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6 : BULLY

"Thor, you're not gonna believe who I just met today!" Steve said loudly as he entered their room.

Steve's smile faltered when he saw his friend's face.

"What's wrong?"

"I've noticed something that may concern you Steven." Thor began "I just officially meet Lady Natasha today…"

"Yeah, she's hot, right?"

"I like her. She seems like a good person and we get along rather well."

"So what's the concern?"

"I have a feeling that Barton and Lady Natasha are closer than we thought they were." Thor replied, "She seems relaxed and happy to be herself when he's around."

Thor knew he wasn't supposed to tell Steve about what he had noticed, it would after all violate Natasha's privacy, but being the good friend he was, he chose to warn his friend.

"I knew they were good friends."

"She likes him. I think…more than just a friend."

"No way!"

"I have to warn you." Thor fully expressed concern on his face, "If you don't act quickly, she'll fall for another guy."

"I didn't want her to fall for me, Thor. I just want to have sex with her and be done with it, but now she's a friend so I can't do that anymore."

"Maybe you should try a different approach, Steven. Being in a relationship is the only way you could get near her."

"Thor, you know how good I am with relationships." Steve replied sarcastically "I don't do dating!"

A blonde, scrawny kid walked back to his home after school. He had had a terrible day. Apparently, being small and weak was a big target for bullies at the school. Being filthy rich didn't help him either. It was all about status.

He was struggled to make himself invisible but it was impossible if you were already a walking target for bullies. They don't like his guts. They don't like it when he fought back. They wanted a complete surrender from him but that was not an option, not for him, not for Steve Rogers.

He got beat up a lot but he knew he had someone who always had his back. It was a long time before Thor became his best friend. This was the first friend and only friend he had before his transformation. And Steve lost him—Bucky who had always been there to help him out, but the last time they fought together...he was badly injured.

"Go, Steve!" Bucky yelled. "I'll hold them off! Go!"

"No! Not without you!"

It happened so fast and Steve had no time to react. A shiny knife stabbed Bucky in his stomach.

"BUCKY!" A scream echoed around the bedroom and Steve woke up in cold sweat.

The man was panting. Blue eyes were wide. He tried really hard to get rid of all the terrible memories buried deep inside him.

His only friend, but he hadn't protected him and now, he had everything. He had strength. He had all the power one man could have over other people.

He knew he needed to hold on tight to this power. It was the only way to protect himself and his close ones. You have to make people fear you if you don't want them to mess with you. Inflict pain and fear to someone else before they inflict it to you, the code he lived by since the day of his transformation.

Nightmares had a very terrible effect on Steve, but he himself, didn't notice it. He became moodier than he usually was. Thor noticed this but couldn't say anything to make Steve feel any better. He knew that Steve only need some time to readjust his mind and calm down.

Everyone could see it on Steve's face and tried their best to avoid the moody quarterback. Steve felt the need to release his anger. Today's classes were not helping him at all. His work reflected his deep emotion. He didn't pay attention to the class. He just absentmindedly thought about his past. Luckily, there was no football practice that day.

Brock and Simon wanted to go to college bar that night so they met up at the parking lot.

"Are you alright?" Brock asked up when he saw the moody Steve Rogers.

"No, I feel like I need to punch something."

Brock and Simon looked at one another and smiled evilly. They knew that the moody Steve Rogers was the brutal Steve Rogers when it came to bullying someone. It was fun for them to watch an unlucky nerd get beat up.

And a very unlucky nerd happened to walk past right that second and straight into Steve, immediately the quarterback snarled viciously.

"Watch where you're going, nerd!" Steve yelled at Bruce, obviously angry.

Steve pushed Bruce to the ground. Books and papers fell down next to him.

"What's your problem with me, Rogers? Why are you keep harassing me?"

"I just don't like you."

"You beat me up because you want me to keep my mouth shut about your past that you are so desperately trying to hide. You didn't beat Tony up because his dad is a very powerful man but I'm just the normal guy."

"No, not that, Banner. You just unlucky that happened to cross me when I'm not in a good mood."

"You're just the worst person, Rogers." Bruce retorted, "No wonder she left you. How could anyone stand a person like you, Rogers?!"

Steve angrily roared. Bruce mistakenly said something that set Steve off and he was enraged. Steve's past was something he tried hard to bury, to hide, to forget like it had never existed.

The weakness he once had. He didn't want anyone to know…especially, his football friends.

The quarterback tackled Bruce to the ground. The nerd didn't stand a chance. Steve didn't hold anything back as he hammered his punches onto Bruce's body. Brock and Simon cheered their friend on. Steve pulled Bruce up before he hurled him into the dumpster nearby.

"Watch your mouth next time, Banner. I'm not someone you should be messing with!" Steve snarled and began to walk away. But as he turned his back, Bruce silently, slowly crawled out from the dumpster.

"You are so pathetic, Rogers. You've become someone you always used to hate. So desperate to hold on to the illusion of power that you think you have."

"Looks like someone didn't learn his lesson yet." Steve replied coldly. His face turned icy as he crept toward Bruce.

"You used to be a good man, Steve. Kind, understanding, compassionate. What happened to you?"

"Shut up, Banner! If you say one more word, I will kill you!"

"You used to be one of us, you and Bucky used to protect people like me."

"I said SHUT UP!"

Steve lost it and pushed Bruce against the dumpster and unleashed his powerful punches again but someone pulled him off and punched him hard in the face.

"Stay the hell away from him!"

"Where the hell are you, Bruce?" Tony muttered as he called Bruce's phone again.

He and Pepper were waiting for their friend in front of their dorm. They were going to have dinner together with Natasha and Clint, Tony still wondered how she could have managed to talk Barton into this.

"I can be very persuasive." Was Natasha's secretive answer.

Natasha and Clint joined them in a few moments later but still no sign of Bruce Banner. Darcy walked over to them as she had just gotten back from the library. The girl was looking at her phone.

"Guys! What are you doing here?" She asked "I just got recent tweet from Rumlow. He said Steve is beating the crap out of Bruce!"

"What?" The four of them asked at the same time "Where?"

"At the parking lot…"

"Pep, you come with me. The rest of you, go and get Jane and Thor. He's the only one who can stop Rogers!"

The three nodded and ran into the building while Tony and Pepper hopped into Tony's car. They found Steve and his gang. Tony rushed in, pushed pass Rumlow and Rollins before jerking Steve off his best friend.

"Stay the hell away from him!" Tony said, throwing his punch at Steve's face whilst standing between Steve and Bruce.

Steve wiped blood away from the corner of his mouth. He could hear the blood and adrenaline rushing in his body. He was excited, by the fight, by the fear he could feel from Bruce.

And now, Tony Stark stood in front of him, preparing to fight back to protect his friend.

"Stay out of this, Stark"

"I can't. You're bullying my friend, Rogers." Tony replied, determination shone in his eyes. "I ignored this for far too long and you have no right to threaten any of us like this."

"Fuck off, Stark. This is between me and Banner."

But Tony Stark didn't back down "What the fuck happened to you, man? You used to fight for the weak, to protect the weak."

"I'm not that guy anymore." Steve said, "You should do the same. Protecting yourself, not the others. Now back off, Stark."

Tony didn't move. Pepper was about to pull Tony away but Brock and Jack grabbed her arms. Steve lunged forward and tackled Tony to the ground. Tony let out a painful groan before a fierce stream of punches hit his face.

"Rogers, Banner is the one who saved your life when you were sick." Tony said, Steve's violent punches hung in the air.

"What?!"

"Bruce noticed you were sick and he told me and I told my dad. We wanted to help you because you and Barnes occasionally saved us from bullies. My dad offered his help to your parents."

"My dad was the one who ask for your father's help, Stark."

"No, that's not what happened. I was there…they made an agreement to keep this a secret, to keep everything from you until you recovered. Bruce's father and Dr. Erskine discovered that it was the only way to save you."

"You liar! Don't lie to me to save him!" Steve snarled.

"It's the truth, Steve. Somehow it's made me regret to offering you help because you've turned out to be like this."

"Do you know how much pain I had to endure by his father's treatment, Stark?" Steve asked, blue eyes anguished when he thought about the process he been through. "He could have just let me die but he didn't. When I asked him to stop and just let me die, he kept on with his process. He put twelve year old boy through a hell of pain when I was supposed to just die!"

Steve punched Tony repeatedly in his face and was about to knock Tony out when a voice came from behind them.

"Friend, stop it!" It was Thor.

"Shut up, Thor!"

Steve pounded his fists onto Tony's face but then someone pulled him away from Tony and pushed Steve away. Steve was even angrier when he saw who it was.

"Barton, you little shit!" Steve growled and punched Clint in his face.

But Clint fought back and landed some hits on Steve's body too. The quarterback was stronger and managed to deliver a knockout blow, sending the loner to the ground.

Steve stood above Clint's body, panting. Blood stopped roaring angrily in his ears when someone pushed him away from Barton.

"You are the worst person I ever met, Rogers!" It was Natasha. "You're exactly what other people say about you!"

"Are you protecting these losers, Natasha?" Steve asked.

"Yes, these losers are my friends and you are an asshole!" She bellowed and slapped him across face.

Steve head turned by the force that hit his face. He was stunned and a sudden rage filled his eyes. No one ever did that too him. Everyone thought that Steve would slap her back but he didn't.

Natasha's expression echoed his. Her anger and hatred was fully shown as she looked at him, she didn't bother to hide anything. His eyes softened as he tried to come up with an excuse to get on her good side again.

"Natasha..."

"Stay the hell away from me." She said and helped Clint stand up on his feet. "Let's go, Clint." She began to walk away. Pepper and Jane supported Tony's weight while Darcy and Maria helped Bruce pick up his belongings.

Steve stood still, rooted to his spot.

"You can't let them go like this."

"I'll deal with them later."

"You going soft, Rogers."

"Rumlow, I said I will deal with this later." Steve's voice was low and dangerous. It even silenced Brock effectively. Nobody wanted to be on the receiving end of Steve's anger.

AN:

- Thanks to my beta readers, Gabby Bensaro NCIS-SVU-Fan & keepcalmandwrite.

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