Hulk let me down surprisingly gently next to the Quinjet, and I'm not going to lie, my legs buckled. I grasped the ship's exterior to stay upright, breathing through my mouth. That had been quite a ride. I was pretty sure I almost died three times along the trip. Hulk definitely almost dropped me.
I breathed out. Okay. I was alive. That was good.
Hulk barged on inside the jet, ripping off the plaster of the top part, and I heard Thor's rushed "Wait, no!"s as Hulk crippled the ship, reaching for his friend. I took a final moment of peace, and followed Hulk inside.
Thor was jamming at all the buttons, desperately trying to get the ship to work, one hand extended to Hulk in a halt motion. Of course, Hulk didn't. "Stay! Don't go!" He yelled, and I winced as the ship made a metal sound like it was dying. Then suddenly, Scarlet Johansson-well Black Widow's face appeared on the flight console.
"Nice work, big guy. We don't know where Ultron's headed, but you're going very high, very fast." Hulk stopped short. He stared, open mouthed, at the recorded message. "So, I need you to turn this bird around, okay? We can't track you in stealth mode. So I need you to help me out. Okay? I need you to-"
"No! No, Banner!" Hulk convulsed, as if going into shock, and he balked against the interior of the ship, dropping to his hands and knees. Thor and I watched with wide eyes as his body warped, Hulk fighting along the entire process as he got smaller and smaller. He clutched as his face and when the green-ness faded away Bruce Banner was the one that faced us.
Thor rushed to his side. "Banner. Hey, hey, hey. You all right, Banner? Sun's going down. Sun's going down. That's it, breathe. I won't hurt you. Sun's going down."
Banner rubbed at his eyes, lines wrinkled around his face as he blinked away his grogginess. "...Thor?"
"Yeah."
He noticed me. "And who is she?" He clutched the sheet around his waist tighter, and I slightly looked away, both of us blushing.
"She's Regis, Anadaughter." Thor edged closer to him, looking at me like he just noticed me, too. "And I have no idea why she's here."
I winced, then smiled hesitantly. "Loki dragged me here. And I got stuck with him on Sakaar."
"Loki? Sakaar?" Banner frowned. "Where are we? How's Nat?"
"Nat is good, I'm sure." Thor answered, not sounding very sure.
"And what about Sokovia?"
"...Sokovia?"
"The city, Sokovia." Banner inched forward. "Did we save it?"
Thor looked confused, then a moment later understanding set in. "Banner, listen. Sokovia. Ultron. That was two years ago."
Banner gaped. "What? What are you saying? I've been Hulk for two years?"
"I'm afraid so."
He rushed to his feet, not hesitating or seemingly thinking as he raced over to the console. We followed.
"Banner, there's something you should know-"
"Voice recognition required," A woman's voice said mechanically.
"Banner."
"Welcome, strongest Avenger."
"What?" Thor said, puzzled, and I grinned.
"Ship's log." Banner muttered, sounding half-anxious and half-resigned. The display popped up, showing us an angry Hulk thrash away from behind the console. Banner and Thor watched the screen and I watched them, failing to stay un-fascinated with the A-listers in front of me. It never grew old, meeting famous people.
"Thor, where are we?" Banner asked when the video cut off, his voice carefully controlled. Thor smiled anxiously.
"Yeah, about that-"
"It's bad news, bad news today," The Grandmaster's voice boomed from the tallest tower and we snapped our heads up to the gigantic hologram of the man. "Sakaar, hear ye. Attention please. I have some bad news. My beloved, exalted Champion has turned up missing. Take to the streets. Celebrate my champion."
"Who's that?" Banner asked, incredulous, and I smirked.
"He's the guy who runs this place. We actually lived in his house for a while."
"We?"
"Uh, no, we didn't live together. I lived with Loki. You were next doors."
"You lived with-"
"It seems that that criminally seductive Lord of Thunder has stolen him away." The Grandmaster interrupted, and Thor growled. "Seductive God of Thunder."
"Seductive. Ha." I laughed, and he glanced at me, and I stopped. "You are seductive. Very."
"Thank you," He answered primly, and looked back at Banner. "We need to move."
"Oh, no. This is bad." Banner shuddered, putting his face into his hands. "This is really, really bad. Thor, I think I'm freaking out."
"Don't freak out," I patted his arm softly, much like what I did with Hulk a few hours ago. "You'll be fine. You'll be very fine."
"Put these on," Thor tossed some clothes to Banner, who was looking at me through his fingers. The clothing dropped to the floor, but he didn't spare it a glance, fixated on me instead.
"Thor. She's a kid."
"I'm not a kid," I said defensively. "I'm a teenager. I'm a young adult."
"She's not a kid," Thor backed me up, helpful for once. Then he said, "Loki said she was 226 years old."
I almost groaned. That really didn't help. Then I frowned. "Why would Loki tell you my age?"
"Because you seemed young, and I didn't want my brother to exploit one who wasn't of age-"
"Okay, whatever you're thinking, isn't true." I narrowed my eyes. "Why would you think that in the first place? You have a dirty mind, seductive lord of thunder."
"God of Thunder!" He bellowed, and I grinned. "Whatever."
"But how are you here? Why are you here? You're human, right? You're not really two hundred something," Banner said dubiously, and I winced slightly.
"I might have lied about that."
Thor looked shocked. "You lied to my brother?"
I shrugged absentmindedly. "He was pretty easy to lie to, despite the fact that he was the lord of lies."
"God of lies," He barked, looked at me, and realized he'd been played. His look was delicious, and I beamed wickedly. Loki was really getting to me.
"Didn't you say something about needing to move?" I questioned innocently, and Thor looked at me with that half-amused, half-annoyed look. He huffed.
"Yes. Banner, put these on. Quick."
Banner stared at me and I stared right back until I realized he was semi-naked and waiting for me to get out. I flushed.
"Oh. Right. Sorry," I rambled, edging back to the exit. Wow. That was really really awkward.
Bruce was cute. There was no way around it. He was simply put adorable. Spending time with Loki, who was definitely in no way cute, and just mildly terrifying at all times, gave me a fresh perspective on the people around me. I really really liked Bruce, because he was different. He wasn't that smug confident genius style like Strange or Tony or Loki. I had gotten a bit tired with those types.
But Banner...He was something brand new.
"The sun's going down. It's getting really low. The sun's going down. It's getting real-"
"Would you stop saying that!?" Banner yelled, just as I snapped "The sun is not going down!" and Thor pouted, looking like a kicked puppy.
"I just want you to stay calm."
"Calm!? I'm on an alien planet!"
"It's a nice alien planet," I pointed out. "You could've been on somewhere with I don't know, Daleks or something. Aliens that trys to kill you."
He looked at me, a flash of amusement and recognition in his eyes blocking out the panic. "I wouldn't have pegged you for a nerd."
"You know nothing about me," I reminded him with a smile. "Aside from the fact that I'm a nerd, I guess."
"What's a nerd?" Thor asked, confused, and Banner shook his head.
"It's not important. What's important, is that in the past, I always felt like Hulk and I each had a hand on the wheel." He took a deep breath. "But this time, it's like he had the keys and I was locked in the trunk."
"Alright, well, you're back now, that's all that matters."
"No, it's not what matters. What I'm trying to tell you, is that if I turn into the Hulk again, Banner may never come back. And we're stranded on a planet that is designed to stress me out." said Banner, rubbing at his temples like he might Hulk out at any moment.
I peered at him cheerfully. "We're not stranded. We'll go back to Earth, after dealing with some business in Asgard."
"Asgard?" His forehead crumpled. "Why?"
"Thor's sister took over, and she's evil. And very very attractive." I added, for good measure, and Banner stared at me doubtfully.
Thor cleared his throat. "What she's saying, is that my people are in great danger. We need to fight Hela, who is this really powerful evil being, who also happens to be my sister."
Banner took a moment to process that, and opened his mouth to protest but I beat him to it.
"You don't have to fight, but you will, when the time comes. But don't you worry, everything will be fine." I said reassuringly, then paused. "Well, until Thanos is here, of course. But then, nobody's going to be fine."
He looked at me wordlessly but I knew his mind was filled with questions about everything, being the logical scientist he was. I saw the uncertainty and the distrust in his eyes, and he opened his mouth, finally settling on a simple sentence. "How are you so sure?"
I flashed him an indisputable smile. "I know things. It's my superpower."
"What?" He gawked disbelievingly.
"Loki said she knew the future," Thor gave me a look that said he hadn't exactly believed him, and I frowned slightly.
"How much did you guys talk about me?"
"Not enough," He said, crossing his arms in a firm posture. "What do you mean, everything will be fine?"
"It means, everything will be fine."
"Do we defeat Hela?"
I smiled weakly. "Maybe."
He watched me with suspicion. "That's not an answer."
"Haven't you watched any sci-fi movies? I can't just tell you the future because things will go wrong, and we'll all die."
"But you just told us everything will be fine," Banner pointed out, and I blinked, caught off-guard. Oh. Yeah.
"It's just a figure of speech," I defended after a moment. "I just said it so you'd feel better. Would you have liked it if I told you everything was not going to be fine?"
He wrinkled his nose. "Probably not."
"See?" My grin faded, though, as I realized I would have to watch my words way more carefully. Banner was a genius, an observant genius. He didn't ignore me like others did. Maybe that was a good thing, but I'd have to start being very very attentive of what I was going to sprout. "You're lucky you're cute," I grumbled, and then realized that I just said that. I just said that.
I died a bit inside. Didn't I just tell myself I was going to be attentive to what I was going to say? Wow. I was an idiot.
Banner looked slightly startled, looking at me with confusion in his eyes. I tried not to look embarrassed.
"I'm cuter," I told him, by this point giving up on dignity or any useless pieces of my pride. "So it doesn't mean anything." He looked bewildered but then thankfully Thor stepped in, snagging some towel off the ground next to him. He put it over his head and Banner turned to stare at him, managing to look even more bewildered.
"What are you doing with that?"
"I need a disguise. I'm a fugitive," Thor stage-whispered, and Banner looked thoughtful.
"I need a disguise," He said, digging out a pair of sunglasses from his pocket, and I snatched it away from him. I put it on. It was perhaps a bit too big on my face and definitely more expensive then anything I owned, but I liked sunglasses. It gave you a filter on the world.
"Let's get going, then." I said nonchalantly, pushing Thor to his feet. "You guys are fugitives, as you said."
Thor nodded curtly-I was starting to think that he didn't like me much- and he lead the way out of the corner and I ducked, pulling Banner's jacket back right as green paint flew over us. I bent over and coughed, the particles coarse and rough in my mouth.
"Thanks," Banner murmured, looking shocked at the street festival that was raging on around us. Everything was green. I liked the color, but this was perhaps a bit too much.
It was even more chaotic inside the parade where Thor was walking into and we lost him, my clutch on Banner the only thing keeping me oriented. There were too many people. I started to feel dizzy, overwhelmed by the noise and the smell and the feeling of being engulfed by a crowd.
Then Banner started moving and I nearly tripped, barely managing to follow him. Then I gritted my teeth and focused and we surged out into a less-occupied area, with Thor holding Banner protectively, and a huge scrapper in front of us. He was huge. Enormous. Very alien.
My grip on Banner tightened without meaning to, and I was about to use magic when the alien keeled over, electrocuted. Valkyrie stood behind the fallen body and I sagged in relief, releasing Banner. He rubbed at his shoulder, peering at me with a frown and I winced. I mouthed sorry at him.
"Hi." Thor said awkwardly. Val ignored him, looking at me dead in the eyes.
"What are you doing with them?"
"Uh, I'm tagging along." I gave a small shrug. "I want to go back to Earth."
"I could've taken you." She remarked, and I paused, blinking.
"Really?"
She sighed like a tired mom, then addressed Thor.
"Come on then." And Val dragged him away, and Banner and I exchanged a look, then followed.
A/N: Thanks for F&F&Rs! I am seriously considering if I should make Regis fall in love with someone, but then...she's 15. Maybe a crush will be better;)
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