Whatever It Takes

Chapter 90 - Actions Speak Louder Than Words

You must have cried yourself to sleep, because you suddenly wake and the room is in complete darkness. As you rub your tired eye you notice the large, bulky figure sitting in the corner of the room. You try to jump out of the bed but get tangled amongst the sheets, nearly falling to the ground.

"Kinda figured that would be your reaction," The shadow speaks, a slight amusement in his voice. "I'm not going to hurt you Sasha."

"Bruce?" You rub your eyes again, adjusting them to the light, only to be even more confused when the Hulk comes into full view. "Since when did you...the Hulk...talk?"

The chuckle that escapes the Hulk is all Bruce and that's when you finally see it. The Hulk is wearing clothes, and glasses. You shake your head as you focus on the smile, yet again it was Bruce's smile. "I'm going crazy right?" You try to block out the vision, pressing the palm of your hands into your eyes as your crawl back into your bed. "It's the concussion. I'm seeing things."

"You're completely fine," You feel the bed dip dramatically as the bulking figure sits on the side of it. "See?" He extends a giant, green hand towards you. Trepidly you place your hand in his, running your hand down his massive palm. "That tickles," He laughs and you pull your hand away.

"Wow," You roam your eyes all over him, still looking for signs of a hallucination but finding none. "This is..."

"Surreal? I know." His large shoulders shrug; despite feeling uneasy there's something comforting about having him sit here in front of you. Bruce had always been the most calm, reflective person in the group; he had always made you feel at ease, for all these years.

"So, what are you doing here?" You ask, tentatively, pulling the covers over you again as you start to feel cold. "Did they ask you to keep an eye on me?"

"Nope. I volunteered." He shrugs again. "Didn't want you to be alone."

"Guess you didn't hear about everything," You mumble to yourself but Bruce hears you.

"Oh, I know." His voice is sad, making you realise it's yet another person you've disappointed. "But I think I understand why you did it."

"Yeah, right." You snort, not believing him, but his hand grabbing yous pulls you back to him.

"Look at me Sasha. I think I know a thing or two about wanting to be somebody else. About having a monster living inside of you."

"It's not the same..." You start but he stops you.

"Why? Because what happened to me was an accident?"

"Yes. And you used the Hulk for good, you didn't use him to escape reality and not feel anything."

"But I did. On Sakaar I buried myself so deep that I was gone for years." He takes off his glasses and rubs his eyes; the gesture so Bruce, it's still bizarre to see happen as the Hulk. "For all accounts and purposes Bruce Banner was dead. If Thor hadn't show up, perhaps he still would be."

"So how did you..."

"Get through it? Just like you did. I kept fighting. I thought if I could just get a win then I could make up for it all. All the pain of leaving Earth, all the things I did as the Hulk on Sakaar. But..."

"But then Thanos came." You finish for him.

"Yeah. And it just made things worse." You pull your feet up, giving him more room to sit on the bed. Again it dips massively and you have to steady yourself while he looks on apologetically. "When we lost, I was like you. I was angry. Angrier than I'd ever been."

"You hid it well," You let out a smile, remembering all those nights the two of you had sat quietly together. Bruce had been calm and quiet and you hadn't been quite able to get a read on him, but anger had been the last thing on your mind.