Chapter Six

"Do you want to know the most random thing?" Reyna asked. She had her laptop sitting on her lap while she lounged around her living room in sweatpants and a sweatshirt. Her hair hung over her shoulder in loose braid and she was sipping her coffee as she Skyped with Natalie. Ever since her friend had returned home to North Carolina, she had been missing her like crazy. "I was walking home and Spiderman was totally following me."

Natalie pushed her glasses up higher on the bridge of her nose. "Why was he following you? That's kinda creepy."

"I think he was asking me out. I'm not one hundred percent sure though."

Natalie squealed in excitement. "Are you serious?! What did he say? What did you say?"

"Well, we were kind of flirting and he asked if I wanted to go somewhere. He wanted to do that web slinging thing throughout the city but I told him that the thought of it freaked me out."

"Reyna…"

"It does!" Reyna exclaimed. "I really am lame…"

"Have you become a superhero magnet without my knowing?" Natalie asked her friend with a raised eyebrow.

"I know, right? I suddenly want to meet Captain America," she joked. "It's kind of exciting, having Spiderman hit on me and all. I wonder what he looks like under the mask."

Natalie wiggled her eyebrows suggestively. "Maybe he's hot."

Reyna sighed. "I wish the Incredible Hulk liked me instead. That's too much to ask for though.

"Hm…well, maybe you should think about giving Spiderman a chance. It'll get your mind off of Dr. Banner."

"I guess…but who knows if I will actually see him again?"

Natalie shrugged. "He seemed to like you. He'll probably find you again."

Reyna nodded in agreement.

The rest of their conversation consisted of Natalie's discussion of how her classes were going since she returned to school for another degree- she ranted about her most pointless class- and what she planned on doing for the next coming weekend. It was a nice conversation but it didn't take her mind off of anything.

She always prided herself in never needing a man in her life. She wouldn't deny, she liked checking out guys and flirting, but her career was always her first priority. Now, however, she found that all she could do was think about the men in her life.

She had no reason to feel for Bruce Banner the way that she did. He was quiet, kept mostly to himself and seemed to have a self-esteem issue. He flip-flopped between how he wanted to act around her. He was friendly one second, but then cold and distant another. He had a way of making her feel awkward and embarrassed, like when he pretty much freaked over holding her hand. Not to mention, he was twenty years older than her. But then she thought about his intelligence and how he thought she was intelligent in her own way. The depths of his dark eyes. She loved the way his smiles made her heart flutter and how his hand felt on the small of her back when they danced. Reyna actually wanted to be with him.

Then there was Spiderman. She didn't even know who he was, but for some reason, it seemed he had taken a liking to her. She wasn't complaining; she was just mostly curious about the situation. From what she saw, he was funny and obviously cared for people- he was a superhero after all. If she were to consider talking to this guy, would he reveal who he really was to her?

The knock on her front door almost gave her a heart attack. She frowned after glancing at the clock to see that it was almost midnight. Who would be paying her a visit at this time of night?

Dozens of serial killer moments flashed through her mind as she got up to answer it. She was prepared to slam and lock the door if it was the guy from Saw but was greatly relieved to see that it was just her neighbor. Reyna could breathe again.

"Peter?" she asked. "It's late! What are you doing here? Did you lock yourself out?"

He looked tired and somewhat nervous. He shook his head in response and then began looking anywhere but at her. "I was out taking pictures of Spiderman and I was wondering…" Peter looked at her now and gave her a sweet, bashful smile. "Wondering if you wanted to…maybe, if you're free, we can…"

Reyna chuckled at his attempt. "Yes?"

Peter finally blurted out his thoughts. "Do you want to get coffee tomorrow?"

"Coffee? Oh…sure!" Reyna grinned. "But um…why are you asking me now? I could have been asleep."

Peter shrugged. "I saw the light on. Besides, I wanted to just ask you before I lost my nerve."

"Okay, well, I will see you tomorrow then. For our date?"

The smile on Peter's face was very heartwarming. "Yeah, our date." He headed towards his apartment and Reyna softly closed the front door.

She really didn't expect herself to say yes so quickly so she was caught off guard by her own tongue. Now she had to add Peter Parker into her odd man equation.

He was always just the introverted, next-door neighbor who was getting over the death of the love of his life. Lately, he had been more talkative with her, but him asking her out was the last thing she had been expecting. She was glad to know that he was recovering and was ready to put himself out there but she wasn't too sure about being with someone with that much damage. Would he spend all that time comparing her to his ex?

She really was giving these men too much of her time.

Reyna opted for a simple floral skirt, a white tank top and a turquoise blazer. She left her hair down and wore pink sandals. Should she wait for Peter to come to her door or should she head next door? Would it really matter?

She chose against it and sat on her couch, waiting for the knock on her door. It had been a while since she'd been on a date, so she had to admit, she was slightly excited. The butterflies in her stomach felt uncomfortable however and she was ready to just go. She looked at her wristwatch. 9:00 am on the dot. He had told her that they should go to breakfast and then see where they end up. She was okay with that.

Ten minutes had passed and she was still sitting on the couch. She crossed her arms and legs in a huff before turning on the television. She was very tempted to just put her pajamas back on and wallow in self-pity at being stood up but then realized that it had really only been ten minutes. Maybe he was just running late.

Reyna flipped on the news and was instantly enthralled.

"No information on the mutant attacker but Spiderman is definitely holding his own. The police are asking that everyone in the area evacuate for their safety."

Reyna's jaw dropped as she continued to watch the news. It was a live broadcast and this person- he was so mutated he didn't even look like a person- was destroying everything in his path. He was a giant and his entire body looked like it was made of water. Spiderman was trying to get some punches in but his fists kept going right through him. The web slinger was holding his own though because the aquatic man couldn't land a hit.

"No known motive yet behind these attacks," the reporter continued.

Before the reporter could say anything else regarding the case, the water man turned in the camera's direction.

"Oh crap…" the reporter mumbled.

The water man shot a spray of water at the camera and it all went dark. 'Please Stand By' flashed brightly on the screen.

Reyna couldn't believe it. What could that man possibly want and how would Spiderman be able to defeat him? She hoped he would be alright during the fight. Reyna had heard about many strange happenings going on in the city and where Iron Man or Spiderman would come to the rescue. But being from a small town in North Carolina, she never expected to be so close to something like this. The water man attacking was on the far side of where she was at the moment but it was still a scary thought.

By now, Peter was forty-five minutes late. She got up from the couch, Spiderman's fight forgotten now, and marched over to Peter's apartment. She knocked on the door and mustered up the best scowl she could. After a few seconds without a response she knocked again, this time a little louder. Still nothing.

"Fine…" she grumbled. She went back to her place and grabbed her purse before leaving her apartment. She had nothing else planned for her day off so she decided to head to Stark Tower after getting a coffee. She had been working on something that she hadn't told Bruce about as to not jinx her luck. It was the same principle of eluting off the antibodies but with something a little different. It had been successful so far at keeping the antibodies away for a couple of days now and it was the best experiment with the cells. If she saw that the antibodies were still off today, she would tell Bruce that she might have found a way to keep the Hulk at bay.

When she entered, Bruce was working like he usually did; his wire-framed glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. His wavy hair was slightly messy but of course Reyna found it endearing. She muttered a quick hello- if she looked at him for too long she would melt- and went straight to the walk in refrigerator to collect the "secret" blood sample. Without even bothering to put on her lab coat, she put on gloves and went straight to work. She put a drop on the blood on a microscope slide and began adjusting the objectives on the microscope to see the cells.

"What are you doing here on your day off?" Bruce asked curiously.

"Don't want me here, Dr. Banner?" was Reyna's response.

"That's not what I said," he told her. "You look nice today."

"Thanks…" she trailed off. The fact that he had complimented her didn't fully settle in because she was distracted by what was going on under the microscope. The little red blood cells were a pinkish red, just like they should be. Just like they had been for seven days straight.

Reyna didn't mean to but she screamed. It wasn't a scared scream, just more of an excited, she-couldn't-believe-she-did-it kind of scream. She stood up and started jumping in place, unable to contain her excitement. She knew she looked dumb but she couldn't help it.

"Are you alright?" Bruce asked, rushing to stand next to her. He looked worried, like something had happened to her.

Reyna faced him now; done with her jumping and felt her eyes start to sting. They were watering up because she was so proud of herself for actually accomplishing something. "I did it."

Bruce blinked. "Did what?"

"I came up with a solution to use on your cells to keep the infecting Hulk antibodies off of them."

Bruce gave Reyna a rueful smile. "Just give it time. They'll come back."

Reyna took another look into the microscope to see that the cells were still normal. She looked back up at Bruce and beamed. "Your cells have been normal for seven days. I did it. I really did it! I found a way to help you, Bruce." Without thinking, she threw her arms around his neck. The first thing she noticed was his scent. Even when they danced, they weren't this close. She couldn't explain it but he smelled like…man, and she loved that smell. The second thing that she noticed was he hesitantly wrapped his arms around her. It was hesitant but he still did it. It didn't feel awkward to her at all and she couldn't help but love the fact that their bodies felt right together.

When she pulled away, she looked straight into his dark eyes. She kept her arms around his neck and started playing with the hair at the nape of his neck absentmindedly. "I didn't think I could actually do it but I did."

Bruce smiled genuinely this time. "You really did." He kept his arms around her waist as well. She was surprised by the fact that he hadn't looked away, or pulled away from her yet. Just as Reyna was going to voice this thought, Bruce leaned forward and his lips crashed over hers. Reyna didn't even have time to react as his tongue forced its way passed her lips into her mouth. His lips were as soft as she imagined and she instinctively closed her eyes. She parted her mouth obligingly and was pleased when she heard his tiny groan when she ran her tongue over his lips. She didn't want to stop but her lungs were screaming for air.

He pulled away first and she was left breathless. She didn't want to look lame but she couldn't help the grin that settled on her face.

She giggled. "I can't believe it."

Bruce cleared his throat and stuffed his hands in his pocket. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

Reyna slowly lowered her arms and they rested by her side. He took a few steps back and avoided eye contact.

"I don't know what came over me," he persisted.

Reyna furrowed her dark eyebrows. "Wait, what? You just- we just made out and you want to want to brush it off like it never happened?" She couldn't believe this was happening.

He sighed. "It shouldn't have happened."

Reyna crossed her arms over her chest. "But it did. So, what brought this on, exactly? Do you have feelings for me? Is that it?"

He looked uncomfortable. "Of course I don't."

She pursed her lips in annoyance now. "You don't? Okay, so you're just this horn dog that wanted to shove his tongue down my throat? Which one is it Bruce? You either like me or you don't. But you can't keep leading me on like this! It's not fair."

He took off his glasses and ran his hands over his face in frustration.

'Good,' Reyna thought. 'He should feel bad.'

"Reyna," he started with an even tone, "we can't be together and you know it. I am way too old for you and it's not safe to be around me. The other guy could come out at any moment and hurt you. I would never want that to happen."

"I don't care," Reyna said stubbornly.

Bruce frowned. "But I do! I'm not willing to put your life on the line just because I'm infatuated with you! I am too dangerous to be around! We can't keep doing this!"

She pointed angrily at the microscope. "Then what was all of this for? This could help you!"

"And even if it did, you're still too young for me!" His voice was raised now. "You need to let this go."

Reyna growled. "I'm a grown woman! Stop treating me like a child!" She turned away from him and began packing up her things. "Whatever. This is bullshit and you know it." She motioned towards the microscope again. "There's your cure. Do what you want with it."

She stormed out of the lab before she could say anything else or through the microscope out the window…She didn't understand why he had to be so difficult about the situation.

This day had gone to crap. First Peter stood her up that morning and then Bruce admitted he had feelings for her but didn't want to act on it. She was definitely in the mood for pajamas and ice cream when she got home.

A/N: Finally got some romance(ish) in this bad boy! Hope it was okay! Might get some action in the next chapter- not sure when I will be done with it since I've started my third class of the summer but hopefully it won't take too long! Thanks to everyone who reviewed and added this on their favorites and who read it! I really appreciate it!

Anything you guys want to see coming up in the next chapters? Please review!