Search for the Soul Gem

Chapter Seven

     "What does that even mean? Like aliens?" Tony asked. I rolled my eyes.

     "Not everything is aliens Stark," I hissed.

     "I beg to differ sweetheart, it always seems to be aliens," Tony smiled over at me. I rolled my eyes again and glared at Stark.

     "Do you have to be so annoying? And don't call me sweetheart," I spat. He continued to smirk at me. His face made me want to beat him over the head with something incredibly heavy.

     "Well, sweetheart," the way he said it made my teeth grind, "it is my lab, so I can do whatever I want," he smiled. I turned on him, ready to light into him when Banner spoke up.

     "Tony, quit being an ass," he said calmly. Tony looked over at him with a shocked look on his face.

     "You're on her side!" he sounded like I child. I scoffed at him and rolled my eyes. I pulled one of the bundles toward me and studied it carefully.

     "I'm not on anybody's side! All I'm saying is that you're being kind of an ass," Banner shrugged and set the tablet back down on the table. Tony leaned back against the table next to us and folded his arms with a strong pout on his face.

     "If you insist on being present, can you at least make yourself useful," I groaned as I examined the bundle in front of me closer.

     "What can I do for you doctor?" Tony asked but I could hear the smirk in his voice.

     "What's the highest megapixel camera you have?" I asked glancing up at Banner who was examining a pot sherd.

     "200, Canon," he said smugly.

     "Huh, too bad. I have the 250," I shot back. His face fell slightly and I smiled triumphantly, "But I'm sure yours works fine too," I smiled. He flexed his jaw and looked back at Banner for support.

     "I, uh, I'll go got it then," he said quietly before hurrying off.

     "That wasn't very nice," Banner said without looking up from the pot. I turned back to look at him with an amused smirk on my face.

     "Eh, he was being annoying. Someone's gotta deflate that big head of his," I shrugged.

     "Do you really have a 250 megapixel camera?" he asked.

     "God, no! Do you know how expensive those things are? Truly his 200 is amazing but there's no way I'm telling him that," I said. Banner laughed. There was a pause for a moment as I stared down at the tablets, "Do you really think this could be aliens?" I asked honestly. Banner hesitated for a moment before looking up at me.

     "I honestly don't know. A few years ago I would have vehemently said no but I've seen somethings that make me skeptical. It's very unlikely but then again how did a piece of writing possibly be found somewhere dated before the earliest primitive writing," Banner mused aloud.

     "Maybe were just wrong about the origins of writing," I suggested, mostly trying to convince myself. Banner smiled at me.

     "Maybe you'll become famous!" he teased.

     "I'll make sure to mention you in my acceptance speech," I teased back. He laughed before looking back at the things in front of us, "Hey, thanks for being so nice to me Bruce. Everyone else has been kinda weird with me," I said earnestly. He froze for a moment before looking up at me with a knowing smile.

     "Well, I remember when I first came here. I didn't wanna be here either. If you give everyone a chance, they may surprise you," he said.

     "I'm sure you're right, but all I wanna do is go home," I said quietly. I felt Banner's eyes on me as I looked down. Before either of us could say anything else, Tony walked back up.

     "Alright kiddies! I found your camera," Tony said dropping the camera into my lap.

     "Easy! That's like $40,000!" I scolded. He smiled down at me.

     "Billionaire, remember?" his shit-eating grin made me wanna throw up. I rolled my eyes and looked back at Banner, who was struggling to hold back a smile.

     "Do you have any field rulers, someone blew all mine up," I accused pointedly. Stark just winked at me. I rolled my eyes and found Banner pulling different size field rulers. There black-and-white checkers littered the table, "Fantastic!" I took each item and placed them by a ruler before taking pictured from every angle.

     "Why are you doing that?"Tony asked from his perch on the table next to ours.

     "Because once we take them apart, we can't put them back together and others might want to study these further," I explained, snapping a few more pictures.

     "Wait, no one else can know about this! That's the whole point of taking you out of Africa, to keep this away from the public!" Tony exclaimed jumping from the counter.

     "Well, unlike you Stark, my job doesn't allow me to keep things secret," I shot.

     "Accuse all you like Dr. Scaffer but you can't put this out in the public. It'd mean we saved you from Africa just to get you killed in Manhattan!" Tony yelled, getting closer to me. By now, we had the attention of every person in the lab. Banner was watching us both in shock, unsure what to do.

     "You can't scare me away from doing my job Stark," I hissed. He looked down at me, his eyes full of rage and something else I couldn't quite place. Betrayal? Panic? Fear?

     "Fine, you do whatever you want. But it will not be my ass when Fury finds out you died!" Tony threatened low in his throat. He turned on his heels and marched out of the lab. My eyes burned as I watched him storm down the hallway and out of sight. I turned back to Banner, my chest rising and falling rapidly from anger.

     "Who does he think he is! Telling me what I can and can't do!" I fumed as I looked at Banner. Banner's face was a mixture of shock and confliction, "Like I'm going to risk ruining my reputation as an archaeologist and risk my PhD because he's afraid of fucking aliens!" I slammed my hands down on the desk in frustration.

     "Luc-"

     "Hear them out you say, am I supposed to hear him out! Does he ever quit being such an arrogant, self-centered, spoiled, ass!" I demanded. Banner's jaw flexed as he stared at me, at a loss for words. I took a deep breath and gripped onto the edge of the counter while looking down. After a few deep breaths, I managed to calm myself down slightly, enough to talk quieter, "What do you think I should do?" my voice shook as I spoke quietly. He took a deep breath, "What would you do?" I asked looking up at him. His eyes were sympathetic as he looked at me.

     "I don't know," he said finally. He stared at me for a long time before looking down at the counter, "but I do know, this language isn't going to translate itself," he said softly, leaning over the counter and getting closer to me. I took a deep breath before nodding.

     "Yeah, yeah you're right," I nodded and pushed myself back off the counter. I looked back up at Banner and his eyes poured into mine. He felt so deeply and all his emotions fled into my eyes. He was concerned. About what, I wasn't entirely sure. I forced a smile onto my face and picked up the tablet in my hand, "Alright, let's get going!"