When Bruce Banner met Pepper Potts it wasn't a good occasion.
Then again, when he met Tony he was told that he was "a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster." So there was that.
From the moment Tony walked in, he treated Bruce [and the Other Guy] like a person and not a time bomb. He even poked him with pointy things!
But, this story isn't really about Tony, even if he plays a major role. It's about Bruce meeting Pepper.
After Bruce and Tony left in his Convertible Acura NSX, they headed to Stark Tower, or at least what was left of it. All that was left of the once vibrant and fluorescent STARK that graced the side of the tower was only an A.
"I guess it can be Avengers Tower now, huh?" Tony said.
Avengers tower indeed. I don't know how we managed to save the world. I mean Hu-the Other Guy is unpredictable, dangerous, and very, very ferocious. The fact that he even listened to the Captain's orders is a miracle in and of itself.
Really it's a wonder that he caught Tony. The man who managed to piss off everyone on the Helicarrier within a minute of his arrival. The man who offered him blueberries and asked if he smoked weed or listened to jazz. Even when he nearly destroyed the Helicarrier and fell thousands of feet, Tony had faith that he would come through for the team and the world. Bruce didn't know what to do with that much blind faith.
The Tower's top floor was a but smashed up. There was a large Loki-sized shape in the floor. "How exactly did that get there?" asked Bruce.
"Oh that? I like to call it Puny God. I think it really brings the room together."
Bruce could see the truth in that statement. The top floor was trashed. Already minimalistic with a bar to one side, a den-like pit, and what looked like some kind of display. The glass of several windows were already smashed and the cushions of the couch were strewn haphazardly around the room. The room wasn't exactly the picture of sleek, technological advancement that Bruce would have expected from the eccentric billionaire.
Then again, the Other Guy could have brought the whole tower down and pulled a Harlem throughout Manhattan. Good thing General Ross wasn't here this time. He probably would have been all for one of the Chitauri whale-ships taking Hulk down.
"It certainly isn't as high tech as I expected" Bruce said.
"If Sir had not taken a dive off the balcony, the room may have been in better condition" said a mechanical voice from the ceiling. Bruce jumped slightly at the British accented intruder. One that could not be seen. He glanced uneasily at Tony
"That's J.A.R.V.I.S, stands for Just A Rather Very Intelligent System, he's my A.I." Tony supplied from his seat by the bar. A
Ready pouring himself a glass of some probably highly expensive alcoholic beverage. "Do you want one?"
"No, the Other Guy and alcohol don't really mix" Bruce looked around suspiciously. "Why exactly do you have an A.I. in your home?"
"I help Sir if and when at all possible, remind him of important events, and keep him from killing himself while in his workshop" J.A.R.V.I.S replied with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.
"I do not try to kill myself in the workshop! I accidentally drink a poisonous motor oil shake and everyone gets twitchy around me." Tony throws up his hands exasperatedly and glares up at the ceiling.
"I tried to prevent you from giving Dummy access to the food in the lab, but you insisted."
Tony started mumbling under his breath. Bruce smiled up at the ceiling and began to feel more at home in this crazy tower. What could go wrong in a billionaire's house with loads of scientific equipment which Bruce had no access to in India. He would miss helping people, but the pull for real lab equipment and safe working environments was overwhelmingly enticing.
"Now that I finally have your attention Sir, Miss Potts has been trying to contact you multiple times throughout the evening. It is my understanding that she is on her way to New York as we speak." J.A.R.V.I.S said.
Tony's face fell as he heard about this 'Miss Potts'. It was the saddest expression Bruce had ever seen from the man. "Damn it! I never called her back! J.A.R.V.I.S call her now." Tony's eyes glinted with remorse and tinge of fear.
"Her phone line is currently unavailable."
"I guess we'll just have to wait for her to arrive." Tony said wryly as he turned to Bruce.
"Who exactly is Miss Potts?" Bruce had never heard her name mentioned from the playboy before? A girlfriend maybe?
"She's C.E.O. to S.I. the best company on the planet. She also sort of runs my life."
"Why aren't you the C.E.O. to your own company?"
Tony's eyes seemed to gloss over. His usually carefree smirk turned bitter and strained. "A story for another day. Pepper is a better C.E.O. than I ever was anyway so it all worked out."
Tony looked at Bruce and took the time to really observe the older man. His hair was greying at the temples and his glasses lay slightly askew on his nose. His clothes were rumpled and too large for his slight, possibly malnourished frame (He would probably have to look into that). He had borrowed some clothes from some nameless S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who Tony had already forgotten the name of. All agents of that "special agency" were bland and unnoticeable to the wandering eye. Damn clones, all creepily similar. Tony shivered at the thought of millions of Natasha's all deceptively innocent and deadly. Tony made a mental note to not flirt with any red heads in the future, besides Pepper of course.
Bruce carried only a small duffle. He was shifty eyed and nervous, constantly tapping his fingers against his thigh and more often than not was staring down at his shoes. Self-confidence issues then.
Bruce was going to take a lot of work to get out of his shell. Coming back to fight in New York was a pretty good first step though. It showed that Bruce really didn't want to be alone, that he wants to redeem himself. Maybe Tony could help him?
Tony shook his head. Those were thoughts for a different occasion. When Bruce begins to accept his friendship and trust Tony.
Tony smiled at Bruce. "Come on, let me show you the labs."
XOXOXOXOOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
The first time Pepper Potts met Bruce Banner wasn't under the best circumstances. Then again, neither was the first time she met Tony. Now THAT had been an experience, but I suppose all love stories have to start somewhere.
Pepper had just gotten off the plane home from D.C. Completely and totally upset. How could Tony have brought a nuke to space? Pepper just couldn't understand why someone who claims to be the greatest genius of the 21st century couldn't grasp that flying a nuke into space was a big no.
She was so busy watching the fight over various news channels while simultaneously ignoring call from the board of executives of SI that she had missed the only call that mattered. When she finally got fed up with the constant buzzing from her phone and glanced through her missed calls, she saw Tony's name. Immediately Pepper packed her bag and contacted the Stark private jet. Tony needed her and she would be damned if she let him down now.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Happy met her at the gate, already carrying her bags. They greeted each other with a tense silence and uncertain looks. There was no need for speech! They both knew they had to get to Tony, no matter the destruction that layered the streets of New York.
They left the airport as quickly as possible. They were led by an entourage of several military vehicles, courtesy of Colonel Rhodes. S.H.I.E.L.D had yet to even grace her with a phone call. (You'd think that at least Phil would have returned her messages.)
Pepper was beyond angry. She was absolutely infuriated, even if she spent a few minutes of the trip wiping tears away. Finally, they reached Stark Tower. Well, what was left of it anyway.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Tony showed Bruce around the labs. The holographic displays, robots, and coffee machines were breathtaking and slightly intimidating to Bruce. Then again he had lived on the dankest corners of the Earth for the past few years while on the run.
Tony would go on long rants about the simplest of topics and it made Bruce feel almost normal again. Ranging topics from favorite pizza toppings to the latest advancements in molecular biology made time fly between the two. They were so absorbed in their discussion of the quantification of mRNA that they didn't notice the arrival of a very irate Pepper.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
"What's this?" A voice asked from the doorway. Bruce looked up to see a very beautiful redheaded woman standing in the woman. She stood with poise in an astonishingly high pair of heels for the amount of stairs she would have had to traverse to get to the labs.
He glanced over at Tony who had grown very still. In moments his faced morphed into a heart-stopping smile. He quickly stood and outstretched his arms to the woman, "Pep!"
"Do not Pep me. What is this?" Pepper pointed to the shattered remains of the tower, the man-sized dent in the floor and broken windows. "We just built this Tony," she said with exasperation.
Tony's arms faltered as his proffered hug was denied. "It's my house, I can jump through windows if I want," Tony muttered with a childish pout.
"You jumped out of the window? Did you at least have the suit on?"
"More like pushed and not technically."
"What do you mean technically?" She asked with a vicious undertone. Tony really should learn to keep his mouth shut, Bruce thought.
"Well...what I meant to say was…"
"And why is there a man-shaped hole in the floor?"
"That was his fault!" He yelled as he pointed to Bruce.
Pepper turned to glare at me. He felt a cold shiver rush through me as her icy gaze pierced through me. The Other Guy was clearly interested in the proceedings, how wonderful.
Pretty lady mad. Hulk spoke out from the recesses of his mind. Bruce shivered again as he heard the Other Guy's voice. Not pretty, shouldn't say things like that. That's Tony's CEO and probably his girlfriend. Still Pretty.
Bruce rolled his eyes. No use reasoning with a beast.
Pepper was still glaring at him. "Who are you?"
"Bruce Banner."
"The Hulk, correct?" Bruce nodded, preparing to be kicked out of the tower or for the army to be called. "Also a gamma radiation specialist?" Bruce again nodded. At least she knew a little bit about him.
"Well why are you just sitting here? You look exhausted. Hasn't Tony offered you some food or a bed?" Just like that, Pepper transformed from an angry harpy to an overprotective mama bear.
Pepper unhesitatingly took Bruce's hand and led him down a hallway, leaving Tony to sulk in silence.
"I am not a bad host!" He yelled into the darkness.
"Quite right sir," Jarvis replied from the ceiling.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
Thus began Bruce's journey into Pepper Potts' and Tony Starks' lives.
A/N:
Hi guys! Here it is! This was like 4 months of work and it still kind of sucks, but I tried my hardest and it's 1am so get up off my back about it, okay. I really hope you like it. I can't promise when the next update will be, but it will definitely be soon. I'm thinking this is going to be around four chapters (chapter three is where everything goes down). Next chapter will be more Bruce-centric I guess and I show of his developing relationships with Pepper and Tony. (This is a slash with Tony/Pepper/Bruce in case you didn't know that.) I hope everyone has a great day no matter where you are, things will get better. Love you muffins! :)