Abigail only overheard the tail end of the conversation, but she knew what it was about. And based on how much Bruce's hands were shaking, she had to get her son out of there immediately.
"Michael, go to your sister's room. Don't leave the house until I say so," she commanded, shouldering Tony out of her way.
Her eyes never left Bruce as Michael crept around the edge of the walls and ran out of the barn, tripping over his feet in his haste. Abigail mentally prepared herself for what was to come.
"You said Owen was fine," Bruce said, voice quavering. He kept his back to her, and Abigail knew it was an attempt to keep control. "You lied and said Owen was fine."
"Yes, I did. You think I was going to announce it to SHIELD? You think I was going to risk having him taken away? I've managed to keep this a secret from everyone, Bruce. The only people who knew were me, Owen, and Michael."
"How bad is it?"
Abigail clenched her jaw. Not for the first time that morning, her temper flared in response to Bruce's audacity to judge her actions.
"You've picked a fine time to take an interest in your family, Bruce," she said, glaring in disgust at the back of his head. "It couldn't have happened just because you wanted to see us – oh, no. You had to go off and create a fucking murder bot with your friend here and then decide to make a side trip home."
Bruce's shoulders were shaking now, but Abigail didn't notice. Her own fury was consuming all of her attention.
Tony, however, realized the danger they were in. He laid a hand on her arm and tried to pull her back, speaking in a hushed voice.
"Maybe now's not the best time to–"
"Now is the perfect time, because it is quite possibly the only time we'll have to talk."
Abigail wrenched her arm from his grasp and stepped closer to Bruce. "You had your chance to destroy that robot and you failed. Now, it's going to try and kill everyone on the planet – not just you and your pals."
Bruce didn't speak or move; he just kept shaking. Abigail couldn't believe what was happening. It was like she was reliving that horrid night from five years ago.
But this time she recognized what could come next, and knew that yelling was rarely if ever the way to solve a problem.
She ran a hand through her hair and took deep breaths, trying to calm down. It was impossible to completely cool off knowing how much was at stake, but she felt much calmer when she placed her hand on Bruce's arm and turned him to face her.
"Our children are in danger, Bruce. What the hell are you going to do about it?"
Tony was holding his breath the whole time Abigail was yelling. He had watched Bruce turn into the Hulk firsthand, and it was not pretty.
His armor was on standby, just waiting for the proper gesture to be activated. Somehow, though, he didn't need it.
Abigail got a grip on her anger and was silent for a minute, during which Bruce gradually stopped shaking. Tony finally breathed a sigh of relief. High-stress environments were never pleasant, but for Bruce they were a nightmare.
Tony moved to try and get between Abigail and Bruce, intending to take Bruce out for a calming walk through the trees and away from his angry wife.
But Abigail moved first, not even realizing Tony had stepped nearer. She grabbed Bruce and spun him around roughly.
Tony winced and stepped back again, afraid it might tip the scale in favor of the Hulk. Bruce didn't turn though; he just stared through her like she wasn't there.
"Our children are in danger, Bruce," Abigail said, sounding like she was ready to either fight him or cry. "What the hell are you going to do about it?"
Bruce's face remained blank, which Tony assumed was a defense mechanism against changing.
If turning off emotions keeps him normal, Tony thought, more power to him.
After what Tony just heard, he was glad Bruce was able to shut down like that. If the littlest kid could turn into a green rage monster, and Bruce was blaming himself for it, the best outcome right now was to have everyone chill out for a minute.
Of course, Abigail chose that moment to slap Bruce in the face.
Natasha stepped out of the shower and toweled off methodically. She put on her borrowed clothes and grabbed a comb from the shallow cabinet behind the mirror, running it through her hair until all the tangles were gone.
Once she put it back, Natasha regarded herself in the slightly foggy mirror. Her split lip was mostly healed, and the bruise on her upper arm was already fading. She massaged the faint purple mark and rolled the long, dark sleeve down to hide it.
Overall, she appeared as she should. But she just couldn't completely banish the preoccupied look in her eyes. She closed her eyes to refocus, measuring her breathing and emptying her mind.
When she opened them again, the look was gone. The woman in the mirror was completely emotionless. It was the woman who could kill someone without flinching, but not the woman Natasha was now. Slowly, she let her personality creep back in.
Her eyes softened, her jaw slackened, her eyebrow quirked, and a hint of a smirk appeared on her lips. She stopped just before that look reappeared.
There was loud thumping as someone stomped out of the house, and Natasha's training kicked in.
Fewer than a dozen steps, she thought, ground floor. Sounded like Tony.
She opened the door in time to hear someone else rush down the stairs. Moving silently down the short hallway, she watched Abigail half-run out the front door.
Natasha did a quick check of the kitchen and living room before looking out at the barn. The hairs on the back of her neck rose at the peculiar stillness of the building.
Something was going to happen – something bad.
"Clint," she shouted up the stairs. He appeared at the top and nodded.
"I've got two and Cap. Go."
Without another word she spun around and walked out the front door. There was nobody on the lawn.
Two kids and Steve are upstairs. Tony and Abbey went for the barn. Bruce and the other kid must have already been inside.
As she thought that Michael ran out and fell in the doorway, but quickly picked himself up and bolted for the house. Natasha met him in the middle and put her hands on his shoulders to get a quick explanation.
"Dad… dad's mad," he panted, edging toward the house. "I said something, and now mom's mad too. Please, I don't want–"
Natasha took in his fear and tears in his eyes. Wordlessly she removed her hands and he continued running. She heard his feet pound up the porch steps as she sprinted to the barn.
Natasha slowed when she got a few yards away, making no noise. She couldn't quite make out what Abigail was saying, though from the tone it was clear she was angry.
Natasha peered through a crack between two boards near the door. From this angle Tony's back half-blocked her view, but she could still see the side of Abigail's face and Bruce's trembling shoulders.
Abigail put a hand on her hip and another in her hair, trying to calm down. Tony crossed his arms and hugged himself. Bruce held his breath in one-minute intervals and finally stopped the shaking.
Abigail reached out and pulled Bruce around so she could see his face. Natasha had a full view of his face – and his dead eyes.
Clint's voice came through her earpiece as Abigail tried to get a response from her husband.
"Mike just filled me in. We're listening, but I have no visual. Try and keep them calm, Nat; the kids don't need to see this get ugly."
Abigail slapped Bruce, and Clint hissed his displeasure. Even if he couldn't see it, there was no mistaking the sound of a strong smack.
"Too late for that," Natasha replied, pulling a syringe gun from the utility belt under her shirt. She waited at her post to see if she would need it.
Bruce's eyes came alive and he glared down at Abigail, prompting Tony throw his arms up defensively and step back until he hit the wall. Now Natasha could see everything in the room. Her eyes flicked to the coils of rope in one corner and the long tow chain hanging on the far wall.
Inject syringe, throw rope around neck, chain arms back. Tony will help with his armor–
As she thought it the suit came flying at her. Natasha dropped and the armor smashed through the wall, sending a shower of wood splinters to rain down on her head. She rolled over to the door and crouched to reassess the situation.
Bruce was standing in front of Abigail, his arms thrown back to protect her. When the smashing sounds ceased she craned her neck over his shoulder to look wide-eyed at the gaping hole in the wall. Tony had one palm out, ready to fire.
Though his skin had a green twinge to it for a few moments, the color faded to its normal peach and Bruce slowly lowered his arms. He looked slightly embarrassed and slightly irritated. Abigail stepped up next to him and surveyed the damage.
Clint's voice sounded in Natasha's ears again, much more urgent than before.
"Nat, what the hell was that?"
She was about to reply when Abigail started yelling again.
"What the hell, Stark?! It's not enough to destroy the planet, so now you have to destroy my property – is that it?"
Tony kept his arm up as he turned just his head to look at the wall.
She couldn't see his face through the armor, but Natasha knew the expression he had on his face. It was the one he saved for those times he royally screwed something up and only just realized it, like when he hired Natasha and found out she worked for SHIELD, or when he presented Pepper with deadly strawberries.
Tony self-consciously dropped his arm to his side and scratched his helmet. Then he mumbled out an apology that made Abigail roll her eyes.
Natasha stood and slipped the syringe back in her belt without anyone noticing. She then brushed the dirt off her shirt and headed back to the house, tapping the earpiece to reply to her partner.
"Tony summoned his suit. Banners are about to tag team him. Situation much calmer. I'm out."
Bruce was furiously trying to keep control of his anger. Though he never expected it would be difficult to keep in control around his family, he had never been slapped by his wife before.
He didn't even feel the slap, but the other guy started pushing to be released. It was like someone was trying to rip him apart from the inside out, and resisting only made the pain worse.
Bruce would gladly take any pain to keep from changing and hurting people, though he could feel his power against the other guy start to slip.
He heard something whizzing through the air, and he and the other guy agreed that it was dangerous. The other guy wanted to go and attack it, so Bruce ran a few steps forward to give in but stopped short so he was standing just in front of his wife.
As the barn wall exploded from the impact of the projectiles, Bruce closed his eyes and threw his arms back to keep anything from hitting Abigail.
He could feel the transformation begin.
It always started in his chest, with his muscles growing thicker and his skin beginning to stretch. Then it would spread down his torso to his arms and legs. His head was the last thing to go, which is how Bruce always knew what was happening.
The transformation could happen in the blink of an eye if he let it. But he fought it back, wanting to see what was happening with a clear head.
Bruce opened one eye and saw the lit eyes of the Iron Man suit through a cloud of dust. Though Tony had a hand raised and ready to fire, Bruce relaxed and fought the transformation entirely. After a moment he felt his body return to normal.
He sighed in frustration at the damage caused by his condition. Even when the other guy didn't come out, it seemed there was always something else bad happening to make up for it. This time, it was the barn being demolished by a well-meaning friend.
Abigail walked up and stood next to him, close enough to brush arms. It was ridiculous, but Bruce got goose bumps everywhere they were touching. His skin was always extra-sensitive after a transformation (or near transformation). Then again, he usually got goose bumps from being near her.
Bruce was most surprised at his wife's willingness to be so near him after what had just happened. He considered holding her hand, but decided against it because of their audience, one of whom was being chastised by Abigail at that very moment.
"What the hell, Stark?! It's not enough to destroy the planet, so now you have to destroy my property – is that it?"
Tony looked at the wall and stammered.
"That – Did you not see –" The mask turned to Bruce for help, but Bruce only raised his eyebrows in response. Tony ducked his head and ran a metal hand over his helmet.
"I'll pay for that," he mumbled, managing to apologize without saying the word sorry.
Abigail huffed in frustration, rolling her eyes and avoiding looking at Tony. Natasha stood in the doorway and adjusted her shirt. Bruce was surprised he hadn't noticed her there before, but she walked away without interfering.
Bruce worried about how much she had heard.
If Abbey kept Owen's condition a secret, he thought, somehow she made it look like epilepsy and tricked SHIELD. But if Natasha or the others overheard us, what will they do to him?
Bruce looked at Abigail and saw the same worry he felt cross her face. They both turned to Tony, who flipped up the golden face of his helmet to return their gaze.
Bruce intended to keep the peace between his friend and his wife, and avoid another ugly confrontation, but Bruce's resolve was no match for their fiery temperaments.
Before he could draw a breath to speak, Abigail threatened Tony.
"You better keep your mouth shut, Stark, or I swear I'll–"
"So how exactly did you manage to fool them?" Tony interrupted, taking a few steps forward so he could keep his voice low. "SHIELD knows more about anything than anyone, with very few exceptions."
"I did what I had to do, which is what I'll do if you try and say something to them."
"Tony won't say anything," said Bruce, trying to fit in a word before the shouting began. "You may not like him, Abbey, but I trust him."
She rounded on Bruce, not believing he was actually telling her to trust Tony with something as important as her son's life. But Bruce truly did trust him, and he tried to nonverbally convey that to Abigail.
After a moment her eyes softened, and Bruce knew she would trust his testimony on Tony's fidelity. Still, she gave Tony a hard look before speaking to him.
"I want your word that you won't do anything else to jeopardize my children's lives."
It seemed that Tony was about to spout off a snarky comment, but somehow he bit it back.
"I promise. Your secret's safe with me," he replied.
Abigail nodded and squeezed Bruce's hand, which he hadn't realized she had been holding. She walked slowly out the door, throwing one pained glance at the destroyed wall before going back to the house.
Bruce breathed a sigh of relief at her dropping the whole wall issue. He hazarded a smile, which Tony returned after a pause. Tony shook his head and laughed a little, admiring his handiwork.
"You know, you really had me worried back there," he said, stepping over wood chunks and through the ragged hole.
Bruce grimaced and picked the clear path through the doorway, trying to come up with an appropriate apology for almost murdering his friend for the second time in twenty-four hours.
"I'm sorry that–"
"You should be! She almost ripped my head off back there!"
Bruce tiredly chuckled and followed Tony to the jet. Not for the first time, he was thankful to have a genius, billionaire, playboy, narcissist on his team.