Everything felt fuzzy, like that one time Ronan had been hit by a car when he was young. His hearing had come back first, his mother screaming and someone on the phone calling an ambulance. Then it was the pain, a dull, thudding ache throughout his entire body, how it felt hard to breathe. An ache in his head, like he'd...well, like he'd been hit by a car. He was lucky that he hadn't been hurt worse.

It was lucky this time around that he hadn't been killed.

The first thing he felt was the pain in his head, like he'd cracked his skull. He raised his hand to the back of his head, and his fingers came away red and wet. Blood. He was bleeding.

Fuck.

"Ro?!" The yell sounded fuzzy, but familiar.

"Tony?" His voice sounded small, and he heard a quiet 'thank God' from Steve. "What -?"

"One of the propellers is down. Cap and I are gonna fix it. Stay put." Then there was the sound of people running and Ronan groaned, managing to get to his feet.

As if he was staying put.

His ankle throbbed in protest and Ronan winced. Not so lucky this time around, but the world wasn't spinning. The bleeding was slightly worrying and he grit his teeth. He could deal with that later when there wasn't the blaring of alarms.

He was worried about Bruce. The explosion, the lights, the noise - that would increase his heart rate, bring out the Hulk and then Fury would bring out guns. Which would just make him angry.

A scared and angry Hulk was what no one wanted. Yet it was probably what would happen if someone didn't intervene.

That someone was going to be Ronan.

He stumbled over to where the floor had collapsed, peering down and grimacing.

That was a long way down. If the explosion hadn't made Bruce turn, then the drop would have.

"This is such a bad idea." He muttered to himself. "Such a fucking bad idea. Actually, this whole thing was a bad idea." It didn't stop him from lowering himself down, trying not to put pressure on his aching ankle.

Ronan's main plan was follow the path of destruction which was easier said than done, due to the fact that the helicarrier had sort of exploded. "Note to self; think plans through more."

He managed to notice a set of stairs that had been destroyed - looking like they had been torn from the elevated path - and winced. He was definitely going in the right direction at least.

He kept moving forward, ignoring the throbbing in his ankle. That could wait, right now he wanted to make sure Bruce was alright. Quiet, meek, gentle Bruce who Ronan genuinely liked.

He heard the sound of fists being thrown, metal clanging and Ronan picked up the pace. The roar confirmed his suspicions and he began to run, ankle screaming in protest. He ground his teeth together, ignoring it as he ducked under pipes that had been torn apart.

He froze when he spotted Natasha, knees drawn close to her midsection almost protectively, eyes wide and staring at the hole through the wall. Natasha was terrified, and that chilled Ronan to the bone. He ignored her for now, priority on dealing with Bruce, who was currently in the midst of a fight with Thor.

The Hulk was scarier in real life. Green skin and rippling muscles, like someone had dosed him with steroids or like he was wearing one of those inflatable muscle suits. But Ronan could see some of Bruce in his features.

"Don't." Natasha's quiet voice stopped Ronan from moving into room. "He'll -"

"He won't." Ronan replied. "It's Bruce." Natasha looked like she wanted to say something else, but before she could Ronan had stepped through the wall.

He was just relieved that there wasn't any yelling and screaming. "Hey, Big Guy." The speed that the Hulk turned with was startling, and Thor took the moment of distraction to reach for his hammer. Ronan shook his head minutely. He could feel his heart racing, and he held up his hands to show he had no weapons. "I'm not going to hurt you, see? No weapons. I know you're scared. I know you want to protect Bruce." Thor seemed distracted, before he spoke.

"Loki."

"Go." Ronan shooed him away with one hand, cursing mentally as the Hulk's attention turned to Thor. "Over here, Big Guy." Slowly, the Hulk turned to face him again, brows furrowed. His heart felt like a hummingbird, trapped in his chest, wanting to break free. Ronan calmed himself. Bruce wouldn't hurt him, and in a way, the Hulk was Bruce. "Yeah, that's it. No one's going to hurt you or Bruce, I swear it. I won't let them. I'm a friend."

"Lucky." Was all the Hulk said, and Ronan had to laugh slightly.

"Yeah, I'm lucky. We need Bruce back - I know you want to stay out, because he's safe, but everyone's scared. I'm not. I know you won't hurt me. You're my friend, too." He felt himself stiffen as Hulk leaned into his personal space. He frowned, and Ronan fully expected to be made a pancake.

"Hurt." Hulk grunted, and oh yeah, the bleeding. Ronan raised a hand to his head at the mention of his wound, and Hulk made a noise of discontent. "Banner help." And, just like that, he shrunk.

It had actually worked.

Ronan hastily shrugged his hoodie off, wrapping it around Bruce's shoulders as the scientist stumbled. Ronan hissed as his ankle protested against the weight of the older man, but Ronan supported him.

"Nice to have you back, Doc."

"Ronan...what…?" Bruce blinked, before his eyes widened. "He came out? Did I...?"

"Nothing major. There's a set of metal stairs that won't recover, and a hole in a wall, but I think Thor is also to blame for that."

"You're bleeding!"

"I got thrown against a wall -"

"Oh my God!"

"- In the explosion. Bruce, I'm fine. The Hulk didn't hurt me."

"He could've!" Bruce hissed, voice slightly hysterical. "Ronan, you could've been killed!"

"I wasn't. He was just...he was scared, Bruce." Ronan tried to explain. "Your transformation is triggered by your heart rate. Flashing lights, a fall, an explosion? Pretty scary. He was scared and he came out because he thought you were in danger. I didn't attack him. I didn't scream, or run or any of that. I told him I would keep you safe and he believed me." Bruce just shook his head.

"You are insane, Ronan."

"I try. Come on, let's get you some clothes that aren't mine. Things sound like they've calmed down."

XoxoX

Things had calmed down, but for the wrong reasons.

The fact the propeller had been fixed was good, but the fact was Loki had escaped, almost killing Phil Coulson in the process.

'Almost' was the key word.

Ronan didn't understand why the pseudo god - who wanted to take over the world, apparently - wouldn't just outright kill one of the men who was trying to prevent him from doing so. What would stop Loki from just stopping his heart from beating? Or, worse, turn Phil into one of his men?

That was what everyone was debating about. Thor was currently MIA, having been ejected from the helicarrier via the containment chamber. Ronan wasn't too worried - Thor was an Asgardian, and had suffered worse. Still, he hoped the man wasn't hurt too bad, because he actually liked Thor.

"This doesn't make sense." Bruce was saying, yet again. He was in a pair of sweats, slightly too big on him, and a SHIELD t-shirt. "He left one of our men alive, but why? He had ample opportunity to kill Agent Coulson, but he didn't."

"We know." Steve sighed. "But...why?"

"Because of Ro." Tony said, as though it was obvious. Ronan started, before trying to slide off his seat and under the table when all eyes turned to him. "Come on, isn't it obvious?"

"Not...not really?" Steve's words sounded like a question instead of a statement, but Natasha was nodding. She had left Clint for the debate, letting the archer clean up and try to make sense of what had happened.

"Ronan was the only one who spoke to him." Natasha pointed out. "The only one who just talked to Loki like he wasn't…"

"A monster." Bruce finished, voice quiet. His eyes were locked on Ronan. "Like how you talked to the Hulk."

"No one is inherently evil." Ronan said, voice quiet. "He was raised with Thor, who was at first arrogant, but is...a good man. I...wanted to find the part of him that was like Thor in a way. That was good. But something happened, out there. Couldn't any of you see it?"

"Ronan -"

"No." He held up a hand, cutting off a startled Steve. "The pale skin, the sweat, the bloodshot eyes. Compare him to Thor - not the lack of muscle, but...he doesn't look healthy."

"You think he was tortured. Questioned." Natasha's voice was certain, a single eyebrow raised. "Made to...what? Take over the world?"

"Made to follow orders." Ronan corrected. "Orders which involve that. He's experienced something much, much worse than what he believes the consequences of this will be if he fails." He got to his feet, ankle splinted enough that it didn't scream in agony when he paced, thinking. "Part frost giant, if I remember correctly, so possibly great heat. Exposed to that for so long without water...possibly dehydration and maybe heat stroke? Something similar maybe."

"Heat exhaustion." Tony spoke up and Ronan was relieved that someone was seeming to agree with him. "The symptoms match up. Right now though, we need to figure out where he's gone. He needs to open that portal, now he has the means to, especially if he believes doing so will mean he won't have to go through that again. He'll want it to be somewhere big, to get attention, somewhere hi...Oh. Oh shit." Tony had paled drastically.

"If you're thinking what I am thinking…" Bruce trailed off.

"New York." Ronan finished for them, cursing and pulling out his phone, jabbing in a number he had memorized before setting it on speaker. Everyone stared at him as the phone rang and Ronan ignored them diligently.

"Hello?" Ronan had never been more relieved to hear Marie's voice in his life.

"It's Ronan, Marie. You in Manhattan?"

"Yes. I was shopping so you better have a good reason for calling."

"Can you look up for me and tell me what you see?"

"The sky." She responded, voice dry. Ronan's teammates snickered and he hated them all. "Am I on speaker? You actually have more friends! I'm im...pre...seed…" Marie's voice trailed off. "Ro?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I see the thing you're looking for." Her voice had grown quiet, uncertain. "I hate you. So much. This has something to do with the Hammer last year, doesn't it?"

"Sort of." He answered, looking at the rest of the Avengers. They all looked serious. "Guys. I think we found him."