Used to Be Overlooked

Chapter Three

Steve wadded up a piece of paper and threw it at him before he could get away. All he heard was the laugh as Bucky dodged it and ran down the hallway.

He rubbed at his eyes as he tried to wake up a little more and took a big drink of the coffee in front of him.

"I'm not a stalker," he mumbled into the cup before looking around to see if anyone else was going to come in. When he saw the coast was clear he put the mug down and began typing again. "I'm curious. There's a difference."

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"Claire, go ahead and take the rest of the day off," you sighed, walking up to the counter and dropping off reviewed files.

"Are you sure? I mean, you still have a lot to get done. I can stay a few more hours," she said with a sincere look.

"Don't worry about it. I know you have a date night with your fiance, and I'm not going to keep you from it," you smiled.

"You're positive?"

"Positive," you waved off as you walked back to your office, but quickly turned around. "Oh, one thing before you go though?"

"What's that?"

"Send Dr. Higa that report that we went over. I told him I would make a copy, but all you need to do is fax it to his office."

"On it," she smiled, starting to organizing things.

You walked back into your office and began getting ready for another long night at your desk. Honestly, you could go home and do the work, but you tend to work better in this environment. No temptations of curling in your bed to binge another series on Netflix or staying up to bake random sweet treats. Something you did to relax when stress was too much and you needed to satisfy your sweet tooth.

It had been over 24 hours since running into Steve, but that didn't seem to be enough time to rid him from your thoughts. Every time you would throw yourself into work and just be getting enough done to get on a roll, he would pop right back up.

As you sat at your desk you let out a low groan, running your fingers through your curls.

"Get it together. You are a professional," you threw your hands on the desk and turned to your computer monitor trying to go over some lab results that were sent to you for approval, but once again became distracted. This time by a knock.

"Come in," you said irritated before straightening up and put on a fake smile.

"Miss. Ember?" a man's head peaked out of the door.

"Yes. How can I help you?" you said, cocking your head trying to get a better look at the man.

He smiled showing the small wrinkles at the corner of his brown eyes before fully entering and shutting the door behind him.

"I'm here to discuss an interesting matter that I'm having some troubles solving, and I heard you were the one that would have the most expertise in the area," he smile sweetly, walking to your desk and putting a hand out for you to shake. "I made an appointment to talk with you about a week ago. You seem to have an extremely busy schedule."

You furrowed your eyebrows not remembering having said appointment, but greeted him kindly anyway.

"Yes, quite busy indeed. A lot going on at the moment," you laughed. "Take a seat Mr.-?" you waited for him to finish.

"Banner. Dr. Bruce Banner," he smiled.

Your chest constricted knowing exactly who he was. The Avenger's mad scientist himself. The Hulk was sitting three feet away from you. Shit, did Steve figure out who you were and now has his people seeking you out.

No, no... That would be too much effort. How would he even be able to find you just off appearance? He didn't remember you. Yet again, they were the Avengers and most likely could find anyone they wanted within seconds of typing in an eye color.

You weren't sure if your facial expression changed or what, but Bruce gave you a worried look.

"Uh, are you ok? You look like you're in shock," he asked, leaning forward in a concerned way.

"Hm?" you said straightening up. "What? Oh, no. I'm fine," you waved off. "I, uh, sorry excuse me. I guess you could just say I'm a little shocked that Bruce Banner is asking for my advice on something," you said genuinely shocked, but not for those reasons. "How can I be of assistance?"

"Well, you are one of the top scientist in the nation for a multitude of things. I mean you've accomplished so many things at such an early part of your life," he grinned.

"Right. Early part of my life," you mumbled. He quirked an eyebrow, but you laughed it off. "Sorry, it's been a long day. Lot of things on my mind. Don't mind me talking to myself," you played off, organizing things on your desk

"If I need to come back another day, I-"

"Oh no! I would love to help with whatever you need. Honestly, I need to get my brain thinking about anything other than interns work," you chuckled, walking over to the coffee machine on the wall. "Would you like some coffee?"

"No, thank you. It gets my heart rate up. I'm supposed to be careful about that," he chuckled.

"Right," you laughed again, bringing the mug back to your desk. "So what exactly do you have for me? I'll answer as best as I can," you smiled.

"Remind me, you have specialty in multiple fields, correct?" he asked, pulling out some papers.

"Yes, although I specialize in microbiology, I did minor and master in mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, epidemiology, and molecular biology."

He gave you a blank stare.

"How old are you again?"

You laughed. "26, I know. A lot of people don't believe it, but when all you do your whole life is reading and wanting to learn, you get places. I was a unique adolescent to say the least."

"I can tell. You seem extremely mature for your age as well."

"Yes, my age," you said through a smile as you looked down at the papers. "Well, it's all about how you use your time, isn't it?"

"I guess so."

"Anyway, shall we?" you said, motioning to the binder he had yet to fully pull out.

"Oh! Right!" he said taking it out. "I needed your help on a formula. I think I just plugged it in wrong, or maybe I'm using the wrong substances. Think you can go through and see what I'm missing?"

"I would love to."