EDITED
Though it wasn't agreed on or voiced by either Bruce, Betty or myself as we sat there in the car, Betty drove us straight from the bridge to her house, where we arrived there ten minutes after the two of them had reunited on the bridge. Already I could tell just by looking at the exterior of it that it was a grand but seemingly cozy home, with two stories and a spacious front porch.
For the entire car ride I had sat in the back seat in silence, listening to Bruce as he tried his best to explain to Betty why it was that he went on the run in the first place, without mentioning the fact that whenever his pulse reached a certain point he turned into a towering, angry green creature. I had initially been surprised that he hadn't told her the entire truth, though I knew better than to reveal it to her now. It wasn't exactly my secret to share, and I had a feeling that telling her would only cause her to freak out.
Bruce had informed her that her father was part of the reason that he went on the run in the first place though, but Betty didn't seem surprised to hear this. Apparently, she had known this almost from the beginning, having confronted her father when she had first woken up in the hospital. According to her, the two of them haven't spokena word to each other since, much to Ross' dismay. But Betty had made it abundantly clear to him that she wouldn't speak to him again until he lifted the manhunt off from Bruce.
When we had pulled up in front of the house, the three of us had quickly exited the car with our belongings in our hands, making a mad dash towards the front porch where we would be sheltered from the rain. I hadn't bothered to create a shield with the air to protect us from the rain as it poured down from above like I had when I had watched Betty rush to Bruce. But that didn't stop Betty from curiously staring at me as we went, as if she expected me to do so again.
She had quickly ushered us inside, where the house was just as grand on the inside as it was on the out. If I were to be quite honest, I couldn't help but think that it was far too large for a single person to live in, with Betty informing us that there were four bedrooms and two bathrooms. I had only smiled gratefully at this though, as I realised that tonight's sleeping conditions were going to be great compared to the ones that Bruce and I had had to endure in the past few weeks.
Betty had quickly made Bruce and I crouch down in front of the fireplace in the living room, before she then declared that she would go and get us something to drink. As she left, I couldn't help but notice the way that Bruce was violently shivering beside me, clearly chilled to the bone. Noticing that there were logs staked in the fireplace and practically waiting to be burned, I wordlessly lift my hand and create a small fireball before throwing it directly into the fireplace.
Bruce sent me a grateful smile as the logs were consequently engulfed in the flames. "Thanks."
"No problem," I reply, just as Betty returned to the room. In her hand, she carried a small box of matches, but at the sight of the flourishing fire in front of Bruce and I, they slip from her hands. She makes no move to bend down and retrieve them though, and instead only makes a small noise of surprise.
"I was going to light the fire for you," She whispers weakly, the reflection of the orange flames dancing in her wide eyes.
Bruce and I exchange slightly amused looks at her shock, our lips tugging up into wry smiles. "I think we've got it covered," I reply, diverting my gaze back up to the brunette once more.
Forgetting all about the matches together and the faint sound of the kettle boiling in the kitchen, she slowly sinks down into the closest, cream-coloured couch. "How?" She asks in an almost child-like voice, her eyes glued to the flames flickering in the space behind Bruce and me.
The smile slips from my face at this, knowing that to answer her question, I was going to have to delve into a personal territory that I tried to regularly block from my mind. But I knew that I was going to have to tell her. She was a scientist: curiosity was in her nature. And I had promised that I would explain everything once we were out of the rain, which was still pelting down on the roof above us. Even if I didn't give her the full story, I could provide her with some details at least, if not the basic ones.
"I can control the elements," I explain. "I was experimented on and this was the result."
She only blinks. "OK," She says slowly as if unsure whether or not to believe me. But when she turns to Bruce for confirmation and sees the serious expression that was glued to his face, she turns back to face me once more.
"Which company did this to you?" She asks in a surprisingly steady voice.
"I don't know."
"It wasn't a scientist by the name of Dr Helen Cho, was it?"
"I don't know," I repeat. "I don't know who did this to me."
"How did they do it?" She asks, suddenly growing excited. "I mean, people throughout generations have theorised that humans of high intellect could do such things but...to actually have a human control them?"
It's best not to move, subject 207. It won't do you any good.
Aching, throbbing, stinging, pain-
'Please stop-'
My name...is Lydia Hathaway
Screams echoing off the walls-
Again.
"Betty," Bruce says warningly, dragging me from the memoriesthat had started to fill my mind faster than I could block them. Blinking my eyes a few times, I see him shooting Betty a warning look from the corner of my eyes, which seemed to silently tell her to drop the conversation.
The excitement dies from Betty's face as she turns her attention back to me. Something must register on my face that I wasn't comfortable where this conversation was leading to, as her shoulders sag and she sends me a guilt-ridden look. "I'm sorry," she murmurs. "I didn't mean to be nosy."
"It's fine," Is all I can murmur in response. "I just don't like talking about it that much."
She sends me another apologetic look as a silence descends on us at my words, though it's soon broken by Bruce as he attempts to keep the conversation topic on the right track. "Betty, we came back to Willowdale for a reason. The data from the Gamma experiment that we last did, we were wondering if you still have it? Or does someone else?"
She opens her mouth to reply, though the sound of the kettle boiling out in the kitchen prevents her from getting a single word out. Pulling herself to her feet, she murmurs a delicate, "I'll be right back' before she then rushes off towards the kitchen, leaving Bruce and me behind in the living room with his question unanswered.
"Damn," Bruce mutters almost silently, reaching up to run his hand through his dark locks in frustration.
"She'll tell us when she comes back," I assure him quietly, as the sounds of Betty rummaging around through cabinets and drawers in her kitchen echo throughout the otherwise silent house. I furrow my brows though as the commotion in the kitchen only grows and continues as if Betty was frantically looking for something. Knowing perfectly well that it wouldn't take her that long to find three mugs, I lean my head forward in an attempt to peek down the hallway to see if I could see what it was that she was doing. But whatever it was must have been on the other side of the kitchen, as I could see nothing but the empty doorway and the corner of the sink from where I sat.
Bruce and I didn't have to wait too much longer, however, as Betty comes tearing down the hall once more. To my surprise, she didn't have any mugs in her hands but instead had a strong grasp on a small but elegant, silver jewellery box that was covered with a flower pattern. Definitely not the hot tea that I had been expecting.
When she reaches where Bruce and I were sitting, she leans down to offer the box to me. I take it from her, the box cool against my slim fingers. Gingerly, I lift the lid up and expect to see jewellery of all shapes and sizes inside, though I am only greeted with the sight of a small, white USB.
"It's the data," Betty explains causing my eyes to widen in astonishment before I then hand it over to an eager Bruce, who picks up the USB and studies the small device in his hand.
"I got in there and got it before they went in and carted it all away," she elaborates. "A small part of me hoped it might have different results and tell us something about what we were intending to do someday."
Bruce nods before he then tears his eyes from the USB and up towards her instead. "Do you mind if we borrow it for a few days? We need it for what we're doing. One of us can send it back to you in the mail, or can come and give it back to you personally once we've finished with it-"
"Bruce, it's fine," Betty says, abruptly interrupting the small rambling that he had started. "The data is yours just as much as it is mine. You can have it for as long as you want."
"Does your father know that you have it?" Bruce questions nervously.
"No. At least, I don't think so."
"You have to be sure," I inform her gently, the face of her determined father flashing behind my eyes. Though it was essentially Bruce that he was after, I had a feeling that if Ross were to get his hand on the USB in Bruce's hands, then he may attempt to recreate the Hulk. "If he finds out you have this, he could cause a lot of damage."
"What do you mean by that?" Betty asks. When Bruce and I remain silent at her question, she then adds, "I don't understand why we can't go in there together and explain everything to him."
Bruce quickly shakes his head at this suggestion though. "I can't. I overheard him telling soldiers that he wants to dissect it from me and use the hu- uh, whatever the experiment did to me as a weapon."
"If he does that, then a lot of innocent people are most likely going to get hurt," I add, watching as Betty's eyes widen with my words. Leaning forward slightly, I continue, "Betty, you have to make sure that your father never gets his hand on this research. Bruce told you in the car that what happened to him now has side effects on him and trust me when I say that those side effects aren't good."
She pauses, no doubt processing what I had just said and the severity of the possible consequence of her father acquiring the research. What we had given her wasn't much to go on from. Part of me expected her to demand answers and a proper and full explanation about what it was that we were warning her about. But to my surprise, she doesn't do this. Instead, she only nods her head. "OK. I haven't told anyone that I have it and I promise I won't."
Both Bruce and I exhale sharply at this, the two of us sagging back in relief. "Thank you," I breathe, as Bruce attempts to stifle a yawn, shutting his eyes as he does so.
His attempt fails, however, and doesn't go unnoticed by Betty. With an amused smile ghosting her lips, she muses, "It appears someone is in need of a good nights sleep."
"Mm?" Bruce mumbles, opening one eye and then blinkingopen the other, before then giving a small sound of agreement. "Yeah. I suppose so."
Betty smiles before then standing up. "C'mon then. You two can go wait in your rooms and I'll get you some fresh clothes if you need any. And if you're still awake, I'll bring you something to drink as well."
I can't help but smile at her kindness, the thought of a warm drink in a warm bed sounding heavenly at this point in time. It had been such a long and harrowing couple of weeks, and I was looking forward to the possibility of falling into a deep slumber without a care in the world. And without having to be in a constant state of alertness, waiting for the possibility of soldiers or even Ross himself barging through the door, as I had been for the past couple of nights. I was fairly confident that we were safe here, as I didn't think that Ross would believe that Bruce would try and contact Betty after all this time. Not when his attempts to do so in the past had already failed.
"Bruce, could you show Lydia to one of the spare rooms?" Betty asks. "I'll go and find you some dry clothes."
He smiles and replies with a tired 'sure' before she returns the smile and walks towards the staircase. Bruce and I watch her go silently, her feet creating small thuds against the stairs as she ascended them. The moment that she was out of our sight and I knew that there wasn't a possibility that she could overhear what I intended to say, I whirl around to face Bruce. "I like her," I declare.
He chuckles as he pulls himself to his feet, with myself mirroring his actions. "Everyone likes Betty. She's just that good of a person."
"She has a mother-like nature to her," I muse, reaching up to grab Bruce's hand so that he could pull me up along beside him. "Speaking of her mother, does she look like her? I mean, I've seen her father and I have to say though there's some resemblance, there's not a lot. But Betty's pretty, so does she take after her mother?"
Bruce shrugs his shoulders as we make our way towards the stairs that Betty had disappeared from just moments before. "I don't know to be honest. Betty's mother died before I even met her," He reveals in a hushed tone."
"Oh," I say, a pang of sympathy stinging in my chest for Betty. "How did she die?"
"Cancer. Betty was twelve."
"Poor Betty," I mumble quietly my eyes dropping to the stairs beneath my feet as I continued to climb them. "It's a terrible thing to have to lose a parent. Especially when you're that young."
"She had her father though," Bruce points out quietly as we start to make our way down a hallway with green walls and photos of Betty with either her family or friends adorning the walls. In each and every single one of them, Betty wore a bright smile on her face, her eyes practically twinkling as they stared up at Bruce and I as we passed them.
"And despite everything that's happened over the years, Betty and her father do love each other," Bruce continues. "Betty's the only person I think Ross actually ever cared for."
"You mean the ass-hole actually has a heart?" I mutter darkly, causing Bruce to snort with amusement as he opens a door beside us and stands aside to let me pass by him and enter the room.
"Yes. The 'ass-hole' does have a heart," He muses, gesturing to the furnished space in front of us. "This is one of the spare rooms. The bathroom is just down the hall if you want a shower as well."
It's a small room, with a double bed in the middle of it with grey and white sheets and four pillows at the head of it. Beside it is a small bedside table with a lamp placed on it and a little clock informing me that it was almost twelve o'clock at night. There was also a window on the far side of the room, the dark blue curtains were drawn closed, though the colours made the pale blue wallpaper stand out. There was also a small set of drawers in the corner, which I guessed was where Betty's guest put their clothes whenever they stayed over.
Small. Cozy. And after sleeping in run-down motel rooms for the past few weeks, I absolutely loved it. It was perfect.
"Thanks, Bruce," I say, turning back to face him. "Go get some sleep OK? It's been a long day and if we're gonna leave tomorrow-"
"Lydia," Bruce says hesitantly, quickly cutting me off. He shifts nervously from one foot to another, causing me to narrow my eyes at him in suspicion. Something was clearly on his mind, and it must be pretty significant if he was as nervous as he was about telling me what it was.
"I-you've been so much help to me over the past few weeks-"
I can already tell where this conversation was heading, even though he hadn't properly finished his sentence. "Bruce-"
"And I have to say, as far as cousins go you're probably one of my favourites-"
"OK, I'm going to have to stop you-"
"But besides that-"
"Bruce, I-"
"You've been away from home now for a long-"
"I know what you're going to-"
"And I don't want to trouble you any more-"
"Bruce!" I exclaim loudly, causing him to jump in shock at the sudden shift in the volume of my voice. I huff and cross my arms over my chest, not caring as much if I just did give him a heart attack- it was the only way to shut him up and stop him from saying what I knew he was going to say.
"You don't want me to come with you any more, is that right?"I ask.
He gives me a guilty look and a mere shrug of his shoulders. "It's not a case of not wanting you here," he says quietly. "It's more a case of I don't want to trouble you anymore because you-you feel obliged to help me-"
"Do you really think that me tagging along with you for the past few weeks, is something that I haven't wanted to do?" I question him, feeling stunned when he shrugs his shoulder for the second time in a space of a minute. I shake my head and uncross my arms. "Well, it's not. I'm here now with you Bruce because I want to help you. Your my cousin for God's sake! We're family."
He gapes at my little outburst, clearly stunned. But if he thought that I was stopping here, then he was entirely wrong. If he seriously thought that I wasn't tagging along with him because I wanted to and instead because I felt obliged to, then he was wrong. And I was determined to convince him otherwise.
"I don't care if it meant that I had to spend days hiking through the jungles to find you or if it meant possibly getting in trouble with General Asshole or even if it meant having to sneak into universities! I don't care! Truth be told, it's been worth it and I've enjoyed the time I've spent with you! I get you're used to being alone because you've had to be over the past few years but I'm trying to help you fix that. We are so, so close to getting a cure- and I want the cure to work for you, Bruce. I want to find this cure probably as much as you do and it's something I want to help you find. So you're not taking off tomorrow by yourself, OK? We're going together. Capiche?"
Bruce just blinks once, twice and finally a third time once I finished my small little rant of frustration. I pause for a moment to let what I just send sink into him before I then find that he's slowly nodding at me, a smile creeping onto his face. "OK. Capiche. We leave tomorrow together. We find the cure together."
"Now we're talking," I muse gently before sighing in relief. "But for now, let's just shower and get some sleep. We can discuss our next move in the morning, OK?"
He nods, the smile still plastered to his face. "Goodnight Lydia," he replies before he then starts to walk down the hall.
Just as he reaches the end of it however and is about to turn around the corner, I call out to him "And Bruce? For the record, you're one of my favourite cousins too."
He only halts in his tracks and turns his head to give me a final nod, looking a lot less tired and stressed then he had been moments before. I'd like to think that it was because he had finally realised that he wasn't as alone in this as he had been before. Like I had told him, he now had me and I was determined to stick with him until the end.
But I never got the chance to ask, as he simply murmurs a small 'goodnight' before he then disappears around the corner entirely.
Smiling to myself, I turn around and walk into the room, leaving the door open behind me. I collect a pair of my pyjamas from my backpack as well as my toothbrush and hairbrush before I then exit the room quietly and walk down the hall and enter the bathroom, closing the door behind me and letting the bolt slide into place.
I have a long, hot shower, enjoying it as much as I can before climbing out and getting changed into my pyjama shorts and tee. Quickly towel drying my hair, I begin to brush my teeth when I hear the distinctive but faint sounds of Bruce and Betty talking to one another from the other side of the door: it was as if they were standing right outside of it. Not particularly wanting to walk out and interrupt their conversation nor wanting to eavesdrop on it, I try my hardest to focus on brushing my teeth instead.
But it was so damn hard not to hear what it was they were saying, considering that two of them were talking not even six feet away from me.
"Listen, um..." I hear Bruce say somewhat awkwardly. "Lydia and I, we'll probably leave a little early tomorrow-"
"Really?" Betty asks, clearly disappointed at this. "You can't stay at all?"
"I want to, but it's just not safe for me to be here," Bruce softly explains. "They could find me. They came close to it recently. Lydia and I need to take the earliest bus out of here-"
"At least let me walk you to the station."
Say yes, say yes, say yes-I can't help but chant in my head, desperately wanting more time for the two of them to spend with one another.
"OK," Bruce relents, and it takes everything in me not to let out a small noise of joy at this.
The two of them cease talking momentarily, a silence descending on them. The romantic side to me was tempted to sneak over to the door and see if I could open it a crack without the two of them noticing just so I could see the scene unfold. But the sterner and serious part of me ordered the romantic side to shut it. The both of them had been through so much and deserved this private little moment with one another.
"Do you have everything you need?" Betty suddenly asks, her voice breaking the quiet spell.
"Yeah. Um...I..."
"What?"
"Nothing. Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
After a brief pause, I hear the sound of a pair of feet retreating down the hall, and judging from the feminine sigh that I hear on the other side of the door, I conclude that the person leaving was Bruce. Not keen on making myself known just yet to Betty, as I feared that she would be able to guess that I had heard the conversation between the two of them if I stepped out of the bathroom in that very moment, I remain utterly still and decide to wait for her to leave as well.
I didn't have to wait too much longer, as soon the sound of Betty's retreating footsteps bounced off the white walls of the bathroom until they disappeared altogether. I let out a breath that I had been holding in, yet still make no move to leave the bathroom just yet: better safe than sorry. So I take my time in collecting my belongings, making sure to fold my clothes and the towel slower than what I normally would have. Only then to I decide to leave the bathroom, making sure to tread carefully back towards the room that I was staying in, trying to make as little noise as possible.
Neither Betty or Bruce make an appearance again, and I quickly make it back to the room that I was staying in without being caught. Relaxing, I sigh in relief before I then move towards the bed where my bag was placed. Making sure that my clothes were still neatly folded, I have just enough time to place them in my bag when I hear the sound of a small knock on the still open door.
I jump at the sudden noise, my heart skipping a beat as I whirled around to face the entrance of the room. I am greeted with the sight of Betty leaning against the doorway, a small smile on her face and a hot mug with steam rising from the top of it in her hand.
"I didn't mean to startle you," She says, clearly noticing the way that I had jumped. "I just thought that I would bring you some hot chocolate before you went to bed."
My mouth practically starts watering at the sight of the mug now that I knew what it contained. Hot chocolates happened to be one of my favourite drinks, though I couldn't remember the last time that I had had one. It was quite difficult to find time to drink one and sit down and relax, what with being swarmed with a mission after mission from SHIELD, going after some leads about the organisation that had taken me, and then trekking across the jungle for two weeks.
Betty must notice my new-found enthusiasm as the smile on her face widens. "I take it that someone likes hot chocolate then?" She muses.
"It's only one of the best drinks to have ever been created," I joke, causing her to chuckle. She then holds the mug out towards me, which I graciously accept before I then bring it to my lips, sipping at the creamy, smooth liquid in it. "Tastes like heaven," I murmur before I then proceed to have another sip.
"I'm glad," she says. "But I also wanted to see if you had any clothes that you had that needed to be washed? I don't know much about being on the run, but I gather that it can be difficult to find a decent washing machine and dryer while doing so."
"Oh, you have no idea," I reply, causing her to chuckle once more. "But in all seriousness, thank you, Betty. Not just for this and for giving us the data, but for also allowing Bruce and I to stay here for the night. We both really appreciate it."
"It's my pleasure," She says kindly, reaching up to fiddle with a necklace that hung from around her neck. I was too far away from her to be able to see the fine details of the piece of jewellery, though it was big enough for me to see that it was a small, golden heart hanging from the golden chain.
"That's a pretty necklace," I say. "Did, uh...did Samson give it to you?"
She visibly stiffens at the name, her face flushing crimson as her mouth twists into an awkward line. "Yes," She says in a voice barely above a whisper, as if she only wanted me to hear it. And thinking about it more, I can't help but think that she replied so quietly so that a certain someone in the room down the hall couldn't hear what it was that she was saying, even though I didn't think he could hear us from that far away. Clearly, she and Bruce hadn't discussed Samson yet then.
"It's pretty," I repeat, also speaking in a hushed tone to help ease her nerves. "Have you and Samson been together for long, then?"
She pushes away from the door, walking deeper into the room and over towards the window to my right. Staring at the blue curtains in front of her rather than me, she replies quietly, "Almost a year now. But we're- we're taking it slow. I mean, he's the first man that I've been with since-" She cuts off though, unable to finish that sentence. But she didn't have to for me to figure out whose name she had been seconds away from uttering. The answer was almost blindingly obvious.
"Since Bruce," I finish for her.
She nods her head and finally looks back at me, her eyes glistening slightly with tears."Yes. Since Bruce."
"Do you...still have feelings for him?" I ask hesitantly. When her eyes widen at the bluntness of my words, I hastily add, "I mean, you said in the car that you never really got over him so I just sort of figured that there was something there still."
She doesn't immediately reply to this, but instead stands there in silence and diverts her gaze to the floorboards beneath her feet. It as clear to me that she was pondering an answering to my question, so I say nothing to allow her the time she would need to consider an answer. It was a rather difficult question to answer, considering the circumstances that she found herself in. I mean, technically her and Bruce's relationship had ended simply because he had gone on the run. There weren't any harsh words or actions: their relationship had atragic ending simply because fate willed it so. Had it been some other person than Bruce in that chair the day that they had done the experiments, then there was a chance that the two of them would still be together.
And judging from the snippets that Bruce had told me over the past few weeks, their love hadn't simply been just a fling: it had been real. Something that could lead the two of them living the rest of their lives together. And considering the fact that Bruce wasn't over Betty after all this time, I couldn't help but think curiously, that there was a chance that Betty- if not a part of her- still loved him as well.
"I don't know," She admits in a whisper. "I loved him. I truly did. There was a time where I thought that the two of us were going to be together for the rest of our lives. But then he left...and Samson showed up. He's a great guy, he really is. And he's just always been around, whereas Bruce hasn't. And I understand that Bruce couldn't help that, I really do, but-"
"Hey, I'm not judging you," I quickly inform her, noticing how a hint of panic had seeped into her voice the longer that she spoke. She was obviously in turmoil over the whole situation, which simply wasn't fair on her: none of this was her fault. "I'm not trying to make you choose either. I was just curious- my curiosity gets the better of me, I guess you could say."
She glances up at me at this, a stray tear leaking from her startling blue eyes. Chuckling with embarrassment, she reaches up to quickly wipe it from her face. "I'm sorry," She says, her voice thick with emotion. "I didn't mean to start crying."
"Don't apologise for crying, Betty," I reply gently. "It's a shitty situation that you're in, so it's completely understandable that you're feeling upset. But just for now, tell yourself that it's going to work out. Because I have a feeling, it's going to. And again, I'm not asking you to choose between the two of them. Whatever you decide to do in the end is your choice, and your choice alone."
She sniffs and nods, once again reaching up to wipe at her eyes to prevent any more tears from spilling from them. "What about you?"She asks. "Is there anyone special waiting for you back home?"
I snort in amusement and only take another sip of my drink. "Ha. That's funny."
"No one at all?"
"Not at the moment no. I mean, I've had boyfriends before. My recent and longest one was with a fellow colleague of mine and we actually dated for a while. He was my longest and most serious relationship, but..." I trail off and shrug my shoulders."Sometimes they just don't work out. Though if I'm being quite honest, I really thought that Ward would be 'the one'. God, that's almost cringe-worthy saying it like that."
Betty chuckles, all traces of sadness leaving her face. "So go out. Find someone new. Go dancing- dancing's a great way to meet new people."
"Maybe so. I'd rather take the right partner dancing though, rather than someone who may not have any significance in my life years later."
"So you just have to find your right partner. The one you're waiting for."
"Exactly."
***
3rd Person P.O.V
Thaddeus Ross slid the keycard through the electric slot before then quickly pressing the correct code that would enable him to enter the sealed room. A small beeping noise alerted him that the door was now unlocked so he quickly reached forward with one of his hands and pushed down on the handle, pushing the door open to a very dark and very cold room in front of him. He grabbed his torch from his pocket, turned it on and entered the room.
Machinery covered in plastic surrounded him on all sides of the room. He knew what each of these pieces of machinery held inside them. Weapons. Weapons that could help the USA, while also getting him the glory of having and creating these said weapons.
There was one weapon in here that he didn't help create though. This weapon was different from any other in this room.
It was a weapon out of time.
He knew which piece of machinery he wanted so he marched straight ahead, his eyes fixed on the plastic covered machine at the end of the room. Once he reached it, he ripped the cover off the machine and looked down at the little sign that was stuck on the side of the gleaming metal before him:
CRYOSYNC
Program: Weapons Plus
Developer: Dr Erskine
Batch No.: 006-V2
UNDER CONTRACT US DEPARTMENT DEFENSE
He then placed the torch in his mouth, gently biting down on it to hold it in place before reaching inside the pocket of his pants and grabbing the key in there that would unlock the lock that prevented him from opening the machinery and grabbing the weapon. Once he had it in his hand, he quickly reached forward to slide it in place, unlocking the compartment of the equipment that would grant him the weapon that he so desperately wanted. He grabbed the small test tube with the blue liquid with his plump, gloved hand and bought it up closer to his face to inspect it.
He couldn't help but smirk at the sight, knowing that Blonsky was the perfect test subject for the weapon and the perfect person to help capture Banner.
After all this time, Ross was finally going to get the Hulk.
***
Betty had been true to her word when she said that she wanted to walk us to the station. After waking up to find croissants, coffee and orange juice for breakfast waiting for Bruce and me in the kitchen, we had quickly enjoyed the delicious breakfast that Betty had cooked for us before we packed our gear and left Betty's house behind us.
The walk so far had been an uneventful one. Betty and Bruce walked quietly ahead, the two of them murmuring things between them and I made no move to quicken my pace and catch up with them. Like last night, I wanted them to have as much time as possible alone together before they would be split from one another once more. But if the cure really worked, then I knew that there was a chance that the two of them would have more moments like this to share with one another in the future.
After ten minutes of walking, I was surprised to see that we were back at the University. When I question Betty about this, she merely shrugs her shoulders and replies, "It's on the way to the station."
I only nod in response and reach up to adjust the cap that I was wearing on my head. But while I was at ease with this, it seems that Bruce wasn't as thrilled at the idea of being back at the university once more. If anything, he seemed more nervous and more on edge.
Betty also picks up on this as well, as she guides him to a gentle stop on the green lawn of the university grounds. "Is everything OK?" she asks him worriedly.
After a brief scan of the general area around him, he turns back to face her and nods as he gives her an assuring smile. "I think so," He says with a smile, that doesn't quite meet his eyes.
She nods before biting her lips as she looks down at Bruce's waist. Before Bruce can ask her what's wrong, she reaches forward and un-tucks Bruce's blue shirt from his grey pants. Bruce turns as red as a tomato as her fingers brush over his skin, though he turns his head so that Betty couldn't see this. She, however, doesn't seem fazed at their sudden proximity. "It's better this way," She says with a smile before she then reaches up and removes his hat from his head. It takes everything within me not to laugh at the flustered expression on his face at this, though I manage to prevent myself from doing so by catching my bottom lip with my teeth. Bruce was sucha dork.
"It's, uh...too-too tight," He mutters awkwardly.
I shoot them a final smile before I then feel inclined to turn my gaze away from them. My eyes quickly land on a row of hedges across the lawn and I keep my eyes fixed on them while both Bruce and Betty have their moment.
There.
I narrow my eyes as I see something flash behind the edges, someone ducking down behind them before I have time to register their movement. Keeping my eyes trained on the greenery, I wait patiently to see whether or not the movement had simply just been my imagination. But to my absolute dismay, I spot a man dressed in a military uniform make a mad dash from the hedges to the pillars of the building beside him, carrying a deadly gun in his hand.
And it didn't take a genius to figure out why it was that a soldier happened to be here at the university on the same day at the exact moment that Bruce was.
They're here.
Which meant Ross wasn't that far behind.
My stomach drops in dread as I realised that it was likely that there was more than one soldier on the campus, with others being close by: hell, they could essentially have us surrounded right now, but the other two were completely oblivious to it.
We had to get out of here.
"Bruce," I quickly say, turning my attention back to both him and Betty, the two of them staring at me in confusion as they saw the stricken look that was on my face. Moving towards them, I explain, "We'have to leave. They're here. We have to go right now."
While Betty's look of confusion only deepens, Bruce only blanches at my words as he realises who it was that I was talking about. He only swallows thickly and nods though, before he then turns around and places his hands firmly on a still confused Betty's shoulders. "Betty, listen to me. You have to get as far away from me as possible."
"What? Bruce-"
"Don't argue with me, just go. Lydia, you stay with her and protect her no matter what."
Now it was my turn to start protesting at this. "Bruce-"
"If I change, you need to protect her from me," he says firmly, effectively cutting me off.
I didn't like the idea of leaving Bruce to fend off against the soldiers that were only moments away from attacking him. Not only because I didn't want them to hurt Bruce, but also because I knew that they can't. If they attacked Bruce, then I knew that it was more than likely that he would change. And after seeing the damage that the confrontation caused between the soldiers and the Hulk in Rocinha, I knew that any confrontation between them here was going to result in the same level of damage. Only this time, more civilian lives were at stake. The campus grounds were crawling with students and professors alike that were at risk at getting caught in the crossfire.
Including Betty beside me. The woman that Bruce was pleading with me to protect. And I knew that I couldn't fail him, not with the look of desperation that was on his face as begged me to keep her safe from him.
Huffing in frustration, I curtly nod my head and watch as he takes off running, without saying a single word or pausing to look back at Betty and I staring after him. She eventually whirls back around to face me, her mouth parted and I knew that she was seconds away from asking me what the hell was going on. But before either of us could say a word, a loud crashing noise echoes throughout the air behind us. Instinctively, I reach for Betty and yank her down, the two of us turning to see that three army trucks had driven straight through two cars, which were now shredded into numerous sharp pieces. The vehicles drive straight past us and move off in the same direction that Bruce had taken off in, while a new group of soldiers appeared from behind the building that I had seen the first one hide behind, also following after Bruce.
"No!" Betty exclaims before she tears herself from my grasp and takes off running after Bruce and the soldiers, quicker than I had time to react.
"Betty stop!" I yell before I then spring into action, running after the tall brunette who either hadn't heard my command or had simply ignored it. As I follow after her, more soldiers continue to appear out of nowhere with some yelling orders to one another, each of them carrying guns and all other sorts of weapons in their hands. They hadn't noticed me yet, though as I glance at them my eyes fall on one particular one who was running slightly ahead of the group, a giant smirk on his face. Looking closer, I can't help but groan in annoyance as I realise that it's the god damn blonde soldier from Rocinha. It appears he was just as enthusiastic about joining the manhunt for Bruce back here in the states as he was in Brazil.
I pass professors and students as I continue to run, who are all looking at the armed troops and trucks in astonishment. As I pass them, I slow down slightly so that I could warn them, "You people need to leave, now! You'll get hurt if you stay!"
They don't pay any attention to my words much too my dismay, as they only continue to talk among themselves and point towards the trucks, the excitement in their voices only growing. It was abundantly clear to me that they weren't going to leave and wouldn't listen to me if I ordered them to do so, and I knew that I didn't have enough time to get them all out of here. Once I got Betty to a secure and safe location, then perhaps I would be able to come back and get them moving. Or hopefully, they would leave when the fighting started. But there was nothing that I could do for them now, not when I had Betty's life to worry about. So I only turn away and quicken my pace once more, leaving their excited voices behind me.
I continue to run past students, trees and more buildings, the soldiers and the vehicles still heading in the same direction, the massive university library looming in front of us as we ran. With Bruce nowhere in sight, I conclude that he must be somewhere in the building or had hopefully managed to evade the soldiers a little longer. But with him nowhere in sight, Betty finally comes to a halt which allows me the chance to catch up with her.
"Betty!" I yell as I work my way around her so that I was staring up at her angrily. "What the hell were you thinking? Bruce told you to run for a reason!"
"He needs our help Lydia!" she counters. "I'm not going to let them take him!"
"Trust me when I say, they probably won't be able too," I mutter in response before shaking my head. "I get that you want to help him but look around!" I exclaim, waving my arms towards the soldiers and the trucks that were now a fair way ahead of us, closing in on the building. Bruce must definitely be in there then. "This is dangerous! And yes, even though I hate to admit it, Bruce is dangerous! That's why they have so many soldier's and weapons because otherwise, they don't stand a chance against Bruce."
"What makes him dangerous?!" She demands.
"Look, there's about a fifty percent chance that you may find out the answer to your question sometime very soon. But the point is, Bruce asked me to protect you, so that's what I'm going to do. But we need to get somewhere safe when the fighting starts-"
"Fighting?" She whispers before she then looks over my shoulder, something catching her eye. I turn around to see her staring at a large military command vehicle, that was moving slowly in the direction of the library.
"I know that vehicle," she mumbles before to my annoyance, she starts to run full speed towards it, leaving me gaping after her.
"Betty!" I yell angrily, running after her just as she reaches the vehicle with her arms held up in the air, causing the vehicle to come to a screeching halt rather than hitting her.
"I know you're in there!" She yells loudly, just as I reach her, causing me to pause and shoot her a confused look as I stand beside her and realise that it wasn't me that she was talking to. Instead, it was someone inside the vehicle. Who the hell did she know was in there? Whatever the case, I couldn't help but note that the two of us standing in its path was preventing it from reaching Bruce: we were buying him more time. It wasn't as if we were in any danger either, as it wasn't as if they would shoot innocent civilians.
When there's no response to Betty's call, she lowers her arms to her side, adding, "General please!"
Realisation hits me like a slap in the face as I realise that she was talking to her father: it was Ross sitting inside that vehicle, not responding to his daughter's desperate pleas.
"DAD!" She suddenly screams next to me, causing me to jump a mile in the air in shock, having not expected her to do so. Her final scream works though, as we suddenly hear the sound of a door opening from the other side of the machine. Not even a second later, a very pissed off looking Thaddeus Ross marches from around the side of the vehicle, moving straight towards where Betty and I were standing.
As he reaches us, Betty steps forward and pleads with him, "Dad, please, don't do this!"
"You can't see this clearly enough," Ross snaps, pointing to the library. "That man is a criminal!"
"Because you made him one," I replied coolly, his words angering me to the point where I clench my fists at my side.
His head snaps towards me at my words, a look of recognition mixed with annoyance. "You," Is all he says.
"Me. Lydia Hathaway- I would say I'm pleased to meet you, but I'm really not," I counter, crossing my arms over my chest as he glares at me.
"I know who you are," he snaps. "You've caused me and my men enough trouble over these past few weeks- it's only because you're a S.H.I.E.L.D agent, that you're not behind bars yourself."
"S.H.I.E.L.D?" Betty asks, clearly confused.
I don't bother to answer her as I shoot my own glare towards Ross."That's good that you know who I am. Because you then know what kind of power I have at S.H.I.E.L.D. I swear to God that if you hurt or even kill Bruce, I will do everything in my power at S.H.I.E.L.D to expose you for who you really are and what you've done."
The glare on his face hardens, as he takes a small step towards me, knocking Betty's outstretched hand as she tries to stop him to the side. "Are you threatening me, agent?" he asks me in a low, dangerous tone, clearly trying to intimidate me.
"I'm making a promise," I hiss. "A promise you better hope that I don't keep."
He opens his mouth to snap something in reply when a soldier from a group of them that had walked up beside us points to the overpass in the library building and yells, "There he is!"
Ross and I lose interest of one another the moment that those words escape the mouth of the soldier as we turn around to face the direction in which he was pointing. We were a little far away, but sure enough, I could just make out that it was indeed Bruce running in the overpass, his bag no longer strapped on his back. He must have ditched it after he left Betty and I. I could only hope though that he had hidden the USB with the data on it, as if he was caught and it was on him, then it was essentially game over. Ross would have not only the hulk but the data to replicate what was done to Bruce as well.
"Target is in the overpass", I heard someone say from the walkie-talkie in its holster around Ross' waist, the words causing my stomach to drop with dread, "We have a visual. He's locked in"
In a flash, Ross whips the walkie-talkie to his mouth, as he takes a few steps forward and barks in response, "Do not engage, I repeat! Do not engage!"
Betty and I watch helplessly as Bruce looks frantically from one end of the overpass to the other before he looks straight ahead from where he stood, directly at the small group consisting of Betty, Ross, the soldiers and myself. Swarms of soldiers run along the open ground in front of the building while some appear on roofs of neighbouring buildings. They all have guns in their hands and too my dismay, they're all pointed directly at Bruce.
I whirl to Ross, anger coursing throughout my veins as I snap, "You know you can't kill him! You've seen what happens if his heart beats to fast! You're gonna unleash him in his worst form which means a lot of innocent men are gonna get hurt. Call them off!"
"This doesn't concern you agent. Know your place."
"Call them off! These men are going to die!"
He ignores my last plea and instead looks away from me and back at the building, ordering somewhat smugly into the communication device, "Put two cans of canisters in with him!"
Sure enough, two soldiers raise their guns and aim them at the glass windows in the overpass before they then fire in synch, the two metal tubes whizzing through the air and shattering the glass as they make an impact. The tubes fall to the ground and start to emit gas from them, causing Bruce to quickly tug off his blue shirt and hold it up to his mouth, trying to keep the gas from seeping into his lungs just a little bit longer.
"No!" Betty shouts desperately before she then takes off running towards the overpass, tears streaking down her face as she does. It only takes me a split second to react and follow after her.
I needed to get her out of here now. I knew those canisters were only going to help add fuel to the fire and make the situation worst. Bruce's heart would no doubt start to pick up as he went into panic mode and then he would turn into the Hulk and hurt a lot of innocent people if he needed to to get away. The closer Betty was to him, the more chance she would get caught in the line of fire and get hurt, either by Bruce or the soldiers. I had promised my cousin that I would keep her safe, and that was exactly what it was that I was going to do.
"Get them back here!" I here Ross order to the watching soldiers behind us. I don't look back, however, until I feel a hand touch my shoulder, alerting me to the fact they've caught up. I slow down to let the hand get a grip on my shoulder before I then reach back, grab the arm and bend down before then using all of the strength I had to flip the solider over my body so that he landed flat on his back on the ground in front of me. Before I know it, I'm being yanked to my feet by another from behind, while two more soldiers run after Betty.
The soldier attempts to drag me backwards and further away from Betty so I use one of my hands to grab his arm and the other to wrap itself around his neck. Then, I kick my legs up as high in the air as possible, the top half of my body leaning against the chest of the soldier for support while the bottom half of me is suspended in the air. I quickly bend my knees before kicking my legs out, the weight of them and gravity causing to crash back towards the ground, bringing myself and the soldier with them. I land in a crouch with the weight of the soldier wearing down on me and knowing that if I waited for a second longer to stay like this, then the soldier would evidently entrap me between him and the ground. So at the last possible second, I twist my body as we fall so that my back lands on the ground and the soldier loses his grip on me, as he goes flying over the top of me. I bend my legs towards my chest and place my hands on the ground next to my head with my legs bending over the rest of my body. I then fling them back up, my top half following soon after me where I then land on both feet, just in time to see Betty elbow a soldier in the face and get tackled by the other.
Thrusting my hands forward I create a gust of wind that's strong enough to send the soldier flying through the air and off Betty. Once he's clear and Betty attempts to pull herself to her feet once more, I dart towards her and don't come to a stop until I'm towering over her crouched, shaking form. She looks up at me, tears streaming down her face and mixing with the dirt that was smudged there from where her face had hit the ground. "Lydia-"
"We have to go, this is going to turn ugly," I explain, before then grabbing her hand and pulling her up and away as fast as I could from the building Not wanting to waste too much time comforting her when I knew that I could do so later, I only drag her back the way that we had originally come from. "We have to-"
I'm cut off by a deafening roar, however, causing Betty to wrench us to a stop so she could face the direction in which the sound came from.
I already knew what it was though.
I knew who it belonged to.
Before I could even react, however, the entire side of the overpass that was facing us suddenly burst apart in a cloud of debris and shattering glass, hitting the unsuspecting soldiers on the lawn beneath, their shrieks of pain and shock filling the air.
A large chunk of debris comes hurtling towards Betty and I. Acting quickly, I push her to the side and raise my arms high up in the air, creating an invisible shield in front, above and behind us. The debris bounces off it, continuing to roll away afterwards, causing me to breathe a sigh of relief and drop the shield, just as the Hulk jumps from the overpass and lands with a loud crash on the grass in front of it. I hear Betty gasp beside me as she sees the Hulk for the first time, myself also getting caught up once again at the sight of the green figure in front of me. It slowly pulls itself to its feet and clenches it's massive fists at its side as it stares at the soldiers in front of him before then turning its glare to Ross. It snarls and bares its teeth before then taking a step forward and roaring once again, wrenching its arms back as it does.
"Oh my God," Betty breathes beside me. "Bruce?"