My Lab, My Home (Cassie)

[Doc Banner]

It was ironic, really. Robby had spent his entire life inside of a lab, living in the sterile white halls provided him in Desert Base. He had been so anxious to escape, and now that he finally had, the gamma mutate used every opportunity available to him to go out and see the world.

Today, however, he was right back in a lab, where instead of the subject, he was the scientist. While recently battling a symbiote invasion headed for Earth on an asteroid, the Avengers had discovered a brand new element on the asteroid. If their theories were correct, this element could be used to revolutionize electrical conduction and lead to more efficient power generation across the globe. Of course, it fell to their newest smart guy to analyze it, which is what Robby was spending his Friday night doing.

The rest of the team had all but abandoned the top levels of Stark Tower, no doubt going out to enjoy their Friday night. Robby still hadn't had a chance to properly socialize with the rest of them. As far as he knew, he was the only one in the designed Avengers levels of the Tower. Loneliness was a condition that he was used to, which helped him as he now looked over various computer screens from over a pair of false eyeglasses. Wearing eyeglasses that were unnecessary was a habit that he had picked up from his surrogate father, Doc Samson, as well as wearing a lab coat over his black lightning bolt logo t-shirt and blue jeans.

Eccentric indeed.

[Cassandra Storm]

The recently turned teenager, Cassie Storm, sat knees up to her chest and arms wrapped around them, by the large glass windows on one floor of the Avengers Tower. Dressed in a blue t-shirt with a smiley-face on it, she was rather comfortable, her converse sneakers just peaking out from under the bottom of her long jeans. Her forehead was leaning gently against the glass, her eyes scanning the ground below. She wasn't entirely sure what level she was on - she hadn't checked or looked out for that, too busy trying to listen in to conversations, but from the distance to the ground below she guessed about half-way up. Perhaps. It didn't really matter.

Sighing, she placed her hands on the ground behind her and leant back, now staring up at the ceiling. Cassandra Storm was starting to grow bored. Her father, Johnny, was off somewhere. With her Uncle Peter. Who knew what they were doing or talking about. All she knew was that she was now left to her own devices and given the advice 'Be careful and don't get into trouble'. What sort of thing was that to say to a kid? Now she just wanted to go off and explore - which her father would most likely count as looking for trouble.

A grin spread on her face at that idea, and she stood up, looking around the room. No one else was there. Perhaps exploring /was/ a good idea. She had been to the tower before, but Cassie wanted to look around by herself now. And her father, though he might worry on discovering her missing when he returned, wouldn't be too angry. After all, it was something that he himself was likely to do if he had been in her position. So, with grin still in place, she exited the room, and knowing the most exciting parts lay upstairs, headed up. And up.

She had been up with her father before and knew the route and everything well. As reached the top levels she debated on where to go first. Turning in a full circle, eyes closed, she pondered. The most interesting part would be... Hm. Her eyes snapped open, and she glanced in the direction of the labs. Having been in her Uncle Reed's lab she was fond and felt comfortable in places such as that. And though she herself wasn't too great at inventing things and being 'science-y' (she was more partial to mechanics, like her father) it was interesting to look around labs. She'd have too be careful of course... but that thought didn't trouble her and she quickly headed in that direction, happily pushing open the door and ignoring any warnings or signs. Humming softly, she then began to look about. As she did so, she kept snapping the fingers of one hand - making a flame appear, then disappear, appear then disappear once more and so on.

[Doc Banner]

It was amazing. The atomic structure composing the element was closer to a highly durable ceramic, yet had the conductive properties of copper. If they could properly figure out exactly how to produce such an element, electrical design as the world knew it would change. Exciting, certainly. Especially considering that the scientist working on the achievement was chronologically only a few years old.

Robby was just about to type something in on the computer when his privacy was destroyed. A look was given in the direction of the door, only to find himself faced with a rather beautiful young lady. From behind his glasses, he simply stared for a few moments, especially since the girl created fire in her hand over and over. Gorgeous and pyrokinetic. An interesting combination. Finally, he decided to say something.

"Private...*erahem*. Wow, okay, I've never made that sound before." He scratched into the back of his green hair. "What, uh, how can I help you, exactly?"

[Cassandra Storm]

Eyes glancing from side to side, she took in what she could of the place. So she didn't have a lot of ideas about what any of the equipment was used for... But... It still looked pretty cool. That had to count for something, right? ...Maybe not. Walking slowly, the small flame still doing it's appearing/disappearing act, she didn't notice that the lab was currently occupied.

So when a voice spoke out Cassie jumped slightly, and span on her feet to face the direction of the sound. Her fingers automatically gave another 'snap', however this time the flame was bigger. Quite a bit bigger in fact. "Shoot...!" Hurriedly, before the fire could start anywhere else, she put the flame out and then hid her hands behind her back. With her hands clasped together behind her back, she tried putting on her 'innocent' face - a face that no longer worked with her father or any of the people that she was close to. Not the best first impression, nope. Taking in a deep breath she stood up straighter, trying to appear confident. Looking over the guy in front of her - he appeared, what? a few years older than her? Older than her anyways, - Cassie figured she wasn't about to get into trouble, and that gave her a touch more confidence. It was strange... She thought she knew who most of the Avengers were and the guy there, he wasn't on that list.

Relaxing, she gave a slight grin as continued to speak and stepped forward, holding out the hand that had previously been creating the flames. "Hey. I'm Cassie. And I'm..." she tried to remember what it was she had been doing. "...exploring. Yeah. I'm just looking around. That's all."

[Doc Banner]

When the girl was taken by surprise and created quite a massive flame, Robby's immaturity overrode his intelligence. As a result, he couldn't help but laugh as she struggled with the mistake that her powers had made. Thankfully, she got it under control, and therefore he didn't have to intervene.

"I know that face, you know. I used to pull it on the lab techs when they found out I hacked through their computers when I was 3." He grinned, recognizing what she was trying to do. And then her hand was stretched out towards him, the same one that had demonically created fire out of thin air. "Good thing I'm invulnerable, or else I'd be afraid you'd accidentally burn my hand to a crisp." He took it in his own, with his hand obviously being bigger. "Dr. Robert Bruce Banner, Jr. But, uh, everybody calls me Robby."

He took a seat on a stool in front of the array of computers, then turned to face her. "Next time you go out exploring, try not to burn down any expensive laboratory equipment when you do it, yeah?" Good. He was putting up a good front of being confident, despite the fact that this was the first time he was speaking to a cute girl. That was always good, right?

[Cassandra Storm]

Cassie made a small face, as if to say 'Who? Me?' before chuckling softly. So her innocent face wasn't working quite so well anymore. Made it was like an... age thing or something. But 13 wasn't that old, so, nah, that couldn't be it. Like the guy said, he'd used it before, he just knew the signs. "Okay, you caught me. I admit it." She flashed him a bright grin, raising an eyebrow at him in a light-hearted and teasing challenge. Just waiting to see if he would actually take her hand. It was still rather warm after the flames. Well, her whole body technically ran at a higher temperature than everyone else, but after her fire display her hand was toasty. With a little bit of amusement she smiled and shook his hand.

Before really catching on to what he had been saying. Hacking computers when he was 3...? Neat. In the big time. And, wait... Invulnerable? "That's some cool talents you have." She said, honestly, as her hand let go of his and made it's way behind her back. There, it clasped together with her other hand. "I can see why you're here then. This place is full of rather special and weird people. Me included. But I'm just visiting." A grin still in place. A grin was her default setting, but she was having fun. It was nice being able to talk to someone instead of sitting, bored. "Robby. Nice. It suits you." The whole Dr. thing and the Junior part just made the name drag out. She liked shortened things. After all, her name was short. Cassie to Cassandra. So much simpler.

She watched as he took a seat, her hands still clasped behind her back - out of part to keep them doing something so that she wasn't tempted to touch or flame something - and rocked gently on the balls of her feet. "Oh... Right. Well, I haven't burnt anything. This time, at least. But y'know, I solemnly swear!" She tried to look serious for a moment but failed.