Bruce was shaking like a leaf as he was sitting on the ground with crossed legs, wearing a grey Asgardian tunic way to big for him, you could easily think it was an over sized dress when he was standing up.

"I… I don't know about this." Bruce stammered as the blue frost giant alien in front of him sighed.

Right beside them stood Tony and even further away Pepper, she was chewing her lip nervously while Thor offered her an ensuring smile. Though he looked slightly nervous as well.

"Look, the Asgardians are one thing. They can actually take a hit from the Hulk." Bruce stated. "But… With Tony and Pepper here?" he asked. "They… They are not like the Asgardians! No offense."

"That's exactly why." Loki sighed deeply. "The Hulk is like a child. He doesn't know his own strength and thus how to control it. You wish for him to be able to come out at any time without causing damage yes? Then he needs to learn his own strength in comparison to earths regular inhabitants. And now Tony so generously offered himself as a test subject, it would be a shame to turn that down."

"Hey what?" Tony asked. "Erh… When you're putting it like that. That doesn't sound..."

"Oh don't fret." Loki snorted. "If you break a bone or two I'll just heal it. I promise."

"WHAT?!" Tony shouted. "Hey! Heal or not heal, breaking things hurt! I… I might also have second thoughts about this to now. And that's me saying that, I never have second thoughts before after I made a huge mistake."

"If Tony will be in danger, then I wont do it!" Bruce stated.

"He wont be." Loki rolled his eyes. "I am here and Thor is here. Now, relax. If you're nervous, the Hulk will be nervous. Just calm down!"

Bruce gulped but finally closed his eyes. "You… You swear they wont be hurt."

"I swear on my honor as a prince." Loki stated as he closed his own two eyes and reached over, putting his hands on top of Bruces. "Now, breath. Allow yourself to vanish, then your other self will be allowed to come freely. Without the use of rage or anger."

Bruce nodded, he was shaking.

It took a while, as the two breathed alongside each other. Slowly Bruce stopped to shake before he finally seemed relaxed.

Tony held his breath… Was it going to happen. Was it actually.

And then… Bruce grew. His hair, turning dark green, then his skin. His shoulder broadened, he grew upwards, like a huge mountain. The Tunic which before hand had been like a massive tent on the man was now starting to stretch across the broad chest, only barely did it stay in place.

Then Loki opened his eyes looking up at the green face who's eyes were still closed.

Tony gasped for breath, standing still.

"Hulk." Loki spoke calmly. "How nice it is to see you again."

Slowly Hulk opened his eyes, they were bright green. He looked at Loki, then smiled warmly. "Friend Loki." he spoke.

"Greetings, my friend." Loki replied in a wry smile. "I hope you don't mind, but I have some people for you to meet. New friends."

"Friends?" Hulk asked and Loki turned his head towards Tony.

Tony who was gaping, wide-eyed looking up at Hulk. "Holy shit..." he breathed.

Hulk blinked, his eyes curious at Tony, then slowly he stood up and took a step so he and Tony stood in front of each other. The Hulk towering far above Tony, Tony only seemed to go him to the navel and he had to look up while the Hulk looked down at him.

"Erhm.. Hey." Tony waved a hand.

The Hulk tilted his head, slightly confused but also curious.

"Names Tony." Tony grinned slightly. "It's nice to meet you Hulk." he offered the Hulk a hand.

The Hulk halted, then slowly reached his own giant hand towards Tony.

"Hulk." Loki spoke and Hulk halted. "Listen to me, remember the last few times you came out? You could wrestle with all the Asgardians as much as you wanted and it was okay… Tony is not like that. Tony is human, not Asgardian."

The Hulk blinked but seemed to listen.

"Unlike Asgardians, Tony break very easily. You remember that cup you tried to drink of, and you were a bit to rough. It shattered even though you didn't mean to? That's Tony, he is like the glass. Be careful."

The Hulk frowned. "Tony scared of Hulk?" he asked.

"Honestly." Tony looked up at him. "Terrified, but that's no reason to be mean to you."

The Hulk blinked confused. Tony though was still reaching out his hand, he hadn't stopped. Then finally the Hulk reached out, he looked confused but finally wrapped his massive hand all around Tonys hand, then slowly and carefully shook.

Tony grinned. "Hello big guy."

"He-Hello." The Hulk replied awkwardly.

"See, I knew it! You're a good guy!" Tony grinned. "Hey Pepper. Come over! Say Hey!"

Pepper blushed but took a step and the Hulk turned his head to look at her, then brightened up. "Pretty lady!" he beamed.

"Oh what's this, a ladies man?" Tony asked. "Well well."

"It is quite noticeable." Loki commented as he crossed his arms. "The Hulk does seem to have a weakness towards women."

"Doesn't all men?" Tony asked.

"Hmm, I'm not so sure." Loki commented.

"Dude you can turn into a super model when-ever you want, you don't count." Tony stated.

Pepper amused shook her head, then glanced up at Hulk. "Hey." she spoke. "I'm Pepper."

The Hulk smiled a little shyly. "Pepper." he repeated. "Nice Lady. Pretty."

"Aww, you're sweet." Pepper smiled.

"Hehehe." The Hulk laughed embarrassed.

"Now remember." Loki stepped up beside Hulk. "She is human. She is not like the Asgardians, you must be careful. You're a god, she's paper mache."

The Hulk took in a deep breath then stood still.

"Lady Pepper." Loki spoke. "Would it be all right by you if the Hulk tried to lift you up."

"Oh, erhm. Sure. Okay." Pepper flustered.

"Hulk, gently. Pick her up. Feel her weight, you will see she's much lighter than the Asgardians." Loki instructed.

The Hulk nodded, then carefully, ever so carefully he scooped Pepper up and gently held her in a bridal position. "Not hurt nice Lady." he stated.

"You all right up there Peps?" Tony asked.

"I'm fine Tony." Pepper assured. "He really is just a huge sweet heart. The media sure have it all wrong."

"Pepper… It's the media. Of course they got it all wrong." Tony rolled his eyes.

"Oh no he's crying!" Pepper gasped looking up at the big green face where true enough, tears were falling.

The Hulk sniffed loudly. "Hulk happy! Hulk have friends! Not alone!"

Thor smiled warmly as he stood. "Aye my friend, you have friends. And you can stay."

"Stay." Hulk breathed and beamed. "Stay… Home! Is Home!"

"Aye." Thor walked up to him, then called the Hulk lightly on the arm. "It's home."


It took a full three hours before a very disoriented Bruce Banner made his return to the scene, nearly tripping in his way to big Tunic.

"Woah, easy there big guy." Tony grinned as he grabbed Bruce's arm steadying him.

"Tony." Bruce looked at him then sighed relieved. "Oh thank god you're all right."

"We're all all right." Tony assured. "Take it from me, the Hulk is not a bad person. It's just like what Loki said. He's just a child."

"A child with the strength of ten elephants." Bruce reminded him.

"And he's being very careful. Ones he found out he had to be careful. He was." Tony assured. "Did you know he has a thing for the ladies?"

"Oh…. Yeah." Bruce blushed looking away.

"You knew?!" Tony asked.

"Some times I do have vague ideas of what happened." Bruce admitted. "And well… The first time the Hulk came out. There was a lot of men… men wearing uniforms, they were shooting at him, hurting him. He was only rage… Until suddenly there was her."

"Oh this is juicy, who?" Tony asked.

"Betty." Bruce breathed. "She was the first one… To show him any kindness at all. Like an calm oasis in a storm of hurt. She reached out to him, spoke softly to him… She was the only woman at that entire place. And the only nice thing the Hulk saw, for such a long time. Now all pretty women whom talks kindly to him reminds him of Betty."

"That's a cute story." Tony had to admit. "So where's Betty now?" he asked.

"Moved on, married with kids." Bruce informed. "It's for the better. I told her to stop it it some years ago, stop following me. I cut her off and left her. I wanted her to live her own life. Finally she took my advice. And I am glad she did."

"Ooooh… Old girlfriend?" Tony asked.

"Yeah." Bruce admitted. "It's in the past now though. As I told you, I left her on purpose and she moved on. And I am glad she did."

"Sorry, I wont dig more into it. Promise." Tony assured. "So what do you want to do now? You need to rest after Hulking out or how does it work?"

"Yeah it's always a bit confusing when I am back." Bruce groaned. "Rest is always nice."

"Sure thing bud, I'll walk you back to your place." Tony stated as he grabbed Bruces arm and guided him in the right direction.

"Thanks Tony." Bruce sighed.