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Chapter 25: Chaos
He opened his eyes, but the sun coming through the window blinded him, that and the throbbing headache. It took him a moment to remember where he was. He heard quick typing and sounding humming a tune, way too loud.
He raised his head over the sofa and saw her. She was sitting at the kitchen island, facing him with her laptop and a steamy mug of coffee next to her. "Good morning" he said, shrinking his eyes.
"Good morning sleepy head" Was she screaming now? He covered his ear "Oh, you have an epic hangover, don't you?" He nodded with his eyes half closed.
"Your phone's been ringing nonstop, you may wanna check it", while he sat on the couch he noticed he was covered with a blanket that wasn't there the night before. She came near him carrying a steamy mug. "Drink up"
He saw he had 5 missed calls from Bruce and two from Tony. That couldn't be good. Then his phone started vibrating: call number 3 from Stark. Penny stayed by his side when he picked up "Good morning sunshine, how are you today?"
"What happened Stark?"
"Didn't get lucky last night? Hey Barton, he didn't get lucky. So, you in the office yet?"
"No, not yet"
"Ok, maybe he got to 2nd base. So, Bruce was working on some stuff and I'm pretty sure he's gonna screw up"
"Why are you so sure?"
"Didn't he call you? He just called me, sounded like a goodbye. It was a very suicide line kinda call. I'd fly back there if I was remotely close, but I figured you were in his same building. Or close enough"
"Thanks for the heads up"
"No biggie, let me know what happens" Since she overheard half of the conversation, she got her own phone and called Bruce, while she brought his stats on her notebook. She had been so distracted by her recurrent nightmares and Steve getting drunk that she had failed to check on him.
"Bruce, hi! Really? Well, I beat you to it! Whatup?" She gave Steve a concerned look, while typing frantically at the keys. He came closer to her and she showed him the stats. His ratios were rising way too fast. If he didn't calm down soon...
Bruce could figure out what she was doing from the other end of the line. "Penny, I'm okay. I just wanted to call to-"
"Yes Bruce?" He took a deep breath.
He was at her office, and saw the things the geek from the 9th floor had left there the day before. Her new Bluetooth, a heart rate monitor watch and a seemingly harmless pen that was supposed to be handled carefully. He was intrigued as to what the thing could do.
"Your friend Stan, from the 9th, he dropped you some stuff yesterday. Also, I- well, if something happens to me-"
She sighed "Bruce... Betty is gonna be here tomorrow, what.." Another high pulse. Steve took the phone from her ear "Bruce, hey Bruce, yeah it's me. Well, Penny and I have something to tell you"
Bruce quieted down the other guy in his head for a minute "I take it the date went well?"
"Yup. But hey, we wanna see you. We were heading that way actually, you know, workoholics"
"Steve, don't-"
"Just give us 20 minutes. Wait for us to get there. Please Bruce" she rushed to the door getting the car keys on the way and joggling the notebook.
"Steve you can't talk me out of this, I need to end this. I have to. Betty's coming tomorrow and I'm terrified of hurting her. And my office is right next to Penny's! What if I lose control and I hurt her?"
"That won't happen Bruce, we're on our way and we'll help okay? Please Bruce, just wait for us, we're almost there"
While driving frantically through the city, Steve kept trying to keep Bruce on the phone and Penny kept on grabbing things from her glove compartment and from under the seat. By the time they got to SHIELD she had the familiar bracelet she had used on him, a similar one on the other wrist and had given him a stun gun that "could put us all to sleep for a week, luckily it'll put him down for 15 minutes"
When they were heading upstairs, an alarm started ringing. By the time they reached the 10th floor, it was locked with thick metal walls no one had seen before.
Romanoff was standing right next to them, suited up, looking up to an air vent above her. "Oh cap, could you help me up?" Penny looked at Steve "Romanoff, you're still on- you should be resting"
"We have a potential Hulk next to your office. He turned in the protocol himself. Cap, please?" Penny gave him another look; similar to the one she had the night before when talking to Barton.
Natasha should be resting. There was no doubt about that. "Sure Natasha, let me help" He came close to her and try holding her down, long enough for her to do her classic grip. During that second when she was putting Steve down, Penny managed to sting her with her bracelet.
"I'm sorry Romanoff but I promised to keep you out of trouble" She looked at the doctor before passing out "You bit-" they took her to a side of the corridor, away from any potential havoc and they went through the air ventilation, coming out right in the middle of the floor.
"You know, you could've just let us in, these clothes were new" Bruce looked at his friend, his brown eyes gone. "You're late"
Steve shielded Penny behind him but she wouldn't have it. "Well, traffic is hell on Sundays. So, what's the game plan? Snap and break down half of the city? General Ross will be in your ass in 10 minutes tops Bruce" They slowly got closer to him "Fury didn't want to stress you even more but if he doesn't find something to pin on Ross he may be able to get to you, and that's why he made the stupid mistake of locking you up. Please let us help. Whatever it is you're planning, how do you know it'd work?"
"Cos we tested it" that wasn't Bruce's voice anymore. It was harsh, grave, filled with anger and pain. Penny and Steve couldn't help flinching. "Bruce, if you don't calm down soon, whatever it is you want to do is not gonna happen. Hulk is gonna take over"
"No he won't. I can control him now, remember?" His eyes were lime green and he was reaching for something on his pocket. It was a little flask "Bruce, what is that?" Penny was unconsciously getting into a defense position while Steve reached for Bruce's hand.
"Don't Rogers" Steve found himself shoved against the glass wall. "Bruce stop! He got drunk last night, he's weak!" She rushed to Steve and he was still conscious, though his throbbing hangover headache was amplified now, and there was a small cut on the back of his head. Bruce seemed to be fighting with himself. He stopped reaching for his pocket and started hitting his own head. "I'm- I'm-sorry Steve. Stop that we need to go" She pressured the wound while keep talking to Bruce."I'm gonna get near you now, okay?" Bruce looked at her with his green defiant eyes. "Are you gonna push me too?"
A new alarm started ringing, driving Bruce crazier. "That means Fury's coming Bruce. Hear me out: we can stop this, right now. We can say it was an episode and that's it. We can work together on this, whatever this is" Steve aimed at Bruce with the gun, took the shot but didn't hit Bruce. His skin was thicker, the dart bounced.
"This is the third dosage in 36 hours, there's no way back now" Penny froze, how could she have missed it? This was her fault, she had been careless again. "It's a self-awareness formula. It will make both of us aware of one another fully" If Hulk was indeed the dominant personality, Bruce may disappear for good. And she wasn't sure if Bruce's mind was truly that strong. She was pale "Penny, I know my chances. This will work. I have to do things and I can't do them here. And I can't keep risking everyone. I need to put an end to this."
She was about to snitch the flask from his hand but Bruce pushed her towards Steve, making her hit against one of the desks. "We are sorry, but we can't let you stop us. You'll find us soon."
She had fallen over her arm and her shoulder was aching terrible, her head was now buzzing too and was a bit disoriented but her sight was clear enough to see how her friend stabbed himself in the heart with a needle. It was too late, Bruce talked to them, one last time, "Steve, get out of here, NOW!"
Steve looked at him and grabbed Penny, helping her to the other side of the floor "We will find you Bruce, before Ross does. Try not to hurt people" Bruce was turning and it was loud and messy and seemed painful. Penny couldn't think of anything to do, it was too late.
By the time they reached the metal wall on the front, Fury and a swat team was coming through and Natasha was being carried to the hospital wing.
Loud crashing noises behind them queued Fury on Hulk heading outside. Steve's head was bleeding and Penny's left shoulder seemed dislocated. Fury made his men stop and talked, "It's too late now, he's out"
Steve nodded while Penny looked down holding her arm. "Rogers, I'll need you to brief me in after getting that cut checked. Dr. Morse, you have other tasks outside to take care of. Now." She gestured at her arm and looked puzzled. Fury waited for her to make the connection.
Other tasks. Outside. Now.
Peter was gonna try to stop Hulk, of course. She nodded and rushed to what was left of her desk where Stan had left the stuff. She found the new Bluetooth and headed off past Steve, who grabbed her by her arm, causing her to moan a bit. "You can't go. You need a doctor more than me"
Fury clenched his jaw, grabbed her arm and put her shoulder back in place. She repressed a scream. "She'll be fine" She nodded with teary eyes and took off without a second glance at Steve.
"What's going on Fury?"
"It's need to know basis. You don't need to know. People, prep up, we're in pursue" and with that, he walked away.
~oOo~
Tracking the Hulk through the city was rather easy. He was heading north, no idea where, but North, trying to avoid big crowds, not that he could hide, he was the frakking Hulk after all.
Getting a hold of Peter on the other hand: tricky. After failing at his phone and Aunt May's, she tried the girlfriend. "Where is he?"
"Who's this?"
"Penelope Morse. Where is he?"
The younger woman paused. "He just left; he's probably half way through the bridge" Bridge. Awesome. Just awesome. "I'll try to keep him out of trouble" Gwen was worried "Thank you"
By the time she reached the bridge, people were running away and most cars were trying reverse, causing pile-ups. And then a car just flew over the bridge. Yes, Bruce was definitely here.
And there was the little guy in red and blue, swinging over their heads. She wasn't gonna be late again. She was gonna save at least one of them. She put her hoodie up, running as fast as she could, jumping over cars, trying to put the pain in her arm out of her head. A pair of cops tried to stop her, but she waved a plaque at them and made a run for it. They had bigger issues than a crazy loonie, like hundreds of families and children out on a Sunday afternoon at the mercy of a giant angry green Hulk.
She kept on running to the middle of the bridge. Why did it always come down to the bridge?! Spiderman was throwing a sea of webs to Hulk to restrain him. Hulk looked smaller than the last time he was around New York on the loose, and he seemed more annoyed than angry, which was odd "Stop it kid!" But Peter wouldn't, oh no. He couldn't just walk away from a fight with a bigger guy.
A little bit of hope hit Penny. Hulk wasn't Hulk-smashing Peter into a wall, or against the cars, or anything. Hulk was purposely missing. Peter wouldn't stand a chance against the angry green guy, even with his healing ability. "Spiderman, knock it off!"
Both Peter and Hulk stopped when they heard her voice. Hulk grunted and Peter misread it, why wouldn't he after all? "Get out of here. I'm fighting the green guy!" Penny run to them and saw 2 choppers flying over them. News crew, no Army yet.
But they'll get here soon enough, 5 minutes, 10 if they were lucky. Hulk threw another empty car in the general direction of Peter, cutting the web that was holding him up, but caught him mid air to lessen his fall. Peter was scared and confused at the gesture.
Penny smiled with the corner of her mouth and yelled at him "If you don't leave in 5, Ross will get here. Are you getting what I'm saying?" He nodded grabbing two more cars and making a lot of grunt noises, Peter once again hung from the webslings trying to kick the cars over the bridge, out of Hulk hands. The whole scene reminded her of King Kong.
King Kong. He was acting. Bruce was acting this out. She had to do something, something. Anything.
"Spiderman, Hulk, GUYS! KNOCK IT OFF BOTH OF YOU!" But they wouldn't, they were too busy throwing webslings and cars at one another and breaking things, starting with her patience. "Bruce you gotta go!"
They wouldn't stop and there wasn't enough time, for either of them. She saw the border of the bridge and had a very stupid idea.
She yelled, given the best impersonation of a female in distress she could muster and tripped on her own feet towards the edge. Hulk started climbing down to catch her and Peter threw a sling at her, but she was holding herself with her good arm. "You know, your hand would be enough Spiderman" Peter hurried to the bridge and pulled her up, while she looked at Hulk's eyes. Green with a tilt of brown, "Go" he dived into the water and that's the last they saw of Hulk.
Peter helped her to her feet just in time for the sirens of cops to start ringing and the Army to start flying over them. "Go under the bridge, change as fast as you can. Call me when you're safe." He nodded "Remember to act like you're scared Penn" and took off. Soon enough the first two cops came near her, guns in their hands.
"Miss, hands were we can see them"
She started sobbing and fell to her knees, "Sergeant, I can't raise my hands, my arm hurts like hell, I just fell off a bridge and Spidey saved me. I don't know what I was thinking, it was so scary" The old rounded cop lowered his gun and came closer to her, helping her up. "It must've been, but we still gotta take you in for questioning Miss" She wasn't selling this properly. Clearly. The younger cop wasn't so nice, he grabbed his handcuffs, "Turn around miss. You have the right to remain sil-"
"Officers, she's in our custody now" Fury's tone didn't leave room for questioning. "Director Fury. SHIELD. Agent, please" he gestured to one of his SWAT-suited men, who went towards her, locked the handcuffs around her wrists rather forcefully and started shoving her towards one of the vans.
She took a deep breath. She didn't know if this was an extraction (it sure looked like one) or if she had got in trouble. She was still with the handcuffs after all. Well, of course she was in trouble, she had left both Hulk and Spiderman escape. No, she had accidentally tripped and fell off a bridge. Right.
She started banging her head against the wall, when the SWAT-suited guy in front of her made her stop. "Busted shoulder isn't enough for you?" She smiled at him while he took off his helmet and faceshield. He sat next to her and held her tight close to his chest. "How did you talk him into this?"
"I didn't, I knocked down one of his guys and took his place" She frowned puzzled. "What's going on Penn?"
"I- well, he needed a way out, so I, tripped and you know, made Spidey focus on something else and now Bruce's on the run"
"Hulk's on the run. And that's not what I mean"
"What did Fury say?"
"That you needed to tell me" She snorted very loudly "No he didn't. Good game though"
"So you're handling Spiderman too? Is he working for SHIELD now?" She sighed, last night seemed miles away "No, he isn't" but her tone stated something different. It was "not if I can help it". And with that, Steve confirmed a part of his suspicions.
"What's going on Penn?" she grabbed his faceshield "You need to put it back on, otherwise he'll know it's you" he threw it to the floor "I don't care." He looked at her intently "You really can't tell me, can you? What- what do they have on you? Why are you so scared of telling me?" She looked down.
She whispered to his ear "SHIELD vehicle, bugged there, there and there." She pointed at different places. "Can you get me off of these please? My arm really hurts and this isn't helping" he got the handcuffs off carefully and stroked her wrists, playing with the border of her bracelet. "Can't you dose yourself with that?"
"I need to debrief Fury" they were interlocking fingers again "Not the way I thought Sunday would go really" his attempt to changing the mood in the back of the van seemed to have brought her back to a happier place.
"Really? How did you want to spend your Sunday?"
"Well, I was thinking of a promising lunch date and then maybe watch a movie or the game on a couch while stroking a woman's arm slowly" he started doing just what his words describe "and maybe later steal a kiss from her, or twenty. Maybe dance, I don't know."
"I heard you were a good dancer, yes"
"You did?"
"Yup. Lucky girl" he caressed her cheek one last time before the van stopped. He was still holding her hand when Fury opened the door. He was the only person in the area.
"Agents, go to the infirmary, change and I'd like to see you in my office in 30 minutes." He didn't seem shocked to see Steve there or the fact that her hand was in his.
"And Rogers, next time just ask, I can't have another agent down because you left him unconscious"
