Regenerate | X-Men/Avengers - Pt. 1

Ch. 28

It all comes back to me when I see his face.

A flat river snakes through a sea of roiling green grass. To my right sprawls a mountain of shale, aspens and poplars sprouting from its toes. Following the river, I pass a dilapidated wooden structure, once a barn or workshop of some kind, and come upon the squat cabin not far from. There I catch my first glimpse of the raging menace.

He's a slight man, not tall or bulky. For living out here he dresses modestly in clean clothes, and appears to have combed his hair today. When he sees me he stops his work, shoulders relaxed but his face tense as he stares me full on. I tried not to startle him by putting myself out in the open so he may see how meaningless I am. However, with the type of people hunting him down, anything can have meaning, and out here there's nowhere else I might be going. There wasn't even a trail to this cabin it's so far off the map. I continue to approach, hoping he won't bolt, while sweating over my awkward first words.

"Dr. Banner?" No response as he holds my gaze frostily. I allow myself to seem as nervous as I feel. "I want to help."

Twilight leaves a film on the glass bottles in the window. He's seated on an overturned crate by the cast iron woodstove, allowing me the only chair in the room. We're eating part of the peace offering I brought; Top Ramen. The other gifts are arranged neatly on the swelling shelves behind me.

"Look, you...I'm not safe to be around."

I suck broth off the ends of the cheap chopsticks. "I'm not afraid of you."

"You, should be. I'm not..."

I tilt back the bowl. "I'll clean my own dishes."

"No, don't, don't worry about them. I like doing the dishes." Then he kind of swallows knowing how pathetic that sounds. "So are you...from? New York?"

I grip the stoneware. "I'm not from anywhere."

He rubs his thumbs together, studying me doubtfully.

"You don't trust me."

"You didn't find me by accident."

"No."

Brows raised like he expected no less, he leans back in his seat. "Yet you still came all the way out here..."

"I'm not here to turn you in." I set the bowl down in my lap. "I shouldn't be around people either."

He chews on his lip. "Is that so?"

All this time we've hardly broken eye contact, but now I look down at the embers so he'll see the tension in my neck. "I'm a mutant who can't always control her ability."

He blinks and a small change is discernible in his eyes. Then he licks his lips and clears his throat. "And what is your ability exactly?"

My bowl lifts out of my lap on its own. For a second he doesn't notice, fixated on my face as he looks for the lie. I take the bowl in my hand and vanish with it then set it down at his feet and reappear. I'm surprised by the suggestion of a smile, the light in his eyes now a glow, as he bows his head slightly.

"That gets out of control?"

"Along with other things." I tighten my shoulders and press my hands between my knees. "They aren't all that tame."

I've seen that glow in Tony's eyes as well. It's usually followed by merciless teasing and cloying interrogation. But Banner is a different breed of observer.