The Liberty War || Infinity War & Endgame

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Made of Miracles

Music is "the end" by XYLO.

Picture is Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner and Chris Evans as Steve Rogers from Avengers: Endgame.

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CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN: Made of Miracles

{April 26, 2023 -- Seventeen Years Later}

N E W  Y O R K   C I T Y

"C'mon, I feel like I'm the only one eating here. Try some of that. Have some eggs. Emma, you've gotta be starving. You were dead for, what, five years? That's a long time to go without eating."

It's been fifteen minutes since we walked through the doors of the local diner, where we were going to meet Bruce. Or, at least, who I thought was Bruce, but my mental picture of the man was not the individual currently sitting in front of me.

The Bruce I knew was a short man with a shy and reserved disposition. This person was much, much larger with a free-spirit. He no longer dresses like a professor or scientist. Now, he wears casual clothing and thick-rimmed glasses.

Steve and Natasha had explained what became of Bruce and the Hulk after the vanished disappeared, but words don't quite give the whole picture.

Scott shakes his head with a hilariously perplexed expression. "I'm so confused."

Bruce smiles sincerely, chuckling a response, "These are confusing times."

"Right, no, no. That's not what I meant."

"Nah, I get it. I'm kidding!" Bruce's grin widens as he extends his arms. "I know, it's crazy. I'm wearing shirts now!"

"Yeah! What? How? Why?"

Bruce picks up a sandwich and shoves it in his mouth as he explains. "Five years ago, we got our asses beat. Except it was worse for me, 'cause I lost twice. First, Hulk lost, then Banner lost, and then we all lost."

"No one blamed you, Bruce," Natasha comforts.

"And speaking for the Vanished, I don't think any of us do either," I add. "I know I don't."

The green giant glances to both of us, eyes saddening behind thick-rimmed glasses. "I did. For years, I've been treating the Hulk like he's some kind of disease, something to get rid of, but then I start looking at him as the cure. Eighteen months in a gamma lab, I put the brains and the brawn together, and now look at me." He gestures to himself. "Best of both worlds."

As Bruce finishes his point, a trio of children walks over to his side. The girl, probably around twelve or thirteen, asks, "Excuse me, Mister Hulk?"

Bruce turns to them with a grin. "Yes?"

"Can we--Can we get a photo?"

"One-hundred percent, little person!" He gestures for the other two, both of which are boys, to move closer. "Come on, step on up." He holds out the girl's phone in his massive hand, offering it to Scott. "You mind?"

As Scott and Bruce arrange the photograph with the kids, Steve turns to me with a smirk. "Not what you expected, huh?"

I return the expression with a cocked eyebrow. "Well, it is Bruce. If anyone could combine the most intelligent and the most dangerous forces on the planet, he could."

Steve chuckles under his breath, and Scott extends the phone back towards Bruce.

"Did you want t grab one with me? I'm Ant-Man." The children give an awkward expression, and Scott shakes his head. "They're Hulk fans. They don't know Ant-Man. Nobody does."