Changing Colors - A Bruce Banner Story

Shocker

Indigo ran a hand through her dripping hair, "You want to know about me?"

Bruce nodded, sitting down on a flat rock.

She hesitated for a second, wondering how much she should tell him. Then she remembered the state she had just seen him in and decided maybe it was time to let her guard down a little too.

She focused on the energy flowing through her fingertips and purple sparks began to appear. Indigo looked up at Bruce with her glowing eyes as he came closer to examine the sparks flying around her hands.

"Amazing," he whispered almost to himself.

He reached out to touch one of her hands but she pulled it back,  dropping her concentration.

"No don't," she shook her head, "Its like electricity. You'll hurt yourself."

"That's what you used to knock the helicopter out of the sky," he spoke softly, "And since every action has an equal and opposite reaction-"

"The plane fell too," she nodded, "Do you think Jimmy made it out okay?" She had almost forgotten about the poor pilot.

Bruce nodded, "I threw him out with a parachute. He's trained to jump, I'm sure he'll be fine."

She nodded, "I just hope he can swim." She glanced over at Bruce in his sopping wet shorts. Her extra shirt and shorts from her bag had been dry so she had changed before he woke up.

"You're going to catch a cold," she sighed, wishing she had something dry to give him.

"I'll be fine," he laughed, "It's getting sort of warm."

He was right, with the sun now almost entirely up it was a nice temperature.

"Once your clothes dry we should get going," she dug in her bag and pulled out the food she had packed, "We can't live on sliced apples and trail mix forever."

She tossed him the bag of trail mix and took a bite out of one of her apples, "So where are you headed to once we find a main road?"

Bruce shrugged, looking embarrassed, "I don't actually have anywhere specific in mind. I guess I was so focused on running away from the people trying to kill me I forgot I should probably decide on a place to run to."

Indigo smiled, "I'm going to see the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. Then after that I think I'll stay a while. I've always wanted to live in France."

He nodded and poured some trail mix into his hand, "Do you have family here?"

She shook her head, "No, but I did hear about this cheap stretch of apartments right under the Eiffel Tower. They're supposed to be pretty nice."

"You think it's true? I can't imagine anything right under a landmark like that being cheap," Bruce laughed.

"It's a tourist location. Residents of Paris don't actually want to live there so they were forced to lower the price by quite a substantial amount," she took a drink of water and handed him her canteen, "At least that's what Ebony said before he- uh never mind."

She felt her face heat up and hoped he wouldn't ask about what she had said. Unfortunately no such luck.

"Ebony?" Bruce asked curiously.

"My brother," she sighed, "He used to travel with me until he died a few months back. He always wanted to see Paris but I kept putting it off. I knew once I got there I wouldn't want to leave, and I wanted to see the rest of the world first. He was always so good about it. Never got impatient, just kept waiting for me to be ready. Now I am and he's not here to come with me."

A tiny tear fell down her face and she wiped it away, "My turn now. Who's Betty?"

She saw the look on Bruce's face darken. He looked so unbearably miserable she almost instantly regretted asking the question.

"My fiancé," he picked up a rock and turned it over and over again in his hand, "Or ex-fiancé I guess. Powerful men don't exactly love the idea of a monster marrying their daughter. The first time the other guy came out he destroyed an entire lab. Betty was inside, trying to calm me down. I couldn't stop him, he just knocked her aside without a second thought. After that they wouldn't let me in to see her at the hospital. Then her father tried using the Hulk to his own benefit and I had to run. She's okay now, from what I hear, but I haven't seen her since. I wouldn't be surprised if she hates me."

Indigo reached out and took his hand in hers, "I'm sure she doesn't hate you. She must know what happened."

He shrugged, "Doesn't matter much anyway. I can't be near her. She's out there and I can't see her or touch her. She's probably moved on and I'm stuck missing her every day."

"I know how that feels," Indigo whispered.

"Right of course, your brother," he looked at her, "I'm sorry."

She looked out at the ocean, "I'd give anything to get him back, but not if I had to stay away from him for the rest of my life. You're stronger than me there Banner."

He didn't say anything but she could tell he disagreed. Indigo had never met anyone who was as hard on themselves as the man sitting in front of her now. She wanted to convince him that he was doing his best, that he couldn't help what happened to him, but somehow she felt it would be useless.

Indigo yawned and glanced over at the rock they had covered in wet clothes. It looked like they wouldn't be dry for quite some time still and she was exhausted from using so much energy the night before.

"Go to sleep," Bruce told her, "Ill wake you up when everything dries."

She opened her mouth to argue but all that came out was another yawn.

"Fine," she laughed and grabbed her bag to use as a pillow. She didn't want to get any more sand in her hair than she already had.

"That's not going to be very comfortable," Bruce was smiling at her. He was clearly amused by her efforts and she knew he was right. He got up and moved to lean his back up against a big rock then he patted his lap, "I can't promise I'll make a great pillow but it's better than nothing."

She smiled and crawled over to him, resting her head on his legs. It was surprisingly comfortable.

"Promise you'll wake me up as soon as everything dries?" she asked. Her eyelids felt heavy but she didn't want her nap to get in the way of them moving on.

He nodded and brushed her hair back behind her ear, "You got it."

Indigo felt herself drift off to sleep as he hummed a familiar song she couldn't quite place.

• • •
Hey everyone! Thanks for reading!! Don't forget to vote and leave some feedback for me so I can make this story better!! 💕