A/N: So, I just read that the injuries the Hulk sustained while he was wearing the infinity gauntlet are permanent and will not heal. Unfortunately, it's too late to go back and edit them into this story, so I'm just going to go with in my AU they did heal.

Also, since I'm in the mood to explain somethings, I want to address the question of whether Darling Bruce can have sex without "Hulking out." Hulk fans seem to be split on the issue and the MCU sends out conflicting signals. In the last Hulk standalone movie (though it isn't part of the official MCU, I've read it is MCU cannon), becoming the Hulk is linked to Bruce's heart rate. If his heart rate goes up too much, he becomes the Hulk. Well, that would be problematic during sex. However, in one of the Avenger movies, it is linked to him getting angry. Hence, sex would not be a problem. Unless it was hate sex! If you branch out into the larger Marvel universe of comics, it seems to be linked to Bruce's distress.

On a side note: I'm choosing to ignore Professor Hulk because that just creeps me out. Give me one or the other, not both combined. Let's pretend that after Endgame, the two become separate entities again but Bruce is more accepting of his green half.

Anyway, back to Bruce getting laid. Lots of mixed signals out there in the Marvel universe. I'm going to go with the angry or distressed theories in this story because I want Bruce to be able to have normal human sex.

I haven't decided it the Hulk will get in on the action yet….

Chapter 8

During the early hours of the morning while the first rays of the sunrise had yet to reach their rough camp, Bruce woke up with Ruby wrapped around him, her face resting against his neck. Sometime during the night, he had pulled her close. One of her legs was sandwiched between him and pressed firmly against his groin, and one of her arms was draped over his midsection.

His cheek rested on her unruly mass of hair and he could smell the faint vanilla scent of her shampoo over the dirt and sweat from their hike yesterday.

He must have made a slight movement and disturbed her because she shifted and snuggled even closer to him. He had to admit she felt good, really good, in his arms. It was a shame she was so annoying and skittish. He couldn't wait to see her reaction to their current position when she woke up. She would probably blush, then either apologize or blame him for being inappropriate.

Bruce almost snorted. Good thing inappropriate thoughts didn't count. As it was, he would never take advantage of any woman, especially not one as young and naive as Ruby. Hell, he worked hard to keep all women at a comfortable distance. His alter ego along with his job as an Avenger posed a danger to anyone he allowed to get close. His thoughts turned dark at the thought of the last woman he let himself to care about.

Forcing those thoughts away, he shook Ruby's shoulder gently, "Hey, time to wake up."

At first, she buried her head in protest to his prodding. Then she smiled and rubbed her cheek against his chest like a cat marking her territory. He smiled at the thought.

"Come on, sleepy head. We need to get up and get going."

"I don't want to wake up," she mumbled without opening her eyes. "I like it here."

Her arm around him shifted and she pulled him even closer. The leg inserted between his rubbed against his crotch, causing a tendril of arousal to course through him. He knew he should put an end to this but couldn't bring himself to push her away quite yet.

The hair on his chest must have tickled her nose because it twitched. Her eyes blinked open and she frowned at this chest. Okay, he thought, here we go with the hysterics.

She surprised him, though. Pushing away from him a bit, she looked up and met his eyes.

"Good morning, Dr. Banner."

"Good morning, Miss Beaumont," he answered. "How'd you sleep?"

Her answer was a big yawn as she stretched, pulling her leg free from his. When it was over, she grinned at him.

"Not too bad considering how much you snore."

He snorted, "of course I snored. I must have had half your hair down my throat at some point during the night." He teased.

"Then maybe you can use some of it to floss." She waved a delicate hand in front of her face.

"You weren't complaining while you were all wrapped around me like a blanket."

Ruby raised a condescending eyebrow, "I was cold, and you were generating heat like a furnace. I was just trying to stay warm."

Bruce was surprised by the change in the woman, he had been ready for a number of reactions from her, but this was unexpected. Pleasantly unexpected. He found himself smiling back at her.

He was buying it. That's good, she thought. During the night, she had woken up in the middle of a juicy dream about him and just about had a meltdown because she was so turned on by his naked body next to her. She was shocked that he didn't wake up when she had almost scrambled out of their little nest. But then she had gotten control of herself and talked herself mentally through it. She knew she had been childish the previous day, but in her defense, she had been kidnapped by Hydra and then the Hulk destroyed a helicopter with her inside it. Stress, she told herself, can make a person do and say things they normally wouldn't.

Before she went back to sleep, she had vowed to do a better job the next day. That included not making a big deal out of Bruce being naked.

Now, if only she could forget about how good it felt to wake up in his arms and the dreams she had about him.

The morning was cool and crisp as they set out. Ruby wrapped her arms around her middle trying to hold in some of her body warmth and felt sorry for Bruce. At least she had jeans to cover the lower half of her body. Fortunately, as the morning progressed and the sun rose in the sky, the temperature climbed rapidly and soon another discomfort distracted her. The last time she had eaten was breakfast yesterday and her stomach was making its discontent known.

Stopping in a clear area for a break, both Ruby and Bruce each found a boulder to sit on and soaked up the warmth from the stone and the sun. Ruby cringed at a loud growl from her stomach then giggled when it was echoed by an even louder one from Bruce's.

"We're going to have to find something to eat soon," he commented unnecessarily.

"Fasting has been shown to improve both cognitive and physical performance over brief periods," she replied. "But you're right, if we're going to be out here for a while, pushing ourselves, we will need to eat before the end of the day."

"What do you think? Should we stick to our plan to go deeper into the mountains?"

"We used to come up here a lot when I was young, before my mother died. These mountains are riddled with trails, dirt tracks, and campgrounds. If we keep to a relatively straight line, we're sure to come across one."

"I was thinking along the same lines. It's still summer, so there should be hikers and campers all over. If we can cross paths with some, maybe we can use their phone to get a call out to Fury."

"So, onwards and upwards." Ruby stood up and dusted off her butt. She looked uphill and frowned, "well, maybe not upwards. I say we continue to follow the creek between the mountains. I don't think we actually want to summit any."

"We might be more likely to run into hikers by going up, though," Bruce stood and repeated Ruby's motions unconsciously. She had force herself not to look, although she had been sneaking peaks throughout the morning. She had to admit his 'attributes' were generous.

"How about a compromise?" she suggested, mentally dragging her mind out of the gutter. "I don't like the idea of being out in the open just in case Hydra is still looking for us, so why don't we climb to the tree line and then circle around to the other side. That way, we can spot any climbers above us or intercept them. We'll also be more likely to cross a trail that way."

He thought about it briefly before nodding his head, "that's a good plan. You ready?"

Ruby stretched her back to get rid of any remaining kinks left over from their night on the hard ground. When she straightened up and looked over at her companion, she caught him staring at her with unabashed admiration before he quickly looked away to study a magpie perched nearby. She flushed with embarrassment.

"Yeah, let's go."

As they climbed higher on the mountain, the soft layer of evergreen needles was replaced by exposed granite and loose rocks and their pace slowed. The tall, stately trees that provided abundant shade shrank in size and dwindled in numbers leaving them exposed to the high-altitude sun more often than not. What had been a pleasant morning hike was now a strenuous march upwards.

Bruce had insisted on leading, picking out the safest route as he went, so every time Ruby glanced up at him, she was graced with a view of his ass and nether regions. At first, she was embarrassed and avoided looking up, but as the morning passed and after slipping and nearly falling several times when she failed to follow his lead, she pushed aside her discomfort in favor of more sure footing. Now, when she looked up at Bruce, instead of seeing only his nakedness, she focused on where he was placing his feet and what handholds he was using. When his foot slipped on loose shale, she noted the location so she wouldn't make the same mistake. When he grabbed a root that pulled free, she made a mental note to tug on any roots she grabbed before she entrusted them to her weight.

Close to midday, as she scrambled up a cluster of boulders, she saw streaks of blood smeared on the gray stone. Looking up to Bruce a couple yards ahead of her, she caught a glimpse of the sole of his right foot. His heal was bloody.

"Hey!" she stopped and called up to him. "You're bleeding."

He didn't pause but looked over his shoulder at her. "I know. Not a lot I can do about it right now."

Ruby hurried to catch up with him. "Let's take a break. We haven't stopped all morning."

Bruce stopped his climb and looked around, "there's some shade over there."

"Over there" was a flat area at the base of a tall boulder. There was just enough shade if they didn't stand.

Bruce eased himself down on a relatively flat rock with a sigh and Ruby went over and knelt at his feet.

"Let's see," she held out her hands for his foot.

"You're going to bother me until I let you see, aren't you?"

She grinned up at him, "of course."

Rolling his eyes like a teenager, he lifted his right foot and presented it for her inspection. Taking it in her hands, she examined it closely.

"Looks like some nasty blisters burst. This has to be painful, Bruce."

"It is, believe me."

She released his foot and motioned to the other, "Let me see that one too."

He dutifully raised his other foot. It was in the same condition as the right foot. Ruby pursed her lips, thinking through the problem. Those blisters, besides being painful, were also an open invitation for infection. While she was sure he would survive anything nature could throw at him, it would slow down their progress and make life more difficult for him. The thought of him suffering quietly through something so obviously painful was heart wrenching.

They didn't have many resources, so options were slim. Standing, Ruby unbuttoned and unzipped her jeans and started pushing them down.

"Just what the hell do you think you're doing?" he demanded, standing and grabbing her hand to stop her.

"You aren't going to last long with your feet like that. They need to be covered at the very least and the only thing we have between us is my jeans."

She shook off his hand and shimmied out of her jeans.

"This is ridiculous," he huffed in exasperation. "The damage is already done and you running around naked isn't going to change things. Besides, I heal faster than the average human, so put your pants back on."

Her curiosity peeked; Ruby paused with her pants hanging from her hands.

"How much faster?"

Bruce shrugged, "if we stopped now, a couple of hours, I guess."

"And if we don't stop now?"

He massaged the bridge of his nose as he thought about his answer. "They will probably keep getting worse," he finally said.

"Uh-huh."

She started looking through the lose rocks nearby for one that could be used to saw through the thick seams on the denim. Finding one that looked promising, she spread the jeans out on the flat rock Bruce had been sitting on. Chopping on the inner seam at the knee of one leg, she managed to cut through it enough so that she could rip it the rest of the way. The outer seam followed and soon she had the lower leg removed from the jeans. Doing the same to the other leg, she made two tubes of material just over a foot long each.

"Sit," she ordered him.

Reluctantly sitting, he dutifully lifted his foot for her. Tying a knot in the cut end to close it, she pulled the leg over his foot. With the knot, it only reached a couple inches up his ankle, but that was enough.

That works, Ruby thought. But how to secure it? There were her bra straps, but that would leave her too exposed for her comfort. Also, even with her light tan, she was starting to turn pink. If it came down to it, she would use them, but only as a last resort. She stared down at his denim covered foot in her hands, thinking. If only there was some of her shirt left over from when Bruce made the bandages for her wrists.

"Got it," she announced happily and released his foot.

"What?"

She began to unwind the bandage around her right wrist. The cuts on her wrist had been mostly superficial and it had been almost 24 hours since they happened. Exposing the skin, the wounds were pink and scabbed over, warm but not hot to the touch. She gauged that they would be fine exposed to the elements if she was careful.

Ignoring her companion's protests, she used the makeshift bandage to not only secure the pants leg to his foot but was also able to wrap it around his foot to provide a bit more padding. She repeated the operation on his other foot. Soon, both his feet were covered and securely wrapped.

Standing up and stepping back to admire her handiwork, Ruby nodded with satisfaction, "stand up and see how that feels."

Standing gingerly, Bruce tested the foot coverings. "Not bad," he said with a smile. "Not bad at all."

"Not perfect, but it will do until we can find something better or get out of these mountains."

"Speaking of, we better get going. I think we are close enough to the tree line that we can start circling around."

True, the bare top of the mountain was clearly visible through the sparse trees and patches of boulders. Ruby was glad they weren't going any higher. The air, though cooler this high, was thinner also and she had found herself gasping for air during the climb. Staying at the same elevation instead of continuing to climb wouldn't be as taxing.

Pulling the remains of her jeans back on, she motioned for Bruce to proceed.

She soon found out how wrong she had been in that assumption. Walking along a slanted, uneven surface was just as hard as climbing up the face of the mountain. Her feet were constantly trying to slide out from under her as she followed Bruce, who was having the same difficulties. They were also having to go around clusters of boulders and over one cliff face. It didn't take long before she was sweating profusely and panting for breath.

Stopping beneath an outcropping of stone for a quick breather, she was fanning herself and breathing deeply to get more oxygen to her body when she heard an alien noise amid all the natural sounds around her.

"Bruce, do you hear that?" she called out.

At that moment, Bruce's feet slid out from under him and he slid down the slope a bit before sitting down hard to stop the slide. When the tumbling rocks finally stilled, he too could hear the noise. A high-pitched whirling noise that could be heard over the rustle of the few trees and the gusty wind.

"It's a drone," Bruce identified.

Maybe it was the thinner air, but it took a moment for her brain to parse that information.

"We need to hide!"

Both of them burst into movement, slipping and sliding down the slope until they reached a stunted tree with limbs that spread out enough to shield them from above. They crouched on either side of the trunk with their arms wrapped around it for support.

The whir of the drone grew louder as it approached. Soon, it rounded the mountain and came into view.

"Can you see anything to identify it?" she whispered.

"No, I can't tell if it's ours or Hydras. Hell, it might belong to someone completely unrelated," he said with frustration.

"Do we take that chance?"

He shook his head, "I don't think its friendly. Look."

The drone made its way straight towards the tree that sheltered them without any hesitation. Once over the tree, it hovered like a large bee, then dropped to nearly eye level with them. It hovered just a few feet in front of them, letting its controller observe them at his or her leisure.

Without warning, Bruce hefted a large rock and threw it at the drone. The rock missed, but the drone dodged to the side to avoid being hit. Its movement took it too close to dead tree and its blades stuttered as they contacted the dry limbs. It wasn't enough to ground the machine, but it wobbled in the air and slowed enough for the next two rocks, thrown by both Bruce and Ruby, to finish the job.

The drone tumbled to the ground and rolled downhill for several yards before coming to rest against another tree. Bruce scrambled down to retrieve it. Using a piece of broken blade, he popped open the battery compartment and pulled out the battery, effectively killing the machine. Climbing back up to Ruby, he handed her the battery.

"Here, you carry this, and I'll carry the rest."

"Why carry it at all?" The drone must have weighed at least fifteen pounds and Ruby could see no need to lug it around.

"Because I might be able to reconfigure its transmitter to get a signal out."

"Oh," Ruby thought about it. She may have been a genius, but all her experience was limited to a lab. Bruce had a lot more experience out in the world than she did. She suddenly felt horribly inadequate.

"Are you going to do that now?" she asked.

"No. Whoever was piloting this thing knows exactly where we are, so we need to get moving now."

With that, the two of them continued their course around the mountain. Spurred on by fear of getting caught by Hydra again, they made good progress and soon crossed a trail leading down the slope. The trail widened enough for them to walk side by side, so they made even better time and were soon at the base of the mountain.

Slowing down their headlong descent to catch their breaths, Ruby voiced a question that had been nagging her since their encounter with the drone, "Bruce, that drone came straight to us. Like it knew right where we were. How could that be?"

"I've been thinking about that same thing. They must be tracking us somehow."

"But how? Neither of us have anything on us."

"What about that necklace?"

Ruby clutched the small pendant to her throat, "my best friend gave this to me for my birthday!"

"How else would you explain it then?"

"Do you think they put something in it?" she held it out to examine but could see nothing to indicate it had been tampered with. The Pi shaped pendent was less than an inch square and the diamond set into it was less than half a carat. "I know the electronics for tracking can be extremely small, but I don't see how."

Bruce came over and took the pendent in his hand. He turned it over and leaned in close. The hair on the top of his head brushed against her nose, tickling it. Ruby involuntarily took a step back and stumbled over a rock embedding in the trail. Bruce caught her around the waist with his free hand and pulled her close to his body to steady her. She grabbed his shoulders for support.

They stood frozen like that for a long moment, before Ruby raised her head to look up at him. His face was close, and she could see his eyes darken as his concern for her welfare turned into something else. She was acutely aware of his hand pressed against the bare flesh of her lower back, holding her against him. Of their own accord, her hands reached up to clasp the back of his neck and pull him down to her and he didn't resist as she rose up the balls of her feet.

Their lips met and they kissed softly. His lips were warm and firm, and Ruby wanted to melt into them. She pulled back slightly to search his eyes.

"Bruce," she whispered into the narrow gap between them.

He didn't give her a chance to say anything else. Dropping the pendant, he cupped her head and pulled her back to him. She sighed as their lips met again. When his tongue touched her bottom lip, she opened and gave him access to her mouth and met his tongue with hers, giving as good as she received. Drawing his tongue into her mouth completely, she sucked on it, and he crushed her body against his trying to bring as much of his skin into contact with her as he could.

A voice broke the silence suddenly.

"Hey, you two may want to take it off the trail if you're going to do it. There's a big group with kids coming up behind me."