Bruce was busy at work when he got the email. Or as busy as you can be with a certain billionaire playboy hovering around ,making jokes.To be honest he had not been expecting it. It seemed like too much of a long shot. Technology like it is,the email could have been traced. Bruce would not have blamed the other man for scrubbing off the ink and heading as far away as possible.
But the ping of his new smart phone ( courtesy of Tony Stark) told him the other Bruce had a different idea. Of course when Bruce's face goes from joking around to serious Stark notices. But , he quickly brushes him off to type in a reply.
To: nemogreen@gmail.com From:bbanscienceman@gmail.com
Good. Are you feeling any better?
He doesn't bother to sign it. There is nothing he has to hide behind aliases anymore.
To: bbanscienceman@gmail.com From: nemogreen@gmail.com
Less angry. Not sure what happened after the running.
He leaves off the name as well. His email address is just vague enough that nobody would notice it. Nemo, from the latin for nobody, something out of a Jules Verne novel.
He doesn't really have access to a tv, not that he couldn't guess what it would show if the incident was covered. Destruction and mayhem, no doubt, unless Ross had it covered up.
To: bbanscienceman@gmail.com From: nemogreen@gmail.com
Didn't want to look. Afraid someone got hurt...
Bruce backspaces that last part out. That wasn't why he was emailing.
How about you don't running away from the other guy next time?
And Bruce almost regrets being so short with him. But it had to be done. A big part of him thought the other man would reject this idea. After all, the 'other guy' was something to run away from
In truth,Bruce does not even expect a reply. He had blown up a bit. It was stupid, and honestly he is ashamed. But then the computer pings.
To: nemogreen@gmail.com From: bbanscienceman@gmail.com
Yes. Loud and clear. He has quieted down considerably. Sometimes if I throw myself in my work,I can forget he is there.
You were calling her that night. I know her. Obviously. How is she?
His heart aches at the thought of Betty. They hadn't spoken in so long. Bruce had thought it best to break contact. Maybe then she could be happy. Maybe she'd fall for a normal guy who wouldn't hurt her.
Yes. It is a side effect as you have already probably figured out. No sickness. No wounds. No death. So shooting yourself is out of the question.
Another creepy coincidence that he knows Betty? No, he'll just have to accept that for all intensive purposes, this guy WAS him. As strange as that might be.
To: bbanscienceman@gmail.com From: nemogreen@gmail.com
She said she's ok.
Which Bruce didn't entirely believe but he thought it was better for him to stay away. Like the other man said, he didn't want to hurt her again. He wasn't even sure why she stayed true to him.
Bruce is relived and a little confused. How is this possible? Is she the same Betty? Have they somehow breached some sort of dimensional gap? ((Did the filmmakers change actors halfway through the series??)) Well the man doesn't have to be surprised.
To: bbanscienceman@gmail.com From: nemogreen@gmail.com
I was going off of scare stories from other people, kids and lots of noise.
Bruce rubs his chin, trying to think of a good spot. He would have to hope that nobody was following this conversation, they had kept names and such out of it as much as possible. He needed someplace where he could disappear if he had to that wouldn't put too many people in danger.
Underpass bridge at fourth and elm, Cleveland Ohio. Before dark.
There was quite a homeless gathering down there he knew of, it would be the perfect place to blend in. For him, anyway. And it was harder to shoot at him during dusk hours, visibility wasn't the greatest.
To: nemogreen@gmail.com From: bbanthescieceman@gmail.com
Excellent.
Bruce sits there for a while,thinking.What if this was a mistake? He is not longer in any danger ,but this man still has Ross on his tail. It is crazy.Finally he stands up,stretching. It seems like he had been sitting there for days.
Within a few hours ,Bruce has a bag packed and is on a plane heading for Ohio.
There's a dreaded feeling of deja vu in all of this. Bruce has met up with a scientist online before and it didn't work out so well. In fact, it only made things worse.
He's so nervous after getting a reply, he takes a jog around the neighborhood and an extra breathing session that day.
Later at dusk...
Bruce is sitting under the underpass, his hooded sweatshirt pulled over his head and next to a line of homeless guys. His stuff is already packed and hidden away in his apartment in case he has to go back for it at any time. He's got a few ways to run if that should have to happen, but hopefully it won't.
He'll just keep his head down and watch anyone that decides to come this way. It's an iffy enough part of town that most smart people avoid it.
"Yes." Compared to the man, this Bruce is perfectly calm. While the other is fidgeting,he stands calmly. The only part of him in overdrive is his foot,which is tapping against the ground.
"If you are.." He can't bring himself to fully admit that this man is also him. It is too far-fetched. He just sort of motions,indicating what he means. "I know it was difficult for you to come here. Last time I met someone strange off the internet it caused Manhattan to..be broken." Bruce grimaces at the memory.
"I thought the only way we can figure this out is to meet at one point."
"I...yeah." He can't really deny that part about Manhattan. It just makes this situation weirder. Bruce gives him a scrutinizing look, trying to piece this together. "So, you're not military...and you're not Blonsky..." Thank goodness for that.
"But it's just too much of a coincidence to have both of us be..." and he finally says it, "...Bruce Banner." And to both have the same rage monster? No, that wasn't a coincidence.
When the other says the last thing,Bruce breaths in sharply. There it was. They are both Bruce Banner. They both have the same big green problem. He suppresses a shiver that has nothing to do with the weather
"No. Just curious. I've been racking my brain trying to come up with a likely explanation." Bruce squints at him. "We don't even look alike." He keeps thinking that it is some sort of sick joke played on them. Maybe someone will hop from behind a bush and yell surprise. "So you've..yeah..with the Blonsky bussiness? Does that mean we have led the same life? With..B..Betty..and everything?"
"Not really, no." They didn't look alike. There were similarities, more in dress and personality but it wasn't like they were twins.
He sighs and rubs the back of his neck, a nervous habit. "I don't have any better explanation for it than you do. But yeah, the whole thing in Harlem was me, or so I thought." He avoids answering about Betty initially. He doesn't want to think about that yet. But after a moment, he digs in his backpack and pulls out a cutout of a newspaper, the one he saved with her picture and holds it out without a word.
Comments 116
But the ping of his new smart phone ( courtesy of Tony Stark) told him the other Bruce had a different idea. Of course when Bruce's face goes from joking around to serious Stark notices. But , he quickly brushes him off to type in a reply.
To: nemogreen@gmail.com
From:bbanscienceman@gmail.com
Good. Are you feeling any better?
He doesn't bother to sign it. There is nothing he has to hide behind aliases anymore.
Reply
From: nemogreen@gmail.com
Less angry.
Not sure what happened after the running.
He leaves off the name as well. His email address is just vague enough that nobody would notice it. Nemo, from the latin for nobody, something out of a Jules Verne novel.
Reply
To:nemogreen@gmail.com
From:bbanscienceman@gmail.com
Not much. Check the news if you are too curious ,but I don't advice it. I haven't looked and I don't plan to.
Bruce glances at the CNN link on his screen. He is almost tempted to browse it to see if the incident is covered.
Reply
To: bbanscienceman@gmail.com
From: nemogreen@gmail.com
Didn't want to look. Afraid someone got hurt...
Bruce backspaces that last part out. That wasn't why he was emailing.
Who are you really?
Reply
To:nemogreen@gmail.com
From:bbanscienceman@gmail.com
There are different methods. Meditation. Breathing control. It takes time.
He sits back and hits send. It felt strange speaking about the other guy to someone like this.
Reply
From: nemogreen@gmail.com
Tried that. Doesn't always work.
Though it's almost comforting in a way that someone else was using the same methods he was. He adds ruefully...
Especially when you've got someone shooting at you. Doesn't exactly help with being calm.
Reply
To:bbanscienceman@gmail.com
From:nemogreen@gmail.com
How about you don't running away from the other guy next time?
And Bruce almost regrets being so short with him. But it had to be done. A big part of him thought the other man would reject this idea. After all, the 'other guy' was something to run away from
Reply
To: bbanscienceman@gmail.com
From: nemogreen@gmail.com
I think NOT destroying half a city block and all the people with it a pretty good idea. As much as I wanted t--
Bruce can't believe he just typed that. He had wanted to smash Ross and all of his soldiers into oblivion. He quickly backspaces.
As much as the army deserved it, giving in is not an answer.
Reply
To: nemogreen@gmail.com
From: bbanscienceman@gmail.com
Yes. Loud and clear. He has quieted down considerably. Sometimes if I throw myself in my work,I can forget he is there.
You were calling her that night. I know her. Obviously. How is she?
His heart aches at the thought of Betty. They hadn't spoken in so long. Bruce had thought it best to break contact. Maybe then she could be happy. Maybe she'd fall for a normal guy who wouldn't hurt her.
Yes. It is a side effect as you have already probably figured out. No sickness. No wounds. No death. So shooting yourself is out of the question.
Reply
To: bbanscienceman@gmail.com
From: nemogreen@gmail.com
She said she's ok.
Which Bruce didn't entirely believe but he thought it was better for him to stay away. Like the other man said, he didn't want to hurt her again. He wasn't even sure why she stayed true to him.
....you too?
He won't be surprised if the answer is yes.
Reply
To:nemogreen@gmail.com
From: bbanscienceman@gmail.com
Yes. The other guy spit the bullet right out. It is impossible.
How can something like this happen? How is this possible?
Reply
To: bbanscienceman@gmail.com
From: nemogreen@gmail.com
Nothing surprises me anymore. At least you're not who I thought you were initially.
Not a stooge working for the General to trap him. Or a hallucination.
I have no idea what is going on. I was the only one who volunteered in the project, there wasn't any other human guinea pigs that I knew of.
Of course, he hadn't been kept in the loop as much as he would have liked, looking back on it.
Reply
To: nemogreen@gmail.com
From: bbanscienceman@gmail.com
The military doesn't care about me. It's YOU who I'm thinking of.
Then as a afterthought
Chuckie Cheese's isn't that stressful actually. I meant somewhere very unlikely. Not necessarily stressful.
Reply
From: nemogreen@gmail.com
I was going off of scare stories from other people, kids and lots of noise.
Bruce rubs his chin, trying to think of a good spot. He would have to hope that nobody was following this conversation, they had kept names and such out of it as much as possible. He needed someplace where he could disappear if he had to that wouldn't put too many people in danger.
Underpass bridge at fourth and elm, Cleveland Ohio. Before dark.
There was quite a homeless gathering down there he knew of, it would be the perfect place to blend in. For him, anyway. And it was harder to shoot at him during dusk hours, visibility wasn't the greatest.
Reply
To: nemogreen@gmail.com
From: bbanthescieceman@gmail.com
Excellent.
Bruce sits there for a while,thinking.What if this was a mistake? He is not longer in any danger ,but this man still has Ross on his tail. It is crazy.Finally he stands up,stretching. It seems like he had been sitting there for days.
Within a few hours ,Bruce has a bag packed and is on a plane heading for Ohio.
Reply
He's so nervous after getting a reply, he takes a jog around the neighborhood and an extra breathing session that day.
Later at dusk...
Bruce is sitting under the underpass, his hooded sweatshirt pulled over his head and next to a line of homeless guys. His stuff is already packed and hidden away in his apartment in case he has to go back for it at any time. He's got a few ways to run if that should have to happen, but hopefully it won't.
He'll just keep his head down and watch anyone that decides to come this way. It's an iffy enough part of town that most smart people avoid it.
Reply
"If you are.." He can't bring himself to fully admit that this man is also him. It is too far-fetched. He just sort of motions,indicating what he means. "I know it was difficult for you to come here. Last time I met someone strange off the internet it caused Manhattan to..be broken." Bruce grimaces at the memory.
"I thought the only way we can figure this out is to meet at one point."
Reply
"But it's just too much of a coincidence to have both of us be..." and he finally says it, "...Bruce Banner." And to both have the same rage monster? No, that wasn't a coincidence.
Reply
"No. Just curious. I've been racking my brain trying to come up with a likely explanation." Bruce squints at him. "We don't even look alike." He keeps thinking that it is some sort of sick joke played on them. Maybe someone will hop from behind a bush and yell surprise. "So you've..yeah..with the Blonsky bussiness? Does that mean we have led the same life? With..B..Betty..and everything?"
Reply
He sighs and rubs the back of his neck, a nervous habit. "I don't have any better explanation for it than you do. But yeah, the whole thing in Harlem was me, or so I thought." He avoids answering about Betty initially. He doesn't want to think about that yet. But after a moment, he digs in his backpack and pulls out a cutout of a newspaper, the one he saved with her picture and holds it out without a word.
Reply
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