Chapter 4
Ruby's shock rooted her into place. Everything seemed so surreal, it was as if she was stuck in a bad movie. Dr. Banner's command barely penetrated her thoughts, but when the shooting began and he started to grow bigger and greener, shredding his clothes in the process, everything came back into focus. A bullet whizzed past her head and embedded itself in the board. She squeaked in surprise, then, without another word, dropped to the floor and crawled under the desk to hide.
From her hiding place, she heard loud growls and grunts over the sound of gunfire. There was a thud and the floor shook under her and the desk rattled alarmingly.
She had known that Dr. Banner was the Hulk, of course, but knowing and seeing it happen were completely different. Well, she wasn't seeing it so much as hearing it, and, from what she was hearing, it was terrifying. Still, curiosity gripped her. She had never seen any of the Avengers in action in person and here was her opportunity. If she could get up the courage to look.
A roar threatened to shatter her eardrums followed by a crash that was almost as loud as rubble fell around the desk. A large piece hit the desktop and one of the legs snapped, making the desk wobble and creak alarmingly. The front of the desk cracked under the weight and sagged in the middle.
"Oh, no, no, no!" Ruby realized that staying put was just as dangerous as making a run for it. Peeking under the bottom of the desk, she tried to see who was where in the office, only to cover her mouth to stifle the scream that threatened. Just inches from her lay one of their attackers, his helmet gone and a nasty cut bleeding from his temple. Crouching back away as far as she could under the desk, she fought to not lose it completely and hyperventilate.
"Okay, get it together, Ruby," she whispered. "Think. Use that brain."
Forcing herself to take another look, this time she could see that, even though his eyes were closed, he was still breathing.
"He's not dead. He's not dead," she breathed with relief.
The prone man opened his eyes suddenly and he reached under the desk to grab her by the arm. Ruby screamed and tried to pull away from him, but he was stronger and pulled her out from under the desk. Her tee-shirt snagged on it, then ripped as she slipped free of the damaged piece of furniture, in the process scraping her back painfully on the splintered wood.
Yanking her too her feet non too gently, the man keyed his mic, "secondary target acquired. On route to rally point Bravo."
"Understood, secondary target is on route to rally point Bravo. Be advised that the southern route is blocked by combatants. Northern route is clear," a female voice calmly answered.
"Understood, command," he replied, then ignoring her attempts to twist her arm out of his grasp, he strode to the door of her office. Or what remained of her office. The door hung by a single hinge and the other side of the doorway had been smashed open by something large and powerful.
As if to emphasize the disaster, or to make her even more miserable, possibly both, the fire suppression system chose that moment to activate, spraying cold water everywhere from the nozzles in the ceiling. Within seconds, Ruby was drenched to the skin and shivering in the cool air of the building.
Her captor seemed not to notice the water or care for her predicament as he towed her along with him down the hall. When they came to the end of the corridor, he paused long enough to look to the left. His colleagues were still engaging the Hulk about ten yards away and they were not faring well against the Avenger, even with automatic weapons. The bullets only seemed to make him angrier.
The walls surrounding were caved in and the single light fixture still intact dangled from the ceiling by just its electrical wires. It swung back and forth, causing the shadows of the hall's occupants to move and flicker.
Ruby counted seven people facing off against the Hulk. She didn't think they had enough.
The Hulk's massive form filled the space, appearing black where shadows fell and a dark green in the weak light. She tried to see the resemblance to the man she had found so compelling just a few minutes ago, but he wasn't to be found in the visage that roared at the men shooting.
The man holding her had seen enough and turned to go to the right. Before he was able to pull her with him, Ruby caught a glimpse of more men coming up behind the Hulk carrying something large.
"Behind you!" she screamed to be heard over the noise, struggling against the man holding her. His grip on her arm was punishingly tight and was starting to cut off circulation to her hand, but she had enough of this. Turning on him, she punched and kicked, trying to break free. When that failed, she went after his exposed face with her fingernails, raking them viciously across the wound on his temple.
"Bitch!" he snarled and slammed her into the wall. Hard. Her cheek cracked against it and she cried out in pain.
Her cry was answered by another roar down the hall, encouraging her to fight through the pain. Pushing away from the wall, she turned to continue her assault when the blow came out of nowhere and impacted on her temple.
Ruby dropped like a rock.
"Oh, dear Mother of my dog," Ruby groaned, "what did I drink last night?"
She hurt all over and her head was throbbing. To make matters worse, the contents of her stomach were threatening to make a reappearance. Alarmingly, she couldn't remember drinking last night.
"Oh, thank God," a familiar voice said from nearby. "Ruby, can you hear me? Wake up."
No, this couldn't be right. The surface she was sitting on was vibrating and there was an annoying noise that muffled all other sounds. Her shoulders were cramping, but when she tried to move her arms, she found that she couldn't.
Cracking open her eyes cautiously, it took her a bit to focus and even then, her mind refused to comprehend what she was seeing. Why were her wrists shackled to the wall? The metal wall.
"Ruby, focus!" the voice demanded again.
She turned her head towards the sound and immediately regretted it. Pain exploded behind her eyes and her vision swam. She moaned in pain.
"Ruby!"
"Hush, already," she croaked. "Give me a sec. I'm trying."
"I'm sorry, but you're going to have to push through this, and quick. I need you functioning."
"You and me both, buster," she retorted. Still, she opened her eyes again and, without moving her head, looked around.
She was sitting on the floor inside a vehicle of some sort with her hands shackled together to the wall slightly higher than her head. Only an arm's length away was a very disheveled Dr. Banner. Bare chested with just the tattered remnants of his pants hanging from his hips, he too was shackled to the wall, but his wrists were encircled by cuffs that looked an inch think and on either side of his head. Around his neck was a collar that looked just as thick and heavy. There were little red lights on it that blinked on and off in sequence.
"What happened? Where are we?" she asked him.
He grimaced as he adjusted his position. Ruby's eyes darted to his pants as they slipped further down on his hips, threatening to reveal a lot more of him. She tried to swallow, but her mouth was dry, and looked back up at his face, blushing furiously.
"I'm not sure," he gave up on getting comfortably and met her eyes. "I think they used brainwave suppressor to subdue the big guy. When I woke up, we were chained up here and this was around my neck."
"You mean they are keeping you from turning into the," she dropped her voice and whispered, "Hulk?"
He rolled his eyes, "I think they already know he and I are the same person; don't you think? But to answer your question, yes and no. No, this collar is not keeping me from turning into the Hulk directly. It is acting like a mood stabilizer and preventing me from getting angry."
"And if you don't get angry, he can't make an appearance?"
"Exactly."
"I don't know if that's a good or a bad thing."
"That makes two of us."
The floor chose that moment to drop out from under her in a stomach clenching, but familiar, manner.
"Why are we in a jet?" she asked when she could speak without wanting to hurl.
"You're guess is as good as mine," he tried to shrug. "You know just as much as I do."
"Well, you're the Avenger, surely you have some idea?"
"Contrary to popular belief, we don't know everything." He shifted his position again and his pants slipped even lower. Ruby could clearly see his pubic hair.
"Will you quit doing that," she looked away quickly, making her head pound.
"Doing what?"
"Moving around like that. Your pants are falling off." She was pretty sure her blush went all the way to her toes.
"Really? We are chained up in a jet, being abducted by Hydra and you are going to be a prude about my dick hanging out of my pants?"
Ruby refused to look at him. "You don't have to be crude; you know." Then she paused as what he said sank in.
"What?" she whipped her head back to him. Her world swam and she may have blacked out because the next thing she was aware of was him nudging her with his foot and calling her name.
She had trouble focusing on him, "wha?"
"You need to stop moving so quickly. I think you have a concussion." He looked concern.
"What was your first clue? The knot on my head or my lively conversation skills?"
His lips twitched, "good to see it hasn't dampened your sarcasm."
She snorted, a very unlady-like sound. "What were you saying about Hydra?"
"So, you were actually paying attention and not just looking at my junk," he smiled.
"I was not looking at your, your…," she sputtered.
"You're adorable when you blush."
"Oh, shut up!" she shut her eyes. "Shouldn't you be figuring out how to get us out of this instead of making fun of me?"
He sighed. "You were out a lot longer than me; I had a lot of time to think."
"And?"
"Everything I came up with involved my alter-ego or one of us getting free of our restraints. These," he indicated his cuffs, "aren't going anywhere without some super-strength and I don't think yours are either. Unless there's something you want to share?"
"Well, that's less than helpful."
"Those were my thoughts, too."
"So that leaves the Hulk, who is being suppressed by your new jewelry."
"I have an idea about that."
"Let's hear it," she urged.
"It's not pretty."
"Uh, oh. Why do I have a bad feeling about this?"
"I need you to kick me in the balls," he managed to say with a straight face maintaining eye contact with her.
