Authors Note: Hello there! I promise I'm not abandoning Leaving Gotham, my other story. Inspiration struck me and I really needed something different to focus on so I wasn't just rushing Leaving Gotham's plot. It will be finished and I'll continue posting a new chapter once a week or bi-weekly unless something happened. This week I've been sick so I haven't had a desire to write anything. I write the best when I have multiple projects, I've realized. When I can get a break for a moment and delve into something else one day, it gives me a break from a chapter I'm struggling with and it lets me meet new characters and figure out how to use different personalities and plot twists. :) I hope everyone enjoys this.
PS: Yes, it will be Bruce/OC but it may take awhile for the OC to really be properly introduced and for them to become a couple. It's all in the build-up, my friends. This chapter is also my first time trying this point of view so it won't be perfect. I'm also not familiar with India or their language, nor am I familiar with medical things. I'm relying on Google and some books, so let me know if I get something wrong. Don't forget to review! Let me know if it's worth continuing.
He remembers that day so clearly - replacing the bottle of whiskey he'd found in one of the little shops with the shiny new gun that felt all too heavy and real in his hands. Whenever he held it, he felt like his father. Taken back to the night that led him right up to this. He could still smell the old alcohol on his father's breath as he grabbed a hold of his collar roughly and shoved him up against the wall. He could still hear the ringing in his ears after the loud gunshot that rocked his whole entire world. In less than 5 seconds, his life changed so drastically and he had never been able to hang on for the ride very well. If he closed his eyes and thought hard enough, he could transport himself back there in India. Back where he was happiest, where he was helping people. Back to talking to the girl in the shop with remorseful, scared eyes and back to playing with the village children while he tried to help their parents or grandparents. Death was always on everyone's door in that town, but it didn't stop anyone from being happy. He had learned life lesson upon life lesson there and he was ready to go back.
He'd trade his lab in New York for a hut in India any day of the week.
Chapter 1.
He always rose from bed earlier than anyone else in the tower, even earlier than Steve, who typically woke up as early as he could muster to go to the gym before doing whatever it is that he does on a day-to-day basis. He would make tea, eat something, and go bury himself somewhere else. Whether it be in his work, in a book, or on the phone with her. Kalkuta was over 5 hours head of New York and by the time he got up, she was already working. Doing the job he was forced to left behind, helping people without him. The thought of her replacing him didn't bother him nearly as much as the thought of seeing her do it alone. The citizens in the town they stayed at, while most of them were sweet, good people, a lot of them were more than just rough around the edges. Not to mention her fear. If it held her back for a moment, it could cost someone their life. He worried about the simplest things, like not being there to walk her home or not being there to comfort her whenever she was upset enough to realize she needed a shoulder to lean on every so often. They typically only talked for minutes, knowing both people had to get to work before long. Kalkuta's patients didn't stay well long enough for a phone call, they always needed a nurse or a helping hand. And New York? New York doesn't slow down for anyone, Bruce had noticed. But they always felt like talking for hours, like they did at night before he had left. He missed that the most, the sleepless nights spent talking and conversing over some of the most complex things with her throwing in something so ridiculous that he was forced to be silly and young again for even a brief second. He could always talk about science with Tony, but he lacked the knowledge (and desire) to talk about things like philosophy and people and so many issues that had been the reason for Bruce to even run to science in the first place. Tony loved the science, but He loved the reason for it. He could talk to Natasha or Clint, but they were too tough and hard on sensitive topics. He could turn to Steve or Thor, but they were still mostly clueless in worldly situations.
Whether or not he wanted to be, he was the outcast. The green sheep of the big, twisted, weird family that the Avengers made.
And although the whole team thought he was that way on purpose, he wasn't. There wasn't anything that he desired more than a family, but no matter hard he tried, he always ended up this way. Sitting alone, being alone, living alone. He wasn't an outcast on purpose, he wasn't depressed on purpose. Not much he did was on purpose, quite honestly.
"Bruce! It's been awhile, I was getting worried." Her soft voice exclaimed when she picked up the phone, the sound of a creaky door shutting and muffled children's laughter leaking through the phone. He could hear her talk quickly to the kids, her Hindi accent laced with a southern drawl that proved to everyone that she most certainly isn't a local. "Sorry, the kids heard your name and they're trying to get through my door. I think they've all missed their favorite doctor." She laughed. "We've all missed our favorite doctor, actually."
"I've missed all of you, too. I'm trying to get a break from work soon so I can at least come visit." Being missed wasn't something he was used to, but it was nice, being cared about.
"I thought they were goin' to let you come back after that whole Chitauri thing! What happened?" Her accent slipped through even more when she gets angry, which happened a lot it seemed. One of his favorite parts about her early on in their relationship was her attitude. For such a soft spoken, gentle individual, the girl had one heck of a temper. It derived all from pure fear, he knew, but it showed her strength. She had pulled through from life's hard grip and gotten on top. She had beaten it and came out stronger. And that was a constant inspiration for him, seeing her win. She still struggled, but she was okay. She would be okay.
And so would he, as soon as he could get himself a plane ticket straight to Kalkuta.
"The Director's switched randomly and now it's that Agent who everyone thought died. I don't know, it's a mess out here now. But things are settling down now. I'll be in Kalkuta by next month at the latest, I promise."
"Don't make promises you can't keep, Banner." She warned. "I'll keep this one. I don't care what I have to do, I'll keep this one."
Somewhere else in the mansion, lights were flicked on and JARVIS made his presence known, telling Steve, Clint and Natasha (the gym junkies, Tony and I call them.) good morning. "I better go, the team is waking up and I really-"
"You don't want to get harassed by Tony Stark about the girl on the phone. Understood, understood." She sang, laughing once again as another crash came from her end of the line as the kids tried their best to find her. "Don't wait so long to call again, Bruce. I've missed you, really. There's no one to talk to here, not like we do."
"Call me whenever you can, even if you wake me up. Forget about the time difference, okay? I've missed you, too."
"Good, I'll do that." There was an awkward pause for a moment as both struggled to just say their goodbyes and hang up. There was more to be said but neither one was ready at all to even begin that yet. The thought of saying that they cared about each other, even just as friends, was terrifying. They'd both lost a lot of people, and the last thing they wanted to do was let themselves realize how much they cared and then lose one another. "Bye, Doc."
"Goodbye. Go tame the kids down."
"All day, everyday!"
Steve walked through the door as Bruce poured a cup of tea into an chipped blue mug. It had survived the Chitauri attack and the Hulk's little temper tantrum in the mansion and Tony kept it as a trophy of sorts. He kept a mug, yet he threw away priceless paintings with a tiny scratch, he thought wryly. The team was most definitely made of some...interesting people. He couldn't help but wonder how they managed to get through the differences they all had and fight so well together, but once they all got in the zone, it was incredible. "Morning, Doctor Banner." Steve still hadn't gotten used to being casual around the team, other than with Natasha. After their mission together when his old friend Bucky Barnes had come back, they were much closer than any of us had ever expected them to become.
"Morning." He lifted the mug slightly as a greeting, watching Steve limp along the kitchen and make his breakfast. "Rough mission last night?"
"The mission wasn't bad at all - a milk run, really. It was Clint that got me." He hummed, rubbing his injured leg mindlessly. "Apparently the guy's not too happy that Natasha and I have gone on a few missions together recently."
"He's protective over her, that's for sure. They've been through a lot together." He didn't bother telling Steve that he felt the exact same way, knowing someone else was working with his friend in India while he was stuck here.
Steve sat across from Bruce then, a cup of coffee in his hands. What he wouldn't give to be able to have coffee again without worrying about The Other Guy getting too hyped up and make a visit. Ever since He came along, caffeine was a no-go. He used to live off of the stuff, back in his Culver days. When he taught the classes there, the only thing that kept him from going crazy from either lack of sleep or pure exhaustion because of the stubborn students was coffee. And Betty, but Lord knows that ship has sailed. Besides, in the last days, she seemed to make matters way worse.
"Yeah, I guess. I still think he's half-expecting us to go get married." Steve laughed. "We only kissed for the mission. That's all."
"I believe you." Bruce lied through his teeth on that one. The whole team was placing bets on when Natasha and Steve would finally realize that they had feeling for each other.
And that's precisely the reason he refused to tell anyone about the girl in India...
Less than an hour later, he was back in the lab. He saw Tony spinning in his chair out of the corner of his eye and laughed under his breath. Despite the other man's quirkiness, he had made being in New York a lot easier and helped him enjoy science again. Before, science was simply a necessity to help people. You couldn't be a doctor without it, but slowly, he was beginning to feel more like a scientist again. He felt as if his mind was an old boarded up basement covered in cobwebs - he hadn't even begun to use it all in years. The work he did in India barely scratched the surface. It felt good to work on challenging things again and he wondered if he'd be able to last in India again, with no lab, no fancy supplies or gadgets and no fellow scientists to keep him interested. Just then, his phone lit up next to him and alerted him. He'd received a text from her, written in imperfect Hindi. Yeah, I'll be able to cope, he thought. Now the hard part...finding a way to snag a few days off and get a plane ticket.