The crash of the heavy metal door sliding open startled Jennifer awake. She bolted upright, flailing out with her right arm, instantly crushing two of the boxes beside her and whatever was inside them. Jennifer winced at the inadvertent destruction, at the same time thanking her lucky stars that nothing wet or sticky spilled out of them all over her.
The light that filtered in from over the top of the boxes and between the pallets told her that it was day. Exactly what day or time, was a mystery, though. She'd been stuck in this train for a long time. How was she to know that it was going to stop at every city, town and village between LA and New York?
What meagre food she'd pilfered and stuffed into her pockets before boarding was long gone and she was hungry, thirsty, tired and aching to spread out. In a word, she was cranky. And definitely not in a mood to wait around now that they'd stopped and the door had opened.
Jennifer clamoured to her feet in the tiny space and waited impatiently, rocking slightly from one foot to the other. The sound of voices accompanied the whine of an engine and the pallet three in front of her unexpectedly lifted slightly off the ground before moving away towards the door.
Great. They were unloading the car. That meant that her hiding space was going to disappear.
Jennifer had no intention of waiting around that long. Listening hard, she determined that the machine that had taken the pallet away was gone from the train. So, too, were the voices of the workers.
That was good enough for her.
Pushing boxes aside, Jennifer leapt forward, landing with her knees bent in the now cleared, open space in front of the door. Still not seeing anyone, she grinned before gathering her legs and sprinting out of the door.
Her run and leap off the edge took her sailing over five metres before she came down.
Screams and cries of surprise and fear erupted all around her.
Jennifer's head whipped backwards and forwards, her long, black hair whipping about her face.
The workers were all frozen, all staring at her and she hated it. Around her were dozens of trains, this obviously being a major station of some kind. Buildings were off to her right and at her back.
Flexing her shoulders, she felt the fabric of the coat begin to tear. Ignoring it, she bent her legs and jumped, sailing high into the air, straight over the nearest train. Landing, she took a few running steps before leaping again, this time towards the fence.
Exactly where she was wasn't a concern to Jennifer right then, only that she get away from the stares and screams. And the faster she ran, the further she was able to leap, a fact which she found exhilarating.
ooo00ooo
"Hey, Boss?"
Harry looked up and around from the cappuccino that he was making to see Brian, his chef of the day, with his head sticking out the door leading to the kitchens.
"What's up?" Harry asked, his hands continuing their choreographed dance.
"There's a call for you," Brian replied.
"Okay, I'll be there in a minute," Harry replied.
Before long, the drink was made and Harry served it with a smile. "There, you go ma'am."
With that, he ducked into the back and across to the small table. There he found the Den's cordless phone lying beside its cradle.
"Hello? This is Harry Potter," he said.
"Harry Potter? Of The Marauder's Den?" the female voice on the other end asked.
"Yes," Harry replied cautiously. "How may I help you?"
"Do you know a Doctor Bruce Banner?" the female asked.
Harry's eyebrows rose in surprise and he had a sudden suspicion of who he was talking to.
"I do; he's a friend of mine," he confirmed. "I wouldn't happen to be talking to Jennifer Walters, would I?"
There was a pause before she answered.
"Yes."
"Bruce said that he'd given you my number," Harry smiled. "Where are you? Are you in New York?"
"I'm just outside of it," Jennifer replied.
"Well, in that case, why don't you come over? I'm sure that I can find Bruce and get him here in an hour or two. Do you have my address?"
"NO! That is, yes, I have your address but no, I'm not going there. Bruce will have to come to me," Jennifer replied a stubbornness in her voice that told Harry that no amount of arguing was going to change her mind.
Harry frowned. Something was going on, something that Bruce hadn't told him about. Nevertheless, this was Bruce's cousin, his family and if that's what she wanted, who was he to argue with her?
"Fair enough. If you tell me where you are, I'll let Bruce know," Harry offered.
"No," Jennifer replied. "I … I might not stay where I am. I'll ring back in a couple of hours and talk to Bruce then, if he's there."
"Okay, I'll have him here waiting for you," Harry assured her.
"Good. Thanks," she said before the line went dead.
Harry blinked at the handset before slowly putting it back into its cradle. There was definitely something wrong and Harry instinctively knew that he had to find Bruce fast. And then get him back to the Den.
ooo00ooo
After leaving Phoebe in charge of the Den, Harry ducked up to his apartment for a little more privacy. A quick apparition later and he was standing in the main lounge room of Avengers Tower
"Good morning, Mister Potter," Jarvis stated out of thin air, not sounding the least bit startled at Harry's unexpected entrance.
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