Bruce smiled at him, amazed as always in the strength and determination his friend could find even at the worst of times. Bruce was a quitter, a runner. He probably would have stood there uncertain and shell shocked until someone jolted him out of it, but he himself wouldn't be doing the jolting. He pushed others out of desperation, but that kind of active choice making, it wasn't in him. It was fine, because he'd be Tony's support guy, and they'd figure something brilliant out and that was how these things happened.
"If we go back, and he's still alive, I'll have to go back into hiding. Just on earth this time, with all of you aware of where I am. Maybe a secret lab, I don't know." It was a compromise, the only one he was capable of promising, if he was forced back into their world. It was the safest course of action. The Hulk wasn't cooperating when he needed him, and that meant he wouldn't cooperate if he chose to kill Ross instead of back down. "I know you said you'd burn things down for me, but that's not really what I want. If we want to be safe and get through this the clearest way, without distractions, I can't exist in a country where Ross is Secretary of State. It'd hurt everyone." If he went after Bruce, and the Avengers protected him, that would be a problem. It was okay. He wasn't in a hurry to show his face anywhere, he never was.
"The way his mind works, it's more reason than ever to have Hulks at their command, for the next threat. And if we thought several super assassins were a bad idea ...." One Hulk could wreck a city. Several Hulks could destroy what was left of the world. Bruce was tired just thinking about it. He was trying to remind himself that fear here, now, wasn't rational. There was nothing to fear, outside of everything, but Hulk-related things were not a part of it. He felt it all the same. The fear, the weight at the pit of his stomach. If Bruce could push it all away, he would, and he'd try from now on. "I understand rationally what you're saying, why you worked with him, I'm not going to make a thing out of it. But I'm not going to pretend it doesn't hurt either." To think that his closest friends worked with the man who would cheerfully plow through them to get to him? It wasn't a logical reaction, only pure emotion.
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"If we go back, and he's still alive, I'll have to go back into hiding. Just on earth this time, with all of you aware of where I am. Maybe a secret lab, I don't know." It was a compromise, the only one he was capable of promising, if he was forced back into their world. It was the safest course of action. The Hulk wasn't cooperating when he needed him, and that meant he wouldn't cooperate if he chose to kill Ross instead of back down. "I know you said you'd burn things down for me, but that's not really what I want. If we want to be safe and get through this the clearest way, without distractions, I can't exist in a country where Ross is Secretary of State. It'd hurt everyone." If he went after Bruce, and the Avengers protected him, that would be a problem. It was okay. He wasn't in a hurry to show his face anywhere, he never was.
"The way his mind works, it's more reason than ever to have Hulks at their command, for the next threat. And if we thought several super assassins were a bad idea ...." One Hulk could wreck a city. Several Hulks could destroy what was left of the world. Bruce was tired just thinking about it. He was trying to remind himself that fear here, now, wasn't rational. There was nothing to fear, outside of everything, but Hulk-related things were not a part of it. He felt it all the same. The fear, the weight at the pit of his stomach. If Bruce could push it all away, he would, and he'd try from now on. "I understand rationally what you're saying, why you worked with him, I'm not going to make a thing out of it. But I'm not going to pretend it doesn't hurt either." To think that his closest friends worked with the man who would cheerfully plow through them to get to him? It wasn't a logical reaction, only pure emotion.