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21 | can i be the max to your grinch?

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can i be the max to your grinch?

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It was the next morning when she found Bruce in his lab.

"Oh, Bruce," Cara hummed as she stepped into the room, a new confidence having been found within her.

The doctor looked up, surprise etched in his features. "What are you--"

"It's your turn to help me figure out my secret talent," she grinned a little too cheerfully. "Ready?"

He grimaced. "Uh, yeah, I guess, ready than I'll ever be," he set down the pile of papers he'd been looking through and took his glasses off, pursing his lips. "What do you want to do?" He asked her, shoving his hands in his pockets.

She lifted an eyebrow. "I thought you were the one that'd tell me. Since, you know, this is your lab and all," she gestured to the large space surrounding her.

He nodded. "Oh, right." His eyes left hers for a few silent moments, and then met them again. "So, you're thinking, um, science, right, not..."

"Grinch-ing out?" She guessed.

"Grinch--yeah, whatever." He spread his hands to lead her to a lab table that seemed to be used for almost nothing. Only a few papers were laid out on it, one of them with colorful squares covering it. He cleared his throat awkwardly, and said, "I don't know how much you already know in this field, but I decided to start out small." He held up the sheet of paper in front of her. "Can you name all of these using just the chemical symbols?"

Cara stared at him. Name all of what using just the what? She refused to be shown up to, though, and squinted at the sheet. "I'm thinking," she said in explanation for her silence. After a few moments' time, she smiled widely in triumph, and pointed at one of the squares with a single letter in it. "Oh, I know that one! It's oxygen, because of the 'O.'"

Bruce nodded. "Keep going," he encouraged.

"Um..." She examined the sheet of paper more, but knew it was hopeless. Trying for one more, she attempted at triggering a memory from her eighth grade year. One recollection tickled at the edges of her mind, driving her crazy. "That one's...um, I know that one, I do," she thought aloud, "it's got the first three letters of my name in it." She pointed at the capital 'C' that was occupying one of the squares and screwed her facial features up in thought. "Car--car-something..."

"Carbon."

When the teen lifted her head, Bruce was staring at her with a hint of an amused smirk on his face.

"Okay, I'm not that good at science," she grumbled, "I admit it."

"No, just because you can only name one of the Elements doesn't...necessarily mean you lack intelligence when it comes to physics and other fields of science," he said, but sounded unsure. Cara didn't blame him.

"Fine," she sighed. "What else is there?"

He began to show her...well, she didn't exactly know. The only thing she knew was that it was completely and utterly scientific.