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“Good job kid!”
“Ms. Marvel, you did it!” Kamala heard the applause of people around her. Then she saw Bruno, looking at her worryingly. Anticipating the worst, she came next to him. They looked in each other’s eyes. She felt Bruno so close to herself, so close it seemed like her stomach was going to explode with butterflies, but then her phone rang.
No, it was not her phone, it was the alarm bell on the phone that was ringing.
“Can’t I sleep a little bit more?” She grumbled, then she saw the date on her phone: December 18th… Oh, no it was the day, it was Bruce’s birthday.
She had been wanting to plan something sweet that would make Bruce happy for his birthday. Now, she, who convinced the whole Avengers team to plan this with her, had to wake up and should find something to tell her parents. She left the warmth of her bed behind. Kamala had a lot to do that day.
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She made a list of everything that should be done.
1. Cake
The cake was ordered a few days ago. She would have loved to do it herself, but she could not find an excuse to tell her parents, who had no idea about Ms. Marvel.
2. Get Tony to rent out a theater
Bruce loved watching movies, especially science fiction. She thought to do it on Compound but it would take a lot of their time to get the Compound ready to watch movies. And because Tony was much more than willing to flaunt his money for his science bro and Kamala was totally going to take advantage of that. Wait, did that mean they could raid the popcorn machines? Was the candy-free for the taking?
3. Get Peter to choose movies to watch
Peter was the person who had the best movie knowledge in the team. She also had to listen heard Peter and Bruce talk about Star Wars. They even made her watch a few episodes of the Clone Wars. She actually loved Luminara Unduli, the way she cared about her student, no padawan, she had to remember this word after Peter corrected her a few times. In all honesty, she was glad to see a Muslim coded hero on screen, as a strong, moral woman, nonetheless a highly respected general. Even though she knew she was fictional, it made her feel less alone.
4. Get Nat to choose something to eat
After the movies, they would be hungry. She didn’t trust an Asgardian or a super-soldier from the 1940s to choose what they should eat for dinner and Natasha would be careful about choosing something that she also can eat.
5. Get Steve and Thor to do decorations
What is a better idea than giving two of the most powerful people she had ever met the decorating duty? And they were tall, they didn’t really have many limitations when it came to decorating. They would need a place to continue celebrating and the best option was the Compound.
6. Get Clint plan a few games to play
All in all, Clint had children and was a child himself, he would know a few games that they can plan. He was in the circus after all.
7. Get Nat and Tony find a thing for Bruce to do when they get ready for the day
Tony had connections and Natasha could be persuasive. Tony found a meeting where they would be talking about some scientific facts that Kamala didn’t remember and Natasha convinced Bruce to go.
“Kamala!” She heard her Ammi calling.
“Ammi?” She asked.
“Are you ready to go to the mosque? Nakia and Aamir are waiting for you outside.” Ohhh, it was Friday. How could she forget?
“I’m coming,” She said as she grabbed her headscarf.
8. Get Bruno to bring the cake for her
As she found herself in front of the mosque, she sent a message to Bruno to take the cake and go to the Avengers Compound. She also sent a message to Nat to let her know that Bruno is her friend.
9. Get Nakia to find an excuse for her
"Nakia!" Then she whispered to her friend while Sheikh Abdullah was talking.
"Yes, Kamala?"
"Can you handle my parents, I don't know say that I'm with you after the mosque?" She saw Nakia's eye-brow raising.
"Is this about Bruno?" She asked.
"Kinda." She didn't want to lie to her best friend but technically it was not lying, it had something to do with Bruno, right? Ahh, she was lying to herself now. She knew she should tell her parents and Nakia about Ms. Marvel but she was not sure about how they would react. She had been talking with Peter about it. He also had the same struggles she had but now his best friends and aunt knew about him being Spider-Man. Maybe she should tell them too.
Nakia's voice cut her thoughts.
"We have some guests from Turkey, so I'm going to the library to study, we can tell them you came with me, no one would notice."
"You are the best," Kamala said. Her voice was a little bit louder than she meant.
"I'm sorry." She said when she realized the eyes on her.
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Bruno was studying something for Kamala. She had found that purple liquid a few days ago. As he was getting to somewhere with it he saw the message.
Bruno, you remember that birthday party I was planning for Bruce? Oh yeah, I forgot it was Friday. Can you take the cake and go to the Avengers Compound? They will be waiting for you.
He really did not know how to feel about this. The Avengers he thought. He knew Kamala was close with them, but it was still Bruce Banner, one of the best scientists of their generation. Bruno, as a biochemist had big respect for his works. He also read everything he has written about mass. However, he had no idea how to talk with them.
But if that was what Kamala wanted he didn’t have any other choice. He had to hurry if he wanted to be there on time. It would take at least 2 hours to go to New York. He left all of his work behind and went towards the door.
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Natasha was preparing the list of what they would eat when she got the message.
Hi Nat! I’m going to be a little bit late, so I’m sending my friend, Bruno Carrelli, with the cake. You can trust him, he is the only one who knows about Ms. M. See you in the evening!
Natasha, of course, would not trust someone that easily.
“Nat? What happened?” It was Tony standing at the door. He probably had already rented a theatre.
“Bruno Carrelli, a friend of Kamala. He is bringing the cake.” She said while looking at everything S.H.I.E.L.D. had on him.
“Cute kid!” Tony commented.
“A biochemist, he also has an IQ level of 170.” She said coldly.
“Hmm, not bad. He would get on well with Peter.”
“Seems like it.”
Natasha saw Tony was sending a message as he left the room. She could estimate what it was about but there was a list for her to prepare.
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Kamala saw the message from Tony right after she left the mosque.
That Bruno’s a very handsome young man! Could use a haircut maybe, but as long as he is respectful to you and he makes you happy, I’m okay with it.
They did research on Bruno, but she said he was trustworthy. She should have known better than this. Wait did Tony think they were dating? But it was, unfortunately, not true so she decided to answer his message.
What?! We are not, I mean we don’t, it’s not like that.
The only response she got was a winking face.
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Bruno was running. He had a big birthday cake and he was running fastly to catch the ferry. Kamala sometimes forgot that he was not as powerful as she is. But Bruno was not called a genius for anything, he found a way to carry heavy things long ago when Kamala was new to being Ms. Marvel.
Fortunately, he was there on time. He had given a big part of his pocket money to buy a ticket. However, this was the fastest way and he certainly didn’t want to make the Avengers wait.
He found himself in front of the Avengers Compound in leaps and bounds.
“Bruno Carrelli,” A voice said like she was threatening him. When he turned his face, he saw the Black Widow in front of him.
“Ma'am,” he had to admit that she was even scarier than he thought.
“You are Kamala’s friend. She wanted you to wait here at least till she comes. Come inside, bring the cake to the kitchen.” She said firmly.
Bruno had no other choice but to obey. After they passed a few doors, Ms. Romanoff stopped in front of one door. When she opened the door, Bruno had seen the biggest kitchen he would probably ever be able to see.
“Put it there,” She said while pointing at a big table. Bruno put it there as Ms. Romanoff brought two knives. They cut out the package and put on some candles. It was a big birthday cake that had green and purple decorations and big writing that said Happy Birthday Strongest Avenger.
They prepared it without saying any word. Ms. Romanoff didn’t look like someone who liked talking and Bruno was so scared for his life, he didn't dare to ask if he was right or not.
Then his phone vibrated. Something had happened to Kamala.
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Kamala was going as fast as she could in her Ms. Marvel costume. This was the fastest way available to her right now, she has already missed the ferry but she had to be there before Bruce did.
Everything was going okay until she heard a voice that was shouting at her.
“Ohh, Spider-man has left the patrolling to you today?” They mocked. “Who are you? Your costume looks like... what was her name Captain Marvel? What are you a copycat?” They asked. Could something go okay that day!?
“Ms. Marvel actually, I didn’t hear your name…”
“I’m the Rhino.” He shouted with a Russian accent.
“Nice to meet you. I need to be somewhere. Could we finish this quickly?” She asked remembering a few times Peter mentioned him.
“Hospital will be the place you will be.” He shouted this time. He truly liked shouting. Was this what Peter had to deal with every day? She pitied him and sent a message to Bruno.
I’m going to be late, someone named Rhino
She didn’t even have time to send a complete message. Fortunately, Bruno was used to this. With that, the fight had begun.
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“Ms. Romanoff, she says she is fighting with someone named Rhino. Do you have any idea who that is?” Bruno asked even without being a spy she could see how worried he was.
“A villain who likes to mess around with Spider-Man, but I would not call him an A-class villain. Don’t worry, she is powerful enough to defeat him.” Natasha tried to reassure him hoping that it will have, even a little, an impact. It seemed like it was working.
However, it didn’t continue for a long time, because Clint, who was keeping an eye on the street which Bruce always used for coming to Compound, let them know that Bruce was getting closer.
“Call Kamala, she will answer if she can. Bruce is here.” Bruno looked at her, shocked. He took his phone and called Kamala.
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“Kamala, Bruce is here,” Bruno said without any greeting. It was surprising that he didn’t call him Dr. Banner but Bruce.“What?” She shouted from the other side of the phone. He heard a sound like a kick. “I’m about to be finished here but you need to distract him.”
“You are the only person he doesn’t know. Anyone but you will look suspicious.”
“How? I don’t know...” Kamala cut his sentence.
“You are a genius, Bruno. Are you not the one who has an IQ of 170?”
“But this is Bruce Banner, one of the best scientists of our generation.”
“I know, then ask Peter!”
“Who?”
“Tony’s intern, tell him you are my friend and say that you need to distract Bruce. Peter is also a fellow genius. Bruce likes talking about science but everyone sees him as Hulk first. This is his real-life work and that’s what makes him a hero. I’m sure you can find something but I have a fight to finish.” She said and closed the phone.
He had a Peter to find. Bruno went right to the living area where everyone was waiting. There was this one young person and the others were Avenger so he went next to that young man and asked the question.
“Umm hi! Are you Peter?”
“Yes, and you are?” He asked. He looked confused, unsurprisingly.
“Bruno, I’m a friend of Kamala Khan.”
“Ohh, you are that friend Mr. Stark mentioned. What did you need?”
“Kamala wanted me to distract Dr. Banner till she comes but I have no idea what to ask right now.”
“Do you like science?”
“Yes, mostly biochemistry though.”
“You are lucky then because Bruce is working on something close to your area. Just let me ask Tony how much of it is public knowledge.” He left to call Tony Stark as Bruno nodded his head.
A few minutes later both Peter and Mr. Stark were right next to him.
“He looks even more handsome in real life.” What? Bruno thought and felt the heat in his cheeks. Of course, he would embarrass himself like this...
“You have an impressive document in S.H.I.E.L.D. and I have to say I knew you two were going to be friends but didn’t imagine it would happen this fast.”
“Mr. Stark, it’s an honor to meet you. Kamala wanted me to distract Dr. Banner…” This time it was Mr. Stark who cut him.
“I know, Peter told me. Brucie, Pete here, and I have been working on the genetics of mitochondrion, I’m more of the engineering part of the job, but the kid can give you more about the molecular biology part of the project.”
“Okay, so you know that mitochondrion also has its own DNA?”
“Of course.”
“So we have been working to use CRISPR-Cas9 to do changes on its DNA.” “But you can’t because you need to use (g)RNA to guide it. However, it can’t go inside a mitochondrion.”
“Exactly but we found a protein that’s like Rube Goldberg protein. It has a toxin that can reorganize a nucleotide, but it doesn’t work on every nucleotide yet.”
“Okay, I have a few questions in mind that I can ask Dr. Banner. Thank you for your help!”
“Always,” Peter said and Mr. Stark winked. Peter didn’t look like he was only Mr. Stark’s intern and Mr. Stark was acting around Peter like Mr. Khan when he was around Kamala. He would need to ask this Kamala later, he had a job to do.
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“Dr. Banner,” Bruno shouted behind the scientist “I’m a big fan of your works, would you have some time to answer a few questions about your new projects?” Dr. Banner turned to look at him.
“Of course! Unfortunately, I usually don’t have a chance to talk with young brains. I would be glad to answer your questions.”
“Thank you. I’ve heard that you are working on the mitochondrion DNA.” Bruce nodded.
“They were simply tearing it down to its pieces instead of reorganizing it. How did you succeed in reorganizing without using the (g)RNA?” Bruno asked and a talk about science started.
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Kamala was running again but this tıime she took left and saw Bruce talking with Bruno. She stopped and took a deep breath. She was on time. She gave a thumbs-up to Bruno so he can understand that he can go.
As she got closer Kamala heard Bruno thanking Bruce and then he left.
“Hi, Bruce!”
“Kamala, it’s good to see you. I didn’t know you were coming today.”
“Really? I’m sure I told Tony. You know he promised to help with my physics homework. I hope he won’t forget it like the last time.” Bruce laughed.
“I don’t have anything to do today. If he bails on you, I can always help.”
“Thank you, Bruce.” Kamala took a step back, so Bruce can be the first one to go in. It was dark inside like she planned and then the lights were on.
“Happy birthday Bruce!” Everyone shouted.
Bruce was shocked, which meant she was successful. “T-thank you.”
“It was all Kamala’s idea!” Clint shouted. Then Bruce turned to her and smiled.
“Brucie, we have places to be, let’s go.” It was Tony this time.
“Ohh, by the way, this is Bruno, he is my friend and well he also helped.” Kamala brought Bruno in front of Bruce.
“It’s good to meet you again Dr. Banner, ahh..”
“If I’m being honest with myself, I’m truly impressed by the questions you asked.”
The day has finished so much faster than she thought. Now, they were back at the Compound for eating the cake.
Steve and Thor were bringing it in while the others were singing the happy birthday songs.
“Don’t forget to make a wish.” Kamala heard Natasha whispering to Bruce’s ear.
Kamala had to admit the cake tasted great. After everyone had finished eating, it was time to give the presents.
The first one was from Tony. “When I first met you, I finally understood that I was not alone, there was someone who would understand me. I know that science bros became some kind of phrase but you are my real brother, just like Rhodey. I wish you a year that you will have all your wish for.” Tony gave Bruce a box, there was a key in it.
“Tony?”
“I know you don’t want expensive things, so I didn’t buy a new car." Tony reassured. "This is the car we used to go to the Avengers Tower after capturing Loki. It’s yours now.” Bruce had no other thing to say other than thanking him.
The second was from Steve. “I understand you didn’t want to be close to me in the beginning but I believe we got bonded over time. You, Bruce Banner, are one of the strongest people that I know, not as Hulk but as yourself. This year, I hope it will bring you the happiness which you deserve.” Bruce opened and saw some astronomy books. “I’ve always found hope and strength to continue when I looked at the stars. I thought you would be more interested in the scientific part.”
“Thank you, Cap.”
Then there was Clint’s gift. “ I know how it feels when you see yourself as a freak. I was raised in a circus, I would practice with my bow and arrows just for the show. Even as a spy of S.H.I.E.L.D. I never felt like a hero till I met you. I saw the hero inside of you and realized how alike we felt about our pasts that are not under our control. You showed me that I was a hero, I hope you have a wonderful year ahead of you.” Clint gave an arrow to Bruce. “Sorry, I couldn’t pack the arrow very well. Laura was laughing at me for it. This is one of my old arrows, from my time at the circus. I hope you will look at it and remember that you are not alone.”
It was Thor’s turn. “I was struggling when I joined the team. The Midgardian culture was not something I was used to. But Bruce, even when we knew nothing about each other, you brought a coffee to me, you showed me kindness and this team became a second family to me. From what I understand you wish happiness for a year on a birthday. I’m going to wish you the happiness of a lifetime.” And with that Thor gave him a bottle that was covered with a gift pack. “This is an Asgardian bottle that we give to family members. I also put Asgardian Ale in it, the best beer you can find in 9 realms.”
It was Natasha this time who came silently next to him. “I’ve always felt like a monster. I killed because they made me, I did everything they wanted till Clint saved me from that path. From this day I looked at my hands which were full of blood and hated every line in them. But then they sent me to bring you to S.H.I.E.L.D. so you can find the Tesseract. You hulked out that day and I realized I was not the only person who saw themselves as a monster, that there was someone else who hated himself because of the lives he took, without knowing it. And I loved that man as much as I hated myself, I loved him with every wrong he has ever made. And I started to see myself as a human just like I saw him. Bruce, you are one of the best things that have happened to me. I hope you will have a year that would teach you how a good person you truly are.” Natasha gave him something that looked like a book. “I used everything I have from S.H.I.E.L.D. and found some of the people you have helped. These are all the letters they have sent you.” Bruce’s eyes filled with tears.
“Thank you, Natasha.” He whispered.
“I’ve always been a big fan of you.” Peter started talking. “You can’t imagine how happy I was when Uncle Ben brought your books. I didn’t understand it completely when I read it for the first time.” Peter laughed. “Honestly, I don’t know how many times I read them. Everywhere on the pages covered with the notes I took. The day I met you was one of the best days of my life. As soon as I was in Queens, I called Ned and shouted at him saying that I met Bruce Banner. Then one of the scientists I admire the most became my friend. I hope this year will be a great year for you.” Peter gave him two gifts. “I’ve heard that carnation is a flower that calms people down. I thought it might be helpful.” There was a painting of a few white carnations. “Also white means good luck.” The second gift was a plate that says Periodic Table of New York. “I thought you might like it.” Bruce smiled at Peter.
“I did, thank you, Peter.”Kamala knew it was her turn to give him, her gift so she went next to Bruce as she grabbed her gift. “I was scared about my powers, about people’s life I was trying to save, about everything. But then you talked with me. You said that those powers were part of us, that I should embrace it. I have never felt alone after this. You are the best mentor I could ever ask for. I will never forget the time you said you would never be too busy for me.” Kamala gave him her gift. “This is a calendar with our photos in it. It also has a few important days like the day we met.” She explained.
“This is a beautiful gift.”
“Also there is a best mentor mug. It’s so much better than the one Peter bought for Tony. It is heatproof.”
“Hey!” Kamala heard Peter.“They are jealous of us kid, everyone knows we are the best mentor-mentee team,” Tony said.
“You wouldn’t want to be a part of this competition,” Bruce whispered to her. “You know we are the best.” He winked.
It was a great day, Kamala thought. The one Bruce deserved.