The Howler (Bruce Banner/Hulk Fanfiction)

Chapter 26: Till The End

Fingo groaned as he felt something cold and wet pressed against his neck. He lifted a weak paw and tried to push it aside, but it was determined. "Come on, Fingo. You have to wake up."

"Fanggo, it's too early for this," slurred Fingo with a few heavy breaths as he tilted his head to the side and sighed once more. "Can't we just sleep a little longer."

Fanggo sunk his teeth into his brother's scruff gingerly and gave it a soft tug. "Come on. Bruce agreed to help us, but we need to help him a little bit. Let's just get up," he urged as he gave Fingo one more shove before he started to walk away.

Fingo reluctantly saw his brother leave and grunted as he rose to his paws. He shook out his pelt before he started to limp forward after him. Fanggo led him out and into another open room to see Bruce standing with numerous syringes in a lab coat. Fingo stiffened as he drew back with his ears pinned against his head in fear.

Fanggo saw his brother tense and he turned instinctively. "It's alright. Bruce is going to help us, I promise. You just have to trust him. This might be able to tell us if we can eventually have pups."

Thinking about having pups with another besides Shuriken was heartbreaking. However, he saw Fanggo's point and reluctantly drew forward. His legs shook as he sat down across from Bruce, swallowing thickly.

Bruce turned slowly and smiled when he saw them. He had his glasses over his face as he sat across from Fingo. "Fanggo and I spoke earlier and I'm going to try and help you. I don't know if this is going to work, but I think that it's worth a try."

"Alright, let's see what we can do," Fingo murmured as he tilted his head. "What do I need to do to help? I'm a healer as well."

Bruce offered Fingo a reassuring smile. He stretched out his hand with the syringe in his hand. "You're just going to feel a little prick and I'm going to take some blood. Then I'm going to get you some more medication that might help with your pain and the fever. Does that sound alright?"

"If it was me I would just force me to do it. It was never a choice," he joked warmly as he flicked his ears, trying to hide his discomfort. Bruce nodded to him as he inserted the needle. Fingo held his breath at the pinch. It certainly wasn't overly painful, but it was certainly a strange sensation. It was over with relatively quickly and Fingo didn't feel any different afterwards. He had certainly lost more blood than just that before.

Fanggo chuckled as he came over and gingerly bumped his brother's shoulder. "See, that wasn't so bad, tough guy," he joked warmly.

Fingo rolled his eyes as his brother replaced him. He quickly allowed Bruce to take his blood. Bruce set the vials aside after he labeled them. "We'll see what the results are after they've settled a bit. Gamma Ray blood can be a little reactive. Now, can I trust you two to stay here by yourselves?"

"What do you think that we are? We've civilized," Fingo interrupted.

Suddenly, the oven went off and Fanggo was on his paws in a moment. His fur bristled as a growl rolled in his throat. Bruce was on his feet in a moment and swooped over in front of them. He stretched out his hands toward him in an effort to calm him down. "It's alright. It's just an oven."

"What's an oven," repeated Fingo slowly while Fanggo continued to growl and sputter beside him until he was positive that the danger had passed.

Bruce rubbed a hand over his face in exasperation. "It's a place that heats up my er prey," he tried to explained but not sound weird about it either.

"Why would you need warm prey? Isn't it warm once you catch it," Fanggo argued as he started to calm down ever so slightly.

"Uh, no, not exactly. We don't catch our prey. We get it from a store and then we have to heat it up. We can't eat it raw," he explained.

He received blank looks from both of them and decided that it would take a while to explain it to them. He had to remind himself to go slower. "I'll explain a lot more later. Just stay here and don't get into anything if you can help it, please. I won't be long."

Fanggo flicked his ears toward the item that had made the high pitched noise. "And what if that thing continues to protest us being here."

"It's not protesting you being here, Fanggo." Bruce just shook his head. "Just lay low, okay? No one can know that you're in here."

Fingo tilted his head in surprise when he heard Bruce's explanation. Bruce clutched his hand into a fist as he nodded slowly. "Just don't do anything," Bruce requested. He started to put on something on his feet before he headed to the door and closed it behind him.

"Where do you think he's going," inquired Fanggo with his eyes fixed on the door where Bruce had just disappeared from.

Fingo tilted his head as he managed to limp to the room that Bruce had taken his blood. He collapsed on the soft floor and stretched his jaws in a massive yawn. "I don't know. But, we just need to wait here until he returns."

"How do we know that he's actually going to help us," pressed Fanggo as he followed his brother. He slumped down beside him as boredom filled his mind. He didn't want to just lay around and sleep anymore. He was beyond bored with that.

Fingo shrugged. His foreleg was starting to bother him again and he just wanted to rest. "We don't know, but we need to find it out. If not, then we move on. It's not like we've got anything to loose. We have no pack. No family. No friend. No home. At least here we might have a chance."

"Chance," echoed Fanggo as he slumped next to his brother, his fur brushing against his. There was no way that he was going to leave Fingo if he felt that way. "I suppose so. It's just so weird here."

Fingo noticed the fearful tone in his brother's voice. He sighed heavily as he turned to face his brother. "Everything is going to be alright, I promise. We can't just stop now. We're so close to some answers. We just need to be a little patient, alright?"

    Fanggo couldn't mistake the look in his brother's eyes. He nodded slowly with a tiny smile on his face. "Alright. I can do that for you, for me." He lowered down and pressed his forehead against Fingo's and rumbled loudly. "We're brothers, after all, and we'll stick together until the end."