She's The Beauty and He's The Beast (A Bruce Banner x OC fanfic)

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Elizabeth's POV

The next day...

 All is right in the world, at least for the time being. Pepper is back from her business trip and since then Tony has been fondling over her as much as he possibly can while running his tight ship. Meanwhile, Bruce and I are in the lab working on our project one again. Today's the first day we can run tests on it since we've completed enough of it now to do so. I let Bruce take the lead on running the tests because he's the most experienced one, but I observe and take good notes. 

   He grins at me. "Are you ready Liz?" I grin back at him. "I'm so ready." We can count down from three to one and let the fun begin. Three different tests are ran, each one taking about an hour. About three hours later, we have our results. All three tests went well and were overall successful, which means our project is bound to be a success story. Bruce and I hug each other with one arm awkwardly because we don't want to get any additional chemicals and what not on each other. 

   "Bruce, I would say we've earned a break. Want to go grab a lunch late/early dinner?" His stomach rumbles, indicating that he's just as hungry as I am. The two of us venture into the break room that's recently been filled up with food and drinks. Tony had forgotten to stock it up while Pepper was away because he was sort of grieving her lack of presence. Speaking of Pepper, I want to talk to her later about recent events. 

     Bruce ends up making a ham and cheese sandwich for himself along with doing a glass of warm milk while I have a bagel with cream cheese and a glass of orange juice. "Bruce, I really think we're onto something with our project. Are we going to present it at any science fairs at all?" He nods. "There's a big science fair that's starting up in a couple of weeks in Brooklyn. It's a two day event, one day for competing and one day for judging/receiving feedback and results. If we can get our project completely down by next week, we might have a shot at being a part of that science fair."

    I smirk at him. "Well I guess our make out sessions are going to have to wait then." He blushes and pouts at me. "Aw come on Liz, don't do that to me for a whole week. It's so incredibly hard not to do that at work, let alone outside of work." I snort. "Would it help if I did some special effect makeup and made myself look like an old hag?" He rolls his eyes playfully. "I'd still love you and want to make out with you even if you looked like an old hag Liz, you know that. If anything, I worry that one day you won't want to make out with me anymore because I'm going to look like an old geezer while you'll most likely still have some of your youth left."

   I cup his face gently, not caring about the fact that we're supposed to keep bodily contact limited in the lab. "Bruce, you know I'm always going to love you, even when you're a hundred years old and from beyond the grave. I know this is going to sound so cheesy, but I have a feeling about us. I know that we're going to last as a couple, get married one day, and have the most amazing rest of our lives together." 

     He looks at me with a bit of surprise. "I'm amazed at your confidence. You never cease to amaze me in anything that you say or do Liz. I love you too, so so much. I want nothing more than a long future with you. The only thing I want you to promise me is that if I go before you do, don't shut down completely. I'm not saying you have to get involved with someone else if you aren't ready or don't want to, but you've begun to make a lot of friends within the Avengers. For example, Wanda adores you."

      "She does? I mean she's a pretty cool girl and her powers are amazing. I'm honored that she wants to be my friend. Could you put in a good word for me?" He chuckles. "Absolutely." I smile. Not only am I dating the man of my dreams, but my favorite Avenger besides Bruce wants to be my friend. The dream just keeps on getting better and better. 

That evening...

  

  I told Bruce that I'll meet him out in a bit. I still want to have that talk with Pepper to make sure that everything's good. She notices me approaching her, tells Tony that she'll be right back, and comes over to me. Tony gives me a small nod and smile, watching the two of us go off in private to talk. "Pepper, it's good to see you again. How was your business trip?" She beams at me. "It was great. My boss was enamored with my presentation and is giving me a raise that goes into effect next week." I hug her. "Congrats, that's amazing!"

    She thanks me and a moment of silence passes before either of us speaks again. "Listen Pepper, there is something I need to talk to you about. I don't know if Tony told you about it or not. If he hasn't, I'm going to now." She frowns a bit but nods. "Tony mentioned bits and pieces but not the full story. I want to hear it from you." I nod back. "Well Tony missed you terribly while you were away on his business trip. As you're aware, he's a flirty guy and makes moves on women to get what he wants. He made a few on me while you were away, even knowing that I'm with Bruce. He made Bruce hulk out a couple of times and I was worried he might hurt him."

    She sighs. "That figures. Elizabeth, I'm so sorry that he did that to you and Bruce. I'm going to give him a good earful before we head to bed for the night. Please tell Bruce I'm sorry as well." I smile softly. "It isn't your fault Pepper. Tony did apologize to the both of us, I just wanted you to hear my version of events as well because there are two sides to every story and one side often gets bought more than the other." Pepper gives me one more hug before going back to Tony. I can see her yank him away by the ear and him looking quite afraid of her. I feel bad for him but at the same time he kind of deserves it.

     I go back to Bruce and we work for a couple more hours before calling it a day too. I tell him about my talk with Pepper and how she dragged him away by the ear, causing both of us to burst into a fit of much needed laughter. It's been yet another eventful day for all of us.

Hoped that you guys liked this chapter! :) -Mary