Bruce wasn’t the biggest fan of Kang, the guy just seemed to be like a rash that kept coming back. After killing at least twenty to thirty different versions of the same person he felt like he was entitled to his opinion. Being in his merged form allowed for his stamina to be greatly increased which helped out a lot in the battle.
“This guy is the human equivalent of a roach,” Jennifer faced him.
“I’ll agree to that,” Banner felt a swell of pride towards his cousin joining the team.
“I wish this was like a hive mind type of scenario. Like we could just chop off one’s head and the rest just die,” Jen punched a variant in the face.
“We had a situation similar to that a few years ago, Thor took care of the situation pretty easily,” Bruce threw the closest variant like a bowling ball knocking down other opponents.
“Thor, now that’s someone I’ve got to meet. I bet he'd take care of my situation easily too,” Jennifer’s lip quirked.
“I know what you mean by ‘meet’ and I pray it never happens,” Bruce would never hear the end of it if she slept with the god.
“Oh come on Brucie, he could even help me get my exercise in,” she was toying with him now.
“Ew Jen, I’m your cousin that’s gross,” his nose scrunched up.
“Whatever it’s fine, Jason Aaron already made it happen,” Jennifer sighed.
“Who?” Jennifer had a habit of talking about random things and expecting him to just go along with it.
Bruce felt a low growl in the back of his head tell him to turn around. As he whipped around he found a giant laser beam headed directly towards his cousin. The doctor pushed her away before he felt a blinding hot pain sear through his midsection. Bruce slowly looked down to see a gaping hole that went from below his neck down past his navel in a perfect circle. Banner knew he was falling before he felt himself slump.
Jennifer held him in his arms in her human form with a look of pure despair in her eyes. She was fighting back tears and was saying something to him, probably attempting to soothe him. Then she jerked her head back and began to yell at someone else. He didn’t know if anyone met her call before he fell into a deep slumber.
***
“Can you pass the salt,” Thor asked with fries in his mouth.
“Umm sure?” Bruce slid him a white shaker.
Tony, Nat, and Bruce sat on one side of the booth while Clint, Steve, and Thor sat on the other. Bruce sat directly in front of the god and watched him consume an unhealthy amount of calories.
“So are you vegan?” Tony was looking at him with interest.
“No,” the scientist turned to face his plate.
“So you’re vegetarian then?” Stark pried.
“Uh-” Bruce opened his mouth to reply.
“Leave him alone Stark, he can eat what he wants,” Steve cut him off.
Bruce had been a member of the Avengers for about a week now. The only battle experience the team shared was the one against Loki. It was strange to be around so many people who didn’t seem to want him dead, but it was a welcomed experience all the same. Sharing a meal with his new team was Clint’s idea to build up comradery in the group.
Tony and Steve instantly seemed to disagree and fight at every turn while Clint and Natasha seemed to be good friends. Bruce could tell that Tony liked him and that he enjoyed building new things in the lab with the engineer, but he was still wary about everyone else.
“I’m not being mean to the guy, I’m just worried about him,” Tony crossed his arms.
“Banner is a grown man he can take care of himself,” Steve retorted.
“Obviously not, did you not hear what he said in the shield jet? I just wanted to make sure he was eating enough. He burns calories like it’s fuel and he hasn’t eaten anything on his plate,” Tony looked over at Bruce softly.
“I’ll eat more if it’ll make you happy,” Bruce shoved a burger into his mouth.
“Ban- Bruce, we want you to eat as much as you need to. There’s no judgment here,” Natasha spoke as he chewed.
“Thank you, guys,” Bruce replied sheepishly as he took his time to finish his meal.
Soon the group headed to the tower to play twister. This was also chosen by Clint as he claimed his kids loved the game. Soon Tony, Steve, and Natasha were all tangled in each other's limbs while Clint had the spinner. Thor sat beside the map eating pop tarts while Natasha complained about the crumbs falling on the map.
“Red, right hand,” Clint ordered.
Bruce sat behind Clint and saw that he was making up instructions as the spinner was on ‘yellow, left hand’.
“It’s better this way,” the man winked at him and Bruce let out a genuine laugh.
Hearing his laughter, Tony jerked up off the mat and made both Steve and Natasha fall beside him.
“Did you hear that? He fucking laughed and it wasn’t caused by me this time!” Tony was genuinely happy over his enjoyment.
“We need to do this some other time,” Bruce felt himself do a small smile.
“We can’t do this again Brucie,” Tony’s smile fell.
“Why can’t we?” the team was supposed to have bonding time every week.
“I died fighting Thanos buddy,” Tony looked sad.
“No, bu-” the scientist attempted to argue.
“I fell from Vormir, Bruce,” Natasha cut him off.
“I died after living a fulfilling life Doc,” Steve looked at him with pity,.
“I still have Thor and Clint though, right?” Bruce didn’t miss the desperation in his own voice.
“I’m retired now and Kate took my spot,” Clint couldn’t meet his eyes.
“Thor?” his eyes burned and the word came out more like a plea than anything.
“I’ve got to watch my niece, Bruce. Hopefully one day our paths will meet again,” his heart had completely dropped.
“I miss you guys though,” his voice shook.
His five teammates surrounded him in a hug and he felt their warmth as he tightly shut his eyes. Soon the warmth was replaced with cold nothingness as he reopened his eyes.
He was in a wasteland with a giant green door ahead of him. It glowed a neon shade and radiated power. Bruce knew in the pit of his stomach that he had been there before. Hulk shouted that he needed to walk through the door, but he hesitated. Why should he go through the portal? It would most likely take him back to the battle against the Kangs, and he had basically nothing left in his life. All of his five teammates would not be waiting out there for him, instead, he'd be greeted by four new members and Jen.
Jen.
Jen. Jennifer was more than a teammate she was his cousin. They'd been inseparable as children and here he was separating them himself.
Who else would miss him if he never returned? Skaar probably would, as the duo had only recently started to get along with each other as the boy blamed him for leaving him on Sakaar as a baby. Caiera, who was the mother of his child would also not be happy if he died. They'd just restarted their relationship with each other and he didn't want to leave her as a single mother.
And what of his team? They truly weren't his team, they were just a team. Maybe he could give them a real chance to bond with each other and with him. Maybe he was being too hard on the newly formed Avengers?
Bruce sucked in a deep breath as he approached the green door. Hulk roared in triumph as the entered the warm stream of light.
***
Bruce woke up face up in his cousin’s arms. He could tell that his eyes were glowing and he lifted his upper body up. Jennifer inhaled sharply as he inspected the now healed hole in his chest.
“Holy shit, you’re alive!” Jennifer called the rest of the team over.
As the four other members approached they all surrounded them in a hug. Jennifer stood where Nat did, Shang where Tony, Carol where Thor was, and Sam where Steve had been. A wave of affection rolled through the man’s body and he found himself smiling at them. Maybe one day Bruce would learn to love his new team as closely as he did to the original team.
"So, how do you guys feel about the game Twister?".