Welcome to the Jungle...

[agentx13]

Who: Sharon Carter and the other freedom fighters.
Where: THE WOODS. The big bad scary woods!
When: Day 31
What: Escape attempt numero uno.



Sharon stands facing the forest, standing perfectly still and breathing calmly. One hand rests on her hip with her gun, the other is held in front of her face so she can see the comm. What no one on the comm can see is that she's also holding her knife. You can never be too careful when planning to take on unknown legions of men that had managed to capture the Hulk. And Natasha. And Tony Stark. And her aunt.

And a bunch of kids. And Barton. And a Steve.

Really, it's hard to tell where these people screwed up first. Messing with Sharon? Messing with the people around her? It doesn't matter. Either way, she's tired of sitting around and trying to learn information about them. They may know now as much as they ever will. And that means that they have to fight. As much as Sharon doubts they'll succeed, she also knows that they have to try. They can't just sit around like lemmings waiting for the food to run out.

She studies the gaps between the trees, then the trees themselves. The captives don't control the environment here. Dangers could be hidden anywhere here.

She may have waited too long to try this. People might be too weak from hunger, not at their best.

But they have to try.

No matter what happens, that's what it boils down to. They have to try.

Comments

[manofiron]

He turns, looking up at him as he tries to figure out what to say. Too much seems like a conflict of interest. Bruce and the Hulk have enough problems, the last thing he wants is to turn them even further against each other than they already are. But he feels like he owes the Hulk at least some explanation, since he goes so far as to call him a friend.

"Yeah, I'm your friend. I thought I was his friend too, but it turns out that I'm not. Can't say I blame him." He gives him a smile, encouraging and understanding. Everyone deserves an out, and he gives him one now. "You can tell me to hit the road too. I'll understand. I'm not good for people. I know that. I won't have any hard feelings."

[greenisnteasy]

The Hulk does not like this idea at all. He's only now learning the value of friends, but he likes it when people aren't mean to him, and he likes it even more when they aren't afraid of him. Iron Man's always been so easy with him, and the Hulk can sense that, not that he realizes it in so many terms.

"I'm not people. We're friends." And stupid Banner's not going to change that.

He frowns, trying to tug at the connection to Banner, trying to see what's wrong, but that's not really reliable.

"What happened?"

[manofiron]

It would be easier if he could say that something horrible happened. If he could blame it on some outside factor. But the truth is even worse, at least to Tony, and he’s not going to spare himself by lying to the Hulk. What happened to prompt Bruce to ask him to stay out of his life?

“He got to know me.”

It’s the same thing that always happens. He opens up, lets someone in beyond the public persona, and then he watches as whoever he thought to trust walks away. It’s not their fault. He never blames them. They can’t help wanting to distance themselves from him. He wants to distance himself from himself. That’s a large part of why he drinks.

[greenisnteasy]

The Hulk can't really say he knows Iron Man that well at all, but that doesn't really bother him; how many in-depth conversations has he ever had to know what he might be missing? He knows all he needs to know about Iron Man: that he likes the Hulk, and the Hulk likes him back. There really isn't much that could change that, unless Iron Man suddenly started hating him.

What he doesn't get, though, is that nothing feels all that different. He hasn't had a lot of practice there either, but when he fought that other monster, the one he nearly choked, he could feel Banner's hate and rage spilling over -- specific, targeted hate and rage.

He's quiet for a long minute, head bowed, and then he shakes his head as if shaking himself out of it.

"Banner doesn't hate you." He thinks. He doesn't sound entirely sure because the space between them isn't that easy to navigate; plus he doesn't really like it because he has to try to get close to the Banner part of his mind, and no thanks. He snorts.

"Forget Banner anyway. He's no good."

[manofiron]

He considers what the Hulk tells him, conceding to himself that he’s probably right. Bruce doesn’t hate him. Hate requires a great deal of emotion, it requires the one feeling it to care, and Tony knows that Bruce doesn’t care, neither positively nor negatively. And perhaps it’s for the best. Tony doesn’t really want to be hated. He’s hated enough as it is.

Glancing up, he gives the Hulk a lopsided, humorless smile. “Trust me, I’m trying my best.”

Dwelling on the past isn’t getting him anywhere, not in any of the aspects of his life that haunt him. He won’t add Bruce to the list. After all, he’s just a guy Tony worked with once, a guy he’d gotten abducted with. Nothing more. That’s what he’ll keep telling himself, and maybe, if he’s lucky, he’ll believe it one day.

He nods toward the trees. “What say we go give those things some hell?”