Avengers, Assemble!
Bruce woke up in his bed, tucked in with a furry boy laying on his lap. Hulk moved when Bruce tried to get up, walking up and gently licking his face. Bruce knew he would need to bring the big boy to school that day. After all, he was prone to panic attacks after he freaked out like that. Bruce walked over to his dresser and pulled out the harness. Hulk straightened as soon as he saw it, hopping off the bed and waddling over to his owner.
"Sit." Bruce said, holding two fingers out and staring down at the brown and white puppy. Hulk sat, waiting for his next command.
"Stand." He said, extending his other fingers so that all but his thumb where extended. Hulk stood, raising his head so that the harness would slip easily over his head. Bruce grabbed his emergency pack, a drawstring bag filled with dog food, a bowl, a water bottle, and treats. Hulk was done with his training but he got restless sometimes so he always brought a few. He grabbed the leash, Hulk's eyes light up, and Bruce chuckled. He changed into clothes and put the leash on his dog.
"Aunt May, can you call the principle? I'm bringing Hulk to school today." Bruce said, putting out the dog food bowl and filling it up for Hulk's breakfast.
"Alright, but when you get home you're telling me why you brought him to school." She said, peering at Bruce.
Bruce gulped, and nodded, Aunt May loved him, but she could be a little scary. Ben stood, grabbing the moped basket that had been custom made with Hulk in mind. Bruce quickly stood up, taking it from his uncle. "I'll put it on this time." He pulled out their screwdriver, and the screws he used for the moped and went to the garage, attaching the box to the front of it, unzipping the roof of it and walking back inside. He grabbed a slice of toast, grabbed Hulk's bowl, and putting the emergency kit into his backpack.
"Let's go Peter, we have school." He said, grabbing Peter's backpack and handing it to his brother. "Come on big guy, let's go." He called, grabbing Hulks leash. The dog stood, walking to the left and close to the boy. Good to see he hadn't forgotten his training. Bruce and Peter picked him up together, laying him down in the basket and zipping the mesh top. Bruce could basically feel the happiness of the dog as his scooter started up. "Love you Aunt May, Uncle Ben!" Bruce yelled as the garage opened. Bruce buckled his helmet, making sure Peter had his own on, too. When he was satisfied with the proper level of safety, they took off. At any chance, Bruce could hear the Hulk barking and howling at the passing noises of the cars. Peter held on tighter as the school came into view. He parked before letting his kid brother off the moped, as he needed help getting the dog out of his basket. They hauled the fuzzy friend to the ground, on Bruce's left, and began walking towards the school.
Bruce gulped as he saw the principal standing in front of the school. "It's good to see the incredible Hulk again, you're fine to bring him in." He said, opening the door. Apparently, Tony hadn't told the principal what happened yet. Bruce sighed in relief but it was only a matter of time.
"Have a good day at school, Pete. Stay as far as possible from Stark."
"I will, enjoy yourself and your time with Hulk, okay?" Peter said, hugging his older brother.
"I will." Bruce said, watching as the spider man backpack disappeared into the crowd of the hall. Bruce sighed and began walking. He heard a few cries of "Puppy!" and "Is that a dog?" But no one approached him, thankfully.
He made it to his first period easily, he set up in the room, getting Hulk as close to under the desk as he could possibly get the mound of fur and fat. His teacher talked to him about it for a while, Bruce awkwardly answered as many questions as he could before the bell rang and soon, kids flooded the room. No one noticed the heavy breathing service dog in the room.
Or so he thought.
After the class finished, the period was math, one of his favorites, kids swarmed him, asking to pet Hulk, what his name was, all the standard questions. He managed to escape easily, inching his way through the small crowd and keeping Hulk away from the kids. His next period was art, this was the only class he shared with Steve Rogers, and he held his breath as he walked in. As he had been held up by kids asking to pet his life line, the seats quickly filled up, leaving the only open one a seat next to the panic inducer. Steve smiled at him and almost immediately switched with the kid sitting next to him. Now he had Steve sitting right by him, and by the look on his face, he wanted to talk. Bruce felt his heart rate pick up, and then he saw Hulk's ears prick up, the dog turned around and tried climbing into Bruce's lap, with a little help from Bruce himself, he suddenly had a very warm and a very weighted blanket.
"You have a dog?" Steve said, looking down at Hulk.
"Yeah, a service dog. Sometimes I get so stressed that my heart gets to a point where I almost have an out of body experience, like... like what happened with Tony yesterday." He mumbled. "He acts like a weighted blanket, and petting dogs is proven to reduce stress. He can basically hear my heartbeat, he's really in tune with me." Bruce said, stroking Hulk's head.
"That's really cool! And, about the conflict with Tony..."
Bruce gulped.
"Good job! No one has ever even tried to touch him before, you really put him in his place!" Steve chuckled at the shocked look Bruce gave him. "Even if he's my friend, he has no excuse to hurt anyone without consequences. I'm glad you did what you did, and we'd still like you to join us for lunch."
Just then the bell rang, and the two looked towards the teacher who had started talking. Within 30 minutes, Hulk had jumped off of his lap and had started licking at his ankle. Bruce relaxed, and had to leave before the bell to get in front of the crowd. He quietly thanked Steve before he left, but Bruce wasn't sure he had heard. He sighed, reaching down and scratching Hulk on the head. What would he do without this dog.
Lunch rolled around rather quickly, he hadn't had anymore crowds or 'Avengers' to talk to, he pulled out his lunch from his locker, and grabbed his emergency bag. Quickly, Bruce walked to the cafeteria, looking around and waiting to find the table where the Avengers sat. He walked around for a little bit, every time they passed a table with food on it, Hulk raised his head a little bit sniffling at the scent, but he kept walking. Good boy, thought Bruce before he walked right into the back of a muscled teen. He looked up shakily, holding his breath until he saw the long blond hair of Thor. Bruce smiled ad stuck his head in-between Thor's shoulders. Thor huffed in surprise at the sudden pressure and looked back and down, he smiled at the sight of Bruce and turned around fully, looking him over quickly. "You brought Hulk with you, are you alright?" Thor's face had melted into a worried expression as soon as he saw the big dog in his whole service dog outfit. Bruce sighed, shrugging.
"I guess? I just felt... bad, this morning, I guess." He shrugged again, smiling sadly. "But... Steve said I could still sit with you guys at lunch today. So I uhm... I decided that I would!" His shoulders raised to his chin, and his soft smiled turned into a fuller one and he softly chuckled. His shoulders fell and he sighed softly. He looked up at Thor who's smile had grown ever wider. Bruce heard Thor chuckle, then he felt his arm wrap around his shoulders.
"Then, come on! They'll be waiting for you, friend! And, they'll be waiting for you, friend Hulk!" Hulks stubby tail waggled as Thor said his name, and the made their way through the crowd, Hulk staying as close to Bruce as he possibly could without being squished between tables. Bruce kept a strong hold and Thor's arm, trying his best to not get lost. Soon, they were almost in the center of the cafeteria. Bruce shuttered as he saw the ever approaching back of Stark.
"Hail and well met, friends!" Thor yelled, making everyone turn and look, most of them smiled as they saw Bruce, Tony grimaced.
"Hey, Thor. Glad to see you brought button-up with you. I wanted to congratulate you, kid. You're the first person at this school to ever punch him. A big accomplishment!?" Clint said, smirking at Tony who rubbed the cheek where Bruce had punched him.
"How's your hand? Punching people can hurt." Natasha said, standing up and walking towards Bruce.
"It's fine, I didn't punch him as hard as I usually do, I've broken a finger punching someone before." He joked.
They all gaped, unsure how Bruce Banner, a nerdy and scrawny teen, had broken a finger punching someone.
"Impressive, Banner. It takes a lot of force to break a finger, which one was it?" Steve asked as Bruce and Thor moved to sit down.
"My middle finger, I squeezed my fist too hard and when my thumb moved back, it popped it out of place." He said, holding up his hand with the crooked middle finger. Clint had flinched at the explanation of how he broke it. Natasha's eyes raised even more, and Steve smiled.
"I see that you learned, glad you didn't break a finger on this guy, it wouldn't have been worth it."
Tony elbowed Steve, making a disgruntled noise as he did so.
"Wish you broke his jaw, then he wouldn't be able to talk so much, but I think you damaged his pride so much he's not even trying to defend himself." Clint laughed, dusting off the glare that came from Tony. Natasha reached across the table, grabbing and patting Bruce's hand. He smiled, scooting into Thor ever so slightly.
"Banner." Bruce's eyes shot over to Tony, who had looked right at him, dead in the eye.
"Tony."
"I... pshhhh..." He glanced over at Cap, who raised his eyebrows. "I wanted to apologize, so... sorry."
The way Tony said sorry sent him reeling, suddenly, he saw flashes of his father, his mom and himself as a child. How his father always made him apologize for what he did, how his mom would hug him, tell him that she was so sorry... his mom's face as she lay, dying.
"You alright, Bruce? You look scared almost. Didn't expect me to apologize that much that I actually scared you?"
"I have to go." Bruce stood up and almost ran out of the room, Hulk following close by. Thor stood up, lurching forward, as if about to follow when.
"I got it." Clint said, waving to Thor as he jogged off quietly. Thor moved back, as the shock of the situation set in. He paused, looking around before he sat down again awkwardly.
"Well... want to explain why he ran off as soon as I apologized?" Tony said, looking over at Thor.
"I think we'll find out soon..."
Bruce raced through the halls, breath in his throat hitching as he finally made it far enough. He collapsed, scooting over to wall, shaking as sobs wracked his body. Hulk snuggled close, licking at Bruce's face as he broke down. He felt the tears soaking his shirt, and hands, he felt his face redden, then he felt a hand on his shoulder, then someone sitting next to him, and pulling him into their chest. Bruce stopped, glancing up at the person holding him.
Clint sat, staring straight ahead. Bruce shivered, not being able to stop for long. Clint just sat, waiting for his attack to slow, Hulk clambered onto Clint's lap to get at Bruce's face. The bell rang, and still, Clint didn't move. Bruce didn't understand, he thought that Clint was a jerk, a frustrating kid that didn't care about anyone.
"I get them, too." He said, as Bruce sat up, rubbing at his eyes. He made a soft confused noise as he looked over at Clint.
"I get attacks like that, they're the worst thing ever." He said, smiling. "But, seriously, are you okay? You really worried Thor when you ran off like that."
"I... uhm... the way Tony said sorry just, brought back a lot of awful memories. I have uhm... it's a little embarrassing but... I have ptsd." Bruce looked down at his feet.
"That's not at all embarrassing, Bruce, you shouldn't have to feel bad to tell me something like that." Clint smiled and Bruce's eyes widened. He rubbed at them again, patting Hulk on the head before shakily getting to his feet.
"I think uhm... I think I'm okay now." He smiled, blinking.
"Alright, here, give me your phone real quick." Clint said, holding out his hand. Bruce handed it over, typing his passcode in first. Clint typed something in, then he stood up and walked off.
"Call me if anything happens!" He waved, walking off again.
Bruce looked down, and saw that Clint had put in his phone number.
"I will!" He smiled, even though he knew Clint wouldn't see it and made off to his next class.