Bruce didn't see it coming, not seeing Betty, not all the feelings that would bubble up to the surface and certainly not her right hand that was currently connecting to his jaw. Rick panicked at first his first thought was great let's make the guy who turns into a giant monster when he gets angry really angry. Bruce picked his head back up and looked at Betty who was staring bullets into him. "Hi Betty" he said as Sterns and Rick looked on with confusion. She was even more beautiful than he remembered her being, he had forgotten how it looked when the sun touched her face, and looking at her now he realized how much his memory did not justice to her presence.
Seeing Bruce had brought a lot of feelings that she had buried when he vanished after his accident and the slap was the only way to manifest those feelings without screaming to the mountains and getting the attention of everyone in the immediate vicinity. Betty breathed heavy and looked around the area and did not see Glenn which was a good thing right now considering that she was conversing with a fugitive from the United States Military and her father was the one leading the chase for him. "What are you doing here?" she asked almost huffing and puffing.
Bruce opened his mouth to answer when Rick spoke up "Hey guys, can we possibly move this to wherever Dr. Sterns here is doing his research? I mean it's not like every single piece of monitoring equipment in the world is looking for him or anything like that."
Rick backed off when Betty looked at him with a very angry look that made him back up and put Sterns between him and her. Bruce looked over at Rick and knew that he had a good point "Okay look if you want to talk, we can but I need to get out of sight so let's head back to Rick's car and we can talk while we wait for Sterns to meet us" recommended Bruce who looked at Sterns. "Meet us in the student parking lot behind the student center, you can then lead us to your lab" he ordered as Sterns nodded and walked off to his car.
Rick started to follow him "I'll go with him and let him know which car we are in and also to give you guys a few to reconnect and hopefully she doesn't kill you" he said with a slight laugh as he jogged off to get with Sterns.
He tossed Bruce the keys and Bruce and Betty started walking towards Rick's car, Betty had gone quiet since they started walking and she was looking around almost looking for someone. "You don't have to come Betty, you can walk away right now and never see me again" he said looking at the ground.
Betty had been thinking of doing that since they started walking away but she couldn't bring herself to do it. She needed this conversation to happen if not for their own relationship but more importantly if she was going to make it work with Glenn. "No, we need to talk" she said "We might not get another chance to do this given your current predicament."
"Look I wanted to see you, I really did but with what happened and my disease it was too much to ask of you to deal with it." Bruce explained refusing to look at Betty while he talked.
Betty looked over at Bruce still struggling with what to say exactly, she had only just gotten over losing him in the first place when she started dating Glenn who must be wondering why she hasn't joined him outside the science building. She pulled her phone out and shot him a quick text telling him that a quick meeting came up and that she would talk to him that night. "Look I know that what happened was bad but you could have trusted me. You could at least have told me you were okay, the only way I knew were still alive was the occasional report of a giant monster causing havoc in one place or another." They reached Rick's car and Bruce and Betty got in to wait for Rick and Sterns to reach them.
Bruce sighed "I'm sorry, but I didn't want to put you in danger from the Military or from me."
A horn honked with Sterns and Rick waving them to follow them in Rick's car, "I think he might be slightly afraid of you" laughed Bruce turning on Rick's car and following Sterns to where his lab was. "Listen Betty, I've been working with Sterns. He's been working on a cure and he seems close to finishing it, a few blood samples and he can synthesize the cure and it will be over, no more monsters, no more Military chasing me. A part of me hoped that maybe after I was cured we might be able to try again."
Betty looked out the window and sighed while shaking her head "Bruce, I've moved on after a long time of waiting for you to show back up I finally found someone. He's a good man, he's been really good for me. I'll help you any way I can but I'm with Glenn. I can't be with you Bruce, I'm sorry."
Bruce looked out the window as the traffic went by and they proceeded through the streets of New York. His mind returned to the temple in Japan, breathing in and out calming his mind and his heart, he looked over and nodded at Betty "I understand" he lied through his teeth when he said it but he had no choice, he had no right to force himself back into her life. If Glenn Talbot is who she needed than that is who she needed, and Bruce needed to let her go.
Sterns parked his car outside of an apartment building just outside Harlem and Bruce pulled in and parked behind him. "Once this is over you can ride back with Sterns to the campus and get your car. I'm going to turn myself in to your father after I'm cured. He'll probably lock me away for a good long time but it will be worth it to see that vein pop out of his head" Bruce said prompting a laugh from Betty.
"Yeah that would probably do the trick" she replied as the two shared a brief laugh as Rick and Sterns got out of their car and waited for them. Bruce opened the door and got out and was quickly followed by Betty who looked up and down the street and checked her phone to find that Glenn had not texted her back yet. She told herself that he must have been caught up at work and had not found the time to get back to her about lunch.