HURTS LIKE HELL
chapter seven

+brief warning that there is mention of attempted assault later in the chapter!

Stark had decided to hunt down Giselle after training. He wanted to stress that she shouldn't be completely dependent on her powers as she does have the potential to grow as a fighter. He knew that she was the most powerful recruit besides Hella. She's practically immortal with the combination of powers she posesses. Tony ended up finding her in her room meditating in her silk pajamas.

"What is it you want, Tony." Giselle sternly greeted while still on the floor in her lotus meditation pose, eyes still closed. Tony was shocked that she could tell it was him. 
"How-"
"Your cologne and overall musk gives it away." Giselle smirked as she opened her eyes and stretched out her legs. Tony just leaned against the door frame as he watched her. He didn't understand how a beautiful woman such as herself could be so deadly. As she rested her head onto her legs and reached her hands around her feet, Tony noticed a ring; a wedding ring, actually. 
"Didn't know you were married." Tony quietly observed as he walked in and planted himself on the bed behind her. Giselle took in a deep breath before turning her body to face Tony, sitting cross legged. 
"Technically I'm a widow." She responded as she looked down at her ring. She had worn it ever since her belongings were returned to her.
"How'd he die?" Tony asked, worried she'd go off and potentially kill him. Giselle let out a sigh, not sure if she could put herself through telling the story once again. 
"He was killed in an accident. We were walking home from a restuarant and a car hit us both as we were crossing. He was hit first and died not long after being hit." She spoke as the image of her husband's bloody face reappeared in her mind. She shook her head as she hugged her legs to her chest. Tony noticed how her eyes were filled with sadness, something he hadn't seen in her since he first met her. Before Tony could say anything else, Giselle shook her head and took another deep breath. She didn't want to be seen that way. 
"His death was the reason why I started my little killing spree. Corruption was everywhere and so I decided to do something about it." She commented as she returned to her cross-legged position. Tony chuckled at how quickly her demeanor changed. 
"I'm guessing you were hell for the prison guards in Korea." Tony scoffed as he looked at her. Giselle shrugged with a chuckle. 
"Not really. I didn't have a reason to cause trouble in the ward. All of us were better off dead than living in that ward." Giselle scoffed as she got up and walked towards her window. Tony was about to ask what she meant but was interrupted when Bruce stopped in. 
"I-I'm sorry to interrupt but Giselle, would you mind coming to the lab with me?" Banner shyly asked. Tony could only laugh at Bruce; he knew that the doctor had a major crush on the French beauty. Giselle smiled to herself at how nervous he was but it gave her a sense of happiness seeing someone like him be so...human. 

Giselle agreed and Tony tagged along as he worried for Banner's safety if something were to go wrong. Bruce had been observing all the new recruits and wanted to take blood samples of all of them to see how they all worked; mutation was what made him the Hulk in the first place. Bruce was nothing short of nervous being around Giselle. She made him feel something that he didn't think he could feel with anyone else. It pushed the thought to the side as all three of them entered the lab. Tony stood by Giselle as Bruce got some of the syringes for his testing ready. Giselle sat herself down on one of the stools, Tony following suit. He noticed a series of scars on her right shoulder as her silk cover slid off her shoulder. He was about to ask about it until Bruce interrupted again by walking over to take bloodwork from Giselle.

Bruce (very nervously) asked Giselle to remove her silk cover so as to not get blood on it and Tony could barely contain his laughter at how much Bruce stuttered around her. Giselle smiled in compliance as she removed her cover and placed it on the table behind her. She silently chuckled at how nervous Bruce became at the sight of more bare skin. He was like a nervous schoolboy around the woman. Only just recently had he relaxed around Natasha. He noticed the bruises around Giselle's shoulder blade and upper arm as he drew some blood from her. 

"I thought you were indestructible..." Bruce whispered as he placed a gauze on her forearm with a band-aid. Giselle scoffed. 
"Well I heal from everything but sometimes my body doesn't get it right or they just use good enough weapons to scar me." she sarcastically joked as she put her silk cover on and removed the band-aid with the gauze as she had healed. 
"May I ask how it happened?" Bruce asked as he put her bloodwork away in a container labeled specially for Giselle. Giselle bit down on her bottom lip as she recalled the incident it wasn't a proud moment for her. 
"A guard kept hitting on me and I used my powers to harm him. It was stupid because I didn't know they had weapons to use just for me. I was ambushed walking back to my cell. They knew about my healing factor but that didn't stop them from actually trying to kill me...They used their knives on me but there was something different about the blade as it hurt a lot more than any normal knife would - I figured it was a blade that was meant to damage skin with my abilities....They also used their guns on me. They shot everywhere in my upper body but that wasn't even the worst of it. One of them kept grabbing me and I kept screaming, I couldn't focus and so I couldn't use my powers...he never did anything to me but it's the closest I've ever come to being a victim of someone's. A commanding officer broke everything up and the ward nurse removed all the bullets but because I was under such duress, I couldn't heal properly hence the scars." she explained as a shiver went down her spine.

Tony sighed as he felt bad for Giselle. She lost her world and what she got in return was a bunch of a.ssholes who treated her like she was meat. He knew it impacted her in a way she didn't want it to. Giselle always had the upper hand but in that moment, she didn't and she could've paid the price in a much more severe way than just death. Bruce looked down at his feet attempting to contain his anger so he wouldn't turn into the big guy. Bruce couldn't stand to think that a prison would stoop that low. He wanted names and wanted them dead. He felt this protective nature with Giselle. Sure, she was a deadly criminal but that doesn't make her any more deserving of treatment of that nature. Tony picked up on Bruce's breathing and reached out and grabbed Giselle's hand to motion her to the door to leave. He didn't want to risk it with Bruce and let Bruce have his space to calm himself down before. 

Tony walked Giselle back to her room as it was getting close to supper. When they reached her room, he spontaneously pulled her in for a hug. Giselle was shocked but went along with it. Tony surprised himself with the action as he didn't know why he would hug a criminal like her but realized that he sympathized with her. She was still human after all. He pulled away without a word before walking away and Giselle simply smiled to herself as she planted herself onto her bed.