Seven months after the Battle of New York, the Avengers had officially moved into the Avengers Tower. Thor had returned to Earth, after taking care of his brother, and found a home with the other team members in the tower. Remodeling the tower had included adding rooms for all the members with features designed specifically for each and every member. Tony had known that the publicity following the battle would require the members to find a place to hide; however, Pepper believed Tony designed the new tower so he wouldn't be alone.
Now, gathered in the lounge area, the team chatted and drank to celebrate the success of a previous mission. Natasha and Bruce had become closer in the last few weeks, and were now sitting beside each other on the couch. Bruce had his arm draped around her shoulders and Natasha was leaning into his side. The team seemed to be okay with the signs of affection between them; however, Clint always watched Bruce carefully, like he was waiting for the Hulk to make an appearance and destroy something. Clint took it upon himself to be Natasha's protector, even though she clearly could handle herself in a fight.
"You're really quite tonight." Natasha whispered to Bruce as Tony told a wild story.
"I'm just enjoying the company," Bruce gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. The both smiled and Natasha resettled herself against him.
The group continued to party into the night, each of them laughing heartily and enjoying themselves. Even though he couldn't get drunk, Steve seemed a little more easy going than normal. With the interesting topics running low and his buzz running high, Tony decided he would challenge everyone to an arm wrestling match. His first choice: Bruce.
"We know what you can do when you're angry, but how about when you're tipsy?" Tony challenged, his eyes sparkling.
"Come on, Tony. You know you'll win." Bruce declined.
"Yes, but they don't know that." Tony held out his hands in gesture to the group.
Bruce looked around at his companions, staring in anticipation. He decided taking on Tony wouldn't be bad; he nodded his approval and drained his bottle of beer. They took their positions on opposite sides of the table. Tony and Bruce locked hands and waited for a starting bell. "Clint you got the bell?" Tony asked the sharp shooter.
"I got it," Clint knocked an arrow, "Ready. Set."
BONG!
Clint's arrow hit Steve's shield and ricocheted up toward the ceiling. Bruce and Tony were tied, with neither hand moving an inch, for a full ten seconds. Bruce noticed Tony was wavering slightly. As the match continued, Bruce began to gain ground and not wanting to embarrass his friend, let Tony push his hand to the table top. Tony threw his hands up in victory, but shot Bruce a look of thanks.
Back in his seat, Bruce watched Tony summon an arm of his Iron Man suit to challenge Steve. Bruce was entertained by the trash talk coming from Tony, when Natasha placed her hand on his arm, drawing his attention.
"You let him win." She accused.
"No, he beat me." Bruce answered with a smirk.
"You're a good man, Bruce Banner." Natasha kissed his cheek and rested her head on his shoulder.
"Well, thank you Miss Romanoff." Bruce relaxed into the couch.
Steve was in the middle of beating Tony, when the wall behind Bruce and Natasha exploded. The Avengers were sent sprawling across the tiled floor of the tower. Thor flew through the air and into the glass behind the bar, shattering it on impact. Steve, Tony, and Clint landed on the platform in front of the elevator with all three men groaning at the ringing in their ears. Bruce came to a stop when he hit the bottom of the stairs leading to the elevator, knocking the breath out of him momentarily. He looked around and saw Natasha lying next to the stairs with her head close to his. Getting to all fours, Bruce reached a hand out to her and touched her arm. "Natasha?"
"I'm okay." Natasha lifted herself to a sitting position. "What happened?"
"The Avengers have fallen!" A voice yelled from nowhere.
Bruce looked around noticing Steve, Tony, Clint, and even Thor were still trying to pick themselves up off the floor, trying to regain their senses.
"Earth's mightiest heroes are kneeling at my feet."
"All right," Tony stood and stretched his back, "who's ass do we have to kick now?" A missile came through the hole in the wall a created a hole a few feet in front of Tony. "Okay? Any guesses?"
"You should watch your mouth, Stark."
"Does he know me?" Tony walked around the hole and searched for the owner of the voice.
"We usually like to see who we are up against." Steve said coming up behind Tony.
"It's common courtesy. It's in the villain guide. I have an extra copy in case you haven't read it." Tony replied, quickly.
"You'll see me soon enough. If you survive."
At that moment, a hail of bullets tore through the room followed by missiles. Bruce grabbed Natasha by the arm and pulled her up the stairs toward the rest of the Avengers, but when they reached the top she was struck with a bullet.
"Natasha!" Bruce kneeled beside her as the bullets kept going past them. Thinking fast, Bruce jumped into the hold made earlier and pulled her in after him. Safe from the bullets, Bruce could inspect her wound. "Where are you hit?"
"In the thigh. It went right through, but I don't think I can run to the elevator." Natasha gritted her teeth at the pain in her leg.
Bruce put a hand to her leg and came back with minimal blood. She was right about the bullet passing through and Bruce breathed a sigh of relief knowing her injury wasn't anything fatal. "We'll be fine. We just have to wait it out." Bruce wiped his hand on his pants and searched her for other injuries.
"I'm okay. It's just the leg." Natasha told him.
"I would take your word for it if I didn't know you better." Bruce replied never taking his eyes away from his search.
"Sure. I - Bruce, look out!" Natasha yelled.
Bruce followed her gaze to the ceiling where he saw a large chunk of concrete break away and begin to fall on top of them. Not knowing what else to do, Bruce threw himself over Natasha, covering her body with his own, and waited for the impact.
BOOM!
A/N: Will Bruce and Natasha survive? Thank you for reading this!
