Avenging is Friendship

by Boltstrike58

Runaway

Earth, Avengers Compound

Tony groaned again as he wiped his face with his palm. This was a nightmare. A complete and utter nightmare. Not like Ultron or Loki had been a nightmare, but one of those annoying nightmares that would remain stuck in his head for the rest of the day and set him on edge for the entire time, driving him completely nuts. It almost made him wish there was some super villain to punch in the face so he wouldn't have to think about it. Almost.

"I'm gonna ask you one more time, Stark," Ross growled, glaring directly into Tony's eyes. "Where's Banner?"

"Dunno. Why don't you check under the couch cushions?" Tony snarked. At least he got the satisfaction of watching Ross' face turn purple with fury. That never got old.

"You're skating on thin ice, Stark," he grumbled.

"Mr. Secretary," Rhodey cut in, not even bothering to shoot Tony one of his patented 'dude, come on' looks. "May I point out that Bruce hasn't violated the Accords? There's been no Hulk sightings since Sokovia. And he's never even been given the option to sign or not—"

"Colonel Rhodes," Ross interrupted him, "let me explain something to you. You're a soldier. When I want your opinion, I'll order you to have it. That's how it works."

"Oh, that's not petty in any way," Vision sardonically chimed in, from his reading spot in the armchair. Tony smiled brightly. Vision's little bursts of sarcasm reminded him so much of Jarvis.

"Shut up, android. You're lucky I don't have you decommissioned and dismantled."

"Look, Ross, did you just come here to threaten us with stuff you don't actually have the authority to do, or do you actually have any proof that Bruce Banner is or was here?" Tony interrupted. "Because if not, I'd really like to get back to polishing my armor."

Ross gave Tony another glare, before looking around the compound one more time. His men had searched the entire area, and there'd been no evidence that Bruce Banner had ever been present. He grudgingly admitted to himself that this was another lost cause.

He jabbed his index finger directly into Tony's chest. "I will find out where he went," he promised, causing Tony to give another bored yawn. Ross started to walk towards the exit, only to stop upon seeing a large mirror, with a diamond embedded in the frame. "What's this?" he asked, poking the object.

"What, you've never heard of interior decorating?" Tony joked again, managing to keep his face neutral at the same time. "Get outta here."

Ross gave Tony one last glare, before storming out of the building.

Rhodey sighed to himself. "This is a mess," he complained, rubbing his eyes.

"That much is apparent to all of us," replied Vision. "Tony, perhaps we should inform—"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Tony cut him off. He walked over to the bookshelf, grabbing a large, red, unmarked volume. Taking a pen, he turned to a blank page and began to write.

Twilight; There's been a rather depressing development. I'm gonna need you to get in touch with Steve...

---

Equis, Ponyville

Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, Natasha, and Steve waited with baited breath, watching the other transport mirror. Nobody spoke, out of an illogical fear of somehow making this situation worse than it already was. Not that this was a disaster of any sort, but it was still unpleasant. The torturous waiting finally paid off as a blue beam launched from the mirror's diamond, forming a portal in midair. Tony walked in, his expression rather disheartening.

"What happened?" Twilight asked, worried.

"Leave nothing out," Natasha added, her voice tense. Rarity shivered at her tone. As friendly as the spy was, the Black Widow as still a trained assassin and fighter. That woman could be scary when she desired.

Tony groaned, covering his forehead with one hand. "Ross must be spying on us," he answered, finally. "Somebody must've spotted Bruce walking around the compound. Next thing we know, Ross and his goons show up, and strip the place clean looking for him. Don't worry, Friday wiped all the footage," he added at their concerned looks, "but maybe we shouldn't use the compound for visits, at least for a while. Ross will be watching us closer now."

Twilight sighed to herself. She'd never had the misfortune to meet Secretary Ross, and it was something she hoped wouldn't change. He sounded worse than Chancellor Neighsay had been. It was like he was determined to punish the Avengers for the heinous crime of trying to help people. She'd never understand it, especially having met the Avengers in person. That didn't even include the things he'd done to poor Dr. Banner.

"What about Bruce?" Natasha asked, her voice impatient. "Where'd he go?"

Tony gulped. This was the part of the conversation he'd dreaded. "He...took one of the Quinjets. He must've put it into stealth mode, because we haven't been able to track it." He pulled out his satellite scanner, showing them a map that led from the Compound, over the ocean. "We lost his signal in the middle of the Atlantic. He did leave a letter." Tony dug out a folded piece of paper from his pocket, marked with what was clearly Bruce's surprisingly neat handwriting. "It's addressed to all of us."

Steve took the note, his critical blue eyes going over it quickly. Like everything Bruce Banner ever wrote down, it was short, and to the point. He apologized for leaving, but felt that his presence was putting the team in greater danger. The odds of the Hulk getting loose on the Compound were just too great, he believed. It was better he leave now than Ross discover him, try to force him to sign the Accords, or some such disaster. He also warned them against letting Ross learn about the contact with Equestria, reasoning that nothing good could come out of it. Tony had scoffed at that, seeing how obvious it was. There was little Steve couldn't have predicted in the letter.

"How did he have access to the Quinjets?" Steve demanded, passing the letter to Natasha, "Friday didn't sound an alarm, or anything?"

"I gave him full clearance to the entire facility," Tony argued. "We all trusted him, there was no reason not to."

"Tony, you knew where he was the last time," Twilight started, hope forming in the alicorn's purple eyes. "Maybe you could...if he went back to that cabin—"

Tony shook his head. "He won't go back there," he said, firmly. "Bruce is way too smart for that. He spent half a decade avoiding Ross and the military, it won't be hard for him to disappear again. I only knew where he was because he contacted me. I...don't know if I could find him on my own."

"You said something else," Natasha interrupted, not even to taking her eyes off of Bruce's note, "about Clint and Scott. We haven't heard from them."

"They couldn't take being on the run anymore, being cut off from their families," Tony replied, somber. "Clint's family was in too much risk of exposure. They ended up making deals. They're both under house arrest. Clint got the worst of it, he'll be in there for years."

Everybody (and everypony) was silent. There was nothing to be said for the predicament at hand. Three of their friends were currently out of reach, two being punished for trying to do the right thing. And Bruce had intentionally left them, even as he was trying to help them. Even if they found him, or if Clint and Scott served their sentences, when would they ever join this friend circle again?

The thoughts of all those present were interrupted by a quiet sniffling noise. Tony, Steve, and Natasha looked down to see Fluttershy weeping quietly, the pegasus wiping away a few tears with the tips of her wings. She was clearly attempting to suppress the sounds of her sadness, trying to keep the others from noticing, but she wasn't succeeding.

"Fluttershy, darling, what's wrong?" asked Rarity, walking over to her fellow Element Bearer and placing a comforting hoof on her wing.

Fluttershy sniffed a few times, trying to keep all of her emotions inside, but it proved too much for her.

"Why did Dr. Banner run away?!" she cried, throwing herself into Rarity's embrace. "He's our friend! We don't care if he becomes the Hulk, he'd never hurt us! Why would he just throw all of this away?! It's not fair! He'll be all alone again...he'll be so lonely!"

Rarity said nothing in response, holding Fluttershy as she cried into the unicorn's mane. She was accustomed to such emotional tidal waves from the mare, of course. Fluttershy, being the Element of Kindness, was naturally the most empathetic of the Element Bearers, and seeing another creature suffer always brought tears to her eyes. Bruce's situation had brought all of those feelings to the surface for her, and poor Fluttershy was just too vulnerable to them. It was even worse that she'd found a kindred spirit in Bruce, and a friend she had a surprising amount of things in common with.

"Fluttershy," said Natasha, getting down on one knee, "look at me." She placed her hand on the pegasus' wing. Fluttershy hesitated for a moment. She'd always been nervous around the spy, but she mustered up her courage and finally locked eyes with Natasha.

"Bruce..." Natasha started, seeming to lose her words for a moment, but quickly finding them again, "Bruce is probably the exact opposite of the Hulk. He wouldn't hurt a fly if he could help it. But the thing is, he puts the needs of other people ahead of himself. He did this before, though that might've also partially been the Hulk, but that's beside the point. He's been alone before, he'll be okay for a while...but we'll find him," she hastily added, seeing the look on Fluttershy's face. "We know the guy, he won't be able to hide forever."

"But how do you know?" asked Fluttershy, despondent. "How can you be sure he's okay?"

"Bruce can look after himself," Steve insisted, laying a hand on Fluttershy. "He'll be fine, until we find him again."

Fluttershy managed a weak smile at the thought, hugging Rarity close as her tears started to dry up. Twilight looked sympathetically at her friend, as Steve and Tony led her to one of the corners of the room.

"Do you really think you'll be able to find Dr. Banner?" she asked, whispering to keep the conversation private. She trusted the Avengers, but she also knew they were sensitive to Fluttershy's emotions now, and she wouldn't have put it past them to give a comforting lie. Even Applejack had trouble being honest, if it could break the pegasus' heart.

"Eventually, yes," Tony replied, matter-of-factly. "It won't be easy, but we'll find him, Twi. I promise."

Author's Note:

Sorry this development is kinda sudden, but I need it to set up the sequel to the main story. Speaking of which, I've got one more chapter I want to write before starting work on that.

Comments

[Bumblebee16]

Banner gone!? But why?

[harts fire]

Banner you are fucked you made Fluttershy cry even the hulk would run from this kind of sham.

[Bumblebee16]

are you going to make the next chapter?

[Boltstrike58]

9428348
To be honest, I just did that so that the events of Ragnarok can still happen.

[Bumblebee16]

9429951
oh so that why so that's why Bruce left. Now what are the avengers and the ponies going to do now with out Banner

[Liger1985]

Damn

[PonyPuffy 2012]

I really don't blame Bruce for going AWOL. Ross is an ass who has it out for all the heroes and considers him to just be property of the US Military. Heaven knows what would have happened if Ross found him or worst found the portal to Equestria.