Skye heard the jingle of the door opening and glanced up.

The cafe she was in was a small, dimly lit place. There were booths lining the walls and a TV over a bar in the corner. Normally the people that entered where conspiracy theorists that wanted to catch the rare glimpse of Iron Man from the tower down the street.

Skye knew that he would only come if she tipped him off that there was someone worth coming to see. Maria Hill, Uncle Nick's second in command whom Skye had met after being taken hostage in a bank robbery, would stop by sometimes to give messages and paperwork to Skye to give to Tony. Sometimes Skye would have Tony come down directly for this, but mostly he just came down if an excited kid came in or a veteran.

Maria walked in and slid into the seat across the booth from her, pinching off a piece of the younger girl's bagel. "How's the child?"

"Tony's good. You can come by to see him any time you know. He may yell through the door, but he normally will allow you to speak into a microphone so you don't have to yell. Does the same thing with Uncle Nick. I think it's a phase." She said, shrugging one shoulder.

Maria clicked her tongue and pinched another bite. "Do you have that book I gave you still? The one on China? I need it back for a project."

Skye vaguely remembered a file with Chinese writing on the cover sitting untouched on Tony's desk. "Possibly? I'll look for it. When do you need it?"

"As soon as possible." She paused. "Okay, date tonight." Maria slid over her phone and clicked open to pictures. "Black or green dress?" Skye looked at both of them. They were gorgeous dresses in the picture, both looking silky and just revealing enough to give a hint, but still be classy.

"Fancy event, wear the green. Less fancy, more casual, wear the black. Both are gorgeous though." Skye recommends. Maria nodded, taking back the offered phone and standing.

"Thanks." She walked out of the cafe and Skye looked back to her laptop. The chat room was full, everyone posting comments and rumors of the newest hero sighting. An email popped up and she clicked to respond.

A friend from her latest, and probably last, college adventure was trying to convince her to sign up for a program in New Mexico with her. Darcy was convinced that the program would be easy, as "it's just astrophysics!"

The door dinged open and Skye glanced up to see a man walk in that instantly grabbed her attention.

He was young, maybe late twenties. His clothes didn't fit him, hanging off of him like he had lost at least twenty pounds faster than he was buying clothes. He entered the cafe cautiously, not as if he were afraid of those eating, but like he was afraid of his reaction to them. Skye quickly shoved her laptop closed and into her bag.

He was someone to talk to.

She walked to the counter as he ordered, jumping onto the stool beside him as she lay the bag in front of her on the counter. He peered curiously at her before seeming to realize that he should not be curious and snapped his eyes down and forward.

"Hey, Martha. Hit me up with another, would you?" Skye requested, making her tone as ridiculous as possible. Martha seemed to understand what she was doing and didn't comment beside rolling her eyes and sliding her a new mug. "Thanks, doll." Matha pointed a finger warningly at her before wiping her hands on the rag around her waist.

Beside her the man snorted in amusement.

Mission accomplished.

"I'm Skye." She introduced herself, shoving a hand toward him. He looked at it nervously before shaking it gently.

"Bruce." He said. He shoved his glasses higher on his nose and shifted slightly.

"So, Brucie. What brings you to this cafe?"

He shrugged. "My feet."

Sarcastic. Bonus!

"I can respect that. You look nervous, like I-have-a-really-really-big-secret-and-I- want-to-tell-but-shouldn't kind of nervous."He shrugged again and she continued. "Seriously, I know my nervousness. I have this brother, short guy always making trouble, and when this girl that works with him gets this look on her face, he is terrified nervous. He once hid from her for, like, two weeks after he forgot to go to a meeting he promised to and she got the look. I'm actually practicing the look, but I'm not as good. I always start laughing half-way though. It's bad." Skye paused to take a sip and Bruce seemed to inch away slightly. "You want to tell me the secret?"

"No."

"Okay." She was expecting that.

They drank in silence for a few minutes before Skye's phone rang on the counter. She flicked it on and pressed it to her ear. "Skye."

"Congratulations, soon you may not owe me." Darcy's voice chirped.

Skye raised an eyebrow. "Why do I owe you now?" She could almost hear the other girl waving away the question.

"You need to bring a can of chocolate covered peanuts from the store on the corner. I have been craving those damn things for so long, but apparently we aren't allowed to order things from online anymore. Honestly, you buy one magazine and everyone gets upset."

"I don't think it was the one magazine as much as it was the three dozen before it. And when I go where?"

"Here. New Mexico, of course. Where else? I got you the internship. You can come work with me and Dr. Foster. Honestly, I know how much you wanted it so I pulled some strings and got you down here."

"No one else applied so you threw in my name to get in better standing with the doctor?" Skye guessed. There was a too long of pause that confirmed it. Skye sighed and rolled her eyebrows. "Send me the information. I'll be there." Skye said goodbye and hung-up. She took a longer sip of her drink and turned back to Bruce. "So how's life lately?"

He shrugged, deadpanned, "Well, it's been awhile since I saw you last, so a lot has changed." He paused before seeming to crumble slightly. "I thought I got it right this time. I had been working on the project for so long, and thought I had finally created the perfect ratio of ingredients. The chemicals were in proper order and everything seemed equal. It was going to be a breakthrough,save so many lives. I thought I had officially come up with the… answer." He gave a bitter smirk. "It wasn't though. I messed up and, oh, God. I really messed up." He sighed and put his head in his hands. "I can't get back from this."

Skye gave him a long look. "You can move back from everything."

"Not this. I'm a monster now."

Skye sighed and took a long sip of her coffee. "You know, two years ago I knew a man I saw as an uncle. I loved him and would have done anything for him. He had saved me, my life and my future. Without him I would probably be dead in a ditch somewhere. Tony helped me, but a few words from this man and I would have been a distant memory. He saved me." Skye looked over to see Bruce looked at her bewildered. "Two years ago he tried to kill me and the people I loved. He arranged for my Tony's death twice and I thank God that it didn't take either time. I loved him and he showed that he loved none of us. I tried to deny that for a while. I thought that if I spent enough time ignoring the fact that he attempted murder than he did not actually do it." She swallowed. "He was a monster. He did what he did to get attention and money. From what you say your motive was, you're not a monster."

He gave a short laugh. "That is why I did it, though. I wanted the money, the knowledge that people knew my name and would say my name is awe. I'm no better than any other monster."

Skye tilted her head before throwing a five dollar bill on the counter and put her mug down. She grabbed her bag and his arm and separated him from the counter. "Come on, I want to show you something. Don't worry, I'm not a creeper or anything."

"You couldn't take me." He said, almost sadly. Skye shrugged.

"You might be surprised." He just shook his head. Either way he allowed himself to be pulled from the cafe and down streets to a subway station. It was one of the most abandoned ones she had seen, it was why she had gone down it the first time. What Clint called "adrenaline-junkie" she prefered to think of as "carefully curious".

A few people walked by with dogs before Skye darted into the opening and pulled the man after her. The steps were littered with paper wrappers and cups. They walked down the stairs and Skye jumped the turn-style looking back at Bruce who paused before following.

"This does nothing for your protests against being a creeper." He pointed out. Skye rolled her eyes and just pulled him a bit further. As they walked further into the station, music became steadily louder. It was a mix of jazz and something else, somehow both soothing and energizing at once.

They took a last turn and saw a large man sitting cross legged on a mat, a radio beside him. A few feet away from him two women sat with canvases, painting various shapes and colors that did not seem to have a visible muse. A man in his mid-twenties was leaning against another wall as he sat on the floor, smoking a cigarette and clicking away at a laptop.

Skye led him toward the edge of the platform, and kicking lightly to roll one of the paint brushes back toward the girls. She hopped down from the platform, and he made a surprised sound.

"Relax, darling. This tunnel were shut down years ago. No electricity moves here. You can take a nap on these rails and you'll be fine. A few dollars down, maybe, but fine." She promised. He hesitated, but then jumped down. Skye smiled and reached into her bag to pull out the flashlight Tony always made her keep incase she found midnight inspiration for an invention but didn't have light.

She flicked on the switch and pointed it to the wall, illuminating all that she could. "Modern day cave art."

On the wall there were different graffitied names, symbols, and elaborate designs. It was usual, art that could normally be seen on the alley walls, designed to be a message for whoever walked by- 'I was here', 'They couldn't touch me', 'This wall is mine' 'I ran the fast and never stopped'.

Then, surrounded in the colors but somehow standing out, there were the stories that Skye had brought him there for.

A man was sketched chasing a girl with a ripped dress. A woman was waving her hands angrily towards a man. A child was hiding under a table while pant legs stood in back of it solidly. A man stood with a flag behind him, people listening rapidly while the faded picture of a crying woman was in the background. The art continued, depicting scenes which had made Skye cry when she first saw them.

"These are the monsters." Skye whispered. "When I was nine I thought I knew all of the monster's faces, that I had seen them all. I was so wrong. I met so many more monsters, and while I don't know them all I know you are not one. You have a good heart, you showed care in your science. Thinking you're a monster will only tear you apart."

She looked back at Bruce to see him staring at the wall, and he smiled wetly at her. He nodded once and she smiled back.

"You know where to find me, I'm there most days and Maria knows how to contact me. Stay safe, Bruce." Skye said again softly, kissing his cheek gently before climbing out of the tunnel and out toward the street.

Bruce sat across from her in the booth a week later.