A Day in Your Shoes

[labcoatgirl]

It had been nice working with Bruce again. The lab setting, the smell of chemicals, the white coats....it was like old times. Betty looks over at Bruce with a smile, dropping a few drops of liquid into vials in front of her before testing the radiation quotient of each.

Everything seemed to be going well.

As Betty slid the last batch into the radiation sensor machine for Jarvis to analyze, there was a warning from the computer AI. "Warning, systems experiencing sudden electrical overl--"

The rest of the warning is cut off by an explosion as the electrical overload reaches the machine in front of Betty. She's thrown back into Bruce by the explosion and electrical output, the two of them thrown against the wall before landing on the debris pile. The entire lab is trashed...and the two scientists are not moving.

Comments

[brokeharlem.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, bungee jumping still isn't really my idea of a good time," he shoots back.

He takes a moment to scrub a hand over his face, banishing what thin anger he managed to call up, and looks at her levelly as he drops his hand back into his lap. A moment of silence follows, and then, "We'll figure it out. Until then, though ... little secret? Find something that kind of irritates you and focus on it. Nothing big, just -- accidentally burning your toast or something. I know how it sounds, but being at least a little angry all the time helps."

He'll find her a heart monitor, too. It won't be infallible, considering that's not quite how things work, but it'll serve as an early warning system. He just hopes she won't need it for too long.

[labcoatgirl.livejournal.com]

She almost snaps back at that, not used to the sharp tones from him. That and she's not exactly the most stable person right now. But Betty bites her tongue, knowing that would do more harm than good.

She nods, trying to think of something that might do the trick. While he's looking for a heart monitor, she takes a moment to go get cleaned up in the shower. She feels so exhausted...it's five minutes before she realizes she's stepped into the shower, torn clothes and all, just standing there under the water with her eyes closed. And another moment to realize she didn't care, sliding down to sit in the tub and feel the hot water running down her. As if she wished it might wash away the memories of the past half hour.

Bruce might have to check on her in a bit if she stays in too long.

[brokeharlem.livejournal.com]

Bruce returns some time later, with a heart monitor slapped together hurriedly from parts from one of Tony's watches, some other random parts and a little help from JARVIS -- it's not pretty, not polished, but it'll do the trick in a pinch -- and a packet of unfrosted strawberry poptarts. He would have made her a sandwich, since he figures she'll be hungry and there's more than enough food in the kitchen, what with all the other Avengers minus Thor in the building, but he thinks better of it when he realizes how much his dietary habits have changed over the years. While in Kolkata, he became a vegetarian out of necessity, and hasn't thought to break that habit now that he's back Stateside; who knows if she's stopped eating meat for one reason or another, too? Poptarts will have to do until he knows for sure, just something to tide her over until she can get a real meal in her.

Either way, he sets both down on the table when he hears the sound of running water in the bathroom, and settles in to wait for her to finish. When the amount of time she takes begins to grow worrisome, he fidgets idly in his chair -- he'd be lying if he said he wasn't grateful he could still worry, when he seems incapable of true anger at the moment -- and then gets up, moving to the bathroom door. He spends another few minutes lingering there before he finally decides to knock on the door.

[labcoatgirl.livejournal.com]

No answer.

Betty's actually fallen asleep in the tub in her wet clothes, she's so exhausted. The warm water is a comfort and the entire bathroom is all steamed up.

[brokeharlem.livejournal.com]

After a moment or two of hesitation, he lets himself into the bathroom, not quite fearing the worst, but not expecting the best, either. He can't help but sigh in relief when he finds her, still clothed in the shower, and he kneels down at the edge of the tub, one hand reaching to shake her gently, unmindful of the fact that he's soaking the sleeve of his shirt and his shoulder.

"Betty?"

[labcoatgirl.livejournal.com]

...green hands reaching smashing don't hurt Bruce...Bruce...

Betty starts awake at being shook, terrified that she's the Hulk again before seeing who it is. A shaky sigh of relief. "...sorry."

Now realizing she's all wet and sitting in a few inches of water in the tub. "Oh."

[brokeharlem.livejournal.com]

"It's fine," he promises, knowing all too well what the dreams (nightmares) after a transformation are like. He doesn't envy her then, nor does he have the heart to tell her that she'll probably be at their mercy for the next few days, assuming they can't get this fixed before then. How do you really deliver that kind of news?

He brushes his hand over her shoulder lightly, then pulls his hand back. "I'll ... get you a towel."

[labcoatgirl.livejournal.com]

She sighs, wiping the water out of her face and reaching to try and shut off the water. "I thought..." her voice trailing off for a moment. "...it's irrational. If I showered long enough, it might be a bad dream."

If anything, she now understands what it is that Bruce goes through every day, even if this is a small part of it.

[brokeharlem.livejournal.com]

"It's not irrational." God knows he's wished the same thing, many a time over the years -- that if he just showered long enough, he could wash away the madness of his life.

He offers her a brief, but entirely sympathetic look and moves to get a towel out of the linen closet. He's still wearing the same look when he returns with it, moments later. "I wish I could tell you that actually worked."

[labcoatgirl.livejournal.com]

She shivers a little, stepping out and dripping on the floor as he brings her the towel. Betty wraps it around herself, not looking at him as he speaks. Without a word, she steps in close, just wanting to be held for a moment.

[brokeharlem.livejournal.com]

He allows her that, arms wrapping around her waist to pull her tight against him with a little less hesitation than he might have shown before. Slowly, he turns his head to rest against hers. As with the shower, he doesn't seem to either care or notice that he's getting wet, himself.

"I'm sorry," he says after sometime of silence. He may feel odd, like half a person at the moment, but he's still more than willing to take the blame for everything and anything. Really, though, who else could be at fault here?

[labcoatgirl.livejournal.com]

Usually, she would tell him to stop apologizing. This time...she feels partly responsible.

"...me too," she says quietly into his shoulder.

Once she's able to compose herself again, Betty finally speaks again. "What do we do?" Focus on fixing it, that's what they needed to do. But she wasn't sure if they should be looking for a cure or a way to switch back. As bad as it was, she couldn't give this back to Bruce.

[brokeharlem.livejournal.com]

"It's not your fault." He really believes that, too. The explosion that caused this -- assuming it's at fault here in the first place -- could have happened to either of them. She didn't know that would happen or that this would be the end result. It's not her fault.

He pushes concepts of blame out of mind when she poses her question, however, and wets his lips with his tongue, looking thoughtful. "We could probably recreate the, uh, accident. If we're lucky, if that's what actually caused it, maybe we'll bounce back."