Innocent Bystander | T. Stark ✔️

twenty ▼ a rise and a fall

Juliet was exhausted. She could feel the absence of energy in her very bones, threatening to overwhelm her mind as well. She had mentioned it to Bruce, knowing that she couldn't pass over anything she felt if he was going to find out was going on.

After a day of endless questions, the nurse began to feel sorry for her past patients. Bruce seemed to be closing in on an answer; she only knew that because of what she could piece together from his mutterings to himself.  He was incredibly intelligent and Juliet found that her awe was an effective distraction from the reality of her situation.

When Bruce proposed that the two of them go to the Avenger's Tower in New York City where Bruce could have the advantage of being in his lab, the distraction lost all effectiveness.

"He thinks something is wrong with my blood," Juliet explained to Tony. "He has equipment in his lab that will prove whether he's right or not." She tried her best to sound hopeful as her focus continued to catch on the dark circles under his eyes.

A silent conversation passed between them, their words spoken through the downward turn of his lips and the creases by her eyes. They both understood that he couldn't come with her but Tony couldn't seem to accept it. It didn't seem right that she had been there for him even when she had only know him as a billionaire in a metal suit, yet he couldn't be there for her when he knew her as the woman he lost time thinking about.

"How long?"

"As long as it takes, I guess," Juliet paused, filling her lungs with air. "I know you need to stay. You can't be across the country when the Mandarin is about to destroy the world from here."

"Bruce is  good guy. He'll take care of you. But if he goes green, run. I've seen it up close and the Hulk has absolutely no regard for dental hygiene."

Despite everything Juliet found herself laughing. She moved to drop next to Tony on the edge of the bed. "Are you going to be alright being alone? You'll have to keep track of your heart rhythms and blood pressure while I'm gone. And Jarvis can always tell me if you're staying up for forty eight hours at a time in the lab."

"I'll be fine, Jules. You'll be back before you know it. Maybe I'll even have the Mandarin out of the game by then."

It sounded too good to be true, like a dream she didn't dare to imagine. To put everything behind them and simply be together...she wasn't sure it was possible. There would always be another villain or threat standing in Tony's way and as Juliet looked up into his dark eyes she found that she didn't mind.

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Juliet was thankful for the height of the Tower. It allowed her to see over the majority of the skyscrapers surrounding it and therefor the sky. From the streets of New York, most of the sky was blocked from view which was somehow unnerving to her. She stood on the landing pad, feeling the light breeze cool her skin.

As soon as she had put her bags down, Bruce had led her to his lab. It was full of technology years ahead of it's time. She watched as Bruce moved easily through the equipment, seeming fully at ease.

Juliet sat in a chair, waiting as Bruce gathered what he need to draw her blood, and was ashamed to admit to herself that she had butterflies in her stomach. She tapped her fingers on her thighs and kept her eyes glued to the ceiling.

Doctor Banner chuckled as he wiped her arm with an alcohol swab. "A nurse who's afraid of needles?"

"When I was younger I would hide in the closet if I had to get a shot," she admitted through clenched teeth, averting her eyes as Bruce readied the needle. A sharp pinch on the underside of her arm flashed as the cool metal entered her skin. Crimson blood began flowing through the tube attached to the syringe.

"Clint probably left some Skittles laying around somewhere. I can find some for you if you want."

Juliet nodded and Bruce left the lab, leaving her alone. She pointedly ignored the pressure in her arm and marveled at the equipment around her. She didn't have the faintest idea what any of it did but she was sure it was impressive.

When the bag was filled Juliet quickly removed the needle from her arm. Drawing blood was a simple procedure she had down dozens of times at the hospital and she wasn't patient enough to wait for Bruce. One of the suspended computer screens in front of her began analyzing the sample. By the time she got a bandage over the mark the needle had left there was a soft ding from the screen. The words 'data ready' flashed across it.

Juliet's eyes scanned across it, taking in the information. It was just like reading a chart at the hospital, with the added weight of knowing that the numbers applied to her.

Her red blood count was abnormally low. It was the first thing she registered. She didn't understand why it would be so out of range, but she forced herself to move on to the rest of the data.

The test had revealed a count of erythropoietin the her body was producing. To her bewilderment, there wasn't any. Erythropoietin stimulated the production of red blood cells which would explain her deficiency. If her body didn't have enough blood cells, the cause of her tingling appendages and lack of energy was no longer a mystery. Her tissues weren't getting oxygenated.

Her mind began to fall into a cascade of rushing thoughts until she stopped herself. This was a severe case of anemia. It was nothing she hadn't treated before. She was going to be fine. The words repeated in her head like a mantra.

When Bruce returned, bag of skittles in hand, he came to the same conclusions she did.

"I have one more thing I'd like to look into, if you don't mind." Bruce said, wiping the screen clear after storing the data in a file.

"Of course. What did you have in mind?"

"It's most likely nothing, I say we're better safe than sorry," he rested his hands on the table in front of him. "I want to see if the radiation from the arc reactor has had any physiological effects on you."

Nodding her consent with a smile, Juliet ignored the pin prick of worry that was beginning to drive itself into her brain and pulled her phone from her pocket, impatient to call Tony.

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so i try to make all the biology stuff make sense but if anything isn't making sense i would be glad to answer any questions. thank you so much for reading! i know updates have been sporadic lately but i'm really going to try to be consistent not that i'm on winter break. love you, homies ❤️