Chapter 21
Bruce Banner looked in his hotel mirror and tried to concentrate. He tried pushing back unwanted memories and this one was one of them. Though it was quite a gruesome memory he had to face the facts. He had almost killed her. He had almost killed Bella. The facts were murky, but the images would never go away.
Flashback starts
Hulk had her by her neck in one hand. He saw her as a threat, a threat that had to be destroyed. Permanently. She heard him call out to her, to tell him to stop. That she was his friend. But he didn't listen. He thought that she was lying to him. She pulled out the gun she had in her belt. He thought she was trying to shoot him, to kill him. He squeezed tighter and she pulled the trigger. The bullet went straight past him, and straight to the man behind her who had a harpoon above Hulk. Hulk dropped her confused and that's when he saw it more clearly.
There were several men just like the one Bella had shot coming for him. But several other people fighting them, just like her. Hulk bent down and looked at her. He reached out carefully to touch her but she cowered back in fear. Hulk was horrified when she had coughed up blood. They stared at each other and there was no doubt in his mind that there was fear in her eyes. Just as he was about to say something, anything to get her to trust him, a dart was shoot to her back and knocked her out cold. He stared at her as she fell limp on the ground and didn't move. Hulk leaned forward and shook her gently waiting for her to open her eyes. He wanted to see big brown eyes again staring up at him. He didn't care if it was full of fear or horror, he just wanted to see her eyes. He picked her up delicately and pulled the dart out of her back. He looked at it and crushed it in his hand. He let out a massive roar and everyone froze.
They saw Hulk growling and panting in anger as he held Bella's limp unconscious body. Black Widow gasped and turned to Captain America. He looked back at her, then towards the others.
"Let's go" he screamed. The other S.H.I.E.L.D agents and some of the Avengers that were present-Hawkeye, Black Panther, Wolverine, and Ms. Marvel- charged, while Black Widow ran towards Hulk. He turned around and started to growl, but stopped when he realized she was one of the people fighting with Hulk.
"Hulk, please don't do anything rash. I'm here to help you" she soothed. He stared her down, but decided to take her word for it.
"You help Hulk and girl" he asked
"Yes. I'll help you and Bella" she assured him
"Bella" he said and brushed her hair out of her face
"Listen to me Hulk. See that big tank over there? Take her there where she can get medical help"
"They help Bella"
"Yes. They help extremely" she said "I'll try to hold off the people who are chasing you, but you have to hurry. Understand"
"Hulk understand" he nodded. He ran into the direction that Black Widow and let nothing stop him in his pursuit of getting Bella to safety.
General Nick Fury stood at base camp with several tanks in front of him. He was angry, truthfully angry was an understatement to how he was feeling right now. But no matter how you wanted to describe it, it had his agents scared. He had several problems to deal with and it didn't help when Hulk came running up carrying Bella.
"What happened to her" he demanded
"Bad man hurt Bella. Red head lady say bring Bella here" Hulk explained.
"You did the right thing Hulk" Fury said and that was all Hulk heard before it went black.
Flashback ends
Bruce splashed some water on his face as he waited for the green in his eyes to calm down. The rest of the memory wasn't bad like the one before, but it was still horrible to remember.
Flashback starts
Bruce pulled the blanket he was wearing closer around him and looked into the window. The doctors had told him that Bella was fine and that he had done no major harm to her. He questioned their judgment, remembering that she had coughed up blood in front of his own eyes and they told him it was because she had fought off some of the men attacking him earlier. That they had caused the blood, not him. When she fought earlier the blood refused to come up, but when he choked her he cut off her oxygen so the blood was forced to come up. He took their word for it and believed them, but refused to leave until she woke up.
It had been days since the battle and she had still not woken up. Bruce was starting to question their judgment and so where the others. It should not have been taking this long for her to recover, unless they had done something wrong. They knew that the Hulk would erupt out of Bruce, but they made no move to stop it. If those doctors had done something wrong to Bella, S.H.I.E.L.D, the Avengers, and Hulk would retaliate, but there was no need. A few hours later she had opened her eyes. Bruce sighed in relief and the Hulk had simmered down. He turned around and began to walk away, until Fury called him back for a moment.
"Why don't you stay Banner? We could help you get control and you could help us save people" Fury suggested
"I can't. Not after anything that's happened" he declined
"Okay. But think about it and give us a call if you change your mind" Fury said. Bruce just nodded, cast one more glance at Bella, then left.
Flashback ends
Bruce never called back. He had found control on his own, reminding himself all of the damage he had caused as Hulk to motivate himself. And it worked. He was motivated, he controlled himself. He gained balance. But he would never, never forget that day. That lone day that he had almost been the demise of Bella Swan.