Who: Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanoff, Dr Helen Cho Where: Infirmary, Avenger's Base When: A day after long after Bruce's rescue What: Bruce regains consciousness Warnings: PG-13 Status: incomplete Log, complete
Bright light filtered through Bruce’s closed eyes as he slowly regained consciousness. The first thing he became aware of was how sluggish both his body and mind were. Even the act of opening his eyelids was a difficult feat in itself. Blurry vision struggled to bring the world into focus; he saw a sterile, white ceiling, with its fluorescent lighting. For a moment, he couldn’t even remember his identity, much less figure out where he was. With great difficulty, he rolled his head to one side and then another, and it dawned on him that he was in a hospital room, laying in a bed. Beside him was a machine that quietly monitored his vital parameters, such as heart rate and blood pressure.
Gradually, memories started to return. The last thing he recalled was walking through Barcaldine. Picking up supplies. Confronted by HYDRA agents...
Immediately, Bruce lunged forward in bed with a surge of panic. What happened after he blacked out? Was he now a prisoner of HYDRA? The display on the patient monitor started beeping a warning. Bruce wasn’t in a clear enough state of mind to calm himself down, but he could tell that whatever HYDRA had done to him, it managed to slow down his process of transformation. The gamma radiation in his cells were slow to respond, along with the rest of Bruce’s body. He flopped back down in bed, already weak with exertion, but he groaned and struggled to free himself from the sheets.
It had been months, several long months spent searching for Bruce Banner. Little by little, Natasha Romanoff had given up hope. He didn't want to be found. She found new and exciting ways to blame herself for his disappearance. There was Avengers training and missions to handle in the meantime, and as Steve was fond of pointing out, interesting walls to stare at. Work. Work was good. Work filled her time, and it wasn't until she was alone and unfocused on anything -- mostly in the middle of the night when she tried to sleep -- that her thoughts tended to stray.
She was face to face with those very thoughts as she stood at the window. She hadn't even noticed Bruce waking. Her head snapped to the side in the fleeting instant of Bruce's outburst. Only when the transformation didn't happen did Natasha allow herself to breathe. She hadn't even realized she'd been holding a breath in. With a brief hesitation, she stepped into his line of sight, placing her hand on his shoulder gently.
"Slow down there, Bruce. They've had you juiced up on some kind of sedation cocktail." Her voice felt raspier than usual. Tilting her head, she sat down on the edge of the bed. "It's going to take some time to get it out of your system."
Pressure upon his shoulder, firm but gentle. The voice of a woman, familiar, soothing. It took a minute for Bruce’s mind to process the identity of the person he saw beside him, but when he did, his lips mutely spoke her name, Natasha. He was safe. Bruce didn’t know how, but Natasha’s presence was all he needed. He permitted himself to let his body go limp, and his heart rate returned to normal. Bruce closed his eyes, feeling too ashamed by his behavior to look at her for very long - he’d abandoned her, abandoned the team. Still, he was relieved she was there.
His mouth and throat were dry, making it difficult to speak, but he took a deep breath and muttered, “Thank you.” Followed by, “Where am I?”
Reading the cue (and perhaps needing a little time of her own), she crossed the room to get him some water. It still stung. Enough time had passed that Natasha had began to formulate the things she'd say, the ways she'd make him feel for what he'd done to her, to the team, but none of those things were sticking. None of them seemed important in the wake of Bruce's capture.
There was some measure of guilt. Maybe if they'd looked harder, this might not have happened. Maybe if she hadn't shoved him through a hole in Sokovia, he might have felt more inclined to stick around. She'd tricked him into fighting against Ultron. That had to burn, but Natasha would have done it all over again. She was good at sacrificing herself for the bigger picture. Had always been a trademark of hers.
"Not in a HYDRA holding cell." She held the cup to his lips, positioning the straw. "I think there's a mouth under all this beard. The tan suits you though."
A small smile quirked in the corner of Bruce’s mouth at Natasha’s beard comment, but was too exhausted to reply with a witty comeback of his own. He tilted his head up to take a grateful sip of water through the straw. “How’d you find me?” he asked.
The question was punctuated by approaching footsteps, and a familiar face greeted Bruce as Doctor Helen Cho crossed into the room. She offered an apologetic smile in their direction before approaching the bedside. While Bruce remained under constant monitoring, she was growing confident that he wouldn’t have an impromptu ‘reaction’ at this point. Strong vitals, but then they were always healthy. “Bruce,” she interjected quietly. “It’s good to see you awake.” Glancing quickly at Natasha, she continued. “Vision intercepted a message from H.Y.D.R.A.; he led us right to you.” She placed a hand on his shoulder, then stepped aside to monitor the sedative levels. Now that he was active, they’d be completely gone within the hour.
Turning his head in the opposite direction, Bruce recognized Doctor Cho through the drug induced haze. “You’re alright?” he said in wonder. The last time he’d heard, she’d taken a hit from Ultron and was in pretty bad shape. Of course that was six months ago, a lot must’ve happened since then. Restlessly, Bruce attempted to get out of bed, again.
"Can't keep Dr. Cho down." It wasn't hard smiling for Helen. She'd become a great help around the Avengers' compound. Even before then, she'd managed to put a stop to Ultron's upload at great personal cost. Her presence here was never unwelcomed.
Even now.
Natasha was grateful for the interruption. It gave her more time to prepare, even if she wanted to poke and prod and find out what Bruce was thinking while he was still reeling from the drug in his system. He'd be more prone to the truth. The why would have to come later. "You need to rest, Bruce. At least for a little bit longer while the drug is easing out of your system."
“Even without the saline helping, we’ve managed to stimulate your unique antibodies to help flush out any traces of what they might have put in you.” Helen approached them once more, holding up a wristband that resembled a fitbit. “I need to continue to monitor you, but being cooped up in a hospital bed for too long-- well, anxiety doesn’t suit you, Bruce. It’s sweet that you’re concerned about me, but all I need is for you to take care of yourself” She offered a coy wink and handed him the device, then turned to Natasha. “I’m guessing a room has already been assigned here at the compound?” With S.H.I.E.L.D. in the midst of a reconstruction and a questionable power structure, at this point Cho considered Romanov and Rogers the ones in charge. Apart from them, she was still trying to figure out what her place was within the new organization.
"Hill's heading up accommodations. I'm heading that way now, I can double-check and get back with you." Natasha was grateful now for Helen's appearance in the room. It gave her a reason to slink out and get some air. Focus on something other than this. He was alive, he was awake. Whether or not he was okay would take some time to figure out. He'd left for a reason, and Natasha didn't want to press him. There'd be more time.
With a curt nod, the Doctor watched Romanov leave, then turned back to her patient. Bruce’s teammate had spent a lot of time here waiting for him to recover, and Helen had a few guesses as to why. Well, one in particular. She turned over his arm and pressed her fingers to his wrist, counting silently before letting go. A strong, healthy pulse matched the monitor’s readings and gave her confidence that Bruce would be just fine. Meeting his eyes coyly, she nodded toward the door. “She’s a good woman,” the approval in her tone underlined the unsaid part. “I think I can speak for everyone here, Bruce. We’re glad you’re back.”
Doctor Cho stepped away from the bed, returning to her office in the adjoining room.