Banner/Hulk was always one of my favorite characters. The whole 'lonely, suffering, misunderstood guy' thing always appealed to me. While I'm still not entirely sure how I felt about Mark Ruffalo's portrayal, I truly enjoyed the Avengers movie, and I wanted to explore some more around the interaction Banner had with some of the other characters. No pairings here, slash or otherwise, though there is some insinuation with a couple of them.

This story consists primarily of movie information, as well as some comic stuff and a few bits of info from the old tv show, which I also really enjoyed. Anything else is something I absorbed subconsciously or made up.

Some of these are longer than others. Some might contain hints of pairings (there were so many possibilities with this movie!) Each chapter will contain Bruce's point of view, then whichever teamate is featured in the chapter.

Warning: This story contains the following; a compassionate Natasha, a guilty Steve, a sensitive Tony, a sweet Thor, a fanboy Clint, and a slightly repentant Loki.

Team Bonding

Chapter 1

If anyone asked who stood out most among the avengers, there would be many different answers. All of them were unique and extremely noticeable in some way or another. Some might say Natasha, because she was the only woman in the group. Others might say Thor, due to his (literally) alien ways. Some reason could be given to make any of them seem to stand out in the group. But if one were to ask the Avengers which among their ranks stood out in their opinion, the answer would be unanimous: Bruce Banner, aka The Incredible Hulk. They each had their own perception of him, and the each found their opinions on many matters changed by knowing him.

Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow

Bruce had needed less than a second to figure out what was happening when the little girl who'd come begging him to help her father had jumped out the back window of the shack he'd been led to without breaking stride. It was a good thing to, because he had barely more than a second to compose himself before being confronted by one of the most beautiful women he'd ever seen. She'd been cool and composed, and he hadn't been able to resist shaking that composure by testing her with the threat of an outburst. He knew she wouldn't kill him, and even if she wanted to she couldn't. She must have figured that out too, because she went back to using reason. In the end, he consented to go with her, if only because he knew that, as usual, no one would dare approach him, knowing what he was, without plenty of backup to cause a scene.

She hadn't been interested in learning about him, or why he was wanted by Nick Fury. He understood her kind well enough. She was a soldier. She took orders and only considered them enough to determine the best way to carry them out. She didn't ask questions and didn't let feelings get in the way. But Bruce noticed a slight change in attitude toward him after that first encounter; she respected him.

"How'd you know I wasn't alone?" She asked on the ride over. He snorted derisively. He knew what she was doing; trying to distract him from plotting to escape. He really wasn't interested in talking. He'd never been a fan of flying, even before having to jump out of a helicopter in order to trigger a transformation that almost didn't happen in time.

"No one from any half-decent intelligence organization would go anywhere near me alone, unless of course they found some way to kill me that could be sufficiently operated by one person." He replied.

"You know that from personal experience?" She asked. Maybe she was a little curious after all.

"All too well." He replied coolly. "Again, if you're anywhere near as good at your job as you act, you ought to know all about it." She'd shut up after that, seeing no point in the conversation. They both knew that she'd been briefed on the battle in Harlem with the abomination Blonsky had turned himself into. But she hadn't tried to distract him with conversation anymore. Except perhaps in that moment on the flying fortress when he was about to change, and she'd promised him that he'd get to walk away from S.H.E.I.L.D. He'd been so afraid then. Yes, he was angry at her for forcing his hand and bringing him there, but he didn't want to kill her. He'd known she was trapped, unable to free herself, knew that she had selflessly waved away the men coming to help her to face the danger alone, and he'd done his best to put some distance between them before he lost awareness. He'd been sure that after that outburst, he'd be put in a cage for sure.

But then, after the battle was over, she and Nick Fury had both kept their promises, and he'd been free to go where he wanted. Whether they had intended it all along or had changed their minds at some point between then and the battle was still a mystery, but he decided not to examine it too closely.

They were on good terms now, and hopefully it would stay that way. She might not be able to kill him, but she would surely be able to make his life unpleasant if so inclined.

Natasha waited by the car with Bruce. The man was rather twitchy. They were waiting on Clint to show up so that they could see Thor off to Asgard with Loki in tow. Steve would be riding his motorcycle behind a special armored car with the two Asgardians inside and Tony would be meeting them there. She couldn't help but start to feel impatient. She shifted from one foot to the other, then hissed lightly as she put a little too much pressure on her sore ribs. To her great surprise, Bruce went perfectly still. He didn't speak for a moment, and when he finally did, his voice sounded a little shaky.

"I'm sorry." She looked at him, surprised.

"For what." He met her eyes, and she was shocked by the amount of sorrow in his.

"For that. For hitting you. I tried to get away, but when he wants to hit something…" he trailed off. She realized what he was talking about. She wasn't really in the mood for dramatics, so she tried to shrug it off.

"Doesn't really matter anymore. I got plenty beat up by those Chitauri." But Bruce wouldn't let it go.

"Still, I didn't want to hurt you. I've never tried to hit a woman before." Natasha couldn't help but feel a little insulted by that.

"Just because I'm a woman doesn't mean I can't take a hit." She commented a little coldly.

"I know that." He replied softly, almost too low for her to hear.

"Then why does it bother you so much?" She asked, really wanting to know now. He stared at her, hard.

"You don't know? SHIELD doesn't have that part of my life's story too?" She immediately began searching though her knowledge of his life, all the things she'd learned to find just what would make him say yes. Her first conclusion was his first transformation, which had resulted in serious injury to his girlfriend, Betty Ross. She discarded that thought quickly. It seemed a little more deeply rooted than that. She went back further, before the accident, and found her answer. It was incredibly simple really, a common problem for men who'd come from such a situation. And she could tell from the flash of absolute misery that crossed his face that he knew she'd found it. She decided to be kind about it.

"You didn't want to hurt me." She offered quietly. "You tried to move away, redirect the Hulk's attention. And the Hulk, I think, doesn't discriminate based on gender. He goes after all his foes the same way. One such incident doesn't make you like him."

"How do you know?" He asked quietly. "A lot of reputable doctors say it's genetic. How do you know I haven't inherited some cruel disposition that the Other Guy has no problem acting on?"

"Because that day, during the battle, you were a hero. You were brave. You both were. You came back, and the Hulk fought with us, even protected us some of the time. Good people, brave people don't just cause pain because they can; that's what cowards do." Bruce just stared at her for a prolonged period of time before snapping his gaze away. Natasha realized he'd heard Clint coming before she did. There was no more time to speak of the issue; they were forced to let it go.

As they drove to their destination, Natasha couldn't help but think more about it. How terrible must it be for a man to have such a raging personality trapped inside him when he'd spent his entire life striving to be the opposite? She recalled the look in his eyes as he'd looked at her right before the Hulk took over, the fear and sorrow, and the way that already begged her for forgiveness while pleading with her to find a way to escape, and the way he'd managed to crawl and stumble a few paces in the opposite direction just before his will was overruled by his alter ego. Bruce Banner lived in his own personal Hell, she realized, and he had no idea how much of the anger inside him might actually be his own.

She knew there was nothing she could do about it except try to respect his struggle and try to be ready to fend off the soul crushing guilt he must feel all the time.

Bruce's issues with his father will be a recurring thing in this story. I guess I'll be posting whenever I hit yet another long rut in my most recent Star Trek story. There's no real timeline here; it all takes place near or after the end of the movie. This story itself isn't complete. I've started several chapters but most of them are only halfway done. Some will be longer, and some may be shorter. I'm not even sure if I'm going to stop with the characters I mentioned at the top. This is one of my side projects while I try to get past my writers block on Love For Sale, which is my main priority. Next up will be Steve!