bruce banner, LIFELINE

the near incident.

Bruce Banner had only two thoughts on his mind as he stared at the screen in front; Loki's sceptre and Parker Miller. 

He wished he could stop thinking about the latter but it ironically stopped him from doing anything productive.

He thought of her and the only thing he could concentrate on was how she used to look when she peered around her computer screen to look at him. It was a sight he used to enjoy on a daily basis. But now it just made him feel like he was ten feet underwater.

His guilty conscious weighed him down and almost physical pain from time to time. It would be triggered by small unrelated incidents like when Tony offered blueberries Bruce suddenly became overwhelmed with the reality that he left Parker.

At least that is how it felt to him, in reality he could blame SHIELD for badly faking his disappearance from Calcutta.

"Hello, Earth to Bruce?" Tony snapped his fingers and Bruce blinked a couple of times to focus his attention.

"Huh? Yeah, spectre right." Bruce said whatever random words he could string together. He was lucky that he didn't tell Stark he loved him because that's all he was saying to Parker in his head.

"Something's wrong. I can tell - don't ask me how, it's a gift - but I can tell. Luckily for you I am the most experienced man in the room when it comes to love."

"There's only us two in this room."

"Minor detail," He threw a blueberry in the air and caught it in his mouth. Bruce frowned as he pictured Parker doing the same action, "Now tell Uncle Tony."

"Uncle Tony?"

"Horoscopes were a big business a couple of years back." He smirked and Bruce shook his head, he appreciated the distraction but Tony was the last person he wanted to tell about Parker, "Now who is she?"

"Excuse me?" Bruce had never spoken to someone so direct.

"The girl. The one that you can't stop thinking about. Her." Tony lost the smile on his face as Bruce ran his fingers over his hair.

He was not getting relationship advice from a billionaire playboy about a relationship that he couldn't even describe. Even if there was a chance that went out the window the second he left without a single message.

The idea of how Parker would be feeling at that very minute was constantly on Bruce's mind. From it the irrational conclusion he drew up is that she probably is living her life as if nothing had ever happened.

Bruce didn't even begin to comprehend the amount that he meant to Parker and thought she would be able to carry on without him, was one of the reasons he was able to sleep at night.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Bruce lied, trying to busy himself with flicking one of the numerous screens.

"You're a terrible liar Banner."

"Good job I don't do it often then." Bruce looked at him over his glasses and Tony noticed the deep wrinkles forming due to stress. Bruce tried to ignore them when he looked in the mirror as they were the complete opposite of what he wanted. He wanted to be more youthful for Ms Miller, not like the science professor that taught her at college.

"Does she know? About you know..." Tony didn't even need to mention the other guys name. The Hulk had become the elephant in the room since he had arrived. Despite the 'homeliness' of the craft - Nick Fury's words - Bruce did see himself as a captive.

"What do you think?" Bruce responded. His tone said it all, he would never tell her about the other guy. Never.

"You got to." Tony was the voice of reason that Bruce didn't want to listen to.