Who: Bruce Banner (and the Hulk), Betty Ross When: Recently, before the 4th though Where: Avenger’s Compound, laboratory What: An accident causes an unexpected transformation, and Hulk gets to meet Betty for the first time since she got to Tumbleweed Warnings: FEELS Status: Complete in Gdocs
“Check the levels of the auxiliary processor? What does the second one say? Is it still fluctuating?”
Bruce was on his knees, poking his head out from inside a panel where he was calibrating the multitronic compressor, using a pin vise in one hand, and a flashlight in the other. They’d been quickly making headway on their project. Using the information from Betty’s flash drive, which the Portal so kindly dropped off for her, they were able to fill in the blanks from Bruce’s own research and arrive at the conclusion that he’d been hoping for - the ability to inhibit the neurological and chemical processes in Bruce’s body that trigger the Hulk’s transformation. By using the same gamma radiation that created the monster in the first place, the process would essentially rid Bruce of the Hulk for good.
They didn’t even need to build their machine from scratch - there was already one that Bruce had been working on from before the mess with Ultron, but was set aside when he realized that he didn’t have the information to go any further, and he didn’t want to run the risk of causing a devastating accident. After what happened in Sokovia, even though Bruce wasn’t around, they’d taken everything from the lab at the Avenger’s Tower and transferred it into the Compound, putting Bruce’s project’s into storage. It was such a surprise to find it, and renewed Bruce’s hope that his condition could be… well, not reversed, but at least treated.
“If we get this fixed, we’re celebrating by getting a pizza. My treat.”
Betty was busy sitting at a nearby desk, on a rolling chair, typing away furiously. Taking notes, giving the machine instructions. When Bruce asked her the question, she rolled over to the machine and checked it. “Still fluctuating. It’s fine, Bruce,” she said softly.
She rolled back over to the desk and continued to do her work, trying not to get too excited. She wondered if this kind of breakthrough would get her a better job. She wondered if she should have got into the portal research group-- the biology of people coming through the portal would be something they’d need to know, wouldn’t they? Either way, it was kind of fun.
“Pizza. I think we should celebrate with something bigger, Bruce.” Betty laughed quietly and rolled her chair to look at him practically inside the machine. “You need smaller hands in there?”
It felt just like old times, in their native element of the laboratory, focused on the same project. Their work gave Bruce little time to be sentimental, and did wonders to breakdown the last remaining bits of awkwardness he had toward Betty. Taking mock offense, Bruce looked over his shoulder at her and said, “Bigger than pizza? Don’t let Tony hear you say that.” He laughed and turned back to adjusting the wiring inside he panel, continuing “We ate little else while working together. He’d always insist on unusual toppings, but it somehow managed to be good. What do you have in mind?”
Plopping down to sit on his butt, Bruce pulled his hands out of the panel and wiped the sweat from off his forehead with the back of one sleeve. “Actually, I think we’re ready.” Mentally, he went through a checklist. “Yeah, I think we are! If the neutronium emitter is stable, then I’d say fire her up and let’s take this baby for a test drive.”
Betty smirked and shook her head. She wasn’t sure if Tony was a good influence on Bruce or not. He was a genius, but he also was destructive. “As long as there’s no pineapple on it, we can get pizza,” she agreed.
A small glance over at Bruce when he sat on his bottom and her lips curled slightly. Then Bruce said take this baby for a test drive and knew for a fact that Tony was a bad influence on Bruce.
“Okay,” she said as she typed a few more things into the computer. “Yeah, it seems ready. Are you ready?” Betty stood up from the chair and walked a few steps over to Bruce and stood behind him.
Smiling and laughing, Bruce told Betty, “Oh, you should’ve seen the pizzas Tony got. There was this one that had barbeque sauce as the base, with shredded chicken, and this other one with cream cheese and salmon.” He chuckled. “It was out there, but somehow it still worked. Just like Tony.” The Avengers’ might’ve had some rough spots, especially toward the end of their run, but while it lasted Bruce came out with some really good friendships and memories.
Bruce lifted the panel cover from the floor beside him, and fitted it over the area where it snapped into place. “Yeah,” he said, standing up and wiping the mess from the palms of his hands along the sides of his trousers. “I think I am.” He looked over his shoulder to see Betty, and immediately his confidence skyrocketed. “I just want to make sure one more time,” he suddenly said, leaving Betty’s side and going over to the computer, using the mouse and key controls to double and triple check, leaving nothing to chance.
When he was thoroughly satisfied, he announced, “Okay, I’m going to switch to full power.” He glanced up from the screen to lock eyes with Betty, flashing a weak, but still hopeful smile. “Here goes nothing.”
He gave the computer the command, and then walked up to where Betty stood, one arm hugging his torso in an insecure fashion, while his other hand rubbed his mouth in anticipation. “You want to switch it on?” he asked, giving Betty the honor. After all, without her help, they couldn’t have made it this far.
Betty watched Bruce talk about Tony with a slightly unimpressed look on her face. She met Tony at his birthday party, and he didn’t like her father. So that alone made her feel solidarity with him. But she still thought he was reckless and a little eccentric. So Bruce fawning over him made her a little uneasy.
When he went to check the computer, she started to speak, “Bruce I-- okay.” When he returned to her and gave her a look, she smiled at him. “This was almost too easy,” it was more of smirk than a smile.
Did she want to switch it on? Yes! Betty went to the side of the machine and flipped a small metal switch into a downwards position. “Okay… here goes.”
The machine hummed with life, and the lights on top of the console became bright, registering the same readouts that the computer produced. Bruce lunged forward to make sure, but confirmed everything was alright. “Heh.” He let out a little nervous laugh, and then another, more genuine one. He turned to Betty, and said “I think we did it.”
Unbeknownst to the both of them, when Happy arranged for everything to be taken from the Avengers’ Tower to the Compound, the movers hadn’t been particularly gentle with this piece of equipment. It had fallen from the forklift, and landed upon its side with a loud crash. Instead of telling anybody what happened, and thus risking trouble, the movers managed to get the crate that contained this machine back upright, and after a general inspection inside, they determined everything was okay. They sealed the crate, which then remained unopened until the Compound appeared in Tumbleweed and was finally unpacked by Bruce and Betty a few days ago. Internally, a few of the sensors were shaken loose, and pins were snapped. They passed Bruce’s scrutiny, and worked during the tests, but it was only a matter of time before something very wrong would happen.
Blissfully ignorant, Bruce was in a celebratory mood. “I think we did it!” he repeated, this time victoriously. He opened his arms wide, “Hey! The first step! And it couldn’t have been done without you!”
Betty tried to hold back her smile, making her lips twitch-- and eventually she gave in. He held his arms open and she did what she thought she was supposed to do… go to them. She wrapped her arms around Bruce’s middle and rested her head on his shoulder for a moment. “I have my uses,” she said softly and then backed away.
She watched the machine and crossed her arms over her chest. “So what’s next?”
The hug was an unexpected surprise, but not unwelcome. With a ridiculous grin plastered upon his face, he returned the hug, and in the process, could smell the fragrance of her hair… a blissful experience. It lasted but a few moments, but Bruce savored them, remembering how it felt with her so close, even after they separated. His heart raced, but he was in absolutely no danger of a transformation. In fact, he hadn’t felt this good in a very long time.
Scratching the back of his head and trying to keep his smile under control, he tore his eyes away from Betty to also look at the machine. “Call for pizza?” he suggested, and then laughed at his own humor. “No pineapple, right?” He walked away over to a messy desk where he needed to shift through some stuff before he could find a menu for Pizza Planet. “There’s a few tests I want to do before I actually put myself under the ray. I’ve learned my lesson the hard way.”
Betty’s crossed arms uncrossed for a second, so she could bring her knuckles up to her lips. It was a comforting move. She was a little worried. Last time he was under the ray, the lab was destroyed. But he said he had better control of the Hulk now. It wouldn’t be like the last time.
“No pineapple,” she said with a smile. She followed him over to the desk and started to stack papers, not really knowing where they should go. “I know you have. Don’t beat yourself up over it.”
“No pineapple,” Bruce echoed, then watched her, just as nervous as he was. He was about to say something, but then froze. “Do you smell…?” Quickly, he turned toward the machine, which had a thin wisp of smoke coming from the back. “Oh SHIT!”
Without a second thought Bruce dashed across the room just as sparks started to fly. He reached over and flicked the switch, which immediately powered off just in time. With his back to Betty, he stood, head hanging down, both hands bracing himself against the machine with increasing intensity and tension.
When Bruce shouted, Betty visibly flinched. It took her a second to get her attention towards what he was talking about. Once she saw it, she covered her face with her hands. “Oh no oh no,” she muttered from behind her hands.
Bruce went into that tight position and she walked over to him, “Bruce, it’s okay, we … we’ll figure out something else.” The way he stood, she worried. Would he get emotional enough for the Hulk to come out? Maybe she could stop it-- or maybe he had the control enough to stop himself. “Bruce?”
Heart racing, adrenaline flowing, mind swirling out of control, making Bruce’s thoughts clouded and his judgement impaired. After all their attention to detail and precautions, he still managed to fuck up. Even though he was able to shut off the machine in time to avert a potential disaster, and maybe it wouldn’t even exploded at all, still the memory of his epic failure, how he ruined his life and put Betty into the hospital, was being relived. The anxiety, bitterness, and self hatred that Bruce managed to keep in alarming intensity.
The rational part of Bruce’s mind knew he needed to calm himself down, but his hands, became tight fists still resting upon the machine, with fingernails digging into his flesh, and his whole body tensed and hunched over: all his frustrations became redirected into rage. Bruce had transformed enough times to know when the Other Guy was going to burst out, and there was always a point of no return, where his body’s chemicals took over, and no matter of reason would be able to prevent a transformation from happening - Bruce was dangerously reaching that tipping point.
“Go. Away.” Bruce said those words as a warning to Betty, but behind them was the horrible conclusion that he didn’t deserve her, that she was better off without him, and how stupid he was to think he could ever get back together with her. “Stupid,” he growled through teeth clenched so hard that his jaw became sore.
“No!” Betty shouted it, stupidly brave. She even went into a position where her delicate hands were balled up into fists and held just behind her thighs. “Bruce,” firmly, but nicely, she said his name. “Calm down. Right now.”
The last time she saw the Hulk, he was beating the snot out of Blonsky’s abomination. But just before that, she was sitting on the Hulk’s chest, and was able to calm Bruce down. “Bruce, listen to my voice. No one here is stupid. You have seven PHDs. That’s far from stupid.” She tried to lighten her voice, make it soft and sweet. “Just come over here, to me. Get away from the machine.” The machine could blow-- if the Hulk exploded at Betty, then so be it. It would be a lot less people hurt.
The turbulent flow of blood beating a pulse in Bruce’s ears all but drowned out Betty’s voice - he could tell she was speaking, he could even make out some of the words. The rational part of his brain wanted to listen, wanted to calm down, but at this point he couldn’t calm down even if he tried. The precarious scale was tipped, and Bruce felt a surge in his veins.
Bruce took a step back, and as he threw back his head his face contorted with rage, and made a loud ROAR while instantaneously his body expanded in size, changing color - the Hulk had arrived, setting off a warning alarm in the building. Bruce had set the alarm up as a precaution, and was only triggered if he transformed without prior notification. A red light flashed on and off to alert the other residents of the Compound, and a display on the wall would let them know where the Hulk was located.
Ignoring everything except his ANGER, the Hulk’s fists came crashing down on the machine, crushing it into a heap of twisted metal and circuits - because Bruce had shut off the power, fortunately there was no explosion, but sparks did fly here and there. The Hulk then grabbed a large, broken piece of the machine and threw it violently against the laboratory wall with another loud roar.
Betty flinched at the roar. She jerked at the punch to the machine. And she backed away when the machinery was tossed. The alarm did nothing, as no one was home to worry about it. Betty was on her own for this one.
She stared at the creature, no longer flinching or cowering. It was Bruce. Bruce was in there. “Bruce?” she whispered.
Despite not being afraid of the creature, she still kept her distance. She pushed her hair back behind her ears and raised her voice. “Stop throwing stuff!”
Hulk’s first reaction was to violently turn around, lean forward and bellow another deafening roar at the person scolding him, but then stopped suddenly when he recognized who was standing there. For several moments, Hulk dumbly blinked back his surprise, having been shocked straight out of his tantrum.
“Betty?” he said, in his deep, rumbling voice.
Betty stepped forward, advancing on the big green creature. “Yes, Betty.” She sounded annoyed. It was the alarm that was throwing her off. So she went over to the wall and punched in a code-- the same one Bruce taught her when she first came into the lab. He said she probably wouldn’t need it. What did he know?
She turned back to the green goliath and folded her arms. “Are you done throwing stuff?”
Hulk continued to stare, with his jaw hanging open slightly, and he nodded slowly to answer Betty’s question. Finally, after she turned off the alarm, he found his voice to say, “Hulk not see Betty in a long time. Portal bring you too, huh?”
She had heard the Hulk say ‘smash’ and ‘Betty’ before. But these other words were new. Her own jaw hung open a little bit.
“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you. The Portal did bring me. Do you remember the last time I saw you? With the rain?”
“Hulk remembers,” he sadly replied, and slowly lifted a single finger toward Betty, coming close, but not quite touching the side of her face, a gesture of tenderness that was in complete contrast to his earlier rage. “You stayed with Hulk in the cave. You weren’t afraid, and you stayed. Helped Hulk.”
Betty reached up and wrapped her fingers around his own large one. She was dwarfed by him. He could easily crush her head if he wanted. But she knew he didn’t want to.
“I’m not afraid of you. I know Bruce is in there.” Little did she know, the Hulk hated Banner.
The sound of that name immediately caused a snarl to appear, and Hulk’s deep set brow furrowed in anger. He yanked his finger away and growled, “Banner!” He made a noise to show his disgust. “How can you like him? Banner is the worst!”
She wasn’t sure how far she should push the whole ‘you’re one person’ thing, and didn’t know how healthy it was. Maybe it was healthy to tell him they were two seperate things. She wasn’t sure and Betty made note of to look up stuff about multiple personalities.
“I like him all right. I like you, too. You saved me.”
Again, Hulk’s facial expression made it clear what he thought of his other half, but as soon as Betty told him I like you, his features immediately softened as before. “Betty saved Hulk,” he insisted. “You’re the first person not scared. You were the first to care. Hulk will never forget that. Betty is Hulk’s champion.”
Betty beamed, whether she allowed her face to or not-- it was going to split open into a wide smile. She wanted to be that person. She wanted to be the one who could help Bruce, gain the trust of Hulk.
“Well, you’re my champion. You blocked bullets from hitting me. They wouldn’t have just bounced off like they do to you. They would have killed me. You saved my life. And now you’re in better control. I think you and Banner can work it out.” She still clutched his finger in her hand, unsure of when to let go.
The Hulk kept looking at how she held on, and was visibly affected. Still, he grunted his dissatisfaction. “Things were better when Hulk in control. More fun.”
“When were you in control? You just mean the times you come out?” Betty tilted her head, confused. Bruce hadn’t told her about Sakaar. “Do you want to sit down?” She released her grip on his finger and sat cross legged on the floor. Maybe if she could get him relaxed enough, he’d change back to Bruce?
“On Sakaar. Hulk fight for Grandmaster. Hulk champion! Beat everybody, and the crowd loved me, cheering and clapping. Had parades in Hulk’s honor, Grandmaster built a statue of my face on the tallest tower. Best time of Hulk’s life. Two years, and no Banner. Only Hulk.” After a deep sigh, he sat down on the floor and scowled. “Hulk happy to help Thor save his home, but sometimes Hulk misses Sakaar. The armor that the portal brought was Hulk’s, was what I wore when fighting, but Banner would not let me out to see.”
Betty turned around and sat on the floor next to Hulk. Her shoulders slumped, somewhat beside his huge broad green shoulders. “Two years, huh? How did you stay in control?” She pulled her legs up and let her knees splay out, her elbows locked around them. “You got to Sakaar because of Thor?”
“Don’t know how. Maybe all the fighting? Hulk better at surviving than Banner. If Banner was there, he would’ve been hurt.” He knew enough that whenever Bruce’s life was in danger, he was the one that kept him alive. “Hulk got there through something called wormhole. Kind of like portal, I think. Was flying in quinjet, away, and wormhole took me there.”
The Hulk paused and gave Betty a tender look, then reached out with his hand again. “Betty only good thing in Hulk’s life now.”
Betty put her hand into Hulk’s hand without any fear. She knew Hulk and Bruce were the same person, but did they feel the same things? Obviously not-- each of them wanted control.
She leaned her head against the Hulk’s enormous arm and sighed. “I like you too, Hulk.”
Suddenly, the Hulk distorted his face and flinched away from Betty, wrapping his arm over his head as he twisted his entire body around to writhe upon the floor. The spike of adrenaline that caused the change had dissipated quicker than usual, and in a matter of moments, the Hulk deflated, leaving a twitching, shirtless Bruce in his place. Turning into Banner always felt physically worse, and was disorienting. He made a gurgling noise and curled up into a ball, unmindful that Betty was even there.
Betty stood up and went over to the wall, where there were hooks for jackets. She pulled down one of the lab coats and walked back over to Bruce. She covered him and gave him clothes at the same time. Betty sat back on the floor, waiting for Bruce to officially get back. It would take a little while.