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You watched the video on your phone over and over again. The devil of hell's kitchen was back and better than ever. You watched as he fought the man the news was calling "The Punisher". His body in that tight suit was enough you make anyone swoon without even seeing his face. He was tall and slender yet muscular, he had to be the way he was tossing another grown man around like a doll. You wanted him and would do anything to determine who he was. It took about a week of examing the videos of him online to realize the eyes in his suit were covered meaning he either didn't want to see or couldn't. How he would stand still during battle almost like he was listening for something rather than looking helped you narrow your search for a tall, muscular, blind man in his early 30s. By this time, the punisher was captured, and word about his legal team had gotten out. Nelson and more importantly, Murdock.

"Thank you guys so much for taking my case with everything going on now with that punisher guy I'm assuming it's pretty busy around here," You thanked Karen

Once you made the connection linking Matt to Daredevil it was smooth sailing from there. First, figure out how to get a case for them to take. Luckily your landlord had been refusing to fix the air in your apartment while simultaneously raising your rent which from your research was right up Nelson and Murdock's ally. Second, somehow get them to take a case in the height of the case of the century. That is where Karen came in. A super sweet girl has a soft spot for women in trouble. Worked like a charm.

"Of course, this should be a pretty open-and-shut case. Foggy is great with these types of things," She said handing you a clipboard to fill out paperwork.

"Hm Foggy? Is he the blind one?" You asked already knowing the answer

"No that would be Matt," She corrected handing you a pen.

You started filling out the paperwork trying not to raise any suspension

"Oh I just think it's awesome how he a blind lawyer. I'm going blind in my right eye so it's refreshing to see how blind people don't let their disable stop them," You lied trying to see if you could hit another soft spot in Karen. "He's like an inspiration. I want to be a doctor,"

You saw a sweet smile come across her face. Bingo you had her in the palm of your hand.

"You know, he'll be here in about 45 minutes if you wanted to take your time on that paperwork and meet him," she offered

"Oops," You dropped the paperwork on purpose buying you a few extra minutes.

Karen laughed and chatted with you while you did the paperwork.

"I'm sorry, you didn't get to meet Matt the other day. He tends you disappear most days," Karen apologized as she took a sip of her drink.

You had made friends with Karen. Which wasn't hard she was actually really nice and you had a few things in common. She had invited you out to drink with her and Foggy at the Josie's.

"It's okay. I'm sure I'll meet him soon,"

The truth was you were tired of waiting and you were determined to meet him that night.

"Thank you guys for inviting me out. I don't have many friends since moving here," You lied again.

"Of course," Foggy spoke up. " Who says you can't be friends with your clients," He joked knowing he and Karen had become close friends after they defended her case.

The 3 of you spent the rest of the night drinking and playing pool. You were 3 shots and 2 mixed drinks in when you heard the sound of tapping heading your way. Your head faced the direction the sound was coming from and you laid eyes on him for the first time. He was much taller in person.

"Hey Matt, over here," Foggy said waving him over.

Without missing a beat he walked over to the three of you. Once in front of Foggy he stopped and whispered something to him.

"Oh, this is our new client, (Y/N). (Y/N), this is Matt Murdock," You reached out to shake his hand when you realized you were drunker than you thought.

You stumbled forward, falling into him. "Woah you okay," he asked

"Oh my gosh, I'm sorry. I think I had too much to drink," You regained your balance. " Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," He shook your hand.

The two of your hands are still locked together. You stared at him finally seeing the man you had been obsessed with for the last few months. You had obviously caught his attention too because he was staring back even though he couldn't see you.

"Nice to meet you too," He said breaking the silence between the two of you.

"Okay well. I'm going to walk Karen home. Can you make sure (Y/N gets home safely, please?" Foggy asked holding up an equally drunk Karen.

"Of course, Foggy. Be safe you two." Matt insured him

You watched as Foggy and Karen leave the bar, leaving just you and Matt.

"I'm sorry you missed all the fun," You stood in front of the door of your apartment building.

"Oh don't apologize. Foggy and Karen seem to be very fond of you I'm sure we will have more time to catch up,"

"I would really like that Matt," You said earning a smile from him. "Do you want to come up for a drink since you didn't get to have one? And I can call you a cab they hardly come around here this time of night," You offered hoping he'd take the bait.

"I would love to,"

Perfect. You unlocked the door and led the way up to your apartment. You flicked the light on as you walked in, Matt was not far behind.

"Sorry about the mess I wasn't expecting company," You apologized

"It's alright it's not like I can see it anyway," he joked.

"Oh gosh, sorry was that insensitive"

He laughed before reassuring you it wasn't. The two of you made your way to the living room. You showed him to the couch before walking to the bar area to make him a drink.

"I hope a vodka soda is okay because that's all I have," You joked handing it to him.

"Uh yeah. Of course. Thank you again,"

"So how long have you known Foggy and Karen?" You asked trying to make conversation.

The two of you talked for hours only being interrupted when you noticed the sun had started to rise.

"Shoot, Matt, it's almost 6am," You said grabbing the cups from the coffee table and taking them to the kitchen.

"Hey, it's alright. I'll just be a little late for work. I'm sure Foggy and Karen will understand, "He explained getting up and grabbing his jacket.

"Of course, they've been really sweet to me these last few days. It was really nice to finally meet you, Matt," You walked him over to the door.

"We should really do this again. I had a lot of fun," He said standing next to the unopened door.

"Maybe next time we'll go back to your place, Mr. Murdock." You teased.

"I think I like it better over here actually," He grabbed your waist pulling you closer until you could feel his breath on your lips.

"I think I like you better over here too actually," You said flustered

You were glad he couldn't see your face because you would be embarrassed at how hard you were blushing right now. He leaned in for a kiss which you dodged.

"Sorry, Mr. Murdock, I don't kiss on the first date. Meet me back here after work and you might get that kiss," You pushed him back by his chest.

"Well, I guess I'll be back tonight," He said before kissing you on the forehead and leaving.

You smiled to yourself before locking the door behind him. As much as you wanted to kiss Matt you knew you had to wait. You didn't want to come off too strong and scare him. You made your way over to the kitchen where you had put the coffee mugs. You grabbed the one Matt used and dropped it in a ziplock bag before walking over to the grey and gold treasure chest you keep in your closet. You open the top of the chest where you kept all your research on Matt, along with pictures and now the mug he used to drink coffee out of. A smile crept onto your face as you closed the lid to your private tribute to the Devil of Hell's Kitchen and locked it, knowing soon he'd be yours

"Ruling in favor of the Plaintiff, the court dismissed," The judge banged the gavel on the bench before getting up.

Matt and Foggy both hugged you as your case came to a close. After 2 long months, you guys had built a perfect case. You just wanted your air fixed but in the end, you were able to move to an updated apartment free of charge and were able to keep the same rent payments as before. The court cleared out only leaving the 4 of you.

"Thank you guys so much! You two make a really good team. Celebration at my new apartment whenever I move in," The 3 of you laughed with Karen joining in from the gallery. "Well how about drinks tonight at Josie's, my treat," Matt spoke up.

"Ouu carefully, Ms. (Y/L/N), I think your boyfriend is trying to impress us," Froggy joked.

"He is very charming," You smiled up at him as he pulled you into a side hug kissing you on the top of the head.

"Let's get out of here. I really want to go change out of this dress," Karen spoke up

"Uh yeah. We will meet you guys in like an hour," You said

"More like 2 hours," Matt nudged you

Foggy and Karen both groaned in unison. Not far behind the two of you as you exited the courtroom.

"You are one kick-ass lawyer," You said undoing Matt's tie. You noticed a cut on his neck.

You of course knew it was from his nights as DareDevil but he doesn't know that so you had to play the role of confused girlfriend.

"Hey, what's this" He grabbed your hand before it reached the scar

"Uh, I'm actually not sure. I run into a lot of stuff. You know with the whole being blind thing," He joked

You laughed along as you undid the buttons on his shirt.

"You gotta be more careful, Matt, can't have my 'boyfriend' getting all banged up" you quoted Foggy from earlier

"I'm sorry, I had told Foggy things between us were getting a little more serious. I hope you don't mind"

"Of course not. I was hoping I wasn't imagining it," the two of you laughed

"So will you be my girlfriend?" He asked as he lifted your shirt over your head.

"Duh Murdock," You stood on your toes to kiss him.

The almost scolding sound of his voice sent your lips pursing in consternation. Immediately, you went to defend yourself and explain your state and the events leading to it in some way that absolved you of sole responsibility. But, you couldn’t.

Thinking back to the events that immediately preceded your waking up you drew a blank. Well, almost. You could remember the pain and a fair amount of panic alongside it, but the circumstance escaped you.

Your answering silence, alongside the panicked uptick of your heart and the thousand other stress responses he could likely pick up on, spoke loud enough. In the end, he verbalised the answer for you; “you don’t remember?”

Wincing at the pull of the thread suturing you back together, you grit your teeth. “Do you have to sound so disapproving?”

A dark laugh met that, but no words. The silence surprised you. The pair of you often engaged in sarcastic exchanges to overshadow these more more morbid aspects of your existence. It was unlike him to allow this silence linger between you - silence a space that allowed quashed thoughts and feelings to bubble into stark reality.

In the silence, punctuated by the sting of your wounds, your eyes acclimatised your this new light. His features appeared in greater clarity, eyebrows drawn and lips pursed as he worked on you. His skin was splashed in shifting neon; purples, reds, and blues scattering rhythmically over his skin.

Where were you?

You sat up suddenly with this question. An immediate pain scratched through you at this jolting movement and warm, rough hands stilled you. One palm flattened against your back whilst the other gripped the crook of your elbow. “Slow down,” he all but grumbled, “you’ve lost a lot of blood.”

You ignored his concern and looked around, one hand gripping the back of the sofa in an admittedly feeble attempt to steady yourself. “Where are we?”

Looking back to him you watched a strange uncertainty pull at him, lips quirking as his jaw clenched. Eventually, he provided you your answer; “my apartment.“

“Oh,” you did not bother to hide your surprise.

Your meetings previously had always been of a more clandestine nature. Dark alleys and rooftops, stern and sardonic words shared over the hubbub of a city that never slept. You had seen his face only a handful of times, known his real name for only a few weeks, and a visit to his apartment seemed such a large leap.

“W-what happened?” You asked again, more concern lancing through you at the revelation of your location. “Why am I here?”

Another heavy sigh escaped him, hands leaving your now steadied figure to drag tiredly over his face. The rusted red of dried blood upon his hands widened your eyes. Without thinking, your hands darted forward to take hold of his.

You ignored the surprised catch of his breath at the feel of your hands and turned over his hand in yours. Thumb sweeping softly over the skin there, you struggled to ascertain the source of this stark amount of blood. “Are you hurt?”

He swallowed thickly, voice hoarse when he eventually replied. “It’s not mine.” Clearing his throat, he gently extracted his hand and stood. Collecting the scant and bloodied medical supplies he had scattered haphazardly around the pair of you, he moved to the sink. You watched him scrub his hands. His face appeared forced into stoicism yet still he looked haggard. More so than you had ever seen him, a surprise given the location should be so familiar to him.

In a voice unlike your usual, you timidly asked, “Matt, are you okay?”

A crash of something answered the question. His face split into an anger you could at least recognise. Leaning heavily against the counter, a ragged breath heaved from him and he directed sharp words at you. “No, I’m not okay,” a tremor rang through the words, blunting their sharpness somewhat. “I found you half-dead in some alleyway,” his shoulders hunched as his head dropped, voice rising in anger. “You need to be more careful!”

Defensive, against his tone despite the actions he had taken to save you tonight, you argued back. “What, like you?” You jabbed angrily. “You’re always so fucking careful.” You shifted from your place on the couch to dramatically stand and leave.

You didn’t need this from someone who had already spent so much of his life in similar states of injury.

You were going to leave, without so much as a thank you, and disappear back into the night. You were going to, but a fresh pain tore through your side and you collapsed back onto the sofa with a choked gasp.

He was before you again in an instant. So quickly, in fact, that you assumed you had briefly blacked out. “Are you finished?” He asked with a huff. The condescension of his tone was made bearable by the concern tightening his lips. One hand softly lifted your shirt, careful fingertips examining the landscape of torn skin. “You’ve torn a few stitches.”

You grimaced at that, you really didn’t want to have to sit through any more. “Will it be okay?”

Fingertips still surveying the damage, he gave you an answer that sent relief soothing through you. “It was only a couple,” he removed his fingers slowly, fingertips seeming to linger upon the unbroken skin of your ribs. “The others-“ the words cut off prematurely as he cleared his throat and shifted oddly in place. “The others should hold.”

Silence welled between you briefly and it felt so very heavy that you thoughtlessly broke it. “Thank you.”

His head jerked strangely in response, lips working oddly as he chewed over whatever response had sprung forth. Eventually, a few quiet words managed to escape him. “I need you to be more careful.”

The subtle difference between these words and those he had harshly thrown at you just moments prior stilled you.

You need to be more careful.

I need you to be more careful.

Your eventual response was whispered. “I’m not going to stop, Matt.” His jaw worked but no words left him; he had expected the answer but he didn’t like it. “You know that.”

“I’m not asking you to,” he told you when his voice, however hoarse, returned to him. “Just be careful.”

The request was helpless and he knew it. The world you chose to inhabit, that you both chose to inhabit, had little room for those that were too careful.

“I’ll try,” you supplied, voice wavering under the sudden and unexpected weight of this conversation.

The answer wasn’t enough. He leaned heavily forwards, a specific intensity to his expression that you had never seen before and were almost afraid to interpret. “Potter,” he provided, “my suit can stop knives, sometimes even bullets.” As he spoke he nodded to himself, seemingly attempting to convince himself that this solution would fix everything. “I’ll talk to him, he’ll make something for you.”

You were unconvinced. “I don’t know, Matt. He doesn’t know me, why would he do that?”

Matt was resolute. He needed this to work and seemed determined to force it to. “He will if I ask him.”

It was a moot point, arguing now was pointless. Matt had made up his mind, Potter would either agree or he wouldn’t. It didn’t matter in this moment. Besides, fatigue was swiftly catching up with you.

“Okay,” you half-heartedly agreed, a shrug shifting your shoulders.

“I need to get out of here.” His voice sounded ragged. Bruce could feel his heart beating all over his body–in his chest, in his wrists, in his ears. He didn’t move. If he moved, he might break, and if he broke, there’d be nothing there to stop the Hulk from doing to Tony what he had done to Mr. [L Name].

As usual, Tony ignored the possible danger. Bruce still wasn’t looking at him, but he could hear the rolling eyes in Tony’s voice as he asked calmly, “Out of where?”

“This city. The country. The planet, if I can manage it.”

“Bruce, that’s insane.”

“Insane?” Bruce scoffed, the closest sound to hollow amusement he could make. When he peeled his hand away from his face, he saw Tony frowning at him from across the table. “Were we watching the same video here? Did you see the way that man hit the wall? The angle of his neck?”

“If you hadn’t gone through that building, he would have died anyway. That leviathan you smashed would have killed everyone inside if you hadn’t been there.”

“Yeah, that’s a consolation.”

“It is!”

Bruce gazed at Tony in silence.

“Bruce, come on, buddy. We needed you that day. If you hadn’t been there, Loki’s army would have won. Everyone would be dead, including [Name] and her grandfather–or worse, we’d all be subject to Loki’s hairstyle demands.”

Bruce didn’t react to the joke. Tony’s eyes widened ever so slightly. In response, Bruce tried to smile, at his hands, at least. He couldn’t manage it. Tony got up from his seat and was standing in front of Bruce in a flash.

“Bruce,” Tony said in a low, quick voice as he placed his hands on Bruce’s shoulders. Bruce, without looking up, shrugged them off, but Tony placed them back again almost immediately. “Listen to me, Bruce.”

Another fake smile worked its way onto Bruce’s face. “Now you sound like Natasha.”

“She is a very smart woman, along with her other…admirable attributes. You can’t blame yourself for this.”

“Maybe I can’t, but I will.”

“Bruce.” The fingers on Bruce’s shoulders contracted, almost painfully. The monster in Bruce’s head gave a tiny shiver. “This isn’t your fault.”

“Are you just saying that because you feel guilty about starting this whole fiasco?”

Tony let out a short breath, as if he were about to speak. Then his eyes darted toward the kitchen door before they went back to Bruce. “Maybe a little.” He paused, then spoke more urgently still. “By all means, tell [Name] what happened. Break up with her. Just don’t leave.”

“Look, Tony.” Bruce reached up one hand to push Tony’s off of him. “The sentiment is nice, but we both knew I wasn’t going to be sticking around long. A sedentary lifestyle just doesn’t work for me.”

“It could!”

Even Bruce couldn’t pull off not furrowing his eyebrows in Tony’s direction at that point. “Do you really think if I tell her, she’s going to be okay with just never seeing me again? I killed her grandfather. The police are still looking for me after that incident in Harlem. She’ll go to the media, and I can’t really say I blame her.”

“Well, I can.”

“And you’ll do…what?”

For once, Tony kept his silence. His eyes wandered from Bruce’s face and roved around the kitchen. Unable to find any answer in the many gadgets surrounding them, Tony heaved a defeated sigh, his shoulders falling nearly a whole inch. “I guess I wouldn’t do anything. You wouldn’t want me to, would you?”

“No,” said Bruce. “I wouldn’t.”

“Bruce, please don’t–”

Tony broke off at the sound of the kitchen door being opened. With his back towards the entrance, Bruce couldn’t see who it was–but Tony’ s face twisted into an expression of horror before he arranged his expression into one of haughty disdain a second later. Bruce had only half-twisted in that direction when a chillingly familiar voice asked quietly:

“Am I interrupting something?”

That got him spinning in his chair. “No,” he said as Tony practically shouted, “yes!”

Bruce’s voice nearly died in his throat. Your eyes were red; dirt clearly colored your cheeks where the tears had stuck to them; your hair looked windblown. Ice flooded his veins, causing the Hulk to stick up his nose and sniff eagerly at the atmosphere. You already knew. Somehow, you’d figured it out just as he had.

“I’m sorry?” you looked nervously between Tony and Bruce.

Tony straightened himself and, clearly working to keep himself calm, crossed his arms over his chest. “What are you doing here?”

Surprisingly, you didn’t snap at him. In fact, you looked away, not even walking further into the room. “Pepper let me in,” you said. “I…I needed to ask you something.”

For a moment, Tony and Bruce’s eyes met. The horror Bruce felt was mirrored in Tony’s face. Yes, Bruce had planned to tell you. Quickly. But not immediately. Not that he was going to lead you on, but he needed time. Thinking about it now, though, maybe this was better. Like ripping off a Band-Aid. No long, drawn out, slow-death affair like it had been with Betty.

“[Name],” he began, but you didn’t even glance at him. Your gaze was riveted on Tony. Were you expecting him to explain the Other Guy? Were you going to demand an explanation for why Tony would have got you into the mess? Bruce saw your shoulders go up, then slump, defeated, as you asked:

“Can I stay here for the night?”

For a moment, it seemed as if everyone in the kitchen had frozen. Tony and Bruce exchanged confused looks.

Then Tony took a step closer to you as he cleared his throat. “What?”

“Can I stay here for one night?” you said again, slowly. “I know it’s probably a long shot, considering everything, but…”

The tension in Tony’s shoulders dissipated. In fact, Bruce could almost swear he saw Tony smirking. “Well, that’s up to Bruce.”

“What?” said Bruce, causing you to really look at him for the first time since you’d arrived. It gave him worse than stomach butterflies–it gave him stomach wasps. “Tony, no. This is your house.”

“Your girlfriend, your rules, Big Guy. If you want her here, I’m not going to say no.”

The very look Tony sent Bruce was enough to make the wasps grow several times in size. Was Tony really thinking about that right now? Bruce had only just found he’d murdered your grandfather an hour ago. It wasn’t at all the time to be thinking about…what Tony was thinking about. Was he that desperate, to think something like that would get Bruce to stay? Tony’s grin widened as he prompted him:

“So?”

Bruce had to shake himself to get himself back to reality. He didn’t want to think about what the Other Guy meant for sex, so reality was probably a safer plane. Relatively, at any rate. “I’m sorry. What?”

“[Name],” said Tony, and he gestured toward you. Your eyes were wide in your face. “Can she stay the night or not?”

Bruce barely heard you say “please.” He was already thinking. It was difficult, over the nerves in his brain. The Other Guy was definitely paying attention. Whatever was going on, you looked desperate. “Can we…” His fingers casually ran through his hair before he put his palms together, “talk first?”

Out of the corner of his eye, Bruce saw Tony shake his head. As subtly as he could, Bruce nodded in return. Tony shook his head a second time, but he’d already said your staying was up to Bruce. Unless Tony wanted a row this early in proceedings, he would have to stick to that.

“I can go find a hotel somewhere If you really don’t want me here,“ you said quickly.

“Let’s just talk.”

Your teeth flashed against your lower lip as you gave Bruce a hesitant nod. No one said anything. You stared. Bruce stared. Tony stared. The refrigerator hummed quietly in the background. The ice maker tipped more ice into the box. When it became clear that Tony wasn’t taking the hint, Bruce raised his eyebrows at him.

“Oh!” Tony started. “Right. I’ll just…go find Pepper, then. I should probably talk to her about letting people in without my approval. And I should go check on JARVIS. He didn’t warn me we had guests again.”

“Sure,” said Bruce. He tried to smile, but even if he’d succeeded, Tony’s nerves remained plain on his features.

Without taking his eyes off of Bruce, Tony walked backward out of the kitchen, toward the living room. Bruce watched warily, expecting him to burst back in with some reason Bruce couldn’t be left alone with you. He didn’t. Slowly it donned on Bruce that he could hear someone sniffling. Confused, he turned back toward the entrance you had come through. While he had been keeping a look out for Tony’s return, you had moved to the kitchen table and sat in one of the hard red chairs. When you saw Bruce looking, you colored slightly, ears turning pink.

“[Name],” said Bruce gently. He wondered if he should try what Tony had, touching your shoulders. Then he tought about what he was about to thell you, what you probably already knew, and he doubted that you would want him anywhere near you.

You hiccuped and pressed a hand to your lips. “I’m sorry. I–I didn’t mean to cry.”

“You’re allowed to cry.” He shoved his hands into his pockets–quite the feat, considering that he was sitting down. It wasn’t as though his not being allowed to have emotions should mean the same for everyone else in the world.

“No, it’s stupid.”

“It’s not stupid.”

You pressed your lips together so hard that they turned white. After a moment of silence, you forced yourself to smile. Bruce did not return the gesture. His mind was too preoccupied with what he was about to do to think much about how to respond the present goings on. His original thought that you had shown up because you knew about the Hulk, knew about Bruce, was gone. He highly doubted that you would want to spend the night if you had discovered that little detail.

“[Name],” he said again. “Why are you here?”

This earned him another sniffle, although your smile that accompanied it looked a little warmer. “Nana kicked me out.”

“What?” For a moment, the intensity of the situation slipped from Bruce’s mind.

Another tiny tear swelled at the corner of your eye before it trailed down your cheek, adding to the root system-like pattern forming there.

“Why?”

Immediately, you began to pick at the tips of your fingernails. “We had a fight this morning. About–About you.”

Fear seized Bruce again; the Hulk got a little louder.

“She wants me to date Mr. Stark and wasn’t too happy to find out I’d been spending all my free time with someone else.”

“You and Tony. That sounds like a great idea.” That got him a chuckle. Part of Bruce felt better, making you smile. The other part of him reminded him that he was only making things harder for himself. Already rubbing his hands together, he got to his feet and walked across the room to lean against the oven. “She kicked you out over something like that?”

“Nah. I said some things I shouldn’t have about her and Papa. Nana got suspicious, found some old letters, and decided I convinced her husband to steal from and lie to her. Told me I just remind her that everyone else in her family had is dead and said that I needed to leave.”

“That’s horrible.”

“That’s Nana.” You got to your feet with a shrug. “She’ll ask me to come home once she realizes she can’t manage the store and herself on her own.”

“And you’ll go back?”

“What choice do I have? I owe it to Papa. He wouldn’t want her to go through all this alone. Besides, I can’t just crash here for the rest of my life. If I’m not helping out Nana, I can’t live with her. If I’m not working at her store, I don’t have money. I’m not particularly fond of the idea of living in a dumpster.”

You started to walk toward Bruce. He tried to press himself backward, to lengthen the distance again, only to remember he had his back against the oven. The growling in his head took over. Bruce wrenched himself away from the noise and tried to focus back on the conversation at hand.

“You could go back to Washington,” he said.

Then you were right in front of him. Bruce looked away; his palms pressed into the cold surface behind him.

“But…you’re here.” He looked up. You didn’t appear sad anymore, or even angry. “I wouldn’t ask you to move with me. All your friends are here.”

“That doesn’t mean,” Bruce squinted, trying to ignore both the Other Guy and your proximity at that point, “that you have to stay.”

“I don’t want to leave anymore.”

And before Bruce had a chance to react, your lips pressed against his. Startled, he stiffened. You didn’t seem to notice–not that the kiss deepened or hardened. Your arms, however, did raise to corner him. Without much choice to do otherwise, he waited. As soon as you stopped kissing him, he lifted his hands, screwed up his eyes, and looked away.

“I have to tell you something.”

The arms at his sides fell. You didn’t speak. Bruce lifted his head.

You were frowning. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

With a shaky sigh, Bruce nervously ran his fingers through his hair again. “It’s really bad. You’re not going to want to…” He trailed away once he noticed you blinking rapidly. No tears yet. Unfortunately, it was highly unlikely he could get through the night without causing you to cry. “[Name], I’m so sorry.”

“About what?” Your voice sounded only slightly higher than usual. “Bruce, if you don’t want me to stay here, I’ll go find a hotel. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

It was a little late for that, not that you had any way of knowing so. “It’s not that,” he hastily assured you. “Of course I do. But you aren’t going to want to stick around. Not after I tell you…”

He shook his head, in theory to suggest that he didn’t have words to tell you how awful things were about to get, but mostly in a futile attempt to get the Other Guy to shut up. Maybe you recognized some of the symptoms from that night a few months ago at the bar, because you gently took Bruce’s hand.

“I’m not drunk,” he said shakily.

You snorted. “I kind of figured. Bruce, I don’t know what’s going on, but you don’t have to worry, all right? I love you.”

He looked away. “You can’t.”

“Why not?” A squeeze of his hand accompanied these words, but Bruce could only breathe out shakily in answer. You lifted your free hand and rubbed your palm against his knuckles. “I know I already said this, but you make me really happy. Even we just sit somewhere and talk, being around you…it makes me feel calm. Really. Whatever you’ve got to tell me, well…it can wait. It doesn’t matter.”

“Yes, it does.”

Bruce trembled from head to foot. If you noticed, you didn’t remark upon it. But then, you didn’t know how close you were to a monster that could break your neck as easily as look at you. Without thinking, he shoved you away. You stumbled backward, hit the table, toppling it over and sending the kitchen chairs to the floor.

“[Name]!” Fear that he had hurt you didn’t exactly make the noise in his head go away, but it did get Bruce off the wall, so to speak, and rushing toward you. He knelt to move some of the debris away. “Are you okay?”

You sat up with one hand to your head. “Ow,” you said without much heat. “What was that for?”

“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to–are you hurt?”

“Just confused.” A chair had fallen over on your leg; you kicked it over as you got to your feet. “I guess I should probably go find a place to stay. It’s nearly midnight. Sorry,” you looked at your feet, “if I did something wrong.”

“It’s not you, [Name]. It’s me.”

“What should I do, then?”

“Nothing. I just–” Noticing that he was still on the ground, Bruce stood up. “Touching me is probably a bad idea right now.”

“Fair enough.” You chuckled; the sound was not entirely without humor. “If you still want to talk to me about…whatever, we should probably wait until morning. Give me a call?”

Bruce was halfway through a silent nod before it occurred to him that if you left now, he could be gone before you realized it. Halfway around the world and safe again–without having to give you an explanation for anything. But even as he tried to get the “yes” off his tongue, Bruce knew he couldn’t do that. Yes, he’d need to leave, by tomorrow evening, at the latest. But he couldn’t just disappear and leave you wondering where he went, and why he hadn’t said anything. What with the Other Guy’s awakening in his head, however, Bruce didn’t think he could concentrate well enough to formulate anything even close to a reasonable apology. Nor did he particularly want to add to your bad day–for your sake, and for his own.

As if sensing Bruce’s fear, the Other Guy gave a particularly angry shout in Bruce’s head. Bruce winced. Apparently you did see that, as you took a step forward, one arm outstretched before you remembered the no touching comment and let it fall to your side.

“Bruce?” you asked hesitantly. “Are you okay?”

“Fine,” he answered around the tightness in his throat. A moment later, and he straightened up. The smile Bruce put on didn’t feel the slightest bit convincing, but it was the best he could do, given the circumstances. “You’re right about it being a little too late to get into it right now. You can stay.”

“I can?” When Bruce did not immediately retract this statement, you smiled. “I can stay! Thank you! Thank you! I’ll go find Pepper and see if she can lend me some blankets for the couch. It got a little cold last time.”

Bruce shook his head. “Come on, I’ll show you to my room.”

“Your room?” Your smile faded. Bruce could understand the sentiment. It wasn’t exactly safe, having you so close when he was experiencing so much emotional turmoil. But maybe if something happened in the night, some last kick to get Bruce over the edge, having you there would remind the Hulk–himself–that he wanted you there. “But–”

“Only,” Bruce said, and his voice sounded surprisingly raspy even to his own ears, “if you behave.”