꧁꧂
New York, 2023
༄
"Come on, I feel like I'm the only one eating here." Bruce said. We met him in a diner. Neither of us have seen him since Wakanda. Bruce went off grid that none of us could find him. When we first saw him we were taken back to see him looking life himself, Bruce Banner, and the Hulk.
I sat on the booth seat, the window to my left. I sat opposite Steve, Nat beside him and Scott to my right. Bruce sat at the head of the table.
"Try some of that. Have some eggs." Smart-Hulk nudged the big bowl of scrambled eggs towards Scott. "I'm so confused." Lang looked to the hulk/Bruce in bewilderment. "These are confusing times." He chuckled back.
"Right, no, no. That's not what I meant." Scott corrected. "Nah, I get it. I'm kidding!" Bruce laughed back. I looked to Nat, the both of us sharing a look of confusion. "I know, It's crazy. I'm wearing shirts now."
"Yeah. What? How? Why?" Lang stuttered out in still a very baffled tone.
"Five years ago, we got our asses beat." Bruce started and I looked down. "Except it was worse for me... 'cause I lost twice. First, Hulk lost, then Banner lost... and then, we all lost."
"No one blamed you, Bruce." Nat confirmed. "I did." Bruce spoke back.
"For years, I've been treating the Hulk like he's some kind of disease... something to get rid of. But then I started looking at him as a cure. Eighteen months in the gamma lab. I put the brains and the brawn together... and now, look at me." He gestured to himself. "Best of both worlds."
Three children came up to our table, standing beside Bruce. "Excuse me, Mr. Hulk?" The girl asked. I smiled at Bruce getting attention as the Hulk in a good way. "Yes."
"Can we get a photo?" She held up a camera. "100%, little person." He responded, taking the phone from them to take it on. "Come on, step on up. Do you mind?" He asked, passing the phone to Scott. I scoffed and looked down, suppressing my laugh.
"Oh, yeah, yeah." Scott took the phone. "Thanks. Say 'green'." Scott lent back slightly and stood up to take the photo. "Green." the kids and smart Hulk said in unison.
"That's a good one." Scott smiled, passing the device back to the girl. "Do you want to grab one with me? I'm Ant-Man." We all sat in an awkward silence. "They're Hulk fans. They don't know Ant-Man." Bruce started stuttering too. "Nobody does." Scott hummed.
"No, he wants to take a picture with him." Hulk looked to the kids. "I don't want a picture." Scott protested.
"Stranger danger." the youngest boy said. "Yeah, look, he's even saying no, he doesn't." Scott defended. The two of them spoke over each other, neither me or Steve or Nat could understand exactly what they were sharing. I rolled my eyes and held up my hand, the two stopped talking.
"Why don't you go back to your parents." I smiled to the kids, grabbing the phone of Scott and handing it to them. "Thank you." The oldest said and three of them scurried off. "Children." I muttered about the two adults, picking up my glass and letting the mind control stop over Scott and Bruce.
"Bruce." Steve said to get Banners attention. "About what we were saying." Smart Hulk nodded. "Right."
"The whole time travel do-over? Eh, guys, it's outside of my area of expertise."
"Well, you pulled this off." Nat said. "I remember a time when that seemed pretty impossible, too."