A Little Calm...

Difficult To Hear

Come As You Are - Nirvana

You go through a week of tests. All day, everyday. Blood work, brain scans, DNA tests etc. Even fitness tests in the training rooms. You haven't been home yet, just in case the authorities decide to press charges already. You're staying at a secure facility just outside of the city, funded by Fury's team. Bucky commutes everyday to be present for the tests but is staying back at the apartment to take care of Alpine. You don't like spending so much time away from each other but you'd rather go home once you're completely in the clear.

Finally, you're being given the results. You're meeting in a conference room to discuss what the doctors have found and your next steps.

Doctor McGuigan
"Okay, there's a lot to talk about here so if you got any questions, keep them quick and productive."

You and Bucky give each other an amused look of confusion before turning back to the screen next to the doctor.

Doctor McGuigan
"Let's start with this weird fire thing you got going on. Luckily, whatever Agent Carter gave you was similar to the formula developed by Mr Cillian, so we can get rid of it."

Y/n
"Great! When?"

Doctor McGuigan
"Hill says it's almost cleared with the medical board now that we actually know what the procedure would involve. Maybe a few weeks?"

Bucky
"Are there any risks?"

Doctor McGuigan
"Not that we're aware of. Technically you're only the second person to go through this procedure so it's almost experimental."

Bucky
"Very reassuring, doc."

A moment of silence falls between the two of them as they squint skeptically across the table.

Y/n
"Can we continue? Please?"

Doctor McGuigan
"Right. Moving on to the other side effects, not related to Extremis."

Using the remote in his hand, the doctor clicks the the next slide to reveal an animated image of DNA. There are no labels and your extremely limited knowledge of biology doesn't lead you to notice anything out of the ordinary.

Doctor McGuigan
"Do you know what this is?"

You sigh at the subtle condescending nature of the question but choose to answer just to keep things moving.

Y/n
"It's a DNA strand."

Doctor McGuigan
"A representation of one, yes. Specifically belonging to Dr Bruce Banner."

He then turns to the next slide to another image of DNA. The different sequence of colours makes the dissimilarity obvious.

Doctor McGuigan
"This one belongs to a patient one of my colleagues treated for a broken arm. Just a regular Joe."

One last click of the button shows a hybrid of the previous two colour sequences.

Doctor McGuigan
"This is yours, Miss y/l/n."

When the next slide appears, all three images are lined up, with yours neatly placed in the centre.

Doctor McGuigan
"As you can see, you display a mixture of both link codes-"

Y/n
"If you're about to tell me that I could turn into a giant green rage monster, I would break the news gently."

Love You In The Dark - Adele

Doctor McGuigan
"I think if you had the capability for that, you'd have had an incident before now. We believe that you were subjected to a similar amount of gamma radiation as Dr Banner. Not as much, but it caused the same reaction to a lesser degree. Banners mutation came about when his double helix was destroyed and then miscoded upon self regeneration. What should have taken thousands of years of evolution, occurred in one afternoon, hence why he's triggered by emotion."