42 Issue #2

"No. First, you form the energy into a knife. Then once you do, solidify only the energy at the edge. That way you can create a sharp weapon that can be used on weaker targets but it also can be used as an instant flash grenade if it hits someone that is tougher than you expected," Jack explained to Dagger. He was trying to give her tips on how to use her powers in a similar way he did.

"You mean like this?" Dagger asked as she created another dagger

"No. That's too thick. You need to use the minimum amount of energy that way you can use your power more. The more you use to make one dagger, the more wasted energy that could be used in another dagger."

Dagger continued trying to create daggers under Jack's guidance. On their latest mission, she was tired before the battle was even halfway over. She went to Jack to ask for his advice since she had seen him do similar things with his cold energy and ice.

The other members of Delta Squad were watching on from the side.

"Is he hitting on her?" Johnny asked the others

"Hmph!" Jennifer did not answer. She was still upset with Johnny since he pulled several immature pranks on her

"I... I don't think so. He is not doing that thing in movies or shows where he is holding onto her when teaching. He's keeping a respectable distance," Cloak commented but he was unsure of it. He had a special connection with Dagger and could feel that she found Jack attractive but wasn't attracted to him. As for Jack's feelings towards her, he couldn't tell at all.

Jack saw them pointing and whispering at him while he was teaching Dagger but he decided to ignore. He knew he already had a reputation as the team slut so there was nothing he could do to change it. He had to keep doing what he was doing.

It had been a month since their first mission together. And Jack learned something very important about the Avengers that he had never thought of before, they didn't do much! The number of missions he went on in the past month was even less than what he did for the Hellions in a week.

Most of his time was spent training, hooking up with Jennifer and Carol, visiting Emma, or using SHIELD and Avengers resources to find some new prey for himself.

Since coming back from Limbo, Jack felt like he had hit a bottleneck. Even though he knew he could use more power than he was letting on to the Avengers, that still did not feel like enough for him. The fact that he knew he couldn't defeat Thor even if he tried his best truly bothered him.

This is exactly what he was planning to do after he finished training with Dagger. But on his way there, both Sue and Jan caught him before he could make it back to his room. They had 3 children accompanying them. Before Jack could open his mouth, both were already on him.

"2 hours!" Janet said as she held her stepdaughter's hand. Nadia was Ant-Man/Hank's daughter from his first marriage before Janet. She had recently turned 10.

"We swear! SHIELD needs help with a difficult part of an experiment and they are not allowed to release the data digitally. We will be there and back," Sue followed up after Janet

Jack sighed and took Valeria in his arms before motioning for Franklin and Nadia to follow him. He started walking to his room without replying to either out of frustration.

'Why do I have such a soft spot?'

"God bless you, Jack," Janet said from behind

"Not lately. Thor is still mad I stole some of his mead," Jack replied while opening the door and letting the kids in.

Franklin and Nadia immediately ran around in search of the pets. Not only did his apartment become the second home to the kids but it also ended up being the second home (base) for the pets of the Avengers (Pet Avengers).

Jack let them be as he took Valeria with him when he went to sit at his desk. He turned on his desktop and started looking up various villains. That day, he was looking for those with elemental powers. He wanted to diversify his powerset.

Valeria sat on his lap and read through all the files that he was going through.

"Why are you looking up villains with elemental powers?"

"I've been doing this since I first joined the Avengers. I need to familiarize myself with the possible criminals we may face. It is better to have the knowledge and not need it than to not have the knowledge and need it. As long as the information has a decent chance of being used, then it is useful.

Take Mandarin for example. Most would assume that his power is magical when they first battle him. Even if they know he mainly uses his rings, some would try to use anti-magic against him. But since the rings are actually technological, it would be a waste. And since he has committed 17 crimes in the past year without getting caught once, that makes this information useful."

Jack told a half-truth to the girl. While it was true that knowing the information in case he had to fight them, she didn't need to know that he was actually making a hit list. Valeria nodded when she heard this and felt it made sense.

"Like my dad. He has 18 different doctorates but pretty much only has a need for a couple of them," Valeria tried to make the connection

"No. Your dad is an egomaniac that has to show off how smart he is," Jack immediately denied. "There is literally, and I mean literally, not a single reason why a person needs 18 different degrees. He taught himself most of those and would still be just as skilled in the field."

Valeria nodded once again and began to slowly change her opinion of her father.

"What about Uncle Doom?"

Jack paused what he was doing for a moment to think before replying honestly.

"I've never met him. But from what I can tell, I would get along better with him than your father."

Valeria nodded again. She could see it. Both Jack and her Uncle Doom were very similar in several aspects.

After surfing through the files for 15 minutes, Jack took Valeria back to the living room to actually babysit like it was requested of him. Both women returned 4 hours later with Chinese food as an apology.

'They got here earlier than expected.'

Once the women and kids were gone, Jack was about to return to his computer to continue his research when a glowing light appeared in his bedroom. He walked in to see an oversized dog with an antenna on its head and a blonde woman sitting on his bed.