Hermione stood at the base of Stark Tower and looked up. And up. And up. She turned and looking at Tony, lifted one eyebrow.
Tony shrugged. "I told you I had plenty of room."
"How many floors are there?"
"Ninety-Three," Tony said, no hesitation. "You're not scared of heights are you? Because the top ten floors are living quarters for the Avengers. I was going to put you on Thor's floor. He's hardly on Earth anyway."
Hermione shook her head. "I don't think my brain is keeping up with what is going on right now. Everything is happening so fast, I'm just not processing everything, and now I'm living where the Avengers live, I just," she broke off, taking a deep breath.
"Hey," Tony said, putting his arms on her shoulders, and turning her to face him. "Breathe. I don't need you passing out in front of my building, it's bad for press."
Hermione laughed.
"That's better. No worrying. Just moving. I'll go in the lobby and wait, you do what you need to do out here to make this building a safe place for you to live, and then I'll take you up to your floor."
Tony squeezed her shoulders and gave her a small smile before walking through the front door of the building. Hermione took a deep breath and pulled out her wand, cast a quick notice me not charm, and began placing her wards around the building. She should have warned Tony it wouldn't be as quick as he probably assumed. She moved around the entire complex, casting her wards around the perimeter. When she found herself back at the entrance of the building, she ended the notice me not charm, and tucked the wand back up the sleeve of her shirt. She took a deep breath, made sure she had a hold on her bag, and walked through the doors. She looked around before noticing Tony standing in the corner talking to someone. She walked closer and noticed that she vaguely recognized the man, but couldn't really place him. As she approached, Tony looked up, giving her a smile.
"Hermione," he said walking toward her, closing the gap. "I would like you to meet Doctor Bruce Banner, he lives on the floor above the one you'll be staying on. And he heavily utilizes the lab, which you have expressed interest in."
Hermione smiled, offering her hand to Bruce. "It's really nice to meet you, I'm Hermione."
Bruce took her hand, "Nice to meet you. How do you know Tony?"
"She's the one who took me in when my suit flew me to Rose Hill. She very generously offered up her shed and couch until I fixed the tin can and was able to go after Killian."
"Oh, wow. That was really nice of you, considering the way he tells the story he basically broke into your home."
Hermione shrugged. "I couldn't just let him freeze to death in the snow, even if I was tempted. I mean, I would be labeled a villain by the press. Imagine the headlines: Unassuming Small Town Girl Defeats Iron Man. I would have would be villains knocking at my door asking for advice to defeat the rest of The Avengers, it would be a nightmare."
Bruce laughed. "I like you. You'll be a nice change in the lab from this guy."
"Hey, standing right here," Tony protested. "And I would like to take this moment to remind you that you both are living here rent free and have unlimited access to a state of the art lab. So, I would be careful to not bruise my ego too much."
Hermione and Bruce shared a look and broke into a fit of giggles. It was in that moment Hermione felt that she had made the right choice. Maybe living with The Avengers wouldn't be as overwhelming as she had once thought. They were just regular people when they weren't off saving the world from alien invasions. After years of living by herself, isolated from everyone, not forming connections, this would be a nice change of pace. Sharing a lab would take some getting used to, but she would adjust. She looked at Bruce. She just met the man, but she could already tell the two of them would get along. There was just something about him that made her feel like they were kindred spirits.
"So," Tony said. "If the two of you are finished laughing at my expense, how about we show Hermione up to her floor?"
Hermione and Bruce looked at each other and broke into giggles again.
"For Christ sake. You two just met, and you're already ganging up on me. I don't like this," Tony said, walking over to the elevator bay and pushing a button. "You two aren't allowed to spend too much time in the lab together. You might start leaving caricatures of me around the lab, because you guys are acting like children."
"Caricatures, that's a good idea, I hadn't thought about that before, how about you, Hermione?" Bruce said, a wide grin on his face.
"Nope, I hadn't thought of that. Usually, you know, I just work in my lab, but now I'll just have to think of all the ridiculous ways I can draw Tony," Hermione replied, looking over at Tony, with a smile.
The elevators opened, and Tony walked in, and pulled out a key card for the elevator to scan before pushing the button for floor ninety. Hermione and Bruce followed him into the elevator. The doors closed behind them, and the elevator began its rise.
"So, I'll get you a card tonight, that way you can come and go as you please," Tony explained. "You'll need it to get to any floor eighty four and higher. Eighty-four houses the labs, which there are three of, and you can use whichever one isn't currently in use. Eighty-five has the gym and locker rooms, feel free to use them if you want, they're not just for the Avengers, but don't be surprised if you walk into a few of us sparring from time to time. Eighty-six is the common lounge, you're welcome to hang out there as much as you want, again, not just for Avengers. There's a bar and a small kitchen. Eighty-seven is Natasha, eighty-eight is Clint, Eighty-nine is Cap, ninety is you, ninety-one is Bruce, Ninety-two is Rhodey, and ninety-three is me."
"I'm never going to remember all of that," Hermione said.
"Just remember that eighty-four through eighty-six are common areas, and you're on ninety," Bruce said.
"And I'm on the very top, but I'm in the lab a lot, so if you need anything you can typically find me there," Tony said.
The elevator dinged, coming to a stop on her floor and opening. Tony and Hermione stepped out, but Bruce hung back.
"You coming?" Tony asked.
"Nah, I'm just going to head back to the lab and work on a few things. I'll let you get her settled. It was really nice meeting you, Hermione. I look forward to working beside you," Bruce reached and pushed a button and the elevator doors closed.
"He seems nice. Which Avenger is he? He seems familiar, but I just can't place him," she asked.
"The Green Guy," Tony answered.
Hermione did a double take and stared at the closed elevator doors. "He's The Hulk?" she asked in almost disbelief.
"Yeah, hard to believe, right?"
"He's so soft spoken and unassuming!"
"Well, he is a scientist when he's not hulking out. I mean, that's kind of how he got in that problem in the first place," Tony said.
Hermione shook her head. "This all seems so surreal."
"Give it a couple days, and you'll get used to it. I'm surprised this even affects you, considering you're already part of an extraordinary world of your own."
"I know, but this seems different somehow."
"Probably because we're all man-made weapons, and you're from a world where your powers all occur naturally."
"That may be it."
"Well, want me to give you a quick tour of your new living space?"
"Sure," Hermione said.
Tony took her through the apartment showing her all the technological advancements he and Pepper had installed after they finished the remodel of the tower after the Battle of New York. She felt a little awkward with the idea of living in an apartment that was customized for Thor, but Tony reassured her that he was living on Asgard right now, and if he came back, they would figure something out if she was still living there.
"So, that's the tour. Do you want to just hang out here and get settled? Or do you want to come with me to the lab?"
Hermione smiled. "Definitely the lab. I would like to set up a couple cauldrons to start some bases for some potions so I can get my business up and running as soon as possible."
"Yeah, no problem. Listen, it may be easier to tell Bruce right off the bat that you're a witch, so you don't have to try and hide anything. The three of us are going to be working down there a lot around each other, he's bound to find out one way or another. It would probably be easier if he just knows from the start."
"Yeah, no that's fine. I don't want to cause any problems here, or have to sneak around. The more honest we are about everything from the get go the better."
"Well, for the most part. Unless you want to get roped into working for our government, if you see a bald black man with an eye patch, you're a normal human being. Or else you'll be working for S.H.I.E.L.D."
"Bald Black Man with an Eye Patch, lie to him, got it," Hermione said as they stepped into the elevator and headed down to the lab.
"I mean unless you want to be an Avenger. I'm sure we could make room for you."
Hermione shook her head vigorously. "Definitely not. I've had enough of playing the hero to last a lifetime. I'm good with living a quiet life from now on. Why do you think I moved from Rose Hill? The thought of having to fight Dolohov if he showed up on my front porch after everything I've gone through made me feel sick to my stomach. No, if I have to obliviate this S.H.I.E.L.D man into forgetting who I am, I will do that before I agree to join your team. No offense."
"Hey, preaching to the choir. I quit being Iron Man, remember?"
The elevator doors opened at the lab floor and they walked out, and Hermione's mouth dropped open. The lab really was state of the art. She hoped her magic didn't mess with all of the electronics that were in these rooms. The lab floor was made up of three separate labs that were all interconnected. They walked into the far lab where Bruce was hunched over a notebook making notes while glancing up at a projection screen that had a bunch of equations on it. Tony cleared his throat and Bruce looked up.
"Oh, hi," he said, taking his glasses off. "I thought you would want to get settled and rested."
"I need to get a few things started down here for the business I'm going to be starting, things that take time to..."
"Oh for fucks sake, I thought we were being honest. Bruce, Hermione is a witch and she's going to be running a potions by mail business out of the lab, and she needs to get her potions started in order to be able to get her business started," Tony interrupted.
Hermione smacked him in the stomach with the back of her hand. "I was going to be honest, ass. I was going to break it to him a little easier. Because when you just blurt things out like that without any indication that things are amiss, you get that," she gestured over at Bruce, who was staring at her, slack jawed, his eyes screwed up in confusion.
"You're a...witch?" Bruce asked. "Like 'I'll get you my pretty?'" He asked, imitating the Wicked Witch from Wizard of Oz.
Hermione sighed. "Yes, I'm a witch. And I hope I'm not like the Wicked Witch. Tony would you say I'm a Wicked Witch?"
Tony brought his hand up and stroked his goatee, looking thoughtfully off into the distance. "Um, no," he said. "You're definitely more of a Glinda. The Wicked Witch would have made me freeze in the snow."
They all laughed. When the laughter died down, Hermione opened her mouth to ask Bruce if he wanted her to explain anything else, but was interrupted.
"Tony, there you are. I was..." a tall woman with strawberry blonde hair walked into the lab. She was dressed impeccably in a pencil skirt and blouse and high heels. She stopped short when she realized that Tony wasn't alone. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt." She turned to Hermione. "Um, hi, I don't think I've met you before."
"Um, Pepper, this is Hermione, she's the one who took care of me while I was in Rose Hill. Hermione this is Pepper, my girlfriend," Tony said.
Of course. This was the girlfriend. Of course she was bloody gorgeous. Hermione forced a smile on her face, and offered her hand. "It's nice to meet you."
Pepper ignored her hand and turned to Tony. "What's she doing here? I didn't know you were bringing her back with you, I thought you were just going to give her the computer and the money to fix her door?"
"When I got there she was packing up to move, and she didn't have anywhere else to go, so I offered her Thor's apartment until she could get back on her feet," Tony explained.
"Did you know she was moving before you went down there?" Pepper asked, still ignoring everyone else in the room. Hermione glanced over at Bruce and he looked about as awkward as she felt. He was trying to look anywhere but at the couple in the middle of the room.
"Pepper, I hadn't talked to her since she left to spend Christmas with her family, the day I left for Miami. I showed up on her doorstep and she was packing. She had to move very suddenly because her abusive ex had found out where she lived, and needed to get out of there. She didn't have anywhere else to go, and since we have the room, I offered her a place here."
"Uh huh, well, can we go talk? I have some stuff to talk to you about the R and D department," Pepper said.
Tony nodded. "Yeah of course." He looked around Pepper at Bruce and Hermione. "I'll catch up with you guys later. Bruce will you help Hermione with anything else she needs?"
"Yeah of course," Bruce said.
Pepper turned and walked out of the room, Tony following closely behind her. They waited while they heard the doors for the elevator open and close before turning to each other.
"Did you really move because of an abusive ex?" Bruce asked.
Hermione shook her head. "No, not at all. I mean, I moved because a Dark Wizard has been threatening me for years, and my friend was pretty sure he tracked me down. But he's not my ex."
"Oh man, that actually sounds worse. Why would Tony lie to Pepper about that? I thought you guys wanted to be honest?"
Hermione shook her head. "I have no idea." She said, a sinking feeling forming in the pit of her stomach. If Tony felt it was better to be honest about her being a witch and why she was there with everyone in the tower from the get go, why did he feel the need to lie to Pepper about who she was and why she was there?
We have Pepper! And Bruce! The next chapter will have a little time jump, just to prepare you all for that! I'm loving all the reviews! Thank you so much for that! I'm so happy everyone is enjoying the story! Let me know what you thought of this chapter! This week I'm FINALLY getting back to writing, I've move past my writer's block. If there's anything you want to see Hermione added to from Winter Soldier and Ultron, that's about where I am in the story, so shoot me a PM or a review and I might consider adding it in!
