Two hours. Two whole hours. That's how long Zina had been silent. She was sure it was a new record for her. During her muteness, she had gotten through eight days of her independent study work, chewed off her fingernails, and braided and re-braided her hair at least a dozen times. She wasn't sure how much more of this silence she could handle.
She glanced across the lab at Doctor Banner. Every since Natasha had left Zina and the Doctor in the shiny white room, he went to work on whatever he was working on and hadn't uttered a word. There was the occasional sigh, or shuffling of feet as he maneuvered his rolly-chair to a new position. Other than that, not a sound escaped the greying man. She had thought about trying to start a conversation, but she didn't like the direction she figured it would go. "Hey, just to let you know, I'm aware that you're this huge big green roary thing and I really would prefer it if you didn't squash me like a spider on an 8 year old girl's wall. Have a nice day." Yeah, might wanna steer clean of that subject for a while. But she knew he had to break the silence sooner or later, else she might spontaneously combust. That would be messy.
Here goes nothing, she thought with a sigh. "So, you're like, a super smart person, right?"
Banner startled slightly, almost dropping the pencil he was using to write his notes. After smoothing out his fluffy hair and gaining his bearings, Banner glanced above his thin rimmed glasses at her. He seemed a bit put off by the question. The man scratched the back of his tan neck, brows furrowed together. Zina waited in earnest, twirling a tendril around her fingers. Finally came his reply. "Uh... I, umm, I'm a doctor, and an astrophysicist."
Okay, we're getting somewhere. Zina set her pencil down in between the pages of her textbook and altered her position to face the doctor across the small room. She leaned into the desk, pushing her glasses up her nose. "Okay...I know the doctor part, but what exactly do astrophysicists do?"
Banner quirked a bushy brow at the ginger. He seemed to be searching for the right response, his mouth opening and closing and his honey eyes wandered away towards the ceiling. He pursed his lips. "Well, uhh... It's kinda like..." The thin rimmed glasses came off and a hand ran through his hair. "You know, I'm not entirely sure how to explain it."
"Well, okay, let's think." Zina relaxed her sitting position, placing her chin in her hand. "Astro has to do with space, yeah? And physics is just, well, physics." She began braiding her curly hair for the umpteenth time, pulling all of her fiery locks over one of her shoulders. "So astrophysics must mean something like... physics in space?" She looked at Banner for his approval.
Eyebrows raised in surprise, he gave kind of a laugh/sigh thing. "Yeah, yeah I guess kinda like that."
"What are you studying, or working on, or... whatever it is you're doing?"
Banner looked down at the file on the Tesseract SHIELD had given him flipping through the many pages. "It's uhh, it's called the Tesseract."
"Oh, that thing you guys were talking about earlier?" Zina asked, her fingers seemingly subconsciously weaving her long, bushy hair. "The space cube thing that steals energy from dark - what was it called? The dark stuff?"
"Dark matter," Banner clarified. "Astronomers and astrophysicists, like me," he placed a hand on his purple button up, "have discovered that the gravitational effects observed in our universe don't match the amount of matter seen." He was really getting into it now. He was trying to put it in the simplest terms possible. Most people would stare at him with a vacant expression, eyes unfocused, but the young Romanoff seemed to lean in with every word he said, so he continued his explanation. "To account for these differences, it appears that the universe contains a mysterious form of matter that we can't observe. We call it 'dark matter'."
Zina let the information sink into her brain. "So is dark matter is like... like when you look up at the sky at night, you see stars and planets and intergalactic stuff, but the stuff in between, all the black. That's the dark matter?"
"Ehh, kind of." The doctor's sitting position had relaxed immensely, his elbows on his desk. Zina figured it was because he was talking about his what he liked, his passion in life. She loved hearing people talk about what they loved, and even though she may not be a huge fan of science, she wanted to hear what Doctor Banner had to say about the things he knew like the back of his hand. "Throughout the universe, there's approximately six times as much dark matter as normal visible matter, or baryonic matter. That's like matter that comprises you, the desk you're sitting at, this planet, and the stars."
"Wow." Zina sniffled. "That's a lot of matter."
"Yes it is."
Zina wanted to return to the subject they began with. "So, what does the Tesseract have to do with dark matter?"
"Well," started Banner, hands clasped in front of him, "The Tesseract, supposably, is able to harness the energy that dark matter emits. Theoretically, it could be a completely clean energy source."
"Woah." Zina tied a hairtie at the end of her braid and threw it over her shoulder. "Well, gas prices would drop."
Banner chuckled at the teenager. "Yes, that would be one advantage."
They dissolved into an awkward is the conversation over? mode. Banner returned to the file he had been reading previously and Zina returned to her school work. But there was still an unspoken question hanging between them, and Zina couldn't help but ask. "So, why is SHIELD having you locate the Tesseract anyway?"
Banner's eyes became unfocused, and he slowly looked up at the questioning redhead. Zina could already tell he would rather not disclose that information. But, in the end, her innocent look won him over. "Apparently, someone stole it."
"What?!" Zina pushed herself away from the desk, appalled. "But... Like... How can someone just steal something from SHIELD?! That's pretty much impossible!"
"Apparently not for Loki."
"Well Loki-" Zina stopped short, her face quickly contorting from disbelief to confusion. "Wait, wait, wait. Did you say Loki?" She leaned over her desk, emphasizing her question. "As in Norse god Loki, adopted brother of Thor, who has some major daddy issues and low self esteem?"
"Uhh... Yes, I suppose." Now Banner was confused. "How do you know who Loki is?"
"I read about him last year in my English class," Zina clarified, leaning back and crossing her feat on the desk. "But... But I thought it was just all myth and legend."
"According to SHIELD, it's not."
"So, let's recap," Zina sat up in her seat. "There's a space cube called the Tesseract that has the power to give all of humanity free, clean energy, but a the pissy adoptive God of Mischief, who is apparently real now, committed petty theft and stole it from SHIELD." She sighed. "Well, I gotta give props to the guy for actually stealing something from SHIELD. That takes some skill."
"...Are you commending him?"
"Uhh... No."
Banner shook his head at the girl and returned to his research, scratching the back of his neck. He was glad their conversation hadn't wandered towards his, uhh, alter ego. He was already a bit cautious and uncomfortable being in the same room as her. Sure, he was like that with pretty much everyone, but especially her. She was just a kid. Bruce glanced above his glasses at her. Her pail face was scrunched up from lying on her arm, a few tendrils loose from her braid. She was writing something in a notebook - he assumed homework - and humming a melody she thought he couldn't hear. When he looked at her, he saw so much potential. She much she could do, with her witty speech and outgoing attitude towards life. That why he was so scared to hurt her. You can fix broken lab equipment, you can't fix a broken girl.
Zina's questioning voice brought him out of his musings. "If you're an astrophysicist, then you know biology, right?"
His brows furrowed. "You kind of have to know biology to be an astrophysicist," he clarified. "Why?"
Zina looked down at her homework. She had no idea how to do this, considering she hasn't been to school in a week because she's been on a secret SHIELD mission... Kinda. She fixed her glasses on the bridge of her nose and looked up at the man across the room. "Uhm - I kinda need help on my homework. It's about, like, sex-linked traits and pedigrees and stuff." She straightened her shirt on her torso, a bit embarrassed. Banner probably thought she was as dumb as a pole, not even getting how genetic traits are passed down when he knew the freaking physics of space.
Zina fiddled with her textbook pages when she heard the wheels of a chair. She was happily surprised to see Doctor Banner straighten out his tan suit pants and make her way over to her. He grabbed a discarded foldable chair in the corner and set it up next to her. Bringing the textbook closer to him he said, "Let's see what we have here..."
Zina walked out onto the bridge of the Helicarrier in a terrific mood. She had finished all of her independent study science work! With the help of Bruce, of course.
Yes, it seemed that they were on a first name basis with each other now. After the initial help me with my homework ice beaker, the two had dove into comfortable conversation. Zina told him how life is with Natasha Romanoff as her older sister. She told Bruce stories of her adventures with Agent Coulson, the shenanigans she pulls on the SHIELD base, and the reason she's so scared of Agent Hill. In turn, Doctor Banner spoke about his work in India and on gamma radiation. He tried his hardest to not let the conversation stray to the Other Guy. He could tell she wanted to ask, but couldn't gain the courage. It was the unspoken question lingering in the dark corner of the lab.
She strode passed the conference table, her purse gently hitting her thigh with each step. She looked around at the navy blue uniformed employees typing on computers like brainwashed children. In a way, they kind of are, she thought.
Anyway, back to terrific mood.
"Your grammy, your aunty, your momma, your mammy, I'll take those flannel zebra jammies, second-hand, I rock that mothafucka." (If rapping was an Olympic sport, she'd get the gold metal every year.) Zina rapped in a soft tone as she looked around the large room that was the bridge of the Helicarrier. Sunlight streamed down from the enormous window in front of her, reflecting off of the shiny floors. The floors were so reflective, in fact, that she could see herself in them. She had taken her red hair out of its braid (again) and had carelessly thrown it atop her head, a few kinky-curly tendrils loose. Her Keep Calm and Carry On sweatshirt looked actually kind of good on her, thank you very much.
She gazed at the action going on around her. Navy blue scurried around everywhere like ants. She caught tidbits of conversation as she walked. Some were talking of minor issues: some idiot was trying to revive the Nazi party, a certain political leader had been kidnapped. Most were discussing the more major issue at hand: Loki was at was pretty much controlled chaos.
"The built-in onsie with the socks on that mothafucka!" She searched the room for a familiar face. There was Director Fury, overlooking the whole scene and being all dark and threatening. Definitely not gonna go hand out with him. Natasha was nowhere in sight; probably training or something. She seemed to do that often. Zina on the other hand, well... Let's just say she was rather good at vertical running.
Ha. Pitch Perfect. She'd have to watch that with Steve during their lesson on pop culture. He would totally die.
Speak of the devil. Her eyes landed on something she knew quite well: the back of a head with a receding hairline and a high-trouser-clad behind. Well if it wasn't her lucky day.
She ceased her rap when she noticed that they were in the midst of a conversation. Oh, she definitely needed to hear this. She crept up slowly and silently, thanking SHIELD gods that her moccasins weren't squeaking against the polished floor.
Coulson: "I mean, if it's not too much trouble..."
Steve: "No, no, it's... fine."
Coulson:
Steve:
Coulson: "It's a vintage set. Took me a couple of years to collect them all."
Steve:
Coulson:
Steve:
Coulson: "Near mint. Slight foxing around the edges but-"
Okay, she couldn't take it anymore.
"Heeeeeeeeey gentlemen." Zina shimmied to get between them, throwing her each of her arms around their shoulders. Steve tensed a little bit, but she pretended not to notice. She looked over at Coulson, who was now red in the face from being caught in the act of fanboy-ing. Coulson glared at Zina with the passion of a thousand burning suns, but she simply rolled her eyes. She knew she would totally get payback for that later. "You know, Phillis, that color red looks so good on you!"
"Vincenzina Romanoff, I swear-"
She decided to ignore the threat that was seeping out of Coulson's mouth and turned her head swiftly at Steve. The handsome blonde was peering down at her with a smile on his face that reached his eyes.
Don't turn to mush. Keep it together. Keep your cool.
"So, what's cookin' good lookin'?" She nudged the Captain with her hip, and then she thought "Oh my god I just booty bumped Captain America wHAT IS LIFE".
Steve Rogers' blue blue blue eyes left her face momentarily, and she thought she made a huge mistake. What was she thinking?! Steve Rogers is from a time when woman wore a neckline up to their chin! She needed to fix this and fast.
"Its...Its a modern-day expression." She tried to clarify herself. "It just means, like, 'what's up' or 'what's going on'. I wasn't trying to hit on you or anything, I swear!"
Steve looked back at her and smirked. "Really?"
"Yes, seriously truthfully, I-" Zina stopped short. Wait, was... Was Steve Rogers playing around with her? No way.
"Although, you are incredibly se- I mean, strikingly handsome," she said in a relaxed tone. "But don't let it get to you're head, blondie." She lifted the arm that was resting on his shoulder and poked the back of his head.
"Zina, quit making a fool of yourself."
She whipped her head around to glare at the senior agent. "Shut the hell up, Coulson. I wasn't the one just now asking him to sign my 'near mint, slight foxing around the edges' trading cards."
Coulson's eyes narrowed so much he looked half-Chinese. It was actually quite menacing. "I swear, Vincenzina Romanoff, if you breathe one word of this to your sister-"
"Oh, relax, Philly Cheese." Zina shook her head, dismissing the notion. "What would I gain by telling Nat?" Coulson seemed comforted by what she had told him, so she added under her breath, "I didn't say anything about Clint, though..."
Coulson stiffened at the archer's name, but gave no other indication that he had even heard the teenager speak. Zina thought that was sufficiently weird.
What also strikes her as sufficiently weird was her favorite archer's absence. She assumed he was just on a mission, but lately she wasn't so sure. Why would he been on a mission by himself if SHIELD was putting together what seemed like a team? But then again, maybe it was like, a top priority mission. Zina missed him, none the less. She missed their water gun fights and when they would watch Supernatural on Netflix for three hours straight and how he would take her to ice cream when she was in a bad mood and. Clint may be an expert marksman, but he was her best friend first. She wanted to ask about the situation, but she figured there would be a better time.
"Anyway, how's the search for the Norse god Loki going?"
"How do you know-"
"Phil, please. Doctor Banner told me." She started rocking on her heels, arms still over each mans' shoulders. "So, how goes it?"
Steve looked over the teen's head at Coulson. He wasn't sure if he should disclose any information to the girl. She was still a kid, she didn't need to be wrapped up in all this. Though it was a bit too late for that. Steve saw Agent Coulson subtly nod, so he filled Zina in. "Well, we haven't located him yet. But apparently, we're got every, uhh, sata... sata-"
Zina helped him out. "Satellite?"
"Yes, thanks. Every satellite andwirelessly accessible camera," Steve said this very articulate, trying not to mess the wording up, "searching for him now. We should come up with a location any-"
Suddenly, a really annoying alarm went off from one of the nearby computers. "We got a hit," informed one of the agents. "A 67% match." A different alarm started beeping. "Wait, cross match: 79%"
"Wow," Zina said, looking at Steve. "Speak of the devil." She extracted her arms from around their shoulders as Coulson became the I am in charge here so shut the hell up guy. He strode quickly over to the agent, with Zina trailing not far behind, wanting to be in the midst of the action. "Location?"
"Stuttgart, Germany. 28 Konigstrasse" A map became enlarged on the computer screen, showing what looked like an opera house. Another picture appeared on screen of a man's face. His pale skin contrasted greatly with his slicked back, dark hair. His face gave off the angular look, with the pronounced cheekbones and long nose. "He isn't exactly hiding."
"Wait. Hold up." Zina moved Coulson out of the way as best she could to get a better look at the man. She leaned in towards the screen, squinting her eyes. "No way in hell that's Loki."
She was suddenly pulled back by the back of her shirt and almost fell over her own two feet. She seemed to have a knack for that sort of thing. She glared at Coulson, who questioned her judgement. "Why not?"
"Because he's hot," she said plainly, as if it was the obvious answer. "The bad guy cannot be hot! It's in the code."
Coulson looked almost half amused. "And what code is this?"
"The code! It's just the code." Phil still looked at her weird. "Whatever, Philly Cheese." She spun on her heel and strode back up the stairs to Captain Rogers, who looked antsy to get going. Zina smiled. The soldier, always ready for duty. "So, El Capitan, ready to grill this guy on the 'Made in the USA' frying pan of justice?"
Steve chuckled, rolling up his flanneled sleeves a bit more. "Well, when you put it that way-"
"Captain." The blonde and redhead looked over at Director Nick Fury, who was giving Steve a look. "You're up."
Steve inhaled deeply. Oh, Zina thought, He's doing his soldier thing again. Steve grew about two inches as he straightened his spine. He now looked overpowering and ready to kick some villain butt. He gave a slight nod to Fury and began a brisk walk towards the door.
Zina stared after him. "Wait, where are you going?"
Steve grinned back at Zina. "To grill this guy on the All-American frying pan of justice, of course."
Oh my goooood sorry it took long. The second half of this chapter is kinda awkward, but oh well. And THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU to everyone who has reviewed! If I could send you all cookies I totally would!
Ahhh I'm so super excited to write the next chapter! Zina has some great, badass, and heart-wrenching moments in store! Also: In no way am I an expert in astrophysics. It's called Google, people.
Please REVIEW! Tell me what you think! I have put my email up in my bio in case anyone has any questions or comments that you don't want to put in the review (: Love you all xx
~Z
