𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚃𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚛 {Bruce Banner}

Parting Ways

_ _ _

"Mommy!"

It's a little bit of a struggle to open her eyes, as Tesla hears her son call her name. There's a pounding headache growing with each passing moment she's awake. Even though they've drawn the curtains in the hospital room, it's still too bright for her taste. She was told she received a nasty concussion, but at the time she had forgotten the severity of having one. Once before Tesla got a concussion, when she played soccer in high school. It was nothing compared to this.

"Be gentle, Ethan. Remember?" Elsa Edison's voice is much more soothing than Ethan's. But Tesla's glad to hear them both.

Reaching out a hand to her son, Tesla's brown eyes slowly drift over to him. He's sitting on a chair right next to her bedside. Ethan's expression is fairly blank. He's not really sure what happened yesterday, but he knows it wasn't good. He's glad to see his mother, and he wishes he could hug her, but when his grandmother said he couldn't, he listened.

"Hi, mein retter," Tesla greets him, trying to sound lively. It doesn't work.

Ethan frowns. "What happened, Mommy?"

"There was an accident," she explains after thinking about whether or not she should tell him. "At work."

"Where's Daddy?" he wonders, turning around to look.

Behind her grandson, Elsa Edison raises an eyebrow. She wants to know where Bruce is too. That's the problem. Tesla doesn't really know where Bruce is. He could be anywhere. He might not even be Bruce right now. She feels a pang of discomfort and sadness hit her. This is going to be very difficult. A part of her thinks that this could be all wrong. Maybe she should go back and change things? Someone else can be the Hulk. It doesn't have to be Bruce Banner. It shouldn't be the father of her child; her husband.

"He's not here right now, honey."

From her hospital bed, Tesla can feel the disappointment radiating off of her mother. She has no idea what Bruce's absence really means. Elsa probably believes that Bruce is dealing with the aftermath of the lab. As if that's more important. Of course, Tesla knows that their family thinks that the lab is time consuming and that Bruce and Tesla have spent the better half of their son's life in science labs. It's always been for this. To get Bruce to where he needs to be. Without realizing it, Tesla is crying. This next part of her life is going to be so difficult without Bruce as a constant. He'll be in so much pain, trying to deal with all of this on his own. He'll be away from his family. On the run from Thaddeus Ross and the United States government. Tesla and Ethan will be under surveillance.

"Liebling?" Elsa mumbles, stepping toward her.

"Why are you crying, Mommy?" Ethan questions, scooting closer to her.

Leaning forward, Tesla helps her son up to the bed, cuddling him close. "I'm okay, E. It's all okay."

Tesla and Bruce have never had any reason to lie to their son about anything. Have they told him about his future as a potential Traveler and Sorcerer? No, of course not. He deserves to be a child and he deserves to make a thoughtful and educated decision when the time comes. They did lie about what's in the back garage on their property, saying it was a workshop for Nick and not a laboratory that holds a machine with the ability to travel through space and time. It's a little white lie that'll keep him safe for the time being.

But today, Tesla lies about why she's crying. In days to come there will be plenty of tears and plenty of damage to fix as she tries to repair the hulking hole that's left behind in the wake of Bruce's disappearance.