Bruce x Reader Chapter 14

"GET OUT!" You screamed after finding a flock of sheep all staring at you and Bruce upon arriving back at the castle. Bruce jumped at the sheer volume of your voice as you screamed at the flock causing them to charge at you and Bruce. "AND STAY OUT!" You slammed the front doors shut with a small part of your magic -that gave your eyes a tint of dark blue- after both you and Bruce dodged the fleeing flock.

"I swear I will turn them all into a dish for dinner one night!" You shouted before turning and looking at the mess that they had left behind, "Bruce, could you see how the great hall is looking please?"

"Sure." He said while taking off the clock you had given him as he walked towards the stairs. He looked around the great hall as he walked down the stairs and seen that there was mud leading away from the stairs towards the library where they turned around and headed to the kitchen. "(F/N), am I right in saying you have an enchantment over the library entrances?"

"Yep!" You called back while fixing one of the jade busts causing your skin to turn blue, the dark blue to flood your eyes and your hair to thicken and darken until black. You were keeping an eye open for Bruce coming back up the stairs as you didn't want him to see this form.

"Explains a lot." Bruce said causing you to smile, "I'm guessing it's the same for the kitchen and the stairs?"

"Yeah it is." You said while slotting a piece back into place. As you let your attention slip away from the staircase to the bust you didn't realise that Bruce had seen the door you had locked earlier that was now busted open -due to what looked like the ram's horns picking a fight with the door. The hole in the door was big enough to allow a person through to the other side.

*

"Hey Tony," Natasha said as she walked back through to the lab after going through the cognitive interview with Rona, "Rona and I have finished up the interview and I- Umm... Hi?"

"Greetings!" Three voices sang together as Natasha stopped in the doorway of the lab.

"Hi... Uhh... Thor?" Natasha asked before turning to said God of Thunder and pointing to the four other gods in the lab -two of which were smiling at her, one was talking to Tony and the other one was looking at Natasha with a straight face.

"Lady Natasha, this is Lady Sif and the Warriors Three." Thor said smiling before introducing each of the Warriors Three, "This is Fandral the Dashing,

"Hello fair maiden." Fandral said while stridding forward towards Natasha before taking her hand and kissing the back of it lightly.

"Hogun the Grim." Thor said as Sif rolled her eyes and grabbed Fandral by the back of his armour before pulling him back while Hogun nodded to Natasha, "And finally Volstagg the Valiant."

"Good to meet you." Natasha said while recovering from her surprise while Volstagg waved and smiled at her.

"Good to m-!?" Tony said shocked, "It's wonderful to meet them! They've already helped in the search for Bruce!"

"What!? How!?" Natasha asked.

"We've eliminated some of the places you were looking in originally for the 'energy readings'." Sif said.

"Great! So where have you eliminated?" Natasha asked as she crossed the room to Tony and Sif.

"Edinburgh." Tony said, "There's nothing here in any records -other than arrest, trials and death records- that tells us the witch will be in Edinburgh."

"Okay so that leaves us with the rest of Scotland to cover." Natasha said.

"No, it doesn't." Sif said, "If we take into account the way that Loki use to ambush us in training then that narrows the amount of land to cover even more." Natasha raised an eye brow. "Let me explain."

"Please do." Tony said.

"I'll go and get the others." Natasha said before turning and leaving the lab.

*

Bruce pushed the wood of the door forward causing it to creak slightly. He looked up the stairs but you were nowhere in sight causing him to look back at the broken door before looking at the cloak in his hand. Looking back up the stairs one more time he checked that you were busy before throwing the cloak over the bottom of the hole in the door and then pushed some of the wood downwards so they were pointing towards the ground a bit more. The cloak had muffled the creaking noises of protest enough for you not to hear them as Bruce made it safe for him to slip through the hole onto the other side.

*

"So, Loki's tactic in training was to find an isolated place with a high vantage point." Sif said, "It worked many times in our training sessions against ambush. He would always chose somewhere high, lots of visibility, remote, easy to defend and surprisingly it worked every time. It gave him time to plan his moves for every possible situation that we could create. He knew how to break our defences at every turn."

"So we're looking for a remote place with a building like a fort that's high up?" Clint asked.

"Exactly." Volstagg said, "It would need to be all of these things in order to both house and defend someone and the last time any of us were here on Midguard no-one really liked the idea of magic being used."

"But the whole of Scotland is littered with castles and forts." Steve said, "So how are we going to narrow this list down?"

"Well how many of them are ruins?" Hogan asked plainly.

"A good number of them." Steve said, "Only the ones in the city and very few others are still fully in tack." Hogan nodded as Volstagg spoke again.

"Then we'll have to look at each of them in turn and assess them." He said, "It will take time to do but it will help narrow down the number of places you're looking at."

"It won't take long if we use JARVIS to do a search." Tony said.

"I've already started Sir." JARVIS said from the computer next to Tony.

"Thank you." Tony said before smiling, "One step closer."

"Well we're about to give you another step." Fandral said, "From Heimdall himself."

*

Bruce had walked down the corridor to find the other door. It was closed over so he tested the handle -it was unlocked- and then pushed it slowly open. The amethyst sphere was the first thing that caught Bruce's eye as it sat peacefully glowing upon its display pillow prompting him to walk towards it. He frowned as he felt his shoe hit something on the floor causing him to stop and look down at the item -it was a book. He now noticed many other books lying on the floor along with sheets of paper, photographs, printouts and newspapers.

"What the?" He asked himself.

*

"Wait!" Clint said, "Heimdall is saying that there's more than just two of these beings out there? I mean more than this Chaos woman and this freaky guy with a giant ruby?"

"Heimdall has been looking into it and he tells us that there's a lot more than anyone thought." Sif said, "There's all kinds of being on Earth. Even ones that shouldn't be here or are meant to be extinct. There's a whole living and breathing community ranging into the thousands in Scotland alone."

"Are they living within the human population?" Natasha asked.

"Some of them are." Sif said, "But many are living underground in a place called the Undercity."

"How does Heimdall know this?" Steve asked.

"He's all-seeing." Fandral said.

"But even at that these beings are evading his sight." Hogan said, "They are powerful with a very old power surrounding them."

"What could this old power be?" Steve asked but the four new members of the team shrugged, "Alright, tell me this instead -how do we find them then?"

"Do what you've already been doing so far." Sif said, "Look into all the records you have. This group -the Brotherhood- they seem to know everything about these witches and wizards rather well so they should hopefully have the information you are looking for."

"I'm on it!" Tony said.

*

You slotted the last piece of the jade bust into place before placing it back on its stand and dusting off its head. You smiled to yourself as you looked around the entrance hall -Bruce hadn't come up the stairs. Though your smile fell away as you seen the amount of mess you had to clean up and knowing that the sheep had wondered in you were going to have to search for stray birds within the castle walls.

"Wonderful!" You said sarcastically as your skin slowly started to return to normal. You walked towards the staircase while undoing the Celtic clasp and removing your tartan shawl. "Bruce, was anything damaged down-?" You stopped at you reached halfway down the stairs. You noticed that Bruce wasn't in the great hall and before you knew it your eyes fell upon the broken door.

"No!"

*

Bruce had bent down and picked up the book he had kicked along with a few of the papers, photographs, printouts and newspapers. His eyes skimmed over the titles, over their contents, the faces they held and the information that they gave both on their own and what could be found when the pieces of the puzzle you had been constructing. He was even more surprised when he found that the work he had done back at SHEILD HQ in Edinburgh closely mirrored that which you had done -only your work was in greater detail and understanding.

"The explosion, the reports from SHEILD, images, video feed, death records, travel records, statements," He said out loud as he looked through all of the items on the floor. He searched through the mass surrounding the pedestal that the sphere sat upon. He stopped when he seen a large brown leather bound book causing him to put the other items down and walk over to the large book. He undone a large brass buckle and opened the book while standing up to read it with the light from the sphere. "Trial and Execution records? Why would you be looking into that?" He let his eyes skim over the first page but he didn't read much of it as you ran into the room.

"Bruce!" You shouted as you came around the corner of the corridor. You stopped in the doorway as Bruce looked up at you. "What are you doing?" You tried to sound calm and natural but the worry you felt made it into your voice causing it to shake slightly which Bruce heard.

"I umm... I was just having a look. To see if anything was broken." He said. You looked around the room quickly before turning back to him.

"Thank you." You whispered as the words barely managed to leave your mouth.

"(F/N), what are you doing with all this?" Bruce said while gesturing to the floor. You frowned before the candles began to flicker to life as you realised what he was talking about.

"I-I was looking into the explosion at Edinburgh Castle." You told him truthfully as you slowly stepped towards him. Your eyes darted to the sphere as it gave a very soft pulse before looking back at Bruce as he looked back at the book in his hands.

"You're using Trail and Execution records to look into the explosion?" Bruce asked while reading the first page, "How can these help you (F/N)? They're records from the 17th and 18th century." He looked back at you as you stopped about a foot away from the sphere.

"Have you read what the trails and executions were for?" You asked in a whisper. The question caused Bruce to frown before turning back to the book.

"Witch Trails."

*

"Hey Tony." Natasha said as the others of the team left the lab after talking to Sif and the Warriors Three.

"Yeah?" Tony asked after looking up from the printouts of records that he had looking for the Undercity.

"I'm going over what Rona said in her interview with me and something doesn't add up." She said.

"What do you mean?" Tony asked with a frown.

"It's what she says when we get to the storm part." Natasha said, "She said that she put up a shield but then changed it to 'I shielded my face with my arms' then she goes on to say she went looking for Bruce and when she found him he was awake and having difficulty trying to keep control."

"What did she say next?" Tony asked.

"Something I didn't understand." Natasha said, "It was another language."

"What was it?"

"Caidil."

"What Hell does that mean?"

"I wish I knew."

"Did she say anything else?" Natasha shook her head.

"After that she only remembers being outside the hall watching the ice disappear before rushing inside looking for you."

"Wait, she went back inside looking for me? Not her cousin or her brother or Bruce?"

"She knew that Markus was outside as he was next to her before she ran back inside the hall. As for Bruce I think she must have assumed that he was outside as well her as she can't remember leaving the hall -just her brother holding her at arm’s length asking if she was okay."

"What about (F/N)?"

"What about her?"

"Where was she at the time?" Natasha frowned at the question, "Nat, does anyone know where (F/N) was during the fire and the ice?" She just looked at him blankly. She didn't know the answers Tony was asking for. "Does anyone know where she was at all after all the madness passed?"

"T-Tony... I-I don't know..."

"JARVIS, do a search for a Miss (F/N) (L/N). We need her address and her where-about as fast as you can."

"Right away Sir."

*

"Shit!" A female voice said while the owner of the voice moved their pure white hands away from a sphere showing Tony and Natasha sat in the lab talking. Once their hands had been removed the image of Tony and Natasha faded away to show a crystal sphere before it turned into a silvery white shimmering pattern covered a sea green Seraphinite sphere. "This isn't good. Charlie!"

"Yes, Miss MacDonald?" A tall and skinny woman with short spiky hair, deep brown eyes and pure white skin asked after opening up a light wood veneer door. She stood in the doorway while watching the smaller woman in front of her.

"Send a message to my brother Markus." The woman said while turning to face Charlie and looked upon her with large grey eyes, "Tell him that SHEILD are looking for the Madam."

"Of course." Charlie said before looking back at the smaller woman as she turned away from her and back to the Seraphinite sphere, "Rona, is the Madam going to be alright?" Rona looked back at Charlie. Gone were her green eyes and her long ginger hair and replaced with watchful and unreadable grey eyes and long straight lilac hair.

"I don't know Charlie." Rona said, "I honestly don't know. She won't talk! Not to Markus, not to me!"

"What about this human she has staying with her?" Charlie asked while walking over to Rona and placing a thin hand on one of Rona's slim shoulders, "This Doctor Banner, do you think he can loosen her tongue and get something out of her?" Rona laughed.

"If he can manage that then I'll pray to God and thank him for the miracle." Rona said causing Charlie to laugh.

"I'll get that message to your brother and then maybe you should go back to your guests." Charlie said while walking away from Rona and over to the door she came through, "I can entertain them a little longer while you gather your thoughts just enough to look human again."

"Thank you Charlie." Rona said before Charlie closed the door.

*

"Were you looking for the Warlock in these records?" Bruce asked as you watched him. His question made you think about how to continue and not before long you slowly nodded your head. "Were you expecting him to appear again?" You sighed while shifting uncomfortably.

"In some time to come there will be an event of disaster where they will meet again; the witch and the devil that put her upon his cross." You recited causing Bruce to watch you, "They will return and in a flash of light and heat causing an explosion of such power it will send angels and the Brotherhood running, humankind into panic and creatures of the dark into divide.

"Two weeks ago there was a flash of light and heat that caused an extremely powerful explosion. We were both in it. The Devil's Servant returned to full power that night for the first time in three hundred and fourteen years but he was only one side of the coin. There was also another being, from the same time as him and just as powerful. At one point they viewed each other as equals."

"The Witch Upon the Devil's Cross." Bruce said understanding what you were meaning, "She's still alive?" You nodded in reply. "So the story is true and the prediction is true as well?"

"The Brotherhood is already worrying about what happened." You said before smiling slightly as a thought past through your mind, "They'll run for the hills if they find out that the Devil's Servant is back. The amount of destruction he caused back then would make the Battle of New York look like nothing more than a child's temper tantrum."

"Isn't that what it was in the first place?" Bruce asked causing you to laugh slightly before reaching out for the book in Bruce's hands. He frowned at you causing you to withdraw your hands.

"Do you still want to know about him and what happened?" You asked causing Bruce to nod and you to give him a small smile, "Okay, we're going to need all this then. I hope you're ready for another history lesson?" You bent down and started to collect some of the papers off of the floor.

"Is it more in depth than the last one?" Bruce asked as he helped collect all the papers on the floor.