It was well after dark by the time they got back to the house on the beach. The moon illuminated the long circular driveway as Bruce pulled up to the house. He cut the headlights and then the ignition. He opened the door and stepped out of his car, chuckling at the way Tony just phased through his door in order to get out, almost as if it were second-nature at this point. They went inside and Bruce squinted into the darkness beyond, putting his hands out to search the wall for the control panel so he could raise the lights. It took a couple seconds of fumbling, but he got it, the can lights above them illuminating sequentially into a path that spread through the rest of the house, bathing it in soft incandescents.
"You know, you don't have to do that manually; you could just have JARVIS do it," Tony said matter-of-factly.
Bruce felt an eyebrow lift- he had no idea what Tony was talking about. "JARVIS?"
"Yeah, he's my AI system. Or, well, he was," the engineer's spirit explained with a shrug. "Kinda like my butler, security guard, and home automation, all wrapped into one," he went on, as if that weren't any big deal at all. He rubbed the hair on his chin. "Guess he must have gotten disabled when the place got put up for rent. But I'd think you should still be able to re-activate him. Try 'Run Sequence: JARVIS'," he suggested.
"Okay…" Bruce hesitated, looking around a moment, not sure where to make said command; he addressed the room at large, "Uh… Run Sequence: JARVIS?"
There was an electrical hum, followed by a brief whir before a polite, British-accented voice made itself known, "Greetings, Dr. Banner. It is a pleasure to meet you. Allow me to introduce myself. I am JARVIS, at your service. Is there anything I can do at present to make you more comfortable?"
He was kind of blown away by the courtesy being shown to him by an articifial intelligence program- for all the world it sounded like he was being spoken to by a real person. He also didn't question how it knew his name. "Well… it's a little cool in here…" he said, rubbing at his arms through his hoodie.
JARVIS got right on it. "I have increased the thermostat by two degrees. Will that be all, sir?"
"Yeah, thanks," he responded, still incredibly impressed by the sophistication of the technology. He turned to the apparition standing beside him. "Tony, why didn't you tell me about this earlier?"
"Uhh, you never asked?" the ghost scientist said, then laughed. "To be honest, I didn't even remember until just now."
That gave Bruce a sudden idea. "Well does he remember you?" he posed.
Tony blinked, obviously that hadn't even occurred to him. "You know, I don't know."
Bruce spoke up to address the AI once again. "JARVIS, do you have any information on your previous owner? The guy who lived here before me?" He waited hopefully.
"I am afraid I cannot provide you with that information, as it has been erased from my data banks," the program explained cordially.
The physicist frowned, shoulders sagging a bit. "Well, it was a good thought," Tony said to cheer him up; he nodded and moved towards the kitchen.
He filled his teakettle with water and placed it on the stove to heat, staring out the window at the beach beyond. The dark-haired man didn't tease him this time about his tea-consumption like Bruce had half expected him to, standing at a respectful distance behind him with both hands in his pockets. Bruce realized he really ought to try to make some conversation- even if he wasn't terribly good at that anymore. His fingers drifted across the marble countertop thoughtfully. "This place actually is pretty amazing," Bruce admitted then, glancing over at Tony. "You really designed it yourself?"
"Uh huh. With my own software, like I said." The man's brown eyes were bright with enthusiasm; he was either excited to get to talk about his design or thrilled that Bruce had initiated a dialogue between them. "Though it's really just an off-shoot of AutoCAD that can be manipulated holographically. I found working on three-dimensional projects on a two-dimensional screen far too limiting, so I gave it a little boost." He winked.
"I remember using that program back in the eighties," Bruce chuckled. "Had it installed on the lab computer next to my Commodore 64."
Tony snorted, and loudly. "Now that's a blast from the past. Did you have Galaga?"
Bruce's face twitched with amusement. "No, I don't think so."
"I was beast at Galaga," Tony nodded, nostalgia apparent in his eyes. He extended his index fingers and began shooting the air with them like aliens were descending from the sky. "Pew pew pew!" The antics caused a laugh to rumble up Dr. Banner's throat. "Watch out, there's one right above your head!" the other man got out in alarm. Bruce looked up and Tony motioned exasperatedly. "You let it get you! You were supposed to shoot it!"
He realized then how much Phil had been right. Tony was just looking for someone to be friends with. Ever since the accident, Bruce had been afraid to make friends… afraid that the Other Guy would end up hurting them. But Tony wasn't even able to be physically hurt- the Hulk couldn't so much as lay a finger on him if he wanted to. Tony was safe. "Sorry," Bruce apologized jokingly, "I didn't realize we were playing Two-Player." His teakettle began to whistle and he took it off the heat. Which was when another thing stuck out in his mind. Tony had seen the Hulk, come face-to-face with him. For most people that would have been enough to scare them off forever, yet here Tony was still clowning around with him, trying to make him smile and laugh. He placed a teabag into a cup and poured it full before looking over at the other scientist. "So you're really okay with the fact that I turn into a big green freak?"
Tony immediately turned the question on its head. "Is there any reason I shouldn't be?"
"Most people find him… intimidating."
"Well, he's big, and green. But the only other guy I know like that is always smiling at me on a package of frozen peas."
Bruce averted his gaze to the floor with a chuckle. If there was one thing the Hulk was not, it was 'jolly'. But he appreciated the light humor nonetheless. The idea that anyone could accept him as he was felt… foreign, and though he was still conflicted about forming a relationship with the apparition of a man who couldn't even remember who he was, he felt a kind of… ease in his presence. Bruce picked up his teacup and stirred it thoughtfully with a spoon. "Guess I should consider changing out of these clothes now that I'm not bailing out of the country anymore," he commented over the lip of the cup as he took a sip (it needed more time to steep anyhow).
Tony's reaction was about what he'd expected- the man beamed. But he hid it behind a healthy dose of snark. "Red so isn't your color anyway," the ghost evaluated, plopping himself into the leather sofa in the living room. "Better reserved for handsome devils like me. I bet it was one of my favorite colors, back when I used to remember that kind of thing," he motioned absently.
Dr. Banner grinned at the jab and moved toward the bedroom as he removed the pull-over. He went into the walk-in closet to hang it up, when he spotted a scrap of paper on the floor he hadn't noticed before. He stooped to pick it up and adjusted his glasses on his nose to get the focal length right. It looked like a dry-cleaning pick-up receipt. "Hey, Tony," he said, going back out to the living room.
"Yeah?" the spirit turned around in his seat.
"I found something. Did you use to use Trancas Tailors and Cleaners?" He held it up.
Tony got up out of his seat to look at the small piece of paper. "It kind of rings a bell… I think."
"Look, there's also a phone number written on the back… for Miss…? I can't make that out," he frowned at the scrawl following the salutation.
"Brady, maybe…?" Tony took a swing. "Brown? It's not my handwriting." He gave a shrug and smiled perkily. "Either way, know what this means? We've got some hopeful leads to get us started tomorrow morning!"
Dr. Banner nodded in agreement, giving the spirit a smile before turning to go back to the bedroom.
"Hey, Bruce?" Tony spoke up before he could get too far.
"Hm?" the physicist turned back toward him.
The apparation looked down at his feet. "Listen, I wanted to uh… apologize for how pushy and all that I've been. First with wanting you to go, then wanting you to stay…" he motioned his hands left, then right. He chuckled sheepishly, dragging a hand through his permanently gelled hair. "I know I'm not always the easiest person to get along with. So I really, really appreciate you're willing to take time out of your work and do this for me." The brown eyes were forthcoming and sincere.
Bruce could tell it had taken a lot for the guy to say what he just had. He nodded, accepting the apology. After all, he felt he had his own to give as well. "And I'm sorry for trying to run away," he said softly. "I'm afraid that's become kind of a gut-reaction for me when something unexpected happens…" He paused to wet his lips. "I guess it never occurred to me until now that just because something's unexpected, it doesn't always equate to it being bad."
Tony's face filled with unquelled emotion. He, too, nodded.
After holding gazes a moment more, he broke off and set about bringing the evening to a close. He felt he stood a reasonable chance of sleeping well tonight- he usually slept like a rock on the nights he'd suffered an incident (God, had he been glad the Other Guy hadn't chosen to wander far or do any damage this time). He changed into his only pair of flannel pajamas, finished his tea, putting the cup in the sink, and last but not least brushed his teeth. Tony was sitting patiently in the armchair by the bed when he got done and Bruce regarded him with gentle concern. "Are you gonna be okay the rest of the night?" He knew, after all, there was no such thing as sleeping for the ghost- he either existed or he didn't- and Bruce could only imagine that made for several pretty lonely hours.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," Tony gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry about me. You've had a long day, I'd say you've earned some down-time."
Dr. Banner chuckled as he plucked off his glasses, folding them up to put on the nightstand within reach. He slid into bed underneath the covers and requested JARVIS shut off the lights; the AI graciously acquiesced. The physicist glanced over at Tony in the dark. Before he'd found it a little creepy when the ghost watched him sleep, but ever since what had happened at S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ earlier he couldn't shake the feeling that once, long ago, Tony had protected him somehow. And that given the opportunity, he would again. He spoke up softly. "Goodnight, Tony."
"'Night, Bruce," the man returned. And with that Bruce drifted off into the comforts of an uninterrupted, nightmare-less slumber.
Bruce parked the car alongside the street of Trancas Tailors and Cleaners, dry cleaning receipt in hand. He and Tony entered together, the small bell on the door jingling as they came in. A short asian man hurried out from the back area to the counter to come to their service. "You have pick-up?" he asked with a slight accent.
"Yeah," Dr. Banner fiddled with the sales ticket a moment before extending it to the man, trying to figure out the best way to ask about the ghost standing beside him. "I'm doing a pick-up for a friend…" he explained.
The man's eyes narrowed at the invoice and he shook his head. "These pants were very expensive," he said, "Armani. Had big wine stain, hard to get out."
Beside him Tony chuckled and leaned back on a hip. "Yeah, that sounds about right."
"Do you remember anything about the man who dropped them off to be cleaned?" Bruce asked hopefully, wringing his fingers.
"Man?" the dry-cleaner looked at him skeptically and began jabbing the counter in front of him to punctuate his speech. "No man. Woman always drop off man's clothing. Always do lots of work for him. Very busy, all the time."
Bruce looked over at Tony, who only shrugged. "Maybe I had a maid?" he ventured a guess.
The fellow behind the counter went on, gesturing aggressively. "He never give her any break, always work harder. I think of him, I think of… arrogance, narcissism…"
Tony coughed loudly into his hand. "Oookay, I don't think we're getting much of anywhere here." He hooked his thumb in the direction of the exit. "Let's just get the pants and go."
"Uhh, can I get the pants?" Bruce asked, readjusting his glasses.
The asian fellow shook his head again and handed back the receipt. "Item left too long; we donate them to homeless shelter."
"A pair of Armanis?" Tony's jaw dropped. "Are you freaking kidding me? You could have at least sold them on eBay- Jesus Christ."
"That's probably not written into company policy, Tony," Bruce leaned over and mumbled to him. "Um, thank you for your help," he thanked the cleaner and stepped toward the door, kind of wishing he could grab Tony by the collar and drag him out. If it weren't for the fact the ghost was invisible, he'd be making a scene.
"He had to know what those were worth," the engineer continued to rant as he followed along back out to the car. "I mean, can you imagine? Some hobo sitting out on a street corner wearing a pair of Armani slacks?"
Bruce frowned, the conversation becoming a little too… personal for his tastes. Having been someone who had sat out on street corners before, relying on the generosity of others, Tony's statement left him a bit disappointed in the ghost. "What would you have done with them in your current state? Better someone have them who needs something to wear," he said with reproach.
Tony seemed to realize then that he had offended him and took a couple quick steps back in his logic. "Sorry. Yeah, no, you're absolutely right." He looked at the ground repentfully. "Hopefully they're getting good use out of them."
The physicist gave a slight sigh and got into the car. "Don't worry about it," he dismissed; he knew Tony was from a completely different class and wouldn't always think on the same wavelength as himself, so he wasn't about to stew over it needlessly. "Guess we ought to try this number and hope it works out better for us than the first lead," he said, turning the receipt over and pulling his phone out of his pocket. He keyed in the numbers and pressed call, putting the phone up to his ear as it began to ring.
A couple moments later a woman introduced herself. "Christine Everhart of Vanity Fair, how may I help you?"
"Uh, hello there, Christine…" he hesitated somewhat, wetting his lips- the introduction didn't match the name the number had been attributed to. "This might sound a little odd, but I was wondering if you knew a certain man. Dark brunette, about five-foot-seven…"
"Eight. And a half," Tony quickly corrected.
Yeah right, maybe if he counted his hair. Bruce gave him an incredulous look and kept talking. "Goes by Tony?"
"Who is this?" the woman demanded suddenly. "Are you his new secretary?"
Bruce winced, pulling the phone away from his ear somewhat at the sudden volume. "I'm sorry, what?"
She continued on her diatribe. "Did he finally sack that bitch who was working for him before? Or maybe she finally left him; I wouldn't blame her, I know he treated her like shit. She's better off without him; everyone is. Well if he ever wakes up, you can tell that big-mouthed, egotistical, misogynistic jerk that I'm never interested in being taken advantage of by him again; he can just forget it!" The call abruptly ended.
Well that hadn't been at all what he'd expected. He stared at the phone and set it down. "Wow," was Bruce's only comment.
Tony coughed into his fist. "It was Brown. I remember her now. We had, um… a fling. She didn't take it well."
"She sounded legitimately upset, Anthony."
"It's Tony," the ghost reminded. He slouched in his seat somewhat, staring out the front windshield morosely. "The bad part is I'm pretty sure she wasn't the first…" He hugged himself, looking ashamed. "Maybe I was a jerk. A wretched, woman-hating, first-class jerk."
"I'm sure you had plenty of good qualities. This was just a bad sample set," Dr. Banner assured, not wanting the other scientist to beat himself up too badly. Self-depreciation only got a person so far before it stopped being helpful and started being harmful. He knew. "We'll find something about who you are. We shouldn't give up just yet," he said, starting the car. Maybe if they drove around town it would jog Tony's memory. He pulled back onto the coastal highway to get going.
Tony looked over at him and smiled. "You're really good at making a person feel better, you know that?"
Bruce gave a small chuckle, fingers brushing over the nobs of the steering wheel; he wasn't used to being complimented for something like that. "Thanks, I try," he responded.
"Oh oh! Hey hey!" Tony sat upright suddenly, waving his hands and pointing his finger. "I recognize that! Slow down!"
The physicist did as asked, pulling over once again and slowing to a stop. The place the spirit had been pointing at was a small, hole-in-the-wall eatery- it didn't look like anything special. "The Shawarma Palace?" he read off the sign painted above the door.
"Yeah! I love this place!" Tony exclaimed.
"Did you eat here a lot?" Bruce asked, remembering how he'd declared his love of take-out not too long ago.
The apparition however, shook his head. "No, I never did. I mean, I always meant to, at some point." He shrugged. "I just never got around to it."
Well that wasn't much use. "Hm…" Dr. Banner hummed in thought. "Do you want to-"
A loud crack like a bullwhip sounded through the air, interrupting him and making both men jump in their seats. "What in the-?" Tony asked, leaning forward and peering out the windshield skyward. "Bruce, look!"
The physicist leaned forward as well and gawked at the massive hole in the sky- it looked like an inter-dimensional portal, or well, what one was postulated to look like if you'd read up on the most recent breakthroughs on thermonuclear astrophysics. A beam of bright blue light descended at alarming speed from the rupture, creating a deafening woosh and boom as it collided with the ground a few miles out to the north. The whole ground shook with the impact, rattling every building and vehicle in a five mile radius. It was like standing at the epicenter of an earthquake, except the vibrations were much less sporadic, coming in waves that threatened to split the pavement.
"This is nooot good!" Tony gulped.
Bruce tried to keep his cool despite his rising heart rate. "Do you know what's going on?"
The ghost shook his head forcefully. "No, but I do know that when one of these things opens, something always comes through it, and usually, it's hostile."
People began flooding the streets, coming out of their homes and shops to find out what was going on. It hadn't felt like your run-of-the-mill California-earthquake after all. The hole in the sky swirled and a cluster of objects travelled downward through the light… Bruce squinted, but at this distance, he couldn't determine for sure what they were… but they looked large and… four-legged. As soon as the creatures touched down, the portal collapsed in on itself, taking the light beam with it, sucking it back into the vortex before imploding into nothingness.
For just a moment, there was quiet.
And then terrifying roars echoed through the air. The beasts charged through the street, ramming aside cars and crashing through storefronts with their massive horns. Now he could tell what they were- bilgesnipe, creatures from Norse mythology thought not to exist. But quite obviously, they were making the point that they did very much exist. People began screaming and fleeing as fast as they were able. It was chaos.
"Bruce, you've got to do something!" Tony yelped.
The physicist gave him a flabbergasted look. "What am I supposed to do?"
"You're the Hulk right? Transform and smash those things!" He hit his palm with his fist for emphasis. "They're going to completely destroy Malibu if you don't do something!" the ghost flailed his arms.
"Tony, I can't control him," he explained seriously; Tony didn't get it, the Hulk wasn't something he could just turn off and on. If he let him loose now, he might take out the bilgesnipe, but once they were gone and there was nothing else to take out his rage against, the Hulk might wreak havoc even greater than the original threat. Bruce shook his head. "He'll probably do more harm than good." S.H.I.E.L.D. might be able to get here in an hour or two to take control of the situation, but until then, he didn't see any other options.
The scientist shook his head violently. "Fine. Then drive!"
"What?"
"I said drive! We've got to get back to my lab. Now."
Bruce stomped on the ignition and made a U, tires squealing as he put rubber to the pavement. He didn't know what could possibly be at the lab that could help in the occurrence of an unprecedented alien attack, but it had better be pretty good.
