The Strongest Maid There Is (yet another AU She-Hulk story)

[bacattack]

I meant to finish this one before the other one I posted, and for this to be my 250th post, but my muse hit a brick wall and I wound up devoting time to the other one and releasing that first. It took me about a week to write this, and I think this time I didn't totally screw up at least one TF.

And yes, there's plot. Ignore if needed. At least this time the She-Hulk actually bears the name "Jennifer Walters".

Enjoy, I guess.

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The Strongest Maid There Is

Kyle Schwartzman had been looking forward to summer vacation, but he stopped looking forward to it the moment he realized he was going to be under house arrest.

"Mom, I've turning eighteen this fall!"

"That makes no difference," his mother had told him. "Your father is threatening to kill you unless I turn control of the company back over to him. Which we both know I'll never do. This company will never supply mercenaries as long as I live. The only soldiers we'll ever supply is the United States military and contractors approved by them."

"Can't you just stick some bodyguards on me or something?"

"Your father knows snipers too. A good sniper can shoot you in the head and your bodyguards will mean nothing. I'm sorry, but you have to stay indoors. Anyway, isn't this mansion spacious enough for you?"

To any person from the outside, the mansion certainly seemed enormous. A palace. But to someone who had lived in it his entire life, Kyle still found it constricting and suffocating. He lived to go outside. How he wanted to practice skateboarding, or get in shape for football season, or generally be active. He was fit and damn proud of it.

And he was stuck inside, unable to show it off. No friends, no activities, no fun.

All he could do was look outside through the bulletproof-glass windows and sigh wistfully, at the beautiful summer California days he was never going to experience.

He could see cars pulling up on the driveway. Armed men getting out. His mother running out to greet them. His mother said she's never support mercenaries but in truth she was nearly as bad as her ex-husband. She thought by supporting contractors sponsored by the military she was more moral than her ex-husband. But that included contractors like Xe, which was formerly known as Blackwater.

His mother was a hypocrite.

The armed men looked like they were from Xe or somewhere similar, actually. They all tended to be ex-soldiers types. Musclebound, intimidating, but they were all talk. If faced with someone who knew what he was doing, they were just big targets.

He looked away from the window and walked down the hallway. He ignored the servants like he always did. He never cared about what their problems are, but at the same time never sought to make their lives miserable either. They just were.

Up the grand staircase to the second floor. Past the bathroom. Past two of the servants' rooms. Past the memorial room for his little brother, killed when this whole succession vendetta got started six months ago. His father, Robert Schwartzman had once controlled the company, but when the Obama Administration took power they sought to victimize a random mercenary firm to prove that he was better than Bush. Robert, a regular tax evader, made the perfect loser to pick on. But Robert had pulled strings, gotten out of prison early, and wanted the company back. His mother wouldn't give the company back. So Kyle's little brother, Mark, paid the price.

The last door on the left on the hallway. He opened it, and sighed again as he saw his room. It seemed to have everything an eighteen-year-old would desire.

A home theater system. A high-speed Internet connection hooked up to a Falcon Northwest gaming PC. A massive library of movies and a even larger library of games from the Playstation 3 and Final Fantasy XIII back to the Nintendo 64 and Super Mario 64. Every issue of Transworld released for the last six years. Dozens upon dozens of CDs from indie and punk bands. A video iPod filled with hundreds of songs and over a dozen playlists from J-pop he couldn't understand to classic rock songs he wanted no one to know he had.

And it all felt so worthless to him because all he wanted was to go outside.

How about that.

He rested on his bed and stared at the ceiling, which was surprisingly blank compared to the rest of his room. He had tried decorating the ceiling before but found whatever he put up there too distracting to sleep. Not to mention it always made him feel guilty that all of this stuff he had was purchased with blood money taken from dead people.

It just wasn't right.

Then the door to his room opened, and Kyle sprung to his feet. "Hey, aren't you supposed to knock?"

He found himself staring at a young maid. She didn't look much older than he did, with straight red-gold hair and lively brown eyes, and a surprisingly innocent, cheerful face.

She simply smiled. "Is that how you greet your new bodyguard?"

"You're a frickin' maid."

"Oh, this is just my cover. Your mother wanted you to have a personal bodyguard to keep an eye on you on all times."

"So she decided that I'd accept it if the bodyguard was a hot girl."

Silence. Then Kyle promptly slapped himself in the face. Smooth, you sexist jerk.

The girl laughed, it was a perky, chirpy laugh that Kyle couldn't decide was aggravating or endearing. "I appreciate you calling me hot but keep it in your pants, please."

Wonderful, I struck out before I even went up to bat.

She stuck out her hand. "I'm Jennifer Walters, employee of Burnett Protection Inc. Call me Jenny, I don't like being called my full name."

Kyle took her hand, and was surprised by her strong grip. Masking his shock, he quickly asked "Why?"

Jenny's smile faded as her hand left Kyle's. "Because my father always called me that whenever he was pissed off. And my father, when he was pissed off, tended to piss me off. Caused quite a vicious cycle there."

"You seem kinda young to be a bodyguard."

"I'm turning twenty in the fall. The last fight with my father . . . didn't turn out so well. I kinda lost my ability to go to college even with all of the scholarships I got. And as punishment I became an Burnett employee and I have to stick with them for two years to get enough money to attend and finish college."

While she was speaking, the carefree, casual attitude she had projected faded, and her eyes seemed to become melancholy and dream-like, as if in spirit she had travelled to another world. It almost made Kyle feel sorry for her.

Jenny's eyes brightened and her smile returned. "Oh, why am I bothering you with my life story? Here's one simple rule: never make me angry. If you follow that rule we'll get along fine."

"Isn't that true with just about anybody?"

Jenny laughed again in that perky, chirpy way. "I guess!"

She sighed. "I like you, so tell you what. I'm going to try to convince your mom to let you out once in a while. You're my first real assignment but I've had serious training. It'd take something like the Incredible Hulk going on a rampage to give me trouble."

"Knowing my father he's captured the Hulk and will sic him on me," Kyle said.

Jenny's eyes turned sad and lost in another world again. "You think so?"

"What, you're taking me seriously?" Kyle asked.

Jenny perked back up and her face wore an awkward expression. "I, uh, read up on your father. He seems to have a lot of connections. I think he'd be better than the military at capturing the Hulk to be honest."

"Huh."

Jenny became serious. "Your father is a highly dangerous man, Kyle. Don't underestimate him."

She put her hands on his shoulders. "I promise I'll protect you from whatever he throws at you. And trust me, he will throw something at you before this is over. Your mother paid good money to have me here when there were more experienced alternatives available, and that's because . . . never mind."

"What?"

"It's nothing. Just trust me and you'll get through this and your father will be in jail again and you'll be returned to a normal life."

Jenny scanned the room. "God, you have an amazing room. I'd kill for a PS3."

"You play games?" Kyle asked.

Jenny laughed. "Used to. After getting kicked out of the house and winding up at Burnett I haven't played squat. I don't even know what's what anymore."

She picked up a game box. "Final Fantasy XIII? That finally came out?"

"Yeah, a little while ago."

"I thought it was going to wind up the Japanese Duke Nukem Forever. Is it any good?"

"I guess. Has a really long tutorial."

"How long?"

"Twenty hours, maybe."

"God, that sucks."

"I know."

Jenny laughed again, and Kyle decided right then and there Jenny's laugh was endearing.
***
It took an entire week, but Jenny finally convinced Kyle's mother to let Kyle out one Saturday, and Kyle was eternally grateful for that. Jenny still seemed amazed at the mansion, and he wished he felt the same way. Outsiders never realized how smothering a building was, ultimately. The instinct of a human being was to explore, not get trapped in an eternal rut.

It helped that activity from Robert Schwartzman had tricked to a halt. He didn't seem to be doing anything. However, his mother forbid Kyle from skateboarding, which pretty much left basketball at the court nearby. Kyle didn't mind. It was better than nothing.

Still, it didn't quite hit him that Jenny had gotten permission until that morning where, instead of wearing the maid outfit, she was wearing basketball clothes. Somehow, she looked even cuter in athletic wear than she did in the maid outfit.

Kyle immediately felt embarrassed at thinking of the older young woman as "cute" and couldn't look at Jenny in the eye again until they left the mansion.

It surprised him at how normal she was. She didn't act like a military type at all. Like none of her training had transformed her personality like it was supposed to. If this was a mask, it was a really good mask.

Jenny had told Kyle a little bit more about her too. She had been in training constantly from June of last year to about April of this year. She had a lot of skill in various weapons and fighting disciplines. And Kyle could see that. Her body was positively lithe, with some definition in her calves and arms. And then her red-gold hair, cut casually short but in an attractive, feminine manner, and her breasts, while not that big, protruded just enough in her clothing for-

Damn it, I'm crushing on her.

It was embarrassing. The only reason he was crushing on her was that she was the only remotely attractive young woman he had any relationship with now. Even with being let outside he was being tightly guarded, and he hadn't been allowed to tell his friends he was heading out. This was basically going to be a private one-on-one session with Jenny.

He had never any attraction to athletic girls before. And once he could talk to girls he was normally attracted to, he knew he'd forget Jenny.

But, if he never got to talk to any girls again, Jenny wouldn't be so bad. He did like her, but as a friend, not someone he wanted to date or spend a lifetime with.

Those thoughts left him as they approached the court. Kyle tried not to notice the obvious plainclothes bodyguards fanning out everywhere around him.

Jenny dribbled the ball twice and shot it at the basket. It banged off the rim. "I guess I've lost my touch."

Liar. You're just baiting me so you can crush me.

Jenny grabbed the ball and sighed. "Want to play horse or something more strenuous?"

"I've haven't shot a basket in a month, so I'm screwed either way."

Jenny laughed. "Don't say that."

"Look at you! You could probably run circles around me!"

"Horse it is, then," Jenny said. She turned around and shot it from the free throw line. It hit the backboard dead center in the square, but she had shot it too hard, and it banged off the front of the rim and landed on the asphalt.

"Ouch. Your shot."

You missed that on purpose again.

Kyle walked up, and grabbed the ball. He was an expert at the side shot, so he walked over to the three-point line on the end where he didn't have to stare at the sun and fired. Much to his surprise, it went in, barely scraping the rim on the way down.

Jenny clapped. "Not bad for a cold shot. I at least got a warm-up shot."

"Go ahead, it's yours," Kyle said as he passed her the ball.

Jenny walked to Kyle's position and fired. It swooshed perfectly through the net.

I knew she was toying with me. I have no chance.

Kyle missed the next shot, and then Jenny made five in a row, Kyle making three of those. But Kyle knew he was fighting a losing battle. Even though Jenny missed one every now and then, it was pretty clear that she was doing so on purpose. He could see it in her eyes, as she calculated whether to make the shot or screw up so Kyle wouldn't feel so bad. Only one bad shot seemed to not have been Jenny's intention.

Whatever Burnett had done to her, she had become an athletic perfectionist, or damn close.

Kyle actually knocked Jenny down to H, but then she roared back with vengeance, downing eight shots in a row, and Kyle was down to H-O-R-S despite his best efforts.

She stopped going easy on me. She's asking me whether I prefer knowing how good she is, or if I want the illusion that I can beat her.

"You're the best shot I've ever seen," Kyle said. "Did you play?"

"Yeah, I did in high school. I was a point guard and pretty good at it too." She sighed. "My scholarship was actually an athletic one. To Tennessee."

"Tennessee? Isn't that where-"

"It's the famous woman's basketball program, yeah." Jenny looked down at the ground. "I threw it all away because I got stupid. Please don't do the same things I did, okay?"

Jenny shot the ball and just like so many others, it gracefully went through the net. Jenny's voice had no joy in it as she spoke. "Your turn."

Kyle wound up missing as the ball spun around the rim twice before falling out. But he realized something was wrong. There wasn't any joy in Jenny's eyes, no basking in victory.

Perhaps the cheerful exterior was a mask. But maybe instead of a iron-blooded soldier maybe it masked a far more vulnerable person.

"What did you do?" Kyle asked.

"I . . . got angry one day. My father never respected women, and always tried to dissuade me from athletics. But I continued disobeying him, playing in games without him knowing and always making up excuses for missing."

Jenny's brown eyes began to well up in tears. "One day, he showed up at the end of the first half and yanked me out of the game and dragged me to the car, my teammates and coach watching in stunned silence. I was so embarrassed. My cousin had attended the game, and he kept trying to talk my father out of it, but there was no convincing my father. Turns out Tennessee had mailed the home offering me the athletic scholarship along with acceptance, and my father happened to collect the mail that day. He berated me the entire way home in the car and paid no attention to the road. We slammed into a telephone pole and apparently flipped over. Somehow, my cousin, who had been following us, was able to bash his way into the car and pull us out."

She stopped speaking for several seconds, as if deciding whether to continue or not. Finally, she did. "I was the worst of it, I had lost a lot of blood. My father and I don't share blood types, so my cousin had to provide for the transfusion. But then when I needed him my cousin vanished. And without him, I . . . I just got angry when my father started screaming at me in the hospital and I . . . I . . ."

She fell to her hands and knees. "It was so bad. I . . ."

"I'm sorry," Kyle said softly as he bent down. "I shouldn't be so selfish."

"I-It's all right." Jenny's left hand reached over and touched his softly. Her brown eyes stared at him, tearing pouring out despite the shaken smile on her face. "I'm glad you care. Nobody's cared about me since that day."

Kyle's heart broke, and then he dared to do something that he never fathomed he'd do to a girl like Jenny.

He kissed her.
***
The rest of the month seemed idyllic despite being locked up in the mansion the majority of the time. It surprised Kyle how much he liked being in love with Jenny, despite her being older and probably capable of killing him with her pinky finger. She just treated him so gently. Her favorite way of kissing him was cupping his smooth face in her hands, and then softly, slowly kissing him as he would hold her in his arms. As they would kiss, Kyle would feel her back, feel the strength in her, and take heart in it.

He didn't dare have sex with her, though. Not only was there not a way to discreetly get protection, but the chances of getting Jenny pregnant were just too dangerous. The relationship would end in an instant because their mother would kick Jenny out, and Jenny would probably lose her job, and her life would effectively be over.

He couldn't do that to her. In his headiest moments, he dreamed of heading to Tennessee, and encouraging his mother to pay for Jenny's college too, and cheer her on as she played basketball. Finally, after she was done with college, he could do "it". And it would be worth the long wait, he could tell.

But until then, Kyle didn't mind the innocence of the relationship at all.

They found some ways to improvise "dating". The other bodyguards had converted part of the basement into a soundproofed firing range, and one day Kyle got to watch Jenny practice. She was a good shot, though she'd have to be after so many months of training.

Other times they'd just head to the fitness center together. Kyle's muscle was partially "pretty muscle" as Jenny called it, which in her eyes was meant to show off, and part "functional". Jenny was all "functional". There was no bulk in her, but she was strong all the same, capable of keeping up with him on most exercises.

But his favorite part was her waking him up every morning with a kiss on the forehead. She would lightly brush his short bangs away, clearing the forehead, and kiss it ever so softly. And then she'd smile at him in that warm way as he awoke.

But despite the seeming joy in her personality, despite that perky, chirpy laugh, despite the love that she showed him every day, Kyle could tell something was wrong. Jenny had one too many moments where she'd stare off into space, like her soul had left this reality and only a shell was present in this one. There was a sadness she couldn't quite shake, bad memories she couldn't quite forget. Kyle had inquired but Jenny never discussed her past with him in more than vague terms. What she had said on that basketball court weeks ago was the most he was going to get out of her.

Kyle wondered what she had done to her father. What she had said or done when she had gotten angry. Kyle never pushed Jenny too much, though, because he obviously didn't want to make her angry. The last thing he wanted was a fight with her, especially as . . . she seemed scared of herself, in some small, subtle way.

As they rested together on his bed, Jenny still wearing what Kyle found to be an sexy maid outfit, one with a skirt that showed plenty of leg but classically so, he said something during the conversation that finally made him find out the truth.

It started so innocently. "Jenny, you're like a superhero."

"What do you mean?" Jenny had asked.

"Well, it's like you have this identity as a normal, friendly person who happens to be a maid. But you also have this identity where you're all 'super-elite bodyguard."

"You kinda have to," Jenny said, with a sense of wistfulness that piqued Kyle's curiosity.

"You do, huh?"

"Yeah. In this job you have to keep sides of you hidden from everyone you don't trust implicitly. You don't want everyone to know who your alternate persona is. That's dangerous." Jenny's eyes started to turn blank again. "I have . . . done some things I am ashamed of. Things from when I couldn't quite control myself when I got angry. I hurt people really bad."

"What happened?" Kyle asked.

But Jenny wouldn't answer like she always did.

"Look, whatever you did, I don't care," Kyle said.

"You don't understand," Jenny said soflty.

"How can I understand if you won't tell me?"

"You want to know the reason why your mother chanced on me, a total rookie who's young enough to have a relationship with you? While my demonstration scores impressed her, that's not what sealed the deal."

"What?"

"There's something about me that if you found out you'd be terrified and disgusted."

Kyle's heart nearly stopped. "What, you're transgendered?"

"No!" Jenny cried, tears pouring out of her eyes again. "You really think I could be transgendered, Kyle? After all of this time? After everything I've told you?"

Oh, that was absolutely the wrong thing to say.

"Of course not! I just don't know what else you could mean!" Kyle said, desperately trying to cover his ass.

"Right, right," Jenny said, calmer, as her hands clenched to her fists and she began to shake so slightly.

Kyle placed his hands on her shoulders. "You can tell me. Please. Whatever it is you've done it won't change anything."

"That's not true. You hate athletic women. Your mom told me so."

"But I [i]love[/] you and you're certainly athletic."

"That's because you changed your standards because I'm all there is," Jenny said bitterly.

This girl is out of my league. How the heck did she figure that out?

He froze then, and felt ashamed over what he had just thought. It's more than that. When you 'changed your standards' you were a different person. You chose to become someone else when you kissed Jenny for the first time. You need to show her you're better than that, that you don't see things so superficially.

"It's not like that. I admit, there's some truth there but I truly do love you."

"You wouldn't love me if I told you the truth!"

"What truth?"

Jenny bit her lip, and looked down, and closed her brown eyes. Her voice became soft, but in a chilled, distant way. "Did you hear in the news, a year or so ago, about a She-Hulk that destroyed the hospital in Anaheim? The ensuing rampage in Los Angeles?"

"It made the headlines just like when the Hulk smashes a city-" Suddenly, Kyle stopped as his brain kicked in 100%. Oh shit.

"That was me," Jenny said, her voice barely able to maintain coherency with her voice all choked up and more of her seemingly infinite amount of tears escaping her eyes. "That was me."

Kyle's eyes widened. "You must be joking."

"I'm not." Jenny stared at her hands as she trembled. "My cousin is David Bruce Banner, the Incredible Hulk. His blood transfusion did this to me. He was like an older brother to me my entire life, and I loved him so much, but in the end he cursed me."

Kyle looked down. "That's . . . why you asked me never to make you angry. Because you'd destroy everything."

"No, that's not true." Jenny took a deep breath. "Burnett Protection is a front company for SHIELD, the worldwide special forces agency. A lot of people who want to become SHIELD operatives are employed at Burnett first, and protect high-value, dangerous subjects. One of the first thing they made me do at Burnett was make me learn how to control myself. They made me transform again and again and again until I was finally able to maintain control of myself even in my Hulk state."

She looked at him. "The one thing I haven't managed to do yet is keep myself from changing when I'm angry. The beast still lives, although it is dying. All the beast can do is force me to change when I'm angry."

She paused. "So, do you hate me yet? Are you afraid of me?"

"No," Kyle lied.

She shook her head. 'You just don't believe me."

She got off the bed and walked several steps. She spun around. "Then I'll show you."

"Wait-wait-wait-wait-wait-wait!" Kyle yelled. "You don't need to show me anything, please!"

"I don't have a choice. If I don't, I'll never know if this relationship is going to work." She smiled sadly. "If you can handle this . . . then we can be together. I love you so much . . . but I can't hide this anymore. Not if I want to be with you."

"Jenny, please wait." Kyle was terrified now. The problem wasn't finding out Jenny had been that female Hulk that terrorized Los Angeles that one day. The problem was that Jenny was apparently going to turn herself into that thing right in his room. A big, musclebound, green-skinned woman. Kyle didn't want to see that.

Jenny bent down and untied her shoes and took them off, and kicked them aside. She took off her socks and put them aside too. Then she bent down, and reached underneath his bed, and pulled out two white, laceless boots with purple stripes on top.

"How the heck did you hide those?" Kyle asked.

"You never think of putting anything under your bed," Jenny said. "I have dozens of boots laying in hidden spots all over the house in the event that I need to transform here."

"Look, you seriously don't have-"

"Stop it, Kyle," Jenny said as she put both boots on. They were tall, reaching up to her calves. "You need to see this, for both of our sakes. If we want to be together, then this is something you're going to have to live with."

Jenny then closed her eyes, as if meditating.

God damn it Jenny don't do this! Don't freak me out anymore than you already have!

But before he could get there Jenny's brown eyes sprung open, and her hands began to tremble. Her breathing became loud and labored.

"You need to . . . ooh, see this. It's actually ugh, not so bad. Kinda . . . mmm, enjoyable in a perverse way when I force it. Not quite so much fun when I'm, ooh, angry."

As she spoke, her right hand reached up and began fidgeting with her maid outfit right inbetween her breasts, and her left hand reached behind her, either touching her lower back or her butt, Kyle couldn't tell which.

"Ooh! Agh! Nnh!" Jenny closed her eyes as she jerked a few times, her teeth clenched. Then suddenly, she relaxed, and her hands fell from their positions.

"Oh wow, this feels better than ever. I haven't changed in a long time," Jenny said, and she opened her eyes. They were still brown, but Kyle could tell something was wrong.

She strutted towards him like a fashion model posing down a runway. A sultry smile crossed her lips.

Oh God don't tell me she's going to hug me or something while she transforms, Kyle thought. He contemplated backing away but his legs were quivering like jello, and he instead slipped and fell, his back entrenched against the side of his bed.

"It's all right," she said. Her voice sounded slightly different, far more seductive than before. "Think of this as my fail-safe. When there's no other way to protect you. Mmm . . . I . . . I will always protect you as long as you want me to."

Kyle's eyes shifted to her legs, which were starting to tremble. Kyle realized that the laced black skirt that Jenny wore looked smaller, there was more of her legs showing than before. She had already shot up an inch or two. And, as more muscle definition entered her legs, Kyle felt a sense of helplessness overcome him. Nothing he could do would stop this.

"Oh God, I feel it already," Jenny moaned, and she closed her brown eyes again and moaned in pleasure as she put her hands to her chest as her breasts grew. Her hands and forearms grew in the process.

She fell forward, her burgeoning hands landing on the bed, her larger breasts dangling below him, her head, with red-gold hair that was longer than before, stopped just inches from his own forehead. Kyle wasn't sure what to stare at, the bigger breasts (which he shamefully admitted to himself was fairly hot) or Jenny's face.

Sensing that her eyes would open again, Kyle opted to stare at the face, lest she get angry in mid-transformation. He nearly regretted it, though, as he saw Jenny's eyes open, and they were neon green.

Oh come on. Back away, please! I don't need your glowy eyes in front of mine or your sensual breaths going up my nose!

"Judging from the look on your face the eyes are green, aren't they?" Jenny asked, her voice noticeably lower and huskier.

"Y-You've shown me enough. Please change back," Kyle asked, a frightened, sheepish smile crossing his face. "C'mon, seriously."

"Once they're green there's no way back. You're stuck with the full show," Jenny said.

Suddenly Jenny reared back and moaned again, her eyes wide with pleasure. Her breasts jutted out more, stressing the buttons on her uniform, her shoulders broadened, and her neck swelled in size.

"Oh man!" Jenny exclaimed, and her face returned to its original position just in front of Kyle's. Kyle noticed that her lightly-tanned skin was starting to develop a strange coloring, like it was just starting to become green. Her hair reflected this too, starting to look darker and greener like it had spent too much time in chlorine, as the tips of her hair touched her broadened shoulders.

Kyle tried to look away, but when he did, all he could see past her enlarged breasts was her newly-muscular legs, and an increasingly short skirt revealing more and more of them every couple of seconds.

Do I have to watch this? Jenny, this isn't like you at all. You have to be lying when you say it's still you in there.

Her hair continued growing longer and longer, and continued to transform into a shade of dark green. Her face was also subtly reshaping itself, becoming more luscious. Her eyelashes were also longer, more enticing.

She spoke as her shoulders burst out of the uniform, leaving the strands that covered her biceps and triceps tightly wound to them like armbands. Her voice was continuing to deepen and husk up, and Kyle would have found the voice hot if it weren't for the really big body that was coming with it.

"It's all right. We're past halfway. If you can make it this far, you can make it the rest of the way."

Isn't that a joy? Kyle thought sarcastically.

Her voluptuous breasts exploded out of the uniform, taking many buttons out all at once. The buttons all landed on Kyle with such force he thought he had been stung by bees. The white with purple-striped fitness topped Jenny liked wearing so much was there, and somehow was still holding together. Kyle could also see signs of Jenny's abdomen, which was a firm six-pack from the looks of it.

Jenny reared back again and put her still-growing hands on the torn edges of the uniform and tore at it while her belt snapped free. As she ripped at it, her arms flexed, and the clothing strands that remained tore apart. Finally, she roared in what sounded like dual pain and pleasure as she tore the uniform apart and burst out of it at the same time, leaving shards everywhere.

The skirt wasn't going to last much longer either. Her legs were cramped inside the skirt now, and the lace was fraying away with each second. Her skin was more green than tan now, and her hair was now starting to reach her lower back.

Jenny looked calmer and a lot more in control than she had been. In fact, she looked at the skirt in what looked like amusement. "I always have to tear this thing apart myself."

She reached down and did so, just as her transformation completed. Her legs stretched out, her skin solidified into a solid green, as did her hair which became dark green. Her eyes stopped glowing, and became a solid, normal green.

She towered over Kyle, but somehow she kept her face from looking dominating. Now that it was over, her old personality seemed to be re-asserting itself. "This is my other form. What do you think?"

Kyle could only stutter gibberish.

She-Hulk's eyes looked away, and her face became sad. "I thought so. You truly can't handle it, can you?"

"W-Well, you k-k-kinda changed right in front of my face! W-W-What am I supposed to do?" Kyle asked.

She-Hulk's eyes became teary, and her deep voice became choked up. "I shouldn't have done this. This was so stupid."

Kyle realized he was about to lose Jenny forever. It occurred to him that the seductive, alluring behavior she had exhibited in the transformation was yet another mask. Maybe she thought that by being sultry she wouldn't be so scary?

Kyle scrambled to his feet and ran after She-Hulk, and tried to grab her on the shoulder but was too small to reach it, only touching her shoulder blade. She-Hulk spun around in surprise and Kyle was barely able to restrain a scream.

"L-L-Look, just prove to me that Jenny's still in there, and I can accept it. I promise I'll accept all of it if you can prove to me that Jenny's in there," Kyle said.

She-Hulk's hands reached out and cupped his face again. Her fingers caressed his cheeks softly. "Of course I'm still in here."

She kissed him, the way she always liked to kiss him.

Kyle could barely keep his arms from wrapping around She-Hulk's butt instead of her back, but he managed to keep his arms secure along her lower back. He tried to ignore the odd feeling of his abdomen touching hers, and he forced himself not to throw up. He had to accept this. He loved Jenny. He wanted to be with Jenny. And, admittedly, it could be nice to have a girlfriend who could become a living tank if she had to.

They separated, and She-Hulk spoke first as she wiped her eyes. "You convinced?"

"Y-Yeah," Kyle said, his face flushed.

She-Hulk smiled. "Then you accept this."

"Y-yeah, I do."

The tears poured from her eyes in total awestruck love, and her hands reached up to cover her mouth. "T-Thank you so much."

They embraced, and before they separated, She-Hulk had changed back into Jenny.
***
The next day, there was still some awkwardness between Jenny and Kyle, but Kyle knew to expect that. After all . . .

Still, it was nice that Jenny still preferred to be Jenny instead of the other thing she could be. At least around him. Seeing She-Hulk once in his life was enough.

Jenny seemed to have plenty of those maid uniforms, she had another one ready to go today. Unfortunately, today was a weekday, which meant that Kyle couldn't go anywhere or do anything, again.

He was getting really tired of that. It would be nice to take Jenny out on an actual date.

Would it have to wait until school restarted? Would Jenny have to go undercover as a high school student? She could still look the part, at least in Kyle's opinion. And she'd probably get a lot of stares from guys who had no clue how far out of their league she was.

Heck, she was out of Kyle's league, and he barely felt like he could hold on for dear life. Sort of like the Detroit Lions most years in the NFL.

Jenny was definitely going to be wearing the pants in this relationship, to paraphrase an old saying Robert Schwartzman liked to say.

It still didn't feel right for Jenny to cook the food for him every day. He wanted a more equal relationship, at least with breakfast and lunch. Anyone was capable of toasting waffles or putting turkey sandwiches together. Jenny simply said it was part of her cover and to roll with it. And she definitely wasn't bad at at. But it just didn't feel right. He wanted to eat with Jenny, not have Jenny serve him.

But he always stopped complaining. Especially now, after seeing Jenny's alter ego. Did he want to make her angry? Hell no!

He just hoped she wouldn't transform in front of him for a long time. Some people would probably find those transformations hot. He didn't. He was happy with the asskicking cutie Jenny, not some green-skinned buff woman who could break him in half without any effort.

But Jenny didn't just seem awkward. She seemed on edge. She kept fidgeting with the apron part of her outfit. Kyle was afraid to ask why.

Then he got to find out.

Stuff exploding was usually pretty telling.

Jenny was barely able to shot a warning and tackle Kyle in time before the roof collapsed, and gunfire echoed throughout the entire kitchen. By the time Kyle was able to get up, he saw Jenny kneeling besides him, a pistol in her right hand.

That must have been what was in her apron.

She clicked off the safety. "Are you all right?"

"What the hell is going on?"

"We picked up a rise in activity from your father's group last night, but we didn't think he'd be brazen enough to strike like this!"

Machine-guns bullets blazed past her as she spoke and she yelled in surprise. One of the mercs on Kyle's side flopped around as he was hit five or six times before collapsing in a bloody heap.

Jenny was already starting to breathe heavy. Kyle rubbed her shoulder. "You okay?"

"Just trying to stay in control. I don't know whether they're trying to bait She-Hulk out or not. Best that they don't know I'm here yet."

Suddenly, they both heard machine sounds and the wall behind them crumbled, revealing a massive mecha with clawed arms.

"Might not have a choice!" Kyle yelled. Suddenly, the claw reached for him, but Jenny shoved him out of the way and got taken instead. Kyle watched helplessly as Jenny was picked up into the air, and the mercenary looked at Jenny with a frustrated expression.

But Jenny was the one who spoke. Her voice began to vibrate with power. "You shouldn't have done that, because now you've made me angry!"

Her body jerked as it dangled in the claw. "Oh! Ohh! OOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRR!"

Kyle got a bird's eye view up Jenny's skirt as her legs suddenly bulged with muscle and became green. Her shoes and socks were victims this time too, her enlarging feet bursting out of them, but this time her feet were completely bare, no boots to cover them up. The rest of her clothing quickly tore apart as Jenny screamed in agony. The transformation, Kyle realized, was a hell of a lot faster when she was mad.

The merc's eyes looked like they were going to explode as Jenny's transformation completed, and She-Hulk promptly punched and tore her way through the mecha, sending the pilot crashing to the ground in a metal heap. Surprisingly, she had a different outfit on, a one-piece . . . swimsuit? Spandex? Kyle couldn't tell what it was, though it had the same color scheme of white with purple stripes like the fitness outfit.

"Keep an eye on him!" She-Hulk yelled, and she charged away.

Like how am I supposed to do that? Kyle mentally asked as he ran over to check on the pilot anyway.

Turned out he was more than capable of guarding the prisoner. The merc was wide-eyed and quivering on the ground. "C-C-Cute maid became g-green and scary. D-Does not make s-sense. N-No sense."

I felt and still feel the same way, buddy. You don't seem me curled up in a ball over it.

A few minutes later, the battle seemed to be over as gunfire faded, and then She-Hulk returned and walked towards Kyle. As she did, she reverted back to Jenny, and Kyle felt a sense of relief. She-Hulk had an alluring face, a seductive voice, and voluptuous breasts, but the overall package was just too damn scary for him.

"How is he?" Jenny asked.

"Still quivering on the ground."

"He's our live prisoner. I need to talk to him."

Jenny got in closer and got in the merc's face, and the merc jolted upright and made one of the girliest screams Kyle had ever heard from a big man.

"Scary maid! She's going to kill me! Mommy!" The merc tried to run away, stripped over the metal rubbish scattered everywhere, and landed on his face. He moaned in a dazed manner.

Jenny shook her head in dismay. "I guess that's not gonna work."

"That's just one of the things that won't work, Jennifer."

Jenny eyes lit up and she spun around. "Who called me that?"

Kyle recognized the voice, much to his horror, and turned around as well. His eyes widened as he recognized who it was.

Father.

Robert Schwartzman sighed as he looked around. "And here I thought resistance would go down easily."

"How'd you get past the guards?" Jenny asked.

Robert produced a silenced submachine-gun, an MP-5 from the looks of it. "I never thought I'd have to play my trump card in order to take my bargaining chip, but I guess I have to.

Behind Robert appeared a man Kyle had seen many times in mugshots. And that man frightened Kyle more than even his father right now.

David Bruce Banner.

"Bruce!" Jenny wailed.

There was a device around Bruce's neck, and that made Kyle nervous. Robert, for his part, simply laughed. "Here is how I'm going to get my bargaining chip once and for all. I'll unleash the Incredible Hulk upon this mansion, and then seize you, my son. My treacherous whore of an ex-wife wouldn't dare sacrifice her son to hold onto my company.

"Don't you dare use Bruce!" Jenny yelled.

"I'm not using Bruce. I'm not even interested in him. All I want is his infamous temper."

Kyle stared at Bruce. His eyes were so tired. What has his father done to this man?

Robert sighed. "And unfortunately, I'm going to use it. I have a device that grants me control of his rage, and I will use it to get my son back. The Hulk is weaker, and you might even beat him, girl, but it will be meaningless."

With a button press, he turned David Bruce Banner into the Hulk, and Banner's cries quickly became the Hulk's roars. Kyle froze in fear and crawled away from the massive beast that now towered over everyone. Jenny grabbed him by the sleeve and said "I'll protect you. Just by as much time as you can."

The Hulk charged forward towards Kyle, and Jenny and Kyle barely scrambled out of the way. Jenny and Kyle ran down the hallway, the Hulk chasing them like a 800-pound rabid dog, and smashing both sides of the hallway in the process.

"Isn't anybody left?" Kyle wailed.

"Even if they were they wouldn't stop Bruce!" Jenny yelled.

"Why aren't you changing?"

"I'm too frickin' scared to change!"

They finally managed to run up to the second floor and hide in one of the servant's rooms, and Jenny struggled to catch her breath.

"Aren't you angry at all?" Kyle asked.

"I said I'm too scared. Bruce is the Hulk. Even if he is supposedly weakened I don't know if I could fight him." Jenny fidgeted with her one-piece spandex outfit, which was looser on her than it was when she was She-Hulk.

"Maybe you don't have to. Just break the device," Kyle said.

"And that just causes the Hulk to get stronger. Brilliant!"

"Maybe he'd recognize you though. Like a 'Jennifer Hulk friend' thing."

"Hulk smash!" was heard down the hallway, and more screaming and sound of destruction were audible.

"I don't have any better ideas. But like I said, I can't get angry. Not at Bruce."

You could just get angry at my father for doing this to Bruce.

"Oh . . . ohh . . . ohhhhhnnn . . ." Jenny moaned as she tried to concentrate.

"Jenny . . ." was all Kyle was able to say. She was trying to force the transformation to make up for the fact that she wasn't getting angry.

Jenny's neon green eyes opened and she put her hands on his shoulders as she began to change.

"I will . . . protect you . . . I promise . . ." Jenny said as her body trembled as muscles began to grow all over. She began to fill out the one-piece outfit she was wearing, as her breasts expanded and her shoulders broadened. Her skin began to take on a green pallor. She reared back and roared as her neck bulged, her voice deepening gradually throughout the vocal explosion.

She embraced him. "I will always be there . . .I will always love you . . ."

She filled out the rest of her outfit, and She-Hulk was back. Just as her transformation completed, the Hulk busted into the room, and She-Hulk stood up and approached the Hulk.

"Come and get me, Bruce Banner!"

"Hulk not puny Banner! Hulk hate puny Banner! Hulk bash your face in!" Hulk roared, and he charged and tackled Jen, and they busted through the wall and were quickly out of sight.

But just as Kyle breathed a sigh of relief for dodging one bullet he found himself facing another one. Robert emanated around the corner and pointed his MP-5 at Kyle's head.

"You're almost more trouble than you're worth," Robert spat.

"Then I'll make myself more trouble than I'm worth," Kyle replied.

"Then I'll kill you," Robert said. His eyes definitely hinted that he wasn't bluffing.

Damn it, what do I do?

Kyle put his hands up.

"Good boy," Robert said and he walked over. He reached in his pockets to grab handcuffs, and that's when Kyle made his move.

He rushed his father and knocked the MP-5 out of Robert's hands, and sent it clattering across the floor. The football-style tackle knocked Robert to the ground, but Kyle's advantage was completely lost as Robert responded by punching Kyle in the head viciously over and over and over until Kyle could barely think, much less act.

"Make that the dumbest son I could possibly have," Robert snarled as kicked prone Kyle in the stomach. Kyle nearly threw up and was barely able to hold it in.

As Robert walked towards the MP-5 and picked it up, he ranted "Seriously, what the hell were you trying to do? You've never had self-defense training because I made sure you never took any classes. You could never beat me. So what were you doing?"

"Buying time for me!" She-Hulk yelled.

Robert spun towards She-Hulk and his jaw visibly dropped. "How is that possible?"

"Wondering how I beat the Hulk? Just take a look at this." She-Hulk held up the device that Robert had placed around Bruce's neck. "Bruce knows better than to fight me. Somewhere in there the Hulk knows it's me and knows not to fight me when this thing isn't attached. So he just did one of his mile-long leaps and he's long-gone by now."

"Damn it . . ." Robert pointed the gun at Kyle but She-Hulk immediately ran across the room, grabbed Robert, and lifted him off the ground, holding Robert by his shirt collar. The MP-5 fell from Robert's hand again and fell on the floor.

"Never touch my boyfriend."

She-Hulk then threw him hard and Robert went flying through multiple walls, screaming the entire way, before his cries vanished for good.

Kyle was able to summon enough strength to sit up, but he was clutching his stomach as She-Hulk walked over and kneeled by him. She wrapped her arms around him and locked him in an embrace.

"That was brave of you," she whispered.

"Stupid," Kyle corrected.

"Foolhardy. Brave and stupid at the same time," She-Hulk said, and she laughed a deep version of her perky, chirpy laugh that Kyle loved to hear.

She smiled as she looked at him. Her green eyes reverted to brown, and Kyle realized that She-Hulk was becoming Jenny once again.

Kyle smiled. It was over. Somehow, he was going to have to get this relationship approved. He was sure he wanted to be with Jenny now. Who wouldn't want a girl who could live a normal life but thoroughly annihilate any enemy she faced if she had to?

"I wish I could say something that could tell you how grateful I am you're here," Kyle said.

"You don't need to say anything at all," She-Hulk said, and she kissed him. Before they separated, she was Jenny Walters once again, Kyle Schwartzman's bodyguard and girlfriend.

And, maybe, just maybe, Kyle's future wife.

[Terry19d]

Sorry, couldn't ignore the plot because it was interesting, gave some good character development, and helped tie things together. A quite different approach to the whole She-Hulk mythos...I like the twist behind just how Jennifer arrived to serve as Kyle's protection. Also like the spin that was put on Kyle's reaction to seeing Jen's dark secret - different than many stories and, really, probably more realistic. Nice character interaction and descriptions of their unique personalities, quirks, etc.

I don't want to say too much that could spoil things for those who haven't read it yet. I enjoyed this one even more than the other (and agreed, this story's title = better). Thanks for posting it up.

[darcmetal]

Stan would be proud.

[Opew12]

amazing! just amazing! im not a good reader, but this story was definatly worth the effort!

[bacattack]

@Terry19d: Thanks a lot. I wanted to subvert some things that frustrate me whenever I read stories of this nature, and I wanted the male lead to react more realistically. I don't think he needs to be turned on for you to be turned on.

I also wanted Jenny to be a little different too. She doesn't revel in being She-Hulk. That's why I intentionally had her seductive TF act turn out to be that, an act. I wanted her to be perkier and yet sadder at the same time, if that makes sense.

@darcmetal: Lol, I don't think Stan would be proud to see a barely-reminiscent version of his character on this type of site. But thanks anyway and glad you enjoyed it.

@Opew12: I'm glad I was able to keep you interested enough to keep reading from start to finish. It makes me think that I wrote something decent.