starkingenuity | Radioactive

Tony presses a finger to his lips and gives Bruce a 'shh'ing sort of command before he opens the door to Pepper's room. The place is lined in monitors and recording equipment but otherwise, he's done his best to make it comfortable for her even if she refuses to come back to their actual bed two floors up. If she thinks herself a danger, she's just as likely to burn the place down from here as she is from beside him but...

He's not going to give her any more fuel for the panic fire, pun intended.

Tony lets Bruce in first and follows after. "Pep? Honey? Guess who's here?"

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

starkingenuity

Well Tony knows how to feel about it-- "Maybe I don't exactly understand, but I do understand," he says, feeling just a little bit left out. He is a dangerous man. His tech has killed millions of people. He tends to get everyone he cares about killed so...

So yeah. Okay. Not the same.

From:

aggravated

Bruce's expression is sympathetic, but not pitying. Oh yes, he knows exactly how she feels.

Unfortunately, he always knows he needs to break the news of his first findings. "What I can tell about this virus... is that to do anything on the level of actually fixing the most dangerous parts of it, I have to use the virus to fight the virus. It has the ability to re-write the genes that your every cell has contained within. We need to make it a new set of genes to write it."

From:

redhotpepper

She chews a little on her lower lip. Pepper wonders if that's not what it has already done.

"So when and how do we start?"

From:

starkingenuity

Okay...so Tony Stark is going to sit over here in the corner. And pout. No. Not pout. And not scowl. And certainly not make little 'hmphinh' noises because that would be ridiculous and childish and no, Banner, he's not five years old!

From:

aggravated

You're pouting, Tony Stark, and Bruce is ignoring it. ~~You're five years old.~~

"As soon as you'd like, but..." He hesitates, then says more calmly than he feels, "I need samples from before you came into contact with the virus."

From:

redhotpepper

Tony is definitely pouting (or scowling, whichever he prefers to claim) and Pepper's resolve wavers enough for her to fall back and rest her hand on the back of Tony's chair.

"How...would you get something like that?"

Pepper glances between Tony and Bruce, fingers nervously clutching at the chair back. Careful, Pepper...

"I don't exactly keep DNA vials on my dresser."

From:

starkingenuity

Ah ha! "You give me DNA samples when you first started to work for me." Now look who's helpful. And still not five years old. Tony's hand comes up to lightly touch Pepper's elbow. That's allowed, right? He missed her. He's not going to say that out loud in front of either of then, but he misses her terribly. "JARVIS--"

""Accessing closed database file: Virginia Potts."

From:

aggravated

Blink. WHAT? Bruce looks over at Tony. "You make people give you DNA samples when they start working with you??" Yes, that is most certainly a disturbed expression.

"JARVIS, can you send her DNA information down to the tablet I was working on?" Bruce asks the air around him, then looks back to Pepper.

"The cure will come slowly, but... I think there is a way. We'll focus on the worst of the problems, first."

From:

redhotpepper

Pepper's head swivels to look down at the seated Tony, her expression slightly horrified, amused, and affectionate. The touch is good -- it's nice. It also makes her ache, because she would really like to be in his arms right about now.

"You kept that?" Why is she surprised? She should not be surprised at all.

At the same time, she's thankful for Tony's creepiness. If he hadn't had it, she's not sure what the alternative would be. Like she said -- it wasn't something she kept nestled in with body spray and other various toiletries.

From:

starkingenuity

"Drug testing, DNA profile scans for important areas-- Yes, Banner, I make people give me DNA samples if they want to get anywhere near my lab."

No, he doesn't have yours. No, he doesn't need yours. He has other methods. No, you don't get to find out about them.

Pepper's smile makes Tony's face change, light hitting his eyes again. "Of course I kept it. I might want a kid some day and our genomes have a perfect-- Please don't hit me, I like my jaw unfractured."

From:

aggravated

Bruce doesn't want to know. Ever. Just be careful as everything of his is poison.

Watching Tony with Pepper is like watching a completely different man. A fourth person in the name of Tony Stark Bruce has seen. The first - the man in a business suit on the news. The second - a scientist and engineer he could highly respect the work of. The third - A jerk who has ego issues and a snappy (though somewhat amusing) sense of humor. And now... the fourth - a man who clearly loves this woman.

A little part of him enjoys seeing this small glimpse of man number four.

Then Tony became man number three very quickly. "I'm not fixing your jaw if she decides to do that - you deserve it."

From:

redhotpepper

Pepper's jaw drops and at first, all she can do at Tony is blink. Then she gives his shoulder a playful push, though she's looking at him because he analyzed her DNA to see if they matched. Honestly Tony.

Honestly.

"Bruce, talk fast, before I decide to make Mr. Stark's prediction come to life."

From:

starkingenuity

You just don't ask a girl to move in when you're literally worth a quarter of the world's per capita income without being sure, completely sure, that she's the one! You just don't.

Tony pushes away from the two of them on his chair and spins to pull himself up.

"I'll get go set up your lab, Doctor. Miss Potts." A little flourish and he's out of the room, jaw intact. For now.

From:

aggravated

Bruce watches Tony leave with a shake of his head, then looks back to Pepper as he sits down in the chair Tony just left. "I apologize... that this is the first time we're getting to really meet properly, in a way that isn't me trying to hide from SHIELD or leaving the country." A tiny smile, but it doesn't fully meet his eyes.

From:

redhotpepper

She's not bothering to hide the smile as Tony makes himself scarce.

"He is such a jerk." It's said more to herself and with more affection than venom before she turns to face Bruce.

"I'm sorry it has to be something...somewhat work related. One day, we'll all be able to have a nice glass of champagne without the world being threatened." Except that probably isn't ever going to happen and Pepper is pretty much okay with that.

Pepper sits on her temporary bed across from Bruce, and rests her hands on the white sheets.

"So what all are we -am I - going to have to go through for this?"

From:

aggravated

"Yes, he is, but somehow we're still both here." Which from his tone, sometimes Bruce questions why. Champagne? She has Tony's tastes. Still, he knows this next bit won't be easy at all, and he nervously puts his hands together.

"Honestly, telling you this is a little easier without him here," Bruce admits quietly, leaning with his elbows on his knees. "Do you want it straight, or not?"

From:

redhotpepper

Pepper glances at the door -- Tony is still gone and safely out of earshot, but there's no telling for how long.

"Lay it out for me, Doc. Might as well give it to me straight."

Sugar coating it would do no one any good. And maybe if she heard it first, she could...try and help tell Tony.

Whatever it is.

From:

aggravated

Bruce folds his hands together, letting out a slow breath as he thinks how to start. "I don't know everything you went through to have the changes your body has under gone, but I know you will have to go through some of that pain again to undo what has been done."

Another breath, continuing, "Your very genes have been changed. I will have to go through your new genes compared to your old ones and match what I can. First, I need to figure out which were changed. Then, which controls things such as the extreme heat so we can alter those first. We'll have to go about this one at a time; it'll take quite some time. Years, possibly. This.. is beyond anything we currently are doing in this area."

From:

redhotpepper

Go through some of that pain again. That pain that -- made her feel like she was being torn limb from limb all while being set on fire and feeling like she was burned alive.

"Year. Alright."

She's not sure...what else to say. Is there anything? Pepper isn't sure. She stares at her hands, eyes not truly seeing for a few moments before she looks back up.

"I just want to be able to touch him without...worrying that I might set him on fire." No matter how 'stable' Tony insisted she was, she knew exactly what the fury unleashed could do. She didn't want to take the chance.

From:

aggravated

"From the information Stark has about this virus and the imagery I've seen, there's two things I can say with fair certainty. The first is that you've seem to have settled to a certain point, so you won't... explode. The second is that you could, at worst, burn him, but you wouldn't combust him. He should be able to get away from you if you start heating up that drastically quickly enough."

Hoping, even somewhat, to settle her fears.

Then, more quietly, "I think you're doing far more damage than a burn by staying away from him, Ms. Potts.""

From:

redhotpepper

Pepper flinches a little -- exploding was definitely oen of her biggest fears, but Bruce is right. She does seem stable enough to not spontaneously combust. If that was going to happen, it would have by now.

"I think you're right."

Risking it is just -- such a risk. But she knew she was hurting him and after everything they'd been through they both deserved better than that.

"If you're sure, then I'll...stop pushing him away."

Mostly. She's still not sure about sharing the bed because nightmares.

From:

aggravated

Bruce looks down at his hands, and an idea sparks in his mind. It's simple, but it could very well help. He turns his arm over and taps his watch. "...what about an alarm? One that monitors your temperature. If it gets dangerous, it goes off. A subtle warning to start, maybe just a vibration, and it gets more obvious and louder if it continues."

From:

redhotpepper

Pepper blinks and just looks at Bruce for a moment or two. That's so ridiculously simple she's mad at herself for not thinking of it.

"That's brilliant, Doctor. I'm sure that's something one or both of you could come up with..."

From:

starkingenuity

Tap. Tap. Tap.

JARVIS people. Tony spies. He spins in his chair, listening to it all. Sorry. No, actually, he's not sorry. He's going to have to give Banner a kiss after all! Maybe now Pepper will stop pulling back.

The watch idea is actually pretty sound and Tony already has JARVIS pulling up the schematics for it, pressing his fingers through light sensors to create a prototype.

"No...has to be...more delicate. She doesn't have big hairy Banner wrists."

From:

aggravated

"I'll leave the engineering up a new device to Stark. Better mention it should actively tell time or I think he'll forget it." A tiny smile, something more real this time. He's not entirely sure how to feel about that look.

"Tell me something. After each... flare up, afterward, does it slowly reduce in temperature and intensity, or all at once?"