Hello guys! I've had this idea in my head about Bruce Banner having a son, with Betty Ross without realizing it after he ran away after the Harlem incident, for ages now and I've practically gone through the idea a gazillion times in my head. So I've finally decided to write it! I really hope you guys like it because I'm super pumped about it...just saying. So, please enjoy and leave a comment with what you think! I really want to know if people think it sounds worth reading or not. idk. I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: None of the marvel character are mine...clearly *cries in corner*

Chapter 1

In full retrospect, Bruce should've known things couldn't stay this good forever. What started out like a more or less routine day had quite literally turned into the most life changing day of his entire life…even more life changing than the day he was cursed with the other guy's presence.

After moving into the Avengers Tower, once the alien invasion by the God of Mischief was finally finished being dealt with, things had fallen into a pretty strange, but regular lifestyle for him, as well as the other avengers. The tower had become his home now, and after not having a legitimate home for such a long time, it felt great to finally have one. Not to mention his bizarre team members had become some of the closest friends he's ever had; they were practically his family.

The only other person in the world who he had considered even closer than them was the love of his life, Betty Ross. Unfortunately, he hadn't dared seek her out since he was last here-when he had gone green and almost destroyed all of Harlem. It had been nearly 18 years, but he had decided, upon returning to New York, that he wouldn't dare contact her. He just couldn't take it…seeing that she had probably moved on since then. There was no doubt in his mind that she had. What reason did she have to wait for someone who would probably never come back?

Bruce pushed his glasses up on his nose, out of habit, as he examined the varying schematics of his latest research on the display screen in his lab. Tony had been incredibly generous and had offered him his own entire workplace all to himself, complete with anything he could ever possibly need or want. Of course he accepted the offer, how could he turn down something like that? Tony had been ecstatic about it, and had had the joint up and running in no time.

Bruce sighed to himself and leaned back in his chair. He stretched his arms into the air and yawned, glancing over at the clock as he did so. The blinking green digits on the little digital clock were flashing the time. It was only a little bit past one, but he really didn't feel like stopping in the middle of his own project to go help Tony. He had asked him the day prior if he'd give him a hand with some silly theory of his. Something involving his iron man suit and electro-magnets. He asked him to be at his lab at one…but now it was approaching 1:15.

Just as Bruce was beginning to save his work and shut down the systems, he heard the methodical beeps of someone entering the key code to his workshop. Before he could even look up, Tony came strutting in and found a seat leaning melodramatically on his desk.

"C'mon, Banner, you weren't seriously going to blow me off were you?"

The physicist chuckled and went back to shutting down the last few monitors, "I wasn't planning on it, Tony. I just lost track of time."

Tony raised an eyebrow and retorted sarcastically, "I thought I bought you that alarm clock for a reason."

Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'll use it next time, okay? Just tell me, what exactly did you have in mind for this little project of yours?"

"Nothing major," Tony said whilst picking up a stress ball off of his desk and bouncing it from hand to hand, "I was actually thinking we could go upstairs and grab a bite to eat and then I could tell you about it over lunch. If it works, I'll be able to create a minor magnetic field around the suit that will repel bullets. Pretty cool, right?"

Bruce rolled his eyes and ran a hand casually through his dark waves, "Sounds like it's just some other party trick you want to test out…"

"Humor me, Banner! C'mon, lunch is on me! I'll have Dummy whip up some chamomile tea for you even. My treat," he said as he leapt off the desk and strode back to the door. "Chop, chop, slow-poke! We've got some serious science to do," he shouted overdramatically.

Bruce grinned and called back, "Alright, alright. Just let me finish locking up the main monitor." His fingers plucked out a quick pattern on the holographic screen, and it blinked out of existence. He stood up from his desk and followed after Tony and out of his lab, the glass door locking automatically as they exited.

Tony ranted about the potential other uses his theory could have as they got onto the elevator and rode it up to the top floor of the Avengers Tower. They had all sort of agreed, upon everyone moving in, that it was to serve as the "team floor," where they could go to hang out and relax after a long day or intense mission.

The elevator dinged, and the two scientists stepped out onto the tiled floor. Tony lead the way into the kitchen; they added one up here after their first return from a mission in Chicago that had completely wiped them out and left them starving. Everyone was in a poor mood at that point in time, and nobody wants to remember the shit that went down when they all fought over the last slice of pizza they had ordered. Installing this top notch kitchen was a blessing amongst the team who inhaled massive meals after missions to make up for all the calories they'd burned.

Bruce turned his head and gave a small wave to Clint and Steve as they passed the living room. They were watching the James Bond movies, since Steve hadn't seen them, and Clint insisted that he did. They appeared to be completely engrossed in the current one they were on, and Bruce chuckled lightly when he saw Steve watching with his mouth slightly agape.

"Here you have it. One steaming hot mug of tea, courtesy of me," Tony quipped as he slid Bruce the warm navy blue mug.

"Thanks, Tony. So, wha…" Bruce began to ask Tony a question about his theory when the elevator doors slid open and Pepper came striding into the kitchen and slammed her briefcase on the kitchen table with an irritated huff.

"Hey, babe. What's got your panties in a bunch," Tony asked curiously as he shot Bruce an apologetic look.

Pepper rubbed her temples and snapped bitterly, "Tony, how many times have I told you now to heighten the security in the tower?"

Tony quirked an eyebrow and protested in response. "I have! Nobody can even get through the doors if Jarvis doesn't recognize a person's genetic code. I've programed him to recognize everyone who's allowed in the tower; Bruce even helped perfect it. That means you, me, the team. Whatever staff members or faculty that comes in the back entrance even have to type in their own access code," he grinned smugly and leaned against the kitchen bar ledge, "so you can finally lay off me. The place is completely secure. I swear on the Mark IV I totaled last week."

Pepper rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in annoyance. She huffed, "Then can you explain to me why security keeps calling me about some kid running around the tower?"

Bruce and Tony both blinked in surprise. "Kid? What kid," Tony exclaimed.

Pepper sighed and threw up her hands in frustration, "How should I know, Tony! Apparently, some kid was able to walk in right through the front doors of the tower, and has been giving the security guards the slip for over an hour now!"

Bruce's eyes widened and he looked at Tony, who looked equally as shocked, but they were both clearly impressed. Whoever this kid was, they had managed to get into the security system that had been perfected by two super geniuses, and was still able to avoid being caught by even human aspects of the security system.

Bruce asked curiously, "Did they find out who the kid is?"

Tony piped up and spit fired a couple more questions at Pepper. "Yeah, and is it a boy or a girl? Do you know exactly how they were able to break in? Does the kid seem cool? He sounds pretty clever, or she. I dunno," he paused and added excitedly, "just have security catch them and bring 'em up here. I want to have a little chat with them…Jarvis?" He asked the super computer.

"Yes, sir?"

"Answer those questions for me. Pep' is being a tad too slow for me."

"Right away, sir."

Pepper pursed her lips in obvious dislike, and she strode away, back to the elevator, "You seem to have this under control then, Tony. If you need me, I'll be in my office to finish the business call that I was interrupted in…twice… to take care of your little security mistake. So, fix it!"

The doors slid shut and the fiery girlfriend of Tony Stark was gone.

Bruce took off his glasses and cleaned them absentmindedly, waiting with Tony to get their questions answered by Jarvis. "Tony," Bruce asked quietly, "how could this kid possibly get in? We programmed it together. It's nearly impossible to break in unless you have a passcode or you're one of us."

Tony shrugged and slipped his phone into his back pocket, "I haven't the slightest clue, man. But I just told the dogs downstairs to bring HIM up as soon as they caught him."

Bruce nodded and questioned curiously, "So, it's a boy? Do they know how old is he?"

"They say he looks to be around 17 or 18 years old. Whoever he is, I want to meet him. Whoever can best the work of the science bros has some serious explaining to do." Tony grinned mischievously and tapped his fingers methodically on the table, waiting impatiently for some answers.

"Sir," Jarvis's artificial voice rang out clearly over the speakers.

"Sing to me, J. Tell us what you got."

"Sir, the person of interest is a young man, 18 years of age; he's quite clever, but he didn't break in. He has full access to the Tower."

Tony's eyebrows furrowed together and he shot a confused look at Bruce.

Bruce narrowed his eyes and he muttered, "Uh…Jarvis, there must be some mistake. We don't know this kid…"

"And we most certainly didn't hire him and give him an access code," Tony added. "Seriously, Jarvis. Do I need to check you for a glitch or something? You made a mistake, buddy."

"I'm sorry, sir, but the boy's g-code checks out."

Bruce and Tony froze in place as Jarvis told them this information. It couldn't be right! That was impossible! The g-code was only the access granted to those with the genetic matches of themselves; so only the avengers and pepper had access to that way of entry.

Tony shook his head in disbelief and stamped his foot childishly on the ground, "C'mon, Jarvis. Quit pulling our legs! What the hell did you just tell us?"

"The boy's g-code scan checked out, sir," the AI said again in an almost sarcastic voice.

Bruce gulped and he looked at Tony with a growing pit of worry in his stomach. Random people, let alone teenagers, just happened to know the genetic coding of once of the members of the Avengers Initiative. Not unless they worked for some secret organization that was up to no good. Bruce had a bad feeling about this.

"Tony…That's not possible…Jarvis, run further scans," he blurted out.

Tony raised an eyebrow and was about to argue with Jarvis once more, when his phone buzzed in his back pocket again. He growled in annoyance and slipped it out, answering charismatically, "Stark, speaking," his eyes widened and he exclaimed, "what?! Yes! Bring him up now!" Tony hung up abruptly and clapped his hands together excitedly, "They caught him! Apparently, the little bugger could run pretty damn fast!"

All of the commotion had drawn Clint and Steve to the kitchen, followed by Natasha, who had joined them recently to watch the movie after showering. Her keen and knowing green eyes narrowed in suspicion, "Who was caught? What's going on, Stark?"

Steve nodded in turn with her question and asked worriedly, "Is someone trying to break in, Tony?" The super soldier's forehead was creased in concern and his eyes followed from Tony and over to Bruce. He probably thought asking the physicist would be a much more productive way of answering their questions, but...

Tony sauntered up to pat Steve on the back and chattered on. "Relax, guys! There was just some punk who managed to get into the tower and through our security system. So, Banner and I had him rounded up to be brought up here so we could just have a little chat. That's all. It's really no biggie, I swear."

Bruce bit his lip and spoke up. He refused to leave the team with so vague an answer, not to mention he was really worried about the tower's safety right now. "Tony…we don't know what this kid is capable of. He just broke into our incredibly secure system, and if Jarvis isn't making a mistake, then that means that maybe he has his hands on one of the team's DNA. He could be a threat for all we know…"

This caught the soldier's attention, and Steve stood up straighter to fix Tony with an annoyed glare, "Stark, this sounds serious. Maybe we should phone in shield. This kid could be a spy for Hydra or some other organization trying to make a seemingly harmless attack to find out more intel on us or the tower."

Tony rolled his eyes at the blonde, and wittily retorted, "Listen, Cap. I highly doubt that some 18 year old kid is going to be much of a threat to us. I mean, coooome oooon! It was probably just a little glitch in the whole system. It's happened before!"

Suddenly, the elevator dinged, and the team froze. All eyes were on the silver elevator doors, just waiting for them to slide open.

When they did, a tall man with short, buzz-cut hair, in a black security suit marched forward and nodded to the team. "Mr. Stark," he addressed lowly, "We have the kid on the floor just below us. He really doesn't seem like too much trouble. Are you sure you don't just want us to escort him out?"

Tony shook his head and grinned at the man in the dark uniform, "Nah, agent. Just bring him up. I want to get a load of this kid."

The guard nodded curtly in response and turned to reenter the elevator shaft. He chuckled humorously, and added, "It's kind of funny actually, he kept saying that he needed to talk to you."

Tony guffawed and waved his hand dramatically through the air, "Geez, you know how super fans are."

The guard's smile disappeared momentarily and added to clarify his last thought, "Uh, pardon me, sir, but what I meant to say is, he kept saying he needed to speak with Doctor Banner." With that, the door slid shut again and everyone had turned to stare at Bruce.

Bruce fidgeted nervously under the gaze of his friends. It made him incredibly uncomfortable having all those questioning stares on him. He didn't even know what was going on himself!

"Doctor Banner," Steve said firmly, "is there something you're not telling us?"

"Yeah, how does this kid even know you're living here," Clint interjected curiously.

Natasha's green eyes narrowed and she fixed Bruce with her cold secret agent glare, "I think I would know if Bruce was hiding something from us."

The team continued to ask questions of Bruce. Even Tony seemed intrigued by this new information…and it was beginning to wear on Bruce's nerves. He was never able to stand so much tension in a single room; the team had seen that this held true when they had all argued back on the helicarrier; when Loki had staged his attack that drove him over the edge. Bruce's brow twitched and he squeezed his eyes shut in frustration. He could feel the green monster lurking on the edge of his consciousness, growing restless with the growing tension in the room. Geez, he loved the team, but damn! Sometimes they seemed to forget about his condition and they really pushed their luck.

"Would you all please calm down," he bit harshly at the team, but no one seemed to hear.

Rather abruptly, Jarvis's voice rang out again.

"Sir?"

The team suddenly went quiet. Thank god, thought Bruce.

"I've finished running further scans, as requested."

"Jarvis, shut it! I already know what you told us earlier," Tony ordered in a slightly pissed off tone.

"Sorry, sir. I just thought you'd like to know, the boy's g-code is a genetic match. He has full access to the tower. It would appear that his genetic code matches that of one of the team's members almost perfectly; they share a similar genome."

That shut everyone up as they registered the AI's shocking announcement.

Bruce and Tony looked up at each other and their mouths hung open in complete astonishment.

Bruce muttered slowly, "but that would mean…"

"Somebody has to be the kid's parent," Tony finished his sentence in a daze.

Suddenly the doors of the elevator slid open, and two guards pushed the kid forward to fall onto his knees rather ungracefully. The doors slid shut, leaving the team standing in silence, staring at the slumped over teen on the ground.

"You have got to be kidding me…" the kid muttered to himself, as he pushed himself up into a sitting position.

The boy stood up quickly once he noticed the rather large audience before him. He did so rather joltingly, obviously nervous. His shortish, dark brown hair was wavy and had been messed up-probably by the guards when they had finally pinned him down. He had a tan complexion and was rather average in height, maybe a little taller than 5'8". He sort of slouched a bit, and carried himself in an, overall, rather timid way. His warm brown eyes met the team and he smiled sheepishly, giving an awkward little wave and muttering, "Uhm…hi."

The team stared in total disbelief at the teenager before them. There were a couple little differences there for sure, but there was no mistaking it.

Standing before them, was a young kid who was the spitting image of only one team member…

Bruce Banner.