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[COLOR=AF7AC5][indent][sub][B]Location:[/B] [COLOR=white][I]Navapo, New Mexico[/I][/COLOR][/sub][sup][right][b]A Fresh Set of Eyes – 2.05[/b][/right][/sup][/indent][/color][sub][hr][/sub][INDENT][color=AF7AC5][sub][B]Interaction(s):[/B] [COLOR=white][I]None[/I][/COLOR][/sub][SUP][RIGHT][b]Previously:[/b] [COLOR=white][I][url=https://www.roleplayerguild.com/posts/5053537]2.04[/url][/I][/COLOR][/right][/SUP][/color][/INDENT]
[indent]The shadow thin around the park bench, grass drying, pond shallow and akin to muck, Betty sat up as a dark purple pickup rolled into the nearby parking lot. Aside from that, she was completely still and relaxed, even as the vehicle stopped, General Ross stepping out in a casual polo shirt and jeans, arm still cast in a sling. Keeping tabs on Betty, he went up the slight incline, already in sour states. [color=BE1C1C]“So [i]now[/i] you feel like talking? I can guess why but I don’t like it.”[/color]

[color=F1948A]“This isn’t about the drones. I know they didn’t come back,”[/color] Betty insisted. Ross was given pause, resting a few steps away and only just above her eye level, leaning on his leg against the incline, hand on his knee as he looked her in the eyes. [color=BE1C1C]“I’m not going to ask how you know about that. But I will say that if you think this misstep is going to convince me to stop then you don’t know me half as well as you should.”[/color]

Ross got back up, taking a seat on the bench, keeping his fair distance as Betty crossed her leg, gaze not deliberately going to him. [color=F1948A]“Just answer my questions so we can get back to what I’m sure we’d both rather be doing.”[/color] Ross’ mustache rustled with a tired breath. [color=BE1C1C]“We haven’t talked since the Hulk smashed through my base. This [i]is[/i] what I would rather be doing. I want to see that you’re alright.”[/color] Betty’s stern look didn’t abate, nor did she turn to Ross, the man huffing as he looked off himself, letting his vision become distracted with a plume of cloud thinning and drifting apart somewhere far off.

[color=F1948A]“His name is Bruce.”[/color] Betty finally stated. [color=F1948A]“But I’m not here for that. I want to know more about Brian Banner.”[/color] Ross was taken aback, leaning forward, eyes betraying how much he had expected the subject. [color=F1948A]“Both of Bruce’s transformations happened after the Diffuser accident, but the trigger seems to be the anger he’s always had issues with. He’s not good at controlling himself when he’s angry, and he doesn’t get angry a lot, so I didn’t notice at first.”[/color]

[color=BE1C1C]“And why [i]Brian[/i]?”[/color] Ross only had a second to take in Betty’s glare before she lashed out, striking him across the face. His eyes burned into hers, the warm day only getting hotter, much like his stinging cheek. Betty’s hand was trembling, her breath like a storm. [color=F1948A]“Don’t you fucking [b]dare[/b]. You knew [i]exactly[/i] what was going on in that house. [I]I[/i] knew.”[/color]

Turning away, a hand came to Betty’s mouth, clutched. Every surfacing memory gave her a pang of guilt, a twinge of shame, a punch in the gut for every bruise she saw and said nothing. She had been eight. It was just a fact of life, something that just happened and no one could do anything about it. But she wasn’t eight any more. She understood well what could have been, what needed to be done. But that didn’t explain or excuse the lack of action from those around her. Hands steady, Betty’s breath seethed as she turned back to Ross expectantly.

[color=BE1C1C]“You don’t look like you’ll hear me out, but fine. Their family was not my business. The only reason any of it is my business now is because [i]someone[/i] in that family turned my base into a playground. Don’t blame me for not getting involved in something they should have been able to sort out themselves.”[/color] Betty’s glare remained unbending, the woman’s anger blazing. Truth be told she couldn’t even speak. As she rose, her thoughts stumbled into one another. His complete dismissal of the Banner family dynamic and the power Brian must have had over it, the inequity and difficulty of those victimized by him to do anything about their circumstances, ones that left a person dead. And this man didn’t care one bit.

She wanted to storm away, but she hadn’t yet gotten what she wanted. Arms crossed, fingernails pinching her skin, she turned back, demanding, [color=F1948A]“I need to find out where Brian is.”[/color]

Ross scoffed. Leaning forward in his seat, he said, [color=BE1C1C]“So you can do what? Get him to un-fuck Bruce’s head? He’s not that kind of doctor.”[/color] Ross’ casual demeanor was only getting on Betty’s nerves even more. He didn’t care enough to even be angry. [color=F1948A]“Saving Bruce is the idea.”[/color]

Ross shook his head, leaning back, throwing his free arm over the back of the bench. [color=BE1C1C]“That’s not happening. Even if by some miracle you get to him before I do, he’s the poster child of what this nation is afraid of right now. A life in Blackgate would be lucky for him. An example needs to be made. Though maybe execution would be a wiser move. Don’t tell me you’ve never thought about how he’d be better off [b]dead[/b].”[/color]

Betty’s mind flashed to images of herself getting him in the head, crushing his nose with her heel. Her arms twitched, as if to throw the first thing that came to them. Holding herself back, her palpable frustration almost became tears, but once she felt them welling up, she blinked them back. Keeping her eyes closed tight, inky blackness took over, the faintest of light getting through showing blobs of green. With a deep breath, she asked, [color=F1948A]“Is that want you want? To piss me off?.”[/color] She couldn't keep her voice from quavering, revealing her true self, but she could step back, Betty kept away from the playing field where she would have fallen in her lack of experience, unable to match the fervor of a man who’s shouting had resulted in the oldest memory she could recall.

Ross sighed, pulling his arm off the back of the bench. [color=BE1C1C]“I’m trying to protect you while you’re trying to kiss up to a monster!”[/color] Ross spat [color=BE1C1C]“He sneezed off the Diffuser, broke my arm without even trying, and a drone strike only slowed him down. And to shoot down your stupid theory, he’s transformed randomly in the desert, we’ve been watching him. What do you think he’s getting mad about out there? Huh?”[/color]

Betty was given pause, but she refused to give ground, [color=F1948A]“I’ll ask him myself, before or after I see Brian, whichever comes first, with our without your help.”[/color] Betty turned off, making her way. Ross was taken aback, standing from his spot. [color=BE1C1C]“Don’t you run away from me! We’re not done here!”[/color]

Betty didn’t stop. Ross bared his teeth, swearing before shouting back, [color=BE1C1C]“Just because you made it away from the monster once doesn’t mean it’ll happen again!”[/color] Betty didn’t stop, her words just barely audible to her father, eyes straight forward. [color=F1948A]“I don’t plan on seeing the monster again in the first place.”[/color] As she drove off, Ross had very well seen that she hadn't looked back at him even once, and very much feared he wouldn't see her again.[/indent]