The Scientist (Loki x OC)

Pt. 10: New Ideas

Luna ripped off her gloves and put her head in her hands, tempted to tear at her hair. She felt as if she was searching for something but kept forgetting what it was. The deeper she delved into Steve's genome, the more buried she became. Like the man himself, it was overwhelming. The whole job felt a little pointless.

She saved and exited Steve's DNA file and opened up Wanda's. She may be biased, but Wanda's DNA was the most beautiful she had ever laid eyes on. She didn't bother to look at the nucleotides. Only the structure itself. Luna reminisced about looking at Wanda's cells alongside her for the first time. They had been dyed red, her signature color. Wanda had asked if her cells really were red like that all by themselves.

"Of course not," Luna explained. "It's from the dye so you can see them."

Luna leaned back in her chair. What was she to do? What was the point of it all? She was stuck at a wall in the middle of an endless road with no way forward or back. She looked over to the shelf housing the assortment of beakers and flasks.

"Who are you? You know what you do, but do you know who you are? You measure things out, mix things up, hold all kinds of chemicals and substances. You do so much for so many people but have you ever done anything for you? Have you ever done something that makes you matter to yourself?" Luna closed her eyes and let out a loud groan. "Oh my god, I'm trying to get existential advice from glassware. I'm going nuts."

She opened her eyes back to look at the DNA structure hovering above her. What would Wanda say to her at a time like this? Something positive, probably. But Luna didn't need positive. She needed something to help her.

She snapped her head up at the click of the front door opening. Who could it possibly be?

"Good day, Miss Fields. I trust that you are well." Luna smiled widely at the sight of her old friend.

"Hi, Vision. I'm doing pretty good. How are you? How's Wanda?"

"I am well, as always. Wanda is, too. I trust your work with Steve's genome is proving fruitful." Oh, if he only knew.

"Yeah, yeah, it's coming along. But I am happy to see you. Doing your regular check-ins?"

"Yes. I was just on my way to see Tony." He raised his hand to touch his forehead. "The stone has been behaving rather odd as of late." Luna stood up and approached him.

"How so? Has it been hurting, if that's possible?"

"Not so much pain, but rather a sensation. As if it has a mind of its own, but it doesn't know how to communicate." She lay a hand on his upper arm and smiled.

"Well, I'm sure Tony can figure out how to help with that." Luna paused. She knew she forgot something. "Oh! I have another song for Wanda to listen to. She liked the French ones, right?"

"She does favor those out of everything else."

"Should I give it to you the usual way?" She got her phone out.

"It is the most convenient approach." Vision smiled a bit.

"I am never going to get used to this, am I?" Luna said under her breath. She opened up the audio file and clicked to share it. Shaking her head, she tapped on the AirDrop feature and sent it to Vision. "Will we ever know how that actually works?"

"I believe that the mysteries of life are what make it worthwhile." Luna looked down and laughed silently.

"You always know what to say. Work right now is a mystery, but I'm not sure how worthwhile it is anymore."

"You're at an impasse. Perhaps a new idea could aid you."

"That's the thing: there hasn't been anything new since the team split. The only new thing I can think of getting is-." Luna paused. Deep in her brain, she felt the seed of an idea being planted and begin to take root. She affixed her gaze over Vision's shoulder, doing her best to hold on tight to that little idea.