Invisible To You (A Bruce Banner Love Story)

Chapter Forty - Before I Die

"Fury wouldn't do this." Bruce argues.

"Look at the math Bruce!" I say, showing him the paper I had done it on. He takes it, going over the numbers in his head. I watched as his eyes scanned the paper over and over again, knowing that he knew I was right.

"Fury wouldn't risk our lives. Not like this." He says, looking up at me. I sigh, running a hand through my hair. "He wouldn't do something that would kill all of us."

"If we do it right it won't kill all of us." I say quietly. He looks up at me. "If they drive the quin jet at top speed at an increased angle away from the nukes, they won't die."

"But they can't come back for us." Bruce realizes. I nod slowly.

"I think... I think you might be able to survive. But... there's only a small chance. If the Hulk can withstand the massive amount of heat and the blast that the mansion will receive at that distance from the bombs...." I trail off with a sigh. "You'd have to be the Hulk when the blast hit. Not after, not during, but when it hit."

"You'd die." Bruce says. I nod.

"I don't see any way around that." I say, slowly sitting down on the couch.

"I'm not going to let you die." Bruce says, his voice hard.

"There's no way that this ends that I don't die." I say, looking up at him.

"Then you aren't going." He says with a huff of frustration. I look up at him helplessly. He looked so stressed.

"Bruce." I say softly, standing up. I set my hand on his shoulder. "You've heard the saying. The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. The same goes for lives." I say. He looks at me, and I can't describe the emotion I see in his eyes. "My life is worth giving up to save millions of people's."

"Not to me." He says, looking at me desperately. "I can't lose you." He wraps his arms around me, pressing his face into my shoulder. I can't do much more than hug him tightly. We stand there quietly for a while, simply enjoying each other's embrace. He presses his lips to my head before he rests his forehead on mine.

"I need some air." I say quietly. Bruce looks at me worriedly, but I shake my head, giving him a small smile. "I just need to think, okay? I'll be on the roof." He nods, knowing that sometimes I needed that. My own space.

I go to the top floor I can with the elevator and climb the stairs the rest of the way up. I kick my shoes off when I get up there, enjoying the feeling of the round rocks against my feet. I walk out until I'm in the middle of the roof and lay down, my arms behind my head, looking up at the stars. Light pollution was bad in New York, but this high up, a good amount of stars poked through.

So I lay there on the roof, looking up at the stars and doing what I did best. I thought.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Hey." I'm startled by the voice that cuts through the silence, jerking up and looking around. 

"Just me." Bruce says, walking slowly towards me.

"Sorry. You scared me." I say, giving him a soft smile. I notice the two coffee mugs in his hands, and he hands me one, sitting down next to me. I take a sip of the warm drink to discover that it's hot chocolate. I carefully set it down next to me before laying back down again. Bruce chuckles at my action before copying me, laying down next to me.

"Is this what you've been doing? Looking at the stars?" I nod.

"I've been stuck in my mind mostly." I say, turning my head to look at him. "And I realized something."

"Hm?" He asks quietly. I notice how much calmer he is than before.

"I'm not afraid of dying." I say, making him turn his head, his eyes meeting mine. "I'm afraid of what will happen when I'm gone. To Tony. To the girls. To you." He reaches out and squeezes my hand. "The only thing that's not making me run for the hills is the fact that I know you'll have each other, and I know you'll remember me."

"I'm not going to let you die." I give him a sad smile before looking back up at the sky.

"You know the worst part?" I ask. He shakes his head. "I'll never know what happens in the next season of Sherlock." He laughs loudly, and I join him.

"I'm glad that's on your list of priorities." He says with a chuckle.

"Well of course." I say with a smile. He gives me another smile before we go back to looking at the sky. We lay there in silence, but it's not uncomfortable in any way.

"I want to do something Crazy. Something impulsive. Something I'm not going to regret." I say suddenly. Bruce frowns, looking at me with confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"Before I die." I say. "I want to do something that is those three things. Crazy, impulsive, and something I won't regret." He squeezes my hand again, his fingers laced through mine. "What about you?" I ask, looking at him. His hair was all crazy, his shirt ruffled. "What's the one thing you want to do before you die?" He doesn't say anything for a while, looking at the sky, his eyes scanning the stars. Then he says something so quiet that I couldn't hear it, and I was right next to him. "What?'

"The one thing I want to do before I die. It's to Marry you." He says, turning his head to look at me. My breath catches in my throat, my emotions going insane, my heart pumping at a thousand miles an hour. When I don't respond, he gets worried. "Rose? Are you okay? I... I'm sorry to spring that on you. It's just.... I think I've known it. That I've wanted to spend my life with you." I slowly sit up, swallowing the lump in my throat.

"I..." No words can seem to come out.

"Rose...." I get to my feet, walking for the door. I open the door, and I can hear Bruce scrambling in the rocks to follow me.

"Jarvis?" I ask for the AI the second I get into the hallway.

"Yes Miss?" The Robotic voice says. Bruce puts his hand on my shoulder, and I turn towards him.
"Jarvis, how quickly can you have the Stark jet prepped for Vegas?" I ask. I get a confused look from Bruce. I wait for Jarvis's response, putting my hand on his.

"Within the Hour Miss. I assume you do not want Mr. Stark to know about this?"

"Yep." I say with a smile. "Thank you Jarv."

"You're welcome Miss." 

"Vegas?" Bruce asks confusedly. "W-Why... Are you running? Rose, I-"

"Bruce." I say, putting my hands on his shoulders. "If you want to go somewhere to get married quickly, you go to Vegas." I say quietly, a soft smile on my face.

"Rose, you don't have too marry me just because I-"

"Don't even finish that sentence." I say. "I want to do something Crazy, impulsive, and something I will never, ever regret. Marrying you, that is something I could never regret. Ever. You are the one person I can live the rest of my life with. You are the one man I've ever loved. Like this... It's an amazing feeling. This will just make my love for you stronger." My words process in his head. It's like I can see the clockwork in his brain turning as the hope, the smile spreads across his face. He leans down, his lips capturing mine.

I laugh when we finally break apart, and I look into his eyes. "I love you." He whispers.
"I love you too." I sigh a little. "Now, you heard Jarvis. We have an hour to pack a bag each, to pick up the girls, and to get to the airport."

"Pick up the girls?" He asks as I begin to walk down the stairs. He follows close behind me. I shoot him a small smile.

"If I marry you without them, they'll probably kill us both."