Day Of Learning
Chapter Five
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"What an amazing find!" Hank gushed as he examined Jolteon in front of him. Jolteon cocked her head and chirped in reply. After the whole Gravaton thing, the newly named team had to go somewhere and since Hank's lab/house was the closest and biggest for their situation, they went there, for now at least.
Hulk grunted and crossed his arms. He didn't mind them studying his pet since Banner did the same thing when he first discovered her but if his pet even put up the slightest fuss, he was taking her away, gamma radiation or not. Hank turned away from Jolteon to look at Hulk.
"What did you name her? Where did you find her? What else can she do?" Hank asked Hulk. Hulk narrowed his eyes and stood straighter.
"Pet is pet. Banner found her." Hulk answered. Hank turned to Jolteon again and raised a hand to touch her fur but hesitated, looking at the fur's sharp tips. Jolteon closed her eyes and leaned into the touch, a purr leaving her throat.
Hank hummed in amazement when the sharp tips brushed his fingers. Despite looking sharp, her fur was silky smooth.
Wasp opened the lab door and walked in, hands behind her back and dressed in regular, everyday clothes.
"Hank!" She yelled and kicked the door closed behind her. "Did you even introduce yourself yet? Or did you go right into sciencey mode?" Hank winced and straightened, a sheepish look on his face. He turned and shrugged his shoulders.
"Sorry.. I guess I got a little carried away." He answered. Hulk grunted and Jolteon purred. Wasp sighed and shook her head. She whirled around and faced Hulk, offering him her hand and a large smile.
"My name is Janet Van Dyne but you can call me Wasp and he, "She pointed behind her at Hank, "Is Dr. Hank Pym or Ant Man." Hulk looked down at her hand and frowned.
"Hulk and Pet." Hulk grunted. Wasp grinned at her small victory. Hank gave a small nod over to Hulk before turning his attentions onto the new mammal. He felt Jolteon's fur, shifting through the strands and couldn't contain his excitement when he felt tiny sparks of electricity going through his hand. He hummed to himself as he thought of ways how the mammal could conduct electricity the way it did against Gravaton.
Wasp sighed again and shook her head. Jolteon was here to get examined after her and Hulk's breakout of the Cube. Tony and Hank had no concerns for Hulk, as he was created by gamma but Jolteon was not. She walked over to the other side of the lab and shimmied on top of a table to sit.
Hulk shifted his weight and growled. He wasn't used to staying in one place so long but Pet needed help.
'I know I gave you a promise but please Hulk,' Banner pleaded. Hulk turned his head slightly and saw Banner in the reflection of a glass beaker. 'Let me come out for a mere day. Eevee needs help and I can give it to her.' Hulk's growl caused everyone but Jolteon jump in fear.
"Banner gave his word!" Hulk roared, arms coming down as he clenched his hands. The two humans in the room jumped at his roar but Jolteon straightened and looked at Hulk in concern. "Banner stays away and Hulk stays!" Hank exchanged a nervous glance at Wasp who shrugged. She had no idea what was going on. Banner nodded.
'And I will but Eevee needs my help. I know all about gamma radiation. I can heal her.' Banner explained. Hulk huffed but..He looked over at his pet, fighting a grin when Jolteon cocked her head and chirped, Hulk sighed. He closed his eyes and breathed out. He felt his body shrinking rapidly and he let himself be overtaken by the small, insignificant human.
Jolteon shook off Hank's hands and jumped off the table. She trotted over to Bruce as he became himself and stumbled as his legs gave out, collapsing under the strain that Hulk put on them but Jolteon was there to help steady the scientist.
Jolteon braced her legs apart to take Bruce's weight as he took a few moments to get his bearings. He breathed in deeply before straightening, turning his back to the two other Avengers as he tied his pants back up.
"We only have a day." Bruce announced as he turned around the face the two, "Hulk has given me a day to help you scan Eevee over before he comes back." Hank nodded.
"It's an honor to meet you Dr. Banner." Hank said, going back into science mode again. "Your work has been like nothing I have ever read before." Bruce looked away as a light brush crept up his neck. Jolteon chirped up at him, happy to see him again after so long.
Bruce smiled gently down at her and knelled to her height. His hand swept down her fur, ignoring the electricity that sparked at his skin before scratching her ear. She purred happily and leaned into his touch.
"Now, what has happened to you?" Bruce asked fondly. He slid his arms around her and brought her to his chest, rising up and taking her with him. Jolteon chirped and licked his chin. He chuckled and brought her back over to the table that Hank was using to examine her.
Thanks to Tony, Hank's lab was graced with the top of the line medical equipment that was delivered within the hour per Tony's request.
"I named her Eevee, I found her a few miles off of the Eravikulam National Park." Bruce explained to Hank, setting Jolteon on the table. "But usually, she much smaller then this, about the size of a house cat. Long tail with a rounder face." Jolteon stood still as Bruce examined her eyes and ears as Hank started to set up the equipment. "Eevee can talk in the human language but only to say her name."
"She is also extraordinarily intelligent," Bruce murmured. He accepted a hypodermic needle from Hank and asked for Jolteon's paw. Jolteon laid her ears flat but grudgingly handed over her right front leg.
"Able to understand human speech and feelings." Hank scratched her ears to distract her as Bruce inserted the needle tip and started to collect blood.
"So you think the gamma bomb or whatever it was caused Eevee to change into that?" Wasp asked, pointing at Jolteon. Bruce nodded and withdrew the needle, rubbing the area firmly.
"That's my guess." he answered. Hank took the blood samples to get them scanned. With a murmured apology, Bruce took a few hairs off of Jolteon to examine them under a microscope. Jolteon flopped down with a tired groan and laid her head on her paws.
It had only been 12 hours since the battle with Gravaton and a day before that since their escape from the Cube and with only a few hours sleep earlier that night, Jolteon was tired. She was jerked out of her thoughts when a hand patted her head.
Jolteon opened her eyes to see Janet above her, a smile on her face as she petted Jolteon's head.
"I still think your cute like this though." Janet commented. Jolteon purred at that and nuzzled up against Janet's hand. She grinned wider at this and bent down to pick her up.
"She is adorable!" Janet gushed, squeezing Jolteon to her. Jolteon squeaked but didn't struggle. Hank glanced over and chuckled at the scene but quickly went back to scanning the blood. Hours passed in relative silence except for an hour of discussion when Bruce explained Eevee's powers to Hank, assuring Janet that no, Eevee wasn't an alien and no, he wasn't sure if there was more of them.
"Look at this Dr. Banner." Hank called out. Bruce looked up from his microscope and hurried over to the computer. Jolteon's blood had small traces of gamma radiation, no mutation, nothing that wasn't normal after getting gassed by a gamma bomb. Everything looked normal, considering. Bruce hummed, his eyes narrowed.
He looked over at Jolteon and saw her cuddled with Janet on the sofa, both of them snoring and wrapped up under a blanket. Bruce took over the computer from Hank and quickly typed in a few things.
An image of Eevee's DNA showed up on the screen. Hank's mouth dropped open at the image. Lines of electricity were entwined with Eevee's normal DNA strains, zipping between the cells with each pulse of Eevee's heartbeat.
"She must have been hit with Zzzax's electricity, add that with the gamma..." Bruce thought out loud. Hank agreed with him. A pulsing flash of light drew the men's attention away from the screen and towards the couch. What little showed of Jolteon was glowing a brilliant yellow, almost blinding to look at. Small sparks of harmless electricity jumped from her fur.
Before their eyes, Jolteon slowly grew smaller. When the light dimmed before disappearing, Jolteon was back to normal, or at least to Bruce she was normal. Eevee stretched out her small body before sagging back over Janet's lap. Bruce's eyes widened before he made his way over to the pair and lifted Eevee off Janet's lap.
"Eevee?" Eevee yawned and blinked open her eyes to see Bruce's face. She cocked her head and chirped tiredly. Why did he wake her up? She was comfortable where she was. Bruce smiled and gently laid her back down. Eevee yawned and curled back up on Janet's lap as Bruce tucked in the blanket.
Without a word, Hank handed Bruce another needle to retrieve another vile of Eevee's blood and got back to work.
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"Hank! We need to get one!" Janet shouted as she held Eevee out to Hank with large pleading eyes. Eevee purred. Hank sighed and shook his head.
"I told you this before Janet, Eevee is one of a kind." Hank explained but reached out and scratched behind's Eevee's ear.
After Bruce and Hank finished Eevee's second blood work, clearing her off any gamma radiation, Bruce quietly suggested to Hank that Eevee stay with him or Janet. Just for a few days until Tony could reveal his big surprise that he had going. He told Hank that Hulk was planning to go back to his forest range to work off some more frustration and he didn't want Eevee out there while Hulk had his fun.
Janet instantly agreed to look after the small mammal and with Bruce's goodbye, took Eevee back to her uptown suite. Hank grimaced as he noticed a sparkling, jeweled, pink collar donning Eevee's neck, along with bright pink animal friendly nail polish and recently washed and groomed fur, Eevee's looked the part of a rich pampered pet.
"But Hank..." Janet pouted, bring Eevee back up against her. Eevee leaned up and licked her chin, Wasp giggled and squeezed her in a hug. Janet opened her arms and let Eevee jump out of them when she started to struggle slightly. Eevee landed and walked over to her water bowl that Hank set out.
She lowered her head and lapped at the cool water in the pink bowl that Wasp swapped in earlier that week. She sighed and pushed her ears back. She missed her master, she missed Hulk and Bruce.
"It's alright Eevee." She was startled out of her down spiraling thoughts by Hank's hand as he patted her head. She looked up to see him grinning down at her. "You'll see Hulk again, very soon." Eevee nodded absently. She has been feeling slightly depressed since Hulk left, even though he did say goodbye.
Eevee chirped up at Hank and arched into his touch for another scratch.
"Come on Eevee," Janet spoke up from the other side of the room. "Let's go shopping!" Eevee's ears dropped and Hank laughed.
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"Jan! I can't look after her today!" Hank shouted, his arms wrapped around Eevee's middle. Wasp waved away Hank's words, shrugging on her purse and walking towards the door.
"I can't right now Hank! I'm late!" She said back, "I'll be back later! Take care!" The door closed behind her. All was silent as they watched the door. Eevee had been with Janet for a grand total of three days before Janet had Hank look after her.
Hank sighed and carefully let Eevee down.
"Bruce told me that you had intelligence," Hank commented, "If that's true, I need to finish this project before tomorrow morning. Can you keep yourself entertained until then?" Eevee cocked her head and with a swish of her tail, chirped up at him.
Hank nodded before walking back over to his lab table where piles of books and papers were scattered on the surface. He started mumbling to himself as he flipped through papers. Eevee walked over to investigate the more interesting part of the lab, the live insects.
Eevee hopped up onto a table and crouched down to observe the flying bugs inside. The largest bug flew down and landed on the glass in front of her face. Eevee stilled, her eyes widened as the bug crawled down the glass, its little feelers twitching. Her bottom half started to wiggle excitedly, her paws clenched and unclenched in anticipation.
"Don't even think about it." Hank interrupted. Eevee paused, one paw outstretched in front of her. She lowered her ears and glanced behind her. Hank was bent over a microscope, his back towards her. Eevee narrowed her eyes.
Did Hank have the exact same power as Banner did? He always seemed to know when she was getting into something she wasn't supposed too.
"Now where is that book?" Hank mumbled to himself as he started to move papers and books around on his work table. "I need it.. where did I put Insects Of The World.." Eevee huffed and straightened, absently turning her head down and to the left with a sigh.
A book with gold colored lettering sat piled with a bunch of papers. Eevee tilted her head sideways, 'Insects of the world' stood out clearly.
"Eevee." Eevee chirped and grabbed the book from the pile with her teeth, hopping down from the table and trotting over to the grumbling Hank. She stopped beside him and nudged his pant leg. Hank looked down with puzzled eyes and paused when he caught sight of Eevee at his feet.
Eevee put her ears back and swished her tail before dropping the book on his foot. Hank bent down and grabbed the book.
"Ah.. thanks." He said, surprised. Eevee purred her response, bunting her head against his leg.
"Can.. can you find a book titled 'Insect Diets: Science and Technology'? I think I left it over there." He asked her, pointing towards a pile of stacked books. Eevee nodded and trotted over to the book pile. It took her a few minutes of pushing books over and checking their titles before she found what she looking for.
It was to big for her to pick up and take over to him, so she bent down and started to push the book across the floor towards Hank with her head.
It went like this for the afternoon. Eevee sitting beside Hank, listening to him as he explained to her what he was doing, fetching him the needed papers and books and by the end of the day, she knew a lot more of ants of Africa then she ever needed to.
"I'm back!" Janet shouted as she shouldered her way inside. A few bags hung from her arms, one that smelled heavenly and her hair was done professionally. Eevee and Hank looked up from a book and answered her call.
"Welcome back." Hank answered while Eevee chirped hers. Wasp took in the dozens of books and papers that were stacked around the pair, a few pencils and pens were scattered around their work area.
"Seems like you two have been busy." She commented. Eevee jumped off the table and trotted over to her. Wasp dropped her bags on a desk and grinned, picking up the mammal and cuddling her to her chest.
"Have you been a good girl Eevee?" Janet asked. Eevee purred and gently headbutted Wasp's chin. Hank smiled.
"Eevee's incredible Jan." Hank explained. "I don't know if Banner taught her or if she already knew, but she can read! She has been helping me with my research all day." Janet frown and clutched Eevee to her.
"You had her doing work all day!?" Janet brought Eevee up to her face. "You poor thing! You must have been bored out of your mind." Janet glared over at Hank. He shrugged with a grin.
"I'm so tempted to never leave her here again." Janet muttered. She gathered her bags before turning her back on him.
"I'll see you tomorrow Hank. Don't forget," Janet said and started for the door. "We have to meet Stark's tomorrow. I left the address on your desk." She paused for added effects, "Along with a bag full of Chinese food from your favorite restaurant."
"Thank you Jan." Hank murmured, just loud enough for her to hear, "Don't know what I would do without you." Eevee heard Janet's heart start to beat faster and her body warm. Janet breathed out deeply before planting a smile on her face, willing her blush to disappear. She turned around and smiled at Hank.
"You would wither and die from hunger and boredom." Was her answer. Hank smiled and shrugged again. Janet left with that, closing the door behind her.