Being a Banner [ 1 of JA ]

17

      Jax left around eightish, and after he did, I jumped into the shower, got pjs on, and was soon laying in bed rereading The Maze Runner when Dad knocked on my open door.
"Hey," he said.
I smiled. "Hey,"
"You okay? You look tired."
"I'm fine." I replied. Earlier I was a little bit hurt by what Jax had said about me saying, 'I'm fine' a lot.
"When did Jax leave?" Dad asked still standing by the door.
"Somewhere around eight." I answered. Dad nodded.
"Levi didn't show." He pointed out.
"Oh yeah, he went to a baseball game." I replied. Dad nodded again, and a small silence fell between us.

"So, about asking Dalia out," Dad says, walking towards my bed. I sat up, giving him my full attention. "You want me to get to know her, I get that, but I want to get to know her better." Dad says as he looks down at the hardwood floor. "Like, asking her to tell me about her. What do I say?"
"Oh," I say shifting in bed so my feet were hanging off the side. "That's an easy one: Just say, 'Tell me more about yourself'." I explain. Dad smiles and shrugs. I smiled with a few giggles.

He then sat on the end of bed, smiling. "I had a really fun time with you this week." I smiled.
Please come home early now.
"I had a fun time too." I tell him, moving towards the end of my bed. My arms were soon around his shoulders, as his were around mine. It was a minute of a long hug, which brought back some memories. Most were from when I woke up with nightmares, and some were when I'd fake nightmares just to lay next to him.
"I'm gonna miss you," Dad whispered. Secretly, I frowned.
"Me too," Dad kissed the top of my head.
"Goodnight Kiddo," he said, and left my room.
"Goodnight," I replied, but I think he was already out of my room by the time I had said it.

Pulling my bed covers over me, I thought of all the better things Dad and I could've done this week together. We could've visited my family and spend nights at their house like we used to on holidays. We couldn't visit them last year for Christmas because of the snow. Maybe if we had visited them this weekend, my uncle might've knocked some sense into Dad.
Oh shut up already.

*************

His eyes opened to see the small little sleeping brunette girl lay next to him, pressing her head against his ribcage. That's going to leave me sore in the morning. He thought. She always slept on his right, and loved using his sides as pillows. Why must you always sleep poking your head in my ribcage? He carefully turned, trying to not awake her, and laid on his side. It was then he realized the clock read four fifty-nine am. He sighed. I don't want to get up for work. Don't beep. Don't beep. Don't beep.

The clock didn't go off as it turned to five am. He sat up, looking around. The room was partially different than he remembered before falling asleep.
"Daddy?" His daughter mumbled, starting to wake up. "What are you doing?" She rubbed her big brown eyes.
"The clock didn't go off telling me to wake up for work." He replied.
"What work?" The young girl asked, still rubbing her eyes.
"The Science Lab, Kerry — " Then it hit him.
This is a dream.
"What Science Lab?" The four-year-old asked. He didn't reply, as he sighed. I'm going to wake up and I'll have to go back to work...
"What Science Lab? Daddy? Daddy?"

Bruce closed his eyes tight as the alarm clock went off. It was five am. And it was Monday. "No..." He groaned into the pillow. "Just let me sleep."
Let me go back to the years with sore ribcages, where I also stayed home.
Bruce got dressed and was soon walking out of his room. Brushing his hair back, he saw that he still wore the bracelet that Kerry had given him over the weekend. Could they allow me having a sick day? He thought. Could I just spend one more day with her? Would you allow me to be late just so I can say hi to her? Wait... She doesn't get up this early yet, does she?

Bruce made his way down the hallway to Kerry's room. Opening the door, he found Kerry still asleep. She slept on her side, facing the door.
She looks just like Betty... Bruce thought. He moved closer to Kerry, and was now in front of her bed. Moving a strand of hair out of her face, he kissed her forehead. He then left the apartment, and while closing the door, he regretted getting up this morning.

*************

Bruce was soon at the lab, and as he entered, he found Dalia leaning over the table and looking down a microscope.
"What are you doing here?" Bruce asked jokingly.
"Helping you, remember?" Dalia retorted smiling. Bruce smiled and brushed his hair back. "When did you wake up?" Dalia finally finished looking down the microscope.
"Usual time, when did you wake up?" Bruce asked.
Dalia shrugged, "Probably a little earlier than you." Bruce ran his hand through his hair again. Dalia watched him. "What?" Bruce asked.

"You did get sleep, right?" Dalia asked.
Bruce chuckled. "Yes, I'm just tired."
I can't take this anymore.

Dalia nodded. "How was your week off?" Bruce smiled as he got a lab coat on and hung up his jacket.
"Great," he said.
"Great? That's all? Come on, I know you've got a daughter, did you do anything with her?" Dalia asked.
Bruce smiled again. "Yeah. We road around town and walked in the outlet. Though I should've remembered how awkward she was." Dalia laughed. Bruce moved toward her and the desk. He saw his file that was once full of possible answers right next to her. Picking it up, he was amazed to feel how light it was. "Did you find an answer? Or close to one?" He asked. He didn't want to sound desperate, but a little on the inside, he was.

"Uh... Yes. But um... Do you want to know the bad news, or the bad news?" Dalia asked. Bruce shifted his posture.
"Are they both about the same thing?" He asked.
"Yes..." Dalia sighed, her smile dropping into a frown. "The bad news is that, yes, I found a few matches, though I couldn't find an exact match to any of them." she explained. Bruce sighed. "Sorry,"
"No, no, it's fine," He said. "What's the bad news?"
Dalia froze a little bit at this. She turned to face Bruce a little more to make eye contact. Taking a deep breath in through her nose and out, she sighed. "If we don't find an answer to this by the end of the month or the start of October, the company is gonna close this case, for good."

Bruce felt pressure, something flush over him. "No, no — they can't! They just can't I have to figure this out!" Bruce exclaimed. Dalia seemed taken aback by his tone of voice.
"Why is this so important?" She asked. Bruce turned away trying to push down the monster inside of him, and slow his heart rate before things went bad. "Bruce," Dalia spoke louder. "Maybe you should just stop with this. You've got a daughter who needs you."
Bruce turned to Dalia. "You don't understand, I need the answer to be with Kerry," Bruce said. Dalia seemed confused. "Kerry?" She asked.
"My...daughter, the sooner I could find the answer the sooner I'll be with her, all the time." Bruce explained. Dalia sighed.
"You know...not all problems have an answer." Dalia said.

Bruce nodded, "I know, but this could be the last experiment I do to stay with Kerry, and, that's what I've been trying to figure out, for 3 years at least." Dalia's expression changed.
"Three years? Three years you've been at this?" Dalia asked. Bruce stared at the ground.
"Yeah..." he said. Dalia licked her lips and moved closer to Bruce, but still kept a distance.
"Kerry, does know what you're doing right?" Dalia asked. Bruce nodded. But, he told Kerry a different story.

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d'awwwww! ❤️ I love Bruce and Dalia moments! Ok so I am really excited because the hulk chapters are coming!!! And Oh my goodness! 640+ reads on cover!! Thanks guys ✌️