Chapter 14

Third Wheel

Bruce had stabilized Natasha thanks to Fury and was now standing a short distance away. Natasha had woken up a few hours after Bruce had finished but was still lying down, mainly because Bruce demanded that she remain that way while her body recovered. Clint was standing over her whispering something softly. Every now and then Natasha would smile and say something softly back. Bruce was watching the two interact, each small smile, each soft laugh and whisper, it all seemed normal like back before the incident but something turned in his stomach uncomfortable with this.

Bruce smiled at first as he watched the two reunite. He watched Clint lean down and kiss Natasha, it was slow and passionate. Bruce could tell Clint's doubts were gone, at least in that moment. His heart continued to sink but at first he wasn't sure why. This was all oddly familiar to him though. Clint and Natasha had always been close, everyone knew that. On missions they might keep it professional, that's what was expected of them but the way they moved around each other, almost dancing when they fought. The way they watched out for each other, constantly covering the other from anything and everything. No one had ever really talked about their relationship, there was always work to be done but now seeing the two kiss like that, it seemed to sum up how they felt about each other. They were in their own world at the moment, somewhere just for them.

Bruce turned away and walked away, staring at the ground until he was outside. He looked up at the openness of desert. He felt like he wanted to run, all of that open space with no one around. It was inviting him, pulling him in.

"Problem, Dr. Banner? Fury caught him off guard making him jump a bit. The other man had a scary habit of appearing behind someone when they were thinking of something.

"No," Bruce replied in a growl after he regained himself. He didn't want to look at Fury, couldn't possibly make eye contact with that man.

"Really? Because it looks like something is on your mind. Looks like you're thinking about running," Fury crossed his arms over his chest, "Can't blame you for that, after all what we are up against is certainly hard to beat."

"Are you going to stop me?" Bruce questioned. Like Fury could stop him if he wanted to run, he could make it out of here easily. A few jumps and he'd be in another state, that's how it worked. When he had to run he could run and he could run fast.

"No I just want to know if you're running from the task at hand or something else," Fury replied.

Bruce stared at the desert wanting to just head out into it, leave Fury behind in the dust and never answer the questions he had. However, he'd agreed to help for a reason and Fury had shown up to help them for a reason. Running wouldn't make this problem go away, it wouldn't make it better and it wouldn't make it easier. Bruce sighed after a moment still watching the open space before him it still looked inviting, "Clint has Natasha, Tony has Pepper, Thor has Asgard and everyone there not to mention Jane here, Steve has everyone in America that loves him. No matter how you slice it I'm the odd one out. I will always end up alone. I end up getting hated because I'm a monster. The world will cheer the couples on, cheer their heroes on but when it comes down to it, who cheers for the monster? Who sticks around for the monster after the fight is done? I never wanted to be this; I wanted to do good in the world but not as a monster, as Bruce Banner. Yet, when I try to change something and go along with the group I am always the third wheel, the odd man out. I'm not needed unless something goes wrong. Even then I'm not needed, Hulk is. It's a cycle that doesn't end. Get called to save the world, become a monster, save the world, become a scientist, get left behind."

"I see. Seems like a stupid issue but we both know you won't listen to me. We still need your help here Dr. Banner, so try to hold off running until we stop our current problem," Fury replied patting Bruce on the shoulder. It was true, Bruce wouldn't listen to Fury, he never would. Fury left Bruce alone with his thoughts, still confident that the man would at least stick around.

After a bit Bruce nodded just to himself and walked inside watching floor until he walked right into Clint. He had been waiting a short distance away from the exit to the lab his arms over his chest and that arrogant yet somehow charming smile on his face, "You know you're an idiot right?" Clint lightly punched Bruce in the arm as the other man looked up to meet Clint's gaze.

"Not really," Bruce replied clearly ready to point out that his IQ couldn't be measured so to call him an idiot would be completely incorrect.

"You are," Clint pointed to his ear, "S.H.I.E.L.D. hearing aid. Sonic arrows destroyed my hearing years ago. The aids allow me to hear a lot more than I used to, including your little talk with Fury out there." The arrogant smile seemed to slow disappear becoming just a genuine slight welcome smile, "You're not a third wheel Bruce, and you're an idiot if you think that."

"Third wheel gets left behind," Bruce replied. Despite his attempts to get over what happened he never really could. Those nightmares were still in his head, he could still recall each cut that was made. The room, the smell, everything was just as fresh in his mind and would not go away. Sure they'd come for him, yes he understood why he was left behind but it still hurt. It still plagued him.

"You're right," Clint replied, "Which is why you're not a third wheel. We always came back for you."

"Clint's right," Natasha staggered over, still needing time to recover, she stopped beside Clint, leaning heavily on him to keep her balance, "he told me what you said. You are an idiot. Bruce, no one ever saw you as a monster or a third wheel, only as a friend. When everything went wrong I didn't track Hulk down I tracked you down to ask for your help. Hulk couldn't help me, not in the way you did."

"After you left us," Clint started off again trying to think how to word what he had on his mind, "well, the team fell apart as you might have guessed. Tash and I went back to S.H.I.E.L.D. and tried to just work, do anything to deal with what happened. Maybe we were hoping that whoever was helping the guys who took you would show up again so we could just let the pain we felt out on them. Tony locked himself away in his workshop without you around. Thor left and Capt, well, he tried to hold us together but it didn't work. Fact was we all missed you, Bruce. We weren't sitting around wanting Hulk back, we wanted our friend."

Natasha nodded in agreement, still relying on Clint to keep herself upright, she was certainly looking better though. "A third wheel doesn't break a group apart when they leave."

Bruce wasn't sure what to feel with all of this being tossed towards him. Part of him wanted to say they were just trying to make him feel better, that this was all pity to keep him around until they didn't need him. Another part of him wanted to believe it. The Avengers had broken up shortly after he left though, he could remember the news reports on it and politicians promising that the world was still defended. Steve showing up to help ease everyone's mind about the Avengers being gone and how he was still there for them, even if the team wasn't. He'd just assumed that Tony had done something stupid and other factors came into play, not that it was him leaving that caused it. Maybe other factors still came into play though to push the group apart, it couldn't have just been him leaving.

"Also friends are never third wheels," Clint shrugged, "Defeats the purpose of having a friend. Now do we have to hug this out? Because you know I will."

Bruce smirked and shook his head, "Let's forget the hug it out part."

"Alright we'll save that for later when the world isn't ending," Clint replied, "But it will come. Mark my words Banner, hugging it out is still on the table and will come."

Bruce shook his head again then pointed at Natasha, "You should be resting."

"Rested long enough," Natasha replied, "I'll be fine once we get to where we're going. Where are we going?"

Fury walked over to join the group again in order to answer the question, "Excellent question, my understanding so far is that Hydra is moving in to attack Steve today. They've set a trap to have him speak and open a new museum dedicated to him. In reality everyone who shows up will by a Hydra agent and inside is several traps made to tire him out before ultimately catching him. After that they'll deliver him to Tyrell. A.I.M. is about a day away from hacking into Mr. Stark's systems. After that they intend to invade his home, hack his armor and deliver him and the armor to Tyrell. You three will need to stop both plans."

"So we head for Capt first," Bruce replied, "Tony's system is constantly updating so he might be able to give us more time without even knowing it which means Capt is in the most danger."

"Exactly," Fury nodded, "You three head into the museum and disarm as many of the traps as possible. Expose the Hydra agents and get Capt out of there. From there head as fast as you can to get Mr. Stark before A.I.M. attempt anything."

"You make it sound so easy," Clint let the sarcasm in his voice be extremely obvious, "Tyrell won't make it that easy. He's controlling these groups with members in them already and anyone on his team we can bet isn't human. They might look human but that's from whatever magic, or science, I have no idea what he's using let's just go with the whatever stuff Tyrell uses. The point is we could run up against anything and not know it."

"There's no way to tell what's there," Fury nodded, "But you three got out of Tyrell's Madhouse in one piece, for the most part, and these fights tend to be on ground you're ready for."

"What will you be doing while we do this?" Clint questioned.

"I'll be trying to dig up more information and finding a weak point in Tyrell's defenses," Fury replied.

"If you're doing that can you keep your eye out on something for me?" Clint questioned, "Tyrell mentioned when he took me that he was trying to save a select few. He said that the world was near the end of its time. I don't tend to listen to mad men but if there's even a sliver of a chance he's right then these fights might be a distraction. Can you just keep your eye out for anything bigger?"

"Always do," Fury replied, "I'll see what I can dig up on if the world will end or not."

"Great one other question: how are we getting there?" Natasha questioned.

"There's a Quinjet outside," Clint replied, "Fury brought it with him."

"Fury brought a Quinjet with him?" Bruce questioned, "What's wrong? Flying car too noticeable for these guys? Wanted something a little less obvious?"

"I work with what I can get my hands on, Dr. Banner. Besides the flying car is mine and mine alone," Fury stated, "Figured you might be able to help it get under the radar."

"Not my thing," Bruce shook his head, "I can try but Tony is the mechanic. I can at least maybe shield it from them tracking my gamma signature on it."

"It's the only way we'll get there on time," Clint shrugged, "Let's grab our stuff and go."

"Good luck Agents, Doctor," Fury nodded and with that took his leave of the group.

Clint made his way over to the crates that he and Fury had brought in and opened one. "I Never thought I'd be this happy to see our S.H.I.E.L.D. suits. But really haven't had a chance to change into anything for way too long." He moved onto the next crate and opened it, "Tash your stuff is here." He moved over to the last one and grinned as he pulled out one of his old bows, "I wondered where this one had gotten to. I was sure one of the junior agents stole it from my room after I got the new one. I put them through hell for it when I should have put Fury through hell. Still, glad he took it now."

Natasha staggered over to look at what had been brought along, "I can't believe how much I missed this stuff."

"Well you two get changed, I'll go check out the quinjet to see what I can do to maybe help us hide," Bruce shrugged, there was next to nothing he could do and he knew it. He only knew what Tony had showed him and that would have to be enough until they got Tony.

((As usual the characters are not mine and I do appreciate the comments left. This chapter really is the calm before the storm.))