The Trial of Bruce Banner

Protection

Melina lifts the glasses further up her nose in a beige sweater that does nothing for her pale complexion.

Her glasses enlarge her eyes for a moment as she studies the screen with a muttered, "Let me see."

If the world were a cartoon, her eyes would be bugging from her skull with the intensity of her stare and the way she shoves the professor and Sinead from her way. They stand by the impossibility of Rebecca even possessing a fraction of Gamma. And the Super Serum remains, showing a minimal amount on the screen.

While the prideful professor exists in a huff, not surprisingly to Natasha, Sinead lingers. The woman insists that Rebecca's DNA hasn't altered enough to merit severe repercussions.

Natasha sits on the exam table where Rebecca just extended her arm for another blood test.

Now, Rebecca waits with Yelena in the hallway, playing with a flag belonging to the school's soccer team that Yelena has turned into a makeshift ball to score points with. Her giggles echo off the wall while Natasha studies her daughter's raged Hulk plush in her grasp.

Romanoff brushes her thumbs against the textured chest as she pulls her upper lip into her mouth and between her teeth.

Melina frowns, addressing Sinead, "Where is rest?"

The Irish woman leaps from her position with enthusiasm and an eagerness to share more of Rebecca's files. They read through, and all Romanoff hears coming from them are problems with her daughter's blood. The fact that she is a clone and the repercussions of her being one. The analysis of her DNA, heart, and newly adjusted Super Serum.

Maybe it's exhaustion or that Natasha is tired of seeing her daughter in college laboratories, in doctor's offices, wasting her childhood away with Dr. Cho and the like.

In the back of her mind, Natasha can hear her childhood screams. She'd be tested on, gone to Dreykov's 'doctor' one too many times to either have her mind evaluated or to have her raw DNA tampered with. 'Medicines', blood tests.

May Thor and his family damn her if she'll force her daughter to those same memories.

"Would it be so bad?" All heads turn over Natasha's mumble.

Her head remains low, picking a piece of brunette hair that should be a bright shade of red from off the plush. A reminded that daughter can never be herself...

"Would it be that bad if she had gifts,' Natasha repeats herself and elaborates with a hunched posture and her knees lifted due to propped feet on the exam table, 'After everything we've been through, giving my daughter my raw blood and thus, an additional boost of immunity and strength can't be all that terrible. One would argue there might be a day she needs to defend herself, knowing our world. Especially when nothing will ever be truly normal."

Melina's lips lift the corner of her mouth upward, "That is your choice, Natasha."

Natasha nods, lifting her chin as she gnaws at her cheek with a guilty conscience, "I can help her through this. Nothing needs to change. I keep doing what I've been doing. And if-. If she turns green...even then, I think...I think I'd rather she have a defense at this point. Despite what Bruce would've wanted, I believe she can handle this. I still want to protect her. And I will. She doesn't need to know she's a clone or of any repercussions about the dosage of Super Serum injected into her bloodstream. But. This part of her. It always has been. Because it's also a big part of who I am. And who her father is. Ultimately, she will become who she is, who she is meant to be, when it's time. So, no more tests. No more doctors. If she's attained a rapid healing ability from me, that's what we came for; to heal her. I think we're done here."

Sinead's hand is on Natasha's elbow and gripping her hard as if to reassure Romanoff she has a friend.

"No one needs to know," Natasha snaps coldly.

"No one but us," Sinead assures her further.

"And,' Melina sighs, 'your sister."

"And dad," Natasha says in so many words, confessing she's willing to share this with family.

The door creaks open, "Natasha?"

"If you tell me you're hungry," Natasha tells her sister with a snarky eyebrow raise.

"No,' Yelena lifts the burner phone Romanoff had thought she'd kept secret, 'you have call."

The once redheaded spy ignores the invasion of privacy and glares, "From who?"

"Clint."

"What did he say?" Natasha gives Yelena full permission to disclose the information.

"He said,' Yelena steps inside and closes the door behind her to ensure Rebecca stays out with Alexei, 'Jennifer have insight. Just talk to Bruce."

"And?"

"Boga."

"I don't know what you're saying."

"That is it. And location-."

"Boga? That Russian crazy assassin?" Melina snorts.

"Continue, Yelena," Natasha coaches.

Yelena focuses on her sister, "Your super brain husband believe he work for somebody in Hong Kong."

Natasha shivers in her stance. Her fingertips go numb as her daughter's Hulk plush falls from her grip as she puts the scattered clues she's been given together, "Damon."