I swallowed my fear and tried not to scream. The Hulk's mouth stayed curled in it's snarl, his breathing coming out in harsh puffs. Tony's fingers dug into my hip as he tried to shield me from the Hulk as much as possible. We stood there for what seemed like forever, neither of us daring to move.
"Bruce. It's me, Tony. Tony Stark. Your friend," Tony said slowly. He took a step toward the Hulk, his hands up in front of him in surrender. The Hulk seemed to take a moment to think. For a second, it seemed as if the Hulk would do nothing. Tony was within reach when finally the Hulk swung himself into motion. He swung his massive arm out to bat Tony out of the way. He managed to jump out of the way but I wasn't fast enough. The collosal hand collided with my side, sending me flying. I was flung across the counter top, coming to rest in a crumped heep on the floor on the other side. The bunsonburner blew out and clattered to the floor. The diamond and the gem were thrown in opposite directions as I tumbed down. Tony gasped but his voice was drown out by another deafening roar. He was suddenly next to me, his hand pressed against my side cautiously.
"JARVIS," Tony pausd.
"Yes sir?" JARVIS asnwered from Tony's pocket.
"Send me a suit," Tony said rapidly, helping me to my feet. I was slightly dizzy but I gripped onto Tony to keep from falling over. The Hulk was starting toward us. Tony pulled me after him and toward the metal stairs on the far wall.
"Which mark?" JARVIS asked.
"Any of them. All of them. Send everything," Tony demanded, ducking as a table was hurled into the wall above our heads; another roar echoed around the warehouse. Tony shielded me from falling debris with his arms. I clutched onto the shirt over his shoulders. The ground shook as the Hulk charged toward us. Tony ushered me in front of him and up the rest of the stairs. His back foot was barely off the grate when it was yanked from the wall. I paused to look down at the Hulk. He was flailing the stairs every way possible, in to every surface he could find.
"Lucy, what are we supposed to do?" Tony asked, his voice quiet under the metal banging from below. I couldn't find any words to even sound like a valid answer. Before I could come up with anything, Tony pulled me so sharply that it actually hurt my arm. I hissed in pain but before I could say anything, the destroyed mass of stairs collided with where I'd been standing moments before. My grip on Tony's hand tightened as anxiety took hold of me.
"Tony," my voice was weak and taunt.
"I know, I'm trying to come up with something," Tony said looking around. His grip on my hand was so tight that I could feel my fingers falling asleep but I didn't want him to let go at all. His gaze stopped on one of the high windows behind me. He let out a half relieved breath.
"Come on sweetheart," he said, pulling me forward.
"What are we doing?" I asked.
"You'll see," Tony called back as he broke into a run. We quickly were reaching the end of the walkway and the wall loomed above.
"Tony?" I tried again. He didn't answer; just paused, turned slightly and jumped over the railing, taking me with him. I realized too late what was happening and I couldn't stop myself from going over the railing with him. I couldn't stop the scream that escaped my throat as we fell. I closed my eyes and brought my arms up for impact. Any second I would hit the concrete.
But I didn't.
I opened my eyes and peered out. Above me was Tony, seeming to be hovering in mid-air. It took a second to realize that one of his Iron Man suits was engulfing his body from the hips up. As soon as his whole body was in his suit, he collected me in his arms properly and turned to get to higher ground. I wrapped my arms around his neck and held myself against him tight. We only made it a few feet up before our movement was halted completely. We both looked down at what could have possible stopped our movement. My heart dropped into my stomach at the sight. Gripped onto Tony's foot was the enormous, green hand of the Hulk. His face was contorted into a horrific snarl. Tony tried his hardest to free his foot from his grasp. but nothing worked.
"Come on Banner, you know us," Tony said, his voice shifting nervously. The Hulk let out on a low, rumbling howl. He pulled Tony down out of the air violently. Tony tried his hardest to keep me in his arms but the jarring nature of motion made it impossible. Without warning, I tumbled down from his arms to the cement. I covered my head with my arms and slammed into the ground. A harsh pain shot through my entire body. I could already feel the bruises forming on my hips and elbows. As I pushed myself over to my back, I let out a pained groan. Tony made a panicked noise but I couldn't make out the words he said. I didn't have any time to ground myself before I was yanked up by my feet. Searing pain shot through my leg at suddenly being yanked up so forcefully. I was hanging up-side down in front of him, my face inches from his. I tried to swallow my fear as he studied me carefully. It was silent for a long time as he took his time watching the anxiety settle in my chest.
"Hey! Put her down!" Tony yelled from behind the Hulk. A low growl broke out of his throat, rumbling through his chest. The rumble turned into a full volume howl. I was flung across the warehouse and into one of the walls. I crumpled to the ground, every nerve in my body on five from excruciating pain.
"Lucy!" Tony's frantic voice barely reached me as another roar erupted from the other side of the room. Before I could register anything else, I was yanked up from the floor again by my arm. I let out a pained yelp as I was lifted. Without any hesitation, the Hulk catapulted me across the floor. I tumbled across the floor, skidding across every surface. The only thing that arrested my motion was colliding into the corner of one of the counters. The corner dug into my side painfully, a sickening crunch rocked my whole body. I screamed out in pain, the familiar feelings was something I'd become accustom to in the Raft. Tears sprang up in my eyes at the searing pain. The ground vibrated as the Hulk turned his body to come toward me again. I tried to push myself away from him across the floor but my body hurt too badly to move fast.
"Hey! Greenie! Come after me!" Tony yelled after the Hulk. This caught his attention enough to allow me to pull myself out of his line of vision, behind the counter. I pressed my back against the counter, trying to stop the pulsing in my side. There was a cacophony of sound behind the counter. I pressed my eyes closed against the sound and pressed my palms into my eyes.
Come on Lucy, think. There has to be something you're missing. There has to be something to stop this.
From behind the counter, the cacophony of battle erupted the air. Roars and growls covered Tony's frustrated huffs.
Come on Lucy!
"Lucy! Get out of here!" Tony yelled. His voice broke through my thoughts and disrupted the thought-process I'd been in. I leaned up on my knees and peered over the counter. Tony was locked in a fight with the Hulk. He flew around his head, trying to avoid the enormous hands that flew around rapidly. Tony glanced over in my direction and caught my eye. He motioned toward the door on the other side of the warehouse. As I turned my head to follow his hand, the green glint of the diamond against the far counter caught my eye. When I remembered that the two stones were there, images from earlier re-surfaced in my mind. Suddenly the plan for curing Banner made itself completely clear. But to fulfil the plan, it would mean throwing myself in front of the Hulk. And Tony would not be happy.
I stood myself up shakily and braced myself against the counter. The Hulk was still swinging his massive arms around, trying to hit Tony.
"Lucy, run!" Tony's voice echoed around the warehouse again. I eyed the distance between the Hulk and the two stones. The diamond was closer to me than the Stone. The only thing that stood between the two was the Hulk. I took a deep breath to steady myself before taking off. My sudden movement caught the eye of the Hulk, causing him to turn toward me. He let out a low huff as he watched me run. Every step I took sent a painful shock up my legs and into my chest. My entire body screamed at me to stop. It didn't take long for me to reach the diamond while Tony and the Hulk were distracted. I swoop down to pick up the diamond. As my fingers closed around the diamond, a deafening roar erupted from over my head.
"What are you doing!? You need to get out of here!" Tony screamed. I ignored him and continued to make my way toward the Stone. The Hulk turned his attention to me and turned to try and grab me. I dodged around his clumsy grasp, trying to get passed him. It was actually decently easy to get passed his hands. I slid under his legs to dodge his fist and straight into the wall behind him.
"Hey! Greenie," Tony called from above me, trying to get the Hulk's attention away from me. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size!" he called. The Hulk drew his attention away from me. He swung his hand up and managed to pluck Tony from the air. Tony was usable to do anything else before the Hulk threw him away from himself. Tony flipped head-over-heels into the far wall. The metal of the suit echoed nauseously and collapsed to the ground. I gasped, trying not run over to him. Before I could anything else, a large hand closed around my waist. I reached out for the Stone as I was lifted off the ground. As soon as my hand closed around the Stone, the usual rush of warmth rushed through my body. The heat collected itself in my chest. The Hulk lifted me up off the ground and brought me up to his face. My pulse spiked up in my throat but the rush in my head squashed it down to a minimum. The Hulk stared deep into my eyes, almost like he was trying to impart some kind of information to me. I held the two stones in each hand. I pulled the hand with the diamond in it behind me with my arm outstretched. With the other hand, I brought the Stone up the his face. The Hulk winced away from the Stone, growling low.
"Lucy!" Tony called, his voice weak. I flicked my fingers up to hush him. I could feel the tension radiating off Tony. The Hulk continued to stare down at me with cautious eyes. I slowly brought my hand closer to his face. His breaths came out in violent huffs. I pressed the Stone into the skin on his forehead. The Stone was vibrating viciously in my hand. It was vibrating so viciously in my hand that my entire arm was numb. A deafening roar errupted from the Hulk. I wanted to pull my hand away but an invisible force wouldn't let me. My heart pounded in my throat, my entire face flushing. The Hulk's roar continued, pain clear in the sound. Finally the force behind my hand lifted and allowed me to move my hand back. I pulled my hand with the Stone back from his face slowly. As I pulled my hand back, this green mist came with my hand. I watched curiously as the green mist drifted out of the Hulk and through my fingers. The mist passed through my fingers, into the Stone, and around my head. It circled around me slowly and then all the way back to my hand that was outstretched behind me with the diamond. It slipped through my fingers and trapped itself in the diamon. I looked back at the diamond. It was glowing through my fingers with warmth seeping into my fingers. I could feel all the energy running through my entire body. There was so much engery that it felt like it was going to tear me apart. I closed my eyes against the pain and swallowed the yelp that threatened to escape my throat. Another howl broke out of the Hulk again, his grip on me tightening.
"Lucy!" Tony's voice was muffled by all the pained sounds from the Hulk. I forced my eyes open to look at the Hulk. His eyes were darting around the room as if he was searching for something to help him get away from the pain. I watched the color drain from his face and body. Suddenly the pressure was gone from around me and I fell to the floor. The shock of the drop was masked by the massive amount of pain that took over my entire being. Every sound and feeling was taken over by excrusiating pain. I rolled onto my back and let out an aganizing scream. When I tried to take a breath in, it felt like my lungs were unable to inflate and I hiccuped through the pain. I pressed the fist that was still closed around the Stone into my chest, wish enough force that a light bruise started to form under my knuckles. A soft hand pressed itself to my cheek and Tony's face appeared in my line of vision. His Iron Man suit was discarded somewhere and he knelt next to me. He was trying to say something to me but the pain was ringing in my ears to loud to hear. Plus the fact that the Hulk as roaring so loud that it rattled my teeth. Tony craddled my head in his lap and ran his fingers down my face to try and calm me down. I was still gasping for air when I leaned up to see what was happening to Banner. The Hulk was thrashing himself around, into ever surface that he could find. The green mist was still escaping from him and trailing over to the the diamond. The color was leaking out of his body and he was shrinking in size. The smaller he got, the more violent the movement. He started launching things toward where Tony and I sat. Tony leaned over top of me to shield me from the debre that the Hulk was launching at us. This went on for a few minutes before suddenly everything went silent. Tony stayed frozen over me for a moment longer before he lifted himself off me slowly. I peered passed him toward where the Hulk had been a moment ago. In a crumpled heep was Banner. Tony jumped up from me and ran over to Banner.
"Bruce, Bruce are you okay?" Tony's voice drifted over to me as I tried to force myself up. The Stone clattered out of my hands and I pressed my palm to the cold concrete.
"Banner?" Tony said again. I pushed myself up off the ground slowly, ever nerve and muscle in my body screaming in opposition. I closed my eyes against the nausea that rose up with the pain and pushed my legs under me gingerly. In order to stand up I had to drag myself to the counter and brace myself against it, "Banner!" My knuckles were white as I gripped onto the counters as tight as I could to keep from collasping from pain. I pushed off the counter and limped toward Tony and Banner. By the time I reached them, my knees gave out and I collapsed next to Tony. A pained gasp escaped as I hit the ground next to him on my knees. Tony looked over at me, concern covering ever feature in his face. I reached over Banner and pried his hand open. I forced the diamond into his hand and closed his fingers around it. As soon as his hand was closed around the diamond, Banner gapsed. His eyes shot open and he sat up violently. He looked over at Tony and I and shot back like one of us has stuck him. Tony held his hands out to Banner.
"Hey! Easy Banner, it's us. Tony and Lucy. You're safe!" Tony said. Banner's eyes darted back and forth between us and he let out a relieved sigh.
"Tony, what happened?" he asked.
"Lucy got rid of your Hulk," Tony said. Banner looked over at me, shock clear.
"It worked?" he breathed.
"He's in your hand," my voice was hoarse and weak. It barely came out at all. Banner looked down at the diamond in his hand. He studied it carefully, turning it over and over in his hands.
"Are you sure it worked?" he asked, looking up at me again. I nodded.
"I could feel him. There was a moment when I had the Hulk inside me. I could feel him riping at me to get out until he left. I know he's gone," I said quietly. Both men stared at me wide eyed for a long time.
"Uh, Banner. Do you have extra clothes?" Tony asked finally.
"Passenger seat of my car," Banner said, shifting himself to cover himself up more. Tony stood up and made his way out of the warehouse, "Lucy," he drew my attention back to him. "Thank you so much. You'll never understand how much this means to me. Did-did I hurt you?" he asked.
"You didn't. He did," I said. Before Banner could answer back to what I'd said, Tony trotted back in with a pile of folded clothes. He handed them to Banner and looked back over at me. There was a moment where no one said anything.
"I don't mean to rush or be needy but could we stop off on the hospital on the way home?" I asked, my vision blurring. I couldn't hear what Tony or Banner said because I tipped back and passed out on the concrete.