Chapter Text
Bruce was propped up on one elbow, laying on his side as he watched you sleep. You were, like usual, curled up into a little ball facing him. He reached out a hand and gently stroked your arm, smiling at the hum of contentment you let out.
Bruce leaned down to press a firm kiss against your head. He squeezed his eyes shut as he took a moment just to feel your skin under his fingers and his lips. For a minute, he toyed with the idea of staying in bed with you all day but eventually, logic and curiosity won him over and he slipped out of the sheets and started getting ready for the day.
He was interested in seeing if the cellular revivification experiment he’d left running overnight had worked or not. If it had, he and Dr. Cho would be well on their way to creating a new, more portable version of the cradle. Maybe then he wouldn’t feel so worried every time Tony dragged you on Avengers missions to help post ‘code green’.
Bruce finished dressing and shot one last look at your still sleeping form before he smiled softly and snuck out of the apartment and headed down towards the labs. First, he stopped in the communal kitchen, making himself a cup of green tea and shaking his head once when Steve offered to make him a breakfast sandwich.
Bruce sipped his tea as he rode the elevator down to the labs and smiled as he thought about how different his life was now than it had been a few years ago when Hulk had first emerged. Bruce had been convinced his life had ended that day. But here he was, a few years later, and everything had fallen into place. He had a team who always had his back. He had a lab he could do whatever he wanted in and he had a beautiful . . . something . . . upstairs waiting for him.
Bruce sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, the calming tea not exactly having the intended effect on him as he thought about you.
You and Bruce had found each other when you’d most needed one another. He couldn’t imagine his life without you in it. Knowing he had you to come back home to was what got him through every code green that got called. Knowing he had you to come back home to was what kept him from losing himself in his experiments in the lab. Tony liked to joke that he and Bruce would never leave the labs if they didn’t have you and Pepper waiting for them back home.
Tony didn’t realize just how right he actually was.
But still, even after all of that, with all the love Bruce felt welling up inside of him whenever he thought about you or the way you showed in your every action that you loved him too, not ONCE had the two of you sat down and talked about whatever it was between you.
It was like an unspoken agreement between the two of you which he’d been fine with . . . until recently.
With everything feeling like it was starting to fall into place in his life, Bruce was finally starting to feel confident that one day, he could have something more permanent. He wanted you to be a part of that. He just didn’t know how to bring it up now.
Tony glanced up from his latest project as Bruce stepped off the elevator. For once, the pounding music wasn’t blasting from the speakers. “Trying to figure out the future again?” He asked.
Bruce grimaced.
Tony chuckled.
“You shouldn’t worry so much.” Tony said casually as he turned back to the gauntlet he was building. “She’s head over heels for you. Everyone can see it.”
Bruce groaned as he set his mug on his desk. “Does that mean that you’re not worried about Pepper anymore?”
Tony’s hands actually slipped as he soldered something into place and he yelped as he burned himself. He glared at Bruce accusingly, but Bruce merely shrugged a shoulder and smiled softly.
Tony pointed a finger at him. “That’s different and you know it. Pepper only puts up with me at best. The few times I’ve exploded into a rage monster, she’s gotten a hotel for the night. She’s never bothered cuddling up to me when I’m at my worst.”
Bruce clenched his hands at his side at the not-so-subtle reference to you and Hulk. Though Bruce had long since given up actively trying to stop any interaction between you and his more . . . destructive . . . alter ego, it always alarmed him when he woke up to signs of Hulk’s presence with you in the middle of the ruins. You promised that Hulk would never hurt you and Bruce knew you had a soft spot for the beast since he’d saved you in the woods when the two of you had first met. In fact, when you’d first taken Bruce to your home after you’d both stumbled out of the woods, you seemed almost skittish with the scientist. It was only after the Hulk had almost had a reappearance that you’d calmed down.
Bruce glanced at his desk lost in thought as he remembered how you’d accepted him in your life only because you'd first accepted Hulk.
He snorted softly as he sat down heavily in his chair.
When was the last time that had happened?
Quick answer? Never.
“You’re braver than you believe. We all know you’re stronger than you seem and smarter than you think, Bruce. She is too. The two of you already practically live together. This is just a small step further.”
Bruce shook his head and glanced at Tony coyly. “Did you just quote Winne the Pooh at me?” He asked.
Tony blanched and pointed his soldering iron threateningly. “No. No I didn’t.”
Bruce’s grin grew. “You did. You actually just did. Wow. The great Iron Man himself. What would the world think?”
Tony shook his head. “They won’t think anything because you’re not going to SAY anything. Remember who’s dime it’s on that you and The Soother are living together.”
Bruce shook his head playfully as he turned to his experiment. “Whatever you say . . . Christopher Robin.” He murmured under his breath.
“Shut your whore mouth, Bruce.” Tony grumbled.
Bruce chuckled.
The sharp sound of ‘I’d Die for You’ by Bon Jovi cut through the relative silence in the labs, startling Bruce and Tony out of their respective experiments. Tony grabbed for his phone.
“Hey, Pepp. I’m kinda in the middle of something. Can I call you back?” He murmured, cradling the phone against this shoulder as he tweaked a few bolts in the gauntlet. Bruce turned back to his microscope. Seconds later, the sounds of tools crashing to the table startled Bruce’s attention back to the inventor.
“Yeah. Yeah. I got it.” Tony murmured.
Bruce shot him a confused look as Tony glanced at him quickly and then glanced away. The look on Tony’s face sent a cold jolt right through Bruce’s heart. Something was wrong.
“I said I got it.” Tony bit out before hanging up the phone and tossing it on the desk. Tony ran a shaky hand through his hair as he leaned back in his seat.
“Tony? Is everything okay?” Bruce asked.
Tony glanced up as though he’d somehow forgotten Bruce was still in the lab. “Uh, yeah. Yeah. Of course. Pepper’s just nagging me to take out the trash. You know how she can be sometimes.” Tony smiled at Bruce who had spent enough time with the man to know when Tony was trying to smile his ‘everything is handled’ for the presses smile.
Bruce jumped to his feet. “You can’t pull that on me, Tony. What’s going on? Is it Avengers business? Is . . . is it a code green?”
There was a panicked glint in his Tony’s eyes as he shot up. “What? No! Not a code green. Not at all. Don’t worry about it, Banner. I just need to go down to the offices. It’s Stark Industries business. Boring stuff.”
Bruce didn’t look convinced, but Tony didn’t have the time to reassure him. “Trust me, Banner. When have I ever lied to you?”
Bruce didn’t bother giving the question a response as Tony backed out of the labs and headed towards the elevator.
“I have it covered, Brucie-Baby. Don’t worry about it.” He waved his phone in his hands. “I’ll call if I need anything. Promise. Besides, I know you’re in the middle of that revivification experiment. The team needs you on that.”
Bruce nodded slowly as he watched the elevator doors slide shut. Then he ran a shaking hand through his hair.
He sat down in his chair again and tried not to let the anger rise up in him. Tony was keeping something from him. That was obvious. But, if he was, it had to be for good reasons. Bruce just had to trust that. He sighed and turned back to his microscope.
A thousand miles away, you sat next to Pepper on the ground. Blood was pooling on the ground around your side where you’d been stabbed when you and Pepper had refused to stand down without a fight. Your hands were bound in front of you and Pepper was doing her best to keep the paper towels pressed against your wound despite her own hands being tied in front of her.
Your vision was already starting to swim and you knew without asking, that you were still bleeding heavily. You glanced up at Pepper as you heard the hijakers on the other end of the plane giving their list of demands to Tony on Pepper’s phone.
“Do you think Tony will be able to keep Bruce away?” You asked softly, hoping the billionaire could keep him away from all this. He had so much on his plate already. You didn’t need him worried about you too.
Pepper’s face was pale as she pressed her body closer to yours as you started shivering. “I’m sure he’ll do his best.” She said soothingly.
You nodded as you reached your hands over and squeezed one of her wrists in yours. “Tony will come for us.” You murmured. You were having a harder and harder time keeping your eyes open.
Pepper laughed in disbelief as tears flooded her eyes. “Tony was right, you know. You really are a calmer.”
You shook your head weakly. “Bruce does it better than me.” You murmured sleepily.
Pepper pressed harder against your wound and your eyes snapped open at the sudden pain. She glanced over her shoulder at the terrorists, but they didn’t seem to be paying any attention to the two of you.
She glanced at you and shook her head. “Come on, honey. You can’t go to sleep just yet. You’ve got to stay with me.”
You nodded slowly and tried to concentrate on her face. Pepper’s lips were pressed in a tight line as her fingers were painted with your blood.
You could feel a tingling in your limbs as they slowly lost feeling and you knew it was a losing battle, but despite all of that, you did your best to fight for her.
“Tony will come for us.” You promised again.
Pepper nodded quickly. “Yes. Yes, he will.”
“He wouldn’t risk me dying.” You teased. “Hulk would tear his lab apart again.”
Pepper chuckled weakly as tears fell down her cheeks. “He was awfully mad the last time he had to rebuild the place.”
Your eyes fluttered shut and you hummed. “Bruce thought it was funny.”
Pepper shook you again. “Did he?” She sniffed. “Well, come on, you can’t leave me hanging now. Wake up and tell me the story.”
You didn’t respond. She shook you harder and murmured your name fearfully. You still didn’t respond.
Pepper pressed her shaking hands harder against your wound and desperately prayed that Tony would get there soon.
He would save you.
He had too.