Day: 51 - September 5, 2011

"So let me get this straight," Bryn declared, holding out the paper coffee cup with a skeptical frown. "You and Mr. Stark built a decoy 'you' out of a holo-projector a roomba and a can of radiation?"

"That sums it up," Bruce Banner nodded thoughtfully, sinking back into Bryn's sofa, his fingers toying idly with the tea bag string that dangled over the lip of the cup.

"And that's working?" she asked skeptically, snapping the small k-cup machine shut and punching the button.

"Seems to be," Bruce confirmed. "Their scanning equipment shouldn't be able to pick up anything down here, Tony reinforced the garage for use as a bunker. As long as they don't detect the subtle difference in the gamma signature of the radioisotope container we stuck to the top of the roomba, they should think the decoy is me."

"I'd like at this point to remind you," Jarvis declared, his tone holding the dry edge of someone far past their patience with politics, small children or mad scientists. "That I did point out to Mr. Stark and yourself what an abysmally low chance of success this particular plan has."

"You're not wrong," Bruce admitted. "We're sort of banking on the fact that Fury wants the Avengers more than he wants control of the situation."

"I'm afraid I'm not in a position to speculate on those odds," Jarvis admitted irritably.

"Honestly I don't think any of us are," Bruce sighed, losing himself in thought as he stared into his cup. "We're just going to have to hope that Steve can keep Tony from completely pissing off the director and that the decoy works."

"But it's right now leaking radiation all over your lab?" Bryn questioned, plopping down in the chair at the table with her coffee to study him with a frown. Bruce gave an acknowledging tilt of his head, taking an experimental sip of his tea. "You chemistry guys are nuts, you know that? I roomed with a pharmacy major and she whined about getting radiation on her shoes like it was gum or something. How are you not all dead from cancer?"

"I turn into a giant green monster," Bruce pointed out placidly.

"I'm going to shut up now," Bryn decided. Bruce let out a soft chuckle, shaking his head in amusement. Bryn watched him from beneath her lashes as he drew in a slow breath, his eyes slipping shut. When Jarvis had explained Mr. Stark's plan she hadn't really thought about what it would be like to have a stranger sharing the space she'd come to think of as hers in the last three months. Dr. Banner was serenely calm and composed in a way that was very nearly unsettling and Bryn was honestly having a hard time imagining the rumpled academic on her couch tearing through brick walls with his bare fists.

"It's not a lot of radiation." Bruce declared when he finally opened his eyes.

"Excuse me?" Bryn blinked at him.

"The container in the lab," he amended. "And me, I'm not giving off that much radiation. Not enough to be dangerous. You encounter radiation in various forms every day, from natural sources, it's not dangerous until it reaches a certain level of exposure."

"I really wasn't worried…" Bryn's voice trailed off and she blushed. "I mean, you live here, if you were dangerous I'm pretty sure Ms. Potts would have something to say about it."

"The fact that I'm not irradiating the entire building doesn't make me safe," Bruce informed with a sad sort of smile. He looked back at her a long moment and Bryn was struck by how truly fragile he looked, his soft hands curled around his paper cup and his brown curls nearly falling in his eyes. He drew in a breath, squaring his shoulders and the moment passed. "My cells act as a kind of buffer, a radiation shield, we don't really know how. But whatever the accident did to me, it's actively preventing the radiation from breaking containment."

"What about when you?" Bryn flapped a hand at him, looking flustered for a moment. "You know what? I, probably shouldn't be allowed to talk to superheroes, because I just say something stupid." Bruce let out a bark of a laugh, his eyes alight as he covered his mouth with his hand."

"That's good," he chuckled, shaking his head. "That's excellent. Superhero." He drew in a deep breath, a wrong footed expression on his face as he stared into his cup.

"Help me out here, Jarvis," Bryn declared, gazing up at the ceiling with a perplexed frown.

"Dr. Banner and I have engaged in a lengthy and ongoing debate as to whether or not his contributions can be categorized as heroic or destructive," Jarvis answered with a huff of frustration. "Thus far I have not won."

"You'd think hanging around Tony, he'd be used to that by now," Bruce observed, his eyes twinkling as he sipped his tea.

"My grandfather used to say that for thousands of years humans just accepted that they couldn't hang on to things," Bryn stated, staring into her coffee cup. "We built our homes on flood plains and in the shadows of volcanos and near battle fields. And when villages were inevitably destroyed by fire and war and pestilence we'd just rebuild. We'd make better bricks, safer roofs, we learned from what worked and what didn't and we made it better."

"I suppose that's true," Bruce allowed his expression curious.

"And then the industrial revolution came," Bryn pulled one foot up on the front of her chair, resting her chin on her knee. "And we started valuing things more than people, we started resisting rebuilding, we hung onto buildings until they were to the point of decay. We tried to stick them back together rather than start over and make them better. He said that the more we valued things, the less we valued that sense of purpose and innovation the constant threat of peril gave us."

"He sounds like an academic," Bruce observed, sipping his tea.

"He was a professor of philosophy," Bryn shrugged. "I don't know, I always thought he was a little crazy because a lot of people died in disasters. But maybe you're a little like that."

"Like Mount Vesuvius?" Bruce asked teasingly.

"I was thinking more like the Yellow River," Bryn admitted, blushing. "It's terrible and deadly when it jumps its banks, but so much grows there, food to feed thousands. That's not all bad."

"I've seen the Yellow River," Bruce remarked, his eyes going soft as if he could see something she couldn't but wherever he'd gone inside his head he clearly wasn't pressed for company.

"Mr. Stark has asked that I let you know that he and the Captain are about to, in his words 'engage the target', Dr. Banner," Jarvis stated blandly, breaking the spell of the moment. The smallest smile curled Bruce's lips and he settled farther back into the sofa with a sigh.

"Thank you, Jarvis," Bruce declared. He closed his eyes, drawing in a steadying breath, his entire body easing into the exhale.

"Are you worried?" Bryn asked, tugging her lip between her teeth as he opened his eyes.

"A little," Bruce admitted thoughtfully. "I suppose I've gotten used to a roof over my head and another pair of eyes at my back. I'm not quite ready to give that up."

"Well, even if this doesn't work out, I bet Mr. Stark has a plan B," Bryn stated. "He seems like a plan B kind of guy.

"Tony is a plan C though Z kind of guy," Bruce confirmed in fond amusement. "For whatever reason he's decided he wants us here and I'm pretty sure Tony's used to getting what he wants. If he has anything to say about it, I don't think I'll be leaving unless it's what I want."

"Believe me, Doctor, Sir is not the only one delighted at your presence in the Tower," Jarvis insisted. "Ms. Potts and I are supremely relieved to finally have someone with a modicum of sense in Mr. Starks lab on a daily basis."

"Okay, that's downright terrifying," Bruce admitted, looking up at the ceiling with an expression that was properly worried. "She's a smart woman, Jarvis, she knows what I am. I've been waiting around for months for her to say something about the safety of my being here."

"If Ms. Potts has anything to say it's that Stark Industries' legal team is at your disposal, Doctor," Jarvis supplied gently but firmly. "A fact she has relayed to me several times. Rest assured that even if today's meeting does not go as planned, she is fully prepared to insure your security into the future." Bruce froze, staring at the floor with a blank expression. Finally he swallowed, clearing his throat.

"Thanks, Jarvis," he said softly, his voice cracking. He swallowed again, drawing in a shaky breath. "Thank Pepper for me too. That's… it's terribly generous of her."

"You saved Mr. Stark's life, Doctor," Jarvis offered, his own voice softening. "That is not something we can actually repay you for." Bryn ducked her head to hide her smile as Bruce's face flushed.

"So what's going to happen if Mr. Stark's meeting goes well?" She asked curiously before the silence could become uncomfortable.

"Well, ideally the Avengers will become a recognized unit of a government agency," Bruce replied. "We'll all officially be working for SHIELD, which will mean that it will be harder for other agencies to give us trouble. From a practical standpoint we won't have to sneak in and out of the tower any more, at least not as much. I'm not sure I'll ever feel comfortable being out in public alone but in theory I'd be allowed that much freedom."

"No more fake ID badges or waiting until dark to go out?" Bryn asked. Bruce nodded. "You're going to go from fugitive to household name over night." Bruce froze, staring at his cup with ever widening eyes.

"We had avoided pointing that out to the Doctor for a reason, Bryn," Jarvis stated in mild irritation.

"Sorry," squeaked out. "You're not going to freak out, are you? Please don't freak out. Mr. Stark will fire me if I damage you."

"I'm fine," Bruce declared softly, closing his eyes slowly as he drew in long, even breaths. "I hadn't even thought about it. All the media clamor. The moment the Avengers become official… my god, it'll be a circus."

"Ms Potts has been putting together a marketing plan for some time now," Jarvis advised. "If it is any comfort at all, your participation has been limited to magazine interviews to be conducted here in the tower."

"That helps a little, yeah," Bruce nodded.

"If you make Natasha do talk shows, she's going to be pissed," Bryn observed.

"That fact had already been anticipated," Jarvis admitted. "Which is why Mr. Stark and the Captain are tentatively scheduled to appear on the Tonight Show."

"Oh, I have to DVR that!" Bryn exclaimed excitedly, pulling out her phone. "That is like the best news on TV since Catherine Tate came back to Doctor Who!"

"She was one of my favorites as well," Jarvis agreed, Bryn only grinned, blushing.

"Guess I'm definitely not going out alone," Bruce stated with a sigh.

"Hey, if it's any consolation, creepy super secret government organizations tend to have a hard time disappearing celebrities," Bryn pointed out.

"SHIELD is a creepy super secret government organization," Bruce stated. Bryn made a thoughtful face.

"Hadn't really considered that," she admitted.

"Doctor Banner," Jarvis interrupted. "I'm pleased to inform you that you can now dispense with concealing yourself in the basement. Or anywhere else for that matter."

"Oh dear god," Bruce sighed in visible relief.

"So the Avengers are a thing?" Bryn asked excitedly, a bright smile on her face.

"A thing which I'm afraid you'll need to continue to conceal your connection to, Bryn," Jarvis reminded, though his tone was amused.

"I can totally live with that," She insisted blithely. "But I don't have to call Steve 'Rodger' any more and that is totally awesome."

"I think I'm going up to the gym," Bruce remarked, draining his cup with a smirk. "I could do with some yoga. Thanks for the hospitality."

"Any time," Bryn insisted, taking the cup from him and tossing it in the trash.

"It's nice knowing we have you here," Bruce added as he reached for the doorknob. "It's… like backup."

"I'm pretty sure you have some better backup on your team," Bryn replied, smiling at him.

"You can never have enough backup," Bruce declared. "See you around."

"See you!" she called called after him. Bryn drained her coffee cup, pitching it in the trash, her brow knitting in a thoughtful expression.

"Jarvis?" She called out.

"Yes?"

"Now that the public will know that the Avengers are here, I'm going to have to be more careful, aren't I?" She asked softly.

"I regret there will be some increased risk to your safety, yes," Jarvis admitted.

"It's fine," Bryn stated firmly. "I took a high security clearance job, that implies risk. I was just thinking. I should vary my route more."

"That would be prudent," Jarvis agreed.

"We should maybe switch the times I go out and the locations I pick up from a little too," she added.

"An astute tactical plan," Jarvis confirmed as Bryn slid into the chair at the table, tapping it and bringing up the inset touchscreen keyboard. "Perhaps we should sit down and go over some additional considerations together."

"You're going to have a lot to deal with today," Bryn stated with a frown. "I can manage this."

"I'm sure you can," Jarvis replied. "But I feel I would be ungrateful if I did not assist you."

"I'm pretty good with tactics," Bryn admitted, glancing up at the ceiling. "I play a lot of video games. Evasion, not so much."

"As luck would have it, I excel at evasion and subterfuge," Jarvis declared with a satisfied tone. Bryn's face broke in a grin as she brought up a map of the surrounding bakeries and markets she frequented.

"World of Warcraft?" she asked teasingly.

"Mr. Stark," Jarvis replied. Bryn let out a laugh.

Note:

This chapter runs parallel to the first story in the series: In Which Tony Stark Buys the Avengers.