insurgents | OPEN POST.

"Oh good, then I can check out of the crappy motel I'm at."

That would be a yes, let's go back to your place Bruce. And maybe they can take some time to just... be with each other somewhere no one will bother them.

"I have some things to check out here so I'm not in a hurry to leave."

"I can't promise my place is any better. The bed isn't too big, either."

Not that he minds snuggling up a little more, really. As he remembers, they never took up much of the bed, whenever they spent the night together.

"We can go get your things, then?"

No they did tend to prefer the "obnoxiously wrapped around each other" mode of sleeping.

"I don't have much."

She reaches for one of his hands, lacing her fingers through his as she starts to pull him along. It is a gesture of affection, but perhaps also a little bit a way for her to reassure herself that he won't just be gone when she turns around.

He threads his fingers through hers, curling them a little, a small smile on his face as he starts down the street next to her. It's barely anything compared to how they were hugging and kissing just moments ago, but it's a different kind of intimacy and even a display of affection that he actually likes a lot.

"How long were you planning on staying?"

A pause, then he asks, realizing that she might not be here for him.

"Why are you here, even? I mean, I'm assuming you had some other reason."

She lowers her voice a little, leaning closer to him as she speaks.

"I'm looking into an organisation called IGH. It's for Jessica."

Not that Jessica has asked her to, but Trish has a tendency to do things for people whether they want her to or not. Sometimes it makes her a blessing, sometimes it makes her a real pain in the ass.

He leans in too to listen to her, nodding a little and answering in a low voice of his own.

"Is it related to her..."

He trails off, making a vague gesture with his free hand. Not that there are a lot of people around them right now, but he knows what it's like when it comes to these things: there's always the risk of someone listening in somehow.

"Possibly. They were the ones who made the combat drugs that messed Simpson up."

And nearly killed Trish, for that matter.

"There is some sort of connection between them and Jess but I haven't been able to figure out what it is."

He nods, though there isn't much he can offer in terms of information. He's mostly kept to himself over the past few months, and if that organization really is anywhere around here, he hasn't caught so much as a glimpse of it so far.

"It's not worth much, but I can help you look into it, if you want."

"Shut up, it's worth a lot."

She raises his hand to her lips to kiss the back of it.

"Us being a team again means everything."

He smiles, brushing his thumb across the skin of her hand.

"A different kind of team this time around, but yes."

Hopefully it wouldn't involve a stressful or dangerous situation at some point, because he really doesn't want to have to transform.

"That's true. I'm... a bit of a different me."

Since just about anywhere in this place is only a short walk away, the motel is already in sight.

"I'll show you when we get to my room."

He glances curiously at her, an eyebrow raised slightly.

"Is this going to be a nice surprise, or..."

"It's kind of a 'I'm not sure how you'll feel about this' surprise."

Bruce has always been very supportive of her ambitions when it comes to fighting the good fight, but how will he truly feel when faced with the reality that she has actually been out there putting her life in danger?

Especially since unlike the Avengers, Hellcat is not sanctioned by the government in any way. Like the Devil of Hell's Kitchen, she is an outlaw.

"I'm not sure how I feel right now."

Her remark only leaves Bruce feeling more curious, and admittedly worried, about what she has to show him. Not a single idea comes to mind either, which only makes things stranger and scarier in his head.

But he can be patient. Besides, soon they're stepping into the motel, so he can wait for a little while longer until they make it to her room. Better to just wait and see what it is for himself rather than try to imagine what it might be.

"Better show you before your overactive worrybrain starts making up weird horrors."

She opens her suitcase, fishing something out from what appears to be a sort of secret little compartment.

"I kind of picked up a new hobby while you were away..."

She holds up the yellow bodysuit, trusting that he'll be able to make the connection himself since she is also holding up a mask.

"Please. I think my brain's already getting started on that."

He still keeps his tone light and playful, though. She doesn't seem all that somber about it, so it can't be that bad. Right?

He's not sure whether or not that's the case when she holds up the bodysuit and the mask, his eyes giving the costume a very slow and pointed once-over. His eyebrows raise up his forehead, eyes widening just a little, the corners of his lips twitching a little as he finally looks at her.

"... wow."

Yeah, he'll get to the whole 'putting her life at danger' bit in a moment.

That gets a full-on laugh out of her, another reminder of just why she loves this man so much, not to mention the fact that it reminds her of her discussions with Jessica about costumes and aliases.

Well, Jess can think what she wants, Trish is high-profile enough that it's pretty necessary for her to conceal her identity.

"Just to be clear, it's not a fetish thing. I don't know if you've been following New York news at all but if you've seen anything about a masked crime fighter called Hellcat... yeah, that's me."

"No, I... I figured it wasn't a fetish thing."

She'd told him how she wanted to help and save people before after all, make a difference. So when she shows him a suit and mask he makes the natural leap to some kind of crime fighting during her free time.

"I haven't, actually. Your show was about the one thing I kept up with. Looks like I have a lot of news to catch up on."

He steps closer, reaching for the mask and giving the suit a cursory glance.

"Have you been... safe? I mean, since you started this."

The mask is designed to cover half her face and the back of her head, and has a small pair of cat ears on it. So maybe it's a little cheesy, Trish is fond of it.

"There were a couple of close calls."

She's not going to lie to him about that.

"I got pretty banged up, but I'm okay now."

He doesn't pay much attention to it, instead focusing on what she tells him. He presses his lips into a thin line, sighing quietly as he hands the mask back to her.

"I'm not particularly happy to hear that."

In fact, he's even more worried now than he was when they were headed to the motel, and he had no idea what she was going to show him. But that hardly matters, because he knows that she'll keep doing it anyway.

"Guess it might be for the best that I'm in New York. Just in case."

He's not comfortable about 'close calls', and if he has to turn to get her out of a bad situation, then he will.

She tucks the costume back in where it belongs, biting back comments about how she can take care of herself because if there is one thing she has learned it is that sometimes you need some help getting out of a bad situation.

"Jess doesn't like it either. And she's not the biggest fan of you at the moment, just so you know."

Apparently it's okay for her to just drop out of Trish's life and break her heart with no notice, but other people aren't allowed.

Maybe she could be able to take care of herself, but that still doesn't mean he won't want to keep her safe himself. He's sure she'd feel the same way, were their roles reversed.

"I imagine she's not the only one."

Not just among his friends and acquaintances, but even the average New Yorker likely won't be happy to hear the Hulk's back in the city.

"It's fine. I'll find a way to deal with it."

She absolutely would, she would even put herself in danger just to spare him from turning, since she knows how much he hates it.

"Yeah, people have a funny way of turning against something when it stops being useful to them."

As he may have heard, she has bitterly and very publicly defended him tooth and nail, both on her show and elsewhere. She might have been angry at him, but that didn't mean she was going to let people punish him for something he can't help. Especially not since it hadn't been Bruce's idea to make him one of the Avengers.

"It's just the way the world works."

He doesn't sound quite as bitter as she does, just resigned. It's been over a decade and by now he's all too familiar with people turning against him, especially after whenever he happens to lose control. He can't really fault them for that, either.

But he is very grateful to know that there are a few left that don't think of him as just a monster. Trish's remarks while on the air have made him smile more than once, even if he missed her all the more because of it.

"Anyway, can I help you with something?"

She doesn't seem to have a lot, like she said, but he offers anyway.

Maybe he can't fault them for it, but Trish can. She is fiercely protective of the people she loves, and even if she understands more than well how terrifying the threat of the Hulk can be, she is too well aware of how good a man Bruce is to accept when people want to make him nothing but a monster. Especially since the government was all too happy to use that monster when it suited them.

The Hulk was only a problem when he couldn't be controlled.

As if they had ever been in control of the big guy.

"Well the world can kiss my ass."

Said with familiar anger as she stomps around to collect her things.

"It'll just take me minute to get my things together, I just got here."

In the blink of an eye, the packing's done.

"Let's go check out."

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject