Conflagration surrounded Jan.  She was wasp-sized and flying, stinging Skrulls left and right, trying to get the one who ’d replaced Hank.

The giant in the Yellowjacket uniform grabbed a control device.  “I was going to save you for last, Jan, but if you’re going to make this into a thing --” he said through fanged teeth , hitting the device’s button.

Then the pain flooded into Jan, the unimaginable pain as she began to grow, at first unevenly and out of control.

Jaqn sat bolt upright In bed, screaming.

Hank, next to her, rolled over.  “The nightmare again?” he said.

Jan was breathing hard.  The pain, remembered from when she died, always made it difficult to shift back to reality when she woke up from the nightmare.

“The flashback to when Critti Noll killed you again?” Hank asked, wiping the sweat from Jan‘s brow.  “It’s been weeks since you’ve had that one last.”

Jan looked down at Hank. She’d gotten used to being the taller of the two of them most of the time now.  “This time was different,” she said.

“How so?” Hank asked.

Jan turned toward Hank.  “The voice was still Critti Noll’s,” she said, “but the face was William’s.”

Jan saw Hank’s chest and shoulders sag slightly at the news.  “Oh, Jan,” he said.

“I know, I know,” Jan said.  “William isn’t Critti Noll’s child in any meaningful way, but he is biologically Critti Noll’s son; the son of the ‘man’ who killed me.” Almost involuntarily, she chuckled.  “Do you know how weird that sounds?  ‘The man who killed me?’”

“You’re doing it again, Jan,” Hank said.  “You told me to call you on it.  I bottle up my feelings, bury them, even from myself.  You deflect them, making jokes or flirting.  You’re deflecting now.”

“I know,” Jan said.

“Jan, William believes he’s my son in every sense, and he is in every sense that matters.”

Jan’s voice broke slightly as she said, “I understand all that.  Hank, I want to love him, and part of me already does.  But there’s some corner of me that just can’t get past the fact that his biological father took my life, and tried to take out all the Avengers, and was even part of the plot to kidnap you.  He almost kept me from ever seeing you again, and he cost us years together… So many years …”

Hank rubbed Jan’s long arm.  “You’re still so young and beautiful.”

Jan grabbed his hand, holding it gently.  “But, Hank, life was so hard for you while I was gone.  You were already older than me, and the gap widened when I came back the same age as when I left, while your time on the Skrull war world and the grief you felt over my death aged you even more than the time.  My being so young may well mean I’ll have to live more years without you down the line, if we both manage to make it to old age.”

“I know that,” Hank said.  “But I thought we both want to take advantage of what we’ve got, and not worry about what we’ve lost.”

“We do.  I do,” Jan said.  “But William brings all that back.  I look at him, and I see Greer, and I see you, and I see a little boy… but part of me sees my murderer.  I’m just having a hard time getting past that.”

Hank nodded.  “Would you like a hug?”

“I’d like to be held,”  Jan said.  “Could you come up a little?  I’d really like your arms around me for this one.”

“Gladly,” Hank said.  He grew to 10 feet tall and enfolded his 8-foot wife.  He was glad he’d had a Goliath bed, designed for giants up to 10 feet tall, installed in his rooms.

After a couple of minutes, there was a knock at the door of Hank’s apartment.  “Who is it?” he asked.

“It’s Lightspeed,” came Julie Power’s voice.  “Giant-Man, it’s about William.  He’s down the hall in the guest room, crying.”

Hank put a hand to his forehead.  “Thanks, Julie,” he said.  “I’ll be right down.”

Hank got out of bed and got into his robe.  He was surprised when he realized Jan was putting on her robe, too.  “Jan, you don’t need to go,” he said.

“Yes, I do,” Jan said.  “You’ve made William part of your family, and I’m remarrying you.  That makes him part of my family, too.  And, besides, Greer entrusted him to both of us, and he calls me his Mama Jan.  I’ve got to work through this stuff, for all our sakes.  You and Greer, and that little boy, all need me to… And I need to do it for me, too.”

Hank nodded.  By this time they both had their slippers on.  “Let’s go,” he said.

They walked quickly down the hall to the guest room where they’d placed William.  Hank knocked.  “Son, it’s Papa and Mama Jan.  Can we come in.”

“Yes, said William,” his voice sounding like a child who had just stopped sobbing.

They entered to find Julie kneeling beside the boy.  He bolted for Hank as soon as he came in.  Julie stood up.  “I’ll let you two handle things from here,” she said.  “Take care, William.”

“Thanks, Julie,” William said, even as he hugged Hank.

Jan tousled the boy’s mane.  “Hey, Will,” she said.

“Hey, Mama Jan,” the boy said, leaping from Hank’s arms to hers.  He hugged her tightly.

Hank patted the boy’s back.  “What’s wrong, son?” he said.

“It’s just … I’m lonely,” said William.  I miss my Mama, and everything’s so different here, and I just wish …  I just miss her.”

“We all do, William,” Hank said.  He glanced up at Jan.  By now he was used to her being taller than him most of the time.  “Son, would it help if you slept in my --”

Jan raised an eyebrow and Hank stopped in mid-sentence.  He’d been about to ask William to stay with them tonight.  Was Jan trying to block that, to keep William away?

“William, look at me,” Jan said.  He did so.  “Would you like to see your mama’s rooms here?”

William nodded and sniffled.  “I’d like that a lot,” he said.

Hank smiled.  Now he understood what Jan was doing.  As usual, she’d instinctively figured out what would work best to solve, or at least address, a problem -- in this case, William’s.  “Let’s go,” he said.

“Hank, would you mind if I took him, by myself?” Jan asked.  “I’d really like to do this.”

Remembering their earlier conversation, Hank nodded.  “All right,” he said.  “Son, we’re just down the hall if you need us.”

“I know, Papa,” William said.  “I can follow your scent trail if I need to.”

Hank patted the boy’s back, stroking his fur.  “I love you, son.”

“I love you, Papa,” William said.  “G’night.”

Jan carried the boy.  “It must be kind of hard, sleeping at night when you’re nocturnal -- a night hunter,” she said.

“A little,” William said.  “Mostly I just miss my Mama.”

Jan got to the door of Greer’s room.  “Here we go,” she said.  She opened the door.

William slid from her arms and gasped.  He closed his eyes and breathed deeply.  “Mama!” he said.  “I can smell her!  Her scent’s all through here!  It’s everywhere!”

“I thought that might help,” Jan said.

“Look,” William said.  “Here are pictures of me with Mama, and Papa with Mama.”

Jan suppressed a cringe.  The “Hank” in the picture was in a Yellowjacket uniform.  It was Critti Noll, but the boy knew nothing about that.

Suddenly the boy was back in her arms.  “Thank you, Mama Jan,” he said.  “This is perfect.  It’s almost like having her here with me.”

Jan stroked the boy’s mane.  “She is with you, William,” Jan said.  “Her body may have died, but her love of you lives on in your heart, and it’ll always be there.”

William snuggled into Jan and yawned.  “Can I stay in this room tonight?’ he asked.

“You can stay here as long as you want,” Jan said.  “If you like, this can be your room.  I’m sure your papa won’t mind.”

William got onto the bed.  “Can you stay with me for awhile, Mama Jan?” he asked, holding his arms up.

Most of Jan’s heart melted.  “Of course,” she said, sitting on the bed.

Soon the boy was snuggled in as he sat on her lap.  She realized he was purring.  Then, as he warmed up, she was sure he was asleep.  Gingerly, she placed him atop his bed and rose to leave the room.

As she was leaving, Jan heard the boy mumble sleepily, “I love you, Mama Jan.”

“I love you, too, William,” Jan said, mostly telling the truth.