code_blue | under the stars - take two (for Pepper

Pepper's look was simple - jeans, a t-shirt, and a ponytail - yet she probably spent more time getting ready for this supposed non-date than she had her last shareholder's conference. On top of that, she couldn't just leave her contribution at coffee. No, she had to bring scones, a fruit tray and a vegetable tray, all of which she carried in her arms as she made her way across the clearing. While she can admit to feeling a bit nervous herself, she's glad she's gotten practiced enough at appearing casual that it doesn't show. At least she hopes not.

"Before you scold me," she says as she approaches. "I didn't buy all of this for us. I hosted a meeting today and everyone was too uppity to snack in front of everyone else. Their loss, our gain."

His grin at her overladen appearance was anything but reproachful.

"Are you kidding, this is great. I'm starving." Bruce bounded up and went to help distribute the burden of all that food. His metabolism, while not being on par with Steve and Thor, was substantial in it's own rite.

"All of this looks good. Thanks for thinking ahead..." He stumbled over how to address her. The formal 'Miss Potts' didn't seem quite right, but he wasn't used to just calling her Pepper either. "I can't believe you made it all the way out here tonight anyway." Especially from a meeting? Did the woman ever get exhausted?

"No way was I going to miss this. I've been looking forward to it since the Great Blackout of Last Thursday." She really has, if for no other reason than to get away from the city and all things 'business' for a while. The fact that she's out here with Bruce is icing on the cake. Their last bit of downtime together was quite enjoyable, so this - with more time and more privacy - should be rather nice.

"People have been talking about this shower for a while, so I'm surprised such a nice spot wasn't already taken." The strap of her bag slides from her shoulder as she glances around the area. "No one's going to come out yelling as us pesky kids to get off their lawn, are they?"

He had to have a go at the carrots before he got back to her.

"Did anyone find out the cause of that?" Bruce had heard nothing on the news but theoretical excuses, and he had wondered if something more sinister was to blame. It was silly though, he was just being paranoid, a rather bad habit of his.

"..nevermind, that's not really important. Um- no, this is actually the property of a friend of mine. We have permission, I promise."

It should be just that simple. Though in the life of Bruce Banner, it never was.

In the distance, a faint light was just steady enough to catch his attention.

She didn't mind answering his question. Truth be told, she found it rather odd herself, especially since it had taken a couple of hours just for the Tower's backup generators to kick on. While the building had endured many electrical glitches, that had been a first.

"No word from anyone on the cause," she said, foregoing the chair to settle down on the blanket. "It's strange to me because the Tower is self-sustaining, not on the grid with the rest of the city. Tony and JARVIS are still trying to figure it out, but I..."

She trailed off once she realized Bruce was otherwise preoccupied. Rather than carry on with her train of thought, she followed his gaze, taking note of the glow across the way. Was that a flashlight? Headlights? No, it couldn't be a car...

Her brow furrowed warily as she kept her eye on the light. "Is that your friend?"

Hope springs eternal, anyway, because Bruce wasn't the only one who was a bit leery of the unexpected.

In fact, Tony had called Bruce once, after the power outage. To complain about it. He'd listened with only half an ear for detail, since Tony's diatribe consisted of a range of topics from the latest baseball game (Bruce was a fan, Tony didn't get it) to the atomic weight of a cheeto. Along the way he gather that it couldn't simply have been an accident. It was more than likely that the tower had been the target of the power outage specifically, and the rest of the block was collateral damage.

"No. It's not my friend." Bruce knew that for a fact, this particular friend of his never left home. Shut in was the kindest term that could be used to describe him. "I think that one is a car, but..."

Other, small flashes of light were coming out of the woodwork now. So to speak.

Okay, Pepper may not have known much about meteors, but she certain knew they didn't look like that, nor did they come from the brush. Whether they were headlights or flashlights, they were drawing closer by the second, which in turn, led to this scenario becoming far too sketchy for her liking. After the conflicts they've had in recent times, the last thing she wants is more confrontation.

And of course, there's the matter of Bruce's condition. As much as Pepper would like to say she trusts the Hulk wouldn't hurt her, the fact is, he's never met her. Were a fight to break out, she wouldn't trust him to recognize her as a friend rather than a foe. Not to mention they weren't exactly in the middle of nowhere. Spacious as it is upstate, there are families, farms, animals, and general elements of livelihood in the vicinity that wouldn't survive the Hulk's wrath.

So naturally, the best thing to do would be to prevent a fight. As best as she could, anyway.

"Uh...I'm not really liking the look of it, whatever it is, so how about we just leave this stuff here and..."

And what? Incite panic by running? She pushed to her feet and took a step back, sliding her eyes from the lights to Bruce.

"Do you think your friend would let us inside? We can let him know he's got company. Or...more company."

Thoughts that mirror Pepper's have run through his head as well. In the distance there is a farmhouse with one of the few friends he has left, asleep, unaware of the potential for betrayal from Bruce's own inner demon.

The best think he can do right now is to get far away from here.

"Pepper, your keys!" They will have to leave everything behind, but right now what mattered most was distance between himself any everything he could destroy. If Bruce seemed eerily calm, it was only by his hard won control over his body's reactions to stimuli.

His own borrowed car was too far away to reach. Left back at his friend's farm.

Bruce was reluctant to invite Pepper into a car chase that would probably end in disaster, but it was that or leave her behind for... whoever it was that was after them. He might not trust himself, but he certainly couldn't count on an unknown enemy to treat her fairly.

Thank goodness Bruce is well-versed at keeping calm, because as the lights drew nearer, Pepper was finding it increasingly difficult to do anything but lose her cool. She quickly pat herself down, as if her keys could be tucked in any number of places on her person, before managing to fish them out her pocket. "I got 'em! I got 'em..."

Of course, she had no idea where they would actually be able to go, but right now, if she could just get them away from innocent bystanders, they could deal with the rest as it came.

"Come on..." She didn't think twice about turning on her heel to head in the other direction, walking as swiftly as her long legs would carry her. It wasn't until she risked tossing a look over her shoulder that she made a grab for Bruce's hand and took off running toward her vehicle.

"They're fast! I don't know if I'll be able to lose them, but I'll try!"

He was about to suggest that she give him the keys, but the look in Pepper's eyes told him that he should let her drive. It would at least give her a small amount of control in the face of a dangerous situation.

"Just get us back to the roads." Bruce squeezed her hand gently, an effort that was probably lost in all the chaos. After he scrambled into the car, he looked for their best chance at escape.

"Head between those lights there!"

It was pure muscle memory that had him snapping the seat belt into place.

"Okay!"

Christ, what is she doing? While this is hardly her first high-speed brush with danger, it's usually Happy who's behind the wheel while she sits in the backseat, literally holding on for dear life. But as it stands, there was no Happy, nor was there any cowering in the backseat, shielding her eyes as she waited for it to all be over. This time she was front and center, a fact that couldn't be more apparent than when she aimed the car to fly between two sets of lights. It wasn't until she heard the revving of engines and glanced in her mirror to see the fleet turning in pursuit that she realized exactly what they were dealing with.

"Motorcycles," she declared frantically as the car tore across the field. "And a huge cargo truck. They're either carrying something or they want to try to catch something..."

She didn't think she had to spell out what they may have been after, with a truck that size.

The poor car held little hope of making it through this evening without a great deal of damage. In the back of his mind Bruce apologized silently for yet another addition to the tally of property damage he was responsible for.

"It's okay, find the road, we need to head west."

His tone was even and measured, the sign that Bruce was starting to feel the monster of his soul beginning to waken. "That couldn't hope to hold me, who are these people?"

The question was less directed at Pepper and more to himself. It was obvious that the group after them had no experience with the Hulk. If only ignorance could count as innocence, because Bruce was under no illusion that the Hulk would see them as a worthless target. He just didn't think that way.

"Pepper, I have an idea, but you're going to have to drive much faster once we hit the road."

She didn't have the strength or the wherewithal to question what Bruce may have had in mind. The motorcycles were right on their tail, and once she began to hear the pop of gunshots, there was no option besides going for the road as fast as quickly as she could.

As requested, she threw the car into a higher gear once they hit the pavement, just in time for a bullet to shatter the back windshield.

"Oh my God, oh my God..." Were these people trying to bring out the Hulk? It honestly seemed that way, and though she really had tried her best to mirror Bruce's calm demeanor, once she had it in her mind that they were being in a game of Hulk-baiting, all hope of her managing to keep her composure went straight out the window.

"Ready to hear your plan!" she exclaimed, nearly losing control of the car as she hit a sharp turn. "Please tell me it doesn't involve a transformation! I - I don't think I can do this without you..."

It wasn't necessary for Pepper to question his plan, Bruce himself was on the verge of dismissing it as an unnecessary risk. That was before the shooting started.

After he unfastened his seat belt, Bruce twisted towards Miss Potts, he held a hand on the corner of his seat and leaned in so that she could clearly hear him over the sounds of gunfire and squealing tires. His mouth was nearly against her cheek, his nose brushed over her ear. "You can do this. You will do this. -I need you to come back and find me."

With luck, Bruce would only have to distract them. He wanted to use the Hulk to lead the men away from Pepper. ...but no, even he didn't actually trust this would end peacefully.

"Three hours, Pepper. You have to wait that long or else-" Her safety would be a point of academics if she didn't.

Bruce pulled back, a glint of green that had to be pure fantasy flashed through his eyes. A grim smile fixed on his face, he turned away from her this time, popped the lock on the door and ducked out before he could change his mind.

Edited 2013-06-23 23:39 (UTC)

Pepper had only heard stories about Bruce's transformation, mostly from Tony, and therefore from the perspective of someone who thought it was an amazing thing to witness. Having now seen at least the beginning stages for herself, Pepper can honestly say there's nothing amazing about it. His words had been terrifying enough, but when he pulled back, his eyes were practically glowing, and the grin that tugged at the corners of his mouth was far from comforting. By the time she could finally reconcile herself to what was happening, he'd already jumped from the car.

"Bruce! Bruce, wait, I - dammit!"

Despite the ensuing chaos behind her, she slammed on the breaks, her body jerking forward with the impact. A brief glance in the rear view mirror showed something astounding. As if a switch had been flipped, the car chase had come to an end, and the entire fleet of motorcycles and the cargo truck had turned course and began to follow Bruce.

...or rather, the Hulk.

She left her phone back at the farm, and because she's foolishly yet to have her car properly fitted with Stark Technology, she's in the middle of nowhere without a way to call for help. While she could drive back to the farm, she's hesitant to lose sight of Bruce. Three hours is what he told her, but were she to turn around and leave, she would have no idea where to even start looking for him when the time came.

So, the situation being what it was, she did the only thing she could think to do - she followed the chaos as best she could. Though every inch of her mind rallied against such an act, she couldn't help it. She cares enough about Bruce not to leave him to the wolves, even if his alter ego would have no problem picking them off one by one. With her headlights off, she trailed behind the action, watching the scene unfold before her in shock and horror.

If Bruce knew she was a witness, there would be no accurate description of the dismay he'd feel. But from the moment that his flesh hit the pavement of the road, it was as a flip had been switched. Rational thought swept away in the pure pain and emotion that heralded the presence of the Hulk.

HE GREW LARGER THAN THE SHELL OF A MAN

HULK ROARED

It was a challenge to the universe at large, the Hulk clung to no concepts, the ideas of mercy or pity or malevolence were nothing to him. He understood only the raw force of emotion. That which existed at the beginning of creation, pain, rage, or peace. Only the things that came from deep within. Unstoppable.

DESTRUCTION

As motorcycles sped to surround him, he grabbed them as easily as catching a ball. As easily as throwing a ball, he tossed them into an oncoming jeep. The explosion lit up the road briefly.

ESCAPE

When there was nothing left to hurt him, Hulk ran.

REST

Far from the site of chaos, he found a quiet field. He sat. He looked up at the stars. Far from him there was a cascade of lights in the sky and it was enough.

Edited 2013-06-24 10:56 (UTC)

Pepper was no stranger to explosions and flying chunks of metal debris, but she was still petrified, frozen behind the wheel, by the sight of the Hulk’s destructive behavior. He made the gang of adversaries look like nothing more than a collection of plastic toys, though by the time it was over, the flames and the carnage that had been left behind was very much real. ’Idiots,’ Pepper thought to herself. ’What were they thinking?’ There was a moment where she wondered if she ought to run – last thing she needed was to be spotted and ambushed like the others. But she was too scared to move, staying right where she was until the Hulk bounded from the road and disappeared across a darkened field.

It had taken a good hour to find the Hulk, and when she did, she was surprised to find him sitting quietly in the grass, staring at the sky. The shower had started, and though Pepper was too frazzled to really enjoy it now, she was grateful for the way it kept the Hulk preoccupied.

She was quiet as she got out of the car and began to climb the wooden fence, keeping her movements soft lest she startle him. She didn’t necessarily want to join him, rather, she wanted to keep an eye on him and ensure no one else bothered him. Or at least, subtlety had been her intention before the rotted wood of the fence cracked and gave out beneath her feet, sending her sprawling onto her side into the mud.

Shit.

Out of sight, out of mind. The Hulk gave no more thought to his previous tormentors, other than the small voice in the back of his mind. He was a creature of the moment. At home only under an open sky. It was lucky for Pepper that she found him in such a state. Her intrusion does warrant a sudden shift in his attention. Hulk jumps up, half backstepping and making a fist with one hand.

He snorts at the small woman, glaring in annoyance, for breaking his silent reverie.

If there is an awareness behind the Hulk's eye, it is independent of the Bruce Banner she would recognise. Hulk has his own patterns of thought, and instinct always drove it. After a moment, he is satisfied that she posed no threat to him and he shifts back down to look at the meteors.

It's funny how one never knew how they would react to a certain situation until they were right in the middle of it. Had anyone asked Pepper what she would have done if ever spotted by the Hulk, she wouldn't have hesitated to say she would run as fast as her long legs would take her. But now that it was actually happening, she couldn't do anything but freeze and silently prep to meet her maker.

Only the searing, white-hot pain she was expecting never came. It wasn't until she felt the ground briefly rumble beneath her that she dared to open her eyes, only to see that he'd settled back down.

She was alive. And more importantly, the Hulk wasn't the least bit interested in trying to change that fact. She wasn't quite sure what to think about that, if she could've brought herself to think about anything at the moment. All she knew was that she was safe, they were safe, and with the chaos behind them, there wasn't much left to do but wait it out.

Too moved by adrenaline to care about the fact that she's another slip away from looking like a swamp monster, Pepper slowly uncurled from her fetal position and got to her feet. She moved carefully but steadily, approaching from the side, eyes peeled, breath held. Again, she wasn't looking to disturb his peace, but if she could just move a bit closer, just to ensure him that she was friend and not foe, that would've been one of the less disastrous things to happen this evening.

Once she's close enough to be considered nearby, but still far enough to be out of the reach of a quick, backhanded swipe, she slowly settled down onto the grass, legs folding into a pretzel as she followed his gaze to the sky.

She could thank one Dr Elizabeth Ross for the previous experience that Hulk had with individual women. Though he didn't necessarily have the connection with Pepper that he'd felt with the other, if she stayed around him long enough, he would begin to recognize her in her own right.

Like animals sharing a particular territory, Hulk allows it because she is no kind of predator (though had they been in an office boardroom, he might feel otherwise).

Hulk grunts at her, just testing.

His legs shift to mirror her position, though they are far less dexterous.

Pepper's stricken by just how childlike the Hulk is. Unpredictable and irritable, yes, but childlike just the same. She can't help feeling a tad bit amused by the way he not-so-graciously follows her lead. Before she can catch herself, she's uncurling her legs to stretch them out in front of her and pivoting slightly to face him.

"You know, since we're watching the sky, it may be easier to lie back. Like this..." She reclines until her back is flat against the ground, fingers linked behind her head as she crosses one foot over the other. When she turns to look at him across the way, she smiles and gestures toward the stars with her elbow.

"See? You can take in more of the sky this way, and it's a lot more comfortable."

He probably didn't understand a word she was saying, but after the long evening they've had, she hardly minds any lack of conversation.

Hulk watched her with some curiosity, he understood her words, but they weren't important. It was her body language that won him over. There was a ground shaking thump as Hulk dropped on his back, followed by booming barks of noise.

Hulk was laughing.

The sound only lasted for a few moments, then a silence as he closed his eyes. Sleep came easily to Hulk, who had no sense of remorse for the dozens of deaths at his hand that evening. The weight of those souls would be felt by the man who woke in Hulk's place.

It had taken Pepper a moment to realize the Hulk was laughing rather than huffing and puffing in frustration. But once it became clear to her that he was actually enjoying himself, she actually began to feel bad for him. Pity for the monster who had killed roughly 30 men in less than five minutes - go figure.

Once he'd fallen asleep, she allowed herself to relax, turning her attention back to the stars. It's a shame Bruce had to miss this, and she can't help wondering what she would say whenever he comes to. How would she explain what happened? And more importantly, what were they going to do now that there had been quite a mess left behind? She's too tired to worry about it, and in the midst of trying to process the events of the evening, her exhaustion caught up to her, lulling her into a quiet slumber much like the Hulk's.

Quite, but short-lived. She isn't sure how long she's been asleep, but when she regains awareness of their surroundings, her eyes fly open with a start and a quick glance to her left.

There is a man waiting for her, just to her left. He looks like he's been through a car wreck, and maybe that is one way of viewing things.

"Oh, good." Bruce can pretend that her life was just another in a long list, but the relief that sinks out of his frame belies any approach of apathy. The fact that the Hulk hadn't killed her... it was a gift that he hadn't expected. One small thread to cling to.

"I don't suppose?" The others were alive? He hadn't even wanted to ask, already knowing the answer he'd get. The scientist in him refused to leave those questioned unasked however.

The memory of the last few hours come flooding in the moment she realizes Bruce is back to himself. Sure, he looks worn, and he’s probably going to look and feel a lot worse once she describes how the evening managed to play out, but for now? She’s just grateful he’s alive. So much so that she puts his question and all pretenses aside long enough to practically launch herself at him in relief, arms closing tightly around him as she settles into a firm embrace.

“Don’t ever do that to me again,” she scolds, though her tone is soft and weary. “I can’t even begin to tell you…”

Before tonight, Bruce could count on one hand the number of times he's actually physically touched Pepper Potts. Most of those being polite hand shakes when he first started showing up at Stark Tower to play with Tony's R&D toys.

Suddenly having found himself with armfuls, it hits Bruce just exactly how long it has been since he's held anyone.

"I'm sorry, Pepper, I'm so sorry." He softly repeats into her hair. Distancing himself from her has no longer become an option.

"I won't, I promise." Bruce would say anything to make it right between them. He's afraid that if she stops to think, she's going to run off now and tell Tony, tell everyone exactly why he needs to be kept locked up or put down. If only that were possible. "I couldn't let them hurt you."

But that wasn't fair either. "...it was the only think I could think of."

under the stars - take two (for Pepper - totherescue)

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(I'm on the go, so this is an email reply - apologies for any errors in formatting as a result!)

s'all good :D