Avengers
Never Say Goodbye
McRaider
Summary: The last thing they'd heard was another boom, the whole world felt like it was shaking, and then darkness. Tony stark wasn't entirely sure, but if he could remember what dying felt like, he'd hoped it was a lot less painful than this.
Author's Note: I love the bromance potential between Bruce, Tony and Clint. There's real potential there and I wanted to play with that, and obviously the hurt/comfort and angsty whump.

Chapter One:

He opened his eyes, blinking past the caked on dust and plaster, a cough rose from his chest and he had to stop from crying out in agony as his ribs and lungs burned. He reached out his arm, groping for something, anything. He could hear the girders creaking and shifting above him. His normally dark hair was white, "He…help," he coughed again crying out this time, letting the agony out. "Help," he cried out again, he tried to move his neck, but again pain swept up his spine, that scared the hell out of him. He turned his head slightly to left before he noticed a broken and battered form not lying far from him, "Bruce? Bruce!" He shouted, groaning as the pain shot through his chest and back again. "Stark!" he hollered, looking in the other direction, but he didn't see the man, the only other man that had been in the now heavily collapsed building.

He prayed to whom or whatever was listening their fellow Avengers didn't give up looking under this pile of rubble. There was barely any light shining through, just the emergency lights that had clicked on at some point. "Bruce, please get up," he murmured. "Please."

24 hours earlier

"Stark, why the hell are we here?" Clint demanded as he, Banner and Stark stepped into the Jeweler.

"Awww, Hawkeye, I didn't want to spoil the surprise, but I just thought it was time to get us rings for our commitment ceremony," Stark joked as he moved over to one of the engagement ring cases.

"He's been bugging me for the past month to come here, be lucky he didn't try to drag you along to the lingerie store," mumbled Banner as they looked at the various rings.

Clint snickered as he spotted a ring that he couldn't help but think Natasha would just love. They weren't there yet though, he wasn't even willing to call what they'd been doing lately, dating. "Saved that one strictly for you, huh Bruce?"

"No, Rogers," Stark replied grinning from ear to ear. "Oooh, how about that one?" He pointed to a large gaudy gold ring with a huge diamond and little else surrounding it.

"That one is an excellent choice, sir," an older gentleman stated as he moved towards the trio.

Bruce and Clint moved closer, "Sure if you'd like a giant eyesore to sit on your girlfriend's dainty hand," Clint commented.

"You don't think it's the right one?"

Bruce chuckled, "If you buy that for her, she'll hock it off ebay for two dollars and consider it a steal."

"Oh that's uncalled for," Stark replied.

Clint smiled as he studied his two friends. Three and a half months since their first real mission and they'd all but had created the three Musketeers. Clint found it ironic that he was the closest to the two most messed up men in the group, but then maybe it was because each one understood and respected the baggage the other carried. More than respected, though, more like helped share the load. It wasn't that they didn't like Steve or Thor, though in Stark's case that was the truth, it was just that Thor wasn't in the Stark Tower very often, and Steve was a little harder to get to know. While Stark was the loudest and the boisterous, whereas both Clint and Bruce were quieter, they appreciated the good laughs Tony brought.

"What about this one?" Bruce suggested as he pointed to a silver band with two smaller rubies on either side of a diamond.

"But it's…tiny," it wasn't really all that small, but it seemed smaller than what he'd been planning on giving Pepper.

"Because nothing says I love you like a two ton paper weight engagement ring," Clint joked as he looked through the cases.

Tony glared at Clint and shook his head, Clint was studying one section that was a little more original and less boring when he spotted one that simply screamed Virginia Pepper Potts, "Stark, Stark come here," Clint reached out, grabbing Tony by the back of his jacket and pulling him over. Bruce came over and they all just stared at the ring. It was a beautiful round sapphire, with encased diamonds on two bands on either side; it wasn't large or ostentatious, but elegant and beautiful. "That's perfect."

"It's a very beautiful ring, sir, one of our favorites here. Did you wish to purchase it?"

"Please," Tony replied nodding.

"When are you going to do it?" Clint asked.

Tony 'tsk'ed lightly, "Darling, however do you expect me to surprise you if you keep pestering me?"

"Oooh, Tony he's just so excited," joked Bruce.

"I hate you two," chuckled Clint.

"No you don't," Stark replied easily as he gave the store clerk the size and a credit card. "I was thinking a week or two; it's been a couple years we've been together."

"Haven't you known her for ten years?"

Stark looked at Bruce and nodded, "Yeah, well twelve or thirteen at this point, we met back shortly after I took over my father's company. We met at a seminar, she was a senior in college studying business administration, and I was doing a seminar on mechanical engineering to some of the grad students. We hit it off pretty quick and I offered her the position as my personal assistant. I don't think she really knew what she was getting into."

"They rarely do, but she's up to it," Clint said honestly. He believed it, and he knew Bruce did too, otherwise they wouldn't be standing here helping Tony pick out her perfect ring. They were meant for one another in nearly every way. Clint knew that Rogers and Thor didn't entirely understand the relationship, but the rest of them did, and had a large amount of respect for Pepper's ability to handle the genius playboy.

"There you are, sir, you're all sorted, is there anything else I can assist you gentleman with today?" The store manager asked as he handed the bag to Tony, who pulled his hands away. Bruce reached out, used to Tony's odd dislike of things being handed to him.

"I think we're all set, thanks," Bruce replied as the three of them headed outside. Tony took the box from the bag and pocketed the ring in his breast pocket as soon as they got back into his car.

"Home, Jeeves," Clint ordered as he hopped into the back of the car and leaned his head back against the seats. He'd never felt as comfortable as he did with Natasha, or Bruce and Tony. It was one of the few times the assassin really got to relax.

Tony thought about the ring box currently sitting against his chest, not far from his Arc, he smiled at the thought of the look Pepper would give him when she saw it. He couldn't wait to ask her, but he wasn't ready quite yet, their anniversary was coming up in a few short weeks and he wanted to make it extra special. He drove towards the tower they resided at in New York.

They pulled into the underground garage, part of Tony's lab, and got out of the vehicle. "You coming?" Clint questioned, they typically did movie nights on Wednesday, but he had a hunch that wasn't what Tony really wanted to do.

"Not tonight, kids. Daddy and Mommy need some alone time."

"Just keep it down this time, I still get nightmares from your last sexcapade," Clint mocked as they made their way into the elevator.

"You're just jealous because the only time Natasha screams that much is when she's kicking your ass in sparring."

Bruce chuckled as Clint and Tony had a stare down, before the elevator doors opened to the primary floor. "Have a nice night boys," Tony mocked as he hit the top level and waved bye as the elevator doors closed.

"Sir, Miss Potts has just arrived home, shall I tell her to come up?"

Tony smiled, "Yes, and would you order us something nice for dinner."

"Chinese sir or pizza?"

"Fancier."

"Going all out, I see sir. Very well."

Tony stepped out on the top level, the suite they shared together. He walked over towards the balcony and watched the city move as the sun began to dip behind the buildings. He must have been standing there for several minutes, because he felt a thin pair of arms wrap around his waist and run her hands down his chest and waist. "Hey there, handsome," Pepper murmured as she leaned her head on top of his shoulder.

Stark smiled as he rubbed her arms and turned to pull her close, "Hi," he pressed his lips to hers.

"How was your day?" She asked as she hugged him close, Tony felt his nerves jump a little as she settled her head on his shoulder just above the ring box.

"Hectic, how about a bath?"

Pepper's eyebrows furrowed, "Tony, are you feeling all right? You hate baths."

"Fine, Pep. Come on, I just want you to have a nice relaxing evening," he reasoned with her as he slid his hands down her arms and squeezed her fingers. "Or we can skip the romancing and go to your next favorite part."

She laughed as he led her back inside, "And let you get out of actually paying attention to someone else for a change? No, thank you, I'll take my bath and like every second of it."

He'd only started watching her draw the bath when JARVIS spoke, "Sir, Director Fury is calling."

"Tell him I'm busy."

Tony could practically hear JARVIS and Pepper sigh at the same time, "Sir, he's stating it's urgent."

"It's always urgent-"

"Tony," Pepper warned him, "Go, I can enjoy a nice bath by myself, and be all nice and comfortable when you get back."

"Sir?"

"Fine, put him through." He hit a button and a moment later Fury's voice was patched through. "What do you want, Nick?"

"We have a situation in downtown London."

"London?" Pepper questioned, concerned.

"There's been a terrorist bombing, but the agents over there think it was only the first in a set of several to make a point about the most recent rebellions in the middle East, I need the Avengers to go help them locate the other bombs throughout the city."

"Nick, isn't this a job for their version of the FBI or something?"

"This isn't a request, Stark. And you won't like where the weapons appear to have come from."

"Please don't say old models of mine," He replied, his voice becoming dreadfully quiet.

"It's like a personal invitation just begging for you to come. If you're involved in the clean up, there's a way they can make it look like it wasn't you at fault."

"That's ridiculous!" Pepper snapped, "I thought you destroyed all the weapons," She turned back to Tony, she didn't miss how distraught he looked at the words Fury had said.

"There's no telling how many could be out there, especially now with the war being over in the eyes of the government. How much was left there, how much was brought back. There could be terrorist cells I didn't even know about. We'll leave immediately, Nick." The mutter of "No more innocent people will die at my hands," was almost unheard by Nick and Pepper. Almost.

"I'm having the coordinates uploaded to JARVIS and the suit. Hurry."

"Tony," Pepper whispered once Nick was off the phone. "Don't make this about retribution again. You'll only end up getting yourself killed."

"They're using my weapons! Again, Pepper, how do they even get their hands on this stuff!" He shouted, his anger was because of the distraught concern he felt, and to Pepper it was very tangible.

"I don't know, but what's important here is that you're not at fault, Tony. You haven't manufactured weapons in over three years now. It's like you said, lingering technology."

"Or someone is selling the old weapons on the black market, either way, people are dying."

Pepper worried about, she worried about what this would do to his fragile self esteem, he'd thought he'd paid for all of this already. But clearly the universe had different plans for Anthony Stark. "Come home safe," she murmured as she hugged him tight.

Tony held her close for a moment, this time would be different; he'd make sure it was different than the last time. "I love you," he whispered, before he turned and headed into the elevator, unable to shake the feeling that this wasn't going to end well for any of them.

The others had clearly heard because Clint, Natasha, Bruce and Steve all stepped into the lift with him at each floor. "You okay?" Bruce asked quietly as he stepped just beside Tony.

"No," it was a fair question, and he had a fair answer, he could tell from the look on Steve's face that right at the moment he wasn't sure who or what to believe. "No, I'm not."

"Suit up, Stark," Rogers ordered.

TBC