The Science of Monsters
Chapter 7: We're a Time Bomb
Bruce stretched his muscles as he turned to his alarm clock. He tried to roll off his mattress when he hit the floor hip first. “The chair,” he sighed before pulling himself up. His own odor filled his nostrils. The shower called his name.
The woman was still covered with the sheet. She hadn’t moved all night, except the rise and fall of her chest. Her breathing was slow and steady, and worst of all her skin was still bright pink. He decided to find something big enough to use as a bathtub after his own shower.
Bruce dried himself behind the curtain before wrapping his towel around his hips. He glanced at the woman lying on his bed before he stood behind the counter to get dressed. Something didn’t seem right about not putting a closed door between them, but there was nothing to be done about it. He turned his back to her while he slipped on his work jeans. It was time to go buy another pair since holes were coming in the jean’s thighs. Bruce hoped the woman would wake up in the next day or two and be able to go with him to pick out her own clothes.
He bent down to look underneath the counter before settling on a metal tub that held spare parts. Bruce dumped the parts on the floor before heading back to the shower area and washing the dirt and grime out of the tub. It held water pretty well, so he filled it. He made sure that the water was just right before he turned towards her.
“I wish you had a name?” He asked aloud, but his question had more to do with something that changed in the room. Bruce pulled out his cell phone and dialed.
“Hello? Mike,” he asked into the phone. The chuckled response was assurance enough.
“This is Bob…”
“Oh, hey! I have a lot for you to do today!” Mike’s voice boomed over the speaker. Bruce heard the echo throughout the warehouse.
“I might be a bit late; I had company last night.”
“Well, hurry up! I’m selling cars left and right this morning! After that explosion people wanna fast way to get outta town, so come make sure these clunkers run!”
Bruce nodded in agreement, but he had a gut suspicion that he’d be a little while. He hung up the phone before he examined the woman’s position more closely.
“How’d you get to be on your side, girl? You were just lying on your back?”
Bruce walked closer to her as he tried to figure out if she moved on her own, and if he had to worry about anyone finding her. “I shouldn’t have done this!” He exclaimed as he rubbed his forehead. “What was I thinking bringing some kind of experiment home?!?” The only thing he was certain of, at the moment, the woman had to go!
He gently picked her up bridal style before putting her in the lukewarm water. He remembered barely warm water brought down body temperatures safely. All that happened was she let off a lot of steam. The bed needed new sheets; Bruce let the woman keep the sheet he covered in last night while she soaked. He looked at the clock and noted work started in ten minutes.
Bedding wasn’t hard to accomplish. All Tony supplied the warehouse with were white lab sheets in an apparent attempt to fool Pepper. Bruce couldn’t think of a good reason he didn’t want Pepper to know he was hiding, especially since Shield found him so easily. There was no use worrying about it; Pepper wouldn’t be found any time soon and Tony…
He sighed as he finished wrapping the mattress in white linen. Water splashed across the room causing him to flinch. Bruce turned toward the tub. The woman wasn’t glowing as badly, her skin still appeared a peachy color, as if it had been scrubbed raw. The sound came from her arms popping from beneath the sheet. He saw her knee wiggle, trying to free her calves from the bath.
“You must be finished.” He grabbed a towel off the counter and placed it on the floor next to the tub as he lifted her out. Goosebumps prickled her skin; he tried hard not to pay attention to her body but couldn’t help it. She had plump breast accompanied with an hour glass figure. Her pale skin offset her midnight hair. Bruce nearly nicknamed her Dark Angel, but he didn’t want her to wonder what he meant when she awoke.
“You are beautiful.” He smiled as he dried her off, wrapping her in the towel. “Unfortunately, I can’t stay with you today.” Explaining things seemed natural because she was alive. Bruce unwrapped the wet towel from her body and placed her beneath the white sheets.
“If you need anything,” he instructed as he scrawled a number on a sheet of paper, “this is the number for the garage where I work. It’s a mile down the street. I’ll only be a few hours.” He put his burner phone on top of the paper before he grabbed his shirt off the chair. “See you soon.”
Something strange filled my senses. A smell or maybe it was a touch? The burning stopped, but I was cramped. Whatever I was in was way too small. It seemed like I was lifting twice my body’s weight as I fumbled with my arms. Finally, they plopped free making a splashing sound. I was in a tub?
I tried to budge my lids, but nothing seemed to work. I didn’t want to see darkness anymore. It felt like I was flying suddenly; water droplets fell from my body.
There was a voice? It sounded soothing, and I wanted to understand it. My brain wouldn’t register the words. The cool air on my skin made me want to sigh in relief. I felt like burned for a month! Something tickled just below my left knee. Oh God! Please, don’t take my leg again!
Suddenly, I was flying again. Something covered me, protecting my skin from the cold. It shouldn’t be there; I want to feel the cool air. I grumbled silently as I tried again to open my eyes. This reeked of Killian! He couldn’t just let me go…
Bruce fixed five cars before lunch. Oil changes, starter pins, head gaskets. All the customers were happy with their ‘new previously own vehicles’ as Big Mike called it. He looked at the clock, but it stopped working around midnight. “It’s almost lunch time, and we’re bringing you a power hour of classic rock!” Lunch sounded like a good idea, and he needed to check on his guest.
“Mike,” he called as he walked on the lot. The big man’s stomach rolled with laughter.
“You’re worth every penny, Bobby!” He clapped his hand on Bruce’s shoulder. “A real money getter!”
“Can I have a long lunch today? Maybe an hour or so?” Bruce wiped his hands on the red cloth he carried in his back pocket.
Mike’s face fell, “Now, Bob, you know we’re selling a lot of cars today!”
“I promise, I’ll get them all done, and if I don’t get to them today then I’ll get them tomorrow. Either way, they’ll be happy.” Bruce crossed his arms.
"Excuse me?" A man with a long grey beard butted in, Bruce smiled kindly.
"How may I help you?"
"Oh, no, you just finished my car. The black Caddie outside," the man pointed to the car before grinning from ear to ear. "I’ve been by here every day for the last month checking that car out. It didn’t run too good the first few times I test drove it but you really did a number on that car. I just wanted to say thank you for making her shine for me. It's worth every dime." The man pulled out his wallet and handed Mike $5,000 in cash for the car plus an extra fifty. "Consider the extra a tip for the mechanic." he walked away, grinning happily.
Mike fingered the money before glancing at Bruce. He sighed before counting it again. “Alright, go! Hell, you’ve done good work today! Take the afternoon off, and be sure to be here bright and early tomorrow morning. This is how you earn your keep, Bobby-boy.” Mike grinned.
“Yes, Sir,” Bruce laughed, shaking the big man’s hand. “See ya later!”
"I'm keeping this tip, you know, since you were late this morning. Who knows, you might earn it back plus some tomorrow." Mike shook the extra money at Bruce before smiling again. "Don't forget, early!"
"See you, tomorrow morning, Big Mike."
He walked through the door half an hour later, resisting the urge to yell, “Honey, I’m home!” He dropped his boots at the door before going behind the counter to change into his shorts and a cleaner shirt. Another shower would’ve been nice, but it would have to wait.
“You’re naked,” Bruce stated bluntly. The woman was not laying the way he placed her, and the sheet wasn’t covering anything. “Can’t you just wake up?” He pulled the sheet over her before getting a glass of water and trying to find food.
He pulled a container of pasta out of the fridge before warming the hot plate. The springs in the mattress squeaked, Bruce turned around and sighed. She turned over causing the sheet to move. “Are you hot or something?” He dumped the pasta into a steel bowl before he heard an unfamiliar noise. A moan?
“Can you hear me?” he questioned, stepping closer to her. A light moan left her parted lips. Bruce walked over to her, sitting crossed legged on the floor. He cocked his head to the side as he pressed his thumb gently against her visible eyelid and slid it open.
She sucked in a deep breath before her mouth opened wide. Bruce jerked his hand back and covered his ears. The woman bolted upright, not caring about the sheet as she paced back and forth. He couldn’t hear her but he could see her lips moving. She glared at him as he loosened his grip on his ears.
“Who the hell are you? Where am I? Is this a lab?” She rattled off questions as she put her hands on her hips. Bruce stared open mouthed, not sure of what to say.
“Answer me!” She hissed. He felt his heart pounding.
“Can you, um…” he trailed off before he unbuttoned his shirt and handed it to her. “Just put that one, please?”
She looked down and laughed, “What? You’ve never seen a naked woman?”
Bruce rolled his eyes, “I’ve seen plenty, ma’am, but that’s not the point. If you want answers cover yourself up.”
She grumbled as she snatched the shirt, pulled it on and buttoned it. It fell to her mid-thigh. “Are you happy now?! It’s got to be at least 115 degrees in here; don't you have air?”
“My name is Bruce Banner. You are in Tony Stark’s warehouse. So no, this isn’t a lab, and the air comes through the broken window in the back that Tony never had fixed.” Bruce retorted as the timer on the hot plate chimed. “Do you like pasta?”
“What?” She threw her arms up.
“Do you eat pasta?” he asked slower before putting the bowl on the plate while adding just a little water.
“Yeah, I guess.” She began pacing. “You said Banner?”
“You’re lucky I’m not giving you fake names,” he laughed. “It’s a bad habit of mine.”
“No, you said Bruce Banner? As in the green guy from the Battle of New York?” Her eyes wide and her hands shook.
“I prefer Bruce,” he shrugged. “Now, do you mind telling me who you are? It’s not every day I find a beautiful woman burned alive only to wake up two days later.”
She blushed, “My name is Scarlett O’Conner.”
“What are you? You know, I’m a gamma radiation experiment gone wrong, but I don’t burn the way you do.”
She looked at the floor, “I’m an um…” she trailed off taking a deep breath. “I’m a ticking time bomb.”
Bruce laughed as he stirred the pasta, “Looks like we have something in common then, Scarlett.”
“What?” She stared at him for a moment.
“I’m a time bomb too.” He locked eyes with her, those blue eyes bore into him.
“Yeah?” She smiled.
He nodded, “we’re a time bomb.”
The woman was still covered with the sheet. She hadn’t moved all night, except the rise and fall of her chest. Her breathing was slow and steady, and worst of all her skin was still bright pink. He decided to find something big enough to use as a bathtub after his own shower.
Bruce dried himself behind the curtain before wrapping his towel around his hips. He glanced at the woman lying on his bed before he stood behind the counter to get dressed. Something didn’t seem right about not putting a closed door between them, but there was nothing to be done about it. He turned his back to her while he slipped on his work jeans. It was time to go buy another pair since holes were coming in the jean’s thighs. Bruce hoped the woman would wake up in the next day or two and be able to go with him to pick out her own clothes.
He bent down to look underneath the counter before settling on a metal tub that held spare parts. Bruce dumped the parts on the floor before heading back to the shower area and washing the dirt and grime out of the tub. It held water pretty well, so he filled it. He made sure that the water was just right before he turned towards her.
“I wish you had a name?” He asked aloud, but his question had more to do with something that changed in the room. Bruce pulled out his cell phone and dialed.
“Hello? Mike,” he asked into the phone. The chuckled response was assurance enough.
“This is Bob…”
“Oh, hey! I have a lot for you to do today!” Mike’s voice boomed over the speaker. Bruce heard the echo throughout the warehouse.
“I might be a bit late; I had company last night.”
“Well, hurry up! I’m selling cars left and right this morning! After that explosion people wanna fast way to get outta town, so come make sure these clunkers run!”
Bruce nodded in agreement, but he had a gut suspicion that he’d be a little while. He hung up the phone before he examined the woman’s position more closely.
“How’d you get to be on your side, girl? You were just lying on your back?”
Bruce walked closer to her as he tried to figure out if she moved on her own, and if he had to worry about anyone finding her. “I shouldn’t have done this!” He exclaimed as he rubbed his forehead. “What was I thinking bringing some kind of experiment home?!?” The only thing he was certain of, at the moment, the woman had to go!
He gently picked her up bridal style before putting her in the lukewarm water. He remembered barely warm water brought down body temperatures safely. All that happened was she let off a lot of steam. The bed needed new sheets; Bruce let the woman keep the sheet he covered in last night while she soaked. He looked at the clock and noted work started in ten minutes.
Bedding wasn’t hard to accomplish. All Tony supplied the warehouse with were white lab sheets in an apparent attempt to fool Pepper. Bruce couldn’t think of a good reason he didn’t want Pepper to know he was hiding, especially since Shield found him so easily. There was no use worrying about it; Pepper wouldn’t be found any time soon and Tony…
He sighed as he finished wrapping the mattress in white linen. Water splashed across the room causing him to flinch. Bruce turned toward the tub. The woman wasn’t glowing as badly, her skin still appeared a peachy color, as if it had been scrubbed raw. The sound came from her arms popping from beneath the sheet. He saw her knee wiggle, trying to free her calves from the bath.
“You must be finished.” He grabbed a towel off the counter and placed it on the floor next to the tub as he lifted her out. Goosebumps prickled her skin; he tried hard not to pay attention to her body but couldn’t help it. She had plump breast accompanied with an hour glass figure. Her pale skin offset her midnight hair. Bruce nearly nicknamed her Dark Angel, but he didn’t want her to wonder what he meant when she awoke.
“You are beautiful.” He smiled as he dried her off, wrapping her in the towel. “Unfortunately, I can’t stay with you today.” Explaining things seemed natural because she was alive. Bruce unwrapped the wet towel from her body and placed her beneath the white sheets.
“If you need anything,” he instructed as he scrawled a number on a sheet of paper, “this is the number for the garage where I work. It’s a mile down the street. I’ll only be a few hours.” He put his burner phone on top of the paper before he grabbed his shirt off the chair. “See you soon.”
Something strange filled my senses. A smell or maybe it was a touch? The burning stopped, but I was cramped. Whatever I was in was way too small. It seemed like I was lifting twice my body’s weight as I fumbled with my arms. Finally, they plopped free making a splashing sound. I was in a tub?
I tried to budge my lids, but nothing seemed to work. I didn’t want to see darkness anymore. It felt like I was flying suddenly; water droplets fell from my body.
There was a voice? It sounded soothing, and I wanted to understand it. My brain wouldn’t register the words. The cool air on my skin made me want to sigh in relief. I felt like burned for a month! Something tickled just below my left knee. Oh God! Please, don’t take my leg again!
Suddenly, I was flying again. Something covered me, protecting my skin from the cold. It shouldn’t be there; I want to feel the cool air. I grumbled silently as I tried again to open my eyes. This reeked of Killian! He couldn’t just let me go…
Bruce fixed five cars before lunch. Oil changes, starter pins, head gaskets. All the customers were happy with their ‘new previously own vehicles’ as Big Mike called it. He looked at the clock, but it stopped working around midnight. “It’s almost lunch time, and we’re bringing you a power hour of classic rock!” Lunch sounded like a good idea, and he needed to check on his guest.
“Mike,” he called as he walked on the lot. The big man’s stomach rolled with laughter.
“You’re worth every penny, Bobby!” He clapped his hand on Bruce’s shoulder. “A real money getter!”
“Can I have a long lunch today? Maybe an hour or so?” Bruce wiped his hands on the red cloth he carried in his back pocket.
Mike’s face fell, “Now, Bob, you know we’re selling a lot of cars today!”
“I promise, I’ll get them all done, and if I don’t get to them today then I’ll get them tomorrow. Either way, they’ll be happy.” Bruce crossed his arms.
"Excuse me?" A man with a long grey beard butted in, Bruce smiled kindly.
"How may I help you?"
"Oh, no, you just finished my car. The black Caddie outside," the man pointed to the car before grinning from ear to ear. "I’ve been by here every day for the last month checking that car out. It didn’t run too good the first few times I test drove it but you really did a number on that car. I just wanted to say thank you for making her shine for me. It's worth every dime." The man pulled out his wallet and handed Mike $5,000 in cash for the car plus an extra fifty. "Consider the extra a tip for the mechanic." he walked away, grinning happily.
Mike fingered the money before glancing at Bruce. He sighed before counting it again. “Alright, go! Hell, you’ve done good work today! Take the afternoon off, and be sure to be here bright and early tomorrow morning. This is how you earn your keep, Bobby-boy.” Mike grinned.
“Yes, Sir,” Bruce laughed, shaking the big man’s hand. “See ya later!”
"I'm keeping this tip, you know, since you were late this morning. Who knows, you might earn it back plus some tomorrow." Mike shook the extra money at Bruce before smiling again. "Don't forget, early!"
"See you, tomorrow morning, Big Mike."
He walked through the door half an hour later, resisting the urge to yell, “Honey, I’m home!” He dropped his boots at the door before going behind the counter to change into his shorts and a cleaner shirt. Another shower would’ve been nice, but it would have to wait.
“You’re naked,” Bruce stated bluntly. The woman was not laying the way he placed her, and the sheet wasn’t covering anything. “Can’t you just wake up?” He pulled the sheet over her before getting a glass of water and trying to find food.
He pulled a container of pasta out of the fridge before warming the hot plate. The springs in the mattress squeaked, Bruce turned around and sighed. She turned over causing the sheet to move. “Are you hot or something?” He dumped the pasta into a steel bowl before he heard an unfamiliar noise. A moan?
“Can you hear me?” he questioned, stepping closer to her. A light moan left her parted lips. Bruce walked over to her, sitting crossed legged on the floor. He cocked his head to the side as he pressed his thumb gently against her visible eyelid and slid it open.
She sucked in a deep breath before her mouth opened wide. Bruce jerked his hand back and covered his ears. The woman bolted upright, not caring about the sheet as she paced back and forth. He couldn’t hear her but he could see her lips moving. She glared at him as he loosened his grip on his ears.
“Who the hell are you? Where am I? Is this a lab?” She rattled off questions as she put her hands on her hips. Bruce stared open mouthed, not sure of what to say.
“Answer me!” She hissed. He felt his heart pounding.
“Can you, um…” he trailed off before he unbuttoned his shirt and handed it to her. “Just put that one, please?”
She looked down and laughed, “What? You’ve never seen a naked woman?”
Bruce rolled his eyes, “I’ve seen plenty, ma’am, but that’s not the point. If you want answers cover yourself up.”
She grumbled as she snatched the shirt, pulled it on and buttoned it. It fell to her mid-thigh. “Are you happy now?! It’s got to be at least 115 degrees in here; don't you have air?”
“My name is Bruce Banner. You are in Tony Stark’s warehouse. So no, this isn’t a lab, and the air comes through the broken window in the back that Tony never had fixed.” Bruce retorted as the timer on the hot plate chimed. “Do you like pasta?”
“What?” She threw her arms up.
“Do you eat pasta?” he asked slower before putting the bowl on the plate while adding just a little water.
“Yeah, I guess.” She began pacing. “You said Banner?”
“You’re lucky I’m not giving you fake names,” he laughed. “It’s a bad habit of mine.”
“No, you said Bruce Banner? As in the green guy from the Battle of New York?” Her eyes wide and her hands shook.
“I prefer Bruce,” he shrugged. “Now, do you mind telling me who you are? It’s not every day I find a beautiful woman burned alive only to wake up two days later.”
She blushed, “My name is Scarlett O’Conner.”
“What are you? You know, I’m a gamma radiation experiment gone wrong, but I don’t burn the way you do.”
She looked at the floor, “I’m an um…” she trailed off taking a deep breath. “I’m a ticking time bomb.”
Bruce laughed as he stirred the pasta, “Looks like we have something in common then, Scarlett.”
“What?” She stared at him for a moment.
“I’m a time bomb too.” He locked eyes with her, those blue eyes bore into him.
“Yeah?” She smiled.
He nodded, “we’re a time bomb.”
@BlackIce_Queen
I actually forgot about this story. I never actually finished it, but I have a lot of updates that aren't posted here.
4/11/15