Bruce Banner (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} wontlikemeangry) wrote in ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} avengers_logs,@ 2019-12-01 10:19:00 |
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What: Rescue
When: during plot
Rating/Warnings: violence
She was sitting at a table. Her wrists were shackled to the table top. Palamas looked smug. She asked Bobbi a question. Bobbi answered, but earned herself a slap across the face. Then Ward came in all swagger and bluster. Bobbi rolled her eyes as he checked the shackles, but her attention came into sharp focus when Ward brought out the metal needle that would be the first one to be pushed under her fingernails.
She was tied to a chair that was chained to the floor, a gag tied into her mouth. Pain was everywhere. Ward’s doing. What else was his doing was the high caliber shotgun set up behind her and aimed at the door. There was movement in the hallway beyond the door. Hunter. Shit! She lurched but the chair was securely in place. The chains’ rattling mocked her, but still she jerked the chair against them. A desperate whimper pressed against the gag. Then she saw it. The doorknob twitched. Hunter’s name was a muffled shout against the gag. The chair jerked more desperately as the doorknob turned. A chain link gave. The door opened. BLAM!
…..
She was sitting at a table. Her wrists were shackled to the table top…
It should not have been a surprise to Bruce that Tony’s newest technology went horribly awry. And, of course, the man had gone and gotten himself stuck inside the simulation along with a lot of their friends. This had the potential to be worse than Ultron and that was saying something.
He’d been busy at the clinic, monitoring the vital signs of those who were trapped, when the coders found the Doomsday clock and they realized they had a limited amount of time to bring those who were trapped out of the simulation. When they figured out that someone would have to go in and convince them that they were in a simulation, he left the clinic in Christine’s capable hands and volunteered to go in after Bobbi.
They were just starting to date, just starting to really get to know each other and connect, but he hoped that the time they’d spent together so far would help him in his quest.
After taking a few moments to get his bearings, Bruce figured out that Bobbi was likely behind the door in front of him. He took a deep breath and turned the knob, slowly, not knowing exactly what he’d find on the other side.
...The chair jerked more desperately as the doorknob turned. A chain link gave. The door opened. BLAM!
Bobbi took the shotgun blast to the back of her shoulder. It exited through her chest. The force of it rocked her in the chair until her head lolled to one side. Her hair didn’t quite obscure the contusions and bruises on her face. Blood still dripped from a few of her fingertips.
Even knowing this was not real, Bruce’s training kicked in and he rushed over to Bobbi’s side, crouching down next to her to examine her injuries. As soon as he reached out towards the blood, he realized it was simply an illusion and that she wasn’t in danger.
Exhaling sharply, he still reached out to cover her shoulder with his hand. “Bobbi. Hey. You’re okay,” he said. “I promise. We’re going to get you out of here.”
He wanted to get her attention before trying to convince her that this wasn’t real.
The pain of her injuries being touched is what woke her up. What brought her to full awareness was realizing that Hunter was stupid enough to fall for the trap! Bobbi immediately became anxious.
“No. No! It’s a trap. Get out of here!” Her vision was blurry but she could tell the person in front of her was not Hunter. That realization made her pause and blink her eyes a number of times. “Who...Bruce?” Oh. Oh no. No no no no this was so much worse! Ward could show up any minute now and ooooh god. The Other Guy.
“Get out of here, Bruce.” Yep. She was pretty scared now. “Please. Just go! Now!”
“Hey, hey,” Bruce said, keeping his voice calm. “We’re both going to get out of here, okay? I need you to listen to me. I know this isn’t going to make sense, but you trust me, right?”
He hoped that she remembered she did. The fact that she recognized him and called him Bruce was a good sign. “This isn’t real,” he said. “You were playing a video game and you got caught in some virtual reality… something.” Maybe he should have gotten a better explanation about that from Darcy or one of the other tech folks before he came in to rescue her.
“We need to wake you up,” he said. “Right now, your body is in the clinic.”
“...what?” That had been just outlandish enough to break through Bobbi’s panic and draw her attention back to him. She blinked as her brows came down sharply. What Bruce was saying warred with the pain she still felt. It made it difficult for her brain to accept it.
“No,” she said with a small shake of her head. “This is another trick. Something Ward did.”
There was only one way Bruce could think to possibly shock her into believing him, so he leaned in and kissed her gently, taking care not to bump any of her visible injuries. Even though this was a simulation, he knew they felt real to her right now and he didn’t want to cause her any pain.
He pulled back after a moment. “Trust me,” he said. “This is not real. When you wake up and you’re feeling better, I’ll make you dinner.”
Oh. Well, then. There was only a moment of hesitation before Bobbi kissed him back. There was something very familiar about it that literally melted some of her injuries away. It felt good kissing him and being kissed like this. Physically and whatever. So when he pulled away she was left a bit stunned.
“That’s mean,” she said with a pout. She still looked apprehensive, but she was coming around. The proof was in her injuries slowly disappearing. “Stay here and be kissed or trust you and have dinner cooked for me.”
Bruce smirked at her. “I might be convinced to throw in some kissing after dinner,” he said. “If you’ll trust me enough to get you out of here.”
She seemed to be starting to believe him and he was anxious to get out of this crazy virtual world and back to the real one.
It was difficult to convince herself entirely, but she was trying. She just kept looking at Bruce, waiting for him to turn into Ward. Afraid he would.
“...so this isn’t real?” It was a heartfelt plea.
“No, it’s not real,” Bruce assured her. “You were testing a new video game that Stark made and something went wrong. Very wrong.”
That was quite an understatement, all things considered, but none of his PhDs were in computers or coding so he had no idea what exactly happened. “Darcy or Jane can probably explain it. Or Phil.”
God, he was adorable! He came here to rescue her! Bobbi’s eyes teared up as the bindings on her wrists disappeared. Then she threw her arms around his neck. “Then get me out of here.”
The last time...the real time...it had been Hunter who rescued her. Bobbi had a feeling this would end a little better than last time.
Bruce grinned and scooped her up. Even though her injuries hadn’t been real, he figured it was easier to carry her out. “Hang on,” he said, carrying her out of the room that she’d constructed and finding the door that Darcy coded so he could get in and get her.
The next thing he knew, he was blinking awake back in the real world and he ripped off the wires and electrodes that were attached to him so he could hurry over to Bobbi’s side and make sure she was awake.
The first thing that proved that she was awake was the taste of the air. There actually was a taste. Now that she was awake she realized that certain senses were missing from the dream. Taste and smell, for one. That and it was Hunter not….oh shit.
As soon as Bruce got to her Bobbi sat up and threw her arms around him. “I’msorryI’msorryI’msorry!”
“Relax,” Bruce said, sitting down on the edge of her bed to keep her in it. She’d been out for a while and he didn’t want her trying to get up just yet. “It’s fine. I’m glad you’re awake. We need to check your vitals though.”
He would sit with her for a minute first, grateful that he’d been able to get her out of the virtual reality.
It wasn’t fine. In her VR mucked up mind Bruce was interchangeable with Hunter. That was something she was going to have to deal with. Yes, she liked Bruce. Yes, she’d like to be closer. But Hunter….he’d been her husband, then her ex, then her husband again and again her ex before coming here. That was a level of emotional commitment that transcended Like. Yikes?
Bobbi tucked that away for later examination. For now she behaved herself and relaxed back down. “Examine away, doc.” She smirked.