Two Nerds Walk Into a ... [Bruce, TBC in Comments]
The Hulk was back. It had been in the papers. Liv was too new to have known there was a Hulk in the first place but she was sympathetic to the mindless monster of destruction. Without a steady supply of brains, that could be her, in a smaller, self-replicating sort of way.
The green indestructible giant wasn’t the most interesting part, however. Out of all the stories covering the Hulk only one mentioned Dr. Bruce Banner in tandem, and when she dug deeper into the subject, she found the connection buried in the public record. Yes, it was awful Dr. Banner sometimes became the Hulk, but what she was really interested was his level of experience and knowledge in biochemical research.
Sure, he might not have been able to cure his own condition, but what about a rabies-like zombie virus that may or may not be connected to a new designer drug? Her friend former supervisor Ravi seemed to think there might be a cure, and she was pretty sure he didn’t have the genius required himself to turn himself into Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
It just so happened that Dr. Banner’s name was added to the hospital directory. Liv arrived at work early to see if she could catch him in his office. When she arrived, Liv tapped her pale knuckles on the glass.
“Dr. Banner?”
---
Bruce was not aware of the hype that had once circulated around his monster. He hated every aspect of the condition, the sensitivity with which the monster felt and resided tucked delicately just beneath the twinges of flesh waiting to spring forth at any moment and rip...tear...maul....
It was why he had run in the first place. He could never have a normal life as much as he wanted one, happiness gave the Other Guy opportunity that was better left unhad. The margin for error was far greater when things were added to the already complex equation. No. No, that never would have worked.
Why was it that he could still taste Natasha? He couldn't. That wasn't feasible. He was just imagining it.
The scientist pushed the door to the office open and the sight within was a strange one. He had thought he'd seen everything up to that point but The City was still managing to surprise him.
The name badge for the hospital was different. He was, by no means, a medical doctor. And his intellect was vast in a sense though what knowledge he did possess about the medical field was limited in nature. He was better at science and math. Curing people was not his forte.
Bruce had just shut the door behind himself when the knocking came, coupled with the voice of a woman. He lifted his gaze from the floor and turned to look over his shoulder with curiosity. "Come in?" He wasn't sure what to expect.
The lanyard dangled from his fingers holding the laminated ID badge with his hospital credentials. Along the walls were his various degrees and accomplishments. He hated all of it.
--
She was nearly as pale as her white lab coat. If it weren’t for the blue of her eyes, sometimes in spite of the blue of her eyes, it would have been easy to mistake her for albino. She did not have the same credentials of a full fledged doctor, but of the young residents well on their way.
“Dr. Banner, my name is Liv Moore. I work in the ME’s office in the basement...”
He didn’t immediately kick her out, but he didn’t seem especially happy either. Liv realized belatedly that not everyone probably adjusted being kidnapped by a city so easily. Just another symptom of her post-traumatic ennui.
“...I’m really sorry about what happened. How you were brought here, I mean. I was hoping, though, since you are here…”
She tried to gauge what kind of person he was, if he was in a listening mood. She would have been lying if she wasn’t slightly intimidated by the framed accomplishments on his wall. Maybe Liv wasn’t meant to be a mad scientist genius, but it another reminder that she once had bigger plans for herself then to work in a morgue.
--
As the door opened, Bruce turned around slowly to face the woman that swept through the doorway. She was strange, albino pale skin with hair to match. Except her eyes were blue, unlike the usual red of the albino gene. Interesting.
"Nice to meet you, Liv," Bruce replied. He truly was glad to meet her, she obviously knew who he was which was something he supposed.
And the continuation of her words had him curious. "What do you mean, how I was brought here?" Did she know something he didn't? He crashed a jet into the street, that was logical. Wherever he landed, this city, was the destination intended.
"What do you need?" Genuinely he was concerned. He hoped it was something he actually could assist her with and not something out of his range of expertise.
--
Liv wasn’t sure how to start or where to begin. What if telling him she was a zombie was enough to make him change into a less than jolly green giant capable of squishing her in less than it took for her eyes to fill up with blood and turn red.
Maybe she should have researched more about the Hulk transformation before bothering him with her problems. Her manageable problems. Her, usually, manageable problems. Because right now she wasn’t feeling calm. She was about to spill her secret to a genius who might decide it was better to lock her up or stop the threat of a zombie outbreak before it happened and…
Liv turned her back on him and closed her eyes, which she could feel pooling with blood.
“Just give me a minute…” she said. She did not have Bruce’s practice when it came to keeping the monster calm.
--
As she turned Bruce tilted his head. His heart began to beat a step quicker, but the usual threat was void from him at present. It usually took more than a stressed out woman to bring out the other side. Though stressed out women weren't usually in his line up of things to deal with and he wasn't sure he was capable of helping her through it.
"Sure, take all of the time you need," Bruce nodded. It was all he could offer.
Turning away, Bruce tossed the lanyard and ID badge on to the desktop and once more began to survey the inside of the office.
--
She stood there, breathing. Thankfully he didn’t try to get closer. Some breaths almost sounded like growling. It took over a minute for her to calm down. It was awkward. Liv was an awkward, awkward zombie.
“Thanks,” she finally said as she felt her eyes turn blue and slowly turned around to face him. She wasn’t sure what to say next, but he wasn’t angry or annoyed with her. He just looked… concerned.
“I’m a zombie,” she finally blurted.
--
A last survey of all of this strangeness, and he pivoted slowly to face the woman again. Liv.
"I know what it's like to need a minute," Bruce replied. He knew all too well, and he couldn't begrudge her something so easy to give if she requested it. In all of the things he could give, respect was the easiest.
Concern touched his features and he offered her a look that reflected it. And then those three words left her lips and his eyebrows shot into his hairline for a moment. "E-excuse me?" He blinked. There was no judgement, he had beaten up a few Gods and a man made of energy from a robot. Not that The Vision counted as a bad guy but he was Ultron by proxy. It was all a complicated mess.
"I-I couldn't tell...?" He was terrible with women. Jesus.
--
“Seven months ago there was this boat party. Some new drug was being passed around, Utopium. I’m not sure if it caused the small zombie outbreak or what. I didn’t take the drug. I don’t do them. Whatever. When it went down I tried to escape but one of the zombies scratched my arm.”
She let out a small sigh.
“You’re an expert on biochemistry. More than that, you’re a genius. If this zombie disease is the result of some new drug I thought…”
Well he didn’t look like he was about to call up a mob with pitch forks.
“...I thought you could maybe help me get my life back.”
--
Biochemistry maybe. More Nuclear physics than anything else. But he supposed that if he had the proper equipment than he could utilize the resources for the purpose intended. But what was the purpose? A cure? Was that possible?
"But you didn't ingest the drug, you absorbed it second hand..." Bruce replied instantly. The gears of his mind began to turn and he shook his head at her.
The scientist in him bypassed any sense of urgency at the strange request.
"I would have to look at your blood cells to see how ingrained the disease is. There has to be something there that can show me exactly how the molecules adhese together to formulate the new cell making you what you are."
He considered the gravity of it. "Liv, I can't guarantee that I can cure you. Even if we did find something, I'm not familiar with the makeup of zombified cells. I will look but..." He hoped she wasn't putting all of her eggs into his basket.
--
Unfortunately for Liv, there were no other baskets.
“All I’m asking is that you look….”
She looked relieved when he said he was willing to study her condition. Of course, she hadn’t told him about the less desirable parts that went along with her condition.
“In the interest of full disclosure, I…”
It was a lot harder to admit that she ate brains when the person she was talking to was someone she’d only just met and could look her in the eye.
“...Maybe I should sit down. Or you should, or we could sit….”
--
As much as this should have been overwhelming and surprising, it wasn't. It didn't seem to phase him at all, which should have been a red flag of some sort for the pair of them. He was, after all, a metahuman of sorts. A zombie should not have been overly surprising. Especially not a living one.
"I can look," Bruce replied. Already his mind was whirring over a good many things, all of the viable options and considerations for a condition. There would be more questions of course, but later. She was reluctant as it was.
Every condition had its drawbacks and if anyone knew that, it was him. He lived drawbacks.
Bruce waved a hand at Liv, "We can talk disclosure later. I'll get as much information from you that I need when we get there. We've only just met each other and this is a hell of a way to start a friendship." They were going to be close if he was studying her, and she was a person despite being a zombie. Just like he was. And he wouldn't treat her any differently because of it.
"Let's not sit in here. It seems too..." He thought about the right words to say, "...informal." Clinical hadn't sounded right.