Search for the Soul Gem

Chapter Forty-Two

"The biggest green diamond ever found was the Aurora Green Diamond and it was only 5.03 karats," I groaned. This was the fifth site that I'd found that hadn't been any help to me.

"5.03 karats is pretty big, Lucy," Banner said from off in the distance of my office. He had come up to the office to keep me company. I hadn't seen Happy in a few days, ever since the fight with Tony in his lab. In fact, I hadn't really seen anyone since the fight in the lab. They had all fallen off the planet. All except Tony, who was the only one that I was actively avoiding. Every hour I'd get a message from JARVIS telling me that 'Mr. Stark wants to talk to you. Would you like to hear from him?' and every time I would tell him no. And then as soon as I would decline JARVIS, my phone would ring with a call or a text from Tony. I was about ready to throw my phone from the top of the tower. I just needed space from Tony to think, and the only person who didn't seem to want to talk about what had happened was Banner.

I sighed and turned my head to look over at Banner who was standing near the window, "I know that. But in my vision, the diamond was the size of my palm. 5.03 karats is less than an ounce."

"Does it have to be that big? Because that 5 karat diamond went for $16.8 million. Where are we gonna get $17 million?" Banner asked. I burrowed my head back in my arms. $17 million made me want to throw up. But it was a good question. The only person with that kind of money was Tony and he was completely out of the question. I let out a defeated groan.

"I don't know Banner. I definitely don't have anything near $17 million, but the Asgardians have yet to show me something that I didn't need to follow to the letter," My voice was muted by my arms.

"I know you don't want to think about it, but what if we asked Tony. You don't have to talk to him, I can ask him. But he's the only one who has that kind of money," Banner said quickly. I was quiet for a second before pushing myself up from the desk and looked over at Banner.

"You know as well as I do that Tony already doesn't think I should be doing this. There's no way in hell that he's gonna shell out millions of dollars for something he doesn't support," I said. Banner was quiet for a second as he thought.

"He supports you, Lucy. And you know that," Banner said quietly. I let out a heavy sigh.

"Not you too Bruce," I said, dropping head to my hands and massaging my temples.

"I'm not going to hound you about it. I won't even bring it back up again if you don't want to talk about it. All I'm saying is I know Anthony Stark. And he cares about you. He loves you. And I know in your heart, you know that," Banner said. I stopped massaging my temples and looked over at him as he moved away from the window and sat in the chair across from me.

"Really, do I? Is it normal to tell someone you love that you think they are 'fucking annoying' and blame everything that's happened to me on me? Because that's not usually what I do to the people I love," I said. Banner crossed his leg and took a deep breath before answering me.

"I know this doesn't excuse what he said-because it was awful-but I think he's scared," Banner said carefully. The way he said it made me think that there was something about Tony that he wasn't telling me.

"Scared?" I said cautiously.

"He's so scared that something will happen to you and that he won't be able to do anything about it. This whole stone situation is making him feel out of control, and Tony doesn't like being out of control," Banner said; but he trailed off at the end, making me think that there was something else that he wanted to tell me.

"Bruce, what is it that you aren't telling me," I stated.

Banner shifted and took a deep breath before speaking, "Fury is starting to send the team out on different missions."