She woke up in a daze, not quite sure where she had roused from, looking down she realized she was in an unfamiliar bed. This shocked her, she could have sworn the last thing she was doing was washing the dishes from her late night get together with close friends. It had been a monthly routine that the group of close knitted friends had honoured for the years following university. But last night seemed like years ago to her as she slowly lifted her head from the pillow and gazed around the unfamiliar room. It was stark white and smelled of sweet lilacs, probably owing to the fact that there was a large bouquet of them on the room's bedside table. She looked down to the bed she was laying on and realized that she was connected to an array of wires, leading up to what looked like a state of the art heart monitor. Babs began to panic, this place was much too homey to be any sort of medical facility and even if it was, there was no way she would be able to afford this kind of accommodation. Was she kidnapped? Drugged? Hypnotized? Had there been an accident? Babs began to feel the tight restriction of her lungs, which happened whenever she was in the beginning stages of a panic attack. Her heart monitor began to beep crazily though her hearing was fading quickly. She could hear a door open and the frantic movement of bodies around her, hushed voices speaking of something, medical maybe?

"Barbra. Barbra. Are you awake? Can you hear my voice?"

she heard a soothing voice speaking her name as she tried to calm herself down.

"She has laboured breaths, probably not helping her cause"

she heard another voice speak as she felt an all too familiar oxygen mask being placed on her face.

"We've got to get her heart beat slowed, it going to pump right out of her chest,"

the soothing voice spoke again on the opposite side of her bed.

Seconds later she felt a calm overcome her, leaving her feeling heavy though better composed. She slowly felt her hearing come back and her breath become less constricted. She opened her eyes after a minute to the faces of two men stand at her bedside, staring at her as she awoke from her attack.

The calm that had just washed over her was quickly erased as she remembered that she had no idea where she was or how she had gotten there. She began to tear off the wires connecting her to these men's machines and ripping off her mask providing her the oxygen her body was craving. She leapt out of the bed and made it only a few steps before she doubled over from the sudden exertion. She felt her lungs constrict once more as the panic of her current whereabouts coursed through her body.

"Who are you?"

she managed to spurt out before her need for oxygen overcame her and she welcomed the one man's offer of the discarded oxygen mask as she sank to the floor in a broken heap. Taking a few deep breaths she looked up to the men standing before her and spoke once more.

"Who are you and where the Hell am I?"

trying to sound as menacing as possible but sound like nothing more than a fat man post-exercise.

"You're in Stark Tower, in New York City. I'm Bruce Banner and this is Tony Stark. We're only here to help you."

Bruce then reached into his tanned pants' pocket and retrieved both an id. badge and a medical license, proving his credentials and identity. The Tony man also reached into his pockets and retrieved his own id. badge. Babs reached for both of the cards before looking them over slowly. They seemed legitimate and the name Stark rang familiar in her mind.

"I don't understand…"

she mumbled through the mask that was now once more securely strapped to her face. She looked up at the two men with questioning eyes.

"Are you aware of the agency S.H.I.E.L.D.?"

Tony asked Babs

"You know, the 'Saved the world from an alien invasion' S.H.I.E.L.D?"

a slight arrogant tone to his voice as she slowly nodded.

"Avengers right? That was one of their programs, right?"

she thought out-loud. The gears began to grind in her head as the name Stark suddenly rang a bell. "Iron Man! That's you, right?"

"Haha, catch on quickly I see,"

Tony grinned with a sense of pride.

"The one and only".

Ring. Ring. Ring.

"Sorry, just a minute"

Tony excused himself as he walked out of the room to answer his cellphone.

"Fury…yeah she's awake now"

Babs heard as Tony walked further down the hall until she could no longer hear his conversation.

"Okay, I understand this S.H.I.E.L.D. thing but that still leaves the question of how the Hell I got here?"

she asked, a slight panic still evident in her voice.

Bruce knelt down to her eye level and gave her a look of sincerity as he spoke,

"We're going to answer all of your questions but how about getting back into bed first, the floor can't be that comfortable and I'd like to continue monitoring your heart rate. That is of course if you don't mind, you're under no obligations here"

he spoke awkwardly, but Babs saw the good intentions behind his words.

"That sounds just fine,"

she smiled slightly as she began to stand, only to stumble as she felt the sudden change in height and leaned into the wall behind her only to feel her body grasped by a firm pair of hands.

"Easy does it,"

Bruce spoke gently as he slowly guided Babs back to bed and began reconnecting her to the heart monitor and was happy to see it much slower than the previous reading it had displayed. He grabbed the blankets that had been kicked to the ground during Babs panic earlier and settled them around the young women, attempting to make this situation as comfortable for her as possible.

Bruce looked back up to see Babs, eyes closed and taking long, deep breaths of oxygen from the mask she was still attached to. As he stared at her he supposed that she could be no more than 22, though remembering S.H.I.E.L.D.'s information on her stating her age at a prime 27 years old.

She opened her olive green eyes, only to be met with Bruce's deep brown ones, a look of compassion within them.

"How is your breathing feeling now, Barbra?"

Bruce asked, partially to end the length of silence that had grown somewhat awkward for the two new acquaintances.

"Better, though that isn't saying very much considering that I have about the lung capacity of an eight-month old infant."

She responded, her dark humor shining through ever so slightly. Bruce looked at her with a bemused look as he nodded and began to speak once more.

"Yes, it does say in your file that you were in an accident as a child that left them damaged. A fire, correct?"

he asked.

"Yep. A fire. Damaged my lungs and left me as the 'Tank Girl' for life"

Babs responded referring to her "pet", her constant companion, her nasal cannula and oxygen tank.

"Well if your breathing is improving I'm going to suggest mask for the next 12 hours and cannula afterwards, sound alright?"

Bruce asked, well more shyly suggested.

Babs nodded as she yawed and sank further into her pillows. She had so many questions that needed immediate answering but the sedative she had been given was beginning to take its toll on her small frame and she began to drift off into a dreamless sleep. Bruce watched as she settled into what he could only assume was a peaceful slumber by her decreased heart rate. He pulled a book from the shelf in Babs' room and began to read. Insuring that he would be by her side to answer any and all questions she had when she awoke.