—chapter fifteen:
happily ever after

"AND THEY LIVED
HAPPILY EVER AFTER."

ONE WEEK LATER

When Jackson finally got to her apartment after being gone for a whole year, she found a notice attached to the door.

    "Well, I was planning on moving out, anyway," she mumbled to herself as she took the notice down, crumpled it up, and turned the door open, keeping in mind she had a week before she was inevitably kicked out. Everything was as she had remembered leaving it so she knew no one tried to break in during her leave of absence. She sighed out of content, happy that she could finally have a proper shower, and headed for her bathroom. Stripping out of her normal clothes and then peeling off the catsuit that was hidden underneath like she was Superman, it looked like she had an absurd sort of tan line where instead she was burned, she was darkened by soot and dirt.

    After her shower, she padded around the kitchen in her t-shirt and bathrobe to find something to satisfy her sweet tooth. She settled on a small pint of dairy-free Ben & Jerry's ice cream that was close to seeing its end and closed the freezer.

    She sat down in front of her computer, opening Google to a boatload of articles about the Avengers and how they saved Midtown Manhattan. "'Earth's Mightiest Heroes'," Jackson read the subtitle, smiling to herself. Some were criticizing their actions as "reckless", having left half of the city in a state of desolation with half-ruined buildings and torn down banks.

    Continuing on with her scrolling, she was interrupted by her phone ringing. Checking the contact name and reading SMART GUY, she smiled and answered. "Hi."

    "Hi," Bruce returned, "what are you doing right now?"

    "Reading some articles. You know they're calling you guys 'Earth's Mightiest Heroes'? It's insane."

    "You're just as much an Avenger as the rest of us, birdie."

    "Eh," Jackson shrugged, poking around at her ice cream, "I figured it was just a one-time thing. I don't know how I'm gonna return the uniform, though." She turned in the chair, eyeing the dirty catsuit.

    "I'm sure they won't mind a missing uniform. You look good in it. You can even say that it suits you."

    "Robert Bruce Banner, did you just make a bad joke?"

     Bruce sighed. "I regret telling you my full name. But yes, I did. I've been hanging around you too much."

    "I hope it's not a bad thing."

     "It's not. Hey, uh, are you doing anything on Sunday?"

    "I might be getting ready to move. Why do you ask?"

    "Moving?" Jackson could hear the questioning tone in Bruce's voice.

    "It's nothing too major," Jackson answered, swiveling in her chair a little bit, "my lease is about to be up in a week and I've been meaning to move out of here for a while now. Too many bad memories. Everywhere I look, I can just see what happened."

    "Ready to make some new ones?"

     "I guess you can say that I've already made a few," Jackson said simply, smiling. "My favorite one starts when this guy asks me to come to India with him. Of course, I say yes because how could I not. He's intelligent, yet a little shy and kind of awkward when you first meet him. But he's got these beautiful brown eyes that show more of how caring he is and it's made my heart swoon ever since. I remember playing twenty questions one time where he gave me an interesting nickname and he held me so gently after what I told him. Not like he thought I was fragile or anything but because I think he knew that I've never been held so sweetly before.

    "And then, after India, he and I go on this adventure to retrieve some mystical cube from outer space, and then it just gets weirder from there. But. . .then I lose him for a bit, and I'm a little out of it, and then he comes back to me on a freaking moped while half of the city's either in shambles or up in flames. But he's just rolling up all nonchalant like it's a regular Tuesday. Now we're out fighting monsters and for our lives and there's this huge creature that's coming our way and so I kiss him because what's a romance without a dramatic doomsday kiss?

    "Then he tells me he adores me and I tell him that I know because I know that he adores me and not just to make a cheesy Star Wars-adjacent reference. Now the portal's closed and we go out for shawarma and he tells me happy birthday. I kiss him again and when I pull back he's looking at me like he could see the stars through my eyes and it's a little overwhelming at first but it's also really nice because I've never felt that way before and I think it's the happiest I've ever been. So if you ever find the guy, can you tell him I said thank you?"

    There was silence on the other end and before Jackson could ask if Bruce was there, there was a knock at her door. Getting up, she walked over and opened it to see Bruce standing on the other side, one of his hands still holding his phone up to his ear. He had the same awestruck look in his eyes but there was something else that was swirling within the awe that made Jackson take in a big breath.

    "If you say something like that over the phone, I'd wonder what'd you say to my face," said Bruce, walking up to her. He was in the apartment but not quite in far enough for Jackson to close the door.

    Jackson stared him dead in the eye, looking at him, really looking at him—not past him—and said, "You are the most beautiful person I've ever met—inside, out, and all over. And I can say that because I know, Bruce. I can literally feel it in your bones. Even with the Hulk, you're still you and I couldn't love you more because of it. All the best things happen when you're around and I get so, so, so incandescently happy just seeing you because you brighten my day. When something good happens, you're the first person I would want to tell. Not Tony, not Steve. You. Because you mean that much to me."

    Bruce stared at her for a moment before cupping her face and just holding her. "You are the most amazing woman and I wouldn't know what I'd do without you."

    Jackson was the one to close the distance between them and initiate the kiss, winding her arms around his neck as his own came around her waist, pulling her in and holding her close the way she deserved. When they pulled back, still in the other's hold, they looked at each other, taking the other one in like they had all the time in the world to do so. And they did, for the most part.

    She then pulled Bruce in for a hold, the way she did that one time in Kolkata, burying her nose in the crook of his neck, elated at the way she felt.

"We should play twenty questions."

    "Really?"

    Jackson nodded. The two of them were cuddled together on Jackson's bed, underneath the sheets. Nothing too thrilling had taken place as they were both exhausted from everything that's happened. It was nice to just be within the other's embrace. It was comforting.

    "I think we know each other," Bruce motioned between the two of them and the bed, smiling, "well enough."

    "This," now it was Jackson's turn to motion between the two of them, also smiling, "was bound to happen at some point. And we're cuddling because it's nice. Now, ask me something."

    "Alright." Bruce nodded. "Uh, not to sound like a bit of a narcissist but did you ever find yourself falling in love with me?"

    "Multiple times."

    "When?"

    "Hm." Jackson made a thinking face, "The first defining moment would have to be when we were in Kolkata and you were looking after the patients. It showed me how caring and loving you were and I've been falling ever since." She smiled. "What about you?"

     "Well," Bruce pulled her in closer and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, rubbing her arm soothingly—lovingly—as he did so, "it would have to be the first time I saw you. You had such a grounding presence and I thought you were absolutely beautiful."

     Jackson scrunched her nose as her cheeks began to pool with a crimson blush. "Next question."

     "How would you feel about going on a date on Sunday? A real one where I actually ask you out and not try to disguise it as a 'friendly, non-romantic outing', as you once said."

     "I can do Sunday," Jackson agreed. "Yeah?" Bruce asked, raising a brow at her.

     Jackson nodded. "Yeah. And maybe every Sunday after that, if we're not busy saving the world, that is. I mean, I may have to block off an entire month just for that."

     "But you can still do Sunday?"

    "I can still do Sunday."

    "Okay." And with that, Bruce pressed a soft kiss to Jackson's mouth and pulled her in close once more, recreating almost an exact replica of the one interesting night they had spent in each other's comfort. Jackson could feel Bruce rubbing her arm the same way he had done before and she let out a sigh of absolute content. She laid her arm over his abdomen, but not too tightly, and let herself fall sleep to the sweetest lullaby she's ever known because she was confident that he'd be there in the morning.

    Jackson had come to learn that some people wore rose-colored glasses. She wore contacts. So when she fell for Bruce, and he in return, she finally thought it time to have her prescription changed.

END OF ACT ONE.

AUTHOR'S NOTE
i refuse to let this story die so. . .
on to act two !