I guess we're sticking around
To Blake’s surprise, it's not long before Hulk gets to go smashing with the Avengers again. Apparently, world ending shit happens in New York every other tuesday. This Tuesday was no different. Robots had come out of the sewers. Blake didn’t know much more then that and Hulk didn't need to know much more than that.
Blake had been on the other side of town walking down Brooklyn looking for someone willing to hire a homeless teenager with no information with cash. They’d gotten pretty good at scoping the places that were sketchy enough but still safe enough to work. There were some small cafes and bodegas that seemed promising, but that would have to wait another day.
All of a sudden there was a crash above them. They looked up to watch Iron Man blast a giant robot into a nearby skyscraper. Thunder roared in the distance…. And based on the sunny sky, it wasn’t a hard thing to guess that Thor was nearby.
“Metal Man! Smash!”
Blake nearly doubled down from the excitement and green clouding their vision.
“Ok ok, just not out here in front of everyone!”
Usually Blake would draw stares from people if they let out an outburst meant for Hulk. Right now, people were either running or recording the battle above. Blake stumbled to the closest dark alley they could find with Hulk chomping at the bit to be let out.
When Blake woke up, it was in an alley. It was getting dark, meaning they had been gone for a couple hours. They were leaning up against a dumpster, no shirt, and pants stretched out so much they were clearly unusable. They got up and quickly pulled the emergency hoodie and shorts out of the duffle bag and slipped them on. Hulk sat contentedly in the back of their mind.
“You guys smash the robots?” Blake asked while they put the duffel bag over their shoulder.
“Hulk smash good! Friends smash good!”
Hulk continued to ramble about how good the smashing was and how the robots were puny. Blake half listened while taking stock of the duffle bag. Everything seemed to be in place except…
Blake pulled out a small black device. It seemed to be a walkie of some kind? But advanced, way more advanced.
“Uh.. Hulk what is this?”
“Scary man gave Hulk box. Scary Man say call Hulk for more smashing with friends”
“Who the heck is Scary Man!?!?”
“Scary Man, One Eye Man”
That was all the explanation Hulk had. Blake sighed. Hulk had a very one track mind. If he didn’t see something as important or interesting it just wouldn’t stick, and unfortunately he and Blake had very different ideas of importance. Blake couldn’t really blame him though. He was really young.
If they counted how many years Hulk had existed as a voice in their head, he was only seven years old. If they were counting how long Hulk had been able to manifest into a physical form, well only five. And frankly it was unclear how Hulk was developing.
Blake had taught him how to read, after a lot of pressing, but he had trouble with larger words. He also had issues with saying large words, but Blake attributed that to lack of practice. After all there weren’t many opportunities for him to practice while he was out and when he was in Blake’s head he didn’t have to say the words as much as think of them.
Blake still insisted on teaching him. The way Blake saw it, it was clear that Hulk was a person all his own. Whatever he was, he wasn’t Blake. He thought, learned, and grew outside of them. That gave Blake an odd sense of responsibility. Hulk deserved to have someone guide him. Teach him basic education, basic ethics, teach him how to be a person. Well as much as Blake
knew how to be a person.
Blake sat back down and dug some of their screwdrivers out of the duffle. They unscrewed the back and studies the inside of the device.
“What doing?”
“I’m making sure they aren’t tracking us, Big Guy. I’d rather not wake up to a missile pointed at us… again”
Blake moved a couple of wires and saw something weird. Not a bug but a weird empty spot. One that was charred?
“Hey did you by any chance see what happened to this?”
“Metal man smashed, but only a little. Said Scary Man shouldn’t track Hulk. Tracking mean”
That gave Blake a pause. Iron Man had kept them from being tracked? Whoever Scary Man was, he sounded… well scary, and someone had stuck up for Hulk, who wouldn't know to look for a bug or even what one would look like?
“That…. That was nice of him to do that”
“Metal Man nice, gave Hulk card”
Blake looked back at the duffel. Out of one of the outer pockets, they could see a small shine. They reached over and pulled out a shiny business card. The front had large cursive on it that said ‘Tony Stark’ below it in smaller print ‘Iron Man’.
Blake turned it over and there was a phone number and an email. In black marker a message was written.
“Feel free to call if you wanna go smashing again, if you have a phone that is”
Tony Stark, one of the most famous people on the planet, had made sure that no one was tracking Hulk, had given him means to contact him, and invited him to go smashing? Blake didn’t know whether or not to be touched or suspicious.
Either way, they put the card back in the pocket of the duffel, making sure it was secured. They put the device back together after double checking it for bugs or trackers. It seemed to be a simple one way device, meaning Scary One Eyed Man wanted Hulk to be on standby.
Part of Blake wanted to throw it away, to smash it. Then get on the closest bus or train and leave. This guy had clearly tried at least once to track them and Hulk isn't some pet to be called whenever! Who did he think he was? But Blake had agreed to stick around and let Hulk ‘help’ and to his credit, he seemed… happy. Blake felt a twinge in their chest. They didn’t want to take that away from him, and this device would be easier to deal with then just hanging around until they found themselves in the middle of a fight.
Blake put the device back in the bag.
“Hey Big Guy? New Rule: If Scary One-Eye Man gives you anything, take it to Metal Man first before you keep it”