Chapter 87: Chapter 87: Bruce & Betty

A/N: Bruce and Betty get their happy ending~

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Bruce Banner was nervous. Honestly, nervous didn’t even begin to cut it. He was damn near terrified. He’d been through this conversation in his mind a million times and no matter how he thought about it, it never really went well. How could it, honestly? Betty was… he didn’t deserve her. She deserved so much better than him. This was never going to work out.

And yet, he’d let Tony get them back into contact a while back. He and Betty had been exchanging emails for months and months, and it wouldn’t be inaccurate to say that she helped him get to where he was now with his situation, almost as much as Tony and JARVIS both did. But that was that and this was this.

Or at least, he’d assumed it was. Then she’d asked if she could see him. If she could come and stay with him for a couple days. And Bruce had been too chickenshit to say yes or no, so in the end Tony, helpful asshole that he was, had invited her over for him. He hadn’t done it without Bruce’s knowledge, of course. Nor had he pretended to be Bruce or anything like that.

… But once Tony gave the go ahead, what was Bruce going to do, say no? No… it was happening whether he liked it or not. Betty wanted to see what all of their hard work had been for and maybe… maybe that was okay. She could see it, see him, and then she could leave early once she couldn’t stand the sight of him anymore.

After all, how could she ever possibly forgive the man who-

The doorbell rings, causing Bruce to jolt violently out of his thoughts. Eyes wide, the scientist slowly rises from his chair. That has to be her. The laboratory is too remote for it to be anyone else. A quick check of the security cameras confirms it. Betty Ross is on his doorstep, waiting for him to let her in from the cold.

Seeing her all bundled up with her gloved hands shoved into her jacket’s pockets is what finally gets Bruce moving despite his throat being unquestionably dry and his tongue feeling like it wants to crawl into the back of his mouth. Moving through the laboratory, he makes his way to the front door and pulls it open.

Laying eyes on her in person for the first time since 2005 is a bit of an experience. It’s been almost ten years now after all. For a moment, he just stares and she stares back. Then, he notes her nose turning red in real time and quickly steps aside.

“Please, come in.”

She scurries inside and he closes the door behind her, leaving her to begin warming up to the temperature-controlled laboratory. Bruce takes her scarf, gloves, and jacket from her one after the other as she eases each piece of gear off. Setting them aside, he opens his mouth… and then closes it, not really sure what to say.

Giving him a smile, Betty ducks her head for a moment and then tucks a lock of her hair behind her ear. An old nervous tick of hers that makes his heart clench in his chest.

“Hey Bruce. It’s good to see you.”

“I… it’s good to see you too, Betty.”

Awkward silence falls for a moment, before Betty looks around.

“Show me around the lab?”

Right. Yes. That he could do. In fact, he would love to do that, especially since it meant he could ignore all of the feelings welling up inside of him right now. Funny, he was no longer in danger of turning into the Hulk… and yet, part of him almost wished he still could, if only so he could run from these emotions he was currently experiencing. But that wasn’t possible. Not anymore.

Instead, he gives Betty a tour of… well, everything and anything. The laboratory, the kitchen, the living room. He shows her all of the Stark Tech that Tony has thrown at him over the years and Betty confesses that she has a lot of the same equipment in her laboratory seeing as Tony has been funding her research for quite a few years now as well.

It’s something of an open secret in scientific circles that Tony Stark is the man behind the money behind pretty much everyone’s independent research these days. Not everyone-everyone, but enough people that it comes up when scientists chat. Some refuse to take his money because they’re feeling contrarian or they just don’t trust him, but the fact is, Stark doesn’t ask for much, doesn’t demand the same things that other corporations would, and doesn’t try to stifle or hide any discoveries that might hurt his bottom dollar.

It was a bit of a meme in the scientific community at this point. Bruce had seen a few images passed around of Tony Stark’s face with the tagline “I’m not like other billionaires” in the same way someone might make a “I’m not like other girls” meme. It was funny, but it was also true in Bruce’s opinion. Tony was a unique existence, through and through.

Eventually, Bruce runs out of places to show Betty. It’s as he’s moving on autopilot to the last part of the laboratory, his living quarters, that he stops and realizes he was about to show an ex-girlfriend to his damn bedroom. Instead, he pauses right there in the hallway, causing Betty to look at him a little confused. Which is when Bruce can’t take it anymore and blurts it out.

“I’m sorry… about your father.”

Betty’s face falls, and there’s grief in her eyes for a moment as she looks off to the side and hugs herself.

“… Thank you, Bruce.”

He should leave it at that. Obviously, he should leave it there. He doesn’t though.

“It’s all my fault. I’m so sor-!”

SMACK!

Betty slaps him across the face, cutting him off mid-word. Bruce blinks, his head turning with the blow. When he looks back it’s to see her glassy-eyed and looking furious.

“… I deserved that.”

Only, the furious look disappears a moment later and Betty blinks rapidly before scowling at him.

“I didn’t slap you for my father, Bruce! I slapped you for blaming yourself! It wasn’t your fault!”

“But I-!”

“No! Don’t go there, Bruce. My father was a proud man. He was, ultimately, a hard man who thought he knew what was best. Best for me. Best for us. Best for his men. Best for his career. But he didn’t. He was wrong to rush our team. He was wrong to push you to the breaking point. And he was wrong to hunt you to the ends of the Earth to try and make up for HIS mistakes.”

Bruce’s mouth opens but no words come out. Which is good because Betty isn’t done.

“They dishonorably discharged him and tried him in a court of law because of all of the wrong things he did, Bruce. He went to prison because he was wrong. Because he was a criminal who committed crimes. And yes, he died in prison. Yes, he suffered a massive heart attack and they couldn’t save him. But that’s not your fault. Don’t you dare put that on yourself. His decisions… his crimes were his own.”

Grimacing, Bruce looks off to the side as Betty’s confident words echo through his mind. It certainly felt like he was at least a little bit to blame. Sure, he was happy when Tony got Betty’s father canned and then charged for his crimes. He was happy when the trial ended with a guilty verdict and Thaddeus Ross went to prison.

… He was less happy when the man died in there. Not because Bruce had any love lost for the former General, but because of Betty. Things were no doubt strained between Ross and his daughter by the end… maybe more than strained if Bruce was being honest with himself. But that was still her dad.

Would he have still suffered a heart attack if he wasn’t put behind bars? Would he have still died if he wasn’t subject to the prison’s shoddy healthcare first and foremost? Bruce had asked JARVIS if he could read the autopsy report and the AI had provided it. Ross hadn’t died immediately or even easily. It was hours before he’d been cleared for transport out of the prison infirmary, and by the time he made it to a proper hospital… it was too late.

“Bruce.”

Betty’s hands are suddenly on him. One on his chest, the other caressing his face. He looks into her eyes and sees grief… but also love. Love that he doesn’t deserve.

“My father’s death wasn’t your fault. I’m not here to rake you over the coals or read you the riot act or lambast you for your ‘sins’ or… or whatever you thought this was. Alright? I’m here because I want to be here. Because I wanted to see you.”

Bruce’s breath hitches and he slowly nods. He still leads her back the way they came though, away from his bedroom and back to the kitchen. Soon enough, they’re both sitting down for a quiet lunch, each of them chowing down on a sandwich he’d swiftly whipped together. The silence isn’t so awkward anymore either. It’s almost companionable in a way, until Betty finally breaks it.

“How does it feel? Being… one with him?”

Pausing, Bruce hesitates for a moment before smiling hesitantly.

“Honestly? Good. It’s not… well, it’s like I told you in the emails. We’re not two separate personalities anymore. In fact, the Hulk was never really a different person, no matter how much I might have wished for it. He was only an aspect of my true self, amplified by what should have been lethal exposure to all that Gamma Radiation.”

Betty nods, her brow furrowed as she takes that all in.

“Just… hard to believe that it could have had that effect. It’s so strange, really. But I guess we live in a strange world now, don’t we?”

Bruce smiles a little wider at that, chuckling as he thinks of everything that’s happened over the past few years. Tony coming crashing into his life in a super advanced suit of armor, aliens try to invade the earth, it’s just been one thing after another. Betty doesn’t know the half of it, but then again Bruce isn’t entirely sure HE knows everything that’s been happening behind the scenes either. He hears some tidbits here and there from Tony, but otherwise he’s been pretty isolated up here in the mountains.

“Yeah… yeah we do. Anyways, with some help from Tony, and no small amount of help from you, I was able to bridge the gap between science and the mysticism I learned in my travels. Thanks to you guys, I managed to put my fractured psyche back together again. I’m really better than I ever was before now, truth be told.”

Betty nods again, knowing that part already. Though, she does hesitate for a moment before biting her lower lip and asking a question that’s clearly been on her mind.

“… Do you ever miss it?”

It takes Bruce a second to realize what she’s asking, and a second more to remember he didn’t actually tell her about the other part. She’d helped him so much, but he’d been nervous to tell her anything besides he was ‘cured’ thanks to her help. Not just with the Hulk suppressed by a drug, but completely cured.

“Not really, if I’m being honest. Mostly because… I didn’t really lose anything except the loss of control.”

Betty watches curiously as he stands up from the table. Grinning, he gestures around them.

“Didn’t you notice how… big everything is? Just in case I want to do something like this…”

Then, he begins to grow right in front of her eyes. His skin turns green and his body bulges with muscles as he expands in size until he stands in front of her. Not as the Hulk in mind, but definitely in body and physical appearance. The only difference is, Tony had come through for him with a special material that always expanded to meet his new body type. Bruce had an entire wardrobe made out of the wonder-material, so even though he’s now Hulk Sized and Shaped, he’s also still wearing his shirt and pants and even his SHOES crazily enough.

Betty gapes up at him for a moment, before slowly rising from her chair and reaching out to him. Bruce lets her, watching as she runs a hand across his broad chest.

“… Bruce?”

“Yeah Betty, it’s still me. Like I said, I’m one hundred percent me now. The Hulk is gone and even the old Bruce doesn’t really exist anymore. I’m a combination of both. The best of both worlds. Didn’t lose the powers… in fact, I gained complete control over them and my transformations.”

“… That’s amazing.”

Bruce tries not to feel too proud of the awe in her voice. He doesn’t want to let it get to his head or anything like that. Sure, Betty might not blame him for her father’s death, but he’s not kidding himself. They’ll never have what they had before. The best he can hope for is her friendship… and he’s alright with that. He has to be, because frankly, only now that he’s back in her presence does Bruce realize just how hard these last nine years were without her. He’ll do anything to-

“Come on.”

Huh? Bruce blinks as Betty takes him by one of his massive, oversized green hands and suddenly starts tugging him towards the door. After a moment of confusion, he lets her pull him along, following her through his own laboratory… as she leads him back to the hallway and towards the one place he hadn’t shown her. His bedroom.

Blanching, Bruce stops.

“Betty, that’s-!”

“I know Bruce. Now come.”

Even if he’s a hundred times stronger than her physically, even if he’s the best version of himself he’s ever been… no version of Bruce Banner is able to stand up to a determined, confident Betty Ross. And so he finds himself dragged into his bedroom and made to sit on his own bed. Which yes, is designed for him to sleep in either form at this point.

Then, Betty is in his lap. Literally in his lap, because he’s too big for her to straddle him like she might normally. Her hands travel along his jawline and Bruce blinks at the suddenly saucy look in his ex-girlfriend’s eyes.

“Just one question, Bruce. You can transform on command now. But is it a light switch… or a dial?”

It takes him a second to realize what she’s asking. When he finally gets it, his response is quiet, barely audible.

“… A dial.”

But she hears him anyways.

“Excellent. Also it might help you to know that Tony Stark injected me with what he says is Super Soldier Serum, so don’t worry about holding back. I just spent the last few weeks getting used to my new strength and I swear if you don’t help me test the limits of my new durability, I’m going to fucking scream.”

And then she’s kissing him, and while Bruce is afraid of hurting her despite the bombshell she just dropped on him, Betty doesn’t have a fearful bone in her body apparently, because their long overdue reunion takes quite the turn from there.

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A/N: Betty is a gal who knows what she wants, and what she wants is Bruce.