"Wow, that’s... I don’t know how to describe what I’m thinking," said Giant girl.

“After I left,” Joe continued, “I roamed around for a while, trying to get a handle on these powers. Once I realized I could actually use my abilities to help people, I decided to seek out superhero’s, like yourselves. Only, by the time I got here, I was so paranoid and scared, that I thought you guys would… I don’t even know anymore,” said Joe, rubbing his eyes with his hands. During the walk, he had requested Giant Girl take a quick detour, and now they found themselves in front of an abandoned warehouse. Giant Girl set Joe on the ground and made his way inside.

“I’ll be right back,” he said, and disappeared into the dark building. Five minutes later, Spiderman was getting nervous, as was Giant Girl.

“He’s been in there a real long time,” said Spiderman, and Giant Girl agreed.

“Should we go in and check on him?” asked Giant Girl, shrinking down to her regular size after not seeing or hearing from Joe. Before Spiderman could say anything, Joe stepped out, closing the door to the warehouse behind him. As he walked towards them, Giant Girl and Spiderman noticed his eyes were now red and puffy, and clean streaks were running down his face through the dirt that coated him. It seemed he hadn’t had a shower, or any kind of cleaning, in a very long time.

“You ok?” asked Giant Girl, and Joe nodded.

“Yeah, sorry, I’m fine. I was just making sure I grabbed everything,” he said, and Spiderman noticed Joe shoving a piece of paper into his back pocket. From the quick glance he got at it, it looked like it was a picture of some kind, and Spiderman had a pretty good idea of what it was of.

“Um, I really don’t like asking, but is there a chance I could, maybe, use one of your showers?” asked Joe, rubbing his arm awkwardly. Giant Girl sighed and stepped forward.

“Joe, you can use more than that. I have an extra bedroom you can use, and I can see about getting you some new clothes too,” she said, and Joe blushed.

“Oh, um, it’s ok, you don’t have to trouble yourself too much. I don’t want to impose,” he said, but Giant Girl shook her head.

“Don’t worry about that, you’re not imposing! And after seeing where you’ve been living for these past few weeks, there is no way I’m letting you stay anywhere else,” she said. As she spoke, she began to grow until she was fifty feet tall again, and without warning, grabbed Joe and plopped him down on her shoulder.

“Hey! Don’t just- you can’t- ah! Ask next time!” stammered Joe angrily, and Giant Girl was taken aback. Joe quickly back paddled and changed his attitude.

“Sorry, I have a thing about being picked up without being asked. Just- just ask next time, please?” he said, trying to sound much nicer. Giant Girl smiled and nodded.

“Will do, Joe,” she said, and looked down at Spiderman.

“You coming too, Spidey?” she asked, but he shook his head.

“I have to head home. Aunt May was expecting me hours ago,” he said, and shot a web at a nearby building.

“See you around GG! You too, Joe!” he shouted as he leapt into the air towards a building, and was soon gone from sight.

“Looks like it’s just you an me, Joe. Guess it’s about time we get you to my house for a proper good nights sleep,” she said, and Joe nodded, feeling more and more tired as Giant Girl spoke.

“Wait, you live HERE?” asked Joe, his jaw dropping as he and Giant Girl made there way through the woods behind her house. She looked at Joe, who looked back at her, shocked.

“Wait, of course you live here, duh! You’re a Van Dyne, I totally forgot!” said Joe, smacking his forhead with the palm f his hand. It was such common knowledge that Janet Van Dyne was Giant Girl that he often just forgot it, as did most people.

“That’s right,” she said smiling. Joe couldn’t believe it. Van Dyne was one of the most successful Research and Development industries besides Stark Industries, with Tony Stark being Iron Man and all. The Van Dyne family was incredibly rich, and Joe had just met the daughter of Vernon Van Dyne, one of the richest men in the world. Joe felt a lump form in his throat just thinking about how he must appear to be right now. Janet saw the look on Joe’s face, and she grew concerned.

“Everything ok Joe?” she asked, and Joe snapped back into reality and smiled.

“Wha- Oh yeah, totally! I just didn’t realize your house would be so big,” said Joe, rubbing his neck, and Janet giggled.

“Yeah, neither did Peter,” she said, and before Joe could ask who that was, Janet had grabbed Joe’s arm and was dragging him towards her mansion. They entered through the backyard, and Janet had stayed low and quiet so nobody would notice their approach. Once she reached the back door, she punched in a key code to the back door, which opened with a slight creak. It was dark inside, and Janet looked at Joe.

“Wait right here, I’m going in to make sure the coast is clear,” she whispered, and Joe nodded, still wrapping his mind around who was now inviting him to stay at her house. Janet tip toed into the dark house, keeping as quiet as she could. As she looked around the room, which was the living room, she was about to head back and grab Joe, when the lights suddenly turned on, and Janet’s father sat in his chair, staring angrily at his daughter.

“You’re late,” he said, harshly, and Janet nearly jumped out of her skin. She sighed in relief at seeing it was just her father, though it was only slightly, as she realized she might be in a bit of trouble now.

“Hey Daddy,” she said, trying to put on as innocent of a face as possible. Vernon was having none of it, and continued to angrily stare at his daughter.

“I see you’ve been busy,” he said, gesturing to her apparel, and she looked down to see that he was referring to her Giant Girl suit.

“Oh right. Yeah, Spiderman and I were just doing our nightly patrol. Actually, it’s kind of a funny story, you see as we-,” she started, but Vernon stopped her with a wave of his hand.

“I don’t want to hear any excuses, young lady. Just go to bed and we’ll deal with it in the morning,” he said, getting up to leave.

“Wait! There’s something else I have-“

“Janet, I’m tired, we can talk about this in the morning, please,” he said, rubbing his eyes. He looked over at Janet, but she wouldn’t move an inch. Finally he sighed and gave in.

“Fine, what’s so important that it can’t wait until morning?” he asked, and Janet looked toward the back door.

“Well, you see, on the patrol, we kind of… met someone,” she said, and Vernon raised an eyebrow.

“Met someone?” he asked, and Janet nodded.

“Did you happen to hear about that boy that was seen in the city recently? The boy that went missing nearly a month ago?” she asked.

“Vaguely,” said Vernon. He was beginning to see where this was going.

“Janet, hun,” he started, but Janet cut him off. She ran from the room, and Vernon heard the door open, followed by muffled whispers, and soon his daughter came in dragging the boy he had seen in the papers. Only he was much dirtier then his pictured showed.

“Dad, meet Joe. He’s the missing kid from the news,” she said, and the boy nervously waved.

“Uh, hello sir,” he said. Vernon was at a loss for words, and Janet seized the opportunity.

“You see, he ran away from home because he somehow acquired the power to shrink, but it was random and dangerous and he almost got killed and also when he went home, he was attacked by some thugs who came their looking for him, but he was hiding and they didn’t see him, so he got away, but realized his family was in danger as long as he…” Janet trailed on and on, until Vernon spoke up.

“Janet, slow down, I’m getting confused here!” he said, rubbing his head, and Janet stopped talking. Vernon looked the boy up and down for a second. He was filthy and his clothes could do with a good washing. He had an equally dirty backpack on his shoulders, and he looked like he was about to fall asleep right then and there. He sighed and looked at Janet.

“We’ll talk about this more in the morning. Show him to the guest bedroom and then go get some sleep,” he said, and Janet smiled. She ran up to her dad and gave him a huge hug.

“Thanks Daddy,” she said, and kissed him on the cheek. And with that, she ran from the room, dragging the half conscious boy along with her. Vernon sighed, and turned the light off as he made his way to his room.

Janet woke up early the next morning and made her way to the guest bedroom. She peered inside, and saw Joe sprawled out on the bed like she had left him the night before. She smiled and walked down the hall towards her brother’s rooms. Both of her siblings were older than her and were away at their colleges, and she quickly ransacked their room to see if they had any clothes that might fit Joe. One of them, the younger of the two, Dan, wasn’t a super tall guy, and she was able to find a few of his old outfits Joe could borrow.

She bundled the clothes up and ran back down the hallway to the guestroom. She peered inside to see Joe still sound asleep. She tiptoed in and put the clothing on a chair near the window. As she was leaving, she heard Joe shift, and turned to see him move in his sleep, until he was on his back, and one arm was now hanging over the edge. It fell open, and onto the floor, a small piece of paper, the one from the night before, drifted to the ground. Janet once again quietly made her way over towards it and picked it up.

The crumpled piece of paper was a picture of him and what she assumed to be his family. His Mother and Father were to his right and left, and standing in front of him were two boys and a girl, who she assumed were his younger siblings. She felt a feeling of sadness wash over her as she realized how much Joe loved his family, and how much it must be hurting him to be so far, yet so close, to them. Janet set the paper down on the bedside table and tiptoed back out the door and left Joe to his peaceful slumber.

Joe stood in the shower and watched as all the dirt and grime from weeks of not bathing drained away. The hot water on his skin felt so good, and he almost forgot all about his troubles. When he had awoken, some clothes, a towel and some simple shower supplies had been laid out for him by, he assumed, Janet. Joe wanted to thank her, but decided on taking a shower first, and was happy that he did. Not only was the shower cleansing of the body, it was cleansing of the mind as well.

“I so needed this,” he told himself. Soon, though, he was clean and felt much better, and shut the shower off. He looked into the mirror, and realized that his hair had gotten pretty long these past few weeks, long enough to justify a haircut.

“I could use a shave too,” he said, feeling the course hair on his face. He looked down at the counter and noticed that along with the showering supplies, there was a razor and shaving cream bottle right there for him at the ready.

“She really thought of everything,” he smiled, and began shaving his face. Once done, he put on the clothes that had been left for him, finding them a tiny bit baggy, but nonetheless better then the clothes he had been wearing before. He looked back at the bed and remembering what his parents had taught him since he was little, and made the bed so that it looked like he was never even there.

“Leave things the way you left them, or if possible, better,” his dad had always said, and Joe suddenly felt a pain in his heart, a longing to hear his dad’s voice again. He quickly shook that from his head and once gain continued his way out the door.

“So if I’m hearing you correctly, you’re saying he can shrink? All on his own?” asked Vernon, sipping his morning coffee and looking over at his daughter, who nodded at him, eating a bagel and talking at the same time.

“It was crazy. And that’s not it. He has super strength too. Not just the kind of strength I have when I shrink or grow, it’s more than that. Even when he’s normal sized he seems to be stronger than, too,” she said, and Vernon nodded.

“Have you told Hank yet?” he asked, and she shook her head.

“I was thinking once he woke up, I’d bring him down to see the lab to talk to Hank,” she said, and Vernon nodded as he took another sip.

“Well, I think it was very nice of you to invite him over,” said Janet’s mom, Helen.

“I just wish you’d have given us a little more warning.”

“It was kind of last minute, mom,” said Janet, taking another bite of her bagel. Suddenly, there was a noise from across the room, and everyone turned to see Joe walking in. He was clean, shaven, and wearing some much nicer clothing, and he even seemed to be smiling a little too. Janet was also surprised to see that his hair wasn’t dark brown like it had appeared to be last night, but a rather light, almost dirty blonde color. She knew he was dirty, but she didn’t realize he had been that dirty.

“Thanks for the clothes Janet. And the soaps too,” said Joe, and Janet gave him a curious look.

“Um, I don’t remember grabbing you any soap, although I definitely should have now that I think of it,” said Janet, and before Joe could as who did, he heard a voice behind him.

“That would have been me, young sir,” said an old British voice. Joe turned to see a rather old looking man in a white tux carrying some folded laundry in his arms.

“Oh, um thank you,” said Joe. Wow, Janet had a butler? Of course she had a butler, she was a Van Dyne, thought Joe, as the butler handed Joe the folded laundry.

“I also took the liberty of washing your clothes for you while you were showering,” he said, and Joe thanked him again.

“Thanks Reeves,” said Janet as the butler left. Joe was impressed, as well as a bit creeped out, as he realized his clothes had been in the bathroom with him. He turned back to Janet and her parents.

“Thank you all for allowing me to stay the night, and I hope I’m not imposing,” he asked.

“Oh, don’t be silly, of course you aren’t!” said the older woman sitting next to Mr. Van Dyne, who Joe assumed was Janet’s mother. She stood up from her seat and grabbed the clothes from Joe and ushered him over to the table.

“You must be hungry, how does breakfast sound?” she asked.

“Oh, no it’s ok, I-,” Joe started, but was rudely interrupted by his stomach as it made a noise not unlike that of a dying whale. His face grew beat red, and he saw Janet stifle a laugh.

“Um, maybe a little cereal couldn’t hurt?” asked Joe.

Joe couldn’t remember the last time he had a proper breakfast, and did the best to not show that. But to have a bowl of cereal again after a month of garbage food and doggy bags people threw out at restaurants, he couldn’t help but eat more than one bowl of cereal; Three to be exact. As Joe ate, Janet had done the best she could to describe to her parents the situation Joe now found himself in, and why they couldn’t go to the police about Joe’s sudden appearance. Joe piped in every now and then to correct Janet when she was off with her statements, but for the most part busied himself eating. By the time Joe had finished his last bowl, Janet was finishing up the story.

“So that’s when Spiderman and I found him fending off, like, six bad guys by himself who were breaking into a jewelry shop, and he was only four inches tall,” said Janet. Helen looked impressed, but if Vernon was, he didn’t show it other then raising his eyebrows slightly.

“And after hearing his story, I felt that, well since Dan and Gabe are away, that maybe he could stay here for a while,” said Janet, catching both Joe and Vernon by surprise.

“Wait, what?” asked Joe, nearly choking on his last spoonful of cereal. Vernon too spoke up as well.

“Now, hold on their Janet, we have to talk about this,” he said.

“Yeah, like maybe to me,” said Joe, and Janet looked back and forth at her father and new friend.

“Whoa, ok sorry, didn’t mean to act so rash their,” she said sarcastically. Joe was the first to speak.

“Look, I appreciate the gesture, Janet, I really do. But I don’t feel comfortable just barging in on yours and your family’s life like this, all out of the blue,” said Joe, and Vernon nodded.

“He’s right, Janet. We’re under a lot of scrutiny with the government already with some of our research projects. If they find out we have a runaway living in our house, what do you think that’s going to do to the company? To our family?” he said, and Joe nodded.

“It wouldn’t be fair of me to do that to you and your family, Janet. Again, thanks for the gesture but I don’t want to be a burden on your family,” said Joe. Vernon smiled at Joe.

“Thank you, Joe. Glad to see someone’s thinking rationally,” said Vernon. Suddenly, Janet’s mother stood up in a great huff.

“Excuse me, but do I get a say in any of this?” she said, and Vernon looked at his wife in surprise.

“Darling, what do you-,” he started, but Mrs. Van Dyne looked at her husband sternly.

“Do you really expect me to stand here and let you kick this poor boy out onto the streets? Especially after hearing a story like that?” she asked, and Vernon was having a hard time finding the right words to say. She shook her head.

“I’ve made my decision. Joe, you may stay here as long as you like,” she said.

“Um thanks but-“

“AS LONG AS YOU LIKE!” said Mrs. Van Dyne, a little more forcefully this time, and Joe bit his lip. Mrs. Van Dyne looked at her husband, who said nothing, than back at Joe, who did the same.

“Well then, the matter is settled. Now Janet, I believe you were going to bring Joe to see Dr. Pym?”