Avengers Imagines

Bad Time for Claustrophobia- Bruce Banner

(Gender Neutral Reader)

Warnings: Panic attack, claustrophobia

"You're delusional, Tony," you sighed, just trying to collect your things to go home. You were thankful to be chosen to be Tony Stark's lab tech, but if you knew it would consist of Mr. Stark himself constantly pestering you about your love life 90% of the time, you might have reconsidered. 

"Yes, but I can still see the way you ogle at him," Tony commented casually, however you felt blood rush up your neck and cheeks. Your grip tightened on the files you were organizing, eyes stuck on every movement of your own hands. 

"I-I don't ogle..." You mentally cursed yourself for stuttering. 

"Hate to break it to you Juliet, but you do. Luckily, your Romeo is the one person who doesn't seem to notice." Tony hopped onto a nearby counter and you spun in surprise. 

"Everyone knows?" You tried to keep your composure. However, there was a rapidly growing feeling of worry. 

"Knows what?" he asked cheekily through a all too well knowing grin. You shook your head slightly, huffing out a sigh while turning back to your things. 

"I admire his intelligence, that's all," you said with (thankfully) some finality, and started towards the door. 

"You should tell him!" he calls out after you. 

"Bye Tony," you respond over your shoulder, but that didn't stop him. 

"Do you want my help? Maybe I could give him one of those notes with the boxes he can check, since this is all so high school!" His shouts followed you out into the hallway, and you were thankful no one was around to hear. 

Shaking your head, you walked toward the elevator, your mind occupied with the person in question. You tried to remind yourself that you had valid reasons for withholding your feelings, but they were starting to deteriorate. You were worried rejection could make your job uncomfortable, and you loved your job. Or, maybe it was just the rejection that was worrying you...

You heard the ding of the elevator doors ahead of you, and quickened your pace. "Hold it!" you shouted to whoever was in the elevator. Thankfully, whoever it was held it to help you get home that much faster. To just sleep off the whole storm of thoughts and feelings. The idea of that was growing more and more appealing. But the feeling quickly evaporated when you saw just who held the elevator door. 

"Hey, Bruce..." you quietly said, eyes wide in shock, and hoping he couldn't see the blush tinting your face. 

"Hey," he smiled gently. Any possibility to escape the situation came to a halt when the door shut behind you. You were trapped with the person who'd been running around your mind, for the next twelve floors. Of course he was going to the same floor.

You paralleled his stance to stare at the elevator doors instead of the mind numbing trap of his warm eyes. In the quiet atmosphere, Tony's advice came screaming back to you. The whole situation was a bit high school... And if you told him, you'd at least move out from underneath the sword hanging over your head. Still, fear clung onto you. 

The silence was starting to become almost suffocating. And you were still consumed in your inner debate. So much so, that you couldn't see Bruce fidgeting nervously as well. Then, something yanked you out of your head. 

A jolt shook the floor beneath you, and the entire elevator stopped. This instantly flipped the switch on one of your worst phobias. Since this was pretty much one come to life. 

You subconsciously stepped backward until your back hit the wall while Bruce investigated the sudden stop. "No no no no no..." you kept uttering to only yourself. Your peripheral vision was starting to blur as you tried to focus on your staggered breathing. Your knuckles became white as they gripped the folders in your hands shakily. 

"Well, we're stopped, but I can't really tell why..." Bruce muttered, turning to see you crumple down to the floor. "Hey, hey, are you alright?" he asked and knelt beside you without hesitation. You couldn't even respond, as your body and mind were starting to drown in panic. Bruce pieced it together pretty quickly after that. "You're claustrophobic..." he whispered. "Okay, Y/N, look at me, you're alright," Bruce started, and his calm, composed voice pulled your frightened eyes to his. "Take a deep breath for me," he started, but your worst fear had a mind of its own and couldn't be reasoned with.

"I-I can't..." you stammered with your anxiety starting to rise exponentially.

"Just one, it'll be easy, I'll do it with you." Bruce took the files trembling in your grip with rock like steadiness. His hands were softly gripping yours now, determined to ground you. You tried to focus on his endlessly warm eyes and match his breathing pattern. 

This must've been some cruel twist of fate; the person who'd been causing you so much stress was now trying to calm you down, which was proving difficult. Despite his first attempt, the panic was taking over. Shaking had spread from your hands and over your entire body as you were racked with sobs. A frustrated cry left your lips. You found yourself angry that you couldn't just beat this, as unrealistic as that may be.

"I'm going to put my arms around you, okay? The pressure will trigger a chemical release in your brain that will calm you down," he explained, scientific and soothing. You could barely muster a nod  through the panic that had settle in your veins. 

You hardly felt his arms around you with the numbness of your nerves. It was all still a blur, until you heard comforting words whispered right beside your ear. "You're alright, phobias are normal. You're not alone, I'm here. I'm here..." He was luckily unfazed by your behavior, and you knew he must've had experience with the act of calming down. 

Bruce was right. After a few minutes, a sense of calm was starting to bring sensation back to your skin. You felt your head carefully resting under his chin, and you just noticed your nervous hands gripping his shirt deathly tight.  Luckily, you started to win the battle your panic-possessed body had with steady breathing. Your lungs welcomed the proper inflation and deflation, each breath tugging you back to calm.

This small act made you over the moon. You looked back up to Bruce, with a hint of a smile returning to your face. You were very suddenly aware that he had had a hand running over your hair, which was now delicately holding your cheek. He searched your eyes for an indication that you were okay, or at least getting there. The longer the two of you held the stare, the stronger your tether back to earth was becoming. When a thumb brushed over your cheek, brushing away a tear, you almost forgot the situation you were in. 

"Thank you," you whispered. 

Then, the elevator doors dinged. Both yours and Bruce's attention was begrudgingly pulled away from each other. That was unusually perfect timing... However, when the doors opened, it wasn't so unusual. 

"Am I interrupting something?" Tony smirked from the other side of the doors, and it became obvious why the elevator stopped. Then he seemed to notice your tear stained cheeks, and the fact that you were both on the floor. "Whoa, Y/N, you alright? He didn't reject you, did he? I really didn't think he would..."

You bolted to your feet with an intention to hurt the billionaire, which both of the guys seemed to realize, since Tony sprinted down the hall and Bruce grabbed hold of your waist to halt your lunge. You huffed your chest out seeing Tony run. You then saw Bruce smiling out of the corner of your eye. 

"What's with the smile?" you asked, a quirk in your eyebrow. Then, his lips pressed against yours gently, and your eyes nearly bugged out of your head. Not for long though. You melted into the long anticipated kiss, despite it only being a few seconds of bliss.

"Tony was right. I'd never reject you," he almost hoarsely whispered after breaking the kiss. Your eyes went wide before he explained. "I've known for a little while now, but I-I just never had enough courage to do anything about it. I was always worried you wouldn't feel the same." His bashfulness was ultimately adorable. 

"Still afraid?" you joked.  

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This one was pretty long! So this is my second in a countdown to Infinity War, hope you guys enjoyed! Next week will be Black Widow. Thanks for reading, vote, comment, and request!