Being a Banner [ 1 of JA ]

55

It was all my fault. If I hadn't ran I could've saved Dalia. Reports said she ran after me, and that she tried to come near Dad and I, but then the helicopter crashed. It was a case of 'wrong place and wrong time.' I stayed in the bathroom all night—or what I assumed was night. Dad, Phil and Natasha were concerned I was hurting myself, but I made an effort to tell them to go away as I lay up against the bathtub.
      I was sitting in the empty tub, arms crossed with my back and head laying uncomfortably up against the wall when I heard the one hundredth knock at the door.
      "Kerry," Dad says from the other side. "Please, come out, I want to talk," I stay silent as Dad repeats my name, then sighs as I hear him fiddle with the lock. In one quick moment, the sound of metal snapping catches me off guard when I turn to see that the door has been ripped off its hinges. Dad sets it aside like nothing and walks in. He sighs and scratches the back of his head before saying, "I know this is hard for you, and that you cherished Dalia, but I know she wouldn't want to be remembered like this."
      "You don't know anything," I snap.
      "What?"
      "You were going to leave me, for a third time!" I yell. "You were going to abandon me with Dalia and fall off the face of the earth like how you did before years back, and probably end up in Brazil again—hiding!"
For a second Dad looks confused before he sighs and shakes his head.
"Stop acting like I'm the bad guy, I'm not and you're being a little dramatic if I say so," Dad snaps, placing his hands on his hips.
"Dramatic?" I ask. "You wanna know what's dramatic? —you pulling a door off it's hinges," I motion to the broken and bent hinges still intact in the doorway.
"You locked yourself in the bathroom, are crying in a tub, punching the walls—and you have the nerve to call me dramatic?" Dad asks, his eyes narrowing sharply. I bit my lip in anger and stood up in the tub, getting out and walking passed Dad.
"Where are you going?"
"Anywhere that's not near you," I retort as I enter the hallways.
Keeping my eyes down at the floor, I was enraged and thinking about all the things I should say if our fight had escalated. I thought of all the ways to make him angry just because it made me feel better. With my eyes on the ground and a hasty walk, I accident-ally walk in between two figures in the hall walking side by side. The three of us jump once I squeeze through them and accidentally bump shoulders hard.
"Sorry!" We say to each other.
It was a boy and a girl who I guessed were siblings due to the fact that they shared the same facial features and hair color. They both had electrifying blue eyes and shiny dark brown hair. The girl wore a black suit like Natasha had on, and the boy wore a simple purple shirt and grey sweatpants. Very odd and different from his sister, but he looked comfortable. I noticed he had purple hearing aids, more specifically a cochlear implant on his left ear.
"Sorry," I say again before continuing down the hallway.

****

I sit up somewhere high on a walkway hidden between corridors, looking down at agents walking below. My arms sit on the low railing with my chin resting on top. I hear footsteps walk on the metal walkway—my walkway, and I had no intention on moving before I heard his voice.
"Can we talk?" Fury asks, although it sounds a lot like a statement. I don't reply, but I'm in quiet shock to see Fury squat down next to me from the corner of my eye.
"You grew up in New York. Where's your accent?" He asks. I thought it was odd, but I replied nonetheless.
"Don't have one," Fury is silent for a moment.
"You don't know how big the world is until you face it," he suddenly says. "We've always been hard on your father, and we shouldn't be because he could tear down the whole state of New York. Imagine a big ass green monster stampeding through New York, ripping apart buildings and throwing taxis into the Brooklyn Bridge."
I sigh heavily, "He'd never do that,"
Fury nods, "And he hasn't, and I think it's because of you," I stare at Fury before he clears his throat. "We've kept tabs on your father for many years, made sure he was doing okay at his job and not running all around the country. I imagined he was with his buddy all the time inventing and. . .doing whatever a man of his science does," He pauses before looking at me. "I didn't know he had you until I had my people check up on him, look into recent records. We found documents and projects he was writing, but one document stood out the most: your birth certificate,"
      I stay quiet, lightly kicking my feet that dangle off the walkway.
      "I've seen your records," Fury says. "You're smart, just like your father—"
      "No, no, no," I shake my head. "I'm not smart, well, I'm not 'Bruce Banner smart.'"
      "Smart as in cunning," Fury snaps. "Smart as in you'll find a way to keep your father safe. I saw the tapes from the park, you tried to calm him, it was evident that you didn't want him or anyone else to get hurt. You'll take a bullet for him if that meant no one hurts him,"
      "He doesn't deserve to get hurt," I say quietly. "I'm mad at him because he's left so many times, but I feel spoiled because it was all for me."
      Fury raises his hand at me to be quiet. It wasn't rude, but I was beginning to cry and maybe it made him uncomfortable.
      "No one should be alone. Everyone needs someone. Your father defiantly needs someone, and I can tell he's glad he's got you." Fury says. "SHIELD could use people like you,"
      I stare at him with a shocked expression, blinking like he was a loose wild animal. "What?"
      "You're extraordinary," he says. "You've got the heart of a superhero—"
      "No, no," I awkwardly laugh. "I'm not a hero,"
      "That's what your father said before joining my team," Fury says.
      "Team?" I ask.
      Fury stands up and looks down at me. "Think about it. No need to answer right away, but in time SHIELD will need you, and so will the world." He turned around and made his way towards the exit before turning around one more time. "The world is filled with danger, but someone like you can make it better," With that he left me on the walkway, staring at the vacant spot where he stood.

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:)