Chapter 21

Falling Apart

The group had made it to the S.H.I.E.L.D. base programmed into the quinjet. They had each tried to eat another ration pack or finished theirs from the night before but none of them had much of an appetite. All of them had a burning desire for all of this to be over though.

Tony had teased Natasha, Clint and Bruce when they had gotten up. The three had stayed leaning on each other through the night and were rather comfortable doing so, if it meant making sure Bruce didn't run. Natasha had stopped Tony's jokes with a simple smirk and a glare which told him that another would about it and he'd promptly wish he had never been born.

Everyone was on edge when the quinjet landed near the base. Bruce's anger was still obvious in just the way he stood; he was looking forward to dealing with Tyrell an avenging Rick. Natasha and Clint had bother stayed near him to help him keep in control now and then reminding him that he couldn't lose it yet. Natasha's talk seemed to stay with Bruce and when it did start to fade she'd whisper to remind him of it, on how he wasn't alone and he didn't need to do this on his own anymore.

Steve had forced open the metal door with his strength; it gave a loud scraping sound in protest as he did so. The lack of guards and how easy it all seemed forced the group on edge. There was a long hall behind the door that soon went around a corner. The limited line of sight caused the tension in Clint's gut to become tighter to the point he thought he would be sick. For the others they were more focused on the fact that at any given time they could only walk in groups of two due to the width of the hallway and even then it would be tight making it rather hard to fight.

Tony looked at the metal walls and frowned as he took the design of them in, "I really hope I'm not right but if these walls get knocked down or damaged then this entire base could come down. Which means no Hulk until we get into a more open space or at least away from the supporting walls."

"Or we could destroy the base from right here," Clint replied.

"There are still innocents inside who are just doing their job or at the mercy of Tyrell," Steve replied, "We need to put a stop to what Tyrell is doing and help them. Not to mention anyone Tyrell has taken prisoner."

"We already know this is the world's most obvious trap," Natasha pointed out, "We go in there and we'll be at a serious disadvantage."

"If we stick together we should be fine, just stay close," Steve replied, "I'll take lead, Tony and Bruce stay behind me. Natasha, Clint you two need to watch our backs but remember everyone stay close."

"Whatever you say Capt," Clint replied not wanting to argue.

The group walked in, sticking close together but clearly that wasn't enough. Once inside the door closed and a trap door soon opened under Natasha and Clint. Both let out a yell of surprise as they tried to grasp the edge of the metal floor that still remained. A strong gust of wind from the pit pulled them both down stopping their attempt at grabbing the edge. The tight space in the hall made it impossible for Bruce or Tony to grab them before they disappeared down a pit which closed up leaving just the metal floor.

"Natasha! Clint!" Bruce yelled as he slammed his fist on the ground where the trap door was. He wanted to rip it open to make sure the two hadn't fallen to their death.

"Bruce stay calm, you can't Hulk out here," Tony place a hand on Bruce's shoulder.

"Calm? They saved your tin hide and Steve's and now they're gone just like that," Bruce yelled in response, "I'll rip this place apart to get them back here. We don't know where that trap door leads or if they're dead."

"Tony is right Bruce," Steve replied, "You need to stay calm. They're not dead."

"How can you know?" Bruce glared at Steve.

"Because from what we know of this Tyrell guy he doesn't want us dead, just controlled," Steve replied, "So they're alive and we'll find them but to do that you need to keep a level head and we need to find another way down to them."

Bruce took a few moments trying to calm himself before slamming his fist on the floor again and standing up. "Move, I'm finding them." Bruce could feel the rage building inside him despite his attempts to push it back. He pushed past Steve and Tony staring straight down the hall. The night of rest hadn't calmed him down. The things Natasha said played through his mind and told him to stay with Steve and Tony but there was one part that wouldn't let him.

Natasha had come for him. She came alone despite everything going wrong. She didn't know if he would help or if he wouldn't. He had helped her save Clint and the two of them had helped Bruce in return. His mind kept replaying Rick's death over in his head only he kept seeing Natasha and Clint instead of Rick now. He wouldn't let that happen, not to them. He'd save them. He would find them just as they went and found him every time he needed them.

"Bruce, we need to stick together and think this through!" Steve yelled after him.

The other man glared over his shoulder at the two, "Then keep up. You're telling me to stay calm? Well Clint has already been at the hands of this madman and now he's back in them. There's no telling what will happen to his mind this time. As for Natasha well… I owe her; I owe them both right now. So keep up or let me find them alone." Bruce continued down the hallway, turning the corner out of sight of the two. As soon as he did a wall closed behind him opening up another turn for Steve and Tony to take. Bruce looked over his shoulder at the new wall that now blocked his path back, "Hopefully you two stay together and figure something out. Fury was right, this place wants us to split up. Well that's fine by me. I'll play this stupid game."

"Bruce!" Tony yelled quickly getting frustrated running after the man until the wall closed off. Tony slammed his fist on the wall blocking his path, Steve was right beside him. "Idiot. He never listens. He was supposed to stay with us. Instead he runs off."

"There's nothing we can do about it now," Steve replied, "We'll find him and the others. You saw how angry and determined he was. He'll find Clint and Natasha then we'll find them. After that you can yell at him for this. Now come on, they'll try to split us up next."

Tony looked around, looking down the hall his tech scanning for anything, "Steve… I don't think we can avoid it."

"We need to try for as long as we can," Steve replied knowing what Tony meant, "Even if it will happen eventually we need to get as far into this place as we can without it happening. Besides, maybe it won't happen, we don't know all we can do is make it harder for them." Tony nodded in response and stuck beside Steve as the two started down the hall. They made it down the first one and around a corner and down another hall. "This place almost feels like a maze if it didn't just have one way for us to go."

"It disturbs me that we can get lost in a maze that only has one path," Tony looked around sticking close to Steve. The two made sure at all times they could feel the other directly beside them just to make it harder to split them up. They'd either have to be pulled apart or they'd face everything else together.