I Thought You Were Different: Part 6

Deja Vu

"I feel like we're teenagers sneaking around so our parents don't find out about us."

"Bruce, that's ridiculous," Dr. Cho snickered. "We're adults. Consenting adults."

Bruce nervously chewed his lower lip, his eyes trained on the road ahead as he drove towards the compound after a lovely night away that was so desperately needed. His anxiety about having a real relationship was already hitting its peak, but to try to have a relationship while a part of this particular group added only that much more of a challenge for him to control. "But we are sneaking around. I told Barton that we were heading to your lab for supplies."

"I know, honey, but it's not our parents that we're sneaking around from. It's a group of overzealous, eavesdropping superheroes. Several of them with super hearing and a power to read minds. This takes much more skill than simply hiding from parents."

"Hmm, you've never met the parents on this team, I assume?" He smiled back. She rested her hand on her lap suggestively for him to take, easily moving so that he would catch the motion even in his peripheral vision. He smiled at the action, and her regard for how he was feeling for both the situation and for her, and he took it readily with a lift to his lips to press a kiss to her palm. "Thank you, Helen. Once again, you know what I'm feeling before I do. I'll never know how you do it."

"I'm very wise," she hummed softly.

"You're a genius."

"Takes one to love one."

There was the familiar and unwelcome rush of anxiety again, flipping Bruce's stomach over against his will. She felt his grip on her hand tighten and tried to pull back but he wouldn't let go. He had no idea why the idea of love made him so skiddish; Helen was amazing and so patient with him. He had been in love before but it hadn't ended well, and he was terrified to revisit that kind of history. But then again, time was fleeting, which this team knew all too well, and he couldn't allow himself to deny his needs anymore, no matter who found out. It was time to take chances that were out of character, and to do what made him happy before anyone else. "I love you, too."

"That's the first time we've said that."

"Yes."

"Say it again," Helen smiled softly, "I like the sound of it."

"I love you," he repeated readily, "and I don't care who knows it anymore."

"Really?"

"Really."

The rest of the drive continued on in silence, the pair each lost within their own thoughts as they considered the implications and possible repercussions of the admission, but quickly came to the realization that there were none. Everyone else on the team had found their love over the years together, and it was well beyond their turn now.

Bruce sighed discontentedly as the raise of the garage door, unwilling to accept the end of the date already, but not seeing much choice. "We really need to do this more often. We're not getting any younger."

"Speak for yourself," she huffed, "you're only as old as you feel, Bruce."

"Like I said, teenagers sneaking around." The door fully opened in front of him, but he didn't push the car forward. Instead, he kept his foot firmly on the brake and turned towards his date. "I don't want to go home just yet."

"Neither do I. What did you have in mind, Doc?"

"Well," he answered, looking at her with eyes that slowly began to darken and fill with mischief, "if we're gonna be teenagers, let's go park somewhere. I'm feeling limber."