Rule 10 - If we're going to fight about this, we are going to have to do this out at containment because you are seriously getting on my last nerve here.

"Stay with me," said Darcy breathlessly, an arm reaching out to stop Bruce as he sat up in her bed, fishing around for his pants. "You can stay. I think that everyone knows that we're not playing parcheesie in here, my reputation is already ruined." She tried to smile. She hated the vulnerability she could hear in her voice. She was happy to give him space, because she knew he needed to take his time to open up, after so many years of solitude. But it had been almost a month, and she was starting to hate waking up without him every day.

He sighed heavily, "I…I want to. But I can't, Darce, I just can't."

"You know," she said, pulling her knees up against her, "That's not really an explanation."

He swung his legs around to the floor, propping his on his hands.

"You're right. I'm sorry. I know this isn't fair to you. You should have someone who can fall asleep with you and wake up with you in the morning and…"

"Stop it," Darcy cut in tightly, "you can't just pull a giant guilt trip every time we run into a problem Bruce. It's not fair, it makes me the bad guy for pushing at you, and I don't really think I'm the bad guy here."

"Well what do you want me to say then?" Bruce asked, looking back at her over his shoulder, "because the truth is that I'm terrified."

"Of what?" she asked sharply, "What is so dangerous about sleeping."

"I can't control the other guy when I'm sleeping." He said tightly, "are you saying that cuddling is worth that kind of risk?"

"Really, Bruce? You really think you're going to have a nightmare and break out in a bad case of the Hulk? Has that ever happened?"

"No, but that doesn't mean it won't."

"Well fine, by that logic, we don't know if I have a very late developing mutant gene and could accidentally suck the life out of you in the middle of the night or something, but you don't see me stopping us from having a real relationship over it."

"No," said Bruce in a tense and angry voice, standing up and pulling on his sweatpants, "you don't get to do that, you don't get to minimize what I have to live with every day. I'm not being silly or stupid Darcy, I have been dealing with the other guy for a hell of a lot longer and a hell of a lot closer up than you have, you don't get to tell me to just stop worrying about it."

"So the other guy is just your trump card then? The minute anything brushes up against the big green elephant in the room, all of my opinions stop counting and I should just shut up?"

"Yes" said Bruce fiercely.

"Well I'm not going to." She spat back, grabbing a t shirt and shorts off the floor, following close behind him as he headed for the door. "This isn't going to work if I can't talk about the other guy at all."

"Talking? Is that what we're doing here?"

"Oh, and you thought somehow we could magically have a real relationship when you won't spend the night and we never fight about anything?"

"Rule 2," Bruce ground out.

"Bullshit!" Darcy hollered at him, even as she pushed out of her room and started running down the hall, because rules were rules, "You're avoiding a fight and we'll do it from opposite sides of the tower if we have to."

"Fine," shouted Bruce, and Darcy stumbled to a stop. Bruce ran his fingers through his hair. "Rule 10, If we are going to continue fighting about this, we are going to have to do it out at containment Darcy," his voice was tight with controlled anger, "Because you are really getting on my last nerve here."

"Ditto," said Darcy sharply, "Let's go, because I'm not walking away from this."

"Fine."

"Fine!"

Darcy stood outside of the adamantine reinforced containment cell, arms crossed and eyes blazing as Bruce paced around the interior.

"I just don't see how you can feel totally Ok about throwing me up against a barn wall, but sleeping is this insanely dangerous threat to your control."

"That was different," he shouted, exasperated, "the other guy was worn out, and I am never more in control of myself than when I am focused on you." He was breathing hard, fists clenched tight at his sides, focusing on her. Darcy raised an eyebrow. "Usually." He amended awkwardly, a little bit of the wind coming out of his sails.

"So if the other guy was worn out, you'd be okay with staying over?" she tried to put this forward in a bit more of a rational tone, because they were both a little worked up at this point.

Bruce stopped his pacing, "yeah," he said slowly, "yeah that might be ok."

"And will you look into what the risk of sleeping with me really is? Because there was a time when you thought it wasn't even safe for me to be friends with you, and you promised to work on that." She sniffed a little, because they both knew perfectly well that behind this fight was the desperate sadness that both of them wanted everything to be simple and uncomplicated, but they just weren't those people.

He let out a breath, "I remember," he said, "and I can look into it. But," he put a hand up against the glass, "you can't ask me to put your safety second to anything Darcy, not even if it's what you want. I can't do that."

She sighed, "I know," she put her hand against his across the glass, "and I love that you care about me that much."

"Of course I do," he said. They both pressed their foreheads against the glass for a moment.

"Hey Bruce," Darcy said after a moment, "I think we just had our first fight."

"I guess we did," he said, pulling away from the wall with a smile, "how do you think it went?"

"I give us high marks thus far," she said "we came to a fair compromise, and you didn't Hulk out and need to be tranked." The corner of her mouth quirked up in a half smile.

"Thus far?" Bruce looked concerned, "I was really hoping it was over. I didn't much care for fighting with you."

"Oh it 'aint over yet," said Darcy, her lips kicking up into a full and wicked grin, walking up to the control panel and hitting the opening sequence "the best part of a fight is the make up sex."

They were walking back through the woods behind SHILED to take Bruce's car back to the tower, arms around each other, looking rumpled but relaxed. That is until an irate Clint stopped them just outside the back entrance.

"Uh, hi Clint?" Bruce tried cautiously. Clint pointed a finger at Bruce, silencing him with a kind of terrifying glare.

"What's up buddy?" Darcy was using her 'you may be a crazy person' voice.

Clint held out a small, plastic encased disk, the sort that Shield security feeds were recorded on. Security feeds. Like the ones that were hard wired into containment.

"You had best be thanking the lucky star you live under that I was a jackass and Hill put me on surveillance tonight, kid." Said Clint fiercely. "And before you ask, I didn't watch any more than it took to figure out what was going on and to find out when it was over so I could steal the tape."

"Oh my god, Clint thank you we didn't even think…I'm so sorry!"

He held a hand up, looking pained, "Just…never ever bring this up again, okay?" Darcy nodded mutely, biting her lip half in embarrassment, half because she wanted to laugh at the horror written all over Clint's face. I mean, here was a man who could stand up to alien invasions and super villains without blinking, but some guy getting busy with his Darcy? World ending. Lord love him.

"And you," he rounded on Bruce. Bruce looked at Darcy helplessly. "You are really lucky that I am practiced at repressing things." He started to walk away then turned back "And that I like you most of the time."

"Clint, I…"

"Nope, don't wanna talk about it," Clint interrupted Bruce's awkward attempt at an apology, "Gonna go bleach my eyeballs." He stalked off.

"So…" said Darcy, "Rule 11, yes?"

"Yes."