Who: Bobbi Morse and Bruce Banner What: The Date (with guest appearance by the ghost third wheel) When: Last night Where: Bruce's apt Status: Complete Rating: G
Finally! Bobbi had worn Bruce down enough to get a date! Ok, at first she all she wanted was to get the good doctor between the sheets, but then she got to know him. Why did he have to be so nice?! Hunter would be howling with laughter...or raging with jealousy which would be hilarious since he couldn’t exactly pick a fight with someone who turns into a big green rage monster.
She was told this wasn’t a little black dress event. He was cooking her dinner at his place. She settled for a pair of leggings, lace up boots and a flannel tunic, hair down. Easy enough to pull together so it wasn’t long before she was on her way then knocking on his door.
Bruce could honestly not remember the last time he’d been on a real date. And maybe it was cheating a little to have Bobbi over to his place for a home cooked meal rather than taking her out somewhere. He figured he’d be a little more comfortable with the whole thing in his own space and there would be less pressure.
That didn’t mean he wasn’t still nervous as he finished up his cooking and fiddled around making sure that the table was set and his khakis weren’t too wrinkled. He managed a smile before opening the door and taking in her casual look. Bobbi was certainly attractive. In a way that made him continuously surprised she was even remotely interested in him. “Come on in,” he said.
“Hi,” she said as she took the invitation. The other thing she did was put a hand on Bruce’s shoulder as leverage while she kissed his cheek. Hey, it was a date, right? She was going to treat it like one. That meant displays of affection….and he was really cute when he blushed.
“Hope you didn’t go out of your way.” Bobbi would much rather he be focused on her than some sort of elaborate preparation.
The gesture definitely made him blush. “I enjoy spending time in the kitchen,” Bruce said. He probably made enough food for three couples though. Worst case, he could always take some leftovers to Thor. They wouldn’t go to waste, that was for sure.
“Do you like wine?” he asked. “Or would you prefer something else to drink?” He had a nice bottle of white that would pair well with their meal, though he also had non-alcoholic options available. As far as he knew, she wasn’t on an active assignment for SHIELD right now, so she could probably drink if she wanted to.
“Wine would be great,” she answered with a smile. Bobbi was really, really off duty. There had been an email, text and voicemail left with Fury saying so. There had even been a time limit established for contact. Two days. No contact for two days unless there was an emergency.
She kept close to Bruce but not invading his personal space. “Anything I can help with?”
If Bruce knew that she’d forbid Fury from contacting her for two days, he would be a lot more nervous than he already was. “No, you can have a seat and I’ll bring everything over to the table,” he said, offering her a small smile.
He carried all the dishes to the table then brought over the bottle of wine he opened and poured them each a glass before returning it to the kitchen. “Cheers,” he said once they’d filled their plates and were ready to eat.
Hopeful that Bobbi would like the meal he prepared, Bruce was focused on her until he heard glass shattering in the kitchen. He jumped up and went to see what happened. Somehow, the bottle of wine had fallen over, spilling the remaining contents all over the floor. He had no idea how, but he immediately grabbed some towels and started to mop up the mess.
Bobbi watched him putter. It was like watching a dancer go through a well known choreography. She was content to sit in silence and take in the show. For some reason it was relaxing, comforting. It made this feel like a safe place, and Bobbi wondered if he’d done that on purpose. This was his Sanctum Sanctorum.
“Cheers,” she replied, but before she took a drink she tapped the bottom of her glass to the table top and only then took a taste of the wine. It had all the signs of a ritual.
The way she tucked into the food proved that she liked it. It wasn’t like watching a frat guy dive into a pile of tacos, but she didn’t even pretend to be dainty. The breaking glass in the kitchen startled her, but it didn’t show more than her brows coming down. Then she was moving. “Doc, wait…” but he was already in the kitchen. Bobbi followed as if she weren’t wearing high heels.
While Bruce was cleaning the mess Bobbi was looking signs of bullet entrance. There was nothing. That confused her, but maybe he hadn’t put it solidly on the counter in his anxiety. “Guess we’re switching to bee-” but she was interrupted by the sound of wine glasses shattering. This time she did flinch.
Security in the tower was top notch, so the thought that it might have been a bullet never crossed Bruce’s mind and he didn’t understand why Bobbi called out for him to wait, nor did he realize what she was looking for.
When the wine glasses shattered, he instinctively moved to protect her with his body, knowing that if he was hit with shards of glass, the Other Guy would be able to absorb it.
“You okay?” he asked, trying to figure out what was causing the items to break. There wasn’t an open window, so no breeze. He didn’t have a pet. Was it possible he’d inadvertently left things so precarious that they simply toppled over? That didn’t seem likely.
Later, Bobbi would think that was adorable the way he got in front of her. As it was, she placed a hand on his arm so she could peer around him at the table. “Yeah, I’m fine look.” It was one whole word, practically, and she nodded to the table where the dishes were rattling in place.
“Is there something Stark is working on in the lab that could explain this? Anti-gravity something or other?” Something like that going berserk would explain this.
Bruce shook his head. “Not that I’m aware of.” It wasn’t like Tony kept him fully apprised of his experiments, but he couldn’t imagine that Stark was working on anything that would wreak havoc like this.
“Friday, status report,” he said. It was rare for him to make use of the AI system in his private living quarters though it came in handy at times like these. The disembodied voice piped up, letting him know that all was quiet and there was no activity in any of the labs that would account for the disturbance in his kitchen.
He grabbed a broom so he could sweep up the broken glass. “Go eat while it’s still warm,” he said. “I’ll take care of this and be right there.”
“But…” Bobbi didn’t buy that nothing was going on. Someone somewhere was tampering with....something. “What about magic? Maybe Strange took some peyote and…” But Strange was out of town. Bobbi knew that so it wasn’t him. Could be someone else. And if it was then they were in serious trouble with Strange out of town.
Her lips pressed together as she went toward the table, but no way she was sitting down with the dishes rattling. She was curious, however, so she approached slowly. Her hand reached for the closest fork. She startled when it shook in place as if warning her. She clenched her teeth together, damned if she was going to be threatened by utensils. She had two thumbs, goddammit! This time she made a grab for it.
...then let out with a yelp when the fork shot from the table toward her. SHIELD training kicked in, making her twist just in time, but the tine of the fork still tore a scratch across her neck before it embedded into the wall behind her.
Abandoning his clean up in the kitchen, Bruce rushed into the other room when he heard Bobbi yelp, expecting to see some kind of intruder or something attacking her. It took a moment for his eyes to spot the fork embedded in the wall as he moved to her side.
His fingers reached up to brush the mark on her neck. “Let me clean that up,” he said. “And then maybe we should go out for dinner.” He had no idea what was going on here, but he wasn’t going to stick around and risk that she would get hurt.
“This is ridiculous!” Bobbi complained. She still lifted her chin to let Bruce do his thing. “I’ve been in knife fights, you know.” A butter knife on the table vibrated. “Gun fights. Swords. I fought ninjas! Legitimate ninjas!” She looked at Bruce from the small distance between them. “I was tortured.”
Everything she ticked off was evident by the scars on her body. Some of the faint and old. Others more recent.
Okay, well, that was a lot and Bruce didn’t have a clue what to say. Rather than say anything, he simply reached out and pulled her into a hug. It seemed more appropriate than any words he could come up with right now. Oddly, as they stood there, all the shaking and vibration stopped as suddenly as it started.
After a few moments of silence, he said, “Okay, maybe we can actually eat our meal now.” He’d rather stay here and have a quiet night in if whatever the hell just happened was done.
Well, then! The hug had been unexpected. She hadn’t been seeking sympathy. She’d been listing off her qualifications and why this shouldn’t freak her out. Still, it was a nice hug. Bobbi found herself smiling as she leaned against him. And he smelled nice. “My hero,” she muttered.
She smoothed his shirt. Weirdness went down and he was still here, not the Other Guy. “Yeah, let’s eat before it jumps off the plates.”