I do not own Marvel. Mhmm.
TapTap
Perhaps not entirely unexpectedly, Claire awoke in the morning to a huge amount of chaos. She might even have predicted this, had she not been so sleepy the night before; not to mention focused on other things. You know, like the giant green rage monster in her bedroom.
Bruce had awakened late - at least compared to his normal habit - and had found that he had been transformed in his sleep. He had no idea what might have happened, he only knew the Hulk had been there. Without trace. The resulting panic was absolute, and highly predictable.
When Claire came downstairs to have breakfast at ten o'clock, the kitchen was already full, and in a state of full uproar.
Startled, Claire stopped dead in the doorway, beholding the chaos and blinking at the loud voices. The sudden movement alerted a few of the Avengers, as did the turn of Natasha's head. Cautiously, the engineer stepped into the room. "What's wrong?"
"Bruce transformed in the night." Clint's voice was sympathetic. For all his usual flippancy, he had never yet stepped back from helping a friend and teammate who needed his support.
It was Tony who continued. "We've got nothing. We don't know where he went - I don't think anybody got hurt, but we don't know, and…"
"I don't think Hulk left the tower," Claire noted immediately, then bit her lip guiltily as everybody stared at her. She looked up to meet the ragged-looking, perplexed Bruce's eyes. "The baby woke him up, again. He came to get me, as we agreed he should."
"When?" Pepper's voice was a little sharp, while Bucky and Steve merely looked very surprised and a little confused.
"3.07," Claire specified. "He took me down the stairwell at the back of the tower - I don't think the Hulk alarms work, Tony, he's a lot cleverer than you'd think… He brought me to the baby before she was even properly crying. I was leaving when Steve and Bucky came to check up on her."
"I told Steve I saw you!" Bucky's voice was a bit triumphant.
"Right…" Noted Steve, more puzzled than his partner and still frowning.
"I'm sorry I told no one, but I didn't realise… I mean I didn't think we had to make a mess, and…" Claire babbled incoherently.
"You didn't realise I'd know, and you didn't want to worry anybody." Bruce's eyes were soft with forgiveness. "I'm glad that you're friends with the Hulk, Claire, it is making this easier - believe it or not - and I understand your loyalty." At Claire's grimace, Bruce smiled. "No, really. And you're right - as long as your system works, it might be better not to make a big deal out of it. But, let me know, will you? Feeling out of control is one thing - this morning, I felt entirely hijacked."
"Well, don't worry about that much. I won't do that mistake again," Claire assured him, voice cynic. Bruce smiled. For once, Tony just stared, unable to detect the humour. Bruce would later mock him for it, for weeks; and Clint would not be any better.