Chapter Five. Steve Takes a Road Trip

"Captain, Sir has directed me to route all communication from S.H.I.E.L.D. to you, and Assistant Director Hill requests that you admit her to the Avengers' quarters. She's most insistent," JARVIS informed him.

Steve grinned to himself. Tony had found the silver lining to Steve being their team captain. "You talk to 'em first, Cap. Screen out the bullshit. More time for me to be in the lab that way".

Steve stuffed another shirt into his duffel bag and fastened it. "Tell her I'll meet with her shortly. Could someone escort her to the hospitality visitor room, the one that's on the floor by our private elevators? She might like a cup of coffee."

"Certainly, Captain Rogers."

He walked over to the dresser and snatched his motorcycle keys from a small ceramic dish on the top of the elegant wood. Tony had made this room comfortable and unlike S.H.I.E.L.D., didn't think his furnishings had to be WWII retro.

He hadn't decided if he wanted to stay here all the time, or if he should get his own apartment, maybe back in Brooklyn. He'd always paid his own way, and while he understood Tony's argument that it only made sense for the Avengers to be where they could respond rapidly to a crisis, he felt uncomfortable with just letting Tony pay for everything.

It wasn't like he could afford to pay rent in Stark Tower, though. Well, for now it was fine to stay here for the rest of their mandatory downtime, so after his trip to Willowdale he'd bunk here again.

He hoisted the genuine WWII grayish-green duffel bag over his shoulder. S.H.I.E.L.D. agents had placed it in his room before he'd woken up from the ice, part of the doomed plan to make him think he was still in his own time. He wondered where S.H.I.E.L.D. had dug it up from. Maybe from some warehouse filled with leftover Army supplies, or, he guessed, they could have bought it on Ebay.

Clint had explained how people sold things on the Internet; he'd shown him some of the Captain America memorabilia that people were bidding for on Ebay. It was ridiculous how much some items were going for; apparently prices had skyrocketed since the public knew he was still alive.

He turned out the lights, locked the door. It had been more than forty-eight hours since he and Bruce had parted ways at the Met, and he figured he knew why Maria Hill was here in person. He had no intention of trying to deceive her.

x x x

"Captain." Maria Hill was a lovely woman, tall and dark-haired with striking good looks, but the way she assessed people with her no-nonsense approach was what Steve had always noticed most about her. He thought Peggy would have admired her. She had declined to sit down on the comfortable couch or take any refreshments.

He moved from the doorway into the spacious room and nodded his head toward her. "Assistant Director Hill, what can I do for you?" He sounded brisk to his own ears and apparently Hill thought so, too, judging from the way she narrowed her eyes at him.

She pointed at his duffel. "Going somewhere, Captain Rogers?"

"Yes. A little road trip on my motorcycle. I wanted to see some of the country, and I have an errand to do as well."

She raised her eyebrows. "Report your route and destination, in case we should need you, or at least, need to talk to you. You'll take your cellphone with you."

She'd phrased that as an order, not a question. Yes, Peggy would have liked this woman. It occurred to him that maybe they'd met. Peggy had worked in this agency's earlier incarnation. Perhaps she'd met a young Maria Hill, possibly even trained her. He resolved to ask Assistant Director Hill sometime if she'd ever met Peggy Carter. But not now.

He looked at his watch; he should have already left. "I'm going to Willowdale, Virginia I'll be on backroads as much as possible that parallel Interstates 78 and 81, and then I'll be traveling on the Blue Ridge Parkway."

Her gaze sharpened. "Are you taking Banner to visit his home town, Captain? If so, he's going to need a new backpack since his old one currently happens to be buried under a lot of garbage at a transfer station. Granted, it wasn't in the best of shape so pitching it into the trash was a reasonable disposition for it, but I need to have a visual confirmation that Doctor Banner is still within Stark Tower." Hill had crossed her arms and looked impatiently at him. He supposed she had better things to do with her time than being here, after all.

"That won't be possible, Assistant Director Hill. Bruce is-"

"I don't care if he's still sleeping off changing into the Hulk, or if he's being held hostage in Stark's workshop, handing him wrenches," she snapped. "I want to see Doctor Banner and I want to see him now."

"Wait. How do you know Bruce's backpack was thrown out?"

She frowned at him. "Are you kidding me? We tagged it with a sensor so we could track Banner. My theory is that he guessed we did that and threw it out. It did divert us for a little while." She stepped closer to him. "I want to see Doctor Banner right now, Captain America."

He didn't budge. "Sorry. He left two days ago, and he didn't leave behind a forwarding address. He did leave us a message, and he authorized us to pass it along to S.H.I.E.L.D. It's not very long, would you like to see it? And then, I'm afraid I'll need to be going."

Hill nodded curtly, and Steve asked JARVIS to play Bruce's farewell video.

When it was over, the image of Bruce meditating frozen in the air where JARVIS had projected it, Hill called Fury.

She succinctly relayed the news that Banner was gone and then handed the phone to him.

"Captain America," Fury said in a tone of voice that reminded him of a few truly cranky generals he'd met. "You've let one of your Avengers go A.W.O.L. Get him back."

"He made his decision, Director Fury. The team and I are going to respect it."

Fury snorted."You really don't want him to be out there on his own. Banner thinks we might cut him open, make him bleed for us. That won't happen on my watch, but it for damn sure is going to happen when he gets picked up by other interested parties."

"Director, we do want him back, safe and without having to worry that our own government is going to harm him. We're working on that, sir.

We're going to take a crack at changing the public's perception of the Hulk and we'll do whatever it takes to get Ross and S.H.I.E.L.D. off his back."

"This isn't a perfect world, Captain Rogers. Banner needs to drop some of that pride, bend his neck, and come under S.H.I.E.L.D.'s protection. Ross is pathological about that man."

"Yes sir. We know about Ross. As for Bruce bending his neck, he knows you only want him to do that so you can put a collar on him. He'd rather run and take his chances at staying free."

"Hydra wants him. They're not going to respect any legal protections you wrangle for him," Fury said, much more mildly than Steve had expected from him.

"Yes, sir." Steve responded in kind, his own tone of voice level. "Our intelligence confirms that and Black Widow is looking into it right now. If it comes to it, can we rely on S.H.I.E.L.D. to help rescue Bruce Banner if Hydra kidnaps him?"

"Captain America," Fury said, with a warning note. "I'm sure you remember that I told Banner he was on his own if he wouldn't play ball with us."

"I know what you told him," Steve said evenly. "I'm asking what you'll do, if he's taken."

"We'll cross that bridge if we come to it, Captain. Get him back before trouble really catches up to him. For his sake, I'm telling you this. Because we will be tracking him, and if we bring him in as a hostile, he's not going to like it. If the baton gets handed back to Ross, and I believe it will, especially now that Banner has up and done a runner, then your missing Avenger is going to like it even less."

"We aren't going to force Bruce to do anything he doesn't want to do. We'll do everything we can to protect him, and Tony Stark is going to run a media campaign to get the public's support."

"You're turning loose Tony Stark to sell the Hulk's image. I can hardly wait to see how that turns out. Very well, Captain. Put Hill back on."

Hill took the phone and Steve asked JARVIS to send the video to Fury.

He waited for her at the door and escorted her down to the main lobby, where she collected the two agents assigned to monitor Banner's whereabouts. He didn't envy them. He figured they were in the doghouse at the moment, as well as all the agents who'd been on duty at the Tower.

Bruce hadn't explained how he'd gotten out of the building unnoticed by S.H.I.E.L.D. He'd check with JARVIS about that later.

He gave Hill a nod, and went to get his motorcycle out of Tony's personal garage.

x x x

It was dark by the time he'd pulled up to a Best Western motel near Culver University. The ride had been enjoyable, a good part of it spent on the Blue Ridge Parkway. He'd had to go slower on that curvy mountain road but the scenic views of the Appalachian Mountains had made that trade worth it. It was fairly late in the evening but he didn't feel like going to bed yet, and besides, he was hungry.

Betty Ross had agreed to meet with him tomorrow morning, but he thought he might go tonight to eat at the pizza place that belonged to Bruce's friend Stanley. He would talk to him about Bruce and see if he would agree to speak up for him. Tony felt that if Bruce's friends gave interviews then it would help humanize the Hulk and gain sympathy for Bruce. Steve wasn't sure if Stanley had known that his friend Bruce Banner was the Hulk, but he must know it now, after all the publicity.

He checked into the motel and decided to jog over to the restaurant. He shrugged on the specially made backpack that contained his shield, and asked directions at the front desk to Stanley's Pizza Parlor.

x x x

Bruce's friend was an older man, not tall, with a head of wispy greyish-white hair. He had a kind smile and was friendly with his customers, who all seemed fond of him, and there was a lot of joking and laughter between them.

"I know who you are, Steve Rogers," Stanley said quietly, as he placed Steve's pizza on a small rack on top of the table. "It's an honor to meet Captain America."

Steve smiled at him. "I'm happy to meet you, too. You have a nice place here, and everybody seems to be having a good time. I'm a friend of Bruce Banner's and I'd really like to talk to you about him, but I guess we'd better wait until you close. This joint is jumping." He took a slice and folded it to take a bite.

Stanley chuckled. "That's right, you're from New York, aren't you? People around these parts never eat pizza like that."

Steve finished his bite and said, "Brooklyn, actually. This is good, but it's different from what I remember from before I went into the Army. I haven't had many chances to eat pizza since I was revived, although Bruce and the rest of us shared some pizzas one night. I think he preferred his pizza-"

"Vegetarian," Stanley responded. "Mushrooms, black olives, green peppers and onions. That's what he likes the best, although he told me he'd learned not to be picky. Bruce, he's one of you now, one of the Avengers?"

Steve nodded. "Yes. His help was crucial in stopping that alien invasion. He's a hero, although I don't think he believes that. He's not with us now, though. He thought it best to leave again."

Some new customers walked in, two couples who slid into an empty booth. One of the girls waved at Stanley, and he smiled at her. "Okay, Captain Rogers, I've got to tend to my customers, but I want to talk to you, too. I want to hear all about Bruce. It's been maybe a year and a half since he was here, and that visit didn't go so good for him. You, ah, know about Betty?"

Steve nodded. "I'm going to visit with her tomorrow."

Stanley patted him on the shoulder. "Well then, enjoy your pizza. I'll be closing the doors in an hour, and then we'll have a talk. You got a place to stay, son? Because I've got a spare room upstairs. Bruce slept there for a few days, when he was here last. Worked for me, too, delivering pizzas. Broke my heart, seeing him do that. Do you know how smart he is?"

"Yes sir. I've got a pretty good idea from watching him and Mr. Stark work together." Steve smiled, remembering Bruce taking charge of tracking down the Tesseract.

Stanley sighed. "Working in a lab, figuring out all that science that he's so good at and teaching graduate classes, that's what he should be doing."

"Or working as a doctor. I was told he did that, too, whenever he could. But he couldn't do that and not give himself away for those few days he spent here. So, he delivered pizzas for you?" Steve took another bite. The pizza was great.

"He insisted," Stanley said, gesturing with hands in a way that suggested losing that argument. "He said he needed an excuse to get into his old building on campus. He did a good job, too. I wish I had ten more like him working for me. He wouldn't let me just give him money."

"Doctor Banner can be stubborn, I think."

Stanley laughed. "Like a mule, sometimes. Then he frowned. "I remember he had to deal with some smart-alecky sorority brats who called him names when they wouldn't pay him for the pizzas. One of the other kids there clued me in, because Bruce didn't say anything about being insulted. I wasn't going to sell that sorority anymore pizzas after that, but Bruce talked me out of it."

He looked at Steve, puzzled. "I don't really understand how he can become, well, what he becomes, because he's a patient guy, really. Now Betty, she can be a bit of a firecracker. Especially if someone tries to say something not so nice about Bruce. But you'll see that for yourself tomorrow. So, I didn't give you a chance to answer me, did I? Do you need a place to stay while you're here?"

"I'm fine, I'm at the Best Western. But thank you for your kindness." Steve smiled gently at him, and he smiled back, patted Steve on the arm, and then went to talk to the two couples in the nearby booth.

Steve ate his pizza and watched Stanley laugh and talk and make people feel at home. He could see why Bruce had let his guard down and let this man become his friend. He hoped that before too long, Bruce would have a chance to come and visit with his old friend again.

x x x

The man who opened the door and ushered him into Betty Ross' home the next morning was tall, classically handsome, and well-groomed with every hair in place on his head. Steve recognized him from Bruce's file. Dr. Leonard Samson, the fellow Betty Ross had given her heart to after Bruce had disappeared from her life. He was surprised to see him. According to the notes in the file on Bruce's relationships and Betty's, she'd

broken up with her fiancée after he'd admitted to her that it had been him who'd notified General Ross that Bruce was in Willowdale.

He couldn't have looked more different from Bruce. Dr. Samson's hair was neatly combed. Bruce's curls were unruly, even when he wasn't running his hands through them while he was thinking about something. Bruce was short, Dr. Samson tall. Dr. Samson's expensive button-down shirt looked pressed, crisp. Bruce's shirts had been creased from being in his backpack; they were worn, frayed on the cuffs and the hems, and the Indian looking shirt he'd worn in the video had a small tear on the side.

Bruce seemed disheveled no matter what he was wearing, but on him it looked cute. It made Steve want to pull Bruce to him, straighten his shirt, make sure his buttons were done up right, smooth down his wayward curls. Even the suit Tony had lent Bruce to wear when they'd witnessed Loki and Thor returning to Asgard had lost its crisp lines after Bruce had worn it for about twenty minutes.

Handsome wasn't how he would describe Bruce, either. His features were pleasant, and his eyes were beautiful and very expressive, but he didn't look like a movie star, although Dr. Samson could pass for one.

Dr. Samson had broad shoulders and an athletic build that to Steve's eye spoke of time spent regularly in a gym. Bruce wasn't overly muscled, although he was strong enough to handle the manual labor jobs he had frequently held. He knew Bruce could run fast and was fairly agile. Unfortunately, that had been skills observed by Ross' extraction team and S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, when Bruce was evading capture.

Usually Bruce looked a combination of awkward and endearing, although Steve had sometimes seen a bit of his temper. Steve had also observed that Bruce usually tried to keep some distance between himself and other people. Steve figured he knew why. Hoping it would help Bruce feel more comfortable, Steve had taken a clue from how Tony treated Bruce and had made it a point to start touching him in friendship.

Each time Steve slid his hand down Bruce's arm or patted his shoulder, Bruce's posture would become less tense, muscles relaxing, a puzzled look often crossing his face.

Steve had started to really enjoy putting that look on Doctor Banner's face.

When Steve had kissed his mouth that first time, he'd looked dazed, his lips reddened and a little swollen. It was a very attractive look and, actually, when Bruce looked like that he could pass for a film star. Tony had told Steve once that Bruce was "a hot mess" but it wasn't a term he was comfortable with using. Back in his time, he would have thought of Bruce as being "keen." Still, back in his time, he probably wouldn't have taken a chance on kissing him, so there were some advantages to being in this new century.

He knew he'd surprised Bruce by that impulsive kiss, but then Bruce always looked a bit startled when one of the team hugged him or touched him. It made Steve feel a little sad, seeing that reaction.

Dr. Samson and Steve shook hands and introduced themselves. Steve couldn't help but compare Bruce's hands with this man's. Bruce's hands were smaller, calloused, but not scarred. Actual injuries to Bruce's skin healed and left no scars, according to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files, but the slow buildup of roughened skin apparently didn't trigger Bruce's body in the same way. Dr. Samson's hands were smooth. He was a psychiatrist, a doctor for the mind. He didn't handle shovels and hammers the way Bruce would have as a laborer.

The biggest difference between their hands was that Dr. Sampson's were still, relaxed. Bruce's hands were seldom quiet; he was constantly fidgeting with them, running a finger over knuckles, clutching them together, rubbing circles into his palms, rolling up the hem of his shirt, tucking them under his crossed arms or guiltily shoving them into his pockets. He wondered if Bruce had always done that, or if he'd picked up the habit after the gamma accident.

It was worse if he was under stress, like when Director Fury had been haranguing him. It had been one reason Steve had taken him out of S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, with the other Avengers as Bruce's escort. Bruce had gone from just fidgeting to clenching his hands so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.

Dr. Samson smiled at him, a kind expression on his face. Smiling back, Steve thought maybe that this was what Dr. Samson and Bruce had in common, other than both of them being smart, educated men.

Maybe Dr. Samson was as kind to others as Bruce was to the people he met, and Betty Ross was attracted to men like that.

Dr. Sampson motioned towards a doorway. "Would you like to wait for Betty in the kitchen, Captain Rogers? I just made a new pot of coffee. She's caught up in a video conference call about an experiment her grad students are running and it might be a little while until she's able to let go of their hands and send them off to do the next step."

"Thank you, that sounds fine." Steve followed Samson into the large comfortable kitchen, with its pans readily available from a rack hanging over a butcher block and a sturdy kitchen table.

Samson filled two mugs and placed them on the table. "Cream, sugar?"

"Black is fine." It was how he'd learned to drink it as a youngster, when cream and sugar for coffee was a luxury he and his mother couldn't afford.

They sat quietly for a moment, Steve sipping his coffee and Samson just holding his mug between his hands.

Finally, Samson broke the silence. "I've seen the news reports, you know, about what you and Bruce and the rest of your Avengers did to save us. I'd like to say thank you. I'd especially like to say that to Bruce, and to apologize to him."

"You're welcome, Doctor Samson. Apologize?"

Dr. Samson nodded. "Oh, yes. I know from what you told Betty that Bruce isn't in New York anymore. I was hoping he might stop here, but, well, I don't blame him for not taking a chance like that. I made a mistake about him. A serious mistake, and it almost cost him his freedom, and Betty her life."

"I'm aware that you notified General Ross that Bruce had returned to Willowdale." Steve picked up his cup but just held it in his hands. He had the notion that Samson had a lot more to say.

Samson sighed. "Yes. I take full responsibility for that action. Bruce would have slipped out of town without being trapped by the Army, probably, although I gather they were tracking him anyway."

"You don't have to tell me, I understand you probably had your reasons."

"That I was jealous of Bruce?" Dr. Samson shook his head.

"Sir?"

"No," he said quietly. "That's not the reason. Let me try to explain. Betty's father called me when the two of us started to get serious. He asked me to keep our conversation private, and I agreed. I hoped that if the lines of communication could be opened through me, Betty could reconcile with her father."

"You were trying to help?" Steve took another swallow of his coffee.

"Yes, that was my intention." Dr. Samson sighed. "General Ross and Betty had been estranged since the lab accident, but neither of them would talk about what exactly happened. Her father said it was Banner's fault, and that he was an extremely dangerous man. He said that he'd drag Betty back into his madness, that he'd almost killed her once, and he'd put her at risk again because Banner was her weakness, and she needed protection from him. I had no idea what it was about Bruce Banner that General Ross kept warning me about, though."

He shook his head. "I'm pretty good at reading people, Captain Rogers, if I can see their body language and look at their eyes. It wasn't until after Bruce changed into the Hulk and took Betty away that I met face to face with General Ross. Then I knew that he'd lied to me and I'd fallen for it."

"So, what did you think of Bruce, then?" Steve asked, and drank the rest of his coffee while Samson took a sip of his.

Dr. Samson looked ruefully at Steve. "You know he tried to hide after she spotted him at Stan's place, but she found him in the alley. At her insistence, he agreed to come by later, but they talked privately. I didn't really see him at that point. He didn't come though, so Betty left the house and drove around looking for him. It was storming pretty badly by then and she found him trying to hitchhike his way out of town."

He shifted a little in his chair and looked wryly at Steve. "I wasn't in favor of her bringing him into our home, to be honest. But Betty never knew what had happened to Bruce or why he'd disappeared. I knew she'd loved him so I went along with her wishes, but I was hoping that she wouldn't find him. I also called her father, to get his advice. She didn't know I did that, and I hung up on him when the two of them returned."

He smiled crookedly. "Bruce didn't look dangerous. Betty was pretty wet from being out in the rain, but Bruce was soaked to the skin. He squelched when he walked, dripping so much water on the floor that I had to get out the mop. He looked so... well, awkward. Tired. Sad, too, but he tried to hide that from us. He really couldn't manage it, though."

Steve nodded, then brushed a stray lock back that had fallen on his forehead. "I know. Bruce tries very hard to stay calm, but his eyes and his hands always show what he's feeling. I think he found a way to be content when he was in South America and overseas. He told us he'd moved on, focused on helping other people. He lost that peace of mind when he came to help us track down Loki. He left us afterwards because he was afraid he would be taken and experimented on by our own government."

Samson sat up a little straighter and squared his shoulders. "And I'm sure my actions contributed to that fear. I've regretted what I did, and Betty left me because of it. I'm very lucky that she's forgiven me. She's very protective of Bruce. Anyway, the night that we met, he apologized, said it wasn't a good idea for him to be here, and that he'd just go. I knew he said that for me, for being Betty's ex and coming into our home. But thinking it over, I decided that this was a chance for Betty to finally get that closure with him. After seeing him, I was intrigued on my own behalf. I wanted a chance to puzzle him out. I asked him to stay."

While Samson finished his coffee, Steve thought about Bruce being in this house and seeing the woman he loved with another man. He'd lost the life that should have been his, all out of his grasp as long as the Hulk lived within him.

Samson cleared his throat. "I liked him. I really didn't want to, either. I wanted him to be an asshole, see Betty realize that he had been bad news, and watch her shut the door on him forever. Instead, I could see why she'd fallen in love with him."

Making a soft sound of amusement, Samson made a gesture with his hand, taking in the sunlit kitchen.

"The three of us actually had an enjoyable dinner together, and for a few minutes he seemed to forget his troubles, laughing with us about something I said about my practice. Then I think everything rebounded on him, like a tidal wave washing over him. He had nothing anymore. Here he was, a refugee in what should have been his home."

"So it hit him kind of hard?"

"That's an understatement, Captain." Dr. Samson said, his eyes faraway.

Steve stayed silent, waiting.

Dr. Samson came back from what ever memories he was recalling and looked Steve in the eye. "I mean, he looked like a lost soul, and I'm sure he was aware of that. Everything he owned was in that beat up backpack, and soaked to boot. He even had to wear my clothes, and of course they didn't fit. He broke down a little, just a sob and a few tears that he couldn't stop in time. Then he stuffed all of those emotions back down deep inside of himself, but his eyes – you're right about them. He couldn't keep the desolation he was feeling from showing in them."

Steve nodded. Bruce's eyes did give him away every time, he thought. He remembered when Bruce had come into the gym to ask him about going to the Met to see the wartime artists' exhibit. It had only taken a quick glance into his eyes to see that something was very wrong.

Continuing, Samson said, "I could see that Betty wanted to comfort him, hug him. She didn't, since I was there. Hell, I wanted to hug him, but I thought he wouldn't feel comfortable accepting that kind of gesture from his... rival."

He got up and at Steve's nod refilled both their mugs. "Later, after dinner, he couldn't sleep, and I was still up, so we talked. I admitted how I felt about him re-emerging into Betty's life, and he assured me that he hadn't come back to Willowdale to see her. He was both totally honest with me and absolutely guarded at the same time." He put the coffee pot back and leaned against the counter.

Steve nodded. "Yes, he's been the same way with us, about leaving."

"As a psychiatrist, I would love to work with him, especially now that I know what he wouldn't tell me that night. I was on campus when Bruce turned into the Hulk."

A look of remembered awe crossed his face. "It was unbelievable and amazing to see him like that. He was so protective of Betty. He saved her life, you know. I know about his childhood, and I've seen what that kind of trauma can do to a child. Bruce was a resilient kid, or he never could have become a successful doctor and scientist, or love Betty like he did, but still, that kind of abuse leaves its mark. It's my supposition that the Hulk comes from what he experienced at the hands of his father."

He sat back down and looked at Steve earnestly. "Bruce desperately needs therapy. I told him he should talk to a shrink, and that was before I knew what happens when he becomes angry or scared. I can't treat him because of his former relationship with my fiancee. But to have the chance to delve into his psyche? To understand the Hulk and what primal fears form him from Bruce's own flesh? I envy any shrinks who treat him. Bruce Banner is fascinating. Ferreting out such deeply felt repression and hypothesizing what it would take to cure him from ever becoming the Hulk again would be the pinnacle of a career."

Samson seemed lost in thought for a moment, then licked his lips and sipped at his coffee. Steve was a little troubled about how fervent Samson had sounded when he'd discussed Bruce's need for psychological treatment. Dr. Samson seemed to have lost sight of the man for a moment, he'd been so focused on what a feather in someone's cap it would be to have Bruce as a patient.

Steve cleared his throat. "You know that I'm here to talk to Miss Ross about giving an interview about Bruce."

Dr. Samson nodded. "Yes, she explained after you'd called her from New York."

"We'd like to see a shift in public opinion about the Hulk and Bruce, so that we can gain support for opposing those who want to experiment on him. Would you be willing to be supportive of this mission?" Steve asked carefully.

"And by capture Bruce to experiment on him you mean by Betty's father, General Ross. I'm fascinated by Bruce's case, but the general is obsessed with him. He'll oppose your campaign, you realize. I, on the other hand, am very willing to help Bruce. Making amends for letting General Ross know Bruce was here the night Betty offered him sanctuary would be good for my soul."

There was a huff of exasperation and Steve saw that Betty Ross, lovely with her big blue eyes and long brown hair, had stopped at the kitchen doorway. Steve felt his eyes widen as he took in her appearance.

"Leonard, I've told you that Bruce won't hold you calling the General against you. You didn't know then what you do now." Betty Ross walked to Samson and stood beside him and he grasped her hand. "Hello, Captain Rogers. I'm so glad to meet you. I have so many questions for you about Bruce."

Betty Ross was expecting a baby. Steve tried to keep his eyes only on her face, but she chuckled. "I guess Leonard didn't tell you. Our son is going to be born in about three months. We've decided to call him Robert Leonard Samson, after Bruce and Leonard."

Robert was Bruce's first name, Steve knew. Leonard stood up, and kissed Betty on the top of her head. "You two should talk alone now. And Captain, if you find Bruce, tell him he's going to have a namesake in the world, and we'd love it if he would come and meet him."

Betty sat down in the chair Dr. Samson had vacated, her pretty eyes intent upon his, and said softly, "I was so happy to hear that Bruce found a place for himself, with you, Captain, and with those other people who are on your team."

"You're right, Miss Ross. He does have a place with the Avengers."

She laid a hand on belly, and said,"When you called and told me he'd left again..."

"He didn't think it was safe for him or for us if he stayed."

"I saw the news reports, you, him, Iron Man, all fighting. I saw Bruce catch Iron Man when he fell from the sky. And I've seen Bruce fight as the Hulk before, in Harlem. He saved me, and a lot of other people, from the Abomination. I'll do anything to help him."

"We hope that you can. You know him the best, Miss Ross. As I mentioned when I called, if you and perhaps his other friends would consent to be interviewed, it might help the public to start pulling for him."

"Oh, please, call me Betty. Of course I'll help. Leonard will too."

"Most people are leery of him, so showing people that he's a good man, not a monster, can help him be accepted. If the public sees that it's wrong for Bruce to be hounded by the government, that he's not the terrorist he's been called and certainly not a biological weapon, then we hope he can stop running," Steve said.

Betty grasped his hand and squeezed it, before releasing him. "It's time that people know the truth about the accident that turned him into the Hulk. And, do you know about my father's role in all of this?"

"Yes, we're aware." He smiled warmly at her. "And my name is Steve."

He cleared his throat, feeling a little uncertain about what he needed to ask her. "It can't have been easy for you, having Bruce disappear from your life the way he did. Whoever interviews you is going to ask about that, and, well, I want to make sure you understand that there will be some very personal questions asked of you. Will you be comfortable with that, Betty?"

"I think so." She laid a hand on her belly and Steve wondered if the baby was kicking her. "I loved Bruce. We were together for a long time, and I still love him. He's probably the best friend I've ever had, and it's been so awful all these years not knowing how he was or where he was living. Or if he was even alive."

Smiling at him, she said, "Leonard and I have talked about this, you know. I was so angry with my Leonard after I found out he'd called my father and told him Bruce was in Willowdale. I knew that Bruce wouldn't be angry at Leonard. That's not how Bruce thinks. He'd understand that Leonard was worried about me, my safety."

Steve was puzzled, and it must have shown on his face because Betty laughed. "I've confused you, haven't I?"

"Well, yes."

"I was angry with Leonard because he had no right to go over my head to my father and have secret conversations that involved me and the decisions I've made. I'm not a child, and what I want in a relationship is to be treated with respect and as a partner. I broke up with Leonard over that." Betty twisted the engagement ring on her finger.

"But you two made back up," Steve said.

Betty nodded. "It took us months of talking things out for me to trust him again. But, I've made mistakes in life too, and I believe in second chances. We're good now."

Steve swallowed, his chest feeling heavy, Peggy on his mind. "Just tell me to mind my own business, Betty, if I step over a line here. Do you think it would have been better if Bruce hadn't shown up on your doorstep after being gone for so long?"

She made a face. "Actually, I had to track him down and convince him to come home with me. He was afraid of interfering and that it might be dangerous for us if stayed at our house that night. But I don't regret finding that closure with him. You see, I never knew why he disappeared. My father just called him a coward. Of course I didn't accept that and Dad and I had a huge fight. We're still estranged. It wasn't until Bruce and I talked that I learned what my father wanted with him. My God, the extent that Bruce has been hunted by my father is just horrible."

"It had to be painful for you to see him again like that. Was it disruptive to the life you'd built without Bruce? You're sure it was worth it?" Peggy thought he'd died decades ago. She must have come to some kind of peace about it and it felt selfish to him to thrust himself back into her life now.

Betty looked sharply at him and reached out to pat his arm. "Yes. It was worth it. I really wish that he'd called me before he left New York this time. I know why he won't, though. He wants me to go on with my life and not think we could turn time back and be lovers again. To be his, and for him to be mine."

She touched a chain hanging around her neck and pulled out a necklace with a diamond heart.

"We tried that, when he escaped with me from Culver, when the Hulk took me into the Appalachians. But, well. Bruce wouldn't let us become physical with each other. He was afraid he would transform."

Shooting him a look, she said, "I'm not embarrassing you, am I, Captain?"

She was, but he shook his head no and hoped he wouldn't blush.

"We pawned my necklace so we could go see Sterns, hoping he could help Bruce. During the long drive to New York, in the old junker of a truck we bought, we talked about us. You know, we never had made that last commitment to each other, to be married by law or just make a personal commitment. We took as many steps back from each other as we did forward."

She laid a hand protectively on her belly again, and sighed. "Bruce accepted that what we'd had was gone before I did. My father did catch us, after we'd completed the experiment with Sterns. He was taking Bruce off in a helicopter somewhere and let me go with him. I'm sure it wasn't out of sympathy for us. I know my father better than that. He thought Bruce wouldn't try to escape if he thought I might be hurt by it."

Her eyes started to shine a little with tears. "I understand Bruce so well. Do you know how we met?"

"At Harvard, I believe."

"Yes." She laughed a little, shook her head. "It seems like such a long time ago now. Back when we were in school, we volunteered as test subjects in an experiment with hallucinogens. Tripping together like that lowered his guard, his defenses, and we talked and talked with each other. We've stayed close ever since, best friends even during the times that we stepped back from being lovers. He told me on that drive about trying to kill himself. Oh! Did you know about that, Steve?"

He nodded and she sighed. "Before letting himself fall from the helicopter to trigger the change and stop the Abomination, he kissed me. I knew he was saying goodbye to me, to any future where the two of us could be together."

"That must have been so painful for both of you." Steve swallowed down the lump that kept wanting to rise in his throat, and flashed on his last thoughts when dying, before the cold, icy waters had torn him from Peggy forever.

Tears escaped and slowly rolled down her cheeks. She dashed them away and said, her voice thick, "The General would have set the helicopter down but Bruce told him no. He didn't know if falling from that height after being injected with Stern's inhibitor would make him change or not, and he did it anyway. He could have died if he hadn't transformed, and that was fine with him."

"I'm sorry for what you went through, Betty."

She sobbed once and then put her hand over her mouth. After a minute she dropped it. "That man breaks my heart."

She wiped at her eyes again, touched the necklace laying against her breasts. "He got this back and mailed it to me, along with a letter. You asked me if I regretted him seeing me after such a long time of being apart."

"It would be more than understandable if you did." He was only a memory to Peggy now, a wound that had scabbed and healed over. He didn't want to ever cause her pain again.

"I don't regret seeing Bruce again, Steve. But he does. He wrote that he should never have disrupted my life, put me in such danger. He wrote about us, and after reading it I finally accepted that Bruce and I are never going to be together again. Even if he finds a way to stop being the Hulk, we've gone our separate ways now. But he'll always be dear to me and a good, good friend."

She dropped the necklace so it lay against her skin and was mostly hidden by her blouse. Looking again at Steve, she said, "In his letter, he wrote that he'd accepted that a cure wasn't possible, and that he was going to learn to live with 'the other guy' and focus on being a better person. Be a doctor and help people. I haven't heard from him since."

She got out of the chair slowly. "I'm going to make some tea. Chamomile always makes me feel better after I've gotten teary."

She filled a tea kettle and turned the stove on, watched the blue flames for a moment, then walked over to him and laid her hand on his shoulder. He half turned in his chair and looked up at her.

"Steve? Maybe I'm being nosy, but I got the impression that you wanted to know how I felt about Bruce coming back into my life for personal reasons. Am I wrong? And you don't have to answer, but if there's something you'd like to talk about?"

She stepped back then, and when he didn't answer she returned to the stove and waited, a hand absently smoothing over her belly. He wondered if things had turned out differently, if Peggy would have caressed their baby while she carried him or her in her belly. He wondered if Peggy ever did have children. The file Fury had given him hadn't mentioned that.

"There was..." Steve halted, feeling tongue-tied. But she'd offered to listen and he hadn't talked about Peggy to anybody. Not even Bruce, although he'd almost told him, back when they were at the museum and they was looking at the drawing of her that he'd made.

She returned to the table and sat down beside him. She took his hand."You're so young. And you've gone from fighting and dying in a war to fighting in this battle with aliens. It must be so very strange for you, what's happened. Steve, are you okay?"

He swallowed. Buck up, soldier, he told himself. He tried smiling at her, but from her expression he didn't think he'd succeeded in reassuring her that he was fine.

Well, he wasn't fine. He hadn't been since he'd caught on that the people around him were playacting and the things in the room with him only props. The baseball game blaring out of the radio in that make-believe room had been the last clue. He'd been at that game, for heaven's sake.

He'd been trying to adjust to what Tony kept telling him was a brave new world – JARVIS had explained the reference to him, once Steve was convinced Tony was quoting something – and he would achieve that mission. He was the team leader for the Avengers now, and he would build a new life on that foundation. But he missed his old life so much. No. That wasn't exactly it. He missed the people he'd left behind. All gone now, except for Peggy, retired in England. And he didn't know what was the right thing to do. For her. For him.

"Steve? Sweetie, what is it? If you'd rather talk to Leonard, I can go get him." Bruce's Betty was nice, her hand in his felt warm and comforting. But, not Bruce's anymore, not as a lover or a wife.

The tea kettle whistled. Betty squeezed his hand and started to get up.

Steve held onto her hand. "I knew someone who used to say a cup of tea would fix anything. She had a little saying about it. Um, 'If you're cold, it will warm you, too heated, it will cool you, depressed, it will cheer you, too excited, it will calm you. ' She made me drink a cup when I had to tell her my friend Bucky died."

The whistle was loud and demanding, but Betty was frozen in place, her hand still in his, waiting for him to let the painful words out from where they were lurking in his chest, feeling heavy and hot.

He smiled at her, and let go of her hand, stood up and stepped to the stove. Turning the kettle off, he asked her, "Could I have a cup of tea, too?"

She nodded, and he took a deep breath. "There was a girl I was in love with during the war. Her name is Peggy. And she's still alive."

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