"Lennon, are you afraid of needles?" Bruce asked.

She scoffed. "Does it look like I am?" She replied, gesturing to her tattoos.

He chuckled. "No, I suppose not."

"I'm just teasing, dear. Why do you ask?"

The doctor got to his feet and pulled the blood soaked gauze off of the wound on her chest. "Because this," He said, trying to be gentle with it. "Needs stitches. At least seven of them."

Lennon groaned. "Oh, wonderful. Well, it would allow me to enjoy the pleasure of your company a little while longer." She said quietly, a light, rosy tint flooding her face. "I've quite enjoyed this."

Bruce turned bright red. "So have I." Although he was blushing, he was happy to hear that Lennon enjoyed his company as much as he enjoyed hers. She was a strange girl, but he really did like her company quite a bit. She was nice to him. She was younger than him by a few years, quite a few actually, but he really didn't care. It had been a while since he was close with someone that wasn't virtually dying on his work bench. Especially a woman. For the longest time, he was married to his work, wanting to be as far away from emotional contact with another person as he could possibly be.

The doctor pulled the needle and surgical thread out of his kit, and made his way to the girl. Her eyes got wide, but she quickly put on a brave face. "I'm going to be gentle." He told her.

She smiled timidly. "Do your worst, Dr. Banner."

As he began to stitch her up, she was silent. Her fist was clinched, and her knuckles were white. Bruce tried his best to be gentle, but he was sticking a needle through her skin. By the time a second prick came around, she flinched. Bruce pulled away. "I'm sorry, are you alright?"

"Yeah." She said through clinched teeth. "I've always been nervous and jumpy when it came to skin knitting."

He raised an eyebrow. "Skin knitting."

Lennon laughed. "Don't tell me you've never heard people refer to stitches as 'skin knitting'."

"Not once."

"Well don't I feel sheepish."

The two sat in a comfortable silence as Bruce continued to sew up the wound. Eventually, the silence became too much to bear for Lennon, and she decided it was time to make conversation. She hated silence. It always made her restless. "So!" She exclaimed, startling him slightly. "The sweet doctor Banner doubles as a big green monster. How in the hell did that happen?"

Bruce looked up, trying to make it seem like he wasn't uncomfortable. "That's a long story." He muttered.

"I've got time."

"I'm almost done with your stitches."

"I'll make time." He read the girl's face, looking for a sign of doubt, but found nothing.

The doctor cleared his throat. "Well, you know Captain Rogers, right?"

She nodded. "Steve? Yeah."

"Well, back in the 1940s, they turned him into a super soldier. Just a few years ago, they tried to recreate the process, but instead, I was exposed to mass amounts of gamma radiation. It should have killed me, but instead it turned me into... Well..."

"A big green monster?"

Bruce sighed. "Yeah. A big green monster."

Lennon looked down at him apologetically. "I'm sorry, Bruce, I didn't mean to..."

He shook his head. "It's alright. There's nothing I can do about it."

"There's nothing you can do?"

He looked away, his eyes haunted. "I tried." He paused for a moment, letting out a heavy breath. "Back in Calcutta, I tried to stop everything. I thought there was no point. I got too low for my own good." Lennon's eyes widened as she realized what he was saying. "I put a gun in my mouth, but... The Other Guy wasn't about to let it happen. I survived, so... I tried to just stick to helping people. It was my only shot."

"Bruce..." Lennon whispered, staring at him with concerned eyes.

Bruce smiled sadly at the young woman. "It's alright. I'm not like that anymore. According to Stark, the Other Guy saved my life in a way. I never thought about it like that, but I don't agree."

"I don't know much about science, I'm not really a science geek," She smiled teasingly at the doctor, trying to get him to smile. "But as far as I know, mass amounts of gamma radiation is kind of not good for you."

"Not really, no."

"Well, I don't care what you think," Lennon started to say, smiling sweetly at the doctor. "I'm glad you're alive. I like you quite a bit. Even if you are a giant green monstrous thing, I still like you." Her voice was quiet, but every word was honest. Lennon wholeheartedly liked the doctor. Maybe a little bit more than she should, but she did. She really did like him. He may have another guy in his head, but that didn't make him any less of a person. He was a human being, just like Steve, just like Tony or Sam, or anybody. He seemed to need someone to tell him that. He didn't deserve to be by himself. He was a person, and if there was one thing Lennon knew how to cure, it was loneliness.

Bruce's jaw dropped, unsure of what to say. No one had ever been that nice to him. Even the other Avengers, when they first met him, they treated him as if he was a threat. Although he technically was a threat, Lennon didn't seem to care. She had been him change, and she had never appeared afraid of him. Not once. He could have killed her back in Manhattan. He easily could have killed her. He almost lost control when she wanted to stay, but yet she still came back. Bruce didn't understand her, but he didn't complain.

The doctor laughed breathlessly to himself. "You act as though you've been around monsters before."

She shrugged. "Maybe I have."

Her answer struck him as odd, but he didn't push it. He cleared his throat. "I'm done." He said, finishing up the final stitch.

"Fantastic. I need a shower."

"Unfortunately, you can't get those wet for at lest twenty four hours." Bruce replied apologetically.

Lennon scoffed. "Figures. Well, I'm still going to clean up before I leave."

"And where do you plan on going?" Tony demanded from the doorway, a huge grin on his face.

His sudden appearance made Lennon jump. "Jesus, we need to put a fucking bell on you."

"That would sure make sex interesting."

"Tony!" Bruce complained.

Lennon laughed. "Are you always this sassy, Tony?" She once again seemed unphased by his innuendos.

Tony shrugged. "If I wasn't, people wouldn't adore me." He replied. "Now, what's all this talk about you leaving?"

The girl shrugged. "I didn't think I was welcome to stay."

The billionaire hopped up on the counter top. "I wouldn't dream of sending you out in this weather."

Lennon looked toward the window, then back at the billionaire with a confused face. "There's not a cloud in the sky." Her response sounded more like a question.

"Yeah, well, you're staying here tonight. You don't get a choice."

She raised an eyebrow. "And what if I want to go home?"

"Do you?"

Lennon was silent. Instead, she just smiled, and looked over at Bruce, who was glowering at Tony. "I guess you're stuck with me for a night, doctor."

"Oh, he's just devastated." Tony joked, putting a hand over his arc reactor as if he were wounded. He smiled at the alternative woman. "We've already set up a room for you. Ask JARVIS if you need anything." He said.

Without warning, Lennon took the glass of scotch from the billionaire's hands and downed it. The two men stared at her in shock. She shrugged as she handed the now empty glass back to Tony. "Helps with the pain." She said, grinning.

Tony looked down at his empty glass. "You stole my drink." He pouted.

Lennon smirked. "Oh I bet you're just devastated." She replied dramatically.

The billionaire grinned. "Oh, I like you. Bruce picked a winner."

Bruce tried not to blush. "Let the lady go to bed, Tony."

Lennon pulled her fingers through her long white hair. "I probably should go get some sleep. Thanks for patching me up, Bruce." She murmured to the doctor.

He smiled happily at the young woman. "Anytime. That's what I'm here for."

Lennon returned the smile. "Goodnight, Tony. Thank you for letting me stay."

"I can be a nice person too."

Lennon scooped up her leather jacket from the chair and turned toward Bruce. "Goodnight, Dr. Banner." She said quietly.

"Goodnight, Miss. Burke." He murmured as she smiled and skipped out of the room.

When the door closed, Tony whistled, slapping Bruce on the shoulder. "Nice catch, Banner. Nice catch." He said, walking toward the counter where he kept his scotch.

Bruce whipped around to face him. "Tony, I hope you realize that your are blowing this completely out of proportion. I was just patching her up." He explained rather defensively. He was flustered by the billionaire's attempt to make him admit to being interested in the young woman.

Tony snorted. "Yeah, and Pepper and I are just friends. I saw the way you looked at her and how concerned you were before she turned up. Now you cannot sit there and tell me that you're not remotely interested in that girl."

Bruce nearly swallowed his tongue. "I literally just met her today." He whispered.

"Doesn't mean you can't be interested in her." He said. "That's how attraction works."

"Tony, I don't know a things about her." He replied, although it was a lie. He did know some things about her, the two had had a bit of a deep conversation for a first meeting, but he liked it. He liked not having to indulge in meaningless small talk and actually have someone to talk to about whatever it was that came to mind.

Tony took a sip of his scotch. "Well, we can fix that."

"How?" Bruce asked suspiciously.

The billionaire smirked. "JARVIS, can you run a background check on Lennon Burke?" He called.

"Right away, sir." JARVIS replied.

The Other Guy growled in Bruce's head. "That's wrong, Stark!" The doctor snarled. "You can't just look into a person's life like that."

"Oh really? Are you sure you don't want to figure out what kind of monsters she's dealt with?"

Bruce took a step back. "Were you eavesdropping?" He demanded.

"For once, I actually was just passing by. I was curious too, so I searched her. What came up was rather interesting. Don't you want to know?"

As wrong as he thought it was, Tony had a point. He swallowed down his fear. "Go on then."

Hi guys, here's another update for you, I hope you like it! The next one is going to be a bit strange, just a warning.

Also, I know I haven't asked before, but I want to know what you guys think, I'm honestly really curious, and I feel bad for asking, but I would love it if you guys would review it and tell me what you think. Bad or good, I can take it, I promise. I'd love to see what you guys have to say! You guys are great, and to everyone that's read this so far, thank you for reading. ^^