House Calls, Part II

"Oh, Tony," Jan sighs.

It figures. It's reassuring, actually. She gets pulled away from a battle for the planet and dropped just off shore of a mysterious island in another dimension, or something, with no way home and with a handful of familiar faces who aren't really who they should be and think she's not really who she should be. Her entire life gets turned upside-down and filtered through a scrapped episode of the Twilight Zone. Nothing is the same and everything is strange.

But Tony Stark still has a mansion.

It figures.

The nervousness of yesterday has faded away with some friendly reassurances, a good night's sleep and the somewhat familiar surroundings. Wooden steps leading up to a bamboo front door are not nearly as comforting as this imposing stone facade. There is a doorbell, but probably no JARVIS to answer, so Jan gives Tony points for style while taking away for amenities.

She presses the doorbell and waits, only to have the door answered by... some kind of machine. It's a bit rudimentary to her eyes, not that she's any great engineering genius, but it's definitely more than what should be on an island like this.

"Oh, Tony," she sighs.

House Calls, Part III

"This is ridiculous," Jan groans. Tony lives off the beaten path, but at least there's a path and a mansion to direct visitors the right way. But Bruce? No. Bruce has to go hiding in the middle of nowhere. Not just the middle of nowhere, but the middle of nowhere on an island in the middle of, pretty literally, nowhere. If there's a path, Jan hasn't seen it. And she's been looking. Her feet ache and there's bugs everywhere and if it weren't Bruce Banner at the end of this trek, she would turn back.

For the millionth time this hour, Jan misses her wings. She's not made for hiking anymore. It's not the physical strain. Yeah, she's sweating and getting a good workout, but she's in shape. It's that walking is so slow. Every obstacle needs to be stepped over or around or under. She can't see beyond the trees in front of her. She needs to be flying, passing over every trial and knowing exactly where she's going.

When she sees the hut that must be Bruce's, Jan nearly weeps.

"Finally!" she cries out to the sky she can see, fringed by tree tops. Who cares if he hears her before she knocks on the door? He deserves this, especially if he's meditating.

"I know you like to go all Walden, Bruce," Jan calls out as she strides up to his front door. "Zen and the art of whatever, but this is ridiculous."