So I now remember that Steve had his shield quite a few chapters back when the Hulk made his first appearance. That's an error on my part, but I liked writing him being reunited with his shield, so I'm leaving it in. Okay? Okay.
Also, the credit for the plot in this chapter solely goes to fox tamer 113. She's the one that suggested it, and I wouldn't have thought of it on my own.
Tony wanted to beat the living daylights out of Steve right about now. But he had to settle for storming his way back to the ground floor to find Bruce. He needed someone who would listen and not take Steve's side. His science bro seemed like the best option.
What gave Rogers the right to say all those things to him? Okay, granted, he'd been just as obnoxious back, but in his opinion, Cap had gone too far.
"You're not really a hero. You're barely even a threat," Steve had said.
That was the first time Tony had frozen, for his father's words had echoed in his head. "You're not a hero, Anthony. You're not even a threat."
"You get your heroics from that armor your wearing," Steve had insulted. "Take that off and what are you?"
Once again, Howard's words mocked him. "You think you're a hero because of that armor. But take it off and what are you?"
The final blow had been Steve saying, "I'm starting to wonder why I ever considered us friends. The ones I had back in the war? They were worth ten of you."
And Howard after Tony had answered with his usual 'genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist' quip. "You think those four little words are a way out? You think you're special? I've met men with none of what you have. And they were worth ten of you."
Tony had been trying his hardest to keep it together. It was at times like these that he really appreciated the walls he'd built up over the years.
But upon reaching the cafeteria and finding Bruce sitting there, he felt his walls begin to crumble. And when his best friend asked in a soft voice, "What's wrong, Tony?" he lost it. He rested his arms on the table and buried his face in them so that his science bro couldn't see the tears squeezing their way out of his eyes.
All the while he told himself that he didn't cry. He never cried. But, really, he'd been holding in all of this pain and hurt since his father said everything Steve had. It wasn't until after Steve hurled all those things in his face again and Bruce's caring tone greeted him that he broke down. And honestly? He knew he should have been ashamed at the hot tears dripping onto the table in front of him, but he couldn't bring himself to be. He knew Bruce understood and didn't care if he cried.
"Tony?" he heard his friend query after a few minutes of having his shoulder massaged gently. "Do you want to talk about it?"
Tony took a deep, shaky breath as he sat up, wiping his eyes quickly. "I, uh, sorry for breaking down on you like...like that."
He hated the way his voice was stuttering and slightly quivery, but Bruce didn't seem to mind for he was shaking his head. "It's perfectly fine. And don't worry." He winked. "I won't tell anyone."
Tony let out a weak chuckle. "It's just that I...uh...well, I've had a really crappy day."
Bruce's eyebrows shot up. "Nooo."
Tony offered a miniscule smile. "Was that sarcasm?"
"Nooo."
He shoved Bruce before continuing. "You already know about Dad finding out about Steve. Well, he confronted me last night. He...uh...he hit me. And he told me that Steve would have made a better son," he said, his voice taking on both bitterness and hurt.
He was too absorbed with his own troubles to notice the hint of green creeping into his friend's brown eyes.
"And now I'm starting to think that they really would make a perfect family," Tony went on, glaring down at the table. "Because during training, Steve...Steve said some...some things to me."
"What kind of things?" When his friend hesitated, Bruce repeated (his voice growing deeper), "Tony, what kind of things?"
"Nothing that my dad hasn't said before," Tony answered, sounding defeated. "That I'm worthless. That I'm not a hero. That I'm not the one to make the sacrifice play. That they know men worth ten of me."
Bruce's breathing was slowly growing more labored. "Your dad said this to you."
"Yeah."
"And Steve did, too. Today."
"Yeah. So now you see why this table is soaked," Tony attempted to joke, gesturing to the saltwater on the smooth surface.
"We can't let them get away with that!" Bruce insisted, his voice loud enough to almost be a yell.
"Whoa, there. Calm down, Brucey. They're entitled to their own opinion. Even if their opinion sucks," Tony said, beginning to realize how worked up his friend was becoming.
"But they hurt you," Bruce continued, his voice growing deeper and rougher by the second. "You were crying. And you never cry."
"Well, no, but health class states that it's good to cry every once in a while."
"That doesn't make what they did okay!"
"No. It doesn't. But you need to calm down before you regret being angry," Tony said, trying to keep his voice soothing.
Unfortunately, it didn't work. And he found himself having to jump up before Bruce shoved the table over, his limbs growing and becoming tinted with green.
"Hulk!" Tony snapped, knowing this friend was at the stage that if the name 'Bruce Banner' was mentioned, he'd completely lose it. "Stop it! I'm fine. See? I'm not crying anymore." It took him some effort to say that for it didn't feel right coming out of his mouth, but he'd do anything to calm Bruce down.
"Tony not fine!" the Hulk snapped back and Tony's eyes widened at how quickly the transformation had occurred. Okay, so he'd completely failed.
"But I...but I am," he insisted, faking a smile. He knew things were bad when the Hulk merely shook his head (and was that an eye roll?).
"Hulk, stand down!" Steve ordered, holding his shield down by his side. Clint stood next to him with a bow in hand. Natasha stood on his other side with a couple of guns, though they were still in their holsters. And Thor held his hammer up, though it wasn't charged.
Tony poked his head out to peer at them around the Hulk. "Bad idea, guys. He's kind of-"
"You hurt Tony!" the green monster growled, holding his arms out to his side as if to shield his friend.
"-mad at you."
"You told him about what just happened, didn't you?" Steve asked, his voice low.
Tony could hear the pure disapproval in it, and he didn't justify the question with an answer. After all, he'd promised himself he was never talking to Steve Rogers again.
"I'll take that as a yes," Clint muttered, nocking an arrow and aiming at the Hulk. "Don't make me use this. Banner and I had it specially made to take you down."
The Hulk merely smiled darkly as Thor leaned forward to say, "It was under my pretension that you are required to use several of those arrows to deal much of a blow on the Hulk."
Clint nodded grimly. "Yeah, and I think he knows it, too."
And yet, Hawkeye still let an arrow fly to lodge in the Hulk's shoulder. Of course, that only made the beast roar in frustration and lunge at the group of people that he saw as his enemies.
"No, stop!" Tony yelled, running after the Hulk to grab his arm. His hands were far from wrapping all the way around it.
He might have hated Steve's guts at the moment, but he didn't want the guy to get killed or anything.
The Hulk merely grunted, pushing Tony away with a gentleness that shocked everyone in the room. It appeared that he wasn't going to let his friend stand in the way of having his revenge.
Clint and Natasha rolled to one side, while Steve rolled to the other. Thor took to the air. "We are not your enemies, Banner!" the thunder god called down. "Try to think!"
"I think you," the Hulk started, jabbing one giant finger in Steve's direction, "hurt Tony!"
"Yeah, yeah, we got that," Clint said, launching another anti-Hulk arrow at the beast. "Any ideas, Cap?"
"Take him down," Steve ordered, hurling his shield at the green monster. "We can't risk him destroying the school and hurting the staff."
"But it isn't his fault!" Natasha called back, her emerald green eyes wide for this was the first time she'd seen the Hulk. "Wouldn't it be smarter to have Stark talk to him?"
"Yes!" Thor agreed. "Stark is the one the Hulk is protecting, is he not?"
"Look, I said take him down and I mean it. Just try not to hurt the boy inside," Steve shot back, reaching up to catch his shield as it ricocheted off the Hulk's head. Of course, that gained him even more attention. Faster than he could blink, the Hulk reached over and grabbed him.
"Steve!" Clint yelled, letting another anti-Hulk arrow fly, but they seemed to do nothing.
Every time Tony had tried to push forward, the Hulk had kept him away. But now, seeing Steve about to get the life squeezed out of him, he took action. He climbed up onto one of the tables that was still intact and leapt onto the Hulk, clinging to the monster's neck.
"Listen to me!" he hissed into the large green ear. "I know you hate him right now. I do, too. But killing him won't solve anything. Maybe we can devise a plot that will get our revenge without hurting Rogers. If you truly want to protect me, Hulk, you'll let him go. We'll figure something out, okay? Just don't stoop down to a level even lower than his was."
Tony didn't know exactly what it was in his speech that stopped the Hulk (maybe it was the fact that he hadn't tried to call him Banner, or because he wasn't scared of him). Whatever the case, the beast dropped a choking Steve, even if he looked reluctant.
Tony smiled and patted a large green shoulder before sliding to the floor. "Atta boy. That's my Hulk."
It was a bit of a shock to everyone, how Stark had handled the Hulk. It was also a surprise when he didn't revert back to Bruce Banner immediately. Instead, the large green beast pointed at the group of four.
"You...hurt Tony again...and I hurt you," he said slowly, trying to form the right words. "No...no exceptions."
The four friends nodded and Tony patted the Hulk again. "Wow, Hulk! Exceptions. That has to be your biggest word yet. I'm proud of you, big guy!"
Hulk grinned at the compliment before finally beginning to transform back into Bruce Banner. Tony made sure to shield him as he reached for his backpack for a change of clothes.
When he was once again wearing a shirt and pants, he got to his feet and crossed his arms to face the other group with Tony. He didn't look like he regretted turning into the Hulk. He might have been trembling a bit, and there might have been a hint of guilt, but for the most part he looked confident.
While on the other side stood Steve and Clint, their stances mimicking Tony and Bruce's. Steve looked slightly guilty, but he obviously wasn't budging. And Clint looked like he would stick by Cap no matter what.
Thor was once again stuck in the middle, unable to choose. Which, Tony supposed, was a choice in and of itself because it looked like he wasn't going to choose.
Which left Natasha. The girl looked from one side to the other before lifting her chin with a look of defiance that none of them had seen since before discovering her past. Silently, she marched over to Tony and Bruce, standing in between the science bros. It actually left Tony with a warm feeling in his chest. He knew there was a reason he decided to trust her.
Before any of them could say anything, Fury's voice (not Coulson's) was echoing over the intercom system.
"If you're hearing this Avengers, and you'd better be, you need to get up to the roof ASAP. We have a situation. A cold situation."
Natasha, Thor, and Clint looked confused since they hadn't been informed of the situation in the vault. But Bruce and Tony's gazes met and Steve's eyes widened a fraction.
"Well, that sounds horrible," Bruce commented.
Tony smirked. "Understatement, bro. Massive understatement."
And with that, the six Avengers broke into a run with an urgency that rivaled the previous Hulk incident.
