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Hulk wakes up in pain.
Hulk always wakes up in pain, because puny Banner is always getting hurt, and Hulk protects Banner. But Banner getting hurt is not good, and this time there is blood on Hulk’s shirt as Hulk’s chest expands.
Hulk yells.
Pain is from bullets, from angry men in uniforms with angry guns. Pain is from noise. Pain is from flashing lights and burning smells and sharp hot stinging bullets on Hulk’s shoulders.
Hulk smashes.
Hulk smashes puny angry men in uniforms. Hulk smashes guns. Hulk smashes wall. Hulk smashes and gun noises stop and pain stops and bullets stop stinging pain stops.
Quiet.
Hulk sits.
Smashed wall falls and then dust makes soft shush noises, and Hulk listens, sits very still, because maybe there are more angry men with guns and bullets that will make noise and pain and Hulk will smash them. Maybe there are more uniforms and more loud screaming noises and more bullets.
“Did they hurt you?”
Hulk sniffs. Voice is from behind Hulk, so he turns. Voice comes from puny small human, but Voice is not angry. Hulk knows Angry. Angry means smash.
Voice is not angry.
“Did they hurt you? Bruce? I mean.... Hulk? Hulk are you hurt?”
Voice is talking to Hulk. Hulk looks. Human is small. Small and tiny and shiny bright hair, very small and standing up, not hiding. Where was puny human before?
Hiding under desk. That is where. Hulk sees now, the tiny space where puny human can sit and hide. Too small for Hulk to hide.
“Hulk? Did -- oh, honey, you’re bleeding.” Small human says, and then the human comes closer and puny human comes closer and puny human comes even closer.
Hulk moves back, because this human is small and not angry, is not trying to hurt Hulk. Hulk does not know what to do, because this human is not Betty. Banner has rules for Betty, has rules for Hulk, so Hulk knows not to hurt Betty. But this is not Betty, Hulk thinks, because Betty has long dark hair and shiny hair and not bright, not red-gold like this one. Not the same colour, Hulk thinks.
Betty knows that Hulk is good, that Hulk will keep Betty safe. This human does not know. This human is not Betty, but she comes close and touches Hulk, and only Betty touches Hulk.
Hulk sits.
Human touches Hulk’s shoulder and says words that Hulk doesn’t know, is quiet and soft and gentle.
Betty is gentle, Hulk remembers.
“Thank you,” small human says. “Thank you, Bruce. I don’t know if you can hear me, if you’re there -- but you saved my life. Thank you, Hulk.”
Hulk is not puny Banner, but the small human says thank you Bruce and thank you Hulk so maybe Hulk is good too. “Welcome,” Hulk says, because manners, he has manners sometimes if he remembers them. Now, when small humans are nice and quiet and gentle and say thank you, Hulk can remember.
Small human smiles.
Betty smiles at Hulk, he remembers.
Maybe this is Betty, too. Maybe this small human is like Betty.
If this human is Betty, this human has rules. This human is safe.
Small human’s hand on Hulk’s shoulder feels warm, feels safe.
Yes, Hulk decides. This is Betty. Not Banner’s Betty, but Hulk’s Betty. Hulk’s Betty will have bright hair and warm hands and soft smiles. Good.
Now that the small human is Hulk’s Betty, Hulk has rules. Banner gave Hulk rules for Betty, and the rules are gentle, gentle, gentle. Other rules are “protect” and “safe” and “careful”.
These are easy to remember, so Hulk checks the room. Room is quiet. Maybe is safe, maybe not. But Hulk needs to protect his Betty now. The wall is smashed and open, and outside is cold.
Hulk looks at the Betty. She does not look cold. But not warm either. Maybe Betty needs a thing. A keep-warm thing.
Jacket.
“Jacket,” Hulk says to the Betty.
“I-- sorry? What did you say?” she is poking at one of the smashed-humans, and takes his gun away from him. Now the Betty has a gun, but she doesn’t point it at Hulk. That is good. No pointing guns at Hulk.
“No pointing guns at Hulk,” Hulk says. Then, he remembers that it is cold, and he says, “Jacket. For keep warm.”
The Betty puts the gun away. Then she picks a red thing -- a keep-warm thing -- from the ground and puts it on her shoulders.
Hulk hears noise -- men marching, boots on the floor. Maybe they are angry men with guns, maybe there are loud men with shouting. Maybe they are keep-Betty-safe men, maybe they are hurt-Hulk men. He does not know.
Outside is cold.
Inside is men with boots.
Hulk chooses outside. “Betty,” he says. “Come, Betty.”
“I’m not--”
Hulk scoops her up, gentle (gentle, gentle gentle, that is Rule One) and goes out the smashed wall. The red thing will keep her warm for a little bit. Hulk will need to find somewhere safe for Red-Betty, where there are no men with guns.
Red Betty squeaks a little when he picks her up, but she is not hurt and she does not smell like scared or like pain. Red Betty is quiet, and she says quiet things, and Hulk does not know all the words but they are nice words.
“Everything’s going to be okay, Bruce.” Red Betty says. “We just need to buy some time -- Tony won’t take long, I bet he’s already on the way. We just need to stay safe until he gets here, okay?”
There is a loud noise, a Boom-noise, and then there is light and pain and smoke and fire. Hulk roars at it, but it roars back, and Red Betty is still in the crook of his arm, Red Betty is not safe.
Hulk wants to stay, wants to smash the fire, smash the noise, smash everything.
Instead, he covers Red Betty with his free hand, because humans are puny and frail and fragile. Humans break. Fire will hurt Red Betty, if Hulk doesn’t find somewhere safe, and so Hulk leaves the fire and runs.
Red Betty hugs Hulk’s arm, but does not scream or make noise, does not try to run away from Hulk. He stops in the street to look -- look for safe places, but Red Betty says “the Helipad -- go left, left... towards the Tower, Hulk!”
Hulk doesn’t remember ‘left’ but he knows how to find towers, so he turns and sees that the Bright-Light-Tower is very close. Is Bright-Light-Tower safe?
Cars are nearby, in the street, but they are stopped because of the smashing and the booming. Nobody tries to hit Hulk, which is good. He moves a car from the way, then lopes along the walkway towards the Bright-Light-Tower.
“Come on, come on,” Red Betty says, but not to Hulk. Red Betty is talking quick, too fast for Hulk to know all the words. She says comeonTonypickuppickupohthankgod and maybehydra and semiautomaticassaultriflegrenadesflashbangsmokebombmaybeteargas and finenothurtjustgethereasap and ofcourseihidthefileswhatdoyouthinkiam and whyarewehavingthisargumentTonyohshitohshitisthata---
More men with guns.
They shoot at hulk and hit shoulders and arms and Hulk’s face. Bullets make stinging bright flares of pain on Hulk’s skin, pain like bee stings and then noise, always with the noise. Hulk does not like loud noises or yelling shouting and then they throw a can-thing that spews ugly terrible smelling smoke at him. Hulk kicks it away because the smoke makes his eyes water, and then he covers Red Betty so the bullets won’t bite her.
Smashing is not easy when Hulk cannot use arms. Smashing is much more fun with arms, but arms are keeping Hulk’s Red Betty safe, so instead he uses feet to smash. He smashes stupid metal trucks and stupid metal cars and kicks the big car into the other cars and then he pushes through them with Red Betty.
Bright-Light-tower is close, not very far, and even though there is lots of yelling and screaming, most of it is people running and hiding from men-with-guns, or running and hiding from Hulk. The loud screaming people go away from Hulk, so Hulk leaves them alone. He will smash men-with-guns and keep Red Betty safe.
Hulk is gentle, gentle, gentle when he cups Red Betty against him. Red Betty does not scream, she pats Hulk’s shoulder and says “Quick, now, while they’re stuck clearing the wreckage--”
He jumps over a big car, then they are at the Bright-Light-Tower. Tiny Human in front of the tower makes a loud noise, too loud because Hulk is tired and Hulk’s head hurts.
Hulk screams at him.
“Sorry,” Tiny Human says. “Sorry -- I -- Miss Potts, are you injured? Should I be calling Mr. Stark, or is...”
Tiny human stops speaking. Tiny human opens the door.
Hulk balances on one hand, crouching down low to the ground. Gentle, he places Red Betty beside the tiny door. It is very small, much too small for Hulk, but big enough for Red Betty.
“Safe,” he says.
“Thanks,” Red Betty touches Hulk’s hand. Her palm rests, warm and kind, on his knuckle, and then she raises it to his shoulder, bracing one foot against his knee so she can reach. “Thank you, Bruce, for saving my life. And thank you, Hulk.”
Red Betty kisses Hulk on the cheek. “Thank you,” she says again.
“Safe,” Hulk says.
“Yes.” Red Betty nods. “I’m safe.”
Hulk pushes her (gentle, gentle, he remembers) towards the door.
Behind them, the loud men with guns are still approaching.
Behind them, they are making noise. They are shooting bullets. They are still dangerous. Still bad.
Protect, Hulk remembers.
Hulk was gentle. Hulk was careful. Betty is safe. Now, then, Hulk will follow the last of the Banner-Rules.
Protect.
Hulk turns around, facing towards the noise. He can see in the air the red-gold-shiny metal man who flies, and he is smashing the angry bad men. Good. Good, because Red Betty needs to be safe.
Hulk will protect her.
Hulk smiles.
Time to smash. Good. Hulk like smash.