Marvel Universe Imagines and One Shots

A little secret - Part 1 - Bruce x Reader

Only Fury and Hill knew her secret. And boy, was it a secret.

The team knew that she could control water, any water. Lake, ocean, tap, it didn't matter. She could control it as long as it was H2O. The only thing that the others had been told, was that this water could never touch her skin. That she had a strange allergy to the element that she could control. But the truth was far stranger than the lie.

She loved the water. It was her home. The only thing that she had known for as long as she could remember. Watching from below the waves as over the centuries she had come to the aid of mariners in distress. Becoming a myth in their world. A story that was spoken about at night, over a few tankards of rum. Sailors telling tall tales of love with the beautiful creature that had saved them from the depths. Saved them from a watery grave. Her name becoming 'Mermaid'.

When she had first joined the Avengers, the team hadn't been able to understand how she could have known less about the modern world, and its technology, than either the Asgardians or Steve and Bucky. But after many warnings from Fury, even Tony had stopped asking. The team only caring about what she could do in the field.

Strangely, it had been Tony and Bruce that had taken to her most. Tony waterproofing the compound as best he could, to make sure that she didn't get wet. And to make doubly sure, he had designed a waterproof suit. A suit that she wore all the time. The team taking to calling her, the water baby.

Most of her time, she would spend in the labs with her two favourite mortals. Watching quietly as the pair would tinker and work for hours. The maid of the sea, always sitting on Bruce's bench and gazing dreamily at the shy Doctor Banner. He was unlike any other mortal that she had ever met before. And that was not just because of the monster that he could become.

Most of the men that she had rescued over the many centuries, had been bawdy and rough sailors. Men that were vulgar and coarse, despite their best efforts. A life at sea not necessarily making them familiar with dealing with such an innocent creature as she was. So, to meet a man that was quiet, shy, clever and sweet, made an interesting change. Bruce always answering any of her questions, and smiling the kindest smile when he knew that she hadn't understood the answer.

"Ok Bruce. It's your turn tonight. I took her last night. Our little water baby needs taking to her room" Tony chuckled. Indicating to the sleeping form at the end of Bruce's bench. Bruce looking up from his computer to see (Y/n) curled up happily at the end of his table.

"Why is it always my bench she falls asleep on?" Bruce asked with a soft smile, as he carefully took (Y/n) into his arms. His heart beating a little quicker as she snugged into his warmth.

"Sometimes Bruce, I swear that you are completely clueless. (Y/n) likes you. Haven't you noticed that its always you that she turns to with her questions. The one she always sits next to. How she smiles every time you look at her? You really need to get yourself out of this lab and into the real world, sometimes, Bruce. You might actually find that you enjoy it if you do." Tony told him, as Bruce looked down at the woman in his arms. He had to admit that had noticed how (Y/n) would smile at him. How she laughed at his terrible jokes. And how she and his alter ego seemed to work so well together in the field. The Hulk apparently as charmed by (Y/n) as he was. The big green guy always calming when he saw her. Resting his large head on her lap until he became his normal self once again.

Heading out of the labs, Bruce made his way to (Y/n)'s rooms. He had always found it strange that for someone that was allergic to water, (Y/n)'s room looked like an underwater grotto. Filled with things from the depths of the oceans. From shells and coral to things that appeared as though they had been at the bottom of the sea for centuries. All littered her walls. All proud possessions of their owner. Bruce presuming that as it wasn't possible for (Y/n) to ever venture into the sea, that she had instead brought the sea to her.

"Good night, water baby." Bruce said softly. Placing (Y/n) on her bed. Carefully pushing some silken strands of her hair back behind her ear, before kissing her gently on the forehead and leaving the room. The doctor wishing that he could summon up the courage to tell her how much he truly cared for her.

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(Y/n) stirred in her sleep. The ache in her body rousing her from her slumbers. She knew the pain well by now, her body screaming for contact with water. She could only stay in this human form for so long, before her body needed to be submerged. So that she could once again, become her true self.

Slowly she rose from her bed and stripped of her clothes and the suit that Tony had made her. Her only option at times like this the indoor pool that was next to the training room. It wasn't the vast salt watery expanses of the ocean. It wasn't the coral reefs that teamed with beauty and life, but it had to do. Quickly, she grabbed a towel, and wrapping it around her naked mortal form, she silently made her way through the halls of the compound. Making sure that no one was awake. The mermaid finding, to her relief, that all souls seemed to be slumbering.

With a relieved sigh, (Y/n) pushed on the door. A soft smile coming to her lips as she saw the shimmer of the cool liquid. Carefully, she sat. Lowering her legs into the water. The limbs almost instantly turning into a large, glistening blue opalescent tail. The relief of the change, relaxing her aching body as she dove in, to complete her transformation.

As her vision of the underwater scene became perfect. Gills forming behind her ears, and delicate skin webbing growing between her fingers, (Y/n) wished she could tell the others what she truly was. Wished that she could show them all, her true self. Show them what she could really do. Yet, she was always so worried about what they would think. What they would say. Even for an Avenger, a mermaid was not something that you came across every day. (Y/n) aware, that in this world, the world above the oceans, she was little more than a myth. But as the water made her feel whole again, she hoped that one day she would be able to tell them, show them. And hoped that they would still accept her. Not be shocked. Especially Bruce.