Chapter 7
An hour later, irritated, scratched, scraped, and bruised, Bruce leaned against a moss-covered boulder near a trickle of a stream while Ruby dunked nearly her whole face in the cold water. When she finally came up for air she sputtered and flopped back on rocky incline.
"That tastes amazing! You should try this, Bruce," she sighed with her eyes closed.
"I would, but you're in my way and you freak out every time I get anywhere close to you," he pointed out.
"Sorry, I get the hint." She heaved herself up and moved away, making room for him. "But I've been thinking."
Bruce ignored her as he lowered himself gingerly to his knees by the stream. Running through the evergreen forest naked was not the most ideal situation.
"If your clothes get destroyed every time you change, why haven't you invented clothes that, you know, stretched or something, so that when you changed back, you wouldn't be half naked? I mean, all the other Avengers have special suits, why don't you? Surely you could come up with some kind of super-stretchy polymer?"
He stopped drinking and looked over at her, "we were just kidnapped by Hydra and you're thinking about how to preserve my modesty?"
She shrugged, "There's nothing wrong with that. You've been through this before, why haven't you done something about it?"
"Oh, I don't know. Maybe I've been too busy saving the world and shit like that to worry about offending fragile virgins?"
"I am not a fragile virgin!"
He smiled to himself as at her outraged expression. Standing up, he stretched, not caring if she could see all of him. "So, you're a tough virgin?"
She blushed and spun away, "you're just being a jerk now."
He immediately felt bad about his behavior. "I'm sorry. I'm not exactly in my element here, you know."
She sniffed, "and I am?"
"Point taken. Come on, we need to keep moving."
"Can't we just rest here for a little bit? We haven't heard that helicopter in a while."
"That doesn't mean we're in the clear. It's pretty obvious which direction we're heading. They could be ahead of us."
Ruby faced him and planted her hands on her hips. "If that's the case, then why are we rushing right at them? Maybe we should rethink our plan?" She squinted up at the sun, barely peeking through the trees above them. "We don't have a lot of daylight left, so we need to figure out something."
She had a point: they were probably barreling headfirst into an ambush.
"You're right," he admitted, ignoring the smug look she gave him. "Let's follow this stream back up the mountain for a while and put some distance between them and us. Once the sun starts to go down, we need to look for a place to hole up for the night. It might be the middle of the summer, but the temperature will drop pretty fast up here."
She nodded, keeping her eyes glued to his face. He suppressed a sigh. He needed to find some clothes. That brilliant mind of hers wasn't doing them any good if it was fixated on his nudity.
After a brief argument over who would lead the way, they picked their way carefully up the creek, hopefully away from anyone lying in wait for them at the bottom of the mountain. Ruby was glad she wasn't like some of the other women at the institute and dressed up for work. Her comfortable jeans and sturdy sneakers were ideal for this kind of activity. She was a little mortified that the bra she was wearing was chosen for comfort and not sexiness. Thank goodness that her jeans didn't need to be sacrificed because she was pretty sure she was wearing the most non-sexy panties ever. The only thing they had going for them was the fact that they were clean and free of holes.
Compared to Houston, the weather here was mild. She would guess the temperature was close to the same, but without addition of the smothering humidity and the light breeze blowing through the shade of the trees, it was almost pleasant. In fact, as she pushed through low-hanging branches as she stepped from rock to rock, she could almost forget she was on the run from a super-evil organization bent on world domination. Still, before long, her bra was damp from sweat.
Stretching to reach from the stone she was on to the next, she released the limb she was holding aside a little too soon and was rewarded by a grunt followed by a curse from behind her.
"Sorry!" she cringed.
She realized that she had been a very unsympathetic companion to Dr. Banner. Instead of working together to solve their dilemma, she had allowed her discomfort to make her argumentative and rude to him. She hadn't stopped to consider his discomfort at having to traipse through an evergreen forest over rough terrain with no clothes on. Even right now, she was in the lead, not because she was the best person for it, but because she didn't want to walk behind him and stare at his nudity the entire way. Then she had charged ahead, not caring if he was having difficulty keeping up on the rocks with his bare feet. Her face burned with shame and she came to an abrupt halt.
"What's wrong?" he asked from almost right behind her.
She shook her head, "Nothing, I just need to take a break for a bit." She paused before continuing. "If that's alright."
"No, that's fine. I need a break too."
Keeping an eye on her footing, Ruby picked a path away from the stream and found a cool, shaded area under a pair of tall evergreens. Bruce followed her and dropped to the ground a few feet from her with a grunt. He leaned his head back, stretching his neck.
Pretending to check the bandages on her bruised and raw wrists, Ruby studied him covertly. Bruce Banner was one of the least physically impressive of the Avengers when he wasn't his green counterpart, but he was still quite attractive. She could tell that he worked out from his muscle tone, but he wasn't bulky. Not fat, he still had a bit of extra flesh around his middle that kept him from having a well-defined six-pack. He sported a thick thatch of hair across his chest and down the center of his abdomen that trailed down to his…. Ruby jerked her eyes back up to his chest abruptly.
Yes, he was an attractive man, but that wasn't why she had been so excited to meet him at her father's event. He was easily one of the most brilliant minds in the world but, unlike the late Tony Stark, he wasn't arrogant or full of himself. Ruby wished that they had met under different circumstances and that she was more socially adept. If Izzy were here, she would be chattering away, charming him with her outgoing personality and wit, and not at all bothered about his lack of clothing.
"Is something wrong with your wrist?" his question broke through her thoughts.
"What?"
He stood up and walked over to her, holding out his hand to take the wrist she was examining. "You're frowning like something's wrong."
Gently, he unwrapped the remnants of her tee-shirt and turned her wrist in him warm hands. The redness was beginning to fade, and the cuts and scrapes were starting to scab over.
"It doesn't look that bad. Let's see the other one."
Her other wrist was a little sorer, but it was her right one and she had pulled on it more while cuffed. Still, it was showing signs of healing.
"Not too bad either. I don't think there'll be any lasting damage."
Carefully, he rewrapped them with the same cloth that had previously covered them since the only remaining items of clothing between them were her jeans, underwear, and bra. Ruby had been quiet during his examination, keeping her eyes on his hands and avoiding looking at his face. She berated herself quietly for acting like a fragile virgin as he had pointed out.
"I'm an idiot," she blurted without preamble.
He laughed softly at her admission. "I'm not exactly at my best either."
He gave her hands a brief squeeze before releasing them and stepping back. She hugged her wrists to her stomach, missing the warmth of his touch.
"You're not doing too bad, all things considered," he continued. "I know a lot of people that would have broken down into hysterics by now. So, cut yourself a break, okay?"
She drew a deep breath of the sweet mountain air and pulled back her shoulders. Meeting his eyes, she smiled.
"Let's get going and find somewhere to spend the night."
"That's the spirit," he smiled back.
Another hour later, exhausted from their climb back up the mountainside via the rocky streambed, they found a hollowed-out area formed by the roots of a tree growing on a small ridge. It wasn't exactly a cave, or even out of the elements, but it would protect them somewhat. The sun was barely visible through the trees and the temperature was dropping quickly. Only the heat of their exertion was warding off the chill for the time being. They gathered handfuls of dried pine needles to line the hollow with, insulating them from the cool earth and providing a fragrant pad to lay on. A bigger pile of leaves and needles was mounded just in front of the hollow, to be used for additional insulation later if needed.
By the time they were through, the sun had disappeared, and they could barely see the forest around them. Next came the awkward part: sleeping arrangements. Ruby felt that Bruce should lie with his back against the rear of the hollow and her in front of him. That way, she reasoned, as little of his bare skin as possible would be exposed to the open air. But that meant that she would be sleeping with her back pressed against his naked front. Bruce felt that she should be the one with her back against the back of the hollow and he against her front so that she was out of the line of any danger that would come their way during the night.
"There are bears and cougars in these mountains," he pointed out.
"I hadn't thought about that until you pointed it out, thanks," she said with heavy sarcasm. "Now I will never get any sleep no matter where you put me."
"You have to admit that I stand a better chance against anything than you do," he argued.
"Yeah, but if your body temperature drops too much during the night or you're too uncomfortable to sleep, you're not going to be worth anything tomorrow, and we still have a lot of walking ahead of us."
"And if you're mauled during the night, we aren't going to get very far either."
Frowning, she looked around on the ground. She saw a stick that could be used as a club somewhere nearby earlier, while it was still light enough to see. Using her foot to feel the ground, she walked in a tight circle in the area she remembered seeing it.
"What are you doing," Bruce asked, hugging himself to ward off the chilling air.
"Give me a minute. Come on, I know it's here somewhere," she muttered.
"What's there?"
"Ah-ha! Got it."
Her toe found the stick and she bent to pick it up. It was about four feet long and she could barely wrap one of her hands around it. Solid and heavy enough to use as a weapon, it would do the job she intended. Walking back over to where Bruce huddled, she held it aloft.
"What's that for? We don't have anything to make fire."
"No, silly. It's for warding off bears and cougars."
He shook his head. "Really? You are going to protect us from predators using a stick?"
"I'm going to use it to keep them at a distance, until you can do your thing." She stuck her tongue out at him but was sure it was too dark for him to see. "Now, quit arguing before you catch a chill and crawl in there." She pointed to the hollow with the stick.
He threw his hands in the air, "Fine. You win. I'm too tired and cold to argue with you anymore."
Getting on his hands and knees to crawl into the space, she could barely see his pale skin in the darkness that shrouded the forest around them. She could hear the crunch of the needles and leaves as he made himself comfortable, then his heavy sigh.
"Ok, your turn."
Using the end of the stick to feel her way around any obstacles, she walked over to the embankment. It only came up to her waist and the hollow they were using was only half as high. It was going to be a tight squeeze for both of them. She dropped to her knees and crawled into the hollow, dragging the stick with her.
"Ow!" she accidentally jabbed him with the stick.
"Sorry."
Turning to sit on her backside, she scooted in further.
"Ow!" she kicked his shin with her foot.
"Sorry."
She lay on her side and wiggled back until she could feel his body behind her touching in only a couple of places. She froze, unsure if she should snuggle in closer or not.
"Oh, for God's sake," he huffed in irritation, then reached around her with one arm and pulled her snug up against him. "I'm not going to bite you."
Ruby could feel his breath against the back of her head and the chill of his body against hers.
"I'm sorry," she told him. "I didn't realize you were so cold. You should have said something."
"Just go to sleep. We got a long day ahead of us tomorrow."
"Ok."
Ruby was acutely aware of the man pressed up against her back and couldn't make herself relax enough to go to sleep. Everything was just so awkward. First, she couldn't find a comfortable position for her head. She tried piling some pine needles and leaves up under it, but they were itchy and poked her in the ear. So, she tried to use her arm, but ended up with her hand in Bruce's face. After a bit of fumbling, he slid his arm under her, and she used it as a pillow.
"Better?"
"Thanks," she whispered.
Then she discovered a rock under her hip. If she scooted forward off it, her bare back was exposed to the air. If she scooted back, she crowded Bruce. She tried inching down a bit to get her hip off it.
"Ruby," Bruce growled in her ear, "if you don't quit wiggling, we are both going to be embarrassed."
"How?" She asked, then she understood. Her face burned. "Oh. Sorry." She stilled and tried to ignore the rock. She tried to focus on other things, but as they warmed through their contact, she could feel every inch of him against her. The hair on his chest was soft against her back. His breath warm on the back of her head. The weight of his arm around her.
"Breathe," he whispered into her hair. "You can't hold your breath all night."
"Sorry."
"Just relax and try to sleep."
"I don't know if I can," she whispered miserably.
Still, as she focused on breathing, the long, stressful day caught up with her and she drifted off to sleep. The last thing she remembered hearing was a soft snore from behind her.
