When Skye met the Hulk and then Banner

Skye was horrified when she saw on the news what went down in New York. The only thing she could think of the first time she heard about aliens descending on New York was "Please, dear god, let them be safe. Please, let them not be there." She then took out her phone and dialed Pepper's number. It took a while until she answered.

"Pepper? Thank god."

"Skye, are you alright? Please tell me you are in L.A." Pepper said, clearly concerned.

"Yes. Are you alright? Where are you? Please tell me you are not in New York" Skye said pleadingly.

"No. I'm on my way to D.C. Have you heard anything from Tony?"

"No. Isn't he with you?"

"No. SHIELD asked for his assistance and he left to meet with them. But that was yesterday. I haven't heard from him since" Pepper explained.

"Geez, not these guys again. Listen I'm going to try and get in touch with Tony. You stay safe. I'll call you the minute I know something, okay?" Skye tried to calm the older woman.

She hung up and tried to reach Tony, but couldn't. There was just static and she knew something was wrong. She stayed in the coffee shop were she usually hung out and tried to reach her brother. She even tried to hack into SHIELD. Maybe those guys knew something the media didn't. Wouldn't be the first. When she still couldn't get in touch with him she called Happy and asked him to fly her to New York. Of course, at first he refused, but when she threatened to snatch one of the Iron Man suits he gave in. He didn't approve of flying to New York, even though by the time they reached the airport news came in that the Avengers defeated the aliens, Happy thought it would be better to keep an eye on the young woman. Even though she wasn't a Stark by blood, she was more like Tony than he would have liked it.

They got on the plane and tried to call Pepper, telling her about their plan to get to New York. Since none of them managed to get in touch with Tony they decided to meet at Stark Tower, now that it was safe. Pepper got their first, since she left D.C. the minute she found out that Skye was on her way to New York. She knew she was safe with Happy, but she always saw the girl like a little sister, like family. She loved Tony, but Skye loved him a bit more. Not like a man, but like a big brother. She would be devastated if something bad ever happened to him. Fortunately, Tony was sipping a drink in the living room together with another person. Tony introduced them and Pepper found out it was Dr. Bruce Banner a.k.a. the Hulk. Tony assured her it was perfectly safe to be around him. She quickly called Skye to tell her that Tony was safe and sound and that they were waiting for her in the penthouse.

While Skye was still on her way Tony told Pepper everything that happened since they last saw each other. At some point Pepper started crying, especially when Tony had to tell her about his near death experience. What upset her even further was when she learned that her friend, Agent Phil Coulson, died in the line of duty. She was so upset that Tony offered to take her to their bedroom and make her rest for a while. He left Banner alone, knowing that he didn't mind being a little while alone.

Bruce thought back to the events of the past few days. He felt the rage building up and tried to control his anger, but when he too thought of Agent Coulson and his brave act, defying the mad Asgardian and dying he couldn't contain his rage anymore and he turned into the other guy.

It was then when the elevator door opened and a young girl stepped outside. She looked around but couldn't see anyone at first, since most of the lights were out. She wanted to call out Tony's name but then she noticed movement on the terrace. She carefully walked towards the door and looked outside. When she saw him she knew exactly how he was. She saw him on TV, fighting alongside Tony and the other Avengers. It was the Hulk. The green monster was standing on their terrace. Skye breathed in and took a step forward. The Hulk backed away, but Skye didn't stop. She raised her hands, so that he could see that she was unarmed.

"Hey there. I'm Skye. I'm Tony's sister, sort of. And you are the Hulk. Nice to meet you. I wanted to thank you for helping saving the city. I like this city. And I want to thank you for helping my brother. I know he can be a pain in the ass sometimes but he is a good guy and I love him. So thank you for helping" she said without blinking or breathing, walking forward until she was only a few inches away from the green beast. He had nowhere to back away. He tried to think of what she said and the only thing he could say was "You talk much." The comment made Skye smile. She reached out her hand for him to shake it. The Hulk looked down at her surprised that she wasn't afraid.

"You not fear?" he asked clumsily.

"No. You won't hurt me, right?" she asked, although it sounded more like a statement. She kept on smiling, which baffled him.

He tried to shake her hand and she helped him.

"Can I offer you something? A drink? Something to eat?" Skye asked politely.

"Eat shawarma" he said still looking into her eyes.

"Did Tony drag you dare" she asked raising an eyebrow. He nodded.

"I guess he finally found someone who would go with him there" she said more to herself. What surprised her, but even more him, he smiled at her. It looked a little odd on the monster's face, but Skye didn't mind. In fact, she acted around him like she would have known him her whole life.

"I'm sorry he dragged you there" she said.

"Ok."

"Did you like it? You can tell me if you don't. I won't tell Tony. Unless he pisses me off, then I'm going to tell him that no one likes the food he loves, cuz he sucks and so does everything he eats."

"Was good" he told her. She smiled again.

"Come on, let's get inside. It's a bit chilly out here" she said grabbing his oversized hand and dragging him after her. He obediently followed and sat down on the couch. What surprised him was when she sat down on his left leg and started singing. "Do you like music?" she stopped from singing looking up at him curiously. He nodded. "Do you know I'll be missing you by Puff Daddy, well now his known by the name P. Diddy, but back in the day he was Puff Daddy." The Hulk nodded, feeling awkward having her on his left leg. Not for the fact itself, but she didn't seem to understand that he could tear her apart, that he could seriously injure her. Something about her screamed soothing. She was kind and good and he didn't feel like a monster around her. She was like a ray of light, that brought him happiness. Something he hadn't felt in a while. He was fascinated that a young girl could have such a calming effect on such a brute monster like himself. She started singing again and every once in a while, when he remembered a word he joined in. He nearly jumped up from the couch knocking her down when he heard Stark enter the room. But she wasn't startled or mad, she looked up at him and smiled.

"Relax, no harm done. You wouldn't believe the times I fell off this very same couch. Admittedly, I was always asleep when that happened, but who cares." She got off of his leg, which made him miss her presence for the first time, and walked towards Stark, who she caught in a bearlike hug. She seemed glad that the man was alive, a few stray tears falling down her cheeks. When the Hulk saw the tears he jumped up and said something that surprised even him.

"Not cry. Not sad. Make Hulk sad" he said. She turned around to face him again and smile spread across her face. She shook her head and returned to sit on the couch, motioning for him to sit next to her. For the second time he followed her command and did as he was told.

"I'm not sad. I'm happy. I'm happy that my brother is fine and I'm happy I found a new friend. You" she said and tried to hug him. A smile crept across his face and he felt warm and loved. But most importantly he felt the rage leave his body and while he was still hugging her he returned to his human self.

When they parted he was Bruce Banner again. He looked down and saw the girl smiling sweetly up to him.

"I guess we should meet too. I'm Skye" she stretched out her hand for him to shake. He did so.

"I'm Dr. Bruce Banner."

"Hey. Can I call you Bruce or Doc. Bee?"

"Skye" Tony said warningly.

"What? We are friends now. Friends have nicknames. Right? Can I call you that?" she asked Bruce directly.

"Uhm" he thought for a second "sure you can call me however you want."

"Awesome. Are you going to stay here? You just have to. Please" she pleaded.

"Uhm, I don't know" he said looking at Tony.

"Hey, if my baby sis wants you here, who am I to deny her wish?" he asked dramatically. "Besides, I wouldn't have it any other way. You saved my life. You are a friend. And not to mention you have nowhere to go. So, please, stay with s. For as long as you want" said Tony, putting on a serious, but kind face. It was true, he was never able to deny Skye anything. Except, when it was really stupid. The two of them did a lot of crazy and often dangerous crap, but he would never give into her pleading if he knew it would most likely injure her. But with Bruce he knew she was safe. Yeah, he turned into a raging beast, but she had a special gift. No one could really hurt her. At least not physically. And the way she handled the Hulk was remarkable. Not many people can say that about themselves. And to be fair, he really wanted to keep the big guy around for a while. He respected Banner and he wanted to help him. He knew he couldn't do anything about the Hulk, but Banner was one heck of a guy that deserved a friend. Well, two, at least. And seeing Skye interact with both Bruce and the Hulk he knew that this was just the beginning of a beautiful, slightly crazy, friendship. But they both lived for this shit, so... that's that.