✓ | Darkness.

chapter four

CHAPTER FOUR: SUPERPOWER RUNDOWN

Olive was told to go with Tony while he went in his lab to do work. She needed to be watched around the clock, but they weren't going to lock her up like some criminal (thankfully). After spending some time for herself while she adjusted-still in her handcuffs-they decided it would be best to send her off with the sarcastic man.

She quickly realized that she didn't really understand anything smart that Tony did. He's a genius and she's just ordinary. Though, it doesn't hurt to watch him work, even if she couldn't understand.

"How's he doing?" Banner asked, walking into step with Tony and Olive. He quickly noticed the handcuffs still around Olive's wrists, as he glanced to Tony who just waved his hand as if saying, 'just a minute'.

"Unfortunately, he's still Barton." Tony replied sarcastically, pursing his lips as he looked around.

"That's terrible." Banner replied in the same sarcastic tone, which caused Olive to smile slightly. She wasn't used to this much joking, or conversation in general. The words that were spoken to her, however, were always directed to her in an insulting or demanding way.

"He's fine. He's thirsty." Tony said, answering the question honestly this time.

"Hey, before we start," Tony turned to face Olive, "is it all right if I ask you a few questions?" He furrowed his brows, and before she could answer, he spoke again. "I'll take the cuffs off if you answer honestly."

"Do I have a choice?" Olive scrunched up her nose and tilted her head as she looked up at the man. Her English had gotten better over the years, but the accent was still there.

He pretended to think for a moment, before shaking his head, "absolutely not."

She rolled her eyes at his sarcastic smile while following him to a small table in his lab. He tapped the table twice, motioning for her to take a seat.

"Banner, you wanna take care of this first?" Tony asked, setting up a few machines on the other side of the lab. Clearly, when he said that he wanted to ask Olive a few questions, he meant Banner.

"Uh," the scientist awkwardly stood there for a moment before nodding his head. "Yeah, yeah... sure." He quickly found a small binder, no doubt, for taking notes. Olive watched with curiosity as he put his glasses on while flipping to a new page. "So, I guess, first I was thinking we could discuss your abilities, if that's all right."

"It's fine."

Banner nodded, "So, I assume you didn't have any before this process started." She shook her head in denial, causing the man to furrow his brows. "What do you mean?"

"I gained my powers a few years before Hydra, but the experiments they did... enhanced them, I guess." The girl mumbled, and she heard him hum as he wrote it down. She decided to explain more, since it was slightly complicated. "It started after the death of my parents. It's, uhm, brought out by pain. And it's mainly based off my negative emotions, like if I'm stressed or upset."

Tony glanced over in interest, while Banner spoke up again. "So, what can you do? And how were your abilities enhanced?"

"I can control the darkness. I don't know if there's a word for it." Olive shrugged, "but it was really weak before Hydra. I couldn't do much, except turn off a light, or something. I guess, taking the light from the bulb is a better way to explain it, but same difference." She chuckled softly as Banner wrote it down with a nod.

"The way it was enhanced was... uhm... it's hard to explain, really." She paused for a few moments as she thought of how to explain it. Banner waited patiently, which she appreciated. "It's like, ever since the experiments started... the darkness has had a mind of its own. Only around me, of course. Sometimes... it takes over me, and I completely black out. But, it's not really blacking out. My mind, like, shuts down while the darkness is in control of my body. Does that make sense?"