I am so happy so many people are excited about this. I wanted to take this chapter to expand a little on my OC, but don't worry. There is plenty of Nat coming- and eventually Bruce too :)
Jennifer had been looking over chem levels in Natasha's blood for a few moments now, trying her best to form some sort of hypothesis. She had a few samples of Banner's blood and tissue left in cyro, and had one vile of blood out to start a few experiments on. But she couldn't help but wonder- Did they have any of his notes?
Quickly, she grabbed her phone from her pocket and opened a new text message.
Pepper- Did Tony keep Bruce's hand written notes about his precursors to his gamma experiments?
She sent the message before she had time to change her mind. Pepper was probably who she would consider her closest friend these days, and the young doctor trusted her. She smiled when the bubbles appeared almost instantly showing the redhead was typing, with a reply coming within seconds.
They're in a box on the third shelf down in the storage closet in Banner's lab. I think it says 'code green' or something like that on the side.
Jennifer smiled, thankful her friend knew her well enough after the last couple years that she didn't ask too many pressing questions. She sent a quick thank you and headed off down toward the lab Banner had claimed, down at the end of the hallway from her own and the medical rooms. She found herself trying to be silent, even though she knew there was no one else even on this floor at this time in the evening, not that the other Avengers frequented the so called 'science level' wing of the compound.
The lab itself was spotless from disuse, and the only light came from the dim tank where Bruce's fish swam oblivious to her presence. She looked on the clipboard on the wall as she passed, making sure that someone had been through to feed them today- Sure enough Vision had signed off that he'd taken a turn caring for his missing teammate's pets. She quickly came over to the supply closet Pepper indicated and pulled the chain, lighting the small room.
Sure enough, about waist level, was an old copier paper box with the words 'Code Green' scribbled on the side in blue ink sat at about waist level. She pulled it out slightly, popping the lid off just enough to peak inside. There were a few journals, and composition books, as well as file folders and sample slides. She smiled again to herself at her success.
She hoisted the box up onto her hip and clicked the closet light back off before heading back down to her own lab, where she took all the material out and organized it around on the counter, hoping to flip through and find something that would help.
Bruce had been looking into the serum that made Captain Rogers into his enhanced self, not so much for the military aspects, but for the fact that it had cured several genetic diseases that Steve had been burdened with before it was administered. She opened each notebook, journal and file, lining them up by the dates inside, and began reading. She had found that Bruce had several different hypothesis for duplicating the experiment's results, and had tried a few on himself before the gamma accident.
Jennifer had just began to read about a combination of chemical compounds and stem cells Banner had tried formulating when her phone chimed that a text had come through. She sighed and took her phone from her back pocket to see what the notification said.
Do you have a minute?
She read the message before the name, and yet, without having to look, she knew who it was from. Jennifer closed her eyes. She tried not to be annoyed, but her stomach ached at the anxiety that came with such a should be simple question.
Sure. What's up?
The reply was almost instant.
Where are you? Can we talk in person? I don't like these.
Jennifer swallowed thickly but sent back a quick response.
Sure. I'm in the med bay. Main lab.
She pressed send before she lost her nerve and laid her phone down on the table beside a stack of research notes. She shook her hands to calm her nerves and took a hair tie from her wrist, gathering her thick, dark brown curls into a messy bun on top of her head. She went back to reading, the older doctor's notes, waiting for the door to open. She jotted the blood levels from labs Bruce had done on himself after this experiment to compare later, and was still scribbling when the door opened.
"Doctor Ford." Came her usual greeting.
"Captain Rogers." She replied, glancing up from her notes as he sat down on a stool on the other side of the counter from her.
"You said you weren't busy." Steve said, sounding a bit unsure of himself.
"No, I said I had a minute." She replied with a light smile of amusement. She took a sticky note from her stack and placed it over the last time she'd read and then looked up a the handsome solider across the table. "And I do. This is more of a 'on my own time' sort of project." She closed the journal and watched him, waiting.
"Are you sure?" He ask, his crystal blue eyes searching her face before meeting her deep chocolate brown ones.
"Mmm" She nodded.
"I was just thinking- We should probably talk about... You know." He sputtered.
"I think I need you to be just a smidge more specific, sugar." She laughed when his face turned red.
"That night. At Stark's party. Before Ultron crashed it." He clarified, although she didn't actually need it. Truth be told, Jennifer had wondered if he'd ever want to talk about that.
"Alright." She agreed, sitting forward and propping her chin on her hand, elbow on the counter. "Talk, Captain."
Steve looked even more pink than before.
"Look, Jen." He cleared his throat, "I haven't, done anything like this, in like, close to a hundred years. Help me a little."
"You kissed me at Tony's party." She restated the fact. "On the balcony. And you said you wanted to talk to me. But then all hell broke loose. So- Is this the same talk? Or is this a talk to take back that desire to talk?" She blinked at him, a kind smile spread on her face.
"You're very beautiful." Steve said, and Jennifer felt her ears burn. "And I really like you." He added, but he paused. She was afraid of this.
"But?" She ventured.
"No 'but', I'm just bad at this." He laughed at himself. She joined in a little as well.
"It's cute, everyone sees you as so confident." She tilted her head.
"I don't think anyone ever sees me, honestly." Steve confessed. "Its a very idealized version from propaganda. Which, let's be honest. I'm not living up to."
"You sell yourself so short." She comforted. "Just tell me what you had wanted to say that night. I've been waiting for weeks to see if you'd even want hang out with me again. I miss that."
"The whole team keeps asking me about that." Steve confessed.
"Thursdays?" She guessed.
"Who knew they all knew?" He snorted.
"We all live together, man. Separate apartments, but its a compound. Close quarters." She rose from her stool and came around the counter, hopping up on one next to Steve and spinning it so she sat facing him, propping again on her elbow. "But there wasn't really anything to know, was there? Binge watching television, movies, listening to albums- just catching you up with the world."
"All those Thursdays meant a lot to me." He said quietly. She smiled. "I especially liked when you'd fall asleep on my shoulder while watching things." He spoke more quietly. Jennifer blinked at him, surprised he said such a thing.
"Steve?" She questioned, knots forming in her stomach.
"I- I don't know. For now, really, I just was wondering if maybe we could go back to spending time together. Like we did?" He ask. Jennifer felt like a lead weight hit the bottom of her gut, but yet again, she smiled.
"I would love that." She replied gently, giving a small nod. She leaned back, now realizing this was going back to being just as awkward as it was before- If not a bit worse. Steve seemed to want to clear the air without addressing anything. She sighed inwardly, but decided not to allow any of that emotion through. At least he wanted to be her friend again. She could live with that.
"I'll let you get back to work, then." He said, standing up abruptly, then before she could reply he left the lab. She swallowed again, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, then she reopened the journal she'd been reading before.
Early the next morning, Jennifer let herself into Natasha's apartment, where she found Clint making pancakes. He greeted her, asking her if she wanted him to add her a few, which she gladly accepted. Natasha sat in the living room, sipping a sprite through a straw. Jennifer handed her the legal pad she'd been taking notes of Bruce's research on.
"What is this?" Natasha ask, flipping through the pages Jennifer had filled.
"Your answer!" She relied cheerfully.
"Did you even sleep?" Natasha questioned, quirking an eyebrow at the other woman.
"I actually don't need to for two or three days at a time, if I don't want to." She confessed. "It's one of my..." She gestured about into the air. "But look-" She took the notes and flipped a few pages in. "See here? This is your white blood cell count at baseline, before I started, when Tony built the med bay and made y'all's files. This is from the other day. You can see it, as well as iron, vitamin D, and a few other things are higher now."
"Okay?" She said, brushing a stray strand of her long red hair back. Clint came in and propped himself on the wall beside his friend, listening.
"Bruce was experimenting on himself. To duplicate the serum Stark's dad and that team used on Steve back in the forties. Right?" She looked at her coworkers, who both nodded slightly, waiting. "This is about to get a little personal." She warned, glancing from Natasha, to Clint, and back.
"He stays." Natasha confirmed.
"Bruce was experimenting on himself, and he did a couple different versions before he decided to give radiation a go. He marked them down unsuccessful, but really they were just less successful. Not failures. And This one here..." She flipped the pages again, "With the stem cells, chemical compounds. It is extremely effective for cellular regrowth. In fact, I'd argue that this is what kept him from dying from radiation poisoning."
"So, how does that effect Nat?" Clint wondered, crossing his arms across his chest.
"Prolonged sexual exposure." She answered.
"What?" Natasha demanded.
"I told you it was going to get personal. But he changed his own DNA more than once. And as many things can do- Unprotected sexual exposure gives you doses. You were dosed too. In such a way that it healed the cauterization of your Fallopian tubes." She explained, almost excited. Natasha seemed to be trying to piece what she'd just been told, but Clint looked a bit green himself.
"Oh." Natasha said quietly.
"Wild, huh?" She said.
"You could say that." The spy replied. "But I guess when you explain the science behind it, at least I have my answer for 'how'."
"Well, then." Clint said, trying to make the air in the room less awkward. "How about we eat pancakes? I could really use some damn pancakes." He walked off, mumbling to himself. Jennifer watched the archer go then she turned to her friend.
"I didn't see anything that would make me worry about either of y'all." Jennifer comforted. Natasha sighed a bit.
"Oh. Good." She said. "In that case, let's go eat before Clint gets mad and then we can start figuring out where I go from here."
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