incrediblebanner | (no subject)

Waking up as herself again after was always hard on her. Worse when she was on the run on her own, waking up alone in unfamiliar places with scraps of cloth that used to be her clothes. She prayed not to wake up and find someone's blood on her during those times.

Now, it's... well, nowhere near pleasant. She'd solved the clothing problem, however, with the help of Reed Richards, and the two of them managed to put together a material that would stretch reasonably well with the Hulk and shrink enough for her afterwards. She still lost part of her wardrobe to the Hulk when she hadn't expected a change, but most of the time, they have enough warning.

She doesn't even wake up alone that often anymore. Usually at least one Avenger goes on retrieve Banner duty whenever the Hulk feels the need to wander off before shrinking back down. She wakes up with someone nearby more often than not.

There's a certain predictability to what will happen when she does wake up. Regardless of how long it takes, where it happens, or what kind of state she's in, the first question is always the same.

She blinks her eyes open - god, she feels like she's been hit by a truck - and finds Steve. "Did I hurt anyone?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

She frowns slightly, still confused as to why he feels the need to bring this up now. "I'm fine, Steve. I don't think I need help with anything right now."

A moment, and then:

"Although I do appreciate you bringing me to the Tower and making me something to eat," she adds, quickly but sincerely.

Edited (I edit for good reasons and not just because a tiny thing bugged me shh.) 2014-11-20 05:52 (UTC)

There are times when Natasha in particular yells at him for not being direct about his feelings, for not needing to hide, and then there are times when Steve thinks why not, when every single other person in the team does it. But he's philosophical about it. It's not like he expects Bryce to instantly jump up and say 'yes, you're right, and you magically made it so I can trust people!'

That never happens for him when people try to make him confront his issues, either.

He grins, runs his thumb gently over her fingers. "You're welcome, really. You feel ready to sleep again yet? I'll head off after you drop off."

"Sure." She hadn't quite planned on getting back to sleep just yet, honestly, but if he's contented himself that she's okay and doesn't need any more monitoring, she isn't going to keep him.

"Call me if you need anything. Seriously."

She looks exhausted, though perhaps not ready to sleep immediately. He doesn't want to intrude, though.

"Sure."

She won't, obviously, unless there's an emergency of some sort, but it's kind of him to offer. "Thank you, Steve."

He finishes the last bite of his sandwich, and sighs a little internally. Well, he's a raging hypocrite anyway. Not like he calls people every time he has a nightmare, or can't sleep, or needs to go out just to be outside. He can't blame her for not wanting to lean on him that much.

He gives her a smile from the door. "Talk to you soon."