Inside Voices ▷ Bruce Banner | ✓

18 - ALL IS REVEALED

BEING INTERROGATED WAS A STRANGE CONCEPT. Bruce explained to her that she was being interviewed, not interrogated, but she found that she didn't like it any better, and he had only laughed before going back to taking notes alongside Clint and Natasha, though Clint was doing most of the typing and researching while the others devoted their time to listening to her and working; Clint could multitask just fine, better than fine, but it was hard to focus on writing and listening at times.

After her initial statement about being unsure of whether her mutations were still in place or not, they had decided to try and back track through various channels, mostly trying to see if there were any defining features or characteristics that she could remember that could help them sift through the billions and billions of search results that had come up.

But, naturally, she came up short.

They were currently taking a break from yet another failed attempt at interviewing her—everyone but Bruce called it interrogating, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to point out to the trained assassins how dangerous it was for them to insinuate that their treatment of her was similar to their treatment of those they had in S.H.I.E.L.D. custody, but he was too tired to really try.

"We should try something different," Clint offered, facedown on Natasha's stomach, the woman staring up at the ceiling, her hands fisted in his hair.

"Good idea," Bruce sighed, struggling to breathe as he felt the pressure of keeping her alive weighing down on him again; it was a feeling he was unfortunately acquainted with.

She sighed, moving from where she was sprawled along the couch to lean against him, and he sighed, shifting so she could basically drape herself across him, closing her eyes to try and get some sleep, and he wrapped an arm around her to keep her from falling as she grew limp.

The group was found hours later fast asleep in the common area, two assassins and two monsters—though it could be argued that one happened to be both—all piled together and fast asleep, utterly exhausted.

"This is so sad," Arabella said, standing at the top of the stairs, looking at the scene before her, Tony and Steve standing behind her, "Tony, are we really crunched on time at this point?"

Tony reached out and squeezed her arm. "It's better if you don't know, Bella, it's just easier for everyone. But part of the reason why we're searching is so we can figure out how to save her. But also to screw those guys over, because fuck them."

She laughed, but stopped as she looked over at the woman whose name still had yet to be decided, tilting her head. While she had turned down Arabella's offer for fabricated memories, there was another offer she had yet to give.

"Tell me when they wake up," she said, both to the men still awake and to JARVIS who set an alarm.

"What're you planning?" Steve asked, watching as she made her way down to her room, saving up as much energy as she could.

She merely hummed in response, a foreboding energy filling the room, moving to circle around the woman who continued to sleep, wrapped in the sweet cocoon of darkness.

º º º

When she woke, she was immediately bombarded with sound, everyone seated in the common area in the midst of conversation which had gotten heated, arguing back and forth on the best course of action.

"—you really want her to relive and vividly remember traumatic moments in her life?" Tony demanded, and his hair was an absolute mess, his hands running over his jaw.

"I can make sure she forgets them later, but she can remember what those guys look like and anything she remembers about what they used on her or what the facility looked like," Arabella argued, and she seemed genuinely distressed to be going against Tony at the moment, but for someone so much younger, she was holding her own well.