Chapter 11

David Banner lightly dozed in his old bedroom. Helen had kept it neat and tidy for him over the years, always hoping he would return. After his last homecoming, where he helped his father save the family farm, Helen cheerfully redecorated, though kept some of his most prized childhood toys and teenage items for nostalgia's sake. David supposed part of him had borrowed a page from Sarah's book. He wanted to have the temporary comfort of sleeping in an old, familiar place. He'd built up his own life and career over the years, and it had all been ruined in some of the worst ways possible, so being home was a luxury and comfort.

David's dreams blurred as the events of the day rolled through his mind – His further attempts to examine the venom samples from Sarah, her DNA samples, and relaxing with D.W. playing rounds of Poker and Go Fish. He also successfully encouraged Helen to get a nurse to stay with their dad.

Helen was on the verge of burnout between running the farm, dealing with the stresses of D.W's worsening illness, and trying to maintain her own job and house, even with David's help. David supposed he could have supported her more if he could be seen in public, but Helen refused to let him. He also couldn't even promise to stay beyond a week or even a day. That was the nature of his life.

In his dream, the happy game of Go Fish he'd played with his dad morphed into a radically different scene. David's mother, healthy and youthful, came out of the kitchen with a plate of freshly baked brownies. She smiled as if she wanted to join in, but then her smile faded, and she wandered outside.

"Mom, wait!" A little boy's voice came out of David's mouth, and his younger self chased after his mother toward the fields. Once at the edge, he stared in horror when he realized the Wolfgangers had invaded his family farm and tore up the crops and corn. One of them had brutally killed his mother and prepared to feed her body to a mutant pig.

"NO! Mama!" David screamed and attempted to save her. D.W. ran outside and gripped his shoulder. The pain halted him.

"Never mind her, David. There are chores to be done! Homework to finish!" D.W. said gruffly.

D.W. did absolutely nothing but stand and stare blankly at the blood-splattered fields.

"DAD, YOU LET THIS HAPPEN! YOU LET HER DIE!" David slammed his little fists against D.W.'s chest.

"She deserved it! Elizabeth loved you more than me!" His father spat out evilly. "Only Helen understands. Only she loves me, and she will care for me forever!"

David looked up at the sound of loud banging. Helen, looking no older than eight years old, screamed, with her hands splayed on the glass, as if she were trapped. "David, please help me! Take me with you! David!"

Just then, a familiar car pulled up. It was the explosive car that caused his first wife's accident. David peered at the driver. Laura, with blood running over her half mangled face, gave him a chilling smile. Caroline, pale, sickly, and soaking wet, and wearing a cheerful Hawaiian Lei, stepped out from the car. She opened her arms wide and grinned and waved at David.

"Come with us, David. We need you!" Her terrifying grin widened until it stretched across her face, and her eyes turned black. She stumbled forward. Laura appeared at her side, her body half-burned and smoking. "You belong with us, David! You put us in this hell!"

Sarah suddenly crept from the cornfield undressed and screeched. She morphed into the white wolf, lunged out of the bushes in her wolf form, and bit down on Caroline's neck, killing her instantly and dumping her body beside a dead mobster she had also slaughtered. She went for Laura next and chewed her up and spit out her charred limbs.

"They are already dead, David! I can't let you leave me, David. Never! I want my cure! You promised!" Sarah's wolf howled and roared as blood gushed down her fangs.

"Sarah, NO! You monster! You are all monsters! Leave me alone! "

David's adult voice erupted from his mouth, and he was a grown man again. He punched his father to the ground and ran into the house. He had to do something. He grabbed his dad's shotgun and barrelled outside, aiming the gun at the wolf's head …

David leaped up erect, wide awake. He barely registered his surroundings as the beginnings of metamorphosis overtook him.

His skin darkened green as his muscles bulged and split his pajama shirt apart. His face broadened, and anger and frustration overtook him as a loud roar escaped his lips. He tossed the frayed remains of his shirt aside and stormed out of the room.

The Hulk stomped into the living room, where he found himself face-to-face with Helen, who'd been awakened by the noise. "Oh, David, what happened?" she gasped in horror as he pushed her aside and overturned the living room coffee table.

"It wasn't me this time, I swear!" Sarah exclaimed as she came out of her own room. "David, STOP!"

The Hulk slowly turned and glared at the two women, even if there was a slight flicker of recognition in his eyes. He lumbered toward Sarah with venom in his eyes, and growled, then shook his head, confused. He swung around and rushed toward the door, then kicked his way out of the house.

"I'll get him," Sarah said, unnerved by his reaction. Helen went to her father's bedroom, hearing him wake up due to the commotion.

"Helen! David! Are we being robbed!" D.W. shouted from his bedroom. "Where's your mother? Is there an earthquake?"

Once outside, Sarah quickly followed the Hulk's trail, though she didn't need to rely entirely on his scent. She saw a glimpse of his retreating, green body through the darkness.

"Sarah?" Lucan appeared beside her as if out of nowhere. "What happened? Why did David change again?" He eyed the broken door with widened eyes.

"I don't know! I think he had a nightmare. I'm trying to catch up."

They jogged alongside each other in the Hulk's direction. "Why are you out here, anyway? I thought you'd gone to bed!" Sarah demanded.

"Too early. I don't sleep much at night anyway, and I sensed Prentiss nearby. I need to move on very soon, Sarah. But I'll help calm David and bring him back first."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The Hulk wandered into the outskirts of the town, running from his own emotions and the terrors of the night he didn't fully understand in this form. He finally slowed at a small bus stop when he neared a familiar bench that, for some reason, struck an emotional chord in him.

The feeling stirred pangs of sadness within him, including anger. He snarled, then snapped the bench in half and watched the fragments scatter to the ground. He crunched some into sawdust, as though destroying the seat would somehow fulfill whatever his angry side desired.

A high-pitched scream caught his attention, and he turned to see a plump woman whose overly made-up face had gone as pale as a sheet. Her eyes widened like saucers. Her purse slipped from her grasp, yet she remained frozen to the spot.

The Hulk roared at the woman because her shriek hurt his ears. She took a shaky step backward and yelled again… and again. They quickly screamed and shouted in unison, both causing enough racket to wake the dead.

Lucan carefully approached the Hulk, while Sarah went over to the woman, instantly recognizing Agatha Blackwell. Sarah took a little pity on her, noticing how utterly frightened she was. "Um, Ms. Blackwall, it's okay, everything is going to be fine. He won't hurt you." Sarah tried to soothe her while Lucan hurriedly led the Hulk away from the area and into the woods.

Agatha, after her incoherent mumbling about monsters and Frankenstein, let out one final scream and fainted with a dramatic plop. Sarah sighed, relieved Agatha had stopped drawing attention, but then realized what this would mean for David when she woke up and told the world. Sarah stared down at the unconscious woman, then made an effort to gently drag her out of the middle of the sidewalk and onto the soft grass.

Lucan had the Hulk sitting on the ground almost effortlessly. "Stay calm; the woman cant hurt you, nothing can. Please relax. Good, now bring David back." Lucan tentatively put his hand on Hulk's arm.

It wasn't long before the Hulk's features shrank, and his skin faded to normal. He shivered as the inevitable, sudden chill overtook him. Quickly dropping from the creature's high body heat and blood pressure to average human temperatures chilled David's core. He looked at Lucan, disoriented as he tried to find his bearing.

"Where … where am I? Oh, no! Helen!"

Lucan lowered his hand and helped David up. "It's okay, you're not far from the town. It's a little bus stop area before all the farms. Thank goodness it's empty. But not for long. Helen and D.W. are safe … but you owe them a new dining table, some China, and a front door."

David hung his head ashamed that a mere dream could trigger such a Hulk-out. He had learned to get past that years ago with Caroline's and a Native American Medicine man's help.

Lucan patted his shoulder. "David, the stresses of the last few months have finally caught up to you. Between dealing with werewolves, wicked gangs, your family issues … " Lucan snuck a glance at Sarah, who had her back to them, kneeling beside Agatha. "And you've barely slept for days, David, working on this cure you promised."

"I … I think you're right, Lucan. Sometimes I don't know when to quit. Or just take it easy. I really can't."

"People like us can't afford it. That I understand. And we take on other people's burdens along the way."

David nodded, remembering his gruesome dream. They all demanded something of him. He slowly approached the bench, crushed and splintered around Sarah and the figure on the ground. His heart sank. That bench was his mother's favorite rest area in this park, and the stupid creature in him destroyed it. He took a deep breath and turned his attention on the unconscious lady.

"What happened? Is she alright? Oh no … not her." He recognized Agatha Blackwell.

Sarah said, "I think she's fine. She kept screaming then fainted when she saw the Hulk."

David gritted his teeth and chose to do an assessment anyway. "She's old, and she needs a doctor's care." He gently lifted one of Agatha's eyelids to check how her irises reacted to light, then checked her pulse and heartbeat. She was alive, just out for the count. "She will live. We can't leave her out here, and I can't go into town like this," he said, pointing at his torn jeans and bare chest.

David suddenly noticed Lucan standing erect, his eyes glowed red, and Sarah crouched defensively and sniffed the air.

"What is it? Who is it?" he asked.

"Lucan, it's the Bounty Hunter. He's not far. You need to hide." Sarah said.

Lucan backed away toward the woods. "Yes, he's closing in fast. I think he heard the screams."

Lucan now detected that man better than he could anyone else, having eluded him for several years. "We all need to leave. Let him help her," Lucan indicated to Agatha, "Prentiss is a good man at heart even if he won't stop coming after me."

"Sounds like Jack McGee …" David said.

Two minutes after the three mutants cut a hasty departure through the trees, Prentiss rushed onto the scene from the opposite side of the woods. He skidded and did a complete double-take when he saw the smashed bench and the unconscious woman on the ground.

"My God … are you alright, Ma'am?" Prentiss' hand went toward his gun, and his eyes darted about briefly, but he couldn't see anything or anyone that might have done this.

Agatha was just starting to rouse. "Where am I?" she asked drowsily.

"You're just outside of town, in a small wood near the bus stop. What happened here?" Prentiss extended his arm to help her. Agatha struggled to get up, finding it difficult to get good traction with her flimsy shoes and short, chunky legs. Prentiss helped her, glad he attended the gym twice a week to keep his strength.

The woman quickly straightened and dusted off her pea coat and a flowery dress. Her body rocked with dizziness, but Prentiss held her steady. She searched her memories, then gasped. "Oh, my word! I saw the most hideous monster! It was a big green man! He destroyed that bench with his bare hands!" She bellowed and pointed.

Prentiss took another quick look around the area. It needed far more street lighting than it had. He almost shivered. Although he'd heard this woman's screams, it was the sound of a wild animal mingled with her voice that put him on guard. The animal was long gone and left no footprints … however, he did see fresh shoe prints, at least two pairs of them. He needed to act rationally.

"Ma'am, there isn't anyone here now. It might've been some big hooligan in a green coat hiding in the shadows. We should call the authorities."

Agatha hated being patronized. "You better BELIEVE I will call the police! And I am not some senile old coot. I know what my eyes saw! And heard! I'll alert the Major and the National Guard if I have to!"

Prentiss raised his hands and showed her his badge. "Okay, okay. I am an Inspector, though I'm very far from my jurisdiction. What were you doing out here this late anyway, Ma'am?"

"Having a late supper at the Diner with friends. My car is in the shop. They needed to go in the opposite direction, so I told them I would take a bus. But I forget they are out of service at this hour, so I called a cab."

"Some friends they are," Prentiss muttered. "Leave an old lady stranded on the side of the road."

Agatha cooly ignored his remark. Some men didn't realize how independent a woman could be. Though she had felt slighted at their departure. It wasn't her friend's fault, but the impatient, rude daughter of one of them who picked them up.

"Well, anyway, I was waiting for my cab when that big green thing showed up! He roared in my face! I bet he scared off my cabbie, too! Now how am I gonna get home?"

"Ma'am, call another cab, and I'll wait with you until it comes." Prentiss offered. "Did you see anyone else here? Perhaps a young man with long, brown hair and a brown leather jacket? Was he your attacker?"

"No, I don't think so. I only saw that green beast!"

"Are you sure it was green?" Prentiss gave her a careful once over for signs of intoxication. He subtly sniffed her breath when she spoke again but only detected onion, garlic, and dinner mints.

"Yes! It was green! I'm not making this up! The proof is right there!" Agatha wagged her hand at the broken bench, angered that he would dare question her sanity.

"Alright, don't get hysterical," Prentiss held up a hand. "I'll have a look around while you make the phone call, okay?"

"Yes, then I'm going to alert the police, the FBI, the Mayor, and the National Register! I know where I have seen that beast before. In that very newspaper." Agatha huffed.

"You do that. I'm sure that rag will love this story," Prentiss mumbled as she stepped into the phone booth. He folded his arms and stared at the Diner's pink and green neon sign buzzing in the distance.

Although it crossed his mind, Prentiss couldn't believe that Lucan would attack this woman or anyone for that matter. The young man upheld certain pacifist qualities and saved lives despite his wolfish nature and what the stuffy University tried to tell him.

Although he still tracked him, Prentiss also doubted that Lucan was responsible for the lab fire or the student doctor's death two years ago. Toxicology reports on the victim showed he had been high at the time of the fight with Lucan and that the lab just so happened to house the same potent drugs.

The big picture came to Prentiss after a year on the hunt. Lucan had visited Don on campus and happened to be leaving the Science building. He had caught the two trainee Doctors breaking into the lab to steal. A struggle ensued, and a small explosion occurred. Lucan did his best to rescue the inured Doctor after his partner in crime fled the scene.

Not long after, Lucan was treated by the other drug thief at a small mountain town hospital in some weird twist of fate. The criminal Doctor, who had managed to hide out and keep a low profile, recognized Lucan. In a fever delirium, Lucan spoke of the night at the lab and had nightmares while gripped by the flu. The Doctor remembered him and eventually tried to hunt and kill Lucan but accidentally killed himself. Prentiss had to drag the real story out of the heroic young nurse who helped Lucan flee after she had learned of the Doctor's murderous drug schemes in their town hospital.

A few months into Prentiss' chase, the University, and the dead Doctor's family abruptly dropped all the charges against Lucan. They accepted that their son got into wrongdoing and that Lucan was only trying to stop him. Prentiss thought he could finally leave the young man in peace, but the school had other plans.

Prentiss knew the University's game. They didn't want Lucan back out of concern or for the crime he was falsely accused of. They wanted him for prestige and to continue with their tests and evaluations. To them, he was a freak of nature to be prodded and tested; despite how tame and academically advanced he became in just ten years. At times Prentiss pitied Lucan and once had him just within his reach only to let him escape.

The University became impatient in recent months. After a secret investigation, Prentiss discovered a silent benefactor was breathing down their necks to get Lucan back in one piece, and the prize was a substantial private donation. Even Don Hoagland, Lucan's caretaker, didn't know of this. Prentiss wrestled with telling Don to watch his and Lucan's back. The whole situation felt sinister, but a job was a job, and he always did his best.