Tony Stark rose from his spot behind his desk with a clap of his hands. His face was lighted with a determination he was known to have as he turned to his employee and the young woman he brought with him.

She was a strange one. He liked her. She had this air about her that in some ways reminded him of himself. But that wasn't the only reason why. And what timing as a current worker of Stark Industries was getting ready to transfer to his other base in Los Angeles, Stark Enterprises. Tony needed somebody to fill in the spot that would soon be empty. That's when Andrew came to him about Margoret. At first, he was a little hesistant but if there was one thing he knew, and that was quite a bit, he knew that it took a lot to impress someone like Andrew Landis. And despite his fatherly affections towards this woman, he also filled Stark in on her bad habits as well.

"She's stubborn and sarcastic. She can get a little impatient and has this attitude that leaves you so cold you're left gripping your balls for warmth. She can be a pain, I'm not going to lie. But I can tell you that she is one of the most prudent and hardworking girls I have ever met. She gives an enormous amount of painstaking attention to her work, it's almost startling. If you give her a chance I promise, you won't be disappointed."

And so far, he wasn't.

As soon as he considered her, he began to search more information on her. Her background was clean. Hers alone really. The rest of her family... Well, that was for another day. Margo received her PhD. around the same age he received his two and her interests in work differed little to his. She was like a female version him. Except, she wasn't a billionaire nor a philanthropist.

Nor arrogant, needy, a piss-off, cocky... Tony stopped the thought that reeled through his mind. He could almost hear those words coming straight from Pepper's mouth. I can't even catch a break in my own head.

Coming to, Tony looked to Margo and Andrew. "Follow me." He made his way passed them and out of his office.

Margo frowned at Andrew, lightly waving her hands; a silent question being asked. What's going on? The man shrugged at her but nodded his head toward Tony Stark's retreating form, directing her to follow his lead.

Oblivious to the two who trailed behind him, Tony turned to Happy.

"I'm done for the rest of the day."

"Yes, sir."

"I mean it!" Tony raised a finger into the air as he sauntered off towards his private elevator.

"I won't even pick up the phone." Happy said in a monotonous tone, his eyes still glued to the work placed on his desk.

Ignoring the man he had just been talking to, Tony ran his fingers over the panel of digits by his elevator. Quickly and diligently, he pressed in the code. Seeing as they were not in use at the moment, the doors opened up before him. He turned around to see Margoret whose demeanor did subtle change around him and Andrew who stood beside her. With a smile and a slight nod, he jabbed his thumb towards the open doors.

"I'm taking you up to the lab. I want to personally see what you can do."

"Okay."

It took Tony all the power in the world to not drag his hand over his face. One more thing to add onto her list of faults:

"We need to work on your vocabulary," he said as he placed an arm over her shoulder.

Margo's body stiffened beneath his touch but it wasn't out of discomfort. He was only trying to be friendly, of course. At least, she was trying to see it that way.

"I think my vocabulary's just fine." The words sounded a bit bitter coming from her and she almost regretted yet another superfluous move on her part.

"Well it seems the only time your vocabulary is "just fine,"" he reached over to the 'up' button after the three loaded onto the transport. He continued as the doors slowly came to a close, "is when you're a little riled up. I'll keep that in mind."

Heat ran from Margo's neck up to her face. It had to be from embarressment. She couldn't think of any other reason and she had to choose between a scowl or a pout to mask her vulnerability. Her face twisted into a look of disapproval as her eyes fell away from the sight of Tony whose arm was still secured around her shoulders.

It's going to take a while to get through to her. Tony thought with a sigh. Hey, if I can get through Bruce and his green friend I think I could handle this pint-size. Hmm. Pint-size. I like that.

Reaching the destination, the doors opened to a grandiose lab. Walls were aligned with cabinets filled with all sorts of supplies. Beakers, cynlinders, bunsen burners, tech. Whatever you'd expect in a chemistry lab plus more. It brought a sense of longing to Margo.

"Alright Pint-size, follow me." Tony said as he walked into the room.

Margoret stood bolted to the floor as she registered what Tony had just called her.

Pint-size? Are you serious? Margo's jaw was clenched. She suppressed a growl that was threatening to erupt from her throat. She wasn't particularly offended by this. It wouldn't be the first time someone make a crack at her height, but for some reason, at this point, whatever Tony said or did was starting to rub her the wrong way. The things you do for a job.

Andrew placed his hand on the woman's lower back pushing her forward. She looked up at him, but he didn't looked to her. His eyes stayed glued to what was in front of him but a small smile had formed on his face. With a sigh, Margo entered the lab just as Stark turned around from his place. He stood in the center of the room with his arms outstretched.

"You like?"

Roth pursed her lips as her eyes skimmed whatever else her eyes hadn't reached from the elevator. Besides the walls aligned with equipment, there was one wall dedicated only to the sight of New York. At this height, anyone present was able to look over buildings and people. Light trickles of rain ran down the wall-sized window and little light bore into the well-lit room. But there was a sense of comfort. Despite the smell of steralization, it felt welcoming.

Her eyes looked over the several tables and equipment strewn over them. There were so many things but it wasn't a mess. Looking to her far left, she saw someone who had paused his work to see what all the commotion was about.

It's him.

The man Margo ran into earlier stood with a pen in one hand as his other was paused over a touch-screen computer. His eyebrows were raised, his face showing he recognized the woman not far from him.

Bruce looked from Tony to the woman, Andrew and back. The other men looked from Bruce and Margo with curiousity. Bruce feeling an awkwardness enveloping the room squared his shoulders and rolled the pen in between his hands.

"Hey," he said, his voice cracking slightly from the lack of use.

"Hey." Margo repsonded.

"Ooh. You two know each other?" Tony asked with a knowing smile. Or at least a smile which he expressed as thinking he knew something.

"No. Not really."

"We met earlier. Downstairs." Bruce continued for Margo who placed her attention back to Stark.

"Ah." Tony nodded. "And here I thought you guys had something else going on." He winked.

"It's not like that." Banner's voice was low. He bit his lip with a shake of his head, taking back to his work.

"Anyway." Stark walked over to the table closest to the window. It was the one with the least amount of things on it and he took to sprucing it up a bit. "This will be yours." He dragged a stand with a computer similar to Banner's over to the table and began to enter a code. "Jarvis. I need you to open up an old file of mine I did on radiant energy."

"As you say, sir."

Margo looked up towards the ceiling in confusion and slight interest. "What was that?"

"Jarvis is my A.I.. He's kind of a handful but he's a good boy. Aren't you, Jarvis?"

"Yes Mr. Stark. And oh, how we all know how I cannot function properly without hearing your constant approval of me."

"Ey." Tony warned. "Don't start showing off in front of the pretty lady now."

"Wouldn't dream of it. No offense, Ms. Roth."

"Hn."

There was nothing else she could think of saying. What does someone say to an A.I. who pretty much is the computerized version of Tony Stark?

Although their views and standards differed, the two had a heart, figuratively speaking, which made them golden. Then there was the sarcasm and impatience. Margo could relate to that.

"So what will I be doing exactly?"

"You, my tiny friend, will be working on-Wait for it." An image appeared on the screen Tony was working on. Along side it was a previously written analysis done by Stark. He turned it to face Margo with a mock smile. "Solar energy!"

"Really?" Margo couldn't hold back the bite her words held. "This is middle school stuff."

"Said the girl who received a PhD. at the age of 20." Andrew mumbled.

Bruce turned to his co-worker and smiled.

"More like borderline elementary/middle school but you get the gist. Come on. It'll be fun."

"Said the man who entered MIT at the age of 15." Jarvis added.

Margo dragged her feet over to Stark and raised her eyebrow. He motioned for her to look over his work like an impatient child. With a sigh, her eyes began to skim over his notes.

"Really now," she mumbled.

"What?" Tony asked with a hint of interest and offense.

"This." She pointed to one particular thought. "You have the dimensions wrong. Radiant energy should be M⋅L2⋅T−2 not M⋅L2⋅T−3. The latter is radiant intensity."

Tony squinted his eyes at the problem. "How do you know?"

Margoret scoffed. "This has to be a test. There's no way you wouldn't know this."

"Explain."

She sighed. "The units are off."

"But anything under irradiance and exitance quantites are measured by SI units of watts per square meter. These quantities are intensities."

"Listen Wikipedia." Bruce and Andrew snorted softly at the insult Margo directed towards Tony. "Radiant energy goes by an SI unit of joule. Radiant intensity goes by watt per steradian. Energy," she raised her left hand. "Power per unit solid angle," she raised her right and wiggled her fingers.

"Solid angle?" Tony pressed two of his fingers over his pursed lips.

"Solid angle is a dimensionless unit of measurement called-"

"Steradian." Stark smiled. "I really like you."

Margo didn't know if this little game would land her the job but she did feel proud of herself. Even though she took that small break from both school and work, her memory was still fresh.

Andrew's eyes were gleaming with approval and in a way that a proud father would. He liked the way Tony eyed her and hoped this would get Margo back on trach with her life. He only wanted the best for her.

Bruce had to admit. He was pretty impressed. Not a lot of people knew or would remember half of the things she had said. Besides himself, Tony, and Andrew, there weren't much others. And she wasn't dumb either, in a social point of view. She knew Tony was pulling her leg. She called him out and even when Tony continued with his charade, she thought it best to continue on without a smug attitude. There was a slight humblness to her. That he admitted, he liked the most.

Stark patted Margoret on the shoulder and made his way around to Bruce's side of the room. He leaned over the physicist shoulder and whispered into his ear. This went on for a few seconds with Bruce nodding here and there.

"So, what?" The woman asked. "Do I have the job or what?"

There was a slight audible smack as Andrew brought his hand to his face. He tried to cover it by bringing his other hand up and placed it beneath his pit; creating an image of a bored man. He cleared his throat as he looked at Margo with wide and scolding eyes. Don't be so blunt about it.

"You want to know if you have the job?" Tony asked.

"Well. Yeah?"

"Yeah you have the job," he said with a shrug.

Margo's eyes slightly widened. She got the job. If she wouldn't have had the right mind to keep her cool, she would have jumped in the air with a fist pump. Her heart beat was erratic but this time it wasn't out of nerves, but out of happiness. A small smile curled around the edges of her lips.

"Thank you. When do I start?"

"Now." Stark walked over to Andrew and wrapped his arm around his shoulders. He walked him over to where they had entered.

"Now?" There was a slight squeak to Margo's voice.

"Yeah. Problem?"

"N-no."

"Okay then. Anything relating to your job, ask Bruce. Need a go to for everything or anything else, ask Jarvis. Oh and Margo," he stopped both himself and Andrew in their tracks. He looked over his shoulder and smirked. "You should smile more often."

The two exited onto the awaiting elevator leaving Margo to her new job and Bruce as her babysitter. She hoped she wasn't going to be a burden to him.

"So," she started. "What was it he was whispering to you? If you don't mind me asking."

Bruce was scribbling away with a smile. "He told me, "I'm going to whisper in your ear and I want you to nod as if you're agreeing to whatever bullshit I'm throwing your way.""

"Wow." Margo smiled.

"Yeah," he chuckled.

"Does he do that often?"

"As a matter of fact, yes."

There was an awkward silence that followed suit. Bruce looked up to Margo whose attention was set on the outside. Now that she was here before him, he got a chance to get a good look at her. She looked young and calm. There was a small smile the curled around her lips. He wasn't sure if it was because she had landed the job or because the rain had finally cleared. Either way, it was nice to see. And there was no surprise she was intelligent. If she spewed knowledge the way she had did so earlier, there really was no surprise.

Feeling a pair of eyes on her, Margo directed her attention to Bruce.

The physicist quickly looked down and tried to contain the laugh from his childish reaction. He felt stupid and embarressed. Oh, how stupid.

Margoret took in the sight of him now that they were alone. He's old... Well, not old. No yeah he looks pretty old. Maybe it's the stress. But then again it could be that he's up there in the años. He looks pretty good though for an old man.

"So."

Roth looked around her as Bruce spoke. She knew he had been watching her but she didn't want him to know she was doing the same. He didn't act as if he had noticed and that brought a bit of relief to her.

"I think I should get you working on something before Tony comes back."

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea."

"Alright." Banner tapped his pen on the palm of his hand as he looked around.

Margo noticed how calculated each of his moves were. The hesitance he bore for everything. He looked like he was on edge. Like he was nervous.

He's a socially awkward one isn't he?

"Margo."

"Huh?"

"Sorry it's just. I heard your name. You don't even know mine."

"Oh."

"It's uh. It's Bruce. Bruce Banner."

"Bruce," she said with a nod. "Margoret Roth, but you can stick with Margo." She nonchalantly waved her hand.

Bruce felt the Hulk grow wary of the girl. Because of the other guy is why he felt more on edge than usual today. He knew Margo was looking at him. She thought she wouldn't get caught much like he did. But from the moment they had a run in downstairs and even before that, the Hulk was acting strange. Or however more strange the Hulk can get.

Banner was at peace back at his loft and it kept the Hulk at bay. The moment he stepped foot outside, it was like the green guy was awoken from a slumber. He personally didn't see this woman as a threat. Though the ones who appeared least likely to be the bully were in fact the bullies.

He could almost hear the growls of the Hulk slip through his mind. Like a warning. Don't get too close. It was always better not to get close, anyway. Except for now, but it was strictly out of business. And that was as far as it would ever go.


AN: Hey guys. I really wished I would have been able to get this chapter up before Thanksgiving but I think I might have come down with something. I still have it and I feel that it has gotten worse. College has been a pain in the arse. I cannot wait for the winter break. I don't plan on stopping this story any time soon so do not worry.
Again, I've gotten more favorites and followers. I am eternally grateful for that. This is a good exercise for me when it comes to writing my original stories so when it comes to things like this, it encourages me to continue
and get better with my writing.

Yes, yes. Bruce and Margo have finally gotten some alone time but obviously not in the way everyone would have wanted! Someday soon though. Someday soon.

Wouldn't mind more favorites and follows ;) Even a review or two. Anything to keep me, keep this story going.
'Til next time, ciao!