Bruce yawns as he waits for the elevator to arrive, pulling off his glasses and stowing them in his shirt pocket.
It had been a while since he pulled an all nighter so if he was going to continue to be awake so he could keep analyzing his current work load, well then he needed lots of coffee.
The elevator doors ding open and Bruce tiredly shuffles inside, pressing the button for the ninety-second floor. As soon as the doors close, he yawns yet again and rubs at his eyes, and only opens them when the doors open on the communal floor.
Since it's well passed midnight and everyone- miraculously, Tony included- have gone off to bed, the only lights on on this floor are the floor lamps built into the baseboards of the walls to guide him towards the kitchen. Though as he's walking there, he notices a bright light coming from the sitting area on the couch. And as he squints through the dark, he makes out the back silhouette of Camille.
"Ms. Saunders? What are you doing up so late?" As she turns to face him, Bruce notices the bright light is coming from her laptop and watches as Camille's silhouette startles when thunder claps too close for comfort. "Ah, I see," he mumbles and only notices now that JARVIS must have obscured visibility through the window wall because he can't see any lightening over the city. "I'm going to make coffee. Would you care for a cup?"
He doesn't wait for an answer as he walks towards the dimly lit kitchen, flipping the switches on to further light up the room instead of having JARVIS do it for him. And when he turns to see whether or not Camille was going to answer him somehow without talking, he briefly grins when he sees her stand and carry her laptop towards him before settling down at the kitchen bar- her flowery pajamas making him grin further.
"I'll take that as a yes."
She gives him a tired smile, flinching when thunder claps yet again.
Bruce briefly hesitates when pulling out the coffee- wondering whether or not he wants the coffee or tea- but ends up staying with coffee because he needs to stay awake to continue his research. As he prepares the coffee maker and listens in for when it starts to brew, he hears the faint clicking of keys of Camille typing. And when she's typing no more, he peers over his shoulder only to find that she's turned the screen towards him and whatever she's typed is sized a little bit bigger than normal font size.
When he gets closer to the bar, he realizes that she's sized it so he doesn't need his glasses and can easily read her question of, "Why are you up so late? If you don't mind me asking, of course."
Heaving a tired sigh, Bruce leans back and stares at Camille before answering her after the latest rumbling of thunder recedes. "S.H.I.E.L.D sent over some blood samples that were taken from other mutants. I've been comparing mutant blood to samples of my own to see if there are any similarities."
Camille frowns at his confession, pulling her laptop back towards up and typing once more. "Why?"
When Bruce reads her second question, he becomes a bit nervous but Camille's unnerving stare makes him answer nonetheless. "As you know, scientists have come up with a cure for the mutants who want it." Camille's frown is back once again and she nods to let him know that she knows of it's existence. "I'm checking to see if our blood is similar and if the cure would work on me."
Camille's frown instantly vanishes, the look of pure disbelief shining in her eyes, and Bruce notices that not even the thunder is startling her anymore. So when Stark's coffee maker brews fast and chimes to let him know it's ready, he's internally grateful for the distraction and turns around right away to start pouring him some.
When he's making his mug of coffee, he can hear Camille frantically typing and can only wonder what she has to say on that matter.
And finally, after taking his time adjusting his coffee to his liking, Bruce turns around only to have Camille frowning sadly at him with her laptop's screen facing him once more.
"Don't do it. You are a brilliant man, Doctor Banner, and it would be a shame to see such potential go to waste." Bruce's eyes slightly widen but he continues to read. "The Hulk is a part of you now, whether you like it or not, and though he's done some terrible things in the past, you're making up for it now. It's not good to punish yourself over something that happened when you didn't know how to connect to the Other Guy. He was scared and frightened and angry, and he unleashed it the only way he knew how.
But now- now you're making up for it by being the brilliant doctor that you are and a part-time Avenger."
Bruce hardly ever gets choked up but reading Camille's words- a girl who barely knew him and only knew the minimal amount of information about him- has him fighting off the swell of platonic emotion he suddenly feels for her.
He has to clear his throat- clear the ball of emotion suddenly lodged there- before he can speak again. "I, um, I don't- I don't know," and as he flounders with his words, Camille is quick to pull her laptop back and type one last thing.
Seeing as he's failing with how to express what he's feeling much less what he's thinking, Bruce reads, "Storm's passed. I should head up to bed."
And with one last sad yet knowing smile, Camille leaves Bruce standing there with steaming mug of coffee.
As luck for Bruce Banner would have it, the cure wouldn't work for him.
While his blood and the blood of various mutants were only nearly fifteen percent similar, he decided to try it anyway even though he knew there would be a possibility of having Camille be angry with him. So after obtaining a small dose of the cure through S.H.I.E.L.D, Bruce pulled aside two different slides and dropped his blood on one and a mutant's blood on the other.
He then continued to add a drop of the cure onto the mutant's blood, quickly covering it and then putting it under the scope to see the reaction. Sure enough, the cure started to stabilize the abnormal cells and transform them into ordinary cells. But when he did the same for his own blood sample, the cure appeared to be stabilizing the cells before his cells took over and completely destroyed the cure.
It didn't work.
And when he continued to mope over the next several days, he doesn't know why he feels the need to tell Camille that the cure failed on him, but he does and the reaction he receives surprises him.
They had been standing in the kitchen when he tells her and instead of being angry, she turns a sad smile on him before practically lunging into his personal space and hugs him. He tenses at the action because no-one besides Tony had been comfortable enough to touch him and here is Camille- a girl who didn't like her own personal bubble invaded- and she's hugging him!
When she doesn't let up, Bruce hesitantly returns the embrace though he pats her on the back and tells her that it's okay- he's fine. But she still goes to the refrigerator where the post-it notes are hanging and writes out I'm sorry to him.
It's only when she's walking away from him does he realize that he's the first person she's willingly hugged since her captivity.
This was progress that Coulson needed to be informed about.
Writing is easier for Camille now- well, typing really- so the team takes what they can get from her.
After Banner had told Coulson of his somewhat lengthy conversation via laptop he had with Camille, Phil made sure to drop by for a visit a couple days later to see the progress for himself.
He had a lunch date with Pepper which then led the both of them to head back to the Tower for Phil's visit- Pepper grinning from ear to ear as they stepped out on the Communal floor to Camille and Bruce sitting side-by-side on the couch while watching a documentary on deep Space.
Bruce would mumble something to her and she'd reply by typing on her laptop since it was easier than tap typing on her tablet.
And when Phil had made his presence known, Bruce gave them a bit of privacy after pausing their show and left Phil with Camille while he went to go make tea. Phil greeted her aloud and she happily greeted him back via laptop while also asking how'd he been.
They shared a bit of back and forth before Phil got down to business, he asking Camille if she was ready to speak now and that if she was ready to tell or show them what she was. She had held Phil's gaze, he watching as she didn't back down and even opened her mouth as if she were going to verbally reply but nothing came out.
Phil had smiled sadly, patted her knee, and told her it was fine. They still had time.
And as the days slowly progressed, so did the friendship between Bruce and Camille.
When Natasha and Clint got called away for some work, Bruce and Steve were left to keep Camille company. Tony and Pepper were there as well but with Pepper running SI and Tony being Tony, Bruce and Steve were Camille's best bet for company.
Bruce managed to make time to watch documentaries with Camille- often finding her already deep in trance while watching documentaries on the African Wilderness as well as that of the near extinction of Gray Wolves. He even sometimes found her watching bird documentaries and then typed out to him that she could only watch those when Clint wasn't around because he got too invested on occasion whenever they showed a hawk.
And when Steve was around, he'd sometimes be roped into the documentaries as well but on one particular day, he had asked if she could teach him to bake.
Camille had gladly accepted and since Steve was the one who asked- he got to pick what they baked.
So that's how a few hours later, Bruce and Tony found Camille and Steve splitting half an apple pie and looking every bit of possessive when Tony grabbed a fork and tried to take a bite.
Even though Clint and Natasha have returned, Camille still finds herself drawn to Doctor Banner's presence. For being a man with extreme anger issues that transforms him into the Hulk, he's oddly calming and peaceful and great to be around when she just wants to browse the internet for a recipe or sketch.
It's a little over a week into their newly formed companionship when Bruce invites her down into his lab to sketch when Barton's being annoying and yelling at the TV when they had been watching Harry Potter of all things. Apparently, Barton really hated that Severus Snape character.
Quite quickly, going down to the labs became a regular thing. Of course, Camille stayed out of Bruce's way by settling at a table in the far corner of his lab, and if she wasn't on her laptop then she was sketching in between of watching Bruce working in his element.
Tony managed to bother them at times but both Bruce and Camille took it in stride.
Stark continued to question what ability it was that Camille possessed but she merely grinned and shrugged, and wouldn't let her expression falter as he guessed numerous abilities- hers included. Then one day, Stark had sauntered into the labs with the smuggest of all grins and said that it was fine- she could keep her ability a secret because apparently, there was going to be a situation soon when Camille showcased her abilities and that it was going to be fine.
When Bruce questioned just exactly what he was talking about, Stark confessed that Professor Xavier got in contact with him. Apparently, one of his students came forward because the little man had a vision- a vision in which he thought Camille was in danger. They had been in the middle of the call when the kid had yet another vision, this one showing Camille doing whatever it was that she does and the situation turned out not be as dangerous as he first thought.
Bruce had been frowning, Camille was wary, and Tony was ecstatic that he'd get to see Camille's ability some time soon.
And soon came quite sooner than any of them had anticipated.
Camille had woken up in a great mood, showered, and scoured her closet and dresser for an outfit.
She had noticed how outfits she'd never seen before started showing up every now and then, and knew it was all Natasha but she could never figure out how or when the agent did it. She kept up with the normal clothes that Camille liked- overly large sweaters and cardigans and sometimes flannels- but Camille noticed that smaller articles of clothing started showing up.
Clothing that would show a lot more skin than Camille had shown in a while.
But when Camille's gaze landed on a pair of shorts that nearly matched the shade of Natasha's hair, she couldn't help but grin and pair them with a loose skull-printed tank top with the back of it all ripped to shreds. The outfit showed off more skin than she was comfortable showing but if she was expected to speak soon, she needed to push herself out of her comfort zone.
While she admired her outfit in the bathroom mirror, her gaze darted up to her still damp hair. Her fingers graze the freshly shaved side of her head- Clint touched it up the night before- and figured she'd blow dry the rest and style the waves with mousse.
Pepper had purchased her makeup but Camille never gave the makeup any consideration. Today, however, had her in such a good mood that she at least put on concealer for the bit of dark under her eyes and foundation to hide the small blemishes her sight detected. But other than that, she didn't bother with anything else.
Shoes were a must since she'd be visiting the labs after a stop in the kitchen, her eyes lighting up when she finds black platform wedge lace-up boots. These, too, remind her of Natasha for some reason and she makes a mental note to bake whatever the red-head wants sometime soon.
After the rather short walk to the elevator, Camille notices that instead of feeling inferior, she feels rather confident. Even JARVIS comments on the sudden change in her, Camille smiling embarrassingly when JARVIS tells her she looks most lovely this morning and she's forced to nervously wave into the nearest camera.
Even her walk feels different, though she welcomes the sudden change in herself as she confidently saunters onto the Communal floor.
Clint's the first to recognize her, catcalling across the floor and causing both Natasha and Pepper to look up and stare. She rolls her eyes at him though the corner of lips turn upward into a grin, and both elder women smile in approval at her outfit.
She joins the trio for the brunch they're having, no-one questions the sudden confidence, and once they're set to do their own thing for the day- Pepper suddenly seems in a rush after a phone call from her underlings as Clint called them.
"Shit," Pepper curses silently, shoving her phone in her blazer jacket. "No-one can manage an hour without me there harping on them." Natasha, Clint, and Camille all seem amused by the usually well put together blonde, their grins widening as she continues to ramble to herself. At least, that is until she whirls on Camille unexpectedly. "Camille, you're going down to the labs soon, yeah?"
Camille tenses as all three gazes turn on her and Clint snickers at her misfortune. Luckily for Camille, Natasha has a soft spot for her and she soon hears Clint grunt in pain. And finally, after a moment's hesitation, Camille nods.
"Great," Pepper then sighs. "Can you take Bruce and Tony the ham and cheese croissants in the microwave?"
"Aw, man, there were croissants," Clint whines after being subjected to omelets that had every healthy vegetable he could think of. "Why didn't anyone let me have a croissant?" And like all smart women should, the three in the room ignore Clint, and Camille nods her head again to let Pepper know she'd take it down to them.
"Excellent. You're a lifesaver."
Pepper's gone within the next couple of seconds, her phone back in hand as she starts grumbling again about incompetent employees before she's in the elevator and whisked away.
Camille only sticks around long enough to collect the croissants from the microwave and bottled juices from the fridge before she's complimented one last time by Natasha and Clint on her choice of outfit and shoes. She's then waiting patiently for the elevator to make it back up to her after dropping Pepper off at God knows where, stepping in and happily presses the button for the labs.
Once there, she walks with ease through the glass corridor- never questioning why the two men needed numerous labs, and enters their domain.
Tony has to do a double take- his right eyebrow raising in amusement. "You clean up good, short stuff. Outfit's more daring today. I approve."
Camille actually chuckles, grins, and waves at Bruce when he looks up which earns her a smile in return. She drops the food and juices in between him and Tony, and when Tony sees the ham and cheese stuck in the croissant dough, he forgets all about the tinkering he had been up to in favor of actually eating. And when Tony starts groaning and moaning about how delicious and buttery the croissants are, Bruce is quick to try them for himself.
Having accomplished getting both Doctor Banner and Stark to eat, Camille hops on over to what is now her side of the lab- which is just a steel table and stool out of the way of everything- and chooses to sit atop the table with her back against the wall.
She reaches over and grabs her latest gift from Stark- another tablet, this one coming with a stylus and recommended for drawing only. She doesn't know what she wants to sketch yet and it's only when the men have finished eating and Tony practically hollers about science bros does inspiration strike.
It's nothing too detailed like she has normally been doing- this one being more cartoon than anything- and starts off by writing Science Bros! at the top of the screen inside a zigzag bubble.
She first draws in a very annoyed looking Bruce in a long white lab coat checking a clipboard and a cackling Tony in the back with his hair sticking up every which way- he too in a lab coat. After she has the two of them how she wants them, she starts adding the lab around them.
There are numerous flasks- every shape and every size- and test tubes sitting in their little racks. Long thin tubes and spiral glass tubes connect from one beaker to another, and the picture ends up looking more like a mad scientist's lab the way she ends up drawing it.
After much erasing and redrawing to find the right brush stroke, she's finally ready to start coloring everything in. But before she can even pick the first color, JARVIS' voice startles everyone from their work.
"Sir, agent Coulson is requesting permission to enter the floor. Should I let him through?"
"Uh, sure thing, Jay," Tony distractedly answers. "He probably wants to speak to the kid, anyway."
Camille rolls her eyes but continues to color in her pic- the colors for the liquid chemicals being a range of neon colors that have her grinning.
And it's only when she's adding in the gray-blue color of the lab around cartoon!Bruce and cartoon!Tony does she here, "No. No! Tony, your specialty is not chemicals. That's too much, it's gonna-"
The explosion is what startles Camille, her tablet falling into her lap as she looks up just in time to see Bruce and Tony get blasted back. The fire wasn't that big- not enough to cause damage- but the force of the blast was bigger than anticipated.
Tony hits the glass wall just as Coulson is getting ready to enter the lab and Bruce gets tossed into the back wall where the counter and cabinets reside.
Luckily, Camille goes untouched by the force of the blast but it doesn't stop her from feeling frightened. For one thing, Tony's unconscious and for the other, Bruce looks slightly larger than normal and he's growling.
Now, Camille's not stupid. She's read Doctor Banner's file- at least what she had been given- and knows exactly what's happening. Even Coulson knows- Coulson who's frantically pounding on the glass door and yelling for her to get out of there but she's frozen in her seat.
She watches as Bruce continues to grow, his skin tinting green and his shirt ripping to shreds.
It's only when he's fully transformed does Coulson finally get the door open, the Hulk snarling and whirling around in anger. The agent's gun is drawn, his gaze dead set on the Hulk but his voice is calling out to her.
"Camille, I need you to move very slowly towards me."
The hulk roars but instead of lunging for Coulson or Camille, he looks around at all the equipment around him and huffs in annoyance. Instead of smashing like he normally would, he only flicks beakers and flasks with his too large fingers as if blaming them and not Tony for this accident.
The sound of the safety clicking off on Coulson's gun startles the Hulk, his gaze then zeroing in on the agent as his lips pull back in a menacing snarl when he sees the weapon pointing at him. Camille follows the Hulk's gaze, her heartbeat picking up even more in her panic because she doesn't want Coulson to hurt the Hulk and vice versa. These are two people she really cares about.
But the longer Coulson keeps his gun trained on Hulk, the more agitated Hulk becomes. It only takes one step from the Hulk in Coulson's direction for Camille to truly panic, her voice coming out quite hoarse since she hasn't used it in a while when she screams, "No!"
Her voice only gains Coulson's attention, though, his eyes wide as he watches Camille leave her position from the side wall and lunge to throw herself between himself and the Hulk. Though as she lunges, he notices that she lunges for the table arms first and is surprised to watch her human form shimmer into that of a female lion and land on all fours atop the table.
She's quick to crouch low on the table, ears practically lying flat against her head as she swats once at the now startled Hulk, and hisses with a mouth full of pointy fangs.
So yeah, that happened. Camille's outfits are up on Polyvore.
