A/N: TRIPLE FREAKING UPDATE OH MY GAH.

I am celebrating the fact that I actually got this story finished (just over 50,000 words!) in a month. This just proves that nothing is impossible if you put your mind to it. (Except maybe turning into a pterodactyl. That might actually be impossible. Oh well, a girl can dream!)

Thank you oh so much to everyone who has supported this story throughout the month, be it through reading, reviewing, following, and/or favoriting it. It's been a pleasure, and I want you all to know that you're amazing and you all deserve only the best in life. ( / gross emotional author sobbing)

Just a note, seeing as this month has been an absolute whirlwind of writing with zero editing (and I do mean ZERO), please let me know if you noticed any inconsistencies, typos, or grammatical errors in the story so that I can go back and fix them.

YOU'RE BEAUTIFUL, READERS.

Now, without further ado, I present to you: Ze final chapter! Enjoy!

Bruce's heart was not in his work. It had been five months since Amrita had left with Vishnu, and he was still hung up on her. The sad thing was, he was beginning to realize that she might not come back at all, despite her promise. After all, he wasn't even sure how time passed in Vaikuntha in comparison to how it passed on earth. For all he knew, a few hours there could be a lifetime on earth, which could mean that he would be dead and gone by the time Amrita was able to make good on her promise. He felt his breath hitch at the thought, and he shoved his plate of half-eaten food aside, leaning his elbows on the table in front of him and placing his head in his hands.

"Bruce. Buddy," Tony said from the other side of the table, pausing in his eating. He and Pepper had taken to eating with Bruce when they got worried that maybe he wasn't eating at all. Bruce had been spending more and more time at Amrita's house, which Tony had taken over the payments for when it became evident Amrita wasn't going to be back before the first month was up. He had practically moved there from Stark Tower, but Tony was persistent in getting to at least spend two meals a day at the tower so that Bruce was getting both human interaction and food. He would never admit it out loud, but he was worried that Bruce was getting low again, and didn't want him making an attempt on his life like the scientist had admitted to doing once before, despite that it seemed the Hulk was protecting the man from biting the big one.

Bruce didn't look up, just started massaging his temples as though he was trying to soothe a headache.

"What," he said flatly.

Tony and Pepper shared a concerned look, and Pepper jerked her head in Bruce's direction, wordlessly telling the billionaire to do something to try and cheer him up. Tony frowned, nodding. He stood up from the table, only having a couple bites left on his plate anyway. He walked around the table to Bruce's side, clapping his friend on the shoulder strongly enough that the man released a huff of air as his stomach was forced forward into the edge of the table. Bruce glared at Tony, who adopted an innocent look.

"Come on, I have some schematics for an inspired suit I want your input on," he said, tugging the man up by the arm and pulling him towards the stairs to his work space.

"What, the other ones weren't inspired?" Bruce asked with a tone of dry amusement.

"No, no, they were. I just mean this one is particularly inspired, by your greener half, to be exact." Tony smirked. "It's going to be called, get this: the Hulk Buster."

Bruce rolled his eyes, but Tony was glad to see the hint of a smile on his lips.

"Uh-huh. Sounds catchy," Bruce drawled.

"Oh yeah. Everybody's gonna want one when they see it. It'll be a real chick magnet, just like the real deal," the billionaire said with a joking grin.

Maybe he could pull Bruce out of his rut yet.

Six months. Tomorrow would mark six months since Amrita had left, Bruce thought as he lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. He didn't really feel like getting up for the day, but after a few minutes of doing nothing he reluctantly got up. Amrita wouldn't want him to dwell on the fact that she was gone. She would want him to carry on like he had been before she'd swept into his life.

(Honestly, though, he'd just gotten up because his bladder was full and he couldn't hold it anymore…)

Bruce went through the motions, showering, brushing his teeth, and getting dressed for the new day. He still thought about Amrita a lot and missed her, but he was trying to get on with his life. He had seen how worried Tony and Pepper had been about him when he was at his worst, and he knew that he didn't want to see them like that any more than they wanted to see him like he was.

Bruce padded out to the kitchen, looking around the room. It was starting to get a little dusty. He had been staying in Amrita's house for most of the time since she'd left, but he hardly used anything but the bedroom and bathroom, eating most of his meals with Tony and Pepper or eating out at a restaurant so that he wouldn't be sitting in the house alone while he ate. He found eating in the presence of others gave him more incentive to eat. When he took his meals alone, he found he had a tendency to either not eat much, or not eat at all, because he didn't feel it was worth the effort to make something just for himself. Shaking his head at the dusty kitchen, he vowed to clean it later when he got back from Stark Tower, shoving his feet in his shoes and heading out, using the walk from the house to the tower to clear his head. He had begun throwing himself into the work he and Tony were doing on developing and perfecting the suits. Ever since the Chitauri invasion, Tony had been adamant on creating the perfect suit, and had designed a whole array of different ones. The man was constantly working on them during his waking hours, only stopping when Pepper forced him into taking a few hours off, and Bruce couldn't blame the man. He'd almost died, after all, and now that he wasn't distracted from developing the suits by his worry over his friend, he was back to his usual devoted brainstorming and tinkering.

When Bruce walked into Stark Tower, he was surprised by the complete silence that hung in the air. Usually, by this point in the day, Tony would be blaring some heavy rock music while he puttered away in his lab, so it set off warning bells in the back of his mind that there was no noise. He silently slipped his shoes off by the door, padding further into the house in his socked feet. He heard murmured voices coming from the main floor living room, so he cautiously headed in that direction, trying to listen in to what was being said as he approached.

"It's for the best," said a voice that struck a chord in the scientist with its familiarity. He rushed into the living room, stopping dead in his tracks at the sight that greeted his eyes. He felt the air leave his lungs in one fell swoop.

"Amrita…?"

He didn't even take notice of the other people in the room; she was the only one he had eyes for as he rushed forward, Amrita moving to meet him halfway as they wrapped their arms around each other uncomfortably tight. Bruce buried his face in the crook of her neck, letting the tears that he'd refused to let fall when she'd left dampen her neck and shirt as he wept openly. Amrita peppered his neck and shoulder with kisses, stroking his hair soothingly and murmuring that it was going to be all right. She looked different now, her skin an olive tone, and her face shape was more heart-shaped than it had been before, her chin more prominent. But her hair and eyes were the same, and he knew that she hadn't forgotten him from the way she whispered sweetly in his ear, holding him tightly as he did her. In between the tears of relief at having her back were tears of grief at the fact that he knew she'd suffered enough to have died and been reborn in the time that she'd been outside of his reach.

"Dr. Banner, I'm sorry to interrupt your touching reunion, but we were just in the middle of discussing a rather important subject," Director Fury said, though he didn't seem to be as brusque as he usually was. He seemed almost…tolerant of the interruption, and Bruce was vaguely amused by the idea that the stone-cold Director might actually have been touched by the overly-emotional display. Bruce scrubbed at his face with his shirt sleeve, drying the tears as Amrita smiled at him, tugging him over to one of the couches to sit next to her. As he looked around the room, he noticed that not only was Director Fury there, but also Agent Hill, Natasha, and Clint, along with Pepper and Tony. The last two faces, however, took him off guard. Vishnu was there, but alongside of him was Lakshmi—the real deal this time, though, he assumed from the fact that Vishnu had his arm looped protectively around the woman's shoulders and kept glancing down at the woman, as though to make sure that she was still there despite the fact that he was touching her.

"Now. Please continue," he said, nodding at Vishnu.

The blue-skinned god nodded back.

"Thank you, Nick," Vishnu said, and Bruce had to refrain from snorting in amusement at Fury's expression of carefully controlled annoyance. He guessed gods didn't need to address the Director as respectfully as he demanded of the rest of the human race. He was surprised when the god looked at him specifically, nodding at him. He became a bit self-conscious about the fact that his hand was clasped tightly around Amrita's, remembering the comment she had made about Vishnu and Lakshmi basically being her parents. He sincerely hoped they weren't the overprotective types.

"Now that you've joined us, Bruce, I will fill you in on what we've been discussing," Vishnu said, glancing down at Lakshmi, who nodded encouragingly. He gave her a brief smile and squeezed her shoulder affectionately. "I apologize for the fact that we were gone so long. I hear that you did not take Garuda's absence easily," he said, giving the scientist a knowing look, raising one eyebrow slightly.

Bruce couldn't help the heat that rushed to his cheeks at that, and he avoided the god's gaze, not missing the smile on Lakshmi's face.

"Nevertheless," Vishnu said, clearing his throat. "Due to the trouble that the naga have managed to cause in this realm by traveling through the interdimensional rifts, I have met with the gods' council and we will be closing access to this realm except by council members such as myself. Even that will be limited and closely monitored by all members of the council, Nick, not to worry," he said, nodding at the man who had opened his mouth to say something. The one-eyed man pursed his lips, grudgingly accepting the assurance given that his planet's safety hung in the balance.

Bruce, however, was not comforted by the fact that only members of the gods' council were going to be able to open rifts to earth. He could feel a sinking feeling in his stomach at the thought, and he turned to Amrita, his expression grim.

"You're not a member of the council, are you," he asked, but it came out more of a statement. He felt he already knew the answer, and it was one he did not like.

Amrita gave him a wan smile, shaking her head. She opened her mouth to say something, but Vishnu began to speak, and she shut her mouth, her attention moving to him.

"Now, if that is all you need to know, Nick, we will be on our way. It was a pleasure meeting you all," the god said, looking around at everyone else and giving a polite nod in goodbye. He held out his arm that wasn't wrapped around Lakshmi, looking at Amrita with a small smile. "Come, Garuda."

Bruce's heart felt like someone had clenched their fist around it as he watched Amrita stand up, her hand slipping out of his as she crossed the room to her parent figures' sides, the both of them throwing their arms around her in an affectionate embrace. Bruce was glad that seemed happy with them; that she at least had the two of them, despite both of her birth parents having been dead for quite some time. He couldn't help being torn up over the fact that she was leaving with them, though. He would never hate her for it—could never hate her for it; after all, she had been with them for such a long time in comparison to the brief snippet of time she had been with him—but that didn't stop him from not wanting her to leave. As Vishnu opened a rift back to Vaikuntha and he and Lakshmi stepped back from their three-way embrace to step through into the forest that had appeared, Bruce couldn't stop himself from calling out Amrita's name, rushing over to her as she turned to him, looking surprised. He grabbed her shoulders and kissed her fiercely, pouring all of his emotions into the kiss and hoping that they were conveyed to her; all of the sadness, the desperation, the longing, and—dare he acknowledge it—the love. It was true, the saying that absence made the heart grow fonder, because despite that he hadn't seen her in what felt like forever, he had just grown more attached to her, noticing all the little quirks of hers that he missed when she was gone.

Bruce finally pulled back from the kiss when he felt he'd run out of air, and they stayed like that, faces centimeters apart, staring into each other's eyes as they breathed raggedly.

"Bruce…?" Amrita said, wide-eyed and seeming a bit dazed from the (literally) breath-taking kiss.

There was a pause, wherein Tony started clapping loudly.

"Woo! Five stars, brother, five stars," the billionaire said, grinning.

Bruce gave him a glare before sliding his gaze back to Amrita.

"Please don't leave," he said pleadingly as he wrapped his arms around her once more. He supposed he was like Vishnu in that regard. He'd lost her once; being in contact with her made him feel more assured, as if he wasn't at the risk of losing her again within just minutes of getting her back. "I just got you back. I missed you. Like, a lot," he stressed.

Amrita wrapped her arms around him in return, smiling against his shoulder.

"Bruce," she said in a gently chiding tone. "I'm not leaving."

Bruce pulled back, stunned.

"You…you're not?" he said hopefully, not quite daring to believe it.

She shook her head, smiling.

"Nope. Wasn't even planning on it."

He narrowed his eyes at her, frowning.

"Why'd you let me believe that you were, then? That's just cruel."

Amrita snorted.

"I didn't do it intentionally. Honestly," she said, tapping the side of his head with her finger. "For such a smart man, you can be a little thick sometimes… I made a deal with Vishnu."

Bruce raised his eyebrows.

"You made a deal," he reiterated.

She nodded.

"What kind of deal?" he asked, a little suspiciously.

She smiled, nodding at Director Fury, who nodded back.

"I'm going to be a sort of…liaison to earth for a little while, as per Vishnu's request. You know, build relations with the embassies and whatnot since it was our dimension that caused the threat to the planet, make sure they know we're not all hostile and we've taken measures to make sure nothing like that ever happens again."

Bruce nodded, not really sure how long 'a little while' meant, or if he really wanted to know.

"And in return…?" Bruce asked tentatively.

Amrita reached up and stroked her thumb across the scientist's cheek before smoothing out the worry lines wrinkling his forehead.

"I get to stay here for another fifty years," she said softly, before pressing her lips to his once more. He smiled into the kiss, relief flooding him.

He had his Amrita back; and with any luck, it would be for the rest of his life.

"Awww," he heard Tony say, but after a moment, the man seemed to change his mind. "Okay, I think the atmosphere in here is getting a bit too mushy for my taste. Anyone feeling up for some Indonesian cuisine? I hear there's this restaurant across town that makes a mean chicken satay."

There was the sound of Pepper smacking Tony's arm.

"Ow! What was that for?"

"I, for one, happen to think it's adorable," the woman said approvingly.

There was a snort.

"You know, I hate to say this, but I actually agree with Stark for once," Fury said blandly. "I believe it's high time for us to leave, agents."

"No, wait, I want you to say that again for the recorder, Fury," Tony said. "What was that about me being right?"

"You're skewing my words, Stark."

"No, no, it's the same thing."

Bruce and Amrita pulled back from their kiss, and Amrita rolled her eyes at the bickering between Tony and the director, Bruce responding with a knowing smirk.

"You know, Dr. Banner, I think this place is a little crowded for a reunion," Amrita said with a surreptitious wink at her bespectacled scientist.

Bruce pulled a thoughtful expression.

"You know, I think you just might be right," he said. "Any ideas on how we could remedy that, Dr. Mehrotra?"

Amrita grinned. "Well, as a matter of fact, I hear that there's this cute little beach house that's been sitting practically unused for a number of months now…"

Bruce laughed, allowing Amrita to pull him out of the house and down the familiar path towards her house. He was transfixed by her infectious laughter as she chatted away at him, every part of her as familiar as though she had never even left, except for her face. It was so easy to wrap his mind around the concept of it still being her, though, because all of her mannerisms were still there despite her looking different. He pulled her to a stop in her tracks, and she gave him a curious look before he leaned forward and kissed her once more.

"What was that for?" she asked, amused, as he drew back from the kiss.

He smiled, running a hand through her hair.

"Because you're here," he said simply.

Amrita gazed at him lovingly, standing on her tiptoes to press a kiss to his forehead.

"Yes," she said. "I am."