"Pepper!" Darcy glanced up just in time to see Tony's eyeballs widen comically. "Darling..."

"Don't darling me, Tony!" the redhead snapped, her high heels clacking angrily against the floor as she made her way over. "Why did I have to find out from Jane what was going on?"

"Traitor," Tony muttered under his breath, just loud enough for Darcy to hear. Louder, he said, "I didn't want to give you any reason to worry. You've got so much on your plate."

If Pepper could shoot heat lasers from her eyes, and Darcy had heard rumors lending credibility to that idea, she would currently be directing them at Tony's head. Before Pepper could say anything in response, though, Jane stormed over and jumped in on the yell-at-Tony train. "And why are the both of you down here? I seem to remember a certain best friend of mine having recently almost been blown up."

"I was just giving young Darcy here a walk," Tony explained as he gestured to the wheelchair, then winced realizing it sounded like he was referring to a golden retriever and not a person. "I mean… uh.." Everyone was quiet as he scrambled to correct himself, then after sputtering for a moment and coming up with nothing, his shoulders drooped. "Look, Darcy here is in love with Bruce, Odin help her, and she wants to be here for her boyfriend when he wakes up."

Pepper's face softened at that, as did Jane's, right before her eyes widened down at Darcy. "Boyfriend?! You said you two weren't dating!"

"We're not!" Darcy exclaimed, and at her denial, everyone's gazes shot to Tony for an explanation.

Tony rolled his eyes and threw up his hands. "Well, she'd like him to be! Banner is a tough nut to crack."

On that point, apparently, Jane could agree, as the scientist started to nod. "It took me over a month to convince him to change his quantum generation formula processing procedure!"

Thor, who had up until that point been still looking out the window, walked up to his girlfriend with a chuckle and shake of his head. "How he held off your persuasive ways for so long, I will never know."

Jane laughed and bumped her shoulder against his fondly.

"So… you're in love with him?" Pepper prodded, using that laser focus to get back on track.

Two answers were shouted at once, Darcy's adamant "no" warring with Tony's emphatic "yes!" Hearing her denial, Tony added, "Well, maybe not yet, but she's been thinking about it a lot."

"How in the world could you know that?" Darcy gasped as she tried to turn to get a better look at Tony, the words escaping her mouth before realizing that she had just given herself up. But really, the only way he could have known... "Have you been spying on us?"

The smirk, if anything, grew larger. "One word - JARVIS. He seems to be more invested in you two getting together than I am." Darcy groaned. If she hadn't already felt pathetic enough in regards to her love life, hearing that a British AI was watching her interact with Bruce for entertainment would have done it. "There, there, intern," Tony said, patting her head in what was probably supposed to be a comforting gesture. "We're about to wake your boo thang up and you can finally tell him how you feel."

Pepper's expression instantly turned deadly serious and Darcy swore she saw flames in the other woman's eyes. "Never ever utter the phrase 'boo thang' in my presence again."

Nonplussed, Tony rolled Darcy's wheelchair back and forth, testing the metaphorical waters. "So... can she stay?"

Jane opened her mouth to respond and Darcy felt her heart sink because she knew how Jane felt about "the Hulk." But then Pepper, bless her, gestured for Jane to follow her and they walked back to the window a few yards away. Thor followed and for the longest minute of Darcy's life, the three spoke back and forth in hushed tones. Well, Pepper and Jane did most of the talking whereas Thor just nodded his head a lot.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, Pepper looked in their direction, and her face broke into a small smile as her eyes landed on Darcy. "You can stay…"

"With the proper precautions," Jane hastened to add.

"Deal," Darcy said, relief washing over her. Then she put a steadying hand on her IV bag and waved back to her designated wheelchair pusher. "You heard them, Stark! Mush!"

Darcy knew that a lot of people were afraid of the Hulk, but she had never been one of them. Even seeing him in this heightened state, more aggressive than usual, she still wasn't because while she may be afraid, it wasn't of him but for him.

She could practically feel the distress in his howls and in the vibrations his fists made as they smashed into the floor. Pieces of cement flew up in large chunks, and one crashed against the viewing window, causing Jane to yelp in surprise and pull Darcy back.

"Can't we do something?" Darcy asked softly, each roar and punch feeling like a hit to her heart.

Tony shook his head, staring down at the datapad in his hand that was supposedly allowing him to monitor the Hulk/Bruce's vitals. "Medicine wouldn't do anything. We just have to let him cool down on his own."

Darcy looked doubtfully out at the green guy. If anything, his reactions had grown even more intense since he'd awoken.

It had been over twenty minutes since wheeling Bruce into the reinforced room and injecting him with a chemical to wake him up. Eighteen minutes since the sleeping man had transformed before their eyes, bones popping as they expanded and skin stretching as it turned a bright shade of green. Ten minutes since Pepper had needed to excuse herself, looking on the verge of tears.

Jane's hand, which was resting on Darcy's shoulder, was shaking.

"Jane, maybe you should..." she was interrupted by a loud crash as the Hulk hurled a slab of cement 10 feet wide at the far wall of his enclosure. Jane jumped. "...leave."

"I'm not leaving your side until that Hulk thing-"

"Bruce," Darcy and Thor corrected.

The grip on Darcy's shoulder loosened slightly. "Until Bruce is better."

"That means a lot, but..." Darcy was interrupted by a crash again. "Really?" she screamed unproductively at the soundproof glass. No one said anything for a minute after her outburst, just looking down into the reinforced room as the Hulk continued to destroy everything in sight. Then Darcy turned to Tony who was sitting on the floor, back to the window.

It was his expression that did her in, really. Tony was hunched over his datapad and frowning. Seeing a frown on the man's face was such a disconcerting sight that Darcy had to take a steadying breath to stop herself from crying. While the Hulk was basically indestructible, Tony had expressed some concerns about what impact psychologically the Hulk's emotions could have on the human version of him. So the sooner Bruce returned, the better.

Darcy looked back to the window and swallowed down the lump forming in her throat. "Let me talk to him." Just as she said the words, a particularly loud roar drowned her out. As she repeated herself, she had to make a concerted effort to keep her voice steady. "Let me talk to him."

This time she knew she was heard because she felt Jane's hand tighten on her shoulder again, as if the appendage alone was what was keeping Darcy safe. "What? No! That's a terrible idea."

"Why? Me talking to him isn't going to weaken the indestructible room. No one can get hurt. Plus, I'm not hearing any brilliant suggestions coming from the rest of you."

Tony, unlike Jane, didn't immediately shoot down her idea, instead giving her a considering look. A moment later, he set the datapad aside and rose to his feet. "Okay."

Darcy did a double take, sure she had heard wrong and the drugs were messing with her brain more than she'd realized. "Really?" she asked, watching as Tony walked over to a set of buttons on the edge of the window.

"Really?" Thor repeated, although with much more skepticism as he tilted his head to one side and frowned.

Tony shrugged. "She's right. What could it hurt?" He flipped a switch overhead and quieted his voice. "Besides… I really don't want to use my last resort." His voice sounded distant at that, and Darcy had to stop herself from asking what exactly his "last resort" was. It sounded ominous and awful, and right now her bucket of sad and unhappy things was too full to take on anything else.

Still, the fact that Tony was listening to Darcy showed how desperate he was. It was probably just as difficult for him as it was for Darcy right then considering that Bruce was the closest thing he had to a best friend. With that realization, an entirely new and unfamiliar urge to hug Tony Stark washed over her.

When Tony came to stand beside her, though, Darcy ignored the urge and settled for patting the man on the shoulder in an echo of his gesture from earlier. "It's going to be okay," she whispered. Her eyes flicked to the glass where she could see the Hulk currently pounding into the floor. "And I know this is a one-way window, but could you possibly-"

Tony shook his head regretfully and murmured, "Not gonna happen. Sorry, kid."

Darcy sighed. "That's okay."

Immediately, the pounding stopped and Darcy realized a second too late that she had forgotten to whisper. As the Hulk slowly turned his head towards the ceiling, Darcy didn't dare breathe. She followed his line of sight, just barely making out the square speakers that were installed in all four corners of the enclosure.

"Darcy?"

Author's Note:

*Waves*

So, it's been quite some time. Life got in the way in the form of a new job, funerals (of both the human and animal variety), and just a general lack of ability to get back into the rhythm of this story.

I still don't think I was quite successful in capturing the tone of the first few chapters, but when it's been so long and me being such an amateur, what can you expect? *Hopeless shrug*

Even still, I hope you enjoy. I'm trying to figure out where to go from here and how many more chapters to make this.

I appreciate everyone's feedback so far and the continued support for this story. I will make no promises on when the next chapter is up. One-shots are much easier to wrap my head around right now for whatever reason.

Thanks again and let me know what you think! Rough and un-beta'd as per usual.