As the morning sun beat through the windows of Dr. Bruce Banner's room, the man groaned, fighting off the morning's hangover. He sat up, rubbing his temples. God. He thought. I'm never drinking that much again. Drinking with Tony is out of the question.

He slowly pulled himself out of bed, and put on the first set of cloths he grabbed out of his bag. He quickly glanced at himself in the mirror and groaned. He couldn't remember the last time he felt so shitty.

Bruce slowly made his way down the hallway toward the smell of food in the kitchen. He heard people laughing, and what sounded like bacon sizzling the closer he got. When he made it to the kitchen, all of the Avengers were sitting around the giant table, while Lennon, still dressed in shorts and a tank top, was flitting around the room, filling glasses of orange juice for everyone. Tony and Pepper were sitting at the end of the table, Tony making his usual jokes and Pepper just letting him do what he wanted, occasionally sending him a look that read 'are you serious?'. Steve was sitting beside Tony, making jokes with the billionaire and Clint, who had his arm around the back of Natasha's chair. Thor was gulping down orange juice like it was the best thing he'd ever tasted.

"Morning, Bruce!" Lennon said cheerfully, handing him a cup of coffee.

The Avengers all turned to him and grinned. "Hey big guy!" Tony shouted. "How's the hangover?"

Bruce groaned and sat down in the chair beside the thunder God. "Don't remind me." He grumbled. "I'm never drinking with you again, Tony."

The billionaire only laughed.

"Here." Lennon said, holding her hand out to the doctor. "These will help with the hangover."

Bruce took the painkillers from the girl and swallowed them with a sip of coffee. "Thanks, Lennon."

"Not a problem!" She replied, going back to check on the food.

A few minutes later, Lennon came back with food, serving everyone before sitting down next to Bruce with a plate of her own. She smiled nervously. "I hope you like it." She said.

"Banner, your girlfriend cooks!" Tony said through bites of egg. "At least she knows how to work a kitchen. Ow!" He muttered as Pepper kicked him under the table.

"This is pretty good, Lennon." Clint said, taking a bite of his bacon.

Lennon looked embarrassed. "Thanks. I pretty much raise myself, so learning how to cook was a bit of a necessity." She replied.

Bruce smiled at her. "It's wonderful, Lennon." The food was fantastic. As one who couldn't cook to save his life, Bruce always appreciated the cooking of others.

She blushed, but quickly covered it up.

"Lady Burke!" Thor bellowed, making everyone jump. "This is excellent!"

Lennon looked up at him with a startled expression. "Uh... Thanks, Thor. But, it's just Lennon, man. No need for such an elegant title."

The thunder God dipped his head. "But only a lady rides such a magnificent silver stead." It took Lennon a moment to realize he was talking about her motorcycle.

"So, Lennon, how long are you going to grace us with your presence?" Steve asked casually.

The young woman looked up at the Captain, then shrugged. "I mean... That's up to Tony and Pepper, really. I can go home whenever you want." She answered quickly, glancing at the billionaire.

"Are you kidding?" Tony looked as if she had insulted him. "You stay as long as you want! Pepper and I are going to be here for a few weeks to fix up the tower, then we're heading back to California." He explained.

"You are welcome to stay with us." Pepper repeated, smiling at the young woman. "Besides, I could use another girl in the house. I need a shopping partner."

Lennon smirked. "As long as I don't end up the bag carrier, I don't care!"

Pepper turned to Tony and hit him in the chest. "Looks like you don't have to go shopping with me anymore."

Clint laughed. "Now he and Bruce can do manly things while the women are out."

"More like geeky things." Lennon snickered.

Bruce glared playfully at her. "And to think I thought you were nice."

"Only at the center. I'm like candy." She rely lied with a wink.

About an hour later, the remaining four Avengers said their goodbyes, promising to come back and visit soon. "Don't be a stranger, Lennon. Feel free to call if you need any help." Natasha said.

Lennon nodded. "Of course, Natasha." She held her arms out for a hug, which the assassin returned, although it was awkward.

Thor pressed a kiss to her knuckles, which sent a curious spark of jealousy through the doctor. "Thank you for everything, Miss. Lennon."

Lennon grinned. "My pleasure, sir."

Steve saluted the woman in respect. "Ma'am."

She returned the salute. "Captain." The two tried to keep a straight face, but all else failed when they both began to laugh. They hugged each other, while Lennon told him to try not to work himself to death. "I saw those bruises, you take care of yourself." She reminded him.

Steve smiled. "I'll keep that in mind, ma'am."

Clint wrapped his arms around the young woman. "Feel free to hit Tony whenever you few necessary." He whispered.

"I will. You have to teach me how to use that bow, I could use that."

The archer laughed, promising her he would.

After the Avengers left, Tony and Pepper disappeared upstairs to work on the tower, leaving Lennon and Bruce in the kitchen to clean up. Lennon insisted that she did the cleaning, but Bruce helped anyway. "Just because you're a woman doesn't mean you have to clean the kitchen by yourself." He told her.

Lennon raised an eyebrow. "Are you a feminist, Dr. Banner?" She asked jokingly.

He chuckled. "No, I'm a realist."

She flicked water at him, making him laugh, then returned with flinging soap at her. Bruce started to tell her stories about Calcutta, how he dodged police and helped the village people illegally. Lennon only laughed. "You're starting to sound like me."

"What, do you help people illegally?"

"No, I just do illegal things."

"Naughty." Bruce chided gently, his eyes laughing.

A few minutes after the two had cleaned everything up, the two settled in the living room to watch a movie. Bruce let the girl pick it, and to his surprise, she chose an old Film Noir classic, Double Indemnity.She claimed to love it, blushing and apologizing for having such a lame choice in movies.

Bruce looked up at her in surprise. "Not at all! At least you're not one for sappy chick flicks." He said.

Lennon rolled her eyes. "I may be a little rough around the edges, but I'm not that soft."

About halfway through the movie and a bowl of popcorn later, there was a soft buzzing from the floor where Lennon's phone had fell. Bruce picked it up, only briefly at the name. Lennon looked over at the doctor. "Who is it?" She asked.

"It's your dad." He said, handing it to her.

Lennon took it apprehensively, then sighed. "I'll be back." She said apologetically.

Bruce gave her a concerned look, but nodded. "Take your time." He said as the woman quickly got up and ran toward the next room.

Bruce tried to pay attention to the movie, but the lengthened absence of the girl started to make him uncomfortable. Considering what he knew about her father, he started to worry. He got to his feet cautiously, and made his way down the hall as quietly as his feet would allow, as if she would hear him approaching. But as soon as he hear the sound of glass shattering, he began running, the Other Guy pounding in his head. "Lennon!" He shouted as loudly as he could. He pounded on the door as he heard screaming and loud banging, as if she were being attacked. "Lennon, open the door! JARVIS!"

"Shall I get Mr. Stark, sir?" The AI asked a little too calmly for Bruce's taste.

"Yes, call him! Call him now! Lennon, open the door!" He could feel his trembling body turning green as the Other Guy began to take over his mind. The doctor threw his body at the door, making it fly open and hit the opposite wall. "Lennon!"

The girl was sitting hunched over in a ball on the floor, surrounded by glass, her hand swollen and covered in blood. She was covering her head like you would in a tornado, breathing heavily like some kind of caged animal. Her entire frame was shaking terribly.

"Lennon..." Bruce uttered, the Other Guy going back into submission as he took in the woman on the floor. He was frightened by what he saw.

The woman's head snapped up immediately, the day's black make up now leaving black streaks down her red face. Her eyes were so murderous, making the doctor step back. Not even the Other Guy was that furious. "Lennon." He said again, quieter than before. He could tell that she was having an anxiety attack, and his doctor instincts took over. He took a step toward her, holding his hands up in a way to show her he was unarmed.

Without warning, Lennon took a half shattered lamp from the floor, hurling it straight at Bruce. The doctor ducked out of the way just in time, staring at her in shock. "Go away!" She screamed loud enough to curdle blood. "Get out!" She picked up a shard of glass and threw it, missing Bruce Banner by half an inch. In any other situation, he would have Hulked out, but he was too horrified.

Bruce held up his hands in defense. "Lennon, I'm here to help." He said calmly.

"I don't need your fucking help, get out!" Her voice cracked as if her vocal chords had been ripped to shreds from the volume of her voice. She glared at the doctor, tears streaming down her face as her trembling fingers wrapped around yet another shard of glass. Bruce saw the threat and backed out of the room, shutting it tightly as the shard smashed and embedded itself into the wooden door.

"Bruce!" Tony called, his voice full of concern. He caught up to the man, his dark eyes wide. "What the hell happened?" He demanded.

The doctor turned and looked at his friend with tired eyes. "Don't go in there." He muttered, his voice scratchy, as if he had been the one screaming.

Tony glanced at the door. "Why? What's wrong with Lennon?"

Bruce turned and started to walk away. "I don't know." He whispered. "I tried I talk to her, but she started throwing things..."

Tony put a hand on his shoulder, stopping him from walking away. "Are you alright?" He asked gently. It took Bruce a minute to realize that Tony wasn't talking about the glass.

The doctor sighed and rubbed his temples with his thumb and forefinger. "Yeah." He rasped. "I'm uh... Going up to the lab. I'll see you later, Tony." With that, Bruce gave his friend a smile, then turned and walked slowly toward the elevator. He tried to block out the sound of Lennon crying from her room, but it followed him like a mistake all the way to the top floor.