Marvel Imagines and One-shots (Requests Closed)

The Lab Assistant - Bruce Banner/Hulk (HYM #1)

A/N: This is the first in a series of How you Meet long preferences. Hope you like it.

***

You had worked for SHIELD for years. You'd started the day after you graduated from college with your doctorate at 17. You weren't a field agent. In fact you were pretty sure you would injure yourself if you tried to fire a gun. You were however a brilliant scientist. Your time was spent in a lab surrounded by calculations and beakers. 

Living the life you did, you were also painfully shy. You'd always been younger than your classmates and your job at SHIELD was a fairly isolated one. Currently you were observing a chemical reaction between two formulas you'd created. You peered through your reading glasses to read the temperature and jotted it in your notebook. You heard the door open and held up a finger to let them know you'd be right with them.

You finished recording your observations and turned to your visitor assuming it was one of the lab assistants. To your surprise, none other than Nick Fury himself stood in your lab. Heat flooded your face and you were certain you were as red as the chemical you'd just been experimenting with. "D-director. What can I do for you?" your voice was soft but the lab was quiet so he heard you.

"I have an assignment for you, Dr. Y/L/N."

Your eyes widened as your heart pounded in your chest. "Me?" You didn't leave your lab. You just didn't. If you could get away with having a bed in there you would.

Fury chuckled. "Don't panic. It's an environment you'll be comfortable in. Stark and Banner have been working on a serum to speed healing. The goal being to get agents back in the field faster. They're stuck and need a fresh perspective. You're it."

Tony Stark and Bruce Banner were two of the greatest minds in the world and Fury thought you'd be comfortable working with them? You took a breath and did the only thing you could. "When do I start, sir?"

(time skip brought to you by the elastic in Hulk's purple pants)

You stood in front of the tower and stared up at it before going inside. It was huge and imposing. You clutched your bag more tightly in front of you and stepped up to the front desk. Fury had given you a letter that simply stated you had an appointment with Stark to get you past reception. 

"Welcome, Ma'am," the woman said. "The elevator you need is there. Just enter and ask to be taken to Mr. Stark."

You frowned and took the letter back wondering exactly how this was supposed to work. You pushed the button for the elevator, stepping in when it arrived. The doors slid closed behind you and you glanced toward the ceiling. "Um...Mr. Stark, please."

"Mr. Stark has asked not to be disturbed. Is he expecting you?" a crisply accented voice answered causing you to startle a bit.

"Nick Fury sent me."

"Of course, Miss. Mr. Stark is in the lab. We will arrive at that level presently."

The elevator's motion was so smooth you barely felt it move. When it stopped, the door slid open and you stepped into a dimly lit hallway. "Please continue down the hall and you will see the lab on your left. I will ensure the door is unlocked for you." The voice from the elevator had followed you into the hall. Interesting. 

You followed the instructions and quickly found the lab. You knocked on the door as you opened it. The two men within didn't even notice your arrival, which wasn't surprising given the volume of the music playing through the speakers. Tony Stark was easily recognizable from his many magazine appearances and the arc reactor glowing under his shirt. He looked a little worn and you wondered how long it had been since he slept. 

Your gaze shifted from him to Dr. Banner. He sat at a table, his shoulders slightly hunched forward, fingers buried in his messy black hair. He took off his glasses and tossed them onto the table in front of him. The music suddenly cut out and both men looked up. 

"Sir, Director Fury's scientist is here," that accented voice said and the men turned their attention to the door. 

Your face heated and you gave them a little wave. Tony immediately came over to with a grin. "Tony Stark but I'm sure you know that. That's Bruce. And you are?"

"Y/N," you managed to get out but he cut you off before you could say anything else. 

"Fury says you're a genius, but this is Fury we're talking about. His standards might be a little low. You look too young to be a doctor. You must be a lab assistant. What can you do?" he asked. He spoke quickly and his eyes moved the whole time he was talking. 

Frankly, you were a little overwhelmed. "I-I'm sorry?" You didn't quite understand what he meant.

"What can you do? What's your specialty? Nuclear weapons? Viruses? Gamma radiation?" He glanced at Dr. Banner as he said the last. 

Banner stepped forward and nudged Stark aside. "You're freaking her out, Tony. Knock it off. Sorry about that. I'm sure you'll do fine. I set you up a workstation so you can review what we've done so far. When you're done we can talk about any ideas you might have." He gave you a small smile and your face heated at the attention.

You nodded. "That would be great. Thank you."

(time skip brought to you by "Hulk Smash")

The area that had been set up for you was toward the back of the lab, away from Banner and Stark's workspaces. You were perfectly fine with that however. You'd been reading over notes and looking at formulas all morning. 

"Y/N, we're going to grab some lunch. You want something?" Stark asked. 

You glanced up in surprise before shaking your head and holding up your bag. You'd brought a sandwich with you. Stark just shook his head and Banner frowned but they shuffled out leaving you to it. 

As soon as you were certain they were gone, you hurried over to their tables and looked over their current notes. Stark had scribbled a couple of worthless formulas and drawn sketches of several mini Iron Men. That was completely unhelpful.

Banner, however, was onto something. Your eyes flew over the formula he was working on, your mind calculating and deciphering what the final result would be. It wasn't what Fury was looking for but with a little tweaking it was a big step in the right direction. You erased a couple of figures and replaced them with others. You read back through the work and nodded once in satisfaction. 

By the time the other two returned, you were completely caught up on what they'd tried and what they hadn't tried. Besides Bruce's formula, you had a couple of other ideas to run by them. You sat on your stool eating your sandwich. Stark rolled his eyes and Banner gave you a small smile before they went back to work. 

"Tony! Why didn't you tell me?" Banner suddenly shouted. You jerked in your seat and nearly choked on your food. 

Stark looked bored, just lifting one eyebrow as he looked at his friend. "Tell you what?"

"That you fixed the formula. This is brilliant. And so simple. Why didn't we see it before?" Banner was beaming in his excitement as he bounced a little in his seat.

Stark frowned and moved over to his science bro. "I didn't fix anything, Banner."

Your face flushed and you cursed your tendency to blush over every little thing. 

"Then who..." he trailed off and both men turned to look at you.

You smiled and gave them a little wave. 

Banner narrowed his eyes. "Maybe we should start over. Who are you exactly?"

"Dr. Y/N Y/L/N."

His eyes grew wide. "The Y/N Y/L/N? The one who's research we've been using as a basis for our own."

You smiled and shrugged. "Yes?"

Banner smacked Stark in the back of the head. "Lab assistant, Tony? Really?"