Dr. Ava Grant stood in front of a podium in a long grandiose lecture hall discussing the importance of momentum throughout the universe as it connects and revolves around the static integer often referred to as time. Her students were in a weary state of understanding as the key terms and revelations were explained to them. Dr. Grant knew fully well that her department head seriously recommended that she not veer away too broadly from the course material provided by each course's textbook, but Dr. Grant was a different sort of professor and at times she believed that her students were better prepared for their role in the universe when they had more information with which to navigate them.
As Dr. Grant continued to lecture her students, she noticed that the rear door at the other side of the lecture hall opened slowly and meticulously and closed gracefully. A cloaked figure wearing common street clothes including jeans, a denim jacket over a grey hooded sweatshirt which was pulled up to cover his hair, and dark sunglasses entered and sat in a vacant chair in the nearest section of chairs. He was accompanied by a spritely figure dressed in dark clothes with a scarf neatly wrapped around her hair to both secure it in place and disguise herself no doubt. As Dr. Ava Grant continued with her lecture, her regular students continued writing down copious notes. As she dismissed her class, she found herself watching the two newcomers approach her from the opposite side of the room.
The gentleman was the first to pull down his hood and remove his sunglasses. Dr. Ava Grant gasped as she recognized the man in front of her.
"Bruce Banner!" Dr. Grant spoke the words in order to audibly identify him. She would be able to recognize him anywhere, but she had not been prepared for the visible signs of worry and apprehension which now covered him. He looked like he had not slept in days, possibly weeks. Bruce Banner attempted a faint smile, but his demeanor quickly revealed that his actual mood was much less elevated than Dr. Ava Grant would prefer to see it at the moment.
"Ava…" Bruce Banner paused at his indiscretion apologetically and smiled once more. "Please forgive my lack of manners, I mean, Dr. Grant, we have come here this afternoon because we need your help. Natasha and I have encountered a situation which we are not familiar with. We are hoping that your expertise can guide us through this entire incident."
It was so! The spritely figure who accompanied Bruce Banner was none other than Natasha Romanoff. Dr. Ava Grant was not entirely thrilled to see her here this afternoon, but dismissed her apprehensions about the young woman quickly. Natasha Romanoff, while incredibly loyal, did not have a reputation for having a thoroughly calm and rational demeanor.
Dr. Ava Grant quickly powered off her slide projector and gathered her research materials. She carefully tucked them inside her briefcase and secured it by latching its clasps into place. "Absolutely, Bruce. Please follow me to my office. In fact, I would say given the circumstances, I would be more surprised if you had not shown up today than finding you here."
Natasha Romanoff, sensing the tension in the air between Bruce Banner and Dr. Ava Grant deliberately took one tiny step backward and then halted. Natasha already understood that taking any step in any direction away from Bruce Banner would instantly alert Carl Rogers and possibly even Tony Stark himself. On a typical day, Natasha Romanoff would simply not care what those two characters thought of her. However, Dr. Ava Grant's reputation preceded her as well and it was evidently clear that Dr. Ava Grant held absolutely no regard for Tony Stark and the empire that his family had built.
As Dr. Ava Grant held the doorway open which revealed the corridor route to her private office, Bruce Banner followed her cautiously. Natasha Romanoff hesitated, unsure of whether or not to follow.
"It's okay, Ms. Romanoff, we have complete privacy and anonymity here," Dr. Ava Grant said in an attempt to assuage her doubts. Reluctantly, Natasha Romanoff followed them but appeared to be on alert as she followed them down the corridor.
Dr. Grant slowly unlocked her office door and invited her guests inside. "We have uncovered an incident," Natasha Romanoff explained. Natasha was often the first to speak when on official avenger business. "What type of incident?" Ava asked as she quickly found her curiosity piqued.
"An international incident involving weapons that could cause a significant amount of damage," Natasha continued deliberately.
Dr. Grant stood behind her desk and furrowed her brow. "No doubt your close proximity with Stark Enterprises has brought such an incident to your attention."
Natasha shook her head momentarily and exhaled. "I fail to see how you can spend your entire life simply ignoring its existence. Whether or not you agree with its objective, it is a really major part of human society as we now have in place."
Dr. Ava Grant was adept at avoiding verbal altercations. "Despite why you both were told you were sent here, I believe that I understand the Avengers' mission statement enough to surmise that you were sent here for a personality evaluation. This is the same reason why you are always sent here under these conditions." She held out a hand in front of her and invited them each to have a seat in a chair on the other side of her desk. Dr. Ava Grant took out a set of materials and instruments from within her desk and proceeded to interview them both. As both Bruce Banner and Natasha Romanoff answered her questions, she recorded their responses and her opinions into the pages of a spiral notebook.
Before the hour was over, Natasha Romanoff's cell phone rang distracting her momentarily from the interview which she had unsuspectingly become part of. She spoke a few dozen words into her cell phone before turning it off and returning it to her pocket. "That was Rogers. He wants me to return back to the headquarters for some basic training." Romanoff stood from her chair and excused herself. As she walked out through Dr. Ava Grant's office door, she never looked back to urge Bruce Banner to return to headquarters with her.
"She never even glanced behind her," Bruce Banner quipped as his partner exited the room. "You'd think that she would at least care enough to invite me to return with her."
"Well, people are peculiar like that," Dr. Ava Grant explained.
Bruce Banner ran a hand deliberately through his hair. "If I recall correctly, you treated me as such not so long ago when you ran off with that professor of yours."
"Bruce, that was such a long time ago. I've completed my doctoral training, secured a faculty position here at the university, and have managed to somehow piece my life back together wholly." Ava replied.
"I've heard rumors, ava. That you managed to not only travel through time but have actually been working long enough to sustain a working understanding of how it can be accomplished," Bruce opined.
"Bruce, if that were true many things in our society would be remarkably different from the way they are. Yes, I traveled through time. Or perhaps I simply ventured into an alternate universe, I'm not fully convinced yet. I still have absolutely no control of it yet."
Bruce flattened the palm of his hand onto the top of Dr. Ava Grant's desk. "I am fully aware that Dr. Clark is the individual who has been dragging you into these scenarios. I allowed him to somehow manipulate you long enough to steal you away from me, I will not allow him to continue to entice you into dangerous situations."
Dr. Ava Grant rolled her eyes and exhaled crisply. "Bruce, we have spoken about this before. I was not stolen from you. I made the decision to leave you long before I ever married Dr. Jackson Clark. You and I were simply incompatible as anything more than colleagues. There are times when I seriously doubt our ability to ever work on any task for any prolonged amount of time. This should not come as a surprise to you. I believe that this is why you are sent to me for these personality evaluations every time Stark Enterprises encounters a potentially dire situation. Unfortunately, those situations happen too frequently."
"Ava, I believe that allowed enough time you and I would have ventured upon the route of getting married," Bruce confided.
Dr. Ava Grant gasped at the shock which was blown to her as Bruce Banner spoke those few words.
"Bruce, you are a highly respected intellectual. You have made great progress in your field. I believe that you are fully committed to your work and that you believe that you are making progress in altering Tony Stark's course. Have you ever considered that your dedication to your research and your field has blocked your pathway to devoted and meaningful connections with others?" Dr. Ava Grant rationally explained.
Bruce Banner blinked as he regained his composure. Ava was always forthright in speaking her opinions. The beast within him was constantly insisting to dominate his carefully prepared demeanor. "Please forgive me for wanting you to love me," Bruce implored.
"Why are we returning to this again? Have you come here this afternoon simply to ruin my entire day?" Ava questioned.
"Are you telling me that you never think about what might have evolved with us?" Bruce asked in such a demanding tone that it nearly sent shivers through Ava.
"Allow me to articulate this in a non-confrontational demeanor which will not stir you to anger. There is a universe in existence in which you and I have a daughter. I never should have met her, but somehow through some twist of luck and fate I have on a few occasions."
Bruce exhaled crisply and ran a hand over the contours of his jawline.
"Bruce, she is beautiful and wonderful and possesses all the characteristics of a child which you and I would want to instill. We should be proud. We should feel blessed. We have nothing to worry about." Dr. Ava Grant insisted.
"Except for the fact that you are convinced that you should be married to someone else and live your life away from me," Bruce continued.
"Perhaps it is our work which keeps us apart, Bruce. I wish that I could introduce you to our daughter, but what she has managed to do was to travel through time for such short intervals that she barely has enough opportunity but to speak a few sentences to me before leaving."
Bruce Banner immediately grew suspicious, "Are you trying to deceive me?" he asked.
"On the contrary, I am simply trying to fill you in on those tiny details which could have been...but because of the nature of our work, have become so definitely in another universe."
Bruce Banner attempted to understand how they had a daughter and why their daughter would visit Ava without coming to see him.
"I fell asleep," Bruce Banner said rather spontaneously. "The other day when I was evaluating a personality assessment on Tony."
Dr. Ava Grant blinked and stared at the assessment instruments on her own desk. "You fell asleep while conducting a personality assessment on Tony Stark? Do you have any comprehension about the ramifications which could be connected with such a defiant act?" she asked.
"Honestly, I have not spoken word of this to anyone before now. I refuse to worry about it. I was simply asserting my own ability to take control of the situation." Bruce answered.
"Bruce, as a psychoanalyst you are beyond independent. You have the ability to become so deliberate and willful that you cause concern. Need I remind you of the other side of your personality?" Ava interjected.
"Am I willful?" Bruce asked rather pleasantly, "Then why do you insist on telling me that we have a daughter without ever giving our relationship the opportunity to build and culminate into something deeper and richer?"
"Bruce, I refuse to revisit the topic with you. If you feel confident in my service this afternoon and feel that you have enough information to have the situation under control, then you are free to return to New York. Perhaps you will find an opportunity to email me about the progress of the Tony Stark situation, though," Ava insisted.
Bruce Banner, feeling as if he were rudely dismissed from her office, stood from his chair and dismissed himself. Dr. Ava Grant watched Bruce Banner as he walked out through her office door in a defiant act of once more walking out of her life. She silently wondered when she would see him again, but decided that her life was perhaps better off without him in it.