Faraway Home Chapter 5
Disclaimer: same verse, same as the first!
Warnings: None (not responsible for feels)
AN: This is the last one folks! Hope you enjoyed this brief foray into "What If" territory. It's been a blast giving our favorite Mean Green all the happiness. And seriously? I have more to write, so while this part is over, a continuation is possible. Let me know what you think of that idea!
Once at the palace, the trio made their way to a small audience room. Several Red and Shadow servants watched with undisguised interest at the brilliantly colored robot walking with the King and Queen.
Hulk handed Caiera to one of the low slung, gilt chairs before turning a glare on the robot as soon as the doors closed behind it. He claimed the other and lowered his large frame into the cushioned seat with a quiet sigh. Uneasy sat the crown, some days.
"Okay Tin Man, convince me," he said, using an old nickname from his previous life. He crossed huge arms over his chest, frowning.
"Well, it's like this," Stark began. He explained about the Illuminati, and how they, plus Nick Fury, had tricked Hulk into outer space to remove him from his original home world. Some of this was news to Caiera, who easily kept the surprise from her face. Hearing of this callow disregard these humans had for her husband, she was determined to make sure he stayed where he was needed, and loved. She was angry. This armor, this Stark, from a distant world wanted to excuse what that race had done to her King, her love, her all.
"I need to explain. This?" the armor raised and widened its arms indicating the situation, "This was not my idea."
Hulk grunted, clearly disbelieving him. "See, that's where you're wrong, Shellhead. A video played in that damn capsule. I saw YOUR face, along with Stretch, Strange, and the Panther. Stretch wished me a bon voyage. The rest of you just STOOD THERE." Hulk stood and stalked closer to the robot, menacing him with every inch of his 8' foot form.
The armor stood, unmoved. No one could know that he was afraid of even breathing for fear of triggering the Hulk to attack. He needed the evidence he'd compiled with the help of his AI to prove his case.
"I don't think my return will make those individuals," Hulk sneered, "very happy."
"My King," Caiera ventured to interrupt. "Perhaps it would be best to let the stranger rest? We can pick this up tomorrow." She needed to pull Hulk away, for both his sake, and the robot before them.
"A wise thought, beloved," Hulk replied, straightening his shoulders and turning away from the interloper to look at her. His entire face softened, and the intruder could see the love in his emerald eyes. She smiled at him, a quiet reassurance that everything was okay, and would remain so. That she would support his decisions, and always be at his side.
"We have a shielded guest room so you will be able to get out of the armor, Stark. Sen will show you the way," Hulk dismissed his former friend, confidant, almost lover. An older Red woman entered the antechamber and waited patiently near the door.
Hulk reached out to Caiera and tugged her to her feet once she'd grasped his hand. They only had eyes for each other, and it pained Stark deeply to watch. It appeared he'd lost all chances with his best friend.
Caiera leaned into the Hulk's larger body, wrapping one arm around his wide shoulders to put a hand on the base of his neck. She tilted her face up to his for a kiss. It was a searing kiss that melded the two of them together, a simple, daily reaffirmation of the depth of their commitment to each other.
The Red quietly cleared her throat, calling Stark's attention to her. She held a hand out, indicating the door, and he nodded. He was intruding now. The suit stumped out of the chamber, following the old woman, and leaving behind the royals. The Red servant led the armored man down several hallways and down a few levels of the palace, until it was obvious they were well below ground. They stopped at a plain brown stone door that led to a room that was more catacomb than bedroom.
"Here, sir. The Green Scar says you must be comfortable for the night. There are clothes on the side board for you to change, purified water for drinking and bathing. Unfortunately, our food is poisonous to the unadjusted. You will be taken back to your starship tomorrow for any provisions you might have," she explained, pointing out the features as she named them.
"How do you know my language? Only Hulk and that woman seemed to understand before now," he had to know.
"The great Holku has made it law that the palace servants know his mother tongue. There are nanites that otherwise allow us all to converse, and survive here," she admitted. It had been a project of Banner's, teaching first Caiera, then the Warbound, English, before several of the palace servants expressed an interest in the language. The children had begun their lessons not long ago.
"Really? Wouldn't it be easier to give me this treatment?"
"I do not claim to know how the Sakaarson wishes things done, until he tells me. I wish you a pleasant night. Either I, or another servant will be back in the morning," she bowed and left the man standing in his armor. Beneath the mask, he was quite shocked. He remained still for several minutes, digesting all the information he'd been flooded with, until his AI spoke.
"Sir?" the secondary mechanical voice, silent all this time, startled him from dark, stoic thoughts.
"Yeah, J, is it safe?" he asked.
"As safe as may be, sir. I have detected high levels of iron and lead within the walls. It appears to be a natural cavern, and yet, dug out in some places. You can remove the armor."
"All right, pop it then. Started to chafe hours ago."
The armor hissed as hinges and joints released their hermetic seal from around the body kept snug inside. The finger plates shifted, exposing thin, calloused digits. The plates continued to shift up the arms, retracting and revealing a toned muscular body that was pale from the long lack of sunlight. The upper body split and collapsed down over the shifting legs, allowing a rather rough looking human male to step out and away from the armor.
"Damn, that never gets comfortable, no matter what I do," he grumped, twisting and bending to try and loosen tight muscles. "Too old for this shit, J."
"Noted, sir."
Stark looked around at his new accommodations, taking in the details. The bed, slanted against one wall, draped in red and blue bedclothes, was mostly carved stone, with a plump mattress bag stuffed with he didn't know what. The color scheme carried over the rest of the soft furnishings, cushions, the rug and even the towels beside a stone ewer and basin that he assumed held the promised water. He went to the small table to look at the clothes folded there, and then moved to the shelf that held the ewer and basin. He poured a measure out so that he could wash some of the grime off.
"You should never have come, Tony," a slim, cloaked figure grouched as it let itself into the room.
"Bruce?" the man spun around, hands dripping with water, elatedly searching for his friend. "Oh God. I wasn't sure Hulk would listen."
"We almost didn't. Caiera," Tony flinched, nearly curling in on himself. "Convinced me to come talk to you. Sit down, and I'll at least give you my side." Bruce lifted the lined gray hood from his head and let it fall around his shoulders. He was tired looking to the other man, eyes shadowed by dark circles, and his hair exhibiting even more gray than usual. His appearance made Tony's heart clench.
"Damn, I've missed you," Tony said, approaching Bruce with his arms up and open, to draw him into an embrace. Bruce neatly side-stepped, shaking his head in denial. His expression didn't change. Tony's fell, along with his arms.
"No, Tony. I, I can't trust right now. Please, just sit," he whispered, arms wrapping around his torso, the large sleeves floating like wings.
"O...okay Bruce," Tony stuttered, subdued. He sat on the bed, scooting backwards to the headboard and leaning against the cool, hand carved stone. He wrapped his arms around bent knees, and propped his chin on top, waiting anxiously.
Bruce sighed, not knowing quite where to begin. He paced the width of the room, agitated. Several emotions flitted across his face as he moved.
Tony recognized at least fear, loathing, and anger each time he caught a glimpse of Bruce's beloved face. He'd missed him so much.
"Hulk already mentioned Reed's involvement. Fury was involved as well. Convinced me there was some HYDRA weapon in orbit and Hulk was the only one who could deal with it." Bruce sighed again, and stopped walking to lean against a wall close to Tony. It didn't appear he was aware of their proximity. "It wasn't a HYDRA weapon," he sneered, still very angry at being deceived, "Then they decided we were too dangerous to return dirtside. We ended up here. Hulk could handle this place better than I, so I gave up fronting except for specific cases. Caiera, and our experiences here, have helped immensely. Hulk and I understand each other better, and our life with Caiera is fullfulling."
His face softened with the mention of the gray skinned woman that Tony had heard referred to as "Queen". He shifted uncomfortably, tightening his white knuckled grip on his elbows, frowning a little. He'd have given up more than half of his company to have Bruce look at him that way. Releasing a small, forlorn sigh, he realized he'd probably lost that chance. Only, Bruce Banner made Tony feel more whole than he'd ever felt in his life. He had to convince him to return.
"What is she to you?" he asked, voice tight, and small. Bruce did sound happy discussing his life on this rock. He wondered if his other news would help bring him and Hulk around to returning to Earth. This man, so thin, but strong, radiated power and confidence he'd never seen on him before. So important now, so beautiful. It made his heart hurt as part of his mind cried at what would likely never be.
"She is our wife, mother of our sons." Tony's face whitened, his eyes widening in shocked disbelief. "I am," Bruce stopped for a minute, eyes going from dark brown to emerald green as Hulk made his presence known, "No, WE are happy. There's nothing back on Earth for us." A much larger, green tinted hand swiped through the air as he said that, cutting in its finality.
Tony flinched hard, eyes snapping closed as his head thumped against the headboard. "There's nothing?" he whispered into the tension, eyes still closed as though he could ignore the answer.
"No," Bruce said. "My..." Stopped, took a breath. "Our trust is shot Tony. And no one back there wants to see us again, much less accept that we could be different now."
"Not true," Tony tried, insistent, "What about Jen? Rick? That kid that followed you around like a puppy, Cho*? They won't miss you? Need you?"
"Need me? No," Bruce shook his head. "We endangered them. They can all go on to have regular lives, instead of constantly being roped into my problems, or," he closed his eyes against a sudden surge of worry for the people he'd left behind. "They don't need me anymore," he whispered, leaning fully against the wall. He hadn't thought about Jen or Rick in awhile. Mention of them brought back conflicting emotions
"Bruce, they miss you. But, well, that is not the only problem. One of the Gamma Mutants has them, or had them, since I haven't figured out how much time has passed," Tony looked ready to latch onto a new problem to solve, but Bruce beat him to it.
"It doesn't matter, Tony. Even if I went back to rescue them, who's to say Fury and Reed won't try again? And you? You still had a part to play in all this. And I don't know if we can fix that," Bruce pushed off the wall, and stood in the middle of the room, almost as if he'd change on the spot.
"It wasn't me there, Bruce, please believe me. JARVIS has been working over that damn recording since before we left, and we know it was faked. I was part of the Illuminati. Started it! I thought it would do some good to have oversight on the super crowd, but that? Never what I wanted. I left, so did T'Challa."
Tony knew this was his one last chance at this, and wasn't sure he was getting through to Bruce.
"We'll go tomorrow to the ships, fix yours. I'm sorry Tony, rest well." And Bruce turned to leave his former friend behind. Tony crumpled over, believing he'd lost at last, face fallen, and tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. He refused to let them fall.
"I'm sorry too," Tony whispered, face tucked into the pillow as Bruce rippled and Hulk reemerged as they opened and passed through the door, closing it behind them.
Hulk wandered the quiet, nearly dark halls of the Lower Palace, deep in thought. Tony's reactions bothered him. It spoke of a weary heart, one that had hope to find solace after a long, arduous journey, like he had experienced over the years since he had first transformed. Except, it appeared as though Tony hadn't found the solace he craved, and instead had been rebuffed and broken. He needed to think, long and hard about what this meant, how it affected him, and ultimately his family.
Hours later, Hulk checked on his boys, peacefully sleeping as children with no worries did, and then made his way to the roof to watch the sunrise. As he stood in the enveloping, welcome silence, the sky grew incrementally lighter. Soon he felt the warm presence of his beautiful queen approach from inside.
"Husband?" she said softly in his ear, arms carefully wrapping around his shoulders. One did not sneak on her ferocious husband.
He always loved their contrast, his green skin against her gray. He found it soothing, and had come to cherish these quiet moments when they could just be together.
He sighed, and turned within her embrace, tilting his head down to kiss her gently. When they separated, he said, "This is not an ideal situation, my heart."
"Such things never are. Come, at least have breakfast with me, and we can talk about it." She led him back to their quarters, and they went to the low, stone table where they usually had at least one meal a day.
An arrangement of green and pink Eleha'al flowers* sat in a bowl at the center of the table, surrounded by plates laden with food.
"Sit, beloved, and tell me what concerns your heart," Caiera said, gently coaxing Hulk to sit cross legged upon the cushions. As he took his place, he deflated, slumping forward as his skin tone changed from healthy, glowing green to pale pink. Hulk let Bruce through, not up to figuring out this puzzle. His emotions were pretty straight forward, and this confusing maelstrom needed someone with more mental acuity than the behemoth claimed*
"Scientist?" Caiera queried, handing him a cup of water when the change was done. She rarely interacted with Banner, finding they had little in common outside of Hulk and the children. She had never grasped the difficulty Bruce had in understanding and accepting Hulk's existence.
"Caiera," he whispered, accepting the clay vessel with a smile of thanks. "I am sorry. I know this is usually Hulk's time with you, but he still doesn't quite grasp relationships well. Can't recognize certain nuances." They had come far, since arriving on Sakaar, becoming better acquainted with each other's thoughts and desires. But there were a few things Bruce couldn't get used to. Like Caiera. Her wholehearted acceptance of Hulk, and the depths of her love astounded him. Everything about their relationship eclipsed his old love with Betty Ross. And he couldn't see himself breaking this family apart because of something he thought he wanted.
"It is quite all right. You are as much loved as Holku." Caiera simply took up a piece of fruit and bit into it, savoring the juice and pulp.
He sipped his water, and contemplated what he wanted to say. "There's a feeling, something's not quite right here. Tony Stark would not go through all this effort to find me without strong cause."
"He was your friend before, correct?"
"Mhm, best friend, I suppose, besides Rick. Always willing to help, never asked for anything in return. Just, this Illuminati stuff. That a select group of heroes is keeping an eye on the rest? For what purpose? Are things that bad on Earth that he'd have to bring me back? He hinted that my cousin and friends were in trouble, but I don't know. I know Jen, she can manage for herself. But the others?" He shook his head, finishing the water and putting the cup down to eat some food.
Caiera finished the fruit and watched him eat for a moment, considering her opinion. "And what do you plan to do?" She wasn't worried he would chose to abandon them. They had a strong, good heart, and neither would leave her and the boys behind. She just didn't know what was best at the moment. They needed more time to consider all their options.
"I don't think I can go back. Too much ugliness to consider. It can't just be swept aside. If I did go back, I'd be endangering all three of you, possibly even Korg and Hiroim." She smiled, of course the Warbound would go where he led, even to a different planet.
"Take time to think of all your options, my husband. Regrets will do you no good. Today I can handle the needs of the people, while you work on this problem."
Bruce smiled back at her, putting his fork down. "It's a good start, thank you."
"Of course, now, come with me," she stood, taking his hand and drawing him up. She led him back to their bed, and reminded him of all he had gained in this place.
There would be time to deal with this Tony Stark, later.
Half a day later, Hulk finally got Tony out of the palace and they went to the shuttles. They barely spoke a single word to each other, outside of managing a series of diagnostic scans on Tony's ship to check its flight worthiness. Tony shared the videos from home, and the evidence he had amassed about Fury and Reed.
Hulk gave him access to his old shuttle, and Tony managed to find the crucial piece of information he'd been missing on final proof that Reed Richards and Nick Fury had conspired together to get rid of the 'dangerous element' that Hulk represented to them. There was a moment when another hero, Namor from the looks of it, made mention of the other Gamma Mutants, and whether the remaining heroes would be able to defeat them without the Hulk. Richards and Fury dismissed the Atlantian's concerns and went on with their plans. Hulk, in their opinion, needed to be removed if he could not be controlled. All that had led to where they were now, Hulk the ruler of a planet, married, with kids, and Tony Stark, desperately trying to glue a broken heart back together, again.
Hulk had even more to consider at that point.
Tony languished for a week, between repairs and spending time around Hulk and his family. He only got 2 more private audiences to discuss the decision that weighed so heavily on his friend's mind.
During the last, it was Bruce and Tony talking, sharing some of Tony's remaining supplies. They had reminisced about their time with the Avengers, before leading back around to the current issue.
"So?" Tony asked, trying not to shake from the fear and worry.
"I'm sorry," Bruce replied.
AN: 1 – Cho – Amadeus Cho, certified genius, and cheerleader for the Hulk. Believes Big Green can do no wrong.
2 - Eleha'al flowers – this plant only grows in the presence of Hulk's blood, which in canon, was the indicator that he was truly the Sakaarson.
Best if you listen to Adele's "21" and in particular, the song "Someone Like You", and overall, for Hulk as King, Coldplay's "Viva la Vida".