Steve Rodgers could sense her frustration as soon as she entered the training room. She looked tired and paler than usual. Her dark hair was hastily thrown up in a messy bun. She walked right up to the punching bag and began beating it with her good arm over and over again.

"Rough night?" He asked her.

"Is it that obvious?" Ari replied.

Steve laughed a little at her response. "How's your arm?"

"Fine, I guess… I'm on so much medication that I can barely feel it."

"Have you talked to Banner yet?"

"Why on earth would you leave him alone like that?" She countered.

"I didn't think it would be a problem," he said almost questioning.

"Leaving him alone with his thoughts is one of the worst possible things you could do!" Ari hit the punching bag so hard that the chain holding it up was ripped from the ceiling. Dust and small bits of plaster landed right in front of her.

"That's quite an arm you've got there."

"You should see how strong my other one is."

"I'm sure that it's equally impressive."

Leaving the mess behind her, Ari ignored Steve's last comment and left the training room without another word. Steve sighed and put it in his pile of broken and busted punching bags then hooked a new one on. He started punching.


She went back to her room and tried to get some sleep. She had been restless after her encounter with Banner the night before.

As she laid in her bed, unsuccessfully trying to get some sleep, Ari finally decided to go for a walk. She, of course, grabbed her sketchbook and a pencil before leaving. You never know when you might get inspired, she thought to herself. She was so deep in thought that she paid no attention to where she was going and let her feet lead the way.

Finally breaking away from her thoughts, Ari stopped. She found herself only a few feet away from Dr. Banner's laboratory. She hesitantly peeked through the glass door. Banner wasn't there.

Ari slowly pulled open the door and walked in. She didn't really care if he caught her. She would just come up with some sort of excuse for why she was there. Ari set her sketchbook down on the table and tucked her pencil behind her ear.

She picked up some of the random charts and papers that were lying around and read them to herself, trying to look busy. She didn't even look up when she heard the door open and close. "One of your calculations is wrong," Ari said simply.

"Really? Which one?" Banner took the papers from her.

"That one right there." She pointed at one of the complex equations.

Sure enough, Banner realized that she was right. He scolded himself for his stupid mistake and directed his eyes towards Ari's sketchbook. She didn't protest when he picked it up and began looking through it. Maybe there's something that she wants me to see? He thought to himself.

To his surprise, Banner came across very detailed, very realistic drawing of Agent Phil Coulson. He held it up for Ari to see. "Do you have a thing for older men or something?" He joked.

Ari bit her lip and closed her eyes for a moment. "It's not like that," she sighed.

"Well, that's how it looks to me. I mean, you've even got the dates of his birth and death on here."

She took the sketchbook from him and closed it quickly. "I knew you wouldn't understand," she said as she walked away. Actually, it was more like she ran away.

Feeling guilty, Banner went up to her room, hoping she would be there so that he could apologize. He lightly tapped on her door. "Ari?" He turned the doorknob and slowly pushed it open.

There she was, curled up in a ball on her bed. Banner sat down on the edge of Ari's bed and gently took her cold hand. "Hey," he said quietly, "I'm sorry."

Ari slowly sat up and wiped the tears from her eyes. When he saw that she was crying, Banner pulled her close to him, trying to comfort her. "I did love him," Ari managed to get out, "just not in the way that you're thinking."

"What do you mean?" Banner asked her, perplexed.

He felt her sob as more and more tears fell from her storm grey eyes. She quickly wiped them away and rested her head on his chest. Finally, Ari came up with the courage to tell him the one thing that she's been wanting to tell him for a while now. "Agent Coulson was my father," she said.

Banner didn't know how to respond. Should he tell her that he's sorry for her loss? Should he stay silent. Should he tell her that everything is going to be all right? He just didn't know.

"You don't have to say anything," Ari said as if she was reading his thoughts. "I don't expect you to."

"What if I want to but I just can't think of what to say?"

"That's fine too, I guess." Ari had finally stopped crying.

"Are you okay?" Banner asked her.

"I am now," she answered with a slight smile.

Ari closed her eyes as Banner gently kissed her forehead. Then, he slowly moved down to kiss her nose. Finally, to her surprise, he kissed her lips. She returned it without any hesitation.

Not being able to hold in her smile any longer, Ari reluctantly pulled away. "What?" Banner asked, confused.

"Nothing. It's just…" Ari laughed a little. "I think I actually got through to you."

"Ari-"

"Don't deny it, Bruce. You obviously feel something too."

"Just because I might possibly 'feel something,' it doesn't necessarily mean that we can be together," Banner countered. "I mean, what is the rest of the team going to think?"

"Does it even matter? If they really cared, they would just be happy for us. Heck, we don't even have to tell them if we don't want to."

Banner pondered over her suggestion. Would they be able to keep their "relationship" a secret from the rest of the Avengers? Was it even possible?

Banner didn't even need words to give her his answer. He just leaned in and kissed her again. Ari gladly returned it. She honestly didn't care if they were caught