A/N: If you know where the title comes from then you'll have an idea where this story is going, if not then enjoy the twisty turny ride and try not to read to deeply into my plot jumps... please.
Warnings: Lots of language, complete world fuckery, lots of implied character death, sort of AU but sort of not (it'll make sense I swear)
Turn Left
Chapter One: The Battle Of New York
The trundling sound of an old motorbike echoed along the dusty road piercing the silence, followed by a rising cloud of debris. Slowly it faded away, settling as the veichle came to a halt the engine purring softly. Astride the bike sat a man looking ragged and worm as though he been through the ringer and spat back out again, a world weary look in his eyes suggesting that it wasn't exactly far from the truth.
Before him lay a crossroad a 'T junction' if one was being specific; both of literal and metaphorical kinds. The man knew he had a choice to make, theoretically a simple turn left or turn right but the differences of those two choices was staggering.
Turning left would take him to New York, to the heart of a battle and to people who knew exactly what he was and in the exceptionally rare circumstance who didn't care. To people who may be able to understand him and not judge him for his sins, to see him as a person rather than a tool or a freak. To people he could perhaps one day call friend. To a place where he could never fully ensure the safety of others and would always be seen as the monster first and the man second.
Turning right would take him back to where he'd been before this mess, a life of solitude and the constant game of cat and mouse. To days spent running and nights spent half asleep through fear. To loneliness and isolation, small prices to pay to keep the public at large safe from what he housed inside. To a life of rigorous, unrelenting control but one of anonymity and the opportunity to just disappear and be safe.
He sat in silence for several minutes pondering his decision, ignoring the tingling sensation working it's way up his spine and the slight headache that had begun to emerge, unfortunate side effects of his condition he assumed. Inside his head he could hear his conscience or at least what he assumed was his conscience yelling at him to stop being a fool. That no one could ever really accept him and that these delusions would only end up with someone getting hurt, with him getting hurt.
The man shook his head trying shake out the cold, tinny voice that somehow sounded exactly and nothing like him at the same time but it was relentless and slowly he came to accept it was right.
Shifting the handlebars on the bike he kicked off from the ground and revved the engine, not even sparing a glance in the other direction and ignoring the quiet, cowed whimpering of the Hulk in the back of his mind.
On this day, the day of the Chitauri invasion; Bruce Banner turned right.
*linebreak*
Bruce had made it a good distance when he finally came to a stop, he'd been travelling for a few hours and the the strain of his earlier 'Hulk-out' was finally starting to take it's toll. In the distance he could see a small roadside cafe and deciding not to look a gift horse in his mouth he kicked the bike in it's direction.
The cafe was as stereotypical as one could get and thankfully to Bruce was as quiet as it could get. There was only one other customer, a large burly man dressed in a lumber-jack shirt that the physicist had the strong suspicion was called 'Earl' or 'Wyatt' or some other ridiculously obvious name. Silently he stalked over to the booth furthest away from the man and sat down, fidgetting with the wire condiments holder.
"What can I get ya' sweetheart?"
Bruce looked up at the woman, Doris, if her name tag was telling the truth and offered a weak smile.
"Uh... Tea if you have it."
Doris smiled and scribbled the order down flicking her white-blonde hair behind her as she sauntered to the counter. Bruce resisted the urge to roll his eyes and instead focused on the crackling television mounted on the wall. It was fuzzy but Bruce could make out the news-caster in amidst the chaos that was New York.
"... The group calling... Avengers... Extra-terrestrial..."
The same tingling sensation that had assaulted him earlier reasserted itself causing the physicist to shudder violently and the Hulk to growl beneath his skin. There was something distinctly wrong about this whole situation; he couldn't quite place what it was exactly all Bruce knew was that it felt like he wasn't meant to be here, he felt like he was meant to be somewhere else, doing something else.
He shook his head free of the confusing thoughts that were circling and flashed a slightly crooked, nervous smile at Doris as she placed a steaming cup of tea down in front of him. She lingered for a moment to make sure that the beverage was to his liking before turning around and heading back around the counter. Bruce let out a slight sigh as he took a sip of the hot tea feeling himself relax minutely, he knew he wasn't out of the woods yet but he had certainly made good headway.
He continued to drink and for the first time since this whole clusterfuck of a situation had started he actually had the opportunity to take stock, weigh up his options and figure out just what the fuck he was going to do next. This first part was easy he thrived on calm and dealing with things, this he could do without hardly a conscious thought; benefits of a 'genius' mind. The second maybe not so much he had little money; only what the old security guard had been able to lend to him and he had no passport or papers which meant he was going to have to get creative with travelling.
Bruce was drawn suddenly from his thoughts as the sound of shattering glass rang through the air, he looked up to see the blond waitress staring in open mouthed horror at the crackling television screen.
"Oh my Gowd." She said, her voice weak.
The physicist turned his gaze to the television just in time to catch the vapour trail of what could only be a nuclear missile disappear off screen, he would know, he'd certainly had enough experience with them and felt his heart leap into his throat as his stomach twisted violently.
They couldn't have.
They wouldn't have.
That was a civilian population.
The 'Other Guy' roared in the back of mind outraged at the apparent stupidity of SHIELD and it's superiors. Bruce thought he'd had the measure of SHIELD and Nick Fury but apparently he'd been wrong, so vastly wrong. Another gasp of horror drew the physicist's attention back to the television and he watched as the missile plummeted into the centre of Manhattan his mouth going dry as he waited for the inevitable Hulk squirmed and moaned and that feeling of wrongness that had haunted him earlier returned with such ferocity that it was a physical pain. Bruce clutched his head trying to will away the headache as green flecked eyes watched the mushroom cloud emerge from the explosion, wiping away the once glorious skyline before the EMP caused the screen to turn black.
Nausea rolled through his stomach and tears pricked at his eyes as he thought of all those innocent people gone in less than an instant, of that group of extraordinary individuals who had bravely gone to war to stop an invasion, of the one person who had treated him like a normal person even after finding out his secret.
It just wasn't fair.
No one deserved to die like that.
The only mercy was that it would have been a quick, painless death and even that thought made Bruce's stomach twist with sadness and his head spin; the Hulk whimpering pitifully behind his eyes. Suddenly no longer feeling the urge to eat or drink anything the physicist stumbled to his feet, leaving behind a five on the saucer before practically running out the door as the air seemed to be sucked from his body. He stopped once outside the door and gulped in several deep breaths, the oxygen burning his lungs as his chest tightened.
The roar of engines overhead dragged Bruce's gaze upwards as two more jets flew past and he felt his mouth go dry.
The portal was still open.
The beam of blue light still pierced the sky and Bruce let out s scream of futility. All those people, the Avengers, they had died for nothing.
Behind him the physicist could hear footsteps approaching.
"Such a tragedy." The voice was feminine.
Bruce didn't answer but he turned around to face the owner of the voice. It was a pretty woman dressed entirely in white, her strawberry blonde hair cropped into a short pixie style cut and dark tinted glasses perched on her nose, hiding her eyes. She looked vaguely familiar in a way that he couldn't quite place his finger on. The woman stepped forward and offered a hand to him and Bruce hesitated a second before taking it and pulling himself to his feet. Her hand was warm, gentle and calming in an odd way that had Bruce once again questioning whether he knew her because only a handful of people had ever made him felt this at ease. One such person having just perished in a nuclear strike.
"Did you have friends, there I mean." The woman nodded toward the ruined city still enveloped in a thick cloud of dust.
"I ... Think so." Bruce answered, not looking her in eye. He wasn't entirely sure how to answer that question.
The woman arched a strawberry coloured brow. "You think?"
"It's kinda complicated... But yeah, I think..." He replied, sorrow squeezing his heart.
A faint quirk of plump lips as the woman released his hand and stepped backwards as Bruce turned his gaze back toward the devastated New York.
"I think it's time I was going, take care of yourself Doctor."
Bruce's eyes widened as he caught the last word of her sentence and his head whipped around fast enough to give anyone whiplash. But there was nothing but empty air, the woman was gone without a trace and Bruce felt his stomach twist.
What the hell?
He wanted to dwell on it some more but he'd already dawdled long enough, to stay any longer would be a risk and he'd already taken enough of those today. He limped back to the motorcycle, his legs feeling leaden and fired it up the rumble of the engine not soothing his jangled nerves in the slightest. Without looking back Bruce swung his leg over and drove off, away from the chaos behind him.
~End Chapter One~
A/N: Okay so the first 500 or so words of this have been loitering on my phone for-FREAKING-ever (Seriously, this is older than pretty much everything Avengers based). I dunno what happened, I just got the urge to carry it on because I really loved the idea in my head. So constuctive criticism is appreciated.
