Chapter 4:

All he could do was sit there and stare at her. She lay there, motionless, peaceful. Her body rose and fell with every breath. A ghost of a smile graced her face. She had hugged him. This tinny mortal had fearlessly reached up and hugged him. That had startled him, but what really alarmed Loki was that she had thanked him. Thanked him for her abduction, because in all honesty it was mostly his fault.

The very thought of her not hating him was so undeniably alien, it was hilarious; just as alien as Odin coming to Earth and hugging him. A snort escaped him at the thought.

"Loki, you can leave now." Fury's cold voice said over the intercom. Loki ignored him. This was really so unexpected, that it took him longer than necessary to acknowledge Fury. Not that he cared what the mortal said.

Too caught up in his bewilderment, he never noticed Thor entering the room, to tell Loki it was time to leave her be. Loki vaguely wondered if the Director thought he would attack her. If Fury did, then he was wrong. For reasons unknown to himself, he wouldn't be able to hurt her. As Loki exited the room, he spies the Widow lingering in the corridor. She looked around him and into the room, sweeping past when he was out of the way. He watched her curiously, but his view was interrupted by the door sliding shut without a sound.

His eyes narrowed in suspicion at her odd behavior. Time to keep an eye on the Widow, he thought slyly. Loki's conniving mind had a few ideas to what she was up to; the least of which being her harming the girl. The woman didn't seem to harbor any negative feelings towards Kate, although, she had pointed a gun at her in that alley. Loki continued his musings as he walked.

Loki and Thor continued on their way to the conference. When they arrived, no one paid Loki any attention, even when he started to hum a rather obnoxious tune, not one person spared him a glance. Only he noticed the Widow slink into the room via a side door; sliding into her seat. Her face was guarded.

Banner stood in front of a large screen, pointing out side-effects of the serum and whatever else might be important to the procedure. The screen showed diagrams of cells and helixes being changed. Loki studied the faces around him. As expected, the scientists and doctors wore varying shades of intrigue. The few agents at the large conference table had glassy eyed expressions and boredom clearly etched on their features. The only Avenger he bothered to look at was the Captain. Initially, Loki had assumed the man would be on-board this experiment; said man's face was clearly the opposite. His mouth twisted in a grim line and his eyes narrowed slightly. His large hands twitched at the words, 'Break her central DNA strand.' Rogers eventually folded his arms and looked down at his lap, glaring at the floor. Loki quietly agreed with the soldier. Under all his conniving schemes, Loki felt revulsion. How could anyone feel comfortable doing this?

Loki was abruptly wrenched from his thoughts when he heard his name.

"…and since Thor and Loki are still here, they will assist in training her." Banner finished. The gathered men and woman nodded and continued studying the screen. This was news to Loki, however. When had he been added to the plan? As far as he had been told, his only duty was to acquire the USB, not training. All pity he had felt moments ago vanished. His mouth twisted into a sneer.

Loki cleared his throat. All heads turned to him. "Wait did you say, Thor and Loki? I am merely here to observe, not participate in…training this mortal." He sneered.

"Yeah, I agree. Do we really want the god with control issues working with something new?" Stark asked obnoxiously. Banner muttered something about interruptions. The billionaire took out a pen and started tapping it on the table. This earned him a glare from both Fury and Loki.

"Mr. Stark, you have an ego even more obvious than your ridiculous tower. Do any of you really think it logical to allow him to work with her? He would convince her to be just as rebellious. I thought you wanted a tool to be wielded by SHIELD, not another vigilantly?" Loki said sadistically. At this, several people shifted in their seats to get a better look at him. Some gave him quizzical looks while others contemplated his argument. He didn't mind actually. It was high time he got some attention. A smug grin lit his face for a brief instant before he hid it. It was best to not let the mortals see him so pleased.

"Yes, well at least I didn't destroy half of New York." Stark said calmly. Even though he tried to hide it, Loki could see a nerve pulsing in Stark's neck. Ah, Loki thought, still a sore subject? He mentally added this little bit of information. He could use this as ammo for another argument against Stark.

Loki smirked and was about to answer with another retort, when Fury said, "Excuse me kids, but if you are done talking I would like it if the two of you would grow up." He gave murderous looks to both Loki and Stark. Loki flushed slightly at being told he was acting like a child, while Stark shrugged and fiddled with a pen. Apparently, Stark was told on a daily basis he acted like a child. Not surprising in the slightest.

"Loki, you will be needed to help stabilize her gene structures. We could do it with chemicals and machinery, but it would be easier and safer if you did it with your magic." Banner said coolly. "I assume that you still have your magic?" His eyes didn't seem annoyed or threatening, just neutral. But there was a faint tinge of anger in their depths. He supposed this was common; Banner could be a monster when angered too profusely.

He was feeling awfully annoyed at having to train her, so he let off a little steam by turning Stark's pen (which he continued to tap against the table) into a baseball hat. After the pen's transformation, Loki summoned it into his hand and placed it casually on his head. He quite liked how he looked in the cap. Stark looked at him, affronted. "That was my favorite pen." He muttered, like a child.

"Yes, I still have my magic." He rolled his eyes. "I really don't like agreeing with Mr. Stark, but why would you trust me with such a task?" he looked pleasantly at Banner, then Fury. Both men exchanged glances. "Simply we can't." Fury finally answered, breaking the awkward silence that had filled the room. "But, to make sure you do your job right, Scarlet Witch will be over seeing the procedures." He answered quietly. The people in the room shifted uneasily. Loki and Thor exchanged confused looks. What had happened in the few short years since they had left?

Thor asked, "Who is this Scarlet Witch?" It was quite funny to see Thor confused in Loki's opinion. The oaf couldn't understand the difference between a tree and a bush if his life depended on it; in Loki's opinion at least.

"Another biogenetically changed human. She has hypnosis, telekinesis, and energy projection. Her skills will also help Kate learn her new abilities." Banner explained. Someone muttered, "Freak more like." This earned a few snickers. Fury didn't do anything, but his scowl deepened. His eye trained on the desk, he seemed to be trying to burn a hole right through.

Loki laughed coldly. "You humans will do anything to change yourselves! Why?" he asked, still grinning coldly. Could he perhaps manipulate this Witch? Plans started to form in his mind; each more conniving than the last.

Banner shifted and glanced at Fury. Fury nodded at Romanoff. She rolled her eyes. Romanoff stared at the screen before turning to Loki and began to explain.

"We were meant to take down another HYDRA hot-spot and found two illegally mutated humans; twins, Pietro and Wanda. Pietro never survived the battle with Ultron." She explained quickly. This must be a touchy subject for her.

Loki narrowed his eyes, considering this new development. Perhaps he could mess with the girl's new genetics. It was no small task to stabilize her, but it wasn't impossible either. If this Witch was to be observing, it would be difficult to sabotage this project.

"I know that look. If you think of any funny business, we will have to dispatch you." Fury threatened. He smirked.

"And how do you plan to do that?" Loki said with a sneer. What could this mortal possibly have that would harm him?

This time Fury smirked. A flicker of confusion flashed through the god's eyes. "Let's just say an old friend of yours has agreed to do the job if needed." Loki's confusion deepened. He didn't have friends. He did have an abundance of enemies though. But there were three beings he did know that were not enemies, at least not yet; Thor, who he wasn't sure about, Frigga, his mother, and Kate, who could be a possible ally. The way Loki considered Frigga to be his mother was the same if she had given birth to him. Odin, however, was another matter entirely.

The Director looked away from him and motioned for Banner to continue. Loki retreated back into his thoughts. A storm of assumptions filled his head. Banner then mentioned that soon they would take her out of her drugged sleep again; perhaps another opportunity for him to understand her. He still didn't know anything about her past. Why was that? He thought. If he thought about it, no one had mentioned her past. It almost seemed as if it had been forgotten, another mystery to be unraveled.

"So what's the next step?" Romanoff asked. She seemed a little more tense than normal, and kept fiddling absentmindedly with a strand of hair.

"Well, that would be to tell her about the injection. But prior to doing that different chemicals will be injected first to prepare her genes for change."

"What are the chemicals exactly?" Stark asked. Banner looked at sheet of paper and rattled off a series of chemicals. Loki couldn't understand what they were.

"Alright, any questions?" Banner finally asked after his long conversation with Stark on chemical transverse. No one bothered to ask any. "Alright, let's go prep her."

There was a voice. It was neither loud nor soft, neither calm nor erratic. It was simply there; playing with her thoughts. It called her name, soothing her anxious mind, and then tossing it into turmoil again. Words flowed from the voice, but she never understood them. The only images she saw were either a dark void or a purple haze. Emotions swelled within her. Her most common was fear; an irrational, unstoppable fear that bathed her mind in terror. No escape, no help would come, never ever an end. Was this all her pathetic life amounted to? Fear, anger, and sleep? Would this be forever? This couldn't be her life!

These were her nightmares. Normally she would awaken in a cold sweat, shivering, crying, and whimpering. She never realized she was in a nightmare until many minutes after waking. This nightmare persisted to haunt her. Now it was much worse. She couldn't wake up. The drugs kept her in the void that was sucking her down.

A garbled scream escaped her lips as she looked down. It was a hole. A large, round white hole, that was sucking the void into it. Right then, the void seemed very appealing. Her eyes widened. This was new. Even her curious nature couldn't quell the terror. It was as though she knew that falling into the void would kill her. Well, maybe that was an exaggeration, but something would happen if she fell into it; something terrible. A deep, smooth laugh resonated around her. It was like the voice knew what she was thinking and He found it amusing.

Her breathing was quickening as she clawed at the nothingness, trying in vain to stop her descent. Then she noticed that her nails were blunt. No jagged edges that would snag. She couldn't scream; her mouth opened again and again but no sound would escape; she was voiceless. The one weapon she had was gone. She tore at her hands, pulling at the nails. Glitter started to fall off her hands in waves. This stunned her into silence, and watched in amazement. Her hands were turning to dust and drifting away. This felt…amazing. Now, she wouldn't have to face the voice in the hole, because now she knew were that voice was; waiting in that terrible, white hole. Then she heard a new, gentler voice. The dust that had been her hands drifted into the direction of the new voice. Her body disintegrated completely, and she was gone.

Bruce moved the dial back. He carefully watched her face. The lines smoothed out and her heart rate returned to normal. The first chemical injection hadn't gone as well as they had planned. This was just a small dosage of what should be a harmless substance. Its main purpose was to soften her gene and cell structures. Kate could have been awake, but Fury didn't want her to be taken out of her sleep until after the first pre-injection. Personally, Bruce would have preferred her be awake so he could talk to her. He hadn't felt comfortable talking to her in front of… everyone. One person in particular, but that wasn't important right now. What mattered was doing his job. He tried to keep telling himself that as he worked.

"Did that work?" Tony asked in his ear. Bruce winced at the volume. A little too loud in his opinion; sadly for him, he hadn't found the volume changer on the blasted Bluetooth yet. The reason he had a Bluetooth at all was simply for the purpose of Tony working with him. Tony however, didn't 'work well' in a room that housed a living science project. Bruce had then asked him why he had agreed to this at all, and Tony's answer was, "I want to add this to my resume." Bruce privately thought that Pepper would be doing the resume, not him. As if the genius, billionaire, philanthropist, playboy needed a resume.

"Yeah, think so. Her brainwaves reacted rather violently. I think this should fix that." He said. His eyes scanned the screen quickly. All was good. He made a mental note to find out what went wrong later when he had the time.

The man stretched his hands, and fiddled with a screen. The live feed he was watching came from inside one of her larger veins. He sighed in relief as the blood cells took on a more spongy appearance. Not enough to do damage, but just enough to allow change. Some of the tension that had been weighing on his shoulders lifted a little. Bruce couldn't wait until this was all over.

"Ok, Bruce you can pack up and leave. She sleeps for another day, we wake her and inject with something else, she sleeps for a day, and she wakes up. Nothing could possibly go wrong!" Tony said cheerfully on the other side of the line.

"You know Tony? It would help if you didn't make sarcastic remarks like that." Bruce said evenly. While he talked, Bruce focused on a screen, shutting down certain equipment. A finicky monitor wouldn't shut down, so he left it on. If leaving it on ruined it, he'd just blame it on Tony, who could build an even better one in thirty minutes.

"Hey, I'm just pointing out the obvious. Gees, can I never have fun?" he said with fake sadness. Bruce rolled his eyes and packed his case. A small whimper came from the bed in the corner. He glanced at the girl. A slightly puzzled look crossed her sleeping face, and then her eyes opened. Bruce stiffened. This is not possible. He thought instantly. With some hesitancy, he straightened up and took a step toward her.

"Kate," he said slowly, as not to startle her, "Are you okay?" Could she even hear him? Was this another reaction to the drug? What should he do? A thousand and one questions raced through his brain; Bruce just couldn't decide which to act on.

She didn't seem to look at him, just through him. He bent down to her level and examined her eyes. They were gray, with green and brown flecks. Her eyes were brown before he had put the pre-injection in her. What was going on?

For a tense moment, Bruce considered putting her under again, but there was no need. Her eyes closed and her breathing evened, but not before she said one word; Vision.

A finger was poking her cheek. It was very annoying. Exhaustion weighed on her body. She was too tired to open her eyes. Maybe if she ignored it, it would stop. No such luck. Kate growled deep in her throat and grabbed the pestering finger an instant before it hit her, no normal human could have been able to time it right; but Kate was not normal. She then opened her eyes to glare at finger's owner.

"Aw ha! She's alive!" the grinning face of Tony loomed over her. "You can let go now." He added casually. Her fingers stiffly let go of his.

"Not funny." Kate muttered, sitting up. She wished she hadn't. Small explosions of pain raced up her arms and legs, landing right in front of were her heart should be. The pain gathered to one point in her chest. A small gasp flew out of her mouth. Imagine a blunt object is being pushed into your chest. That's what it felt like, but it was ten times worse. Black spots danced in her vision for a moment. A dull throbbing started behind her temples.

A man in a lab coat jumped forward to push her back down gently. She doesn't bother fighting him. "I wouldn't do that if I were you." The man says quietly. "Your blood cells were just changed. You won't be moving very much for a while."

Kate doesn't remember this man. His black hair is shot through with gray. Deep stress lines perforate his face. He goes about doing his work, never glancing at her. The way he looked at her, tells her he is occupied by something. She doesn't ask what is wrong, because that would be rude. At least, in her head it is. He keeps rubbing a spot on his neck. The repetitive motion must be because it hurts, she deduces.

"Who are you?" she finally croaks out. After a brief silence he answers.

"Bruce Banner. You can call me Bruce, Mr. Bruce, Dr. Banner, I really don't care." He says, still typing something on a screen. Kate tries to nod, but it's too exhausting. Mild curiosity distracts her from her pain. She likes to watch his hands work; so busy, and yet slow and careful. He pours a chemical into a phial and writes something down before putting it on a shelf.

Tony studies her face, looking for something. She raises her eyebrows in a questioning way. Talking takes too much energy at the moment, but so does moving in general. He understands what she's trying to ask.

"What did you dream about?" Tony finally asks. She's at first puzzled. Did she dream? It takes a moment, and during the time she's trying to remember, she notices Banner has finally turned to look at her as well. Both men are curious about her, that much is obvious. The way Banner looks at her is almost unnerving. His general demeanor has changed, like he shut down all emotion and now his job is to gather information. Maybe that is his job. Kate chooses to not be bothered by it. This kind of attention was inevitable now.

"I-I think so." She says softly. Her strange eyes study the ceiling as she forces herself to remember. "It was so dark, and so cold, but so warm and safe. But there was a danger. A hole! It sucked in everything. He was there!" she starts to choke out. She remembers. For the first time, she remembers her nightmare in great detail. She remembers the darkness, the voice, and hate. Deep rooted hate that trumps every other emotion. Now that she is awake, she can identify the tone of the voice. What she heard was hate disguised as kindness. Every time her nightmare occurred, she fell for it; fell for the same trick. Kate could feel the voice in her very bones when she dreamed.

"Whoa, Kate it's alright." Tony says soothingly. He grips her arm reassuringly, but all it does is cause her to flinch away from the contact. She nods, and closes her eyes briefly. It had just been a nightmare, a dream. Nothing would happen to her here. She was safe. At least, she hoped she was safe. Banner stands awkwardly a few feet away. She continues telling them the dream.

"I was about to fall into the hole, when I was taken away. A different voice calling my name, talking to me, telling me it was time to come back. The new voice was so… different. He told me his name, but I don't remember." She finished. Now that she finally said it, the dream didn't sound so terrible; almost childish. A slight blush rose to her cheeks. Then again, dreams always seem worse than they really are when you experience them.

"Did you ever see the person who had pulled you away?" Banner asks, his eyes slightly narrowed in thought. Kate shook her head. "Wait, you said, 'He was there.' Who's 'he'?" Banner added after a moment's thought. Kate shook her head, indicating she didn't know. In her mind, the voice was always Him. No name, no face, and no description but a deep, powerful voice; a cruel voice.

The scientist nods slowly, typing something onto a screen.

"Is my dream important?" she asks quietly. Why had they asked anyway? Did it have to do with her new future?

"During your first pre-injection, the chemical reacted horribly with your mind. It was almost like you were in some sort of night-terror." He finished. It was almost like he was trying to cover-up his curiosity. Why?

"Oh." She said. Kate was too tired to really bother asking anything more stressful than the weather. Now that she thought about it, she wasn't even sure what day it was. It didn't matter, she supposed.

Banner seemed on the verge of saying something, but thought better of it. He turned back to his screens. Kate absently rubbed her arm, lost in her dark thoughts. A line from an old nursery rhyme floated around in her head, 'And when you heart begins to bleed, you're dead, dead, dead indeed.' A small maniacal smile lit her face. A small part of her wondered if this drug they had injected her with had done more than 'soften' her cells. Tony's voice snapped her out of the dark place her mind was briefly.

"Ok, so we're going to run some motor checks." He says briskly. He tells her to lift her arms, legs, and head, wiggle her toes and fingers, and to rotate her hands and feet. It's very taxing. By the end, Kate feels like she's run ten miles. The exercise has drained her, and sleeping seems like the perfect thing to do at the moment. Her eyelids shut, and she starts to drift off. Already she can hear the rushing sound of the dark void, enticing her to join it…

"No, Kate you can't do that." Banner says while shaking her shoulder gently. A grimace is on her face as she looks at him. Why? She asks with her eyes.

"You need to stay awake for this next injection." He says, walking away. Another? Now, but I just woke up! She thinks; irritation clearly displayed on her face. Tony mutters something about teenagers. She gives him a look that clearly says, 'You're not much better.' He smirks at her and goes over to run some measurements. She turns her gaze to Banner instead.

"Hey don't give me that look. This means you will have two of three done." Banner says with a small smile. In his hands is a long, thin shot. The thing is filled with pale orange liquid. With wide eyes, she tries scooting away, but it's so painful she remains in place. No wonder they didn't restrain her this time; she couldn't even get up, without collapsing in pain. She grits her teeth, anticipating the sting.

"Okay, so this shot will increase metabolism and your immune system, plus some other things that will probably bore you. Basically you will be able to eat an elephant and not get sick." Tony says. Banner hands him the needle wordlessly. His hand trembles. Kate narrows her eyes. Shaky hands? What's going on here, Banner?

Now Kate understood why Tony was here. Banner didn't want to inject her, or maybe her couldn't. Tony checked the fluid levels and reads something on a screen, before raising the needle above her arm.

"Wait!" she shrieks, "Why can't you put me under again?" she whines. Tony lowers the needle and looks at her. He's calculating something and she doesn't know what. She shifts uncomfortably on the bed, glancing at random objects.

"We need to see your reaction, and you need to eat. You haven't eaten in two days." He says. She thinks about this. Two days? How had she been asleep for that long? That wasn't possible. A million questions race through her head. What the heck had they given her?!

Then suddenly, Tony grabs her arm, and shoves the needle in. A shocked screech escapes her lips. How dare he? A sudden flare of intense rage fills her, but is quickly oppressed by weariness. It hurts, but not as much as she thought it should. Even so, her eyes close and she turns her head away. The fluid rushes into her system. She can feel it. Then, Tony starts to pull the needle out. Gagging noises issue from her mouth. It doesn't hurt, but it's still disgusting.

"You can look now." Tony says, something in his voice tells her he's trying not to laugh at her. She looks reluctantly and gasps at what she sees. A circle of orange rests on the inside of her elbow. It looks alien and strange. There is a drop of blood in the center of the circle. Banner quickly wipes it away.

"What…?"

"It will go away, most likely in the next twenty-four hours or so."

"Most likely?" she says weakly. It looks like someone drew on her with a sharpie. In the middle of the circle, she sees another small red dot of blood. It stays put, in the middle.

To distract herself from the ugly bruise, she watches Banner do… whatever he's doing.

"You didn't come to talk to me did you, when I arrived?" she asks finally. During the whole procedure, she tried to remember if he had gone to talk to her; she had met so many doctors, scientists, engineers, and it seemed everyone else involved with her, that she couldn't remember specific people. He hadn't. Kate isn't annoyed, just curious why. If he was performing this experiment on her, shouldn't she have talked to him beforehand?

"No, I was busy working on this." He replies stiffly. He shifts to look at her and asks tentatively, "Does this… bother you? I mean, do us basically experimenting on you disturb you at all?"

She blinks in surprise. Until now the thought of not doing it seems strange. When Kate thinks about being experimented on, she reminds herself that all things beautiful come with a price. It also doesn't seem to bother her that she's basically a lab rat. She knows it should, but she just isn't disturbed by it what so ever. "No, I don't. This is better that living off scraps anyway." She tried to joke, but the heavy tension in the room just makes it awkward. But Tony does laugh a little, making Kate smile; she likes his laugh. Banner nods and turns away.

Kate nods, and then asks if she can sleep now. Sadly, she can't. They want her awake, so they can see if any mental issues occur. A suspicion starts to form; maybe the dream wasn't 'nothing' after all.

So, she occupies herself with playing games on Tony's iPad; or 'Iron Man' Pad because apparently Tony made it himself and insists on calling it that. Looks like an iPad to her. Not surprisingly, most are Iron Man games. She glances at the billionaire. He watches her play, occasionally mumbling something about how they got the graphics all wrong when he's in the suit. Banner doesn't seem bothered by anything. He goes about looking at screens, measuring chemicals, and running simulations. It's like he forgot they were there. Kate was ok with that.

During a particular, cheaply made game, Tony curses. Instinctively, Kate tells him to watch his language. "You and Cap. are gonna be best friends by the end of this." He says. She gives him a questioning look, almost expecting him to say more. He doesn't.

This goes on for about three hours. The games get boring rather quickly. So, she occupies herself with watching the men work. It's actually kind of interesting. They work with chemicals, exchanging ideas on different techniques. Sometimes she hears Banner talk to himself. He says things like, "This thing is more annoying than Wanda on a sugar high." Or "Tony, just because you're a billionaire, doesn't mean you can do the impossible." (He says that quiet a lot.) Whenever this is said, Tony promptly answers, "Iron Man suit." Banner will roll his eyes and go back to work.

"Is there a visitor policy?" asks a young and rather attractive nurse. Kate blushes when he glances at her. He smiles and looks back at Banner.

"No visitors yet." He replies. Does someone want to see her? Who wants to see her? Is it Pepper? Kate brightens at the idea of someone worrying about her.

Kate was just wondering if she can fall asleep without them noticing, when there is a sharp pain behind her eyes. It feels like a hundred tiny soldiers poking her with swords behind her eyes. She reaches up to rub her eyes, and a voice whispers in her head. It's the voice that saved her from the hole. No audible words can be heard, but she knows the words are for comfort. Maybe it's the tone or maybe she trusts too easily, but the voice is so indescribably kind, that she can't help but feel protected when she hears it. The murmuring calms her and sooths the pain in her body. Even though her eyes are closed, she sees in her head a blurry outline of a person. It's getting into better focus, almost there, just one more second-

"Kate!" Banner has one hand on her arm and another grips a used shot. She looks at him confused. How had she not heard him walk over to her? His eyes are filled with panic that is slowly receding. With the meticulousness of one who is used to such panic, he straps a bracelet onto her shaking wrist. He checks the screen and runs his hand though his hair. "That was close." He mutters.

Before Kate can even ask what happened, Tony speaks. "Can you explain to us why you were shouting? I might already have hearing damage!" Tony says sarcastically, but behind his cocky demeanor, she can see he was scared too. What had happened?

"I-I-I was shouting? I just closed my eyes for a second. What happened here?" she asks. The lab is a mess; chairs tipped over, papers on the floor, a cracked screen, and spilled water.

"You started to go into cardiac arrest." Banner says quietly. He gently sets the shot down on a table. Then he starts rummaging in a drawer, so she continues to explain what happened. Or what she thinks happened. This is all becoming very confusing, very quickly.

"What? I just started to dream about…" she stops talking. "Why did I go into cardiac arrest?"

"We…don't know." Tony says. "What were you seeing?" he asks suddenly.

"It was the voice that saved me from the pit. He was there in my dream; he was taking the pain away. I couldn't understand what he was saying." She said. Her chest hurt again. The bracelet started to beep. Banner tapped something on the small screen and told her to take a deep breath. Apparently it measured her heart rate. Great.

"You were shouting-" Tony was abruptly cut off by Banner. Why couldn't they just tell her already? This was getting old really fast.

"No, Tony not now."

"What was I shouting?" Kate asked insistently. Even if she didn't have the stupid bracelet on, she could tell her heart rate was speeding up; this time it was from anger. Just because she hadn't heard it, didn't mean she wasn't entitled to know what she had shouted. After all, it was Kate's own mouth.

Banner sighed impatiently. "You were shouting a name you shouldn't know, but that's not important right now. What's important is stabilizing. Tony, go and fix her iron levels." He demands. Tony glares at him, before going off. Kate smirked at the unintended pun. Then serious thoughts fill her head. Why won't they tell me what name I said? Knowing it was a name was more infuriating than not knowing what she had at all.

She watches Banner's back. "Please," she begs, "Tell me." Trying a different approach might be better than out right anger. Still, she could always go back to Plan B.

"No, Kate. I need to figure this out first." He says quietly, with his back to her. She doesn't think she'll get anything out of him or Tony now. Without even asking for permission, she falls asleep.

Hey! I'll post more in a few days. Hope I get some reviews, faves, and follows! :)