Lucky Thirteen

Jane was super excited. No, excited didn't even cover it. She practically skipped at Tony's side as she walked with him to the front of the auditorium where Dr. Erik Selvig was preparing for a lecture he was going to give. Her dad had known him before she was born and had even worked with him shortly when she was really young, but she'd never met him.

Tony had said that was criminal and had volunteered to take off work and take her to the lecture. Her own dad would have, but he was working really long and hard on a project at work – and at home too when he could. But her dad did call Dr. Selvig and ask if he would meet her before the lecture. She had been excused from classes for the day so long as she wrote a paper on the lecture which would be no problem at all.

"Dr. Selvig," Tony said, using what Jane had begun to think of as his professional voice since he was more congenial once he started talking, especially to people he liked.

"Ah, Mr. Stark," Selvig said as he came down the stairs to meet them in the area in front of the stage. He extended his hand to Tony. "Very nice to see you again. It's been a while," he said.

"It has been," Tony said with a nod. "You know we'd love to have you at S.I., but I still respect your declination." Tony looked down at her and gently placed a hand on the top of her back. "Rhis is Dr. Banner's daughter, Jane."

"Of course it is," Selvig said, offering her a warm smile and extending his hand to her. Jane took it and he shook it just as warmly. "He had a picture of you on his desk when we worked together. You were just a little thing then," he said and Jane smiled even more widely. "I'm happy to finally meet you."

"I'm so happy to meet you too!" Jane tried not to squeal as she let go of Selvig's hand, but it was hard. She was just so excited. "Your work is amazing. You're changing the world of astrophysics and all of your theories are just brilliant."

Selvig laughed, but it didn't sound like a mean laugh. It was more like a pleasantly surprised laugh. "I can't say I've met with many kids your age interested in my theories let alone who would call them brilliant. Thank you."

"That's because Jane here is well on her way to being just as brilliant," Tony said, looking down at her with a smile. "You might want to watch out, Dr. Selvig. She may overshadow you one day."

Selvig smiled at that. "I'd be perfectly fine with that. Science is about progress and as Newton said, standing on the shoulders of giants in order to see further. I believe if you have the privilege to be counted as a giant as well, you should then let others stand on your shoulders. Science thrives when it is a community."

"Can I quote that for my paper on the lecture?" Jane asked hopefully, inspired by the quote. She also wanted to put it up on her inspiration board.

"Absolutely," Selvig answered. "And I hope you take that to heart because there will be times in your quest for scientific progress that you may come up against those who don't share that opinion."

"Or they lose sight of it," Tony added and Jane thought he sounded a little sad. "My late wife used to speak a lot about how all scientists start out naïve and wide-eyed, just wanting to change the world. Then, more times than not, ego steps in. Her favorite quote was von Braun's one about the rockets."

"Mm," Selvig hummed in understanding. "Also a very good one to keep in mind. So what are your interests, Jane?"

"Astronomy," she answered. "And its application to physics. I'm particularly interested in the Einstein Rosenstein Bridge."

Selvig's eyes widened and he looked at Tony. "I know. Just like her father," Tony said, sounding proud.

"If I remember my years, you can't be older than 13," Selvig said in awe. She nodded. "That's incredible. You have a very bright future ahead of you if you're already tackling Einstein and Rosen. I've done considerable amount of work on that theory as well. In fact, I'll have to send you a copy of my next collaborative book when it's published in the spring. It's all about the application of the theory and the potential for creating stable, working wormholes within the next decade."

Jane's face lit up at the possibility.

"I don't know," Tony said skeptically. "I'm all for progress, but I can't say I'm ready for wormholes. Sounds like, well, opening a can of wormholes." He looked down at her, smirking slightly.

Jane rolled her eyes, smiling as she did.

Selvig laughed. "You couldn't resist could you?" He looked down at Jane. "Incidentally, she looked just like Dr. Banner just now."

"Yeah, Bruce definitely has the tendency to roll his eyes at me a lot. He just can't help but be charmed by my ability to be corny and amusing at the same time. Must run in the family."

"So I was a little surprised when Dr. Banner called me," Selvig said. "Even more so when he said you would be the one bringing Jane here to meet me."

Jane shared a smile with Tony. "I take it you don't keep up with the tabloids?" Tony asked.

"No, can't say that I do. But you can imagine I did a quick search after Dr. Banner's vague call. I would have just asked him, but he seemed pretty busy," Selvig explained.

"He has been," Tony supplied. "His department is working on a project the shareholders would prefer to see moved from R&D by the end of this quarter."

"Ah, I see," Selvig said. He then looked between the two of them. "But talk about solving the two-body problem." Tony chuckled and Jane scrunched her face in confusion. "Two geniuses and thirteen kids," Selvig said with a whistle. "So is it going well?"

"It is!" Jane chirped the answer before Tony could.

"There you have it," Tony said with a nod. "But, yeah, it really is. We haven't been together long, but I'm pretty crazy about the guy. Of course, who wouldn't be?"

"And dad's totally crazy about Tony too," Jane said helpfully with a smile.

"That's good," Selvig said, returning the smile. "Because your dad definitely deserves someone great. I really wish I was in town longer, but you know how the lecture tours can be. I'd love to catch up with both of you," he said to Tony.

"Well, if you're free Christmas, I'll send you an invite to the Christmas gala at SI. If not, next time you're free give me a call and we'll set something up. I'm sure Bruce would like that. Besides, I think Jane might like to be your protégé."

Jane smiled at that idea, but also at the idea of her dad and Tony and plans for the future. She was looking forward to their first Christmas all together.

"The food here is so good," Jane said as she took another bite of her desert, which was ice cream with shortbread and brittle. The chicken burger she'd had was good too. She wanted to ask dad to start making chicken burgers. "Thank you for taking me today, Tony."

Tony smiled at her as he finished a bite of his own desert, which was a fancy candy bar that he'd let her try some of – she'd let him have some of her ice cream too. "You're very welcome," he said. "The lecture was great and I'm having a blast just hanging with you. It gets a little crowded sometimes. Wish I could spend more time with all of you, you know?"

Jane liked that idea. She still loved her dad, of course, but – just like the ohana she and the others had talked about a few weeks earlier – she really liked having Tony around almost like a second father. She definitely didn't mind their co-parenting. Now when her dad was busy, since he'd certainly been busy sometimes when it was just him at their old place even if not to this extent, there was someone else she could turn to.

"It does get crowded," Jane said thoughtfully, "but it's a good crowded. And it's kind of weird now when everybody's split up doing different stuff. It was really weird when we were sick." Although, she hadn't gotten much more than a sore throat and cough which she was still grateful for.

"I think you just made my day," Tony said, beaming. "But this is nice too. Just a little one-on-one. You kids deserve that too."

"Yeah, it is nice," Jane admitted. She had always cherished those small moments when it was just her and her own dad and none of her brothers and sisters.

"Maybe your dad and I should—" Tony started, but stopped abruptly. His eyes darted beyond her and Jane scrunched her face. "Son of a—" He firmly bit down on his lip before he could finish the curse and Jane looked over her shoulder in confusion. "Jane, take out your phone now. And hit record. Just trust me. And put it in your lap okay?"

He sounded slightly frantic so she complied. She pulled her phone out of her shoulder bag, quickly accessed the recorder and then hid the phone from plain sight. At that moment Tony stood to his feet with a displeased look on his face and Jane looked up. She startled at the sight of the man who had approached their table.

She knew the man was Aunt Betty's father and a mean man who she, Uncle Leonard and her dad had worked hard to keep away from them. She knew not even Leo really had a relationship with his grandpa anymore because Aunt Betty didn't trust him. Dad had warned them to run away and find a police officer if they ever saw him. But looking up at Tony she knew he would keep her safe.

"Mr. Stark," the man said coldly.

"General Ross," Tony said his name snidely. "Though, if I were in charge you'd have your rank taken away."

"If you were in charge I wouldn't have anything to do with the military," General Ross replied. "I knew you'd turned into one of those Greenpeace zombies, but now I'm thinking maybe I should have you investigated for being an unfit parent too. Clearly you don't care about their well-being if you're willing to let them near that psychotic freak you're dating."

Jane wanted to jump up and scream at the lying General. "My father is not a freak!" She protested loudly instead. "And Tony's a great dad." She then fixed him with a defiant gaze as he turned to look at her with a raised brow. "In fact, I hope my dad marries him so he can be my stepdad."

"Oh, so this is one of Banner's?" He studied her. "One of his surrogates?" He spat the word like it was an insult and Jane scowled at him. "Doesn't it disgust you that your father used your real mother for his own selfish gain? All because he wanted to play house while still taking it in the—"

"Hey!" Tony practically snarled. Tony was around to the other side of the table and standing in front of her protectively before Jane could even blink. She peaked past Tony's arm to see the General step back in disgruntlement. "You will not speak to her again. In fact," Tony gestured for the waiter, "I'm going to have you removed from this establishment."

General Ross snorted. "And how do you suppose that?"

"Because you're in violation of your restraining order," Tony said with a calm edge to his voice.

"Like a piece of paper can stop me," General Ross said in a derisive tone. "Whoever issued that order is a crackpot like every single person who allowed that 'man'," he air quoted in disgust, "to become a father."

"You are unhinged," Tony replied, "but I'll be sure to let the judge know what you said about him."

"You, Mr. Stark, have just made me your enemy. You made good weapons once upon a time, but that won't prevent me from making it my personal goal to see that both of you get what you deserve."

"Ah, yes," Tony ignored him and spoke to the waiter that had just arrived. "I'm ready for the check and I would like this man held by hotel security until my boyfriend's daughter and I leave the building. If there are any questions I'll be glad to answer them, but he is in fact in violating a restraining order at the moment so if you could be so good—"

"Of course," the waiter said immediately and Jane watched as he spoke into the com attached to the lapel of his suit.

After a few moments, General Ross was escorted away and Tony spoke briefly with hotel security about the incident. During this time, Jane stopped the recording and emailed it to Tony. She then finished her desert, angry at the man who wanted to split up her family but hopeful that Tony and her dad would never let that happen.

"I'm sorry that happened, sweetheart," Tony said when he returned.

Jane stood quickly and hugged him tightly before he could sit back down. "I know you won't let him hurt us."

He hugged her back strongly. "Don't worry, Jane. All of this will be handled. No way is this going to happen again."

Later that evening, things became a little like a madhouse at home. The police showed up as did Pepper, Happy and Tony's lawyer. Before they'd left the restaurant, Tony had forwarded the recording Jane had emailed him to his legal team. And apparently when he'd been speaking with security, it had been arranged that the police would get involved. However, Jane's dad was the one who had the order so he needed to talk to the police directly.

She was forced to talk to them too and detail everything that had happened such as body language that couldn't be seen on the recording. They were apparently going to check what she said with the security footage from the restaurant. She didn't care because she hadn't lied and her memory was excellent.

After that the police talked to them all individually. Jane wasn't sure if they asked her and the others the same questions, but they had asked her if any of General Ross' claims were true and that it was safe to tell the truth. She told them that the only truth was that General Ross was a liar. She was happy, her dad was neither abusive nor mean, he and Tony took care of them, and it would be devastating if somebody believed he was telling the truth and tried to take her and the others away from their fathers. After all, she told them, she had meant it when she said she would like to have Tony as a stepdad.

"I know what you went through might have been unnerving," one of Tony's lawyers said. She was looking at Jane although she was addressing them all after the police had gone. "But we have a very strong case now against him. His admittance to not caring about breaking the restraining order is grounds for a criminal charge. I don't think he'll be bothering you anytime soon if we get our way and any damaging press angle he was working hopefully won't get traction after this."

"Thank goodness," Bruce said with a very heavy sigh of relief. "You can't imagine how much of a relief that is to me."

"I think I can," the lawyer replied and Jane thought there was something about the way she said it, like she'd been hurt too by someone mean like General Ross.

After a few brief words with Bruce and Tony the lawyers left with Pepper and Happy. After that, they ordered Chinese food for dinner since it was a little later than usual.

While they waited, Bruce found Jane on the couch, working on her paper about the lecture. She smiled at him as he sat down beside her and moved a little so he could wrap his arm around her and she could lean against him.

"You okay?" He asked after a few quiet moments.

"I'm so mad about all the mean things he said," she answered honestly. "He said mean things about you. And he said mean things about Tony too."

"Some people are just mean," her dad said with a sigh. "You really like Tony don't you?"

Jane furrowed her brow. "Of course. Oh… You mean what I said on the recording?"

"Mmhmm."

"I meant it," she told him. "But I know it's not my place to say," she added quietly. "Just, if you ever do, I'm okay with it."

Her dad didn't say anything in response, just kissed her on top of her head and then asked her questions about the lecture and meeting Dr. Selvig.

Bruce groaned slightly and turned over before waking with a start. He sighed immediately as he returned to the waking world from his uncomfortable dream. He lay there in the darkness in no hurry to go back to sleep should it be much of the same. He lay there telling himself over and over that everything was okay, nobody was going to take away his kids, his kids loved him, Jane wasn't mad about being a surrogate, Ross would never hurt them, Ross would never be able to hurt Tony…

Sighing again, Bruce wondered if Tony would worry if he headed to the lab should he wake sometime after he'd gone. He didn't want to worry him, but he wasn't sure laying there would be any use and he didn't want to wake Tony with the bright screen of his tablet.

After a moment of contemplation, he decided to go to the bathroom and try to calm his nerves a little instead. He grabbed one of the cups they kept in there and took a drink of water. He also very pointedly didn't look in the mirror. He didn't need dysmorphic glimpses of his father and that was a very good chance in his state of mind.

Returning to the bedroom he paused and looked at the door before looking at Tony. Any thought of going to another part of the house to busy his mind was immediately forgotten when he saw Tony flinch violently and clench at the covers. He mumbled something incoherent, but his tone was desperate.

"Tony," Bruce said gently, moving back over to the bed and crawling in beside the dreaming billionaire.

Tony didn't wake, but his hands relaxed. Bruce moved until he was close enough for their bodies to be pressed together at the tops of their arms. He then laced their hands together and began rubbing gentle circles against Tony's skin with his thumb.

Tony flinched and mumbled again, but Bruce said nothing more. Instead he waited for Tony's body to sense his presence and signal to Tony that he was dreaming. When that finally happened, Tony woke with a startled gasp of his name.

"I'm right here," Bruce said softly and squeezed Tony's hand.

Tony craned his neck on the pillow to look at him and breathed deeply a few times. When the relief washed over his features Tony followed it by bringing their joined hands up to his lips and brushing them against the back of Bruce's hand and squeezing his eyes shut.

Bruce turned on his side and smoothed his other hand across Tony's forehead and then down to cup his cheek. Tony opened his eyes again and for a moment they were just silent, relishing in the comfort of the other's presence.

"Don't leave," Tony whispered finally, voice tight with raw emotion, as he turned on his side as well and pressed their foreheads together. "Please, don't leave."

Bruce wasn't sure what Tony had been dreaming about to cause him to make that request, but at the moment Bruce was sure leaving wasn't even in the cards. Maybe it was his own raw vulnerability, but he whispered back, "I wasn't planning on it."

Wanda saw things that others sometimes missed. Perceptive was the word for it, but sometimes it felt like more. Maybe not psychic, but it did feel like a sixth sense. Maybe it was a deep intuition.

When someone was trustworthy, her gut usually told her. When someone was lying, her gut usually told her. When something was amiss, she was usually the first to recognize it. When someone needed to be confronted, she wasn't shy.

Most of the time. There were times when things went beyond her sight at first, but before long her perception of the situation would win out.

She was still a kid so she wasn't perfect, but sometimes she felt older than her years or like she was living on a different plane. Sometimes she felt like she could hold easier conversation with JARVIS than with kids her own age. Sometimes she felt like she wouldn't even be as close as she was to Pietro if he wasn't her twin. Sometimes she felt like an outsider even if she forced her way in and refused to be treated as one.

But maybe it was being slightly different that allowed her to be more perceptive than the others and pick up on things first.

That's why she had to wonder if she was the only one who could see plainly that Dr. Banner was exhausted as of late. Well, maybe her dad knew because they were together, but Dr. Banner hid it well. He went to work and came home and made dinner and helped them when they needed help and smiled that gentle smile of his and still looked at her dad like he was the only man in the world. Wanda wasn't worried that Dr. Banner was exhausted with them, although it probably didn't alleviate the problem, but she was still worried for him.

"JARVIS, has Dr. Banner been sleeping well lately?" She asked the AI on a Saturday night. All week long he had seemed to be getting progressively more tired.

Dr. Banner has been working late hours in the lab as well as waking early to do so as well.

She sighed. "Why do grown-ups do that?" She asked rhetorically.

Although I am aware your question was rhetorical, JARVIS stated knowingly, my understanding of adult humans is that it is easy to get distracted by one's career. Your father has had similar incidents.

Wanda knew that was true and as those incidents always ended with her dad stressed and prone to overreact she didn't want that same thing to happen to Bruce if she could help it.

"I'm going to say something to him," she decided. "He needs to take care of himself."

I am inclined to agree with that assessment. He is on his way to the lab now. I am certain if anyone can convince him it is you.

Wanda nodded. "Thank you, JARVIS," she said in genuine gratefulness. She waited until he finally passed her by, walking through the workshop towards the home lab. "You should rest," she said determinedly.

"Hmm?" He hummed in askance. He stopped and looked at her with a small crease of his brow. "I'm sorry, Wanda. I didn't hear what you said." He even sounded tired.

"You should rest," she repeated. "You're very tired."

Bruce sighed, but then gave a soft chuckle. He came over and sat down on a stool near her. "I am very tired, yes," he confessed.

"So why don't you stop?" She suggested.

He smiled softly. "I'd like to, but that's just not the way it works I'm afraid. Work has to be done, deadlines have to be met, other things need to be done and taken care of. Cherish your childhood because it doesn't last long enough." His sentiment sounded hollow and he looked like he was far away for a moment.

Wanda considered his answer for a moment. "Or you could cherish your adulthood," she countered finally.

He blinked and sat back a little. He opened his mouth to respond, but then closed it again.

"I may be a kid, but aren't people always saying you never know what you've got until it's gone?"

"Yes," he said slowly, uncertainly.

She shrugged and fiddled with a few wires on a homework project she was working on.

"Okay, so doesn't that apply to adults? If you never take time to enjoy what you have because you're busy working or running in circles then will any of that matter when those things are gone?"

"That's… Huh. That's very insightful," Bruce said.

"Not really," she countered. "It's a universal message. You find it in many movies. Most people just don't think to apply it to themselves or, like you said, they just don't think that's how life works instead of realizing you have to make it work."

"How old are you?" He asked teasingly, but then gave a small sigh. "You're right. What I'm working on isn't as important as everything else. Now if only I could figure out how to make it work. Any advice there?" He seemed genuine in his request.

"You should rest," she repeated her original advice. "One of my science teachers has a poster on the wall. It says sometimes to solve a problem you have to look at it from a different angle." She paused and looked at him. "Maybe you keep working, working, working and that's why the problem isn't solving."

Bruce furrowed his brow slightly and then widened his eyes as if taking her words to heart. She appreciated that.

"What's up, my beautiful buttercups?" her dad suddenly chirped cheerfully, coming in from the hallway that connected to the garage. Pietro, Harley and Peter were with him and they were all four covered in oil. "Go get cleaned up for dinner," he shooed the three boys away and they all took off as if in a race to see who could get to their rooms first. Wanda watched them go with a roll of her eyes before turning back to her project.

"Wanda was just practicing on me," Bruce said. "She has an excellent future ahead of her as a life coach."

Tony smiled at her and came over to give her a hug around her shoulders. "Don't I know it," he stated and kissed her atop her head.

"Ew, dad, you're all oily and sweaty." She squirmed and he pulled away with a laugh, moving to stand in front of Bruce.

"Right, because you don't get oily and sweaty sometimes when you're working with the bots," he countered in a teasing tone.

"Not the point," she protested.

"For the record, I like oily and sweaty," Bruce said.

Wanda gave a disgusted grimace as she looked at the two men. Bruce was running his hands along her dad's bare and very sweaty arms. She liked that they were happy and flirty in theory, but she had her limits.

Tony leaned in and asked, "Want to help me get clean?"

She made a small gagging motion with her throat. "Ew."

"Yeah, ew," Bruce echoed and then gave her dad a small kiss.

Wanda rolled her eyes toward the ceiling, but then hazarded a small smile in spite of the over the top display.

"Or are you busy?" Tony then asked.

"Um…" Bruce gave her a quick glance. "You know, I was going to check on the simulations a little early, but honestly they won't likely be done until much later. I think I'll just leave them be."

"So then is that a yes to my previous question?"

"That's a yes," Bruce answered with a nod.

Wanda smiled again as her dad pulled Dr. Banner up from the stool by his hands and they left.

"Miss Scarlet. In the dining room. With…" Steve raised a disbelieving eyebrow and then shook his head. "With the lead pipe," he said with a sigh.

Wanda smiled widely, self-satisfied, as the others looked at her in disbelief. It was her third win in a row against Steve, Thor, Natasha, Loki and Jemma.

"How are you doing this?" Loki asked her.

"You solved it in two rounds," Thor said.

"See, we told you," Clint said and Sam nodded.

"We can't play this game with her ever," Skye added. "She always wins."

Natasha eyed her skeptically. "JARVIS is watching this place 24/7, right?"

"For the most part," Skye answered, shrugging a shoulder.

"And she's obviously very tight with the AI," Natasha continued.

Wanda watched as her own siblings at the table, and Sam, raised their eyes in alarm.

"Maybe she's been communicating with JARVIS this whole time," Sam filled in the blanks.

"How would I do that?" She asked them condescendingly.

"Check her for bugs!" Clint declared, raising a finger in the air.

"Touch me and I'll tell dad you used the blind spot."

Clint shot her a dirty look. "You wouldn't dare."

"Yeah, that's cold," Skye admonished. The others looked at her in disbelief as well, excepting Jemma.

"Well, don't accuse me of cheating," she countered. "Because I'm not."

I must insist that Wanda has never sought my assistance in cheating, JARVIS added a defense of both their honor and Wanda smiled smugly.

"Fine." Clint folded his arms. "Why don't we play something else now?" They all followed his gaze to the stack of table top games they had pulled out.

"Can we play Candyland?" Jemma asked hopefully.

"Nobody wants to play Candyland," Natasha said to her matter-of-factly.

"I do," Jemma said in protest and left the table with a sad stomp of her feet.

Wanda watched her go and felt a small twinge in her stomach. Jemma had always seemed the shy one of the Banner children, the one least comfortable with the change most likely because of her age and the friend she always talked about that she had left. But Wanda had noticed that she seemed especially despondent over the past three or four weeks.

"We could have played one game with her," Wanda said, looking back at the others.

"She's fine," Loki insisted.

"How about we play Taboo," Clint suggested as if nothing had happened.

Wanda shook her head and stood to her feet.

"Where are you going?" Skye asked.

"I'm going to go play a game with Jemma," she answered, grabbing Candyland and leaving to find the girl. "JARVIS, where did Jemma go?" She asked the AI when she made it to the main hall.

She is in her bedroom.

"Thank you." She walked toward Jemma's bedroom, but she stopped at the room Jane and Darcy shared. The two girls were laughing over a cat video. "Hey," she interrupted, "I'm going to play Candyland with Jemma. Want to join?" The two girls looked at her and then each other. "I think she needs some company," Wanda added and Jane looked concerned. "We can always stream the cat videos on her tv," she offered.

"Okay," Jane agreed.

Wanda went on ahead to Jemma's room and found her with tears in her eyes as she hugged Hulk. She looked up at her when she noticed her presence, eyes going straight to the game in confusion.

"Still want to play?" Wanda asked her. "Jane and Darcy want to play too. And watch cat videos on your tv while we play," she added.

"Really?" Jemma asked, sniveling.

"Of course," Wanda said with a smile.

She moved to the empty space on the floor and sat down. She began setting up the game and Jemma came over. Shortly after Jane and Darcy joined them and set up the stream of cat videos. Slowly Jemma seemed to calm down and she began to smile again.

"What's the blind spot?" Jemma asked at random halfway through the game.

Wanda shared a hesitant glance with Jane and Darcy.

"It's something our dads should know about," Jane said practically.

"I've been thinking about telling him," Wanda admitted. "I didn't think any of the others would actually exploit it. And I don't like the idea of JARVIS having a lapse in his programming," she added more sentimentally.

"The blind spot is JARVIS?" Jemma asked as she took her turn. "I thought JARVIS saw everything."

"He does. He's not the blind spot," Wanda gently defended the AI. "But…" Wanda debated for a moment before leaning over and whispering into Jemma's ear what she meant.

Jemma's eyes lit up and she gasped in surprise.

"I think it's dangerous," Darcy said. "What if someone tried to use it to get in?"

"Well, that doesn't make sense," Wanda countered. "They would have to know about it which is impossible. And even if they did find out, as soon as they were in JARVIS would alert us."

"Doesn't mean it wouldn't be too late," Jane pointed out.

Wanda shivered and thought about her mom and what had almost happened to her dad. "Yeah, maybe I should tell dad."

"But the others are going to be so mad," Darcy said.

"Hmm," Wanda toned thoughtfully. "Well, maybe I'll tell them I'm planning on telling him so they can have a warning. But I'm sure if we point out how dangerous it could be they'll see why it's better to fix it."

She looked over at Jemma as it was her turn, but the girl seemed to be lost in thought. Her small eyebrows were knitted together.

"Are you going to go?" She finally asked when Jemma didn't seem to snap out of it on her own.

"Oh. Sorry," Jemma apologized and took her turn.

Wanda studied her carefully and felt the lurch in her stomach that she got when something seemed amiss.

Tony popped open the cork of the dealcholized champagne and poured two flutes of it. He then moved to the couch in his office where Bruce already sat. He handed Bruce his drink and then sat down beside him.

"So, hero…" Tony looked at him with a small smirk. "The day has been saved. The project is officially ready to move out of R&D, ahead of schedule I might add. You've clearly earned whatever respect from your team you felt you needed to earn. How does it feel?"

Bruce looked down into his glass. "Honestly? Rewarding, but not rewarding enough. Actually, it feels a little bit like a relief until I think about how there's another dozen projects on the table."

"Are you regretting coming to work for me?" Tony asked with a playfully raised eyebrow.

Bruce shook his head. "Mm-mm. It's not that. I just…" Bruce looked at him. "I forgot what this kind of work was like. This level of intensity? I haven't had that in years. It was much slower paced in Culver's research labs." He sighed. "I forgot what I can turn into when a project takes over."

"You mean the obsession and workhorse thing? Yeah, hate to break it to you, but that's just a scientist thing. We've all been there, done that. Some worse than others." Tony tilted his head side to side.

"Yeah, but I don't want to let the job take over just because I get science tunnel vision," Bruce countered in a low voice. He sounded tired from weeks of dogged work on getting the project done. "I know for a fact I wouldn't have struck on the right angle that moved this forward if not for Wanda's advice to just chill out. When I cleared my mind and stopped worrying I saw what my brain was too jumbled to see before. I think I forgot that stepping away from the problem is part of the process. And one I've never been particularly good at."

Tony looked down at his own drink thoughtfully. He had to admit that Bruce had gotten a little caught up in the work, but like he said it happened and it could easily be attributed to being back doing what he was born to do in a state-of-the-art facility with other people who shared his passion and talent – or almost since Tony was biased regarding who he thought had more talent. Still, he wanted to support Bruce and he certainly didn't want him to always be caught up in work even if Tony knew how easy it could be to fall into that.

Tony raised his glass. "Then here's to the end of one project and to striking a balance on future ones."

Bruce smiled and raised his own glass. "I will most certainly drink to that," he said, bringing their glasses together in a familiar clink.

After he took a few sips, Tony set his flute down on the table in front of the couch. He then quickly gave his mouth something better to do as he attached his lips to the side of Bruce's neck, starting just at the juncture between ear and jaw.

"We should celebrate," he said as he sucked lightly at the spot, knowing it was one of Bruce's many erogenous zones. "We haven't been out on a real date in too long." He kissed lower and Bruce hummed in contented agreement. "I think you mentioned the symphony a few dates past. We could do that if you want. There are clothes for both of us up in the penthouse now so we could costume change."

"Sounds nice," Bruce said and spread his neck wantonly. He made a small noise in the back of his throat, one that always drove Tony on.

"And we'd have plenty of time between now and the start," Tony pointed out. He was pretty sure those things didn't start until a little later in the evening. "So we could just go to dinner or… hang out here," he said, biting down a little on Bruce's skin.

Bruce moaned in response. "It is after hours," he said huskily.

That was all Tony really needed to hear in terms of encouragement. He quickly removed the flute still in Bruce's hand and joined it with the one on the table. Then his mouth was hungrily against Bruce's as he slowly pushed him down on the couch.

"Is the door locked?" Bruce asked, even as he devoured Tony's mouth right back.

"Mmm," Tony offered in an affirmative tone.

"You planned this?" Bruce pulled away with a raised eyebrow.

"Not specifically, no," Tony answered as he looked down at him lustfully. "But I've taken to making sure it's locked and cameras are off whenever we're alone in here after hours just in case." He smiled wide. "I'm a futurist."

Bruce's eyes darkened and he moved up just slightly to recapture Tony's lips. They kissed long and deep.

"Futurist, huh?" Bruce picked up the previous thread when they broke apart for air. "Well then I hope you plan on showing me the future you had in mind," he bantered.

Tony was besotted just at that and he moved his hands to the top button of Bruce's shirt. "Oh, believe me, I do."