(A/n) Thank you for all the faves, alerts and a special thank you to those who reviewed. You guys are amazing. This is just a note in regards to the time frame of the movie. Everything that happens after the initial interrogation of Loki seems to take place within a day. This is movie time so of course they have to keep it short. I took the main statement Banner says about taking weeks to process the results of the Tesseract readings and I am taking artistic license. The scenes that will play out will happen in the span of two weeks. Mainly because I want some semblance of a relationship to build between Bruce and Ana. I'm not one to write about one day relationships ad happily ever afters. I like a bit of drama. Let's face it Bruce has a lot of drama on his plate. It should be fun to wade through.

Update 6/5/18: From here on out the French will be cleaned up and corrected to its proper grammar thanks to one of my reviewers, Ondatra zibethicus. Thank you again!


I feel it deep within
Just beneath the skin

I hate what I've become
The nightmare's just begun
I must confess that I feel like a monster...

Monster – Skillet

-o-

Chapter 8: One Had to Admit There Was Chemistry

One had to admit there was chemistry there between the two of them.

One had to be blind not to see it.

Apparently, these two were kind of blind.

It was radiating off of them like their own personal aura. Whatever they felt as their quiet, unassuming selves was magnified by the raging monsters within them. They didn't seem aware that they gravitated toward one another. When one moved, the other followed. When the one showed tension, the other was right there to calm. It was like a subconscious understanding between them that their human conscious wasn't aware of.

And this was within the first couple of hours of their initial meeting.

Fury had noticed it the moment he had watched on the live feed when Banner had entered Anamaria's room. The instant connection, the understanding they both craved. They were each others' needed calm. It was what Fury was hoping to see when he had assigned Dr. Banner to watch over her. If this strange woman was able to keep Banner calm, and likewise he for her, then she was a much needed god send.

He still could not locate anything on the woman, despite now knowing her full name, having video footage of her and her raging counter part, and information on her mother being a geneticist. There was no record of an Anamaria Brandt located in any countries' records that she could have possibly originated from. Be it the USA, France and every Spanish speaking country on the globe. Either she was very well hidden or she was Persona non grata for every major first world and third world country there was. Either was plausible. He would need more time.

Thankfully, Ana seemed quite content within remaining in SHIELD headquarters. As long as Dr. Banner was close by anyway. Fury knew he had told Banner that he would be staying until the Tesseract was be located but this was an unknown situation. If his staying meant that all the rest of them would be safe from both of their raging sides, then so be it...

The moment he walked onto the bridge and found the group of would be Avengers gathered around the table, even he had to admit he felt a certain satisfaction. Especially when he saw Dr. Banner standing particularly close to Ana as she literally called Tony Stark a dick while being introduced. All right, even Fury had to admit that was funny...

"Dr. Banner is only here to track the Cube," said Fury as he stopped beside the railing that wrapped around the command post. His single eye was on Stark as his hands gripped the the metal bar. "I was hoping you might join him."

"As long as Mrs. Rage Monster doesn't mind me being so close to Dr. Banner, I don't see how it could be a problem," said Stark in reply, a smirk appearing on his lips as he watched Ana. He was trying to goad her.

The slight twitch from Ana's form, and the sudden darkening of the red veins in her neck that was visible through her hair, brought an automatic response from the doctor: A large hand placed on the small of her back. She immediately began to relax from the touch but she still looked as if she wanted to rip Stark a new one.

Fury was very pleased with the sight of it. If they were acting this way so soon after meeting one another then he hoped it would stay that way. It would save a hell of a mess of trouble later on...

"I'd start with that stick of Loki's," said the Captain, his gaze traveling between that of Ana and he doctor before he looked at the others. "It may be magical but it works an awful lot like a Hydra weapon."

Fury frowned lightly as he glanced at Rogers. "I don't know about that but it is powered by the Cube and I'd like to know how Loki had used it to turn two of the sharpest minds I know into his personal flying monkeys..."

"Monkeys?" Thor turned toward Fury, confusion touching his fair features. "I do not understan-"

"I do!" cried Captain Rogers, jumping in immediately as he pointed a finger toward the god. "I understood that reference..." That statement was followed by varied responses of amusement and sympathy. Well, you couldn't blame the guy for wanting to find some connection to the world he had known.

Stark simply rolled his eyes heavenward and turned to Dr. Banner. "Shall we play, doctor?"

Dr. Banner simply huffed a laugh as he held out his hand. "This way sir," he said in response before his soft brown eyes automatically landed on the woman that pulled on the primal part of himself. "Ana, will you join us?"

Her brown eyes sought his and her response was a bright smile that revealed a part of herself that no one, apart from her mother, had ever seen. That smile brought a completely different light to her features. She looked like the promise of the woman she had the potential to be: At ease and happy.

Dr. Banner had to lie if he said he had not been affected by that smile.

"Bien sûr, je viens avec vous," said Ana, her French automatically coming out in her apparent excitement of staying with the doctor before she caught herself and a blush touched her cheeks. "I mean... If it is all right with you. I was told to stay with you until directed otherwise."

Dr. Banner had to laugh at that and held out his hand further as he waited for Ana to pass by him. She walked by the doctor and she gazed at him with a smile, her brown eyes revealing the lust that had been there from before. Dr. Banner had to swallow the tightness in his throat before he went to follow after Ana and Stark, his heart beating a steady rhythm, hard and earnest against his chest.

The Other Guy was poking at his conscious then, making himself known, prodding in an urgent way for Banner to keep as close to their women as possible. There was no mistaking how the Other Guy felt.

Anamaria was all Dr. Banner's for the taking.

However, the fiery one within her was his...

-o-

In an extensive laboratory aboard the SHIELD Helicarrier, Dr. Banner was back at his station, this time scanning the scepter that belonged to Loki, the wand of the device he had scanning the energy emitting from the ball of light at the tip of the scepter. The look on his face was one of concentration, his glasses resting firmly on the bridge of his nose. He frowned at the results on the screen in front of him, a slight twitch on the corners of his mouth revealing his tension.

"These gamma readings are definitely consistent with the gamma readings of Selvig's report on the Tesseract but," he heaved a sigh as he sent the device aside and reached out to touch various keys on the screen, "it's going to take weeks to process..."

On the other side of the lab, Stark was at his own station, his fingers dancing across the screen of his own monitor in an expert way. "If we bypass their mainframe in a direct route to the home requester, we can clock this at around 600 teraflops." He turned his fingers on a dial on the touch screen, applying everything he had just been saying into action, He wasn't a genius for nothing.

"Heh, all I packed was a toothbrush," said Banner, a smile touching his features. He looked very tired all of a sudden. He continued to work on the monitor before him, adjusting the readings and trying to match what was recorded on Selvig's notes. However, his brown eyes had wandered to the quiet woman who sat away from the two of them, her eyes focused on a screen of her own.

Anamaria was sitting at her own station but she was not doing any kind of work that pertained to their search of the Tesseract. She was looking at very old files of an experiment gone wrong. They were of Dr. Banner's initial involvement with trying to replicate the Super Soldier experiment that created Captain America. She was slouching in her stool, her dark brows knitted together, as she read on what had happened and what had gone wrong.

Stark had noticed Banner's gaze landing on the woman and the look in his soft brown eyes was that of longing. The playboy was surprised that Ana was keeping her distance from the doctor. On the bridge, it was clear as day that she was quite protective of him. Perhaps it was because of the many people who had been in the room. Well, in any case, it was obvious that Dr. Banner was quite fond of the mysterious raging woman who was, by definition of SHIELD, Hulk's female counter part. Seriously, they already had started gathering data on the woman.

The little chip he had put in place to hack into SHIELD's computer files was an ingenious one. Well, since he made it himself, of course it was ingenious. But that was beside the point, the main thought was that one of the first files it had hacked into was the most recent one. It was under a simple French word: Enflammé.

Whoever made the file either had no originality or was bored out of their minds.

They had called the raging female monster who caused combustive explosions Enflammé.

Perhaps it was because of Ana's tendency to revert to the French language that inspired this particular name but honestly. The English translation would mean burning, passionate... Fiery...

Well, they got the burning, fiery part right.

Stark wondered how well in check her monster was compared to that of Banner's...

Naturally, as a woman, she should be prone to more excessive emotional outbursts. Especially during a particular time of the month. She would be a funner choice to provoke. Still, he rather liked his body as it was. He didn't want to fall under being burned in any way. Pepper sure wouldn't like it...

"You know, you should come by Stark Tower some time," said Tony to the doctor after a moment's pause as he left his station and started to walk toward Banner's station. "Top ten floors all R&D. You'd love it. It's like Candyland." He walked by Ana's station on the way and paused, picking up a metal instrument that was laying on her table, it looked quite pointy and sharp. An electric hum could be heard if one listened closely.

"Thanks," said Banner, his broad fingers moving effortlessly over the touch screen of his monitor. He had pulled his gaze, rather reluctantly, from Ana's slouched form and tried to project the image of nonchalance. He didn't realize that Stark was quite aware of how he felt toward the woman. "But the last time I was in New York I kind of... broke... Harlem." He looked embarrassed and resigned about that part of history. He wasn't proud of what he- the Other Guy- had done. However, he did stop the Abomination... and Betty had been saved...

"Well," said Stark, pacing about in front of Ana's station, who didn't notice the man as she focused on reading the reports of one Betty Ross. "I promise a stress free environment..." he trailed off, stopping behind Ana and looking over her shoulder.

After a moment's reading, he leaned in close to Ana and whispered, "Jealous of the ex-girlfriend?"

Ana jumped in fright and whirled around to snarl at Stark, her red veins prominent and the flash of yellow in her eyes quite impressive. "Tu m'emmerdes!" said Ana, her voice coming out as a harsh growl as she bared her teeth at him. "Back off before I make you! Have you no decency for personal space?" She took in a breath as she tried to calm herself but was having a hard time. Stark was looking absolutely gleeful.

It was a fact.

She had been caught. She was jealous.

"Oh come now," said Stark, playing with the metal prong between his hands. "We're all friends here. So what if you have a thing for the doctor? If I was a woman, I wouldn't blame you." He leaned in close, the look in his face suggestive. "I mean... you've seen the videos. That guy is huge. You can't help but wonder..."

"Merde!" she cursed, pushing the monitor away from her and turning about in her stool as she glared at Stark. "Do want to make me angry? I assure you, you're on the right path if that is your wish!"

Stark took a step back, his hands raising in surrender, though the smile on his face did not fade. He was enjoying this. "I'm just pointing out a glaring fact Ms. Brandt." He pointed the metal prong to the screen, where the file of the Hulk was now on full display. "You are learning all you can about him. But, what does he, or any of us, know about you?"

Silence fell.

Dr. Banner had been watching this interaction with tense eagerness and interest. A part of him had hated that Stark was intentionally goading Ana on but another part had been eager to see her reaction. He had not been disappointed. He had seen a hint of the fiery one within her, the flash of yellow in her eyes a definite warning. The Other Guy had been pleased to see a hint of her buried underneath that quiet woman.

It had been the moment Stark had pointed out what she had been studying, and how it was not fair that they knew next to nothing about her, that got him to stop and think. Stark was right. Banner knew nothing about this woman. The sudden realization had quickly put a damper on the attraction that had been humming beneath the surface of his calm facade.

Ana had been glaring at Stark the entire time before her brown eyes turned to Banner and noticed the cool distance that now touched his soft brown gaze. Her demon did not like that look. She wanted to see the lust in his eyes, the feral attraction that had been humming between the two of them since they had met. She nearly growled her words as she focused her attention on Stark. "You mean you have not found the files yet?"

Stark frowned lightly, a look of confusion touching his features. "You mean what SHIELD had made so far? There's nothing there that we don't already know."

Ana scoffed and shook her head, rolling her eyes as she turned toward the monitor and started to type at the keyboard. "No Metal Man, not those files. I suppose SHIELD has not found them either." Her look became thoughtful as she typed away at the keys, the screen revealing a website that was selling scented candles and oils. The website was called Renewal.

Ana clicked on the register info for new members only and began to type a series of difficult passages into each line that asked for a name, address, age, sex, etc of the person wishing to join. Under each line, Ana entered a particular quote or lyric or poem. She did this for five times, each time entering in a completely new member info with these various wordings before the website blinked and a new screen loaded. The sudden whine that touched speakers of Ana's computer indicated that something had overridden the tracking programs of SHIELD and was now blocking all access to the computer that Anamaria was currently using.

On the screen was one phrase that struck as odd with Tony Stark:

Project B.I.R.T.H

"Welcome back Anamaria," a cool female voice said through the speakers of the monitor. "Your mother has been worried about you. Why have you not logged on sooner?"

A slight smile touched Ana's face, there was relief evident there. Apparently she had been deeply worried about her mother, who also had access to this strange website. Dr. Banner had gotten up from his station and walked over to Ana's, his curiosity getting the better of him

Ana leaned forward toward where the tiny microphone in the monitor was located. "Hello Jenn, please send a message to Mama, let her know I am safe. There is a person here that is like me." She glanced at Banner before her eyes settled on Stark. There was slight hesitation before she sighed and continued on. "And there is another... They are called Dr. Bruce Banner and Tony Stark. Please load the files of the LIFE Foundation for me. I trust them with this information."

There was a moment's silence before the cool voice spoke. "Affirmative. We have secured all channels to this computer. It is up to you to be sure that no one else sees these files aside from those two you have named as trusted confidantes."

Ana voiced her approval before she slid her hand over the touch screen monitor and slid out an array of files under her touch. She got up from the stool and turned to the two gentleman, "I am trusting you two, and you two alone, with these files. Please," she looked at Stark and her brown eyes grew desperate, "do not try and copy them or hack into them. It will set off a security breach in SHIELD's system."

Dr. Banner's interest was now caught fully, and as was Stark's. Both men leaned toward the monitor, the display in front of them showing a logo for a company called simply LIFE Foundation.