Thanks to soaringwren for this suggestion! This chapter, and probably the next one, will be what's going on with the Avengers and how they realized what was up with Tony while they were having a nice dinner :)
Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers or else the new movie would be coming out tomorrow instead of in 2014 :D
The Avengers were hardly inconspicuous, Steve reflected. Their mission was to remain as omnipresent and invincible as possible. Unfortunately, that often required long days of work. And by work, Steve meant endless fighting and violence. Doctor Banner had already left several times, sick and tired of the constant tension and brutality, only to return due to Tony's constant whining.
And it meant there were hardly any days just to relax. Steve had tried on several occasions to treat everyone to a nice evening off. Thanks to SHIELD, most of their personal identities were still concealed. Only people like Captain America and Iron Man were recognizable, one due to a big mouth and the other due to fame.
Tony wasn't here tonight though, and Steve had really thought that tonight would work out. He could take the whole gang, plus Pepper, Jane Foster, Darcy Lewis, and Doctor Selvig, out for a nice dinner. Even Happy Hogan came in with them. It had lasted up until the soup and salad course.
"Watch out, Cap!" Hawkeye yelled, one of his arrows freezing an assailant before he could turn Captain America into mincemeat.
Steve saluted the archer, before throwing his shield into the throng of people. They had surrounded the restaurant and taken the whole place hostage.
"Widow, Hawkeye," Steve yelled, "Take the entrances." Both nodded. Natasha quickly slipped through the crowd of scared civilians to where the main entrance was being overrun. Clint stood on the table and released arrow after arrow back towards the smaller back entrance, while still managing to watch everyone else's backs and keep enemies off of the civilians. He had to be the best multitasker Steve had seen in a long while.
"Thor, get outside!" Steve commanded, "Find out where they are all coming from!" Thor glanced at him, raised his hammer, and then looked at Jane and Darcy. He lowered his hammer and said, "I cannot. There is danger here still."
"Thor, we need you outside." Steve said, dropping down beside the demi-god, "I'll watch them, make sure they get out alive. I promise. No one else can do what you can do."
Thor looked at him for a long moment, and then raised his hammer, clearing a path outside, including an impressive hole in the wall. Steve smiled a little at his determination and consideration, before turning back to the raging battle.
"Mr. Hogan!" He called out, "Go get the car, would you? I think we should be paying our bill and leaving." Hogan grinned as he took a broken leg of a chair and knocked a guy out with it, "I think I'll be of more use here."
"Happy, go get the damn car!" Pepper said, from where she was standing under Doctor Selvig's protection, "And get Tony on the phone!"
"Fine, fine, I'm going." Hogan vanished outside the hole that Thor had left, and Steve turned his attention to Darcy and Jane. He opened his mouth, but Darcy beat him to it, "Oh no, Star and Stripes, I'm staying. And so is Jane."
"You're in danger here, ma'am, and I promised Thor that you would remain safe."
"And we can help! Just let us do something!" Darcy said. Steve looked around, "Alright. If you're careful, you can help escort the civilians out of here. Lead them out of the kitchen and the back. Have Pepper and Doctor Selvig help you, and then go meet Mr. Hogan at the car. And make sure he calls Stark!" He said to Darcy's retreating back. Jane smiled and nodded, following her friend, "Make sure Thor stays safe!" She said as her parting words.
"You stay safe, ma'am!" Steve said, but he wasn't sure if she heard. He then turned and raised his shield just in time to block a blow from the butt of a gun. Steve grunted as he killed the guy, and looked to see how it was going. Most of the enemies were centralized by Natasha. Clint had abandoned his post to help her out, and Steve quickly went to help them out.
That's when he realized he had forgotten someone. Where was Doctor Banner?
"Banner? Banner!" He shouted, looking for him. Tony had made it quite clear that if anything were to happen to drive the doctor away again, there would be trouble. Or if Banner was gone, and the Hulk had appeared, that could cause more damage than good. There were less than fifty men left inside now, and the Avengers could more than handle them.
"Hawk, have you seen Banner?" He said to the archer as the two plus Natasha formed a mini circle. Back to back to back, they worked around each other in a smooth display of teamwork.
"He left with Happy to call Tony." Natasha answered, holding a man down for Clint to stab with an arrow.
Steve nodded, and promptly forgot everything else as the rhythmic motion of battle overcame him.
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When Happy disappeared to call Tony and rescue the car, Bruce figured it would be wise to go with him. Being around all that fighting would not be good for him, and he left, even as the 'Other Guy' roared in his mind in frustration.
The dinner had been nice. The company had been even better. Darcy had proved to be a female Tony Stark in all but genius, but Jane made up for it. Bruce dearly hoped that Pepper and Thor were not the jealous types, because he had a feeling Jane was about to be Tony's newest lab partner. She was smart and nice, and Bruce was positive that Tony would want her to stay with them in the tower after he met her. Not that Thor should have a problem with that. The two, Jane and Thor, showed to be a little uncomfortable with the idea of dating, and therefor even more compatible because of it. They were comfortable, their entire relationship natural and open.
Erik Selvig had proved to be a little more closed. He and Clint had sat as far away from each other as possible, and avoided each other's glances. Bruce thought the two would have gained more from talking about their mutual experience, but neither were very talkative or open people.
Pepper had sat at one head of the table, seeming a little lonely without her loud and obvious boyfriend. Bruce had sat on her right with Happy Hogan on her left. Hogan had always been somewhat in the background before tonight, but everyone had new respect for him. He was a nice man, but also very responsible and wise while still fun-loving and impulsive, no doubt from Tony's influence.
Clint and Natasha had sat on the other side of Hogan, remaining closed off from the group mostly. They had this whole inside language that left everyone else on the outside.
Thor, Jane and Doctor Selvig had sat on Bruce's other side. Cap was then at the other head. Then on Cap's right was Darcy.
But they had all scattered when the attack had happened. Happy tossed Bruce his phone, before both climbed into the limo.
Bruce quickly dialed, thinking the team could probably use Tony's backup at this point. While only a few dozen were inside, another hundred or so were outside. Thor was blasting them as well as he could, but he was slowly getting trapped.
There was no answer from Tony's end, and Bruce nearly broke the phone in frustration. The 'Other Guy' was a lot closer to the surface now, and his movements were now jerky and fast.
Only later would he realize that there was no answer from Jarvis, which was strange and wrong, and proved that something bad was happening at the tower as well as the restaurant.
"You okay back there, doctor? You're looking a little green." Happy said, glancing at him in the rearview mirror as he casually ran over bad guy after bad guy to where Pepper, Darcy, Jane and Doctor Selvig were.
"Maybe I should step out." Bruce murmured, opening the door to let in the other four. Darcy was the last one to climb in. She stood outside, shaking her head and yelling, "I want to stay and help!"
The taser came out of nowhere. Bruce reached for her, definitely seeing green now, but Pepper got to her first, pulling her down and out of the way. But Pepper didn't get out of the way fast enough, and collapsed limply against the ground.
"Oh, my god, Pepper!" Darcy yelled, dropping next to her, looking up to Bruce pleadingly. But Bruce was already running away, growing larger, muscular, until the Hulk appeared, roaring. The woman who had so graciously let Bruce into her life despite the constant danger and treated him like a human being, just like Tony did, was injured.
The Hulk liked that no more than Bruce did.
0_o What's going to happen? Will they realize what's happening to Tony in time to help him?
P.S. If there are any mistakes or anything, I don't have a beta (or the time to really check over it myself). Please ignore them!
P.P.S. If I STILL haven't answered your review, please don't be mad! I'll get to it! Would a cyber-cookie make it better?
P.P.P.S. Thanks for all the reviews/favorites/followers! Since this is my first story, it makes me happy to know that I didn't completely fail!