𝗘𝗩𝗘𝗥𝗬𝗢𝗡𝗘 𝗖𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗬 𝗗𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗.
Charlie Stark-Rogers has grown up in the shadow of the world's greatest heroes. But spending your entire life in the face of danger takes its toll on anyone. She has secrets, thi...
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"𝐇𝐄𝐘, 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐋𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐀𝐁𝐘𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐊𝐄𝐃𝐁𝐄𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑," Natasha said to Bruce gently.
The Avengers were back on the quinjet, flying back home to New York. Charlie sat on the floor next to Bruce Banner, wrapped in a blanket. She could hear the classical music through his headphones before Bruce looked at Natasha and removed them, letting them hang over his neck.
Charlie watched as Bruce's features softened, watching Natasha speak. "Just wasn't expecting the Code Green."
"If you hadn't been there," Nat said sternly, "there would've been double the casualties. My best friend would've been a treasured memory..."
Charlie silently looked behind them to the closed off room where Clint lay in the Cradle, sporting a bullet wound.
Bruce seemed to be thinking the same thing, because he followed her gaze, looking exhausted. "You know, sometimes exactly what I want to hear isn't exactly what I want to hear."
Natasha pursed her lips. "How long before you trust me?"
Bruce smiled softly. "It's not you I don't trust."
Natasha held Bruce's eye contact for a long moment. Charlie turned her attention away from the scene, suddenly feeling like she was intruding.
She'd been feeling like that a lot lately.
Finally Natasha turned around. "Thor, report on the Hulk?"
Thor grinned, flexing his muscles with a fist. His long blonde hair hung over his shoulders, looking way too gorgeous for a man who had just fought an entire army. "The gates of Hel are filled with the screams of his victims."
Bruce groaned, covering his face with his hands. Natasha and Charlie glared at Thor, who looked bewildered.
"Uh, but, not the screams of the dead, of course," Thor amended desperately. "No no, uh...wounded screams, mainly whimpering..."
"Good lord," Charlie muttered, patting Bruce's shoulder.
"...a great deal of complaining and tales of sprained deltoids and, and uh... and gout."
"Gout? Thor, seriously?"
"Hey Banner," Tony interrupted the banter, turning around in his pilot's seat. "Dr. Cho's on her way in from Seoul, is it okay if she sets up in your lab?"
Bruce barely glanced up. "Uh, yeah, she knows her way around."
Tony turned back around and spoke with JARVIS for a moment, before standing up and wandering over to the Tesseract, which sat in the center of the quinjet.
"It feels good, yeah?" He said, turning to Thor. "I mean, you've been after this thing since SHIELD collapsed. Not that I haven't enjoyed our little raiding parties, but..."
