The Trial of Bruce Banner

To the Ends of the Earth

"Think about it, he says," Tony pivots around himself.

"No!" Jennifer grabs his elbow on the wide stairs, "No, no, no. No. If they said they'll think about it, it means it's confirmed, maybe."

"Moving Bruce out of a cell he's being abused in is a human right. It's not a maybe."

"Stark," Jen takes hold of him with her satchel swinging due to effort, "Please. We're both trying. I promise you; that hearing that they'll look into it is better than being told 'no.' Trust me."

"No, Jen,' Tony pulls away from her, 'you sit here, content. Content in the call, content in the sentence-."

"I'm not! Okay?!" She shakes her head with tears as she repeats herself, "I'm not. I lost this case. I lost a case when it mattered most."

Her hands fall to her sides a few steps below Tony at the entrance to their city government's home base.

"The defeat that I feel right now,' Jen touches her chest, 'I pity any case that follows this one. I...Tony, there's a gnawing irritant in my gut that doesn't belong. My cousin, my best friend, is behind bars. Do you think that's what I wanted? Walking into this mess, I thought showcasing his love for Rebecca would be enough. And it wasn't. The reveal of a loving father; that wasn't enough to persuade the jury. And if that's not enough...Maybe the faith was misplaced. Maybe I missed something, and he's where he belongs. Not here, but away from the temptation to create. With his experimental license revoked. Betty said-."

"Misplaced?" Tony shakes his head with his arms crossed, "For a four-year-old you, your hero dad might've been enough. You would've fought tooth and nail for your father."

Jen wipes her tearful eyes and dripping nose with her wrist and shakes her head, "I don't know what you mean."

"Knowing your dad loved you and wasn't entirely responsible for the accident that caused your mother's death doesn't make him innocent-."

"This is different."

"Your mother died because of your father's eagerness to be proven right."

"Stop."

"And yet he's a hero to you."

"Tony..."

"Morris Walters. Outstanding police chief. Determined to put an end to the case of the infamous Trask and avenge his wife and your mother, Elaine. All he did was fail long enough to give you greener abilities when you should've died."

"Don't."

"The correlation between your cousin and your father blinds you. It's not all that different. Blaming Bruce for something he's ultimately responsible for continuing to pursue something he knew would put his daughter at risk sounds a little bit like someone else you know."

"Stop!"

"You think Becks will care about the fine print of who she is, what she is when Natasha decides it's time to tell her? We both know that girl has the tenacity of the Hulk and the Black Widow combined. Clone or not. She'd go to the ends of the earth for her parents, same as you, so why have you quit? She's got at least a fraction of your DNA, your blood. Love for her father the same as you despite whatever it is he's done."

"I asked you to stop!" The pavement cracks beneath her feet due to the strength of her growing fury.

"This isn't meant to upset you. I just,' Tony tugs at his hair, 'is there nothing that can be done? If you give up now, who will fight for Bruce? Who will fight for Becks? Rebecca deserves to have her parents present for tooth pulling and graduations. She needs her father, right? That was your argument. Rooted in something far deeper than a surface-leveled story. Something rooted deep in your core. The reason you do what you do. The reason you fight so hard for justice is for your father. For your mother, you'd give your right arm to spend just one more minute with."

He swallows hard.

A sad smile spreads on his features, "Believe me, I know because I'd give the same. Surely, our daughters deserve a minute and more with their parents. Both of them."

Jenifer adjusts her blazer top and exhales. She's aware of the staircase below her as she steps forward with an aggressive huff and renewed zeal;

"Give me a minute."

Tony hides his widened smile of approval, content to be jolted as she pushes her way through the large glass doors and back into the building.