Starting February (well, in a few hours, anyway) with January's chapter: as they say, you should start the year as you aim to continue. So by being fashionably late, in my case!

Another year, and I still do not own Marvel.

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Claire had become pretty used to overcoming challenges in her lifetime, short as it had been this far. One challenge she had never actually expected to face, however, was standing in a state of the art mechanical workshop, filling in million-dollar numbers into ledgers, with a baby on her hip.

Not only had she focused all her fears on actually reaching that workshop - never mind the million-dollar results - but she had never actually pictured herself with kids. Perhaps because she had come to rebel against that whole image as her family presented it. Now that she did consider it, she rather thought she wanted many children of her own.

Tony was off doing something - something, for once, not still out doing someone, as was more usually the case - and Claire did her best to finish up for the day and bring Baby Stark (She didn't care what name was actually right, in the workshop she was Baby Stark) back upstairs. Luckily for her, halfway through Steve came and rescued her from babysitting-duty, the soldier not having any reservations about carrying a small baby around for a couple of hours.

Most of the time, both super soldiers doted on the baby almost obsessively. Claire could understand that. Like Natasha, they had both likely wanted children, once upon a time, and had then felt forced to give up on that dream. She suspected it wasn't only them, either. Besides, as much as they all enjoyed mothering her, someone who actually needed it must be even better, so there was that.

When she finished up - the latter half taking far shorter than the first, not having to entertain a small child at the same time - Claire intended to go and help the resident super soldiers with dinner, but Jarvis offhandedly reporting about some loud noises generated from Bruce's laboratory made her change her mind. Not so much because she thought he needed help, as how it clearly wasn't time to cook yet, if Bruce hadn't come down to take the lead on it. Duh.

Letting Jarvis take her upwards in the tower instead, Claire closed her eyes for a moment and leant towards the wall of the elevator. She adored Baby Potts Romanow Stark (they really needed to name her, huh) and she loved working with Tony, but sometimes she felt like she was stretched a little thin, these days.

Tony had grown both more obsessed and more absentminded during his brief foray into fatherhood, and the baby's third nanny had just departed. The first one had been scared shitless by either Clint dropping out of the kitchen vents or Tony dropping by with only a vest on, arch reactor clearly visible; it was not quite obvious which one.

The second one had needed to be fired because she flirted so outrageously with Steve it not only made him deeply uncomfortable, but had also almost gotten her killed by Bucky. And this one had just been generally rubbish. Shaking her head, Claire concluded that if this was the best money could buy, she pitied normal people trying to find help with their children.

The lift stopped, jolting her out of her thoughts even without Jarvis' smooth voice announcing that she had arrived at the requested floor. She left the elevator and entered Bruce's main lab, to find the scientist just gathering what looked like blood samples out of a centrifuge.

He looked up upon hearing her approaching, and smiled. "Ah, Claire. Felt like doing some actual science?" The question was obviously a line in the ongoing, good-natured scuffle about what did or did not constitute real science between him and Tony. The engineer did clearly not need to be present for bombs to be fired, so to speak.

Claire chuckled. "Actually, I was just curious what you're working on." Bruce gestured for her to sit.

"I am establishing a genetic baseline; and am trying to determine what far-reaching consequences basic changes or advances to the genome might bring. In plain English, I am comparing capabilities and their corresponding genes between people like me and Steve, compared to you and… well, normal people, like Tony or Natasha. Other normal people, I should say." He smiled. "I believe you're as normal as people come around here."

After a brief pause to gather his thoughts, he continued. "Natasha, of course, is interesting because she has almost superhuman capabilities, but has not accomplished them through genetic manipulation."

"And Tony is interesting because he is pickled, but is still darn clever," Claire guessed.

Bruce laughed, but nodded. "Something like it!"

"So who are you using as a baseline for the comparison?" Claire wondered curiously, only for Bruce to wince.

"I haven't quite gotten that far," he admitted with a small grimace.

"Well…" Claire paused, "you're welcome to use me, if I'm suitable. I don't know if I would be."

Bruce's eyes had refocused. "Oh, you would be perfect. Would you mind? It would mean some advanced testing; though most of it painless." At her slight frown, he elaborated. "I am mostly interested in the 'norm', me and Steve. I will do some additional tests on most of the other residents in the tower, but that'll be easy, quick ones. As for the detailed studies, I am very much available for tests, and Steve is very tolerant about that sort of thing; he has practise. I would need blood samples; it wouldn't be bad - I have drawn many in my years and rarely fail - and the other tests are mostly scans and the like. Time-consuming and probably boring - for you, that is - but completely harmless."

"Oh, that's okay." Claire nodded. "Is it possible to draw blood from you or Steve though? I mean, he's sorta… super-powered, and pricking holes in you could be a little… eh, well." She wrinkled her nose, half-thoughtful, half reluctant to go into more detail. Bruce laughed.

"I first tried it in the green-room," he confided, still smiling. "But the Hulk knows what I'm doing now and lets me. If he doesn't allow it, you indeed cannot pierce a hole in my skin, you're right, but we are cooperating better, lately. Thanks to mutual friends like you and Tony, I dare say. As for Steve, his case is more one of healing quickly than being technically unbreakable, even if he is hardy. You need titanium needles, a cooperative patient and preferably a somewhat calm environment."

Sensing the question in the young engineer at this, Bruce shrugged. "Naturally, I cannot do anything to Steve he doesn't consent to; ethics aside he is far too strong to manipulate physically, and if the situation is relaxing, it triggers the serum less. If his pulse is low and he feels unthreatened, I have more time before the wound heals. It is a bit like how normal people experience heavier blood loss if they are agitated, since the blood pulses quicker as the heart rate goes up."

"And Steve cares about the health benefits to 'normal humans' your work could imply," Claire guessed insightfully.

Bruce nodded his agreement. "We both hope it might help less fortunate individuals with their health; Steve and I both had health-problems before we, well…" Bruce deflected with a shrug, looking uncomfortable. Claire briefly rested a hand on his shoulder, and then dropped the subject entirely, not wanting to push. It was not hard for either of them to think of a new subject, so they did.

Yes, that is a small reference to the comic line that Bruce was sick (I think he had ALS, so quite serious and not curable, certainly not back then) before he became Hulked.

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