Chapter 67: Keeping Her Close

Chris POV

Gwen was still asleep, hugging me like I was some kind of oversized stuffed toy.

As I looked down at her arms wrapped around me, I suddenly remembered sleeping while holding Helen and wondered if this was how she’d felt back then.

If it was, I probably owed her an apology.

I waited another fifteen minutes before deciding I’d been trapped long enough and carefully started loosening Gwen’s grip, moving slowly enough that I wouldn’t wake her.

I had almost managed to get free when Gwen’s eyes suddenly opened.

There was no sleepy confusion.

For a second, there was only dread as she looked around, her hands immediately searching for me like she thought I’d disappeared.

The moment she found my arm, she grabbed onto me again, and I felt the tension slowly leave her body.

I stopped trying to get up and asked, “What happened?” It took her a few seconds before she quietly answered, “Nightmare.”

I guess I wasn’t the only one having nightmares about losing people.

I sat back down and gently patted her back.

“It’s okay. I’m here.” She didn’t say anything, but after a while her grip loosened.

I’d thought she was doing better after yesterday’s training.

Testing her powers had certainly helped take her mind off everything.

Apparently that didn’t mean the fear was gone.

We stayed like that for another minute before I remembered what was supposed to happen today.

I couldn’t spend the entire morning sitting in Gwen’s bed even if she apparently intended to use me as a pillow.

“You need to get ready.

Stane is coming.” Gwen finally pulled back enough to look at me and asked, “I have to be there?” When I told her yes, she immediately wanted to know why.

“Because you’re going to start working with me.” Gwen stared at me for a moment before asking, “You’re giving me a company?” I looked at her.

“Are you asking for a company?” She immediately shook her head.

“No.” That lasted about a second before she asked, “Then what am I doing?” I answered, “Secretary,” and the look she gave me made it difficult not to laugh.

“What? After everything I can do, you want me to be a secretary?” Gwen asked.

I pointed out that she’d just said she wasn’t asking for a company, but that apparently wasn’t the point.

“I can do more than answer phones and follow you around.” That was true, but I wasn’t planning to have her answering phones anyway.

Still, there was a much easier way to end the argument.

“So you’d rather have your own company than spend time with me?”

Gwen stopped.

That was unfair, and I knew it.

I’d deliberately used the fact that Gwen wanted to stay close to me because I knew what she’d choose.

I felt a little bad about it, but if keeping her close gave me more control over what she did with her powers, I could live with that.

I’d give her the laboratory she wanted, involve her in the science division and let her enjoy every luxury my money could buy.

If she was happy with her life and had more than enough things to keep her busy, maybe becoming a vigilante would never even cross her mind.

She narrowed her eyes at me, probably realizing exactly what I’d done.

“Fine. I’ll be your secretary.” I nodded.

“Good. Then look presentable.” Gwen muttered something as she finally got out of bed, but I decided hearing it wasn’t necessary.

Having Gwen work with me would make things easier in the future too.

White could focus properly on Mother’s company instead of having to divide her attention, while Helen could continue handling the legal side and keeping an eye on my businesses.

Gwen could stay with me as my secretary for now, and once the science division was properly running, I could gradually put more of it under her.

She wasn’t ready to manage something like that yet, but she could learn, and more importantly, she was someone I trusted with the things I planned to create.

Thinking about the three of them reminded me of another problem I still needed to solve.

White could already protect herself, and Gwen’s spider bite had taken care of that problem in a way I definitely wouldn’t have chosen but could at least work with.

Helen was the only one still completely normal.

I’d been thinking about giving her some kind of power for a while, and yesterday had finally given me a possible way to do it.

The Research Assistant had created the skill I needed for the underground facility, so using it to work on mutations should be possible too.

I just needed an unawakened mutant to use as a starting point.

If I could study their mutation before it activated, I could use that as a base and have the Research Assistant help me modify it into something suitable for Helen.

Regeneration would be my first choice.

She didn’t need some destructive ability or anything that would completely change her life.

I just wanted something that would make her extremely difficult to kill, and one of the stronger healing mutations would be perfect.

I couldn’t actually give it to her yet.

I still needed my magicules to generate, and I wasn’t going to experiment on Helen before I knew exactly what I was doing.

Until then, I could find the right mutant and let the Research Assistant handle the research.

My thoughts were interrupted when Gwen returned carrying several outfits.

She held them up one after another, apparently expecting me to choose, and one of them was a full suit that looked suspiciously familiar.

It took me a second to realize why.

“Isn’t that your mother’s?” Gwen looked at the suit and then at me without answering, which was enough of an answer by itself.

“You don’t need to dress like Helen,” I told her.

“Wear whatever you want. Just keep it formal.” Somehow, giving her more options made the decision harder.

She tried jeans first, disappeared again, came back with something that looked more appropriate for a formal dinner than a business meeting, and eventually returned to the suit.

This time she only took the shirt and pants and left the coat behind.

She held them against herself and asked, “This?” I looked them over before telling her, “Better.” Gwen seemed satisfied with that and disappeared into the bathroom to change.

I looked toward the closed bathroom door and realized this entire morning felt increasingly strange.

I’d woken up with Gwen wrapped around me, calmed her after a nightmare, helped choose what she was wearing and somehow given her a job in between.

The more this continued, the more it felt like I was her boyfriend or in some other relationship close enough that the difference was becoming increasingly meaningless.

Maybe I should create some boundaries.

The thought lasted longer than I expected, mostly because what had happened when Gwen woke up made one thing obvious.

She was becoming dependent on me.

Suddenly distancing myself now could easily make that worse instead of better, and if I was being completely truthful, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to.

I had enough time to figure that out later.

Charles still couldn’t find me, and that removed one of the larger immediate problems.

If everything else continued going according to plan, I might finally be able to slow down after the next few projects.

Patent the reactor, build the energy company into something successful, get the laboratories running and then focus properly on space.

Once that was done, maybe I could actually take a break for a while.

At least that was what I told myself before leaving Gwen’s room to get ready.

By the time I came downstairs, Gwen was already there in the clothes we’d chosen, White was standing nearby, and Helen was finishing breakfast.

She called us over, and as I sat down, a completely unrelated question entered my mind.

Why didn’t they have a chef?

Helen had more than enough money to hire one, along with whatever other household staff she wanted.

I almost asked before deciding against it.

With my luck, the answer would involve something depressing from their past, and I was emotionally drained enough already.

I really didn’t need to accidentally open another emotional conversation before breakfast.

I could survive without knowing.

We ate without much conversation and then settled in to wait for Stane.

It wasn’t until later that Helen properly noticed what Gwen was wearing.

She looked at her daughter for a moment before asking, “Why are you wearing my suit without the coat?” Gwen glanced down at herself and said it felt better this way before casually adding, “Chris offered me a job as his secretary to pay for my lab.”