[ After the incident at Culver University, Betty though her life couldn't get much weirder. Lonely, sure, but not weirder. Not after a cross-country chase, tearing up Harlem, and everything that came with Bruce's alter ego.
Turns out, she was very, very wrong.
The eastern seaboard lights up when New York does. Dozens -- maybe hundreds -- of satellites turned on American to watch an alien invasion, of all things, get thwarted by a group of superpowered heroes. The god who can control weather, the billionaire in the suit, the archer with amazing aim, the living legend from World War Two .... and Betty forgets to breath at the first glimpse of green.
She watches from the teacher's lounge, awed at the footage, unable to tear herself away from the news reports until (minutes? hours? days?) everything is over, when the aliens have been defeated and the city is no longer under assault. Live footage is now 'moments ago' footage, interspersed with interviews from military and political pundits. Later, she won't quite remember returning to the afternoon's scheduled classes, moving on autopilot and carefully not thinking about anything until she gets home.
It takes three days to arrange a substitute for a day or two worth of lectures, to even get the nerve to drive up the coast, to ignore the messages from her father. She packs an overnight bag and slides her passport into her purse. At the last second, she slides an old camera in there, too. One she hasn't touched since ... well, in a long time.
The drive doesn't take too long, all things considered. There's still a hell of a lot of damage, but most of the freeways are clear, and Betty knows well enough to leave her car in a garage not too far from the highways and take a taxi the rest of the way into Manhattan. Which, as expected, is a snarl of traffic and demolished buildings, around midtown and southwards. There are police and military blockades every few blocks, directing civilians away from sensitive areas. Betty avoids them as best she can, and finally (finally!) makes it to Tony Stark's tower. It, too, has suffered some damage, and she's not stupid enough to try and sneak in. Not when god knows what kind of tech is there.
So she opts to find out if Dr. Banner is there, then scribble a note and hand it to the receptionist, on the off chance 'no comment' really means he's there but no one is going to say anything. She hopes it does.
I'm downstairs.
- E. Ross
She's prepared to wait the rest of the day if necessary, resolutely trying not to think about the possibility he doesn't want to see her. ]
no subject
Turns out, she was very, very wrong.
The eastern seaboard lights up when New York does. Dozens -- maybe hundreds -- of satellites turned on American to watch an alien invasion, of all things, get thwarted by a group of superpowered heroes. The god who can control weather, the billionaire in the suit, the archer with amazing aim, the living legend from World War Two .... and Betty forgets to breath at the first glimpse of green.
She watches from the teacher's lounge, awed at the footage, unable to tear herself away from the news reports until (minutes? hours? days?) everything is over, when the aliens have been defeated and the city is no longer under assault. Live footage is now 'moments ago' footage, interspersed with interviews from military and political pundits. Later, she won't quite remember returning to the afternoon's scheduled classes, moving on autopilot and carefully not thinking about anything until she gets home.
It takes three days to arrange a substitute for a day or two worth of lectures, to even get the nerve to drive up the coast, to ignore the messages from her father. She packs an overnight bag and slides her passport into her purse. At the last second, she slides an old camera in there, too. One she hasn't touched since ... well, in a long time.
The drive doesn't take too long, all things considered. There's still a hell of a lot of damage, but most of the freeways are clear, and Betty knows well enough to leave her car in a garage not too far from the highways and take a taxi the rest of the way into Manhattan. Which, as expected, is a snarl of traffic and demolished buildings, around midtown and southwards. There are police and military blockades every few blocks, directing civilians away from sensitive areas. Betty avoids them as best she can, and finally (finally!) makes it to Tony Stark's tower. It, too, has suffered some damage, and she's not stupid enough to try and sneak in. Not when god knows what kind of tech is there.
So she opts to find out if Dr. Banner is there, then scribble a note and hand it to the receptionist, on the off chance 'no comment' really means he's there but no one is going to say anything. She hopes it does.
I'm downstairs.
- E. Ross
She's prepared to wait the rest of the day if necessary, resolutely trying not to think about the possibility he doesn't want to see her. ]