Hello, readers! Sorry about the super slow update; finals are here and driving me slowly insane, but I needed a break, so I decided to work a bit on the next few chapters for this story. Unfortunately, this chapter is one hell of a filler...I was struggling with how to proceed to my next location, so this was the result. I promise it'll be better next chapter. So, without further ado, here's chapter five. As per usual, please leave a comment, it fuels my writing and makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside.
Disclaimer: Alas, I still don't own anything Marvel...what a bummer.
Chapter Five: Lesson One
Ben starred distantly out the window, at nothing in particular, as he sat in the chair by the window ledge. He could hear multiple voices, coming from outside the room, having various conversations, but he was completely zoning them out; everything was a mere blur in his mind.
My mom is gone… His bottom lip trembled and he pulled his knees up to his chest tightly, crying silently into the crooks of his arms. What am I going to do now?
Bruce and a majority of the team were standing outside of the door, talking quietly amongst themselves, but it was slowly growing heated.
"You know we can't keep this a secret, Bruce…SHIELD needs to know about this kid. They can help him."
"Well, that kid is my son, and there's no way in hell that I'm going to let SHIELD of all people 'help' him! They'll only make this situation worse…I'm not going to see them put Ben in a freaking cage," Bruce said hotly while fixing Steve with a sharp glare.
"Steve, I know you mean well," Natasha interjected and stepped between the two, "and, normally, I'd agree with you, but Bruce is right. The last thing this boy needs is the only people he has left turning him over to a bunch of strangers who aren't exactly the welcoming committee."
Steve sighed and his gaze flicked momentarily to the sad sight of Ben sitting alone in the hospital room looking completely lost.
"I suppose you're right, but there is still an important matter at hand- Ben needs help, and even you said it Bruce...whatever he's got going on in his head, it's different than your situation. We can't just let him go about his day, going to school, walking around the city, and potentially putting people's lives in danger. We simply can't risk it."
Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled breathily, "Look, I know what I said, but I assure you that I'm the only person that can help Ben right now. Tony and I are going to figure out exactly what his condition is, and then we can help from there; Tony should even be back to the tower by now running scans on the blood samples I took a bit ago."
Natasha nodded and put a hand reassuringly on Steve's arm, "You know he's right, Steve. Just let him and Tony do what they do best; give them some time. If they say they need SHIELD's help, we'll get SHIELD's help. It's as simple as that. Until then, I'm going back to the tower with Clint and make sure that they don't suspect anything due to our absences from the tower in such a hurry. We might have to pull a few strings at worst, but I think we'll be fine." Natasha gave his arm a quick squeeze, and strode away, with a brief nod to Bruce, "I'll see you back home."
Bruce watched the short haired redhead stride away, and then returned his attention to Ben. The boy looked so devastated. His heart clenched in his chest when he recalled telling him that Betty didn't make it…it was risky telling him when it could've trigger another phase, but after waiting for an hour or two of holding the sobbing boy in his arms, he felt he deserved to know.
Fortunately, nothing had happened when he told him, except for Ben completely shutting down. Much to Bruce's unhappiness, the boy hadn't moved an inch since he had told him that his mother was dead. It weighed down like a stone in his own heart too; he had loved Betty, but he quickly pulled himself together to help Ben cope with his new condition…that he had unknowingly doomed Ben too, fulfilling his worst possible fears.
Steve had wandered a short distance away from Bruce's side, and was having a quiet conversation with one of the hospital's doctors. The graying haired man nodded quickly in response, and Steve thanked him, returning to Bruce's side in a few short strides.
"He said we should probably get going if he's not going to need any treatment. I think Natasha gave them a pretty good alibi for the incident though; they're not asked any more questions."
The soldier paused and followed Bruce's concerned gaze, which rested on Ben. He smiled sympathetically and added softly, "Everything will be alright, Bruce," he patted him lightly on the back and said, "I'll go bring the car around; Clint dropped it by a bit ago."
Bruce nodded and heard the soldier's footfalls fade away slowly. Inhaling deeply, he stepped into the dimly lit room, and walked to stand next to Ben, his shoes clicking quietly on the tiled floor as he walked to his side. He placed a hand gently on the boy's shoulder; his head was tucked into his folded arms, and he didn't look up.
"Ben?" Bruce said gently, "It's uh…time to go…home."
No response.
"Uh…Ben…are you alright," Bruce's heart rate rose slightly when the boy remained motionless, but, much to his relief, the boy raised his head up slowly and looked at him with bloodshot eyes and tearstained cheeks. He sniffled pathetically and muttered tensely, "I don't have a home now."
Bruce's eyebrows furrowed together in sadness but he forced a weak smile to reassure him, "Listen…home is at the tower with me…that is, if you'd like it to be; it's up to you, but I'd really like to be a part of your life now…if you'll let me."
He ran a hand anxiously through his messy waves, and waited patiently for the boy's answer. He didn't know Ben all that well…Hell! He didn't know anything about the kid, but he was hoping with all his might that the boy would accept his offer to live with him…he felt like he owed that much to him.
Ben closed his eyes, inhaled, and sighed shakily. He opened his warm brown eyes, much more focused now, and he asked with a quiet voice, "Can I…can I go home and get my things at least?"
Bruce was rather thrown off by that question, but he quickly recovered and stuttered, "Uhm…yeah, sure. We can swing by on the way back if you want, I'm sure Steve won't mind stopping…"
"I…I want to go alone…If you don't mind, "Ben interrupted almost inaudibly. He had started to wring his wrists, out of habit, and shrugged halfheartedly, "It's just…I just want to get some things before…" His sad brown eyes began to water slightly, but he quickly rubbed his eyes and huffed a little louder, "I want to go alone, please."
Bruce frowned, and shook his head slowly, "I'm afraid I can't let you go alone…I…I don't want you to fell worried, but…something happened to you and I need to keep an eye on you and your new…uh…condition. Just for now at least."
Ben's eyes widened, and filled with fear momentarily, "Oh…right…that," he breathed out quietly.
He licked his lips nervously, and looked up at Bruce with worry growing in his eyes, "What…what exactly is going to happen to me?"
Bruce quickly kneeled down in front of him, and put both of his hands on his shoulders, saying firmly, "Breath. You gotta promise me you won't go getting all hyped up now, right?"
Ben shuddered, but he nodded his head slowly in response, and took in a deep gulp of air. He shook his head and closed his eyes, asking again, this time more calmly, "Okay…but seriously…what the hell is going to happen to me?"
When he opened his eyes, he watched Bruce search his eyes rather franticly, and then he calmed down significantly after a moment.
Bruce wouldn't tell him yet, but he was searching for the familiar angry green…but, luckily, there wasn't any there.
"Well, I'm not exactly sure yet, but I'm pretty sure you have the same thing as me essentially…you clearly have a few noticeable differences so far in your condition, but I promise that we'll figure this out, and I'll help you in every way I know possible, okay?"
Ben seemed rather unsatisfied with this answer, but he agreed regardless, "Okay."
Bruce released a pent up sigh through his nose, and said calmly, "Alright, for starters," he offered Ben his hand to help him up, and they slowly exited the vacant hospital room, "one of the most important things, is to keep your heart rate down. So, you'll really need to work hard on keeping your emotions in check, and…"
"My emotions in check? Yeah…I'm sure that'll be easy," Ben muttered sullenly.
"Hey," Bruce quipped back, "I know it's not easy to do; trust me, I had to do it myself, and it took years of practice, but if you want to avoid changing, you have to stay calm, okay?"
The elevator doors slid open, and the two stepped in. Bruce pressed the button for the first floor briefly, and then looked at Ben expectantly.
Ben seemed slightly taken aback by the suddenly serious tone this conversation was taking now, and, frankly, he was a little overwhelmed. He just found out Bruce Banner was his father this morning, his mother just died, and, to top it all off, he actually might have inherited his father's freakish ability to turn into a rage monster against his will! And now, he was getting lectured to keep his emotions in check?! How the hell am I supposed to do that!? He thought bitterly. Right now, he was heartbroken, angry, and extremely scared. How the hell does one keep your emotions under control at a time like this!?
"I get it! Keep my emotions in check…" Ben muttered hotly.
Bruce raised an eyebrow in surprise at his snappy response, and then crossed his arms firmly, fixing his gaze on the elevator doors. He didn't say a word as the elevator moved a few floors down, but suddenly added knowingly, "You know…I bet that you're absolutely terrified right about now…I can see it in the way you're clenching your jaw, the way you're tensing your shoulders, and I bet you can feel your heart rate growing with each passing moment you're letting yourself get the slightest bit upset with me. It's getting to you right now because you aren't controlling even your smallest emotions," his sarcastic brown eyes flitted over to Ben and he asked perceptively, "am I wrong?"
Ben gritted his teeth angrily. Yes, his heart rate was getting higher, but so what! Who cares, it probably has nothing to do with this anyways. After all, even Banner said himself that his condition was different from his so far; so who is he to know what could happen!
Suddenly, Ben heard a low, animal-like growl, but it wasn't from the back of his head…it had come from his own mouth. Ben's eyes widened and he clapped his hand over his lips in surprise, just as a tiny, sharp pain shot through his head, and he winced.
"Ahhh," he hissed and pressed a palm to the side of his head, "Why-Why'd I do that?"
Bruce's expression was genuinely perplexed currently; he had originally spoken to prove to Ben that he knew what was going on and that he needed to listen to his advice, but he was completely surprised when Ben had growled, apparently, as his own repsonse. He wasn't wrong about Ben better controlling his emotions...but the symptoms of transformation he was showing were completely different than his have ever been.
"I'm…I'm honestly not sure, but you really do need to listen to me. You need to calm down NOW," Bruce said as calmly as possible, "you can't go losing it now. We don't know what will happen yet…"
Ben's head snapped up and he looked at Bruce in shock, "I thought you said you knew what would happen to me!?"
Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose and said intently, "Look, in full honesty, I'm not exactly sure what will happen when…if you transform. I don't even know if you will transform at all. The only thing I know for sure is that a few things are the same between our conditions. So far it's that staying calm and breathing help prevent transformations, and it's just as painful a process for you to transform as it is for me. At this rate though, we're going to find out very quickly what will happen if you actually transform, so, I highly suggest that you calm down now."
Ben winced as another pain shot through his head, a bit stronger than the first one, and he opted to give in and listen to his dad. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply as the elevator finished descending.
Bruce observed him cautiously, and gently grabbed his arm to lead him out of the elevator as the doors slid open. Ben continued to breathe in and out all the way until they got outside the hospital entrance. Steve was standing next to a parked car, and he waved at Bruce; his wave slowed when he saw Ben doing breathing exercises, and he shot Bruce a worrisome look.
Bruce led Ben into the backseat of the car, and gave him a quick smile of reassurance before shutting the door. He looked at the still concerned Captain and said steadily, "He's fine, just don't say a word about it…"
"What happened," Steve asked curiously.
Bruce shook his head and exhaled heavily, "I'm not sure…just…let's just get going; we're going to swing by his place to grab his things."
Steve raised an eyebrow as he walked around the car to the driver's side door, "You sure? We could do that later, it'd probably be better to get him back to the tower, don't you think?"
Bruce paused with his hand on the door handle and pursed his lips, "Probably…but I also think this could help him calm down some more. I don't want him to feel uncomfortable at the tower; it'll just make things riskier for him."
Steve nodded in understanding, and opened the door, "Then let's get going."
Bruce got into the car, and Ben started quietly giving Steve instructions on how to get to his house. They rode in silence on the way to the Ross household, it was a bit of a drive, but the silence in the car remained none the less.
The boy was currently sitting in the back seat, gazing out the window absently, and Bruce couldn't help but let his eyes flit occasionally to the rearview mirror to check on him. Now that he thought about it, he really hadn't gotten the chance to look at Ben all that closely, so he decided to carefully observe the distracted boy.
Ben's chin was resting lightly on his hand as he gazed out the window through his deep brown eyes; those eyes were filled with a mix of emotions currently, but there was no denying the perceptiveness they held- this kid was supposed very smart from what Betty's letter had told him. His hair wasn't all that short as he had thought originally; certainly it wasn't long, but his dark brown hair was the same shade as Betty's, but he had Bruce's waves, so his hair looked rather tousled and messy most of the time- at least that's what Bruce was assuming.
Bruce was admittedly rather disappointed that he didn't look more like Betty. He really was quite the spitting image of his father, maybe just a tad lankier, but there was no denying whose appearances he had inherited.
They had driven for about an hour now, and they were in the outskirts of the city, so there were far fewer tall buildings and more suburban homes in this area. Suddenly, Bruce noticed Ben's eyes light up a little as they turned down a long paved street, lined with medium sized houses, each one surrounded by a short fencing of some sort.
Ben sat up from his currently slumping position on the car's leather seat, and he said determinedly, "That one there, with the blue siding and…and…and that black van in the driveway."
Ben's eyebrows were furrowed a bit, and Bruce asked, "Is something wrong?"
"Uh…no, it's nothing," Ben answered fervently, shaking his head.
Steve pulled up along the curb of the house and Ben hastily hoped out of the car before it could even come to a complete stop. Before Bruce or Steve could even start exiting the vehicle, Ben tapped on the window, signaling for them to roll it down.
The glass slid down with a small whir, and Ben said determinedly, "You can just wait here…I'll be out in a bit; I don't think I'll need that much."
Bruce bit his lip and asked inquiringly, "Are you sure? We can help you move some stuff; there's no need to rush…"
"No," Ben said harshly, then looking rather antsy, he added, "uhm…I travel lightly, so…yeah. I think I'll just…." He paused and sighed sadly, "I just want to be alone for this."
"O-okay…well…we'll be here if you need us," Bruce said apathetically. He was admittedly sad that Ben didn't want him to come in…he would like to see where he grew up with Betty. But he realized that it was probably best to give him space.
Bruce slumped back into his seat and ran his hands over his face, groaning loudly, "auuugh, what am I supposed to do from here…"
Suddenly, a comforting hand grasped his arm lightly, making him look over at the super soldier. Steve smiled sympathetically and said with an encouraging nod, "You're doing fine…this is going to take some time for both of you to get used to, but you have me and the entire team to help. We're all here for you."
Bruce returned the smile weakly, and returned his gaze to the house, "Thanks, Steve…it means a lot, but…I'm worried, he seemed a little, I don't know…troubled."