Who: Bruce Banner and Steven Rogers Where: Bruce’s clinic and the hospital What: Catching up When: Tuesday morning Rating: TBD, likely low Open: No Status: Google doc/complete
Bruce needed a break, clearly. He’d been up all night with Jacob trying to explain why he didn’t have his bedroom and his toys and why Mommy didn’t live with Daddy anymore. It was difficult to explain to a child his age and Bruce was exhausted. He’d left Jacob with his beloved Aunt Peggy (after an explanation and a promise) and gone into work to review the blood samples he’d pulled from Steve to try and figure out how to apply his healing power to everyone in some capacity but he wasn’t having much luck in deciphering how it worked.
He moved shop to the hospital and saw some patients later in the morning, pottering about with tests and reviewing some older cases and was about to stop for lunch in the break room. Bruce made a quick call to Peggy to check in on Jacob and dove into the box of goodies from the bakery. He knew Steven was around somewhere and yet there was one slice of mock apple pie, the only one left. Bruce would be willing to die for it though.
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Steven had been making his usual rounds all morning. He made sure that everything was stocked in the exam rooms, checked to make sure any patients had everything they needed, then worked on some of the filing. He had a lunch that Lillian had packed for him and decided it was about that time when his stomach growled loudly. Even though he was by himself, he still blushed furiously. He grabbed his lunch and headed to the break room, smiling when he saw Bruce. "Afternoon." He said with a nod before finding a seat.
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Bruce already had crumbs on his scrubs and quickly hid his half-eaten pie behind his back on the countertop. “Uh… afternoon, Steven.” Bruce slid his hands behind his back and lifted up the plate, guilty at having given into temptation. “How are you, today?” he asked distractedly.
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"I'm good." He smiled. He sat down and started to pull out the goodies that Lillian packed for him. Her cooking had improved in the last week or so. He smiled up at Bruce from his seat. "You've got crumbs." He indicated Bruce's shirt.
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Bruce’s eyes looked down to his front and brushed off the crumbs with a free hand, his stomach growling for more food. “Clumsy me. Must be from sandwiches.” he muttered and ungainfully hid the half eaten pie under a box lid whilst Steven wasn’t looking. “How was your morning?”
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"It's been good so far." He took a bite of his sandwich. "Kind of slow but that's a good thing around here, right?" He chuckled.
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Bruce eyed Steven’s lunch hungrily and sat down with his coffee. Something about running after his son had made him insanely hungry lately. “It is. I’m hoping to sneak out early and go for a drink before I pick up Jacob from Peggy and Steve’s.”
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"How's that going?" Steve slid a container of chocolate chip cookies a little closer to Bruce. "At least mine are teenagers and relatively self sufficient." He chuckled.
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Bruce took a couple of cookies happily and munched them down, “He’s a good kid but I don’t think he understands what’s going on, not completely. He’s just a child, after all. How can I tell him that his Mommy doesn’t know who he is? She’s barely out of her teens herself.” Bruce picked another cookie. “I keep spoiling him too, I know. He had chocolate chip pancakes from Sookie’s this morning too.”
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"Spoil him while you can." He nodded. "I feel a little bad because I've been spending more time with Josie than with Grant. But I guess it's because I know Grant is okay and Josie....well, she's more like me than I would have liked. I knew it was a possibility, but I still feel horrible." He sighed, forcing himself to take another bite of his sandwich.
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“Can I ask you something?” Bruce asked softly, licking his lips of crumbs and getting up to grab a bag of chips that was haunting him for not being eaten. “Did you regret being born? I mean, before all the scoliosis getting healed and your heart murmur disappearing? Did you regret living or resent your parents for having you?”
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"Well....no." he cleared his throat. "I resented my dad but not because I existed." He sighed. "I know that she doesn't blame me for her health issues, and I don't regret her existence, but I still feel bad that she has to deal with that."
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Bruce smiled and sat down with the bag of chips and his coffee, “You can’t feel that bad. Where she’s from, they must have good health care, better than you got and you not only survived, you thrived. Steven, it’s not a handicap to be asthmatic or have an arrhythmia anymore. She’ll be alright.”
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He nodded. "She said she gets very well taken care of. And she has an inhaler and an epipen on her so...". He shrugged. Looking at his sandwich for a minute, he took the half that was left and wrapped it up, putting it back in his lunch bag. "Still wish it didn't happen but there's not really anything I can do about it. Just like I can't keep my sons from being color blind." He looked back at Bruce. "I did some research. Only my sons will be colorblind. Something about a defect of the y chromosome."
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Bruce nodded, “Only men can ever be colourblind but then considering what women have to put up with, I consider it a blessing to have the Y chromosome and not the double X.” he smiled, “Look, Steven, I can’t tell you she won’t hate being different or that you won’t be scared as hell but she’s alive. 1 in 4 pregnancies lead to a miscarriage within the first trimester. Frankly, the fact that anyone is alive is a miracle. Be glad for what you have in a vibrant, happy daughter, kiddo.”
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Steve nodded and ran his fingers through his hair. "She's so much like her mother." He chuckled. He looked at what was left of his lunch before pushing the apple and the container of pudding a little closer to Bruce as well. "I think Lil is a great mom, you know? She really likes having the kids around." He cleared his throat. "Though it has hindered...certain activities." He blushed.
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Bruce chuckled and stole Steven’s apple from him. “Well, if you need a baby sitter, they’re welcome with me since I have nothing going on.” he crunched on his apple. “I feel bad leaving Jacob with Peggy all day.”
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"You have work to do. Jacob needs a babysitter and Peggy loves kids." He shrugged. "Tony and I have actually been talking about setting up some kind of day care center. With all the babies that are on the island or on the way, I think it'd be a good idea."
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Bruce nodded, swallowing some coffee, “I think Peggy was planning on asking if anyone thought it was a good idea to set up a place.” he muttered, “All the kids coming soon… we’re going to need a lot of formula.”
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Steve nodded. "He's thinking about converting one of the floors in the tower." He sighed. "There'll be a lot of formula and cereal and diapers." He made face.
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He laughed a little and shook his head, “I have no idea how Marta is going to handle all these pregnancies. I’ll have to take some on for her, at least the routine scans. Or she’ll be overrun with women.”
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"She seems to be handling it okay for right now. Though I don't really see her sleeping very much." He bit his lip. "I think she doesn't know how to take time for herself." He shrugged. "Didn't you have to force her to take a day off not too long ago?"
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“Yes but I’m hardly the person to talk her into it, she’d just call me a hypocrite. And she’d be right, even before Jacob turned up.” he finished off his apple, “I better get back to work, anyway, I’ll have a word with Marta if Aaron complains. He did last time.” Bruce smiled, “Right, Steve’s blood is calling me.”
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"Have you been able to get anywhere with that?" He scratched the back of his neck.
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Bruce shook his head, “No, it just doesn’t seem to be adhering to my samples. I’ll get there eventually.”
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"Do you think maybe having a way to tell the differences would help? Like, being able to isolate what makes him different?" He bit his lip.
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Bruce raised an eyebrow and gathered up his work, “You mean, take a blood sample from you? Are you sure you’re willing to do that?”
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He nodded. "Of course. If it could help other people, I'm definitely willing. Besides, I've spent a lot of my life having blood samples taken." He chuckled.
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“That’s why I’m asking nicely.” he chuckled, “Are you willing to have some blood drawn for sampling?”
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"Yes, I am." He smiled. "When do you need it? Should I fast before the draw or is any time okay?"
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He shook his head, “No, no, I’m not concerned with blood sugar. Half a phial will do for a good sample.” Bruce smiled, “Thanks for this, Steven. I hope I can figure out how his cells regenerate so quickly.”
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"It's no problem, really." He smiled, then packed up what was left of his lunch. "So now would be good, I guess." He smirked.
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“If it’s not too much trouble. I’ve been using my blood as a baseline but there’s obviously problems with that idea.” he guided Steven away from the pie so Bruce could steal it back, “Come to my office?”
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"Sure." He smiled and that's when he noticed the box from the bakery. "Did Peggy bring that over?" He pointed to the box. "She usually includes a slice of pie for me..."
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Bruce’s eyes bugged, “Uh, no, no, I don’t think so. She must have forgotten. Silly Peggy, I’ll register his complaint.” he tried to steer Steven away from the box and out the door, “I have cookies for you after we draw the blood out.”
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Steve frowned for a second, then shrugged. "It's not a big deal. I was just wondering. It's really good pie." He smiled. "So, your office then?"
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Bruce felt the guilt gnaw at him and he knew there was one thing for it. “There’s the thing about your pie…” he coughed and edged for the door. “I kind of… ate it.”
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"Oh. Okay." He nodded and patted Bruce on the shoulder. "I can go get a piece later."
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Bruce sighed in relief, “It’s on me, I promise.” he chuckled, “Come on, let’s draw that blood before you change your mind?”