Between Life and Death

Chapter 17

As everyone was quietly seated inside the quinjet, it was clear how frazzled everyone looked with the loss. Thor was a nervous wreck, Bruce was holding a blanket tightly around him, Bucky had his head low, while Steve and Natasha were staring into the distance.

"You guys dodged a bullet with Banner there." Maria's voice broke the silence as Bruce shrank in embarrassment only to be comforted by y/n who patted his back. "It's fine." She whispered.

"How's the team?" Maria asked Tony who was on a call with her as he sat beside Clint who was flying the jet. "We took a hit." Tony said as he glanced at everyone.

"We'll shake it off." He reassured her as he looked over at Maria on the screen. There was silence again as no one agreed with Tony or none of them even heard him.

"What do we do now?" Tony asked her as he was also at a loss on what to do. "Right now all of you are clearly vulnerable from whatever Ultron did to you back there. Which also makes you guys a great target right now. So I suggest laying low and try to get your act together."

"You're probably right." Tony said as he nodded in agreement.  "We'll keep in touch when we locate Ultron." Maria said before cutting the call with him.

Y/n who's been silently listening in on their conversation got up and went over to Bruce as Tony went over to Clint. "Can I sit here?" She asked Bruce who had his headphones on as he listened to opera music.

Bruce quickly removed his headphones and offered the seat in front of him. "Of course." He said as y/n gratefully sat on the vacant seat. "I'd like to apologize for using my powers on you earlier." Y/n said as she looked down.

Bruce faintly smiled as he's never seen this side of y/n before. It made her seem normal for a while. "How are you feeling?" Y/n asked as he looked back up at Bruce.

"First of all, there's nothing to apologize for y/n. And second, I feel much better." He reassured her and smiled which made her sigh in relief. "That's a relief." She mumbled.

"Why did you feel the need to apologize? You helped me, remember?" Bruce asked as y/n had her eyes fixated on her fidgeting hands. "You probably realize what my power is by now." Y/n said as she ignored his questions.

"I can manipulate or compel someone into doing anything I want." Y/n said as she looked regretful while still looking at her hands. "I usually have no problems using it unless it's for my family and friends."

"So what's the problem? We are friends, right?" Bruce asked and y/n looked at him in confusion. She just told him how she can manipulate anyone but Bruce's first response was to ask if they were friends which caught her off guard.

"You see us as friends now, right?" Bruce asked confidently but it sounded more like it was a statement rather than a question. Y/n smiled and shook her head lightly as she didn't realize that there were still people like Bruce in the world.

"I mean, you guys did help us find Wanda and Pietro." Y/n said as she looked at everyone. "So, yeah. I think of you guys as my friends." She confessed which made Bruce smile as she finally opened up to him.

"Well, I think some of our friends could use some help." Bruce said as he looked back at the team who was sulking. "Yeah, I noticed that too." Y/n said as her eyes landed on Natasha whom she had never seen this distracted before.

"I'll talk to you again Bruce." Y/n said as she stood up and made her way towards Natasha who was still lost in her thoughts. Before she could even come close to her Bucky stopped her and pulled her to sit beside him.

"What was that for?" Y/n asked as she looked at Bucky in confusion. "I know that face y/n. It's not your job to try to fix this team." Bucky said as he had his eyebrows furrowed as he stared at his sister.