Such Sweet Nothing

“She’s alive!” Tony’s voice made me jump as it brought me out of my thoughts. I could feel happy radiating from him and, was that worry?

“Thank you Dr. Frankenstein.” Pepper came in behind him with a smile. Tony came around to my left side and placed his hand on my head.

“It’s good to see you.” His tone turned serious as worry ebbed away a little. He was just happy to see me.

“Yeah, you too. Sorry about the lab.” He waved away my apology.

“Nothing to worry about. I’m giving you a new setup so it never happens again. I’m still trying to figure what happened but it’s like a huge malfunction. I’m fixing it now.” He was determined and Pepper was now worried. The feelings were fading like I was getting a bad reception. I was left alone with my own emotions to worry about when Steve and Bruce walked in. Bruce looked like he hadn’t slept in a long time.

“Doc!” I smiled at the nickname and gladly received his hug as Tony moved over to stand next to Pepper.

“Hey Cap.” He pulled back and was grinning from ear to ear.

“You had us all worried.” I nodded as I looked over at Bruce; his face was filled with such relief and admiration that I almost started crying.

“Dr. Banner.” I said quietly with a smile. If I didn’t know he was looking at me I would have thought he just found the answer to dark matter.

“Kylie.” He spoke softly as he moved to where Steve had been standing a moment ago; I hadn’t even noticed he moved.

“So, sadly I will not be the second act to your party trick.” I tried to joke because I felt that I would begin to cry.

“You’re okay.” He grabbed my face in his hands as I nodded. He firmly placed his lips on my forehead and lingered there for longer than he normally would have.

“I’m okay, except for my thing.” He pulled back and brushed my hair behind my left ear.

“Thing?” Pepper asked as Bruce let his hands fall away from my face.

“Yeah, I think I’m an empath?” I said it like a question because it seemed to be a very inconsistent thing.

“An empath, like you can feel what other people feel?” Bruce looked worried for a moment but he tried to cover it with a confused look.

“Yeah, but it isn’t working right now. It got really bad when I grabbed Pepper’s hand. I felt you when you came in here.” I told Tony as I looked at Bruce who then looked over at the other three.

“That makes sense doesn’t it?” He asked, as they all seemed to nod.

“What?” He looked at me.

“Well what happened with Steve and I, it seemed to multiply something about us and you were always really good at talking to people, having a sense of what they were feeling. You could tell if I was having an off day just by an e-mail that was work related.” I ran a hand through my hair, or tired to it was in knots.

“Yeah, you do that with me through texting all the time.” Pepper chimed in. She looked relived that that seemed to be the repercussion of being blasted with gamma radiation.

“It explains why people seem to be drawn to you, everyone likes you right off the bat.” I smiled at Bruce’s words.

“It’s true, because I normally don’t like anybody.” Tony said as Pepper hit him lightly with a laugh.

“So it’s a good thing? I mean I can’t really control it, won’t it bother you if you knew I could feel what you’re feeling all the time?” I received a few shrugs.

“So no one will be able to lie to you.” Steve said as he crossed his arms over his chest. I felt Bruce slid his hand over mine and I wrapped my fingers around his palm.

“No one will be able to hid their true feelings and unless you receive training it will be out of control.” I was guessing that this way Director Fury, or as Tony so lovingly refers to him as, ‘eye patch’.

“Training?” He nodded and stood in between Steve and Tony, his arms were behind his back and his feet were together.

“Yes, S.H.I.E.L.D would like to extend an offer to train you so you can control your power and become stronger.” I looked at Tony and Pepper who were staring at him, Steve was looking at the floor and Bruce met my eyes as I looked at him.

“Any objections Mr. Stark?” His tone made me believe him and Pepper had already exchanged words with him earlier.

“I don’t want for her to work for you.” I was shocked as Bruce spoke up.

“If you train her, it will be to solely help her. You gain nothing from her. You don’t ask her to go on missions; you don’t ask her to consult. She will not become one of your agents.” I was hit with a wave of feeling protective. I tried to get my hand back but Bruce shook his head slightly at me.

“It’s okay.” He whispered as he continued to stare at Fury.

“She is free to do whatever she wishes. We just don’t want her power to overwhelm her.” I hated when people talked about me like I wasn’t there. Bruce looked down at me with raised eyebrows.

“Are you mad?” My eyes went wide and he let go of my hand quickly.

“You can feel what I’m feeling?” It was a two way freaking street now?

“Only when I touched you just now.” He was looking at me with a curious expression.

“Well, things just got way more complicated.” I sighed as I looked at Fury.

“Where will I be for this ‘training’?” I used air quotes with my fingers as I asked.

“At one of our securely located bases.” I was waiting for more information and realized quickly that was as much as I was going to get.

“I’ll be with you.” Steve said as he uncrossed his arms. He seemed to have a better working relationship with S.H.I.E.L.D than either Tony or Bruce.

“I guess I should probably have some training. Will I be able to shut it off when I don’t want it?” I was thinking how embarrassing it would be to have my feelings displayed out in the open or vice versa for someone else.

“Yes.” He answered and I nodded my head.

“Then yes, I want to be trained.”