Something strange had happened and I was separated from the rest of the avengers. I was scared.
Not only of being alone but the fact I was changing. my body had mutated. I now looked similar to an anthro rabbit minus the fur. So I continued to travel about the US after the snap. I helped who I could without showing my body.
I can tell you, walking through the desert in a cloak was a nightmare.
Finally, I came upon something strange. I couldn’t tell if it was a holding camp or a survival camp.
I waited till I found something I couldn’t believe.
Carrying a huge load of rock was a familiar green man. The only difference was that instead of being ten feet tall, he was at least seven going on eight feet.
Not waiting any time I ran towards him.
I called out to him. “Hulk!”
He looked towards me just as I jumped up and clung to his shoulders with my arms wrapped around his neck. He drops the load he was carrying and just holds me in confusion.
“AnnaBelle?”
I grin into his neck and laugh. “You're so small, Hulk!”
He tries to set me down, but I just tighten my hold not wanting to let go.
I could hear some of the older ladies laughing at Hulk and the male sighs. “Alright. Let me finish this load and then we can talk.”
“Do I have to let go?” I mumbled into his neck.
“You might get some dirt in your hair.”
“I’ve had worse.” Tightening my hold once more. I could feel the almost subsonic growl from him. Though the lapin in me wasn’t afraid, surprisingly. So I just clung to Hulk's back and contemplated.
Hulk was smaller than usual, and he spoke normally. Did he and Banner finally find balance?
So he walked through the communal area with me on his back. Some of the ladies were laughing at the man. It made my tail bristle. I settled for a short glare before setting my nose in the back of his neck. Trying to memorize his scent.
Eventually, we came to a set of shipping containers that were welded together into a large box.
He made to put me down and this time I Iet him.
Once I was set foot on the ground I look up at him.
He was still green, but he wasn’t on edge anymore. I didn’t realize how pretty his eyes were. Like large gems.
---
‘Another day, another load.’ Thought Bruce.
It had been almost five years since the snap and he and hulk had come to an understanding. Hulk wasn’t the strongest, but he wouldn’t ever be alone because he had Bruce. They ended up merging. He was still Bruce, but he was a little taller and green. He sometimes would hear Hulk grunt his opinion on something.
Other than that he was the same. He was helping out at a survivors camp. He’d help carry the larger rock piles, to help clear out the roads.
“Hulk!”
He turned, only to get hugged around the neck by a random person.
‘Bell?’ Hulk had questioned. Bruce recognized that nickname. It was the name of Annabelle Knight. She was one of the helpers in Avenger Tower. One of the few who wasn’t frightened by him.
“AnnaBelle?”
He could feel her smiling into his neck and tighten her hold on him. “You're so small Hulk!”
He could hear hulk huff but let the teasing jibe be. He tried to set her down, but AnnaBelle merely tightened her hold.
Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Greene were laughing at him. They always did when the kids would climb all over him.
With a sigh, I asked. "Let me finish this load and then we can talk?”
“Do I have to let go?” She mumbled. Her face is still hiding in my neck.
Hulks hummed while Bruce said. “You might get some dirt in your hair.”
“I’ve had worse,” she replied, tightening her hug once more.
Hulk didn’t like the sound of that. It took a lot of effort to not audibly growl. He picked up the large can filled with rock and carried it to the dump area. He made sure to be extra careful since he had a passenger now.
Once that was finished, Bruce walked through the gathering square and noticed a few of the younger women who had been flirting with him give a glare at his hitchhiker. Hulk was about to growl at them when he felt AnnaBelle turn to look at them and from their reaction it must have been frightening because they quickly looked away.
He felt the young woman shove her surprisingly cold nose that the back of his neck and inhale. Hulk seemed pleased and Bruce was simply confused.
Once arriving at his house/ sleeping area? He never knew what to call it.
He attempted to set AnnaBelle down again and this time she let him. Once she was on her own feet he was able to get a good look at her. She was wearing a tattered brown cloak that only showed her face. She had a small backpack that appeared to be mostly empty. She was still as pale as usual but there were bags under her eyes and what little of her clothes he could see had seen better days.
Her eyes still sparkled when they looked at him though. He never could get over that. He felt Hulk puff up in pride. ‘Their Bell was strong.’
Bruce cleared his throat. “It's not much, but at least it's a roof over my head.” Opening the door and motioning for her to enter.
Anna Belle shook her head and smiled up at him. “I Like it.”
---
I continued to grin at the man. I was so happy I found someone. When I first Met Bruce I was just the goffer girl.
I walked into the entrance and fidgeted a bit as he walked by.
“Sorry about the mess. I don’t usually have visitors.” He explained.
I shook my head. “Genius thrive in organized chaos.”
He turned to look at the frowned slightly. “AnnaBelle, is there something wrong?”
I bit my lip and took a deep breath. “I’m...not the same as I was before.”
Bruce gave a nod. “After the snap, I don’t think anyone was.”
I closed my eyes and sighed. I forgot how dense Bruce could be at times. “No, not emotionally, physically.” I then pulled down my hood.
---
“I’m...not the same as I was before.”
Bruce had nodded ignoring Hulk's jab of ‘Stupid Bruce.’ “After the snap, I don’t think anyone was.”
She shook her head. “No, not emotionally, physically.” Then pulled down her hood.
Sprouting from the top of her head was a pair of white rabbit ears from the top of her head, they twitched as he stared.
‘See? Stupid Bruce.’
`Alright, you win this round big guy.”
“How?” That was all he could manage to come out.
She gave him a sad smile. “Let's just say that I now have a new hate for Nazis.”
Hulk was very angry. The growl he made was so loud it reverberated within the room.
AnnaBelle’s ears plastered themselves to her head.
He stopped. “Did I scare you? I'm so-”
The woman interrupted him. “You didn’t scare me. Your growl was amplified by the metal wall and became really loud. I’ve got very good hearing now.”
He motioned for her to a sitting-like area. It was mostly just four futons and a lot of blankets.
She looked to him for reassurance and he gave a smile.
---
The smile on my face was huge and it almost hurt. I quickly took off my shoes, pack, and cloak and dived into the pile of blankets. I was surrounded by his scent; it almost felt like I was drunk.
I peeked my head out from the blankets. “I like your nest.”
---
Bruce snorted at the image she made. “I’m glad.”
She just smiled and relaxed in his bed.
“I know you most likely don’t want to relive those memories, but could you tell me what happened?”
Her ears drooped but she gave a nod.
“It was maybe six months after the snap. I was helping out at a local homeless shelter. I had just gotten out the door when I was grabbed from behind and a cloth forced over my nose and mouth. I later figured it was chloroform. Not that it did any good, day late dollar short.”
Annabelle curled more into herself. Hulk seemed to think it was a good time for him to use their body and made Bruce get up and sit next to the distraught woman.
She leaned into his side and continued her explanation. “When I woke up I was strapped down, bare as the day I was born. I couldn’t understand what they were saying, I got the gist of it. They wanted to try something new. Making their own super soldiers.” AnnaBelle took a deep breath. “One of the men came down and explained that I should be honored to be a part of Hydra’s new project. They were going to test the theory of splicing animal DNA into humans. Though they started with the reverse…” She rubbed her face into his shoulder. “They took one of my eggs that day and started to experiment by trying to make a rabbit with my DNA. That way when they did the splicing it would have a smaller chance of rejection.”
Bruce was horrified.
Hulk was pissed.
He picked up AnnaBelle and sat her in their lap and coved the three of them in blankets.
She leaned into his chest and sighed before condoning. “They chose a rabbit for three reasons. One: it was relatively harmless, two: speed, and third: excellent hearing. For the next year, it was preparing my body for the procedure as the Rabbit-clone grew to adulthood. During the spring of the next year, I was knocked out, and when I woke I was in extreme pain. They knocked me out for a while and fed me intravenously so I would stress the stitches.”
Bruce watched with sad eyes as she continued her story.
“The next year was training and getting used to my new body and instincts. I acted like a good little scared rabbit. Taking in their lessons with a grain of salt. Till one day they were going to transport me. While I was led out of the facility, I took my chance and kicked my guards in the chest, and took off. I quickly found some unstable chemicals and threw them at an electrical source and ran off”
She looked down at her lap. “I’ve been on the run ever since. I hate to say it but I really hope that the explosion killed them all. I don’t want what happened to me to happen to another. God forbid it to be a kid.”
Bruce tightened his hold on her as she looked up at him. “Does that make me just as bad as them?” She looked back down. “It was by sheer dumb luck that I found you, Huce.”
Bruce blinked. “Huce?”
She gave a nod. “Yep. Huce. Since it looks like you and Hulk have found balance. I thought it would be rude to address one or the other.”
“But you called me Hulk earlier.” He pointed out.
AnnaBelle gave a nod. “Yes, but that was before you spoke. Your speech and HUlks are very different. I could have called you Bulk, but that seems rude.”
‘What do you think, big guy?’
‘Hulk is Hulk. Bruce is Bruce.’
Bruce looked back at the woman in his lap. “Big Guy says that he’s fine with Hulk.”
She smiled at him. “Okay.” She leaned on him and slowly fell asleep.
‘She needs to be kept safe.’ He thought grimly. ‘If they spliced her with rabbit DNA then there's a possibility that she could die from stress or fear.’
‘Hulk Guard Bell.’
“That's Something we can Both agree on, Big Guy,” Bruce commented aloud before falling asleep himself.
With AnnaBelle in his arms.
---
I slowly woke from the best sleep ever. I was warm and relaxed. I didn’t want to wake up, really.
But I kept feeling the ground beneath me move and though it wasn’t uncomfortable, it was still strange ergo needs to be worried about.
Slowly opening my eyes, my sight is filled with green.
Not just any green at that.
It was a wall of well-defined, muscular green that was now just the right size to run my hands down.
It took so much willpower not to do so.
So I settled for laying the underside of my chin on him as my Bunny Side demanded.
This was a sign of claiming in rabbits. There are scent glands on their chin and they mark what they consider theirs by chining it.
I knew I shouldn't be claiming a person. But it wasn’t just anyone. It was Bruce and Hulk. Both were my favorite of the Avengers. I usually goffered for Bruce when he was in deep research mode. Reminding him to eat and get him coffee or just chatting with him to let his eyes rest. I always felt safe with him. Even when he turned into Hulk the first time. I merely began reading to him one of the children’s stories I had written.
He had been so surprised that I hadn’t been afraid of the Big Guy.
Now?
I want nothing more than to be by their side forever, or as long as they’ll let me.
Suddenly something grabbed my ankle and quickly drug me out of the room. I let my Bunny Side take control as it made an Inhuman screech. No double waking Hulk/Bruce up.
She was done being dragged when she was at the feet of a familiar man.
“Good morning Frauline, was your vacation satisfactory?”
I didn’t get to answer as Hulk's enraged roar was heard.
TBC