A Familiar Face
A/N: This chapter is set one week after the Avengers film, though long before the events of The Amazing Spider-Man 2.
Hulk:
I suppose you could say that Bruce was having one of those days. The ones that make you feel like the world is screwing with you for the sake of pissing you off.
His day started off alright. He woke up at exactly five am. He did his breathing exercises, as always he focused on the techniques used to slow the heart rate and that lasted for maybe an hour. After that he got showered and dressed…the god of good fortune must have left for a coffee break at that point though because that's when things started going wrong. Long story short the robot that normally sorts out all of Tony's food had a bit of a malfunction so Bruce accidentally poured sour milk into his cereal. Once he'd finished scraping the fowl smelling clumps into the bin (he came close to throwing up at that point) he had to wait almost twenty minutes before he felt like he could stomach something without it coming right back up.
Still, he told himself. It could be worse.
Of course Clint had finished off the frosted flakes which left him with two choices. He could steal some of Steve's weird shredded wheat cereal that tasted like cardboard or he could go out for breakfast.
Guess what Bruce decided to do?
Bruce had to drive around for almost an hour looking for a place that was still open after 'The Invasion'. Most places had closed until they could fix the damage inflicted to the building meaning the construction companies were completely swamped with work.
According to the news it would probably take months, even years before things could begin to return to normal. A week had passed and already everybody was sick of it. Of course Bruce had lived in countries without running water, let alone supermarkets with entire isles devoted to cereal so he was doing alright.
After finding a suitable place to eat he ended up waiting for another hour just to get a table since the place was full and when he was finally served he found the food a little undercooked.
Still, he told himself. It could be worse.
He drove around for a while longer, killing time before he had to go back to the practically empty tower. Tony was taking a 'well-earned vacation' with Pepper in Greece, Natasha was on a mission, Clint was staying at the tower until an assignment came up but he spent most of his time hanging around at the SHIELD training facility so Bruce normally only saw him in the late evenings.
Then there was Steve…Bruce wasn't entirely sure what the situation with Steve was. The guy got up at the crack of dawn every morning, did a series of morning 'wake up exercises' that would leave any other man completely exhausted. Then he ate his disgustingly bland cereal and left. As far as Bruce could tell he normally went for a run at some point every day but other than that the man's daily routine was anyone's guess. He had a modest apartment that SHIELD paid for but that was about it. There wasn't a hell of a lot to the mysterious super solider.
That left Thor…Well he'd returned to his sky palace with Loki and the Tesseract and they'd heard nothing from him since. Nobody knew when he'd return…if he'd return.
Bruce's motorbike made an unhealthy gurgling noise and slowed to a crawl. It gave a rattling whine as it was steered towards the curb. He mentally cursed but forced himself to stay calm.
Still, he told himself. It could be worse.
He moved to pull out the Stark Phone Tony had insisted on giving him but after years of avoiding phones, if absolutely necessary keeping one in his possession for no more than a few days…It wasn't a habit he could easily drop. Worse still the sky line was threatening to swallow the sun completely, leaving him in the darkness of night while stranded in a part of town that could be described as anything but friendly.
Unwilling to leave his bike, he tried to fix it himself but it soon became clear that he didn't have the necessary equipment. Reluctantly he came to terms with the fact that he'd probably never see his motorcycle again and started walking in the general direction of the tower. He had his wallet on him at least. Maybe he could hail a cab?
He turned onto an empty street and continued walking for maybe ten minutes, doing his best to continue heading in the same general direction of the tower but it had been years since he'd spent any time in New York. He considered turning back but he wasn't sure that he would be able to accurately retrace his steps.
Bruce turned onto a side street but found his way blocked.
Five guys, strong builds, late twenties.
Bruce turned to go back the way he'd come but tripped over something in the steadily growing shadows. He regained his footing but managed to make enough noise to alert the group that he was there.
Great job there, Bruce, he said to himself. There was an audible shweeek as someone unfolded a switchblade.
"You wanna empty your pockets about now?" somebody asked. Bruce turned to face the still advancing group. One was smiling with stained teeth, knife all too comfortable in his hand. As he drew closer Bruce caught the distinctive whiff of alcohol. They weren't flat out drunk although a couple of them swayed slightly, they'd had just enough to drink that it would cloud their judgement and slow their reflexes.
Bruce was still outnumbered by people who were clearly stronger than he was. He supposed he could run but he didn't know the neighbourhood, just wandering through side streets had led him into several dead ends. If that happened while he was running for his life?
Besides, his heart rate was already faster than normal. The last thing he needed was for the other guy to make an appearance.
Bruce pulled out his wallet and tossed it towards them. Somebody picked it up and started sifting through its contents.
"No credit cards, no phone?" one of them listed in disbelief.
"That's all I have," Bruce said steadily but his heart was thumping in his chest. He needed to calm down and fast.
"Now why don't we all give the guy a little space? He's looking a little green," a voice said from…above them?
Before anybody could react a flash of red and blue landed behind the man holding the knife. Suddenly the mugger found the weapon had been yanked from his hand. The red and blue blur grabbed the man's shoulders and threw him into the nearest person who had barely registered what was happening.
A man with a greyish hoodie came up behind the red and blue blur, a switchblade in hand, but when he moved to attack the man in red and blue easily sidestepped, despite the fact that there was no way he could have been able to see the attack coming.
By this point Bruce had identified the man in red and blue. After all, everybody had heard about New York's friendly neighbourhood vigilante.
Spider-Man grabbed the wrist of the man in the grey hoodie and twisted until the knife fell from his hand. Before the man could cry out the vigilante sent an elbow into his stomach. The man's eyes bulged before he collapsed. Before the man's unconscious body had hit the floor, Spider-Man had moved onto his next target.
He kicked out the legs of a man with short stubby hair and a knee to the back of the head later the man was unconscious.
Despite showing an impressive amount of strength it was clear from the beginning that he was holding back. He rendered the men unconscious with, albeit painful but recoverable injuries.
The last man came at him from behind but Spider-Man turned at the last moment and secured him to a wall with a spurt of webbing. He gripped the man's head and slammed it against the wall with precisely the right amount of force. The man reeled before collapsing completely, held partially upright by the webbing that still secured his hand in place.
It suddenly occurred to Bruce that he probably should have run while everybody was distracted.
"You alright?" Spider-Man asked as he stopped to pick something up off the ground. It wasn't until he straightened up that Bruce saw he was holding a wallet.
"Mr…Banner?" the vigilante asked after briefly glancing at the driver's license SHIELD had supplied after they gave him a new social security number. Same name, despite their recommendations, but nothing to tie him to the scientist that had supposedly died years before.
Bruce didn't say anything and instead watched as Spider-Man picked up the cash that the muggers had dropped in the fight. To his surprise, the vigilante simply sorted the notes into a neat pile and returned it to the wallet.
"Here," Spider-Man said as he held out the wallet. Bruce hesitated.
"Look I know that a lot of people have been talking about me lately, I can't tell you how many times somebody has called me a masked menace or told me that I've got no right to 'take responsibility and interfere with the fine work the NYPD do in this city'. But it's been a long week and right now all I really want to do is finish up out here tonight so please skip the criticism and take the wallet," the vigilante said with a tired sigh.
Bruce took the wallet and frowned.
"Actually I was just going to say thanks."
Spider-Man seemed genuinely surprised although it was difficult to tell since he was wearing a mask.
"Huh…I don't actually hear that word too often. Especially after the whole 'alien invasion thing', a lot of people seem to think that now the Avengers are around, New York doesn't need a vigilante anymore. I guess criticism comes with the territory," the man said. Bruce got the feeling that he was smiling beneath the mask but it was impossible to tell.
"I don't suppose you know where I can hail a cab do you?" Bruce asked a little awkwardly.
"You a tourist?" Spider-Man asked with a hint of surprise in his voice.
"Um…something like that," Bruce admitted. He wasn't entirely sure what he was or how long he'd be staying.
"Well…You came at a pretty bad time of year but I hope you enjoy the sites. The statue of liberty and everything is fine as far as I know. Anyway, there are normally a couple of cabs hanging around a street not far from here. I can walk you there if you want. It's been a fairly slow day as these things go. Then again it'll probably pick up in a few hours. Most people wait until it's really dark before trying anything," Spider-Man explained.
So the vigilante walked him through a few side streets until they were staring at the busy road. Despite the fact that it was getting late there were plenty of cars and people walking around.
They didn't exactly strike up a conversation but Spider-Man's mood seemed to have greatly improved.
"I've got to be quick. People might start throwing eggs again or something," the vigilante muttered. Bruce glanced at him in surprise.
"People threw eggs at you?"
"Oh they tried," Spider-Man replied with a hint of amusement in his voice.
Before Bruce could so much as blink the vigilante had sprinted towards the road. There was an audible yell of surprise from one of the pedestrians nearby but Spider-Man paid no attention.
He effortlessly shot an impossibly perfectly angled web that latched onto the side of a building. His momentum pulled him into the air and he turned sharply, releasing the web a split second before shooting off another one.
Bruce stepped into the street and watched Spider-Man swing away, performing perfectly executed flips from time to time. As if travelling by web didn't seem difficult enough.
Bruce hailed a cab without really thinking and told the driver to take him to Stark Tower. For the rest of the journey he thought about his all in all crappy day.
Still, he told himself. It could be worse.
:::
R/R guys :)
Chapter originally written by consultingsorcererof221B