Hello once again.

Ah, I have to do EQAO soon. It is so horrible! Studying and shit.

Anyways, this chapter might not have as much action as the rest of the chapters that I have been uploading, but there is a lot of Bruce angst!

This is after Percy and Annabeth see the Hulk transforming back to Bruce
So here we go!

Percy's POV

"Who the hell is that?" I asked very, very surprised.

Annabeth and I were facing a man who looked like he was in his mid thirties, or early forties. He was passed out on the ground. Just a minute ago, he had been a huge green…monster ravaging though the forest.

I shook my head, totally speechless.

"I think he's one of the avengers." Annabeth observed.

I nodded in agreement. Of course he was one of the avengers. I just hoped he wasn't an enemy. He definitely did give off that vibe. He was a monster "and" a man. How was that even possible?

"What do we do with him?" I questioned.

"Wait for him to wake up. Maybe he can help us. It looks like he got separated just like we did." Annabeth replied.

I scoffed. "It's a wonder his jumpsuit didn't even get ripped."

I saw Annabeth scrunch her eyebrows together like she was in deep thought. "Yeah..."

Annabeth and I sat on the floor beside the unconscious man.

This morning, we had gotten up after having fought the sea dragon and left immediately. We really wanted to avoid another situation like that. My body still ached from fighting with it. My joints creaked with every movement. At least I didn't have any dreams the last night. It seemed that neither did Annabeth. At least that was what it seemed like. You could never be too sure with her.

It hadn't been long after we started walking when we came across the...thing? Person? I had no idea what to call this guy. I had a really hard time believing that this guy was actually hiding a monster within him. He looked like a normal person and yet just about ten minutes ago, he had been a huge green creature. Though, he wasn't like any of the Greek monster I have ever fought. It didn't seem like the sole purpose in his life was to murder us.

Annabeth seemed to have realized that as she stopped me from attacking. Though I doubted that even if I had attacked, I would've only made the thing more angry than actually hurt.

Annabeth and I sat in a pregnant silence, waiting for him to wake up so that we could ask him questions. As I sat, staring at his body, I started to notice a few things. He looked really tired, even in his sleep. It was like he had so many things to worry about. He was definitely not a half-blood. I didn't know of any god that could turn into a monster. Even if he wasn't a half-blood though, I wondered how the monster could see our weapons. When he had been in monster mode, it looked like he was staring straight at our weapons like they posed a threat to him (which they did). He wasn't a half blood, but he could still see our weapons. I wondered if he could see them in human mode, I thought. Maybe he was a descendant of a half-blood.

My train of thought was interrupted as the unconscious man stirred in his sleep. He was waking up. I heard him groan as his eyes flickered. I uncapped my sword in casethe monster came out again. Annabeth had the same thought as she took out her dagger.

The man on the ground slowly opened his eyes. They darted around, first looking at us, and then looking around us. He shook his head, like he was trying to clear it and his eyes finally came to a rest on our weapons. They widened in shock as he realized that they were pointed straight at his face. He saw our weapons.

How could he see them? Was he a monster disguised as a human, or a human who hid a monster? It seemed kind of likely to be the first one...but for some reason, I didn't think so. I had a gut feeling that he was only trying to fit in-trying to be normal. Just like I had in one point of my life. And I usually went with my gut feelings. Most of the time, they were right.

As the man noticed our weapons, I saw a flash of green pass in his eyes. Though it disappeared as he looked down quickly. I saw him scrunch his eyebrows as he looked at himself. I decided not to question what was so surprising.

Instead, I asked, "Who are you?"

He looked up at riptide, then at me, frowning all the while. "I think I should be asking you that."

Before I could answer with another smartass comment, Annabeth held up a hand in front of my face to silence me. Then she said, "You can see our weapons."

The man's frown turned deeper. "Well yeah, they're right in front of my face." He paused and then asked, "Who are you?"

Annabeth sighed and gave me a look saying, "Don't worry; he's not a Greek monster." I decided that she was right and lowered riptide. If he had been a Greek monster, he would've attacked by now. Annabeth also lowered her knife. Then she said, "My name is Annabeth Chase and this is Percy Jackson. We are half-bloods."

There didn't seem to be a reaction in the man's face as Annabeth said our names. If he were a Greek monster, he would've recognized us.

"I'm Bruce Banner. Nice to meet you…I guess. I heard some half bloods were here. So what exactly is a half-blood?"

Me and Annabeth exchanged glances. "Bruce" still hadn't gotten up off the ground. He looked at us like he was assessing us and really didn't know who we were. Either he was really good at pretending, or this was all genuine.

"Half bloods are half human and…half god." I said. I was half expecting him burst out laughing when we said that. Instead, I saw his eyes darkening as he said, "What god exactly?"

"Greek. Percy over here is the son of Poseidon. I'm the daughter of Athena." Annabeth told Banner. He just nodded in realization, an awed expression on his face. I was still surprised that he hadn't started laughing yet and asking if this was all a joke. He accepted it a bit quickly. We weren't even supposed to be telling normal mortals this stuff, but I hardly thought that this guy counted as a normal mortal.

"So the myths are true…" He mumbled, more to himself than to us.

"Yes. Yes they are true." I inserted.

"I had studied some Greek mythology in grade school. It was quite interesting, though I got hooked on physics later. So you truly are half bloods?"

"Yeah we are."

Banner's eyes raised in mild surprise. He was way too calm during all of this. We had just told him that something he though was a myth is actually true in real life. Banner finally made a move to get up. It was getting kind of awkward looking down at him as we were talking. He got up slowly and then leaned heavily on a tree. I frowned. He looked weak, small. At first glance, you would think he was just any old person. I couldn't even wrap my mind around the fact that this person was not a real person. I had to know more.

"What are you?" I burst out, quite rudely.

I saw a brief flash of hurt cross over his face when I said "what" instead of "whom". I ignored it and looked at him expectantly.

"Well, like I told you, I'm Bruce Banner."

I narrowed my eyes. "Yeah?" I said sarcastically. "Cut the crap."

Banner sighed and pinched his nose with two fingers. I waited for him to answer.

Finally he said, "Well, as you probably saw, I can turn into that monst-the other guy that you saw. I'm part of the avengers and the…other guy is called the Hulk."

I noticed how he refrained from saying "monster". He didn't want to face the truth. I knew how that felt. Though I wondered how much it hurt to have that thing inside of him.

"How?" Annabeth asked out of the blue.
"How what?"

"How did you turn into that…Hulk? I have a feeling you weren't born like that."

Banner ran a hand through his already dishevelled hair. "Well, you would be right about that." He whispered, barely audible.

I was about to question what happened when Annabeth gave me a glare so intense, it seemed to burn through my skin. I decided to drop the subject.

That was when a thought hit me. Banner had said that he was in the Avengers. I had a dream about that. That voice had told me to join the Avengers. My eyes widened. This was it. We had to join with him and his team. If we could gain his trust, we could gain his team's trust.

"The Avengers!" I said suddenly.
Bruce flinched badly while Annabeth just looked at me with raised eyebrows.

"That dream I had! The voice had told me to join the Avengers!" I explained frantically to Annabeth until I saw realization dawn on her eyes.

"Yeah..." Annabeth said.

I glanced over to Banner and saw that he looked very confused at what we were talking about. "What's going on?" He questioned.

I sighed, exasperated at him and started to explain, "I had a dream where a voice told me that the other half bloods and I had to form an alliance with the avengers to get out of here. That's you!"

I saw Banner's eyes widen in realization as well before he said, "Tony's dream…"

"Who's that?" I asked.

"Huh? Oh that's nothing important." He said distractedly, waving a hand in the air.

I waited for him to say something more.

Finally he said, "Yes, I am an avenger. A superhero meant to protect the Earth." His eyes darkened as he said that. I couldn't really see how a monster like him could actually protect the air, more than destroy it. It seemed to like destroying things more than protecting them. He was definitely strong enough to.

Bruce continued, "I got separated from them when we were attacked by replica Hulk creatures."

When he saw our confused looks, he explained. "Hulk creatures are animals that can also turn into a mon-mon…monster." He shuddered ever so slightly when he said that. "The creature could smell me-it could smell the other guy." Banner stopped and looked at us with broken eyes. "I had to run. I didn't want to put them in danger with two hulk creatures. Me and that animal. Thankfully I turned after I was well away from them. I ran, I met you and now I have no idea where they are."

As he finished, he looked down at the ground with dark eyes. I saw him clench and unclench his fists. I really hoped he didn't change now. I didn't think either of us was ready for that. Though, for some reason, I knew he had more control than that.

I felt sorry for him.

Here was a man battling his demons which were both emotional and physically alive as well. He had worse than us. And that was saying a lot. Who knew how long he had that thing in him. It could've been years that he had to live like that.

Annabeth seemed to feel sorry for him as well as she went up to him and tentatively put her hand on his shoulder. I saw him flinch ever so slightly at the motion.

She said, "It's going to be okay. We'll help you look for them. After all, we got separated as well. We know how it feels. Maybe we'll join up with both, the Avengers and the other half bloods." She gave him a dazzling smile as he looked up at her-the one she would only give me. I tried not to feel too jealous about that. I knew it was silly to think that-he was way too old for her-but I couldn't help it.

"Thank you." He muttered.

I waited for their little bonding moment to finish before I spoke again.

"We should start moving again." I said a little icily. Annabeth seemed to notice this as she raised an eyebrow at me. I ignored it. "By what you said about he Hulk creature, there could be more around here."

Banner nodded in agreement, probably just glad that he was being included in our group. I did not trust him at all yet. That would still take me a while. For now, I guessed we had no choice. It was either include him, or have a huge green monster as an enemy. I would rather not have that.

So we walked, with Annabeth in the lead and me walking beside her. We were slashing at the trees with Banner behind us since it seemed that he didn't have any weapons with him. Well actually, it didn't seem like he had much of anything with him.

Annabeth and I had taken up some conversation to fill in the deafening silence. Banner didn't seem to be the talkative type as he was just trailing behind us, not saying a word. We did try asking him some questions about how his life before the "hunger games" was like, but he had such a broken look in his eyes that we stopped asking.

After that, we had just walked in silence.

…..

"It was me."

I looked up at who had spoken. Annabeth, Banner and I had found a clearing to rest in for a while before setting off again. It had been quiet for a long time now, and someone had finally interrupted it.

Surprisingly enough, it was Banner.

"It was me." He repeated.

I scrunched my eyebrows at him. What was he talking about?

"What was you Bruce?" Annabeth asked. She had seemed to taken a strange liking toward the man.

"I turned myself into the Hulk."

My eyes widened. He seemed ready to tell us how it happened. Banner looked up at us with those broken eyes of his that made me think that he had been in so much.

"It was me!" He cried out in frustration, guilt laced in his voice. We waited in silence for him to continue. It was a few minutes before he spoke again in a shaky breath.

"I experimented on myself. I thought it would be the key to unlocking the super soldier serum that made Captain America!"

Captian America? I had heard of him before, vaguely. All I knew of him was that he was a supposed American hero in World War 2 and he had enhanced ability. Banner had tried to replicate that?

"I thought that the key was Gamma radiation."

I looked over at Annabeth and saw her eyes widen. I didn't know much about Gamma radiation. All I knew was that it was a type of…radiation? I would have to ask Annabeth later.
Banner continued. "I exposed myself to Gamma radiation. Then the…accident happened. I almost killed the person I loved most of all. I killed so many people. Some I didn't even know."

I glanced at Annabeth again and saw that she was opening her mouth, wanting to say something, and then closing it again. She looked like how I felt. In shock. Banner would just experiment on himself like that? That was crazy! Why would he do that in the first place? Maybe he was so sure of himself that he didn't think the consequences through. I've done the same, but in completely different situations and for completely different reasons.

He spoke again. "Whoever was injected with the serum, whatever is dominant in them would become even more powerful. In captain America's case, it was his good soul. In my case, it was hidden anger." Banner looked at the ground bitterly. "I guess I've always had this monster hidden inside of me. I jut never realized it until now."

He started to laugh. His laugh almost turned maniacal. It was a little scary as I saw him shake with new bouts of laughter. The laughing slowly turned silent as I saw him shiver as he sat, looking at the ground.

Annabeth got up went to sit beside him. She glared at me and I went to sit beside her. I really didn't need the motivation. I would've gone anyways. I definitely wasn't that cruel.

Annabeth put a hand on his shoulder and I didn't see him flinch this time. I smiled softy at the scene. No one spoke and that spoke way louder than words.

A while later Banner had calmed down enough to look at the both of us. His eyes were streaked with green and I found that I actually wasn't cautious anymore. He was just one person who something unlucky happened.

Horribly unlucky.

I understood that there was no need to be cautious around him. He had himself under control from as much as I could see.

The green from his eyes slowly faded away and returned to a coffee brown colour. He looked away from us, stood up, and started walking away from the clearing. Annabeth and I looked at each other for a moment and then followed behind him. We had come to the conclusion that we could trust him. He didn't mean any harm whatsoever. He was just a person who happened to be thrown into all of this, just like us.

I think we can trust him.

….

It was already way past sunset when we found a clearing to sleep in for the night. We hadn't found the avengers or the other half bloods yet.

I was starting to worry now. Had the other half bloods even made it to the forest? And if they did, how would they be able to find us? So many question and not enough answers.

There were no cannon shots today, like there was yesterday when Nico's face had appeared in the sky. I still wondered what that was about. Did something happen to Nico? I pulled pieces of grass out from the ground. I saw Annabeth sleeping beside me already, looking peaceful. I saw Banner a few ways away, also sleeping. They had gone to sleep long ago. I still hadn't. I wondered why Banner seemed so distant all the time. Maybe it came with having an alter ego as a big green killing machine.

I sighed.

…

I had to go for a walk.

I had to get away from my own emotions.

Plus, I had to find some food or water. We weren't going to last much longer on the supplies we had.

I know what you're thinking. "No Percy, don't go into the dark forest by yourself at night!" The problem was, was that I had to. An overwhelming urge to just get up and leave took over me. I had to get away from all the craziness for a while, or I would go crazy.

So I go up, as quietly as I could. I went over to Annabeth and placed a kiss on her cheek. She mumbled in her sleep and a smile came on her face, I smiled back even though I knew she couldn't see me. It seemed like a goodbye kiss, but it couldn't be. I would see her again of course.

I took one last glance at Banner and walked away.

I though I would be coming back and seeing the both of them in the morning. I would only realize later about how wrong I was.

Oooooh cliffhanger! Where is Percy going? You'll find out sooon…

Anyways, next chapter is Tony's

Please give me feedback! I love reading it!
-detective DG