Quintessential Hero
Disclaimer: If I actually owned any of this... that would be so damn awesome! Sadly, I do not own any of these great characters.
Summary:Post ME3, and starts during The Avengers movie. Thanks to a certain omnipotent being with a penchant for mind games, Samantha Shepard finds herself in a strange new world.
Author's Notes: Over 2,200 readers... I think I can now call this little fanfic... somewhat liked. :) Thank you to everyone who has read, favored and/or alerted my story! A special thank you to all my reviewers... you glorious Bosh'tet's!
Everyone in the Avenger's Tower was just trying to get some sleep... or relax in their own ways. Of course, that isn't doing to happen tonight...
Chapter 11
Bruce couldn't sleep. I should really just give in and take a pill for this damn insomnia, he thought.
As he headed for the elevator to grab a bite to eat from the above Kitchen/Dining/Recreation floor, he stopped in his tracks.
What was that noise? A loud commotion could be heard coming from Shepard's private rooms just down all hall from him.
She had warned both himself and Steve, that she was a light sleeper, and that she also occasionally had bad dreams. This however, seemed far worse than any disturbance Bruce or Steve had noticed in the last week.
Bruce instantly started walking back down the hall and noticed Steve heading towards him from the opposite direction. Steve just nodded to him as they both reached Samantha's door.
"Hey Bruce. I'm guessing you heard this racket too?" A worried Bruce replied, "Yeah Steve, you think we should check on her? I mean, it can't hurt to play it safe, right?"
Both of them knocked on Shepard's door, getting louder as she didn't respond. When they called her name several times, still not getting a response, Steve started to get worried as well.
Steve, looking at Bruce with a concerned frown, and said, "Hear, just in case, let me open the door. If I have to break the lock and this turns out to be no big deal, I can take the blame." Steve went to open it, and surprisingly, the door was unlocked.
He then gave Bruce a gentle slap on the shoulder, telling him, "Your up, Mr. Hero." Bruce just gave Steve an annoyed look in return, and then proceeded into the small living area which had a separate bedroom. He quickly went to the bedroom door, and not wanting to waste anymore time, opened it.
"STEVE! We might need some help!" Bruce shouted, as he looked at a now tossing and turning Samantha, who was obviously having a horrible nightmare, and glowing a very familiar shade of blue.
A couple small lamps in the room had been smashed, and some light furniture thrown about. Well, I guess that explains the noise, Bruce thought, as Steve came running into the room. "Wait! Steve... stay back for a second. Let me try to wake her up... and see if I can calm her down."
He began to cautiously approach Samantha, almost shaking at the power on display in front of him. So this is what people must feel like around 'The Other Guy', he quickly pondered.
When Bruce had reached her, he started to gently brush her hair with his right hand, and lightly held her with his left, murmuring to her, "Shh... Your safe Samantha, you just need to wake up."
Steve couldn't stop himself from feeling helpless as he watched as his friend patiently tried to wake Shepard, who in this state, was probably very dangerous.
As Shepard snapped awake, out of fear and confusion, she reacted on instinct. The next thing he knew, Bruce's back was slamming into a wall. Instantly, he could feel 'The Other Guy' beginning to take over, as a horrified looking Samantha, and a concerned Steve ran over to him.
Even as the pain of the transformation began to take over, Bruce thought, Huh... that's odd she seems so upset... wait... is she actually crying? Holy shit... she does like me! Wow... I guess I owe Steve ten bucks after all. Then, he grabbed Steve's wrist and shouted at him, "GET HER... OUT OF HERE... NOW!"
Steve just nodded to his friend, and pulled Samantha, kicking and screaming, away from Bruce. "Look at him Shepard! We have to move now!" For the first time, Samantha had a second to fully take the situation in and realized that Steve was absolutely right.
As she heard the rage-filled screams coming from her room Samantha whispered, "I'm so sorry Bruce...". Then, both of them started running for their lives.
Samantha for the life of her, couldn't figure out why Steve was suddenly grinning at her as they ran. "What's so goddamn funny kid?", she snapped at him. "Nothing!", he replied. What she didn't know, was that Steve was now holding a crumpled up ten dollar bill in his hand.
Ah yes, "Page Breaks" A literary device used to show the passage of time. We have dismissed that claim.
This was it. After all the time they had denied to everyone, even themselves, how they felt about each other, Clint and Natasha had finally given in.
God, why didn't I do this sooner, Natasha berated herself as she gently kissed Clint, mesmerized by his eyes, which looked like two deep blue passion-filled oceans.
Clint passionately met her kiss, and then stared longingly into her light-green eyes. His thoughts were much the same as hers in that moment, so much wasted time they could have shared together.
As he gently, but firmly, caressed her body and pulled her toward him, Natasha suddenly tensed up. "Clint... did you hear that?", she said.
Unfortunately for him, Clint did indeed hear something coming form the floor above them. An ominously loud creaking sound, that was continually getting louder by the second.
Less than two seconds later they were greeted by the extremely odd site of Shepard, Steve and Bruce, in Hulk form, siting in a daze, on the bedroom carpet in front of them.
As the dust cleared and everyone was finally able to see each other, a beet-red faced Steve just looked over at Shepard and handed her a crumpled up ten dollar bill. She grinned at him saying, "Ha! I told ya they were crazy about each other, kid!"
Then Shepard addressed the two stunned, and naked, SHIELD agents, as Steve was to embarrassed to speak, and said, "Uh... um... sorry about the coitus interruptus, you two!"
As if this wasn't bad enough, just then everyone in the room heard a loud, "HULK SMASH!", As Bruce's alter-ego proceeded to slam his fists down hard enough to break though yet another floor, sending Samantha and Steve crashing after him.
Ah yes, "Page Breaks" A literary device used to show the passage of time, or cut to another hilarious scene. We have dismissed that claim.
Yes! Got it, finally!, Tony was rather impressed with himself, as he had just been able to reconstruct and decode most of the information that was on Shepard's omni-tool.
Besides this small miracle, he had JARVIS working on slowly replicating more omni and medi-gel as well. Only took more than a goddamn week!, Tony internally fumed, Wait... what the hell... is that noise.
JARVIS chose that moment to pipe in with,"Sir, I strongly suggest you vacate your immediate area... We've had... a slight disturbance... on the two floors above your laboratory."
"JARVIS... what aren't you telling me?", said a frowning Tony. JARVIS hesitated for a second before replying, "I fear it will become obvious, sir... in three... two..."
With an enormously loud crash, Steve, Shepard and a now, finally starting to return to normal Bruce, landed where Tony had been standing less than a minute earlier. "One...", JARVIS helpfully finished.
At that point one of Tony's lab robots, DUM-E, decided that this was the perfect time to play Fire Marshall, and then the helpful little robot doused all three from them in fire retardant.
Tony was absolutely dumbfounded and, even more rare for him, completely silent. Shepard was the first to get up and attempted to wipe herself off. This had to be the first time he ever saw her looking sheepish, and guilty as hell.
"So... uh, invent anything awesome lately Tony?", Samantha still didn't quite bring herself to look him in the eyes. Tony sighed deeply and said, "Shep did you, Captain Chaos, and Mr. Smash Everything!, just destroy two of my fucking floors?"
Samantha responded by hold out her hand and giving him a ripped and crumpled up ten dollar bill. "Uh... will this help?", Tony just face palmed, and started shaking his head.
"Hey! Is everybody okay down there?" Everyone looked up to see Clint and Natasha, now partially dressed, leaning over the gaping hole in Clint's bedroom.
A frustrated Natasha, quickly looked the scene over, and roughly grabbing Clint said to him, "Their fine Clint. My room. NOW."
The last thing any of the group below him saw of Clint, was a big stupid grin on his face, as Natasha dragged him away.
"Well... I'll be damned! You were right, buddy.", Tony said, as he walked over to a dust and fire retardant coated Bruce, who was still siting on the floor next to a now firetruck-red Steve, and proceeded to hand him a, beat to hell, ten dollar bill.
A/N: It's amazing how fast money can travel, isn't it? Here's hoping you all got as much of a laugh out of this chapter as I did!
