"Hey! Hey man, wake up, don't die on me!" Dr. Bruce Banner heard through his barely conscious haze. The voice seemed so far away in the distance, and he held onto it like a life line as he started coming back toward the surface. He felt a rock it him in the stomach and he groaned, sitting up slowly. His entire body ached. The doctor rubbed at his eyes, trying to clear his vision. "It's alive!" He heard the same voice say, clearer now. Bruce looked up toward the voice, and immediately turned red, trying to cover himself. Above him was a young woman, no older than twenty five, with long white hair except for the right side which was shaved. She had big green eyes surrounded in heavy black eye makeup. Her nose was as cute as a button. She had a rather pretty face, despite the fact that she looked incredibly malnourished and paler than death. She was dressed in all black, wearing skinny jeans and a smooth leather biker jacket. Draped over her shoulder was a JanSport backpack. The woman was sitting cross legged on a pile of bricks, smiling down at the doctor. "Hey there, stud muffin. Welcome back." She said cheerfully.
The doctor blinked, then looked around at the damage. "Dear God." He muttered, holding his head in his hands. "Did I hurt anybody?" He asked the young woman desperately.
She shook her head. "No, but you did scare the shit out of me and some pigeons. You came flying out of the sky, huge, naked, green and roaring like a lion giving birth, but no one got hurt." She replied. "Are you alright?"
Dr. Banner nodded, looking around at the damage again. "Christ..." He whispered.
The woman took off her backpack and pulled out a small bundle, then threw it to the naked Banner. He looked up at her in confusion, and she grinned. "I thought you'd need these. I didn't think they'd fit until you... Shrunk? Yes, I suppose that's the word I'm looking for... But they actually might."
As she spoke, the doctor unrolled the bundle of cloths and pulled on the brown pants and black button down shirt. "Thank you." He called up to the woman.
She waved him off. "No problem. I threw a bottle of water down there too. You look like you need it. What's your name?"
"Uh, Bruce. Bruce Banner."
The woman's emerald green eyes lit up and she smiled down at him in a welcoming, cheerful way. She held out her hand to pull the doctor out of the ruble. "Nice to meet you, Bruce Banner."
He took the woman's hand-which was tiny, yet strong and callused-and allowed himself to be pulled out. "Nice to meet you too, Miss..." Bruce's voice trailed off as he realized he didn't know the woman's names.
She smiled. "Lennon Burke. Just call me Lennon, no need for a 'Miss'. I'm not that special." She replied jokingly.
Bruce found himself staring at the young woman. He was rather taken aback with her. Although she looked like she lived in a gutter and tripped the blind to pass the time, she didn't act like one. Not even a little bit. Her eyes were soft, sparkling with life and Bruce couldn't help but get lost in them. He was swimming in them. He was absolutely enchanted by the woman. She had seen the Other Guy and watched the doctor change, she saw him crash through a roof and survive... So what does she do? She goes out and gets him cloths and a bottle of water, then sits by him and waits for him to wake up.
Lennon raised an eyebrow. "Are you planning on letting go of my hand, Mr. Banner?" She teased, the corner of her mouth twitching up into a playful smirk.
Bruce flushed a bright shade of pink and looked down. "It's Dr. Banner, actually." He replied awkwardly.
"You're a doctor?"
The doctor nodded. "Scientist."
Lennon looked impressed. "So! The big question is, why the hell were you in the sky? More importantly, how did you survive a fall like that, it should have killed you, man."
Bruce looked up toward the sky, searching for the jet. "Well," He started to say as he ran his fingers through his hair. "I was heading for New York, but then..." He looked down at Lennon, who was staring at him with her huge green eyes as if he were some sort of God. He cleared his throat. "Sorry, it's a long story."
The young woman looked around. "Well, considering the way you fell out of the sky and the size of the jet you fell out of, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you got attacked." She replied. Her eyes suddenly locked on Bruce, and he stepped back, a little startled. "Are you an alien?" She asked.
Bruce laughed quietly, although it was slightly bittersweet. "No, no I'm not an alien."
"Are you friends with Tony Stark?" Although her tone was serious, her eyes were still sparkling. "Sorry, it was the only thing that made sense in my mind."
He thought back to the incident on the jet and sighed heavily. "I uh… I don't really know anymore. I hope so."
Lennon realized she hit a sensitive spot, and she looked down. "Well, Bruce... Dr. Banner, do you need a ride somewhere?" She asked politely.
The doctor looked down at the woman and smiled. "Do you think you can get me to Manhattan?"
She nodded. "Of course, I can. Just let me get something from my house." She replied. "It'll only take a few minutes."
"Of course. Take your time. I really don't want to be there super quick anyway..." He agreed.
The woman glanced up at him, a bit baffled by his words, but just grabbed her backpack from the ground and looked toward the entrance. "Shall we?"
Bruce followed her out, hands in his pockets.
When the two came up on the young woman's house-which what only a few minutes' walk away- Lennon looked up at the doctor apologetically. "Please excuse the mess, no one ever comes over. The only one normally here is my dad." She replied sourly.
Bruce shrugged. "It means nothing to me. You should have seen the mess I made up on the jet."
The woman laughed. "Help yourself to a drink, I'll only be a moment." She said as she disappeared into her room.
Bruce didn't want a drink, so instead he walked around and looked at pictures on the walls. In the photos, there was an older man, each time with a different woman. There were no pictures of Lennon at all. On the floor were more empty bottles of alcohol that Bruce had ever seen in his life. Judging by the type of photos that were on the walls, Bruce guessed that they belonged to Lennon's father.
As he walked by, he accidentally looked through the door that was opened just a crack. He saw Lennon in her room, changing her cloths. She was completely shirtless. The doctor looked away almost immediately, blushing profusely, but not before noticing a very large ink colored patch on the young woman's torso. Or at least, he though he saw it. He tried to blow it off as his imagination.
He made his way back down the hallway, looking up at the pictures again. He still felt guilty knowing he'd peaked in on the changing woman.
Moments later, Lennon's door opened, and she came back out, this time wearing leather skinny jeans, Dr. Martens, and a three quarter sleeved Black Sabbath t-shirt, the same one Tony had been wearing earlier. Her backpack was slung over one shoulder, her jacket over the other. She smiled up at the doctor. "Hey there."
Bruce smiled. "Hey." His voice sounded rough, as he was still embarrassed by seeing the woman half naked.
Lennon raised an eyebrow. "Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost." She observed.
Bruce nodded. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine. Are you ready to go?"
"I am indeed. Let's get out of here before my father gets home." She replied, her voice humorous. "The old man wouldn't like the idea of me bringing a stranger here, especially a man." Her voice was teasing as she sent him a playful smirk.
Bruce felt the heat rush to his cheeks again, but he held his tongue.
Lennon led him out of the house toward the garage, where he sat dumbfounded. There was no car in sight. "Um... What are we taking, exactly?" He asked cautiously.
Lennon turned to him, her lips curled up into a smirk as she pulled a tarp off of a large Harley Davidson motorcycle. Bruce Banner felt his pulse quicken, and the Other Guy stirred in the back of his head. She pulled two helmets off of the shelf and handed one to Bruce. "It's perfectly safe, Dr. Banner, I swear. I won't you get hurt." She explained, smiling at the skittish doctor.
Bruce swallowed down his fears and took the helmet from her, pulling it over his head. He carefully slipped his leg over the gorgeous bike behind Lennon, and wrapped his arms around her torso. "A-are you sure this is safe?" He stammered.
Lennon chuckled. "That depends."
"On?"
She turned and smiled at him. "Whether or not you trust me."
The doctor gulped, and nodded carefully. Lennon turned and flipped the visor on her helmet down and started up the bike, tearing off into the distance.
