Ch 8. As in Clint goes: drama~, Tony goes: drama~ and Bruce is all: YOGA!

Clint was in a daze when the pizza was delivered shortly after Tony left. He over-paid a bit and put the pizza on the kitchen counter. He then he grabbed himself a beer and sat down with his back against the couch.

He had barely touched his beer by the time Bruce came in through the front door.

"Clint…?" Bruce hit the light switch in the living room, spotting the blonde where he sat on the floor, dangling the beer in his hands. Bruce glanced over at the kitchen and saw the unopened pizza.

"Hey, what's up?" Bruce lowered his own bag that was filled with books and notes. Clint took a sip of his beer, the bitter taste settling him a little.

"Had a fight with Tony" Clint said, his voice like rust. He felt like he had swallowed glass and now said glass was tearing his stomach to shreds. A fight. It was close enough to the truth and Clint didn't want another friend leaving him because of that shitty life-stain called S.H.I.E.L.D.

"Oh, I'm sorry..." The brunette replied, returning to his usual nervous-calm.

"What? No man, not your fault. This one is all on me, for keeping serious secrets from my best friend." Clint hated that tone in Bruce's voice; he'd go to stupid lengths to change it back into the easy tune that they normally shared.

Bruce sat down on the couch, not saying anything. The silence wasn't uncomfortable, and that at least meant Bruce accepted that it wasn't his fault.

Clint released a breath he didn't know he was holding. "I should have known better. I should have told Tony." He spluttered out suddenly, choking on his own voice a bit.

"This has to do with what Tony prodded about the other day, doesn't it?"

You can be sure that higher intellectual beings like Stark and Banner were quick on the uptake.

"Yeah… I kind of...got into some shady business…life-threatening situations and the like." Clint realized it was hard describing the agent work when you couldn't say what it was. It sounded like he worked the black market or was in drug dealing.

"S.H.I.E.L.D isn't actually a field trip, no." Bruce said casually. Clint tensed up instantly and was on his feet before his head caught up with him, staring wide eyed at Bruce, mouth slightly open.

"Loki informed me, so I asked him to look into what position you had. Sorry..." Bruce truly did look apologetic. Clint could only manage to open and close his mouth.

"I thought someone was onto me or something like that, I'm really sorry I went behind your back, but having been on a run of sorts you can never be too careful." Clint flopped onto the couch next to Bruce.

"You…you don't mind? It's not like I'm an active agent or anything!" Clint hurriedly added, Bruce looked over at him.

"I know. Checked the file, remember? They want you back though..." Clint just gritted his teeth in response.

"And no, I don't mind, you're not after my hide or anything."

"Why would I be?" Clint arched an eyebrow. Bruce went quiet, staring into the black television in front of them.

"Uh it's okay if you don't-"

"Some years ago I had a lab project that went to hell, in my case anyway."

"The military project…?" the blonde asked quietly.

Bruce nodded. "I was overly exposed to radiation, the DNA altering type."

"Gamma rays." Clint clarified and got another nod from Bruce. Hey, he HAD paid attention in S.H.I.E.L.D prep.

"Though most radiation can freak over your genes, gamma radiation has a nasty history with it." Bruce muttered.

"What happened…?" Clint kept his eyes on Bruce, who seemed to have his eyes glued on the floor. The brunette shook his head.

"I'm not sure, but I was… altered somehow..."

"Altered? What do you mean altered?"

"When my systems release adrenaline due to stressed situations, I change…"

"Aha…?"

"I get angry and I change." Bruce shortened down with a slight, sad glance at Clint.

"Change to what? A rage monster or something…?" Clint smiled, unsure and mildly nervous.

"A green one actually, if the security cameras were correct." The man replied humorlessly before he got up. "The blue serum I take keeps the creature under wraps...calms it…" Clint stared at him, Bruce glanced at him again.

"I'll pack up."

"Hang on now!" Clint suddenly was on his feet as well, grabbing Bruce's hand. "You don't have to leave! Just give me a moment to cope here, Jesus, Banner!"

"Clint, I'm a radiation specialist who managed to irradiate myself enough to become a gamma abomination. That should bother you!" Bruce looked troubled by it himself and Clint didn't blame him.

"And I'm a sleeping S.H.I.E.L.D agent and a circus kid, does that bother you, doctor Banner?" Clint countered with mirth in his voice.

Bruce looked at him, a lost expression in his eyes. "Bruce, you now know my dirty secret and I know yours, I believe that makes us per definition, the best of friends. I do not want you to leave, so that choice is solely your own. Though, I'd like you to know that I would like it very much if you stayed. I like having you around..." Clint had placed both of his hands on Bruce's shoulders.

"Even if I'm sort of two beings in one…?" Bruce still looked uncertain. Clint felt an unnamed urge to do something at that moment, but the blonde couldn't put his finger on what exactly.

"Even then. I'll help look after you, just like Loki does now, I assume." Clint winked and felt delighted at the small smile forming on the brunette's lips.

Clint brought out the now chilled pizza and the two sat down on the couch again, eating in a short-lived silence.

"So I'm guessing not many know about your lab incident?" Clint said before taking a bite of his piece.

Bruce took another piece and simply held it as he looked at the black screen of the TV again.

"No, the general, uh...the supervisor and leader for the project I was working on, knows that something happened, but not what. I managed to delete the security feeds. Then I left the project, refusing to return."

"Done like a true pro." Clint encouraged and got a sheepish smile before Bruce became serious again.

"He tried to pressure me though, into coming back. Using my girlfriend as leverage was nothing new though..."

"What? That's low!" Clint hissed.

"But understandable, seeing as Betty was his daughter." Clint gaped as Bruce just gave him a pointed look.

"I should have just told her about what happened…but I couldn't risk her going and telling her father about it, I'd really become a man on the run then. General Ross wouldn't let an abomination like me run free."

"Don't call yourself that." Clint snapped before something else clicked in and he continued on the next breath. "General Ross...isn't he a supporter of S.H.I.E.L.D?" He wondered out loud.

"Most high up generals are. Those generals that are let into the secrets of the world that is." Bruce replied humorlessly.

"Huh, I thought the name sounded familiar."

"Ross got S.H.I.E.L.D to keep their nose out of the military project, if he hadn't… well I can't help thinking that things wouldn't have gone as far as they did."

"And you most probably would be dead or maybe forced to continue in a S.H.I.E.L.D lab. Don't kid yourself, Bruce. S.H.I.E.L.D isn't a knight in shining armor."

"No, you're probably right. I was hoping S.H.I.E.L.D maybe had perspective, doing all the strange things they do."

Clint wasn't too sure, but kept his mouth shut.

1 more chapter and the poll closes~

As always beta'ed by my beta-god from before :'D

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