Umbra

Chapter Four

Grey hadn't touched anything in the laboratory. She had merely floated in and out of sight as she stood next to Bruce, quietly watching him create his algorithm. Bruce raised an eyebrow as she repapered into view for the twenty seventh time.

"So, are you still a palynologist?" he asked, smiling when Grey finally stopped flickering.

She nodded, smiling from her spot next to him. "Palynologist, anthropologist and stereo chemist." She felt a swell of pride when she spoke about her achievements, a bubble of joy surrounding her.

"I read up about you, in your file. You're incredibly smart. I'm surprised you haven't been running around this laboratory."

Grey sucked in a breath, biting her lip and shrugging, the flickering returning. "I'm... I'm happy just watching you work. It's interesting."

Bruce nodded, looking down at her. A few moments of comfortable silence passed between them, allowing Grey to watch in awe as Bruce flicked up hologram after hologram to use for his work. The facilities on the ship were truly amazing. They dropped into an easy rhythm, Bruce concentrating on his algorithm, Grey flickering like a candle next to him, asking questions about his equations every so often.

After a while, Bruce turned to Grey, pushing his glasses up his nose nervously. "Uh- I had been meaning to ask you – and you don't have to answer if you didn't want to – but I wanted to know more about – about the fire that gave you your powers."

The silence that enveloped them at that moment was more tense than comfortable, and Grey saw Bruce blush with embarrassment. "I'm sorry- it was stupid of me to ask. I get you don't want to talk about it. I don't like talking about my accident, either."

Grey sucked in a breath before shaking her head. "No, it's okay. My therapist told me it's good to tell people about what happened... it forces me to come to terms with it."

"I was working in one of the laboratories, alone. I was investigating the pollen from a new sample of a rare flower we had imported from Fiji. Medinilla Waterhousei." Grey smiled softly at Bruce. "Do you know the legend attached to the flower?" Bruce shook his head, and Grey continued. "It represents the tears of a young girl, forbidden by her father to marry the boy of her dreams. So she cried so much, her tears became the flower."

"Wow." Bruce said softly, his eyebrows raised. "I never knew that flowers could be so interesting."

"You'd be surprised." Grey let out a small laugh, but it was slightly forced. "I analysed what happened when you burnt the pollen, and it turns out it's a highly flammable substance."

Grey gulped slightly, and as her heart rate sped up, as did the rate she flickered. Bruce watched her with a concerned look. "If you don't want to tell me-"

"No. I want too." Grey tried to steady her breathing, but she knew she couldn't. "The fire spread unlike any fire should. I-It wouldn't go out. I tried everything but it wouldn't stop. It burnt the entire lab. It burnt- it burnt me."

"But your skin..?"

"The pollen changed my DNA structure. It burnt me so badly that it caused my DNA to bind together, which caused any burns I had to be healed. It also... obviously, rendered me invisible for three months until I could figure out to control myself. The police just assumed my body was burnt so badly that it turned to ash." Grey didn't realise she was crying until she felt a tear drop onto her hand, and she finally reappeared fully, looking up at Bruce. "My entire family think I'm dead."

Bruce just stared helplessly at her, feeling more awkward than he did before, but he also felt dreadful inside after hearing what happened. He stepped towards her to give her a reassuring pat on the shoulder, but Grey wrapped her arms around him and pulled him into a hug. A mutual understanding travelled between them, and they both knew that they didn't need to say anything, and that that was alright.

They both pulled away after a minute, and Grey laughed as she wiped a tear from her eye. "Sorry."

Bruce frowned and shook his head. "No- don't be sorry-"

Suddenly Natasha burst through the door. "We have a match. Eighty percent. You're up, Umbra." She flashed Grey a wicked smile, before quickly tossing her a pistol. "It's loaded; you know how to use it?"

Grey scoffed, smirking over at her and following Natasha out the door, waving a quick goodbye to Bruce.

"Of course I do."

Natasha gave her a wink, before pulling her to the side and clipping an intercom into her ear. "Can you hear this?" Grey heard Natasha's voice in front of her and crackling in her ear.

"Loud and clear." She responded with a confident smile. The two women stalked to the boarding area, looking equally deadly in their suits. They boarded on the same Quinjet that brought Grey to the Helicarrier, and she looked around it in disgust. "I didn't think I'd be getting back in this so soon."

"Don't like flying, ma'am?" Steve had followed them onto the jet, looking every inch the righteous hero in his new and improved Captain America uniform ("Coulson helped design it." Natasha had whispered to her).

"Not the biggest fan, Captain." Grey gave him a quick smile. "Where are we going this time?"

"Stuttgart, Germany." Steve secured his shield onto his back, shooting Grey a concerned look. "This guy isn't even trying to hide. The villains I know don't work like that."

Grey raised an eyebrow at him. "This guy sounds like a laugh. Loki, right? That's what it said in the file."

Steve gave her an amused smile. "You did the reading?" Grey gave him a confused look, letting out a laugh.

"Why is this a thing? Did no one else do the reading?" she pointed at him, eyebrows raised. "Doctor Banner did." Steve laughed when she did that, shaking his head.

The rest of the Quinjet ride was quiet, Grey with her nose buried in the file, and Steve looking around the jet in admiration at modern technology. Grey looked up at him, quickly realising that Steve was more than just a man out of time; he was broken inside. He'd left something back in the forties with him, be it a girl, or a friend. Grey felt her own heart break a little for him.

"We're just over Stuttgart, guys. He looks like he's making some Hitler-esq speech." Natasha's voice sounded over the intercom. Grey looked out of the window, seeing a large crowd of people gathered in front of one golden sparkle. "Cap, Umbra, get out there."

"Ready to get up close and personal, Stevie?" Grey smirked as she attached herself to Steve's back, immediately vanishing.

Steve laughed as he steadied himself at the exit of the jet. "Readier than I'll ever be."

However, Grey didn't hear his reply. She only heard the screaming of the wind as they leapt out of the back of the plane and the thud of Steve's shield as they landed, right in front of Loki, God of Mischief, who was sending an angry energy beam zooming right at them.