There is some consensual intimacy in this chapter.
"You're serious?" Tony asked. "There's a giant robotic bird headed toward New York City?"
"About the size of a 747. It's flying this way across Long Island Sound," Coulson informed them. "JARVIS will you pull up a map of that area around Huntington Bay?"
The TV on Steve's wall turned on, showing a topographic map. "You need to stop it before it gets here; preferably around the Caumsett State Park, minimizing people in the crossfire." His phone buzzed again and Coulson scrolled through information. "Explosives have had no effect on it, but scans are suggesting that it might be susceptible to lightning Thor."
By the door, Thor nodded.
"We can finish getting briefed on the way," Steve said, moving his feet off the bed, "Let's-"
"Lay back down," Bruce said, putting a hand on Steve's shoulder. "You're sitting this one out."
Steve opened his mouth to protest, but was stopped by Coulson. "Bruce is right Steve, you were transfered here, not released, you're not cleared for a mission." When it still looked like Steve was going to protest, Phil continued, "Stay on the comms, help me coordinate."
"Coordinate what?" Tony asked. "You just said explosives don't work on it. That limits me almost completely out. Natasha's out. Bruce-"
"Can be dropped on it if it came down to it," Bruce said, "wouldn't be the first time."
Tony didn't budge. "I'm just saying, not everyone needs to go."
"Tony?" Steve prompted, trying to read his closed off expression.
Before Tony could answer, Thor stepped forward. "I believe Anthony to be correct, I'm sure myself and the Hulk will be able to destroy this mechanical bird. Besides," Thor said, looking at Tony, "at the moment they are needed here more."
Tony looked gratefully to Thor for a second before turning back to the other, "See, Thor agrees."
Coulson frowned, "Fine, but have your suit on standby, if Thor and Hulk can't stop it, you and Natasha need to be ready to go."
"Second sting, got it," Tony readily agreed.
Coulson's phone buzzed again, "The quinjet's on final approach to the Tower, Thor, Bruce," he said, nodding to them, "Let's go."
"Natasha can you get my comm?" Steve asked, as the threesome left the room.
"No need," Tony cut in, "JARVIS can broadcast it over the speakers. J, get the suit prepped and let me know if they need my help."
Of course, Sir.
Tony nodded and moved to the door.
"Wait," Steve said, "where are you going, Tony?"
"To Clint," Natasha answered. She nodded to him, "Go on, Stark, but," she reminded, "Stay out of the cell and… be careful."
Thor's words came to his mind. 'He is... quite ruthless in what he says.'
"Will do."
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Tony stood in the elevator for almost ten minutes trying to figure out what to do, how to act. Clint had tried to kill him, so they obviously couldn't continue where they left off, but why not? He could forgive Clint.
Can Clint forgive you?
The answer seemed to be 'no' right now, but, Tony could work on that. This could be fixed. Tony could fix anything. Anything mechanical. Just because he was shit with relationships didn't mean anything, he could still do this.
But after only five minutes of sitting on the ground across from Clint, trying to talk to him, watching him in his cell, silent and unmoving, Tony was already beginning to doubt.
Clint wouldn't say a word, didn't twitch a facial muscle when Tony had come into view, hadn't moved from his spot against the far wall. He just continued to stare at Tony with dead hate filled eyes.
No.
Tony tilted his head, looking at the blue grey gaze. Clint wasn't looking at Tony.
He was looking at the reactor.
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Clint sighed and pulled away, "I'm going to go back to my place and crash, Tony, Nat beat my ass into the mat today."
"Hey no problem, you can sleep here," Tony said, pulling him back onto the bed.
"I mean it, I'm beat, you really want me to fall asleep on you?"
"Sure," Tony insisted.
"Tony-"
"No sex, I won't even grope you, promise…" Tony looked him in the eyes, "doesn't mean you can't stay."
Clint stopped. "Spend the night?"
"Just an idea," Tony tried, "you've got some clothes here anyway."
"Only sleeping?"
Tony huffed, "As much as the media insists, Clint, I'm not a sex fiend. If you don't want to-"
"Sounds great," Clint interrupted quickly. He hesitated a few seconds before climbing off the bed. His shirt was already off so he slipped out of his pants, and he could hear Tony doing the same.
Why was he feeling so nervous? They'd already had sex plenty of times. But you've never actually stayed afterwards. You won't be leaving and he won't be kicking you out. Not that Tony had ever kicked Clint out after sex but no one else knew yet, so... now he was actually inviting him to stay, to sleep with him.
Clint took a breath and turned back around. Tony was sitting on the bed, in his usual tank top, legs under the covers; but he looked anxious, his hands were fiddling with the blanket.
Clint was about to ask him if he was alright, when Tony took a deep breath and took off his shirt, bathing the dimly lit room in blue. Clint tried to school his surprise. He knew that Tony was protective of the arc reactor, he wouldn't let anyone get close to it, let alone touch it, and after what Stane had done it wasn't a surprise. Outside the tower, when he wasn't in the Iron Man armor, he always kept it covered so that it couldn't be seen through his clothes, and it had taken a while before he had begun letting the light shine through around the team. So Clint didn't make a big deal about Tony keeping his shirt on during sex, and did his best to keep his hands from wandering to it. He was pretty sure the only person Tony had been with since Afghanistan was Pepper so he counted himself privileged to be let that close. And now Tony was sitting in bed, shirtless, and waiting for Clint to react.
"You seem to assuming a lot here, Tony," Clint began, "What if I sleep on the left side of the bed?"
Tony smiled, his features relaxing. "Get over it."
They didn't touch that night; not beyond some finger twining or the random foot graze; Tony was tense enough with just having Clint in the bed.
In the middle of the night Tony was startled when he woke and found Clint already awake, staring at the reactor.
"You know, Clint," Tony said, trying to laugh it off, "When I invite you to spend the night, the least you can do is not be creepy."
Not that Clint hadn't already displayed some creepy habits. Hiding in vents and watching people, popping out to scare them, sitting on the refrigerator instead of at the table for breakfast and only for breakfast, keeping a gun strapped to the back of the toilet, that was a surprise find. The weirdest one, Tony thought, was Clint's quirk, and it was categorized as a quirk now, about keeping his eyes open during sex, and through all stages of foreplay. It was a little unnerving at first, and threw Tony off his game for a while, but he had begun to enjoy being the sole focus Clint's intense gaze.
"I was actually nervous about seeing it up close," Clint said, still staring. "The color…it looked like the same blue as..."
"As the tesseract." Shit. "Shit, Clint, I'm sorry, I can cover it back up."
"No don't." Clint said, hurriedly, "I was nervous but now… it doesn't look anything like the cube… or Loki's staff." He smiled, "It's yours. You made it. I know it's safe."
A week later they had once again moved their making out to Tony's bed; Clint rolled on top of Tony but then was quickly moved to the bottom. Clint gave Tony a questioning look as the man straddled him; who topped usually depended on the day, but once one of them went for a position the other would normally go with it.
Tony seemed nervous. "Lights." Instead of dimming, all of the lights turned off. There was a breath of silence, then Clint felt Tony move and suddenly the light of the reactor filled the room.
Now Clint understood, Tony was exposing a vulnerability, so he needed to have as much control as he could tonight.
Clint brought his hands up, but not to the reactor, he felt like that would be the wrong move right now. Instead he slowly traced his fingers up Tony's thighs, then around to his back and up his sides, taking his time, giving Tony enough time to stop him.
Clint began to sit up, holding Tony in place, bringing his face closer the glowing chest piece. He saw Tony swallow. Clint brought his hands to Tony's chest, still letting his fingers ghost over the skin. His lips closed the distance to the reactor, brushing across the surface as he flicked his thumbs over Tony's nipples.
Tony gasped and Clint smiled up at him, doing it again.
Tony hands came up to cup Clint's cheeks, moving him away from the reactor and their lips met. Later, even though it wasn't spoken, Clint could feel Tony mouthing a 'thank you' into his neck.
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It was different now. Clint's eyes didn't feel safe anymore.
Tony had tried a simple 'hey' to begin with, then started babbling about Clint being alive and then, wince, how cool the holding cell was, remodeling the Tower; god, there's no one here to shut me up. Shut up, Tony. Shut. Up.
Clint was the easiest one on the team for him to get along with. Now, there was nothing there, nothing but tense, suffocating silence.
"You're really just going to sit there and stare, aren't you?"
Clint eyes shifted up and met Tony's.
Tony tried not to flinch. How had Natasha stood it? How could she stay in that room with him if Clint was looking at her like this? She didn't. She probably left as soon as she could.
And Clint had actually talked to her, but that could have only made it worse. Right now Tony could only guess what Clint would say to him. But to hear Clint actually say it?
No. Tony was a coward. Why wasn't he running away to hide in his lab?
Because it's too late for you get away. If you had just stayed away, maybe. But you've already seen his eyes again, and the last time you saw them they tortured your dreams for the next year. You can never run fast enough or go far enough to get away from your guilt. You can't even-
Sir?
Tony looked away, taking a deep breath. "Yeah, JARVIS?"
Thor is in trouble.
Not Mr. Odinson. Thor.
Tony bolted for the elevator.
"Suit up?"
Back to Mr. Roger's room, Sir.
"What's happening?" Tony asked, as the elevator moved.
Thor was able to neutralize the robot, but he took a serious blow and is now coughing up blood.
"What?" Tony asked, shocked. "The thing was really that strong?"
I say serious blow because of the result, not the strength behind it. Thor should not be reacting this way.
The doors opened and Tony ran down the hall and into Steve's room.
"Did the doctors at SHIELD tell anyone else besides Thor why he needed to stay in medical?" Natasha asked.
"I didn't look at the report." Coulson said, his voice tense, "I was told he discharged himself."
"Thor," Steve called out, "did they actually take the bullet out?"
"Are you kidding?" Tony blurted.
Thor's voice sounded around them, strained and in obvious pain."They said the bullet broke apart, was this not good news, that it was gone?"
Tony's jaw dropped, mirroring the shocked expressions of the other. "He's got uru shrapnel in his chest," Tony breathed. "He must have healed around the pieces and that blow from the bird dislodged them."
"We're taking him to SHIELD medical," Coulson announced, "the Tower doesn't have anything to deal with this."
"And SHIELD does?" Bruce asked. "How are they going to get it out?"
"I don't know, but right now they're better equipped than we are."
No one said anything for a moment, then Steve nodded, "Keep us informed."
"We will," Coulson agreed, then the comm shut off.
Tony dropped into a chair, feeling numb, when something occurred to him, "Uru wouldn't break apart."
Steve and Natasha turned to him.
"I've done enough scans of Mjolnir to know that if they could actually reshape the metal then it wouldn't break apart… unless it was meant to."
"This was on purpose?" Steve asked in disbelief.
Tony thought about Clint in the cell. The hate in his eyes. It may have been just luck that they were alive, but the reactor was fixable, Thor could heal, Steve's body could metabolize just about any compound eventually and nothing that they knew of could kill the Hulk. It may have been Clint's mission to kill them, but it was clear that he also wanted them to suffer.
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Bruce sat in the waiting room… waiting. He breathed out heavily, stood, and quickly left the room. He couldn't just sit here, he needed to move around. Coulson had just left to debrief Fury about what was happening and Thor was being prepped for surgery. How, Bruce still wasn't sure. SHIELD actually had a sedative that would work on Thor? For some reason that wasn't comforting. He shouldn't be alone. Thor needed someone with him, to keep him safe.
Bruce stopped. Safe? Where had that- He could feel the Hulk stirring in the back of his mind. If Thor was around, at least once during or after a battle, Hulk would give him a punch that usually sent the demigod flying. That it was possibly a show of affection made Bruce smile.
Bruce turned down a hallway and saw two medics pushing a gurney quickly down the hall, looking like it was ready for transport. He was began to look away when he noticed that the unconscious patient was Thor.
Alarmed, he ran after them, "Hey!"
They didn't slow down but Bruce caught up with them at the next turn, "What's going on? What happened?"
They didn't even look at him, "That's confidential-"
"All Avengers have full disclosure when it comes to their teammates health."
Both sets of eye snapped to him, showing recognition.
"Tell me what is going on."
"Dr. Hemming is still in surgery on the Helicarrier, we're transferring Thor there now."
"Why wasn't I informed? Does Agent Coulson know?"
"We just found out ourselves, this is an emergency transfer."
Emergency. "Alright let's go."
The head medic shook his head. "Not you."
"He needs a teammate with him."
"He'll need a different one, Banner, you know we can't take you to the Helicarrier." He saw the other medic talking quietly into a radio.
"I'm the only one here." Bruce said, stopping the gurney.
"Hey, calm down. He's just going to have to go without." They tried pushing Thor passed him, "I'm sure he'll be safer without the Hulk there to smash the quinjet."
What? "Excuse me?" Bruce asked, his voice deathly calm.
The medic raised his voice, "Get out of the way Banner, we're trying to save his life."
"No, you need to get Agent Coulson here now, you're not taking him anywhere."
The other medic raised his hands, palms out, his voice also raised, "Just calm down, Banner, Thor's you're teammate, you don't want to hurt him."
"What are you talking about? I wouldn't hurt him," Bruce bit out, "You, however, are really-" He felt a cluster of needles pierce his back and he dropped to his knees. The world swirled around him. The medics were moving away fast, then an agent stepped in his vision. He caught words here and there "... no problem… monster… help Thor..." before he lost consciousness.
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Phil was grateful that Fury had kept the meeting brief, he felt so thrown off balance; it was hard to focus on anything but getting back and checking on Thor.
Then the elevator door opened.
There was Bruce, unconscious, head dropped forward, hands cuffed behind his back, between two agents who were holding him by his upper arms.
Coulson had his gun drawn before they could blink. "What the hell is going on?" he demanded.
One of the agents was so surprised he almost let go of Bruce. The other straightened. "Agent Coulson, sir, there was a situation with Banner, but we handled it, we were just about to take him to holding."
Coulson clenched his jaw but he kept his voice calm. "Holding? Really? You were taking an Avenger to holding? And in a non restricted elevator." Someone was getting transferred. He kept his gun up. "Despite what you seem to think, Dr. Banner has more control over himself than most of SHIELD." Coulson said, his voice hard, "Bring him out of the elevator, carefully set him down and step away, now."
The agents did as they were ordered, then moved away from the unconscious doctor as Coulson came forward checking his pulse.
"We only tranqued him, Sir."
"Coulson?" Sitwell asked, coming up behind him, "What going on?"
"That's what I'm wondering." Coulson looked at the Agents expectantly. "Care to explain, what caused Dr. Banner to get to a state where you were afraid the Hulk would emerge?"
"Um, well," Any confidence they had at the beginning of the encounter was quickly crumbling. "We weren't here for the beginning of the confrontation, but were called in when Banner-," Coulson gave him a hard look and the man backtracked, "when Dr. Banner started getting out of control."
"How so?"
"Sir?"
"How was Dr. Banner 'out of control'?"
"He was refusing to let a medic team take care of Thor, Sir. When we arrived they were doing their best to peaceably calm him, but he was only getting more agitated."
"Probably because everyone was telling him to calm down," Sitwell snorted.
"What medic team? Thor was being prepped for surgery," Coulson said, sharply.
"No, sir. The medics said Dr. Hemming was held up on the Helicarrier, Thor is being transported there as we speak."
Coulson's blood ran cold, which seeped into his voice, "Did you check the orders for the transfer before you let them leave with an Avenger, alone?"
He saw one of the Agents swallow, "Sir?"
"That was an unauthorized transfer, I never signed off on anything, therefore Dr. Banner, as his teammate, needed to go with him."
"But the Hulk isn't authorized to be on the Helicarrier, Sir."
That was right. Bruce wasn't allowed on there after that first and last time.
This didn't feel right.
"Coulson."
He turned to Sitwell, noting his blood drained face.
Sitwell shook himself, "Command was just informed, Sir, Dr. Hemming is five minutes out."
Coulson felt his gut wrench as his mind raced.
Who else would have come with Thor?
No one. Tony and Natasha would never leave Clint right now. Steve was still under watch at the Tower. That was why Bruce had come. But he wouldn't be able to go with Thor to the Helicarrier. It was the perfect opportunity to...
"My god…" Coulson whispered.
Someone had infiltrated SHIELD and taken Thor.
So...that just happened. :)