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8
The scientist walked to her room with a pace fast enough to race a turtle, trying to gather his thoughts as he looked down at the notebook in his nerved hand. Reading over his notes for what seemed to be the 1,000th time, he slowly entered the small room, smiling politely at the girl who was calmly sitting on her bed, gazing out the window at the yellow sunset.
"Hello, I'm Dr. Banner, but you may call me Bruce if you would like," He uttered politely, adjusting his glasses again.
He took a few steps closer towards Ailanna's bed, who's eyes were cautiously watching his every movement.
"If you don't mind, I have a few questions for you," Banner said, his eyes wandering to the chair that perched right beside her bed. "May I sit here?" He asked awkwardly. Ailanna, not knowing what he said but knowing he had asked her a question, shook her head yes in a guessing way. She felt she could trust this man.
Banner smiled and took a seat, looking at his notebook in hand before closing it with a sigh. "So, miss, do you know your name?" He asked, his hazel eyes gazing through his spectacles up at the girl, who looked at him at a loss for words. She didn't respond, however, she looked away from him with ashamed eyes. She felt dumb.
Banner blinked, then pursed his lips at her reluctance to speak. "Do you not know where you're from, or how old you are?" Bruce calmly asked again, and the girl ashamedly lied down in her bed, her back facing Bruce. She felt as if she would cry.
"You can talk to me, miss. I know who you are. Your name is Ailanna, isn't it?" Bruce asked in a low voice, and Ailanna sat up in her bed at the mention of her name, looking directly at Bruce. Bruce smiled, nodding his head for instance. "You are the Lost Daughter of Poseidon?" At that, Ailanna's eyebrows knitted but she nodded her head yes, at the familiar words she could understand, such as "daughter" and "Poseidon."
Bruce laughed happily as he reached for his things. "That's all I needed today, miss Ailanna, I'll be back tomorrow, and hopefully with a translator so you can know what I'm saying to you." Ailanna only nodded as if she knew what he was saying and smiled back.
Bruce happily left the room with his notebook tucked under his arm and his glasses hanging from his fingertips. He smiled happily as he trekked his way back to his office, but was stopped abruptly by a seemingly angry Steve Rogers.
Bruce's eyebrows raised in confusion as Steve's hostility, but was given no time to question it. "You know information on the girl, don't you?" Steve pushed, his jaw clenching as he sized Dr. Banner up. Banner's smile faltered as anger boiled inside of him, and he prayed that The Other Guy wouldn't pay a visit.
"Steve, I don't think you want to pull these strings, and like I said before, it's classified information. I'm not given any permission to discuss my patient's wellbeing unless they say I can, and she hasn't said that I could, so I can't. I'm sorry Steve, but I have to get back to work." At that, Banner abruptly walked past Steve, his fist clenching around his glasses so hard that they shattered in his hand.
Steve let out a furious breath of air, placing his hands on his hips as he flared his nostrils in anger and anticipation. What was Banner trying to hide from him?
