The Ultimate Fix-It Fic

2| Finest Moment

After they reached cruising altitude, Natasha left the co-pilot's seat, flipping Tony off as she walked over to check on Clint.

The injured Hawkeye gave her a thumb's up and a smirk as the thumb that was up slowly drifted over to point at Bruce.

Natasha rolled her eyes at her best friend and went over to the scientist, who was calming down via classical music.

Bruce glanced up as she sat down across from him. He took off his headphones.

She offered him a small smile. "Hey, the lullaby worked better than ever," she said softly.

Bruce nodded, already looking down. "Just wasn't expecting a code green," he mumbled. He was always very self-deprecating, she noticed.

"If you hadn't been there, they would've been double the casualties," Nat told him, hoping to lift his spirits. "My best friend would've been a treasured memory."

Bruce chuckled. "You know, exactly what I want to hear isn't..." he sighed, "exactly what I want to hear."

Natasha studied him with careful eyes. "How long before you trust me?" she asked quietly.

The scientist returned her cautious gaze. "It's not you I don't trust."

Natasha nodded. "Thor, report on the Hulk." She called over her shoulder.

"The gates of Hel are filled with the screams of his victims." Thor replied.

Natasha whipped her head around to glare at the god accusingly. Behind her, Bruce groaned and hid his face in his hands.

Thor quickly realized his mistake. "But not the screams of the dead, of– of course. No, no, wounded screams." He was struggling, Nat could tell. "Mainly whimpering, a great deal of complaining, uh, and tales of sprained deltoids and... gout." He slowly lost steam in his report.

Natasha stifled the desire to roll her eyes.

"Hey, Banner, Dr. Cho is on her way in from Seoul." Tony called from the front. "Is it okay if she sets up in your lab?"

Bruce glanced in Tony's direction. "Yeah, she knows her way around."

Nat looked way from the scientist, her mind already pulling up information on Dr. Helen Cho. Mentally disgruntled that she couldn't find any flaws about her, Natasha shook her head.

"Thanks." Tony said. Then he said something quieter that Natasha didn't bother listening to.

She looked back at Bruce. "Look, you did really well today, and he was very receptive to the lullaby, and he was listening to instruction." Her eyes roved over his hunched shoulders. "We're getting somewhere, Bruce. We should count it as a win," she said. When he glanced up, Nat smirked softly. "And besides, don't forget I'm taking you out for ice cream for that very daring rescue last time."

"That wasn't even me," Bruce protested. "It was the oth– the Hulk!"

Nat smiled. "I wasn't talking about that." She watched as it dawned on the scientist what she was referring to, and he flushed lightly. "Thanks for the save, doc."

-

When they landed, Natasha followed Dr. Cho and Clint's gurney as they rushed him to the lab and watched her 3D-print Clint back together.

"You sure he's going to be okay?" Natasha asked. "Pretending to need this guy really brings the team together."

"There's no possibility of deterioration." Dr. Cho said. "The nano-molecular functionality is instantaneous." She tapped a few buttons on the machine's screen. "His cells don't know they're bonding with simulecra."

Bruce grinned. "She's creating tissue." He explained, as if Nat didn't know perfectly what Cho meant the first time.

Natasha just stared down at Clint, trying to look unimpressed.

"If you brought him to my lab, the Regeneration Cradle could do this in 20 minutes." Dr. Cho noted.

Tony walked in with a tray of drinks. "Oh, he's flat-lining. Call it. Time?" He handed out the drinks.

Clint chuckled. "No, no, no. I'm going to live forever. I'm gonna be made of plastic."

"Here's your beverage, Barty."

Dr. Cho smiled. "You'll be made of you, Mr. Barton. Your own girlfriend won't be able to tell the difference."

"I don't have a girlfriend." Clint interjected.

The doctor rolled her eyes. "That I can't fix." She glanced over at her computers and looked back at Tony triumphantly. "This is the next thing, Tony. Your clunky metal suits are going to be left in the dust."

Tony nodded. "That is exactly the plan." He said. "And, Helen, I'm expecting to see you at the party on Saturday."

Dr. Cho sighed. "Unlike you, Tony, I don't have a lot of time for parties." She paused, as if to reconsider. "Will... Thor be there?"

Natasha patted Clint on the face before leaving the lab to let the situation progress without her unecessary prescence.

Clint grunted as her finger hit his eye.

Nat set off to get her paperwork from Maria. After every mission, she had to fill out all these reports and papers and secretly, she wondered if Hill just made her do the work just for the sake of it. God knows what else Natasha would be doing with her time.

"How'd it go with Barton?" Hill asked as Nat came in.

"He'll be fine." Natasha waved it off. "Apparently, he's going to live forever and be made out of plastic."

Maria chuckled. "Reminds me of that time we fished Coulson out of that lake and he insisted he was fine and within the next minute, he got hypothermia and May had to watch him because he was hallucinating about jumping off a cliff."

Natasha nodded. "He thought he was bungee jumping, right?" She sat down at the table and started filling things in. "And then he rolled off the couch?"

"Yep, that's the one." Maria shook her head. "Poor May. She had to watch the love of her life mumble about bungee jumping with dolphins."

"I thought we weren't supposed to talk about the love thing," Natasha remarked. "May said we weren't allowed."

Both she and Maria started laughing.

"Want a drink?" Maria asked, pulling out a wine glass.

"Sure," Nat replied. "Want to help me with this paperwork?" she asked cheerily.

"No way in hell."

Natasha rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "You're no fun."

Maria mock-gasped. "I can be fun. Watch." She took a sip from her wine glass, sitting down. "How are you and Dr. Banner doing?" She asked, straight-faced.

Nat suddenly glared. "Don't even start."

"Did I hit a nerve, Romanoff?" Maria teased.

Natasha buried her head in her arms. "Fuck. You." She lifted her head briefly to address the other agent. "You are so annoying."

"You started it." Maria retorted. She snickered. "Dumbass." She set down her wine. "But seriously, how's everything going with him?"

"It's going fine. He said he trusts me, but..." Nat shrugged. "Well, I'm taking him for ice cream on Thursday. For the catch."

"Ooh, like a date?" Maria ducked as Natasha chucked a pen at her face.

"Shut up." Nat complained. "It's not like that."

"Then what is it like?"

Natasha threw the files at Maria's head and made a break for it. It wasn't her finest moment.