Marvel Imagines

Bruce Banner - Caretaker Part 1

"Do you sleep anymore?" Lee-Ann asked as she crossed her arms over her robe and leaned against the doorframe of his lab.

"I have a nap scheduled for next Thursday." Bruce said in a quiet voice and looked over at her with tired eyes as he forced a goofy smile onto his face.

"You look terrible." She laughed sympathetically as she walked in and snagged a chair, rolling it over beside his. She plopped down and pulled her feet up under her.

"Why, thank you." He replied, swiping through complex data sheets on his tablet.

"I'm serious Bruce. You need to take a break." She insisted, taking the tablet from him and turning it over on his desk.

Bruce reached for it, but she slapped his hands away and gave him a warning look.

He sighed and pouted as he leaned back in his chair, rubbing the back of his neck. "I will take a break, just not yet." He said seeming a tad annoyed, "I'm so close, and Tony needs this data decoded ASAP." He reminded her.

"That's exactly what you said five hours ago, the last time I came in and insisted you rest." She retorted and he groaned.

"But this time, I mean it." He defended, but Lee-Ann gave him a stern look.

"No, this time I mean it. Just send what you've finished back to Stark and let him chip away at it for a few hours." She said decidedly and Bruce sighed.

"You know, I was surviving on my own long before Fury sent you to babysit me." He said and Lee-Ann looked a little hurt by his words.

Bruce noticed and immediately regretted his indelicate phrasing, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that. I'm happy you're here." He admitted and she looked a little less hurt.

"I'm not your babysitter." She said quietly, "I was only supposed to be here for containment in case of a code green." She reminded him, looking down at her lap as she fiddled with the hem of her robe, "I nag you because I don't like to see you run yourself ragged." She shrugged.

"I know. I'm sorry." He said and smiled apologetically.

"I was only assigned to you for two months. Just long enough to make sure you had adapted to being here." She said and looked up at the bunker type lab, which was submerged, a hundred and fifty feet under the surface of the ocean.

Bruce looked up in shock and Lee-Ann avoided his stare. "I didn't know that." He admitted.

"I know." She shrugged, "I figured you'd tell me to go. I know you already feel like you're keeping me here when I should be somewhere else, but..." She trailed off, glancing up at his kind eyes, then away again, "I asked for an extension." She said quietly.

"I also did not know that." Bruce said slowly, running a hand over his jaw.

The two of them sat in a heavy silence for a few more moments, before Lee-Ann finally stood up and started walking towards the door.

"I'll make some food. You go shower, and I'll call you when it's ready." She instructed.

"Yes ma'am." He nodded and she glanced back at him with a smile, before disappearing down the hall.

Bruce had to admit, the shower felt really good. He couldn't recall how many days he had been in the lab, taking little naps here and there out of necessity, but he hadn't bathed, or spent a night in his own bed in what felt like forever.

He shut off the water and towel dried his hair, wrapping a robe around himself as he walked out of his ensuite in a cloud of steam.

He headed into his closet, grabbing a pair of black pyjama pants and a white t-shirt, then came out to his bedroom and dropped the clothes on his bed. He pulled on some boxers, then the pants, and was running the towel through his still damp hair, when his door cracked open.