Welcome back everyone. I'd like to start out by thanking everyone who has already reviewed, favorited or alerted this story. I'm pretty sure I responded to all the reviews that I could, but if I missed you, please let me know.
The wait was a little longer than I expected, but then again so is the chapter so... Anyway, I'm still not entirely certain how I feel about this chapter, seeing as I had writers block in the middle of it so it might be a little bumpy here and there.
So, I hope you enjoy, and please don't be afraid to let me know what you think.
As always, I own nothing.
Edit 1/14/12: Just fixed my mistake with Rhodey's rank.
They'd only been working in the lab for a little more than a half an hour when JARVIS' voice cut through the AC/DC album Tony had playing, which made the billionaire look up with a scowl from where he and Bruce were tinkering with some wiring on the back of the suit.
'Sir, Colonel Rhodes is requesting entrance at the front door. Should I allow him inside?' the AI questioned, and Tony instantly relaxed, the scowl falling from his face and forming a wide grin instead, which Bruce noticed and caused him to give a small smile of his own.
Listening to Tony talk, he probably knew more about the Air Force Colonel than the man himself. He knew all about what shenanigans they'd gotten into from MIT onward, and knowing that Tony had had at least one close friend besides Pepper before the team had come along was somewhat of a relief.
"Yeah, JARVIS, just tell him to wait by the door. I'll be right up." Tony said quickly, wiping his hands off on a rag before turning to Bruce. "I'll only be gone a few minutes. Don't make any startling, earth-shattering discoveries without me."
Bruce gave a mock salute and a quiet chuckle.
"I'm just going to keep rewiring the cooling system. No worries there." he said dryly and Tony winked at him before starting up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
He'd be lying if he said he wouldn't be glad to see his friend again. And now, Rhodey could meet the rest of the team, like he'd been pestering him about for months.
"Rhodey!" he greeted excitedly as he stepped into the main room and saw his friend waiting by the door, wearing his 'civilian' clothes as opposed to his Air Force uniform.
"Hey, Tony." the other man looked up with a grin that mirrored Stark's. "Thought I'd swing by and say 'hi'."
The two quickly shook hands before pulling each other into a quick, brotherly embrace.
"How'd you even know I was back in town?" Tony questioned after they'd stepped back, his tone curious, but Rhodey just leveled him with a disbelieving look.
"Come on, man. I know when your jet comes in." the Colonel said as if it should have been obvious and Tony stared at him for a few moments before he gave a blink and responded.
"Stalker." Tony said simply before continuing with a smirk. "Anyway, it's been a while. I haven't seen you since what? Before the 'evil aliens take over New York' thing?"
"Yeah." Rhodey snorted with a slow shake of his head. "Someone's been keeping their stubborn ass on the other coast."
"Hey, can you blame me for being busy with a combination of my new merry band of misfits and, you know, saving the world and all?" Tony demanded defensively.
"Right. So you've still got everyone living in the tower then? No one's killed anyone?" Rhodey asked with a smirk, but Tony just rolled his eyes.
"Nah. Thankfully, we seem to have gotten past that stage. We don't toss out death threats that much anymore. They're all here, you know. We decided we'd earned a vacation."
Interest sparked in the Colonel's eyes at those words, but before he could comment Pepper and Natasha walked up to them.
"Oh, Rhodey, it's good to see you!" Pepper said brightly, stepping forward to give him a warm hug of her own. "How are you?"
"Just fine, Pepper, you?" he asked, returning the embrace easily.
"Good." she confirmed before looking to Tony. "Natasha and I are going to run to the store. Any requests?"
"Just please don't forget pop tarts. Large amounts. Just buy them in bulk." Tony gave a slight wince, as Rhodey gave a slight frown, looking to Natasha.
"I thought your name was Natalie." he said in confusion, and she gave a small, coy smile and Tony laughed.
"Natasha Romanoff." she corrected easily. "I was undercover as Stark's assistant."
"Aka Black Widow; aka really scary master assassin." Tony added for his friend's benefit, whose eyebrows just rose comically. Natasha's smile just widened slightly before she followed a clearly amused Pepper towards the door.
"Watch yourself, Stark, I haven't forgotten about earlier." she reminded over her shoulder, causing Tony to pale slightly as Rhodey spoke once the two women were out of earshot.
"She's an assassin." he said faintly, his tone almost questioning. "On your team of super heroes."
"Yep. Trust me, I was shocked too." Tony agreed simply, clapping him on the shoulder before steering him towards the gym. "Come on, I'll introduce you to the others."
He led his friend into the gym, grinning when he saw the sight that met them. Steve and Thor were sitting on the edges of the boxing ring, the Captain in the process of picking up a 50 lb. weight with surprising ease.
"You sure you want to go to 50?" he asked of seemingly no one in particular, seeing as Thor was sitting back, relaxed. He waited a few moments, casting a glance up before he sighed. "Alright, here goes."
Tony snuck a glance to Rhodey as Steve tossed the circular weight into the air like it was nothing, stifling a laugh with difficulty when he saw the unmasked shock. The Colonel's eyes had widened comically again, and he jumped visibly when not more than ten seconds later an arrow whizzed towards the air-born metal.
The arrowhead clicked open mere moments before it would have struck, instead expelling a thin, silver netting that wrapped effortlessly around the weight which then shifted course somewhat to mirror the arrow's flight path as it fell to the ground.
A triumphant laugh came from above them and both Tony and Rhodey looked up to see a man crouched in the rafters not far away, bow held in hand.
"Didn't take you too long to figure those out." the billionaire remarked easily, a hint of amusement in his voice as he looked over, nodding once to himself when he saw a target standing in the range, one arrow sticking out of the center while a perfect circle of ten others surrounded it. He wasn't surprised by the sight, but relieved somehow, not that he would ever admit it.
"Did you think it would?" Clint asked rhetorically as he swung around effortlessly to face them, an almost invisible tension entering his shoulders when he saw Rhodey. "Who's your friend?"
"Get your ass down here, Legolas, and I'll introduce you." Tony said matter of factly, looking over and smirking when Steve and Thor stood and approached as well, curious.
"You did say you made more of those netting ones, right?" Clint asked as he dropped into a graceful crouch only a few feet in front of them, sliding his bowstring over his shoulder to rest with his quiver.
"Yep, I'll get you the boxes later." Tony said, waving a hand dismissively before he put a hand on Rhodey's shoulder and continued. "This' my friend Colonel James Rhodes. Call him Rhodey."
"Steve Rogers." unsurprisingly, it was Steve that was first to offer his hand with a smile before he tilted his head slightly to the side in curiosity. "Colonel?"
"Air Force." Rhodey said quickly, returning the smile and shaking his hand easily. "It's an honor to meet you, Captain."
"Steve's fine." the super soldier said as he stepped back. Before Rhodes could comment, Tony turned him to face Clint.
"Clint 'Hawkeye' Barton." the billionaire supplied helpfully, which just made the archer roll his eyes. "Assassin, and pretty much the best damn marksman in the world. With the lack of modesty to prove it, and a penchant for outdated weapons such as the bow and arrow." he then smirked at the glare that Clint sent him.
The archer than offered his hand to Rhodes as well, looking away from Stark to give the other man a false cheery smile.
"Your friend's an asshole." he said lightly as the Colonel shook his hand, which just caused Rhodey to laugh.
"You have to put up with him more than I do." he reminded, and Clint let the grin change to a scowl, as Tony's expression became insulted.
"He was yours first." the archer muttered mutinously, though his bright eyes made it clear that he was joking.
Rhodey laughed again, but turned at Tony's insistence to face the largest and most intimidating man in the room.
"Thor Odinson." the billionaire said as explaination. "God of Thunder, Prince of Asgard, wields a magic hammer." Tony smiled then, before stepping back, just in time for Thor to smile brightly and step forward, wrapping his arms around the Colonel and pounding him in a friendly fashion on the back.
"It is an honor to meet you, Friend Rhodey." the demi-god boomed happily as he took a step back from the shocked man.
"That's just how he greets people he likes." Clint supplied helpfully from where he stood behind the Colonel. "It's an Asgardian thing."
"So you are a warrior in the Midgardian military?" Thor questioned, and Rhodey gave a slow, almost hesitant nod.
"Kinda. I think." he said, which just caused Tony to cackle in amusement. "I'm the weapons' expert."
"So that's how you know Tony." Steve surmised and Rhodey nodded, before Tony commented as well.
"Yeah, and we went to MIT together too. I've known Rhodey forever." he sounded proud of that fact, which no one missed.
Without skipping a beat, Clint turned to the man with a completely straight face and spoke.
"I'm sorry."
"Ha ha, Barton." Tony deadpanned, now with his own slight glare. He then grabbed Rhodey's arm and started pulling him out. "Come on, you can chitchat later."
"Stark, when you're done, why don't we see if you've forgotten anything over the last month." Clint called after them, and Tony scoffed as he responded over his shoulder.
"Please, Featherhead, you're the one out of practice." he said tauntingly, responding to his friend's confused expression with a smirk once they'd left the gym. "Barton's been training me in hand-to-hand so I don't get my ass handed to me without my suit."
Rhodey have a surprised blink, easily walking at the billionaire's side as he led the way towards the stairs to the garage.
"Now that's not the typical 'nothing can touch me' Tony Stark attitude I remember." he said lightly, and Tony gave a shrug, shoving his hands into his pockets as his eyes darkened.
"Yeah, well, terrorists aren't exactly a confidence booster." he said in a forced casual tone, and Rhodes instantly stiffened, catching Tony's shoulder and turning his to face him, eyes widened in concern and a touch of anger.
"Tony, what happened?" he demanded, and Stark sighed.
"It was a couple months ago. I'm fine now; it was only like four days." he hedged, but at that the other man's eyes just narrowed.
"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked almost accusingly, but Tony just pulled his shoulder out of his grip and shook his head.
"It wasn't that big of a deal. I didn't want to worry you over nothing." he said, his tone holding a touch of finality. "It wasn't like last time. They didn't want me to build anything for them. I'm fine, Rhodey, I swear."
"You still should have called me." the Colonel chastised gently with his own sigh, not all the concern leaving his gaze, though he did relax slightly.
Tony offered him an uncharacteristically reassuring grin before starting towards the stairs again.
"You actually let someone down here unsupervised?" Rhodey changed the subject, his tone now almost teasing as he followed the billionaire.
"Yep." Tony chuckled, eyes sparking slightly. "Sure did."
More curious than ever, Rhodes followed quickly down into the garage/lab area. Once they'd gone inside, he could see the left side of a man crouched behind one of the Iron Man suits. He gave a blink of surprise at that, knowing firsthand how protective Tony was over his things.
"Brucey!" Tony called out in a sing-song voice, jumping up to sit on a mostly clear lab bench where he could face both Bruce and Rhodey at the same time.
"No, Tony, I have not been able to solve the problem in ten minutes." the man said, an edge of patient amusement to his voice that the Colonel was all too familiar with.
"I know that. I want you to meet someone." the billionaire protested, grinning at the man behind the suit as he gave a slight sigh and stood, moving around the machine and wiping his hands on his pants easily. He then fixed his glasses before obediently turning where Tony indicated to face the Colonel, who had stopped only about a foot away from where the billionaire had taken his seat. "Rhodey, this' Dr. Bruce Banner."
Rhodes felt himself instantly stiffen as he met Banner's light brown gaze. He had friends in the Army, he knew about the destructive, deadly force of the monster called the Hulk. He'd always knew the name behind it, but never the face. Now, apparently, that had changed.
He was understandably wary and cautious, and a part of him couldn't believe that Tony had left this man unsupervised anywhere.
"Tony's told me a lot about you." Banner said kindly, his hands unmoving from their unthreatening positions at his sides, and Rhodes certainly didn't offer his own. Tony wandered off at that point, leaving a tense silence between Colonel and doctor, who continued knowingly after only a few moments. "You can relax, you know. The Other Guy's not making an appearance anytime soon. You've got nothing to worry about from me."
"Right." Rhodey said, though he wasn't at all convinced. At any rate, he wasn't exactly sure what would set the man off, so he wasn't going to chance much.
"He doesn't shut up." Bruce pointed out dryly, giving a small sigh. Rhodes' expression was one he easily recognized. And he had no idea why it disappointed him as much as it did. "So yes, you've been mentioned a few times."
Tony walked casually up behind Bruce then, but the doctor wasn't expecting the sharp poke and tingle of electricity in his side.
"Ow. Tony!" he hissed, turning to glare at the billionaire as his hand went to his side, only to find the other man's eyes once again staring at him intently. He gave a scowl and a huff of aggravation, lightly pushing Tony back and unsurprised to see Rhodes had all but appeared at the billionaire's side almost protectively in the next moment, eyes widened.
"What the hell, Tony?" the Colonel demanded, eyes not leaving Banner's form, almost waiting for the huge, green monster to spring forward. When it didn't, the doctor just irately rubbing his side and snatching the small metal rod out of Tony's hands, he turned to his friend with narrowed eyes.
"What?" the billionaire asked defensively, rolling his eyes and giving an easy grin.
"Don't worry, I'm well used to Tony and his pointy things." Banner said crossly, though there wasn't as much aggravation in his eyes as there had been before, having been replaced with amused exasperation.
"One of these days, Banner." Tony smirked, eyes bright, but Bruce just shook his head.
"No, Tony, I really don't think so." he said dryly, and Tony snorted.
"Come on, the Big Guy likes me." he protested, and Bruce just gave the man a level look as he responded.
"He's aggravated at you. I'm pretty sure at this point he'd put you through a wall based on that principle alone."
It was easy to lapse into his typical, teasing banter with Tony, and completely forget that Rhodes was even in the room. But at the same time, he knew the man had been Tony's best friend for a long time. He wasn't going to be the one to get between that.
The billionaire scoffed at his words, ignoring Rhodey's shocked and wary expression.
"Please. Anyway, Barton says we're going to do some training, and I think I might actually have a chance of winning one this time around, seeing as he's been out of things for like a month. Want to come up and watch?" Tony asked, and Bruce gave a good natured roll of his eyes, but shook his head.
"I think you're still going to end up disappointed in that respect, Tony. And I'll be up in a few minutes, I've just got something I want to finish up really quick." Bruce said easily, not surprised that Tony didn't pick up on his friend's discomfort and wariness.
"Don't make me have Dummy fire-extinguish you up the stairs." Tony warned, and Bruce laughed.
He'd met Dummy and Butterfingers, and once again couldn't help his lack of surprise that the closest things Tony Stark had to pets were a couple of robots.
"Alright, alright." he said appeasingly, turning back to the suit as the other two men left the lab area, heading back for the stairs.
Rhodey waited until they'd gotten up the stairs before he took a quick step forward, turning Tony by the shoulder again to face him.
"Do you have a death wish?" he demanded angrily, and the billionaire blinked at him in surprise but responded quickly.
"Not that I'm aware of, but it's been questioned before." he said flippantly, his expression changing to one of slight confusion. Rhodey just scowled at his response, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I get that a giant, green rage monster can be helpful in fighting aliens, but poking him in the side like that? Keeping him here? Someone's got to have a place a bit stronger that you could keep him." he growled in hushed tones, and clearly displeased by his friend's apparent act of recklessness. He was surprised, however, when Tony stiffened and he adopted a defensive tone.
"I'm not keeping him anywhere." the billionaire said, almost disbelieving. "Bruce can go where he wants. I'm not his warden, I don't tell him what to do."
"Someone should be." Rhodey said shortly, his eyes narrowing as well. He didn't understand how Tony could be so lax about his and everyone else's safety. This seemed past the point where even he would draw the line. "That thing is dangerous, Tony. Why…"
He trailed off when Tony took a step back from him, eyes narrowed and expression hardened.
Tony couldn't believe what he was hearing. Sure, he knew Rhodey could be hardheaded at times; ignorant of the gray areas between black and white… But to call Bruce a 'thing'? He tried to keep in mind that all Rhodey knew about the doctor would be what he had heard from his Army buddies, but especially so soon after the whole fiasco with Ross, he was a little protective. And as such, he couldn't keep the venom out of his voice as he spoke.
"That thing is a human being." he spat, clearly surprising the other man with the strength of his anger. He continued anyway. "That human being has a name. And Bruce is my friend."
"And you trust him with Pepper?" Rhodey prompted, knowing that he was pushing but needing to make sure that Tony had thought this all through, and currently he was a little doubtful.
"Of course." Tony said sharply, huffing out a disbelieving chuckle. "I trust him and the Big Guy with my life. We all do."
"Tony, that's borderline insane." the Colonel warned, but Tony just turned his burning, defiant gaze to meet his.
"Really? Please enlighten me, who has been living with him for months, just how much you know about Bruce Banner other than what you've heard second-hand from your Army buddies." the billionaire challenged, eyes flashing. "He is not a monster. And he doesn't deserve to be locked up and treated like one."
With that, Tony turned sharply and continued towards the gym, not sparing another glance back.
Rhodes stared after him in shock, beginning to get the feeling that he had just seriously messed up. Because Tony Stark did not get that angry, or that protective, over just anyone. Sighing, he followed the man into the gym, walking in just in time to see him slip under the ropes and into the boxing ring with a smirk on his face as he moved to face Barton.
Tony, on the other hand, was aware of Rhodey following him, but didn't expect anything less. The man knew him, and the reaction he just gave would make him stop and think. Then, maybe, once Tony had calmed down somewhat, he'd sit Rhodey down with Bruce and have a chat.
At the moment, however, he needed to focus more on the smirking assassin that was standing across from him. Over the months since they'd started training, Tony had gotten much better at hand-to-hand fighting that he had been previously. No, he wasn't quite as fast as Clint was, and he wasn't flipping around like a Mexican jumping bean on steroids, but he could hold his own. The archer had also been teaching him quite a few offensive moves as well, which would definitely be put into use today.
"I really do think today's going to be the day for my revenge for all those times you've slammed me into the ground, Featherhead." Tony said lightly, but Clint just rolled his eyes.
"Tony, you all as a collective force may have benched me for the past month, but you forget that you haven't really been doing much in that time either." Barton reminded easily, before giving a decidedly more predatory smirk and leaping into action.
The billionaire didn't think he would ever become more comfortable with seeing the assassin come at him like that.
Their sparring match lasted for a good half hour, ducking, spinning and throwing careful attacks. They both landed their fair share of hits, and despite the fact that Tony knew that Clint still didn't spar with him at the same level as he did with Natasha, Steve and Thor, he couldn't help feeling a little smug with that fact.
The smug feeling was gone, however, when Clint managed a spinning kick to his side, which knocked him to the side and of balance enough that the archer was then able to get him onto a solid, inescapable headlock with a knee in his back.
"I'm sorry, Stark, what were you saying?" Clint questioned lightly, and the billionaire just growled angrily, tapping his fingers irately on the mat as everyone else in the room laughed. He did perk up somewhat when he picked out Bruce's voice among them.
"If you don't let me up soon, Barton, I'm going to think there's something else you want out of this situation. And you, my friend, are going to be the one explaining this to Romanoff." Tony said crossly, smirking when Clint gave his own unhappy growl under his breath before getting off of the billionaire probably a bit more heavily handed than he could have.
The others were still chuckling when Tony pulled himself to his feet and he cut Clint a sharp glare before he looked over to Rhodey, who was laughing the hardest.
"You think it's so funny, Mr. Air Force? You get up here and fight with him." he said shortly, though his anger from before was more or less on the back burner.
"I'm sure Clint is done sparring for now." Rhodey protested, but Clint just laughed as Tony slid out of the ring, giving the Colonel a slight push towards the ropes.
"Are you kidding me? I've been benched for a month. Please give me something to do." the archer said, tilting his head slightly to Rhodes as Tony took a seat beside Bruce.
"What'd they bench you for?" Rhodey asked as he stood, slipped off his jacket and ducked into the ring between the ropes.
"Some broke ribs." Clint shrugged it off as he considered the Colonel.
Rhodey nodded in acceptance before they both focused. Clint knew that the older man had the advantage in size, most people did against him, but Rhodes wouldn't be prepared for his speed, seeing as against Tony he didn't use all of his tricks. He wasn't surprised when the Colonel threw the first punch easily.
It was clear that the Air Force trained it's soldiers well, Rhodes' blows quick, calculated and precise. Of course no more than a small handful of them actually landed, and none were more than glancing hits. After a few minutes, he let one of the punches clip his shoulder before he spun and caught the wrist that was now in his reach. He then used his other hand to wrap around the man's elbow before he spun again and backed towards the man and crouched, forcing him forward. He then jerked his hand that was holding Rhodes' elbow back, flipping him over and onto his back on the mat. The whole move only took a few seconds, and Rhodes effectively had the air knocked out of him.
"Assassin, right." the Colonel gasped out and they all laughed as he coughed and rolled over.
"I lasted longer than you did, Platypus, so there." Tony said arrogantly as Clint offered a hand down to Rhodey to help him up.
"You aren't half bad." the archer told him as he returned to his feet.
"Thanks." Rhodey nodded as they both stepped out of the ring.
Bruce was sure to stay as far away from Rhodes as possible for the rest of the time that the man was at the tower with them. It was clear that he was still uneasy, casting uncertain glances at him whenever he thought that he wasn't looking. Of course the doctor saw them anyway and did his best not to cause his to become any more wary, which was almost difficult seeing as Tony kept close to him the entire time.
Rhodes joined them for the dinner of Chinese take-out that Pepper and Natasha brought back from their grocery shopping trip before he left, leaving the Avengers and Pepper alone in the mansion.
"You know, Rhodey's not afraid of you." Tony said matter of factly once they'd returned to the lab after dinner, and Bruce looked over to him with a raised eyebrow.
"Tony, I think you need to work on your ability to read people." the doctor said, his tone almost saddened, and Tony snorted before moving over to stand in front of him.
"Wary, yes. Cautious, yes. But he's always been a bit hazy with the whole 'gray area' thing. And then there's the fact that all he knows about you is what he's heard from his Army buddies. And let's face it, they aren't exactly your best friends." Tony pointed out easily, meeting the doctor's gaze seriously.
"Yes, I got that memo." Bruce said dryly.
"Just give him some time to come around. I know him. And we've talked, alright?" Tony said, and Bruce frowned.
"Tony, you don't need to cause conflict with your friend over me." he protested, but the billionaire just rolled his eyes, grabbing a wrench and flipping it casually in his hand.
"Bruce, you are my friend. Just as much as Rhodey is. And as such, I staunchly refuse to exhaust myself going back and forth between the two of you." he said lightly and Bruce chuckled and shook his head, catching the wrench as Tony tossed it to him easily. "Oh, and by the way, Barton's already mastered those devious little netting contraptions you gave him. I think he wants the boxes."
"That didn't take him long." Bruce said, looking slightly impressed as he turned to the back of the suit again, and Tony gave another snort.
"This is Barton we're talking about. We could probably give him a fully disassembled weapon that he'd never seen before and he'd be shooting bulls-eyes with it before the hour was up." he said simply, not a trace of doubt in his voice.
An hour or two later, Bruce extracted himself from the lab to go up to Clint's room, carrying with him the boxes of the archer's new arrowheads. He'd wanted a little break from the cooling system, and it was best to do this while Tony was enthralled with his own project and wouldn't be surfacing anytime soon.
He knocked on the archer's door twice, unsurprised when it clicked open less than thirty seconds later, Clint's curious form appearing.
"Hey doc, what's up?" the archer asked, stepping back to give him room to enter, which he did with a nod of thanks.
"Just wanted to make sure you got these." Bruce held out four wooden boxes only slightly smaller than shoe boxes, which Clint took with bright, excited eyes.
"Thanks." he nodded, sitting them on his dresser beside where the new quiver had taken up residence. "Really, Bruce, you and Tony did an amazing job with that. It's better than anything I could have asked for."
"Well then I'm glad you didn't ask." Bruce grinned, before he watched as Clint's head tilted to the side slightly as he noticed the remaining, smaller box that the doctor still held.
"What's that?" he asked, bouncing down into a cross-legged position on his bed near the edge where Bruce was still standing.
"This is what I wanted to talk to you about." Bruce said as a slight sigh, sitting beside the archer and holding out the box to him.
Clint took it with a slight frown, not at all liking the resigned expression the doctor was giving him. Instead of asking, he flipped open the lid, his frown deepening into confusion when he saw a dozen unfamiliar arrowheads. They weren't any of the ones he'd been shown earlier, and he looked up to Bruce expectantly, noting that the doctor was now wringing his hands as if nervous.
"Those are basically modified tranquilizer darts." he started his explanation quickly before Clint could protest. "Each loaded with a concentrated dose strong enough to knock out the Other Guy."
"Bruce," Clint started, his tone almost warning as he flipped the box shut and set it aside, his gaze hardened. The doctor just held up a hand to stop him, unable to meet his gaze.
"I know what you think, Clint and I know what you've told me. But if that catastrophe with Ross and Simmons taught me anything, it was that the Other Guy is more unpredictable than I thought, whether it be in a good or bad way. I don't want to wait for a bad example to happen to have a way to deal with it." he said firmly, but Clint just scowled so he continued. "All it takes is one misunderstanding; one thing he thinks is a threat that isn't, and innocent people could die. I'm not saying it would be on purpose, but an accident could produce the same results and destruction, and I don't want innocent blood on my hands again. I'm trusting you with those, Clint."
Clint sighed and ran a hand down his face, understanding exactly what the doctor was telling him. He was trusting him with those arrowheads, and the drug they carried, which in the wrong hands could land him in another situation like what Ross had subjected him to, or in a cage somewhere. How could he argue with an admission like that?
"Why me?" he asked, honestly curious, and Bruce actually gave a small smile.
"Because you and Tony are the ones that have the highest possibility of being in a position to use it. And Tony would tell me no until we were both blue in the face from arguing. At least you I can reason with." the doctor said dryly. "Plus, I know you'll make the right call quickly."
"So basically, I have more experience in knowing when to take someone out." Clint said tonelessly, and Bruce sighed.
"If that's how you want to look at it." he said wearily, and Clint huffed an unamused chuckle and shook his head.
"What will it do?" he asked next, his tone still not exhibiting any discernible emotion.
"Knock me out for an hour, maybe two at the most, that's it." Bruce told him matter of factly with a slight nod to himself.
"And how'd you come up with this?"
"I got a blood sample before the drugs Ross gave me burned completely out of my system." the doctor answered truthfully, but that just made Clint stiffen and narrow his eyes.
"Those drugs hurt you, Bruce." he said as almost a growl, but the older man just shook his head.
"I tweaked it, I swear. Here." he produced a tablet and offered it to the archer, two separate chemical compositions showing on the screen. He then shrugged to his shrewd glance. "I knew you were going to need convincing."
The archer sighed and took the tablet, looking them both over intently for a few moments. He could see the differences easily, and from the basics of chemistry he knew, he could guess that what Bruce was saying was true. Not that he expected the doctor to lie to him.
"I'm still not saying that I think we're going to need it." Clint said stubbornly, and Bruce sighed, rubbing his eyes beneath his glasses.
"Clint, I'm not asking you to make an all or nothing decision about the Other Guy. I'm asking you to just carry one in your quiver in case of some freak accident that sets him off. I'm asking you to do this for me as my friend for my peace of mind." Bruce said sincerely and Clint gave his own huff of aggravation but picked up the box again.
"This is, like literally, plan Z." he said firmly, and Bruce chuckled but gave a nod of acceptance.
"Thank you." he said, sounding relieved, but Clint just snorted.
"Do not thank me for potentially having to drug you." he said shortly, before he continued with a question. "Do you want to tell the others or keep this between us?"
"I'll tell Tony when I go back downstairs, and we can tell Steve, Natasha and Thor tomorrow." Bruce said, wincing slightly at the thought of telling Tony. "He'll probably come try to talk you out of it."
"I can handle Tony." Clint snorted, taking the box and moving to sit it with the others.
Like expected, within fifteen minutes, his door was opening unannounced and Tony was walking in, his face expressionless. Clint had perched himself precariously on the thin granite sill that ran along the window that went almost the entire length of the wall.
"You honestly agreed to that?" the billionaire asked stiffly, and Clint snorted but didn't turn around.
"If he asked you to; trusted you with something like that... And it came down to using it or making him live with more guilt and innocent lives on his conscious, wouldn't you?" he asked rhetorically.
"Well when you put it that way…" Tony muttered unhappily after a few moments, moving to stand at the window as well, still not looking at all pleased.
"That's the way I've got to think about it." Clint said matter of factly, eyes still turned to the darkened window. "I don't like it any better than you do, Tony."
And there we have it. Don't worry, it gets a little lighter next chapter, not as depressing. I hope you liked it and let me know what you think. Next chapter should be up soon.
~Dogstar