The Hulk was annoyed by the man flying around his head, like a buzzing insect in his ear. He swatted at the red and gold bug, but missed by a few inches. Tony was trying to get the Hulk to chase him without being crushed by a massive hand. "Come on, Brucie. I need you out of the building." He encouraged as he flew through the entrance.
The Hulk complied by charging Tony and following him out of the building. The hulk was closing in on the metal man, when Steve threw his shield and hit the creature in the head. Dazed by the blow, the Hulk forgot about chasing Tony and turned his attention to Steve. With his shield back in his hands, Steve ran down an alley toward the dock where Natasha was waiting. The hulk engaged in the chase.
As he grew closer, the Hulk noticed a stinging in his side and whipped around to face Clint firing arrows at him repeatedly. The Hulk started after Clint only to watch him be whisked away by Tony, and pulled out of reach. An enraged yell erupted from the Hulk as he bounded after Tony and Clint.
Thor saw the creature approaching, and stepped out to blast the Hulk with lightning. The bolt hit him square in the chest and forced the creature to turn away. The Hulk rushed into an alley, escaping the lightning, and saw Natasha standing next to the river.
He ran toward her, but stopped short of running her over. She stared up at the creature, unfazed; she had been here before. Natasha raised her hand slowly and reached out to him. "Hey, big guy." She said softly.
The Hulk snorted and stared at her outstretched hand, mesmerized by her confidence. He stepped toward her carefully. The larger hand of the Hulk reached out to her, and he instinctually turned his palm sideways. Natasha mirrored his movement, then brushed her slender fingers across his rough palm. The creature twitched at the contact, and growled slightly before he fumbled backwards in an attempt to get away.
Natasha could see him begin to shrink and lose his green shade. "The Hulk is disabled. Bring the jet to the dock." Natasha reported.
"Be there soon." Clint replied.
The Hulk was gone, and in his place, Bruce was collapsed on his side in the gravel. Natasha crouched next to him. "Bruce, you okay?"
"Did I hurt anybody?" He asked, breathing heavy. He couldn't open his eyes to see her.
"No. The plan went great. You were like our little lab rat in a maze." She smiled while rubbing his arm.
"Did I get to the cheese?" Bruce opened his eyes and sat up.
"In this scenario, I guess I am the cheese, so yes. You did." Natasha confirmed.
Bruce leaned in quickly and kissed her lips. "This cheese is delicious. It has a rich flavor." He joked.
"Shut up." Natasha laughed as she punched his arm.
The jet appeared above them and landed in the middle of the open lot. Natasha helped Bruce to his feet, but the scientist was too weak to walk on his own. He put an arm around Natasha's shoulders and leaned on her for support. Once inside the jet, Bruce sat on the bench in the wall. Thor handed him a sweatshirt. "I apologize for striking you with lightning."
"No hard feelings. I deserved it." Bruce replied. He pulled the sweatshirt over his head and down his torso until he was covered. "Do we know where Qaseem went?"
"He thought he could escape by triggering you, but I was a little faster than him." Tony bragged.
"So you captured him?" Bruce questioned.
"Well, no."
"Then what did you do?" Steve pressed.
"I put a tracker on his armored vehicle that was sitting behind the building, and JARVIS is currently tracking his whereabouts as we speak." Tony finished.
"Once you get a location, we need to go pay Mr. Davar a visit." Steve declared. "Until then, we go back to the tower and rest up." Steve glanced at Bruce as he finished his sentence.
Bruce watched the soldier walk to the cockpit before leaning toward Natasha, who was sitting beside him, and whispering, "I think he was directing that at me."
"We've all had a long day." Natasha ignored his implication and rested her head on his shoulder. Bruce rested his head on top of hers and listened to the hum of the jet. The noise was soothing, and with the strain of hulking out weighing him down, Bruce fell asleep.
"Bruce, wake up. Bruce, open your eyes." He could hear a voice his name and found the strength to open his eyes a little. Natasha was sitting over him with a soft smile lighting up her features. Bruce rubbed his face, trying to make himself more alert. "How long have I been out?"
"Since yesterday afternoon. I had Thor and Steve carry you to your room. I thought I would wake you up for dinner." Natasha stated.
"Thanks," Bruce sat up in bed, "no one else was worried?"
"They thought you would get up when you were ready. The Hulk does make you sleep a lot."
Bruce nodded his agreement then realized he wasn't wearing the sweatshirt he had put on yesterday. He moved a hand to his leg and found he was only wearing a pair of boxers. "Uh, where are my clothes?"
Natasha gave him a once over then stood from the bed, and walked toward the door. "You had a fever." She replied simply.
"Does that mean you took off my clothes?" Bruce asked, turning pink.
"Dinner starts in twenty minutes," Natasha informed, "you should get dressed. With that, she walked out of Bruce's room. Sitting in bed, Bruce pondered the situation. He wondered if Natasha had stripped him down. And if she did, did she like what she saw?
The last one to arrive to dinner, Bruce took his seat between Natasha and Tony. The food was passed around in near silence; the sound of the forks scraping the plates was the only sound. Bruce looked around at his quiet companions. They all seemed preoccupied by something. Even Natasha was acting strange. He glanced at Tony, who was avoiding his eyes, and knew something was wrong. "All right. What is going on?"
"What do you mean?" Tony asked.
"Why is everyone so quiet?" Bruce looked around again.
Steve took a breath and looked up at Bruce. "We haven't found Qaseem."
"Okay, but we will. He can't hide forever." Bruce asserted.
"He called us out." Natasha admitted, plainly. "A video was released around the world describing how we are incapable as a team."
"One person gives us a bad review and we pout about it?" Bruce insinuated from Tony's glum look.
"He's not the only one who thinks so. People around the world have started to agree." Natasha explained.
"JARVIS, pull up the video." Tony spoke.
The room darkened and the television began playing footage from the Battle of New York. "The Avengers. They are known as Earth's mightiest heroes, but they are not heroes. They are wrecking balls, destroying everything mankind has built for itself. They owe us for the damage they have caused. The city of New York is still recovering from this battle nearly a year ago. Damage caused by Iron Man, Captain America, Thor and especially the Hulk." The narration paused to allow footage of the Hulk fighting in the streets of New York to play. Bruce closed his eyes and took a shaky breath, reliving the moments in his head. Natasha put a hand on his leg, trying to comfort him. "I want these heroes to turn themselves in and face the consequences of their actions." The video ended with a broken Avengers logo, then the screen went black.
The lights returned to normal, and Tony stormed out of the room, clearly bothered by the accusations of Qaseem.
"If you will excuse me," began Steve as he stood and left the table as well. Thor took his large plate of food to his room while Clint, Natasha, and Bruce stayed seated.
"He didn't even mention us." Clint protested.
"Is that all you care about?" Natasha accused.
"I take offense to that. Yeah, okay, Tony has the flying suit, Thor has the lightning, and Bruce you are a badass when you are all green, but I'm a badass all the time." Clint argued.
"I agree, Clint. They should have mentioned you and how you nearly brought down the helicarrier with one arrow." Bruce quipped.
"That was all Loki and you know it." Clint scorned.
"You're right. I'm sorry. But you did shoot Loki out of the sky, so you deserve some credit." Bruce confessed.
"Exactly! Thank you!" Clint stood from his chair and left Bruce and Natasha alone.
"You don't have to feed his ego." She commented.
"But he gets so moody otherwise." Bruce joked.
Natasha laughed slightly, but her face took on a serious look. She got up and walked out to the balcony with Bruce following a few steps behind her. He watched her stand at the railing unmoving. Bruce walked up to her and circled his arms around her waist, resting his head on her shoulder. "You're not going to jump are you?" He asked, tightening his grip.
"No," she relaxed into him, "I just needed some fresh air."
"You shouldn't listen to Qaseem. We protected the city. We are the heroes."
"Keep telling yourself that, Dr. Banner." Bruce and Natasha turned to see Qaseem floating in midair on his new hover board. He raised a gun and fired at Natasha. The dart stuck into her shoulder, and before she could do anything, Natasha passed out in Bruce's arms.
"What did you do to her?" Bruce snapped, frantically checking Natasha.
"I am simply returning the favor." Qaseem shot a dart at Bruce that landed in his arm. His eyes grew heavy as he fell to his knees. "Sweet dreams, doctor." The last thing Bruce saw was Natasha being lifted from his arms.
Steve had followed Tony to his lab after dinner. The younger man stopped in the doorway, watching Tony type at his computer. Tony didn't turn , but he could feel someone watching him. "I left because I wanted to be alone."
"Come on, Tony. He just wants us to argue with each other and pick ourselves apart."
"Maybe so, but the things he said," Tony turned, "they're true. We need to learn when to stop."
"We can't stop protecting people." Steve responded.
"We can if we are the danger!" Tony shouted.
A loud beeping sounded from the computer, drawing the attention of both men. The looked at the monitor and Tony tapped a few keys. "What the hell?"
"What is it?" Steve asked.
"The tracker I put on Qaseem's truck alerts me when he is back in New York city limits."
"Where is he?"
"Outside the tower." Tony answered. "There is a second reading coming from the balcony, but it doesn't make any sense."
"Why?"
"Because it is five feet over the edge in midair." Tony and Steve stared at each other for a second.
"Bruce." They said in unison before running for the balcony.
Steve was the first to the door and the first to see Bruce passed out on the ground. He ran to his unconscious companion. "Bruce? Bruce?" Steve shook Bruce's shoulder.
The scientist fluttered his eyes open. When his brain engaged, Bruce sat up. "Natasha?"
"She's not up here." Tony supplied.
"He took her." Bruce stared at Steve and Tony. "Qaseem took Natasha."
A/N: Thank you to all who have been reading this. I was very busy last week and could not find any time to write, but here it is! Let me know what you think!
