Theo sat behind her desk, typing away at her computer at a furious rate. She was finishing up the final draft of Pepper's schedule for her trip in Paris next week. It had changed around because of cancellations (one of the things Theo hated most in the world). It was already hitting a late hour but Theo had promised herself she would finish it by the end of the day, so here she was making sure everything was perfect as usual. She tried to take as much stress off of Pepper as possible considering she had to deal with Tony Stark more than Theo did. Theo was still unsure how Pepper had not gone crazy yet.

Unfortunately, Theo was working in Stark Tower so Tony knew she was in the building. Where else would she be? She hardly worked at her home and considering she had effectively avoided him the past couple of days by doing other work for Pepper, she knew he would show up at any moment.

She wasn't ready to see him yet. He had used the serum Bruce and he had come up to drug her so she would stay at the Tower, and truthfully she felt like it was a breach of their relationship. He had made her uncomfortable with having her bare her scars and then trying to get her to stay at the Tower when he knew that's the last place she would want to stay. He knew she was a creature of habit and springing a visit on her at the last minute was uncalled for. Drugging her just so she would stay the night was uncalled for and disgusting. She wasn't sure why he was trying to get her to spend more time around the Tower lately but it was getting on her nerves.

Footsteps coming down the hall towards her registered in her mind but Theo was furiously working on the itinerary for Pepper. She didn't want any distractions and was glad she had locked her office even if Tony would eventually be able to find his way in here eventually. However, he wouldn't have any help from JARVIS. She had already asked him to ensure that Tony was to not bother her and if he came knocking to turn him away. It was his tower, but Pepper had agreed it was the thing to do so Theo could actually do the job she was hired for.

A soft knock came from the door. Theo ignored it knowing full well had it been Pepper JARVIS would have unlocked the door already. She continued typing on her computer, doing her best to not think about Tony on the other side of the door. The way he had treated her was terrible and she didn't want to have to listen to him grovel.

"Miss Carlyle has requested to be left alone by anyone except for Ms. Potts."

"Can I speak to her for a moment? Please?"

Theo's eyes snapped up to the voice that came from the other side of the door. It certainly was not Tony's, but his partner in crime, Bruce Banner. What was he doing here? Theo had been sure that Tony would have shown up, not Dr. Banner.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Banner. I do not believe Miss Carlyle is in the right spirits to speak to you or Mr. Stark."

"Will… Will you tell her that I'm sorry? And that she won't have to ever worry about Tony bugging her about being the test subject again and not to worry about me invading her work space again."

"Yes, Dr. Banner."

Theo heard a sigh escape from Bruce and she leaned back in her chair, her mind racing. He had shown up before Tony to apologize, Theo noted. She knew Tony had pride issues, but she had expected him to give that up to apologize her for the way he acted. She thought that when he said he considered them friends that it meant something coming from him but he couldn't even show up to give her the much deserved apology.

"Thank you, JARVIS."

Before Theo knew what she was doing, she had stood and crossed the room. She hesitated for a couple of seconds before unlocking the door and opening it to see Dr. Banner's retreating form halfway down the hall. When he heard the door open, he paused and glanced over his shoulder with his brown eyes.

"Um, why don't you come in for a moment?" Theo asked him her gaze not wavering from his. "I've got some tea in here." She added after a moment's pause.

"I'd like that." Bruce said as he turned towards her. She turned her back and retreated into her office, going over to the tray that held a kettle and two glass cups. She poured tea into the unused cup as Bruce walked into the room.

"Have a seat, Dr. Banner." She offered, gesturing to the seat in front of her desk. Tony had given her an office to work in after-hours so she didn't have to be in a wide open space when it was dark all around her because everyone else had gone home. She didn't quite understand it herself since it didn't bother her to be alone and certainly not in the dark but he insisted upon it. "Would you like honey in yours?" She looked up at Bruce as he took a seat in the leather chair.

"Yes, please." Bruce responded, his brown eyes only meeting hers for a moment before jumping away. Theo stirred his tea up for him before handing it over to him, their fingers brushing slightly. She got more flashes from him, more recent. Regret. Why does she look like she's in a zombie-like state? She never smiles and her eyes seem like their dead… Not when Tony used the serum on her though. She was livid, lines etched in her face. Her eyes didn't have anger in them though, at least not much… No, they had hurt in them.

Theo blinked twice, her gaze meeting Bruce's again. He had yanked his hands away from her. "I'm sorry, I forgot that you… I-I wouldn't have risked touching you if I had—Um, sorry."

Bruce looked down at his glass and swallowed hard. Theo didn't respond as she walked and sat behind her desk and continued working. They sat in silence for the longest of times, both waiting for the other to speak up. Finally Theo finished with the itinerary and hit print. Just as she stood to go get it, Bruce had begun talking, but fell silent when she continued walking over to the printer. Once the papers had printed out she went back over to her printer and emailed Pepper that she had finished and could give her a hard copy of the schedule… And that Bruce was in her office.

Pepper's response came almost instantly. "Bruce?" It wrote. "He's in your office? What does he want?"

Theo wrote back, "No clue. He hasn't said a word in five minutes. I've been working and waiting for him to say something."

"Well, you say something then. Take initiative, Theo." Pepper answered back. Theo would take initiative, but she had no clue how to interact with Bruce. She knew a huge hunk of his life but she still didn't know how to talk to him, how could she? Despite seeing all of those personal moments she felt like she didn't actually know a thing about him. Besides, he sought her out. He should be the one struggling to start a conversation.

"If you're working I can go…" Bruce finally said, breaking the awkward silence. Theo's gaze darted to his.

"I'm no longer working, I just finished. I was waiting for you to speak up considering it was you who sought me out." Theo said, applauding herself for keeping her voice its usual neutral and flat voice.

"Oh," Bruce's gaze dropped once again to the glass in his hands. "Um, this is nice porcelain you have here."

Theo looked down at the white cup in his hands that had pink and purple flowers painted on it. "Thank you. They are a family heirloom." Theo said, taking a sip of her own glass. Theo glanced over at her computer screen to see that Pepper had emailed her again.

"How's it going? He talking yet? He made any unwanted declarations of admiration?"

"He's asking about the China I poured his tea into. Hardly the stuff of Shakespeare."

"Do you have any siblings?" Bruce questioned but one look from Theo sent him backtracking. "Uh, sorry, I shouldn't have asked. I don't know why I did, I just…" He cleared his throat. "I should probably just get the reason why I came down here out already. I'm sorry that I let Tony give you that serum. He assured me you'd be fine with sleeping in the guest quarters or in the lab where we could make you a makeshift bed so you could stay hooked up to the machines to be monitored. Still, I should have checked with you personally before I went through with any of it. I don't know what got into Tony's head, but I apologize."

Theo stared at Bruce for a long moment, his brown eyes meeting hers and staying there. She was surprised his gaze didn't shy away like it had the other times. She knew it might make him uncomfortable, but she couldn't help but stare at him as her mind processed his apology. He seemed genuine about the whole ordeal and she actually found herself believing that he had no clue Tony had ulterior motives. As much as she didn't want to admit it, the fact he was willing to apologize to her face when one of the two people she was closest to in the world didn't even attempt to come give his apologies was enough to make her consider forgiveness.

"I accept your apology, and I forgive you."

Bruce sucked in air as if he was surprised. "Thank you, Miss Carlyle." He said in a low, soft voice. His eyes were kind, too kind. He was either the type of man who was a snake in the grass or was a genuinely good man. If it was the former, Theo did not wish to be surprised.

"It was more for me than for you, Dr. Banner. Life's too short to hold onto hate," Theo responded, taking the last sip of her tea. "However, I am surprised you showed up before Mr. Stark."

Bruce looked away. "Yeah, um, Pepper though it best if Tony stayed away from you for a few more days so JARVIS was ordered specifically to not even let Tony be on the same floor as you."

Theo scoffed slightly, shaking her head but grateful for Pepper. "I suppose I owe her my thanks then."

"He nearly hoped in one of his Iron Man suits and flew over here."

"I would've dropped him on his tail in two seconds had he even tried to apologize." Theo stated, the corner of her mouth pulling up ever so slightly. Bruce's eyes went down to it and a smile tugged at his lips. Theo instantly dropped her lips and turned back to her computer. Why did he smile at her like that?

"Theo, what's going on? He isn't bothering you is he? Wait, this is Bruce we're talking about. He wouldn't bother a fly." Pepper had emailed her a minute ago. Theo exhaled and typed up a quick response.

"Everything is okay. He apologized and I forgave him. I'm shutting everything down and will leave the itinerary on your desk for you to review in the morning. Should anything change, I will update it for you." I wrote back.

"You're the best, Theo. I'll see you tomorrow."

Theo shut down her computer and looked back over at Bruce. "Was there anything else I could help you with, Dr. Banner?" She asked him, uncertain why he was still here.

"Oh, no, not that I can think of." Bruce said, finishing off his tea before standing. He sat the cup back on the tray and took his glasses off of his face, fumbling with them in his hands. "Uh, I know you said you forgave me, but I truly am sorry about what happened still."

"Thank you." Theo said, giving him a small nod as she stood up at her desk. She stared at him a moment, admiring his tan skin and dark eyes. His hair had grown out longer than when she first met him and were growing into small curls. Theo noticed he hadn't shaved in a day or so and had scruff on his face. She noticed he had bags under his eyes. "Have you not been sleeping the past few nights?" She asked him before she could stop herself.

"Uh, no, I haven't been. Was it the bags under my eyes or my unbalanced walk?" He questioned with a low chuckle as he rubbed his eyes with his free hand.

"The bags were the major giveaway," Theo stated with a bit of empathy, glancing down to see his clothes were a bit crinkled and eyes were a bit bloodshot. "Do… Do you want to talk about it?"

"It's just taking some time to getting adjusted to the city sounds after being used to just insects outside of the hut." Bruce admitted.

"Where were you before you came here to visit Tony?" Theo asked him.

"Calcutta," Bruce responded, rubbing the back of his neck. "Some… interested parties were closing in so SHIELD suggested I move on. Tony wanted me to visit plus he had some ideas for some serums to help me control the Other Guy." Bruce spoke with a hint of sarcasm in his voice.

"You don't think the serums will work?"

Bruce sighed, shaking his head slightly. "I've tried serum after serum over the years. I don't think we will find one that will completely help."

"I'm sorry," Theo murmured and Bruce looked up at her. "I know how frustrated you feel over it. How you feel about the Other Guy in general… Um, sorry I shouldn't have said that. It's not right I should be sharing your personal thoughts like that."

"It's fine, Theo. You can't control your power either and you can't exactly avoid physical contact with someone forever." Bruce assured, giving her a smile.

Theo nodded and brushed a few of her curls behind her ear. "So you help people around the world?" She asked him as she got the things on her desk in order.

"Yes, I do my best to."

"That's admirable, helping people like that. I was going to go to med school—" Theo stopped herself, realizing she was getting a little too personal with Bruce right now. "Uh, your tea, did you like it?" She was desperate to change the subject to anything else.

"Yes, very much so. It had the right amount of honey in it," Bruce commented. "Thank you for it."

"It was the least I could do." Theo said as she finished packing up her bag. She picked up the tray that had the tea stuff on it. "Well, I better go clean these up and then I will be going home. It was… nice talking to you, Dr. Banner."

"It was nice talking to you too, Miss Carlyle."

"You might as well call me Theo. Pepper and Tony do it all the time and eventually it will slip into your vocabulary." Theo pointed out to him.

"You can call me Bruce then." He said as he walked over to the door and held it open for her. She slipped her bag on her other shoulder before walking out the door. She turned the see Bruce switching the lights off and closing the door behind him.

"Goodnight, Dr. Banner."

"Bruce. And goodnight to you, Theo." Bruce stated with a small smile.

"Get some sleep. I know the transition is hard at first, but you'll grow used to it in no time." Theo said to him with a small wave before she walked into the break room for employee's right down the hall.

"Oh, Theo?" Bruce said from the door of the break room. She paused in the midst of washing out the kettle to look back at him. "Tony wanted me to tell you that the girl, Scottlyn West, she woke up from her coma." And with that, Bruce was gone.

Theo heard Bruce walk down the hall and get on the elevator. The moment she heard the elevator doors close she let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Did she just have a civil conversation with Dr. Bruce Banner? She would have to watch out when she walked outside tonight because she was sure it was raining cats and dogs after that one.

Another thing Theo couldn't get out of her mind was the girl Scottlyn. She had awoken from her coma? Theo knew that she had no reason to go see the girl but there was a pit in her stomach about the girl from the moment she visited her while she was still under. Something was wrong with the girl, Theo knew for sure, and she had to find out.