In the Upper East Side of New York, inside Stark Tower, Tony Stark had been peacefully asleep next to a cover-model beauty when a thunderous crash jolted him awake. Instinctively, he dove under the bed.
A scream pierced the air, shrill and terrified, making Stark instantly regret not kicking her out before bed.
"Mr. Stark," JARVIS reported calmly, "we've received a surprise visitor from the sky. He crashed through the thirty-first floor of the tower and continued down four more levels before stopping. Estimated threat level: extreme. Recommend immediate evacuation."
"Shut up, shut up," Stark hissed, crawling out from under the bed and clamping his hand over the still-screaming woman's mouth. "You want to bring the danger right to us?"
Startled, she froze. Then, understanding, she frantically nodded.
"Get dressed. I'll have someone escort you out."
"You're not coming with me, Tony?"
Hell no. Is she trying to latch onto me now?
"No, no, I've got to check out what's going on. It's dangerous," he said, tossing her clothes onto the bed. "JARVIS, send someone to escort this... hmm, this lady…"
He glanced at the now-scowling woman. "Never mind. Just send her out."
Dressing quickly, Stark headed to the rooftop helipad of the tower.
As he stepped onto the landing platform, a fireball erupted a few kilometers away, followed by a booming explosion.
"Shit, is this a terror attack?"
"No, sir," JARVIS replied. "Preliminary analysis suggests a military transport aircraft crash."
Just then, multiple parachutes began to open across the skyline. The footage streamed onto Stark's phone.
He saw Blonsky and several soldiers descending... and a video of Banner, transforming from the Hulk back into human form. Suddenly, Stark no longer felt like running.
Back in his penthouse, he found Pepper Potts arriving via elevator with a dozen bodyguards.
"Mr. Stark! Are you alright?" she asked in a panic.
"I'm fine," Stark said calmly. He pointed at the cover model. "Please escort this lady out."
"Happy, come with me. We're going to visit our unexpected guest."
"Mr. Stark, I strongly advise caution," JARVIS warned. "This individual survived a thousand-meter fall with no injuries."
As Stark's personal bodyguard, Happy quickly added, "Boss, let me and the guys check it out first. If it's safe, then you can go."
Though Stark had already guessed who the visitor was, he nodded.
Once Happy and Pepper left, Stark turned to JARVIS. "Run a scan—see if this surprise guest is Dr. Bruce Banner."
A few seconds later, Banner's file and facial data appeared on the screen.
"Mr. Stark, facial recognition indicates an 80% match with Dr. Bruce Banner."
"So it's true," Stark muttered, eyes gleaming. "Check if he's involved in General Ross's Super Soldier Program."
It took over a minute before JARVIS responded, "So far, we can only confirm that Dr. Banner was head researcher at a classified facility. He disappeared seven months ago."
"Knew it." Stark headed straight for the 28th floor via elevator, ignoring JARVIS' continued warnings.
When he exited the elevator, he saw Banner crouched behind a desk, hands up, as Stark's bodyguards aimed their weapons.
"Last warning! Come out or we'll open fire!"
"No! No, trust me—firing at me is a terrible idea! I don't want to hurt anyone!"
Recalling the massive green figure that crashed into his tower, and hearing Banner's plea, Stark quickly shouted, "Stand down, Happy!"
He gestured for everyone to lower their weapons, then approached carefully. "Dr. Bruce Banner?"
"Oh God... you're Tony Stark?"
Seeing who it was, Banner clutched his head and groaned, "So I really crashed into Stark Tower… and I didn't even realize I was back in the States?"
"It's alright, Banner, it's alright," Stark said reassuringly, intrigued now more than ever. "Need some help?"
"Thanks… thank you, Mr. Stark," Banner said, clearly overwhelmed. "Could I… get some clothes? And... did anyone get hurt because of me?"
"Happy, grab the doctor a change of clothes," Stark said, smiling. "Luckily, it's 3 a.m. and no one's around. Aside from giving my security a scare, no one got hurt."
"Good... that's good," Banner mumbled before grabbing his head again. "Oh God, what did I do?"
Watching him spiral, Stark instinctively took a few steps back. "Hey, hey, calm down. It's okay. If you want to talk, I'm here. Maybe I can help."
"It's no use... I destroyed a military plane… killed who knows how many soldiers. Stark, thanks for helping me, but I need to leave. I don't want to hurt you too."
The more Banner spoke, the more fascinated Stark became. Bio-tech wasn't Stark Industries' specialty, but this was something he couldn't ignore.
When Happy returned with clothes, Stark handed them to Banner himself.
"Oh God… I never should've come here," Banner muttered as he dressed.
Watching him, Stark asked, "So you said you were unconscious when you got captured? You don't remember being taken by the military?"
Banner froze mid-change. Being the genius he was, it didn't take long to connect the dots.
"Sigh... Can you imagine a 220-pound middle-aged woman being a top-level agent? Not only that, but she deserves an Oscar for the performance."
"That sounds like quite a story," Stark said, amused. "Do tell."
Banner gave him a sour look. "What you call a good story completely wrecked my ability to trust people. After this... how can I trust anyone again?"
"Yeah... fair point. Still, forget about that for now. Let's talk about how you fell from the sky and walked away without a scratch."
"There's nothing to talk about," Banner said flatly. "If you don't want trouble, you'd better let me go. General Ross is going to come here himself."
"Heh, do you know who you're talking to, buddy?" Stark said smugly. "I'm a Level 4 weapons supplier to the U.S. government. Just about anyone might want to mess with me—but not Ross."
Just as he finished the sentence, his phone rang.
"Hi, Stark, this is Ross. Tell your men to stand down, or my soldiers will storm Stark Tower right now."
Stark didn't blush—but Banner definitely looked awkward.
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