[ There's a pause, a silence almost as tense as Bruce's shoulders, his lips pressed into a thin line. One would think he's trying to come up with a way to put his thoughts to words, but no, he's just trying to do it with an even and detached voice.
He manages, to some degree. ]
During their little... vendetta, against you or the Avengers or whatever, they joined Ultron's cause. Misled, so I've been told, which I'm not disinclined to believe. But the point is, they first came at us while we were trying to stop Ultron and undo the mess we did. The girl... [ The last syllable dissolves into a heaved sigh, slipping beyond the grasp of his control. He reins it back in and swallows it down, grits his teeth, goes on. ]
She got into my head. She wanted the other guy, and she managed to drag him out. Maybe in her delusional mind she thought her powers would be enough to control him, or maybe she just wanted to pitch us against each other so we'd be too busy fighting amongst ourselves to stop Ultron, but the point is he went on a rampage through Johannesburg. Because of her.
[ And yes, he blames himself, will blame himself, would have blamed himself nonetheless, but that doesn't erase her blame in all of it. Nor does it that she thought she was doing something good by trying to stop the Avengers, because the innocent lives who were in Johannesburg, the people who ran and screamed and died crushed beneath the debris of the Hulk's destruction, they had nothing to do with that. There's no excuse for what happened to them. ]
I haven't— haven't lived through it, just for the record. She told me all of this. Steve too. They told me all about what she did to me, in what I assume was some attempt at an apology or repentance on her part. [ He smiles bitterly, glancing at Tony too briefly to even make eye contact. ] Because that makes it all okay, right?
no subject
He manages, to some degree. ]
During their little... vendetta, against you or the Avengers or whatever, they joined Ultron's cause. Misled, so I've been told, which I'm not disinclined to believe. But the point is, they first came at us while we were trying to stop Ultron and undo the mess we did. The girl... [ The last syllable dissolves into a heaved sigh, slipping beyond the grasp of his control. He reins it back in and swallows it down, grits his teeth, goes on. ]
She got into my head. She wanted the other guy, and she managed to drag him out. Maybe in her delusional mind she thought her powers would be enough to control him, or maybe she just wanted to pitch us against each other so we'd be too busy fighting amongst ourselves to stop Ultron, but the point is he went on a rampage through Johannesburg. Because of her.
[ And yes, he blames himself, will blame himself, would have blamed himself nonetheless, but that doesn't erase her blame in all of it. Nor does it that she thought she was doing something good by trying to stop the Avengers, because the innocent lives who were in Johannesburg, the people who ran and screamed and died crushed beneath the debris of the Hulk's destruction, they had nothing to do with that. There's no excuse for what happened to them. ]
I haven't— haven't lived through it, just for the record. She told me all of this. Steve too. They told me all about what she did to me, in what I assume was some attempt at an apology or repentance on her part. [ He smiles bitterly, glancing at Tony too briefly to even make eye contact. ] Because that makes it all okay, right?