Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

These are just some fun things to keep in mind about this story :)

1. Philza is able to travel between universes

2. Philza is immortal and the angel of death

3. Sbi is a thing in this story

4. Dream SMP didn't happen, but the characters still know each other

Chapter Text

"Ya 'right mate?"

Bruce just blinked. Baffled more than anything.

He had just been going about his daily routine, walking through the streets, looking for groceries, when practically out of nowhere this man appeared.

It could be that Bruce just hadn't been paying attention to his surroundings (which he found quite unlikely. He knew SHIELD was after him), but surely he couldn't have missed the guy in front of him. 

He was quite average in height, had light skin, blue eyes and blond hair that shone gold in the sun. Furthermore, he was also wearing a traditional Japanese jinbei which was green, a black haori, sandals and a green and white striped bucket hat. In other words; he stuck out like a sore thumb.

"Yes. I'm fine."

Bruce didn't know what else to say. He was so confused. What was a British man in Japanese clothes doing in India?

"You aren't a part of SHIELD. Are you?" Bruce eventually asked.

Bruce strongly doubted that the guy was a SHIELD agent or just someone working for them in general. If he was, then he was pretty terrible at his job (in Bruce's honest opinion). Who in their right mind would dress like that if they were trying to fit in?

Bruce carefully watched the man's expression.

To his relief, the guy seemed more puzzled than anything.

"SHIELD? No. I'm just trying to figure out where I am." The man gave a little shrug to accompany his answer.

Again, Bruce could do little more than stare. For a guy who was apparently lost, he seemed very calm. 

"So, do you need help to get back to your hotel?" Bruce asked. He doubted there were any hotels in the area, but guessed that the man must have come from one.

The man shook his head.

"Nah, I didn't come from a hotel, but if you could show me where I could buy some food I would be grateful."

Bruce internally let out a sigh. That he could do.

"Before we get going, I should probably introduce myself. Shouldn't I?" Bruce nodded, as he mentally began mapping out the fastest route to the marketplace. He had originally planned to take a longer route to avoid more people.

"Well then. My name is Philza,"

Bruce must have made a weird face at his name because Philza continued with an amused smile.

"but I usually go by Phil. I know, my name is a bit odd."

That, Bruce, couldn't argue with.

The two temporary companions began walking. Silence falling between them. They were both lost in thought, unknowingly trying to figure out the mysteries of the other. 

Bruce went over the things he currently knew about Philza. He was probably from England, his first name was Philza, he didn't know where he was (if he was to be believed), he wasn't a part of SHIELD (again, if he was to be believed). In other words, Bruce knew nothing about him. The first was an assumption and the others were if he was telling the truth. Bruce really did want to believe that Philza was telling the truth, but he was also overly aware that it could all be a front to get closer to him and keep an eye on him. There just didn't seem to be another good reason for Philza to be in Calcutta other than to keep an eye on Bruce, but he seemed to be a nice guy, so Bruce would wait and see.

"We're here." Bruce announced as they stepped around a corner and walked into a smaller street. The street was lined with different people selling everything from fruit and insects to clothes and decorations. 

Philza looked curiously at the wide assortment of items. He seemed to be considering what to buy. That brought another question to the front of Bruce's mind. Did Philza even have any money? If he didn't know where he was, then he probably didn't have any money, at least not in the right currency. Bruce was just about the ask him about it, but Philza had already left his side to get a closer look at whatever had caught his attention. 

Bruce decided to just watch Philza for now. It might've been a bit rude to just stand there to see what he would buy, but Bruce was quite curious. 

Philza apparently didn't find what he was looking for, as he gently set down the thing he had been looking at. From where Bruce was standing it was a bit hard to see, but he thought it looked like a statue of some sort.

Philza walked a bit further down the street before stopping in front of a man selling fruit. Philza pointed at some fresh looking apples, raising two fingers to signify the number he wanted.

The man selling the fruit pushed the apples towards Philza before reaching out his hand, palm upwards, to ask for payment.

Bruce stood a bit behind Philza, waiting in anticipation to see what Philza would pay with.

Maybe he would pay with pounds? Dollars? Or maybe he did have rupees?

What Bruce didn't expect to see, was Philza pulling the shining green gems that he recognised as emeralds, out of his pocket.

It seemed Bruce wasn't the only one shocked, as the other man just stared in shock as Philza handed him the gemstones.

Bruce must've been more out of it than he thought, as in the next moment without him even realising it, Philza was again standing next to him, apples in hand.

"Here. Thought you might be hungry." Philza threw one of the apples to Bruce, as he began walking again. Bruce only catching the apple out of reflex, his mind still dwelling on the fact that Philza apparently carried emeralds as money, began following him.

"I-uhh, not to sound like an idiot, but why aren't you questioning why I'm here? You clearly find me just as weird as I find you."

The words fell out of Bruce's mouth before he could think more about them. He was usually a bit more tactful than that. Maybe it was because he hadn't really talked to anyone in months? Nevertheless, Philza didn't seem to take offence to his words and just answered instead.

"Not really my business, innit? And as for finding you 'weird'? I wouldn't use that word, I'd say more intriguing."

Huh. Bruce hadn't expected such a clear answer. He was beginning to realise that Philza was a very straightforward and no-nonsense person. He hadn't avoided any of his questions yet, so Bruce decided to test his luck.

"If you aren't with SHIELD, then why are you in Calcutta of all places?" The this isn't the most friendly tourist destination was left unsaid. They both knew that Bruce wanted to eliminate any chance of Philza being there to specifically spy on him. 

The only difference being that one of them knew why that was and the other didn't.

"To be honest? It wasn't exactly my choice." Philza gave a wry smile, clearly knowing how mysterious and vague he sounded.

Before Bruce could question him more, a distant cacophony of what sounded like crows, got Philza to stop dead in his tracks. Bruce also stopped walking, opting to observe Philza. He seemed to be concentrating, his blue eyes distant. What was so interesting about a bunch of crows making a ruckus? It wasn't like it was a rare occurrence. 

"Do those guys from SHIELD happen to wear black suits and carry firearms?"

Philza's sudden question caught Bruce completely off guard.

"What?"

Philza didn't seem very concerned though and just calmy asked again.

"Do those guys from SHIELD happen to wear black suits and carry firearms?"

"I-yea-yes. Yes, they do." Bruce got a bad feeling. How did Philza know what SHIELD agents looked like? He was beginning to question if Philza really wasn't working with SHIELD.

"Then we should probably get going."

Phil turned on his heel and began walking in the opposite direction, towards a forest.

Bruce stood still, indecisive for a few moments. Should he follow Philza? 

If he was telling the truth and SHIELD really was here, then Bruce would have a better chance of avoiding them if he followed Philza into the forest.

If Philza was lying though and SHIELD wasn't here, then it was almost guaranteed that he was about to be kidnapped or something.

There was also the third option of Philza telling the truth, but also working for SHIELD. Meaning that Bruce would be walking into a trap by following Philza.

Bruce debated his options and in the end decided to follow. 

The two walked in silence, side by side, one looked straight ahead and didn't hesitate in his step and the other followed while he looked nervously around for any sign of spying eyes.

"We're being followed."

Philza's quiet warning got Bruce to snap his attention back to him. He hadn't realised how observant Philza was, Bruce hadn't even seen him look around.

"What do you suggest we do?" Bruce asked in a just as quiet voice.

He decided to follow Philza's lead for now. He seemed to know what he was doing . He also hadn't made any decisions that had ended terribly yet. 

"We can't outrun them, so our only option is probably peaceful negotiation." Philza sounded a lot calmer and surer of the situation than Bruce felt.

He really didn't want to talk to SHIELD, but he really didn't want to fight them either. It seemed that Philza wasn't the biggest fan of violence either, as he hadn't said anything about fighting them of.

"I guess." Bruce probably sounded a lot more defeated, than Philza expected, as he gave him what Bruce assumed, was a worried look.

They kept walking for a while, before reaching a clearing where Philza stopped, opting to stand beside a big boulder. Bruce followed suit, not sure what else to do.

Philza and Bruce didn't have to wait long before the bushes lining the other side of the clearing rustled, signalling the arrival of SHIELD.

The first one to step into the light of the clearing was a young red-headed woman in a black suit with a gun strapped to her hip. Behind her, a few other agents appeared, spreading out to cover the whole clearing, successfully surrounding Bruce and Philza.

Now, they definitely didn't have the option to flee. Bruce discreetly looked at Philza, who was stood beside him. He was eyeing the SHIELD agents surrounding them with cold blue eyes. Bruce noted in the back of his head, how some of the agents actually flinched, when Philza caught their gaze.

The read-headed woman seemed to realise what Philza was doing and waited rather patiently for him to finish analysing and intimidating her colleagues.

"Banner. SHIELD needs your assistance." The woman said after Philza was done.

Her order, because it was an order not a request, got Bruce's eye twitching. Did they really think they could just show up and demand his help after pretty much stalking him for months?

Bruce was so focused on staring down the red-headed agent in defiance, that he didn't realise Philza had moved from his place besides him before he heard the clicks of multiple guns getting drawn from their holsters.

"Really? I can't even stretch my legs without being considered hostile?" 

Philza's tone seemed to catch the only agent who hadn't drawn their gun, off guard. At least that was what Bruce thought, as he watched her signal the other agents to stand down.

Without breaking eye contact with Bruce, she addressed Philza's question.

"No, and you shouldn't even be here in the first place. Banner is a highly dangerous individual and it would be in your best interest to leave and forget this ever happened." The read-head's tone was cold, not leaving room for argument, but that didn't seem to discourage Philza.

"I'm not leaving him behind. He hasn't done anything untrustworthy yet."

Bruce couldn't help but feel happy at the thought of someone not caring about his condition even though they had just met, but then he remembered that Philza technically didn't know just how dangerous he was.

"That's a foolish and dangerous way to think. Just because someone hasn't done anything bad yet, doesn't mean that they won't do it in the future." The red-head still held eye contact with Bruce.

"That might be so, but that doesn't mean that you should expect the worst from everyone either. Sometimes, people just need a chance to prove that they can be good."

It seemed that Philza had won the argument for now, as the woman finally broke eye contact with Bruce to instead look at Philza.

"This doesn't change that you should leave."

Philza just gave her a blank look, not looking like he was going anywhere soon.

"I'm not going anywhere-" Philza locked his eyes with Bruce's.

"and neither is he, if he doesn't want to."

The woman seemed to disagree.

"We don't have time for this. Banner, you're  coming with us."

The read-head took a threatening step towards them. Philza didn't seem bothered at all and just looked to Bruce, his eyes holding the question of what Bruce wanted him to do.

Bruce was frozen for a few moments. In his mind, they didn't really have any other options than going with SHIELD, (he had no intention of unleashing the Hulk on purpose) but from what Bruce could tell from the look he had given him, it looked like Philza was more than ready to stand his ground, if Bruce didn't want to go.

How Philza expected to fight off almost a dozen agents, Bruce had no idea, so he gave a nod to both the read-head and Philza, to show that he would go willingly.

"Well then, welcome aboard Dr. Banner and-"

The woman looked to Philza with a look that Bruce would almost say was defeated.

"Philza."

It seemed she had given up on getting him to leave.

"-Philza..."

The red-head didn't seem too enthusiastic about the situation and just signaled the other agents to break formation.

"Let's catch our lift."