A/N
I would like to thank everybody who has reviewed so far. I really appreciate it. It's what keeps me motivated to get chapters up in a timely fashion:) You're the best. Thanks!
On that note, anybody who has been reading this without leaving any comments, it would be really great if you could throw a review my way. Bruce has his addiction, but reviews are mine. Feed my habit friends! Seriously though, it would mean a lot;)
Enjoy the chapter!
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Natasha and Clint found themselves dropping in to the Avengers tower on a semi regular basis, usually completely unannounced, ever since the Loki situation had ended. Sometimes separately, mostly together. It was oddly comforting for both of them to have a place to touch base that was beyond the reach of Nick Fury's one good eye. Not that they would dare admit as much to the owner of the tower. Sure, he had built each of them their own floor including fully decked out gym's/shooting galleries and all the cool toys. But even under torture they would still maintain they only came by to humor Stark lest his sun sized ego go supernova at the thought of his gifts being rejected.
The two agents had taken to spending time with the towers residents in different ways. Of course there was the team movie and game nights, but on a more individual level too. They enjoyed sparing with Steve, the Black Widow in particular giving him a run for his money. As for Tony they both had a habit of popping up in unexpected places and successfully scaring the shit out of him. Hawkeye nearly got burned by a laser once after jumping down from some scaffolding in Tony's lab while he was working on some new weapons systems for the suit. As for Bruce, they had taken to bringing meals to his lab, knowing that a lot of the time he would otherwise go without. Though they never actually talked about it beyond an inference here and there, the three of them shared a bond that stemmed from messed up childhoods and all being able to understand the feeling of being without any sort of home. They new what it was to have to hide, to be hunted, to be weaponized. Especially Bruce and Natasha.
Both agents had picked up on the fact that something had been wrong with him for a while. They were trained to spot a persons weaknesses. To see demons even as they skulk in the shadows. They had decided not to bring it up. Better to give him a chance to work it out for himself first.
Bruce and Natasha particularly had developed a fairly close relationship. It went unspoken of course, but it was still there. Once she got past her fear and started to see the man behind the monster, she had found that she could relate to him and that he was in fact a pretty cool guy with a good sense of humour. Kind of like Tony Stark but with a little more humility and a lot less asshole. He was battling some serious issues as of late though, and stepping in to do an intervention was a bit more touchy-feely than either her or Clint tended to go for anyone other than each other.
Having just got off a mission in the Congo both agents were looking for a little relaxation in their lives. The tower seemed the place to go. They entered the building unannounced as usual. They were convinced that JARVIS was in on the game seeing as the AI could easily alert Tony to their presence but apparently chose to remain silent. This time they simply used the elevators in the lobby, too tired to be bothered with theatrics. When they came to the common area they found an unusual sight. Tony, Bruce and Steve were sitting around the dining table, all of them seeming sullen and tense. They were picking away at their lunches, but only Steve was actually eating. It wasn't unusual for all of them to be sharing a meal, seeing as the two scientists often ate at the same time due to the fact that when one of them actually remembered to eat they usually made a point of forcing the other to do the same. And Steve just spent a lot of his time eating due to his amped up super soldier metabolism, so chances of running into him in the dining room were always pretty good. The problem here is that usually they would be talking, laughing, teasing each other. The air in the room hung thick with tension, each occupant so absorbed in their own thoughts that they didn't even notice they had been joined by the two agents.
"Wow. Nat, hand me one of the dozen knives you have hidden on your person right now so I can cut the tension in here," said Clint, drawing the three pairs of eyes away from their respective meals and towards him in surprise.
"No need. Now that we have the comedy stylings of Robin Hood's delinquent cousin I think we'll be okay!" exclaimed Tony sarcastically.
Clint just smiled and walked up to Tony, clapping him on the back.
"You know me, making people happy is why I live."
With that Clint headed straight to the kitchen, returning a moment later, ice cream in hand.
"So what exactly is going on here anyway?" asked Natasha suspiciously.
Tony looked over to Steve, who stared pointedly at Bruce, who had his face buried in his hands. Natasha and Clint exchanged glances, eyebrows raised. It was Steve who broke the silence.
"Nothing's that we need to discuss now I think. Let's just enjoy lunch."
Tony rolled his eyes at Steve's falsely pleasant tone. Bruce just sighed, looking up at the new arrivals.
"Actually, I'm not that hungry. But I'll catch up with you both later," he said with a tight smile.
With that, Bruce got up and took his almost full plate to the kitchen and left. Natasha and Clint considered going after him, but both decided to give him some space. Natasha sat herself down at the table while Clint was perched up on the bar.
"So, I'll ask again, what exactly is going on?" queried Natasha.
Steve and Tony looked at each other, debating over how much they should divulge. Steve was of the mind that the whole team should know. He was hoping that if enough of them were able to sit and talk with Dr Banner, show him how much support he had, that he would agree to let them help him. Tony on the other hand didn't want his friend to feel as though he had been ambushed. He could see Steve gearing himself up for some sort of intervention and was damn sure that was a terrible idea. It wasn't so much that he wanted to actively keep the bird and the spider out of the loop. Hell, he was pretty certain they would figure it out for themselves now that they were curious. The two of them were pretty cluey.
In the end Tony's warning stare won out over Steve's stern but imploring one. Sort of.
"Maybe you should ask Dr Banner about that," Steve said, looking up at Natasha pointedly.
Natasha raised one eyebrow, while Tony rolled his eyes again. Subtlety was not the Captain's strong point.
###Avengers###
Bruce was working away in his lab furiously. He was looking at a relatively new formula he had been working on to reverse the effects of the gamma radiation, so far with little results. He was absorbed deeply in his work when he was shocked back to the world by a voice.
"What're you working on doc?" inquired Clint, who was looking curiously over his shoulder Bruce's, Natasha standing a little behind him
"Shit! Every time. How do you even do that?" asked Bruce as he jolted up from the microscope he was bent over. "It's nothing. Just a pet project."
"So do you want to talk about whatever has gotten the Captain and his Sassy Sidekick upstairs all in twist?" asked Natasha, eliciting a laugh from Bruce.
"Don't let Tony hear you refer to him as the sidekick. He'll banish you from the building," responded Bruce.
"You really think that would keep me out?"
"Probably not," he conceded.
"So, you didn't answer the question," Clint cut in.
Bruce took a few slow breaths, staring blankly at the work bench.
"Surprised Rogers didn't tell you. He seems very keen on opening up a discourse on the subject," Bruce replied.
"He told us we should ask you about it," said Natasha.
"Come on Nat," Bruce said, giving her a knowing look. "I'd be shocked if you hadn't already figured it out. I mean, I can't say I've been at my most subtle lately and isn't it part of your job to be able to look at a person and know their every weakness?"
"That's a part of it," she admitted.
"I would've thought Stark would figure it out sooner to be honest. I mean isn't he a genius?" commented Clint, who was now sitting on top of Bruce's work bench.
"Not so much with people all the time. Honestly, I think he suspected a different problem. So why did you guys never say anything anyway?" Bruce asked, strangely at ease around the two assassins.
"We figured we'd give you time to try to work this out yourself. If you took too long or got yourself too fucked up we probably would have stepped in, but as is, it wasn't our business. Why did you never say anything?" Natasha shot back.
Bruce thought for a moment. He had figured they could see past him for a while, so why did he still bother to keep up a front?
"Denial," he answered, bending over his microscope again.
