“Got Em’.”

Vibrant green flesh shifting to pale flushed skin. Littered bruises visible even before he’s fully left standing.

Then there’s just…Bruce. Shrinking still only because he’s hunching in on himself, not because his mutated body has anymore to do.

Who you’re seeing in person for the first time in far too—

“B-Bruce,” you stutter, voice wet in a way you didn’t plan. The deep breath you take is sticky, your eyes prickle and you blink hard to chase away the blur that’s taken up your vision.

The sight of Bruce, shaggy hair and a tremble in dangling arms, torn prison oranges hanging off gaunt shoulders, is one you want seared into your retinas. Bruises etched into the hollows beneath his eyes but free— not a shackle or shitty military official in sight.

It’s been so long since you’ve had the pleasure of his company you might even beg for it.

“Bruce,” you croak again, watching him blink back into his body.

A few more seconds pass before he responds. Though by the jerk of his head in your direction, you're not sure he’s reacting to your words. More so your presence than anything.

Amber-brown eyes blowing wide once his wandering gaze catches on you provide your answer.

“Ah,” you laugh a little. Sniffling and making quick work of the wetness gathering at the corners of your eyes with your palms. So dramatic, you needed to give the man time to recalibrate with fronting again. With being in control outside of imprisonment and not drugged to the gills. “Hey, Honey,” you coo, more steady than you feel, “you back with me?”

Bruce blinks harder this time. Then he snaps into motion roughly. Breathing out a stiff sigh from his nose.

You don’t know where you find the strength to keep your distance.

“U-uh, hold on,” he rambles, hands scrambling uselessly around his body for clothes to tidy up that aren’t there. He does tug the loosened lower half of what’s left of the jumpsuit Hulk was wearing tighter around his waist, one hand staying fisted in the bundled material to keep it in place, but besides that there isn’t much else he can do.

In the meantime he steals quick glances at you through the darker strands of his hair. Eyes bright even amidst the sunken in bags underlining them.

Each pass of his dusky gaze over you makes you a little less tense, body unwinding and muscles relaxing at his little bouts of attention.

“Bruce,” you call eventually. He’s maybe halfway through attempting to dust imaginary bits of dirt from his shoulders.

“Just— just a second.” He pivots to his head, a slim calloused hand rushing to push the shaggy strands of his hair behind his ears from where they’ve fallen in his face. Or attempting too anyway; mostly he’s only managing to pack too much of the locks behind his ears for it to be able to hold. “I wasn’t really prepared—”

From where he’s frantically clawing at his hair you reach up with an amused huff, flick at his free hand, and take to keeping his hair back yourself.

At your touch Bruce freezes, but he doesn’t stop you from touching him either.

And you certainly do touch him.

Originally you’d only planned to rectify the mistake he was making with his flustered movements. Planned to just brush small bands of his hair behind his ears that would keep the rest back.

Once your hands are actually on him, though, the prospect of letting go feels tantamount to being clubbed over the head. Repeatedly.

Both of your hands have an underlying tremble to them once you’ve gotten as far as combing your fingers through brunette strands. Bruce is kind enough not to comment on the feel of them vibrating over his temples. If he even notices at all.

Fair palms, and dark knuckles stay buried in his hair though, and you take to just using your fingers to keep his hair out of his face yourself.

After that all you both can bring yourselves to do is stare. Two sets of brown eyes intent on one another

Silently, you shift just enough so your palms frame his face at the same time you’re acting as his impromptu hair clip. Careful of your nails, you rub the pad of one of your thumbs across the bruised skin under his eye.

A frown pulls at your dark lips before you can catch yourself. Bruce ducks his head.

“Sorry,” he mutters, the tips of his ears flushing red.

You curb the urge to flick him again only because he looks enough like a kicked puppy as is. Really all you can do is shake your head as your throat clogs with unshed tears.

Bruce glances back up at you and it tightens your chest.

The heavy weight of Bruce’s attention on you — always searching, always seeing more than you’d usually like — is a welcome feeling after so long apart.

“No, don’t apologize,” you say, hands now smoothing out his hair about as frantically as he’d been earlier, “it’s okay.”

“I look like a wet ferret,” Bruce responds, chuckling meanly to himself, “it’s okay if I’m more than a little startling to look at.”

In response you mean to tell him to hush; the snide call of ‘boy’ is already on the tip of your tongue, but then one of his stray glances around your face manages to catch your eye and all you can think about is Bruce.

Bruce and the stern purse to his lips and the ever present worried furrow in his brows. The way his eyes keep bouncing around your face like he can’t settle on just one place on you to look, but can’t bear to look away from you completely either. Bruce and the fact you haven’t seen him in months; that despite you having only been together as a couple for a few weeks being without him for nearly two entire months had felt like a special kind of torture.

“Hi,” you murmur, voice whisper soft and a little cracked. Tucking the hair on one side of his face back successfully, you move your free hand down to cup fully over his cheek. The soft glide of the pads of your fingers and your blunt nails causes him to shiver.

“Been a while,” he murmurs back— voice low and more than a little scratchy.

Falling forward brings your foreheads softly together. Bruce smells like sweat and the stale air you’ve come to associate with prison cells, but you breathe him in anyway.

Been forever.

NOTES: Hope you enjoyed!

Something quick and maybe (hopefully) a little heartbreaking. For your reading pleasure, of course.

Tony — who’s basically Bruce’s work husband, though the honor of godfather (if you do that type of thing) is definitely split between him and Doc Samnson — pays for your baby shower. He butts heads with your people all the while on design choices and venue arrangements, but everyone ends up oddly amicable by the end to your marginal horror.

Tony 100% gifts you a plush set of famous scientists that he had commissioned for Bruce’s kid. Secretly, so he doesn’t risk pissing Bruce off during the party, he hands you a Hulk plushie after the baby shower to utilize at your own discretion too.

The Hulk plushie ends up being the one you keep closest, and the baby loves it once they're born to boot— doesn’t matter how much Bruce waves the small plush made in Henry T. Sampson‘s likeness in their cute chubby little face and tells them all about his scientific contributions.

Bruce helps you pump your breast milk and does the work of setting you up on a schedule and will positively glower at anyone who gives you shit about breastfeeding (or not breastfeeding), especially when y’all are in public.

The man goes with you to every single appointment without fail, and won’t miss your kid’s checkups after they’re born short of the world ending either.

Quite frankly, Bruce hardly ever misses your checkups or doctor appointments outside of when you’re pregnant either. The negligence of black women when it comes to their medical needs is too real for him to leave you alone and stressed like that.

HOWEVER, if Bruce can’t come he sends Rick with you, and the younger man has even less chill than Bruce when it comes to your concerns being undermined or you being unfairly profiled in the hospital.

“No, she’s not ‘drug seeking’. Fuck off, Man. Don’t you know how to do your job? She’s in pain!” & “I’m clearly not the one who’s pregnant, Doc. You should be talking to her, not me. Jesus.” & “What kind of nurse are you?”

“Doctor Dumbass” is his favorite insult to mutter under his breath to you, and it is too often an apt one. At least Rick’s a riot to be around, though!

And, frankly, he makes it so the doctors and nurses want to talk to you more— even if it’s just so they don’t have to deal with him.

Bruce doesn’t find you less attractive when you’re pregnant, he gushes over you and compliments you just the same as before your pregnancy. Depending on your libido he’ll make love to you just the same too, perfectly accommodating whatever size your stomach is at the time and making sure to keep you hydrated and comfortable the whole time he’s making your toes curl.

This man also 100% pre packs your hospital bag— and he does it with the same intensity and severity he used to pack his go-bags when he was on the run.

Probably brings in Betty to help convince you that wearing adult diapers after birth are a good idea because he doesn’t want to make you uncomfortable while he stumbles over pitching the idea; not wanting to seem pushy. He didn’t need to worry, but you appreciate the consideration as you and Betty exchange amused looks and hold back laughter at how nervous he is.

When it’s done you peck him on the tip of his nose, tell him it’s no problem and that you think the research he presented you with was a nice touch even if you didn’t need it to agree with him, and Bruce blushes the whole while like you're not literally pregnant with his child.

Bruce becomes easier to trigger than before — it’s not by too wide a margin because Bruce has worked hard to control his stress levels, but still. When you’re pregnant, Bruce gets steadily more on board with letting Hulk out to deal with certain problems. He will do anything to keep you and your baby safe.

By all means due to Bruce’s easier to trigger temper reminding him of your stress levels needing to stay stable and of the baby are the only things that can quickly get him to calm down and make Hulk draw away from the surface. Getting that green tint at the corner of Bruce’s eyes to go back to their usual alabaster and the green veins crawling up Bruce’s neck to recede as you talk both of your guys down.

Bruce calms down the second you put his hand(s) on your pregnant stomach, and don’t let him feel the baby kick or pressing themselves into one corner of your womb because he will melt. The feel of your kid and the soft cadence of your voice helps ground him like few other things can.

Bruce absolutely goes to your physical therapy and pregnant exercise classes with you. He’s got enough control of his body that it honestly impresses the instructor, and he has to regularly wave off other pregnant attendees gushing about how spectacular he already is at being a dad when all he’s doing is supporting you (and by proxy y’all’s baby).

Also, Tony absolutely offers to pay for your hospital stay when you give birth. Bruce blusters about it — having already been taking more jobs for S.H.I.E.L.D specifically to put aside extra funds for hospital expenses alone — but ultimately Tony calls “godfather rights” and you don’t argue, so Tony’s allowed to help (in moderation).

Allowing Tony free range to execute everything would lead to him doing a little too much, frankly. Things need to be vetoed and shit.

Hulk is so careful with you — even more than he usually is with you, of course. He tends to freeze when faced with the challenge of gently picking you up all nine months of your pregnancy and point blank refuses to get anywhere near the baby for a few weeks after they’re born no matter how controlled the environment.

Honestly, though, the first time Hulk comes out around the baby things go down akin to if a particularly big dog went lunging teeth first for your child only to end up using their teeth to gently grab the back of their diaper to keep them from falling.

—

Bruce “hulks out” in response to a particularly serious wail your baby lets out while you two are introducing them to everyone at Avengers Mansion, and in the next second Hulk’s in his place and already dashing towards the source of your child’s voice.

Everyone, bar you yourself, screams bloody murder, but for your part you’re willing to take Hulk’s appearance for what it is and were already getting up yourself to check out what was going on anyway.

Why not let Hulk handle things, especially when you were recovering from the trauma pregnancy and birth put onto your body? There’s a giant pad with an aloe concoction slathered all over it pressed to your front and back holes and helping you heal, you were not running not one goddamn where.

You just follow after Big Green, yelling at him to ‘go easy on them’ and make your way up to where you know Rick, Clint and Thor have your baby at your own pace.

When you finally do make it to the kitchen you find a jar of baby food shattered and splattered along the floor and wall (squash based— figures), a toppled over high chair, and Rick laughing his ass off while cradling your child (who’s still too young for anything but breast milk and formula) to his chest and being held by Hulk his own self.

Hulk, on the other hand, is growling at Thor and a cowering Clint who’s backed himself into the corner behind the God of Thunder. The Archer apologizing profusely while Thor attempts to placate your Jade Giant with his palms up and booming voice as low as it typically goes.

—

Anytime Hulk’s around and sees you trying to do anything too extraneous postpartum he promptly swoops you up as delicately as he can manage (which is significantly so) and puts you right back on the bed or couch. Hulk then does his best to fumble through getting whatever you were trying to get himself or actively cedes control to Bruce, regardless of if it’s his time to be out, so he can do it for you instead.

Bruce heavily approves of Hulk doing this and can’t not say it doesn’t endear the Big Guy to him more.

Bruce helps you through any postpartum struggles that you have 100%. Keeps an eye out for signs of depression and you not connecting to the baby, takes the baby off your hands plenty of times without you asking, helps you with keeping your image of your body post-birth as positive as he can, would never in his life think to ask for sex until you're ready and fully healed, etc.

To the best of his ability Bruce is going to make sure no resentment festers in your little family unit. He’s lived with a jealous abusive parent, and while he obviously doesn’t think you’ll turn out like his shit stain of a father, he is still on top of your mental health. Making sure you’re not feeling left behind or ignored as you bring a new life into the world.

Every one of the Avengers and Bruce’s friends definitely shows up for you guys’ little family too.

Also, I want to make one thing very clear. If you get pregnant on accident and you don’t want that baby Bruce will, come hell or high water, do everything in his power to make sure you don’t go anywhere close to coming to term with that fucking embryo. If you want an abortion, it’s done; no trying to talk you out of your decision outside of him making sure you’re comfortable with it.

Bruce loves you, and you are his #1 priority outside of keeping himself and Hulk in check, he will do anything for you. If he gets to be selfish about one thing, it’s you.

Plus, Bruce as a character is one who both knows the negative ramifications of bringing a baby into his world, let alone a human baby, and one who’s long since come to terms with not having children.

He’d rather shoot himself in the head again than fix his mouth to guilt you for wanting an abortion, a procedure that you have every bodily right to as an actual living being weeks before your pregnancy is even far along enough for there to be an actual fucking baby developing in your womb.

Now, any real arguments come if you catch the pregnancy late and don’t want to keep the baby. Or be in their life. Because Bruce will want to be to some degree, even as he struggles over feeling (knowing) that his presence alone in his child’s life could ruin everything for them.

Bruce also stays — to an obsessive degree; yes, you do pull him aside for an intense conversation — quite aware of his own potential pitfalls as a parent. On top of his fears of turning into the type of partner his father was to his mother to you, he’s now deathly afraid of turning into the type of father he grew up with too.

Dialing back on missions and the occasional counseling visits help, but this is a constant work in progress.

Bruce likes to match with the baby. His dorky ass— it amuses him to no end. Alternatively, the baby also has a Hulk onesie (and no matter how much he clicks his tongue it is frequently worn, and even he can’t deny how cute his kid looks in it).

At least once after a particularly grueling mission that Hulk had to be present for, you find Hulk hunkered in on himself sitting inside of the nursery (actively designed to be big enough to house him— or a potentially hulked out baby) with big fat tears in his eyes as he talks lowly to you child.

Past the slight heart attack just seeing him elicits, you let him keep at it. Supervising (and offering your own comfort) until he’s calm enough to turn back into a harried, frustrated Bruce.

Yes you do take a video of his low rumbles of words and the baby’s responding coos. At how your little bundle of joy reaches, unafraid, for Hulk and how unerringly careful he is around them in turn.

Rick starts to cry, and tries hiding it (poorly. over the phone.), at the cuteness overload.

Bruce doesn’t say it, but you know that how well Hulk keeps himself together around your kid, and how much your child doesn’t fear him (especially as an extension of Bruce), helps. For as long as Bruce can remember he’s feared himself, he’s happy for the reprieve. Unfamiliar as it is.

Also, speaking of hulked-out babies. Bruce, Tony, and even Reed Richards if they can hack it, all go over the baby before you’ve even given birth. Bruce checks your radiation levels constantly, and is stressed about your body rejecting the pregnancy and you getting sick all nine months.

These worries do not go away after you give birth, and they’re so not unfounded that you only latch onto him (giving him your support) and let him prod at you and your child without complaint.

It helps that he’s so apologetic while he runs tests too. Pressing kisses all over your face and never straying far from the baby. Bruce talks you through every single move he makes, even as a lot of it flies over your head, and doesn’t make a decision until you understand and can properly approve.

Yes, while his kid isn’t going to develop DID through genetics, they can still develop a hulk form, and Bruce stews in guilt over the possibility.

Trust, you two will work with your baby if they turn out to be a mutate though. Nothing short of death is stopping you from being the best parents you can be, and even then you’d both contest Lady Death herself.

NOTES: Hope you enjoyed!!!

I have never in my life (especially as someone who does not want kids) been like “I want to get pregnant with *insert character’s* baby”, but bitch here we are. I don’t know what this man is doing to me.

Editing Trixie — Can confirm that I was ovulating the week I started this, so that was the ovulation speaking, but I started my period and got some chocolate and now I’m myself again.

Anyway, let’s live in a dream world where our reproductive rights aren’t under fire for a bit with this one.