Barton And Banner Get Trapped In An Elevator

… …

It had been a few weeks since Alaska, but things didn't appear to be getting any better.

Natasha wasn't there for the argument, but she remembered how furious Clint had been when she stumbled across him after it. Red-faced Clint was cursing and rambling, switching from language to language as he grumbled about Bruce.

Barton had been in the hospital recovering from Alaska for a week and Bruce never came to see him. Not when he nearly lost his mind to the fever that plagued him, not after he woke from his second surgery on his leg. Not when he was told he would need several more surgeries before he'd be able to use his leg properly again.

Sure part of that, Natasha realized, was her fault. She hadn't exactly been warm towards the doctor upon their return. In the redhead's mind she knew that Bruce was not to blame for her partner's condition, but she still wasn't overly thrilled about what happened.

Still her love for the doctor dropped further when Clint calmed down enough to explain.

Once he was freed from the infirmary, Clint went to go visit his green-blooded friend. Apparently he found Bruce packed and ready to leave the Avengers forever.

They got into a huge fight. From what Clint told her the agent accused Bruce of being a coward and some other nasty things. He didn't go into much detail beside that, but it was clear that both sides had said some pretty unforgivable things.

Bruce never left, but the two friends were distant. When Clint walked into a room already occupied by Bruce he turned and walked away. Mostly Barton spent his time in the range, despite the fact the doctors told him to avoid straining his leg. Clint's response to her concern was, "I'm not running, I'm standing. They told me I could stand."

One of the worst parts about the ordeal was Clint's nightmares about Loki were back with a vengeance. She would never be sure, but she believed Bruce had said something to trigger it. Natasha did know Bruce once told Clint that he understood what it was like to be out of control and somehow that had helped. Now that comfort seemed to be gone.

After a few nights of waking up with a silent scream and covered in cold sweat Clint had given up sleeping. He'd also stopped taking his pain meds, saying they made his brain fuzzy.

This was the last straw.

Tony had been monitoring Bruce and came up with the same solution. Get the two together and have them work it out.

So here Natasha was with Stark in a room filled with monitors watching as Clint and Bruce stood awkwardly in an elevator in the Avengers tower. Both stood as far away from one another as possible, clearly waiting impatiently for their respective floors to come.

"Do it." Natasha said confidently. The plan was a simple one, lock the two together and hope that they work things out. And that the Hulk doesn't decide to pop in for a visit.

… …

Bruce counted down the floors until he could leave the tiny metal cage. He stood as far away from Clint as physically possible without touching the wall. He hated small spaces at the best of times, the other guy had made him claustrophobic and the elevator seemed especially cramped despite it being large enough to hold several more people. He resolutely stared ahead, not even acknowledging Clint.

He had made up his mind to simply cut the archer out after their argument. He did feel guilty about the things he had said. He always felt guilty; one more thing wasn't going to make a difference to the overwhelming sack he had strapped to his shoulders.

The elevator, like time, appeared to have slowed down to make him even more uncomfortable.

He wasn't going to apologise, if Clint wasn't close enough to get hurt then in a way that was better.

He nearly lost his balance when the elevator shuddered violently to a stop. As far as he could tell they weren't on a floor but stuck somewhere in between.

"Jarvis, what's wrong with the elevator?" Being in an elevator was more stressful than taking the stairs. Being stuck in an elevator was as bad as going on the subway.

… …

There were certain reasons why someone with Clint's natural born skill lost his balance when the elevator suddenly stopped. Mostly it was because of the sleep deprivation and the pain that shot through his leg when Barton shifted his weight. Without a sound he gripped the railing to keep himself from falling down, but he did fall into the side of the elevator rather spectacularly.

As soon as he could think of anything besides the pain again he heard Bruce say something to Jarvis only for the lights and over all electricity in the elevator car to go out.

Blinking Clint realized they were completely blind in the small space and all communications with Jarvis were gone. Without a word the archer pulled out his cell phone and used its light to break the darkness that had swallowed them whole. He didn't look at Bruce, refused to intact. Didn't ask if he was okay or not. It wasn't like Bruce had inquired about him either. The guy made it clear that the only personality that liked Clint was the Hulk.

The pain in his leg was manageable now, but his heart sank when he saw his phone had no signal. "Damn." He cursed out loud for the first time. He kept his phone on, switching the settings to keep the small car illuminated. He wasn't a fan of not being able to see, and he knew for a fact that Bruce wasn't a fan of being closed in.

This was going to suck.

… …

Bruce froze as the lights went out. He swore under his breath at the same time Clint did. There was something wrong here. Things didn't randomly stop working for no reason in Stark Tower. The only thing he could think of was that the arc reactor had crashed like it had been predicted to. Of course Tony's stuff didn't do what was predicted but maybe for once it may have.

"It'll be the arc reactor," he said out loud. The last thing he wanted was a twitchy Clint on his guard ready to strike out at anything. A prickly assassin was not a pleasant companion when he's pissed off at you. Bruce didn't bother to carry on the explanation of what had probably happened it wasn't as if Clint would understand. Instead he began to count the tiles on the floor just for something to do until Tony got his tower sorted.

… …

Clint didn't respond to Bruce, he'd already reached that conclusion himself. He may not have gone to a fancy college or university, but he had been taught by some of the brightest minds at SHIELD.

They didn't speak for an hour. Clint finally sat down to rest his leg in the far corner, staring up at the emergency door on the ceiling. Finally, wordlessly he stood directly under it. Debating silently how much pain it would cause him to try and climb the hell out of this...well hell.

Pain he could take, this was torture.

Supporting himself on his bad leg he lifted his good one onto the rail with a wince and started to pull himself up. Gently he raised his hands to the ceiling and pushed up. The emergency door didn't move. It was like it was sealed shut. "Oh you've got to be..." His voice trailed off as he threw a fist against the cold surface and let out a frustrated sigh.

With nothing else he could do Barton slowly lowered himself back down to the ground, and then back down to the floor. Unconsciously he rubbed at his leg, trying to relieve some of the pain he had needlessly created.

Stark better fix this fast, Clint wasn't sure how much he could take.

… …

Bruce watched Clint as he tried to open the escape hatch and failed. Another odd thing to add to the growing list. He saw Clint sit down, massaging his leg and looked away. The archer wouldn't want his sympathy.

It was Bruce's fault Clint had been shot. His fault that the agent couldn't get back into the field. His fault that Clint was angry with him.

Bruce couldn't really be angry with Clint when it, as always, was his fault but he had no way of taking back the things he had said. Clint had hurt him and he had lashed out in retaliation with the things he knew would hurt the archer the most. There was nothing he could think of to say that would tell Clint he was sorry without the archer taking it badly. Nothing he could do.

Except there was. Reaching into his pocket Bruce took out a nearly empty packet of painkillers. Working with Tony often gave them both headaches from screens and the fact that neither of them remembered to go to bed for long enough. He was a doctor and seeing people, even people who were currently angry with him, in pain was not something he let pass by.

He tossed the painkillers at Clint without a word.

… …

Clint caught the pill bottle with a little less ease then normal and glanced at the name, he deduced rather quickly that it was for pain and only hesitated slightly before popping off the cap and downing two of the pills dryly. "Thanks." he offered to the doctor without looking up. He was upset, and hurt, and didn't want to deal with it. What he wanted to do was get out of the stupid elevator and go back to avoiding Bruce for the rest of his life.

Although he did have a question.

When last he saw the doctor, Banner was packed and ready to leave the Avengers forever and go live like a hermit somewhere. Avoiding people and being useless out in some jungle somewhere. At least before SHIELD asked the doctor to save the world against Loki Bruce had been working as a doctor, trying to make up for the Hulk. Now the man wanted to be a coward and avoid people all together.

Yet he was still here.

"So, you're still here." Clint commented evenly, his voice sounding bored as he rubbed his leg. The pain pills needed time to kick in. His next surgery was scheduled for the coming weekend. He wasn't exactly looking forward to it. But the doctors ware optimistic that he'd be able to walk without a limp after it, and the pain would die down drastically. Recovery time was a week tops, so things were sort of looking up.

… …

Bruce wished that Clint could have just taken the pills and kept up the silence. He didn't want to face him, he didn't know how. Bruce wasn't the sort of person who faced things; he ran away and played them over in his mind until they drove him mad.

But he didn't have a choice.

"I ran into Tony." Bruce knew exactly what that sounded like. He hadn't meant to say that Clint wasn't enough to make him stay but Tony was yet it was true. He had only brought Clint trouble and that was what made him want to leave but Tony's face when he saw him lit up after the Hulk saved his life. Technically the other guy had saved Clint's life too but only after he had put him in a potentially deadly situation. Then again he decided that he didn't care, going back to his earlier logic that it was better if Clint hated him.

"Like you said, I'm just a coward who can only run if no one's watching." He hoped that he had managed to shut Clint up for the rest of their stay in the elevator. For once he would have preferred his red-haired partner who at least could be relied on to remain silent and not risk getting him angry. That was what he was afraid of: Clint making him angry. He had come close during their argument and he had bolted out of the room straight into Tony.

This time he couldn't leave.

… …

Those four words cut into the archer's heart. It would have been kinder if Bruce took a knife to Clint's back. So he hadn't been enough. Somehow the annoying billionaire had managed to say something more profound. Maybe that wasn't too farfetched. Clint was an assassin, not a social butterfly.

Coulson had understood him, or at least Clint thought he did. Natasha and he had the same background, so they understood how one another worked.

Suddenly Clint was angry with Natasha, this was her fault. He had been happy alone. It had been a mistake to try and branch out. People only turned on you in the end. Clint had a lifetime of experience to prove that to be true. First his father, then his brother, then the Swordsman, finally Trickshot. His track record for trusting people was pretty terrible.

Coulson had been the first to prove he wasn't terrible picking friends, but he was dead now.

Natasha hadn't ever let him down, at least not yet.

Banner could have simply left it at that, but he continued. Honestly Clint never imagined the man to be cruel before, like when they were at the bar. Now he was seeing a new side of the doctor.

"You can't run away from your problems. They're like a shadow that follows you around." He didn't look up as he spoke; his voice was emotionless, quiet. "One day they'll swallow you whole, unless you stand your ground and fight. Even if you lose, at least you can say you tried."

He didn't sigh like he wanted to. He felt like running, but he was trapped.

… …

Bruce sighed when Clint answered; he really had hoped that the man would just leave it. He supposed he could ignore the archer and wait out the rest of their sentence in silence. Then again, he could see how much his words had hurt the archer. No, Clint hadn't been enough to make him stay; he had been more than enough to make him need to leave.

He had been right, he couldn't get close to people, not in any way, shape or form.

"You think I didn't try?" he was hurt that Clint thought he had always been a coward. It was true that he had given up long ago but that didn't mean he hadn't started out fighting.

He had fought his father at first, he had hit back but that had landed him in hospital. He had screamed and punched and what had that done? It had given him six feet of tilled earth to cry over.

He had fought the other guy, he still did every time but it never did any good.

Bruce had fought and he had lost, there was nothing in saying he had tried because trying, in the real world and not the morally high one Clint seemed to think existed, was not enough.

… …

"Who said I was talking about you?" Clint raised his eyes suddenly. "I've tried to avoid you. That hasn't worked. We're a liability to this team." His words were true, he'd been thinking about this for a while. Bruce wasn't a liability; he wasn't injured and had a big green Hulk to watch his back. Clint wasn't special, so he had good aim, big freaking deal.

"I'm a liability," he clarified. "As long as I'm a part of the Avengers you will be on edge. Because I'm human."

They were both thinking it, of course. Bruce was worried he'd hurt him, he already did. Physical wounds heal, psychological ones tended to be buried under the surface.

"I'll resign, if that makes it easier for you. I've never been a team player anyway. I'm a killer, not a hero. I'm sure Fury will find a place for me back at SHIELD."

It would be awesome if the lights turn on now, but Clint knew he wouldn't be that lucky.

… …

"You're human," he repeated quietly. That hurt. Clint was human and Bruce wasn't, not anymore. "You're human, Natasha's human, Tony's human, the whole of New York are only human. Where does it stop? You can't move everyone out of the way in case they get hurt. You don't move towns because a predator is nearby; you go out and hunt the beast." He stopped, careful not to get angry.

Clint had made the difference very clear.

None of them were heroes but now apparently Bruce didn't even count as a human being, not that many people ever treated him as such now. How long until Fury realised that the other guy couldn't be controlled and decided that the scientists made redundant by the Tesseract's removal could be put to use designing a way to kill him? How long until someone else put him in a cage like the animal he was?

Bruce sighed. Why, out of everyone in the tower, did he have to be stuck with Clint?

… …

"Wow." Clint deadpanned. "Way to twist my words. Again."

Clearly anything he said would be taking in opposite meaning, the archer realized. Perhaps he had been quick to befriend Bruce, too quick. He wasn't even sure why he liked the scientist anymore. He was moody (which was the understatement of the year), depressing (and Clint was depressing enough on his own) and twisted every positive word to a negative meaning.

Here Clint had tried to offer the man an easy way out of their predicament and now Bruce was talking about the humans hunting the beast down. God, how self-centred did a man have to be.

"You make everything about you. For once we're talking about me." Clint snapped, forcing himself to stand despite the pain radiating in his leg. "You can do whatever you damn well please. Once I get out of this fucking elevator, I'll be out of your hair forever."

With a heated glare Clint added. "We've only been stuck in here a little over an hour and I can tell you one thing, I'd rather be stuck with Hulk. At least he likes me."

… …

Bruce snapped back before he could stop himself.

"Well you're definitely going in the right direction for a meeting." He stopped and tried to calm himself down. Maybe Hulk did like Clint and the archer would prefer his company but the elevator couldn't take it.

Whatever he said now would only make things worse. He couldn't say he was sorry because there was no way he could bring himself to even seem like he was asking Clint's forgiveness.

There was one other thing that tickled the back of his mind. It was incredibly stuffy in the small metal cage and he wondered if it was airtight. With a sinking feeling he realised that it probably was. This was Tony's creation after all and there would be no gaps anywhere.

"Uh, Clint, we may have trouble breathing soon," he said quietly. "This thing is airtight."

… …

Clint sighed, he had guessed that himself not long ago. He hoped Tony and whoever his partner in crime was that had set this up, and Clint's money was on Natasha, would let them out before they ran out of air.

Tony Stark's machines didn't break down. And if they did, he fixed them faster than the elevator was being fixed.

Not to mention there were cell amplifiers all throughout the tower, Clint's cell phone should work even without the power.

"Alright, I've been in here long enough." It might hurt like a son of a bitch, but the end result would be worth it. Carefully Clint stepped back and pulled out one of the larger knives on his person and climbed back up on the railing to get to the emergency hatch. None too gently he shoved the thin blade into the gap and started to work the thing free.

Of course it was in that moment that the elevator lights powered on and the car started moving sending Clint to the ground, the knife embedding itself inches from Clint's head. With a grunt Clint glanced at the blade and started laughing hysterically before standing and pressing the next floor number to be free of Bruce and the elevator.

When the elevator doors parted Clint stepped forward and looked back. "Look, Bruce. I'm sorry." The archer offered his voice sincere. "I'm sorry for whatever I did in Alaska, I'm sorry for trying to stop you from leaving. I had no right; I hope someday you'll be able to forgive me. I also hope that someday you will realize that you are important, not just the Hulk."

That said Clint turned and walked down the hallway towards his room.

Back in the control room Natasha breathed a sigh of relief to see Clint walk out of the elevator in one piece, she hadn't been thrilled with Tony when the video feed was cut off. Her heat sank when she noticed the two Avengers were still not buddy buddy. "I don't think our plan worked." She told Tony with only a hint of emotion in her voice.

… …

Tony wondered if pointing out the blindingly obvious was a SHIELD requirement. Then again, the Cap did it all the time and he had been around before SHIELD.

Their plan hadn't worked; it seemed that the rift between the archer and the doctor was wider than they thought. Time for plan B.

"Well, we could lock them in a fridge," he said with a grin. "Then they'd have to get close to keep warm." Of course he saw the immediate problem with putting them in another cold situation. He didn't have an industrial oven to thaw out their attitudes either.

"Maybe not, then. Uh, wait! Jarvis don't let Doctor Banner leave the building, lock the doors if necessary." Just as a precaution, he knew what Bruce was like. He turned back to the screen.

Bruce stared after Clint, debating whether to run after him and apologise or not. He did forgive Clint; the archer had done nothing wrong except lash out when he was hurt. It took him about ten seconds to cross the space Clint had limped and stop next to him.

"You didn't do anything. I was angry and hurt by some of the things you said only because they were true. If you hadn't been there I would have left, Tony only added to the guilt I felt about leaving. I'm sorry for everything I've put you through." He stopped, awkwardly and turned to leave. How Clint would react, he didn't really know.

… …