Chapter Four

Clint glanced back at Bruce as they walked back to camp.

"Look, I'm sorry. But she said it herself, she's dangerous."

Granted, it was obvious that the Hulk would protect Bruce, but still. Why take the risk? Clint worried that someday Bruce wouldn't have the Hulk to fall back on, and the man would be vulnerable.

No, stop, Clint told himself sharply, eyes narrowing. Friends thought about each other like that. And Bruce and he were only teammates.

"Look, I'm sorry. But we have a mission to complete here." Clint told Bruce calmly. "Let's eat and we'll move on to the next phase Fury outlined for us."

… …

Something snapped in Bruce. He stopped walking.

"Is that all this is, a mission? You don't get it, do you? There's someone else, I-" he began to raise his voice but stopped himself before he got really angry. Stepping away he lifted a hand to his forehead.

"I'm sorry, Clint. What Alice was describing, that's me and I can't walk away from that. I can't ignore the only other person I've met who may have some idea of what this is like. If I can help her, if I can do something then I have to."

He sighed. His thoughts didn't really make sense, even in his head.

"You're right. Let's go back. It's hard, as always." The last bit came out as a whisper not intended for Clint's ears. It was easier to give in than to get angry.

… …

Clint turned to watch Bruce's dilemma, he felt for the man, he did. But Clint's job was to protect Bruce, and Alice, weather the scientist wanted to admit it or not, was a threat.

The agent opened his mouth to tell Bruce he understood, but hesitated, knowing that Bruce didn't want him to be his friend. It was hard, but Clint nodded. "I'm sorry too, but we don't have the protection right now. I'm not sure if I can protect you from her if she, changes." He sighed. "Or whatever." He was alone. Bruce was letting his heart get in the way of his head. "Look, I get that you want to help her. But how? We can't do this alone. Maybe after we get back to SHEILD we can figure something out. But right now we're too exposed."

Or maybe that wasn't even the problem. Clint wasn't sure. He was unsure of a lot of things these days. Perhaps he should attempt to sleep like a normal human being.

They arrived back at camp and Clint immediately went to his bow and riffled through his bag. Pulling out a gun he turned and handed it to Bruce.

"Just to be safe." He said.

… …

Bruce took the gun and immediately put it on the floor. He didn't know what was running through Clint's head, maybe the archer thought he was going to use that on Alice.

"Fury doesn't need to know," he said firmly. "She's not hurting anyone out here and there's nothing SHIELD can do. If you're not going to let me find a way to get through to her then at least leave her alone." He stopped before he got carried away. It was too similar to what he had wanted for himself.

"Let's just complete this list you've got, you're too stuck on doing it." Bruce began setting up the fire again. "Who knows, maybe Fury will give you a gold star for putting up with me for a week."

… …

Clint rolled his eyes and stood to face Bruce. "I'm not going to go out of my way to hurt the girl. I honestly don't care as long as she doesn't endanger you." Barton snapped. Forcefully Clint took a deep breath to calm himself down.

"I don't give a damn about Fury, but I have orders and I intend on following them." With a glare Clint stalked forward towards the doctor. "One of us has to make sure you stay alive, doctor."

Passing by the man, Clint moved over to the river and splashed some cool water on his face. Everything he did for Bruce seemed to be wrong in the man's eyes. Clint was trying to protect the man, not that Banner seemed to care. The man had no sense of self preservation. It was infuriating.

The archer stood and glanced back to Bruce. Clint went over the list in his head and tried to think of what he needed to teach the scientist next. Honestly, with the exception of needing to practice more hand to hand combat they were done early. Bruce was exceptional at surviving in the woods. And what he couldn't do, the Hulk could.

"Let's call it a day, I'm going to go hunt. Stay put." Clint said, voice void of emotion as he grabbed his bow and quiver.

… …

Bruce watched Clint as he disappeared into the jungle. He wanted to go back to the cabin but he stayed put. However pointless it was, the archer only wanted to protect him and Bruce wasn't going to cause him any more pain.

Bruce didn't need protecting. He would never be in mortal danger. However, just because he didn't need protecting didn't mean he didn't appreciate it. No one else, apart from the suicidal archer, would want to protect him.

It was that thought that made him stay put instead of going back to Alice's cabin. As much as he thought Clint was wrong, he wasn't going to make him worry.

Bruce sighed and began to look around for some sort of peace offering. He recognized enough plants to begin putting together some herbal tea. Clint liked tea, right?

… …

Clint took his time hunting. He was fairly certain Banner would stay put. The man wasn't Tony Stark in any way shape or form. Still, Barton knew he should go back, talk it over, figure out a plan to help Bruce help Alice. Something they both were comfortable with. Once he was calmed down Clint started to head back to camp, mostly because his leg was more than exhausted from the rough treatment the day had brought.

Stumbling, Clint cursed himself and fell to his knees, pain blooming on his hand as he brushed against a plant with tiny thorns. They pierced through and broke off under his skin. It burned. If he had been sleeping more than a few minutes at a time and wasn't preoccupied, maybe he'd have caught himself better, but that wasn't the case.

Wincing, Clint held his hand up to his eyes for closer examination. There were at least twelve thorns embedded deeply into his skin. The rest, about ten, were easily pulled out. When he got back to camp he'd have to get the med kit and pull the others out. The last thing they needed was for his hand to get infected out in the middle of freaking nowhere with no way to communicate with SHIELD.

Shaking his head, Clint pulled himself back up to his feet and moved a bit more carefully through the jungle. By the time he got back to camp he was drenched in sweat, which honestly wasn't necessarily normal, even though it was boiling in the jungle. He hadn't exerted himself that much. Swiping at his forehead Clint moved over to their packs and shuffled through the contents until he pulled out a first aid kit.

Setting down his bow and quiver Clint glanced up and at Bruce for the first time since returning, pleased to see that the Doctor had stayed put.

"Didn't catch anything," He announced. "Hope you don't mind eating fish again." He sighed as he pulled out the tweezers from the kit and sat down to take care of his hand.

… …

Bruce raised his head and frowned at Clint in concern.

"Are you alright? What did you do to your hand?" He couldn't help but reach out to take the archer's hand and begin treating it.

"Whoa, those blisters aren't normal. How are you feeling?"8 Large swellings had already appeared on Clint's hand around the thorns. Bruce took the tweezers and had them all out in seconds. The water he had been boiling for tea he used to wash the cuts out. It took him a moment to hunt for a bandage.

Clint appeared to be having an allergic reaction of some kind, if the sweat was anything to go by. Bruce had never asked if his teammate had any allergies and he wasn't sure if they had an adrenaline injection in the first aid kit.

He was genuinely scared now, worried about what the strange plant had done to his friend.

… …

Clint blinked and Bruce had taken over his care, which was probably for the best as the archer's vision was slightly fogged.

It took Barton a bit longer to process the doctor's words than normal, also not a good sign.

"Um, fell into some sort of thorny plant."

Clint shook his head for some clarity, but it only made him dizzy. "Burns like crazy." He winced as Bruce pulled out the turns. The blisters were new and a bit disturbing.

"I feel off." Clint admitted, which was saying something. He felt like lying down and sleeping, which was something he had been carefully avoiding.

"Maybe just need to rest a bit."9 Clint winced again, trying to stand. But the world wouldn't stop moving. He swayed dangerously, eyes rolling a bit before he closed them to fend off the tilting feeling.

"Freaking plant." Clint groaned, bandaged hand brushing his aching forehead.

… …

Bruce held on to Clint's shoulders as the archer stumbled back. Carefully he lowered his friend to the floor.

"Look, I know you don't trust her but Alice works with these plants. She would know what the reaction is, alright?"

He didn't want to make Clint angry by suggesting going back, nor did he have an ulterior motive. If Alice knew what the plant was then she would know how to stop Clint's worrying bout of illness.

Bruce slung one of the archer's arms around his shoulders and heaved him to his feet.

"Come on, whatever the danger, you've got the other guy looking out for you, remember? He's not going to be happy if I let you get hurt by something as small as a plant."

Bruce struggled to keep Clint from falling over as he half dragged the man through the jungle, carefully avoiding any snagging plants. Once again he cursed the several pounds of muscle the guy had on him.

… …

Clint groaned out his answer, eyes still closed as he allowed Bruce to manhandle him through the jungle the mile to Alice's cabin. His mind was fuzzy and his thought process was not exactly clear. As in, not clear enough to realize he was being brought to the most dangerous person in the area.

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