false teeth and new truths
rating: pg for blood
characters: Bruce Banner, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton
summary: He isn't alone anymore.

false teeth and new truths

"…is that a tooth?"

Natasha spat out a mouthful of blood, wiping her face with the back of the hand Bruce had grabbed to help her up.

"Time to see the dentist."

He blinked at her, surprised by her calm tone and the unconcerned way she picked the errant canine up.

"Is this - normal, for you?"

"You didn't think that we fight for years without losing a few teeth, did you?" She asked him in return, amused.

"Honestly, I never - thought about it. How many do you…" He trailed off as she tucked the tooth into one of her many hidden pockets.

"With this one, eight."

"Ten for me," Clint said from across the room as he checked his bow. "I have her beat." Natasha snorted at his smug tone, flicking her eyes upwards before checking her own assortment of weaponry.

Banner watched them clean up after the fight, cataloging their injuries and the bodies strewn around them with equal detachment. For his part, he was once again down a shirt and up in his body count. Who would have thought that he would ever be going into fights instead of running in the opposite direction? Not him; never him. And now…

"Bruce?" Natasha and Clint had paused in their movements to watch him. Old habits died hard; he searched for fear or alarm in their faces, but found only concern - for him, not because of him.

Who else could look at him, knowing what he was, and not feel afraid?

"Just thinking," he told them, and followed them out of the wreckage.

He walked with killers and liars, and they kindly slowed their pace for him.

the end