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[29] I'm Not As Dumb As I Look, You Know

"Ready to go back?" Bruce asked.

"Yea, just let me grab something." I said, standing up from the kitchen counter and leaving the room. Steve and Marie were settled in the TV room, watching a movie, and Marie waved at me. I waved back and went upstairs and into Marie's room. I grabbed one of her shirts and carried it to my room. I shoved it into a bag, and I shut it. Perhaps Tony's stuff could help me figure out what happened to Marie. It was worth a shot, and it would make me feel a bit better, knowing what was going on with her. I went back downstairs, and Bruce gave me a funny look.

"I'm going to find out what happened to Marie. Tony's gotta have something that I can use." I said, and he nodded. We said goodbye to Steve and Marie, and we left the house.

 "Do you think Tony will have something?" Bruce asked. I shouldered the bag and looked up at the sky.

"I sure as hell hope so." I said. Bruce smiled a little and laced our fingers together.

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"So glad you could join us, Dr. Banner and Ms. Soon-To-Be Banner." Tony said with a smirk. I rolled my eyes, and Bruce's cheeks went slightly pink. And, it was just our luck that Thor had decided to visit, and Loki was with him. But, the strangest part of the gathering wasn't Thor, Loki, Clint, or Natasha. It was this woman who stood beside Loki, and he seemed to be smiling at her. Bruce nudged me with his arm, and we shared a look. He took the bag from me, and the woman turned to face us.

"Oh, hello there! I'm McKenna, McKenna Carlin." The woman said, smiling a little.

"Pleasure to meet you, McKenna. I'm Cynthia, Cynthia Coulson." I said back. We shook hands, and Tony looked at us. 

"Well, I need to take the happy couple down to the lab. Be back in a few." Tony said. He brought Bruce and I down to the lab, and he pushed the table together again.

"Tony, do you have anything I could use to do some research of my own?" I asked.

"Uh huh. Just use what Bruce uses, or try out different things down here." Tony said before returning upstairs. Bruce handed me the bag, and I opened it, puling out Marie's shirt. I tucked it into my pocket, and I started messing around with Tony's machines. 

'If you start with the computer, you can figure the rest our on your own.' Phoenix said. After all she's the smarter sister. I followed her instructions as she told me what to do. 

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"And after we connect the computer to this thing, I should be able to scan the shirt for any traces of inhuman energy, and then the findings should be displayed on that screen." I said as I connected the wires and cables. The monitor whirred to life, and the small examination table I had put together was ready to be put to use. 

"Wow, you're amazing." Bruce said, walking over and wrapping his arms around my waist.

"I'm not as dumb as I look, you know." I giggled.

"I never thought you were. Even on the Helicarrier, I thought you were smart." He said, lightly kissing the back of my neck. He pulled away and went back to his work, and I set the shirt on the table. A few different colored rays scanned the shirt before an ultraviolet light scanned the shirt. I watched the screen, and several lines of binary code popped up onto the monitor. I gazed at the screen, eyes wide and jaw dropped.

"Bruce... Come check this out. Like, now." I said, stepping back. Bruce walked over to me, and he put his glasses on. 

"This is interesting. Here, I'll help you out." Bruce said, and we set to work. We were both decoding, and we didn't notice everyone else come down. I watched as Bruce scribbled something down, and I took my own notes. The screen started flashing and I looked at it. I wrote something else down, and I figured it out. 

"It's some sort of chemical reaction from the Chituari blood." Bruce and I said in unison. 

"But that makes no sense. They couldn't walk on walls, they just effing hung there like primates." I said, rubbing my forehead. 

"Maybe there's something else in Marie's genetics. something we don't know. We have no clue what her mother or father were like, and they could've had something in their bloodlines." Bruce said, and I nodded. 

"Wow, you two are quite compatible." I heard McKenna say. Bruce and I turned around, and we smiled at each other. 

"Heh, I guess we are." Bruce said, wrapping an arm around my waist. I kissed his cheek, and the monitor started making noise. We both turned around, and Bruce looked at the screen. I did as well, and it was overheating. 

"It's overheating. The codes were too much. Get down!" Bruce said, and just as he said that, the whole thing exploded. He grabbed my arm and pulled us both down to the ground, and I screamed. I could also hear McKenna shriek, and I knew Nat wouldn't freak out. Bruce shielded my head and face from the sparks, and when it was all over, we both looked up. 

"It was too much info for that old thing to handle. But, we found out just enough to do some more research on our own." Bruce said softly. 

"Yea, good plan. But, you'll have to talk to Marie about her parents. She'll open up to you." I said, and we stood. One of Tony's robot helpers rolled over with a late fire extinguisher, and it proceeded to spray the mess of two wires, one cable, and a busted monitor.

"And this is why science is my mortal enemy." I mumbled, and we all left to go back upstairs.