Thank you to the reviewers: Terri'smind, Garfunkyel, DoublePaws, and ESTswimmer! You're wonderful. Also, thanks for the birthday wishes. The day sucked, but your reviews made me feel better.
I'm so sorry for not posting last week! I ended up having a complete emotional breakdown that it took several days to recover from. It was the furthest thing from fun for anyone. But things are generally better now.
Just a note, but the name of this chapter has nothing to do with it being from Bruce's point of view. It's the first section of a two part title. You'll see next week.
Disclaimer: I own nothing under copyright.
Chapter 7: What Makes a Monster
"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself."
― George Bernard Shaw
When he was recruited for this mess of an operation, Bruce never thought he would work with the likes of Captain America. Not to mention Tony Stark. It wasn't until the quinjet landed on the helicarrier that he saw the two and was blown away.
Of course, he was as psyched for the opportunity as he was pissed at the way they brought him in on it. Meeting the pinnacle of biological engineering and the brightest mind in the world of electrical and mechanical engineering was a dream come true. What geek on this planet wouldn't kill to be in his shoes right now?
The reality was very different from Bruce's expectations, however.
Somehow, he hadn't expected to get wrapped up in Stark's- no, Tony's- charm so easily. The man could talk Jesus into violence. As it was, they easily got wrapped into science talk before Bruce could be introduced to Captain America.
A polite cough interrupted them from near the doorway Tony had entered by.
Like it was an afterthought, Tony said, "Oh, this is Steve. Captain America." Then he started chattering away again.
The minute he saw Captain Rogers, the Hulk let out a low growl in the back of his head. It wasn't a complete surprise that the world's best soldier would be considered a threat, but the warning was startling none the less. What does an indestructible monster have to worry about from an enhanced but otherwise ordinary man?
"Good to meet you. Word is you can help us find the cube," Captain Rogers said with a friendly smile.
"Is that the only word on me around here?" Bruce asked nervously. He wasn't sure what he wanted to hear.
"It's the only word that matters to me." It was a subtle reassurance.
Despite the Hulk's unease, Bruce relaxed minutely. At least one part of Captain America's legend was rooted in fact: he didn't discriminate. That was enough to go on for now.
For the most part the two stayed out of each other's way after that. There wasn't much overlap between their fields of expertise.
Of course, they were all gathered together in the conference room after Loki's stunt in Germany, but the two didn't interact. Bruce noted oddly that the only other people he got so much as a snarl out of from the Hulk were Black Widow and Fury. There was a huff in Thor's direction, an almost affectionate growl at Tony, but nothing like the reaction Captain Rogers had caused. It was temporarily driven to the back of Bruce's mind by discussion of what to do with the alien trickster who thought of himself as a god.
The first time Bruce and Captain Rogers talked after their introduction, it was less than dramatic. In a display of callous disregard for his life (and everyone else on the ship) Tony had poked his fellow scientist with an electric rod and risked setting off the Hulk. If Bruce didn't have such a tight grip on the monster within, he may have.
Rather than the angry tirade expected, Captain Rogers only gave them a stern look and a sigh. "We just got through keeping you alive," he reprimanded Tony, unfooled by his look of innocence, "Don't go trying to get yourself killed just yet." After a short pause he added, "No offense to you, Doctor." Bruce got the feeling that he was rather attached to Tony; they must have known each other a while.
"Oh no, not at all. I wouldn't have come aboard if I didn't think I could handle pointy things," Bruce said, dismissing the concern with a wave of his hand.
"Good. I'd really hate for all our hard work to go to waste," Captain Rogers said approvingly.
"Question, Cap, you think something fishy is going on here?" Tony asked. He leaned back on the counter casually and quirked an eyebrow at the captain.
"Fishy? Like what?" Captain Rogers questioned, frowning now.
"Why did Fury call us in now? Not before? What isn't he telling us?" Tony asked hypothetically, sashaying around the table to get his dried blueberries. "I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables." His expression was expectant as he offered each of them the bag.
After a moment of chewing, Captain Rogers responded. "You think they're hiding something," he said with icy disapproval. The effect was nearly ruined by him shoving the rest of his blueberries into his mouth.
"I know they're hiding something. Fury isn't just a spy, he's the spy. His secrets have secrets," Tony scoffed. Admittedly, he was right. His phrasing could have been better, though.
There was a moment of silence in the lab as Bruce checked the readings and the other men in the lab analyzed each other. For not being hostile, the air was extremely tense.
"It's bugging him too, isn't it?" Tony asked, bringing Bruce in on an argument he really didn't want to be a part of.
"Listen, I, uh, I just want to finish my work here…" Bruce said, gesturing to what he was currently working on.
"Doctor?" The word was surprisingly teasing. Captain Rogers tilted his head to the side, questioning, with a corner of his lips twitching upward.
"A warm light for all mankind. Loki's jab at Fury about the Cube," Bruce said, fiddling with his glasses, "Well, I think that was meant for you." He gestured to Tony.
Immediately Captain Roger's expression stiffened and grew harsh. Forget fond of, more like he was protective of Tony. "What?"
It took more focus than Bruce wanted to calm the Hulk. "Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower, it was still all over the news," he continued, carefully keeping the desk between himself and Captain Rogers, "It's powered by an arc reactor, a self sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for what, a year?" He looked to Tony to check.
"It's just the prototype," Tony deflected expertly, "You know I'm kinda the only name in clean energy right now."
"So why didn't Fury bring him in on the Tesseract project? What are they doing in the energy business in the first place?" Bruce finished.
Tony circled the table to one of the screens, blueberries in hand, and began tapping at it. "I should probably look into that once my decryption program finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's secure files," he said with false lightness. It was more predatory than any growl Bruce had heard.
It looked like Captain Rogers couldn't believe his ears as he watched Tony search through the files he had gained access to. "I'm sorry, did you just say…" He didn't finish. He obviously didn't want to.
"JARVIS has been running it since I hit the bridge. In a few hours I'll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide," Tony said with satisfaction.
Suddenly Captain Rogers deflated. He let out a little chuckle as he looked down at his boots, then back at Tony. "Just like you," he said wistfully.
The whole situation felt a little too personal for Bruce, suddenly. He turned to check on another screen that would put the two out of his immediate line of vision. Definitely not with his back to Captain Rogers, however. The Hulk didn't like that idea at all.
"Well, yeah. How long did it take you to figure that out?" Tony taunted with a smile in his voice.
"You two keep looking for the Tesseract. I'll keep my eyes open," Captain Rogers ordered casually before he strolled out.
Once the super soldier's footsteps, unusually light for such a large man, faded away, Bruce looked back at Tony with a quirked eyebrow. "I didn't expect him to be that easy to convince," he commented before moving to another station.
Tony's smile was decidedly fond as he flitted to a nearby screen. "I stopped trying to predict him six months ago," he said wryly, "The one thing I can say for sure is that he's always going to try to protect me." So quietly that he surely didn't mean for it to be heard, he added, "Even when I don't deserve it." That must have been quite the story. Probably something to do with the Stark Expo thing that even Bruce had heard about, half a world away.
Clearing his throat, Tony then changed subjects- and attitudes- so fast it nearly made Bruce's head spin. Suddenly he was confident and outgoing again, telling his fellow scientist that he needed to strut, not tip toe, and asking what his secret was. His effect on the space around them was immense; whatever he felt he sent out into the room, whether he noticed or not.
The friendly banter lasted until the decryption found relevant results. What the bug found must not have been pretty, considering Tony's incensed mutterings.
Fury stormed into the room demanding answers. "What have you been doing, Mr Stark?"
"Um, kind of been wondering the same thing about you," Tony replied carelessly, not even looking away from his screen.
"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract," Fury told them, half way between disappointed and (excuse the pun) furious.
"We are," Bruce cut in, "The model's locked and we're sweeping for the signal now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile." He pointed at where the program was running, and took Fury's turning to look at it as an opportunity to slide closer to Tony. At least right now, he had the other scientist's back.
"Yeah, you get your Cube back. No muss, no fuss," Tony said, somewhere between admirably and stupidly unconcerned about the whole thing as he messed with the screen more, "What is Phase 2?" The question was just thrown out there like it was common knowledge. He was showing his hand early.
Even more angrily than Fury, Captain Rogers stormed in holding a bulky gun about the size of an AK-47. His grip was secure but he held it far from his body and slammed it down as soon as he reached a table, uncomfortable with having it anywhere near. "Phase 2 is SHIELD uses the Cube to make weapons," he snapped, turning betrayed eyes on the man supposedly in charge.
"Rogers, we related everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we're-" Fury tried to lie.
Tony cut in, pulling up a diagram on screen and turning it to face the rest of the room. "I'm sorry Nick, what were you lying?" he asked mockingly. The diagram was of a missile and all its parts being put together.
"I was wrong, Director. The world hasn't changed a bit," Captain Rogers said. He was beyond betrayal now, into the realm of cynicism as he looked down the end of his nose at the man who had brought them all there. They were repeating the same mistakes his generation made and he visibly couldn't stand it.
That was when Thor and Black Widow entered the room. It was the perfect opportunity to distract himself from the captain and the Hulk's strange complex about him. "Did you know about this?" he asked of the female spy.
"You want to think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?" Black Widow suggested almost pleasantly.
"I was in Calcutta. I was pretty well removed," Bruce told her, chuckling at the audacity. The moment he got a little tense, everyone started bringing out their pitchforks.
The room descended into an argument. If it weren't for the emotional volatility of the situation Bruce was sure it wouldn't have even been that much of one. From weapons development to planetary defense, to personal slights, it descended right on down the ladder to a petty feud.
If he weren't so wary of the captain's movements, Bruce wouldn't have noticed the aborted motion he made as if to come to Fury's aid. Instead he shook his head, scrunched up his face in pain. "Shut up, all of you SHUT UP!" he shouted over Black Widow's snippy comment about them all being on threat watch.
The tension broke. They all stood there in the lab, blinking and dazed, coming out of a fog.
"What was that?" Tony asked, holding the side of his head.
"I don't know, I just… That wasn't us," Captain Rogers responded, looking from person to person for answers.
"I know when I'm angry. That wasn't my anger, that was something else," Bruce admitted. It was more than a little nerve wracking. With how much of his control relied on his temper not snapping, they could have had the Hulk rampaging in just a few more minutes.
Even Thor looked confused. He seemed like a generally well put together guy, not the kind that would get into this sort of petty argument. So what happened?
They didn't have an opportunity to figure it out. The program beeped, alerting them to the location of the Tesseract. "You located the Tesseract?" Thor questioned, surprised.
"Iron Man can get there fastest," Tony said quickly, before looking at Captain Rogers, "Spangles?" He was obviously inviting the man to go along, perhaps even be carried there by the armor.
"Right. I'll get the location. You get Iron Man ready. I'll meet you both in the hangar," Captain Rogers said decisively. He moved toward the console, as well as everyone else.
As he was the closest, Bruce was at the terminal the fastest. The minute he saw the location, he looked up at the rest of the room. "Oh my god,"
The floor of the lab exploded and suddenly everything was green. Some things Bruce remembered of the next half hour or so, but not much. He remembered that the Hulk was pissed he couldn't pick up Thor's hammer, which he found funny, and he remembered trying to hunt down Black Widow, the least of the three main threats the Hulk had felt on board, which was significantly less funny. Otherwise it was all a big blur.
When he woke up in the ruins of that building, he was grateful the only thing he could hear was animal noises. He was far from a city and hopefully no one had been around. It made the soreness and dust and nakedness more bearable that he hopefully hadn't hurt anyone.
The behavior of the guard who found them didn't indicate differently. "Son, you have a condition," the man pronounced gravely. A sparkle in his eye almost made Bruce smile.
"Too bad there's no treatment," Bruce said dryly. He made to get to his feet and was startled when a hand appeared in his line of sight.
The guard was offering to help him. Even after seeing the Hulk, he wasn't afraid.
It finalized a decision that Bruce hadn't even known he was making. "Do you know how I could get to New York fastest?" he questioned. Maybe he could do some good there.
The guard gave him a look and nodded to himself. "Can you ride a motorbike?" he asked.
"I don't have the license," Bruce admitted. He followed the man to a shed anyways and helped pull out a dirty old style motorcycle.
"I didn't ask if you had the license, I asked if you could ride it," the guard retorted and slapped a key into his palm, "Sounds like NYC is a hot spot and they need you there." He handed a shirt to Bruce and went digging for a helmet.
"Yes, I know how." It was a miracle this thin old man had clothing in Bruce's size. As he buttoned up he thanked his lucky stars for it.
"No helmet. I'm not sure you need it though, with your condition," the guard told him with a wry smile.
"Thanks. What's your name?" Bruce asked. He had to find out so he could return this stuff later.
"Tim Stewart," the guard replied, "And you?" He probably wanted to know who he was loaning his stuff to.
"Bruce Banner." It felt an awful lot like an action movie when he rode off. He would have said into the sunset, but it was full day.
The whole drive from the crash site was full of fear and nerves crowding into his belly. They said he was only needed to find the Cube, and he had done that. All the info they needed was on the computers of the helicarrier. So what was he doing?
Gut instinct was driving him now, just as surely as he drove that motorcycle. Something told him that he was needed in New York, so he was headed there.
While he was wary of the Hulk's approval of this choice, he realized that if worst came to worst and he was right, that would be useful. Maybe Tony was right. Maybe it was time for him to stop tip toeing.
When he got to New York, the city was already half wrecked and a portal was open above Stark Tower. Only being able to drive between the stopped cars and around a police blockade allowed him to get to the epicenter in time.
In a circle he recognized Black Widow, Thor, and Captain America. Another man was with them and it wasn't until they got closer that he recognized Clint Barton, Hawkeye. But where was Iron Man?
Bruce parked the motorcycle and got off, all the while looking at the destruction. "So, this all seems horrible," he commented. It reminded him of when he woke up after breaking Harlem, only with more aliens and spandex.
"I've seen worse," Black Widow replied with a glance at their surroundings.
The reminder of chasing her through the helicarrier was embarrassing. "Sorry about that," Bruce said, and for some reason hoped she would accept it.
"No, we could… use a little worse," she unexpectedly said. There was a weak attempt at a smile, which was more than most other people tried. It was appreciated.
"Iron Man, we've got him," Captain America said randomly. There was probably a comm line in his helmet. "He's here, just like you said," he continued with a smile that was so rare when not directed at Tony.
There was a giant crash and when Bruce looked over his shoulder, he saw a speck of gold and red fleeing from that looked like a flying whale. It looked like his gut was right. He was needed here after all. The mere idea was enough to make him appreciate having the Hulk for the first time.
A rumbling growl signaled that Big Green was ready to come out at any time. Stupid Banner, you always needed me.
The sentiment was less ignored and more put on the back burner as Bruce started walking toward where Iron Man led the gigantic alien toward them. When Black Widow stammered about not seeing how this was a party, he and the Hulk both grinned.
"Doctor Banner, now might be a really good time for you to get angry," Captain America suggested, readying his stance to fight.
Thankfully Iron Man had led his pursuer down to street level. That would make it easier to smash.
"That's my secret, Cap," Bruce said, preparing himself to transform, "I'm always angry." The change was agonizing as always, but this time he could see through the green. There was communication even as the Hulk smashed the giant alien's head into the pavement with one punch.
For once Bruce was encouraging destruction and making suggestions. Even stranger, the Hulk actually listened sometimes. This was a different scenario than any before and they both relished it. The aliens were a menace and needed to be rid of. What better way to do it?
Smashing the 'puny god' that had tried to use the Hulk as so many others was intensely satisfying. There are no words for how much affection Bruce felt for his alter ego in that moment. They had taken the biggest player on the other side out of the game with little effort.
The aliens seemed to never end and it only pissed off both of them even more. The Hulk smashed and fought, just like Captain America said, but Bruce wondered if they were really able to win.
Then Iron Man flew by, guiding what Bruce recognized as a missile. Had the government actually launched a nuke at Manhattan? The mere concept was enough for another wave of fury to crash over him.
On the street below, he was able to hear over the noise, "You know that's a one way ticket." It was Captain America, and his voice was breaking.
The Hulk was disinterested in hearing anything further, so he went back to smashing.
Bruce screamed at him to listen because was Iron Man really-
Red and gold armor disappeared into the portal, piggybacking the missile. But why wasn't he reappearing? The suit could do hairpin turns at the drop of a hat, it shouldn't take this long.
The beam keeping the portal open fizzled to a stop and the blackness of space gradually disappeared in a shape like a waterspout. Where was Iron Man? He needed to get out of there right now, or else…
Red and gold had never been so welcome. Not a few seconds before only blue sky was left, Iron Man fell out of the closing portal. There was no sign of control, though. Not even an attempt to regain flight. The suit must have shut down.
With an alarmed thought about Tin Man the Hulk swooped in to the rescue. Like Tarzan, the enormous green rage monster plucked Iron Man out of freefall and took the brunt of the fall on himself. It was strangely endearing how much he had grown to care for the pilot.
Then again, considering how the Hulk threw the man off him, maybe that was just Bruce being a sentimental idiot.
A snort agreed, but the way beady green eyes focused on the armor spoke for itself.
Not a few seconds later, Thor and Captain America were on the scene. The god made a move to take off the visor, but the captain stopped him. "Nobody can know who he is," the American said seriously.
Though he obviously hated it, Thor stepped aside.
Captain America crouched beside Iron Man and shook him. Then he looked down at the chest of the armor. The scream he gave couldn't have been human.
Immediately the Hulk balked. Warnings flared through Bruce's mind and his alter ego's, and they both wanted nothing more than to get the hell out of there. Neither could explain it, but they needed to leave and so did Thor.
The stupid god was moving toward Captain America.
When the national icon looked up, his eyes were dead. The very air around him had changed and it spelled out danger.
The Hulk let out a roar, challenging the super soldier. He couldn't let another person who understood them be killed, and not by Captain America.
There was a splutter and Iron Man partially sat up. The light in his chest was glowing again. "Sorry, the suit went down. It wasn't designed for space travel," he told them.
Everything changed again, so fast that Bruce had a hard time taking it in.
Captain America was smiling through his tears as he threw himself on Iron Man in a hug. "We won," he said, in awe, as he released the armored man.
"We won? Oh, great, let's take the day off. Not come into work tomorrow," Iron Man suggested and even through the grainy filter his voice was relieved.
From the laugh he gave, Captain America agreed.
"We still need to deal with Loki," Thor reminded them. He obviously didn't look forward to that.
Bruce certainly did.
There was something strange and different about Loki when he next saw the god. Fear, and some confusion, were certainly present as he said, "I think I'd like that drink, now." What was that about?
The minute SHIELD took Loki into custody, the entire group deflated. Hawkeye rubbed his forehead with one hand, more tired than ever, while Black Widow bumped him affectionately with a shoulder. Without thought Thor slumped onto one of the surviving sofas, black thoughts in his face. Even the Iron Man armor looked worn down and Captain America leaned on it with a content smile.
"I need to get the suit back to the workshop," Iron Man unexpectedly put in.
"What do you say to dinner after?" Clint suggested sensibly.
"I am famished," Thor declared, as everyone else made noises of agreement.
Now that the drama was over, the Hulk decided he didn't have any business here. He returned control willingly for the first time. Maybe that was why the transition was less painful.
No one batted an eye at the naked scientist. The only thing that happened was Thor offering his cape to cover up with.
What did it say about today that wearing a Norse god's cape as a toga in Stark Tower in the company of two assassins and two superheroes wasn't a big thing? A little smile tilted Bruce's lips at the thought.
There was something sad about Iron Man's voice as he said, "Sorry, I can't. Nobody can know who I am."
Bruce couldn't have been the only one to think that was terrible. "Contract?" he asked.
The armor's head nodded.
"That's bullshit," Clint proclaimed, scowling. He folded his arms over his chest mulishly.
"That's the way it is," Iron Man responded. When he walked through the group to get to the elevator, no one stopped him.
"Iron Man?" Black Widow asked as the mysterious pilot waited for the doors to open.
Iron Man tilted his head to show he was listening.
"You're a hero. Not knowing who you are doesn't make you any less of one," Black Widow unexpectedly put in. She shifted uncomfortably, but made no motion to take the words back.
The doors dinged open and Iron Man entered the elevator.
"Tony's in the lab, right?" Captain America asked as he followed.
"Should be. He already insists on getting shawarma the second he can come out," Iron Man replied.
The captain's smile could have put Times Square to shame as the doors closed behind them.
Now it was just four strangers left, for all intents and purposes. Bruce eyed each of the others before he asked, "Anybody else really want a shower?"
The look Black Widow gave him was poisonous.
If he hadn't been too busy holding up his makeshift toga, Bruce would have put his hands up in surrender.
The day after the Battle of New York, as the papers were calling it, found Bruce fidgeting with a pen at a conference desk. The fallout was immense, but that wasn't why Fury had called this meeting. If it was, Iron Man and Steve would be here.
"What do you think is going on?" he asked Natasha. While the Hulk still grumbled about her, it wasn't the feral snarl of before and he was grateful. Already she had proved herself a master of understated comedy. (Steve's face as she ribbed him about his age via Coulson's vintage Captain America trading cards was priceless.)
"Phil said it was about Steve. He didn't seem happy," she half answered, referring the hospitalized agent. It was a miracle he was even alive, never mind awake and upset.
The door slid open before Bruce could think on it. "How does Coulson always know?" Fury asked, unimpressed.
From how they shrugged, the spies were just as in the dark. "I keep saying…" Clint trailed off.
"Yeah, yeah, you keep saying the post-World War II super soldier experiments were actually a success and Coulson was one of them," Fury said, rolling his eyes (eyes?) at the theory he had probably heard a thousand times before, "I get it. We've all heard it. What we haven't heard, is why you asked me to call this meeting and why you insisted Cap and Iron Man couldn't be here for it." He leaned on the table, face completely serious now.
Startled, Bruce's head swiveled to look at the archer. What could he have seen that the rest didn't?
Natasha scrutinized her fellow spy briefly. Hadn't she known? Bruce was sure she would have.
"Why are the captain and the man of iron not here?" Thor questioned, confused, from the other side of the table. Some intern had brought him a box of strawberry pop tarts as thanks for saving the world, and he was in the process of munching his way through them.
"Listen, I don't like saying it any more than you like hearing it. But we can't leave things up to chance," Clint said. He took a deep breath, and looked down at his folded hands, before he met each of the Avengers' eyes. "We need a plan for when we eventually have to take out Captain America."
Thank god Bruce wasn't eating. As it was, he managed to choke on his own spit.
Thor paused in the middle of chewing a pop tart and even Natasha reacted, lips dropping the slightest bit open.
At the other end of the table, Fury raised an eyebrow. "I can certainly see why you don't want Captain Rogers around for this. What does Iron Man have to do with it?" he asked. No questions about why it would be necessary. Just that.
"He's one of our hardest hitters," Natasha acknowledged, pulling herself together admirably.
As much as he hated the idea, Bruce could only agree with Clint's precautions. "Iron Man is too personally involved," he said with a shake of his head.
"I am afraid that I do not understand the need for such drastic measures. Has the captain not led us fairly thus far?" Thor asked once he swallowed his pop tart.
In the heart of the storm, Clint weathered it admirably. "You didn't see what I did," he told the god, not a single joke in sight for once.
Bruce couldn't help shooting back. "And you didn't feel what I did."
Everything stopped. "The Hulk?" Fury questioned, voice deadly.
Now that he put his foot in it, Bruce knew he had to finish. "He thinks of Captain America the same way the rest of you think of me," he continued tensely, "A ticking time bomb. And I have to agree." He never thought he would agree with the Hulk on anything, least of all the world's first superhero.
"Thor, you were there when we thought Iron Man was dead. If he hadn't woken up when he did, we would have seen Cap go off his fucking trolley. He was already half there," Clint said, eyes stormy as he remembered. His arms tightened around his torso, a feeble attempt at protecting himself.
"Your phrasing is strange, but your argument is valid. The captain did appear to briefly lose himself in grief," Thor said contemplatively.
It wasn't until Natasha sat down again that Bruce realized she had even left. A thick folder was slapped onto the table, making the whole room jump with the noise. On its cover were two stamps with eagles on them, one with the letters SSR and the other the official SHIELD logo. A third stamp was in red and spelled out, "CLASSIFIED" in large block letters.
It seemed that Fury had just stopped trying to figure out his spies. "I won't even ask how you got into clearance level nine files," he said, pointing across the table at it.
The look Natasha gave him was disparaging. "On December 31, 1944, Captain America and the Howling Commandos were captured and taken to a HYDRA factory as POWs. This is a photo of the facility when they got there." She laid out a picture that looked like every Nazi prison camp Bruce had ever seen depicted, the only change in the logo.
"Not long after, Captain America went on a rampage. The POWs were broken out and the factory destroyed. No HYDRA survivors," Natasha said, fishing in the file again.
Bruce was able to glimpse what looked like a medical report before a second photo was set on the table. The only way he could recognize the factory was because of a particularly gnarled tree by the ruined gates. Objectively, there was no telling what the rubble used to be. "He did his job. Congratulations, well done, take five," he said, more sassily than expected.
It was ignored. "That's what it looked like after. According to the reports, Steve was in a state of unstoppable rage for three days until the POWs got to Liechtenstein. He has no memory of it. Now, I would say it was a fluke, except that none of the Commandos would talk about the cause, and we have a single death report from that mission," Natasha went on, pulling another piece of paper out. This one she held to her chest as she looked from one face to the next.
"You think that this man's death caused the captain's actions," Thor put in, nodding to himself.
With a grimace, Natasha nodded. She laid the picture out carefully on the table.
"What the icy hell is this?" Clint demanded as his sharp eyes roved the photo over and over.
"Gentlemen, meet Anthony Starosta," Natasha said, sitting back with her arms crossed over her chest. Unreadable eyes scanned the paper once more.
All the air got sucked out of the room. It had to have been, otherwise Bruce could have breathed.
Despite it being black and white, yellowed and fragile from age, the photo was remarkably clear. It depicted a corpse on a steel table, dark eyes vacant and mouth hanging ever so slightly open. There was a giant hole in the middle of his chest.
"This is why we need to prepare for when Captain America has to be put down, not if," Clint said, tapping the table right beside the photo, "Because one day the battle will be concentrated on Stark Tower and we won't be able to get Stark out. One day, probably in a future battle, Iron Man will go offline and we won't be as lucky as we were yesterday. And it'll drive Captain America crazy." He paused to make sure his point was made.
"So, how can we prepare to take down a highly respected and internationally beloved national icon, who happens to be a strategist mentioned in the same breath as Eisenhower and Rommel, and the perfect soldier to boot?" Fury questioned, sitting down a chair away from Thor.
No one had an answer for that.
All Bruce could do was stare at the photo and numbly let denial blare through his head. This couldn't be right, it was impossible. What was happening?
Cold dead eyes stared right back at him from Tony Stark's face.
