Inside Voices ▷ Bruce Banner | ✓

13 - NOTHING ALIKE

WHILE THE TOWER WAS MASSIVE, SHE COULDN'T HELP BUT FIND IT RATHER SMALL. There were only so many places she was able to go—where she wanted to go, rather, as Tony refused to restrict her to certain floors, though he did explain that she couldn't leave and she couldn't be seen by his employees—and it had gotten rather mundane as time went on.

Of course, she was appreciative, but she was quickly growing bored, especially with all the others being allowed to come and go as they pleased, though they hardly left for long, Clint explaining that he and Natasha were supposed to leave, but with her now in the Tower, it was best they stayed.

"Hey, sweetheart, how's it going?" Tony asked, looking out from where he had his head shoved into the fridge, searching for food.

She was surprised to see him out of the lab, what with how hard he worked, as well as JARVIS explaining to her that Tony often forgot to eat and it was up to him and many others to drag him out and shove him either into the kitchen or into bed. Nevertheless, she took it in stride, happy for some change of pace.

"I'm bored," she said, hopping up to sit on the counter, because that was her usual spot at this point.

Tony smiled from where he was still looking around for food, standing and glancing over his shoulder with an excitable grin. "Hi, bored, I'm Tony."

She furrowed her brow, looking wholly offended at his statement. "That wasn't funny."

Tony laughed, pulling out a variety of snacks from the fridge, making his way towards the pantry. "I thought it was, you have no idea how long I've been waiting to do that. But what do you want to do, I didn't expect you to get bored so easily."

"I don't know what else to do," she admitted, groaning as she shifted, her back hurting.

He hummed, turning around to look at her, tilting his head. "You tried bothering Steve, that's always fun. Or you can try talking to Arabella, I know she's a kid, but I think you two can have some fun."

She huffed, her legs dangling. "Steve doesn't really want to spend time with people, he just wants to stay in his room. Arabella says he might be depressed, and she's sick right now, and she doesn't want me to get sick."

"What about the assassin twins?" Tony asked, before wincing, "Uh, Barton and Romanoff, I mean."

She nodded, not taking offense at his mention of assassins; she was one, there was no getting around it, and they might as well acknowledge it at every available moment, as she had hurt many people. "I haven't tried yet, they're always together."

"What's the problem with that?" he asked, moving to stand in front of her, a bag of chips held between his teeth. 

She glanced away, rubbing at her arms. "I don't want to talk to Natasha. She doesn't trust me."

Tony shrugged, glancing away for a moment as he said, "Yeah, she doesn't really trust anyone, don't let it get to you, it's not you, it's her. Because, unlike you, she has been fully aware of everything she's done and was forced to trust no one her entire life."

"That's exactly how I was raised, Tony," she pointed out, and he faltered, shaking his head earnestly.

"You said the compliance—" he began, but she cut him off.

"It made me more compliant, more susceptible, that doesn't mean I wasn't aware," she explained, and it was a shock to Tony that her vocabulary had expanded so much in the short time she had gotten there, though she seemed to be quickly mentally making her way to the age that she was biologically, "I just wasn't in control, but I could see everything. I remember more than I'd like."