Chapter Twelve
Bruce paced in front of the hallway leading to Tabby's door anxiously.
It was his first time on Tabby-duty; it was going to be the first time that he was alone with the green-eyed girl that had taken the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters by storm.
Steve was clearly falling for her after just one day and Bruce feared that he might be on the same damgerous track.
Sighing to himself, he ripped the band-aid and knocked on the door to Tabby's room.
"Mmm, hey Bruce, what's up? If you're looking for another game of strip poker, I think we should probably postpone that until tomorrow. It's like, two in the morning." Tabby mumbled, rubbing her eyes as she opened the door to her room.
"Oh, yeah, I'm sorry. I guess I forgot that normal people sleep for more than a few hours at a time. Uh, I just wanted to let you know that I've got Tabby-duty now. Sorry." Bruce apologized, his eyes widening as he realized he had woken Tabby up.
"Oh, no, hey, I really don't mind being woken up by a tall, dark, handsome scientist in the middle of the night. It's much better than waking up to Barton perched on a chair in the corner. He almost gave me a heart attack earlier." She laughed, waving off Bruce's apology.
Bruce smiled down at the ground as Tabby opened the door wider to allow him to enter the room.
"Yeah, they call him Hawkeye around here. He likes to keep an eye on everything without getting directly involved."
"I guess I get that. So, are you always up at this time, or were you just so excited to monitor for a few hours that you just couldn't sleep?" Tabby teased, grinning at Bruce as he shuffled into the room.
Bruce laughed, nodding his head.
"Something like that. I don't really sleep a lot any more. When you've had a past like mine, you have trouble sleeping soundly at night."
Tabby's smile faded.
"What kind of past have you had?"
Bruce raised his eyebrows in surprise.
"I turn into an uncontrollable monster every time my blood pressure rises to a certain level, remember? I've killed people before. I'll probably kill people again."
"Tony said that you're under control. Bruce, I know that I haven't known you for a super long time, but I don't believe that you would hurt a fly if you didn't have to."
Bruce snorted.
"I've destroyed entire towns."
"You didn't want to do it, did you?"
"Of course not."
"Well, then you're already better than my ex-boyfriend. That's something, huh? You were out of control. It wasn't you doing all that stuff, it was the serum."
"I made the serum."
"You were trying to make a serum that would help mankind. You took it yourself so that nobody else would get hurt – not even a little bunny rabbit. You're trying harder to be a good person than anyone I've ever met. That's got to count for something."
"No, it doesn't work that way. It doesn't matter what I want, or try to do. The other guy just comes out and destroys everything."
Bruce sank into a chair in the corner of the room, resting his head in his hands.
Tabby frowned, staring at the broken down man in front of her.
She crept over to where he was sitting and leaned against the arm of the chair, resting her hand on Bruce's back lightly.
"Bruce, sweetie, you have to come to terms with your past and move on. This will kill you if you don't."
Bruce let out a humorless chuckle.
"I wish it would kill me."
Tabby shook her head.
"You have got to stop thinking that way. Isn't there anything you like about the hulk?"
"No."
"There's nothing at all? You aren't happy that he was there to save Tony back in New York? You aren't happy that he saved your life when you were subjected to all of that gamma radiation that Tony says would have otherwise killed you?"
Bruce sighed, rubbing his eyes.
"Thor could have saved Tony. Thor would have saved Tony. My life would have been a welcomed sacrifice to spare the world exposure to the other guy."
"I wish you didn't feel that way." Tabby sighed.
"I'm sorry."
"No, don't be. That just means that I have to go out of my way to cheer you up every time I see you. I don't want you to hate yourself. I want you to be able to see you the way I see you, because I've got to tell you, Bruce, I think that you're the most incredible person I've ever met."
Bruce glanced at Tabby, a small smile creeping across his face.
"Thank you. Believe it or not, that means a lot."
Tabby grinned back at him.
"I'm always happy to help. Now, would you mind it terribly if I went back to sleep, or should I put you on suicide watch?" She teased, shifting her hand from Bruce's back to his arm.
Bruce shook his head, chuckling.
"I couldn't kill myself if I tried. By all means, go back to sleep. I'll, uh, I'll let you have some privacy. I'll check back in with you later. Hopefully you'll be asleep by then, but if not, I'll try not to be such a downer."
"Don't you even worry about it. I need to practice being a good listener, anyway. Maybe if I had focused a little bit more on being a giver instead of a taker, none of us would even be in this mess. Loki might have stayed."
Bruce smiled at Tabby sympathetically.
"Is it my turn to cheer you up?"
Tabby looked at him in surprise for a moment before shaking her head, removing her hand from Bruce's arm.
"No, my problems are ridiculously small. Don't even give them a second thought. Um, well, I think I'm going to go to bed now. Thanks for a great middle of the night heart-to-heart. Honestly, if it wasn't for you Avenger boys, I don't think I would survive this."
Bruce smiled, standing up out of his chair.
"I can't imagine you facing something you couldn't handle."
"You haven't seen me in a relationship, then."
Bruce nodded, still smiling.
"Uh, well, have a good night. I guess I'll see you tomorrow. Or, uh, maybe later today."
Tabby smiled, nodding as she climbed into her bed.
"Night, Bruce."
Bruce nodded to Tabby with a smile before exiting the room.
Bruce couldn't help but smile to himself as he walked down the hallway to Tabby's room.
She was most likely asleep, but he didn't really feel the need to talk to her. It had been so long since a woman had taken an active interest in him, and even longer since he had allowed himself to let a woman this close to him. He was completely out of his element. He didn't know what he would say to her the next time that he saw her, but he knew that she would come up with something. She always did.
Bruce stuffed his hands in his pocket, smiling to himself as he walked in front of the glass walls, his dark eyes focusing on the lump under a pile of covers, which he assumed was Tabby.
He stood there smiling for a moment before the lump under the covers shifted, uncovering Tabby's face.
Bruce frowned when he observed the panicked look on her face.
She was still asleep, or at least pretending to be, but she was shifting and grimacing as if something, or someone, was scaring her.
He stared down at his feet nervously. Simply barging into her room would be a violation of her privacy; something that could get him into some real trouble with S.H.I.E.L.D. On the other hand, Bruce felt liked he owed Tabby something after she had been so understanding about the other guy. Something was upsetting her. If something had been upsetting him, Bruce knew that Tabby would have done something about it, regardless of the rules. Still, Nick Fury was not a force to be reckoned with, especially when there was a prisoner at stake.
Bruce squeezed his eyes shut before forcing the door open.
Hopefully Fury would understand.
Tabby let out a few small whimpers as Bruce approached her bed slowly.
"Hey Tabby, are you okay?" He inquired softly, eying her cautiously.
"Please, don't leave." Tabby whispered in a strained voice.
"Leave? Who's leaving? I've still got two hours of Tabby-duty. I'll stay for as long as you want me to." Bruce responded kindly, kneeling next to Tabby's bed and resting a hand on her shoulder.
She sighed, her body relaxing under his touch.
"I've missed you."
Bruce cocked his head as Tabby drifted off into a sound sleep once again. He had only been gone for a few hours, certainly not a time span that merited missing him.
She was snoring softly before Bruce could even think of a proper way to ask her what she had meant by her question, leaving him to think about all of her possible answers while he waited for her to wake up.
Tabby tried not to think about her dream as she woke up the next morning.
She had been doing so well when it came to forgetting about Loki.
She had been keeping herself busy between making friends with the Avengers and pretending to study for exams that she knew she would be forced to miss. Then suddenly, he popped right back in her mind.
The dream had felt so real; she couldn't remember the last time she had had such a vivid dream. It was like Loki had really been there. Like he had never left her.
"Ugh, Tab, you have got to get over it." She murmured to herself, rubbing her eyes as she sat up.
"Get over what?" A male voice inquired from across the room.
"Jesus Christ, Steve, how long have you been standing there?" Tabby gasped, working to catch her breath as she focused her startled gaze on the super soldier standing a few feet away.
Steve shrugged, smiling apologetically.
"About an hour. Nowhere near as long as Dr. Banner," he began, nodding towards Bruce, who was asleep in a nearby chair, "I'm sorry if this is some kind of violation of your privacy, but he just told me that you were having some kind of nightmare and we figured we should keep an eye on you, just in case."
Tabby glanced at Bruce before smiling at Steve.
"That's really sweet of you guys. Um, was I talking a lot in my sleep? I know that people have told me I do that."
"Uh, no, not that I'm aware of. Dr. Banner might be able to answer your question better once he's awake."
Tabby nodded, brushing hair out of her eyes as she climbed out of her bed.
"Okay, just making sure you guys don't find out that I dream about each and every one of you every single night. That might get me into some trouble with your boss, right?"
Steve chuckled, nodding.
"It probably would. Uh, I actually came by earlier to tell you that I spoke to Director Fury about your dogs."
Tabby perked up immediately.
"Oh, yeah? What did he say?"
"We can't have dogs running around a government facility, but as long as you sign a form agreeing to let me be the temporary guardian of them, Director Fury doesn't have the jurisdiction to prohibit me from keeping them in my apartment."
"Aw, Steve, I don't know if I can ask you to keep my dogs in your home. They're big and they're obnoxious. I wouldn't want you to feel obligated to put yourself through that."
"Are you kidding? I love dogs! I always wanted to get a huge German shepherd, but my mom never really went for it. I had asthma and some bad allergies before the serum. Watching your dogs would be a real treat."
Tabby smiled.
"If you're really sure that you wouldn't mind, I would really appreciate it. I think you'll like Louis and Marie. They're sweethearts when they're not running all over the place."
"I'm sure they are. I'm very excited to get to know them. Uh, I have to pick them up from the kennel at eight, so I should probably get going soon. I'll see you later." Steve said, nodding towards Tabby with a smile.
"Say hi to my puppies for me! Thanks again for watching them. You really are a super hero."
"You're very welcome." Steve grinned, his crystal eyes locking with Tabby's before he exited the room.
Once Steve was out of the room, Tabby turned to look at the still sleeping Dr. Banner.
She didn't want to wake him up, especially after he had told her how difficult it was for him to get sleep. She did need to get on with her day, though.
With a shrug, she skipped over to her tiny closet and grabbed an oversized sweater and a pair of leggings. Bruce was at least forty years old, from what Tabby had observed. The chances were, if he woke up while she was in the middle of changing, he wouldn't see anything that he hadn't seen before.
She managed to get dressed and put on her makeup before he finally stirred; his head had slipped off of the hand it was propped up on, causing him to wake with a start.
"Morning, sleepy head. Did you have a nice nap?" Tabby teased as she scientist stretched, his eyes still half-closed.
"Oh, I'm sorry. You were having some kind of nightmare last night and you asked me to stay. I guess I fell asleep sometime between then and now."
Tabby kept a straight face at the mention of the nightmare.
So she had talked in her sleep.
Damn it.
"Really? That's so weird, I don't even remember that. Did I say anything else to you? Did I mention anything about wanting to rip your clothes off? Because that's supposed to be a personal thought, not something that I share with you and Steve."
Bruce shook his head with a small smile.
"There was nothing about ripping anyone's clothes off, so I, uh, I think your secret is probably safe. You did say that you missed me. I had only been gone for a few hours." He responded, glancing at Tabby curiously.
Tabby forced herself to continue smiling.
For a genius, Bruce really didn't catch on to some things.
"Well, maybe you were gone for longer than that in my dream."
Bruce nodded with a small smile.
"Yeah, maybe. Uh, well, I should go. I promised Tony that I would meet him in the lab. We're apparently supposed to be working around the clock.
"I know, I know, you're a world-class genius, you don't have to rub it in."
"S.H.I.E.L.D. dragged you out of Princeton. As far as I'm concerned, you're just as smart, if not smarter, than I am."
"I'm a history major."
"I'll try not to hold that against you."
Tabby laughed as Bruce ducked out of the room, shaking her head.
He was quirky and shy, but he made her laugh, and Tabby Baker desperately needed something to laugh about.
"There you are, Banner. I was beginning to think that you ditched our lab date to get with our little Tabby cat. Wait a minute. Weren't you wearing those clothes yesterday?" Tony asked, a devilish smirk overtaking his face as Bruce looked down to examine his clothes.
"Oh, uh, yeah, I guess I was. Tabby had some nightmare while I was watching her, so I had to stay there for a while. I ended up just falling asleep in one of the chairs. Coulson must have spent a decent amount of time picking out the most comfortable chairs possible." He answered, rolling up the sleeves of his crumpled shirt.
"You don't have to lie to me, buddy. I'm all for scoring on hot girls. Does Rodgers know? Please tell me that I can be the one to break the news to him. I want to see his face when he realizes that he lost a girl to you."
Bruce raised his eyebrows as he placed his glasses on his face.
"I think that I should probably be offended by that. Regardless, I didn't do anything with Tabby last night. She had a nightmare, she asked me to stay, and I stayed. That was about the extent of it. Steve was even there for part of the time, so don't try to make up one of those infamous Stark stories."
Tony shrugged, toying with a piece of lab equipment.
"Pro-tip: if a girl asks you to stay the night, she usually wants to have sex with you. Honestly, what do you even talk about with women?"
Bruce chuckled, focusing on a computer monitor.
"I don't know if you've noticed, but I don't exactly associate with women every day of my life."
"You talk to Natasha."
Bruce met Tony's stare, causing the two men to burst out laughing.
"Yeah, okay, I didn't even believe myself on that one. How about this, you talk to Pepper whenever she visits the lab. That's something." Tony asserted.
"Tony, I'm not sure what you're trying to say, but I just want to make it very clear that when I talk to Pepper, I'm not trying to flirt with her. I'm just talking."
Tony rolled his eyes.
"Don't flatter yourself, I'm not worried about you and Pepper. I'm saying that you've talked to a woman on a fairly regular basis. There's hope for you. Now you just have to figure out how to seal the deal with one."
Bruce shook his head.
"I just want to do my job. I don't recall even asking you for advice on women."
"Maybe not, but you sorely need it."
"That's debatable. I think it would be best for me, the other guy, and the entire female population if I just stuck to doing my job and nothing more."
"So you're just going to be a loner for your entire life?"
"That's the plan."
"Not a great plan. If I know anything about women – and I do – I know that Tabby isn't going to let you get away with that. If she wants you, the hell if she isn't going to have you."
"And you think that a twenty-three year-old girl wants me, the monster who nearly destroyed New York?"
"She did say that her favorite color was green."
"You're unbelievable."
"And you're naïve."
"You're wasting your energy talking about this. Tabby Baker isn't even remotely interested in me."
"You'd better hope not, big guy. If she does, you're going to be in a shit load of trouble.
