Hey ya'll! Sorry it took me a little while to update, I got a little case of... Well, I don't want to say writer's block, it was more like... Writer's... Sneeze? Sure, let's go with that. Anyways, I saw the new Spiderman last night, and then I went home and had a dream about the Avengers, which inspired me again (Thank Odin!). So, here it is, chapter seven. Some crazy stuff is going to be happening in the future, but in the mean time, I hope you like this.
"Minnie!" Pepper squealed running into the room I was sitting in. I jumped up and threw my arms around her and hugged her tightly as we both started talking at the same time. Tony walked in behind her, giving me and Pepper a blank look, as did Bruce, who, I had to admit, looked slightly amused.
"Why's Pepper call Mommy Minnie?" Kayla asked.
"It's a nickname." Bruce explained. "Like when we call you Kayla instead of Makayla."
"Okay." she said and then smiled at Pepper who walked over to her. "Hi Pepper!" she said and Pepper smiled.
"Hi Pretty Girl." Pepper smiled before giving Kayla a hug.
"She's shorter in person." Tony said and I looked up at him.
"She's three." I said and he shrugged.
"I guess she is related to you."
"I've got the stretch marks to prove it."
"No you don't." Bruce said, probably out of instinct.
"You do not!" Pepper gasped and I shook my head.
"I'm pretty sure I have at least one, somewhere." I sighed and she looked at Bruce who shook his head.
"What's that?" Kayla asked as Tony walked over and ruffled her hair. She was staring at his chest. I bit my lip and looked at Tony who looked at me, then back at Kayla.
"Tony, you don't have to." I said quickly as he loosened his tie.
"Kid's curious." he said simply as he unbuttoned his shirt.
"Why's that in you?" she asked as she looked at his mini arc reactor in awe.
"Before you were born, I was hurt really bad. This thing, saved my life." he said as he tapped it.
"Can I touch it?"
"No." Bruce said.
"Sure." Tony said at the same time. "It won't hurt her." he looked at Bruce, then at me. Kayla lightly poked it, the blue light reflecting off her eyes that were wide in wonder.
"Cool." she said and I laughed. "How did you get hurt?"
"Enough." Bruce stood up and walked over to Kayla. "No more questions right now." he said and she pouted, until she saw a familiar person in the doorway.
"Amanda!" she said and climbed off her chair to run to the strawberry blond haired teenager. Amanda grinned and picked Kayla up and hugged her tightly. "I missed you, did you miss me?" she asked and Amanda nodded.
"Of course I did." Amanda said as she hugged Kayla tightly. She walked into the room and looked at Bruce. "Mr. Rob- Uh, Dr. Banner," she smiled and looked at me. "Minnie."
"It's good to see you Sweetheart." I said as I walked over and hugged her. Bruce walked over and took Kayla from her, freeing her arms to hug me back.
"How was the school?" Bruce asked.
"It was amazing." she sighed. "I didn't think there were people like me, I mean, I knew there was, because of the news and stuff, but, I don't think you really understand that people who understand you exist until you meet them." she smiled.
"Meet any boys?" I teased and she blushed. "Oh you did! What's his name?" I asked with a grin and she grinned.
"Amanda, tell her you're kidding, you're too young to be chasing guys." Bruce said making me; Pepper and her roll our eyes.
"Tell us about him, what's his power?" Pepper asked with a grin.
"Okay, his name is Piotr, he's 19, and he's really, really cute." she grinned and Tony opened his mouth.
"Don't." Pepper said holding up a finger to silence him. He shut his mouth and looked at Bruce who shook his head with a sigh.
"What's his power?" I asked and she sighed.
"He turns to steel. Like, literally, he turns into metal, it's so crazy! And he's like really really, really strong, and really tall too. I mean like, crazy tall!"
"You have like, got to be kidding me." Tony mumbled.
"Totally." Bruce mumbled back. The three of us ignored him and continued to talk about Amanda's new friend before Phil walked in.
"Thor is on his way back, as is Steve, and Barton should be here any minute. There are cars waiting downstairs for you all."
We went downstairs and I smiled seeing Happy. I hugged him and he laughed before letting go of me. "Good to see you again Min." he said and I smiled.
"Good to see you too Happy." I said.
"Hey, you're riding with Pepper and the kid, Bruce is riding with me." Tony said as Bruce handed Kayla to me.
"That's fine Tony. Are we going to the tower or the mansion?"
"Mansion." he said.
"We're going to a mansion?" Amanda asked as she followed Pepper and me.
"Oh honey, you're going to love it." Pepper smiled as she got into the front seat with Happy. They had even put a car seat into the back. I got Kayla strapped in and she talked nonstop to the mansion.
"Why's your name Happy?"
"Because I don't like the name Harold."
"What's that building?"
"The Empire State Building."
"Who works there?"
"Lots of people."
"How tall is it?"
"You know, I don't really know."
"Why not?"
"Because I've never asked."
"Why?"
"Never occurred to me to ask."
"Do you live there?"
"No, nobody lives there." he chuckled and I looked at Amanda who was biting her knuckle to keep from laughing.
"Kayla, enough bugging Happy, he's got to drive."
"Aw, she's fine." Happy said and I smiled at him.
"Could the president live there?"
"The president lives in Washington D.C."
"But if he wanted to live there, would they let him?"
"I don't think so."
"But he's the president."
"That doesn't mean he gets to do whatever he wants."
"Yes it does!" she insisted. "At Ms. Molly's, Stevie Monroe says that the president gets to do whatever he wants."
"Sweetheart, Stevie Monroe also said that there's a clown who lives under your bed." I pointed out and she pouted.
"Didn't that happen in a movie once?" Happy frowned.
"Poltergeist!" Amanda said with a grin. "I love that movie!"
"Can I watch that?"
"No." I shook my head. Pepper laughed and Amanda grinned.
"You know that scene in the pool was-"
"Enough." I said and she laughed as Kayla looked at us curiously.
"Happy?"
"Yes?"
"Does anyone live in that building?"
"No Kayla."
"Why not?"
"Because it's the post office."
"Tony what you're talking about doing-"
"If we can figure out how to do it right, there should be no issues."
"You're taking to a guy who turned himself into, in your words, an enormous green rage machine. Figuring out how not to hurt myself isn't exactly what I do." Bruce sighed.
"You're a part of this, they tracked you down, and they threatened your family. I would think you'd be on board to help with the situation."
"The situation is, they don't know what you know, they don't know if you've got photographic memory, or if you remember all of it."
"They'll have ways of figuring it out, and you know that Bruce." Tony said, and looked at his friend. "It's not just for us, for the Avengers. It's for everyone." he drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. "When they find out what I've done, they'll come for me. For Pepper and Happy too. I want you to take them and get out of here." he looked at Bruce.
"You said it yourself I haven't exactly been the best at disappearing."
"Agent Bluefox will help you guys."
"Who?"
"Your caseworker." Tony waved his hand. "She's pretty good at blending in and disappearing. She's been doing it since the beginning."
"Of what?"
"SHIELD." Tony answered. "You've got good friends on your side. If need be, I can probably convince Thor to take you to Arsgard."
"I don't- Would it come to that?" Bruce asked and Tony looked at him. "How big is this?"
"The SRA passed, everyone registered, with the promise that it would be kept confidential. Now they're trying to mold us into teams, to train us to their advantage. They need the information, they need to know who's who; and I have it. All of it. Right here." he tapped his finger against his temple. "Help me get rid of it." he said. "And help me protect the world from itself." Bruce let out a sigh, before he nodded.
"We're going to need some extra help though."
"Yeah, I've got Erik Selvig coming in on this too." he said.
"Okay." he nodded. "When do we start?"
"Selvig comes into town in a few days. We start then." Tony said as they reached the mansion. He punched in a code and pressed his thumbprint to the little scanner and the gate opened. They pulled into the underground garage and got out of the car.
"Welcome home Sir, and Dr. Banner, might I say it's good to see you're unharmed."
"Thanks Jarvis." Bruce said, and then looked at Tony. "So how do you want to do this?"
"Well any way that doesn't involve me reenacting that scene from Hannibal would be nice." he shrugged. Bruce rolled his eyes with a small smile and nodded as he followed Tony who was walking to the stairs. They went upstairs and Tony went to the bar and poured himself a drink. "How's your supply holding up?" he asked as he took a drink.
"Running low." Bruce said and Tony grinned.
"You... Green Dog." he shook his head and Bruce chuckled.
"It's almost your anniversary, how are you and Pepper doing?"
"We're good." Tony nodded.
"No little super genius toddlers running around and reprogramming Jarvis yet?" he asked.
"No, no... I- uh, kids, you know?" Tony looked uncomfortable. "They'd probably end up like me."
"Tony, no one could end up like you." Bruce said and Tony grinned.
"Well, I've done a pretty good job of making sure of that, haven't I?" he asked as he tapped his reactor.
"I meant Iron Man."
"Oh yeah, that." he said and nodded.
"You're not freaked out about doing this?"
"Of course I am." Tony said, before pouring himself another drink. "Have one."
"I don't drink."
"Well, give yourself a shot, because you do today." Tony said as he poured a measure of scotch. Bruce sighed and plunged the tip of his EpiPen into his leg before he picked up the scotch and took a sip. "Happy once told me a story about this boxer who had to have everything done for him. I mean, the guy was practically Stephen Hawking, but without the brain." he took another drink of his scotch. "The guy was hit in the head too hard and one too many times."
"Tony we're not going to let that happen to you." Bruce promised.
"Yeah." he chuckled, before they heard everyone else coming upstairs. "Oh, and uh, Pepper doesn't know, so it'd be best if you didn't mention it to... Anyone." he said and then looked at the doorway as everyone came in. He walked over to Pepper and wrapped his arm around her shoulder, leaning in to kiss her. Bruce stared at his friend for a moment, before he threw back the rest of the scotch, and then walked over to Minnie who was talking to Kayla who was looking around very excitedly.
"Hey," he smiled and Minnie grinned at him before she kissed his deeply.
"I know we're supposed to be scared and everything right now," she said as she wrapped her arms around him. "But it's really hard when it's so good to be back." she said and he smiled lightly.
There was no use in worrying her.
Not now.
He kissed the top of her head, his own head swimming with the ideas and possibilities about what he and Tony had discussed.
