Loving A Man...Monster and All ( A Bruce Banner Love Story)

What Happened?

My eyes began to flutter open, and I felt so relaxed. I definitely woke up in a much more tranquil mood than I had earlier. Once again, I was in the hospital room hooked up to several moniters. I hadn't felt the pressure on my left hand till I tried to lift it to brush away stands of hair that had fallen onto my face. I turned my attention to my side, and looked down to find that Bruce was sitting in a chair while laying forward resting his head down onto the the bed. From his steady breathing, I could tell he was sleeping. Bruce had my hand in his with our fingers laced, so I gripped his hand, and gently shook it trying to wake him.

"Bruce? Bruuuuuce?" I called his name several times in a whisper, not wanting to startle him. Finally, after giving a good tug to his hand, he began to stir.

"Tonyyyyyyyy, just a few more minutes! Science can wait till later. Now leave before the other guy comes out." Bruce was going to go back to sleep, but hearing me laugh definitely woke him up.

"Oh, hey you're up!" Bruce's face lit up as he turned to face me, and there was not a drop of sleepiness in his eyes.

"I take it Tony Stark wakes you up often?"

Bruce's cheeks tinted a deep red as he realized I had heard him talk in his sleep. "I uhhh yes, he wakes me at the most inconvenient and random times when I'm staying at the tower."

"That must be horrible," I said chuckling.

"You have no idea!"

"So what are you doing sleeping like that? It looks so uncomfortable Bruce!"

"Yeah umm my neck is cramping a bit, but-" I could see Bruce's cheeks turning a more deeper red than they already were. "I wanted to stay with you." He then put his head down, hiding his face in his hands.

"Bruce," I called to get his gaze back up. When he lifted his head, I placed my now free hand onto his cheek, gently stroking it with my thumb. "When and how did we come back to the room? And how did we get out of the force field?"

"Well after about an hour I woke up, but didn't want to wake you, so I got dressed then picked you up to bring you back, but I couldn't get out of the area. At first I thought it was some sort of new thing from S.H.I.E.L.D. that they were using as containment for the Hulk, so I nudged you telling you we were trapped. Then you mumbled something about a force thing, then it disappeared, and we were able to leave. Huh, so that was a force field from you?"

I began chuckling at his amused face expression. "Sorry, I guess I never did get to tell you I have some special abilities... one most recently that I found out about. And from the looks of it, you figured that one out before me"

"Fury told you huh?"

"Yeah, who do you think Fury sent to find the other guy earlier," I said laughing slightly.

"Sorry about that."

"No, it's okay. But Bruce, what happened?"

Bruce sighed uncomfortably. "Well, I guess it kind of started in the morning when Fury came to inform me that you had been sent on a separate mission, which I was ready to object, and make sure you weren't being replaced permanently from assisting me. However, I calmed down when he said it was just for the day. I proceeded with trying to find a way to suppress the other guy, but after working on the samples without making progress, I went down to the lounge to relax, where I ran into Fury. I uhhh I asked him how your mission was going, and when he didn't answer I knew something happened." Bruce paused, and took a deep breath then continued. "So I asked him how bad was it. When I heard you had got shot and were in critical condition, I just nodded and stayed quiet. Fury eyed me suspiciously as if expecting for me to Hulk out, but finally left after a few seconds of making sure I was okay. The more I thought about it though, the faster my heart raced, and well I guess you can figure out the rest."

"Bruce, and how did you come to realize I had the ability to calm him?"

"Well, that night that I stayed in your room, when we woke up and I was ermm crying, my heart was racing and I was so worried that he was going to come out, but then I realized it was you who was somehow keeping him in."

As I listened to him, I chewed on my bottom lip nervously. I wanted to ask Bruce about the visions now that I knew what had happened, but I didn't want to put him on the spot. I began to get lost in thought, and I guess Bruce noticed because he then asked me if something was wrong.

"No, nothing is wrong, it's just...when I pushed my way into your mind, and merged our thoughts together, I saw some visions. In each vision, it was of you and I together. I wasn't sure where they were coming from, but then I realized they were your thoughts."

Bruce was silent for a good five minutes while looking at me, shock written all over his face. I began to worry that he might deny it, but finally he spoke.

"Y-You saw what I was thinking when I was the other guy?"

I nodded my head answering him. "And the bond became stronger when he picked me up in his hand."

"Angie, I'm sorry if that was odd. It's just when I'm with you, or think about you, I automatically feel at peace, even the other guy thinks so. I just didn't tell you, because I didn't want you to think me strange, and not want anything to do with me." Bruce was now avoiding looking up at me directly, as he continued apologizing in a mumble.

"Bruce you seriously need to just shut up, and kiss me already." Upon hearing me, Bruce looked up smiling from ear to ear. He then stood up, and leaned over me placing one arm over to my right side for support. He then placed his other hand under my chin, beginning to come closer until the gap was closed, and our lips were locked. I lifted my arms to wrap them around his neck, pulling him in as I deepened the kiss. Our lips fit perfectly against each other as they moved in sync. Bruce began leaving little pecks onto my lips then pulled away, but kept the distance between us close.

"Angie, I want to ask you something." I could see his cheeks were dusted a light pink.

"What is it Bruce?"

"After the other night, I know it's as if we're already together, but I want to do this right, and make it official by asking you. So Angie will-" Bruce sighed as he looked at me, tracing my bottom lip with his finger. "Angie, will you be my girlfriend?"