Tony scrambled into action. He grabbed Nat and Cap by their waists and blasted into the air. Vision snatched Wanda, and Thor and Falcon followed. Tony dropped Widow and Cap onto a low building a few blocks away from the rampaging Hulk.

Angry (extra angry), out-of-control Hulk was actively heading toward a populated area.

Were the Avengers just bad luck magnets?

Tony decided that he didn't want to know.

"I'm calling in Veronica 2.0," Tony said as he shot back into the air. "Wait here. There's not much you guys can do. Thor, Vision, look out for civilians and get them somewhere safe, then come help me. FRIDAY, you're up." Thor and Vision took off.

"Already on it, Boss. Veronica is in route."

"Good."

The jet-propelled hunk of red and gold metal hissed through the atmosphere, hovering behind Tony as he flew toward Hulk. Large pieces detached from Veronica and closed around the Iron Man armor.

The whine of the repulsors was oddly dimmed in the confines of the huge suit. Tony's heart was pounding and he was breathing hard. Why, oh, why did it have to come to this again? Was Tony just a bad luck magnet?

Tony decided that he didn't want the answer to that, either.

The Veronica Containment Unit flew forward, tracking the Hulk by his unique radiation signature. Not that the trail of destruction wasn't obvious.

Tony could hear metal screeching in the difference, almost inaudible over the angry roars of the Hulk. Tony dodged around another building, and came to a stop in midair, hovering over the terrifying sight of Hulk ripping through the VCU as easily as if it were made of paper.

Hulk pushed through the jagged edges of the torn metal and glared at Tony. Tony raised his hands, trying to ready himself for Hulk. But alas, not much can prepare one to face the wrath of the Hulk.

Hulk grabbed the containment unit and hurled it at Tony, roaring at the same time.

Tony tried to dodge around the hunk of ruined metal, but it still clipped his left foot. The repulsor stuttered annoyingly, making maneuvering six billion times more difficult.

Hulk continued snatching bits of rubble and hurling them at Tony. Tony was having a hard time dodging the large bits of flotsam.

"I'm pretty sure that Hulksie remembers who Veronica is," Tony grunted, speaking to no one in particular. "We need to end this before he ends me! FRIDAY, deploy flares!"

Flaps opened in the suit, and tiny missiles intercepted the chunks of rubble that were currently on a path to smash Tony. Without waiting for the smoke to clear, Tony shot forward, metal fists cocked and at the ready… only to find that Hulk and mysteriously disappeared.

Tony felt a bead of sweat trickle all the way down his spine. His breath rattled sharply in his ears.

"FRIDAY," Tony said cautiously, hating the quaver in his voice. "Where's Hulk?"

Before the AI could answer, Tony was slammed forward violently. He flipped through the air, smashing several walls down in the process. Tony groaned as he slid to a stop. He could feel bruises blooming between his shoulder blades and on his arms… and pretty much everywhere. He could feel the soreness of whiplash in his neck. Obviously he needed to upgrade the padding in his suit.

Tony pushed himself to his feet as quickly as he could. He got up just in time to stop the large green fist heading for his face. Tony blocked it with his forearm. He could feel his teeth vibrating from the force of the blow.

Hulk roared in his face, spittle flying and splattering onto the faceplate. Tony cringed away, slamming his fist into Hulk's jaw. The rocket-powered punch sent Hulk flying into a wall. Hulk brushed it off without a flinch and growled angrily.

Tony shot into the air again. He flew as high as he could, turned, and rocketed back down, fists forward, ready to deliver a punch that would hopefully knock Hulk out. Hopefully.

The hit landed. A shockwave blared out from the struggling pair. A cloud of dust rose.

Cap and the rest of the team waited anxiously on the rooftop. Steve pressed a finger to the com unit in his ear. "Thor, Vision, how's the civilian situation?"

Vision answered. "Thor and I have cleared the area. There are no civilians within six blocks of the current fighting. Thor and I are on our way to assist Mr. Stark."

"Hurry."

Tony blinked. The light was muted was the dust and the setting sun, and it washed everything in a golden glow. Sounds seemed to echo unnaturally loud in the cloud. Tony winced as his metal gauntlet crunched on a piece of rubble. He pushed himself slowly to his feet.

"Brucie?" he called uncertainly, voice made metallic by the suit. "Are you out there?"

Silence. Complete, eerie silence.

Tony's anxiety/terror levels shot off the charts. His breathing was loud in his ears and grating in his lungs.

"Thor," Tony croaked, hating the break in his voice. "Vision? You guys out there?"

"We are here, shield brother," a voice said behind Tony. Tony started and whirled as quickly as his suit would allow. Two figures loomed out of the mist. Tony saw a flash of red fabric. He relaxed slightly. "Thor, Vision," he said. "'Bought time you two got here. Do you see Hulk anyw—"

Tony's question was cut off with a strangled grunt as he was shoved so violently forward that he came crashing down on top of Thor and Vision. Tony's vision went fuzzy, black spots dancing before his eyes.

Holy crap. How hard had Hulksie hit him? Tony felt sort of squashed in his suit. His head was pounding like a drum. He definitely needed to put more padding in his helmet. And maybe even reinforce the Veronica Intervention Suit.

Tony thought that he could hear voices, but they were tinny and wobbly. "I th'nk I nee' a nap, guy's," he mumbled as his eyes closed. "I'll jus' be a min'."

Thor and Vision shouted and shoved at the enormously heavy armor that had slammed into them. It was limp, or as limp as a super-huge robotic exoskeleton could be. Thor, with help from Vision, managed to shove it off them. It slammed into the ground, face-first, with a metallic clang.

Thor and Vision stood back to back, edging in a circle. "Banner!" Thor called. "Come back to us! We don't want—"

A pebble clicking was all the warning they had. A huge green hand slapped Thor into the side of a building, which must have been structurally compromised, because it crumbled to pieces on top of him, burying him in a huge mound of rubble.

Vision blasted Hulk with his mind-beam, but all it did was make Hulk angry. He roared again, eyes a dark, angry green, and leaped at Vision like a giant, very angry, green bull.

Hulk tried to snatch Vision out of the air, but Vision phased through the thick, clutching fingers. Hulk growled angrily and tried again. Again, he failed.

Hulksie then decided to take a more traditional path and hurled a smashed car at his opponent, which he leaped behind so closely that he caught Vision by surprise, slamming him into the concrete so hard that a crater was formed, cracks spider-webbing out for several feet. For good measure, Hulk stomped Vision into the pavement, covering him with several feet of dirt and debris.

"Thor and I require assistance!" Vision grunted heavily. He phased through his early grave and continued the fight. He had heard, and partially ignored the teams' panicked questions, not to be rude (Vision was nothing if not polite) but because he slightly better things to be doing, such as not getting squashed.

Cap grimaced. "We'll try and help, but with Tony and the Veronica Intervention Suit out of commission, I'm not sure how much we can do. But we'll try. ETA five minutes."

In the distance, as Cap waited to be ferried down to the ground by Falcon, he could hear Hulk roaring. He could also hear an odd humming sound. Steve tilted his head to the side, trying to catch the sound better. It was steadily growing louder. A breeze picked up as the sound turned into a steady rumble. Steve glanced up.

"Yes!" he shouted, throwing a fist into the air. "Clint!"

Steve could see Clint grinning and waving from the front seat of the Quin-Jet. The bay doors opened, and Steve climbed inside, followed by the rest of the team. Steve pressed a finger to his com. "Falcon, take Wanda. We'll meet you there."

"Clint," Natasha smirked. "Good to see you, you lazy butt."

"Nice to see you too, Sugar Queen," Clint tossed over his shoulder. "Nathanial misses you."

The tired little puff of air that blew out of Natasha's nose almost counted as a laugh. Clint could tell that she was stressed, though.

The hum of the engines was quiet inside the jet. The ride only took a minute. Which was several hundred hours too fast.

But when they stepped out of the Quin-Jet, all was silent. Plumes of dust still hung in the air, swirling in the fading light. Steve gripped his shield. "Hello?" he called cautiously. "Anyone out here?"

A dim figure bloomed into sight from the dirty air. The team tensed.

The figure raised its hands and stepped out of the gloom. "It is only I, the mighty Thor." Thor's hair was covered with dust, and there were smears of blood on his face. His cape was ripped nearly to shreds. He was fingering it sadly with one hand, hammer gripped in the other. "The Hulk took us by surprise. He bested the Iron Warrior, and me. I regret it deeply."

The tension seeped out of the air, but something still seemed wrong. "What's up?" Sam asked, stepping up behind Steve. "Where's Hulk?"

Thor shrugged despondently. Another figure appeared next to Thor. It was Merlin. Steve sighed, annoyed, but not having enough energy to care.

"No offense," Steve said, "but what are you doing here? I thought that I told you why—"

"Sorry," Merlin said, looking apologetic. "But you needed help. I couldn't just sit and do nothing. Surely you understand."

Steve sighed and nodded, scrubbing a hand over his face. "Where's Tony?"

Merlin pointed over his shoulder. "Vision and Thor say that he was injured. He's conscious now. A bit loopy, but Vision is working on getting him out of the mega suit."

Natasha glanced around searchingly. "Where's Bruce?" she asked. "Did you get him out of it?"

Merlin nodded uncertainly, and rubbed the back of his neck. "I cast a spell," he said, "a calming spell, together with a sleeping spell and an immobilization spell. It brought him out of it, but he went off to find some clothes. He told me he'd meet us back by Tony. Come on."

Merlin led the way through the settling dust to the giant cuboid of red and gold metal that was the Veronica Intervention Unit. Tony was leaning against it. There was a largish knot behind his ear. He looked pale and sweaty, and there was a bruise on cheek. Vision was hovering over him. Literally.

"Hey guys," Tony said, raising a hand. "'Sup?"

"Oh, not much," Clint said, flinging an arm around Steve's shoulders. "Just laughing at how badly you got your butt whooped."

"Haha," Tony muttered. "You're just jealous that my cool points went up by about 7.9 billion."

"Whatever," Clint chuckled. He looked around. The dust was clearing. He let out a low whistle. "You guys sure did a number to this place," he muttered.

Wanda hung her head. "I did the best I could to protect it," she said. "I'm sorry."

"You did wonderfully," Merlin said, patting her on the shoulder. "I've seen damage much worse than this. Besides, it's harder to create and protect than it is to destroy. Everyone knows that."

Wanda smiled gratefully. She was glad that someone understood. "Thank you."

Natasha sighed. "How long has Bruce been gone?" she asked. "He's probably not very happy right now."

Merlin frowned. "He left a while ago," Merlin said. "I offered to conjure him some clothes, but he refused. Said he needed some alone time."

Natasha's face went white. "Clint, did you close the Quin-Jet?"

Clint shook his head. "No. Why?"

Natasha cursed and sprinted back in the direction they'd come. Merlin and the team (minus Tony and Vision) ran after her.

They were too late. The Quin-Jet was already hovering several hundred feet overhead. The plates on the belly of the jet flickered and disappeared while Natasha screamed a few choice obscenities. She quickly regained her control, plastering on a face devoid of emotion, except for the continued paleness of her face.*

"He's put it in stealth mode," she said, voice as thin and cutting as a razor blade. "We can't track him in stealth mode. Let's go back to the tower. I'm sick of this day."

In the tower, Tony was holding an icepack to his head, and Thor was washing blood off his face. The others were all in various stages of cleaning up. Clint and Merlin were just chilling next to each other on the couch.

It was a bit awkward.

"So," Merlin muttered, stroking the arm of the couch, "was there… something… going on with Dr. Banner and Miss Romanoff? She seemed a bit… put out by his disappearance."

Clint shrugged, settling further into the cushions. "Yeah. They were a thing. Sort of. But Bruce is the kind of guy who pushes people away for their own good. I'd bet a lot of money that's why he left. Hulk injured members of the team. Tony's got a minor concussion, Thor is sore, not to mention Hulk made a big bill in property damage. That guy has debilitating guilt issues. Sometimes, he thinks that nobody could possibly be happy and safe with him around. That's why Nat was so ticked. She knows that he left for us."

Merlin nodded. He'd run away once when he was a child, because he'd accidentally set his mother's skirt on fire. His mother had found him hiding in the woods, and assured him that he was forgiven. Merlin had been a much more reserved and morose child after that, especially concerning his abilities.

Steve walked toward them. He stood in front of the couch. "I understand the reasons you came to help," he said, staring Merlin down "and it's a good thing that you did help, because I don't want to think about what would have happened if you didn't, but next time, please stay where we tell you. Just until we know what you're capable of." He moved away, leaving the silence stretching thick as glue.

Clint reached over and slapped Merlin's shoulder. "We all kinda went through that sucky you're a rookie stage. Nobody likes it. I had to go through it again after the Chituari Incident. The team had big-time trust issues."

They lapsed into a long silence.

One by one, the team members wandered out. Tony was muttering to himself as he left, something about wondering if Pepper was home to baby him. Thor headed out with seven boxes of Pop-Tarts tucked under his arm. Wanda, Vision, Natasha and Steve left about the same time, probably heading for their beds.

Sam plopped onto the couch next to Merlin, sucking up a chocolate milkshake.

Sam set his empty cup on the side table and glanced at Merlin, grinning. "You like Mario Kart?"

Two hours later found the trio screaming at each other over their controllers and bowls of popcorn. Merlin maneuvered Mario through his opponents on Rainbow Road. He was in third, behind Clint and a CPU.

He ended up winning second place.

Merlin threw his controller down. "I'm done," he groaned. "If I play one more time, I'll either have a seizure or a conniption."

Clint chuckled. "Sam and I have major competitions every couple of weeks. Nat sometimes joins in. She's really bad, though. Steve is better than her. It totally ticks her off. There's usually a tie between Tony and I, though."

Sam frowned. "I always come in second. I think Clint cheats."

"How do you cheat at Mario Kart?" Clint scoffed. "I just have oodles of natural skill."

"Or you use cheat codes," Sam countered, tossing his controller onto the couch.

Merlin snickered, happy to be above the argument. With startling speed and ferocity, the bickering Avengers turned on him. "So you've never cheated before, have you?" Sam asked, raising his eyebrows. "Once I caught Steve cheating at Monopoly when he was the banker. If Steve's cheated, there's no way that you've never cheated."

Clint nodded. "Tell us," he ordered.

Merlin fiddled with the hem of his shirt. "I'm not sure that—"

"Tell us!" Sam repeated. "You don't have a choice. We'll booby-trap your bedroom every hour on the hour until you tell us."

"Fine!" Merlin snapped. "If you two jokers will shut up, I'll explain. Arthur and the knights use to invite me to gamble. On dice games, and the such. Since I never did, they assumed I was a horrible gambler. One day, I finally caved. We played dice. Bet on one number. All money in the pot to the winner. The game was relatively even, with me just on the losing side, and Arthur was getting cocky. I decided to teach him a lesson."

Clint grinned and nudged Sam. He could tell this was going to be good.

Merlin continued. There was a misty look in his eyes. "I used magic to push the dice to my winning numbers. I cleaned Arthur and all the knights out. They were so angry. They couldn't puzzle out how I'd done it."

"Nice," Clint laughed. "But that's tame compared to some of the things that I've done. Tell us another."

"Well, there was the time that Gwaine and I punched our way out of a bar fight. Actually, that happened pretty often with Gwaine, but it was still funny. Sort of."

The trio whiled away the time retelling old battle stories. As time passed and stories were shared, Merlin became more and more subdued. He realized just how much time had passed since Arthur and the knights had died.

And the world had moved without them. Merlin had as well, to a certain degree. But there was a part of him that was always thinking about his oldest friends. Merlin's breath came slow as he thought about it, and his eyes were downcast.

Sam noticed. "You okay? What's up?"

Merlin shrugged, biting his lip. "Ah, it's nothing, really. Just… remembering old friends."

Sam nodded. "Yeah," he said, rubbing his hands together. "I get that. I'm a veteran. It's probably harder for you. I mean you're what, almost sixteen-hundred years old? How many friends have you seen pass?"

"A lot," Merlin stated sadly. "It is hard. Watching my own back, staying solitary. I try to distract myself, but it hasn't gotten much easier. I miss them every day."

"Eww," Clint groaned. "That confession was super sappy. But, I can tell that I have to be sappy in this situation, too." Clint took a deep breath, like he was preparing himself. It was mostly for the benefit of his macho reputation, though, because he had three kids. He knew how and when to be sappy.

"You don't have to watch your own back anymore. We know who you are. We're your team, even if it's not official. We've got your back."

*I know this is a bit out of character for Nat, but I decided that I wanted her to be a bit more vulnerable.

Aww. Bonding time with Merlin and Clint and Sam. I did like that part.

I think I might hate this chapter. What you guys think?

-Indigene Syke