Chapter 13

Unexpected Visit

Hulk had calmed down to let Bruce take over again after he had set Natasha on a table in the hidden lab. Clint had taken to sitting in a corner with his knees to his chest shaking as he tried to deal with everything that happened both being out of the cell and trying to convince himself that this was actually real. Bruce had gathered what medical supplies he could find and started to help Natasha in every way he could think of. He had retrieved the bullet from her chest, relieved that it had missed the heart. He tried to fix what he could but with the blood loss she had sustained he wasn't certain how it would all work out since he certainly didn't have a way to help with that. He had still stitched her up and left her to rest and had taken to pacing for a while. He knew Natasha was tough and wouldn't go down easily but that didn't really help comfort him. He finally walked towards Clint to see how he was holding up, leaning against the wall beside him before sliding down to the ground, "You convinced this isn't a trick yet?"

"No," Clint muttered into his arms, "For all I know they're going to bust in here and kill you just to take me back. This could easily be him convincing me that there's no escape. This guy isn't like something I've faced before. Cruel, calculating, and an army of god knows what. I can't begin to think of a way to beat him; I don't think putting an arrow in his head would work. I don't think I can win and thus I can't believe this is real."

"That really doesn't sound like the Clint I knew," Bruce replied, "I remember some airheaded archer who took impossible odds as just another test of his skill, another way to prove himself. Prove he wasn't another man trying to pointlessly be on the same level as those he worked with. Despite all of the super solider, technical geniuses, aliens, mutants and of course monsters he continued to do everything to show he was just as good."

"This is different," Clint muttered, "They all in some way fought with their fists. This guy… I've fought guys who can get into your head, I've seen friends get mind controlled and fought them. This guy though seems to know where to hit in our head though. It's not control but more like getting sucker punched in the worst possible place."

"This guy fights with the fist of others or well claws of others," Bruce shrugged.

"He takes his time to rip everything away. First they beat you physically then they make you watch as your mind rips itself apart. They've shown me every mistake I made, played every time I followed an order when I shouldn't have. They showed me those I left behind and those who left me behind," Clint shook his head.

"The more you talk about him, the more he sounds like the others I've fought," Bruce replied. "Ross had the same tactics, he'd use everything he had until Hulk was trying to recover then make sure he couldn't get out. He'd put me in a cell and have me watch everything that had ever gone wrong over and over. He made sure I could do nothing to stop it, kept me in isolation with nothing but my thoughts."

Clint waited for a few moments before asking, "How do you live with yourself after it? After they've pulled apart what you are?"

"At first I didn't," Bruce shook his head with a sigh, "then I started to wonder what would have happened if I stood by and did nothing. I questioned what would happen if I let it break me. The answer was that more people would get hurt and the list of things that I've done wrong would grow. I couldn't let him win, I might have hurt people but he'd make me hurt more. Plus one time when I was in isolation, this group of idiots showed up to get me out. They had to remind me that if I can be blamed for the mistakes I've made then I also need to get credit for those I've saved and at least I was trying to do something right."

"Bruce…" Clint muttered before looking at him, he waited for a bit one question going through his mind, "Why did you come back?"

"Natasha came and told me that Ross was helping S.H.I.E.L.D. and that they would come for me," Bruce shrugged.

Clint shook his head knowing that while it was true it wasn't what would bring Bruce back, "You would have just run if that was the case. Why did you run right into the lion's den instead?"

Bruce thought about it for a moment before looking at the ground, "When she came to ask me for help, I didn't see this person who left me behind. I saw anger, betrayal, fear and that horrible gut turning feeling of being completely alone. I knew those feelings; I've lived with them all my life. Seeing someone else have them and not just anyone but someone who I had once called a friend, that tore me up inside. Then she mentioned that you were in danger. I guess part of me decided to remember."

"Remembered what?" Clint questioned.

"Each time I was in a dark room after I met that group of idiots, two idiots in particular kept showing up to get me out," Bruce replied with a slight smile. After a moment the smile faded, "Plus there was that time, that entire incident. When you and Tash finally did come back for me, that moment stood out to me. I asked you both to let me die, let those guys just kill me. You didn't. That anger in Natasha's voice when she demanded that they let me go. Being taken out of that place, the gun shots, and the arrows, everything just trying to cut a way out of there. You both were stiff, keeping yourselves distant from your emotions as best you could and despite that you made sure that during the trip out I wasn't hurt any further. You had avoided the bruises as best as you could. You seemed like you were just on a mission but that grip wasn't of a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent. Despite everything that had happened and what I had asked you to do you wouldn't let me die and you certainly weren't going to let anyone else get a shot at me."

Clint thought about it, not really wanting remember that entire incident, "I should have stayed with you so you would never have ended up in that place. I should have let Tash go alone to get King and waited for S.H.I.E.L.D. to show up. I should never have followed orders."

"Our lives keep being full of us saying "I should have" but face it you couldn't have let Tash go alone against a guy who had god knows what for weapons," Bruce replied with a shrug.

"She could have handled herself until I caught up," Clint replied.

"Perhaps but it really doesn't matter now," Bruce shrugged, "We're sort of facing something a lot more dangerous."

"I guess," Clint muttered. After a long silence he looked over to where they had left Natasha, "How's she doing?"

Bruce shook his head knowing that the question had been coming, "I honestly don't know. I did everything I could considering my equipment and the injury. She might have lost too much blood for her body to recover and we're not in a position to do a safe transfusion. If she was an average person I could tell you that she would be dead but considering it's Tash I have no idea. We'll need to wait and find out." Bruce sighed and looked at Clint, "You really should let me look at your injuries though."

"Not until we know if Tash is going to be okay," Clint grumbled edging away from Bruce only to meet the wall.

"You can't do this to yourself Clint," Bruce replied, "You need to let me look at them and help you. Not sit here waiting to find out about Natasha. Letting yourself stay like this really doesn't help anyone."

"Heh, and you did when you left?" Clint replied softly, "You didn't help anyone back then. You blamed us, didn't let us help after that."

"I swear to god if you don't leave that alone right now and let me look at your injuries I will pound you into the ground until you can't move or protest," Bruce glared at Clint.

"I'd like to see you try," Clint looked at Bruce, clearly just trying to get back to his old self somehow. His old self could just make a witty comment and shoot the bad guys, that's what he did. His old self knew that their team was the best and that there was always a way out. His old self could deal with this, he really wanted his old self back.

"Well if you insist," Bruce shrugged moving closer figuring he could probably pin Clint given his current state.

Clint smirked and readied himself for Bruce's attempts, though each move he made was extremely painful. Fact was his body was still stiff from that cell, everything still hurt from what he went though. Turns out being locked in a cell and getting beaten up for a few days was not very kind on the body. The two were interrupted before they could even start their little fight by a far too familiar very low male voice, "Gentlemen if you would kindly restrain yourselves from ripping each other apart there's work to be done."

Bruce looked over his shoulder and Clint looked up at the new comer, "Fury? How?"

"Classified story," Fury replied, "All you need to know is I'm here now but I can't be here for long, if this Tyrell fellow knows I'm out in the open he will risk everything to come at me, even killing you three and losing a lot of ground."

"He's already taken that risk with Tash," Bruce replied a touch on edge, escaping the Madhouse and then having Fury showing up, this had to be some trick. Not to mention more than anyone else, Bruce hated Nick Fury. Natasha and Clint had followed orders during that incident, Fury was the one who gave that order.

"Yes but this would mean pulling his troops out of everywhere he has them," Fury replied, "His corruption runs much deeper than S.H.I.E.L.D. in fact it runs just about everywhere. Think Skrull invasion only they're not hiding as people already in the group, they're all out in the open and no one is making a move against them. Hydra, A.I.M., S.H.I.E.L.D. all three for sure have Tyrell's influence in them. The only difference is where he's aiming them. He aimed S.H.I.E.L.D. at itself and thus its agents, Dr. Banner just got in the way. He didn't intend to go after Dr. Banner until the others had finished their job. Hydra is aimed at Captain America and A.I.M. at Mr. Stark. They're in a position to win all of their battles except the S.H.I.E.L.D. one thanks to you three. So I'm here to make sure they don't win."

"And how do you intend to do that?" Bruce questioned.

"By providing you with what you need, information, weapons, and of course this," Fury held up a metal brief case and offered it to Bruce who took it. He walked over to a table and opened it with a smirk. "I had a feeling you needed that."

Bruce reached into the case pulling out a blood pack, "You certainly are good at showing up when you need to with what we need."

"It's what happens when you know to watch everything in the world from the safety of a hidden bunker," Fury replied. He was one of the best agents in the world for a reason after all. He'd survived this long with all his secrets and he knew how to keep surviving for as long as it took. It was no surprise that he was still watching the S.H.I.E.L.D. bases, they were rightfully his after all. "Agent Barton if you would kindly help me there's a truck outside with a case of weapons. Figure you'd like one of your bows unless you intend to fist fight the end of the world."

"Well that is an option," Clint replied before slowly getting up using the wall to help him keep balance, "But why should I trust that you're actually Fury and not a LMD?"

"Good question with no answer," Fury replied, "Though if I was an LMD working for Tyrell don't you think he would have used them before?"

"Point taken," Clint shrugged.

"Not to mention if this was a trap you three wouldn't survive no matter what you did," Fury replied, "Now come on let's unload that truck." Clint followed Fury outside while Bruce set back to work on the blood transfusion.

"If this messes up, I swear I'll put Fury through a wall," Bruce muttered to himself. He was just generally angry that the man had chosen this late to show up to the fight, but still relief washed over him that he had shown up at all. Without him, Tash would probably be dead and without him they'd be a lot further behind Tyrell than they should be. They need what Fury had which meant putting orders and past aside and dealing with the main threat.

((As usual, characters are not mine. Also the reviews make my day guys, thank you for them.))