Spacewalker

Pen

Rue

Rue sat busily at her desk trying to get back to normalcy by fixing Mr. Stark's schedule which was to postpone the scepter work and only study her intergalactic anomaly.

Jarvis beeped and Tony's voice spoke, "Spacewalker to lab, Spacewalker to lab. Over."

"Copied," she replied.

From her seat, she opened a portal and fell through, and disturbingly landed on the hard floor.

"Still learning," she groaned, standing.

"So your agility is heightened so let's test more things," Tony said.

"Fast metabolism," Bruce thought.

"I'm normally hungry."

"Is your blood still red?" Tony narrowed his eyes.

Before she could answer, he motioned to roll up her sleeve and he poked a needle. Seeing the red, he continued to draw a vial for more testing.

"Super strength?" he asked.

"I haven't been punching walls," she said.

"Punch Banner and we'll see how that goes."

"I'll call Thor," Bruce backed away. "He's more durable."

"Tesseract did power some weapons so lemme ask one more time... can you shoot energy out of your hands?" Tony inquired.

Exhaling, she held up an arm and felt the vitality course her body. Her veins seemed to pump blue and the energy forced to her hands but only a portal opened.

"Not what I thought but more abnormal," he clapped.

He tapped two fingers on her wrist to see the newly changed veins. Then again, he checked her blood and the red was mixed with taints of blue.

"Maybe just slow transitions," he thought, excitedly stepping away.

Bruce and Thor entered and the god stepped in front of her with an encouraging smile on his face. It faded and with a nod, she swung her firm fist and it met his jaw that stayed straight.

"You're strong..." he trailed off. "For a human."

She turned around and walked back before pivoting and punched him once more for the snide comment. This time, he caught his balance and held his jaw in slight pain.

"Great, we'll work on that," Tony concluded.

"Tony, her veins," Bruce pointed out.

"Yeah, I know."

From the corner of her eye, she could see Thor move and before she could dodge it, he had stabbed her leg with a pen and yanked it out causing her to scream.

"What the hell?!" she exclaimed.

"I thought you could heal," he justified. "Or impenetrable, maybe a force field."

"That's why you wouldn't make a good scientist," Tony pointed out as she bandaged herself.

"Can you do any of those things listed?" she asked.

"No," he answered and she rolled her eyes.

"Does it hurt anymore?" Bruce asked, pointing at her leg.

"Yes."

"I deeply apologize," Thor said and she slightly nodded.

"Run along, children, the scientists need to get back to work," Tony clapped.

Thor glared at him and walked out of the laboratory.

"I'll be down the hallway," she told them. "And I'm walking back."

They watched patiently as she hopped up the steps and out the doors into the hallways. She took a break and leaned on the wall to glance at her leg where blood formed through the bandage and down her pants.

"Rue," Steve's voice came from nearby. "What happened to you?"

"Irrational-thinking god trying to be a scientist," she answered.

He glanced at the injury and shook his head. Without asking, he carried her and her eyes enlarged as he walked down the rest of the hallway and set her on the countertop.

She stayed quiet as he opened the cupboard for a first-aid kit. He cautiously held up his hands, glancing at her before the permission she gave with a nod for him to take off the bandage.

"That's deep," he said, peering at her thigh. "Is that ink?"

"Partially and the other blue could be my blood," she answered, and saw his slight frown.

"You get hurt again, hurt them back. Get killed, walk it off."

He leaned forward to get a better look at her injury and tore her pants. Grabbing a numbing gel, his warm hands rubbed it in on her thigh and it affectively made her lose feeling to her leg. He stepped to the side for the kit and grabbed a needle to thread.

"How's the testing going?" he asked, stitching the first one.

"So far so good," she said softly. "Portals, rare blue veins, strength, and agility are all we know."

"Let me know when you can survive seventy years in ice."

She dryly chuckled, watching him stitch the second one and she felt the tension grow when he looked up at her.

"How was it?" she asked quietly that it was almost a whisper. "Being the first experiment."

He finished the last stitch and threw away the needle and cleaned her thigh with an alcoholic wipe.

"I have to say, it was great," he said. "I was scrawny and looked down upon until I came back taller, bigger, faster, stronger. But then they gave me a suit and shield and it became public amusement until I fought the war and woke up in the modern world."

"Now you save people as Captain America," she finished.

She stared wonderingly in his warm blue eyes that gazed back. She noticed them drop to her lips then back up and he started to lean in when she cleared her throat.

"You're done," he said, stepping back.

"Thank you," she smiled, sliding off the counter.

Without another look back, she casually walked around the corner and once she was out of sight, she rushed into her office. Rue stressfully sighed, leaning on the closed door, and breathed heavily of what could've happened.

She turned around and went to the bag underneath the desk to the spare clothes in case of an accident and changed the pants he gracefully tore.