Live to Rise (Avengers Bruce Banner Fanfiction)

Chapter 35

After a while of listening to his pulse, my crying calms and im just left with uneasy breathing and tired eyes. Im still on Bruce's lap, leaning against his chest, his arms holding me to him.

"What happened Belle?" He asks.

"I was dreaming but it was a memory. One of yours except I was there like a ghost following you." I tell him and he waits patiently for me to continue, his thumbs gently rubbing circles on my side and just above my knee. "We were walking in a snowy forest and we walked for so long but I couldn't feel the cold. Just your painful mix of emotions. Eventually we reached the top of a snow capped mountain."

He tenses and tightens his hold on me. "Are you doing that?" He asks.

I look up at him confused to see his face very close to mine. His eyes full of an emotion that I just cant place. "What?"

"I can see it like I'm back there but I'm watching it like I'm in the background. The other me and you are there." He tells me. His voice shaking slightly. And I realize he knows whats going to happen way more than I go.

"Show me." I tell him and he takes my hand.

The room around us disappears and we're back out on that mountain. The other me frozen in place as the other Bruce falls to his knees.

"Bruce?" The other me questions and we see the glint of steel as the other Bruce pulls out the gun. "BRUCE NO!" The other me screams.

"Belle no..." Bruce whispers from just above me and I look up to see him watching the other me. Tears in his eyes and pain written across his face.

Bruce pulls me tight against his chest and turns us away so I cant see what is about to happen. He buries his face in my neck and I can feel his trembling breath against my skin. "Im so sorry." He says his voice breaking. Then we hear the gun fire. "Its gone." He tells me after a few moments. "We're back in the mansion."

"I know it happened a long time ago...." I say with my voice shaking a bit. "But I saw it like I was there with you. I couldn't get to you... I couldnt stop you..." A tear falls down my cheek. "I felt it." I tell him. Thats what woke me up earlier. It wasnt the gun fire. It was the pain of the bullet trying to pierce his skin.

He holds me close, his face still burried in my neck and I can feel the racing of his heart. "Im so sorry Belle.... I never wanted anyone to see that.." He says quietly and I can hear shame in his voice.

After a few minutes I pull back and force him to look up at me. "You're tired." I can feel it just barley but I can feel it.

"So are you." He counters.

I give a very quiet sigh before standing up off of his lap and he stands too. Right beside me. "Ill let you sleep." I tell him with a small smile.

As I turn to walk away his hand grabs mine. "Wait-" he says before cutting himself off but he doesnt let go of my hand.

I can tell that he's fighting with himself so I turn back to him. "Whatever it is, all you have to do is ask." My voice gets quieter. "Im not likely to say no...."

He searches my eyes shocked. "You could--- stay-- if you wanted." He says after a few moment.

I feel a huge smile break out. "I'd like that."

We lay on his queen sized bed faceing each other for a while. Both nervous and very aware of the other.

"I am sorry." He says after a while of silence.

"I know." I answer knowing what he means. "You hadnt ment me to see that memory. To be honest I'm not sure how I even saw it without touching you. It must have been a residual from the last time we touched."

"Residual?" He asks.

I nod. "Sometimes I'll get deja vu from something someone else recognizes that I havent touched in a while but I've never gotten a full memory."

"I wont do anything like that again. I promise." He says.

I look down and brush my hair behind my ears. "Actually-- you couldnt. Even if you wanted to..."

"What do you mean?" He asks and I can hear his frown.

"I transferred some of my shield."

"What!"

"Not alot!" I hurry to explain. "Just some. Just enough to keep you safe when you're Bruce."

He sighs and I avoid looking up at him. "Come here."

I look up shocked. "W-what?" I ask and he pulls me into his arms.

"You've been taking care of me all this time...." He murmurs and I can feel the rumble of his chest.

"As much as I could." I tell him as I settle against his chest.

"But why?" He asks and I can feel his emotions waring again.

"Because." I tell him before droping my voice to where he couldnt hear. "Because I love you."As his arm wraps around my waist I slip off to a dreamless sleep.