The irksome thing about HYDRA is that whenever one of their machines fails to serve its purpose, another one is built to be stronger and more powerful than the first. This made the next encounter with HYDRA considerably more difficult to manage than the first.
Tony was whizzing around the head of the four story tall robot. Jarvis was scanning for a weak point. So far there hadn't been a sign of one. Thor insisted that a weak point was not necessary for him and that he was capable of beating right through the metal giant with his hammer. This endeavor was not proving to be very lucrative.
Flashes of red shot past Steve and he used his shield to deflect them. Natasha and Clint were cowering behind an overturned car nearby. "Cap!" Clint called over to him. He dodged a few more lasers and managed to leap behind the car as well.
"Yes, solider!" he replied. His heart was pounding in his ears and he could feel the familiar tingle of adrenaline.
"Why do you call us soldiers? We're not so-" Clint began but Natasha cut him off.
"What the hell are we supposed to be doing?" she didn't mean to be so abrasive, but fighting forty foot metallic monsters was not part of her job description. She would be of more use if they were fighting a small army like they had been a month or so ago.
"I think Tony said he was going to find a weak spot. Thor's…well he's just trying to ransack the thing. I guess that leaves us for distractions," Steve reasoned.
"Distractions," Natasha said flatly. Just then a stray laser collided with the car they were cowering behind. A small fire sputtered to life near the hood.
"Time to move," Clint said. He sprinted off to find a more stable position for him to attack from.
Natasha glanced at Steve. "Should we call in the Hu- Bruce?" she asked.
"I think we can handle this. Besides, I doubt Doctor Banner wants to be a part of this anyway.
Tasha nodded. "So about that distraction…"
Tony was dodging the robot's offense as best he could. It was quick, and deliberate with it's attacks. Out of the corner of his field of vision he spotted Cap's shield as it collided with the robot's armored shell. It bounced off with a dull thunk and whizzed back into Steve's grasp. He and Natasha were poised in the middle of the street facing the beast. It was like rangers facing off with a big bad outlaw from one of those Western movies. The robot focused on them immediately. It raged toward them while firing its lasers.
"Thor, I think you should spend a little less time trying to turn this thing to pulp and more time making sure it doesn't turn them to pulp."
"Aye," Thor agreed and swooped down to cover for his team mates.
Clint took aim with his bow and released an arrow that was on a straight path to the robot's knees. A highly elastic net sprang from the tip of the arrow and engulfed the robot's legs. It teetered for a bit before falling forward. Natasha was able to leap from its path and Thor was able to lift Steve from harm's way.
The team regrouped on the sidewalk next to the robot as SHIELD was getting on scene. "Spectacular shot, Archer!" Thor roared, clapping his comrade on the back. Clint shrugged, but his expression was smug. He glanced at Natasha but she was too busy watching Nick Fury and a group of SHIELD agents approaching to notice.
"So I think Natasha and Clint should go deal with Fury while Thor, Cap, and I head back?" Tony suggested.
"Indeed," Thor agreed casting a wary glance Nick Fury's way. He was a good man, but Thor was well aware that he was not going to be much of a help during a debriefing. He also didn't trust SHIELD much after he had been detained after trying to retrieve Mjolnir.
"I offer my assistance," Steve said graciously. Even though Clint and Natasha were the unofficial ambassadors between SHIELD and the Avengers, he didn't feel that they shouldn't get help once in a while.
"I think we can handle it," Clint said glumly. Paperwork was his least favorite part of the job. He and Natasha strode over to meet Fury and the agents.
~x~x~x~x~x~
"Man. It's just replaying over and over in my head! The arrow sailing through the air-"
"Clint. I was there. I don't need a play-by-play," Natasha rolled her eyes.
"Right," Clint replied. The SHIELD car had dropped them off at the gate to the mansion. Natasha had keyed them in since Clint had misplaced his identification card. They were making their way up the drive to the front door. "Are you doing anything else today?" Clint asked.
"Eat. Train. Maybe get some sleep," Natasha replied stiffly.
"Christ, Tasha, you're a machine."
She shrugged in response, "You could join me," she suggested casually.
"Okay, so last time we trained together you dislocated my left arm and last time we slept together-" Natasha's glare stopped that phrase halfway. "What are you hungry for?" Clint asked cheerfully.
x~x~x~x~x
"You know Tony, alcohol and computers don't seem like a very good combination," a concerned voice said from the doorway.
Tony whipped around, used his right hand to stable himself, and waited for the room to stop spinning a bit. Bruce rarely ventured into Tony's lab. Usually he was more preoccupied with his own experiments. He knew Tony was probably working on something marvelous that would either debut to the general public in a few months in the form of a product or a spiffy addition to the iron man suit. But right now, he was leaning against the door frame with his arms crossed over his chest. "Well actually," Tony chuckled, "Coffee's the secret ingredient that sort of holds the whole thing together!"
"Sounds like you're ready to fall apart," Bruce said quietly.
"And you would know all about that," Tony said knowingly.
"That's right. I do." Bruce's voice was even. "Now, you can deal with it by drowning yourself in booze and technology-"
"And coffee."
Bruce paused for a moment before continuing, "Or you can deal with it by actually talking to someone about it. It doesn't have to be me, Tony. In fact I hope it's not me because, well, you know how stellar I am with emotions. And it doesn't have to be now. But, please, deal with it before you end up hurting yourself."
They were silent. Tony considered waving Bruce off. Laughing. Don't worry so much. I'll be fine. But, what if he won't be fine? One day there was going to be a showdown between Tony Stark and his demons and only one side is going to be able to win.
"I almost got hacked last night Bruce." Tony turned around, took a large sip from his coffee cup and went back to analyzing the codes flashing on the screen in front of him.
"Do you know who it was?" Bruce asked. Tony could hear him moving toward him.
"Probably some seedy evil organization," Tony said airily. "But do you know what is my worst nightmare?"
"Running out of money to buy expensive liquor?" Bruce asked. He was at Tony's side now. He took the cup from Tony's hand and sniffed its contents. He grimaced. There was the pungent odor of alcohol mixed with the light scent of cocoa.
"Wrong. Having my tech leaked to some half-brained bastards who are then going to use it against innocent people. You know why?" Tony slurred.
"Bad for business?" Bruce guessed placing the coffee cup back on the work bench.
"Ha fucking ha, Bruce. If the whole Hulk thing doesn't work out for you, you could try being a standup comedian." When Bruce didn't react to Tony's comment he continued, "It's because all I want to do is help people. I want to use my tech to help people. The thought of it hurting them makes me sick."
"You want to help people because you can't help yourself."
"So that's why you turn into the green giant!" Tony slurred excitedly.
Bruce chuckled, "Yeah. Although he's been pretty dormant lately."
"You should let him out."
"Perhaps. Only when he's needed though," Bruce replied. "Is there anything else you needed to talk about? Any other reasons for your particularly unhealthy lab binge?"
"Do you think Steve's attractive?" Tony blurted out. It had been the only other thing on his mind. "I mean, for a man."
"You're hiding from him."
"No! Tony Stark hides from no one!" Tony pointed an accusatory finger at Bruce.
Bruce chuckled and shrugged. "I guess. I haven't put much thought into it. I don't mean to be a downer, but now I kind of feel like a gossiping teenage girl so I'm going to go."
"Don't avoid the question, Bruce! You know the answer!" Tony called after his retreating friend.
"So do you, Tony. I think you need to face the answer more than I do," Bruce said over his shoulder.
"Way to be cryptic as hell," Tony shouted crossly. The beginnings of a migraine were stirring behind his eyes and suddenly the lights in the room seemed to bright. Oh Jesus.
He abandoned his post and tottered from his laboratory. I really need to put a bed in there or something, he thought as he waited for the elevator to take him up to the main floors of the mansion