Chapter Eighteen
Bruce wouldn't talk about it. In fact, he was pretending like it hadn't happened, which was...very unlike him. Not that Alice had much opportunity to bring it up, really. Despite heightened tensions, Steve made sure that team training went on as scheduled, which meant every other day Bruce was playing Hulk with the team, with his off-days spent sleeping to recuperate. Any free time he was able to scrounge up, he spent in the lab evaluating the results of his training sessions or working on the programming for Veronica, which seemed to be in constant flux.
Alice didn't exactly have a ton of free time herself. Since Tony was required to participate in group training, Alice was left in charge of the monitoring equipment on the outside. When she wasn't supervising that, she and Clint were in the quinjet, practicing maneuvers and getting her used to the guns somewhere in the wilderness of Maine. It was exhausting, especially when the gunfire would echo in her dreams and she woke up screaming. Bruce would try to comfort her on those nights, but that only served to remind her of the crack between them that it seemed might never get resolved. In an effort to avoid the dreams and the inevitable guilt that came after, she started spending most of her evenings in the workshop with Tony, helping with his newest project (something he was calling the "Iron Legion") in whatever little ways she could, which mostly consisted of holding various tools and pushing buttons when told. He never questioned her presence and accepted her help without comment or complaint.
"Did we do the wrong thing?" she asked one night, holding a huge wrench in both hands and waiting for Tony to emerge from beneath his newest prototype.
"Nope," Tony said, his voice echoing through the metal frame he was working under, "You were right. He'd never have let you in that room if you'd asked him. And he needs to get over this hang up he has with other people." He emerged from beneath the metal skeleton and lifted his goggles, pointing with a heavily gloved hand. "Especially you. If there's one thing I know, you are the best thing that has ever happened to Bruce Banner. And if our calculations are correct, the Hulk knows that what's good for Banner is good for him. He wouldn't hurt you if left to his own devices and unprovoked. Now we know that for sure."
"But if we'd been wrong-"
Tony was already shaking his head, making grabby fingers for the wrench. She handed it over.
"No matter how many simulations you run, eventually you have to take your theories into the field and run an actual test," he said, sliding back under the metal body, "There's never any guarantees. You take the proper precautions and you hope for the best. Bruce knows that as well as anyone. He just doesn't like the idea of his two lives overlapping. He tries to separate them out like they aren't connected in practically every way. He'll come around, Alice," he said, glancing up from the coupling he was tightening, "And in the meantime, know that I would never have let you into the Dungeon if I hadn't believed that you would be safe. Now, hand me that tube of grease and let's see if we can't get this one to dance."
Two weeks later, Maria Hill finally announced that it was time to take their show on the road. The plan was simple: take over the supply plane, follow the on-board coordinates to the location of the Treehouse, and drop in from the air, taking Hydra by surprise. Steve gave Alice an incredibly stern look when he outlined her part of the plan (which basically consisted of flying the quinjet in circles until the job was done), and Alice tried her best to look as compliant as possible. He had been reluctant to allow her to come at all, but Clint had personally vouched for her, which gave Alice even more reason to play the good little soldier. Clint would never let her live it down otherwise.
Things started out well enough. Clint and Nat took out the pilot, co-pilot and two guards with no trouble at all, and Alice dropped the quinjet into place a little behind their tail, staying in the shadow of the larger aircraft.
"Five minutes to drop coordinates," Clint said through the earpiece Alice wore, "So far no indication that we've been detected. Codes have been exchanged, and we've been cleared for landing."
"Good," Steve said, hooking his helmet into place and adjusting his gloves, "Doctor, this looks to be an easy run. Stay in until we call, no need to get messy if we don't have to."
"Roger that," Bruce said, in an almost mocking tone that made Alice smirk despite herself.
"Alice, once you drop us, give us eyes from the air, keep us apprised of anything that looks suspicious."
"Aye, aye, Captain," she said before she could stop herself. Steve gave her a sharp look and she winced. "Sorry, nerves. I'm good."
There was a flicker of understanding across his stern features and he reached out to squeeze her shoulder.
"You're gonna be fine," he assured her, "Just stay in the air and keep your eyes peeled. We'll take care of the rest."
"Preparing for contact," Clint said, "Alice, you copy?"
"I'm here," Alice responded, "Ready when you are, sensei."
"Alright, break off in three...two...one... Break!"
Alice made a sharp left, skirting the tops of the thick trees below. She could see beneath the leafy canopy a scurry of figures scuttling into positions.
"Better make your jump, Captain," she said, reaching up to unlock the back loading ramp, "I don't think your surprise is gonna be much of a surprise for long."
"Alright, let's move!"
Alice jerked down the lever to open the ramp and eased back on the throttle, bringing the quinjet into a hover above an area that she could now see was crawling with uniformed minions scattering to the outskirts and heading into the trees. She heard the distinct sound of Tony's repulsors firing up and he let out a whoop.
"JARVIS, let's make an entrance!"
Guns 'N' Roses' "Welcome To The Jungle" suddenly blasted in Alice's ear.
"What is that?" she heard Klara say from the back, and not in a good way.
"Tony being Tony," Alice said, rolling her eyes as she reached up to shut the back ramp and lift the quinjet out of hover, banking to take a leisurely spin around the outer edges of the Treehouse complex. From the air, it was difficult to see where the jungle ended and the complex began, but she had a pretty good layout from Maria keyed up in her nav system.
"Should we be flying so low?" Alice almost jumped out of her skin when Bruce spoke up from behind her left shoulder, leaning over the back of her chair and watching through the windows as Tony flitted through the trees, his repulsors lighting up the complex below. "What if they have ground to air?"
"Steve said to get the lay of the land, we're getting the lay of the land," she said, trying not to sound irritated. After all, she didn't tell him how to do his job-
A flash caught her eye off to the right.
"Shit," she spat and pulled hard to the left, spinning them out of the way of the oncoming missile. She jammed at the button for anti-missile defenses, and a small flare deployed, colliding with the missile in an explosion that rocked the quinjet.
"Have I mentioned how much I hate it when you're right?" she asked, as she corrected the jet's lean and shot them up into the air, trying to escape the missiles' range.
"Maybe once or twice," Bruce said, turning a small smile down on her. Alice felt her heart jump and for a minute she wished she wasn't so pissed at him.
"You guys okay up there?" Clint's voice echoed out of the earpiece, along with a cacophony of battle noise.
"Good as gold, Bird-boy," Alice said, "How's the fight on the ground?"
"Not gonna lie, there's a few more monkeys down here than we thought there'd be," he said, followed by an explosion and a heart-stopping moment of static, "Surprisingly well-armed monkeys. With lasers."
"Really hard for me to tell if you're joking right now," Alice said, banking hard and going into a dive that sent Bruce lurching for a better grip on her seat as another missile was detonated by the quinjet's defense system.
"Believe me, I wish I was."
"Banner, got your ears on?" That was Steve coming through the comm this time, and Bruce put a hand to his ear, adjusting his ear-piece.
"I'm here, Captain."
"I think we need to call Code Green. We could definitely use a few more hands down here."
Bruce hesitated for only a fraction of a second, but it was long enough to make Alice glance back. He had gone pale, but he was already nodding.
"Copy that."
He turned away, already lifting his loose-fitting shirt over his head. Alice wanted to turn around and say something, but just then another ground-to-air missile launched and she had to maneuver the jet away from the line of fire. By then the ramp was already lowering, she could hear the wind howling.
"Give me a second, I'll get you a clear landing," she said, moving the quinjet into position over the middle of the complex. There were flames off to the left and she could see blue lights lancing out through the branches to their right. "Your eight o'clock."
"I see it."
His voice was surprisingly calm in her ear. And there were suddenly a thousand things Alice needed to tell him, a thousand things she wanted to say, but she couldn't get them from her brain to her mouth.
"Good luck, Doctor Banner," Klara said, her voice clear and genuine through the ear-piece.
If he replied, Alice didn't hear him. And then there was a howl in her ear and the comm went to static for a second before the sounds of battle switched back on. Alice forced her hands to move, to raise the back ramp closed again.
"Code Green is away," she said, her voice sounding distant and grim in her own ears, "Northbound, incoming."
"Got him," Steve acknowledged, "Good work, Alice."
Alice heard a crash and an ear-splitting roar in the background. She winced and angled the quinjet away again, trying again to move clear of the ground-to-air.
"He'll be alright," Klara said, appearing at her shoulder, "He is well suited to this environment. And we've been training for this."
Alice nodded, but then had to swerve and dive to avoid two more missiles that seemed to show up out of nowhere. They were coming faster now, one right after the other, and Alice had to really concentrate to keep the jet out of harm's way. She thought for a moment about pulling out, but she hadn't been given any orders to that effect, and if the team needed her for whatever reason, she wanted to be within easy reach. Besides, she figured any distraction she could provide couldn't hurt their chances.
A missile exploded just off the right wing and Alice banked...only to be blinded by a second missile exploding on her left.
"Damn it!" she yelped, jerking the controls up and Klara gasped, scrambling for a handhold to keep upright.
"You alright?" Clint asked.
"I'd be better if someone would take care of those damn missiles," she growled.
"I got you, Baby Bird!" Tony said cheerily over the comm, repulsors screaming to life in the background.
"Oh no, that is not my code name," Alice said, swerving between two incoming missiles and letting them take care of each other.
"Aw, come on, it's cute!"
"Exactly."
"You're cute!"
"Any time with those missiles, Tony..."
"You really need to work on embracing your cuteness, Baby Bird."
"Tony, I swear to god-"
There was a loud, fiery explosion below her, and a shower of blue sparks shot out of the trees to her left, followed by a billow of white smoke.
"Hey Cap, look!" Tony exclaimed, "Red, white, and blue!"
"Do you ever shut up?" Steve said, sounding exhausted and exasperated.
"Not if I can help it."
"Alright, how's everybody looking?"
There was a chorus of check-ins from the rest of the team, either clear or mostly clear.
"Klara, sounds like we need a lullaby," Steve said, "Alice, landings are gonna be a little dicey, think you can handle it?"
"I got it," Alice said, maneuvering the quinjet in toward the trees. She heard the back ramp open and she glanced behind her. "Dude, what are you doing?"
"Don't worry," Klara said, holding on to the support strut as she leaned out of the quinjet in a very worrying way.
"Well, wait a few minutes and I'll get you down, you can go do your thing-"
"No," Klara insisted, the wind blowing her curls back and tugging at the spare shirt she held in her free hand, "No, this will do well. Hold steady."
And then, with absolutely no warning whatsoever, she jumped straight off the ramp into oblivion.
"Son of a bitch!" Alice exclaimed, slamming the jet into hover and pressing the comm in her ear, "Thor, Tony, anybody with ears, I do not have eyes on Klara, repeat, no eyes!"
"What happened?" Thor's rumbling voice came through the comm, the wind whistling through the static.
"She just jumped!" Alice exclaimed, "I don't know what the hell she was thinking, but-"
"I'm alright." Klara's calm voice through the earpiece made Alice want to laugh and scream and cry all at the same time, but she swallowed it back. "I landed safely. Making contact now."
Alice shut her eyes and pressed her fingers to her temples. She had a headache.
"Goddamn Asgardians," she muttered, as she shut the back ramp and started looking for a safe place to land.
Klara heard Alice's muttering as clearly as if she were still on the quinjet and smiled to herself. The fall had not been that great a distance, but it must have looked far worse to a Midgardian. She crouched on an elevated platform wedged among the tall trees and observed the terrain for a moment. Below her was the sun-dappled wreckage of what had once been a sprawling labyrinth of buildings and equipment, unrecognizable now and still showering blue sparks at random intervals. In the midst of this destruction stood the Hulk, towering in rage and slamming two pieces of machinery together as if they had personally offended him.
Klara took her time navigating the interconnected walkways and swinging paths down to the forest floor. There were screeching noises in the treetops and Hulk roared up at them in frustration as Klara finally placed her feet on solid ground.
"Hello, my friend."
He turned and snarled at her, taking two running steps before he stopped, snorting and swaying, as if unsure of himself. Klara held her ground and imagined the walls of the Dungeon around them. It was easy in the closeness of the trees.
"You've done so very well," she said, keeping her voice calm, soothing, level, "The world is a safer place for what you have accomplished today."
Hulk snorted and backed down a step, eying her with his old suspicion. Klara lowered herself to their familiar crouch, pressing her hand to the soft, warm earth and inhaling deeply of the thick green scent that emanated from the forest floor.
"When I do count the clock that tells the time,
And see the brave day sunk in hideous night;
When I behold the violet past prime,
And sable curls, all silvered o'er with white;"
Hulk snorted once, as if in defiance, but then he hunched down, mirroring her posture just out of arm's reach. Klara smiled and looked up into the green swaying canopy above them.
"When lofty trees I see barren of leaves,
Which erst from heat did canopy the herd,
And summer's green all girded up in sheaves,
Borne on the bier with white and bristly beard."
She looked back to her friend, his eyes less hostile, his bearing more relaxed. She held out her hand, palm up.
"Then of thy beauty do I question make,
That thou among the wastes of time must go,
Since sweets and beauties do themselves forsake
And die as fast as they see others grow;"
There was a long pause. Then slowly, Hulk reached out and pressed his hand to the flat of her palm. Klara smiled and traced his fingers, up and over and down his arm to his fingertips again, feeling the magic ripple and flee from her touch.
"And nothing 'gainst Time's scythe can make defence," she whispered as he groaned and fell, "Save breed, to brave him when he takes thee hence."
She stood and shook out the shirt she had taken from the quinjet, waiting for Dr. Banner to gather himself. When he sat up, shivering, she handed the shirt over, and he took it gratefully, pulling it over his damp body.
"We are all clear," Klara said, trying to emulate some of the rapid-fire speech she had heard during the fight, "Dr. Banner is present and accounted for."
"Good work, Klara," Captain Rogers' voice echoed through the earpiece, "We're en route. Stay there, and we'll come get you."
Klara acknowledged this and knelt in the dirt by Dr. Banner, waiting for their friends to arrive.
Alice didn't see anything except Bruce when she finally put down on the jungle floor and opened the back ramp. She ran to him and slid beneath his left arm, his other side supported by Thor. He was slumped and looking far more exhausted than he had after any of their recent training sessions.
"You okay?" she asked as hovering nearby as Thor lowered him into one of the flight seats, "What do you need, what can I do?"
"I'm...I'm okay," he said, even as he sagged a little in the seat and tried to right himself, "I'm okay."
"You sure?" Alice asked, perching on the seat beside him, her hands fluttering over his back and shoulders as he lowered his head into his hands, "I can get you something, I can-"
"Alice."
He lifted his head, took her face in his hands and pressed their foreheads together. He sighed, his eyes closed and Alice cradled his neck in her hands, supporting him as much as she was able, just breathing, breathing...
"I'm okay," he whispered, and this time he sounded more like he meant it. Alice nodded.
"Okay," she said, pulling back and pushing him back into the seat, "Okay, just..." She paused, then leaned down and kissed his forehead. "I love you," she whispered, trying not to sound teary, "I really love you."
He smiled and pulled her down to press an exhausted kiss on her lips.
"Love you too," he whispered, then let his head fall back and curled his legs up into the flight seat, his eyes closing.
It was only after this that Alice looked around and took stock. Tony was already out of his suit, fiddling with one of the panels on the left abdominal that looked like it had gone one-on-one with Han Solo and lost. Thor looked exhilarated, but there were definitely scorch marks on his armor. Clint and Nat both looked sweaty, dirty, and exhausted, but relatively unscathed.
And then there was Steve.
"Let me see that," Alice said, pointing at the captain's torn and bloodied left sleeve before she turned to rummage under the seats for her medical kit.
"It's not that bad," he insisted, glancing down at the gash as if he'd forgotten it was there, "Really, it looks worse than it is."
"What am I here for, if not for this?" Alice asked, "Target practice? Decoy? Come on, Cap, let me at least pretend like you need me for a minute."
Steve rolled his eyes but started to peel off his uniform top. He winced, and suddenly Klara appeared at his side.
"Allow me," she said, gently taking the sleeve and easing the bloodied and bruised arm out of it.
"Thanks," Steve said, managing a smile for her, "You did good work today, by the way."
"Yeah, except for the part where she nearly gave me a heart attack," Alice quipped, narrowing her eyes at the girl over the lid of her med kit, "We really need to work on our communication."
Klara ducked her head, looking sheepish.
"The height was not so great," she said, "But I apologize if I caused you any undue concern."
Alice rolled her eyes and started the process of cleaning Steve's wound. His entire shoulder was one big mottled bruise. The gash itself was a burn mark, only skin deep, but red and swollen on the edges and Alice caught herself muttering, "...not that bad, my ass..." Steve just gave her a watery grin. Despite his initial protests, he was a surprisingly good patient, still and uncomplaining. Even when she poured antiseptic on the wound, he shut his eyes tight but never flinched.
"So," he said, once he caught his breath again, and Alice had started the process of bandaging him up, "The monkeys. We can't just leave them to terrorize the local wildlife."
"Wait, were the laser monkeys an actual thing?" Alice asked, glancing back at Clint who was typing something into the quinjet controls, "I really wasn't sure if you were joking or not."
"Oh yeah, they were real," Clint said, "I think one of them singed off one of my eyebrows."
"It's an improvement," Nat said, deadpan, "Makes you look quizzical and intrigued, instead of just like an asshole."
"Aw, but asshole is my signature look!" Clint pouted.
"Guys," Steve said, sounding like an exhausted father on the never-ending road trip from hell, "What are we gonna do about the monkeys?"
"Already taken care of," Tony said from his spot on the floor, fiddling with a screwdriver on another partially warped panel of his suit.
Steve raised an eyebrow in his direction. "And how did you do that?"
Tony shrugged. "I know a guy."
"You know a guy who works in laser monkeys?"
"I know a guy who works in biological research rescue," Tony corrected, wiping his hands on a rag and tossing it over his shoulder as he finally got up to address the group, "I throw him a fundraiser every year, he deals in all sorts of weird science experiments gone wrong, real bleeding heart. I gave him a call, he's sending a team. They should be here in a few hours to help us round 'em all up. Trust me, they will live very comfortably for the rest of their little monkey lives."
"That is wonderful!" Thor said, pounding Tony so enthusiastically on the back that it almost knocked him over, "What a surprise you are, Stark!"
"I agree, Tony, that's...surprisingly thoughtful of you," Alice said, taping up the last bit of bandage on Steve's arm.
Tony rolled his eyes. "You people act like I'm some kind of monster! Why do you think I throw all those charity galas?"
"Tax write-off," Alice said, while at the same time Steve said "Fancy suits," Clint said, "Beautiful women" and Nat said, "Booze."
Tony glared at them. "You're all assholes."
"I thought I was cute!" Alice said, tossing him smirk.
"You're a cute asshole," Tony countered, turning and flopping back down in front of his suit, "And I'm programming Baby Bird into the database the second we get back to the Tower."
Alice rolled her eyes, but she couldn't help ruffling his hair as she walked past, and she caught him grinning even as he swatted her away. She shook her head. Tony Stark was nothing if not full of surprises.
A/N: I love this chapter so much, for so many reasons, and I really hope you all did too :) See you next week!