"Talbot tried to distract you. Not sure why." Natasha crosses her arms, standing in the room Barton claimed for himself.
"Distract me? Is that what you call bringing up a burning issue that makes you want to kill yourself!?" Clint holds his head, tugging down the sides of his cheeks.
Romanoff narrows her focus, "Don't talk like that Clint. It couldn't have been that bad."
"Let's illustrate; how would you feel if Ivan was brought up into a conversation?"
She looks down rolling her eyes, "Okay, I get it. Sorry Clint."
"Don't be sorry, I just want to know why Ross is messing with me. Ross, Talbot, whoever. What do they want from me?"
She shrugs, "I think they're just that low. What ever happened with Stark and Fury's blackmail attempt?"
He sighs, "From what I heard it didn't go over too well. Steve said Tony punched a few holes in the wall after the meeting."
Natasha covers her mouth, eyes closing as she takes a deep breath. The anger is building within her as she contemplates persuasion at gunpoint.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Hidden in a lab aboard the helicarrier, Tony sits aimlessly runs his fingers over a pen, eyes fixed on the screen in front of him. From the corner of his eye, he could see Bruce skimming through papers, mentally in some deep foggy haze. His typically expressive brown eyes were almost blank, cheeks growing paler then usual.
Stark reaches down, snatching up a bag of dried blueberries. He pops a few into his mouth, eyes now focusing completely on his friend;
"You haven't said a word since we got back from Ross' place. You alright?"
He nods, tongue roving over his upper lip, "I'm fine Tony."
Tony lifts one eyebrow suspiciously, "I don't believe you."
"Well, start believing."
The engineer swipes his finger across the screen, tossing a blueberry in his mouth, "Honestly, you look like you got hit by a truck."
Bruce gives a glance over the frame of his glasses, "Thanks."
He smirks with a chuckle at his own comment, "You're welcome. You wanna talk about something? Everything okay with Little Red?"
He sighs, ripping his glasses from his face. His heart started pulsing, head aching as he pinches between his eyes, "Natasha's fine."
"Fine..."
"Fine."
"As in..."
"Just fine."
Tony spins his stool, eyes narrowing, "You're lack of enthusiasm has me a bit concerned."
His eyes shut, hands pressed onto the desk, "Look, I appreciate your concern, but I really don't feel like talking right now."
Tony persists as if Bruce just said nothing, "What are you playing with anyways?"
Banner gives a sigh, standing up straighter. There was no reasoning with Tony Stark. Whatever he wanted to do, was what he was going to do. As much as he loved the persistance and carefree attitude of the engineer, Bruce wanted space and solitude at the moment more than anything else. To keep the peace, he responds in a short mumble with tears in his eyes;
"Nothing."
Tony tosses his snack onto the table, standing up beside his friend to give him his full attention, "Alright, spill."
He continues to mumble, "Spill what? There's nothing to spill."
"Did Ross say something? Did he do something to you?! Tell me right now cause I'll blow him and his Talbot buddy!"
Bruce runs a hand through his thick curls, "Tony, just seeing that guy makes me nauseous. We never exactly, saw eye to eye and it's no different now."
He shrugs, still trying to hide his 'little secret', "Sorry to hear that. He doesn't seem like the most pleasant person."
The physician makes eye contact with him, recalling all of Tony's sneaking around and secretive habits, "Which reminds me, why were we there Tony?"
Stark lifts his eyebrows, reaching for his snack in a nervous manner, "Hm? What was that?"
"You heard me."
"Uh, Fury had something to take care of."
He crosses his arms when he picks up on the tension, "Just Fury?"
Tony waves his forefinger, "Wait, you don't think I have anything to do with the general?"
"I don't know."
Stark finds himself blushing a light pink, "I had affiliations with Ross. I sold him a few inventions..."
"That's it?"
"What? Why?"
"Why are you blushing?"
"I'm not blushing,' He holds his package up, 'Blueberry?"
Bruce ignores his offer, eyes piercing into his, "What are you hiding?"
Tony clenches his jaw, thumb and forefinger twirling his dried fruit, "What are you hiding?"
"You first."
Stark gives a look, hands dropping to his sides as he gives a look around the room, "Alright, you want the truth? The truth is I'm only trying to help. Both me and Natasha know what happened-"
He cuts Tony off, "Yeah, she told me. I'd like to know what you saw exactly and why we're here. Also like to know why you never had the gut to come up and talk to me about it."
"We saw enough to make me sick and Natasha cry, which you know is an impossible achievement. I lost it when I saw what Ross put you through and Natasha agreed we should tell Fury and hang the general."
Banner widens his eyes, "What? You can't just walk in there and hang him! Especially over something that happened years ago..."
"...And recently."
His eyes narrow, mind racing for the right words as he struggles to stay calm. Tony keeps talking once he realizes Bruce is wanting to explode;
"I knew you'd be upset, but before you freak out just listen to me. We did it when you first fell into your little depression because we care about you. I told you, seeing what he put you, and your girl through made me physically sick..."
"Betty."
"Yeah, the pretty dark-haired girl right?' he pauses, 'I know. Look, I'm sorry you've been through hell, but I only wanted to make it right. Frankly, I can think of two people in your life who need a major taste of their own medicine, and if your father was alive, rest assured I'd beat his ass too!"
He sighs, hand over his forehead, "Tony, I'm not looking for revenge and you shouldn't be either. I just wanted to move on and forget it."
"I know, and I've been trying to hide it from you, but apparently I can't keep a secret."
"Well, Natasha blew it. Listen, you can't go after Ross because I know you'll get killed in the process. Don't do it."
Stark tilts his head, returning to his bag of snacks, "What if I had a method to do it safely?"
"Don't! Just leave him alone." His head hurts, his eyes burning. Memories resorting themselves into an order he'd much rather abandon.
"I feel bad for you Bruce..."
"I don't want sympathy."
"I just want to help you..."
"I don't want help."
He sighs lowering his voice to a whisper, "You've got to swallow your pride. Can't you see that we care about you? This is tough for me to say, I, Tony Stark, the tough guy is trying to tell you that I care about you, and believe it or not, I don't care about everyone. Is anything getting through that thick skull of yours?"
Bruce looks down at his feet, arms dropping before he bites on his cheek, "I..."
Tony knows Bruce will hate him for what he's about to do. Stark grips at his shoulders, "Look at me! You are a messed up disaster with the most wacked up life I've ever encountered! You've got nothing and nobody with the exception that redhead assassin whose a border line stalker! I'd like to be that somebody you run to for help, so for the love of science, talk to me! Vent! Scream! Go Green! Do something! You can not be this composed on the inside and I don't want you to reach your breaking point because then it's too late!
I don't know why you made me find out the hard way about your brutal past and recent mishaps as opposed to just telling me what's going on! Because you can bet my fortune that if anything even remotely dangerous happens to Pepper, I'll be crying on your shoulder! So tell me. What is it? Why do you look like a kicked puppy? You're safe, Nat's safe, your best friend (yours truly), is in a nice clean lab with you ready to do science..."
He stutters, mind someplace else, "It's complicated."
"Try me."
"Tony, Ross wants me dead. He thinks I'm responsible for killing Betty."
Tony freezes, eyes wide, "Well, we have the footage and I can tell you for a fact that's a lie."
Bruce tugs on the back of his neck, eyes closing, "Well- not entirely. I-"
"No! Don't you dare! Nat and I both watched the scene, we saw exactly where you were at the time, and where the porcipine was."
He contemplates Stark's odd manner of alliteration before he makes the connection. Of course he's referring to 'Abomination' for the prongs in his back, "Tony! Listen to me, I've got radiation running through my veins and -"
"No! That had nothing to do with it!"
"I poisoned her!"
"The porcupine cut you open before he went after Betty. She was already struggling before-"
"I don't want to talk about it..."
Stark spotted his cheeks tinted a vibrant green as he clutched onto his gut. Tears fill in his glossy stare before he holds his forehead with the opposite palm. Tony rests one hand over his shoulder, giving him a moment in the hopes he would stop trembling, "I'm sorry Bruce. Really, you've been to hell and back, but the main thing is that your alright-"
His eyes close, hand tugging back on his hair, "Betty's not! It should've been me! Why wasn't it me Tony?! She was content I'm the one who actually wants to go! Or, wanted..."
"Wanted. Good, past tense...Just breathe Bruce. Take a deep breath and just let it go. I'm almost positive your Elizabeth wouldn't have wanted to see you like this. My point was that you're still here and you're...relatively sane. You're never going to get over her, so don't try to. But you've also got a 'family' that you can fall back on. I want to help you buddy. I hope you'll let me and forgive me for caring."
"Just- promise me that you'll leave Ross alone."
Tony freezes, hands waving expressively now that he's at a loss for words. Banner is almost pleading with those wide 'puppy dog' eyes, cheeks still flushed from an overwhelming conversation with the billionaire. Stark just nods, not sure if he's exactly ready to give up on the 'blackmail.' In his mind, it's only justified that Ross should get some sort of punishment for putting Bruce through that much physical and emotional trouble.
Over that pesky intercom, Fury's voice comes in clear;
"Bruce Banner, please report to the bridge."
Tony gives a sigh, frowning over the comment, "Don't go if you don't want to. I'll cover for you."
"No, I could use a break."
"Well, don't push yourself."
Banner carelessly shrugs his shoulders, eyes focused downwards as he neatly stacks the papers.
Stark lightly taps his shoulder, "Hey, hang in there Bruce. Thing's will get better."
He glances over his shoulder, tossing his glasses into his pocket. His voice is low when he spots Tony comfortably parked back in front of his screen, "You're not coming?"
He shrugs, "You want me to? I thought you were mad at me."
"Yes I am, but I'm starting the think the feeling's a bit mutual. If you haven't noticed, I'm also not exactly one hundred percent 'sane' at the moment. And I could use an extra mouth."
Tony snickers walking beside him as they leave the room, "Trust me, you don't need an 'extra mouth'. You can handle that on your own."