Bruce Banner had never been a superhero before. Or anything like it. He was just a scientist, not even a mad scientist, he was just working in a lab and an accident happened and... well, the rest was history. He had probably saved some people as the Hulk, but he was fairly certain he'd killed more. He tried not to think about that.

Everyone else on the team, though, had been a hero first. With varying degrees of experience in military tactics. Bruce had picked some up while on the run, but no one expected him to have them and he had no interest in letting them down. He still didn't trust SHIELD, he was constantly working on his escape plan in case they decided that they actually were going to throw him in that cage they'd built for him, that they were renovating every other battle after realizing it wouldn't hold.

Not that he never used his tactical abilities to help the team, he just kept them from realizing it. He had yet to go into a battle as the Hulk, he would always hang back, listening to them communicate by radio and scoping the situation. Eventually they'd tell him what they wanted- all he could really do was focus and hope that the Hulk would follow through. Sometimes he'd see a better angle, and do that instead. The mistake, of course, was blamed on the Hulk and no one could argue with the results.

This also meant that Bruce got a unique, for the Avengers, opportunity to watch the fights as an outside observer. They found themselves fighting Loki often enough, and Bruce found himself admiring his flair. Hearing the bits that Thor would tell them about his brother, some of which he overheard by accident, made him a bit more curious. It almost pained him to think that he felt more akin to the awkward genius who never quite fit in before finding out he was a monster. Hearing the plans that, were he to be captured, Loki was to immediately be locked up in the very cage made to house the Hulk, well, it didn't help.

Not that he could talk to any of them about his misgivings or concerns.

Or his insecurities.

Or anything, really.

Tony was the most comfortable around him, but he was just bothered with trying to get him Hulk out. Bruce honestly appreciated the attempts, not treating him with kid gloves, but Tony was not someone you had a deep conversation about your feelings with. As grateful as he was to have any interaction with someone that didn't involve treating him like he had a bomb strapped to his chest, having no one to talk to left him feeling very lonely.

That was it. He was just lonely. He clung to that thought while watching the battles Loki would conduct as if it were a grand orchestra. While his mind wandered during the tales of how Thor had restrained the Hulk single handedly without coming off with so much of a scratch and wondering if that ran in the family, or what that might mean. He was just lonely, latching onto the least possible option to keep from getting hurt.

It wasn't really hard to convince himself that it was just loneliness, not when the rest of his team mates so obviously didn't trust him. Occasionally he'd run into unofficial team bonding sessions that they all agreed to and which no one had bothered telling him about, after the excrutiatingly awkward first time that he tried to actually join in, he just let them to it without comment. It was easier that way.

So when he noticed that everyone except him happened to be together in the common area they had at SHIELD, it was far from unusual. He was about to turn to leave when he noticed that it did not seem to be a pleasant meeting. He glanced over the group and realized that something was very wrong, even Tony and Barton looked stern. In fact, Barton was visibly shaken up. That was something he'd never expected to see.

He hovered in the doorway nervously, not sure that he was welcome to join them.

"Doctor Banner!" Natasha said, sounding a bit surprised. All eyes were on him and he fidgeted nervously. Natasha crossed the room quickly and guided him out of the room a ways, "I'm glad you're here."

Bruce was not sure he believed that. "What's going on?"

"Clint was training at the archery range here and Loki came to him-" she faltered for a moment, "no one saw him come in and Clint did not hear him approach. We aren't certain how he managed it."

"What did he do?" Bruce asked warily, "He didn't look hurt."

"No, he attacked Clint with words, seems he has a talent for picking up your insecurities and attacking them," Natasha explained, shaking her head. "Thor was afraid he would do that."

They fell silent for a moment. Thor had warned them that Loki had always been better at talking his way into and out of situations than using force, that the battles were probably just his way of measuring them up before he started his real assault. Apparently it had started.

"Clint will be fine," Natasha said firmly, "Loki is not as skilled as he would like to think." She glanced away slightly, "But we are worried about what will happen when he attacks you in such a way."

"You think he's going to be coming after me? Here? Not to fight but to mess with my head?" he did not have to fake the look of panic. There were numerous ways that could end badly.

"We have to be aware of the possibility, he may be coming after all of us now. I know that we have not gotten along very well, but we are on the same team," she looked up at him with the softest expression he'd seen from her, "If you need help- please come to us. We do not want to lose you from the team."

He couldn't believe that, but it was nice to hear anyways. He smiled at her, "Hey- he'll only try what Tony's been doing since I got here, try to find a way to get me to Hulk out. If Tony can't do it, I can't imagine some Norse God can be any more annoying than him."

Natasha's lip quirked upward slightly, "Yes, that is true. But the offer still stands."

"Of course," he said, smiling what he hoped was a friendly smile. It dropped for a moment, "What have Fury and Coulson said? Are there any new regulations?"

Natasha's smile fell and she shook her head, "It did not seem pressing enough, I wanted to give Clint time to recover before he had to deal with the questions and all of that." She glanced up at him, "I still thought you ought to know, we don't know how long it will be until he strikes next."

"I understand, thank you for telling me," he said quietly, "I need to get back to my lab, though, please tell Clint that I hope he's doing well."

"I will," she agreed quietly, watching him walk away down the hall.

Bruce did not get any more work done that way, his mind was whirring with possibilities and concerns and some thoughts he really didn't want to be having.

The next day was a meeting with a particularly irate Fury, he apparently did not appreciate being kept in the dark for a few hours. After a short lecture about why he needed to be the first one told about these things, he showed part of the footage from the surveillance tape.

He paused it at one point, making everyone in the room wonder if they were just admiring Clint's archery skills- a suggestion Clint actually verbalized before a look from Fury shut him up.

"Now watch carefully," Fury insisted, never one to let a meeting get away from him. He hit play and several seconds later Loki simply appeared. In a puff of green smoke. And then look straight at the security camera and smirked before leaning over to Clint. Fury stopped the tape.

"So there's a trap door," Tony said, unimpressed, "I've seen this act before. It's not difficult."

"We checked, Stark," Fury said tersely.

Clint shook his head, "You really think I wouldn't have noticed a trap door? Or someone opening it behind me?"

"That would raise a few more concerns if there were one," Natasha pointed out, "It would mean that he'd have the ability to put one in or navigate SHIELD better than any of us."

"It was magic." The group turned to Thor, who had been sitting in stony silence until now. Most seemed to think that was obvious, Tony looked torn between laughing and shouting.

"There's got to be a better explanation than that- a possible explanation," Bruce pointed out, laughing nervously.

"As possible as instantaneous travel across space faster than the speed of light?" Fury asked. Bruce stared at him for several moments before looking to the rest of the group for an explanation.

"I don't think Doctor Banner has had any experience with the bifrost," Thor pointed out, before shaking his head, "Loki has always been a skilled sorceror. He initially used his power for harmless pranks and aid when I would drag him into battle... This is what he's been using to defeat us, you've all seen it even if you don't want to accept it as such."

"But magic isn't... that's not...," Bruce shook his head, not quite able to articulate how wrong it was.

Tony crossed his arms, "There's no such thing as magic- if it exists then it can be explained by science and it's not magic."

Clint stared at him for a moment, "We've got the fucking Norse God of Thunder sitting at the table and the thought of magic is too much for you?"

"You are not yet at the point of being able to explain all of this with science," Thor said as kindly as he could manage, rather than letting the argument go on, "there are some things that my brother is capable of that our scholars are not yet able to explain, either. It is simply easier to call it magic than try to explain how it works."

"So now I'm expected to believe that the man who didn't know how to work a microwave is from a civilization with hyper-advanced technology that I can't even grasp. Is that it?" Tony scoffed.

"You aren't expected to believe anything, Stark," Fury said harshly, "This is what we're up against." He turned to Thor, ignoring any objections, "Can you counter this?"

"No," he replied grimly, "I've never had a talent for such things. The skills you've seen in combat are the most that I can do. I certainly could not overpower my brother."

"Do you have any suggestions of what we should do?" Natasha asked.

Fury shook his head, "Until we have a magic user on hand for testing, we can hardly come up with a way to keep him out of here. And as long as he's able to do that, well, I think we'd all better hope he keeps to mind games."

Tony and Bruce shared a look, thinking about the havoc that could be caused if Loki got into their lab.

"Short of telling you to go on the buddy system," Bruce couldn't help but think that he gave him a look at that suggestion, "there doesn't seem to be any advice than to be prepared," Fury paused for effect and glared at them all, "And next time he strikes- I am to be informed immediately."

After a few more arguments and some hopeless brainstorming for what to do, they were dismissed. The second they were, Tony demanded that Bruce go back to the lab so that they could make a backup of their data and practically dragged him there. Bruce couldn't help but wonder if Tony had noticed the look on the suggestion of a buddy system and was pulling him away before Fury could tell him that he needed a chaperone from now on. He appreciated it even if it was unintentional.