A/N Okay, y'all. This is sappy as hell. However, it was fun to write. And I love the idea of Bruce and Darcy together. So, here.
Also to everyone who follows me for my other fics, I'm sorry. They're all on hiatus indefinitely. Which sucks. Cause as a reader of fic I know that I hate it when people write fics and don't finish them. However, I'm stopping that. So from now on, oneshots!
Oh and this was not written with a beta so any mistakes are mine and mine alone.
Bruce startled as JARVIS' voice came over the loud speaker. "Sir, you have a visitor, would you like me to allow them entrance?"
Shaking himself out of his science induced stupor he glanced at the clock and did a double take. It was three am already, which meant that there was really only one person who would be asking to enter the lab. He quickly nodded to the ceiling, something he still wasn't used to doing, and turned to greet his girlfriend. Also something he was still getting used to, even after almost a year of being together. She was dressed for bed in her Hulk pajama bottoms and green tank top. An outfit that he knew she wore just to see his reaction. He smiled and then frowned as he noticed the dark circles under her eyes.
She was usually able to sleep without him, but occasionally she would have a nightmare and reach for him, and if he wasn't there she would come up to his lab and drag him to bed. He stood up as she entered and wasn't surprised when she quickly came over and wrapped her arms around his middle. She didn't need too much after a nightmare, usually just assurance that he was okay, or that she wasn't still in New Mexico being chased by the destroyer. She pulled back after a couple of minutes and put her hands on her hips.
"I know Science is important Bruce, but you do in fact need sleep like the rest of us mortals. In fact, last I checked Hulk sleeps. It's been proven. Therefore, Bruce sleeps. So come to bed."
Bruce raised an eyebrow, "You've been running tests on me?" Darcy rolled her eyes, "It is too late for your smartassness. Let's just go to bed." He shrugged and then started the process of turning off the equipment and putting the slides in their correct place. This normally took from 10 – 30 minutes. So he wasn't surprised to look around when he was about halfway done to find Darcy sitting in his chair with her knees pulled up to her chest, watching him. He quirked a smile at her before going back to completing his nightly routine. When he was finished Darcy hopped out of the chair, grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the lab.
They walked in companionable silence until they reached the elevator and Darcy let out a large yawn, Bruce didn't blame her, it was three-thirty in the morning, but she usually wasn't this tired after she woke up. Actually, she generally couldn't get to sleep for about another hour or so on the nights when she had to gather him. She liked to blame it on a combination of insomnia and not wanting to miss precious time with her "Fluffy Scientist." However, as soon as they reached their apartment Darcy headed straight for the bedroom. He watched her as she climbed into their bed and seemed to fall asleep before her head hit the pillow. He set his messenger bag down on the end table in the living room before going to the kitchen to fix himself a cup of tea. There was something going around in his brain and he needed to work through it. He let the tea steep and then took it to the kitchen table. Thinking back over the last week he noticed that there had been quite a few changes to Darcy.
She was tired more often than not and the other day had been complaining that wearing a bra hurt, he hadn't thought much of it as she complained about wearing a bra at least twice a week and even more when she was on her period. Which, when he thought about it, was another thing that was off, he didn't think she knew this but he liked to keep track of her menstrual cycle so that he knew when to ply her with chocolate and do his best not to pick fights. But she should have had her period two weeks ago, and now that he thought on it, she hadn't. And the other day she had asked for mashed cauliflower at the restaurant they liked to frequent, she hated mashed cauliflower, she liked to say it was full of the crushed hopes and dreams of children who were tricked into thinking it was mashed potatoes.
These were generally symptoms of something that they hadn't even discussed. They had been together for almost a year; it would be a year in two weeks. But having children wasn't a subject they had discussed yet. In fact he was still trying to get up the courage to even broach the subject of marriage. However, he wasn't getting any younger and though he had put that thought on the back burner after becoming the Hulk, he had always wanted kids. He had always thought, well hoped, that he would be a good dad, if only to give his child the chance to have a better childhood than he'd had.
And, he thought, there really wasn't a better person to be the mother of his children than Darcy, she was caring and had one of the biggest hearts he had ever encountered. She was also a kickass cook and could whip up almost anything Tony could think of. Which was often some dish that he he'd had on one of his travels abroad. Even Pepper liked her cooking, and she was notorious for being one of the pickiest eaters alive. Shaking off the thought of Darcy's cooking he let his mind wander over the thought of kids a little more.
He smiled at the thought of a little girl with her big blue eyes and his brains, or a little boy with her spitfire personality and his "fluffy" hair. Then he shook himself, he wasn't even sure if she was pregnant, and if she wasn't he would just be setting himself up for disappointment. He promised himself that he would talk to her about his thoughts tomorrow.
The next morning Bruce was awakened by Darcy hopping out of bed and rushing to the in-suite bathroom. He walked in just in time to hear her throw up into the toilet; he quickly went to her side and held her hair back as she threw up again.
"Darce? Are you okay?" she responded by leaning back into his arms and resting her head on his chest. He quickly felt her forehead and was relieved to find that she didn't have a fever. Adding possible morning sickness to his list of symptoms he stood up and held out his hand to help her up off the floor before getting her a glass of water to wash the taste out of her mouth.
"Thanks Bruce, I know that's probably not how you wanted to be woken up this morning."
He smiled "As long as it's you I'm waking up to, I'm okay."
Darcy rolled her eyes, "Sap."
Bruce just smiled, he knew she loved it when he was sappy, even if she professed not to.
He looked up from his work around 1 to find Jane staring at him, he quirked an eyebrow and she set her stuff down and walked over to his work area.
"Is Darcy okay?" she asked without preamble.
He was about to answer when she plowed on "Because it's 1:26 and she hasn't come down here to force us to eat or take a break. And that's the third time that has happened this week. And seeing as it's Wednesday, that means I haven't had lunch in three days. Which means that Darcy is either sick or has been replaced by a robot."
Bruce frowned thoughtfully even as he rolled his eyes at her antics, "I'll go find her, I'm sure Tony's just kept her busy putting out his fires." Jane humphed at that, but seemed to accept the answer as plausible. Bruce smiled slightly as he watched Jane go back to her station. She was a good friend to Darcy.
He quickly took the elevator to the floor where Darcy's office as Tony's PA was located and knocked on the door, receiving no answer he walked in only to stride quickly to her desk before snatching the video camera Tony was using the film her.
"Aren't there better things for you to do besides tape my girlfriend while she's asleep?" he asked as Tony made a sound in protest.
"Not really, besides she's my PA she's supposed to assist me, not fall asleep on her paperwork! I need her for important Science things!" Tony was whining at the point but Bruce had built up a resistance to the man's whines. "Important Science things? Like what, building another lightsaber that will just blow up like the last one did? Darcy was complaining about the glow stick fluid for days." Darcy was usually a good sport about Tony's experiments, and being the die hard Star Wars fan she was, she had been all for building a lightsaber, but when it blew up all over the lab she had not been happy. "Besides she's been really tired lately, I'm thinking about taking her to a doctor to get her checked out," he said quietly, before motioning to the door. Tony followed but not before questioning the wisdom of the esteemed Doctor Banner.
"Are you kidding me? You're a doctor! Check her out yourself! Do you really want to trust another person with Darcy? She would fillet them!" Bruce smiled at that, while it was true Darcy could be a little feisty, Tony was exaggerating some. Darcy just didn't put up with bullshit.
"Okay, I think I know what's wrong anyway. I realized some of her symptoms last night."
Tony looked slightly worried "It's not too serious is it?" then he caught himself, "I, I mean I can't have my PA dying on me. That would just look bad."
Bruce rolled his eyes again, "No, it's not life threatening, though if I'm right things are going to be a little different around here."
Tony's eyes went wide, "Tell me you did not knock up my PA." at Bruce's wince at the wording he shouted "No no no no no I NEED her! She's the best PA I've had next to Pepper!" he then glanced around nervously and quickly added "And Natasha of course."
Bruce's mouth twisted at that but then he quickly refocused on the subject at hand. "She might be, she's showing the symptoms, tired constantly, she threw up this morning,"
"Okay! I get it!" Tony interrupted.
Bruce smiled at his friend's predictable reaction to anything hygiene related but then returned to his worries. "I don't even know if she wants children."
Tony scoffed, "Are you kidding me? Were you not paying attention last month when the terror twins were here? She's great with kids!" he quickly realized what he had just said and tacked on "A blind man could see that! Anyway, I think you should probably take sleeping beauty home, I'm sure Jane would be happy to find her god and take an early day too. In fact I have officially declared today to be half day Wednesday!"
Bruce rolled his eyes and headed back into Darcy's office. He walked over to her and gently shook her shoulder, she groaned and then came awake with a start.
"Oh my god, tell me I didn't fall asleep again!" she turned and Bruce shrugged before answering with "Well, you have been awfully tired lately. I'm sure Tony doesn't mind too much." He pulled her up and quickly gave her a kiss, "Anyway, Tony is forcing everyone in the tower to take the rest of the day off so I figured we could go back to the apartment and eat a late lunch?"
Darcy's eyes widened, "Lunch! What time is it?" she looked at the clock, "I have to go make sure Jane eats something! I keep forgetting!"
Bruce grabbed her hand as it looked like she was going to sprint out of her office to the elevator and said, "Jane's fine, she's actually the one that sent me down here to see if you were okay. I'm sure she's eating with Thor now."
Darcy nodded and turned back to gather her things before following him to their apartment. When they reached the door she turned to him, "I think I might be coming down with something Bruce, I never forget lunch, and this is the third time I've done so this week. Do you think you could schedule an appointment for me?"
"I can give you a check up if you want, Darcy, you know I have an MD." Darcy's mouth twisted thoughtfully before she nodded.
"Okay doc, when do you want to do this check-up?" Bruce smiled at her slight twist of the words check-up, he knew she hated getting poked and prodded at, which was probably why she agreed so easily to him looking her over. She hated going to the doctor's office and she usually tried to get him to look her over. He usually refused, he was glad she didn't notice his change in behavior.
"How about after we eat lunch we head to the lab and I can run some blood tests and see if you're coming down with anything?"
Darcy thought about it for a moment before nodding and then heading for the kitchen. "I think I'm going to make some chicken salad for lunch, there's some tofu in the fridge as well if you want me to make you some."
Shaking his head he nodded to the container of Thai noodles left over from her dinner last night. "I'll just eat leftovers, you don't have to make me anything." He winced after he said that, he always accepted her offers to cook for him. She was notoriously amazing in the kitchen and no one turned down her food. She gave him a strange look but shrugged and turned back to her mixing.
About an hour later found them in a lab above his and Jane's. Darcy was sitting on one of the lab tables and he was at the computer entering the data and compiling the necessary paperwork needed to send her blood sample to the correct place.
"Okay, it should be back in about thirty minutes," he grinned, "I love living in Tony's tower." He quickly realized what he had just said and added "And if you ever tell him I said that I will do something to you that I haven't figured out yet, but it will be bad and scary."
Darcy rolled her eyes, "Okay, Bruce, whatever you say." She then hopped off the table and walked over to the chair he was in, "You seem worried, I'm sure I just have the flu, of course if the reason you're worried is because you think I'm going to give it to you and you will miss out on Science then you are in sooo much trouble."
It was then Bruce's turn to roll his eyes, "That's not why I'm worried Darce, there's something you might have that we haven't discussed before," he was about to continue when she interrupted him.
"What, like cancer? I don't think I have that, I mean I guess it's possible but there's no way, I mean I apply sunscreen and I don't think I have breast cancer, I do all of the checks and everything." She was rambling and Bruce knew he would have to stop her before she really got going.
"No no! I don't think you have cancer! It's happier than that, or at least, I think it is, I hope it is. You might not think it is, and I mean, it's okay if you don't think it is, it's your body, but," now he was rambling, he took a deep breath and said "I think-"
"BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP"
Bruce stood quickly and headed to the window, sure enough there was something blowing things up in the street, sighing he turned to Darcy only to find that she had already headed toward the safe house, he smiled slightly at that, if there was one thing Darcy was not it was danger happy, she knew when it was time to get the hell out of dodge and for that he was grateful. Checking the hall to make sure she wasn't in sight he turned toward the wall of glass and pushed a button that made it slide open, a useful tool that Tony had installed after the last battle between good and evil when the Hulk had burst through a wall of pure glass to get to the battle, before turning into his alter ego.
When he became aware again he was in front of Avenger's Tower with the rest of the team, he cast a grateful smile at Natasha as she handed him some pants and a shirt which he quickly changed into before excusing himself. He knew that he would have to be debriefed by Coulson soon but for right now he was more interested in finding Darcy and making sure she was okay. He took the elevator up to the floor where he knew she had gone and went to the safe room, when he didn't see her in there he panicked for a couple of seconds before seeing that she had gone back to the unused lab where they had been before the call had come in. She was staring at a computer screen with a shocked look on her face, he slowly walked into the lab and came up behind her. "Darce?" he asked tentatively.
"I'm pregnant?" was the first thing out of her mouth. Bruce looked at the screen at the result of the blood tests and then cast a worried glance at Darcy. She was still staring at the results.
"Is that," he cleared his throat, "is that a… a bad thing? Are you upset?"
She turned around in his arms and took a deep breath, "Surprised? Yes. Freaked out at the thought of raising a kid here of all places? Yes. Scared that I'll be a terrible mom? Hell yes. But upset? No, I don't think so, are you upset?" she looked worried.
"No! no, I think it's great! I've always wanted kids." He said with a small smile, "And honestly, there's really no one I'd rather have them with than you."
She grinned at that and then realized that he was covered in dirt and what looked suspiciously like blood. "Um, Bruce? I'm guessing you guys got rid of the threat?"
"Did we ever!" Tony's voice came from the doorway, he was, for some reason, still wearing his Iron Man suit. Which except for a couple of dings was relatively undamaged. "You should have seen their faces! They thought they had the takeover planned to a T. of course they didn't exactly count on the Hulk smashing their leader within about two minutes of the fight." He looked suggestively at Darcy, "Apparently Bruce was much more interested in getting back to you, anything you guys would like to share with the class?" Darcy glanced sharply up at Bruce, "You told him?" Bruce winced "I need verification that my findings had some base in reality and that I wasn't just projecting my wants onto the situation!" she deflated a bit at the "wants" part and then rolled her eyes, "Well, Jackass, if you already know then you can go find someone else to bother, we have some celebrating to do."
Bruce perked up at that. But then deflated as a new voice said, "Oh no you don't! We are celebrating as a group! This is a big occasion! The first baby of the Avengers!" Bruce looked toward the location of the voice, which just so happened to be an air vent above the doorway where Tony was standing.
Darcy sighed, "Fine Clint, we can all celebrate, but then Bruce and I are going home."
The rest of the team materialized behind Tony and quickly came into the lab and started congratulating them both.
Bruce smiled; it was times like these that he was extremely glad he was no longer in India.
Ta da! What'd you think? It's different, I know. But I hope at least someone liked it? Anywho, review please? Let me know what you thought? Even if you hated it?