A/N. Hi guys! Welcome back to Our Children. This one is not very happy but it's not overly sad either (in my opinion). I hope you like it anyway though, because let's be honest, the lives of these kids can't be happy 24/7. Enjoy! :D

Brianna (Bretty) = 15

Jim (Clintasha) = 17

Alaina (Steve/Anon) = 18 [graduated]

Brianna Banner gripped the cafeteria tray with white knuckles.

"I heard that he destroyed an entire city just last week!"

"I heard that he killed his past four wives during sex because he was too aggressive."

"I heard that the Hulk-"

"ENOUGH!" She roared, crushing the metal plate in her hands as if it were paper. The mush and food that had been plopped onto her tray exploded and covered the gossiping girls as well as herself. Her breathing became erratic to match her raising heart rate. "SHUT UP! ALL OF YOU!"

The group of girls stared, wide-eyed, and slowly began backing away. They watched as Brianna's skin slowly began to turn a sickly shade of lime green and her normally calm brown eyes were devoured by a thick haze of colour. The veins in her neck, forehead, and arms popped out dramatically and her teeth were bared.

Then something in her snapped and her expressions turned horrified. She looked down at her hands. They were turning green and getting chubbier by the second. That's when the pain started. "No! NO!" She clutched at her ears in a useless attempt at muffling the ringing in her head.

She didn't remember making the conscious decision to run, but she found herself shoving her side into the double doors of the caf and launched herself down the hallway. The pain began blurring at her vision and she clutched and clawed at the air for something to hold on to.

Oh God. Not here. Not now. Please.

She fell inside the girl's washroom, scaring the others so much that they ran outside screaming but who gave a damn anymore?

Her skin and clothing began to tear and she screamed, thrashing on the floor. Pain engulfed her as did the darkness of the tiny room. She didn't know how long she lay like that, panting in the stall, still green as ever, when the door opened.

She sobbed and covered her face with her arms. No one knew she could Hulk out. They knew she was Banner's daughter, but they didn't know of the capabilities she had.

But something unexpected happened.

The door closed and the person turned on the light. She looked up and gulped. There was Jim. He was in his last year of high school, just two years her senior and looking extremely sympathetic.

She'd never told him. She'd never told anyone about her ability to Hulk out save her parents, who'd discovered it at about the same time she did.

But it made sense that he didn't freak out like the others. He lived with her for one thing. He was the son of two master assassins – Avengers – for another. He'd most likely already pieced together the puzzle of what had happened.

He knelt down beside her and grasped her huge, green hand. He was saying something but her heart was pounding in her ears too loudly to hear anything more than nails on a chalkboard. Her vision had cleared though, and she could read his lips well enough to know that he had said something along the lines of, "I'm here." Not, "it's okay" or "it's going to be okay" or "you'll be fine" but "I'm here".

He used his index and middle fingers to point at her eyes, then his own, silently asking her for eye contact. She nodded and found herself staring into his stormy grey eyes, just like his father's. Eventually, time passed and her heart beat slowed down to a normal pace and the green (and the pain) began to fade. Her muscles contracted and she felt as if she'd just finished giving birth (not that she knew what that felt like but she imagined it would be rather similar).

She sagged and immediately felt Jim's arms surround her. She'd always thought of him as her cousin, just like she did the others. It didn't matter that he and Alaina were dating; they were both cousins to her just like everyone else. But Jim was the closest to her in age, so it would make sense that they would be pretty close. However, it was mainly the gender that kept them apart. Brianna tended to hang out more with his girlfriend than him, but they were still pretty close.

At that moment, she knew they'd just gotten infinitely closer. Physically and emotionally drained, Brianna lifted her exhausted arms to wrap around his back and hug him in thanks for staying with her – for not fearing her. He patted her awkwardly and leaned back against the stall door, sighing as he looked around at the pink tinted walls of the girls' bathroom.

She would have to repay him somehow. She didn't know how yet, but she would. If it was the last thing she did, she would thank him in some way. After all, actions speak louder than words.

A/N. Next time, stay tuned for a James/Violet oneshot as requested by a reviewer :) That's all folks! ;)

P.S. Sorry if it wasn't that great. I wrote this in like, half-an-hour late at night. I can rewrite it if you guys want me to.