Two weeks passed, and the Plumbers had settled into Knowhere surprisingly well. After Zeyara defeated the KKT fleet that attacked them, rival crews and old enemies of the KKT moved in on the organization's remaining members. Within days, the KKT presence in Knowhere had almost completely collapsed. Jack made his own moves too, quietly buying up some of the businesses and facilities the KKT had abandoned, and by the end of it the Plumbers had a firm foothold in Knowhere.
Their headquarters was already up and running, and they'd started taking on small jobs from people around the settlement. Some were straightforward bodyguard work. Others involved bailing out merchants who'd run into trouble, or pulling people out of dangerous situations. None of it was particularly difficult, but it brought in experience, money, and, more valuably, information.
It made the Plumbers look a lot like mercenaries at first glance, but Jack didn't mind. They were getting paid, gaining experience, and most importantly, building a reputation as people who could be relied on. He also got a pleasant surprise along the way. Thanks to their presence here, he'd racked up around five hundred Heroic Points over the past two weeks, mostly from saving merchants from pirates and helping people who otherwise would've had no one to turn to.
Between the growing reputation and the Heroic Points, Jack was already seeing the benefits of his decision to build the Plumbers in the first place. It was starting to feel like the right call.
Plumbers HQ, Jack's lab.
The room was packed with equipment, weapons, communication devices, and monitors displaying shifting diagrams and formulas. In the middle of it all, a small crab-like creature hunched over a console, rapidly working through calculations.
"Jack, it's already past midnight. I've been waiting for you, but you're still working here. Just because you took some serum doesn't mean you can skip sleep forever. It's not good for you. Finish the experiment tomorrow," Gwen said, storming into the lab, irritation clear in her voice.
"No, Gwen, I'm getting close to figuring out how to remove the transformation time limit. Just give me some space," Jack said, still in his Brainstorm form, not even glancing her way as he kept working through the calculations.
"Fine! Red, shut down all the monitors," Gwen ordered.
"Red, don't listen to her," Jack cut in.
... Red Queen hesitated, caught between the two of them.
"Red, you'll listen to me, right? You don't want him wrecking his health over this, do you?" Gwen pressed.
That did it. Red Queen shut everything down, leaving Jack glaring at her in frustration.
"Gwen, I'm working here," Jack argued.
"Transform back. Now."
Realizing she wasn't going anywhere, Jack shifted back to human. The moment the heightened rationality of Brainstorm faded and he looked at her properly, he knew she was right.
"Okay, okay, enough nagging. I'm going to bed."
"Good. And don't you dare sneak back down here after I fall asleep like you did last time," Gwen said, still looking at him suspiciously.
Jack gave her a tired smile. "You really don't trust me, do you?"
"Not when you're working like this," Gwen replied. "You've been pushing yourself too hard lately."
"You know, I didn't expect you to become this worried about me."
Gwen rolled her eyes. "Someone has to keep you from working yourself to death."
Jack chuckled and followed her toward their room. "Yeah, yeah. I get it."
Once they reached their room, the two of them climbed into bed. Gwen moved closer to him and rested her head against his shoulder.
"You really need to take better care of yourself, Jack," she said quietly.
"I know."
"Do you?"
Jack smiled faintly. "Yeah. I do."
Gwen looked at him for a moment before closing her eyes. "Good. Now sleep."
"Bossy."
"Sleep."
Jack chuckled softly and closed his eyes.
Zzzzzz.
Zzzzzz.
"EMMA!"
Jack jolted awake, fear gripping him instantly. He looked around the room, breathing heavily, before slowly realizing it had only been a dream.
"Thank God. Just a dream. Good. Emma's safe. It was just a dream," he muttered.
Gwen immediately woke up beside him.
"Jack?" she asked sleepily, sitting up. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I'm fine. Go back to sleep."
"You're obviously not fine. You were yelling Emma's name."
Jack hesitated before getting out of bed.
"I just need some air."
Gwen watched him leave, concern still written across her face.
Jack headed topside instead of trying to fall back asleep. He stood there for a while, staring up at the stars, lost in thought.
The next day...
"Zeyara, if anything comes up, contact me through the badge anytime. I'll be back once I've visited my home planet."
Zeyara nodded. "Understood."
Jack boarded one of the smaller ships the Plumbers had picked up over the past week. Gwen followed him in and took the seat beside him.
His original plan had been to track down Celestial DNA and see if the Omnitrix could actually pull off a transformation before heading back to Earth. But last night's nightmare had left him rattled in a way he hadn't expected. It reminded him of the old nightmares he'd had about Thanos's snap. But this time, it felt different. Worse.
He'd thought he'd grown past those fears. He'd even started to believe he was no longer the same person who had died in his previous life. Apparently, some fears didn't disappear that easily.
More than that, the nightmare reminded him what his actual priority had been from the start. Finding Emma and Morgan. The Plumbers had only ever come after that, a project born out of necessity along the way. No matter how big the organization eventually grew, his family came first. It always would.
"Gwen," Jack said, turning to look at her.
"Hmm?"
"Let's find them first."
Gwen studied him for a moment before a small smile crossed her face.
"I was wondering when you'd say that."
Jack smiled back.
"Yeah. The Plumbers can wait a little while. My family can't."
A/N: The Patreon version is already updated with 20 advanced chapters. If you'd like to read ahead of the public release schedule, you can join here: