So in case no one noticed, I changed the title of the story. I wasn't sure how I felt about the last title. It was sort of cheesy haha. Let me know on your thoughts of whether I should change it back or to something else. I know right now it's not the best title but I'm terrible at coming up with them, so it'll have to stay that way for now.

Katie Moon: Aww thank you! I'm glad you like my action chapters but this is another one haha

Nobody spoke until she was on the highway. Her knuckles were white from clutching the steering wheel. "Okay," Saniya broke the silence, "here's what we're going to do. We're going to ditch this car and then call Natasha. After that... After... I don't know what we're going to do after that, but we'll figure it out."

Bruce nodded silently, his head resting between his knees.

Pepper fidgeted with the bottom of her shirt until it was straightened completely. "I'm sorry." She glanced back at Bruce then to Saniya. "They were after me, not you two. I'm sorry you were pulled into this mess."

"You didn't pull us into anything," Bruce said as he lifted his head slightly. "It's not your fault."

She shook her head. "Maya worked for Killian," Pepper revealed. "Or I suppose she is still working for him. That's how they found us. I never realized..."

Saniya felt her eyes widen. "She sold you out. I knew we couldn't trust her!" She slammed her palm against the dashboard. Pepper flinched from her outburst.

This time, Pepper didn't bother defending Maya. She folded her hands in her lap and stared straight ahead. "Tony's alive," she said after an awkward length of silence. Saniya's throat closed at the mention of the name. Bruce inhaled sharply. "He left a message for me at the mansion. He's out there somewhere."

If he was alive, Saniya doubted he was okay. Pepper had briefly mentioned that Killian planned to use her as leverage against Tony. So, either he was captured and being coerced to do something or he was yet to be. Things weren't boding well for him.

"Are you sure it was him?" Saniya questioned. She had to make sure.

Pepper clenched her jaw. "Yes."

Bruce exhaled. He began to sit upright, his skin no longer a sickly green. "Did he say where he was?" he asked

Pepper shook her head. "No, he didn't. It's... It's probably safer that way," she explained. "SHIELD might know where he is, though."

Saniya's grip tightened on the steering wheel so they wouldn't notice her shaking hands. "I called Natasha yesterday. She thinks he's dead. They don't know anything."

Bruce tilted his head incredulously. "I like Natasha, I do, but do you really believe her? I don't want to call her untrustworthy, but you can trust her to lie."

Carefully, she turned the car into the parking lot of a large supermarket off the highway. If she didn't need both her feet to drive, she'd be tapping them uncontrollably.

"The way I see it, there's two reasons why Nat would tell me Tony's dead. One, he's dead. Just dead." The car came to a stop. The palms of her hand were glued to the wheel. She couldn't let them see her hands shake. "Or two, they tell me he's dead so we don't go looking for him because he's in a lot of danger. So, he's dead or as good as dead."

She was either about to be punched or Pepper was going to cry, she wasn't sure which was worse. Pepper clenched her fist. A sock to the jaw was far more likely.

Bruce leaned between the front seat so that he was separating the two women. "Tony doesn't go down easily," he said.

She leaned in so they were touching. She dropped her hands from the wheel. Her hands were steady now. "Yeah, but neither do those two at the hotel. I bet that there's more where they came from, and they're probably all after Tony." If he was still alive, that is.

Pepper shook her head. "No," she whispered. She cleared her throat. "I've seen Tony go up against dangerous people like them. He's going to come out of this alive."

Saniya kept her cynical mouth closed, finally. Convincing Pepper and Bruce that she was right wasn't going to change the fact that Tony was missing. While they were sure that Tony was fine, she knew they were only going to find a body. They were going to see for themselves eventually, so what was the point arguing?

She scanned the parking lot with shrewd eyes. Now they had come to the part of the plan that was... unplanned. As it turned out, nobody knew Natasha's number or even any number that could connect them to SHIELD. Everything was stored on Saniya's phone, which was very much dead.

Pepper was in the same boat as her. Jarvis was such a helpful assistant that she didn't have the need to memorize numbers either. But she knew Tony and her father's number by heart, but that wasn't helpful at the moment.

Bruce, however, had distanced himself from SHIELD when he went to work for Stark Industries. He knew Tony's number, Pepper's, even Saniya's by memory. By choice, he hadn't asked for Natasha or Clint's number. He figured that if they needed him, they could send a message through Tony or Jarvis.

"Small bump in the road," Saniya commented, "big bump actually. We're all idiots."

Pepper raised an eyebrow. "Don't you work for SHIELD? I feel like out of all of us, it's you who should know-"

"Let's ignore that," she interrupted, playfully glaring at her. The tiniest smile ever was on Pepper's face, followed by a wince and a gentle rub at the bruises on her throat. Saniya began tapping her foot against the leather seat. "So we need to disappear and hope SHIELD comes to us. Killian works for a big tech company or something. I never paid attention to– "

"He works for AIM," Pepper told them. "Which works for the Mandarin."

Saniya found herself temporarily stunned. Bruce cleared his throat. "The Mandarin?" he questioned.

Pepper nodded. "The terrorist, yes." The almost nonchalant way she said that was terrifying to Saniya. How were they not freaking out?

She collapsed in her seat. "This is bad, so bad," she whispered. Her shoulders rolled back and became tense. "We need to get out of this car now," she rushed out. Saniya pulled back her buckle and threw open the door. "Come on!" she urged when neither Bruce nor Pepper moved.

Bruce slipped out of the car. "Saniya, what's going on?"

"What's going on?" she repeated frantically. She ran her fingers through her hair. "They're tracking this car. We don't know what type of resources the Mandarin or AIM has. They might be using security cameras or facial recognition or some crooked cops or... or... something. We need to ditch this car now!" Saniya was already backing away.

Bruce and Pepper hurried after her.

"It's going to be okay," she said in an attempt to calm Saniya.

"No, it's not," she snapped. "They just tried to kidnap you and now they know my face and Bruce's. And the Mandarin has control of an enormous tech company. We need a new ride now because they sure as hell can trace us with a click of a button."

Bruce gently grabbed her arm, forcing her to stop. "Take a deep breath," he told her.

Saniya resisted the urge to stomp her feet. They were wasting time. "But–"

"I'm not letting you go until you take a deep breath," he said. Bruce ducked her head so they were the same height. "Mistakes are made when people are nervous."

He had a point there. So, she did what he said. Bruce guided her through several deep breathes with a soft "inhale... one... two... three... hold... exhale". After the brief breathing exercise, she didn't feel any more relaxed.

His hand dropped from her arm. "So, what's the plan?"

Stealing another car was her first instinct, but that would draw attention from the local police and terrorists alike. She doubted they would assume it was a coincidence that a car was stolen less than a mile away from where their previous car had been abandoned.

Then, Pepper pointed out a bus loading with passengers. Bruce spoke to the driver and found out that the bus would stop a quarter of a mile away from a motel. Since there wasn't exactly a better option, Saniya hesitantly followed Bruce and Pepper onto the bus. There were no cameras by the bus stop or on the bus, so it was a course of action she didn't have too many problems with.

She scanned every face on the bus, which wasn't much. There were two people sitting on the back, a couple, who were looking at them weird then glancing back at their phones. An elderly woman was sitting in the front set of seats with a bag of groceries next to her and a family of tourists right behind her. Saniya made them take a seat in the middle, equal distance from everyone.

"Stop staring at them," Pepper mumbled several minutes into the ride.

"Only when they stop staring at us," she replied from the corner of her mouth.

Bruce dropped his hand so their fingers were brushing. "They're not staring at us."

Saniya glared at him. "I know I sort of freaked out back there and that's why you're not taking me seriously, but I know when someone is staring." Pepper raised her eyebrows and Bruce didn't look any more convinced than before. She was outnumbered. Her head bounced back against the seat. "Fine. I'm just being paranoid." She made a point of scooting away from Bruce and crossing her arms.

With them watching her every move like she was having a psychotic breakdown, she couldn't spy on the couple anymore.

Her unbending insistence that the couple was watching them faltered when they got off at a gas station. Pepper placed a hand on her shoulder. "See? There's nothing to worry about."

There was plenty to worry about, she thought to herself. She had no idea where Pepper got that idea.

The bus passed the Mysterious Sands motel. It was painted a dull blue with a giant seashell sign. The best part, the parking lot was vacant. It was the perfect place to hide for a few hours. A quarter mile later, the bus stopped in front of an empty beach.

Pepper cleared her throat with a wince when the bus drove off. "What now?" Her voice was quiet. It was clear that the bruises were making it hard to talk.

Saniya shrugged. "We could corner ourselves in the motel and when they come knocking on our door, we set the Hulk loose on them."

Bruce frowned. Then, after several moments tilted his head in thought. "That... isn't the worst idea," he admitted. If anyone was going to beat invincible bad guys, it was the Hulk. "But, it isn't a good one either."

"It's the only one we have."

A light sparked in his eyes. "A Hulk incident doesn't go unnoticed. It'll be a giant flare for SHIELD." The light fizzled out. "Let's make sure it doesn't come to that, though. I'm sure the last thing that motel needs is a Hulk doing renovations."

They continued to brainstorm on their walk to the motel. All they could come up with was closing the blinds in the motel and waiting for everything to blow over. Of course, Saniya was seriously considering buying a tent and camping on a beach to be off the grid. Though, she chose not to mention it. Bruce and Pepper didn't seem like the "roughing it" type. That plan was neatly tucked away as Plan B.

Bruce pointed them towards their room after he got the room key from the office. "They don't get a lot of business in winter," he said, sounding almost relieved. There were fewer people around if there was a confrontation. Fewer people who could be hurt.

"Did you tell him that you're traveling along?" Saniya probed.

"I said exactly what you told me to, don't worry." He had a playful smile on his face. "Verbatim, actually."

She smiled back at him, bumping against his side as he opened the door. "Good. Maybe that'll throw the Mandarin off our tracks for a while."

The walls were plain except for a painting of the ocean over the television. There were two beds with sickly green comforters draped over them. It was small but manageable.

Immediately, Saniya pulled shut the drapes, not before casting a suspicious glare over the parking lot. It was empty and she hoped it would stay that way. She perched herself at the end of the bed closest to the window.

Pepper rubbed her hands up and down her arms. She cleared her throat, then rubbed her throat. A shadow passed over her face that Saniya couldn't make sense of. "I need a shower," she said with a light croak to her voice. The bathroom door shut quietly behind her. Pepper needed time alone and they were willing to give her that.

Again, Saniya was on her feet, looking out the window. She scanned the parking lot.

Still empty.

This went on for several minutes. She sat at the edge of the bed, catching a glimpse through the crack in the curtains then got up to look out the window. Then she sat back down and tried to restrain herself from standing back up. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Saniya felt Bruce's eyes on her. He knew. She knew he knew that she was freaking out inside. He probably knew she knew that he knew–

"Saniya?"

She tore herself away from the window. He was sitting on the bed with the pillow propped against his back. Saniya plopped herself next to him, head resting on his shoulder. "I was just curious what was going on out there," she said innocently.

Bruce wasn't convinced. He lifted his arm to put around her shoulder, stopped to reconsider, then continued. "We're safe," he said.

Saniya remained silent.

"We are," he insisted.

"For now," she muttered.

"Exactly," he said. "We're safe for now. You can relax."

She made a disgruntled noise in the back of her throat. "I don't get it. How can you be so calm?"

Bruce's hand accidentally brushed against the burn on her arm. He probably hadn't noticed it since the button down she was wearing covered it so well. Saniya dug her teeth into her bottom lip to keep herself from crying out in pain. And when he looked down at her, she smothered her face into his shirt.

"Yoga does wonders for my temperament," he answered with dry sarcasm. His eyebrows knitted together. "Are you okay?"

She lifted her face from his chest with a grimace. "I need something to keep my mind off everything," she replied.

The answer to that was a cheesy western movie they found on a random channel on the television. It worked. For a little while.

They had stowed themselves away in that motel room until the sun had gone down. Their stomachs ached, but Saniya refused to leave the room until nightfall. And when the sun had gone down, she couldn't shake an uneasy feeling and kept blocking the door.

"You two aren't taking this seriously!" she cried out. "The Mandarin is after Pepper and you're acting like we're here on vacation!"

Pepper placed her hands on her hips. "This is overkill," she said bluntly. "We've been in here for hours and nothing bad has happened."

Bruce sighed. "Saniya, we have to eat."

"Humans can survive three weeks without food," Saniya replied. She shuffled her feet. "That black sedan has been sitting outside our room for three hours. Nobody has gotten out of the car or in. They're watching us!"

Pepper pulled back the curtains. Saniya cringed at how obvious she made it. If the people in the black sedan hadn't known they were spotted, they did now. Pepper squinted. "I don't see anyone in the car."

"That's because the windows are tinted," she said. "You both know I've been watching it for hours."

The creases on Bruce's forehead lengthened. "Maybe they can't afford a room and need a safe place to sleep for the night."

Saniya scoffed. "If they can afford that kind of car, they can afford a room."

Bruce peeked out the window, more carefully than Pepper had. "Are you sure nobody has gotten out of the car?" he asked. They locked eyes. Confidently, she nodded. He looked over at Pepper. "I believe her. I don't know if it's AIM, but maybe Saniya is on to something."

Pepper sighed. "It's not that I don't believe you, Saniya, it's just... you've been acting erratic since the hotel. I'm worried about you."

She lifted her chin. "I'm not making this up."

"I know, honey," Pepper said, her face softening. "But you're acting like everyone is the enemy. You nearly gave the maid a heart attack when she stopped by to give us more towels."

"Maybe she deserved it for sneaking up on us!"

Bruce held up his hands. Always the mediator. "I'll check out the car," he said. Saniya felt her jaw snap shut. "If it's someone who works for the Mandarin, I'll give you a signal and you two hide."

Pepper nodded, confident that there was nothing harmless in the sedan. "We are finding something to eat after this." She gave Saniya a pointed look just as her stomach growled.

Before he could answer the door, Saniya grabbed his arm. "Maybe I should go," she said.

He stared at her incredulously. "Why?"

She pulled herself closer to him. It was easier to think rationally when she used him as her metaphoric rock. "Because I'm the one who thinks that sedan is up to no good." Pepper had averted her eyes, not knowing whether this was a private moment or not. "What if they attack you or something?"

"If something happens," he started, "I don't think I'm the one you need to worry about." Bruce edged open the door. "Don't open this door for anyone but me."

They watched Bruce walk up to the car with his hands in his pockets. He knocked on the window and it rolled down. His mouth was moving. Saniya failed to make out what he was saying. The door to the sedan opened. A burly woman stepped out.

She was wearing all black clothes and a large belt. On the hip facing away from Bruce was a gun holster.

"Crap, crap, crap," Saniya hissed.

Pepper gulped. "California is an open carry state," she said quietly, though unconvincingly. "Maybe she's just..." her voice drifted off. There was nothing innocent about an armed woman sitting in a parking lot for hours.

Bruce continued to talk to her as a man twice Saniya's size climbed out of the driver's seat. There was a gun on his hip as well.

Suddenly, the woman slammed Bruce's head into the car's windshield. A large crack was left behind as he crumpled to the pavement.

"Hide under the bed," she told Pepper. Saniya grabbed a lamp and waited by the door.

Chills ran up her spine as the Hulk roared. Pepper froze halfway into her hiding space, her face ashen. She locked eyes with Saniya. "Are you going to fight them?"

"If they come in here, then yeah," she answered, sounding calmer than she felt. "Don't come out for anything." Pepper looked like she was about to argue. Then, she saw something through the window that made her jaw snap shut.

Saniya risked a peek. There had been six people in the car in total. The Hulk was tossing two in the air like rag dolls and smashing them onto the hood of the car. One of the men was barely alive. He was weakly crawling from the Hulk's large hands. The other was clearly dead.

Three had scattered. Their skin wasn't glowing orange like Killian's had back in the hotel. Saniya assumed they were mercenaries sent to kidnap Pepper or AIM thugs without the scary powers. They had their guns drawn but were at a loss at what to do. Bullets weren't exactly useful against the Hulk.

One person was missing, though: the woman.

She searched the parking lot but didn't see her.

The door knob shattered. The woman pushed her shoulder against the door and it burst open. In a desperate attempt, Saniya threw the lamp at her. She ducked.

She was much larger than Saniya in both height and muscle mass. Natasha's advice trickled into the front of her mind. Bigger usually meant slower.

Bigger also meant more powerful. One hit and Saniya knew she'd go down.

The punch came at half the speed of what Natasha usually threw at her. She ducked with ease.

The mercenary punched again. Saniya dodged and drew herself in closer. Her elbow collided with the woman's stomach then smacked into the bottom of her chin.

She didn't double over like she had expected her to. The mercenary pushed her away with only one hand. A streak of satisfaction ran through her when she rubbed at the bottom of her chin with a scowl.

Saniya clicked her heels together. Two short blades slid from Saniya's boots.

"Where is she?" the mercenary growled, unfazed.

The first gunshot was fired. Then, the Hulk released a howl so feral that even the mercenary shrunk with fear. Saniya made the mistake of turning her head towards the window.

The mercenary clocked her in the jaw. Saniya stumbled back. She smashed Saniya into the window. It left small ribbons of cracks in the glass.

She pressed her gun into Saniya's temple. A cold shower of terror rushed from her head to her toes. "I'm only asking one more time. Where. Is–"

Someone outside screamed bloody murder. A dark shadow was coming over them, growing bigger and bigger. I'm going to die if I don't move was the only clear thought she had. "Don't!" she screeched and her mind blanked.

The glass began breaking in slow motion as the front end of the car broke through the wall. Slowly, her back was being pressed against the front bumper. Saniya dropped to her knees and crawled under it as it inched forward. She rolled to the bed and grabbed onto whatever part of Pepper she could get a firm grasp on. Then, she pulled.

Pepper was halfway out from under the bed when the car smashed through the room, taking the mercenary with it. Plaster and broken glass flew everywhere. The bed she had just been under was crushed. Pepper's limp hands turned into a vice-grip.

Outside, a second car pulled into the parking lot. Moments later, there was the sound of never-ending machine gun fire. The Hulk still stomped and threw bodies, with more ferocity this time. They were just making him angrier.

"We need to run," Pepper gasped. "We can't stay here."

"Where do we go?" Saniya was shaking.

The sickening sound of a body being pounded into a pancake was enough to answer her question: anywhere but here.

Her mind was frazzled. She wasn't thinking straight when she shoved her phone into Pepper's pocket. "Take it in case something happens."

Pepper looked at her like she was crazy. "It's dead!"

"You're dating Tony Stark! I'm sure he taught you how to charge phones with a potato or something. Just take it!"

When they ran out the door, Saniya turned the direction with the most foliage to hide in.

The gunfire was inconsistent now as it became clear that mere bullets wouldn't stop the Hulk. They screamed as somebody skidded past them. The man groaned when he came to a stop but didn't get up.

Saniya saw one of the mercenaries aim his gun at her. Her body didn't react quick enough. The bullet violently ripped through her leg. She crumpled to the ground with immediate sobs. Pepper tried to drag her back to her feet.

He raised his gun again, leveling it at her head.

Just as the bullet was fired, it moved back into the gun chamber. The bullet in her leg repaired her muscle on its way out of her body.

For a moment, everything wavered and Saniya was shaking. Her head was pounding. The pressure on her brain was too much.

Saniya fell right as time moved forward again. The bullet just barely grazed her.

She grabbed her head. It felt like someone was hitting it with a hammer, not to mention the phantom pain in her leg. Pepper grabbed her arm to pull her back up, but Saniya knew she wasn't going to get away in time.

"Get out of here," she grunted. There was no way Pepper could drag her fast enough so that the mercenaries couldn't catch them. Plus, she couldn't play dead with Pepper forcing her to stand up.

Pepper froze. "I'm not leaving you," she replied with a set jaw. She put Saniya's arm around her shoulder and lifted. Saniya yelped loudly before she could explain why it was better to leave her. The Hulk jerked his head towards them. Then, a particularly stupid mercenary fired his machine gun and had the Hulk's attention again.

"Put her down," a voice behind them said.

They stopped. It was the mercenary who had shot her.

"Ms. Potts, you don't want this to get worse."

"Do it," Saniya hissed from the corner of her mouth.

Pepper lowered her to the ground and lifted her hands in the air. "Bruce!" Pepper yelled hoarsely. The Hulk was too fixated on expressing his anger on the mercenaries still shooting at him to come to her rescue.

The mercenary yanked Pepper's arm and pressed the gun into her temple. He flicked it slightly towards Saniya to show he had no plans to kill her, but would if she tried anything. Pepper stared with disbelief as Saniya stayed laying on the ground.

Saniya valued her own skin more than Pepper's, and no matter what she did, she knew she'd get shot. She wasn't willing to risk it being lethal. As much as she wanted to play the part of the hero or martyr, there was no justifying a bullet to the head for an act of selflessness.

It was impressive how fast he dragged a kicking Pepper into the second sedan. Before Saniya could even groan with pain, Pepper was stuffed into the backseat.

"Let's go!" he yelled from the car. The Hulk threw chunks of pavement at the people who began escaping his wrath.

The Hulk was about to run after the speeding car when he heard a loud cry come from Saniya. She had pulled up the leg of her sweatpants to double check that she was, in fact, not bleeding out. If she closed her eyes, she could feel droplets of blood running down her legs and soaking her socks. She brushed against her smooth skin with a shaking thumb.

Bad idea. It felt like she had jammed her finger in a real bullet wound.

He pounded his fist into the pavement and roared at the sky. She curled herself into a ball when he chucked a part of the hotel room over her head.

"Please recognize me," she whimpered. "Please, Thor, do your god thing and don't let Bruce kill me like this."

The mini tantrum slowly came to an end. She flinched as the Hulk stomped towards her. It was one thing to see the Hulk behind a glass cage and another to be in the middle of his warpath.

He stopped in front of her. She uncovered her head to look up at him. The expression on his face was unreadable.

"Hi!" she blurted, trying to sound as friendly as possible.

Hulk tilted his head and let out a loud, exasperated huff. If she didn't know any better, she would assume that he thought she was wasting his time.

"Maybe," she started, "maybe it would be a good idea to bring Bruce back."

He let out a snarl. "Hulk hate puny Bruce!"

She held out her hands, wincing as she scooted herself across the pavement. "Okay!" she said hysterically. "Okay, okay!" Saniya swore as she accidentally scraped her leg. A new tendril of pain made its way up her spine.

He dropped to his knees. Even while crouching he towered over her. He leaned closer with his eyes zeroed in on her leg. With a large finger, he poked right where the bullet had broken through her skin.

It felt like she was shot all over again. "DON'T DO THAT!" she screamed and slapped away his giant green finger. He snarled and rose to his feet. Saniya wasn't sure whether he was going to Hulk-SMASH her or back off. And based on the conflicted expression on his face, he wasn't so sure what he was going to do either.

Her voice came out unnaturally steady. "That really hurt," she told him. "They shot me. I know it doesn't look like they did, but believe me, it feels like it."

"Hulk shot at too," he said gruffly. His toothy smile sent shivers up her spine. He looked completely pleased with himself. "Hulk smashed bad men."

As she noticed his bloodstained hands, she came to the realization that she could never tell Bruce what exactly had happened. He had been devastated after he had "gone green" in front of her that one night in Stark Tower. She didn't want to find out how he would react to actually killing people.

"I see that." She cleared her throat.

In the distance, sirens were growing louder and louder. The Hulk bared his teeth and dropped into a defensive stance. Saniya knew the same fate would come to the cops as the mercenaries if she didn't step in.

"We need to leave."

He shook his head like he had water in his ear. "Hulk–"

"Hulk leave with Saniya!" she said firmly. The tone of her voice was enough to make him stop for just a moment. She forced herself onto her knees. Saniya stretched out her arms. "Help me up, big guy. We're leaving." When he didn't move, she glared at him. "Now!"

Nobody bossed around the Hulk. But, apparently, she wasn't nobody.

He picked her up and cradled her to his chest. It wasn't in the Hulk's nature to be gentle –his fingers were forming new bruises and he was holding her way too tight– but it was obvious he was making an effort.

Hulk stared off at the road where the police cruisers would eventually come from. His muscles tensed. Saniya swore that he was going to drop her and take out his frustrations on them. Instead, he ran in the opposite direction.

She wasn't sure where he was going, but she wasn't about to question a giant green muscleman. The sirens drifted off until they could no longer hear them. Now that they weren't at risk of being arrested –and in the Hulk's case, attacked again– she felt herself relax.

He looked down at her with Bruce's same soft brown eyes. "Hulk and Sani hide together?"

"Yep, Big Guy. Hulk and Sani hide until puny Bruce comes back." She elbowed his chest, hoping that he got the hint.

Apparently, he was no happy with that. "Hulk hate puny Bruce!"

"Well, Sani likes puny Bruce."

His mouth curled into a soft snarl. His footsteps became more aggressive. The Hulk was no longer walking, but now stomping. "Puny Bruce useless."

Saniya felt her muscles tense. The longer they waited, the further away Pepper was going to be. She needed Bruce to find her. With every second they waste, Pepper would be harder to find.

"Puny Bruce is not useless," she argued. He raised his eyebrows in a way that could only be described as disbelief. "I need him."

"Hulk help," he said, completely sure of himself.

She jabbed her finger into the green muscle. He probably didn't even feel it. "Puny Bruce can help me too." She was struck by the mild weirdness of how she kept referring to Bruce as puny. "I need him to find Pepper!"

"Hulk find pretty lady with Sani," he said roughly.

It was the tone of his voice that made her close her mouth tightly. It was a warning that if she dared argue with him, he would be nothing short of angry. And the last thing she wanted was the green rage monster to be angry.

She let herself rest back on his large arms. Besides, her head throbbed too much to get into an argument. It would be the waiting game. Eventually, Bruce had to come back. "Okay, whatever you say."

That seemed to be all he needed to hear when he shot off down the road looking for Pepper.