Just a quick note to say a MASSIVE THANK YOU! I've gotten over 100 emails saying you guys have reviewed, alerted and favourited! I love you guys so much so as a treat I've wrote an extra long chapter, I hope you enjoy :D

Just so it's not so confusing, a line break = a short amount of time passing.

Penny groaned as Pepper pulled the curtains open, allowing the sunlight to sting her eyes. Burying her face in the pillows she groaned loudly, "Pepper! Why are you waking me up at," Propping herself up on her elbows she looked over at her clock,"11:15…" She glanced up at an impatient Pepper.

Rolling out of bed she slipped into her slippers and walked into the bathroom to brush her teeth, giving her mouth a quick swill with some mouth wash she walked back out to find Pepper sat on her bed. "So, what's up?"

Pepper smiled and stood up, "The gala. It's tonight and we're already behind schedule, I'll give you 30 minutes to dress and grab some breakfast;" She opened the door, "I'll meet you and Natasha in the lobby in 30, no later!" She shut the door and left Penny wondering what kind of torture Pepper had planned for them today.

Pulling a pair of skinny jeans from her draw she grabbed some clean underwear and pulled them on. Plucking her favouite blue Star Wars tee shirt out of her suitcase, she pushed her hair into a ponytail and headed to the kitchen for breakfast.

"So, sleeping beauty has finally awoke. Did Bruce give you true love's kiss to get you to wake up?" Tony drawled sarcastically and placed his coffee down. Bruce smiled shyly as Penny sat down next to him at the breakfast bar. He pushed a cup of green tea in front of her, leaning in he grabbed her hand and placed a kiss on her cheek. Penny smiled and took a sip of her tea, "Good morning to you too, Mr Banner." She grinned.

Tony fake gagged and the couple turned to face him, both quirking their eyebrows. "What?" Tony asked innocently. "If it's any consolation, I think you two are simply adorable."

They both flushed as Nat walked in the room, "Time to go," She said as she came to a stop by the door, "Pepper's waiting for us. Apparently we have a very important mani-pedi and hair appointment." Penny groaned and clung to Bruce's arm, she looked up at him with wide, pleading eyes. "Please don't let me go through this torture!" Bruce chuckled and stood up to walk them to the elevator.

"Sorry Pen, but I'm under strict orders from Pepper to get you and Natasha down to the lobby." He placed his arm around her waist as the three walked to the elevator and pressed the button. Penny sighed in defeat and hugged him around the waist, Bruce was still getting used to the fact that him and Penny were dating, so whenever she showed any affection for him, he got a little nervous about it and blushed.

Returning the hug, the elevator doors opened and Natasha stepped inside. "Sorry to break up the love fest, but we gotta get going." Bruce dipped his head and quickly kissed Penny. Pulling away they said their goodbyes as Penny prepared for a day of pure girly torture.

"Remind me why I let myself get roped into this?" Penny mumbled to Natasha so Pepper wouldn't hear, "So she won't go all hormonal on us, remember?" She whispered back quickly, ever since they had found out she was pregnant they had taken to tip toeing around her, they didn't want to get caught in a hormone crossfire; especially today.

"Although," Natasha continued, "my nails do look lovely…" Nat commented as Pepper walked over.

"Ready to get your hair done girls?" Pepper smiled brightly, plastering fake smiles on their faces Penny and Natasha nodded stiffly. "Sure." Penny nodded and stood up with Natasha hot on her tail.

"Don't worry, if they mess it up, I'll break their necks with my thighs." Penny blanched and stared at her red headed friend as she walked past her, winking as she did so; Penny laughed to herself and shook her head in disbelief.

"You can do this." She said to herself sternly.

Smoothing her dress down she twirled side to side in front of her mirror before smoothing it out again. Quickly turning to her vanity mirror, she put a pair of diamond earrings Pepper had lent her in and walked back over to stand in front of her mirror. There was a knock at the door, breathing in deeply she sighed. "Come in."

Natasha opened the door and leaned in, "We're all ready, Thor's girlfriend Jane is here too. She's pretty nice." Penny smiled and turned to face her, to say that she looked beautiful would be an understatement. Her red hair had been messed up with styling products and styled into a messy bed head look, she had simple plum coloured studs in her ears and the most stunning dress Penny had ever seen.

It was a plum colour that matched her earrings, the majority of the dress was made out of lace and had two tones to it; a lighter plum and a deeper purple. It was floor length and ended at her collar bone, her make up was subtle but sported a classy smokey eye and nude lips. "You look beautiful Nat." Natasha smiled as Penny exited the room with her. "You too Pen, you'll make the doc's heart rate speed up in no time." She smirked sneakily as she turned, Penny noticed that the back of the dress had no back, but rather a large hole that started from the nape of her neck and ended just above the base of her back.

"Bit like Clint's will when he sees you then?" She retorted wittily as they walked down the corridor, stopping just before the entrance to the living room. Natasha walked in ahead of her but stopped and looked back, "You coming in?" Penny nodded and took a moment to gather her thoughts. Taking a deep breath, she walked in.

Bruce felt a nudge in his side and looked to Tony in annoyance; his gaze however, wasn't on him but on the door, following his gaze he saw why.

Penny was stood awkwardly in the doorway, her hands fiddled together in front of her. Bruce couldn't help but think that she looked stunning; her dress was a soft grey colour that fell to the floor in soft waves, from the hip up the dress had light grey embellishments on that followed over one shoulder and onto the back, the other was left completely bare; he felt like the luckiest man in the world when she looked over and smiled at him.

She quickly made her way over to Bruce who met her halfway. "You look…Stunning." He stuttered as the nerves began to kick in, Penny giggled and smiled, "And you look very handsome in your bow tie and tux, if I do say so myself Mr Banner." Bruce flushed and looked down to his shoes before meeting her gaze again; he offered her his arm once he'd recovered. "Shall we?" He asked teasingly, "We shall!" She replied happily.

He lead her over to the group of friends who were waiting patiently, "Aww I knew it was that one!" Pepper gushed over the dress as she pulled her in for a hug, "You look gorgeous Pep," Penny smiled as she took in her appearance. The dress was a faded copper colour that was tight until is flared out at the bottom, it had intricate diagonal pleats in the sheer material. Her wrists had expensive looking diamond bracelets on and dangling earrings. "You don't think it clashes with my hair?" Pepper asked worriedly, Penny shook her head, "Nope," Pepper relaxed a little. "You look beautiful Pepper."

The majority of the men had relatively similar tuxes on, Clint, Thor and Steve had opted for sleek black ties, while Tony and Bruce made a statement with their bows. Penny couldn't help but notice how Clint kept chancing glances at Natasha. Penny was pulled out of her thoughts by Tony placing a hand around her waist.

"You, my pretty Penny, look fabulous. And doesn't Bruce just look spiffing in his suit and bow tie?" He asked condescendingly as they looked at the nervous man who had wandered over to Thor and a woman who she assumed to be Jane. Pepper laughed as she looked at Tony, "Yeah, just think, next time we'll all be in suits and dresses will be yours and Peppers wedding." Tony's mouth fell open as Penny quickly walked over to talk to Steve.

Thor tapped her on the shoulder and she excused herself from her conversation. "Lady Penelope, this is Jane Foster." Penny looked at a small woman with mousy brown hair that had been pulled back in a sleek bun, she wore a red off the shoulder dress that had encrusted jewels around the waist.

Penny held out her hand, "Hi, I'm Penny, it's really nice to finally meet you. Thor talks about you all the time." She smiled politely as Jane shook her hand.

"It's really nice to meet you too, Thor talks about you quite a bit too actually. Only good stuff though, obviously!" She altered quickly as she smiled awkwardly and sighed, "Hey Jane when do we get to start drinking?" Penny heard a female voice say.

A big busted young woman appeared beside Thor in a tight to the knee white dress, her brown hair was left down in slight waves. "Oh, hi." She smiled at Penny who returned it politely. "This is Darcy, Darcy this is Penny." Jane introduced them as they shook hands. "So, which one of these hotties are you dating? Oh! Is it the smoking hot blonde dude? 'Cause if it is, then I'm jealous. But you know, someone's gotta lick those abs." She rambled nonchalantly as Penny felt herself turn the shade of Jane's dress; Jane looked like she had also copied the colour.

"Sorry to disappoint, but that would be me." Bruce appeared behind Penny and wrapped an arm protectively around her waist and pulled her slightly against him. To say that he was slightly annoyed was an understatement, he knew that he wasn't the best looking of men; he knew that. But he thought that he had at least some appeal. But then when you compared him to the other men in the room, who would look twice at him? Penny would. A deep guttural voice sounded from the deepest parts of Bruce's mind; the Hulk.

Smiling sweetly Darcy began to back away slowly, leaving Penny and Bruce alone. Spinning in his arms she looked up into his face, "You know I didn't listen to a single word she said, right?" She asked cautiously as her green eyes bore into his brown ones. He sighed and nodded, "Yeah. But maybe she has a point, I mean look at me Penny. You deserve so much better-"

Penny silenced him quickly by wrapping her arms around his neck and planting a gentle kiss on his lips. Pulling back slightly she looked into his eyes as she mumbled against them, "Bruce Banner, I don't want anyone but you; all of you. Okay?" Bruce opened his mouth to speak but Penny pecked his lips again and spoke for him, "Even if that means the other guy tags along for the ride too." He smiled against her lips and kissed her again.

"I must have been a saint in a past life." He laughed against her lips before he pulled back abruptly, "I almost forgot!"

Bruce fished in his pocket for the slim, long box and pulled it out. Penny's eyes grew wide as he opened the lid to reveal a beautiful floral antique locket with encrusted diamonds. Running her fingers over it she could feel her eyes begin to tear up as a few fell onto her cheeks.

Noticing this, Bruce quickly wiped them away with his thumb. "Hey don't cry, if you don't like it I can-"

"No!" Bruce looked at her confused, "I love it Bruce, I really, really love it. It's just…" Her eyes began to fill up again so she reached a finger up to trap the tears. "It's just beautiful, I didn't even think to buy you anything…" She trailed off as Bruce heaved a sigh of relief, spinning her around he placed the locket around her neck and clasped it together. She twirled around to show him, "Perfect." He said simply while intertwining his fingers with hers.

"Oh yeah," He fiddled with the locket and it popped open, inside there sat a miniature version of the picture Tony had taken of them on the helicarrier. Penny grinned and hugged Bruce before kissing him on the nose and walking over to show Pepper.

"Okay people!" Tony shouted over the talking; conversations stopped and everyone turned to where he was standing, "The cars are downstairs. Thor, Jane, Darcy and Eric will go in one car while Steve you're riding with Clint and Natasha. Bruce and Penny, you're with me and Pepper." He nodded as everyone began to make their way to the elevator.

"Wow." Penny murmured as Bruce helped her out of the car, there were flashing cameras everywhere, the people behind them fought and shouted for Tony and Pepper's attention. Luckily, Bruce and Penny didn't have that trouble, until Tony called them back.

"This is my very good friend Dr Bruce Banner and his stunning girlfriend Miss Penelope Green!" He announced to the paparazzi who immediately started to snap more pictures of the two couples and shout for interviews. Their car had been the last to arrive, and so the others had managed to walk in without this much trouble; 'lucky buggers' Penny thought bitterly.

The gala was held in a grand ballroom with a dance floor, romantic decorations were placed everywhere and there was even a grand staircase; it was like a fairy-tale with a bar and alcohol added.

Walking to their designated table, Penny and Bruce met up with the rest of the Avengers and took a seat. A waiter walked over and placed golden bubbly champagne in front of everyone before bowing and walking off. Picking up her funnel glass Penny took a sip and turned to Bruce who was biting his lip lightly.

"What's wrong?" She asked as she placed a worried hand on his arm, turning towards her he inclined his head to the champagne. "I uh, I don't know if I can drink alcohol without hulking out." He admitted.

Nodding, Penny picked up his glass and passed it to him. "Time to find out then." Gulping, he brought the liquid to his lips and took a hesitant sip. Penny held her breath and waited; when nothing happened she smiled, "See? You'll be fine. Just try not to have too many if you're worried." Smiling triumphantly, he took another sip without worrying.

They had been sat around the table for a couple of hours, just talking and socialising with each other, when Bruce found himself getting slightly bored. He was currently in the middle of a conversation about work that he was quickly losing interest in. The only thing that kept him talking was the fact that if he stopped he'd be even more bored since Penny was talking animatedly with Jane and Darcy.

He's hopped that tonight he could spend some time with Penny, and even though he knew they were there to make Tony look good, he wanted time for just her and him. Tony and Pepper showed up to the table as Pepper quickly took a seat.

"And how are my wonderful friends? Enjoying themselves, I hope." Tony asked, sitting down on a chair he pulled another glass of champagne from a passing waiter's tray.

"Has anyone danced yet?" Pepper asked hopefully, looking out at the dance floor as she did. "I don't think I've seen any of you leave the table yet." She scolded as she glanced around at the guests. Shaking their heads one by one, they frowned out of fear of Pepper's pregnancy hormones. Calmly, she breathed in and sighed.

An idea popped into Bruce's head, turning to Penny he stood up and held his hand out for hers, "Would you like to dance Miss Green?" He smirked.

Smiling, she stood up and took his hand. "I'd love to Mr Banner." She replied humorously.

Leading her onto the dance floor he placed one hand on her hip and the other held one of her hands; Penny's hand rested on Bruce's shoulder as he took the other.

"I feel kind of selfish," Bruce started to admit, "I only asked you to dance because I wanted you to myself for a while." He flashed her a toothy smile as he dipped her, causing her to break out in laughter.

"I think I can forgive you," She smiled, and began to hum gently.

The song suddenly changed to one of Penny's favourites and the lights dimmed, 'So Close' by John McLaughlin started to play and she spotted Pepper giving her the thumbs up from behind Bruce's back; she had definitely been through her IPod. Turning around she saw the singer himself along with a band on stage, her jaw dropped and reminded herself to thank Pepper later.

"Shall we?" Bruce asked as couples gathered on the dance floor. Nodding, Penny and Bruce walked to a better spot on the floor.

'You're in my arms, and all the world is calm.
The music playing on for only two.
So close together, and when I'm with you
So close, to feeling alive.'

Penny placed her hand in Bruce's and the other on his shoulder as his hand gently found her waist.

'A life goes by,' They began dancing when the piano and violins started to play. 'Romantic dreams will stop.
So I bid mine goodbye and never knew,
So close with waiting, waiting here with you.
And now forever I know, all that I wanted to hold you so close.

So close to reaching that famous happy ending,
Almost believing, this was not pretend.'

Bruce began to sing along gently, "Now you're beside me, and look how far we've come." He began to lean in to sing into Penny's ear, she smiled gently, "So far, we are, so close." Penny rested her head against Bruce's shoulder for a moment; pulling back they began to dance again as the instrumental started.

He spun her as a spot light was focused on them and the other couples moved to form a circle around them; neither noticed as they were completely lost in each other.

Twirling her again he picked her up with one arm before placing her down and pulling her close to him as the music slowed down again.

'Oh, how could I face the faceless days
If I should lose you now?

We're so close to reaching that famous happy end
And almost believing this was not pretend
Let's go on dreaming for we know we are'

The couples slowed down with the music, Bruce and Penny moved closer together. Bruce began to sing again, his face close to Penny's. "So close, so close and still so far…" Their lips moved towards each other's in a romantic kiss in the middle of the floor, oblivious to the world they smiled into it and kissed again.

Blushing, they noticed the crowd around them. "I think they liked it." Penny whispered quietly, Bruce nodded and murmured back into her ear, "Unfortunately, I don't share." He said as they began to sway to the next song.

"Mind if I cut in?" Tony asked Bruce, looking between the two. "Course not," Tony smiled and took Bruce's place in the dance.

"So I saw the Disney scene back there." Penny flushed at the comment as Tony dipped her, "I have to say, I was very impressed. I'm so impressed that I was tempted to ask him for a dance instead of you." Tony teased while they glided across the floor, surprisingly, he was a very good dancer.

Penny quirked an eyebrow, "Oh really?" She smiled slyly.

"Oh yeah. By the way, what did he say when he went close to your ear?" Tony fished for information, he needed to be the first to know. He had to be. After all, he helped them get together so why shouldn't he be allowed a certain amount of info?

Penny blushed before continuing, "He um, he sang to me." She blushed harder and Tony sighed. "Damn, does he know how high he's set the bar for the rest of us? Pepper was gushing so much I thought she was going to collapse." She laughed loudly as the song ended, they broke apart and Tony took Penny's hand and kissed it.

"May I have a quick dance?" A tall man with combed black hair asked politely, looking between Tony and Penny. Tony looked to her for a sign for what to do, glancing around she saw Bruce chatting to Steve and Thor. She shrugged, "Just a quick one?" The man smiled and nodded as Tony left, looking between them closely.

They began to dance in silence before Penny decided to break it, "I'm Penny by the way, what's-"

She felt something hard and cold press into her side, gulping she glanced at the man and then down; he was holding a gun to her side. Opening her mouth to shout, he quickly said what he had been told to say.

"Scream and everyone here will die, including you." He spat through clenched teeth. Forcing a smile, she spoke back, "No you won't, you need me." He chuckled dryly at her boldness.

"Smart one aren't we? You're right, I won't kill you. But that doesn't mean that I can't shoot you anyway." She had to think of a way out of this, glancing around no one was paying attention. They just looked like they were dancing, she willed Bruce to come over; for anyone to come over.

"Loki will make his appearance soon and then…Well, then the real party starts." He smiled threateningly, Penny swallowed hard.

A loud boom was heard suddenly as a wall was blown down, the guests began to scream and run as chaos broke out. Taking that as a chance to escape, she kicked him in the shin and tried to pull out of his grasp.

"Penny?" She heard Bruce shout over the noise, she struggled even more to get free. "Bruce!" She shouted as loud as she could, she fumbled in her desperate attempt for freedom.

Cursing, he moved one of his hands to his shin and Penny managed to pull away slightly, but his hand quickly shot out and grabbed her wrist again tightly. Still pointing the gun at her side, a horrified civilian bulldozed past and knocked into him.

A loud gunshot echoed around the hall as Penny let out a strangled cry and collapsed to the floor, everyone began to run and scream in a frightened frenzy.

"Penny!" She could hear her name being shouted, but couldn't concentrate on the voice. All she could concentrate on was the searing pain in her side, pressing her hand against the wound she saw deep red blood stain her hand and her dress. Lifting her head she looked for the man but couldn't see him, she gritted her teeth and used her free arm to pull herself over to the nearest table; glancing up every now and then she looked for a familiar face but found none.

She could hear Thor's hammer and Tony's repulser's from the Iron Man suit close by and she prayed she was moving in the right direction. Using a chair, she pulled herself onto it and willed herself to stand. She stumbled about in a random direction, her hand still pressed against her wound.

"Penny!" She heard Bruce's voice again, it sounded rougher than last time. She wanted nothing more than to just be in his arms; she needed him, she needed help.

Looking ahead she saw Bruce run into her line of vision, "Bruce!" She tried to shout, but it came out strangled.

Hearing someone call his name, he turned and prayed that it was Penny. There she was standing across the dance floor. She's safe.

Her hand was pressed lazily against her side where her dress was stained red; why's her dress red? He wondered, and the pieces soon clicked together as his eyes grew wide. The gunshot, the red stains, her hand.

"No…" He murmured and began walking. "No!" He shouted, rushing forward his vision started to blur into green as his heart rate quickened. He willed himself to control it, he couldn't change. Penny needed him. She needed him, not the Hulk. Just let me get her to safety big guy, then you can smash whoever did this into oblivion.

Penny took a small, shaky step towards Bruce, she smiled through the pain and took another. He was there, she would be safe, she could-

"Not so fast," She heard behind her.

"NO!" Bruce yelled as he saw Loki appear behind her, he gritted his teeth and pushed his legs harder and faster. His heart rate was on the edge, anymore and he'd change whether he wanted to or not.

Penny turned enough to see Loki stood behind her with a metal bar raised above his head, she began to scream, but it died in her throat. Seeing him grin wildly she froze and turned around to see Bruce's muscles bulging and his skin turn a shade of green before her world plummeted into darkness.

Oh I'm mean. The scene where they danced to the song 'So Close' was based off the Disney film Enchanted since I was watching it when I was writing, here's the song and the scene so you can see how I imagined it :) watch?v=AHnZ_vtyJ6E

I tried to make this flow as smoothly as possible but I don't think it does in some places, so for that I apologize. But! Remember to click that little blue button and leave me your thoughts on the drama! Everything's starting to heat up now, so I can promise things will be getting more interesting from here on out!

-Readers Assemble!-