A few days later, Kamala had come to find taking dictation to be surprisingly easy for her. She was seriously starting to consider Jennifer's offer.

"Hey, how's my little protege doing?" Jennifer asked as she walked into the room.

"Just fine. Finished up the last of those reports you gave me just a minute ago. I just sent them to your desktop. By the way, is that my mom's hummus?" Kamala asked, noting the chips and dip bowl Jennifer had with her.

"Yes it is. I whipped some up in my kitchen last night and brought it for a snack."

"Careful, Ms. Walters. I think you might be developing an addiction." Kamala joked.

"If this is my worst vice, then I think I'm ok."

"Speaking of vices, do you ever, ya know?"

"What? Drink? Occasionally. Usually socially, like at parties. Or were you talking about cigarettes? Cause then the answer is no. I've never smoked. And I have definitely never done anything illicit."

"Well, that's good to know, but not what I was getting at."

"Then what is it?...Oh, I get it. You heard about me and Juggernaut."

"Yeah, word gets around you know? I heard it in passing one time at avengers tower."

"Well, you will tell me who was talking about it later, so that they and I can have a little chat. Now to answer your question, no. I don't typically take just anybody home. Juggernaut was a mistake, just like Starfox was. Don't know what I was thinking either time. But no, I don't sleep around. I actually have pretty good standards."

"Ok. Sorry if I offended you."

"Nah, you're fine. It's better to get things out in the open. By the way, I haven't had the chance to learn much about Pakistani culture. Would you be up for answering sone questions over a snack break?" Jennifer asked while raising the dip bowl suggestively.

"As long as you explain who Starfox is. This is the second time i've heard about him."

"Fine."

Some time later, after explaining Starfox and his escapades.

"Ew!" Kamala shouted.

"What?" Jennifer asked.

"Cap and I once went after a guy who was stealing Kree tech. We fought some cronies he sent after us inside a damage control warehouse. I said something about how cool the place probably looked under blacklight. Cap said it probably looked like Starfox's bed room."

Jennifer put everything together.

"So,you just realized what she was talking about?" Jennifer asked, blushing a bit.

"Yes! I didn't know who he was. I thought she was talking about the old videogame."

Jennifer laughed hard.

"Oh what i wouldn't give to be so young and innocent again."

"Oh, come on. You're barely old enough to be my big sister."

"Flattery will get you every where. I'm actually old enough to be your mom."

"Well, you certainly don't look it."

"Thanks, sweetie."

Just then, Jennifer's computer beeped. She checked it and it was an incoming call on the hidden Avengers channel.

"Open call, authorization: She-hulk 707." Jennifer said.

A video chat opened up.

"Hey, Jen. How's Cap Jr. doing?"

"I'm just fine, Spider-woman." Kamala said, poking her head in to see who was on the call.

"Hey, kid. Hulkette working you like a dog?"

"Excuse me? I have been a fine and easy going mentor. Kamala, tell her."

"Is that an order, ma'am?" Kamala asked jokingly.

Spider-woman laughed.

"Anyway. What's up, Jess?" Jennifer asked.

"I was just talking to the others. It's time to bring everything together."

"Has Tarnas been found?" Jennifer asked.

"No word from Medusa, yet. But we figure it would be a good idea to bring everyone together. Run drills and junk."

"Makes sense. A lot of us have never worked together. Good idea to train and get ready."

"We're all meeting up at Avengers tower tomorrow. I'll email you the details for the cover story in a bit."

"Got it. Kamala, get ready to chat up your parents again."

"Okay."

Convincing Kamala's parents proved to be far easier than expected and she was picked up the next morning by Jennifer to be on their way.

"Happy Saturday. Wanna donut?" Jennifer asked, offering the box of sweets to her passenger.

"Um..."

"Don't worry, they're all halal. I made sure."

"Oh, cool. Thanks." Kamala said, happily grabbing an eclair.

"No prob, kid. There's a great bakery down the street from me and one of the owners is Muslim. I told him about you and he said he'd pack our box himself, since he knew what was halal and what wasn't."

"Well, that was nice of him. You know, Cap's never gotten me donuts."

"Well, just throwing this out there, She-hulk doesn't have a protege. And I've heard you can shape shift. Turning green shouldn't be a problem."

"No, it wouldn't be. But, unfortunately, my healing factor doesn't work when I shape shift. Its kind of a one or the other kind of deal. And I sorta like being able to get shot and shrug it off. Well, I mean I don't like it, but I like knowing I can do it."

"You've been shot?"

"Happened shortly after I got my powers. I hadn't made my first costume yet, so I was shape shifting into Cap when she was Ms. Marvel."

"Um, which costume?"

"The classic black tights, with the thigh highs."

"Oh, one of her more racy numbers. Maybe you're not as innocent as you seem."

"Hardy har. Anyway, I tried to stop a robber that was holding up my friend's store and he shot me. He freaked out and ran off. I thought I was dying but the minute I reverted back to Kamala, the wound completely healed up and even pushed the bullet out. It ended up down the back of my pants, but that's not important."

"Um, well, let's put that on the back burner for now. By the way, you've got cream on your chin."

"Oh, thanks. So, who all are we meeting at the tower?"

"Everyone i've already told you about, plus Kitty Pryde, Spider-woman, Arana, Rogue and Viv Vision."

"Cool, nice to Viv's gonna be there. I'm assuming we'll recruit more as time goes on."

"We will. Like I said, this is supposed to be a strike team. So, we picked who we thought had the most beneficial powers first."

"Yay, I'm beneficial. Um, wait, did you say Rogue was gonna be there? Like, of the x-men?"

"The same."

"Um, does Cap know? I know they have a history of some kind. I mentioned one time that I liked Rogue's hair and Cap got a little edgy."

"Yeah, she knows. I personally recommended her for another heavy hitter, and Carol reluctantly agreed."

"So, what's the deal with them anyway?"

"Sorry, kid. That's between them. If you wanna know, ask one of them."

"Ok."

Some time later, after a meet and greet and a quick run through the tower's training room, the heroines were splitting up and going about any business they needed to wrap up before they really got underway with the mission. Kamala thought the atmosphere felt awfully light, considering what they were up against. But she chocked it up to everyone not wanting to blow a fuse so quickly.

Kamala was wandering the halls when an alert went over the the towers speakers.

"Everyone report to the command room." Came a familiar voice.

"That's Cap! She's here!"

Kamala excitedly ran to the command room.

"Cap!"

"Hey honey. Jen been treating you well?"

"Just fine. But you and I need to have a word about halal donuts."

"Donuts? Jen, what did you do?" Captain Marvel asked as She-hulk walked in.

"I bought her breakfast. She liked it. Mentioned you never bought her any, period. You better be careful, Carol. Or Ms. Marvel might become Ms. Hulk."

"Ok, ok. I'll spring for brunch or something next time it's just us. Now, look alive, ladies. We got a report from Medusa. Tarnas has yet to be nailed down, but she has detected Lockjaw's energy signature in several locations around Earth. We've got reports from the south of France, Moscow, just outside of Sydney and in the Congo. Her highness recommends we split up and investigate. So, I'll take Ms. Marvel and She-hulk with me to the Congo. The rest of you, split up in teams of three and head to the other locations."

"I'll stay here to keep up monitor duty." Sue Storm said.

"I'll keep her company." Emma Frost said.

"Me too. I think we should keep three strong members of the team here at all times. New York has a nasty habit of getting caught in the middle of things like this." Storm said.

"Fair enough. Ok, everyone, form up."

The teams formed and Rogue found herself as the odd one out.

"Hey, uh, Captain?"

"Yes, Rogue?" Carol said, already bristling.

"I got nobody to ship out with and I don't feel like sitting around here. Mind if I tag along with you? Always wanted to see the Congo anyway."

"Fine. Come on." Carol said, quickly turning on her heel.

"Boy, this is gonna go great." Kamala thought.