot as you are afford you. I bet you could pull any man in this bar right now, as a matter of fact.”

The hotel bar had less than twenty people in it, including the three of them, so that really wasn’t saying anything. Still, Sue squeaks at the idea.

“I’m not just… I’m not going to just walk up to some guy and proposition him, Jen!”

“Of course not!”

With a smirk, Jennifer takes her beer bottle and proceeds to knock it back, chugging the last third of it in a few seconds. When she’s done, she has a glint in her eye that Sue just knows means things are about to get… crazy.

“We’ll let fate decide!”

Before Sue or Janet can say anything, the enthusiastic lawyer lays the bottle down on the table and gives it a good, solid spin. Sue just stares at it in disbelief. Seriously Jennifer? Spin the fucking bottle? They were all grown women here, not teenagers playing a silly kissing game at a damn high school party!

And yet… she doesn’t make any move to grab the spinning bottle and put an end to this. Maybe her girlfriends are right and it HAS been too long, because for some reason, Sue finds herself slightly anticipatory about where the bottle might land, despite the ridiculousness of the situation. Especially since it wasn’t like they had a circle, so what was Jennifer going to do if it… wound up… pointing at… a wall…

Sue’s thoughts trail off as the bottle starts to slow down and her eyes, along with the eyes of Janet and Jennifer, follow the mouth of the bottle to see what direction it’s going to wind up pointing. Not directed to anywhere in the hotel bar itself, the bottle actually starts to slow its spin while facing towards the large open entrance between the bar and the hotel’s lobby.

As it does so, the mouth of the bottle seems to somehow manage to point unerringly at one man in particular, even before it stops moving. This happens because the man is also moving at the same time, walking the length of the hotel lobby and clearly heading for the exit. Just as he’s reaching the hotel’s front doors, the bottle comes to a complete halt, pointed undeniably directly at his back.

… Probably just a coincidence, right? And it wasn’t like Sue was going to chase after the guy, he was probably busy or something. So really-

“Hey good-looking! Come have a drink with us!”

Oh god. Jennifer’s catcalling provokes an immediate reaction as the man turns to face them… and then smirks and begins making his way over. Sue covers her face with her palms for a moment, thoroughly embarrassed on her friend’s behalf but also for herself. But at the same time, she can’t quite keep herself from looking up as he draws nearer.

The first thing she notices is that the man is built like a Greek God, like Adonis himself. The second thing she notices… is that he’s young. Undeniably young. And as he comes to a stop at their table, he gives them all a shit-eating grin as it dawns on the three women just how young he must be.

“Sorry, can’t drink yet… legally, anyways.”

Jennifer and fate would apparently have her robbing the damn cradle! Sue lets out a low keening noise in the back of her throat, while Janet is the first to actually find her voice.

“How old are you, exactly, young man?”

Looking over at the brunette, he shrugs, his grin still remaining.

“Eighteen.”

“Oh! Well that’s alright then! Sit with us anyways! What’s your name, hunk?”

What?! What was Jennifer doing?! Sure, Sue herself was only in her early twenties and so was Jen, with Janet being the oldest of the three women in her late twenties… but hero work had a tendency to age you. They’d both been enough that sometimes it felt like they might as well be in their thirties or forties with the amount of life experience they’d all crammed into the past several years.

Some eighteen year old guy, no matter how handsome and hunky he was, could ever compare!

“I’m Thaddeus. And you all are?”

Huh? He didn’t even recognize them? Sue blinks a little owlishly at that as the now-named Thaddeus sits down at the table at Jennifer’s invitation and flashes them all a cheery smile. In response, the three of them all exchange glances, before Jennifer once again takes over.

“Ah, well I’m Jen, that’s Jan, and this here is Sue.”

Obvious nicknames meant to continue downplaying their real identities. But Thaddeus just takes it in stride with a chuckle.

“Alright then, you guys can call me Thad. So… what caused you to call me over by the way?”

Before Jennifer can answer that, Janet leans forward, peering at the young man.

“You… really don’t recognize us?”

Thad raises an eyebrow, shrugging his broad shoulders.

“Should I?”

But Jennifer is quick to wave that off.

“Haha! Don’t mind her. Jan is just a big fashion designer, Sue is a hot shot scientist, and I’m a pretty good lawyer. But honestly Jan, not everyone has to know everyone~”

There’s a deeper meaning to Jennifer’s voice that makes it clear what she’s trying to do. Specifically, she’s trying to get Sue laid still, with this handsome young man… but without him actually knowing who Sue is.

As Janet settles back, seemingly okay with this, Sue finds herself wondering if SHE’S okay with it. It would be one thing to hop into bed with another guy besides Reed… after all, she and Reed were broken up and it wasn’t like she’d hopped into bed with Reed at any point in recent memory. But to hop into bed under false pretenses… well, it was probably fine if it was just a one night stand sort of situation… right?

Jennifer is chatting the guy up, extolling Sue’s virtues while slowly working towards the idea of setting up a rebound. It’s obvious she’s playing the part of a wingwoman perfectly. But Sue finds herself indecisive. Was she seriously going to let this happen… or should she step in and put a stop to it? At the very least, she should probably be upfront with the guy if she’s really going to sleep with him…