Bruce Banner (notthatkindofdr) wrote in madisonvalley, @ 2022-10-30 12:17:00 |
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Entry tags: | !closed, !completed gdoc, !log, ~2022 october, ~~ellen brandt (extremely_hot), ~~~~ bruce banner (notthatkindofdr) |
Who: Ellen Brandt and Bruce Banner
What: Random meeting
When: October 12 (backdated)
Where: Coffee Shop near Ivy tech
Warnings: None
Status: Completed Gdoc
Ellen walked out of the music store having put a big dent in her starting cash, but grinning from ear to ear. She had a banjo case in one hand, containing a brand new instrument, picks, extra strings and a pitch pipe for tuning it. And some sheet music as well. She hadn’t played in years, not since losing her arm in Afghanistan. Even after AIM restored it, she’d been too busy doing their bidding to make time to play.
Getting killed–and resurrected in Madison Valley–had changed her priorities. Life had been short, and there was no guarantee it wouldn’t be again. Too short not to put more focus on the things she loved doing. So she’d splurged on the banjo, and if that meant she’d have to find a job and soon, well, she had no doubt that she would.
But as long as she was spending money like there was no tomorrow, she walked into a coffee shop. Something else she hadn’t enjoyed in too long was a mocha coffee. She took her place in line, waiting patiently and moving the fingers of her right hand as if picking the banjo as she mentally played through one of the pieces she still had memorized.
Someone tapped her shoulder. “Excuse me, but you’re next.”
*
Grading papers was Bruce’s least favorite part of teaching though it was a necessary evil. After his lectures ended for the day, he opted to head to the coffee shop and treat himself to a nice latte while he worked through this week’s quiz. At least they weren’t in depth research papers he had to read. Going by some of the work he saw, the future of science in Madison Valley might be in trouble.
He heard someone speak and glanced up in surprise since most people were so anxious for their caffeine fix that they didn’t need a nudge to take their turn placing an order. Something about the woman struck him as familiar and he found himself watching her with curiosity and trying to place how he knew her while she waited for her drink.
By the time she was walking close enough for him to catch her attention, Bruce was pretty sure he remembered who she was. “Excuse me,” he said. “Are you Ellen Brandt?”
*
The mocha coffee was as good as she remembered. Ellen was headed for the door, drink in hand, when someone recognized her. That was odd. She was no celebrity, and she knew very few people here in Madison Valley as yet. The man who had addressed her looked vaguely familiar, like she’d seen his picture somewhere.
“Yes, I’m Ellen Brandt,” she said, looking at him more closely. “Do I know you?”
*
“We’ve never met,” Bruce said. He had no doubt that she would recognize his name though. “I’m Dr. Bruce Banner. I believe we have some acquaintances in common.” That was the most diplomatic way he could think to mention their respective relationships, such as they were, with Tony.
He gestured to the seat across from him. “Care to join me?”
*
“Ah, yes, Doctor Banner,” Ellen said, just to fill time while her mind raced. She hadn’t recognized him immediately, but she knew that face. And the voice, actually. Despite his reticence to be interviewed, even he hadn’t escaped the notoriety of the Avengers following the Battle of New York. Plus his own history, of course. Dr. Banner, aka the Hulk. So much destructive potential concealed behind that unassuming persona.
This was about Stark, wasn’t it? It almost had to be. He was the only other Avenger she’d ever met. If so, that wasn’t a conversation she really wanted to have. Why did you try to kill my teammate?
Still, she couldn’t just brush him off. She wasn’t worried that he’d get angry and turn big and green if she did, but he wasn’t the only teammate or friend of Tony’s in Madison Valley. It was a small town. She’d have to face them eventually.
“I’d be glad to,” she said, taking the offered seat. Might as well start now. “What can I do for you?”
*
Bruce wasn’t exactly the vengeful type despite being a member of the Avengers and he held no ill will towards Ellen. What happened was at least a decade ago from his point of view. “Have you been here long?” he asked. “This town is quite unusual. Strange things tend to happen.” He wasn’t sure if she still had the Extremis powers or not, but if she did, they could potentially be useful.
Though he was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, he did want to get a sense of whether or not they could rely on her in times of trouble or if she might be a possible cause of such.
*
“Less than a month so far, including a brief hiatus when I was–well, I’m not sure I was anywhere, actually. Then I was back here again. So I know that weird things happen here sometimes.”
She gestured at the banjo case leaning against the table. “I hope I’ll be here for much longer this time. I’m planning for it, anyhow.” She also hoped that her relationship with Thunderbird would be a long-term proposition as well, but that wasn’t something she intended to discuss.
“Why do you ask?”
*
The way that people came and went around here would never make sense to Bruce and he’d mostly given up on trying to understand how the dome worked. He had a pretty good life here and wasn’t going to worry too much about the hows of it all.
“Curiosity,” he said. “We occasionally have some trouble here. It’s good to know who is in a position to help.”
*
This conversation wasn’t going at all the way Ellen had expected. Which was fine by her, really, but definitely unexpected. She relaxed a little and sipped her coffee. “I’ve heard that trouble comes to visit occasionally. Dinosaurs, once? Intruders from a much darker version of Madison Valley itself, as well, I’m told.”
“I haven’t experienced anything more sinister than the Clown Motel myself, but I haven’t been here long. But this is my home for the foreseeable future,” Ellen said. For the rest of her life, really, however long that was. “I’m always willing to protect my home, and my friends and neighbors.”
*
“Good,” Bruce said. “Yes, there were dinosaurs. And I’ve heard stories of worse.” The idea of Pepper and Morgan being in danger didn’t sit well with him and he was glad that they were looking for a house so he would be close enough to protect them if all hell broke loose.
He took a drink of his coffee before continuing. “You should meet Steve Rogers. He’s been here a while and would be the point of contact if things go sideways and we need to work as a team.”
*
“I’d love to,” Ellen said. He was a legend, and awfully easy on the eyes as well. “He just got married recently, didn’t he? I saw something on the net about it.”
“And I’d like to be included on the team if things do go sideways.” She paused to sip her own coffee. She really needed to address the elephant in the room. “You know who I am. So I assume you know that I was working for AIM a while back. You haven’t mentioned it, but I just want to be sure that it isn’t going to be an issue.”
“I don’t know everything about what AIM was doing, but I’ve learned that they were not the good guys they pretended to be, and that I should be more careful about who I give my loyalty to.”
*
Bruce nodded. “Yes, Steve got married last month. And, yes, I know you worked for AIM. My understanding was that you were as much a victim of them as anyone else.” Besides which, of all people, he was willing to give second chances. Hell, he would even call Loki a friend now.
“I’ll talk to Steve, make an introduction,” he said. Worst case, he’d get Pepper to talk to Cap about it. Or involve Darcy.
*
“That’s a very charitable take, I think,” Ellen said. More charitable than she thought she would be in his place. Maybe he was just a better person than she was, or at least more forgiving. “But I’ll take it. Thank you.”
“Let me know when Steve would like to meet. I’m unemployed at the moment,
since I just got here…again. So my calendar is open. I appreciate this, Doctor Banner.”
*
“Please, call me Bruce,” he said. “I’ll connect with Steve and be in touch soon.” He gathered his papers and stuffed them back in his briefcase. “I need to get to going now. It was nice to meet you.”
*
“Thank you, Bruce. It was nice to meet you, too. I look forward to talking to you again, and to Steve.” Ellen finished her own drink, then picked up her banjo case and left the coffee shop. Things were looking up.