The lengths Bruce has to go to bypass the authorities, disobeying their orders with the excuse that he can't understand what they're saying when he does, adds nothing for his desire to stay out of trouble and to just 'be good.'
He shouts when he stands beside the abomination, "Blonsky!"
The giant abruptly comes to a haunt in his destruction, all too happy to see the doctor.
Bruce gestures, "I'm here. On time. Like I said I'd be."
The authorities' ceasefire over the strange encounter that just gets weirder. Abomination steps forward;
"You know what I want."
Bruce rolls his eyes, carefully removing his shirt;
"Yeah yeah. All about the muscles and no brains- hold this? It's not mine, so don't lose it."
An authority figure questions briefly why he's been handed a purple button down.
"Come on you big green jerk, don't let Elizabeth down," Banner shuts his eyes as he whispers with a cringe and lets the hulk take over.
The poking and prodding, all of the intense emotions he's held inside for the past few days finally all explode as the green giant gets his wish and moves to crush Blonsky with one swing.
He roars as he takes control, eager to avenge the one person Hulk has cared the most about since the day he was born, Betty Ross.
The guns continue to be silent as the two wrestle in the street. The abomination is all too happy to indulge the hulk in his request for a fight.
Izabella busies herself, lifting a binder left out in the main room of the safe house.
The image of small child of around five was marked down as 'deceased' after an incident 9 year ago twists her stomach. She turns the page to find the father; 'deceased.' She turns again; the mother, the brother. Izabella breathes and flips to the end of the folder to find a final member of the missing community- deceased.
Izabella slips into the chair behind her, a photograph in hand as she reads the biography.
She can't recall anything that could've happened even if all signs point to her. In frustration she rotates her palm upward and with a fierce biting on both her lips tries to focus on the energy as he runs through her fingertips. She breathes through doubt.
If Natasha believes in her, then Izabella has no reason not to believe in herself. She can almost hear Banner's voice in the background when she shuts her eyes and focuses on the image, the threads, the concept of another world. Her hands are small but they are powerful.
Entering a state of complete and utter weightlessness seems to help her feel every bit of the energy pooling through her.
It hurts but maybe it will be worthwhile. She focuses through it all, muttering the name of her intended target.
Brody's entry into the living room of the safe house demands silence as he quietly watches the green energy obey her every bend and twist, watching in awe as Izabella focuses intently on her goals. It is almost alive as it bends and transforms around her fingers.
Mikhailov breathes through it all; She can do good because she is good.
Brody camps bravely beside her;
"What else can you do?"
Izabella looks at the photo, rotated just enough for Brody to see, "Maybe, bring her back?"
"Did you ask the adults?" Linda taps her shoulder, crashing the area with a juice box in her hand.
"Um…No."
"So you're not just some drone, nerd,' Riley crashes next, 'I like how you think."
Izabella sits on the ground and crosses her legs with the photo in front of her. She wipes the trickle of blood from her nose and shuts her eyes to concentrate on the target.
She forms a circle with her palms extended and strains with her eyes tearing. Her fingers stretch to increase the circle, creating a portal that opens slowly.
"Woah," Brody backs up.
Riley holds her hair back while Linda drops her juice box.
When the circle disappears, a teenager takes its place, blinking in confusion when she mumbles in Russian.
The green disappears and Izabella tugs at her burning ear.
"Uh,' Brody takes over, 'My name is Brody. You've been dead."
"Is this you? You were an ugly baby," Riley lifts the photo and shoves it in the teenager's face.
"Hideous," Linda deadpans.
Svetlana enters the room behind Stark and the rest of the team, in utter panic as they survey the room.
Brody waves to Stark and quickly translates;
"Hiya Mr. Stark. Izzy just brought someone back from the dead."
Svetlana holds her heart, ready to faint. Thor stands behind her, "Woah now my dear Lady! Stay on your feet."
"They're not 'dead', they're lost," Riley corrects shamelessly.
Tony just covers his mouth over the odd dilemma, too startled to speak as he watches Izabella rotate her hands ready to go again. She pauses for his approval;
"It work."
Tony nods quietly, one of the few times he has been speechless. The way the kids have taken control of the situation leaves him dumbfounded;
"Don't mind me. Do your thing."
Jane nudges her way through, "We have to explain what's going on to these people. Maybe we should tell Izabella to pump the brakes? Give us a chance to set up a welcoming system- not knocking Brody's because he's on it. But he's eight. So."
"Right!" Tony stumbles forward over his own two feet.
Riley waits when Izabella takes up another photo and resumes her green mist, "You're actually doing it."
Violet catches up to grab her arm with Linda behind her. Garrett moves in next with his two friends and the rest of the kids stacking up behind them.
"I can't see!"
"Move your butt."
"Shush back there!" Riley lectures to her counterparts.
Garrett touches his chest dramatically, "Who died and made you queen?"
"Shut! Your face!" She repeats herself.
"Sassy," Garrett dodges Riley's incoming glare.
Hulk is in full revenge mode even if he is bruised and bloodied pinned up against a building. The Abomination may be equally battered but he is far more casual about the encounter no matter how badly he wishes to smash the hulk the ground one final time.
Elizabeth arrives onto the scene with Lebedev in a wide eyed panic full of disbelief. She shakes her head as the authorities urge her to retreat.
The fellow scientist points, urging Elizabeth to accept the fact that "Dr. Romanoff" is the green creature in front of them. She shakes her head, "That's not Banner! I'm looking for a man, he's-."
"The hulk," Lebedev insists.
Elizabeth takes in the scene. Two monsters fighting in the middle of the city. Her jaw drops open, her hair pinned back in a ponytail.
Lebedev can't restrain his swears, holding a briefcase that contains their various compounds
She looks determined, slamming the trunk of her car shut, "We need to help him."
"How?!"
"I'm going to distract the brown one. Give me the first vial. Hey!"
Elizabeth storms forward, waving the vial between her fingers to distract the giant. The Abomination seems interested, much to Hulk's dismay.
She tilts her head, "You want it? You wanna get home?"
He growls with a grin.
"Then catch me," Elizabeth bravely swallows and leads him on a chase back toward the park.
Hulk roars and pounces at the opportunity to attack his target. The buildings collapse around them, screams in the air at an ungodly hour of 1am. Elizabeth just runs with Lebedev behind her, panting as they charge for the trees.
"You're crazy," he yells.
She answers abruptly, "You go this way I'll go that way."
"Separate?! Bozhe moi!"
Ross can't breathe, panting through her response, "Then hide, I'll take care of this!"
"Elizabeth! I have to tell you something if we don't make it back!"
"What?"
"…I ate your leftovers."
"Ugh! Doctor-."
"And I love you."
She screams as the abomination gets closer, comforted by the fact that hulk seems very aware of her location and refuses to let his opponent anywhere near her.
Elizabeth reveals herself, cringing over a punch the abomination thrashes into the hulk. She can't help but expose the compound;
"You want to get home?"
The abomination is tired of the chase when he swings for her. She covers her ears as the tree behind her falls.
Elizabeth takes a breath and makes a break for it. With the hulk down all she can do is run.
In utter panic she moves through the park, dodging the broken trees and the debris.
She ducks behind a building, trying to breathe through a situation she never thought she'd be in. She throws her vial.
The green puff gives the hulk just enough time to pounce on his enemy from the back.
Elizabeth covers her ears once more over the roars, unsure if she should peer to the right of the building;
"Lebedev!"
The scientist reappears, offering her the box, "That didn't work!"
She knows, reaching for number four next. Elizabeth holds her expression, determined to keep distracting this monster for as long as this transformed Banner needs.
Lebedev ducks over her abrupt throw that leaves a small hole in the ground.
He raises his volume, "Really! Do we have nothing that can send these two monsters elsewhere!"
She responds, grabbing the third. He swears in his native tongue, mumbling a prayer until she drags the scientist around the same age as she is tightly behind her, "Follow me?"
She screams as a brown fist swings for her, ducking with her eyes shut tight. The scientist holds her close until the green giant intervenes, aggressively pinning the abomination with a snarl full of disgust and apathy.
She peers from behind her protected position, wishing she hadn't when she sees the green figure viciously pummeling his enemy.
Elizabeth sits back with her eyes shut tight, clutching the vial in her hand.
Her partner isn't helping as he goes off in Russian, "The brown one is after you! You're in danger as long as you're here."
"So is he."
"He's not human…?! I wouldn't worry."
"I'm going to keep distracting the other one for as long as I can,' Elizabeth eyes the second sample, 'But...that, is our last resort."
The opposite scientist nudges Elizabeth with an open jaw, his eyes wide when he points behind them. She gasps over a small green energizing circle. For as quickly as it appears, it is just as quick to evaporate;
"What. The-!"
Thanks to Lebedev and Ross, Hulk is able to get the upper hand with some proper distractions. Once he dominates the fight, the abomination doesn't stand a chance. After pummeling Hulk for a solid hour, he is ready for payback.
For a battle meant to stay within the park, the upturned vehicles, buildings and streets leave chaos in the surrounding area.
Hulk has little sense of time or place, he only knows Blonsky who he is determined to beat unconscious. The abomination seems equally fixated on the same goal.
Regardless if the green giant had ever experienced some sort of deja vu before, he was feeling it now. He knows who Elizabeth is-or at least who she looks like. He can feel what Bruce has been feeling and even if it's weak. There is both a spoken and unspoken obligation to protect her in the same way he protects the team back home- perhaps a little more so due to Hulk's personal history.
She is a steady figure who has always been there. From the day he came into existence til the day she died. She's the first person to sit beside him, touch his hand, and accept him. Betty isn't perfect and hulk has his reservations with Elizabeth. But no matter what, she doesn't deserve to die.
Bruce blames Hulk for getting himself into a fight with Blonsky but two can play that game. If only his other half wasn't so frustratingly passive, maybe things could be nipped in the bud sooner and he wouldn't need to clean up Banner's mess all the time. Even now there's a prodding for the punches to cease. Hulk just shuts him down- Banner can wait his turn.
It ends with a kick and the Abomination hitting his head. It will trigger Bruce later but the hulk seems to think the abomination deserves far worse. As Blonsky breathes his last suffocating breath after hours of fighting, bleeding and roaring the hulk tries to warn anyone nearby to stay away.
The only thing that pools a bit of regret, a feeling he doesn't entirely understand, is the look of pure terror in Elizabeth's eyes.
It's more than the usual fear without as much of an obligation to search for Banner underneath. She keeps her distance and watches.
The surrounding authorities are far too stressful. Hulk wants to run, looking back toward Elizabeth who bravely moves closer with her fellow scientist. They're tired as they linger with the final green vial.
Bruce is fighting to come through an exhausted hulk. He tries to make eye contact with Elizabeth, exhaling heavily over the battle, this odd 'second chance.' No one would harm her ever again. No one would touch her. She is safe.
Ross tries to push her way through the crowd but the hulk takes a step back, still in complete control.
Like every memory, he's endured everything Banner has. For as much as he adores Betty, she's dangerous. There's a red flag in the back of Hulk's mind. He sees someone who has hurt Banner. There is love, but there is also pain.
The fights in the basement, the cheating, the toxic spats- the way she'd hit and swear at him. The way he'd yell and lose his temper. It isn't all happy from what Hulk remembers.
He takes another step back. As the thick skinned protector of Banner, he feels obligated to pull away- No matter how badly he wants to see her.
Elizabeth pushes through only for the hulk to back away completely and attempt to run. Ross drops her jaw, now standing where he was only moments before.
"Bruce…?" She whispers under her breath, watching a soft green glow in the distance. The air blows her hair backward, causing her to clutch the vial tighter as she watches the large green figure vanish off into the distance.
As the city moves to recover, something feels different. Lebedev is already on the phone due to a strange disappearance of a few citizens-described only as a 'green energy.'
Elizabeth is frozen in place as she stares forward. He's gone. She forces a smile and looks down at her full, untouched vial of 'green energy.'
The scientist taps her shoulder, lifting his device;
"You're not going to believe this."
"Try me," she mumbles in reply.
"Some of our displaced community members have vanished."
Hulk arrives at a river on the opposite end of the mountain. He's been hiking steadily, leaping across whatever he so chooses. With stamina and energy finally running low, the water looks promising.
It's a full moon, bright in the complete darkness of the late hour. Hulk looks up at the stars with a strange affinity. Banner's thoughts must at least be starting coming through as he stares up into oblivion to name a constellation.
It's over. The threat of Emil Blonsky is nonexistent. He can breathe for a moment in the open air. It feels comforting, soothing even to be alone.
After spending most of his life being so, it feels so normal. Just the hulk and his water.
Something about the night settles the big green into a state of calm as Banner takes over.
He shrinks, curled up tightly into a small ball by the cold river. Bruce looks up groggily awakening with a thought;
"Tasha…"
He stumbles in a dizzy spell, waking up more with his bruised cheeks and messed up curls.
He's tired when he holds his head, "Elizabeth...oh god Betty."
His memories are slow to return, lifting his hand when he feels a familiar buzz through his fingertips.
Bruce rotates his palms to check the sensation, swallowing over a green energy. He tightens his jaw and tries to shut down all emotion in a bout of nausea and disorientation. He's too tired to fight anymore.
Elizabeth returns to the lab after an hour of searching up and down the city. Alone in the large space in the dead of the night, she is still processing her evening.
She settles in the chair and stares blankly in the empty one across from her.
He was here only a few hours prior and already misses Banner's company.
Reports come in on different names and families suddenly disappearing through some sort of green energy.
Lebedev leaves a coffee in front of her. She smiles and chugs it. She would love something stronger if she's being honest.
Her hand still holds strong onto the vial, finally unwrapping her fingers to look at it.
She lays it on the table, hands clutches her warm mug of coffee. Lebedev's jacket is over her shoulders as she stares into it.
Elizabeth swallows dryly, head tilted as she mulls over the past few days. The television is still serving as background noise as she zones out with a soft grin.
It would've been fun. Being with someone who shared her interests. She laughs at the thought of her living out her life with the stranger.
Elizabeth looks over her shoulder and brushes her hair back. Lebedev breaks the silence as he sits across from her with a soft whisper about their 'unexpected guest potentially making it home with the rest of their missing community.'
She looks up toward the television and watches, biting at her lower lip. She glances back toward the holograph white board and cocks her head slightly over the calculations left etched onto it.
"It's over now."
She laughs over her friend's remark,
"I beg to differ. It feels more like something is just starting. There's so much to learn if there are in fact other worlds."
He responds thoughtfully, "There is, isn't there."