Inbetween: Akin to the Platypus 7

Fic Or Original: Fic

Fandom(s): Animorphs and The Avengers

Rating: T (as according to ffnet)

Characters In Chapter: Tobias, Bruce Banner/Hulk, and Tony Stark

Relationships:N/A

There were so many things that I wanted to get done in my lifetime. I wanted to defeat the Yeerks and repay Elfangor's debt. As he had laid dying, he had broken Seerow's Kindness just so that Earth would have a chance to fight back.

A small chance, but a chance nonetheless.

And now I would never be able to repay him. I would die here thinking of how stupid and foolish I had been. Why had I stayed still as Bruce transformed? Why had I not completed demorphing and flown away to safety?

Now my arm-wings were broken and I was in so much pain that I could hardly concentrate. I had to keep reminding myself not to pass out. Kept reminding myself that I had to remain alert in case there was a way out.

But why?

Standing in front of me was the other guy. A body rippling with muscles and only anger seemed to course through its veins. It was standing there, just standing, and I tried to remain as still as possible. Maybe if I didn't move then it wouldn't think I was worth anything.

Maybe it would think that I was dead.

Or not. I was basing my assumptions on how I hunted. What I would do when trying to hunt a mouse or a rabbit. I don't think that I would be lucky enough for this thing's attention to be like a hawk's.

"Ah..." I moaned, trying to stop myself from making too much noise.

From making any noise.

I tried to think of the other guy as Bruce. I looked into its eyes and tried to see the kind man that I knew that I...that I knew wouldn't hurt me. It took some time, at least it seemed so to me, until I saw a hint of Bruce there. A hint of a man scared of hurting me.

"Don't...worry..." I told him and I wondered why I was saying that.

Shouldn't I be begging him not to kill me? Trying to get to his humanity merely so I could live?

Was it really because I was a warrior rather than a child now? I had been in so many hopeless situations that I guess it would only be fitting that I died now. I couldn't really live past the war. It would feel strange just dying of old age.

I did want a life after the war...but dying in battle still seemed very fitting.

"Do...something..." I moaned as I wanted something to happen.

If he was going to kill me, I wanted him to do it now. I didn't want to wait to die. I didn't want a chance to see it coming, I just wanted to get it over with. No more fear. No more pain.

I stared at the other guy and didn't know what expression I was going for. Controlling my facial expression was a strain for me, so I didn't know if I had a scared or defiant face on.

Whatever expression was on my face must have affected the other guy in some way. One moment he was staring back at me and the next he was going away. Probably to destroy something. I was glad that we were so far in the middle of nowhere that it was highly unlikely that Bruce would wake up to a few murders on his hands.

I coughed a few times as I caught my breath. For a few minutes I couldn't move. I kept expecting the other guy to run at me. To kill me.

But the other guy didn't. He didn't come charging at me in a mad fit of rage. Had Bruce got him under control enough to keep him away from me?

But why would Bruce feel that strongly about me. As I gingerly stood up, I realized which way my thoughts were pointing. Then that moment of clarity was gone and I morphed human. Then I took a deep breath.

Morphing human again hadn't repaired all of my injuries. Some were in places that hadn't gotten to changing to hawk, so those bruises were still there. Painful as ever.

I waited a few minutes to catch my breath and focused on demorphing. The first thing that changed this time were my eyes. Maybe I was so scared about the other guy that I just wanted to make sure I saw him coming.

As I shrunk in size, with no other changes, I looked around for the creature. For the man. For the beast.

When I reached the size of a red-tailed hawk my arms started to change to wing shape, but retained their human appearance. I laughed as I thought that I wanted to get away so badly that this was an especially gross morph.

"Wt!" I yelped as my vocal chords were half hawk and half human.

"Anyone ever tell you that looks disgusting?" Tony asked as he flew me high into the air.

Focusing on demorphing, if only to reply to Tony, I quickly finished it. My hawk mind was panicked, more panicked than I was, as it was in confusion over what had picked us up. Deciding if Tony was an enemy or a friend. Plus, hawks didn't like to be restrained from flying.

Anyone ever tell you you're slow? I asked as I finally managed to calm the hawk part of my mind.

"I thought you'd have it under control." Tony replied. "You said you could morph quickly. And then Bruce changed...It would've been suicide to rescue you then."

I know I had messed up. I had messed up big. It wasn't a small mistake, but a rather large one. If I hadn't stopped to stare at the transformation I wouldn't have nearly died. I wouldn't have nearly died in a dimension where I didn't exist.

I'm sorry. I said and tried to preen myself. I don't know what happened.

"You got scared, it happens." Tony said, though he didn't sound like he believed himself.

What did he know about me and Bruce that I didn't know?
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