Behind the mask [Discontinued]

Chapter 5

With a loud sigh, Kahira throws her backpack into the large chair that sits in the living room of the avenger compound before heading down the hall toward the labs where her dad would most likely be working. So high school wasn't exactly a walk in the park. It wasn't like the movies. It wasn't romantic or exciting. It was the most boring six hours of Kahira's life. And much to her disappointment, she would have to do it all again tomorrow. How...inviting that sounded.

"Hey Bruce." She shouts as she steps inside the lab, shrugging her jacket off and dropping it on a backbench. On the far side of the room works Bruce Banner, his head buried behind a large piece of distillation apparatus that sends yellow smoke flying into the air. She hoped this experiment wasn't going to be radioactive. As much as she liked Bruce, she did not want to meet 'the other guy' nor did she want to become him.

When Bruce's head finally emerges from behind the apparatus, his eyes, which are covered by large lab safety glasses, land on Kahira's frame with a smile spreading over his face. "Oh hey, Kay." Bruce greets her with a nod of the head before glancing back down at the apparatus he holds in his hand for a brief moment before placing it within a small rack. "How was your first day at school?"

"Erm...it was..." Kahira's voice trails off whilst she contemplates whether to be honest about how much of a disaster it was or save herself the harship of explaining it all. If she told Bruce what had happened then he'd tell Nat who'd tell Steve who'd either tell Tony who'd pull her out of school, or go into school himself and have a word with the headteacher. Which was worse she didn't know but she definately didn't want to find out. "alright I guess."

Bruce looks up through the top of his glasses as the words leave Kahira's lips. He remembered what high school was like and the first day was never alright. "You sure?" He asks her cautiously, not looking up from his work in an attempt to avoid eye contact. "We can talk about it if you want." he assures her, finally meeting her eyes with a small, slightly awkward smile. As much as he liked to pretend he was good with kids...he was terrible. 

Kahira simply shakes her head and forces a smile on her face as she makes her way around the desk and over to Bruce's side. Her eyes land upon a small piece of machinery that sits within the centre of the desk. "What you working on?" she asks him before picking the piece of machinery up only for Bruce to take it straight back off her. That was odd, he always let her look at his projects. 

"Oh erm... a machine that your dad asked me to make." Bruce answers vaguely, giving the piece of machinery a once over to check nothings been knocked out of place before placing it back on the desk. He carefully lifts the test tube that contains the yellow gas up and pours it in the centre of the machine. It instantly turns solid, filling the small gap that sits on the top of the machine. A triumphant smile spreads across his face but its quickly wiped off when he notices Kahira staring at him oddly. "It can project someone's dreams if I can manage to make it work." 

Project someone's dreams? Why did her dad want a piece of machinery that did that? And more importantly, what did he plan to use it for? Kahira knew her dad had always kept her in the dark when it came to avengers business but Bruce didn't. It was worrying that he was keeping this a secret. "Speaking of my dad, is he around?" Kahira asks, glancing around the lab expecting her father to be somewhere only for his figure to be absent. "He promised a family games night."

Since Kahira had got back from France this summer, Tony had been more distant than usual. Keeping secrets. Sneaking around. Or never being around. When Kahira had asked him what was going on he'd snapped at her, told her she wasn't a little girl anymore so she didn't need to be near him 24/7. It was the first time she'd heard him raise his voice at her. Sure she'd heard him yelling at the rest of the team before but at her...never. She was terrified when he did and he realised that as soon as he'd done it just how much he'd scared her. And so, in order to get her off his back and avoid yelling at her again he'd promised her they'd spend that night as a family again. Just like old times. Board games, arguments over the top of a Monopoly board game, sweets and laughter. Her heaven.