She Loves You, She Hates Me

"Hey, Kitten."

Kitty looked up from her sketchpad to see a familiar face standing in the doorway. "Bruce?" She asked, closing her artist pad and stashing it by her side. "I thought you were somewhere in Africa."

"Well, I came back when I heard you'd been blown up." Bruce Banner explained, coming further into the room. His grey shirt hung loosely on his frame and he looked thinner than the last time Kitty had seen him. His dark hair was still as messy as ever, though, and Kitty wanted to run her hands through it. For scientific purposes, of course.

"I'm surprisingly whole for how close I was to the bomb." Kitty told him, watching his reaction closely.

"I noticed," He smiled slightly. "Still a little too close for my taste."

"Well, I didn't really fancy it either." Kitty pointed out, brushing a strand of hair out of her face. Bruce came further into the room and stood next to her bed, taking in her appearance. Her usually beautiful blonde hair was cut odd, a result of the fire Tony had told him about. Kitty had circles under her dark blue eyes and her skin looked paper thin and pale with dark bruises littering her arms. She looked like a small, broken little porcelain doll.

Bruce had spoken to her doctor and found out that Kitty's leg had been riddled with shrapnel and it took several hours of surgery to get every piece out. He took in her bandaged up arm and leg and fought off the urge to wrap his arms around her.

"I wanted to talk but I understand if you don't feel up to it right now." He slid his hands in his jacket pockets.

"Talk about what?" Kitty asked.

He paused, then stole a glance at the open door. "So, uh, what's up with Wolverine?" He deflected in what he hoped was a nonchalant voice. It was not.

Kitty gave a soft, uncomfortable laugh. "Why do you want to talk about Logan?" She asked, her eyebrows drawn together.

Her calling him 'Logan' was not lost on Bruce. "Well, apparently, he hasn't really left your side since they brought you in," He nodded to the chair by the side of her bed that had become Logan's unofficial spot. "And Nat said he's been hanging around the Tower." He paused. "Are you and he-?"

"No," Kitty shook her head slightly. "Just friends."

"I didn't know he had any friends." There was a tense silence, and Kitty's mind ran wild with the possibilities of what he could say. "Kitty, I miss you. And I want us to get back together."

Kitty felt very confused. This was not a possibility she thought of. "But you left me." She reminded him.

"I know," He admitted, looking down at the shiny laminate floor. "I know and I've been thinking of you the entire time I've been away and think I'm in control enough-"

"No." Kitty cut him off, shaking her head slowly. Bruce's face dropped and Kitty felt a pang of guilt run through her. "You…You left. You broke up with me, told me that you didn't love me, that nobody could ever love me, then packed up and you just left."

Bruce started to speak but paused to glance over at the door. Logan, a box of french fries clutched in his hands, walked in and sat down in his spot. He obviously had no intention of leaving so they could continue their private conversation. "Maybe we should talk about this later, Kitten." Bruce suggested with a dirty look at Logan. "Make sure you rest. Doctor's orders." He joked before he walked out the door.

Logan held out the box of french fries for her, and Kitty graciously grabbed a couple, deliberately ignoring the fact that she wasn't supposed to be eating such things yet. "Kitten?"

"It's a nickname." Kitty said as if he was stupid. "You know, sweetheart, darlin', princess, cher."

"And he decided on Kitten?" Logan asked, watching her face.

She raised her eyebrows and defensively asked, "What's wrong with Kitten?"

"Kitten sounds...Cute and innocent."

"And?"

"And you're too dangerous to be considered innocent." Logan smirked. Kitty shrugged and nodded in agreement. "So, why the hell was he here?" Logan asked her. Kitty silently ate the fries, refusing to look him in the eyes.

Kitty considered her answer carefully, remembering Bruce's question about Logan. "He wants us to get back together."

"Oh," Now it was Logan's turn to look uncomfortable. "Well, uh, what did you say?"

"I said no." She reached over to grab more fries, and Logan just handed the rest of the box to her.

"Why?" Logan sounded honestly curious, and not judgemental like she had expected.

"I don't know," She admitted, her light blonde eyebrows drawing together. "Maybe because of how bad he hurt me last time. He broke up with me then ran off to Africa." She munched on a fry thoughtfully. "I mean, it's been a year and he's only visitin' me because I was blown up. Not exactly promising for a stable relationship."

"You know that that's not unreasonable, right?" Logan asked.

Kitty tried to decide if she wanted to go down this path, then figured that now was as good a time as any. "Logan, they told me that I didn't have a pulse."

"What?"

"Why didn't you tell me that you did CPR on me?" Kitty demanded. "That you couldn't find a pulse?"

There was a pause before Logan said, "I wasn't just going to let you die."

"Steve said you were at it for more than twenty minutes. Most people stop at ten, ya know."

"I just kept doing it until you woke up." Logan shrugged, as if this wasn't a big deal.

"Is that why you keep staying?" Kitty asked abruptly, looking down at the empty french fry container in her hands.

"What?"

"Is that why you keep staying here, hanging around my hospital bed?" Kitty gestured to the small room. "You brought me back to life and now you think you've got to stay?"

"No, I didn't-"

Kitty cut him off. "Well, surely you don't find hospitals interesting or fun, so I think I deserve to know why you're here'."

"Do you want me to go?" Logan stood up as if to leave.

"No." Kitty admitted, shaking her head. Logan sat back down. "I just want to know why." She brushed a strand of blonde hair out of her face.

"Doesn't really sound like you asking." He noted, tilting his head at her slightly.

"Yeah, didn't expect you to answer anyways." Kitty pulled her sketchbook back out and started drawing.