The Unstoppable Wasp

Nadia turned away from the door to find Ying, Priya, Tai, Shay, Janet, Jarvis, and Bobbi waiting for her.

“Well,” said Janet. “That was very good work, everyone.”

“Sorry we were late,” offered Bobbi. “Just glad that Alexis texted us all. About eighty-seven times.”

“I did break several speed limits on the way here,” Jarvis added.

“I won’t tell.” Nadia gave him a smile. “Is everyone okay?”

Everyone nodded.

“All good here,” Alexis said over the comms. “S.H.I.E.L.D.’s clearing out the last of the walking Hefty bags.” She paused. “Everyone good there? Is Tai—”

“We’re all okay,” Ying cut in. “Decidedly not terminated.”

From behind them, Shay’s portal flashed—and suddenly expelled a massive and completely unexpected pile of socks. On top of the pile, a pair of woolen cat ears pointed straight up at the sky.

“My socks!” Priya blurted out. They all laughed, tension slowly dissipating.

The gang was safe.

“So.” Bobbi nudged Nadia with a stick. “Think you can take the rest of the night off work?”

Nadia laughed. It would be her first night off in ages.

“Cheers!” Nadia grinned and held up her soda. She was sitting in the G.I.R.L. kitchen—now with a nice new table and chairs, big enough to fit the whole gang!—and celebrating their great success at the Like Minds showcase.

The table was littered with leftovers: turkey, cranberry sauce (the canned kind with the weird indents, obviously), gravy, mashed potatoes, stuffing. Now that Hank Pym’s house had been sold, Nadia was officially moved into her room at the lab—and what better way to celebrate her new home than with a real American Thanksgiving dinner?

Which also featured plates of veggie sambusas, atakilt, and gomen; Nadia had been craving Ethiopian for weeks.

“Can someone pass the salad?” asked Ying, reaching her hands out.

“I can’t believe you wanted salad at Thanksgiving dinner.” Shay shook her head.

“What?” Ying looked at her girlfriend incredulously.

Shay laughed and gave Ying the dish. “You’re killin’ me, Smalls.”

“The Sandlot!” Ying said excitedly. “You remembered one!”

“At least she’s not seeing dead people,” Bobbi snickered.

Shay shushed her quickly. “We haven’t done that one yet!”

Bobbi shoved a giant forkful of potatoes into her mouth by way of shutting up. Once the G.I.R.L. squad had returned to Pym Labs in the aftermath of the whole HoffTech situation, Janet and Bobbi had pulled Nadia aside. Of course Nadia had been grateful they’d arrived to help handle Margaret, but she couldn’t help but still be hurt, especially by Bobbi’s earlier actions.

“Listen, Nadia,” Bobbi said gently, grasping Nadia by the shoulder. “I’m sorry. About before. I hope you know my intentions were good, even if I went about things in the wrong way.”

“And I’m sorry if I ever made you feel like you couldn’t come to me with something like Maria’s journal,” added Janet.

Nadia shook her head. “It wasn’t that. I just…didn’t want to hurt you.”

Surprising Nadia, Bobbi threw her head back and cackled. “Amazing. We were all trying so hard to be nice to each other, we ended up hurting each other. Really solid stuff.”

“Next time,” suggested Janet, “honesty? Even if it hurts a little upfront?”