Bruce Banner X Reader

Chapter 2

Present Day

22

A single tear rolls down your cheek as you silently curse yourself again for what happened that day, but it was in the past, and that's all that matters. 

You check your phone and realise you're going to be late, so you grab your bag and run to the lift. You push the button for the ground floor, and upon your arrival, you jog out into the hallway and out through the front door. You see the bus at your stop so you run towards it and make it just in time. You reach into your bag and find some change then take a window seat. At the next stop, a boy from the school you work at gets on, and you instantly recognise him as Peter Parker. you send him a smile before turning back to the window and zoning out.

As the bus comes to a stop outside the school, you follow Peter off, and towards the science block. He looks nervous, but you decide to ignore it, mainly because it's none of your business, but partly because you know the kid has a Stark internship, and he has a lot of work aside from school. You feel kind of bad for him, since you've heard Stark can be very grumpy, but then again, Peter's probably met Bruce Banner, so that outweighs everything else.

As you make it to your room, you finish restocking the shelves for the kids' lessons. It's quite a boring job, but when you get free access to the labs and their contents, its not so bad. Today you were going for an experiment that's new to you. Well new to most people. There have only been 4 of these experiments to have been done successfully, but this is important to you, so you have to at least try. You move your hand across the shelves and pick out certain bottles and jars until you have all the ingredients. All of them poisonous, but if used correctly, one of the most life changing things ever. 

It takes you three hours to make it right. You burn and boil and chill and dissolve everything to perfection. The result: a small jar of crystal like pellets that were clear with a slightly blue tinge to them. As you pick one up and bring it towards your mouth, you hear a voice from the other side of the room. 

"I wouldn't eat that if I were you."

You jump and the crystal falls from your hand as you turn around to see the tall man in a blazer with the funny beard looking at you with a concerned expression plastered across his face. Your jaw drops as you realise who it is. Tony Stark. You're lost for words. His look of concern fades and is replaced by a smug grin. 

"I'm Tony Stark, you've probably heard of me, genius billionaire playboy philanthropist."

You can't help but smile, he seems like he's actually a nicer person that you thought.

"H-hi, I'm y/n. It's nice to meet you Mr Stark, but may I ask why you are here?"

"Oh please call me Tony." He winks, "and I was just here to speak to my intern before I came in here and saw you trying to off yourself with some shady science experiment."

"Believe me, I'm trying to save myself," You laugh, as he looks confused, "I'm dying Tony, I thought I'd give these a try."

He takes a step toward you and looks you up and down. 

"You don't look like you're dying." You roll your eyes and walk back towards your experiment. You couldn't explain this right now, especially not to him.

"Can I at least take it back to the tower and get Bruce to check it out?" He asked. your eyes widen at the sound of his name. You completely forgot, Bruce and Tony are friends.

"That would be amazing," You reply, probably a bit too quickly, but it didn't matter. Bruce Banner would be looking at your work. THE Bruce Banner. 

Tony nods in your direction, then takes the jar before leaving you alone to pack away your equipment and compose yourself.

The Next Day

21

You make sure to get up early as not to miss the bus. You even put on something nice instead of your usual comfortable wear. You tie your hair up and leave the apartment. You get to the bus stop before the bus, for the first time in over a year. When it arrives, even the driver looks surprised. You take your usual window seat and crack your knuckles nervously as you look out the window at the busy city around you.

The bus stops at Peter's stop and he gets on like usual. This time he takes the seat next to yours. 

"Hi Pete." You smile at him, he looks nervous. "Are you okay Pete, you look a bit unwell."

"I'm fine thanks," He says quietly, "Uh, did Mr Stark talk to you by any chance yesterday?"

Now it's your turn to feel nervous, "Um, yes he did. Why?"

"He just mentioned you that's all," He gulps before talking again, "He said that you were dying. Is that true miss y/l/n?"

You sigh sadly, the poor kid doesn't deserve any more pain, "No Pete that's not true, men like Mr Stark like to exaggerate a lot. I'm perfectly fine."

He lets out a sigh of relief "That's good, I don't want you to die." You fake smile and wait for the journey to be over.

When you arrive at the labs, Tony is waiting for you. 

"Hey y/n," He says as you walk up to him, "do you actually like this job?"

"Yes, why?"

He chuckles to himself, "I talked to Mr Banner about your experiment, and I am very surprised to say you did something that he can't." You grin as he looks at you in amazement. He can't help but look confused at the same time, "He actually asked me to invite you to the lab."

"What, like a school trip?" Tony laughs, but you glare at him. You would have loved to go on a school trip there when you were younger.

"Not a school trip you idiot. As a job." You freeze, eyes wide, speechless. Your whole body is shaking and you look towards him to make sure he's serious. He nods, and before he can stop you, your arms wrap around his neck and you pull him in for a hug.

"When can I start!" You squeal

"How about right now?" Your heart rate shoots up. "But you have to get off me first."

"Oh yeah, sorry," You take a step back, "But are you serious?"

"Absolutely" He gestures towards the door and starts to walk away.

You follow him out of the lab, and into your new life.