A quiet day in New York

[greenscientist]

Bruce should have guessed it was too good to be true. A coffee outing that hadn't ended in disaster? His luck wasn't that good.

He had been walking back to the Tower with Carol, taking their time in getting back.

When there was a large explosion. Bruce looked up just in time to see a large A falling down from the top of the tower. "Look out!" He gives Carol a push, everyone around them scattering before the sign crashes to the street.

That was close.

There's a large flying vehicle that's embedded in the side of the tower. Flames are licking at the windows where it entered. Men in black outfits and masks sifting through the labs as they look for valuable research.

Comments

you and me both. something definitely happened to him.

[greenscientist]

Hulk turns, getting all five laser rifles aimed at him. He yells, hand up to block before bringing down his fist to send a crack along the pavement. Knocking all of the soldiers off their feet. These guys are really getting on his nerves.

Classic Whedon in holding all of that back. Rawr.

[cheeseburgermarvel]

Carol is still impressed at how well he smashes. The Hulk is one hell of a powerhouse. Carol notices another group of them coming toward the Hulk. Instead of warning she just shoots forward through the air and sends them flying - it almost looks like bowling pins. "How many of these jerks are there?"

bet you anything they save THAT reveal for the next Avengers movie

[greenscientist]

Hulk seethes at the soldiers fallen and scrambling away. They needed to take this fight somewhere else or the whole city was going down in a pile of rubble.

If only Carol could guide them all out of town somewhere a bit more open...

Or the end of the season. Avengers 2 is gonna have a lot of people in it!

[cheeseburgermarvel]

Which Carol is assessing right now. The guys seem endless. The lab is still smoldering, which means everything they could want is in the bags over her shoulders.

"Hulk! Follow me." She didn't know if he'd follow, so she picked up one of the soldiers and tossed him at the Hulk. "Let's get out of here." And then Carol soared up, patted the bags, and then started on a path out of the city that hopefully the Hulk and A.I.M. would both follow.

true, they'll leave it on a cliffhanger, I'm sure

[greenscientist]

Hulk is smashing a car into one of AIM's vehicles when he hears his name. Dropping the smoldering wreck, he launches himself into a jump, grabbing buildings to propel himself forward on her trail. That all you got? He could do this all day...and probably will lap her if she doesn't pick up the pace.

Behind them, AIM is trying to keep up too. With less success.

Probably. But I really liked Tuesday's episode. Hopefully it keeps getting better!

[cheeseburgermarvel]

Oh, shit. Carol didn’t realize he could propel himself forward like that. If that’s the case, then she’ll actually try this time. She leans into her flight path and just shoots off. The Hulk will probably be able to keep up. AIM…maybe not so much.

And in no time, they’re out of the city.

think I liked ep 2 better than 3 but they were both different levels of good :)

[greenscientist]

Eat their dust, AIM. Hulk pulls to a stop when she does, realizing as he does how far they have come. He turns to grunt at the city outline far in the distance and sighs.

Looking a little bit tired...maybe he'll sit down for a second.

Yes, agreed! I am getting more and more concerned for Coulson, though!

[cheeseburgermarvel]

"You were awesome, Hulk," Carol said as she floated back down to the ground (but still out of arm's reach).

"And best of all? We saved a good deal of what they were trying to get. The rest probably burned up." And then she thought about all the damage to Stark Tower and hoped that Tony wouldn't hold that against her when she officially applied for the Avengers.

hoping Joss has something more epic than just a life model decoy for him

[greenscientist]

Hulk smirks at her praise, glancing over at her. He wasn't one to say much in return. "You smash good." Probably a compliment in there somewhere.

But right now, he was winding down. It probably wouldn't be long before he was Bruce once again. Not his favorite time but without something to fight, it was inevitable.

Agreed. Let's hope. Joss owes it to us!

[cheeseburgermarvel]

Actually Carol was going to take that as a major compliment. When the Hulk tells you that you smash good, you must really smash good. “Thanks,” she said with a grin.

Now that they were out of the action she retracted her helmet so that her hair could hang free. Then she placed the bags on the ground. She wasn’t sure what to do now. Did she wait for him to turn back into Bruce? Did they call someone to check that AIM was rounded up? Either way, Carol was feeling awesome after kicking some major ass.

/still alive

[greenscientist]

Without anyone shooting at him, there wasn't anything to be angry about. Which was what Hulk was always trying to do, find a quiet place to be alone. Hence the running away into the countryside away from the city.

Hulk passes a hand over his face with a groan, leaning on his other arm on the ground. Already starting to look smaller as his green tint slowly fades. The monster shrinking down, tendons and muscles tucking themselves back away....

Bruce is laying on his back in the grass a moment or two later, shirt gone but pants relatively intact, albeit two sizes too big for him and frayed at the cuffs. His arms and legs twitching slightly in his sleep, recovering from all of that spent energy.

Hooray! I was wondering.

[cheeseburgermarvel]

Carol is really glad that Bruce managed to keep his pants even post-Hulk. That would’ve been weird to meet someone one day, see them Hulk out, and then see them naked all in the span of about three hours. She wanted to be friends with the Avengers, but come on, that was a bit much.

But she’ll certainly wait with him until he wakes up. So she goes over near – but not too near – where he’s lying and takes a seat. Carol places the bags net to her, but never takes her hands off them in case they have to make another quick exit.

just work getting in the way as per usual

[greenscientist]

Finally, there's a faint sound from the sleeping man and Bruce starts coming around. Groaning as he reaches slowly to put a hand to his face and block the sun. His next groan a sigh of defeat.

His shirt's gone. "Great..." he mumbles, not realizing he's not alone just yet.

I know that feel, bro.

[cheeseburgermarvel]

Carol lets out a breath, glad to see that her brand new friend (sorta) is okay. Her grip loosens on the bags she took with them.

"Bruce?" she ventures quietly. Carol moves back a little to give him some more room to breathe.

[greenscientist]

Bruce quickly removes the hand from his face to look up at her. His expression a mix of dismay and embarrassment.

"Oh...hi."

A beat. Then a sigh as he sits up.

"What did I break?" Just give him the bad news first.

[cheeseburgermarvel]

Carol rubs at the back of her neck before answering. "Ah...a good 3 levels of Stark Tower, some cars, a billboard...but hey, AIM helped. AIM did most of it."

She puts the bags down in front of him. "But you took a ton of them out and we saved whatever it was they were trying to take."

[greenscientist]

All in a days work for the Hulk, right? He still can't help a wince at the three levels of Stark tower. Ooh, Tony isn't going to be happy...though likely his ire will be at AIM instead of Bruce, but details.

His eyes light on the bags, quickly shaking away any more cobwebs in his brain so he can reach forward to check the contents. Relief spreading across his features. "It's all here." All of his notes and even a few samples that he could not do without.

Bruce looks over at Carol, wondering what had all transpired earlier. Might as well ask. "So...guess you met the other guy then." It's like asking if someone had met the previously unmentioned ex-girlfriend. Awkward but necessary.

[cheeseburgermarvel]

Carol also relaxed at hearing that everything is accounted for. She didn’t know the specific contents, but she did know that having Bruce’s DNA in AIM’s hands would be a disaster of epic proportions.

She nods at his question and smiles. “Yeah. He smashes good. He told me that I smash good, too. He also helped me out of the burning building. The other guy saved a lot of civilians today.”

[greenscientist]

Bruce's look of genuine surprise should answer how he feels about his inner monster. Aiming him, he's getting better at. But saving civilians? That didn't sound like Hulk at all.

"...good...that's good." Confusing, but good.

He makes it to his feet, trying not to look like his shirt is gone. "Guess we should try to find a way out of here." Wherever here was.

[cheeseburgermarvel]

“Yeah, it’s really good.”

Carol hovers to offer him a hand if he needs it. She rubs the back of her neck as she thinks about how to get them back to the city. “Well, I have a suggestion, but you might not like it. I can fly us back to into the city, but you’re going to have to either hang on to my back, or I’m going to have to carry you.”

She looked out across the open field. “Otherwise a lot of walking is in our future.”