American Idiot

"Black bandana, sweet Louisiana. Robbin' on a bank in the state of Indiana. She's a runner, rebel, and a stunner-" Kitty turned around to grab a spatula when she saw a figure leaning against the wall, watching her make breakfast. She quickly drew a knife before realising it was just Bruce Banner.

"Fuck." Kitty plucked out her earbuds and paused the music before putting down the knife. "Don't you know better than to sneak up on people?" She crossed her arms over the front of her white tank top, waiting for an explanation.

Bruce, who had thrown his hands up when she pulled the knife out, said, "I tried to, but you didn't hear me."

She sighed and turned around to open the fridge. "I thought everyone was gone for the day." Kitty set a carton of eggs on the table and got out a bowl.

"I did too," Bruce said, walking into the kitchen. "Until I heard you from down the hall."

Kitty's pale cheeks blushed pink and she bit her lip as she looked up at him. "Sorry 'bout that."

Bruce shook his head and quickly assured her, "No, no. It wasn't bad, just unexpected. I'd never heard you sing before."

Kitty turned back around and started to gently crack the eggs. "That would be because I do not sing in front of people. Want some?" She nodded down to the bowl.

"Sure." Bruce leaned back on the wall and watched as she got out a frying pan. "So, what are you doing today?"

Kitty poured the eggs into the pan and pushed them around with the spatula while Bruce got them plates. "Workin' out in the garage. I've got to check out something on my bike, then I'm trying to restore a car."

Bruce raised eyebrows and asked, "You're a mechanic?" He got out bread and butter for toast while she finished the eggs.

Kitty scraped off some of the scrambled eggs onto her plate, then the rest on his as he set down the toast. Both took their plates to the table and sat across from each other.

"There's a lot of things you don't know about me, Mr. Banner." She took a bite of toast and swallowed before saying, "One of my friends taught me some things when he found out that I liked vintage cars."

"Ah." Bruce nodded slowly. "I'll bet he's proud that you're rebuilding a car."

"Wouldn't know." Kitty shrugged and took a bite of eggs. "Dominick was killed just before I got out of the military."

"Oh." Bruce blinked rapidly, unsure of a response to that. "Is that why you left?"

Kitty looked down. "I found that I would no longer be able to take orders from people who viewed us as expendable."

Within the hour, Kitty was on the ground of the garage, looking up at the bike. She set up music to play in the background, uncomfortable with silence.

"Can you turn the song up?"

"Yeah." Bruce obliged and listened to the guitar riffs. "Wait, what is this?"

"Pussy Liquor. Rob Zombie."

"Oh okay." Bruce was watching Kitty was fascination as she bent one of her legs and crawled further under the motorcycle, studying the machine.

"Pretty sexy, huh?"

"What?" Bruce asked quickly.

"The song?" Kitty said as if he was stupid. "I like to get fucked up." She sang.

"I like to get fucked up, too." The song responded.

"Yeah, I bet you do." Kitty finished. She hummed along for a minute before asking, "Hey, can you hand me some pliers? There should be some over there." A pale hand appeared from under the bike, pointing to a spot on his left.

"Yeah," Bruce said as he retrieved the pliers and handed them to her. "Why do you need them?"

Kitty took the pliers and used them to violently rip something out. She gave him back the tool and worked her way out from under the bike. She stood up, throwing the small device on the ground before she brought her boot down and smashed it into pieces. "There we go." Kitty looked up at Bruce and smiled innocently as she collected the pieces to throw away.

Bruce raised his eyebrows and pointed at the broken device. "What was that?"

Kitty shrugged and tightened the band around her ponytail. "Just something that doesn't need to be there." She walked to the other end of the garage, with Bruce trailing her like a puppy. "Help me out?" She nodded down to the grey canvas covering a car. They removed the cover to reveal a dusty red and black car. Kitty smiled brightly and ran her hand over the hood. "Bruce, meet April."

"April?" Bruce asked with a small smile as he watched Kitty pop up the hood.

"Yeah, she needs a little work." Kitty admitted. "I got it off a guy who had no idea how beautiful she could be. She's still got her original engine and everything, but I'll need to replace the brake pads, some cables-" She looked up and saw that Bruce was obviously lost. "Sorry, I usually work with Tony, I forgot that you don't-"

"Yeah, you lost me at original engine."

"Oh." Kitty said as she grabbed a car creeper and a couple spare rags. "Do you know what kind of car this is?" Bruce shook his head and Kitty couldn't help but smile. "1970 LS6 Chevelle." Bruce still looked lost. "70's American muscle."

"Ahh." Bruce nodded, still not quite getting why she was so excited. He decided that it didn't matter because he thought she was adorable when she was excited. He watched as Kitty set up the jack and pumped it so the car was off the ground. She laid down on the creeper and slid under the car until just her legs where showing.

"Ugh, can you skip the song, please?" Kitty asked from under the car.

"You don't like 'No Doubt'?" Bruce asked as he changed the song. A classic rock song came on, a noticeable change from the pop band.

"Not particularly, no." Kitty got out a small flashlight and clicked it on.

"Then why have it on your iPod if you don't like it?"

Kitty simply said, "One of my ex girlfriends put it on there."

"Oh." Bruce tapped the toe of his shoe on the ground, trying to think of something to say. "So, what are you doing now?"

Kitty smiled under the car and answered, "Checking under the engine. Making sure nothing is cracked or leaking, since April's previous owner weren't very careful with her." She stuck the flashlight in her mouth so she could use both of her hands.

Soon, she rolled out from under the car and asked, "Can you hand me the brake pads?"

"Uhh…" Bruce's eyes widened and Kitty looked up at him.

"The sorta kidney shaped black-grey things over there."

"Oh, okay." Bruce nodded and retrieved the brake pads for her to change out. He noticed there was a tiny smudge of grease on her cheek and her hands had splotches of black oil on them. He could see that she was silently mouthing along the lyrics to the song playing. "You can sing out loud. I don't mind."

"It's just hard to not sing along with Green Day." Kitty said. "Makes you want to go out and start a revolution. Ya know, burn down the city."

"Please don't burn down the city."

Kitty laughed loudly, her mouth curling up into a wide smile as she stood up to face him. "Come on, you can't say you've never thought of starting a riot."

Bruce found her smile to be contagious as he felt one spreading across his face. "I can honestly say I've never wanted to start a riot."

"Hmm." Kitty pressed her lips together and pretended to be thinking. "Must just be me." Bruce followed her to the other side of the car so she could work on those brakes. "Can you hand me another rag?"

Bruce nodded, his hand lingering after she took the towel and inadvertently touched his hand. "Why don't you sing in front of people?"

Kitty shrugged. "I just don't like to."

"Is there an actual reason?" Bruce asked.

"Nah," Kitty shook her head. "Just not something I like to do outside of the shower."

"So, are you seeing anyone?"

Kitty, who was still partially under the car, paused. Does Ashley count? "No, I'm not."

"Do you, maybe, want to go out tonight? With me?"

Kitty pressed her lips together and rolled herself out from under the car so she could look up at him. "Bruce, I don't think that's a very good idea."