Okay, this chapter is a 3rd person pov from Bruce's perspective. I hope I did the Hulk okay, and as for what happens when he comes back, well I can't say I honestly know how he feels every time, but this time, he's traveled long distances, he's exhausted, he's embarrassed, and he's scared. I know he may be a bit vulnerable in this chapter, but in the last chapter it was Minnie who was vulnerable, so it's her turn to be the strong one, and I hope you like it.


"Well MeeMaw," Minnie's mom was saying to the older woman. "I don't think Vegas is exactly the best play for us to celebrate your 93rd birthday."

"Who asked you." the old woman said as she waved her hand. "My Sammy will go to Vegas with me, won't you? We can go see those show boys together."

"Of course I will MeeMaw." she said and Bruce smiled as MeeMaw pulled her close and kissed her cheek.

"You sure your boyfriend won't mind?"

"He won't mind, will he?" she looked over at Bruce with a sly smile. He smiled and shook his head.

"I don't know, should I chaperone?" he asked and Minnie laughed as she put her hand on his leg.

"Knowing MeeMaw… Probably." she smiled and he grinned as he put his hand over hers.

"Hey, has anyone seen Helen?" Cleo asked and Minnie stood up, it was obvious she was so used to doing everything; she had a hard time not doing little things that came up.

"I'll go check her office." she said and lightly patted Bruce's hand. He smiled as she lightly pecked his cheek, and then walked to the plantation house.

"So Bruce, Have you ever been to New Orleans before?"

"Uh, no, I haven't actually."

"Simone says you've traveled a lot."

"Yeah, I have." he nodded to her mother.

"She said, uh, Canada right?"

"Yeah, and before that I was in India."

"Oh, doing what?"

"There was a village in India, and this fever broke out, they didn't have any doctors so I went there."

"Like doctors without borders?"

"Kind of." he nodded.

"That's amazing." she sighed. "Do you think you'll continue to do that now that you're dating my daughter?"

"Well I don't know." he smiled lightly. "I'm pretty happy in New York right now."

"I'm sure you are." MeeMaw said.

"Nothing is okay!" someone shouted from the shadows between the plantation house and the party. Bruce looked over, as did MeeMaw and Cecile. "Nothing Is Okay! It Was Never Okay!"

"That was Simon." Cecile said and Bruce jumped up. He walked over in time to see Simon shove Minnie back, she hit the ground hard, and instantly his heart rate quickened. He didn't have time to try to talk himself down from this, he was changing, the other guy was coming out. Now.

Bruce barely had time to take his glasses off before he fell to his knees, the change to the other guy tore his clothes, he was so pissed, he couldn't see straight, he turned, his focus landing on Simon who now had his hands wrapped around Minnie's neck.

Hulk stormed forward, saw the small man squeezing Minnie's throat. Minnie looked at him; he grabbed the small man, pulled him away from Minnie who fell to the ground. Hulk threw the small man against the house; the small man broke the wall, and didn't get up. "Not Okay." Hulk growled. Hulk looked at Minnie. Two more small men were with her, but they weren't touching. Minnie was staring at Hulk. Minnie looked... Scared.

Bruce liked Minnie, Hulk knew that. Minnie looked scared of Hulk, so she was scared of Bruce. Hulk knew Minnie wasn't supposed to see this. Hulk turned, and ran away. Hulk didn't want Minnie scared.

"Bruce!" Minnie screamed in the distance, but Hulk ran.

Bruce's head was killing him, like it always did when The Other Guy took over. He didn't know where he was, but he was outside. He wondered how long it had been.

"Bruce?" he felt someone touch his face. He recognized their hands, but they sounded like they were talking through water. "Bruce?" things were starting to sound a little clearer, but he couldn't tell just yet. "Bruce, honey?"

"Minnie?" the groan from his lips sounded far away.

"Bruce, I'm here." Minnie was there? What had happened? He remembered... Simon, Minnie had gone to look for Helen, and they heard Simon shouting Bruce walked over to see what was happening, Simon shoved Minnie back, she fell to the ground hard.

The Other Guy took over. He groaned and he felt her move his head slightly, he was now resting his head on something soft. "Honey, are you okay?" she was stroking the side of his face. He reached out, and she took his hand, and held it to her face. He opened his eyes finally and looked around, blinking a few times to get the focus right, then he realized, he was indeed outside, Minnie was sitting with him, wearing a green tee shirt, and, he quickly realized to soft thing he was laying on was her legs. He reached up and ran his hand along her leg and she touched his face, drawing his eyes to hers. She looked concerned; she had been concerned about him. "Honey, tell me how many fingers I'm holding up." she held up four fingers.

"Four." he said, and Tony stepped into focus. "Tony?" he asked, before they were both doused with cold water. Minnie shrieked and jumped up, Bruce sat up as she shoved Tony.

"What the hell was that for?" she shouted at him.

"To wake him up!" Tony defended his decision. "Plus you're wearing a pretty tight tee shirt, and I mean he looks like he could use an impromptu wet tee shirt contest." She spun around and walked back over to Bruce, and knelt down next to him.

"How are you feeling?" she asked as she cupped his face.

"Did I hurt anyone?" he asked groggily.

"Just Simon." she said softly. "MeeMaw wants to adopt you for that." He touched her hand and she bit her lip, before looking down at him. He looked down at himself and quickly pulled the wet blanket over himself, his face turning red.

"Where are we?" he asked.

"The swamp, you passed out in some people's yard." she replied. "They were nice enough to let us stay." She picked up a pile of clean clothes.

"How long have I been out?"

"About an hour."

"And how long was... The other guy in control?"

"About two hours." she said. "Most of that was spent running- What were you running from?" she asked and he shook his head.

"You." he said honestly and she stared at him in surprise. "Help me stand up." he said and she stood up quickly. He held the blanket over himself and awkwardly tried to pull the pants on.

"Here." she held the blanket up, giving him a small bit of privacy. He pulled the pants on quickly; glad the person who had given them to him wasn't too skinny or too large. They were a little loose, but they would work on the way back to the hotel. He pulled the blue shirt over his head and Minnie held out his glasses. He took them, not looking at her. This wasn't supposed to happen, she wasn't supposed to know. He put them on.

"It's cool, I've got my own ride." Tony said as he opened his briefcase of gold and red metal. He stepped into it and the suit engulfed his body. "See you there." he said before he took off flying.

"Karen, Jasper, thank you for everything." Minnie was saying to the couple who were apparently the homeowners. They hugged her, and then said something to the short looking cowboy guy who led Minnie over to a truck.

Bruce slowly followed, feeling sluggish and tired. His entire body ached and he had no energy. He got into the truck and closed the door. Minnie sat between him and the driver, she kept looking at him, but he kept his gaze focused on the window, all the way to the hotel.

"Thank you so much Cal." she said to the driver who spoke to her for a moment, Bruce was however climbing out of the truck, he walked into the lobby of the hotel, the cool marble surprised him, but he remembered he wasn't wearing shoes. Someone was suddenly hugging him; he recognized blonde hair and the smell of expensive hair products.

"Not now Dallas." he said without energy. He tried to walk to the elevator, but he was tired, he was so tired. Minnie rushed into the lobby and spoke to Dallas as she took Bruce's arm and wrapped it over her shoulders. He didn't want her this close, not while he felt like this, but with no other alternative he leaned on her. They got to the elevator and she hit the button a few times.

The doors opened and they stepped inside, Dallas ran after them, they got to Bruce's floor, he was hardly conscious as they brought him to his room, Dallas left them, Minnie helped him change, she didn't say a thing, just helped him into his pyjama pants and his own shirt, she got him into the bed, he noticed she was in his purple shirt again. He wondered if she'd take that shirt when she left him, there was no way he could look at it without seeing her in it.

Just seeing her- An image flashed into his mind, Minnie with Simon's hands around her throat- The- The Other Guy throwing Simon like throwing a rag doll. Minnie staring at him in horror. He covered his face with his hands, trying to push that image from his mind, the more he tried to concentrate on getting it out of his head, the sharper it was, he could see the tears in her eyes, the look of shock and fear etched on her face. He groaned.

"No." he groaned. "No no no." he tried to will the image gone, tried to get it to go away. He felt Minnie climb onto the bed, and wrap her arms around him. He buried his face in her chest, wrapped his arms around her waist, and held her there as she held him, his body shook with silent sobs.

He felt her running her hands through his hair, calming him. It reminded him of what his mother would do when he had a nightmare. That's all it was, he tried to tell himself. It was a nightmare. It hadn't really happened, and he's wake up in the morning with Minnie in his arms, whining about having to get up so early.

"It's okay," he heard her say softly, in that soothing tone of voice. "I'm here. It's okay Bruce." she said as she ran her fingers through his hair. It was okay. She was okay. He slipped into sleep, still holding her tightly.