five.

35 6 0
                                    

Jenn hated clubs. To be fair, she hated a lot of things. Everything from car commercials to certain men's deodorants made the list. Nightclubs, however, reserved a special spot. They combined several things she already didn't like into one; loud noises, thick crowds filled with strangers, pop music...Then there was the club atmosphere, practically encouraging people to make morons of themselves.

On a normal day, Jenn would've holed up in the emptiest corner of the room with a beer and spent the night glaring at anyone who got too close. Or she would've just avoided the scene all together. She much preferred pubs. Unfortunately, that didn't change the fact that she was in a dance club now.

As it stood, her typical M.O. for surviving clubs was mostly unchanged. Beer in hand, Jenn had sought out a corner booth and settled in. However, she was a little too preoccupied tonight to glare.

There was a photograph, held carefully in her free hand. Its age was apparent, even without glimpsing the distinctly eighties fashion on the front side. Each corner was dog-eared and there were several coffee-colored stains marking the back.

But it was the front Jenn was interested in. The photograph depicted three twenty-somethings, arms linked around each other's shoulders. One of the faces in the photo belonged to Harry. Even thirty years younger, with no wrinkles and a full head of brown hair, she knew that face too well to mistake it for anyone else's. It was the remaining two people in the picture that troubled her.

The man on Harry's left was clearly taller than him, even slouching down to wrap an arm over his shoulders. He had dark brown hair and sharper features. On Harry's right was a blonde woman - also fairly tall and sharp featured.

Jenn adjusted her grip on the photo. She took a swig of her beer, the action mechanical.She was operating on autopilot. Nothing seemed to faze her, from the flashing dancefloor lights to the thrumming bassline. She took another swig.

"Jenn!"

At the sound of her name, Jenn nearly lost her grip on the photo and spat out her mouthful of beer in one go. She recovered quickly, placing her drink on the table and using her now free hand to wipe the corner of her mouth. Whoever just tried to grab her attention was about to get an earful.

"Been shouting for a full minute now. Glad to see I finally have your attention," Dev said before Jenn could yell at him.

"Why do you want it so badly?" Jenn asked, feeling very much like she'd just woken up from a nap. Now that she wasn't so distracted, she was becoming aware of a strange buzzing in the back of her head. It was almost that same sensation that made her flee Dr. Ingram's room, only it was growing steadily more intense, like a building headache.

Dev sighed at her. "Look, I know how much you hate dancing, but can't you at least give it a go tonight?"

"I'm really not in the mood," Jenn grumbled. She would be surprised if Dev could hear her over the music, but he probably guessed her meaning.

"When are you ever?" Dev replied. However, he stopped short when his gaze landed on Jenn's hand. "What've you got there?"

For some reason, Jenn didn't know how to reply. Seeing her hesitation made Dev spring into motion. He was seated in the booth next to her in the time it took to blink.

"Are you actually alright?" Dev asked.

Jenn mustered up her most convincing nod. "Have I ever shown you this?"

"Don't think so," Dev replied, leaning over to get a better look. He squinted against the multicolored club lights. "Is that Harry?" Another nod from Jenn. "And those are...your parents?"

Jupiter [Marvel Phase I]Where stories live. Discover now