Chapter 5. Your Move
1,oo2…1,oo3…1,004…1,- why am I still doing this?
Ellie silently groaned, throwing her arm over her eyes to stop herself from counting leaping rats before shifting to glance at Clark to her left. She hadn't been able to sleep with all the hype of the day and had snuck into his temporary room through the vent to camp out with him. It ended up with Clark falling asleep reading some newspapers and her to her own endless thoughts that flashed by too quickly for her liking.
Wringing out her hands, she glanced at the clock and noticed it to be early in the morning and that a new shift was about to begin around the carrier. Giving the slumbering Superman one last glance she made her way back to the air vent, skillfully scaling the wall and sliding through the opening. Shaking away the colder atmosphere she slid her way through the small maze, noting the functioning motion detectors and security features to make sure they were still doing their jobs.
Stopping at an unmarked vent she hummed lightly to herself, taking a closer look. A duffle bag was thrown on a slightly ruffled bed with a larger bag that seemed to be holding a larger circular object in it on the side. Seemed as though they were receiving more guests faster than she would have expected.
News traveled fast.
Rolling her shoulders, Ellie continued on her mini expedition to her room, off handedly checking the structure before a noise made her pause and look down a slightly longer structure of the vents. Casting her intended path a longing look she turned to investigate, her curiosity peeking through at the muffled voice at the end of the way.
"Woh.." she breathed peeking through the slits of the vent to gaze into the apparent Bruce Banner's quarters, glancing around to see if anyone else was seeing this, "talk about waking up on the wrong side of the bed"
It seemed to her that Bruce was stuck halfway into his Hulk form, sweats straining against pale green skin that was straining against muscle, face in a mask of pain and covers kicked off to the side.
"Err" Ellie stammered scratching the back of her head, looking behind her in hopes of having a second opinion but with no luck she turned back to the seen. Shimmying forward she lightly pushed the vent forward, peeking her head out cautiously, not wanting to startle the straining Doctor, "Bruce?" she whispered, flinching when it came out hoarse and loud instead of soft and soothing.
Getting no response she willed him to look at her, but after long moments she realized he wasn't even awake, he was still sleeping. Huffing in indecision she turned herself around to slide backwards into his room, her fingers crossed that she didn't make too much noise.
Once on the carpeted ground she tiptoed to the struggling form until she was by his head. Shaking out her hands she looked around the room for some sort of backup before reaching gently for him.
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"This seems…lonely" Ellie murmured looking around at the empty courtyard of what she thought was a college or university. Sure it was nice, open, and filled with luscious green floral decorations but it lacked the liveliness of human company. Raising a hand to her vision, she frowned at its bright, blurry, appearance. Shaking it back and forth, its image struggled to keep up so that when she stopped she still saw the hand moving to keep up with the original image.
"Bruce?" she called while jogging around the place looking for any sign of life, not even catching sight of birds in the trees. "Dr. Banner? Hey, it's Ellie!" getting no response she continued to circle the property, if this is where Bruce's thoughts took her, than that had to mean the problem laid here too.
And rounding the corner she came to her answer.
A downed helicopter littered the frontline of this courtyard, though no smoke came from it signaling it had happened a long time ago, along with some immobile-some crushed others dismantled- Humvees and Battle tanks. Walking forward she discovered discarded weapons and clips, a boulder in the ground and bloodied pieces of torn cloth.
"Bruce?" she tried again, more confident that he would be around somewhere here. Picking up her pace she swung her head back and forth, looking high in the trees and under bushes to catch a glimpse of her quickly becoming favorite person in this strange world. "Helloooo?" she waved her arms in the air, slightly jumping to catch anyone's attention.
When nothing came of her callings she huffed and crossed her arms, taking a step back to survey the wrecked school when she noticed an enclosed observing hallway built in between two buildings that was smashed open leaving jagged pieces of glass glinting in the sun. Squinting she was able to see a dark figure through the destruction and that was all she needed to dash to the nearest entrance to find that glass hallway. Security walkthroughs were empty along with the computer labs and library, nameless doors blurred by her as she sped through the entire building in minutes before she found the right one.
Breathing in and cracking her neck she eased the door open, sighing in relief when she found the form of the doctor standing at the edge of the hole, glass and stone spattered around him and the wind ruffling his slightly curled hair.
"You're it!" Ellie sang walking towards him with a friendly grin. Hands on her hips she watched as he jerked up and turned towards her in alarm- strangely seeing him slouch in relief at seeing her spread warmth through her. "You alright there?" she asked stepping closer to the hole.
"Just… thinking" Bruce summed up with a shrug looking over the destruction just under and beyond them. He shook his head, taking off his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose, "this should never have happened"
"Looked exciting" Ellie commented as realization washed over her, "someone pushed too hard?"
"In public" he confirmed shaking his head, "I hurt.. I hurt a lot of people I shouldn't have, and a person I desperately didn't want seeing me like that ever again"
"Things happen for a reason, Bruce" Elli tried, "you have to accept what you become" she threw her arm away from her to indicate the scene before them, "you need to accept this"
"I loved her" Bruce admitted screwing his eyes closed, his composed image faltering as emotion rode over him. Ellie briefly felt her arms tingling in an uncomfortable way and felt brief panic rush over her as she thought of what was happening back in the real world before she shook herself to worry about it when the time came.
"Is she dead?" she asked, afraid of getting deeper in the subject but knowing he needed to learn to let the past go to stop stressing so much.
"No!" he snapped, his eyes blazing at her with a sudden green, "she's married, has kids… I could have been him, I could've- but I'm a monster, no one could love a monster!"
Ellie's back clenched painfully and she knew that things were going to blow out of proportion very quickly if he hulked out on the carrier.
"No one can" she stood up to him, "don't you see? No one can love you if you don't let them, you're so caught up in hate that you don't see that some people, you're friends accept you and aren't afraid to love you for who you are- who you've became and become, but you push them away"
"What friends?" he roared bitterly, his form becoming akin to the image Ellie last saw him as, "they were forced to interact with me- for their own purpose, I wasn't in their agenda, I just happened to be at their disposal when they needed me"
"Your friends need you" Ellie stressed, forcing herself not to make any nervous movements in fear of getting beaten back into reality, "no one can force people on you, you always have a choice, Bruce"
"Idon't!" he screamed beginning to tower above her, teeth bared at her, "I didn't chose this life, my choice was taken away and it continues to be taken away, he rules over me"
"You have to accept that and move on" she pressed, flinching when his back arched with his green eyes still raging on her, "you let him rule over you, Bruce, you believe you're out of control so you let him reign over you-"
"I fight, dammit!" he screamed, bones cracking threateningly, "I fight and he pushes, he always wins"
"Because you believe he always will!" she suddenly screamed back, "you have it set in your mind he's out to ruin your life and he has the power to do whatever he wants, you have so many negative feelings about him that you fuel him, you hand him the power and he knows he has the upper hand, he has no choice but to choose for you"
This is so much easier on cats she though as she forced herself not to cower as Bruce let out another roar that had her ears ringing.
"He needs you" she continued, "he's always there for you, but you continue to slaughter his name, his very existence" she bit the inside of her cheek when all she received was angry huffs, "he's blindly following your lead, Bruce, you have to accept that he's there and will always be, it's time that you be the bigger man and understand his pain, not just yours"
Bruce's stance faltered as the haze suddenly left him, feeling his body return to its normal state before falling to his knees at a loss of energy. Hearing his name he looked up, seeing Ellie standing hesitantly to the side, hands wringing out on themselves before she opened her mouth again.
"I want to be your friend" she stated with a sad smile, "Tony is- us together should be enough but I could go on…"
Bruce blinked his eyes slightly as he allowed it all to sink into his mind. His pain? The Hulk's pain? Was that true?
A buzzing came into his ears just as a green leg came into view, startling him half to death as his gaze snapped up to that of the Hulk's, it was discerning to be once again faced with his other half.
"Hulk.." the giant huffed, looking back at Ellie but saw she had disappeared so he looked back at Bruce, "Hulk..friend"
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It wasn't much of a surprise when Ellie woke up that she found herself crumple against the wall farthest from the bed, with throbbing arms and a sharp pain in her lower back no less. Shifting awkwardly on her back she felt the sleep that earlier had evaded her now pushing at the edges of her mind.
"I'm too young for this" she groaned getting up while holding a hand to her back like it would lessen the pain, but to no avail. Straightening up slowly she arched backwards, a satisfying crunch reaching her ears as well as a fierce burn to replace the back pain, "too early". Scratching the back of her head she turned towards the now sedative Doctor, features peaceful though his jammies took a turn for the worst- still intact, mind you.
Trying to push the pain away she bent down and retrieved his covers, playfully throwing them over his slumbering body, effectively covering his face along with the rest of him. With a smile she turned towards the vent, stopping when a flashing light from the doorway caught her attention.
Eyebrows scrunched together she got a closer look, baffled when she saw the 'Access Denied' light flashing in warning. Ellie weighed just leaving against looking through the eye hole, most rooms were sound proof for the benefit of light sleepers so the hole in the door was the only means to see who was trying to get in.
A glance at Bruce made her decision, so she used the tip of her toes to look through to the other side, jerking back in a blur in fright when she was met with a clear blue eye staring back at her. Bringing a hand to her chest she sighed, shaking her head, "Christ".
Thinking that it was probably Clint or a passing agent Ellie went back to her vent, not willing to try and explain why she was in the shy doctor's room. With a strung up jump, she grasped the edges of the vent and slid herself in, wiggling forward to get her momentum going.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk" a voice graveled making her freeze, "and here I thought I had raised you better, my little duckling"
"Shit-Clint!" Ellie shouted trying to hang on to a ledge as her foot was dragged backwards, dragging her along as she couldn't get a decent grip. "I didn't do anything, I didn't-let go, bird brains!" she squealed as gravity took its toll as she was flung out of the ventilation, reflexes springing to life despite the bad back making her twist in midair to land on all fours, evading a more serious injury.
"Still need to work on flying, but you got the landing down pat"
"You go fly- right off the edge of the carrier" Ellie grouched slowly making her way back to her feet, air seething out between her teeth as she held her back tenderly. She looked around the hallway they were in, concluding they were in front of Bruce's door, and found a new face. "Oh, sorry, Clint's fishing for compliments" she held out her hand offering the man a smile, "Ellie"
"Oh" the man jumped, making her realize that he was wearing some sleeping clothes, though his hair was neatly parted as he shook her hand quickly, almost nervous, "Steve Rogers, Ma'am"
"Mr. Rogers?" quickly she looked up at his face, just now registering what his features were. An old world, lost, face smiled brokenly back at her, matching up almost identically to his profile picture, "finally!" she cried in relief grabbing his hand again, this time shaking it energetically, "you're here to replace this bird brained ass, right?"
"Excuse me?" both men asked, though with totally different tones and expressions.
"I knew the director had a soft side" Ellie sighed happily, still with Steve's hand tightly clasped in both of hers, stars in her eyes, "no more stink, no more covers, no more of his pecking in the middle of the night, a wish come true"
"Bree, he-" but she had already sped away, making Steve stumble as his hand was caught in hers for half a second before it was let go, "don't listen to her, she's a nutcase, I swear"
Steve momentarily didn't answer her, dazed as he tried to make sense of the yellow and red blur that had been a human being. Shaking himself he looked back, "I thought she was fairly nice"
"Cap', she's a nutcracker ready to explode, plus she's starting to like Stark, bad combo for you" Clint sighed running a hand through his short cropped hair before a yawn escaped his mouth, "Me and early mornings, now that is another bad combo"
"Sorry but Dr. B-" Steve started again on his apologies but was cut off when his hand was snatched and he was stumbling after a skipping redhead, "Uh, Ma'am?"
"I took the liberty to help you move in- you don't have much anywho" Ellie informed as they stepped around a pile of covers, boots, uniforms, bows and arrows, led to a spotless room with his two bags neatly on the bed, "I hope you don't mind"
"Is.. is this okay? Are you-we allowed to do this?" he stumbled, not wanting to offend the bubbly woman who was smiling as brightly as her strange hair, he didn't have the heart to rain on her good mood. He flinched when he heard Clint catch up with them, cursing as he saw his stuff carelessly dumped outside the door.
"Of course" she smiled, producing an access card from her pocket, putting it in his hand, "you're all good to go, good night, Mr. Rogers!" With that she strode across the room, shutting the door behind her, cutting off Clint's irritated voice and a loud crash.
He stood there awkwardly, hearing the muffled argument on the other side of the door until it slowly started to quiet down, leaving him to sit down heavily on his new bed, puffing out his cheeks before letting the air out in a whistle.
"Better than last time" he concluded falling backwards with his arms crossed behind his head, deciding for a nap before the meeting in the afternoon.
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"Master Bruce?" Alfred carefully inquired, worried for the man sitting in front of the waning blue current in front of him, staring in deep thought.
"Our last chance" Bruce muttered, rubbing his weary eyes, all of his fighting days suddenly weighing on him, "we have to get her back, Alfred"
"I know, sir" Alfred sighed sadly, faintly remembering a small body next to his by a roaring fireplace, "but you must be prepared for the worst, it's been years…"
"Have you?" he whispered, eyes reflecting an electric blue, "been prepared?"
The old butler opened his mouth but paused a moment before speaking, "… not as much as I'd prefer, sir"
Bruce balled up his fist, rubbing it against his forehead before sighing, "Any word from John about Clark?"
"None"
Better day, Better thoughts. Keep Calm and Call Batman t-shirt - Better. Gratitude for those following.