Facing your own allies (Tony Stark/Iron man and Steve Rogers/ Captain America)

Endangered (unedited)

"Honestly Doctor, you make it difficult not to feel sorry for you," Galina decided. In his drugged stupor he had told her everything. The experiment gone terribly wrong, being hunted by the U.S military, his mother's murder and finally his abusive childhood. It's as if this man was just born unlucky. Maybe he was.

"I don't really want people to feel sorry for me," Bruce replied, groggily, just started to shake of the haze of drugs. Didn't really serve to do much though. The second Galina realized he was coming out of it she would just dose him again.

Galina stopped her pacing for a minute and glanced back at Bruce. "Why is that?" She asked, with genuine curiosity.

"I don't want people to get close to me... The closer they get, the better chance I have of hurting them." Galina stifled a small, skeptical laugh at this statement. She shook her head and sat down on the wooden chair.

"Then what of your colleagues? The Avengers?" Bruce found himself pondering this question? Why did her stay? He knew, down in the dark depth's of his mind that he was endangering them. So why didn't he leave? Maybe it was a result of Tony bribing him with the massive R&D lab, or Steve promising him that he could and was able to be part of a team. Maybe it was Clint practically begging him to stick around. Maybe it was all of them. It could have been a result of the people living there. People actually wanting him there. Maybe for the first time it was his home.

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Steve still couldn't believe it. "All of that sorting, hours of going through paper's and journal's and endless stack's of notes, then, all of the sudden, Bruce's kidnapper just now decide's to turn his cell phone on?!"

"Pretty much," Tony answered. "At least we would have been right, it's Brazil." Steve maneuvered around the various paper's on the floor, careful not to step on or tarnish any of them. He stared blankly at the computer monitor. Right, smack dab, in the center of Brazil. How about that? 

"We should leave immediately," Steve suggested. He was sure Tony wanted Bruce back just as much as him. Tony didn't argue. Steve quickly ran to his room to grab a few things he might need, including his uniform. He stopped for a minute to trace his fingers along the silver A that had been added to it after the event New York. When he went down he was a soldier. When he woke up he was an Avenger. He was part of a team again. He lost a member of his team again. 

Loosing Bruce struck Steve just as hard as anyone. Maybe harder. Perhap's not as hard as Tony, but it did leave a mark. Re-open an old wound. Bucky. Steve had lost him twice. Once on a German train when he was still working for the army under the USO in 1941. Then Steve lost him again to Hydra only several months ago. Steve was shocked, relieved, grateful and utterly stunned to learn that Bucky was alive, but then he was crushed to learn that the Bucky he knew really did die that day. He didn't know Steve anymore and Steve honestly couldn't disagree.

When Bruce was kidnapped, it reminded Steve so very much of the day he lost Bucky. Dark night, snow coated ground. Pieces of broken metal lingering about. Having to report to his team that Buck- Bruce was gone. Now, more than ever, Steve was desperate not to let Bruce slip through his fingers to. He wouldn't let Bruce slip away from his grasp.

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Tony ran down to his lab, the suit was his first priority for thing's he would definitely need on this little trip. The mark 46 was still under construction and marks 45, 44 and 43 had, well, taking quite the beating. He decided that he mark 42 would have to do.