Caught In A Web

four

"Yes. It's a paid assistant position. You would live at the tower to be available to Dr. Banner whenever."

You began coughing, choking on air. "Wh—What?"

"This is a great honor. If you were to accept, the university is prepared to just give you your PhD due to the fact that we know that you are more than ready and because you'll learn more with Dr. Banner than we could ever teach you."

"Uh... when do I need to give you a response?"

"Monday. You have the weekend to decide."

"Thank you, Professor. I am honored that you and the university thought of me."

"You are an extremely bright woman, Y/N. I know you'll make the right choice and do us proud."

You gave him a nervous smile and a nod as he walked away. Your mind was running at a thousand miles per hour. What your professor had just presented you with was a great honor and opportunity.

But... you knew that the Avengers were looking for you, or looking for your superhero alter ego. Just because you lived there, didn't mean they'd find out, right? You could make work where you could keep your identity hidden and still take the assistant job. This is literally everything you worked for, with the person you longed to work for: Dr. Bruce Banner.

Though, Tony would be there. He could easily guess the truth about you. Would that change the friendship that was forming between you? Would he tell everyone the truth and force you into the evaluation? You honestly didn't know. Of course, you could be as careful as you could, but would that be enough?

Your mind couldn't stop thinking about it, even when it came time to meet up with Tony. You had arrived first, using the time alone, above the city, to think about your options.

"Hey, spidey girl," Tony greeted as he set himself down beside you.

"Hey," you replied.

Tony's head tilted in the mask as he took in your tone and lack of 'tin man' (which he was only fond of when it came from you). You were physically right there with him, but he could tell that your mind was someplace else.

"What's up?" Tony asked.

"Mhmm?" You hummed, not really listening.

"You seem a little lost in your head. Did something happen?"

"Yeah, kinda."

Tony immediately became overcome with worry. "Are you okay? Did someone hurt you?"

You quickly shook your head. "No, no, I'm physically fine. And no one hurt me. It's just..." You sighed. "I have an opportunity that came up and I don't know what to do about it."

Tony could tell that you didn't want to go into much detail about it but he was still going to be willing to help. "Is it an opportunity that is good?" He cringed at his own words. Pepper had frequently told him that he didn't know how to really have deep conversations, but he was going to try to do better with you.

"It is. It's really good, what I've always wanted... I guess I'm just scared. It's new and unknown territory that would change my life."

"I say do it. Yes, it's scary but you can do it, I know you can."

"You think so?"

"I really do."

You reached over and took his armored hand in your gloved one. "Thank you, Tony. Really."

"Anytime, Y/N." He looked at you through the suit and silently wished he could see what you looked like. He wasn't going to push you on that yet though, but he knew that there was one thing he might be able to do. "Did you sew this suit yourself?"