Hello all- time for another Bruce and Nat fic. No romance here, sorry.
This is a DRD fic- Danger Room Duplicate. If you aren't familiar with the X-Men, think of it as a giant living obstacle course. If this fic goes well I want to write a bunch of DRD stuff, little ficlets of the team training with each other, various genres ranging from humor to hurt/comfort. So if you like this, or have any suggestions or feedback, or even if you hate it please review!
P.S. this is prompt #105 "flag"
"Are you ready?" She asked softly. She stared into the eyes of Bruce Banner, one of two geniuses unofficially recruited by SHIELD and the world's only Hulk (as far as any of them knew, at least). She still has to steady her mind when she thought of the pure power that he had hidden away inside. Enough power to kill them all.
They stood opposite each other in the DRD, the training room Fury had installed specifically for the Avengers team to train. It was day three of Hulk training- their experimental attempts to get the other guy adapted to the team. Easier said than done. True, after their first battle in NYC the Hulk didn't attack his team members when Bruce let him out willingly. The problem was getting him in a situation where it was willingly. Even the slightest hesitation meant the big guy would be slightly more pissed than usual. And even in the best of moods he didn't get along with Thor- nor Fury, nor Agent Hill, nor most other SHIELD agents. Not to mention that, should Bruce completely lose it and Hulk out on a mission he was just playing scientist, the Hulk didn't much listen to anyone and would destroy everything in sight. He still didn't attack them directly (except for Thor, but the god could take the direct damage like the rest of them couldn't, so it wasn't a priority), but a a few of them had gotten in the way and become collateral damage. Natasha and Clint where the most vulnerable, without any iron armor suits or supersoldier invulnerability, and so they were the first he'd be training with. That and they were more available than the others, who were out doing who knows what most of the time.
So here Natasha stood, two feet away from the time-bomb Bruce Banner. Day three. Third time was a charm, right? That's what they said anyway. She wasn't complaining at all; while it did feel like busywork at times, she was a secretly pleased with the plan. It had been a long while since she'd been on a mission that didn't involve espionage, brutality, or death. She was actually helping someone, and better still that someone was a friend. It was the first time in years she not only lacked guilt or regrets but was happy with a mission she was on. And so she took on the work gladly.
He looked sheepish, scared. This wasn't unusual. The first two days he'd been scared, and it had led to not quite disastrous but not quite successful Hulk trainings. Nobody had been seriously hurt. But they'd decided Clint was to step back for a few days and let Natasha do some one-on-one. Today Clint was currently in the observation room with a few techie agents, watching the action and probably messing with a few of the buttons that controlled the obstacle course. Natasha thought if anyone should do one-on-one training with the Hulk it was Tony, but it wasn't her call (at least for now).
She put a hand on his shoulder. Comforting. A gesture of friendship. "Just take your time. It's just us, we're friends."
"Friends, right. That's what makes this so hard."
"You did it the first two times, you can do it this time."
"As you may recall, those first few times didn't turn out ideally." He was reminded then of their first meeting in India, with the two of them alone (seemingly) in one room and her asking of him a favor he didn't particularly want to give. But, he reminded himself, this was for everyone else as much as it was for him. He needed to do this. "It's different," he explains to her, "when there's something to be angry at."
Natasha looked around the room. It was huge, maybe a quarter of a mile in all directions, a nifty sphere shape. They were using only the central portion. Only 200 feet around, but a good 400 feet up, and thanks to the DRD technology an ever-changing vertical obstacle course of platforms, bars, ropes, mini-turrets, trap doors, hoops, stairs, and walls, with four large red flags at the very top. The goal of this program was to get to the top, get the flags, and get down again.
"What about those flags?" The voice came through Nat's earpiece- Clint from the observation room. "Get angry at them."
Natasha relayed the suggestion to Bruce. They both looked up at them, seemingly small swaths of bright red fabric sitting motionless above them. Bruce considered. It wasn't a threat, but it was a target. It might work. He took a deep breath and looked back at her, nodding. "Okay, let's get this over with."
Natasha took a few steps back and watched, patiently. He stared up at the red flags, focused as hard as he could on them. It took a few minutes of him staring at the flags, closing his eyes, breathing deeply, opening his eyes and staring again.
She watched as he changed. It started with shaking. They hadn't gotten a smooth transformation from him since the battle; he wasn't used to inducing his green rage monster during non-threatening situations. She wondered how painful it was- didn't really want to ask him. But it was better than last time. He only had time to tense his hands into fists once before he was green around the edges, still tense and shaking but better. Improvement. Someday they'd find a solution to his clothes-tearing problem. The first day had ended awkwardly after some slight pants-ripping that the Hulk didn't much seem to care about, though fortunately Bruce was used to waking up naked in strange places so it didn't bother him either. Thanks to some science-bros team up Tony and Bruce made some weirdly growth-resistant jeans-like pants, which, on this their second test run, only tore slightly along his calves and thighs. Also an improvement, Natasha noted.
Mr. Muscles appeared before her eyes, Bruce's stance shifting to wide-legged, arms spread, slightly hunched. Lower center of gravity. With a roar he leapt from the ground and grabbed a wall, grabbed the bar above, swung upward.
"Go time," Clint said with a little glee. Natasha darted forward. Time for action, before he left her in the dust.
A mini turret popped up and fired at Bruce from the level above him. Perfect, thought Natasha, a distraction. Then the panel below her began to sink quickly. She bolted forward, grabbed a bar just above head level and using it to swing herself up to a small alcove.
The Hulk tried to jump up to the turret peppering him with bullets but the floor below him gave way. He grabbed on to the wall, holding on to the flat surface by gripping the corner with insane strength. He let out a roar of frustration and flung a hand upwards, grabbing the top of the ledge where the turret was.
A set of bars separated Natasha from the Hulk. She took a deep breath in and ran for them, lightly lightly lightly she chanted inwardly as her feet sped across the metal bars. No stopping on them. Then the bars started pulling back into the wall at alarming speed and she was forced to grab on to a nylon rope to her right to avoid falling. It worked in her favor however, as the rope started to rise and bring her closer to Bruce.
He'd pulled himself up to the ledge; the turret disappeared back under a panel and another popped up about ten feet away, shooting him again. It only seemed to annoy him. He lept at it and smashed; she was taken back to see he actually got it, bent its casing around the barrel and then ripped it out of the floor. She let go of the rope, falling gracefully to the panel behind him. Then the first turret sprang back up again and fired at her. A couple of the small plastic beads his her in the thigh before she threw herself aside- she was wearing her usual work catsuit so they didn't pierce the fabric, though she had to stifle a cry of 'fucking bitch!'. She threw herself behind the closest cover, which was the Hulk. The spray of bullets followed her, hitting him in the side.
"You okay there Nat?" Clint asked through the comm. He wasn't worried about her injury so much as asking about the state of the mission.
"More worried about those turrets." She told him. The Hulk turned, furious, and swung one huge fist at the turret that had shot at them. Hit it dead-on, smashing the metal like it was paper. He grabbed the thing and tore it out of the ground, then ripped in in half, crunching plastic and metal and ceramic pieces.
The turrets were unsurprisingly vulnerable to his brute strength. They'd been designed to be avoided and dodged, not eliminated. Tony and Fury were probably going to have a fit when they saw all the smashed pieces; that whole panel was done for. Natasha needed to focus him on the mission, or he'd probably just destroy all the turrets that popped up. She needed a plan. It only took her a moment to assess the situation and find one.
She ran to the Hulk as he hurled one half of the turret as hard as he could over the edge, yelling at it as it went. She fought her instincts and got as close as possible to him before yelling, "Bruce!"
The Hulk turned, still holding the other part of the turret, just as she jumped forward. With a silent prayer she grabbed on to the only handle-like thing on the beast, his belt loop.
He raised his arms up and roared again, but before he could get a word (or roar) in edge-wise she yelled "Bruce, the flags! Smash the flags!" and pointed upwards. He looked up, remembering instantly, and he immediately launched himself into the air in attack. Unprepared for the force of his jump Nat's feet slid down and she held on to the belt loop for dear life as they flew through the air.
"Bold move Nat." Clint sounded impressed and she imagined what they must look like flying through the air, her holding on like she'd lassoed a comet.
The Hulk landed on a ledge much higher above them and she tried to recover before he jumped again, getting both hands secure in the loop and putting her feet on his thighs- it was like riding the Chitauri hover-thing, only much more turbulent. Her weight didn't seem to throw him off, though she had to constantly adjust to his movements so as to not get in the way and not get smashed.
"Having fun?" Clint asked.
"Oh yeah, you should and try this," Natasha said between breaths, and Clint laughed back through the comm.
"Don't get too cozy, cowgirl." She could see his smirk in her mind and he could probably see her stubborn smile in his.
Several panels started closing in above them and to her horror Bruce didn't stop, but used one foot to push himself off a wall and angle right towards them. With a deafening crash he flew through them, sending chunks of metal and a large hinge flying. Natasha winced as part of the panel whacked her in the side and all she could do was brace herself against the Hulk, trying to stay beneath his arm for cover. That would leave a nasty bruise she thought. No serious harm done, though.
They were close, so much closer thanks to his incredible jumping abilities. It was easy to forget how fast the big guy could move. She could see the flags now, maybe seventy feet above them, billowing slightly. She could also see a framework of bars and metal grates, moving slowly back and forth. She itched to jump from the Hulk's side and leap through them, putting her agility skills to work, but he'd be smashing through it anyway, and that would be faster. He was about to do so, she could feel him tensing up and change stance, but at the last second a turret popped up to their left. It was tiny, a baby turret, and the way it spat little plastic bullets at them was almost adorable. The Hulk roared, redirecting his body towards the thing. It popped back down just in time, while three more popped up some five feet away on lower levels. They were drawing them back down, away from the flags. She could almost feel Clint watching them with a big smile on his face from the giant windows, moving all the turrets in the obstacle course to their location, luring them downwards. And the big guy was taking the bait. He jumped down further, a landing that jarred Nat and almost made her lose grip on the belt loop. She wouldn't be able to last many more downward landings. But he was just gonna keep following the turrets- he wanted to take them out. Damn it.
He grabbed on turret and threw it at another, both too large to doge him effectively. Another two popped up even further below.
Nat wasted no time. She grabbed a pistol from her hip and took aim, one-handed, steadying herself with her feet pressed against his leg. She shot- BAM BAM- right in the barrels, bursting the tops off.
"That's cheating." Clint said a little indingantly.
She shot another turret that popped up before it even had a chance to fire. The panels would flip open and BAM- flip- BAM- flip BAM, she took out three more before Clint gave up and stopped sending them over.
"Flags!" She reminded Bruce.
"FLAGS" he said back with a voice that baritone and her so close it shook her. Then he jumped up again and they were sailing through the air until, with a crash, he hit grate. She re-holstered her weapon before she lost it or lost her grip. Hulk held on with hands and feet and they hung upside down, observing the mass of moving panels and bars and walls around them. Clint had apparently kicked it into overdrive. Then the panel they were on started lowering, taking them back down. The Hulk flipped them over on the other side of the grate, then grabbed a bar going upwards. He hung monkey-like and Natasha clung to him, switching hands to give her left one a rest. Several more bars came at them and using surprising dexterity the Hulk dodged them, weaving between and over while still moving upwards. Natasha bounced along at his side, trying to keep her breath as she was jostled and bumped. This plan was going to need some smoothing out.
A panel came at them from the side and the Hulk used one arm to push it sideways. But then from above a panel flipped open again and that tiny little baby turret sprang up. It made a clicking sound as it switched aim from the green guy to Natasha and spat out bullets directly at her, taking advantage of her lack of cover from Bruce's limbs. She covered her head with one arm but the bullets stung into her side, stung her neck, stung her ears, until they trailed all the way up to her hands. She cursed and let go of the belt loop in a flurry of motion and pain- she knew from experience her unprotected hands would have bleeding welts after this. She reached out for a bar next to her that swung out of the way at the last second, and was falling into open space, nothing close by to reach her. In that horrible moment of perfect clarity she could see the Hulk above her, smashing that baby turret into tiny pieces, all of the bars and panels around her moving away and out of her grasp, and she thought, Damn it Clint!
But then she wasn't falling, she was being squeezed tight in a giant hand and she was being lifted, upwards again. Bruce had caught her- she was constantly underestimating his speed- and held her tight in one fist as he climbed. Back towards the flags.
Natasha's arms were pinned to her sides and she was still facing down, but from the reward view she had she could see they were making tremendous progress. Even with one arm the Hulk jumped, caught, landed, and smashed just as well as with two, and though it wasn't a smooth ride they were going with fantastic speed. She kept waiting for turret fire or a panel to come crashing down over them, or perhaps from below and hit her in the face. But they were over the top now, at the summit, on that final unmoving panel and surrounded by red. The flags stood in their holders, metal posts supporting rectangles of fabric 5 by 11 feet. Bruce put her down none to gently and she heaved in a deep breath. He proceeded to grab a flag, smash the pole several times with his hands, tear up the fabric, and hurl it over the edge. Then he moved to the next one. Natasha stayed on the ground, breathing deeply. She was suddenly very aware of how sweaty she was.
Holding one hand in the air in accomplishment she looked over at the big guy. "We make a good team, partner."
He stomped over and looked down at her. He didn't seem any less grumpy and for a moment she wondered if he understood. Then he reached out with his own hand, almost as big as her entire body, and touched hers as gently as he could in a sort of high-five. She grinned.
Clint's voice came over the comm again. "Well Nat, you really outdid yourself."
She took her earpiece out and put it up to her lips. "Mission accomplished you bastard" she breathed into it, then flung the earpiece the same way as the flags. Watching it fall over the edge she was overtaken with a strong feeling of triumph and satisfaction. She looked over at Bruce, destroying another flag, and couldn't contain herself. She took a deep breath in and yelled as loud as she could- "VICTORAAAAAAAAAAAYY!" A second later her voice was completely drowned out as the Hulk joined her, smashing his fists into the floor in excitement. She kept bellowing though, picking herself up and aiming her view towards the giant windows of the observation deck.
-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-l-
Clint watched from the observation room as the two yelled their triumph to the heavens with a big grin on his face. The stone cold assassin and the giant green rage monster, doing a victory dance (or victory smash he should say) on the summit of the obstacle course. He turned to Maria Hill, standing next to him and trying her best to fight back a smile.
With a grin he said to her, "You go report to Fury now. This team training thing? Tell him it's working out- way better than we expected."
She gave a curt nod and went to the door. Without turning back she said, "Hope you're right- it's your turn next. And we'll be letting Tony mess with the controls."