bulletproof

17

A/N*Sorry for the slow update, I'll try my best to not spend forever posting a new chapter each week in the future!*

Bruce adjusted his glasses as he peered down into the microscope, zooming in on the small glass file, delicately positioned on the stage, kept in place with clips. 

As he focused on the plant cell, jotting down notes in a small notebook, open and off to the side, soft opera music was singing out from a speaker placed in the corner of the room, setting the atmosphere in a peaceful aura. 

He rubbed at his eyes as he got up from looking down, pushing his glasses to the top of his head before bringing them back down to balance on the bridge of his nose. He was working to occupy his brain away from the thoughts regarding Y/N. The worry and stress that had radiated off the team, and especially himself, had not helped with his mental health and he had felt like he was going to crack and turn into the green monster lurking in his mind. What made it worse was when Y/N came into the kitchen, after months of being cooped away, all cheerful and everyone pretended as if nothing had happened. At all. 

He wanted to scream. He wanted to act like the complete opposite of the calm doctor image he'd perfectly orchestrated for himself, but he knew he couldn't do it. it wouldn't have been fair on anyone, not when the tensions were still running high, even if they were now being hidden away thanks to Y/N emerging from her hiding place. 

Everything was too much. It overwhelmed him. 

He took a quick glance at the mirror positioned on one side of the lab, checking for any green tinges marring his skin and breathed out with relief when he didn't see any. 

A soft knock sounded at the door and F.R.I.D.A.Y. announced that it was Nat on the other side of it. Bruce frowned. Why was Nat here? She never came over...it wasn't her area of expertise and she always hated being around people who knew more than she did.

"Come in!" He called, closing his notebook and tidying away the glass files and samples back into their places, turning off the microscope as the beautiful Russian slid into the room. He momentarily lost track of his thoughts as he watched her enter, mouth dry at the sight of her.

"Hi, again," she said, sounding almost monotonous at the relaxed tone of her voice, "Did I interrupt you?" Nat nodded her fire coloured hair at the equipment held loosely in his grip.

He snapped to reality and stammered a reply, "Oh...no...I...I just finished." He stole a quick glance at her then turned away, blushing furiously.

She let a sly smile grace her lips and leant against a table, looking nonchalant to hide the fast beating of her heart. She hadn't ever really had feelings for anyone ever in her life...there had been a time, when she'd been young...and naive, that she'd fallen for someone completely unstable and cruel. She had decided then that she'd never let her feelings come into play in her life...but her guards slipped when she met the quiet, rage-filled doctor.

"What were you working on?" She asked, grabbing a file and lifting it up to the light to look through it, squinting as it shone brilliantly from reflections.

Bruce leant over and grabbed the glass from her grasp, cradling it gently in his palm before stashing it back with its fellow files. She frowned at him and he stuttered an apology, locking the drawer and tucking his hands deep into his pockets.

"It's just something to keep me distracted...heh...on my toes..." He lifted himself on his tiptoes for a second then went back to his original stance, cringing internally at everything he was doing. What the hell, Bruce? Are you dumb? Be like Steve. Steve is cool. Steve is Captain America. Or be like Tony. Except for the shamelessness.