**I don't own the Avengers**
A/N: I noticed that my divider symbols are being removed by the 'publish' program on . So, to show a switch, I will bold certain sections. Enjoy!
CHAPTER 3: THE FURNACE
Florence had spent all day in Banner's apartment, eating, drinking, watching television and talking with Banner. When she got tired, Banner suggested she sleep in his bed. He might need more samples soon. She cringed at the idea. Wasn't six enough?
She only got two hours of fitful sleep before she was shaken awake by Banner. More samples. This time he had her sit on the couch, setting a small table next to them. For some reason, Banner hadn't really noticed her scars earlier, but he was seeing them now. They were everywhere.
"Really, I take no joy in this," he said, putting the tool to her other arm this time.
"I'm glad you woke me. I was having a nightmare," she admitted. She used to have them constantly. They had come and gone in the last ten years, but now they were back in full force. She would dream that the Captain was standing next to a giant furnace, shoveling a mixture of coal and bones into the fire. She would dream that she was hiding in this furnace room, and no matter what she did, the Captain would find her, drag her to the furnace and make her eat the fire. The fire made from the bones of her friends, her enemies, the Emperor, anyone, everyone. What woke her was a train; a train of molten rock that shot from the middle of the furnace right through her face. She would wake thirsty, gasping. This was one dream in a rotation of terrifying dreams.
"Want to talk about it?" Asked Banner, taking the first sample of this round. It wasn't so bad this time.
"Fuck no," she said. Banner laughed. He didn't need to know about her issues with the Captain. "Sorry for the language," she said sheepishly.
"Oh, it's more than alright. You should hear some of the things Stark says when it's just us guys, or rather you shouldn't. It makes Steve blush like a school girl." He took a second sample. Steve blushed? Why? Did he really have old school sensibilities like that? Did it bother him when people mentioned sex? If it did, she found a new conversation topic for them to discuss. "What do you think of Stark?"
"Huh? Oh, Stark. He's tricky. Trickier than any of you know."
"I have an idea," Banner said, smiling. The third sample came out very nicely. "He's a master manipulator. He could get Hitler to kiss a gay Jew." She snorted laughter at Banner's joke.
"Why do you ask?" Four samples down.
"I always wonder what the female impression of him is," Banner admitted, blushing a bit. He was essentially asking what kind of man she was attracted to.
"I find him arrogant and dangerous, which puts me off. I appreciate humility," she said, trying to catch his eyes, but he was avoiding her. He dug in for a fifth sample, seemingly lost in his thoughts. Florence bit her lip and made a noise in her throat that sent Banner's heart racing. That was a red flag. A rising heart rate wasn't good.
He noticed he had dug too deep on this sample, and hurried to clean it up. "You okay?" He asked, grabbing a piece of gauze from the table, pressing it to the newest wound. It was really bleeding. "Florence?" He looked up, and found that she was staring at him. Their eyes locked. Banner had a thousand thoughts in that instant. She started to lean in.
Could he do it? Could he manage it this time? They way his heart picked up told him no. He couldn't do it, even if it was all he wanted in that moment.
Banner turned away quickly, and placed the fifth sample on the little table. She knew he turned away on purpose. He didn't want to kiss her.
"Sorry," she whispered, blushing deeply.
"It's fine," he nodded. "And it has nothing to do with you. I promise. … Last one." He said poking into her arm again, withdrawing the last sample he'd need tonight. "Thank you again, Florence," he said, standing up and plant a soft, sweet kiss on her forehead.
"I'm going back to sleep," she said, sauntering back into his bedroom, curling up on his mattress, and hoping the nightmares would stay at bay.
Stark tried knocking on Florence's door a third time. When no one answered, he turned right around and knocked on Banner's door. He knew Banner was there, and awake, because the scent of coffee was coming from his apartment. Banner opened the door, looking tired and unwashed. Tony smiled anyway. Of all of the Avengers, Bruce was his favorite.
"Good morning, Starshine. The Earth says hello," Stark said, handing Banner a bag of Bagels, pushing past him into the apartment. It only took a split second for Stark to realize that Miss Schneider was curled up in Bruce's bed. In a little nighty, no less. Stark didn't even say anything. He just shook Bruce's hand.
"Don't bother her. She didn't get much sleep," Banner said quietly, instantly realizing how Stark would take that.
"Of course she didn't. You're a beast. So, I'm assuming she was originally here for research purposes before things went all Debbie Does Dallas. What do you have on her?" He asked smiling.
"She has similar structures in her DNA, like Steve and me. Her exposure to gamma radiation was clearly the onset of her abilities, as it was for Steve and me. There you have it. We learned nothing new. Except for one thing," he smiled slyly.
"Well, don't hold back, my friend. I want everything," he said, winking.
Eventually Florence woke up and found Stark was in Banner's apartment, leaning over microscopes with him. She felt naked in her nightgown now. Being in her jammies around Bruce was a lot different than wearing them around Tony.She quickly greeted them and then said goodbye.
She paced her apartment for a long time, wondering what Stark thought, if Bruce had set him straight, if Stark was a fan of rumors. Even if he was, did it matter? 'Probably not,' she shrugged.
Realizing she had been wearing the same clothes for a full 24 hours, she decided to shower. While the water beat down on her back, the smell of soap surrounded her, and she could finally think clearly about last night. It was clear that Banner wanted her, but something was holding him back. Maybe it was the other guy. If that was the case, he could work on it. She thought about all the effort that would take. How torturous it would be for both of them. Then again, was he what she wanted? Did she even want Banner, or was he just kind and close? She'd have to put more thought into that.
Once she was drying off she decided to head off to SHIELD again and see if Natasha was back from Moldova. She smiled at herself in the mirror and assured herself that today was gonna be a good day.
Natasha wasn't back from Moldova. Florence had run into Barton on her way to the gym and he informed her. Barton, like the Captain, offered to teach her in Natasha's place. This time she accepted. Maybe she could impress Natasha with her skills by the time she came back. Plus, she didn't want to sit around waiting anymore. She was ready.
They met in the training room that afternoon. The first thing Barton taught her was how an attacker would approach her. He said it was pretty obvious who was coming for you, and who was gonna just walk by. He approached her a few different ways and told her to guess if he was in an attack position or a neutral position. She guessed right all three times. Then he started teaching her escape methods.
"Now, escape methods don't always work. Someone could get a good grip on you, or attack you from behind," he said, gesturing at something behind her. She turned to see the Captain. It took everything in her to bite back the scream in her throat. Her ears filled with the sounds of the furnace and the Captain's booming voice telling her to swallow the fire.
"Don't do that," she hissed at Steve. He just rolled his eyes.
"Steve, can you attack her from behind?" Barton asked. Florence couldn't breathe. He was going to touch her. She wanted to run. Run anywhere.
"Sure thing," he said, gently lowering his arm over her head; her neck resting in the crook of his arm. Just when Florence thought she would fall apart she realized that his skin was soft, and it wasn't burning her, or more realistically, trying to crush her wind pipe. He pulled tight enough to trap her, but not hard enough to choke her. He held her like that as Barton explained how to escape from Steve's grasp. She was supposed to elbow him in the stomach… hard.
"Go ahead and try," said Barton.
"Really?" She said, pulling on Steve's arm. He loosened his grip a little bit.
"Yeah, go ahead," said Steve. "Give me your best shot," he challenged.
"As you wish," she smiled. She mimed the technique a few times. Barton nodded. She was doing it right. Then she went for it. Swinging her elbow back with the strength of both her arms behind it, she made contact with Steve's stomach.
"Oof!" he exclaimed, letting her go. "Hot damn," he said, leaning over, holding his stomach where Florence had made contact.
"Ha! Great job, Flo," Barton had taken to calling her Flo. She didn't like it, but now was not a time to nitpick. "That was perfect," he said, patting her on the back. Then Steve started laughing. At first Florence couldn't understand what was so amusing. Then she realized; it had been a fake. He pulled a fast one on them. They had really believed that Florence hurt him.
They both looked to him frowning. "Sorry, I couldn't resist. It hurt, but I wouldn't have let you go. If I was a regular Joe, I would have been beat for sure. Look at this." He said, lifting his shirt. There was a small bruise that was quickly disappearing. Florence couldn't even think of her achievement. She was blind with rage.
"Get out," she whispered, trembling. "Get the hell out of here. I mean it, Captain."
Barton looked from one of them to another. What was going on here? "I'm sorry. I was just yanking your chain. C'mon," Steve said, smiling, reaching a hand out to her. She slapped it away. The Captain gave her a glare like Barton had never seen. If looks could kill, she'd have been crushed by a meteor.
"What's goin-" Was all Barton could say before Florence jumped on Steve, knocking him to the ground. She began throwing what looked like punches at his face as she sat on his chest. "What the FUCK?"
Barton tried to grab Florence, but Steve rolled them over, pinning one of Florence's arms underneath her. There was no way he'd get Cap of her.
"Get off me!" She screamed, still getting in a hit here or there with her left hand until he pinned that down too. "God damn you! Get off me!" She screeched.
"Not until you calm down!" Steve shouted back. This made her freeze. "You're going to hurt yourself. Just calm down." She took a deep breath. 'Did I really just do that?' She asked herself, trying to regain her faculties.
"Steve, don't make me shoot you," it was Barton. He was standing over them, arrow drawn back in his bow. 'Where did he even get that?' Steve wondered as he got up, slowly, hands over his head. "I think we all need to have a little chat for a second."
Florence sat up and rubbed her shoulder painfully. Steve winced at her pain. He didn't mean to hurt her. He just wanted her to stop attacking him. Then he noticed the bruise forming on her wrist, and put his face in his hand.
"What was that about?"
"I've had night terrors about him since 1945."
"She's been spiteful and malicious to me since she got here, and I didn't even do anything."
Barton rolled his eyes at them and stopped aiming at the Captain. "You know what you two need to do?" They looked at him, waiting. "Get the fuck over it. Horrible things have happened to all of us, and you two have more in common than any of us. You know how much I wish I had someone that I could relate to? You're both being stupid." He said, picking up his things and walking out. "Stop being whiny assholes and just get along." He shouted just before slamming the door.
There was a long silence. Florence stayed on the ground and Steve stood, looking away from her. She couldn't even speak. She was too embarrassed for words.
"You have nightmares about me?" He finally asked.
"Yes," she whispered. He knelt in front of her, looking her in the eyes.
"Are they bad?" He asked softly.
"You burn me alive," she said, pupils becoming pin points. She was terrified of him.
"I'd never do that. I mean it. Never," he assured her. She knew he was telling the truth, but the fear made her irrational. "I never want to hurt you again, ever. Is your shoulder okay? Your wrist?" he asked sweetly, reaching slowly to her hand. He took it and held it so softly, examining the damage to her wrist.
"It will be fine in three days," she admitted. "I'm a healer, but it takes time. Not like with you and Banner. You two heal instantly."
"Banner is already studying you?" He asked. Things seemed to happen so fast around here. Then she pointed to six little marks in her forearm, explaining that Banner had take large samples of cells. After that it seemed like they had nothing left to say.
"… Nightmares?" He asked again, still finding that hard to believe.
"Yep. You keep the furnace."
A/N: Looong chapter. I heart reviews! Thank you to all of you that reviewed before! You keep me going. :3