Chapter 21

Coming down to the cafeteria for lunch, Bruce hoped to catch Ruby there and spend some time with her that didn't involve running for their lives or solving complex problems. Maybe he could figure out if she was as attracted to him as he was to her. He had completely screwed up his chance with Nat and didn't want to do it again with Ruby.

Stepping into the large area full of tables and smelling like a medley of foods, he looked around and quickly spotted her blonde head at a table against the outside wall. She had her head thrown back, laughing hardily. Cheeks flushed and eyes bright with merriment, she was so wholesomely beautiful that it took his breath away. So mesmerized by her, it took Bruce a moment to realize she wasn't with Izzy. Seated across from her was one of the trainees.

He stood there for a bit watching the two young people exchange banter. He wasn't close enough to hear what they said, but Ruby smiled the entire time, clearly enjoying herself. When she leaned across the table and took the guy's hand, giving it a squeeze, he roused himself. Spinning on his heel, he turned his back to the pair and left the cafeteria.

What the hell was he thinking? Ruby deserved to be with someone her own age. Someone that she could have a life with. What could he give her? Not the house with a white picket fence that she deserved. He had to live on the campus just in case he ever lost control, where he could be contained and not hurt any civilians. He certainly couldn't give her a family. Not with all the gamma radiation running through his body. What kind of monsters would he father? No, children were out of the question. All he could give her was a life of conflict and uncertainty. She deserved better.


Ruby was up the next morning before her alarm went off. The day before had been a good day, all in all, but she was ready to get back to work. Or maybe she was just ready to see Bruce again.

Her lunch with Andy had been enjoyable. He was witty and kept her laughing with his storied of some of the antics of the trainees. Despite that, though, she hadn't felt any spark of attraction. She just kept comparing him to Bruce and he came up lacking. By the time the meal was over, she was sure they would be good friends, but that's as far as it was going to go.

Her meeting with Carol Danvers was also enjoyable. After their erstwhile meeting that morning, the older woman seemed a lot more approachable. Instead of making her feel inferior, like when they first met, Carol had praised her intellect almost to the point of embarrassment. She had explained that the Kree were interested in not only learning about humanity, but in sharing their knowledge with them. Carol was convinced that Ruby was the perfect candidate. She had described the Kree home world and some of their culture. Ruby was saddened by decimation of the war with the Krull.

When she left the meeting, she hadn't committed completely to going to the Kree Institute, but she had assured Carol that she would seriously consider it.

The only sour note on the day was Izzy's reaction to her lunch with Andy. When she told her friend that she hadn't felt any attraction, Izzy almost exploded.

"Did you even give him a chance?"

"Of course, I did," she responded, taken aback by Izzy's vehemence.

"Really? How many times did you compare him to Dr. Banner?"

Flushing, she looked down at her hands, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Ruby," Izzy reached over and grabbed her hands, forcing her to look up. "You've got to stop letting your daddy issues rule your life, honey."

"Daddy issues?" she repeated.

"Yeah, daddy issues. Look, your father may not be the worst father on the planet, but he's probably in the top twenty. But you're an adult now. You need to move on with your life. You don't need his approval anymore. And you certainly don't need to throw yourself at the first older man that gives you positive attention."

"Wait. What?" Ruby shook herself free and stood up, backing away from the couch. "You think I like Bruce because I want my father's approval and he's a substitute? Are you kidding me?"

"Let's look at the facts," Izzy held up a finger. "One, he's old enough to be your father."

"No, he's not!"

"Two, he rescued you from Hydra and protected you while you were on the run."

"He's an Avenger. It's what they do."

"Three," Izzy ignored her and held up a third finger, "how many times has he told you how brilliant you are?"

"I am brilliant," Ruby said weakly.

"Yes, you are, sweetie. But how many times has your father told you?"

Ruby didn't answer.

"Don't be mad at me. You know I love you, but you need to face the fact that you're never going to get what you need from your father and you shouldn't be projecting that need onto Dr. Banner. You need to break free and learn to live for yourself."

Ruby hung her head, "I guess you're right."

"You know I am. Just think about it, okay?" Izzy stood up, "I'm going to get out of here and let you go to bed."

Ruby didn't look up until the connecting door closed behind her.


Arriving at the lab, this time without having to ask the computer for directions, she entered and greeted Bruce who was there ahead of her.

"Good morning," she smiled.

He looked up from his monitor and smiled back, "morning. Ready for a busy week?"

"Yep, I even brought brain food," she held up a cinnamon roll and a diet soda.

Bruce chuckled and shook his head, "yeah, I don't think that's…,"

She set a second roll on his desk in front of him, "I brought one for you, too."

"Okay, I guess sugar is the new healthy," he grinned as he picked up the treat.

"That's what I thought."

"So, are we picking up where we left off Friday?" she asked trying to be casual.

"I thought I'd just let you keep on working on the theory of everything, while I go downstairs and give them a hand."

Her heart sank. She had wanted to spend the day with him to determine if she was really attracted to him or if it was just 'daddy issues' like Izzy insisted.

"Sure, I guess. If I have any questions, I can just have the computer summon you. Or is Director Fury the only one that can do that?" she smiled slightly at her joke.

"Ruby, believe me when I say I would rather be summoned by you any day," he laughed.

She sat in awkward silence for a moment, not knowing what else to say, as Bruce gathered up his notes and stood.

Bruce cleared his throat, "I don't know when I'll be back, so don't wait for me when you get hungry. We're not on any schedule or anything."

"I'll be fine, thanks. Go do your thing."

When he left the room, she slumped in her chair. This day was not going the way she wanted it. With a sigh, she signed into her computer and pulled up the files from Friday. Printing them off, she walked over to the second white board and grabbed a marker. Her brain worked better like this. Writing the formula Hydra had stolen from her, Bruce's quantum navigation formula, and Davita's theory of everything, she set her mind to figuring out how they all tied together and solving them.

"Computer?"

"Yes, Ms. Beaumont?"

"Play the playlist from my phone called Heavy Thinking."

The opening bars of Nostalghia's Cool for Chaos came over the speakers as Ruby turned back to the board and got to work.

Ruby threw the marker down on her desk in frustration. She had worked through lunch without making any headway on the equations on the board. She had just erased all her work for the third time. Flopping down into her chair she buried her head in her hands and moaned. No matter what she had tried, she just couldn't get into the groove today. Looking at the time, she decided she needed to take a break and go get some food.

Stepping out into the sunlit day, she paused. She really didn't feel like eating and Bruce's statement that they weren't on any schedule rang in her head. Remembering her vow to try to swim every day, she changed direction and headed towards the dormitory. A swim might work off some of her restless energy and help get her thoughts back on track.

Six laps later, she felt tired, but refreshed and ready to go back to the lab and get some work accomplished.

Bruce still wasn't in the lab when she got back, so she dropped her stuff on the desk, stalked to the board and stared at the equations on it for a while, trying to picture how they fit together in her head. There was a tiny voice telling her she was overlooking something, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Remembering something one of her professors once told her, she turned her back to the board and went back to her computer.

"When you want to go east sometimes you need to go west," she muttered as she searched the SHIELD database. Running up against her security limitations and with no external link to the internet, she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. Nothing was going her way. Growing frustrated, she tried something else.

"Computer, do you have Wilhiem's refutation of the Montonen-Olive theorem on file?"

"I have all publicly know theorems in my database."

"Will you send it to my computer?"

"Yes. It will be in your inbox."

"Thank you," she said awkwardly, still not knowing what the protocol for interacting with an AI called for.

"You're welcome, Ms. Beaumont."

Printing out the theorem, she took it to the third board and went to work. Since she couldn't figure out how the three other equations went together, she would work on one that supposedly disproved the existence of one of the cornerstones of the theory. Maybe while working to disprove it, she could gain some insight to what she was missing. At this point, anything was worth a try.


"Dr. Banner?" the computer's voice broke into Bruce's thoughts.

"What?"

"You asked me to let you know when Ms. Beaumont left the building? She just left."

"Thanks," he answered, glancing down at his watch. It was almost midnight. What kept her here so late?

Setting down the new laser prototype he was designing for the Falcon's suit, he stretched in his chair. He had purposefully avoided the lab all day to give Ruby some room. Burying himself in work was the only way he could take his mind off her.

Shutting down the workshop, he headed upstairs to see if she had made any progress. Once in the lab, he stared at the boards, confused. The first board was just as they left it on Friday and the middle board had the three equations of interest on it, with some cryptic notes. The third board was covered with her neat handwriting from top to bottom. Parts were circled with annotations, and there were multiple notes in the margins and between lines.

"Computer?"

"Yes, Dr. Banner?"

"Do you know what this is?" he indicated the board.

"That is Wilhiem's refutation of the Montonen-Olive theorem, Cheng's umbral moonshine equation, Kachru's cosmological constant, and Smolin's loop quantum gravity hypothesis."

He considered the information. "What was Ruby doing trying to do with these?"

"I'm not sure, Dr. Banner. She said something about going west to go east."

"What?" He was confused. Surely the computer hadn't heard correctly.

"I believe she was referring to the concept proposed by fifteenth century explorers that, due to the spherical nature of the earth, one possible route to the east Indies lay to the west," the computer stated.

"What the hell does that have to do with…," he trailed off, reconsidering the contents of the two boards.

Ruby was picking apart some of the most dominant arguments against the theory of everything. By destroying the arguments against it, she was working systematically towards the solution.

"I'll be damned. She's coming at it backwards."


The next morning, Bruce woke up eager to get to the lab and talk to Ruby about her progress. Showering and dressing quickly, he almost sprinted across the campus to the hangar. Arriving at the lab, he found Ruby already there, sitting at her computer, sipping on her soda.

"Morning, Ruby," he greeted her.

"Good morning, Bruce," she responded, not looking up.

When she didn't say anything else, he cleared his throat, "um, I came by last night after you left and saw your work there."

"Uh-huh," she tapped a key and the printer started whirring.

"It looks like you're making progress," he said, hoping to get her started talking about the work on the board.

She got up and retrieved the sheets from the printer, then went to the third board, frowning up at it for a moment.

"I'm going to need more white boards," she muttered.

"Actually," Bruce stood up and came over to stand by her, "these are smart boards. Just ask the computer to save the data on them. Then you can erase it and have it recalled later."

"No, that won't work," she shook her head. "I need to be able to see everything as I work. It's how I piece things together."

"Okay, how many more do you need?"

"At least four, maybe six."

"Six?"

She turned and looked up at him, crossing her arms across her chest, "yes, Bruce, six. You're asking me to find the theory of everything and unless you want me to start writing on the walls and floors, I need more white boards." She looked at him, daring him to say anything else.

A tendril of irritation wove through his thoughts as he sighed, "computer, have six mobile white boards brought up."

Ruby turned her back to hide her smile. He didn't know what to do when she ignored him. Ha! What was good for the goose was good for the gander. Or was it the other way around? Anyway, after yesterday, she was going to play it cool, killing two birds with one stone; showing him that she didn't care if he acted like a jerk and proving to herself in the process that she didn't need his approval to feel good about herself.

In reality, though, she was dying to share what she had discovered yesterday and what her new tactic was, but he didn't show any inclination to ask and she wasn't going to volunteer. She almost hoped he would leave the lab again and disappear for the rest of the day.

After ordering her additional boards, he went to his desk and logged into his computer. Going back to her computer, she picked up the muffin she grabbed for her breakfast and tossed it into the garbage. She hadn't been hungry for dinner last night so didn't eat before going to bed. Waking up starving, she had fantasized about the muffin until she sat down to eat it in the lab, only to discover she no longer wanted it. It must be nerves messing with her appetite, she thought. She'd grab a good lunch after her swim.

After a few minutes, the door swung open and several men entered, pulling six rolling white boards behind them. Each board, rotated on its horizontal axis, giving her two sides to work with. Maybe she had overestimated the number she needed, but she wasn't about to admit it to Bruce. Instead, she directed them to line them up along the walls.

Taking a fortifying breath, she stepped up to the nearest board. Here goes nothing.


As the day wore on, Bruce became more irritated. Who the hell did she think she was ignoring him like he was nothing to her? He was the one that saved her life when Hydra tried to kill her. He was the one that had to traipse through the mountains for two days naked because of her. He deserved more respect, but what could he expect from a spoiled rich brat?

To make matters worse, he got a headache at the base of his skull as the day wore on, the pounding made worse by every movement of his head. It was probably from him gritting his teeth trying not to say something to Ruby about her manners.

By the time, she put down the markers and left for lunch, all he could do was grunt his response to her question, "ready for lunch?"

At his response, she stiffened visibly, then sniffed and flounced out of the lab.

"Spoiled brat," he growled as the door shut.

Without her in the room, his level of irritation went down, and he must have relaxed because his headache let up enough for him to be able to get some work done.

Not long after her return, though, it was back. Before long, he couldn't take it anymore and stood abruptly, ignoring the throbbing caused by the sudden motion.

"I'm going downstairs," he muttered.

Ruby turned from the board she was working on, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine," he snapped.

Her lips thinned at his tone, but he didn't care; he had to get out of the room. Stomping to the door, he pushed through it, and out into the corridor without another word to Ruby.