No copyright infringement is intended. Only fluff is intended.

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Claire was in the middle of writing out sums for Tony's lab materials - the inventor himself having finally headed off to bed some time ago after a solid three-day-inventing spree - when Captain Rogers entered the workshop; knocking carefully on the door-frame to the open door so as not to startle her. For all his bulk, the super-soldier could be impressively silent, and Bucky and Natasha had both noticed how the young engineer startled easily.

"Miss Thomas?" He began, and she looked up, smiling warmly at him.

"It is Claire, please, Captain Rogers." Her tone was as warm as he had come to expect. She was kind, he had long concluded.

"Then I am Steve." He smiled at her, the charming expression which had made several generations of women swoon - not that it seemed to do that for this particular girl. Or that he had ever intended it to. Well, perhaps except when he had aimed it at Peggy, back in the day.

She nodded in confirmation. "What can I do for you, Steve?" She looked him over; he was dressed in a casual button-up and jeans, however there were a few details, such as the messenger bag slung over his shoulder, which implied he was heading someplace special. "Were you going somewhere?" He looked taken back for a moment, then he nodded.

"Yes, well, I am heading to see Peggy, but I still have some time, and I wished to talk to you first." She nodded in response, putting her pencil down and giving him all her attention.

"I wanted to thank you," the national icon continued with a slight smile, "for being so kind to Bucky. It means a lot to us both."

She smiled in response but shrugged. "He didn't do anything to warrant anything else. Everyone has a past, and we all have our demons. Most people do not change, but that does in no way negate that some of us do. And most of the worst decisions of his life were not even decided by him. I cannot hold it against him that someone else made him a victim, and nor should anyone else."

Steve had to blink at her insight, and he nodded slowly. It had taken them all a lot of time to come to that point, which she seemed to have reached almost effortlessly. That was when he knew, for sure, that there really was a lot more to Claire Thomas than any of them had first thought. Tony was lucky that Pepper had found her for him, and something told Steve as he excited the lab to go see Peggy once more, that they might all have been.

Bruce found himself frustrated. Tony's new assistant had avoided him the few times they'd ever come into contact. Now, this would normally not bother him - a lot of people reacted that way, after all, and it took rather a lot for him to become annoyed, these days (a lot of practise with keeping your cool did that for you) - but she had taken him off guard with it. She showed absolutely no reluctance to be around Barnes - in fact, she treated him exactly like she treated Steve. Super soldier like super soldier, apparently. Despite that, she avoided the scientist carefully, so carefully that it could not be an accident.

Bruce had tried to forget about it - the last thing he wanted was conflict, in any situation - but it rankled that she was alright with Barnes, kind to Natasha, and didn't even flinch at Tony's humour; and yet she never spoke a word to him unprompted, though he had never done anything to her.

Forcing himself to be calm and knowing that Tony would have headed up to bed by now, he hoped to catch her alone in the workshop. There were a lot of heavy things she could put between them down there, after all, and so they could hopefully have a talk without him spooking her. It was only when he had already headed in through the door that he realised how it could be interpreted the exact opposite way, too, to confront her alone down there. Well, she had already seen him, so too late now.

Once again, she took him by surprise, looking up from her paperwork with a small smile and greeting him graciously. "Doctor Banner! I am afraid Tony is not here - he headed to bed about an hour ago."

"I know. I was actually hoping to speak to you," Bruce stated carefully, watching her reaction. To his continuous surprise, there was none: just some polite curiosity, and was that concern?

"Of course. Wait a moment." She looked back down at her paper, added something and then put it in what must be the "completed" pile, laying the pencil down and focusing her entire attention on him. "What did you want to talk about, Doctor Banner?" She gestured for him to sit, and he took a seat opposite her at the long bench.

Choosing his words well, Bruce clasped his hands and spoke, softly, doing his very best not to be intimidating in any way (though this might be sheer paranoia on his part, as she regularly survived Tony, and there was unlikely to be anything in his demeanour which could even begin to scare her). "You have seemed... reluctant to be around me when I have worked beside Tony. I was wondering, well, if the Hulk scares you? I can assure you he is unlikely to attack an innocent bystander without provocation."

"Oh," she blinked, "well, he is not an... entity, who I would want to upset in any way, I suppose. I have not seen any indications that he'd get upset at a fellow scientist who just does science, though, so I wouldn't say that I am scared, exactly. I mean," she gave him a warm, soft smile, "if he doesn't... whatever it is that he does, about Tony, then why would I provoke any type of problem? I must say that I had simply assumed that, well, you knew what you were doing. I did not want to crowd you, though, that is true. As much because of the Hulk as because..." she actually blushed, looking down. "Well, you seemed shy, and I did not want to make you uncomfortable. If I can do anything to help, though, with, you know... not being unnecessarily provoking, do let me know."

This time, it was Bruce's turn to blink in confusion, before he slowly smiled. "You know, miss Thomas, James Barnes told me that you were good at being honest and forthcoming. I like that as much as he does. And I shall tell you, if I ever need your help. With Tony around, one never knows!" As she smiled back at the slight joke, Bruce found that he had suddenly no worries about her anymore. And when he rose, offering her his congratulations at having (finally) managed to make Dumm-E stop poisoning Tony's coffee, he felt a slight warmth just below his heart - just a small stirring - and he knew that the Hulk approved of her as well.