Betty walked through her empty apartment, double checking that nothing had been forgotten, and when she got back to her door, it struck her. The movers had her entire life - even her car - packed up in their trucks, on their way to New York. This was it. Her life in California was over. She had come here to start over, to leave her father and Bruce and everything behind, and she had believed it had worked. Right up until she saw Bruce on the news.
So now she was starting over again. A knot of tension settled in her stomach which she did her best to ignore. She was doing the right thing. She knew that.
"Dr. Ross? Are you ready to leave?"
Betty turned around and nodded at the driver Pepper had arranged for her. "Yes. I just need to drop my keys at the office," she said.
"I can drive you over there, ma'am," he said. She nodded again and stepped forward, intending to pick up her shoulder bag, but the driver beat her to it. "Allow me."
"Thank you," she said. "I'm sorry, I forgot your name."
"Allen Banks," he said. "Call me Allen."
Soon enough, they were on their way to the airfield. When she and Tony had flown out from New York, they had landed in Los Angeles and Betty had been driven to her apartment just outside San Francisco, but for the trip back, Tony was flying here from LA and meeting her at a local airport. The jet was already there when they arrived, so Betty was ushered onto the plane, once again not being allowed to handle her own bag. She settled into one of the plush couches near Tony.
"So. All moved out?" Tony asked, looking up from the tablet he was working on when she sat down.
Betty nodded. "Everything's on its way to New York," she said, again trying to ignore that annoying knot of tension.
The tension apparently showed on her face, because Tony raised an eyebrow. "It's not too late to change your mind," he said. "One call to the movers, they can take everything back."
"No," Betty said, shaking her head. "I haven't changed my mind." She was uneasy about starting over, sure, but she knew she didn't want to stay in California. Her relationship with Matt was over. Her research was nothing she couldn't continue elsewhere. She hadn't developed anything other than casual friendships with her colleagues. There was absolutely nothing tying her here.
In New York, there was Jane, who after only a week, was already one of the closest friends Betty had ever had; there was Pepper, who knew exactly what it meant to love a genius who underwent a traumatic experience and came out the other side a superhero; and there was Tony. Who in spite of knowing Bruce only a few days, knew and liked and understood Bruce as well as Betty did.
"Hmn," Tony said, still looking at her. Finally he shrugged. "Well, if you want to talk about it, the phone's over there. Give Jane or Pepper a call."
"I can't talk to you?" Betty asked.
"I'm Tony Stark. I don't do conversations about feelings."
She smiled slightly. "Oh, really? Then who on earth did I talk to for nearly three hours the day I showed up in New York?"
"Special circumstances," Tony returned. "I wanted to complain about Bruce as much as you did that day."
The captain's voice came over the intercom, announcing their departure. Betty looked out the window, and soon enough, they were off the ground and on their way back to New York.
Betty couldn't shake the tension, and finally admitted to herself that it was Matt's words that were bothering her. She had known from their phone conversations that he'd be angry when she finally saw and talked to him in person. He had a right to be angry. However unintentionally, Betty had led him on and made him think they had a future when they didn't. So Betty had been prepared for him to be angry. But the things he had said... that she was living in the past, that she was a coward who was too afraid to let someone else in... that she was pathetic for loving a man who clearly didn't love her back. Matt didn't understand. He couldn't understand. But it was still getting to her.
"Matt thinks I'm pathetic for still being hung up on Bruce," Betty said, shattering the silence in the plane.
Tony blinked at her, then shook his head. "Seriously, the phone is right there, just dial normally-"
"Tony-"
"I have their numbers if you need them-"
"Tony-"
"In fact, I'll just give Pepper a call," he said, pulling out his cell phone.
"Tony!" she snapped, which finally got him to stop and look at her. "If I want to talk to Pepper or Jane I will call them. I actually wanted to talk to you and get your perspective on things."
"Why the hell would you want my perspective on anything involving relationships or feelings?"
"God only knows," Betty said, rolling her eyes.
"Seriously, my reputation of being an asshole is well-deserved. I will say the wrong thing and piss you off."
"Oh, you're doing a great job at that without saying anything at all," she said dryly. "Just forget it, Tony."
"It's the truth," Tony said. "I am really terrible at this type of thing. Even when I'm trying to be nice. Ask Pepper about the 12 percent thing sometime."
"You did all right the day I showed up in New York," she pointed out. "But like I said, forget it. Just pretend I never said anything."
"Okay. Good. I can do that," he said. He went back to his tablet. Only he kept sneaking glances at her, and a few minutes later, he sighed and put his tablet aside. "For the record, you don't actually think you're pathetic, do you?"
She looked at him. "I told you that you could forget it, Tony."
"Yeah, I have a feeling Pepper will not be happy with me if I do that, so I guess we're having this conversation."
Betty narrowed her eyes. "Did you just email Pepper and ask her for advice?"
"Of course not," he said.
Which probably only meant that he hadn't used email to contact Pepper. "You are ridiculous."
"I'm rich. We get to be eccentric. And you're avoiding the question."
"Excuse me?" she said, incredulous. He practically jumps out of the plane to avoid talking to her and now he accuses her of avoiding the question?
"You are," he said. Oh my god, he was completely ridiculous and Betty wasn't sure if she should be amused or pissed off. "Well?" he prompted. "Do you think you're pathetic? Please say no."
Betty shook her head, but she did still want Tony's perspective. Pepper and Jane would reassure her, but they didn't know Bruce. Tony did. "I don't think I'm pathetic," she said. She had reasons for running after Bruce. Good reasons. At least, she thought they were good reasons. Matt's words had her doubting that. "It's just- I dropped everything to try and get to my ex-boyfriend who I haven't seen in a year and haven't really been with in over six years. You describe that scenario to just about anyone and they're going to think it's pathetic."
"You're leaving out the part where your ex-boyfriend turns big and green when he gets angry," Tony said. "Come on. You weren't running after some random ex. You were running after the genius idiot who thinks he has to hide from the world."
Which is almost exactly what she'd been telling herself. "I just wanted to make sure he was all right," Betty said. "Make sure no one had gotten to him."
"Right, and considering you're on a very, very short list of people who actually give a damn about Bruce - not the Hulk, but Bruce - I think it's safe to say that running after him wasn't pathetic."
Before she had come to New York, she'd been convinced that she was the only person on that list. As much as she'd tried to move on, she'd never stopped loving Bruce. The way he had left had left things unfinished and unsaid between them. Maybe they really didn't have a future together, but Betty couldn't shake the feeling that there was a chance... if she could just get Bruce to stay in one spot long enough to try. "I really wish you could have delayed Bruce just a few more hours," she said, sighing.
"I could find him and bring him back to New York," Tony said.
"Forcing him to come back won't help," Betty said. It'd just make Bruce feel trapped or even more determined to stay away from her. Which was the exact opposite of what she wanted.
"If you ever change your mind," he offered.
She nodded. "Thanks."
"Please tell me we're done with this conversation now."
"If you insist," she said, smiling. The knot of tension was gone. Matt didn't understand, but that was okay. Betty knew she'd made the right choice, and when she doubted that, she had new friends who would reassure her. "You know, you're not as bad at this as you think you are. I actually do feel better."
"Excellent. I'll need you to tell Pepper that," he said, picking up his tablet again. "If I have to have these kinds of conversations, I should at least get points for them."
Betty shook her head, but couldn't help but grin. She reached into her own bag and pulled out a book. "Don't worry, Tony. I'll tell Pepper all about our talk."
Tony looked up at her, suspicious and slightly alarmed, just as she'd intended. Betty couldn't keep the smile off her face entirely but did ignore him, keeping her attention on her book. After a moment, Tony apparently decided not to press his luck and looked back to his tablet, muttering something unintelligible under his breath.
