labcoatgirl | Reunion with brokeharlem

Reunion with brokeharlem

[follows this]

It was a long trip, almost six hours before she was in New York. Betty hadn't driven much in big city like this so she was grateful for the turn by turn directions of her GPS. Stark tower loomed in the center of town, the glowing sign lighting up the dark. It was still a wreck here, she had to avoid multiple construction sites, passing huge holes in the road and businesses smashed to pieces.

She parked in a lot a short distance away from the tower, who's sign was reduced to just a single A glowing overhead. Betty got out of the car and started walking, thumbing her phone as she posted on twitter, to make sure Bruce knew she was there.

@drbanner I'm here, walking towards the tower.

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Betty was oblivious to the AI computer at the moment, looking at him even as he studied the floor. He was avoiding her again. Bruce was always afraid he was going to hurt others, especially her. But Betty felt, even when he was angry, the Hulk would never hurt her on purpose.

"That's good. Isn't it?" She puts her other hand on his arm, trying to see his eyes as the elevator doors ding open. Was it a good situation? Say the word, Bruce, and she'll give this Tony Stark a piece of her mind, she didn't care how famous he was.

"I don't really get it," he answers, looking up at her slowly, the thin smile still firmly in place, "but ... yeah."

A pause follows, a moment of hesitation, and then he's tugging her out of the elevator.

"It's kind of a work in progress," Bruce says as he leads her past the odd scaffolding and half-painted wall on the way to his room. The damage has mostly been repaired, no gaping holes in the walls or ceilings, left in the wake of Loki and the battle that followed him, but it's still obviously a construction site. Likely because Stark has been doing most of the work himself, not trusting sweaty workmen with putting together what's obviously going to be the Avengers' stronghold. Bruce can't say he blames him. If he were in Tony's shoes, he'd probably make it a do-it-yourself project, too, especially considering their new-found fame and how many people probably would have been throwing themselves over a chance to get a legitimate Avengers souvenir.

She smiles in relief as he looks up at her. Betty would like so much for Bruce to find some peace, even if it's a small corner of the world. She just hadn't expected it to come in the form of Stark tower.

"Wow," she looks around at what they've been working on. Even with the construction, it was a big place. "You've been staying here then?" It seemed like such a change from how he was living before.

He nods, following her gaze around the hallway idly. "It's taken some getting used to. I'm more comfortable with the shack in the woods look."

Well, not more comfortable, but it's certainly more familiar. He's been living out of shacks or tiny, filthy back rooms for the last six years, it's hard to believe that he could technically have anything he wanted, here. He's not even sure what he'd ask for, if he thought to abuse that privileged, either. Having a place he might actually be able to call home again is an almost alien concept now, and as much as he claims to have gotten used to it, he's not. He won't be for some time.

She squeezes his arm, holding close to him as they walk for a moment. "I'm glad." After he disappeared, she wasn't certain if he would ever be coming back again.

Or if he had another life somewhere else.

"...has it been any easier?" She's asking about the Hulk this time. Had he found a way to control his alter ego finally?

His stomach twists into knots at the question. He can't help it.

"A little, yeah," he answers, breathing out heavily. "I've had a couple of incidents, times where I couldn't ... "

Couldn't control himself. Like on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s helicarrier or when he was stopped crossing the border from Pakistan into India by people who meant to rob and, quite possibly, kill him. He can't bring himself to say that, though, afraid that Betty will think less of him for a couple of slips, even if logically, he knows better. She likely knows what he's not saying, anyway, so why bother?

"I've figured out a couple of tricks, though." Like realizing that it's easier to keep a handle on himself by staying in a controlled state of anger and self-loathing. "And I realized it's an adrenal trigger, not based on my heart rate, like I originally thought."

Which explains why he isn't wearing the heart rate monitor that had become a permanent part of his wardrobe anymore.

"It's ok," she says, trying to reassure him. She, of all people, knows how difficult it is for him.

Adrenal, well. That made it a different ballgame with trying to treat it. "I see...and no luck on finding a way to reverse it?" She'd had a few ideas but no way to test them out completely.

"I...brought some of my research on neuro-toxins and solvents. I don't know if you could use it." But it might help if he was still pursuing that line of research.

"I kind of gave up on it for awhile." And he looks vaguely embarrassed to have to admit to throwing in the towel, even if knows he's been doing good work since then. "I figured I was stuck with him, so I started doing other stuff. I ... kind of picked up medicine as a hobby and started trying to help people, whenever I settled down for awhile. I needed to do something to make up for all the damage I'd caused. I thought that qualified."

It helped that part of his educational background included biochemistry in addition to physics. He's not sure he would have picked up medicine as easily as he did, otherwise.

"I wouldn't say no to looking over your notes, though." Even if he's still pretty sure there is no hope for him and the best he can do is run damage control for the rest of his life.

Betty smiles, picturing him being a doctor in another country. It suited him in a way. Bruce was always trying to help others, even before the gamma accident.

"They're in the car." She'll get them later though. She's been in that car for long enough and there's the irrational fear that if she leaves him alone, he won't be there when she comes back.

"You can get them when you bring your stuff in." Betty's not the only one who's afraid that, if one of them leaves the room, they'll either magically disappear or chose not to return. "I mean, assuming you're staying ... you mentioned packing, right?"

He glances at her, half nervous, half hopeful, and then pulls away to open the door to his room as they reach it. It's simple, for the most part, just a bed and nightstand, both bolted to the floor, just in case, and a small workspace Tony insisted be included when Bruce failed to mention it, and it's painted in shades of green -- again, Stark's idea, though this time because he thought it'd be funny -- but it's very much his, somehow. Bruce has never been a man prone to extravagance, even before his accident.

Edited 2012-06-02 23:44 (UTC)

She ducks her head sheepishly. "It was hurried, but yes, I have some clothes and things." Hopefully clothes that match, she really hadn't paid too much attention.

Betty gives the green workspace a puzzled look. "...was that your idea?" It did suit him, in a way.

Bruce rolls his eyes, though there's a hint of amusement to his eyes. "Tony's, actually. I think he thought he was being funny."

"I'd like to meet him." He seemed like quite a character. Especially if he was able to help Bruce in this way, Betty would like to give him her heartfelt thanks for being such a good friend to Bruce.

She had let go for a bit, just holding his hand now. "I'm sure it will take awhile to settle in." There might be a few things he left behind that she brought in the car too. She's still wearing her mother's necklace he had sent back to her in the mail after they pawned it, never taking it off since she received it.

Betty isn't sure how to say what she wanted to say next, looking down at his hand in both of hers. "...it's been a long time and...I probably shouldn't assume you and I..." If there was someone else in his life, she wouldn't think less of him at all. But she did want to know.

"JARVIS probably told him you're here. I doubt you could avoid him for very long even if you wanted to."

Really, he's amazed Tony hadn't shown up to stick his nose in already. Maybe JARVIS hasn't told him yet, figuring he and Betty deserved a few minutes of privacy for so long. Or maybe Tony himself had decided that. It was hard to tell, though regardless, he can't say he's not grateful for it, especially with that unspoken question.

Frowning, he follows her gaze down to their hands, his own tightening around one of hers. "There's -- I haven't -- I don't trust anyone else."

Not like that. And, more importantly, he's not sure he could love anyone else like that. Not like he loves Betty.

"Jarvis...the elevator?" He'd only mentioned him when talking to the elevator after all.

Betty closes her eyes with a relieved smile. She still loved him too, nobody else had been able to compete with that for her. But she had been willing to give him up if he was happy with someone else.

She leans her head and face into his shoulder, glad to have that huge question answered. "I haven't seen anyone either...Samson and I broke up after you disappeared." She feels she owes him that much explanation after all. Samson knew it was the right thing after seeing how her father had treated Bruce.

Bruce gets the sense that JARVIS is tactfully refraining from explaining, if only to avoid startling or upsetting Betty, and he's silently grateful for that. He'll have to thank the AI later; for now, though, he just shrugs. "JARVIS is more than just the elevator. He runs the Tower. He's kind of like ... "

Calling JARVIS Tony's butler feels like a disservice, somehow. Referring to him as one of Tony's friends seems like something both man and AI would rather avoid, if only because people seem to get a little touchy about sentient computers before they get the opportunity to know them, and so he pops one shoulder in another shrug, letting Betty finish that sentence on her own. He'll let Tony and JARVIS explain JARVIS' functions, when they're ready.

"You didn't have to," he continues, switching tracks back to their current relationship statuses. He brushes a thumb over the back of her hand. "I mean, if he made you happy ... you deserve that."

"...an all purpose computer?" Now that was impressive.

She looks up at him, a determined look on her face. "It was a mutual decision. He...wasn't you." That was the easiest way to explain it.

"Something like that, yeah."

He looks up, too, meeting her eyes for an instant before looking away. When he does, a small, self-depreciating smile springs to his lips. "Some people might tell you that's a good thing."

She reaches and turns his face carefully to look back at her, a smile that says I know better than that. "Then they're wrong. We work well together." Always have, always will.

"And I don't think I could give you up completely if I tried." She has a hunch it's the same with him.

The smile turning a little more genuine -- the same, almost shy one he was wearing earlier -- he tilts his head into her hand slowly. "That sounds disturbingly familiar."

He's more than definitely in the same boat.

Her smile just about reaches up to her eyes back at him. There's the Bruce she knows.

She leans up and kisses him softly. "So I'm afraid you're stuck with me." Metaphorically and literally, it would seem.

He tenses when she kisses him, not used to much in the way of intimate, physical contact. It's familiar, his response the same the first time she'd touched him when they'd been alone together two years ago, and thankfully brief, and then he's returning the kiss, his shoulders slumping in something like relief. He's still afraid -- afraid that he'll hurt her, that she'll change her mind, something, anything to ruin him finally getting his way after something like six years -- but he can't back away. He can't lose her again because of something he did.

"I'll try and keep that in mind," he tells her as he breaks the kiss finally, his forehead resting against hers.

She knows after so much time alone, it's going to take time to settle into a routine again. Betty can't imagine what it's been like, living from moment to moment on the run all the time.

Betty enjoys the moment, keeping her forehead to his as well and straightening his lapels to his shirt absently. A faint smile, "Your shirt could use ironing." Something normal to talk about.

Without moving and from the corners of his eyes, he glances down at his shirt. "If you think this is bad, you should have seen me a few months ago."

Now, and thanks to Tony, he at least has more than one or two worn, rumpled suits.

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Reunion with brokeharlem

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I'd seriously sell my left arm for a Ruffalo!Bruce / Tyler!Betty icon.

:/ I wish I had one to give you, though I have screencapped the snot out of TIH

If I had skills of an artist, I'd make one. As it is, I'm probably gonna end up poking a friend.