Question So Shalt Thou Show Me Friendship

Kristin bumped this from Fan Fiction to Canon after I made a minor change (the last paragraph disappeared for those who might be confused).

So anyone wanting to comment or speculate or ask questions, feel free

Phoenix Spiritus wrote: Kristin bumped this from Fan Fiction to Canon after I made a minor change (the last paragraph disappeared for those who might be confused).

So anyone wanting to comment or speculate or ask questions, feel free

I'd forgotten what the end was, until I went back and checked it out.

Did you know that according to Hive, Hank survived a hit from an Abrams.

Ayla and the Great Shoulder Angel Conspiracy Chapter 2 wrote: “Oh yeah. Definitely a ten on the MCO threat ratings. And it’s not like the rest of her team was slacking off out there. Mages aren’t supposed to be able to whip up barriers and attacks that powerful in two seconds. And Lancer’s obviously a good team leader. He just under-estimated the available firepower. His file says he took a round from an Abrams before he came to Whateley, he may not have known there was anything that could stop a PK brick like him.”

I guess his file is wrong.

I knew there would be something that tripped me up

Yeah, the story is a bit of a "ret-con" as I never had access to any canon information when writing it, so I had to go with what I could dig up from the stories themselves and what "seemed logical" (or more importantly "I could make work").

I suppose I could back-write it by saying Hank believes he was hit by a near miss from a Bradley's anti-tank missile, because that's what he saw firing at him, what the army documented he survived could be totally different based on the reports of what the gunners believed they fired and hit him with.

A near miss with a round might also look like a hit, they weren't designed to target a person after all.

It's also possible that they lied to Hannah/Hank about what shot at him, especially if they thought it was a direct hit.

Hmm, my headology is leaning more to Hank saw the Bradley, he ducked from the Bradley, it was therefore the Bradley that shot him as far as he is concerned, where as Sam is going from an after action report the military prepared, and it says there was an Abrahams Hank never saw that actually fired at him.

Hank and Sam have never discussed the event, so are unaware of the differences. Anyone getting their knowledge of the event from Hank will be told "Bradley", if he will talk of it at all, anyone going from files will believe "Abrahams".

Since Hank has only (so far) talked about the event with Lily, most people will believe he survive being shot by an Abrahams tank.

Huh. I missed a few things... Woah. Jay's freaking / creeping me out...

So, I guess this is Hank's Origin Story?

... What was the removed paragraph?

Malady wrote: Huh. I missed a few things... Woah. Jay's freaking / creeping me out...

So, I guess this is Hank's Origin Story?

... What was the removed paragraph?

IIRC: Hank mentioned that he kept imagining he saw Jamie's ghost, and the Lily saw it too.

Malady wrote: Huh. I missed a few things... Woah. Jay's freaking / creeping me out...

So, I guess this is Hank's Origin Story?

It is now

... What was the removed paragraph?

Removed paragraph is removed!

Before it went Canon I posted a comment at the end of the story explaining what happened. Short version, when writing To Sleep Perchance to Dream, Elrod and I discussed having Kayda Dreamwalk to resolve issues between Jamie and Hank, and I wrote some scenes, intending them to be used in a third story. When Kristin's story came out already using that I dropped the idea (So shalt thou show me Friendship had been sitting in the Fan Fiction section since last November, and I didn't update it before Kristin pushed it to public).

Wow, Hank's family is... not that nice. Here we have: authoritarian, emotionally distant father; doormat mother; neurotically selfish little brother.

And Hank was lying quite a bit back when he arrived at Whateley. I mean, he claimed to feeling "right" when his balls dropped and everything...

Fortunately, he did adjust fairly quickly -- or at least his libido did. I mean, it didn't take too long before he started becoming vulnerable to female wiles -- when was the first canon example, the first Boston trip?

If they thought Hank killed Hannah, where did they think her body went? Or did they assume something like Tearaway and that she was eaten??

Capture the suspect first, then sort out the details?

And that little brother is an asshole. I mean, yeah, sibling rivalry, and he thought that making the MPs think Hanna was an invader was a brilliant prank (although, being a JROTC cadet, he should have a bit of an idea of how this could go wrong) -- but EVEN AFTER THEY SHOOT AT HIS SISTER, he doesn't try to clear up the misunderstanding? For DAYS? And he let his mother think someone had KILLED his sister? Note that at his point, nobody knew Hanna/Hank was impervious to bullets.

In the aftermath, if Hanna's parents cared a bit for their daughter, they should at the very least grounded the little prick until he graduated High School. But they seem to care more about their own convenience and not being perceived to favor one child over another.

Hmm, and I thought I toned down Jay a lot.

In the original introductory stories, I think it's said that Jay accused Hannah of mind controlling her parents to a for all intense and purposes H1! Sergeant, but I couldn't 'make that work' for me, so I swapped it to 'sibling rivalry' and a prank that got out of hand.

Phoenix Spiritus wrote: Hmm, and I thought I toned down Jay a lot.

In the original introductory , I think it's said that Jay accused Hannah of mind controlling her parents to a for all intense and purposes H1! Sergeant, but I couldn't 'make that work' for me, so I swapped it to 'sibling rivalry' and a prank that got out of hand.

Well, it's not the deliberately murderous option of "Deliberately report your mutant sister/brother to H1!", but now our perceptions of her parents and brother are more negative than before, and pretty bad, respectively, as I'd assume most of us didn't bother to think about Hank's family, as he wasn't a POV Character, but if we did... I'm not sure if having this:

Sir Lee wrote: authoritarian, emotionally distant father; doormat mother; neurotically selfish little brother.

Would be worse than just having a brother who wants to basically kill you, but where it's presumed the rest of your family is treating you well.

It's worse than Billie though, whose brother was actually just trying to prank her, but almost committed manslaughter with Ultra-X-Amine...

I'd say that Domoviye's Kota is the only one that immediately comes to mind right now that has a worse family... I think... ... Or maybe Galena Incident's Nessessity? Whatever, stop making lists...

Even Ayla doesn't have it as bad, as his family situation is basically founded in the semi-reasonable idea that mutants are a possible, and possibly large, threat to society, IIRC about E.E or other Cabal posts about the ideas of mutants as societal threat or something.

... The original Origin might have been able to be altered to "Brother accidentally said something within earshot of what was effectively H1!", by having it be like "It's like she's mind-controlling them or something", and then the H1! guy takes it all out of proportion and browbeats the mutancy info out of the brother, and that's how H1! guy knows, and has the brother being a guy that's a lot less at fault for Hank being hunted by the military.

But, whatever. This is now Canon, unless contradicted by an unreliable narrator. And the BIG TWIST might be that this is all an Asylum story... ... Nah...

I think it's important to remember we're seeing the parents' actions filtered through Hank's perceptions. They aren't a very warm family, but it's not like they disowned him or anything. Hell, they weren't even angry. They could have easily blamed Hank for all the trouble they were being put through, but they didn't. I think a lot of their apparent coolness is really them just trying to hold their shit together.

Also, I imagine Jay probably did get punished, and it just wasn't shown for storytelling reasons. Mrs. Declan is well aware of his overall behavior, after all, and stated outright that she was upset with it. She's stressed enough with having to run the family herself the last couple years, and she and Hanna have been bending over backwards to make things easier on Jay, then Hanna manifested, and now Jay pulls something like this on top of it all? The Declans are very much a military family. Honor, discipline, and loyalty are a big deal to military people. So, odds are he got the scariest dose of the quietly-angry treatment he's ever seen, and it probably included threats of sending him off to a boarding school of some sort. After all, he's all about getting equal parental time, right? And Hank being away all year while Jay chums it up with the rents is hardly fair, now, is it? Mrs. Declan probably would have had to struggle to keep a straight face while watching Jay recognize the hole he's dug himself into. But as great as a scene like that would have been, it wouldn't have fit the tone the end of the story was going for.

I blame the parents, really.

First with the JROTC thing. I mean, it's unclear if Jay actually likes doing it or if it's sheer parental pressure to follow in Dad's footsteps (it's possible that he hates JROTC even more than Hannah does); regardless, Hannah is not given a choice: she's going to JROTC because Jay is going, and that's it. Nobody cares if she wants to go. Nobody cares if it destroys her social life. Even if Jay is being pressured into a military career, at least someone is thinking about him. Not Hannah. She's treated as an afterthought.

Then, when it turns out that she's turning into a boy... which the doormatmother should have some hint is traumatic, I mean, they had just gone shopping for a dress for the dance... their reaction is to:
(a) increase the trauma by forcing her to abandon her identity faster;
(b) put her into what's essentially house arrest, again disregarding any social life of hers;
(c) plan on "dealing" with it in a way that saves face for them.

I mean, would it have killed them to at least attempt to let Hannah finish the school year as a girl and perhaps go to the dance, and then transition over the summer?

Col. Declan strikes me as a bit of a misogynist -- the boy's future military career (wanted or not) comes first, and Hannah becoming a boy might have been seen by him as an upgrade.

With that family, no wonder Hank chose to spend the Christmas holidays with Lily's family.

But that's not the worst family we have seen, not by a long shot. At least they didn't outright reject Hannah.

Stacy's family is worse. Ayla's is worse. Diamondback's is worse. Evan Ramsey's dad is worse. Jade's father is worse. And Chad/Merry/Circuit Breaker's extended family is MUCH worse.

Oh. I see what you mean.

... It's just so much more blatant here, I think? Or just more recent? Or it's just me being forgetful?

... Ramsey... Who's that? *Looking up...* Oh. Yeah. That's worse.

Then to add insult to injury, not only all of the above (including denying her what would have been the only social highlight of her year in the form of the dance - as the family moved from base to base, the children wouldn't have felt able to make friends as they'd have to leave them all and move in a few months time), but Hank is admitted to Whateley on a JROTC scholarship - so will continually to be involved in the military for the next 8-10 years (I assume a condition of JROTC scholarships is they have to join the military for several years after graduation).

It's possible that both parents are so institutionalised into military life they apply the same relationships template to family life - superior officers command lower ranks, and the opinions of the lower ranks aren't worth much - they know best. However, it's also possibly contributed to their unawareness of the deterioration of the family unit - Jay was probably ordered around and had his life controlled just as much as Hannah, but without the toolkit to express that (man up / don't show emotions etc.) he took out his frustrations on Hannah.

Of course, in a way, F2Ms have it harder than M2Fs - Western society doesn't bat an eyelid to a girl with short hair, wearing androgynous or masculine clothing, playing rough sports etc.; however perhaps because it was founded on a patriarchal basis, the converse is still generally regarded as weird (at best - at worst, a colourful array of derogatory language).

It'll be interesting to see if at some point during either G1Y2 or G1Y3, Jay manifests (since mutations are genetic and manifestation triggers tend to be environmental, plus until Hannah manifested, both siblings had had a very similar environment) and if the family are any better at handling it.

Just to clear up a point... Hank is not committed to join the military upon graduation.

First, because it would be, well, ridiculously illegal. Hank is a minor; he can't enlist, even if he wished to -- he can't enter a contract, that's pretty much what defines being a minor.
And his father cannot sign him up in his stead either; that would be tantamount to selling his indenture, and I'm pretty sure that would be illegal.

And secondly, because Hank wasn't even compelled to join the JROTC program at Whateley. It took the Grunts a couple months before inviting him to join.

My guess is... that the Armed Forces has a program of scholarships available for JROTC members in good standing (and possibly for children of military personnel). Hannah/Hank, being a JROTC cadet, was eligible to such a program. But it would have to be non-binding -- it can't be a tit-for-that thing, but merely an enticement for joining up.

I suppose most of the scholarships are for regular boarding schools; those would be attractive for the ever-moving military to place their kids, particularly in the high school stage.

I'm sure there is some tacit agreement that JROTC students at Whateley will overwhelmingly choose one of two routes after graduating from Whateley:

1. OCS/Post Secondary education via ROTC with the actual consequence of "trading University tuition for service in the armed forces". Followed by becoming an officer and having a career.

OR

2. Enlist out of high school (most US high school grads being 18, IIRC), going to boot camp, the whole shebang.

Some will choose the third option of "Thanks Uncle Sam, but no thanks", but judging from the Grunts gung ho attitude third option takers would be in the minority, at least for the crop of Grunts we see in '07.

lduke1990 wrote: I'm sure there is some tacit agreement that JROTC students at Whateley will overwhelmingly choose one of two routes after graduating from Whateley:

1. OCS/Post Secondary education via ROTC with the actual consequence of "trading University tuition for service in the armed forces". Followed by becoming an officer and having a career.

OR

2. Enlist out of high school (most US high school grads being 18, IIRC), going to boot camp, the whole shebang.

Some will choose the third option of "Thanks Uncle Sam, but no thanks", but judging from the Grunts gung ho attitude third option takers would be in the minority, at least for the crop of Grunts we see in '07.

Some, or possibly most, of those students wouldn't be on a JROTC scholarship, but just joined the group.

But Grunts members are explicitly part of the JROTC program per WOG from E.E.

lduke1990 wrote: But Grunts members are explicitly part of the JROTC program per WOG from E.E.

Yes, but that doesn't mean they have a scholarship, even in college ROTC you do not necessarily have a scholarship.

All Grunts are JROTC, but all JROTC are not necessarily Grunts.

The Grunts are the training team of the JROTC. i.e. they are selected from the JROTC program students, but do not necessarily contain all the students in the JROTC program.

Also while the Grunts have been shown in the stories, the JROTC has not.

So, serious question. What did people think of me 'spoilering' the Noodle Incident and Radio Active Condor Girl?

Worth it? Preferred your own 'imaginations'? Something else?

(Please note, originally written these were 'Fan Fiction', I have no knowledge what the original authors intentions for these scenes were).

Phoenix Spiritus wrote: So, serious question. What did people think of me 'spoilering' the Noodle Incident and Radio Active Condor Girl?

Worth it? Preferred your own 'imaginations'? Something else?

(Please note, originally written these were 'Fan Fiction', I have no knowledge what the original authors intentions for these scenes were).

One problem with each.

The cafeteria reacting to Jade during the noodle incident.

Admiral Everhart's basic lack of understanding of the communications problems. Either she from experience, or Hive should have understood what was happening. The idea and concept of RCG seemed to be right on.

I don't think there was any original ideas for them, they were simply dropped comments to flesh out stories.

But, Jade once mentioned that the noodles in the "noodle incident" weren't actually noodles, but plastic. So maybe there was ANOTHER "noodle incident".

Oh, I'm sure there's been a whole pastas worth of incidents. I really enjoyed this particular one. The end where half the Crystal Hall yelled at her seemed a bit... embellished, but then, this is framed in the context of Hank telling the story, so that's fine. It'd feel off if it was pulled out and held up on its own without that context, but in context it seems okay to me.

I think I liked the RCG being a noodle incident more than seeing it though, but that's okay. It's more or less in line with the kind of stuff I figured it probably involved, but I liked imagining that it was way more kooky.

Bardue's tendency to be upset when his students succeed annoys me, but that's Bardue being true to character, not a flaw with your writing. He wants so badly to teach TK that some fights are unwinnable, but they're just so damn capable.


EDIT: Spell-check is not infallible, but sometimes those failures result in the learning of new words. Today, that word is noddle .

In general, I prefer noodle incidents to remain noodle incidents. That said, you did an excellent job with the stories, Phoenix.

OK, note to self, more realism in my Jade adventures. Saying it was half the students yelling, when in reality it was just Nikki and Toni, with Billie giving her a disappointed look, isn't appreciated

And fair point about Sam knowing what was happening, but in my defence, I needed someone to "inform the reader" and Sam was the most entertaining "in story" way of doing it.

Wow, I just finished this story and I am grateful for the depths you gave Hank and the way you tied in his connection to Jamie. After Jamie's death as originally told, I knew it would be tough for Hank but to an extent thought he was overreacting. While loss is agonizing and difficult, grief has its limits. Your story pulled back the curtain and showed us it was the loss of Hank's first true friend, the one Hannah had longed for, who had been lost.

RCG and Noodle Incident were fun and spot on. There is no issue with "half the cafeteria's" reaction. Remember, high schoolers often retell stories with hyperbole, even without intention.

Re: Jay - This feels like a serious origin story for him too. There is a good chance he may become a mutant as well and we don't get to see any after-the-fact remorse from him after the incident calling the MP. Hank may have been killed but he didn't care. Even after Hank leaves for Whateley, Jay's narrative is likely the same. "She is the enemy, I will crush her!" The sadistic little shit is probably basking in his parents' attention now that dad is home with his promotion and Hank is gone.

It would be an AMAZING G2 thread to have a scene in Superbad where a group is sitting around discussing a new super villain. "The guys is all right until you bring up Lancer. That kid has a serious murder hardon for Lancer."

Ultimately, this could be a great story of sibling rivalry turned deadly nemeses. Jay would enter Whateley in Hank's junior year and it could be a great new dimension to the masterminds or another malicious group.

Cheers! Thanks again!

You know, for a "Villain" origin story, Jay not mutating would be the better origin.

The perfect older brother, apple of the parents eyes, a literal superman, nothing Jay did could ever lived up to legacy of his brother. Jay slunking off to a military career. Bad boy troubles. Slides into black-ops, first for the military, then for "private contractors", finally for himself. Obligatory faked death. Few years to get himself setup, then bam! the Master Plan! Lancer's nemesis appears, ripping from him one by one all that he holds dear!

Just saying.

I do like having villains and heroes who are just obsessed baselines, that would be cool. The important thing to remember is to use lots of explosives, fire and gas.

Hmm. I was thinking more 'contractors'.

Yeah, he'd obviously want help. They get to carry the dangerous stuff that makes really big booms.

Phoenix Spiritus wrote: You know, for a "Villain" origin story, Jay not mutating would be the better origin.

The perfect older brother, apple of the parents eyes, a literal superman, nothing Jay did could ever lived up to legacy of his brother. Jay slunking off to a military career. Bad boy troubles. Slides into black-ops, first for the military, then for "private contractors", finally for himself. Obligatory faked death. Few years to get himself setup, then bam! the Master Plan! Lancer's nemesis appears, ripping from him one by one all that he holds dear!

Just saying.

24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lky7ee1Dn81qz...Dn81qzv48po1_250.gif

Phoenix Spiritus wrote: Hmm. I was thinking more 'contractors'.

Power armor is always a good way to go. Or power gems.

Remember that Crash Test Dummy, Mauler, Dr. Amazing, and Nightgaunt are all Baselines in the Hero/Villain world.

He could also become a member of the New Dragonslayers in the military.

The only problem with the "Jay as a baseline nemesis of Hank" is that it can't be a Gen1 story -- it pretty much has to be a Gen2 story. Jay won't even be old enough to enlist before Hank graduates from Whateley, much less become a Black Ops sniper from hell.

So Shalt Thou Show Me Friendship comments
At least Hank seems to be doing a little better since we last saw him, Lily definitely is helping him with the lose of Jamie and his issues. Though I don't care what age you are, a teddy bear is okay to have even for an adult imo. The noodle incident, now there is something I would love to read the canon version of, even if it is point of view months after the fact. And yeah, Jade can has a habit of being totally unexpected and causing her target deep embarrassment, she wouldn't be Jade if she didn't.

And it all starts due to Ayla talking about elegant ways to take down a PK shield, never give Jade ideas she can use on you or someone else at the moment. Ah, the inherent danger of high explosives at close range. Lol, poisoned candies, I remember this from when it was just fan fiction, still funny. Air, water, light, and sound having to get through, that gives a lot of ways with tech or magic to bypass a PK shield alone. Create a vacuum if the shield doesn't protect them from it, force water inside, blinding light, and disorienting sound are but a small few examples.

Jade animated her spaghetti, priceless. Only at Whateley could you get spaghetti rain. Nice assortment of holdouts Ayla is thinking of, wonder how many of them Bugs can make better versions of than Ayla could buy straight off the market. Bwahaha, the banter about the food names, too good. Oh boy, Hank made the mistake of stating you couldn't take out a suicidal chicken with a limp spaghetti noodle, let alone him. That is like challenging Jade to find a way.

A piece of spaghetti down his throat and keeping water out of him, Jade needs to be taught the difference between a prank and dangerous, potentially deadly, stunt. Desperately trying to get it out and be able to breath, all the while as his friends are helpless. Until it comes out and Jade reveals she did it, earning her a chiding yell from everyone in the cafeteria. She seriously needs to be taught a lesson due to this incident.

Oh brother, Jade still unrepentant about the whole thing; she has taken the "teach them harsh lessons" from Gunny and Ito to heart too well. Okay, that is scary, with Jade you never know what the noodle incident was all about; could she have Bugs helping her create food-based weaponry as we speak? Flipping a coin to decide, if anyone outside of Team Kimba and close friends knew that was how Jade decides to wear Ultra-Violent or Pacifist armband each day they would freak. And now the Radio Active Condor Girl incident, now that was a good micro scene before, glad to see it canon as well.

Jamie Anne, Super Spy. 001 On Her Majesties Secret Service, Licensed to Annoy

Jade needs to have a tiny business card printed up with that on it, just to see people's reactions. Ah, to have the energy levels that Jade does, what I could do in a day. Ah, the suit designed for Jade, that left Gunny, Ito, and even Sam infuriated at them. Bugs does excellent work. And that is a lot of design work and now field testing just to win against Gunny and Ito's no-win scenario. Now there is a jamming device the military would be proud of, if they could find a way to crank it fast enough.

Tricky, using components that won't tip off the sim guys. Using the limitations of the opponent's technology against them, bet Gunny and Ito never expected that from some 1st year students. Good to know about satellites being solar powered instead of nuclear; otherwise someone could take control and rain them down like nukes from orbit. Yikes! All that required of the person in the wing suit, it would take Jade to pull it off, I can't think of another individual who could do the work of multiple people without spitting their focus. Humming the theme to the Condorman movie, bwahahaha.

Knocking out the satellite uplink in the sim, something no one has tried before, Gunny and Ito can't say Team Kimba isn't learning from their experiences, no matter how frustrated they may get with them. Plasma blasts to get the missiles to chase them, nice use of real world physics to overcome the sim. Ayla taking out communications, while inside a protective force field bubble Billie drags the rest of the team to the base, at this point I think Gunny might be pulling his hair out.

Sam getting frustrated and realizing the true limitations of the technology the sim is recreating. White noise over all frequencies, at least this is a learning moment for Sam and the sim techs as well, need to figure out back-ups for those that aren't so easily jammed. Communications down and Sam more and more frustrated, if she were more old-fashioned tech instead of nanites, she would have steam coming out of her ears.

No nuclear strike, just watch as Team Kimba tears apart the base, seeing her 'unwinnable' scenario dismantled upset poor Sam to the point of being unreasonable. Tricked by a simple piece of technology with Generator inside, thus she goes straight to banning it, glad in canon they later negotiated the ability to use it in sims again.

I think Gunny and Ito would be wary of anything Jade suggest, even without 'Radioactive' or 'Condor Girl' involved. Plus developing tech to make smart munitions obsolete, I wouldn't be surprised if they are already doing that irl. Poor Hank, Lily having to leave because of lights out and him being left alone with that empty bed. Haunted by the memories of his best friend and roommate's murder, hope they catch that weasel Speakeasy soon, his punishment can't be severe enough imo.

"Good night Jamie, and goodbye."

Had me crying along with Hank.

It going to take a long time before Hank won't cry thinking about Jamie being gone and will never forget him. Without Lily being there for him, Hank may well have done something everyone would have regretted and caused more pain. He is lucky to have such a strong girlfriend to lean on.

Forced to face that Jamie isn't coming back, Hank is going through various stages of grief at once, hopefully Hank isn't being sent home for the summer, I doubt being around his family would be good for him in his current state. At least Hank is finally realizing how his actions have hurt others, even if he is hurting himself they are as well, Jamie may not have been as close to them as Hank but was their friend. His thoughts seem to have cleared up some since this whole ordeal started.

Rose garden of remembrance and it is Hank's turn to plant a rose bush in Jamie's memory, no wonder they want all of Team Kimba and Lily there, extremely emotional thing to do. Ouch, dead flowers are even too much as a reminder of Jamie, Hank has it even worse than I thought. Multi-colored roses with a strong, bold smell, perfect to remember Jamie with.

Dang, Nikki trying to be strong for Hank, yet still in so much pain over losing Aunghadhail. Mr. Miyamoto is a kind, empathetic and observant man, knowing what students in pain need. The school is lucky to have someone like him on staff. Hank is kind and caring, he just forgot that in his own grief that others were in pain. It can happen to the best of us. Hank apologizing to Nikki for her loss and how he has treated her, yet not completely sure how to say it; perfect. So many powerful emotions involved, yet proving once again how close friends the members of Team Kimba are and how they are there for each other.

Poor Nikki still in such pain over her loss, if it wasn't for her friends supporting her I hate to think what might have happened. While Hank gets an idea to show Lilly his appreciation, by watching Ayla's small interaction with TNT and the Furies; guessing a romantic date set up by Ayla is in order.

When even Ayla says Hank doesn't need to apologize because they are his friends, understand what he is feeling, and want to help, yet Hank still thinks it doesn't excuse his behavior towards his friends. Guess as Hannah she was raised to have manners. Ayla always has to go big, part of his nature. At least Hank nips that in the bud, just wanting a private, romantic meal; something any girl would love.

Trin and Macintyre still are looking for Speakeasy, just how well has that little weasel hidden himself to hide from them for more than a few days. Gah! With all those things listed that Ms. Guzman can do which Ayla can't, Speakeasy might not make it to court in one piece when he is located. Jamie was like the child Ms. Guzman never had, and I pity the poor fools who help Speakeasy in any way. And Hank got Ayla to concede on it being just the normal stuff, if prepared better than normal. Food has to play to the eaters and their palate.

Chef Peter is another good man working at Whateley, I don't doubt if he could make a food that eating would take away their pain he would. A cooking school in LA that would take Jana, there are some good school there but how many would take an obvious mutant as a student. Though with Chef Peter and his colleges recommendations she could probably get into any of them.

Cooking in bulk and cooking personally are that different, wonder what parts of the skills transfer between each. Food for a PK superman and his energizer girlfriend, you have to be used to cooking for those at Whateley. Jade or Jinn for service, who will understand the importance of this meal to Hank and be on their best behavior.

Mary teasing Lily about leaving Hank, while stating he is smart, considerate, and gentlemanly. Mary seems like the sister who loves to tease her sister, but still cares about her. They must have a close relationship to tease each other without either getting upset.

"That kind of private! You could have just told me."

Seeing Lily in that dress and having Jade say that, I'm surprised Hank's face isn't beet red at this point. Lilly knows how to make an entrance and get Hank to do what she ask, including dance with his friends right there. And Ayla is right, I think Hank would actually try to get the sun, the moon, and the stars on a silvery chain if Lily asked. And with some of things available in the Whateley Academy universe, he might just be able to do it!

Kissing Lily on the hand at the end and getting her to blush, Fey is right, Hank has some moves. Oh boy, cornering Ayla about this date being special, poor boy better just answer and nod at this point. Oh boy, Fey and the girls actually got Ayla flustered and telling them everything. And Fey gets Ayla to make sure everything goes perfectly for them, don't want to disappoint Fey or she might pull a prank using magic you will never forget.

Food and smells have a unique way of bringing back memories of special and happy times with those we care about, since sense of smell is strongly linked to sense memory. Oh boy, Hank told a story to try and fit in with the rest of Team Kimba that first day, ouch. Proves how much he was hurting from the start and wanting friends. Sibling rivalry gone bad and his brother Jay didn't take their father being sent to Iraq well, no wonder he hasn't talked about it until now.

Oh boy, Jay measuring how him and Hannah are treated minute by minute, this kid has serious issues. Clingy out of fear his father is going to come back and doing it by measuring how he thinks they are favoring Hannah over him, this can't end well. JROTC just so she and Jay would be doing the exact same thing so it seems fair to Jay, but they didn't think about how it was unfair to Hannah to force her into something she didn't wish to do just to make her little brother happy. Guilted and pressured into it to make her parents happy, poor Hannah had it rough.

Ouch, puberty not hitting yet and looking like she could be her younger brother's twin almost, no wonder Hannah is upset at being treated as equal to him. Traffic like that is ridiculous, no respect for the rules of the road, even on a military base. Jay is a little monster, not only demanding equal time and measuring it, but taunting his sister about her not being able to spend time with their mom because of him.

Ritter knows that an older sibling will crush you if you keep taunting them, yet Jay is so deluded by his own beliefs he thinks Hannah just wants to impress their dad like he does.

"She is the enemy, I will crush her!" "There will be no remorse, no leniency, no deviation from the course of the right!"

Little monster was an understatement, if their mom heard what he said, he might be put into a mental hospital for evaluation.

Ritter is right, that is Jay's sister yet he sees her as the enemy even though she didn't want to be there in the first place, that is some seriously twisted logic. Instead of waiting and asking Jay about it, Ritter should have told one of the adults there what he said. Blackmail on his older brother to find out about the sniper hide, Ritter knows what he was doing. Oh boy, having to sneak past his sister, Jay might just attack her if caught with the way he feels right now.

No female cadets before and she is the only one now, yet her mom keeps making her go. IMO this would be grounds for charges of child abuse, in the form of emotional abuse. Isolating her from the other girls just to make it easier on their mom and keep the peace, leading to mental and emotional issues in the future. Clean the whole thing by herself, further feelings of isolation, is it any wonder Hannah changed into a boy under this onslaught of psychological torment.

Stomach pain like that should be reported, not toughed out; first signs of Hannah changing I guess. Corporal Byrne should not be in charge of a teenage girl, she acts like she doesn't even remember what it was like to be a teenager, let alone have any sympathy for someone is obviously sick. Punished for what he bratty brother and his friend did and the assumption that Hannah had moved the ladder, Corporal Byrne has mental issues and shouldn't be around kids imo.

Downing food like that with stomach pains, Hannah has been taught by military parents to "work through the pain" too much, ignoring such things can have lethal consequences. And Hannah figures out some of what her little brother was up to, will she rat him out? Ouch, seeing other girls her age more developed and being reminded of how she is mistaken for her younger brother at times, that is painful. Always having to clean and pressed, that is not healthy for young minds to be subjected to against their will.

Teasing followed by reflection, poor Hank always having to do whatever made Mom and Dad's life easier, how can any parent not see the damage this does to their kids. Jamie knew all Hank's secrets, and he could be who he wanted to be here at Whateley, not what his parents wanted him to be. Glad to hear he thinks of Team Kimba and Lily that way as well, able to share his secrets with them and be close with.

Ritter suffering the wrath of Hannah for his idiot friend Jay's actions and attitude. A hip check and she went down screaming, the pain in her stomach must be severe by this point. Good grief, no period by the age of 14, they had to have known something was wrong, and taking a hit to the groin like that, like a male would. Oh great, telling Jay to call their mom so they can take Hannah to the hospital, if he didn't call he is a worse monster than I thought.

Oh boy, all those test only to lead up to a DNA test which showed she was a mutant and turning into a boy, along with all the changes it entails and periods along with it until that part went away. No wonder memories of that make Hank cry, that would be a nightmare for a girl who just wanted to be a normal girl to go through. Oh boy, plans to transfer to another base when she has changed enough into a he to establish a new identity, so the family could appear normal. And the little jealous brat saw it as them spending time with Hannah over him, Jay seriously needs to be taught a lesson if he hasn't already after the big blow-up.

Treating her like a boy, not giving her any time to adapt, good lord, her mother seems to care more about appearances than the feelings of her own child. Going through what is a nightmare to her and Jay is being a little monster, it is a wonder she didn't snap and just decide she had enough of him. They are calling her mutation an 'illness', talk about further subjecting her to mental trauma.

The last memory of spending time with her mother as a girl is buying a dress she never got to wear, before it all started going wrong. Why haven't they taken her to a psychologist, someone to help her with her mental health, don't they see what this is doing to her. And her manipulative little monster of a brother always got his way, their parents trying to show them equal treatment instead showed they cared for Jay more, yet he was so deluded that Hannah was getting more attention he didn't see it.

Given a crew cut like her brother when she was still changing, whatever is most convenient for the parents, ugh. That isn't helping her adjust to her new identity! That is forcing it upon her before she is ready, you psychos! Trying to make herself look like a girl once more fails and drives her further into depression, her parents are lucky she didn't commit suicide from the amount of mental trauma they were subjecting her to, trying to force her to adapt before she was ready like they know about mental health issues.

Poor Hank, having to relive all this, Lily begging him to stop, yet he feels he must go on and she must be the one to hear it. Part of healing is sharing with others, guess Hank finally wants to let it all out.

And because of her changes her mom didn't warn her about her period, and she wasn't expecting it due to the changes. Plus her powers activated, ruining the dress, poor girl. And Jay saw it and it lying about it to sergeant, after this stunt if Jay isn't in trouble it proves her parents don't care for her, letting Jay off without punishment would be the final straw. Sergeant Lennox listening to Jay and the little monster lying to get his sister in trouble, at this point I want to wring the little monsters neck. And got MPs siced on her, Jay has some serious retribution coming his way.

And Jay lies more, saying Hank said he was going to kill him, he is trying to get Hannah/Hank killed by proxy! Firing on her and Jay still says it is Hank, at this point Jay deserve anything he gets as punishment. All that for one person who was supposedly a guest in the house, this Lennox needs a sharp reprimand for overreacting. Say don't move and open fire again after she raises her hands in surrender, that is called attempted murder in my book. Forced to run for her life in fear, this was one person, Jay didn't even state Hannah/Hank was a mutant, and they sent out that kind of force to basically murder them. Sergeant Lennox and those he sent out are going to be serious trouble when this is all over.

Assumed she murdered...herself, oh brother. And they somehow figured out she is a mutant. Lennox sounds like a mutant-hating bigot with the way he is talking, planning on using lethal force to take down someone with a PK shield. He doesn't consider mutants to be human, and due to Jay and what they saw believe she is a murderer who killed herself, accepting Intel from one source without anything to verify it, especially from a pre-teen boy, is just foolish. Ordering a heavy squad, Lennox jumps to conclusions and brings in the heavy guns, why his career wasn't ruined by all this is beyond me.

Oh boy, she thinks it is a simple matter of surrendering to the MPs, not knowing they think she is a murderer and will meet her with lethal force. She shows up, non-threating, and they just raise their weapons to someone who might be surrendering. Idiots.

Plan is to keep her running scared, when she has that kind of power. Lennox, that is a bad idea, once she realizes you can't hurt her if she wasn't a nice kid she could have slaughtered you for messing with her. She is smart enough to hide, plus sneak through a drainage ditch, but the reaction force would be a problem. Darn, they aren't as stupid as advertised, figuring out she could sneak out here. Falling asleep in a drainage ditch, oh boy.

Yikes, all that definitely makes a huge difference between MPs and the actual soldiers. She doesn't know she is bullet-proof yet, at least from normal bullets, and thinks she has to flee to another town to contact her mom to fix this mess made by her monster brother. In her state and lack of sleep, Hannah is keeping her head together surprisingly well.

Hit by 25 mm cannon and the blast wave of a near miss from anti-tank missile and not hurt, and her powers aren't even at the level they would be when she first arrived at Whateley. Impressive. And Hannah hid after that, how did the reaction force not find her?

Ah, first discovering she could fly, that had to be a thrill despite everything going on. With everything that happened, hoping it is a nightmare that a hot shower will shock her out of seems reasonable for the poor girl to believe. Fear of being hunted down and shot like a rapid animal, anyone else would be panicking. The sniper's hide is perfect, only the JROTC students would think of looking there. Eep! That was close, excited about flying and almost got caught.

Chased throughout the night and fearing the Airborne hunting her down, as if she had no chance. Too stressed out and afraid to realize she is more powerful then she realizes. Ah, good news at least, a safe place to stay until Friday since they have no way to know she flew into the building or flew at all for that matter. Ouch, Hannah's Cadet company caught her in the building, embarrassing for her, more so for the MPs and reaction force to be outdone by a bunch of kids.

Hiding in the janitor's closet only she used, good idea except for the fact her brother is there with the JROTC company now and probably knows where she would hide. Spots a warm meal and doesn't start searching for the source, her OCD must be bad. Oh boy, got that wrong, thinks it is a homeless person and organizes a search for them. Okay, good thing Ritter found Hannah and believes her about being the mutant and a boy now. Hopefully this mess is sorted out, with Jay getting in trouble.

Putting her through test and not bringing her mother in, that sounds like abuse of power, possibly illegal. Still treating her like this, even after confirming her identity and that she didn't murder anyone, ugh. Not hugging her and calling her son after what she has been through, military moron of a father needs to act more like a parent instead of a military man. Rushing her out without a word about what Jay did, only that people are scared of what Hannah can do. *screams in frustration at how dense her parents are* All that and they don't even talk about what happened, how their little girl is still hurting from a change she didn't want, how her father and mother just coldly ship her off like she is a problem they don't want to deal with. Makes me want to throttle her parents and little brother.

They are erasing her old self as if she never existed, can't they see how hurtful and traumatic that is, are they really that self-absorbed and only care about what is convenient for them? The origin of the Hannah box and how Hank tried to become emotionless and accept his transformation, all to make his father proud. Her parents have made the poor girl turned boy a mess and deserve to have someone chew them out for their parts in this whole mess.

How Hank share the truth with Jamie, to help her through her own changes and loss, it was a profound thing for Hank to do and then to lose that friend who knew that part of him he tried to hide, it is a wonder Hank didn't take it worse than he did. After crying it out, Hank tries to go back to eating the meal, it won't taste the same with the mood he is in. I'd be worried too if Hank just tried to act like he wasn't upset and went back to eating.

And Hank is continuing the date perfectly, repeating their first date by going to see the statues again. Which has Lily happy, which helps Hank cheer up. After all the trauma and heartache Hank went through thanks to his monster of a little brother and his own parents, he deserves as much happiness as possible. And if I were Hank I would ask Lily if I could go stay with her and her parents over the summer, after what his parents did to him. And no word on if the little monster Jay got punished for lying and causing the whole mess, hope there is some in canon eventually.

Thank you Dreamer, your play-by-play reactions are a joy for an author to read

Phoenix Spiritus wrote: Thank you Dreamer, your play-by-play reactions are a joy for an author to read

The stories are a pleasure to read and this one was no exception. Even if by the end I wanted to strangle Hank's parents and monster of a little brother. That is the sign of good writing to get such an emotional response towards characters, both positive for those we care about and wish we could help and comfort, to negative towards those we wish to teach the error of their ways.

Sir Lee wrote: The only problem with the "Jay as a baseline nemesis of Hank" is that it can't be a Gen1 story -- it pretty much has to be a Gen2 story. Jay won't even be old enough to enlist before Hank graduates from Whateley, much less become a Black Ops sniper from hell.

Well, I don't know if anything like the Hyperbolic Time Chamber exists in the WU, but I'm just Saiyan...

Phoenix Spiritus wrote: Thank you Dreamer, your play-by-play reactions are a joy for an author to read

And sometimes longer than the original story.

I'm a little late to the party, but I wanted to express that I really enjoyed the method by which this story was told. With all the trauma involved in Jaimie's death and Kayda's trial, seeing it bits and pieces with interludes between Lily and Hank just WORKED really well. It might be a retroactive origin story, but I don't even think it was retroactive when you're exploring what was never delved into before at all. The gradual expression of what is going on in the headspace of a character that is known, but yet never known until now, is fantastic. And the best part is it's still even now being done in bits and pieces which is a refreshing way to read it. It's like a puzzle or peeling back onion layers, instead of an information dump like many "origin" stories end up being. It's neat to finally get to see some of the "why?" that have been left unanswered. Well done

Thanks FiddlerFox, I'm glad you enjoyed it.

I was a little worried how the story would be received, because its style is so different then other canon stories, having so many flashbacks. Having Hank talking to Lily felt like a good way to keep the story "current" even though it was so much about the past.