Chapter Nine
Bruce looked over the papers Corea had sent him concerning Adam and the proposals from the various genetics experts at SHIELD run hospitals. Every option was dangerous as they were dealing with the unknown and much of the original data on Adam's procedure had been lost, or was being withheld by Yates, the officer in charge of the project.
"Fury has given a team direct orders to find a way to stabilise Greyhound," Maria's voice said quietly from near the coffee machine. Bruce hadn't quite worked out how no one else ever seemed to be in the kitchen when they both were there.
"Good." No one was making the same effort to bring the other guy under control, Bruce thought glumly, and he was more of a danger than an epileptic Greyhound. He chided himself on his uncharitable thought. Adam deserved to be helped as well of course. Bruce however was actively discouraged from trying to work on his own blood samples.
"Bruce-" He gave her a weary smile to head off any chiding he was about to get. Since Maria seemed to spend every second she wasn't in the control room in Tony's kitchen with him Bruce had begun to learn exactly what would result in a ticking off. To his surprise she wasn't looking stern, she was holding out a booklet to him.
"What's this?"
"Enrolment forms for a distance learning medical degree." Bruce stared at her, the papers hovering in his hand in mid-air. Maria's face softened into a broad smile. "It would be an advantage to have you as a medically trained doctor." Her words had trouble sinking in. "The university has already accepted you on the course, you just need to confirm it." Slowly Bruce looked down at the booklet, seeing it with someone else's eyes.
"Really?" he asked finally, glancing up to find that Maria was perched on the table next to him.
"Yes." Bruce's mouth hung open, too surprised to smile.
"Thank you." Maria smirked, presumably at his expression of shock.
"Obviously distance learning isn't ideal, but I'm sure you can manage to keep up." Bruce sobered slightly as he remembered no actual university would take him as a student on campus.
"It doesn't matter. Thank you-" He held Maria's gaze for too long a moment before they simultaneously looked away. "Thank you," Bruce said again for good measure because he didn't want to dwell on that look. Maria simply nodded.
"Whoa, didn't mean to interrupt the date," Tony said loudly as he appeared in the doorway, empty coffee mug in hand ready for a refill.
"You didn't," mumbled Bruce. Maria had gotten off the table, leaving the course booklet lying closed. She gave it a slight nudge in his direction and walked out without a word.
"So..." Tony clearly wasn't capable of making coffee without having to talk at the same time. "When are you actually going to ask her out."
"In an alternate reality where the world works according to popular imagination not real life," Bruce answered. He wasn't in the habit of talking to anyone about what he felt, in the jungle and in the slums he hadn't had anyone, now he kept it bottled up. Tony, and even Adam couldn't get their heads around the fact that he didn't have friendships, much less relationships.
"But she forged paperwork to get you on a degree course." Bruce looked up sharply.
"What?"
"She- Bruce, the name on the forms, if you've read them, isn't yours. She lied through her teeth because no one wants anything to do with your amazing brain for some weird reason. If that, plus the whole standing up for your ass against Ross thing didn't make it plain, here's the truth. She likes you. Big time." Tony added a shot to his coffee. "So, ask her on a date, have some fun, hell knows she needs loosening up too."
Bruce stared down at the paperwork and forms and saw that Tony was indeed right, it was close, but his name was misspelled. Robert Brunner. He hadn't expected Maria to have used his real name, not really. Tony was right though, Maria had done more than just do the best for the team and Bruce knew that. He still couldn't do anything about it.
"Look, there are plenty of reasons and details that are private, Tony. We're friends. That's all." He had lost count of how many times he had said that, to himself and to others. They were friends.
"Just as our pet super spies are friends." He heard Tony mutter darkly. "Well have fun at med school. It won't keep you too busy, you can still help me."
"Help you blow things up and rebuild dummy?" Bruce was no engineer, he freely admitted that he had trouble keeping up with Tony on some points.
"We're the future of science, it's important stuff."
"I can do both," Bruce answered wearily. "Soon I'll even be able to stitch you up after you've blown us all up." Tony gave him a winning grin at that.
"As long as you get your girl as well," he called and left Bruce to sigh in the empty kitchen. Slowly he looked down at the papers and let himself smile. A real doctor, he could finally be of use on his own merits, not the other guy's. Sure Fury had called him in partly because of his knowledge of gamma radiation but now that the cube was gone he wasn't needed. A doctor on the team however was an asset to Steve. Without heeding Tony's actual suggestions, Bruce began to plan some way of saying thank you to Maria, and possibly Corea as well, he had an inkling that the tall doctor had some hand in it as well. Their thank you's would, needless to say, be quite different.
… …
Sorry this took so long, college started and well, yeah excuses here.
