Avengers: Peace in our Time

12-Vision

The cave was just as it had been before Thor had been completely immersed in the entire dream. Once all was done, he lay on his back, staring up into the narrow crack up above. As he finished returning to himself, the three Norns entered his field of vision.

"Look at how handsome he is," one of them spoke finally. "Certainly more strapping than his father."

"Perhaps we should keep him?"

"No! You know that is not his fate."

"I was only making a joke!"

Thor sat up and the three crones backed away from him. He rose to his feet and looked down at his absence of clothing. The Norns stared at him and rubbed their hands as water dripped from his naked body. He looked around the cave for any sign of his clothes.

"I'll just...uh...I'll just collect my armor," he finally said in a rare display of shyness.

"Are you sure?" one of the Norns asked as she approached him.

Another of the Norns swatted her sister's hand. "Stop it. You know his fate lies with the mortal."

"The mortal? Dean?" Thor asked.

The three hags stood in silence before one of them spoke up. "Your fates are certainly entwined. Though that is all I can reveal."

Thor found his armor neatly compiled near the edge of the well. After hastily dressing, he gave the three hags an embarrassed nod before walking out of the cave.

"What a lucky mortal, Dean Allen is," one of the Norns said with a wistful smile.

"He knows how lucky he is," the third Norn said. "Dean Allen just doesn't know what he is. Not yet."

Bruce had enjoyed the quiet of an empty Avengers Tower. The vacancy gave him time to think, time to reflect. When he and Natasha had last spoken, she'd told him about her vision. A glimpse into her past in the Red Room. He had been in the midst of telling her their relationship could never work. Of course, the recent rampage he'd gone on had solidified this for him. Prior to that, he had actually started to believe that something beautiful could begin for him. Maybe this was his opportunity for something normal and solid. Then the witch had entered his head and the rest was news report after news report of the devastation his alter ego had caused.

"I can't give you the type of life you want, Tasha," he tried to reason with her. "Do the math, I physically can't. I can't give you kids or..."

"Me neither," Natasha spoke up. "Once the Red Room has finished turning you into one of it's killers, they perform a graduation ceremony. They sterilize you." She paused and fought back a rare display of deeper emotion. "It's an efficient process. Which is probably for the best because it means you have one less thing to worry about. The one thing that may take priority over any mission can never exist. It made everything I did so much easier. Even the killing. You still think you're the only monster on the team?"

Bruce's heart ached for Natasha's past trauma. He wanted nothing more than to do exactly what she then suggested- run away together. Maybe they could? But Ultron was the priority now. Maybe, if they survived, they could revisit that topic. As he sat and waited for the others to return, he found that he couldn't stop thinking about it. Running away with Natasha. Leaving everything behind in favor of some kind of happiness.

Bruce was just in the midst of trying to determine whether happiness was in the cards for him when Tony and Clint returned.

"Where are the others?" Bruce asked as he looked around expectantly.

Clint shook his head. "Once I got the cradle, Cap told me to get here pronto."

Bruce could tell from Clint's worried face that all was not well. "The others?"