Worlds Apart (A Bruce Banner Love Story)

Chapter 4

So I'm putting a trigger warning up just in case! I don't want to risk upsetting anyone by not putting it. There's going to be some slight cutting in this chapter. Also needle warning if anyone is scared of shots. Okay sorry! Thank you! Please enjoy ^^

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As it turned out it wasn't just one day. She had come back again and again and again until Bruce grew use to her company. The moment she found out he wasn't eating regularly she had seemed to take it upon herself to rectify that, sometimes even dropping by late at night and telling him to have dinner or go to bed. Bruce didn't understand why she held such concern towards him and yet here they were.

"Are you still bothering me?"

Solerah grinned at his snarky tone as she walked into the lab, placing a silver tray of food onto the table and swinging her chair forward as she sat down.

"Who else am I going to irritate!"

It was a comfortable routine they had fallen into. Solerah liked taking care of people and Bruce as much as he refused to admit it could forget to take care of himself sometimes. He halted his work and shifted in his chair, taking hold of the bowl of rice and tofu while Solerah stuffed her face with nachos allowing a flow of conversation to take place.

Bruce's lip twitched up into a half smile as she spoke. She was so much smarter then she originally let on and it was refreshing. Sometimes she spoke about silly things like how dogs were so cute and that alone nearly brought her to tears but other times she could go on for hours about something as advanced as non linear time theory. Bruce also found he enjoyed hearing the silly things which he didn't expect. He liked anything she talked about and slowly he was contributing more and more to conversations as they spent more time together.

If he was going to be honest with himself, Bruce missed having the company of a woman. He had lacked the delicate feminine touch that came with one during his time on the run. He really didn't want to sound like some deprived creep but it was just nice. Solerah wasn't by any means a conventional woman. She was too loud, too excitable, too dramatic and right now she had cheese all over her face that she was wiping away with the back of her hand. She was in her own little world as she was narrating her latest mission to him. The chime of her voice was sweet and he loved watching every emotion play out on her face. She was the exact opposite to him, a complete open book and she often left Bruce contemplating the science behind the phrase opposites attract.

"-ce! Bruce are you listening?"

"Uh, what?" He blinked and shuffled awkwardly in his seat as he focused on her again, he didn't realise he had drifted so far into his thoughts.

"I said how's your latest cure attempt going?"

He frowned as he unconsciously grabbed at his arm, feeling the small circular bandaid from where he drew blood earlier underneath his sleeve.

"Not as well as I'd like."

"I mean every mistake brings you closer to success right?"

"Sometimes I wish I had your optimism Sol."

"You'll figure it out I'm sure."

"That day can't come fast enough."

"Why do you want to get rid of the Hulk?" Solerah honestly didn't know why Bruce was trying so hard to get rid of the Hulk but she also saw how important it was to him so she was supportive. She was certain there was a lot she didn't understand but she noticed that sometimes Bruce got so reckless during his attempts and experiments and that gave her all the more reason not to want to leave him alone for too long. "He just seems kind of sweet is all. You know if you're not attacking him."

And just like that Bruce was reminded that that's why this was dangerous. That's why Bruce should stop, turn her away and let her live her life. "The other guy isn't kind of sweet Solerah. Look..." Bruce put his bowl of half eaten rice down as he tried to gather his thoughts. "There's a point you reach that's so dark. It's fear, fatigue, agitation and thunderous rage all rolled into one. You can't possibly hope to stand against it because it immerses you so completely that you're unaware of it. You loose all sense of who you are. That's who the Hulk is. That's why I need to get rid of him."

Solerah nodded slowly, processing what he had said. "But can't you two just talk? Maybe it won't be so bad if you work something out?" Her eyes shined with concern as she racked her brain for a way to magically make things better. Bruce was so sad and so hurt and she couldn't stand it.

"It's a little more complex then that Sol."

"I'm sorry I don't understand. I just wish I could help you."

"Well why don't you help me now." He turned away from her and walked to another table, motioning to a few small viles, one being connected to a needle. "You can hold these while I-"

Solerah stood, quickly closing the distance between them and grabbed his arm, gently stopping him from rolling his sleeve up.

"Bruce please."

He looked at her and squinted, almost narrowing his eyes at her.

"Soler-"

"Not again. Please til tomorrow." She had seen him draw blood earlier in the morning and she knew humans couldn't loose too much blood. The effects of doing so honestly frightened her. Her fingers traced lightly over the various cuts; scars and discoloured skin from where Bruce had mutilated his own arm for the sake of finding a cure, for the sake of science.

Bruce defensively pulled away from her and continued to roll his sleeve up. "It's too important to stop now Sol. I'll be fine." He turned his back to her and started prepping himself. This made Solerah step backwards with a sigh. She glanced over at some of the surgical tools that lay there and shuddered. Ghosting her fingers over them she picked up a scalpel. Glancing back at Bruce and seeing his back still to her she looked back down and picked up the sharp tool. She grasped it and felt the cool metal between her fingers as pressed the blade into her arm and curiously dragged it across her skin, biting her lip to hold in a gasp of pain.

Bruce raised his head and narrowed his eyes. It was too quiet. He turned around to check on Solerah and his eyes widened. Dropping the needle he bolted towards her breaking the short distance between her and smacking the scalpel out of her hand. She looked up at him shocked.

"What do you think you're doing?!"

"This... Human form. It bleeds so easily."

His anger dulled in favour of confusion, he looked at her, REALLY looked at her and noticed the slight glazed look in her eyes. Like she wasn't entirely there.

"Something like this could never cut my true form."

"That doesn't make it okay to hurt this form Sol!"

"I... Wanted to see how bad it hurt you."

Bruce almost felt his heart stop. What was she?! A child!? "You can't just do that to yourself!"

"You do it..."

"I- That's different Sol!"

He raised his hands and closed his eyes, allowing himself to breath. "Okay." He took her hand and lead her away from the table of tools and sat her down before pulling out the medical kit. Solerah was now pressing down on the skin surrounding the cut, watching with interest as the blood oozed out. This time Bruce approached with care, shooing her hand away as he tended to her wound.

"Don't do that again Solerah. You almost gave me a heart attack."

"You do it to yourself almost every day. Don't tell me it's different."

Bruce didn't want to argue with her at this point, he felt a pang of guilt hit his stomach. Was this the worry she felt when she watched him take samples?

"I won't stop but I'll endeavour to let up on the physical experiments okay?" Atleast while she was around.

Solerah smiled up him as he bandaged her arm and nodded.

"Thank you."