Theo was walking down a hallway in Stark Tower – ugh, Avengers Tower, she just was never was going to get used to calling this place that – with Pepper, going over her itinerary for the day. However, Pepper was sick with the flu, so Theo was mostly talking; she was currently explaining to her boss what they would have to reschedule and her suggestions on which appointments to replace them with or put off at the earliest appointment date.

"I suggest we reschedule him for next week. The governor hates Mr. Stark enough already, so I think the first time we can fit him in or replace another appointment with his would be good." Theo said to her boss.

"Yes, I think that would be for the best. Doesn't everyone hate Tony enough though?" Pepper joked and Theo nodded slightly, taking the sentence very seriously. A lot of people really did hate Tony, but it was only those with power who were either jealous or scared of it. Aldrich Killian was one of those jealous people, Theo would like to think. She hadn't touched Killian fortunately, so hadn't felt the bitterness he held for Tony Stark. If she had… Well, she didn't like to think what would've happened.

She couldn't help the chill that ran down her spine at thinking of the deranged and fortunately deceased man. They had run in to each other three times before his death: once while she was with Pepper, the second when she was with Tony, and the last when she was with Tony and Pepper, when Pepper managed to kill Killian. Fortunately for Theo, Killian was not interested in her the same way as he was Pepper, but once he found out about her power – another moment where Tony had squabbled and tried to make it seem as if she was more powerful than she actually was – he had tried to either catch her dead or alive. Fortunately for her once again, she was with the Iron Man, so she was pretty well protected. She had not a thing to worry about… Except for Tony's well-being. It was her unofficial job that she made sure he had come out of that alive.

The worst part of that whole thing with Killian was when Pepper had "died." Theo would never admit it, but that was the first time since she was thirteen that she felt a crushing wave of grief. Pepper – her boss, the very woman that hired her, that gave her a chance after finding out about her past – was dead. Right before Theo's eyes… Tony had said her job was to get Pepper while he handled Killian. He had trusted her more than any of his Avenger friends to have let her help him with the Extremis situation, even trusted her more than his best friend Colonel Rhodes. And she had in return failed him. She always wondered if he hated her for that, for not being able to save Pepper as she hung off that walkway before she plummeted to her "death." No matter, he couldn't have hated her as much as she hated herself in that moment.

Killian ended up being defeated when Pepper revealed she was still alive because of the Extremis serum in her blood. Then, it all ended happy. The President was saved by Colonel Rhodes, mot of AIM and the Extremis virus had been destroyed, Pepper was alive, and Tony blew up all of his existing Iron Man suits. Theo wasn't sure how she felt about him doing that last thing, because there were still threats in the world that he would need to defend himself against, but he was doing it for Pepper so she wasn't going to question him.

For the first time in forever that night, Theo got a full night's sleep. The next day she had returned to work as if nothing had happened – though a part of her feared they may not want her back – as if her face didn't have cuts and scratches, and helped Pepper and Tony arrange what they needed. Tony had a surgery scheduled to remove the shrapnel threatening to pierce his heart and he managed to get the Extremis in Pepper removed as well. Before they had put him under for his surgery she had been in the room, and that moment had stuck out to her in the past few months.

"Remember to tell Pepper get a good lawyer if this goes wrong." Tony had said to her as he adjusted himself on the table. Theo rolled her eyes and glanced up at the window where Pepper was waiting. The woman was on a last minute business call before Tony's surgery. "I want you to know, it wasn't your fault."

Theo looked back down at him, a confused expression on her face. "Pardon?"

"Pepper's near-death. That's not on you." He said with seriousness. Theo studied him for a moment before she looked away at him and at the entering doctors.

"I never said it was on me."

"Yeah, but you blamed yourself. I saw it." Tony reached out and grabbed her hand, causing her to jump back in alarm but he didn't let go. His feelings rushed towards her and overtook her within a second. She saw everything that had occurred over the past couple of weeks and it caused her to tense up. She had tried to help him back when he couldn't sleep because of the mess that went down in New York with Loki, but it was difficult to fix someone when you couldn't even fix yourself.

After that, Theo had been sent to where Pepper waited to watch the surgery. All was well and soon there afterwards, everything was back to a normality similar to the one before. Except now Theo was working for both Pepper and Tony. She had evidently earned some level of trust with him so he deemed her worthy enough to run his errands and bring him things. Not that she minded, it was something to do that wasn't too bizarre – though at times it had been – for her. Plus now it allowed her to make sure he was okay with just a bit of human contact. She promised herself she wouldn't let him get to the point he had earlier.

"Earth to Theodora, the best personal assistant ever!"

Theo came back to when she noticed Pepper and she had walked into Tony's lab, where he and Dr. Banner were working at a lab station. Pepper was standing nearby, rubbing her temples while Tony flailed his arms, trying to get Theo's attention. Her moss green eyes focused on Tony with an unimpressed look in them.

"Yes, Mr. Stark?"

"Where were you at? La La Land?" Tony questioned as he shook his head. Then he pointed to Pepper. "And she's sick! Why would you allow her down in the lab?"

"Because she is a grown woman with free will." Theo replied dryly before she walked over to Pepper's side. "Ms. Potts, is there anything I can get you?"

"No, Theo, you've done enough already. I think I am going to go rest for a while–" Pepper threw a look Tony's way. "–so you may go home if you wish."

Theo nodded for a second. "Yes, Ms. Potts. If you need me, I am just a phone call away. You know I do not mind helping you at all."

Pepper smiled at her as she stood to her feet. "I know, Theo, thank you. You are the biggest help, unlike some people." She shot a look towards Tony before she headed out of the room. Theo glanced over at Tony before she started to follow after her boss. Why had they come in here the first place? No matter, she would just go home and tidy up her small apartment. She hadn't been home much in the past couple of days since she had gone to the hospital to visit the girl Steve Rogers had been watching over. However, just as she started to leave, she was stopped again.

"Oh Theodora," Tony said in a sing-songy tone, causing Theo to turn with a slight eye roll.

"Yes, Mr. Stark?" She questioned.

"We need a guinea pig." Tony said and she looked at him blankly for a moment. "For an experiment. It was a figure of speech for a test sub—"

"I got that, Mr. Stark." Theo interrupted his elaboration. She glanced at Dr. Banner – noticing he was moving papers to another table – briefly before folding her arms. She hadn't spoken much to the doctor, but his presence caused her to feel uneasy. Perhaps it was the fact he might burst into a big green rage monster and kill them all?

"Tony, we shouldn't ask her," Bruce said as he turned to look at his friend, a worry glint in his eye. "We should really just test it on me; I'm a willing 'guinea pig.' It's going to be uncomfortable for her. Besides, you're the one usually all up for testing on me."

Theo's eyes went back to the doctor and scrutinized him for a moment. He hadn't acknowledged her once since she walked into the room, and now he knew what was going to make her feel uncomfortable? Turning to look at Tony, she made her decision. "What do you need me to do, Mr. Stark?" She asked him, and Tony smirked at her while Bruce frowned in her direction. She pointedly ignored him.

"We are making serums to help Bruce slow his heart rate, so he doesn't burst into the Hulk when his heart rate gets going," Tony explained as he held up a beaker with a dark substance in it. "And here is the first batch. Now usually, as Brucey so kindly said, I would usually test this on him. But, we tested another drug on him earlier that could counteract with this and I wouldn't want him to Hulk out while we're stabbing a needle in his arm. That would be just another task for you to handle."

Theo exhaled and walked over to them. "Well, then we better go ahead and get this done then, shouldn't we? I do hope there aren't any longtime effects on this, there was somewhere I wanted to go after this."

"Well, you may not want to drive for a while, but other than that you should be okay." Tony said as gestured for her to take a seat on the chair in between Bruce and him. With a small sigh she walked over and sat down. He looked at her expectantly. "Well?"

"Well what?" She asked with an agitated tone. She had done as he asked, had she not? So what did he want now?

"You need to unbutton your blouse slightly and roll up your sleeves. I have to put these sensors on certain parts of your body." Tony stated, wiggling his eyebrows as he held up the small, black circular sensors. Theo stared at them with uncertainty, this situation feeling all too well…

"Tony—" Bruce started to say, but Theo had already started to roll up her sleeves, showing off all the scars in her arms from needles and over surgical tools. Tony hadn't seen them before, as she always wore long sleeves, but now she felt exposed at her scars being shown to not only him but Bruce. Theo looked up to see both men were watching her skin with shock and pity. The scars, some self-inflicted, weren't too visible, but because there were so many they were hard not to notice. She unbuttoned the top three buttons on her blouse and looked up at Tony expectantly.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" She asked him in an impatient tone. If she showed that she felt bare right now then it would just be another weakness for others to see and she knew all too well showing weakness was not a positive thing.

Tony watched her for a moment, his brown eyes searching hers for something she did not know. Then he started placing the sensors on her. "Theodora?" Tony questioned as he stuck one to her wrist.

"Don't." Theo said in a harsh tone, knowing exactly what he was going to ask. They always asked the same thing and she did not want to answer every time. It was her own business, not theirs.

Tony exhaled, glancing over at Bruce. "Put the ones on her temples and over her heart, will you?" He said before he walked over to a screen. Theo turned herself in the chair to face Bruce. He seemed slightly uncomfortable, but she looked him in the eyes and saw the sadness in his eyes. If not for her powers, she would have thought it was pity. But no, she knew he understood. She had gone through that memory of his, it so prominent in her mind she even dreamed about it.

As Bruce moved to put the sensors on her, she took notice of how nice he smelt. He smelled like some kind of mint aftershave. His hair had grown out a little longer in the past few days he had been here. She couldn't help but wonder how old he was exactly. She knew Tony was forty-five, roughly fourteen years older than her, but she wasn't sure how old Bruce was. She wasn't like Tony; she couldn't read all the files she could get her hands on. It didn't exactly stand out to her while she was in his memories.

"Why would you do that to yourself?" Bruce murmured, pulling Theo from her thoughts, as he placed the sensors on each of her temples.

"Excuse me?" She questioned, uncertain if she had heard him clearly.

"Your skin… It's like porcelain. Why would you do that to it?" He asked her, backing up slightly so they were looking each other in the eyes.

"Some wounds aren't self-inflicted, Dr. Banner. You can't chose if someone else hurts you." Theo responded as she stared at him with an intense gaze, mainly because she was still trying to figure out how old he was. Bruce nodded, his brown eyes showing his pity for her before he continued placing the sensors on her. She didn't want his pity. She had enough of pity in her life, she didn't need it from some doctor who she didn't even care enough to know.

Theo realized how rude her thoughts were. Why did she feel such a strong resentment towards Bruce? She had touched him, she had felt his pain… Maybe it was because of that. She didn't want to know his pain, she didn't want to sympathize with him. She didn't like sympathy or empathy. Those were the two things she loathed most in this world… And she had felt each of those during her contact with Bruce. She wondered how outward she had been of her distaste to him. She had barely known him a week, after all.

When Bruce finished putting the sensors on her, Tony walked over with a syringe and held it up. Theo held in a flinch at the sight, her mind being brought back to the days where needle injections were a daily thing. She couldn't help but stare at the needle, hoping it would suddenly break so she wouldn't have to feel the familiar feeling.

"Shall Bruce or shall I?" Tony asked her.

"It doesn't matter to me so long as you go ahead and do it." Theo answered as she held her arm out in between the two men. She glanced at both of them. "If you did something embarrassing last night and you don't want me to know about it, I recommend you pass on the offer. However, considering I've seen just about everything to know about both of your lives, your embarrassment should probably already be great at the moment." Theo looked over at Tony. "Your college years are particularly cringe-worthy."

Tony snorted and looked over at Bruce. "I'm telling you, her mouth is going to get her in trouble one day." He looked back at Theo. "Aren't you embarrassed you had to go through my memories? I mean, there are some pretty graphic things in there. And I know Brucey here isn't a virgin."

Theo blinked at couple of times, her moss green eyes studying Bruce intently before she slid her gaze back to Tony. "Don't you remember? I don't ever get embarrassed. I never have, and I anticipate I never will."

"Wait, you have confidence? I had no idea," Tony said dryly as he tilted his head slightly. "So you don't feel any embarrassment over seeing the first time I had sex?"

"I believe your own embarrassment of that situation is enough for everyone in America." Theo said and Bruce chuckled. Her eyes flickered to him, slightly shocked she had gotten him to laugh. It was a… pleasant sound.

"Okay, I think it's safe to say I should be the one to do the injection," Bruce said as he took the syringe from Tony. "I don't trust you won't try to hurt her in some way."

"And you wouldn't?" Theo questioned with curiosity before she could stop herself. It was an innocent question, one she didn't realize sounded really bad considering the Other Guy. Bruce froze up for a moment then looked up at her in the eyes. She wasn't sure what he was looking for, but he finally moved his eyes down and gently grabbed her arm.

A lot of memories flashed through her mind, they always went quickly – just in a matter of seconds. It was funny because an hour long memory could last five minutes or sometimes even less. Anyways, now she was getting flashes. Flashes of crying and a cold gun shaking in her hand was what first came to mind; indescribable despair she hadn't felt in so long. Followed by a gunshot and then anger, consuming anger. Then she felt her skin expanding, hurting her. The rage shot out and she began screaming as she began smashing the nearest thing with big, green fists.

Theo blinked twice before her face focused on Bruce's. "Dr. Banner…" She murmured, trying to piece together what she had seen. He glanced up at her before injecting the needle tip into her skin. She stiffened up but kept her eyes on the man in front of her. What had she just seen? Surely it wasn't what she thought it was, Dr. Banner was such a well put together man… But then again, even the strongest of men could have weaknesses.

Theo suddenly felt her heart slowing in her chest. She could barely register Bruce's hand removing from her arm and her blinking got slower. She heard the heart monitor slowing down and could feel her heart get down to where it was barely beating at all… yet she still felt able to move.

"Theodora?" Tony questioned her.

She looked over at her boss and nodded slowly. "I feel… I don't know. The same? But I can feel my heart in my chest," She placed her hand over her heart. "There's barely a beat there. It's... it's like it's n-not even beating."

"What did I tell you?" Tony said, smiling triumphantly at Bruce.

"Yeah, yeah," Bruce said before leaning down slightly so he was eye level with Theo. "Are you feeling any light-headiness? A headache? Dizziness? Nausea?"

Theo shook her head slightly. "No, I feel kind of out of it, though. Like I'm watching everything through a window. You… kind of sound muffled…" She responded, her moss green eyes fixated on his brown eyes. His eyes were so… attractive. Or she at least thought they were. She had never really found beauty in anything, though sometimes exceptions came whenever she was out in nature, but Bruce's eyes were so comforting. They had so many emotions rolled into them it made Theo's mind halt and just focus on them.

Bruce cleared his throat. "Theo?" He murmured. She had to blink a few times before she realized both Tony and him were watching her with slight confusion and concern.

"What was that?" Theo questioned back, her eyebrows furrowing.

"I asked if you wanted a glass of water or anything. You're growing pale… and very cold," Bruce said with great concern, making her aware of his resting hands on her arms. She moved her eyes down a moment, blinking in what seemed like was slow motion, before he realized and removed his hands from her. She turned her head towards Tony.

"I believe I'm fine, just… a bit worn out," Theo involuntarily yawned and stared at Tony with her own concern. "Did you take your medicine today? I wasn't here this morning so I wasn't able to give it to you then…" She stood from the stool and stumbled a bit, only to be caught by Bruce. "Thank you." She said, brushing some of the curls out of her face. "Dr. Banner, what was in that serum?" She demanded suddenly, her eyes hardening as she stared into his soft ones with slight irritation.

Bruce's eyes flashed with a briefness of guilt. "Well, Tony…"

"Basically… Benadryl." Tony responded as he popped a blueberry into his mouth. Theo's eyes turned into small slits as she forced herself to stand on her own two legs. She balanced herself before looking over at Tony. "Of course, there were some other components. Don't worry it's mostly safe."

"And what was your ulterior motive for giving me the role of the guinea pig?" Theo questioned sharply, her fists clenching.

"Well, because the drugs are some that we've not tested before, you should stay so Dr. Banner can monitor your progress. We don't want you to die because of a dose of the serum he injected into you. Nasty lawsuits and all." Tony pointed out, causing Theo to glare at him. Theo didn't even waste her time in asking how he knew where she had gone considering she didn't speak one word to anyone about it. He was Tony Stark after all. She was pretty sure he knew whenever she went to buy groceries.

"I am a grown woman," Theo said as she removed her hands from the table, standing herself straight up and looking at Tony with her expression contorted into anger. It was one of the few times Tony had actually seen her without an emotionless mask on her face. "I make my own decisions. You are not even truly my boss, Ms. Potts is. You have no control over what I do."

"Theodora, we are friends! How many times must I remind you? I'm only looking out for your best interests." Tony responded, walking over to her and putting comforting hands on her arms which she immediately smacked away.

"Do not touch me again." Theo snapped at him as she gathered her things up. "I wish you would have actually read everything about me, about those files that all those doctors had on me. Maybe then you'd understand why this was the complete opposite of having 'my best interests' at heart." Theo looked over at him, her expressionless mask back on her face. She cleared her throat slightly, stumbling slightly. "I am going and there is nothing you can do about it. I walk, so that will not be a problem. Goodbye, Mr. Stark. I'll see you next time you call me at three in the morning for coffee."

Theo didn't even bat an eyelash towards Bruce as she left. She refused to acknowledge the man because he had been involved in Tony's plan to get her to stay the night (why the hell was he doing that anyways?). Needless to say, Theo had not liked Tony's best friend so far and hardly doubted she ever would. She wondered briefly, as she headed down the stairs – thankfully the "construction" Tony had done was finished – what he thought of her, if he disliked her as much as she was disliking him. Then, she pushed it out of her mind. The doctor didn't matter to her, he was just one of Tony many friends. She would just have to make it through the rest of his visit and then she was free of him.