Laboratories were welcome reliefs from living rooms and day rooms where everyone gathered for conversation. A thousand voices talking about things that hardly mattered in the grand scheme of things. Dr. Banner hadn't the time for little things like that. Useless conversations did nothing in the face of scientific discovery. He separated himself from them. The Avengers.
The team was great. So many people from different places with so many different abilities and powers. It was truly amazing to be in the presence of near godlike mortals, and from an scientific standpoint, amazing. Seeing all their different physiologies and how their bodies worked compared to that of a normal human being. The curse however, in Dr. Banner's case was the flashes of him putting them through the ground, or throwing them through buildings as The Hulk. He pushed the thoughts out of his head as he cleared his thoughts.
He was focusing on the energy absorption in Black Panther's suit that allowed him to store it and then discharge it as he chose, giving his punches a lot more force and if he wanted, a blast radius. He wanted to see if he could take the same idea, and transfer it into Sam Wilson's suit or Black Widow's. Let them get more bang for their buck. Not that they needed it or anything, but every advantage helped. As far as he could tell, it narrowed down to the Vibranium being able to absorb vibrations and such, which is how T'Challa could move and jumped how he did. The suit was basically one giant shock absorber because of the metal.
He glanced to the picture on his desk. A brown haired girl in a lab coat hugging another taller man in a lab coat. Brown hair with glasses. Betty. He stopped looking at the holographic displays of data that he had already read. He reached through and grabbed the photo. He was looking at it and frowning. God he missed her so much. All this Avenger shit and being a superhuman physician, it was all so he could get his mind off of his mess of a personal life.
He began to tear up. Good god how long had it been since he saw her? She was the reason why he was here in the first place. What was he even doing anymore? "Doctor Banner? You in here?" He didn't hear it, lost in thought. Her father never approved of him, even less so when he became the Hulk. The only woman who had ever cared for him. The one good thing his intelligence brought him, and he would probably never see her again. He began to cry, and then he felt arms wrap around his neck and weight on his back, causing him to freeze. "You really miss her don't you?" It was Wanda. The Scarlet Witch.
"This is...I'm not at my best. One second I can get it together." He put the picture down. She didn't let go.
"You don't have to push it away. You're allowed to have feelings." She told him.
"My feelings always lead to one solid emotion." He told her. "It's a nice quiet day, no reason to change that." He said as he sniffed and wiped his tears. "I just...It doesn't matter." He sighed.
"Bruce. You're an important part to this team. We need you as much as anyone else." She told him. He sighed. That wasn't true.
"Wanda. We both know that isn't true." He sighed. "Stark, Pym, Janet, Strange, Beast, Vision to an extent. We're no short of brains. You don't really need me." He said. "I'm just the back up plan when all else fails, or the thing that causes the contingency plan." He told her. "She was why I started all of this. If I could stop destroying things, do something useful, maybe I could be something. I could be good for her. I never was..."
"Shhh." She said as she embraced him. "You are. You need to go see her." He shook his head.
"No. That's a horrible idea." She shook her head.
"She could be thinking the same thing. You never know until you try. I never expected any of you to welcome me back when..." she stopped. He knew what she was gonna say.
"That's different. You had a whole different kind of stress on you." He defended her.
"I killed my husband and Antman and Clint..." She frowned. "Now this is the only family I have. They took me back. She'll take you. Let's go." She picked him up from the chair.
"Right now?" He asked. She nodded. "Like right now?"
"Mhm." He sighed, taking the lab coat off. He had on a nice black button up shirt and jeans on. "I'm gonna be with you the whole time."
"I'm trusting you." He said as he got up and walked away from his work. They walked to the entrance of the lab and then down the halls of the Avengers mansion. "You know we can always just go get food. We can make it a nice team building day." He suggested.
"Food with Betty." She corrected as they got to the door. He sighed as he walked out the door to the gate.
"You got him to leave the lab? I'm impressed." It was Carol, walking down the stairs. "What was the trick?"
"Trade secret. I'll tell you later. Have a team on standby." She joked. Ms. Marvel laughed as she waved to Wanda.