Such Sweet Nothing

“Well maybe enclosing him isn’t the best course of action.” Tony stopped playing around with some blueprints for a new suit as I sat down next to him. Bruce had a late start this morning and was finishing up his morning yoga-like activity. He started it a couple of months ago to try to get his heart rate down.

“So just have him change in your apartment?” His tone was poking fun at me so I decided to actually poke him in between his ribs. He swatted my hand away as he drew in a sharp breath.

“No, just maybe everything will be better if the Hulk doesn't feel like he is actually a damn experiment.”

“Well you can now tell us exactly how he feels so there you go.” I leaned heavily on the lab bench and pushed myself to stand.

“Actually I don’t know that I exactly want to delve into his head. He kind of runs on anger and I don’t really like how it feels inside of my head.” I had my own anger but that was something I knew how to deal with, it was contained in a tiny part of my brain that I could talk down. Someone else’s anger was a lot like feeling someone else’s fear. It felt raw and exposed and dirty and I wasn’t a huge fan of it. It wasn’t like when I could feel someone’s happiness or joy, those emotions felt pure and smooth and made themselves at home in my head.

“How often do you tune into someone?” Tony was tinkering with something metal now as we continued to wait.

“Not very often, sometimes it just kind of happens when I let my mind-” I made a whirly motion with my hand in the air. He was watching me out of the corner of his eye and then went back to work.

“What about letting your emotions flood out?” He muttered something to the gadget in his hands and then silence fell between us as he waited for me to answer.

“Well I wouldn’t really know, I can’t really feel that part unless I’m really pushing it out.”

“So it’s a quiet superpower.” He grabbed a data pad and began to write something down on it with a furrowed brow.

“Yeah, I suppose.” I leaned against the counter and folded my arms across my chest.

“Kind of like you.” He seemed to be done with the blueprint and the tinkering as he spun around to look at me.

“I’m not that quiet.” He rolled his eyes in my direction and let out a raspberry between his lips.

“It took you six months to have an actual conversation with me.” I unfolded my arms from my middle and pointed a finger in his direction.

“That’s because I didn’t like you, not because I was quiet.” He squinted his eyes now and bit his lip.

"Okay fine, you didn't like me, whatever." His eyes were now pointed towards the ground.

"You weren't a huge fan of me either as I recall." His jaw dropped at my sentence. He looked like I had just called his Iron Man suit a silly little toy.

"Excuse me?" Okay, so maybe I was wrong as I felt his hurt tone wash over me.

"I begged you to come work for me, begged. And back then that was something that was completely beneath me. I knew you were something special as soon as Pepper introduced us, of course I liked you." Tony had become a true friend to me through and through. Maybe I didn't like him at first because of the way he acted, but it might've had something to do with the fact he saw something in me only one other man saw.

"Okay, I'm sorry. I was mistaken." I held up my hands in a gesture of surrender and smiled. He huffed at me and before he could tell me anything else Bruce came walking into the lab. He stopped abruptly seeing the guilty look only face and the argumentative expression on Tony's.

"I could always come back." He cracked a smile after Tony and I started laughing. Bruce made his way to where I was standing and took his place next to me. He wrapped his arm around my middle and let his hand grip my waist.

"What are you two arguing about?" It was funny how well he knew the both of us.

"Just the fact that she hated me when we first met and that she thought I returned those feelings." I rolled my eyes at the dramatic tone in his voice, Bruce squeezed me a little tighter as he smiled down at me.

"Yes, well again, my mistake." I let my cheeks fill up with air and let it out slowly between my lips.

“Damn right your mistake.” Tony muttered as he went around putting away his work and suiting up.

“Isn’t capsicle supposed to be down here?” Tony barely got the question out before Steve was walking through the door, shield held tightly in his hand as he smiled at the three of us.

“Hey guys, sorry I’m a little late. Just had a run in with the girl who does the computers.” His shy smile was aimed at the floor as he came to stand by Bruce.

“Oh, the one you’ve been meaning to ask out but haven’t gotten around to?” I hit him lightly on the arm as he smiled up at me now.

“I’m getting there, I’m still a little old fashioned when it comes to courting.” He reached his hand forward and lightly tapped me on the nose. I felt a surge of jealousy rush into my head and I pushed it out quickly but turned my head to stare at Bruce. He noticed my odd expression and raised his eyebrow in my direction. Steve wandered off to ask Tony what the game plan was and Bruce seemed to realize what had happened.

“Really Banner?” His face flushed red as I smiled.

“Sorry, I’m not normally the jealous type.” He muttered down towards his shoes as his grip on me loosened.

“It looks cute on you.” I grinned and he bumped his hip into mine as he brought his hand back to his own side.

“Oh, hey before I forget-” He grabbed the silver chain around his neck and pulled the ring out from under his shirt.

“I didn’t want to change and then snap the chain or something.” He unclasped the necklace and placed it in my upturned palm. The ring was a familiar heavy weight in my hand. Except for an old leather jacket, this was the only thing I had of my dad.

“Thanks for keeping it safe.” My tone felt odd inside of my mouth. I was still waiting for the day it didn’t feel like ripping open my chest and squeezing my heart when I talked about anything to do with him.

“It was my honor.” Bruce’s tone sounded sad now as I looked at him and slipped the ring in my pocket.

“Sorry.” I apologized feeling my emotions creep outwards and into the room. I pulled them back in with a small effort and Bruce stood taller, like my sadness had weighed him down.

“Wow.” He breathed.

“That’s how you feel every time you think about him, isn’t it?” I was gripping at the hem of my shirt, trying to keep my hands busy as my focus was concentrated on the wall behind him. It was very silent in the lab, Steve and Tony were watching us. I felt the stinging sensation behind my eyes and cursed under my breath as I turned my gaze to the floor.

“I’m fine.” I tired to play it all off with a smile as I ignored his question. I could tell he didn’t buy my bullshit.

“Okay, ready to get started with the second round of testing?” Tony clapped his hands together loudly, bringing our attention to him instead of on what had just occurred.

“Yeah, I’m ready.” I answered moving away from Bruce and towards the lab bench our papers were on.

“Okay, well here goes nothing.”