I do not own any of the named/recognizable characters present. They belong to Marvel. Other recognizable things belong to their respective owners. This was written purely for fun.
Also, trigger warning for violence.
The next few days passed by fairly peacefully. There weren't any more nightmares that triggered a Hulk transformation in Bruce's sleep, but there were still bad dreams that left the little boy looking haunted the following morning. Before breakfast, Bruce would draw out his dreams in the sketchpad Tony had left in the kitchen, and after he and Tony had a brief discussion about said dream, they would both eat breakfast in the comfort of each other's company. By the time they were finished eating, the haunted look in the boy's eye was normally gone.
Pepper was always downstairs when the two of them ate in the morning. She wasn't able to get away from the office to join them for lunch, either, and when she got back to the penthouse in the evenings, there was a weariness coming off of her that infuriated Tony. The Board back in Malibu was still harassing her, and from the look of things, they weren't going to let up any time soon.
And while she always had a smile for Bruce and made an effort to make sure the little boy didn't know how tired she was, it didn't fool Tony, and he was pretty certain it didn't fool Bruce either. Neither of them would say anything and were happy to pretend for Pepper's benefit as they put Bruce to bed each night. Whether or not something was happening in the office, the couple were able to create a warm, loving environment for Bruce to fall asleep to each night, and no matter what was happening downstairs during business hours, they both seemed to yearn for the loving environment after hours just as much as Bruce did.
It was in the dark of their bedroom that Tony curled up behind Pepper, spooned close to her body, that he made his offer again. "Just say the word," he murmured against the back of her neck, "and I'll fly out there and take care of this."
He would feel the way her ribs expanded as she breathed a sigh. "It's fine, Tony," she replied each time. "That would just make things worse. Things will get better."
That would be all that was said, and they'd fall asleep in each other's arms.
"And two-fifths multiplied by three-fourths?" Tony asked.
Friday afternoon found Bruce and Tony in the labs. The next batch of tests had been running since late last night, so the results were due this afternoon. Tony wanted to be in the lab when they came, so the two of them had come down after lunch. They occupied the time by working on one of the gauntlets to the Iron Man suit. He had thought of a way to boost the power in the palm-repulsors that he had wanted to test. Given that they had the time now—and that Bruce was eager to help him—they spent the afternoon doing this.
Tony would hold the pieces of metal together while Bruce tightened the screws as far as his strength would allow him. As the time passed, Tony began to pose mathematical problems for the little boy to solve.
"Three-tenths," Bruce answered quietly, but with confidence. He was sitting on the lab table with his legs crossed, which put him nearly at eye level with Tony from his seat on his stool.
"Very good," Tony replied with a proud smile.
Bruce grinned and handed over the screwdriver to let Tony finish tightening the screws Bruce had started on.
Once he was finished, Tony sat back and looked at the gauntlet with a critical eye. In his periphery, he saw Bruce studying the gauntlet, then looking over at Tony, and then looking back at the gauntlet. Without the use of both his robots and JARVIS, Tony wasn't entirely sure if the changes to the gauntlet would allow for a proper fit anymore. He asked JARVIS to create a holographic copy of the gauntlet, which appeared next to Bruce.
The boy watched as Tony slipped his arm into the hologram, but the engineer found that there was an issue with the repulsor addition and where the suit would settle against the palm of his hand.
"Hmm," Tony said as he looked back at the actual gauntlet, bringing his holograph-covered arm up so he could tap a finger against his chin. "I think we may need to make a few minor adjustments to the palm, little man," he said, peering over at Bruce.
"Do you need help?" the boy asked, looking away from him to studying the armor again.
"I'd love your help," Tony replied, "but I think we need to find a way to get this properly measured on an adult hand and—"
The sound of the lab doors opening cut him off, and they both glanced over to find Pepper walking in. She looked better today than she had since the start of the work week. She was in her white business suit with her hair pulled back in a loose ponytail. Her heels clicked against the floor as she stepped with purpose toward them, a tablet cradled in the crook of her arm and against her side.
Tony grinned and turned on his lab stool to where he was completely facing her. "Pepper, darling!" he greeted her cheerfully. "Quick, I need your arm."
An eyebrow lifted. "My arm?" she repeated as she came to a stop next to the lab bench where they were working. She set down her tablet and then pressed a soft kiss against Bruce's curls. "Having a good day, sweetheart?"
Bruce grinned a little bashfully and he nodded. "Me and Tony are working on his superhero suit," he explained brightly.
"Which you need my arm for?" she asked, turning her questioning gaze toward her boyfriend.
Tony gave her his most charming smile. "I need to get the dimensions of the repulsor mount corrected," he answered. He batted his eyelashes at her. "Please?"
Pepper rolled her eyes, but she was already slipping out of her suit jacket, revealing the appealing business vest beneath it. "Are you sure you don't need to be doing this with a man's hand?" she asked as she carefully laid her jacket down on an area of free space on the lab bench. "Namely yours?"
"I just need to get an adult-sized hand in there so I can know how everything sits," Tony answered with a dismissive wave of his hand. In the same movement, he gestured for her to come closer.
Once she submitted her arm to the pursuit of scientific discovery, Tony and Bruce got to work. The boy would hand him tools as he requested them, but mainly, Tony stayed quiet and listened to Pepper as she told him about something she needed him to sign. He inserted a few comments and questions into her monologue, which she answered with grace and ease.
By the time Tony and Bruce had the gauntlet fixed to Pepper's arm, she finished her explanation. "So," she said in conclusion, tapping the tablet screen with her free hand to pull up the contract, "I just need you to sign this and we can get R&D started on the new project."
"And this doesn't have anything to do with the project the Board is so against?" he asked, not even bothering to glance away from his work. "By the way, are they giving you trouble today? Cause my offer still stands, y'know, and—"
"They've actually been quiet today," Pepper cut in effectively, though she sounded a little mystified.
That made Tony look up.
When he looked at her in surprise, Pepper gave a small shrug. "I think they finally realized that we're not going to back away from this project," she said. "At least, I hope that's what they realized."
"Fingers crossed," Tony muttered before looking back at his work. He hesitated for a moment before his gaze returned to hers. "What do you mean, quiet?" he asked, eyes narrowing slightly.
"They've only left two voicemails today so far," Pepper clarified, "as opposed to completely filling both Amber's and my inboxes and voicemails. It's quite refreshing, actually, though I'm sure they'll bring it up again at the monthly teleconference next week."
"Ugh," Tony replied with disgust, focusing on the gauntlet again. "Don't remind me."
After that, Tony steered the conversation away from Stark Industries to Bruce's math abilities, which the four year old shyly demonstrated for Pepper. The redhead praised the boy for his well-developed intellect, and though Bruce blushed and looked down at his lap, Tony could see the delighted smile on his face.
Once everything had been tightened properly, Pepper tested the maneuverability of the gauntlet that had been attached to her arm. "Well, I think it fits right," she commented, sounding uncertain.
"Good," Tony replied, shifting forward to get a better look at the joints as they moved. "So, there isn't anything pressing into—"
"Pardon the interruption," JARVIS suddenly spoke up, making Bruce jump in momentary fright and putting a stop to all conversation, "but there has been a call to assemble."
Tony felt himself immediately shift gears. He looked straight at Pepper, who was looking straight at him. His eyes darted quickly over to Bruce, who was watching the two of them like he wasn't sure how he was supposed to be reacting to JARVIS's message.
When Tony looked back at Pepper, there must have been a questioning expression on his face. "I'll watch Bruce," she said before he could even ask if she was free for the afternoon.
A relieved smile crossed his face and he surged forward to press a quick, but heated kiss to her lips. "You're the best," he breathed against her mouth before he withdrew. He then turned and ruffled Bruce's hair. "We'll keep working on this when I get back, okay?"
Bruce smiled and swatted Tony's hand away. "Okay," he said. "Good luck, and be careful."
Tony grinned, and then started to hastily make his way to the doors.
"Wait!" Pepper's slightly alarmed voice made him twist back around. She gestured at her arm, which still had the gauntlet affixed to it, the red and gold shining under the lights in the ceiling. "How do I get this off?" she asked, looking from the armor to him.
"I'll take it off," Tony said—
"Sir, Agent Coulson is on the line," JARVIS cut in again. "It's urgent."
"…as soon as I get back," Tony finished. When the alarm on Pepper's face grew, Tony held up his hands in surrender even as he started stepping backwards toward the exit to the lab. "I swear, as soon as I get back, I'll take it off."
Pepper looked like she wanted to argue, but she clearly held her tongue. She sighed with defeat and pointed the repulsor away from herself and Bruce. "Well, it doesn't actually have the power to shoot off any energy beams, right?" she asked, sounding almost desperately hopeful.
"Uh…"
A look of disbelief appeared on Pepper's face. "You did not attach a live weapon to my body," she said, low levels of anger blatantly clear in her voice at his disregard for safety and lack of common sense.
"It doesn't have that much juice," Tony replied, hoping his words were reassuring. Judging by the look on her face, they weren't. "As long as you don't point your hand at something like you're intent on shooting it, you'll be fine." He heard the doors slide open behind him. "I swear I'll come straight back here after the mission to take it off."
Pepper just sighed again and waved him off with her free arm, sounding both exasperated and unsurprised by the situation.
With her reluctant blessing, Tony slipped from the lab and rushed to the elevator, whipping out his phone as he went to accept Coulson's call.
As soon as the call connected, Coulson's voice came though. "Stark, there's a situation about thirty miles southwest from your location," he said, cutting straight to the chase. "The rest of the team is already on a jet heading there. ETA to the location is eight minutes. I'll forward you the information I have when you're suited up."
"Right," Tony replied as he stepped out of the elevator and into the penthouse. He ended the call as he rushed to the balcony, and after a quick walk through the mechanized walkway, he blasted off toward New Jersey.
Pepper watched the door slide shut behind Tony before she heaved a small sigh and looked back at the piece of armor attached to her arm. It fit snugly on her forearm and encompassed her hand, but the armor was actually surprisingly light. It moved smoothly with her arm and hand movements, so for that, she was thankful.
It was just that she had a potentially lethal weapon affixed to her person at the moment.
She turned and finally looked back at Bruce, who was still seated cross-legged on the lab table and watching her carefully. She kept her armed hand pointed downward, just in case it went off accidentally, and smiled a little. "Well," she began, though she had no idea what to follow that up with.
Bruce gave her a small, apologetic smile. "I think I know how to get that off, but I'm not strong enough to undo the bolts and everything," he said once she didn't say anything.
Pepper returned the boy's smile. "That's alright, sweetheart," she replied. She glanced down at the armor. "Honestly, I'm surprised this hasn't happened a lot sooner, considering how long he's been Iron Man. The things he's made me do…" She almost shuddered at the thought of reaching into his chest.
With another tiny sigh, she turned another smile back at Bruce. "Well, Tony won't be back for a few hours, at least," she explained. "Shall we play something?"
Bruce immediately brightened.
The pair moved off to the couch in the corner of the laboratory, where JARVIS brought up a holographic screen. They settled on playing a puzzle game, which required them to find certain items hidden in a cluttered picture. Pepper tried to be careful to avoid using her weaponized hand to point to a found item, but as she relaxed into the game with Bruce, she found herself slipping.
They had found most of the listed items when Bruce quirked his head slightly. "What's a kebob?" he asked.
Pepper let her eyes continue to rove over the picture. "It's a method of cooking," she explained. "It involves putting different food items on a skewer. There are lots of different—aha!" She pointed to the holographic image. "That's a kebob—"
With a sharp intake of air, she quickly jerked her armored hand away from the screen. She held her hand toward the far wall, away from Bruce and herself, and she mentally cursed herself for slipping again.
"Maybe…" Bruce spoke up quietly. When she looked down at him, she saw that he was looking hesitantly at the armor. "Maybe JARVIS knows a way that we can get it off without Tony?" he suggested inquisitively.
Well, it was a possibility. "That could work," she mused out loud. "JARVIS, any ideas on how to get the gauntlet off?"
There was no answer.
Pepper felt her eyebrows furrow. "JARVIS?" she asked again, feeling a low flame of unease begin to light in the pit of her stomach.
The holographic screen in front of her and Bruce wavered as the overhead lights flickered. There was a soft boom that could be heard, as if coming from a great distance away, before it rumbled softly back into an ominous silence.
Something was wrong.
Bruce was looking up at the lights, but jumped when another boom sounded—this time a little louder. The lights flickered again, and the hologram disappeared entirely. Whatever made the noise caused some of the glassware to rattle slightly on a nearby lab table, and before they could settle, another boom sounded.
The tower was under attack.
Pepper glanced away from the ceiling and down at Bruce. The little boy was starting to look frightened, but Pepper kept calm. It wasn't the first time she had been in a dangerous situation, not by a long shot. Being the CEO of a world-renowned company—on top of being Tony Stark's girlfriend—put her in harm's way more times than Pepper liked to count.
At least they had planned for this sort of thing happening.
"It's alright, Bruce," Pepper said, keeping her voice calm, steady, and composed as she slipped out of her heels. She stood up from the sofa. "We're going to take a little walk, okay?" she asked as she turned back to the child.
Bruce still looked scared, but having a calm adult in control of the situation helped to put him a little more at ease. He gazed anxiously back up at the lights before he looked back at her and gave a tentative nod.
Pepper smiled reassuringly and reached out to pick the boy up. Once he was settled in her armor-free arm, she stepped out of the laboratory and made for the staircase. There was a safe room four floors down that she needed to reach, built for this express purpose.
Before she stepped into the stairwell, she pulled the fire alarm to ensure that the rest of the building began to evacuate from whatever threat the tower was under.
Once they were in the dim stairwell, she managed to pull her phone from her pocket with her armored hand. There was another booming noise far below, loud enough to be heard over the blaring of the fire alarms, but Pepper calmly auto-dialed to Tony. She started descending the second case of stairs as she pressed the receiver to her ear.
There was no answer.
"Can you do me a favor?" she asked the child once the call had failed to connect. Bruce had his arms wrapped around her neck to help support his meager weight in Pepper's single arm. When he met her eyes, she saw that his eyes were still completely brown, but had grown more worried and frightened.
She held up the phone for Bruce to see. "Can you try to call Tony again?" she asked, keeping her voice steady.
Bruce took the phone carefully in his hands with a timid nod.
Pepper smiled as Bruce pressed the call button on the screen and pressed the phone against his ear. "Thank you," she said. She could now focus entirely on getting them to safety.
They continued down the stairs as the overhead fire alarms continued to blare. Bruce kept trying to get a hold of Tony, but the calls wouldn't go through. "He's not answering," the boy said when another call failed.
"Just keep trying, sweetheart," she replied as they reached the landing of the floor they needed.
As Bruce did as he was told, Pepper cautiously pushed open the door to the staircase exit just a crack and peeked out. When nothing jumped out at her as dangerous, she pushed past the door and moved at a brisk pace toward the safe room. It wasn't too much further away, so—
With a great crash, something tore through the wall in front of them—it was some kind of robot. Pepper heard Bruce gasp and felt him stiffen in her arms as his hold around her neck tightened. The robot was a great mechanized humanoid thing, armed to the brim with weapons. Its movements were a bit clunky, but its head twisted and locked sight on them with frightening accuracy.
Unconsciously, Pepper took a step back and stared at the robot looming before them. Praying that the repulsor on her hand would work, she hugged Bruce tightly to her chest and thrust her arm out, palm facing the mechanical monster.
A short beam of energy shot from the repulsor and hit the robot through the chest. The force of the blow startled Pepper and her arm recoiled back. When the beam vanished, there was a scorched hole torn through the robot's chest piece. With a mechanized squeal, it crashed to the ground, completely inert.
Pepper could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she stared down at the dead hunk of metal, but her eyes were torn away from it as another robot crawled through the hole in the wall the first one had created.
She fired a beam at the newcomer as Bruce twisted his head. "There are three behind us!" the little boy informed her, his words laced with fear.
Pivoting around, she fired beams at each of the attackers Bruce pointed out. Once she had destroyed the three bots on their tail, Pepper took off toward the safe room at a run, firing at robots that continued to crash through the walls to get to them.
"Any luck?" Pepper asked as she continued to run, her bare feet slapping along the linoleum pathway. She felt Bruce shake his head.
She skidded around a corner and the safe room came into sight. "Keep trying, Bruce," she ordered as she kept running down the window-lined corridor, toward the—
The floor under Pepper's foot shifted, and her next footstep landed awkwardly. She could feel her balance immediately get thrown off and she tripped. She twisted her body and landed hard on her upper back, cushioning the boy with her body. As Bruce gasped, she tried to bite back a cry as her right ankle suddenly screamed in pain.
She blinked back the tears of anguish and forced herself to focus on what had tripped her, only to find a robot crawling out of the floor. She hardly felt Bruce release his hold of her as she shot the bot coming toward them.
Pepper quickly sat up with a hiss of pain as the robot collapsed to the ground with a metal clatter. Adrenalin was pumping through her veins to the beating of her pounding heart, and her eyes shot to the safe room, down the hall. She looked down at her ankle, and when she gingerly tried to move it, hot daggers of agony shot through it.
"Bruce," she began a little breathlessly, looking down at the boy in her lap. Her thought process paused when she saw the look of intense focus on his face. His eyebrows were set in a furrow over his eyes, like he was concentrating on something other than their attackers, but they were both distracted when a shadow fell over them.
Another robot—bigger than the others—crashed in through the window. Pepper twisted her body to shield Bruce from the burst of glass. She grit her teeth as she felt pieces of glass cut through the skin of her bare upper arms, but she managed to protect her head and neck while protecting Bruce completely.
Once the rain of broken glass ended, Pepper twisted back around to look at the giant robot looming over them. It was larger than the others and looked to have been constructed with more care. It was a terrifying sight, and she felt her pulse skyrocket when it took an aggressive step forward.
"Run," she breathed to Bruce as they both stared up at the new threat. "Bruce, run," she ordered again as she lifted her hand to fire at the forthcoming robot.
Before she could attack and before he could even move, the robot's arm shot forward and wrapped a mechanical claw around Bruce. The robot pulled the boy away from Pepper. He was silent in his terror as she scrambled to grab him back, but the robot pulled its arm back and threw the child. The boy crashed through the wall over Pepper's prone position on the floor and landed in the next room with a thud of finality.
Pepper stared at the hole in the wall with horrified panic, tears suddenly rushing to her eyes, before she looked back at the robot that was hovering over her. It waited, though, and Pepper somehow blinked back her tears and found her voice. "Is this the part where you make your demands?" she asked, marveling at how steady her voice sounded. "Where you kidnap me to get back at Iron Man?"
"That's not what my investors would like," came a voice mixed with static from a hidden speaker. Pepper immediately recognized it as that of Justin Hammer's. Dread swirled over her as he continued speaking. "But given the conflict of interest, I desire a different outcome. Getting back at Tony Stark is enough for me."
Pepper stared as segments of the robot's shoulders moved to allow gun barrels to appear. They pointed directly at her prone body. She lifted her weaponized hand in response, because if she was going to go out, she was going out fighting.
"How the hell did Hammer escape from federal prison?"
Tony was in route to the location, just past the Raritan River. He was currently flying over Staten Island, racing to catch up with the quinjet that was already nearly there.
"Our techs are still working on the details," Coulson's voice came over the line in Tony's helmet. "All that we really know right now is that robots are attacking the city, and that they are clearly Hammertech. Given that Hammer somehow slipped out of prison yesterday, the two are obviously connected."
Natasha's voice came through. "So, we're expecting some heavily weaponized robots with reports that they're in mid- and uptown."
"They're heavily weaponized," Tony agreed dismissively, "but their designs are shit. This should be a breeze."
"Easy or not," Steve began over the intercom, "we have civilians in danger that need to be evacuated from the hotspots. Stark, you're the most familiar with Hammer; find him and take him out. Clint, I want you on top of the building at Seventeenth and Broad. Nat, Thor—you're with me. Evacuate civilians and take out bogeys."
The following silence of the missing command that the captain normally saved for Hulk rang loudly over the communication line. Tony forced himself to focus on the mission so he wouldn't have to deal with his conflicting emotions right now.
But a different feeling of conflict went through him when he finally arrived at the scene. There were maybe only thirty bots that had been reported, which completely lacked Hammer's obnoxious flair.
The rest of the team had already arrived, and Tony could see Steve, Thor, and Natasha down on the streets below.
"Stark, you alright?"
Tony looked over and found Clint atop a building, bow in hand and eyes trained on him. The engineer had the suit hovering above the city, letting JARVIS pinpoint various locations of the robots on his HUD. Sure enough, the AI only pinpointed twenty-eight different robots, as well as the locations of three destroyed bots.
"Stark?"
"Something's off," Tony replied, looking over the scene. "Hammer had over a hundred of his machines taken to storage after his arrest that Coulson says are missing. Where are the rest?"
"They could be underground or in the buildings," Steve replied, pausing momentarily to glance up at where Tony was in the air.
It was a possibility, but considering that both JARVIS and SHIELD had access to camera feeds provided by city officials, he knew that was not the case. "Cameras around the city aren't showing any sign of the—"
"Sir, I've lost communication with the tower," JARVIS reported urgently.
His blood immediately ran cold. "What?"
"Stark?"
Tony watched with rising panic as JARVIS brought up a live video of the tower, where there were breaking news reports of some explosions occurring in the tower. The video clip suddenly zoomed in to show a Hammertech robot crash into one of the windows somewhere on what looked to be the thirtieth floor.
"I lost connection with the tower roughly thirty seconds ago, sir," JARVIS explained.
"Tony, what is it?" Steve's voice sounded in his ear, urgent and worried.
"Pepper," he breathed, fear laced into each syllable as bone-chilling panic settled in his chest.
Pepper barely got her hand half-raised to defend herself when suddenly a chunk of the wall went sailing overhead and smashed into the robot, throwing it off balance and almost back out of the window it had originally crashed through.
There was an infuriated growl that was just loud enough to be heard over the fire alarms. Pepper's head whipped around in surprise just in time to see the Hulk jump into the hole in the wall above her. A roar erupted from the smaller Hulk's body as he glared at the robot, which was beginning to get its balance again. This Hulk wasn't nearly as large as the Hulk Pepper was used to seeing, but he filled the hole in the wall with his tight and angry posture. His blazing green eyes remained locked on the machine, fury and anger coming off of him in waves.
With a feral snarl, Hulk dove out of the hole and launched himself at the robot. This Hulk didn't have the same strength that the adult one had, but his little fists were able to punch deep indents into the bot's armor-clad body that Pepper knew went beyond an adult human's average strength.
Pepper finally snapped from her daze when the robot turned its gun barrels away from her and instead down at the little green boy assaulting it. She quickly raised her mechanized arm and shot away the weapons before they could let loose a barrage of bullets on the child.
Hulk punched one of the knee joints at an awkward angle and sent the robot down to the floor, its leg sparking violently. As it landed, the green boy leapt onto the bot and smashed a fist through the chest plating with one mighty punch. Sparks flew and the robot let out a terrible mechanical screech as Hulk pulled out a handful of circuitry with a sharp growl, effectively killing it.
When the bot didn't move again, Hulk turned his furious glare toward her. Pepper stared back, worried for a moment that he wouldn't recognize her in his rage, but she relaxed when his expression took on a hint of distress as his eyes fell to her swelling ankle.
Hulk met her eyes again and looked like he wanted to ask her something, but there were more crashes from down the hall. Anger instantly flooded back into his eyes and he growled menacingly at the newcomers.
As they began to draw near, Hulk jumped from the slain robot closer to her, tossing the robot insides carelessly aside. He quickly and effortlessly ripped large chunks out of the wall and set them up around her. Warmth rushed through her, and she was positively touched when she realized that he was hastily building a shelter. He was protecting her, since she couldn't run on what was probably a broken ankle.
Hulk lifted the last chunk of wall and set it over the other pieces, giving her a small roof to her fort. There was enough room between the walls of the shelter for Pepper to fire off repulsor beams at the bots coming up behind the boy, which she did as they came into close enough range to hurt the child who was putting her safety above his own.
As two of the attackers crashed to the floor, Hulk turned a feral grin at her in thanks before he lost himself back in battle.
Pepper watched in something like awe as Hulk threw himself as their aggressors, bringing them down with well-placed punches to leg and hip joints that sent the robots to the ground for either Pepper to pick off or for Hulk to come back to and destroy. She didn't know if the adult version of the Hulk fought in a similar fashion, but she was amazed that he was able to pinpoint their knee joints as weak spots for him to exploit.
He tried to stay close to her, to properly protect her, so she could hear how he was beginning to pant the longer the attack went on. If anything, his growing exhaustion fueled his anger, and he threw himself that much more fiercely at his opponents.
As the fight continued, Pepper realized that the repulsor hits were doing less and less damage before it stopped firing altogether. She breathed a soft curse; Tony had said that the repulsor didn't have that much energy in it before he had gone off, considering it wasn't attached to an arc reactor. She must have used up what little energy there had been in it.
"Hulk!" she called over the din, watching as the green child brought down another robot with a roar of effort. When he glanced momentarily back at her, she went on. "The repulsor ran out of power," she explained quickly. "I can't help you fight anymore."
A look of grimness appeared on the Hulk's face, but there was determination there. As the next wave of robots came down the hall, the child fought even harder, and Pepper could only watch.
He managed to hold his own for what felt like a terrifying lifetime when there was another great crash of breaking glass. Pepper immediately turned her head toward the windows, and before she could warn Hulk, a wave of relief washed through her when she saw the red cape.
With Mjölnir thrust forward, Thor crashed through the window and straight into the large robot that Hulk was having trouble taking out on his own. The boy quickly jumped back with a startled noise as the demigod and robot crashed into the wall behind them. As the robot tried to right itself, Thor drew back and, with one mighty swing of his hammer, he delivered a fatal final blow.
When that robot was destroyed, Thor looked across the room at the make-shift shelter that Pepper was peering out of. She watched as relief flashed across his face before he pressed a finger to the piece of tech in his ear. "Stark, she is safe," he said softly. "They are both safe."
As he returned his hand to his side, Thor looked down at the green little boy standing nearby. Hulk glared up at the demigod, panting from the exertion of the fight. His little hands were still clenched tightly into fists, and as he stared up at the Asgardian in full battle armor, there was a look of defiance that mixed into his hesitance.
But then Thor smiled down at the Hulk, full and proud, and the boy looked confused until he spoke. "I see you have done quite well on your own in protecting Lady Pepper," he said, letting his eyes roam back toward Pepper for a brief moment before he returned his warm gaze to the Hulk. "I would be honored to battle by your side, little one."
He gave the Hulk an Asgardian salute, followed by a bright grin. "Shall we?" he asked, the grip on his hammer tightening as the next wave of adversaries arrived.
Hulk glanced down the hall at the approaching robots before he gazed back up at Thor. A moment later, another feral grin appeared on his face.
Together with twin battle cries, Hulk and Thor took on the next wave of opponents.
"Communications to the tower are still down, sir," JARVIS said for the fourth time in as many minutes.
And for the fourth time in as many minutes, Tony breathed a curse and pushed his thrusters even faster.
Steve had immediately ordered Thor back to the tower, since he could make it the fastest and because they still needed Tony to take out Hammer and shut down the droids in the city. Tony had objected, as the urge to take off and break the sound barrier on his way back to Manhattan was like a bad itch, but Thor had already taken off with break-neck speeds. Really, he should have been the God of Lightning, with those kinds of speeds.
Tony still thought he could have reached the tower before him.
He turned all of his panic and fear and worry and frustration into finding Hammer and shutting him down. Between SHIELD and him, they found Hammer's location, and Tony shot off, on the hunt.
Thor's announcement did nothing to beat back the urge to get home as fast as possible. If anything, the urge grew stronger. He needed to see Pepper, he needed to see Bruce…he needed to see them for himself.
When he found where Hammer had holed himself up, Tony didn't even give the man the chance to monologue; a well-placed punch quickly ensured that the bastard wouldn't be speaking to anyone for at least the next hour. A quick scan of the little workstation Hammer had set up for himself didn't show an override switch to inactivate all of the robots at once, so he fired a repulsor beam through the control panels and destroyed the workstation. Clint informed the rest of the team that the bots he could see had slumped over and had gone inert.
Natasha was just running up as Tony exited the building, dragging Hammer's unconscious body behind him like a sack of potatoes. The spy ran up to him and took Hammer. "Go," she ordered, and he didn't need it repeated. He blasted off and started to make a bee-line for the tower.
Only minutes later, the Manhattan skyline came into view. He pushed the suit even harder, ignoring the blinking box in the corner of his vision that said his speeds were rapidly depleting the power supply to the armor.
His heart was pounding and his mind was racing. When he saw the damage to the tower, the sense of dread already in him intensified. He flew directly to where the worst of the damage was.
Tony rushed through a broken window and landed roughly in his haste. His eyes were drawn to the red of Thor's cape as the demigod twisted around, Mjölnir raised to combat the potentially new threat. He had been in the middle of talking to someone on his ear-piece.
When he saw it was Tony, Thor reached out to steady the newcomer. "Easy, friend," the Asgardian said as Tony found his balance. "All is—"
"Pepper?!" Tony called as he tore his helmet off, wanting to see her with his own eyes. He took in the damage and the number of destroyed robots littering the floor and felt sick.
His eyes were drawn to a section of missing wall. Beneath the massive hole was a little makeshift fort. Next to the fort was the Hulk.
The little green boy looked like he was ready for another fight when the Iron Man suit had come barreling onto the scene, but he had relaxed marginally when he had heard Tony's panicked voice. The actual sight of his face seemed to relax him more. He reached a green hand over and pulled a piece of the shelter aside, revealing a sight that made the air in his lungs catch.
Pepper was curled into the small shelter, the armored gauntlet still snug on her arm. There was a cut on her cheek and several others along her arms. As Hulk pushed aside the walls of the small makeshift fortress, he saw the beginnings of a nasty bruise on one of her ankles, but otherwise, she looked okay, just a little shaken.
But she was moving.
She was alive.
"Safe," Hulk said as he tossed the last piece of wall aside.
Relief immediately flooded through Tony's body and all of his fear and worry escaped from him in a single, shuddering sigh.
While he was still trying to find his voice, a shaky smile found its way to Pepper's lips. "It worked like a dream," she said softly, lifting the armor in a vague gesture, "but I never, ever want to field test your suit again."
It was an attempt at humor to distill the cloying anxiety in the air, and Tony huffed a breathless laugh as he closed the distance between them before his knees could buckle.
As soon as his knees hit the floor, he met Pepper in a frantic embrace. He wished he could feel her against his body through the armor, so he tilted his head against hers, desperate for physical contact. Even without being able to actually feel the rest of her, he knew she was shaking, either from the fear or from the adrenalin. He tugged her that much closer and held her tightly against him.
Somewhere down the hall, Thor was speaking into his ear-piece in low tones, but Tony paid him no mind.
Far too soon for his liking, Pepper drew back just enough to glance away from him. His eyes followed hers to the Hulk, who was still hovering nearby, looking out of place and uncomfortable with his eyes shooting resolutely away from the couple when they looked at him.
"Hulk protected me," Pepper said to Tony. At the mention of his name, Hulk glanced cautiously back over.
Tony looked back at the green child and opened his arm. Pepper instantly followed by opening hers.
Hulk hesitated, eyeing the open space between them for a moment before he glanced at the two of them individually, looking unsure.
When the boy didn't move, Tony beckoned for him to come closer with an almost impatient hand gesture. As soon as he was in reach, Tony dragged the green child into his and Pepper's embrace.
Hulk immediately tensed when he landed into their arms and looked a little shocked and panicked, like he was considering trying to fight his way away from them.
But then Tony pressed a hard kiss to the crown of the boy's head. "Thank you," he whispered in a shaky, but completely heartfelt voice. The tightness was beginning to loosen in his chest, but his throat still felt terribly tight with emotion. "Thank you, thank you."
There was a moment when the little guy's body went rigid, but then tension in his body finally went loose. The panic turned into an expression that looked peaceful, and he sunk into their embrace, letting his eyes slip shut as he basked in their warmth, acceptance, and love.
A moment later, the green started to recede from his skin and his body began to shrink. They kept the shifting child in their arms as the transformation continued, until it was Bruce that was slumped against them.
Once the transformation was complete, the little boy released a shaky breath and curled more into their shared warmth. He stayed like that for a few moments as he tried to catch his breath before he tilted his head back and forced his heavy eyelids open. Bleary eyes drifted slowly over Tony's face, and once recognition sunk in, he turned his hazy gaze toward Pepper. "…'re you okay?" he managed to whisper in a hoarse voice.
Pepper smiled down at the boy and kissed his forehead. "I am," she said softly, voice tight with gratitude and affection, "thanks to you."
The smile that crossed Bruce's face was exhausted, but completely warm with a relieved happiness that made Tony hug them both a little tighter. The same kind of peacefulness from Hulk's face found its way to Bruce's countenance, even as he slumped limply back into their embrace. "…'m glad," he slurred just before he passed out.
