Amelia and Bruce sit on opposite ends of the dining table, silently eating pancakes. The Avengers won't be back for a few more days so it's just the two of them. Surprising absolutely no one, the child assassin doesn't have the best social skills or understanding of her feelings. She doesn't know what to say to her newfound father. If she does too little, he'll think she hates him. If she does too much, she might weird him out. It's a real balancing act and this isn't exactly her forte. She doesn't know how to be what he wants. She doesn't know how to be a kid.

Alexithymia. According to Google, it's when you can't express or identify your emotions. If that doesn't define her to a tee then nothing does.

She spent all night researching. She was just trying to understand herself but there's not exactly anyone out there with shared life experience. She is a small and isolated island.

Her father is one of the strongest people alive. Not to mention that it's a buy one, get one deal. Technically speaking, she has two dads. One happens to be the Hulk.

At this point, her life has become almost humorous.

She lifts her head, sneaking a glance at her father. He sneaks a look at the same time and their eyes meet. Amelia clears her throat, sitting up straight. "Do you think I'm part Hulk? I mean my bloodwork didn't have any gamma radiation but it's not exactly 100% human either."

"Uh, no. No, you're not part Hulk. You were, uh... conceived a while before all that."

"So, you remember my mother? What's her name?"

Bruce rubs the nape of his neck, "Um.... I wouldn't...... the thing is.... I was a little....eh..... inebriated."

"Oh. It was a drunken one-night-stand."

Bruce laughs awkwardly, "I wouldn't have put it exactly like that. But yeah."

"It's okay. It's something we have in common. Neither of us  really know my mother." She scoots her chair back. "I'm gonna go to the lab."

"Actually, I had a different idea. I was thinking could just relax for a while. Until you adjust and all."

"Uh," Amelia scratches her head, "is avoiding my new emotions not how I am meant to adjust?"

"No. Avoiding it never really does the job. Believe me, I know. Just bear with me for today."

Heh. A whole day. How unbelievably awkward.

Bruce hands Amelia a Wii remote. She inspects the tool carefully, playing with the string at the end. "What's this?"

"We are going to play Just Dance. All you have to do is copy what you see."

"I don't dance."

"Neither do I."

Bruce selects a song and music fills the room. By the fifth song in, Amelia had actually loosened up. More than that she was smiling. She was smiling and laughing like she hadn't ever. Bruce's points fall behind hers as he watches his daughter dance around the room. It's a stark difference from last night. Bruce doesn't think he'll ever forget her teary face or the way she cried. But now he has this memory to go with it. Her first true happy smile.

Amelia's hair bounces up and down as she copies the movements from the screen. She's so into the music that she doesn't two things. One, Bruce is staring at her. Two, her hand is glowing. The latter of the two should have been more obvious but she is in the middle of Bang Bang. More lights seeming come straight out of the TV. By the time the music dies out, it's like a late night club in the room.

Bruce blinks out of his trance, "I-uh- Amelia?"

Amelia pants breathlessly, wiping her forehead before turning to Bruce. She nearly jumps back. "You're glowing. Is that a thing you do? Is that normal?"

Bruce looks down at himself, looking at his arms. "Uh, I'm not glowing. Did you not see all that? The lights?"

Amelia blinks cluelessly. "Now we go to the lab?"

"Definitely."

"There's the possibility of experimentation but my genetic markers wouldn't be so messed up. None of this seems artificial, more organic."

Bruce looks over her screen, "The only person who would know would be your mother. I thought they were only suppressing your emotions but it might be more than that."

"They were trying to hide my powers." She closes out of the window. "It's not exactly like we can ask them why though."

"I never asked." Bruce realizes, turning to his daughter.  "Are they- how did you escape?"

"I don't remember the exact details. I remember their bodies.  Then I remember waking up in the city. My clothes were days old and my shoes were worn.  To be fair, my mind wasn't processing all that much. I was more focused on not dying." Amelia stares at her hands as she speaks, not daring to look up.

"Maybe we should take a break. I realize you haven't really had a chance to process anything."

"I processed yesterday," she says dismissively, turning back to the computer.

"You don't have to talk about it now or even to me but please don't keep it all inside. You're allowed to feel whatever you need to feel at your own pace. If you want to just sit here and run tests then that's what we'll do."

Amelia twiddles her fingers, internally fighting the urge to return to her previous cold self. She turns back to her father, her eyes following the lilac glow around him. A calming sensation spreads over her, clearing her mind. "I want to practice. It's the only way to see what I can do."

"Only on the condition you don't have that 'I can't die until I do' mentality."

She gives a small laugh, her eyes twinkling. "Technically it still applies but I promise not to intentionally harm myself."

Bruce chuckles lightly, playfully nudging his daughter, "That'll have to do."

Amelia sits in the middle of the gym, her legs crossed and her eyes closed. Bruce stands a short distance away, watching her dutifully. "Okay, I want you to think about a happy memory."

She opens one eye, "I'm kind of lacking in that department."

Bruce coughs, rubbing the back of his neck. "Maybe try thinking about future happy memories. Or they don't have to be happy. Just something that gets a strong emotional reaction."

She presses her lips into a tight line, looking into the dark abyss that is her mind. Her time on the streets was short-lived and mostly confusing. Before that... she has glimpses of what she used to be. "I can't find anything."

"As much as they tried, you can't completely strip a child of emotions. Children are emotional by nature. There must have been something.

"Amelia, what have you done?"

A woman, only a few years older than Amelia,  places both hands on her shoulders.   "You'll get in trouble for this."

Amelia's cold eyes travel to the dead guard. "He deserved it. He called you a freak. He wanted to hurt you."

The woman's warm chestnut eyes soften. Her accent is gentle and soothing, "Don't worry, I can take care of myself. They're going to make you leave now."

"I know. I'm going to forget you."

The woman's eyes dart around before lifting her hand. Red wisps form in between her palms. She places both hands on opposite sides of Amelia's head, "I wish I could do more. I'll find you again one day."

The scene flickers away into a new one. 

Amelia's being dragged across the floor by some guards, forcing her into a chair and strapping her down. She spits at one of the men, fighting against their hold.

A hand flies across her face as both of her arms are pinned down. A needle pinches her skin as all the energy leaves her body. Her eyes grow heavier and heavier until the darkness finally consumes her.

Amelia's eyes snap open. She pants like a dog, her head pounding. Her jaw falls slightly as she touches the shield of light that formed around her. Her fingers barely graze the edge of the shield and it dissipates. Flecks of light fall throughout the room like pollen. There's something so very familiar about it all. Almost instinctively she gathers the light in a sphere, rolling it between her fingers.  "This is so cool." 

She glances up to see Bruce staring at her. Her face falls, thinking she did something wrong. "What?"

"You... have green eyes."

Amelia blinks, "Okay... were they not always that color?"

"Definitely not."

"Oh." The light around her fades away as she fidgets with her fingers. "Is it like..... hulk-ish?"

Bruce cocks his head, squinting just a little. "More like beautiful."

She crinkles her nose up, "Nice save."

"You wanna eat some ice cream?"

"Wait, what's ice cream?" She asks following him out of the room.