A/N: Hello again! Sorry about the big delay. I've been working on some other projects and life gets in the way and all of the usual excuses...Anyway, I had intended to give a little more of Perry's perspective in this story, but it ended up being mostly about Bruce (which is good because we get to see a bit about what happened to Betty). I also want to mention that I actually began this story before I watched Iron Man 3, but I wanted to work in some of that. This story also supposed to take place after Thor: The Dark World, so I hope that helps a bit with Jane and Thor's perspective.

Jane sighed a she sat her single suitcase down beside Thor's mountain of luggage. One weekend, that is how long they would be gone, and the God of Thunder had managed to pack his entire diva-sized collection of Midgardian clothing. But it wasn't the clothes that had Jane rolling her eyes. Or even the sheer amount of luggage he brought (she had already loaded twice as much equipment on to Tony's plane, but that was the whole point of this trip, right?). It was the small arsenal of weapons that was stacked beside the luggage ready to be loaded in to the cargo hold that had her more than a little worried.

"Honey, do we really need to bring all of this?" Asked Jane, eyeing a stack of rifle cases with complimentary ammo cans beside them.

"Of course," boomed Thor's voice from the other side of the pile. "I will capture the great green one and tonight we shall feast, my Lady."

Jane furrowed her brow. "We are going to the Everglades to take measurements, not to hunt alligators." Glancing over the pile again, she noticed something sticking dangerously out of a bag on top. "Is that a harpoon? Where in the hell did you get a harpoon?"

Thor walked around the pile, grinning broadly and opening his arms to embrace Jane. "I will not be joining you while you work. Tony says that I must help by staying out of the way. Steve, Clint, and I are going to hunt this monster that roams the sewers and terrorizes the people of Florida"

Jane buried her face in Thor's muscular chest, muffling her laughter with his soft gray t-shirt. All of this time later, his speech patterns still managed to make her giggle.

The day before, Jane approached Tony about taking a trip to Florida. All of the unnervingly thorough hacking that Perry and Tony did proved to be inconclusive, with every government agency revealing that they were not only uninformed about these weird creatures, but they had no information regarding those odd disturbances in Florida. So Jane requested a weekend trip for her, Thor, and Darcy to go take a few measurements. Tony was more than happy to let them borrow the plane with the condition of allowing him to join the fun. But then Pepper reminded him that Perry would murder him if she didn't get to go too. And since Perry had been in such a bad mood, Tony decided that Bruce could come cheer her up (besides, he needed to get out of Stark Tower once in a while). When Darcy found out that Perry got to have Bruce, she threw a fit until Steve got to join them. With more than half of the Avengers heading to Florida, Tony begrudgingly called Director Fury to let him know that they were taking a little trip. Fury was not happy, but agreed to let them go (could he really stop them?) if they took two agents with them. This stipulation had Tony in hissy fit mode until Natasha and Clint volunteered to go. So in the end, all of the Avengers and respective groupies (excluding Pepper who had a business to run) were ready to go on their first working vacation as a team.

"Just try to be careful. I know you hunt all the time on Asgard, but these guns…make sure Steve and Clint show you how to use them, okay?"

Thor cupped her cheek with his large hand, turning her face towards his. "Fear not for me, Jane. I will always be safe and I will always protect you."

His voice rumbled gently, vibrating through his chest, sending comforting and tantalizing tremors down Jane's spine. She had never considered herself to be much of a muscle-type girl, always finding high IQ and intellectual sparring much more attractive than chiseled abs. But that all changed the night she managed to hit a freaking Norse god with her vehicle – twice. Now all other men paled in comparison to her Thor – that's right, her Thor – and she was finding the thought of him getting injured or killed absolutely unbearable. Now that she had him back after his long absence, she was afraid he might disappear for good.

"Well don't die. Can you do that for me?" Jane pouted, tugging on the ends of his blond hair. She felt his laughter rumble through her as his thumb traced her jaw and his other hand snaked around her waist. God he felt good.

"Of course, my Sweet," he murmured, pressing his lips to hers.

These were the moments Jane lived for now. His lips and tongue were magic…or perhaps he just had centuries of practice. It didn't matter. All that mattered was that he didn't stop tracing her lips with his tongue, nipping at the soft pink flesh, tangling his fingers in her hair…all of those simple gestures that he turned into a work of art.

The kissing would have continued much too long if Tony hadn't of interrupted them by whistling a jaunty tune as he passed by them to board the plane. Jane growled as they broke apart, immediately imagining every form of torture she thought she could perform on her boss.

Chuckling, Thor pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead. "Come, we must board this air carriage. And perhaps later we shall commence with joining this 'Mile High Club' that Darcy mentioned."

Jane grinned as she watched Thor shoulder three more bags than the average man could hold. Oh yes, they would definitely be joining that club. It seemed that Darcy was proving herself useful once again.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" asked Darcy from the doorway of Perry's bedroom. It wasn't a rude or angry question, just a very perplexed query into the girl's obvious shift in moods. "I mean we are going to Florida, you know, that place you have been pining for ever since you got here, and all you can say is 'they have good rum'?"

Perry dragged her suitcase over to the bed to begin packing it with the clothes she had laying out. "What do you want me to say? I am glad we are going to Florida. Am I supposed to march around with a banner proclaiming my unwavering joy at finally being free from this god-awful tower and my oppressive uncle?"

"Wow, angst much?" asked Darcy, flopping down on the bed. Watching Perry cram clothing into her suitcase, Darcy suddenly flung her arms across a stack of hideous track pants that she was about to add to the collection. "Oh, no. You are not dressing like a bum just because you are in a bad mood."

Scowling, Perry ignored her and began gathering baggy t-shirts for the trip.

"So, speaking of banners, are you going to tell me what happened? After the little pep talk Jane and I gave Bruce, I expected you to be lighting up my phone with all sorts of good news and 'what the hell am I going to wear' texts."

Sighing, Perry moved to the bathroom to begin packing her toiletries. "Nothing happened," she called to Darcy in the other room.

"Yeah, right," said Darcy, moving from the bed to stand in the bathroom doorway. "Take a look at yourself in the mirror and tell me nothing happened."

Perry rolled her eyes but dutifully looked at the mirror. Taking in the reflection she had been avoiding all week, she noticed right away that she looked terrible. Her hair was not brushed and was clipped off of her face. Her eyes were heavy and circled in deep purple from lack of sleep. She looked drained and brittle.

"You look like shit. So what happened?"

Over her shoulder, Perry saw Darcy watching her expectantly. "I really don't want to talk about it," she muttered.

Darcy crossed her arms. "Look, I have been through this relationship crap a thousand times. Seriously, you should have seen Jane after Thor disappeared for two years. She looked way worse than you. What happened?"

Perry leaned forward, using her hands to brace herself on the sink counter. Why did Darcy have to be so pushy? Why couldn't she just let it go and let Perry wallow in self-pity? By some miracle even Tony had managed to give her space, but Darcy had been trying to wheedle information out of her all week.

"Bruce did nothing wrong," said Perry quietly. In the mirror she could see Darcy trying very hard to keep a triumphant smirk at bay. "I shouldn't have led him on. This thing…this relationship he wants can never happen."

Darcy shook her head. "Now you are starting with this 'it can't happen' bullshit. First Bruce thinks he can't have friends because of the Hulk, and now you are acting like it is a problem –"

"The Hulk isn't the problem," interrupted Perry. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. It was rare that she talked to anyone about her problems, in fact, even Tony had to use trickery to get her to tell him everything that was going on with her. "The problem is that I can't give him what he wants."

Darcy gave her a doubtful snort. "And what is it that he wants?"

"Forever," answered Perry.

Ten minutes into the flight the entire group was trying desperately to ignore the horribly recognizable thumping sounds coming from the bathroom after Jane and Thor disappeared. Darcy had managed to engage Perry and Steve in a game of Cards Against Humanity, which was making the poor man blush to his toes. Tony was bouncing between whispering suggestions in Steve's ear and shouting through the bathroom door that there better not be any holes in the walls when they finally got out of there. Bruce was slouched in his seat, pretending to read a book while he secretly watched Perry.

She looked so sad. He never thought that an expression could bring him such pain, but he felt so guilty having brought this sudden change in mood down on her. In all honesty, he really wasn't sure exactly what he did wrong. Apparently he had completely misread Perry's signals, although last time he checked, if a girl climbed on your lap and kissed you as thoroughly as she did it was usually a good indication that she was into you. And then the whole article incident confused him even further. She had an interest in cancer treatments, her worked was heavily based upon the disease, but this particular article had turned her into an emotional mess.

In some ways Bruce missed the early days, before they had become more than co-workers, when they could work comfortably in the lab together without erratic emotions and attraction getting in the way. In those days he could talk to her with ease, now they avoided looking at each other in the lab and had quit eating dinner together. He missed the tests, all the pokes and prods that had felt like mild torture at the time. Bruce tried telling himself it was for the best, that she would be safer this way, away from him and his green alter ego. But even the Other Guy missed Perry (and that was a truly odd sensation). Every time he thought about Perry's rejection, or worse, Perry leaving Stark Tower and returning to Florida for good, the Other Guy pounded against Bruce's thick inner walls threatening to escape. Sad Bruce and Angry Hulk made for a very bad combination. Even Tony walked on eggshells all week to keep from triggering Bruce's temper.

There on the plane, he could feel the Other Guy rumbling beneath the surface, not trying to escape, but expressing his displeasure that Perry was sitting across the cabin, carefully not looking up at Bruce. The only reassurance he had all week that she didn't hate him was occurring there on the plane, when Perry would turn away from the game while she waited on the others to put down their cards and read a few sentences in his journal. That had to mean something, right?

"So when are you going to quit hiding behind your book and actually talk to Perry?" Tony flopped down in the seat across from Bruce. Crossing his arms in front of him, he fixed a scrutinizing stare on the doctor.

Bruce sighed and tossed his book aside. There was no point in lying to his friend now that Perry wasn't giving him the time of day. "She doesn't want to talk to me," he muttered.

He expected Tony to roll his eyes, or to make some sort of snarky comment; anything that was a typical Tony Stark response to Bruce's insecurities. But for once, the man remained serious, leaning forward to make sure Bruce couldn't look away.

"Listen to me, Perry will do anything she can to push you away, but it has nothing to do with you. In fact, the more she cares about you, the more she pushes," Tony explained.

Bruce frowned. "That doesn't make sense. Why would she push away the people she cares about?"

Tony hesitated, glancing over his shoulder to find his niece immersed in Bruce's journal once more. "We all have our problems, Bruce. Perry's problems are a more than most people could handle –"

Bruce snorted. "I'm pretty sure turning into the Hulk is a much bigger problem than anything she is dealing with and you don't see me pushing her away."

"Damn it, Bruce," snapped Tony. "It isn't always about you. And don't give me that 'I'm not pushing her away' crap. You came up against the first hurdle and you ran away, hiding behind the Hulk again. It is like Betty all over again, only this time I'm not letting you run away."

Bruce knew he should be angry, that he should be defensive, but all he could feel as he glanced over at Perry once more was shame. Tony had reminded him of his failures regarding Betty from the time he first moved into Stark Tower and regrettably told the billionaire every detail of his experience becoming and fighting the Hulk. Usually he would tell his friend to 'fuck off' and retreat to his apartment until Tony wormed his way under Bruce's shell once more. But this time he just felt defeated. He never wanted to go down the Betty road again and just thinking about Perry going the way of his former love, marrying a man who would be good to her, made the Other Guy resume his internal roars of displeasure.

Bruce bowed his head, not wanting to meet Tony's fierce gaze. "I'm trying to protect her," he said quietly. "Perry deserves someone stable, someone who isn't going to fly off the handle at any time."

"You have more control than you give yourself credit for," scoffed Tony.

Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose. Tony just wasn't getting it. "I could kill her…no, he could kill her, and I wouldn't be able to stop that." Just saying the words out loud made Bruce feel sick.

"I am afraid that danger is part of the game," said Tony. Turning slightly in his seat, he nodded at Steve and Darcy, who were holding hands as they watched the clouds pass by. "Steve is still fighting the war in his sleep. He won't tell you that, but S.H.E.I.L.D. has been keeping tabs. I'm sure that will be just one of the many things that keeps him from taking Darcy home for a long time, but he will eventually give in. "

Turning a little further in his seat, Tony nodded towards Thor and Jane, freshly emerged from the bathroom, trying to look as though nothing happened. Rolling his eyes at Bruce, he continued. "Thor has to fight bad guys in nine different realms. His own brother is hell-bent on taking over Earth. He may be a god, but Jane is not and the bad guys all know that. They are more than happy to use Jane's mortality against him, but that doesn't stop him from playing house with her."

Bruce shook his head. He had no idea where Tony was going with this. "Clint and Natasha?" he asked.

Tony smirked. "I can't even touch that. I have a feeling that they are more likely to kill each other than the bad guys are. "

Bruce nodded in agreement. "And you?"

Tony's smirk faded and his mouth thinned into a hard line. "I nearly killed Pepper once; did I tell you about it?"

"What Killian did was not –"

"No," interrupted Tony, "There was another time before that. It was when I was working on the Mark 42 suit. I kept having these dreams about New York, just seeing it over and over again, the aliens…the missile…" He closed his eyes and took a deep shuttering breath. "One night I was having the dream and managed to activate the suit. It thought Pepper was a threat and…it grabbed her. I was able to stop it, but it was so close…"

Bruce leaned forward. "I'm sorry, Tony. I had no idea."

"Yeah, well now you know. I nearly killed Pepper. I lost control and I damn near killed her," said Tony, his fierce gaze returning.

Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose again. "I understand that we are all very dangerous, but I am not sure how this discussion is supposed to make me change my mind."

Tony let out an agitated sigh and rolled his eyes again. "What I am trying to tell you, Bruce, is that the danger doesn't matter. Darcy knows about Steve's PTSD even though he won't tell her. Jane has seen firsthand the danger of Thor's enemies. Pepper stuck with me, even after I managed to attack her in my sleep and drop her 200 feet. But none of it matters. They are going to stick with us no matter how much we push them away. And frankly, I don't think any of us can stand to let them go. Pepper makes me a better man than I could ever be alone. I think Thor understands that feeling as well."

Bruce looked over Tony's shoulder at Perry once more. Could he even compare his interest in Perry to what Tony or Thor had? He loved Betty, at least his former self did, but so much had changed since then. His feelings for Perry confused him. She made him feel happy and sad, sick and energized all at the same time. It was a feeling he enjoyed, but did that mean he would need her like Tony needed Pepper?

As Bruce considered just how relevant Tony's discussion was, he realized that there was a very good chance that he needed Perry more than he cared to admit.

"Perry doesn't care about your little problem," continued Tony. "She knows everything about it and yet you are what she wants. She has her own 'Hulk' to deal with, so maybe you can quit focusing on your own pity party and start helping her with the monster she is struggling to control."

Bruce had no words to respond with. Giving Tony a jerky nod, he slumped in his seat and pressed his forehead against the cool window. Staring out at the ground passing beneath them, he didn't notice when his friend left his seat, or when Perry looked up from the journal to watch him with her miserable gaze. He stayed in this position, turning over Tony's words in his head, until they landed in Miami.