Green and Jaded

[shesamarshmallow]

Veronica has finally made it to the FBI. Is it everything she thought it would be? No. No, it is not. She had thought she'd be assigned to cases, maybe a desk for a while and work her way up. Instead, she's found herself as the designated coffee girl and errand runner. She's mostly been tasked with following the rest of the team. Somehow, they don't seem grateful when she points out a piece of evidence or corrects one of their theories.

She swears, if this keeps up, she's going to start moonlighting. It can't be that difficult to get a PI license in Washington, can it?

In the meantime, at least she gets to go on field trips to the local university. Her boss - well, her boss's boss - said it was a matter of verifying evidence. Veronica had her own suspicions about that, but she'd go with it for now.

An aide showed her to an office, and she rapped on the door before sticking her head in. "Anybody home?"

Comments

[greenisnteasy]

Bruce has settled into a nice, quiet office job. Okay, academia is stressful and full of its own anxieties, and maybe six years ago when he was more... unstable, he wouldn't have been able to hack it. Now, though, it's good. It's challenging, and he doesn't feel like he's going crazy listening to yoga tapes and breathing incense until calmness oozes out of his pores. It took him too long to realize that wasn't the answer; he needs something as chaotically organized as teaching college to mitigate all that... that he feels. Angry, yes. That -- That's always been there, if he's honest with himself, and usually he is but on that point? He shies away.

This project is one he's excited about. More new, to keep things fresh, but he can still be involved behind the relative quiet of an office door.

"Come in," he calls, even as he's finishing up an email to the department chair. It isn't his office hours, but Bruce's door is usually always open to students regardless, so there's a chance this is some freshman with a question, but he's hoping it's the FBI agent.

[shesamarshmallow]

What a disappointment she must be. She knows she still looks far too young to be an FBI agent; people are running out of jokes to make about it. And the pantsuit and low ponytail only help so much.

As far as university professors go, though, Dr. Banner is more in line with what she expects. Middle-aged guy who looks like he's enjoying being slowly crushed by academia.

"Hi. I'm Agent Mars." She strides over and offers her hand. "I called earlier about bringing over some evidence to have double-checked."

[greenisnteasy]

Good thing she got to the point because he has her pegged as a student. No judgment here, though. Bruce was a genius at an early age -- to his father's dismay -- and way ahead of everything in school and college; he never opted to go a grade up because he had a hard enough time fitting in as it was, but he could've. So she's young; he can roll with that without much prejudice. In fact, it earns her more respect as he stands up behind his desk and reaches out, hand extended.

"Agent Mars, nice to meet you. Please, have a seat. Would you like some tea?" Always on tap, here in B. Banner's quarters.

[shesamarshmallow]

Hmm. Tea with the nice stranger who's going to be poking through blood samples soon and thus must be sane, or return to her friendly FBI bosses who will gripe at her for taking too long to deliver coffee and might tell her to pretend to be a corpse again?

"Sure." She shakes his hand and drops into a seat, leaving the cooler beside her. "Have you consulted for the FBI before, Dr. Banner?"

[greenisnteasy]

"Here and there." And a lot more before that, before the accident and a lot of things became classified. Funny how the government likes to wipe that out of existence, but still make his life difficult. He's just glad for the opportunity to help again, even if it makes him feel a little slimy working for the man; she isn't the man, and he's a little excited to get to know her.

He pours her some hot water out of his electric kettle -- just made! -- and pours it into a cup for her, and then he offers her a tiny basket full of tea packets, allowing her her pick.

"I'm guessing it was before your time, unless you're one of those undercover agents, To Catch a Predator style. How long have you been with the FBI?"

[shesamarshmallow]

"A couple years now." She roots through the options and rolls her eyes. "I know. I look like I should be handing in my homework. But I swear, I'm old enough to shoot people who tell me otherwise." She chooses a packet and drops it into her cup to steep.

"And fine, yeah. I can catch predators, too."

"Which is what I'm here to do, actually. With your help, of course." She leans over and picks up the cooler, setting it on the desk in front of her. "Blood samples to test for DNA."

Hey, way to segue, Veronica. Sounded almost professional.

[greenisnteasy]

That was an admirable segue, and Bruce is impressed. He likes a good segue in a young FBI ingenue.

"And what did our potential offenders do? Am I checking for matches between samples?"

[shesamarshmallow]

"Three double homicides in two different states. We suspect, at least. If you can find a match between them, I promise I'll get some prostitutes to hang out with senators of your choosing so you can get some more money for your program."

Her eyes drop to the samples, and she belatedly remembers the tea and takes a sip. "We think the samples might have been compromised. It was suggested that you could help us get some clean results."

[greenisnteasy]

"Only if the prostitutes are well-paid, and the senator is a jerk." See? Moral code, Bruce has one. Oh, preferably he'd be unmarried, too. He nods as she explains the case and eyes the samples as he starts a mental list of the kinds of tests he can run on them.

"I can separate out the contaminants, purify it as best I can. How soon do you need it by? I'd like at least a week, maybe two. That going to be a problem?"

[shesamarshmallow]

Veronica can't hide her surprise, nor her pleasure. "Are you freaking kidding me? I thought it would take over a month. Now I'm tempted to marry you just so I can get the two-week treatment for all my other samples."

She leans forward and taps stabs the desk with a finger. "And my prostitutes are always well-paid." She leans back again, her eyes still steady on him. She knows everyone has secrets - Dr. Banner can't be an exception. But she's gotten along with people who have secrets before, and giving her purified blood samples faster that she can edit her coworkers' paperwork is a good way to get in her good graces. Second only, in fact, to feeding her.

"So what's your story, doc?"

[greenisnteasy]

"You might want to marry one of the students in my lab instead, since they're the reason I can work fast. Or marry all of them, if that's how you roll. I won't tell anyone."

That, and Bruce has been developing faster methods of studying these things. What he'll be doing with these samples is pretty experimental, but he'll be careful, and he won't bring that up, either. It is true that he works his students hard!

"Me? Oh, I'm busy with three boys of my own. Four men, living all together, but we're all alone." He smirks and reaches for his tea. "I studied physics and picked up my MD along the way, though I'm not practicing. Instead I use all that to help me do things like squeeze information out of samples. What about you, Agent Mars?"

[shesamarshmallow]

"Me? I'm busy respecting your decision to live with your man...friends." And not thinking about how large a bed that must take. She's also a little worried that she knows at least three places off the top of her head that could supply a bed large enough.

"My dad used to be a sheriff, and I helped him with cases when he became a private investigator. Got my private investigator's license, got into the FBI, and now I go on errand runs for agents that I shouldn't badmouth for reasons I don't quite understand."

She takes a sip of her tea. She should probably go back to work soon and be the lackey again.

Yeah, she's in a real rush for that.

"So I'm always curious about tea drinkers in the States - why are you a tea drinker in the States?"