lake of shadows

04- welcome to new york

It's been waiting for you!

Nearly a day later, Bruce Banner looked out the window of the quinjet and saw the Avenger's tower reflecting the colors of the vibrant sunset. He loved flying, especially when he could look out the window. He felt a few turns of the jet, and it landed itself smoothly into the tower. He could feel his heartbeat drop to his stomach when he realized what he was about to face. The people he may or may not see. Somewhere in the gut of his stomach, it turned at the thought of the redhead still living there. It had been two years. Things change, people move on. He had a passing thought and wondered if all his things were still there. Honestly, from the minute he'd woken up in that small cottage in Fiji, he wondered if his dreams had come true. Hearing that girl's voice, he could have sworn it was Natasha. It was actually all he was thinking about now, gosh maybe it was a mistake to come back.

"Dr. Banner, are you okay," a concerned Maria Hill questioned. "Your face is pale."

"Um... no, no yes. Yes?" His hands shook. She offered him a soft smile and a hand. He took her hand and slowly stood to gather his thoughts. He stepped off the jet and marveled at the city that he'd honestly missed.

"Welcome home Dr. Banner," Steve affirmed with a pat on the shoulder.

"Brucie Boy," an overly enthusiastic Tony Stark said as he bounced up to the doctor. He embraced him in a long, but nice hug. Bruce could have sworn he saw tears beneath the billionaire's sunglasses.

"Tony, nice to see you, man."

"You have got a heck of a lot of explaining to do," he said as he separated from him to examine the figures heading down the ship. "Oh no not again."

"Metal Man," Thor exclaimed as he exited the ship, Loki following close behind.

"Fury called, he wants his look back," Tony said as he observed Thor's eye patch. "What's he doing here?" He turned his attention to Loki. "Weren't you trying to kill everyone last time I saw you?"

"It varies from moment to moment," Loki huffed with an eye roll.

"That's what I said," the physicist exclaimed, "And then that's how he... that's how he answered me," he said as he let his voice trail off.

"Well, do I need to show you to your room, or do you remember where it is," Tony sassed.

"If it's still in the same place, yes."

"It definitely is. All your stuff should be in there too unless Red took it all." Bruce nervously laughed in response. "Anyways, I'll let you get settled in, but when you're ready I gotta show you the lab. I made tons of upgrades, you're going to turn green over it."

***

A few hours after her departure, Natasha rolled up in the driveway of Clint Barton's farmhouse in upstate New York. Since the whole autonomous robot situation happened, Natasha convinced the Barton Family to move closer.

"Auntie Nat," Nathaniel exclaimed as he flung the door open after seeing her car pull up. He jumped at the woman, wrapping his small arms tightly around her waist.

"Natasha! What a nice surprise," Laura Barton said as she welcomed her into the home.

"I did tell you that if I moved closer, I would be here much more often." She picked up the small child.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah, I'm gonna need a drink to answer that question." Laura laughed in response. "Later of course. I need to kill some time."

"Ahh of course. Planning to spend the night?"

"If it's alright?"

"You know you're always welcome here. I mean the kids love you. I think Clint is a little restless, so this may actually be good for him." The two moved to sit on the taupe-colored couch, careful to not step on any toys on the way.