Bruce Banner (notthatkindofdr) wrote in madisonvalley, @ 2018-01-24 10:05:00 |
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Entry tags: | !closed, !log, [plot] free for all, ~2018 january, ~25 points, ~~bruce banner (notthatkindofdr), ~~cassie holmes (crappyartist), ~~natasha romanoff (blackwidow_nat) |
Who: Cassie, Bruce, & Nat
What: someone's Hulking out
Where: their house
When: Wednesday morning
Warnings: not really
Status: started in gdoc/continue in comments
Things had been a little weird and tense ever since her dad had been sent home and that had felt like a month ago. Cassie was still paying for her drinking and disappearing act, which was fine but also frustrating for her. She was doing the best she could though, even considering she was hardly sleeping. Nightmares that hadn't plagued her for months were keeping her up at night now, startling her awake in a cold sweat or a scream that died before it even started. She didn't say anything to her parents about it, knowing they had plenty of their own things to deal with.
Wednesday morning however, she thrashed in her bed, in the grips of a nightmare, completely unaware that the pain of her nightmare was pain she was actually feeling as her petite form changed into that of Hulk's if he were a child. The weight of her and her thrashing cause the bed to break and it startled her into wakefulness, an angry roar filling her room. She looked around her room, her chest heaving, and it was a good thing she'd been sleeping in her dad's shirts otherwise her pjs would have been in tatters.
She looked around her room, at the broken bed she was sitting on, and growled angrily. "Stupid bed," she grunted as she stood up. She wanted to not be in this room anymore, felt too much like it was a prison, so she opened her door by ripping it off its hinges and stomped down the stairs.
***
Bruce hadn’t been sleeping well since his return to Madison Valley. Knowing that he lost two years of his life trapped inside the Hulk was terrifying. Knowing that if the Other Guy took over again, he might never return was even more terrifying. He’d been mulling over Pepper’s suggestion of trying to find a way to access Hulk’s memories. It wasn’t something he’d ever really tried doing before because he didn’t want the memories of chaos and destruction, but from everything he heard, this time, Hulk had been calmer and more rational. Maybe it was worth considering.
The moment he a crashing noise he jumped out of bed. He knew that Cassie was having a hard time too and he felt terribly guilty for it even though he knew it wasn’t really his fault. The last thing he was expecting to see when he got to his daughter’s room was the door ripped from the hinges and what appeared to be a mini version of the Hulk stomping down the stairs.
Knowing that Natasha was likely right behind him, he followed down the steps. “Cassie?”
***
Natasha hadn’t pushed Bruce since his return to himself, but she’d let him know she was there for him. He’d talk to her when and if he was ready to. She’d been honest about her own interactions with Hulk and of course what Thor had told her. They certainly needed to do something, but exactly what she wasn’t sure.
She was only a second behind Bruce after hearing the crash come from their daughters room and gasped when she saw the green figure on the stairs, “What the...” Couldn’t this town leave them alone?
***
She wanted food. That was pretty much the driving force as she made her way downstairs and into the kitchen. There was fruit on the counter but that was too healthy. Still, an apple would tide her over until she found something else so she bit into one, taking a large chunk out of it, a moment before she opened the door to the fridge.
“Nothing good to eat,” she complained, stomping her foot hard enough to crack the floor tile. She finished the apple with another bite and then grabbed the orange juice from the door. With a quick twist of her wrist, the top was torn off and she drank straight from the container.
She realized a moment later that there were people behind her. “Want food! Make food!” She stomped her foot again, making the crack on the floor bigger. She glared at the people who were looking at her like she was crazy or something.
***
“I can make breakfast,” Bruce said, staring in disbelief at his the tiny green rage monster version of his daughter. It made absolutely no sense that she was like this, but there were a lot of things that didn’t make sense in this town. “But you need to stop stomping.”
At least she was a lot smaller than Hulk. The house might still be standing by the time they figured out what the hell was going on.
***
This place was going to drive them all insane, Natasha thought as she took in the sight of her daughter hulked out and throwing a tantrum over food. This took being ‘hangry’ to a whole other level.
“Sit down nicely, calm down and then you’ll get food” she said gently, running a hand down Cassie’s arm while gesturing to the dining room with the other.
***
She didn't like being told what she could and couldn't do, which was obvious when she looked directly at Bruce and stomped her foot after he told her not to. Adults were always telling her what to do, how to feel, how to act. What she could and couldn't do. She didn't like it, not one bit, but still the redheaded woman - Mom her brain supplied - approached at spoke gently to her. She was still telling her what to do though.
"Stop telling what to do!" She stomped her foot again and this time the tile broke, a piece of it popping up and it hurt even if it didn't break the skin. "Ow! Stupid." She sat down on the floor and rubbed her foot, glaring at the broken pieces of tile.
***
This was going to be interesting. Bruce had no practical experience dealing with the Hulk since they’d never interacted for obvious reasons. Hopefully Nat could get through to her. “You don’t want to keep hurting yourself, do you?” he asked, deliberately keeping his tone mild despite feeling anything but calm.
“I’ll make some eggs and sausage,” he said. “Why don’t you go and sit in the living room though? It’s more comfortable than the floor.”
***
“If you break the floor we won’t be able to make you the things you want” Natasha said, “Come on, come into the living room so Bruce can make food” she leaned down and held out her hand, giving the Hulk version of her daughter a smile.
***
“No hurting,” she agreed, but she was still mad. It was the tile’s fault, not hers! She glared at the floor again, but she refrained from smashing it. She wanted food.
“Dad,” she huffed, correcting Mom as she took the redhead’s hand and got back on her feet. “Dad cook, not Mom. Mom worst cook.” She wasn’t sure how she knew that, she just did.
***
Bruce couldn’t help but laugh at that. “That’s right,” he said. “You go and sit with Mom while I cook for you guys.” Maybe sitting and being calm would help her transition back to being Cassie though he figured it was a good thing that even Hulked out she recognized them and their relationship.
“Maybe Mom will sing you a lullaby while you wait,” he added, hinting to Natasha that she should try and see if that would work.
***
That made Natasha relax slightly and she smirked, of course Cassie would remember that fact. Still the fact that she was retaining memories was a good sign.
Natasha nodded at Bruce as she took their daughter to the living room, “That’s a good idea” Hopefully if she could calm Cassie like she could Hulk then their daughter could change back and they could work out what was happening and why.
***
She smiled widely when Dad laughed. She had done that! Reassured that food would be coming, she went to the living room and did her best not to stomp too hard.
“Not baby,” she added, at the mention of a lullaby. She sat down, crossing her legs, and frowned. Something in the back of her mind tickled though, another meaning for the word, and she tilted her head as she looked at her Mom.
“Little me?” She asked, seeking clarification that she was understanding what was going on in her head. Satisfied, she looked at the redhead again. “Keep little me safe. Nightmares bad.”
With that, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, focusing on the normal version of Cassie. Gradually, Hulk!Cassie shrunk to her normal size, her dad’s shirt a bit more worn for wear.
She blinked and looked around for a moment. “Why are we in the living room?” Cassie asked, but the memories filtered in slowly. “Holy crap. How did I become the Hulk??”
***
“Little you will be protected” Natasha promised, holding Cassie’s hand and feeling the pulse under her fingers as she watched Cassie calm herself. It was interesting to note the differences between Cassie’s Hulk form and Bruce’s, perhaps her experiences could be used to help Bruce.
“That is something I would like to know as well. Something is obviously happening around here again” Natasha said, before stroking her daughter’s hair, “Are you alright?” she asked, looking her over.
***
Bruce was listening from the kitchen while he got everything ready to make breakfast and decided to put that on hold so he could check on Cassie first. He had no idea what the hell was going on or how his daughter had managed to become a Hulk and he was concerned.
It was a relief to see Cassie sitting there with Nat and he moved to sit next to them. “I’ll still make breakfast, but I wanted to make sure you were okay first.”
***
Cassie leaned into her mom's touch and shrugged. "I'm tired and hungry, but that's not new," she replied. Nothing else felt off or unusual. Except. "I feel like there's...something in my head. I don't...I don't know." The more she concentrated on it, the more she felt it, but it was a weird sensation so she didn't want to poke at it too much.
"I'm alright. It was weird though. Can you tell if Hulk is still there for you?" Because she definitely had Hulk inside of her. But why? The how was easy enough - the answer would always be Madison Valley. She was curious if he was affected at all.
***
Until she asked, Bruce hadn't realized that something felt different. It had been a long time since the Hulk was part of him and the constant presence was always lurking in the back of his mind. He'd just gotten really good at ignoring it. Now, though, he realized it wasn't there. A part of him felt relief at actually just being himself for the first time in a dozen years, but the rest of his was more concerned about what this meant for his daughter.
"I... don't think so," he said. "This has to be some temporary trick of the dome."