Chapter Seventeen: Girls Night Out

Emma wasn't mad at Bruce, not about breaking up with her or why he did it. . . it was the fact that he couldn't have waited another day to end things. That day still left a bitter taste in her mouth when she thought about it. It was supposed to be a day of celebration for both her grandparents and Bruce had to ruin it. Steve hadn't been too happy with him when he found his granddaughter crying into Natasha's lap.

It had taken her some time to forgive him but she did it. Although she had forgiven him, she still needed some time and space to figure things out for herself. It ended up working out for both her and SHIELD. Jane Foster had needed protection due to her past relationship with Thor and who better to look out for someone an Avenger cared for than with a fellow Avenger. Emma sometimes forgot that she was also an Avenger and Fury made sure that people forgot that too. It was his way of protecting her.

"I still can't believe that you dated Bruce Banner," Jane said as they sat down to dinner.

Jane hadn't been sure about Emma at first, due to her mistrust of SHIELD agents, but she quickly warmed up to the young woman. It had been a few months since the break up and the start of human trials of Carbanark. Emma was adjusting well in London, waiting for more news on the results of the drug. She had even made friends in Jane Foster and Darcy Lewis.

To get to know each other more Darcy decide to have a girls night out which Emma thought was a good idea. Jane just wanted to remain in her lab. Having dated a scientist Emma knew exactly how difficult it was to wrangle them away from their work. Darcy had to practically drag her away. Now here she was in a small but decent restaurant spilling details about her life.

"Jane, you dated a literal god," Darcy stated bluntly.

"Yeah, but the work Dr. Banner has done is fascinating including the new drug that he worked on," she said in amazement. "That you helped create."

"I just came up with the idea, Bruce and Tony just did the science," Emma said shrugging her shoulders.

"How did you come up with the idea?" Jane asked.

"My grandmother has dementia and I wanted to give her more lucid days with my grandfather," Emma replied.

"Aww, that's sweet," Darcy said.

"Solutions in science can come from the best reasons and that's the best reason of all," Jane said in agreement.

"So, if Bruce was such a great guy, why'd you two break up?" Darcy asked after they ordered drinks.

"We wanted different things," Emma said shrugging her shoulders.

"So, you wanted kids and he didn't?" Darcy asked bluntly.

"Darcy! That's a little personal and a little presumptuous, don't you think?" Jane asked her.

"No, Jane, it's fine," Emma chuckled. "I was hurt at first when he ended things because I understood why he did it. It's not that he doesn't want kids. I could tell that he does. It's that he couldn't risk having them."

"Damn," Darcy replied. "He is a great guy."

"The best," Emma agreed softly. "You know, if we're going to get this deep then we're going to need some more drinks."

"Amen to that!" Darcy exclaimed and they did just that. "Okay, I made you fess up. I guess I should do the same thing. I should tell you first about this time I went to a bar in New York and this guy tried to pick me up in scuba gear."

"Okay, you've got to tell us more," Jane said.

"But first, let's order some food to go with these drinks," Darcy grinned as the waitress came by.

It wasn't fooling anyone that Darcy was purposely not continuing with the story to keep them on their toes. Emma guessed that she didn't want to say whether or not she hooked up with the guy. She also guessed that she did. Darcy insisted that they wait for their food to arrive and Emma sipped her drink to keep from laughing.

"You hooked up with him didn't you?" she asked when their food finally arrived and Darcy shook her head, with her mouth full of food.

"What makes you say that?" Darcy asked.

"The fact that you refuse to talk about it," Jane said laughing.

"Oh, okay, so I hooked up with him," she replied. "But the guy was hot underneath his snorkel and it had definitely gotten my attention so his plan had worked. I fell for it: hook, line, and sinker."

Jane and Emma had burst into laughter. Darcy shook her head at them but she ended up laughing as well.

"I'm sure that's not the weirdest hook up in the world," Emma tried to reassure Darcy through her laughter.

"I don't know, it's pretty strange," Jane told Emma.

Emma's had friends before but they were always temporary and very few. She was a scrawny kid target by bullies, the most obvious choice for them, and Emma was quick to make friends who were also bullied. They never lasted very long. They moved away, lost interest, or switched sides to protect themselves where they became bullies themselves. She hoped that Jane and Darcy weren't temporary friends. As they drank, ate, and talked the night away the hope began to grow.