A Thousand Miles

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Enjoy Everyone! :)

Travels

She nervously fiddles with the bag over her shoulder, mind focused on the path in front of her. She doesn't know exactly where she's headed, or what to expect when she arrives; The only thing on the mind of Elizabeth Ross is to get to New York City and in one piece.

'Betty' has already ignored 5 calls from her father and at least 7 from her boyfriend, all questioning her abrupt disappearance and lack of an explanation. Her eyes were much more focused on the recent news paper, giving her a vague idea of where to find the man that meant so much to her.

Stark Tower: The only information she could find, the last place where he would have been since the Tesseract incident. And Betty had done her research, learning about the billionaire who had kindly taken him in, about his assistant Virginia Potts, and about the general area.

Sure, she had been to New York before and unfortunately, it held some of the scariest memories of her life. Miss Ross could only imagine how he must have felt, being dragged back to the scene of a crime. At least this time around he was treated much differently, or she had hoped.

Bruce Banner wasn't one to sit still in one place for too long, and for obvious reasons. She closed her eyes praying he'd be there when she arrived, and her feet couldn't move fast enough.

It didn't matter how many people who lingered in her way, Dr. Ross had no problem nudging them gently from out of her path, as long she made it onto the train or to climbed a bus, she was calm. Still, she knew the rides couldn't last long, after all, there were only so many options for a woman with only $50 to spare.

She closed her light brown eyes feeling a lump in her throat. When was the last time she saw him? Held him? Heard the tenderness of his voice? Elizabeth needed Bruce. She needed to run her fingers through his dark curls, dry the tears that he undoubtably cried, tug on his ear as she whispers, 'I miss you.' She should've told him from the start just how much he meant to her. Bruce Banner was her everything, he was her 'hero' no matter what.

She tugs on her long and thick pony-tail held to the side as she strokes the ends of her long dark brown hair. Betty can feel her bangs hanging off her forehead as she looks down at the paper. She can imagine his dark curls and beautiful brown eyes peering through his glasses as he works on some complex equation. She can hear his soothing tone, assuring her in his own sarcastic way that he cares for her.

Betty quickly brushed her forefinger along her cheek as she relived his warm embrace, imagining his lips on her cheek and her arms around his neck. It all was far from comforting as she wasn't sure what to expect upon her arrival.

Time was dragging and the bus seemed to roll in slow motion. Absolutely nothing was fast enough for Miss Betty Ross at this point in time. All she wanted, was to see him again.

"Incinerate it. It's no good." Tony Stark spun on his stool maneuvering his toes along the base. His hands were busy twirling a pen working up to the point, then back down again. The point digs into his thigh as he considers other ways to recreate his newest mechanism.

Virginia, 'Pepper', carefully takes Tony's experiment in her hands. Her nose wrinkles at his wasteful attitude, "Are you sure you don't need this?"

"Nope. Just get rid of it. Get my suit pressed if you will Miss Potts, I've got a conference at 2:30, no?"

She nods opening her mouth to speak. He raises a finger to her lips motioning for her to remain quiet, "JARVIS: Day 22, test number 47. Initiate action sequence in 10 minutes."

Pepper crosses her arms leaning into her hip. Her red-orange hair swings with her head as she glances around his lab, "This place is a mess Mr. Stark."

He chuckles, "That's why I have Brucey here to help me."

She rolls her eyes, "I wouldn't count on it, he's currently looking up flights to Nevis on the downstairs computer."

Mr. Stark mumbles under his breath as he tosses the pen onto his table. It would be the fifth time this month he had tried to book a flight someplace, only to be cancelled by the 'Iron Man'. The proud owner of the tower knew what was good for him, or at least he thought so. Letting him run off alone, was not the smartest thing for an individual with suicidal tendencies and 'breath-taking anger management issues'. Not to mention is intense nightly tremors or an occasional emotional outburst. It didn't matter how hard he tried to suppress those tears, they were unavoidable, and especially lately. If only he would have opened up to Tony every once in a while, share some deep seeded agitation, and just let it go.

The billionaire paced the living room casually spotting his friend tucked in the corner of the sofa, glasses on, and the credit card in his hand.

Tony smirks, "If you keep leaving that out, I'm going to write down your numbers. Go on a few shopping sprees. At least Capital One will know where to send the bill. Where the heck is Nevis anyways?"

Bruce shuts his eyes, hand over his mouth. The laptop flickers a blue reflection over his glasses from on top of the table. He remains emotionless, lost in his own thought and unintentionally ignoring Stark.

Tony narrows his focus, leaning his hands on the table. He leans his upper body towards Banner's to look him in the eye. -That'll get his attention!-

"Bruce! Hey, what are you doing?"

The doctor breathes heavy, thick curl falling onto his forehead. His eyes shifts downward looking at his credit card still ignoring his friend. His mind is racing, sunk in his own problems and sorrows with no intention of responding to him.

Stark pushes the lid of his computer down keeping a stern tone in his voice. His eyes never separate from Bruce as he addresses him, "Listen, I'm trying to be nice but apparently, 'nice' doesn't work with you. I'm not going to let you run off to some third-world-nation by yourself. Your staying Brucey. That's that. Don't argue with me. You can't say 'no'."

He remains calm, a smirk on his face, "And what if the, 'other guy', says 'no'?"

Tony spreads a grin over his face, "Let him try. I'll throw you in a de-hulking cage, see how he likes that."

He looks up taking his time to answer, "I don't know, he doesn't like to be contained in one place."

"Come on! Have I ever given you reason not to trust me? Have I ever let you down or made you feel like you don't belong here?"

Bruce leans back running his right hand through his thick curls, "No of course not. I just don't want -"

"Okay then. That's it. Don't give me that talk about 'taking advantage of me' or 'hurting Pepper and I'. Zip it! It's done! This case is closed and we're not opening it again. Now, come with me, upstairs and help me rewire the pesky reactor."

Banner removes his glasses, eyebrows lowered with his knees crossed nervously, "It's acting up again?"

Tony nods, "I need you buddy. Pepper's not as gentle. Sent me into cardiac arrest once. I ever tell you about that?"

"It's not enough Ma'am." the bus driver regretfully handed Betty her cash.

She panicked, eyes open wide, "Please! You've got to help me! Is there a cheaper line?"

He initially shook his head. she held the doors open with her arms preventing him from driving off, "I'm begging you! I've walked over 17 miles, in the pouring rain. I'm trying to get to New York City. Please! Just tell me where I can get a cheaper line, a taxi! Anything!"

He widens his eyes calmly replying to her, "I'm sorry miss. I can't help you."

The doors close as she slowly backs out of the street and onto the sidewalk. She looks up throwing her hands over her head in frustration.

Crowds pass her by, umbrella's over their own heads as it starts to mist onto the pavement. Her light sweater is barely enough to keep her warm from the wind and rain. Her finger's push her bangs as the tears stream down her face.

She searches her pocket for glimmer of hope, something she can fall back on; nothing.

Betty leans against the station for the bus, slowly sliding her body down until she sits on the soaked bench. The clouds open up releasing a heavier rain. The rustling through the trees echoes through her ears as she waits in the bustling city, hours from New York.

Ross whispers under her breath a quick prayer. Though disheartened, she doesn't regret her decision. She misses him, she wants him, and she needs him.