"No... No, no, no, no, no, no!" Tony (as Thor) cried as soon as Steve (as Natasha) and Clint (as Bruce) began to drag a couch into his lab. Arrow happily bounced along behind then, sometimes running under the couch, other times jumping onto the couch and hindering the men's progress. But nothing Clint could say or do would stop the pup. Bruce (as Steve), who had been working at a nearby table, stopped and watched them for a moment. He half wondered if he should go over and help, or at least stop Arrow. But he didn't move. "What are you doing?"
"We are going to have a movie night for Hulk," Steve answered even as he tugged at the couch. Clint stumbled a step to try and catch up as Arrow slipped past his legs, making him not only miss a step but almost drop the couch. Bruce's body was so much weaker than his that he hadn't expected that when he agreed to help. The archer knew Natasha's strength. She was secretly almost as strong as Thor and Steve. Not that she tended to use her strength as she tended to fight more defensively than offensively.
"Here? Are you insane?" Tony demanded, his voice going higher in his dramatic shrills to stop everyone from coming in with more things. Steve and Clint ignored him. Arrow stopped and turned to the genius, his head tilted in curiosity. Unsure what made the genius upset, he sat down and waited for a command. He was getting used to the entire team and usually when Tony took that type of voice (even though it seemed strange to hear it come from Thor's body), the genius was upset over something. Half the time, that something was something that Arrow had done, like chewing up some tasty Armani leather shoes.
"Tony, you did build this lab with Hulk in mind. If he gets out of control we have multiple ways to not only escape but to put him to sleep," Bruce pointed out. Tony glared at him as Steve and Clint finally placed the couch down across from the only blank wall in the lab. Steve nodded toward a table in the way and Clint shifted to move it. The duo were pretty much set on ignoring Tony and letting Bruce keep the genius calm.
"No! Don't move that!" Tony shouted. Arrow jumped and rushed out the lab as if he had done something wrong. He stood in the doorway, watching as Clint froze having feared that Tony had a good reason for telling him not to move the item. A quick glance at Bruce showed that Tony was probably just complaining to complain and there was actually nothing wrong with moving it. Sighing, Clint went back to moving the table. "No! STOP!"
"Tony, this is going to happen. There is nothing you can do to convince me otherwise," Steve commanded as if it would help matters. Tony pushed away from his desk so roughly that the rather hefty item lifted onto his back legs before crashing back down on the floor. Clint and Bruce flinched at the noise and focused on the duo. Steve stood up, almost preparing himself for a fight with the genius. Tony walked around his desk to get closer to Steve.
"This is my home. You are here as my guest. Do NOT dare think that you can control me," Tony growled. Steve deflated, rethinking over his words. Bruce slowly and quietly got back to work, trying to act like he wasn't listening in. Clint moved to the door and began unconsciously petting Arrow who was nervously watching Steve and Tony fight. As long as his master wasn't involved in the fights, Arrow tended to watch from the sidelines.
"Tony. I understand you invited us to live here with you and we have no technical control over you. But, this is my team. You are on my team. And being on my team means that I do have some control over you," Steve began to explain. Tony opened his mouth to protest but Steve held a hand up to stop him. Amazingly, it worked. "Even as a consultant to S.H.I.E.L.D, you are still an Avenger. And you all agreed that I was to be the leader. As leader of the Avengers, I can command each person who is on the team. Now in this leadership, I have various roles and different commands that I have to follow. One thing I wish above all else is that we all get along both in the field and at home. To do that, we have to train together, eat together and basically live together."
"We already do that. Why do you need to invade every one of my spaces?" Tony snapped, sounding more upset then angered. Steve sighed not really understanding the main reason Tony was upset. As a poor kid from Brooklyn, Steve always had to share but Tony, a single rich kid, was used to be alone and having areas to call all his own.
"I am not trying to invade your space. I am only trying to do what is best for the team. Right now, we need a calm night with nothing happening for Hulk to learn about friendship. That means we need the entire team. As you made mention before training this morning, you are falling behind in your work. I felt it best for you if we moved our movie night into the lab so that you can continue to work and still be here for Hulk," Steve described. Bruce chuckled lightly in the background. It was sound reasoning. No way for Tony to come up with an excuse.
"But... This is my lab! My personal space!" Tony whined, trying to come up with any excuse. It sounded rational in his mind but as Steve looked over to Bruce, Tony knew he was losing.
"Tony, you can't really call it a personal space when you invite others to come into it. A personal space is an area that you call your own. That no one but you is allowed into," Bruce argued.
"Unless you really trust them," Clint muttered, sounding almost hurt. Arrow licked the archer's hand to try and soothe him. Clint smiled to the pup even as Tony opened his mouth to defend himself against the others before realizing how this was turning. Slowly, he let out a deep, deep sigh. Having already hurt Clint so many times, Tony couldn't keep this going. Especially if he didn't want to forever damage their newly formed father/son relationship.
"Okay... Sure..." Tony finally mumbled. He backed away before waving his hands about. "Fine. Can't argue that."
"Tony. We aren't trying to bother you. It's just this is for the best of the team," Steve replied, almost trying to make himself feel better about what he was doing rather than trying to make Tony feel better. Clint rushed into the room, Arrow refused to follow. He whined at the door. Again, Tony waved his hands about in a dismissal gesture. Steve went to speak again but stopped when Clint placed a hand on his shoulder. Confused, Steve looked over in time to see Clint shaking his head no. Realizing that Clint was telling him not to dig a deeper hole, Steve nodded and together the duo walked off to go get more things for the movie night. As soon as they were out of the lab, Clint looked back to Steve.
"Look, I get that you really want this movie night and the whole team bonding thing but Tony was left alone most of his life. He only really got social interaction when in college and even then, he had to initiate it. This isn't something he is used to. Pushing it on him will more than likely only pull him further away from us. Be careful," Clint warned. Steve frowned, thinking over the archer's words. While Clint had a point, there was seemingly no other way to make Tony hang out with the rest of the team outside of a battle. It wasn't healthy for any of them. Arrow slowly stepped up to Steve and licked his hand. Steve glanced down and realized the dog was asking permission to be petted. Sighing, he did such.
"It's not just the movie night or even team bonding. Tony needs interaction outside of just Bruce. Heck, even the interaction he gets with Bruce is limited. Both of them get so lost in their work they don't pay attention to anything else around them. By making them join in different events throughout the day, it makes them aware of their surroundings," Steve explained. Clint laughed making Arrow turn his head to the archer and Steve miss petting his head. Steve quickly glanced down at the pup before back to Clint.
"Steve, these men are scientists not soldiers. You can't just train an engrained habit by making them hang out with people. Besides, the amount of self-awareness that we have is something that Tony and Bruce will never learn," Clint replied before turning and walking to the elevator. Arrow yipped and followed after. They still had to collect another couch to comfortably fit everyone. Steve sighed. There was no way this could be spun to put the captain in a good light. No matter how you looked at it, he was basically in the wrong.
It took an extra hour for Clint and Steve to finish setting up the movie area with snacks, seats, blankets, drinks and other odds and ends while not interfering with Tony's work. Most of the time was spent keeping Tony happy. Anytime they brought something new in or tried to move an object in their way, Tony would stop his work and freak out at them. Steve was much calmer each time and Clint didn't have to warn the captain again about how to deal with the genius. Course that didn't mean Tony was any calmer. In fact, the more the duo brought, the more he got agitated and upset. Thankfully for Clint, Bruce was the one in charge of calming Tony down.
"Tony, calm down," Bruce warned at one point when the genius verbally lashed out against the archer and the captain. Tony turned to face the doctor even as Steve and Clint slunk out to go get a few more items and the others.
"Why! Why do I have to calm down!? They're the ones invading my space!" Tony cried. Bruce shook his head.
"Tony, please. You have a private lab downstairs. Never mind your bedroom, 'Hall of Armors,' and office that you never go into. This lab is open to all of us. You said that when you first showed us around," Bruce soothed. Tony scoffed. He had no idea that those words could bite him in the butt as badly as this. The genius detested all these group bonding things that Steve set up and no matter what he said, he could never get out of them. In fact, most of the time the others made him seem like the bad guy for trying to get out of them.
"Yeah well, that was when everyone was in their right body," Tony snapped. Bruce sighed before looking to his work. Suddenly a memory kicked in and Bruce realized why Tony was freaking out.
"The last time someone other than me entered here, it was Clint," Bruce muttered, more to himself in theory then to Tony. Tony sighed and nodded. It was true but the genius was not liking where this was headed.
"Yeah, and look how well that turned out," Tony growled. Bruce startled, not realizing he had spoken out loud. Guiltily, the doc looked over to Tony. The genius was focused on typing again but Bruce could see that he had a faraway look. A look that he got since the incident of turning Clint into a kid. Bruce put down his work and moved to the end of his table.
"What happened to Clint was an accident. Something that can't be repeated again," Bruce mentioned. Tony snorted and looked over at Bruce.
"With the amount of dangerous chemicals we have in this lab on an almost daily basis? Never mind the amount of times that I'm working on someone's weapons or testing armor... God, I think the lab is more dangerous than the kitchen or whatever the government has listed as the most dangerous place in a household," Tony sarcastically said. Bruce sighed. The genius had him there. But...
"The safety precautions we take now are much better than before," Bruce calmed. Tony snorted.
"Yeah but can you promise me that nothing will happen? That Hulk won't freak out at a violent scene in whatever movie we watch and hit that container of chemicals over there?" Tony wondered, pointing to a Hazardous Material cabinet near one of the couches. Bruce glanced over at it and winced. If Hulk swung his arm wrong, that cabinet would be obliterated. Sadly it was unable to be moved as it was screwed into the floor and partially built into the wall.
"Hulk can sit on the other couch, or even the floor in front of the TV," Bruce suggested as if where the green guy sat made a difference in the lab. Tony shook his head. That wasn't what he meant.
"And if the violence sends him into a rampage? The way those couches are set up, no one would be able to escape except you and me. And seeing as we are in Steve's and Thor's bodies, we need to be closest to him," Tony snarled. He waved his hand over the scene before him. "This is a death trap waiting to happen! We can't let them do this!"
"Tony, what are you so afraid of? Hulk being released in the lab never bothered you before," Bruce called. Tony spun to look at the doctor.
"That's cause you were Hulk!" he shouted as Clint, Arrow and Natasha (as Tony) rounded the corner. Clint froze in the hall, just outside of the two scientists' view. Natasha took a few steps to the door before Arrow's whine made her look back. Clint was so still he didn't even look like he was breathing.
"Clint?" she whispered. Clint still didn't move. Arrow nudged his head against the archer's hand but still, Clint did nothing.
"So, you trust me as Hulk but not Clint? Why? What makes him so different?" Bruce asked in the lab, drawing Natasha's attention away from the archer. She frowned before looking back at Clint. The archer almost looked horrified. Inside, Tony shrugged. Bruce frowned. "What is so hard about trusting Clint? You took care of him for almost a year. Pepper said you two grew very close."
"I know!" Tony snapped, harsher than he intended. Bruce flinched at the ferocity. Seeing his friend jump at that, Tony sighed deeply. "I know... Trust me, I've been thinking about this since we first found out that Clint doesn't seem to have control. It took you almost a year to stop Hulk from coming out at every little thing that set you off. And... Well, I just feel like Clint doesn't have that same amount of control with just you saying a few words to him."
"Clint is doing much better than I ever did. He skipped months of trying to figure things out... Months that I was being chased down. He's safe here. No one wants to attack him or use Hulk or anything like what happened to me. It took me a year to learn control because it took me that long to escape Ross," Bruce explained. Tony sighed again, looking away from Bruce. The doctor frowned before moving away from his desk and heading over to Tony. Once there, he gently placed a hand on the genius's shoulder. Tony didn't respond. "Clint and now even Hulk needs our support."
"I'm... I'm not sure I can give it," Tony muttered. Outside, Clint's eyes widened before he was turning around and rushing to the elevator. Natasha raced after him.
"Clint! Clint, wait!" she cried loud enough for Tony and Bruce to overhear. Arrow barked once and gave chase as well. Thankfully for Clint, Thor (as Clint) and Steve had just arrived as he reached the elevator. They stepped out for Clint to slid in and slam a random level. Natasha couldn't squeeze past Thor and Steve in time to also get on. Neither could Arrow, who barked in consternation at being left behind.
"Clint?" Steve asked, wondering what the archer was doing. The doors closed without a word and Clint was off.
"Shit," Natasha swore before rushing to the stairs.
"What happened?" Steve called, trying to get her attention before she completely disappeared. Natasha ignored him as she slammed the stairwell door open and she ran through with Arrow right on her heels. The pup would easily track Clint between floors and knew right away to go down and not up like Natasha had originally thought. As the door closed behind her, Steve glanced over at Thor as if the thunderer had more answers than him. Thor shrugged. Unsure what else to do, the duo headed to the lab. Tony was whacking his head on his desk and Bruce was standing off to the side with a deep frown and unimpressed glare. "Do I want to know?"
"Clint overheard a conversation that I had with Tony about why he doesn't trust him," Bruce stated as blandly as possible. Steve mouthed 'oh,' before the statement fully hit him and then he frowned.
"I am unsure I understand," Thor said before Steve could. Bruce sighed as Tony finally stopped hitting his head after a particularly large crack.
"I think I cracked the desk," came Tony's muffled voice. Bruce snorted.
"Not surprised," he stated just before Tony shrugged and went back to hitting his head. Sighing again, Bruce looked to Steve and Thor. "Tony started getting upset about the idea of the movie night being held in the lab. He felt that if Hulk got out of hand that no one would be able to get away before getting hurt or worse. When I asked him why he didn't trust Hulk with Clint, Tony couldn't answer and then he stated he isn't sure he can help Clint keep Hulk in check right now. Clint overheard some or all of the conversation and then I guess ran off."
"Oh," Steve replied, the frown deepening on his own face.
"Shall we stop our Iron Friend?" Thor wondered, glancing over to Tony. The genius was still hitting his head and the desk's crack was getting larger and larger. "My body may take many beatings, I fear for our friend's mind."
"Tony stop," Bruce demanded. Tony paused.
"No," he mumbled before going back to hitting himself. Steve smirked and patted Thor's shoulder.
"The desk will break long before anything happens with Tony," Steve soothed. "Let's go find Clint."
Clint made it all the way down to Bruce's Hulk out room without any interference. Natasha and Arrow joined him on the floor just in time to watch as he closed the door and locked it. The spy frowned and slowly moved to the window as Arrow rushed over to begin pawing and whining at the door.
"You're upsetting your dog," Natasha declared to Clint with the intercom. Clint scoffed and moved to the other side of the room. He sat down in the far corner and curled up. Natasha rolled her eyes. "JARVIS, can you open the door?"
"Sadly, Agent Romanoff, I do not have control over Hulk's Playroom. Sir and Doctor Banner felt it best that only Doctor Banner would have the ability to open the door from the inside once it is locked," JARVIS replied actually sounding upset as well. Natasha sighed.
"Clint, unlock the door," she hissed into the intercom. Clint shook his head as Arrow gave out a low moan that made Natasha raise an eyebrow. "Your dog is dying."
"Arrow is fine," Clint softly called. Natasha sighed before glancing at Arrow. The pup was still pawing gently at the door but was now lying on his belly. He gave out a pathetic whine.
"Nope, he's gonna be dead in a minute," she disclosed. Clint snorted.
"Don't kill him cause he's pissing you off. Sides, you were the one who got him for me," Clint stated. Now it Natasha's turn to snort. She shook her head.
"No, it's his owner that's pissing me off," Natasha clarified as the elevator behind her opened. She glanced back to see Thor, Steve and Bruce getting off. Her eyes narrowed at Bruce even as he mouthed an apology. After a moment, she nodded in forgiveness. "Clint, open the damn door."
"Nat, just leave me alone," Clint answered.
"He locked himself in there?" Steve wondered. Natasha nodded.
"I based the lock system on if I could tell that I was losing control or felt like I hadn't gotten it back from Hulk. No one can open it but Clint," Bruce told the others. Natasha nodded.
"JARVIS said as much," she replied.
"So... How are we going to get him out?" Steve asked. Natasha and Bruce both shrugged.
"Will our archer friend be okay?" Thor inquired.
"Who knows," Natasha admitted.
"I'm fine Thor," Clint announced. Natasha grimaced. Apparently the intercom button had gotten stuck and now Clint could clearly hear them. Thor took that as an okay and turned to leave. With Clint's next statement, the thunderer went to check on Tony and his body. He didn't get far as JARVIS had sent the elevator away once everyone had arrived. "Just... Give me a bit."
"Are we still going to watch the movie?" Steve questioned. Natasha and Bruce turned and glared at him. He shrugged still not seeing the issue with asking. Inside the 'playroom,' Clint chuckled.
"Yeah... Yeah. Gotta prove Tony wrong... Hulk can handle a movie without damaging anything," Clint revealed. Steve smiled as Thor nodded, proud of Clint's decision. Bruce chuckled while Natasha rolled her eyes. Slowly, Clint got his feet and began to cross the room. Arrow perked up at the increased scent of his master. With a deep sigh, Clint unlocked the door and stepped out. Natasha was there waiting for him. She smacked him upside the head even as Arrow tried to jump into his arms. "Ow."
"Idiot," she muttered before walking away. Clint smirked.
"I think we should let Hulk out down here so we can explain things to him before going upstairs," Bruce suggested. Clint nodded before looking to Steve for confirmation. Steve paused before agreeing as well.
"Yeah. In case Hulk gets confused we can always push him into his playroom," Steve added. Clint snorted before releasing Hulk. The green guy came out with a loud roar before glancing around confused.
"Hi," Steve said, gently waving his hand. Hulk snorted before focusing on Bruce.
"Where fight?" the green guy grunted.
"No, no fight," Bruce exclaimed. Hulk frowned, confused even more. "We're having a movie night in the lab."
"NO LAB!" Hulk roared, rearing back away from the group and into the door. Arrow whimpered and backed away from Hulk.
"Whoa there big guy!" Steve called, holding his hands out defensively like he normally did. Bruce quickly stepped between Steve and Hulk as a just in case. Steve frowned at him for a moment before remembering he wasn't in his body. He was in Natasha's.
"Hulk, calm down. I promise we aren't going to do anything to you. All we are doing is going there to watch a movie," Bruce soothed, knowing that Hulk's reaction to the lab definitely had to do with him. It partly made the doctor feel guilt for horrifying the green guy but at the same time, Bruce felt right with the idea that it wasn't just him being bothered by a lab.
"No lab," Hulk whined, curling in on himself as if someone was reaching out to him even though no one was. Natasha shifted forward to grab Arrow as the pup tried to soothe his master in the green form.
"I'm sorry Hulk, but Tony is falling behind in his work and we don't want him missing out on this special night," Steve added. Hulk whimpered as if Steve was hurting the poor guy.
"No lab," he begged again. Steve looked to Bruce for help.
"Hulk, we promise that there will be no tests. No needles, no test tubes, nothing like a normal lab. This is Tony's lab with all his machinery," Bruce tried to describe. Hulk paused as he tried to shift through memories to picture the lab that Bruce was talking about. Thankfully, because Clint had been the one to help Steve build the movie viewing area in Tony's lab, Hulk was easily able to access the memories and what the lab looked like. Slowly, the green guy began to calm down. In fact, he calmed down so much that he looked to be slowly reverting back to Clint.
"Hulk, we want you to watch the movie with us. Don't let Clint take control right now," Steve quickly ordered. Hulk gave what seemed like a wince but it could have been a jump of shock at the words. Steve traded a confused look with Bruce. The big guy had never seemed frightened of him before. Could something else have made the green guy do that? Could it have been something like Clint heard Steve's order and made his heart rate spike, forcing Hulk to be in control longer? Bruce had never fought Hulk to keep the green guy out so no one knew what that would look like.
"Hulk no want movie night," Hulk whimpered and again tried to calm himself down into Clint. Again he jumped or winced and was back to normal.
"Don't you want friends?" Natasha suddenly called, drawing attention to herself and Arrow. "To be friends, we have to hang out. Sometimes in places we find slightly uncomfortable."
"Hulk no want to be in lab," Hulk mumbled to her. Natasha nodded and let go of Arrow as she knew that Hulk wouldn't hurt the pup. Right away, Arrow bounded over to one of Hulk's large hand. He sniffed it hesitantly, almost as if trying to smell Hulk's movements. Feeling like Hulk was okay and just upset, Arrow licked the green skin. Hulk smiled lightly. "Puppy."
"What if we say that it's actually Tony's workshop and not lab?" Natasha suggested. "Cause, that's technically what it is. We're all just used to calling it a lab."
"Workshop?" Hulk questioned, not used to that terminology.
"Uh... A place for Tony to fix his suit. There are desks, machine parts..." Steve explained. Hulk scrunched his face in confusion.
"Can we show you it? If you don't like it, we can have movie night elsewhere," Bruce compromised. Hulk frowned before nodding. He liked that idea much better than getting stuck in a lab. If they were lying to him then he could back away and fight them if need be. But if they weren't, then he would be able to calmly go into the 'workshop.' "Okay, let's go upstairs. And remember, if you don't like being there then tell us and we can leave."
4,566 words. There are no words to describe how sorry I am for not posting this entire month. Life totally got in the way. First we were house hunting every day and there was no time to type. Then Little Darius came into the world and I haven't had a minute to myself. And now we are looking at houses again already.
Darius was born 5-31-16 at 11:22 am. He weighed in at 8 lbs 4 ounces. I was in the hospital with him for three days before being released and everything has been fine. No one was ill, or got ill, or anything like that. Clint has been ignoring Darius as much as possible. Including if an adult is holding Darius. Then it's as if they aren't in the room. Recently, Clint has gotten better and accepts kisses and give air kisses to Darius but if he see Darius coming near him and he has a chance to escape, he'll take the escape route.
Yes, you read right. We are currently trying to find a new house. Our current house doesn't have enough room so we are looking for something bigger. Hopefully this hunt will be over soon as we have been looking for a while. And hopefully it won't interfere with me posting again. But, life does get in the way, a lot.
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Reviews:
sammygirl1963 – Yeah. I loved that scene. I feel bad for making Tony suffer but I know that's what he'd do. Having Mjolnir take off when Tony touched it is actually an idea I had gotten from the Avengers Assemble episode where the group switched bodies thanks to MODOK. I had a bit of a hard time trying to describe the reason it took off so I'm glad everyone doesn't mind it. Arrow is so hard to remember about! I keep forgetting him and when I go to edit I suddenly realize he's been missing for like half the chapter and sometimes even the entire chapter. Then I have to go back and re-add him. When it comes to Star Wars I honestly love all of them. Even the newest one but yes... None will be up to par on the original three. But I have met many people who would absolutely refuse to watch part 1, 2, and 3 as they hated it that much or don't even want to give them a chance. I figured Tony would fit into that category. Glad you are looking forward to more. I did have a wonderful Mother's day, even though it has now been so long since then. And a mother to the four legged variety is still a mother. Heck, sometimes I think my 20 lbs cat is more work than Darius.
Shazia Malik - Thankfully, Odin has Hiemdall to tell him that Thor is indeed alive. Mjolnir is just going off its spell that Odin had casted. When Tony touched it, Mjolnir could sense it was Thor's form but his soul was not the same. Sadly no visit from Asgard. Thor is supposed to be able to handle these situations himself, so Odin won't send help. Just like with the Chitauri. Yes, Tony does need to chill. Hopefully this chapter is a little easier for everyone to handle with him. Thank you for the comment and I'm glad you like it. Hope it stays that way, lol.
amy. d. fuller. 9 - It's fine that you haven't been around to read and review. Heck, I apparently haven't been around to edit and post so we're kind of even now. lol. Trust me on the packing and unpacking of boxes I know how long it takes. My mother still hasn't unpacked from her move three years ago. Reminds me of the movie The Incredibles when Mrs. Incredible calls Mr. Incredible to say they officially were unpacked and he was like 'I thought we did that months ago'. LOL... As for the gang and their treatments of each other's bodies... I feel bad but it seems more realistic that they wouldn't change to match their new body. And the Fantastic Four and the X-Men, I had so much fun writing that bit. I love having them fail so badly. Influenced by the body...? Yeah, I can see that. Wow... I think you are the first to say that you are glad she had to leave. To be honest, I was having a hard time making her fit, hence why I got rid of her. As for solving, still got many chapters to go (or so I hope considering I'm still not done).