Chapter Text
"With all due to respect, Mr. Banner, for a man that claims to be a pacifist, you can be so violent and aggressive."
Exposure to abnormal amount of gamma radiation, from a gamma bomb he made himself. The plan was that the bomb was not supposed to create massive physical destruction or leave behind permanent radioactive fallout when it exploded. It was suppose to simply instantly disable the enemy's military infrastructure and armored vehicles with a high-intensity radiation wave.
The project was supposed to be world-changing. It was supposed to make wars meaningless.
The plan had failed. Bruce saved somebody's life and ruined his own. He should have died, but the other guy inside him did not let him.
A day before the test of the bomb, Betty had compared him to her father. He snapped saying that her father was a lieutenant general who liked to blow things up, while on the other hand, Bruce was a pacifist who liked to calm things down. One of these things was not like the other one.
Bruce can't even get mad at the comment. He can only get upset.
"We all have our flaws." Bruce tries.
The man in front of him pulls out a paper from his pocket and starts to read what's on it. "Anger issues is the most obvious one," he says. "There is deep-rooted feelings of resentment towards father, mistrust of authority figures, megalomaniacal tendencies, stress-related health problems, paranoia, high blood pressure..."
Bruce stares at the man. He tries to take it cool.
"Oh, and you were hospitalized twice for nervous exhaustion."
"Those are my medical records from collage. I am fifty nine years old."
"So, you would say you've worked through these issues?"
Bruce opens his mouth to answer, then he stops himself. He's sure he has gained new ones instead. "Somewhat, sure." He lies. "The other guy makes it hard to focus on healing."
"That's why you're here, Mr. Banner."
"This room is all white and gray. I will lose my mind before I even have the chance to 'heal.'" Bruce frowns at the last word.
"The lack of color is to prevent oversimilation, minimize visual distractions, and create a neutral environment. It supports mental calmness, perfect for a patient like you."
"I'm afraid it will backfire."
"Well, I'm sorry, Mr. Banner. This room was created specifically for you."
"Really?"
"Sure. The walls were extra strengthened with you in mind."
Bruce looks down. He does not think any kind of strengthened wall will be enough to hold the other guy.
The man leans back in his chair. "You haven't been to a therapist since collage."
Bruce doesn't confirm. He doesn't say anything.
"You were exposed to gamma radiation at thirty five. It's been twenty four years."
"I was on the run for most of it. You can't really get help when you're being chased by the military."
"How about when you joined the Avengers?"
"I was too busy saving the world."
"There were many times you could have gotten help."
Bruce stares at the man. He's a piece of shit. Is he being a piece of shit purposefully to test Bruce's temperament?
The man puts his right leg over his left. "Here are my guesses, Mr. Banner." He looks at Bruce, who is breathing deep. "Depression, suicidal tendencies. Complex post-traumatic stress disorder, shizoid personality structure, maybe alexithymia... Also I'd say an extreme guilt complex, based on what I've seen."
Bruce doesn't say anything back.
He looks at the piece of paper again. "Megalomaniacal tendencies and an extreme guilt complex at the same time..." The man says. "You really are a man of contradictions, Mr. Banner."
"This isn't professional."
"I'm afraid there is no expertise for angry mutants or mutates in the field of psychology."
"You aren't professional."
"We all have our flaws."
"I want to be alone."
"You will have a lot of alone time here."
"Can you leave?"
"Back to contradictions,"
"No,"
"How come you, as a self claimed pacifist, created a gamma bomb at thirty five?"
"It was never meant to be a weapon."
"It was a bomb."
"I wanted to conduct research in theoretical physics and investigate the potential of gamma radiation in fields such as medicine and energy."
"You created a bomb."
"The only power that could fund such large-scale laboratory research was the military!"
"You still created a bomb."
"My project was funded solely on the condition that I would produce weapons!"
"Weapons,"
"I tried to negotiate,"
"But you ended up agreeing,"
"They wouldn't change their minds, I mean, it was the military! So yes, I agreed. But I decided to make it so the bomb would simply disable the enemy's military infrastructure with a gamma radiation wave. It wasn't suppose to cause destruction or deaths, or leave behind a persistent radioactive fallout like the Chernobyl."
"It didn't work."
"We never had the chance to measure the test results!"
"The gamma radiation turned you into a green angry monster."
"I was,"
Like Puny Banner; little man don't understand, Bruce hears his voice in the back of his mind.
"–doing just fine!" Bruce raises his voice as he stands up. He catches with the corner of his eye of the man flinching. "I hadn't turned for years!" He says as he starts to walk around. "I didn't hurt anyone for years! I managed to find a way to get rid of him!"
Banner never got rid of Hulk, Bruce hears him say.
"...You still turned to Hulk in damage control's building," The man says with hesitation in his voice.
"I didn't mean to!" Bruce tells him. "My inhibitor was gone!"
Girl was inside, Bruce hears him say. Banner let girl inside.
"...You were dependent on a device."
"A device that kept me in control for years!"
"Until now," The man says. "You can't control him without a device."
"I don't want to control him," Bruce yells, "I want to get rid of him!"
The room falls silent with only Bruce's deep breaths breaking the silence. He looks around in the room; the walls are gray, the bed is small and white, there is an empty white desk and a chair. The bathroom inside the room doesn't have a door. There is no mirror anywhere. Why is there no mirror anywhere?
...No, it's good that there is no mirror. He doesn't want to see the other guy anywhere.
He turns his head and looks at the man sitting, he looks ready to stand up and leave. Bruce scared him.
"...I'm sorry, that was mean." Bruce says. "I didn't mean to yell."
The man stares at him. "Mr. Banner," he says. "Did you get rid of the watch we gave you that monitors your heart rate?"
Bruce looks at his wrists. There is no watch anywhere.
They hate Hulk, Bruce hears the other guy say. They hate Banner.
"They should have been alerted," The man says under his breath. "Why weren't they?"
They will hurt,
"I didn't see a watch on me since I came here,"
Puny humans need to leave,
"That can't be true?"
"When can I leave?"
"Mr. Banner, you can't leave until you've spent a year and a half in here without an incident."
"A year and a half?" Bruce repeats. "...And if the other guy comes out, the time resets?"
"We have to make sure you're in total control before we let you out."
"I'm not an animal to be caged."
"Think of it as treatment."
"There is no treatment."
"I'm sure there is."
"I have spent twenty four years of my life trying to find a cure. There is none. You are trapping me here."
"This is not a prison, Mr. Banner."
Little man is danger, Hulk tells Bruce.
"Yeah, it's more of a cage."
"Do you know who Spider-Man is?"
Bruce blinks. "Excuse me?"
"The man under the mask. Do you know his real identity?"
He didn't know before, he definitely does now. He remembers Spider-Man approaching him in the building, telling him to put on a inhibitor he made that is universal. It's the kid from before, the one that pretended to be his student. Was his name Ned Leeds?
"Why are you asking?"
"He made a universal inhibitor."
"Yes, he did."
"The people from above want to talk to him face to face because of it."
"What?"
"I'm sorry, I can't give you any more information." The man says. "Do you know who he is, so that we can get in contact with him?"
"No, I don't know who he is. I've only met him when he's wearing the mask."
"Are you sure?"
"Why won't you guys do the same?" Bruce asks, then he frowns. "Why are you changing the topic? We were talking about this place. A year and a half is too much. If I make it to a year, then I turn, does that mean I'm back to the start?"
"This will keep the people safe and allow you to be able to control yourself."
"The inhibitor that I've made was enough to keep me in control. I don't need to spend God knows how many years in here."
"Mr. Banner, you've hurt people."
Bruce feels his heart drop.
"...I have?" He asks. "But they said... They said I didn't hurt anybody."
"They were probably talking about the people in the building. It is true that the people in the building weren't hurt by you, Spider-Man made sure of it, but the people outside. A little girl and her mother were crushed, Mr. Banner."
Bruce stares at the man. "...What?"
"While you and Spider-Man were fighting, you destroyed parts of the building. The parts that fell crushed a little girl and her mother."
It's his fault. It's his fault that he turned. "Did they... survive?"
"They're in critical condition."
"Oh..."
Bruce feels heavy. It's his fault. It's the other guy's fault. It's his fault. He was doing fine, what went wrong? He vaugely remembers Spider-Man telling him he was mind controlled, but turning into Hulk must have happened after.
Banner let girl inside, Hulk tells him. Girl was inside.
Maybe he should stay here. Maybe he should stay and rot here forever.
"I'm just asking to visit Bruce Banner. It's just a harmless visit."
"We do not allow visits."
"Ma'am, please."
"We do not allow visits."
"Listen, ma'am," Spider-Man says. "I was there when he lost control. It's not his fault, he was being controlled by another person. I'm not gonna get into details, the point is that he didn't hurt anybody and he managed to stop himself. He's not a threat, trust me, he was doing just fine."
"Was,"
"He was attacked!"
The woman stares at him with tired eyes.
"It's just a harmless visit, from a friend."
She keeps staring.
He decides to change tactics. "C'mon, I got shot. I got shot and it's very painful to be here standing all this time. Are you seriously going to let me suffer by keeping me here all day?"
"You could just... leave."
"Or I could also just... visit Bruce Banner."
She sighs. "With all due to respect, Spider-Man, Bruce Banner lost control and turned into the Hulk just a few days ago. He's in a super-powered patient unit, one that's made specifically for him."
"He was attacked. It's not his fault."
"He destroyed a building."
"Most of the building was already damaged because of-"
"He destroyed parts of a building."
"...Well, I destroy parts of buildings all the time while fighting crime. You don't see me inside a psychiatric facility in a super-powered patient unit made specifically for me."
She stares and doesn't answer.
Spider-Man shifts uncomfortably. "That was an exaggeration and definitely not an offer. Don't do that. I would be very sad if you did that."
"Spider-Man,"
"He didn't hurt anybody,"
"He could have," She says.
"But he did not," He responds.
"We still have to think about what if's."
"Okay, you can think about what if's, that's alright. Can I just visit him, please?"
The woman sighs. "Only if you get permission to do so. Let me make a call."