Author's Note: Hello there! God, it's good to be back. Apologies for the loooong wait but what with work and lectures and exams, things are crazy around here! Anyway, here it is! Ookay y'all, in my opinion this is a pretty important chapter, and you'll see why further in. I slaved over it, haha and I think it is damn near perfect. (Except for the spelling mistakes, I guess. Losses of not being beta'd)

First off, to reply to the reviews!

QueenMarthaPond: Yeah, I really really wanted to give Natasha a break considering how I turned her into a bit of a priss for the first few chappies xD Thanks so much for your review! I hope this chapter makes up for the long wait!

Guest: Guest! We meet again! Thank you so much for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter as well! :)

There now. Okay folks, happy reading!

Chapter 10

Louie POV

"Pass me my pen, would you?" said Bruce, squinting at the report in his hand.

"Uh, Bruce?"

"Hmm?" I sighed, reached over the table and plucked the pen from behind his ear. He blinked owlishly.

"Oh."

"Oh," I repeated, amused. He grinned sheepishly and went back to work. I looked down at my own reports. Really, Tony's handwriting was the worst. Rubbing my forehead I set to work.

It was a quiet Thursday, and I had just an hour or two more before my lessons with Loki. Clint and Natasha were off on some mission so I didn't have training with them in the evening.

"Hey Louie, Brucie." Darcy waltzed in and dropped into a stool at the table. I waved a report at her in welcome.

"Loki's looking for you," she said to me. I groaned.

"But I have two hours before I have to meet him."

"I don't think a couple of hours matters to a god that's several centuries old," mumbled Bruce. Darcy nodded in agreement. I scowled at them both. It's not that I didn't enjoy my lessons; it was just that Loki had my nose to the grindstone from start to finish. It was exhausting. There was also that little incident that happened when I cut his hair that made me want to bury my face in my hands every time I saw him.

Darcy picked up a report and peered at it.

"How do you even know what this says?" she asked, pointing. "And look at this. Does that say Buttplug?" I snorted.

"Probably not, but with Tony, you can never tell." Darcy snickered.

We worked quietly for a while, with only an occasional giggle from Darcy who found words like Tentacle Porn and McDildo in the mess of words. I'd say the girl has a talent for it.

In the end, we were all poring over Tony's notes playing Spot-The-Perve-Word when the man himself walked in.

"Actually, I think that one just says McDonalds," said Bruce, pointing it out.

"That makes more sense than McDildo," agreed Darcy nodding.

"I was hungry," shrugged Tony. "Oh hey, Louie, Loki's looking for you."

"I know," I grumbled, "I'm hiding."

"Louie can't stand to be around Loki after his haircut," said Darcy slyly. I felt my face heat up and narrowed my eyes at her.

"Is that true?" asked Tony, eyes twinkling.

"Is not," I snapped, flicking a pen at Darcy.

"Is too," she countered, flicking it back. My ninja reflexes kicked in and I batted it away, making it hit Bruce on the ear.

"Children, please," he sighed, "I'm working."

"Yeah, you kids aren't allowed in the lab. Get," said Tony, "Daddy-O and I have work to do."

"Work," said Darcy, winking at me.

"You're a twelve year old," I said grinning. Tony made shooing motions with his hands and I rolled my eyes.

"Alright, mother, we're going."

"Don't forget to be safe," said Darcy smirking. Tony huffed and slid the glass door close. Chuckling, we made our way back upstairs.

"I suppose I should find Loki," I sighed as the elevator travelled upwards. Darcy nodded.

"I have to meet Steve."

"You seem to be doing that a lot lately," I said eyeing her smugly. Hah, who's got who now? Although unlike me, Darcy was much better at handling the situation. She winked back.

"I'm getting him up to date on this century," she said with a smile. The elevator dinged and slid open but I didn't walk out.

"That's real nice of you, Darce," I said. Darcy looked a little pleased with herself.

"Everyone around here is doing something important. I thought I might make myself useful. It's not as easy as it sounds," she said with a laugh, "do you realise how underrated instruction manuals are? They're a godsend to me! Steve asks so many questions I can hardly keep up."

"Well, I can relate to the feeling of babysitting a clueless adult," I said laughing wryly.

"Take him out sometimes," said Darcy as we parted ways. "Make him watch a movie or two. After all, he will be hanging around for quite a while." I waved good bye to Darcy and headed for the library. It was unfortunately, as she said, just easier said than done. Loki wasn't exactly an eager beaver when it came to learning about Midgardian customs.

"You're late," he said coolly, narrowing his eyes. I gulped, looking him over. He was wearing a white shirt today, and black pants. On his feet were his boots from Asgard. Why was he so attractive? It was maddening!

"You're cranky," I replied flippantly, hoping my lapse in concentration wasn't too noticeable.

"Because," he said calmly, "you're late."

"Fashionably so," I replied cheerfully. He frowned, turning away. What was up with him?

"So," I said, clapping my hands together, "what are we doing today?" Loki flexed his fingers.

"I was thinking we'd move into a different element." He brought out my old enemy, the water bowl.

"You're going backwards, strangely. You mastered the more difficult element first. Now, an easier one," Loki grinned wickedly.

"Think fast."

He flung water straight into the bookshelves. I gasped, lurching forward.

Stop!

The water hovered at once. Loki nodded approvingly. The demigod spent the rest of the day teaching me how to manipulate water into different shapes and forms.

"This is, by far, the coolest thing you've ever taught me," I said in wonder, twirling an icicle in my hand, "I feel a little bit like Elsa."

Loki knew who Elsa was; he was watching the Disney channel two days ago while pretending to be rifling through a book.

"Hm," he said noncommittally. I bounced on the balls of my feet as I made the water change form. A cube, a square, a prism… An idea flashed into my head and I rushed to the window.

"Look at this, Loki," I said and held the prism into the sunlight. The colours of the rainbow shimmered through and I laughed in delight.

Loki POV

Loki watched as Louie whooped, twirling the water around. The girl had come quite far. She was mastering techniques - albeit really simple ones- at a rate of several a day. It was merely the basics; nothing that could be useful in battle, but nevertheless, she was a quick learner. Loki was sure she'd be able to learn more difficult tricks soon enough. She grinned, finally bringing the water to rest back in its bowl.

"Just like parking a car," she said.

Her aura was thriving, Loki could tell, giving off waves and waves of confidence and happiness. She was such a child sometimes.

"What next?" She asked excitedly.

"Nothing, for today," said Loki amused. "You have done enough." Louie made a little flame appear and then made it hover over water.

"I would like to speak to Stark," said Loki. "I believe it's time we trained in a bigger arena."

Louie POV

"Tony!" I called bounding down the hall. I was so excited I could hardly think straight. I was going to learn how to fight with my abilities!

"How far will I be able to use my powers?" I asked Loki who strolled along beside me. Even with me walking twice as fast, he could keep up.

"To be honest, not very far," said Loki, glancing at me briefly. His lips curled into a smile, "but you will learn. First, you have more basics to master but I have confidence that you can do it in a few days." I felt a rush of pride at that. Loki smirked knowingly.

"Don't let it get to your head, mortal."

"How do you do that?" I asked curiously.

"Well it's easy, I just lift my lips-"

"Not that," I said, rolling my eyes, "I meant how do you know what I'm thinking even though I can't feel you in my head?" Loki looked surprised.

"You know when I speak to you telepathically? You feel my presence?"

"Well, yeah," I frowned, "doesn't everyone?" Loki shook his head, bemused.

"Perhaps that's another path we can go down during our lessons," he murmured, mostly to himself.

"So how do you do it?" I prodded. He frowned, but not like he was annoyed. More like he was trying to phrase something.

"I feel your aura," he said slowly.

"I have an aura?"

"Everyone has an aura. That's nothing new. But yours is so… powerful. Strong. Almost a tangible thing around you."

"Is that how you came looking for me here?" Loki nodded.

"It's an unbelievably strong essence," he said, eyes raking over me. I ignored the little flip flop in my stomach. "It has... a flavour… a touch. It is hard to explain but that thing, whatever it is, it changes as your emotions change."

"So," I said, "you can tell what I'm feeling?" Loki nodded.

"Oh, wonderful," I mumbled. I was going to have to be more careful about what I thought around him.

"And you?"

"I know when you're in my head," I said tapping my temple. "It's just like you said. I feel a presence. And I know it's you." I left out the little bit about how it was a comforting presence, and how, if I closed my eyes, that presence took on a hue of emerald green. I didn't realise we had arrived at the labs until Loki slid the door open.

"Tony," I called. Bruce looked up.

"Tony left a while back," he said, rubbing his eyes tiredly.

"Perhaps he's with my brother, training." I nodded. I looked at Bruce - he looked exhausted.

"Bruce?" I said carefully, "are you okay?"

"Oh, yeah," he waved his hand, "Just running on an empty stomach. I'm nearing a breakthrough and I don't want to stop." I moved forward while Loki walked around, eyeing everything as he passed by.

"Do you want me to bring you something to eat?" Bruce stood, shaking a little. I frowned.

"Bruce? Are you sure you're okay?" He nodded.

"I think I just need a little fresh air," he said breathing deeply.

"Doctor Banner," said Loki, "why is that screen flashing?"

"What screen-? Oh no," Bruce paled.

Almost immediately, the doors slid shut, and an alarm rang out in warning, horns blaring and red lights flashing.

"What's going on?" I yelled, "Loki! What did you do?"

"I did nothing!" he said looking outraged.

"The lab is on automatic lockdown," said Bruce, pulling on the door handle and looking rather ill, "it means there's an intruder in the building. This is bad."

"Okay, let's all be calm," I said, immediately panicking. There was only one exit from the lab - the glass doors that were sealed shut. The others were out there. Were they safe? What if they were fighting the intruders?

"Jarvis?" I called. There was no answer. Fear spread through my mind. Shit. Bruce banged on the door.

"Help!" he yelled. I spun around.

"We need to get out, we need to help the others. Do you think you can blast the thing open?" I asked Loki. He swallowed, his eyes on the doctor.

"We're in an enclosed space, Louise. I think we have bigger problems right now. Much bigger."

I wheeled around, realisation hitting me like a two ton truck. Oh shit. Bruce.

"No, no, no," said Bruce frantically, banging on the locked down door, "No, we don't like closed spaces, no, no -"

"Bruce," I interrupted, "Bruce, calm down. Please, Bruce, come on you can't let him out now, not in here-"

"You think I have a CHOICE?!" I jumped back as the doctor's eyes flashed green and his voice morphed into a roar.

"Okay, okay," I soothed. I looked at Loki frantically. "We need to get him down to the safe rooms."

"Easier said than done," said Loki, rattling the doorknob himself.

Ohh, God, oh God.

Bruce roared, his skin beginning to take on a green tinge. Loki wheeled around and pulled me backwards and stood in front of me. The demigod looked four shades paler.

"Stay back," he cautioned.

"But," I looked at Bruce, "shouldn't we be helping? Is he hurting?"

"Are you mad?" Loki demanded. I opened my mouth to reply but a roar drowned it out, louder than the incessant ringing of the alarm.

I have to say, the Hulk was more menacing under the light of the flashing red alarms than I could have imagined.

He turned around, shreds of his shirt falling off in tatters and let out another horrendous roar. He was looking right at us.

If we don't move, I said, will he not see us?

"I doubt it," replied Loki out loud. His eyes widened fractionally. "Move!" The Hulk raised his hand and swung it towards us. One push and I went flying, and so did Loki, in the other direction.

"Loki!" I yelled, terrified. "Oh God, oh fuck, oh my God. He took a hit for me the fucking idiot, he doesn't heal fast enough-"

Loki stirred feebly. With a roar, the Hulk picked up Loki by his leg. No, no, no.

"HEY! YOU!" I said sprinting forward as the Hulk raised Loki above his head. Big, green eyes swiveled to me.

"Oh, I got your attention did I? You put him down!"

"RIAAARRRRHHHGHHH!" The noise was deafening.

"PUT HIM DOWN!" I yelled back. The Hulk raised Loki's limp form even higher.

"No, I didn't mean it that way!" I shrieked, clutching my head. He looked at me, his brick like teeth showing in an angry snarl.

Okay, new tactic Louie. Don't lose his attention, don't get him madder than he is. I took a deep breath, calming myself.

"Hey now, what's gotten you so ticked off?" I asked gently. The alarm had stopped, I noticed. Maybe that meant help was on the way. I only had to stall him for a little bit. Right? He snarled.

It's just Bruce in there, I reminded myself, he's a part of Bruce. Bruce would never hurt me. What would Bruce do in this situation? A million thoughts ran through my head. Bruce, the fed up nanny, Bruce, the reluctant eater, Bruce, our peacemaker, our referee, our negotiator –

"That's it," I whispered to myself, eyes widening. Without breaking eye contact, I smiled.

"He's fun to throw around, isn't he?" I said easily and held my breath.

"Hhrrnmph." To my shock, the Hulk nodded in agreement. I licked my lips nervously.

"But you see, you can't throw him around like that," I explained, walking forward. He was literally so big I could probably curl up on him and go to sleep. He was hunched too, because the ceiling wasn't high enough for him to stand straight.

He looked at me curiously as if to ask why.

"Well," I said, wiping my palms on my thighs, "he's not as powerful as he used to be. So if you hurt him, he'll get wounded very, very badly. You might even kill him." The big guy didn't seem to like the sound of that. Eyes widening, he moved backwards, growling.

"Hey, hey," I said soothingly, "he's not killed yet. Can I take a look at him? Will you let me?" The Hulk frowned and dangled the god in front if me.

"It would be easier if you let him down. Gently." Lowering Loki until his head brushed the floor, the big guy dropped him. I winced at the sickening thud it made.

"We're going to have to work on that." Gently, I tapped Loki's face.

"Loki?" He groaned and opened his eyes.

"Louie!" he gasped, trying to sit up.

"Calm down, it's okay," I said quietly, "are you hurt?"

"Ribs," he rasped, eyes squeezed shut, "and head." I prodded his skull gently and he winced.

"Just lie down," I cautioned. Where the hell was help? I propped his head on my lap, chewing my lip worriedly. The Hulk growled softly.

"You stop that," I chastised softly, narrowing my eyes.

"Rrrraaaghh." He was twisting and turning, breaking tables and knocking over books and papers. He needed a way out. I couldn't let him tear down the building. I sighed.

"Sit," I said, patting the floor beside me. "You'll hurt your back hunching over like that." The Hulk didn't look like he was going to listen. He opened his mouth and took in a deep breath.

"WELL, SOMETIMES I GO OUT," I interrupted loudly, "BY MYSELF."

The element of surprise always works well. The Hulk gaped, deflating like a balloon. On my lap, Loki shifted. Weakly, he spoke in my mind.

You are mad.

I ignored him. Throwing the big guy a wide smile, I continued to sing.

"Oh, won't you come in home, where my body's been a mess? And I miss your ginger hair and the way you like to dress-" With a horrible crunching sound, the big guy sat, eyes watching me curiously.

Smiling, I sang to the Hulk, stroking Loki's hair softly. Strangely enough, the Hulk seemed to like my singing. He stared on and on, until suddenly I didn't see a big, green rage machine, I saw a giant toddler in a rather becoming shade of green.

He harrumphed when I stopped singing so I picked another song. And then another. And another. Once the last chords of Annie's song faded into the silence of the battered lab, I paused. Loki sat up slowly and the Hulk let out a low rumble. He got up, head brushing against the ceiling.

"It's okay," I said gently. "He's a friend." Loki looked at me sharply and the big guy cocked his head.

I placed a hand on my chest. "I'm Louie." I pointed at Loki, "this is Loki."

The Hulk shuffled backwards, looking around. Noticing the now quiet red alarm, he reached out and ripped it clean out the ceiling. Loki and I winced.

"Perhaps you should sing to him again?" whispered Loki.

"Bruce lab?" We both froze.

"Did he just-?"

"BRUCE LAB?!"

"Yeah. Yes!" I moved forward, tipping my chin up in wonder. He could talk. He could talk. He looked down at me and pointed at himself.

"Hulk." I couldn't help it, my face broke out in a wide smile.

"Hello, Hulk." Hulk shuffled his feet. It was almost as if he were being shy.

Footsteps thundered down the hallway.

"Louie! Bruce!"

"Loki!"

"Oh good," I said rolling my eyes, "the cavalry is here." Hulk didn't seem to like the sound of that. He let out a deafening roar.

"Hey, it's okay," I said patting his thigh soothingly, "they're friends. Friends."

"Bruce friends?" Hulk asked, shifting around nervously.

"Yes, Bruce's friends," I said, nodding.

"Oh, Jesus," said someone.

"No," I corrected, "it's Hulk."

"My lab," another voice moaned pitifully. I glanced back to see Tony looking rather ill.

"They're friends," I reassured Hulk. Hulk nodded and looked straight at Tony.

"Yes."

"Oh, Jesus!"

"Did he just talk?" Hulk growled menacingly.

"Stop that, all of you," I snapped, glaring. "You're making him nervous. He's claustrophobic enough as it is." Tony blinked and exchanged glances with Natasha and Clint. Pepper and Darcy peered out from behind Thor.

"Hey, big guy," I said gently, "you think you can let Bruce back out for a bit? I think Tony would like to save the rest of his lab." Hulk looked around sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck.

"I break again."

And in that moment I knew he'd stolen my heart.

"Oh, but you didn't mean to," I said swallowing back a sudden wave of emotion.

"Well, I'm not so sure about that," muttered Loki, eyes on the crackling wires that were once attached to an alarm.

"Hulk," I said gently, ignoring him, "d'you think you could let Bruce out for a bit? I'll tell him to take you out for a run after we get out of here." Hulk frowned.

"You lie?" My heart clenched.

"Of course not," I said quietly. "Never to you." Hulk paused, staring before finally nodding in agreement.

"I'll see you again. Promise," I assured him.

Hulk nodded again, this time more confidently.

"Okay."

Bruce POV

When Bruce opened his eyes, he was lying on the lab floor with several people leaning over him.

"There he is," said Tony, looking relieved. "Nice to have you back, Doc." Bruce sat up, groaning.

"Here," said Tony, handing him a pair of pants. Quickly, he tugged them on.

"What happened just then?" asked Tony quietly, "I thought you and the big guy had come to an agreement."

"You never told us he could talk," accused Clint, looking at him in awe. Bruce looked away uncomfortably.

"Well, in his defense," quipped Louie, "you never gave him the chance." Bruce looked around at the lab and opened his mouth to apologize but Louie beat him to it.

"Don't," she said, "Hulk already apologized."

"He what?" Louie nodded.

Henh, came a low rumble in his head.

"Huh. Well," he rubbed the back if his neck, wincing. Why did it ache so? "It's my fault. I didn't eat and I didn't let him out like I'd promised. It was getting pretty loud in my head, and when the lab locked down, he kind of stopped listening to me."

"Well, let this be a lesson," muttered Tony, cataloguing the damage. Bruce felt a stab of guilt once more.

"Tony-," Tony waved off his apologies with a grin. "Relax, Brucie, this lab has seen worse."

"Come on Bruce," said Natasha, "let's get you something to eat and get you into bed." Bruce nodded, thankful for the escape route. He kept quiet, trying to grasp what has happened. The memories were faint, vague. On the way upstairs they ran into Steve and Darcy.

"We got the news and came as soon as we could," said Steve, "what happened?"

"Bruce, Louie and Loki got locked in the lab, Bruce let Hulk out, Louie sang to him and made him let Bruce come back," supplied Natasha quickly. Darcy and Steve stared, their mouths hanging open.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Oh come on, like that's the weirdest thing you've been through." Bruce would have thought Natasha was shitting him, if it weren't for the fact that the big guy was replaying a lilting melody in his head that sounded very much like Annie's song.

"My question is," said Bruce as they moved forward, leaving Steve and Darcy to go find the others, "what made the lab lock down?" Natasha looked worried.

"We don't know for sure," she said, "Tony's pretty pissed. Nothing should be able to get past his firewalls or security systems. Nothing." Bruce frowned and made a mental note to go over the systems himself, before Tony went completely batty. They got to the kitchen where Natasha pulled out a box of mac and cheese.

"It's the only thing I know how to make," she said shrugging and ripping it open.

"I thought you and Clint were out on a mission," said Bruce.

"It got postponed. I've been reassigned to something else and Clint's looking for a new partner for a bit." Silence filled the kitchen.

"You know," said Natasha frowning at the pot of pasta, "the first time I met the other guy, I was in pretty much the same situation. You were panicking, I was panicking, and yet I failed you."

"Natasha, you didn't-"

"No, no I did," she bit her lip, looking very sad. "But Louie... holy fuck, has she got balls." Bruce had a quick flashback of what had happened, courtesy of Hulk.

"She just," Bruce paused, "she took one look at him and she just... figured him out." Natasha nodded.

"Sometimes, I think that kid has more than one superpower."

She placed a steaming bowl in front of him.

"Bon appetite."

"Cheers," he toasted her with his fork.

The evening passed and since the lab was in repair, Bruce had nothing to do. He went through the system firewalls, finding absolutely nothing suspicious, which in itself was suspicious enough.

He was in the process of stripping for a bath when there came a knock on the door.

"One minute," he called, hopping on one foot as he pulled his shoes off. He opened the door to Louie.

"Hey, Bruce," she said a little shyly, "can Hulk come out to play?"

A/N: *flops on the chair, exhausted*

So that happened. I've been dying to write the Hulk-Louie scene out for aaages and I'm so glad I finally did! Did I do okay? Is the singing thing lame? I tried very hard to make it un-lame. I mean, I know it's pretty corny, and I struggled a bit when writing out that part (and then it got deleted by accident, and I had to rewrite it, yeesh) but I have a reason for it being specifically singing that calms Hulk down.

Also, did anyone catch a little subtle hint I used to make it known that Louie's perspective of Hulk had changed during their interaction? I'll let you know what it is at the beginning of the next chapter - but until then, go on, try making a guess!

Apologies for atrocious grammar but I do hope you enjoyed that chappie lovvies! If you did, please do leave a revieww :)

Oh, by the way, we're on 49 follows now! So cool! I love you guys, and I'm so glad this many people like the story - it's what keeps me going!

25/07/2015: BIG GRAMMAR EDIT

Until next time!

Much love,

xo

EDIT: I fixed a sentence that misinterpreted Hulk's size.