The Ultimate Fix-It Fic

4| I Love You

Natasha sat in a tense silence as Bruce fidgeted with his new phone restlessly and Happy sped his way to the Tower.

Once they got there, she, Bruce, and Happy rode the elevator up to the hangar quickly. They met with Tony there, who was holding a box.

He handed it to Bruce. "You need to stay on the island," the billionaire said stonily.

Bruce smiled wryly. "I know."

Natasha nodded to the Quinjet. "You ready to go?" she asked quietly.

The scientist nodded. Nat saw him waving to Tony out of the corner of her eye and she sighed.

This was such a waste of time. The government didn't even need Bruce under control. This was bringing him stress that she thought he had beaten months ago.

"You okay?" she called over her shoulder softly.

"Yeah."

After they reached a cruising altitude, Nat turned on stealth and let Quinn, the jet's personalized AI, take the wheel. Natasha stepped out and sat next to Bruce. "Hey."

He barely acknowledged her.

Nat reached for his hands, but he flinched away. She withdrew quickly. "Bruce."

"Natasha." The scientist wouldn't meet her eyes.

She sighed. "Bruce, I know this is hard, but once I know you're safe on the island, I'm flying out to DC and making that ass of a president to–"

"–Natasha," Bruce interrupted, and she fell silent. "I deserve it. This. The arrest." He looked at her, finally, only for her to see the horribly miserable expression he had on. "You know. Tony knows. Soon enough Peter will know, if he didn't already. I'm a monster that destroyed valuable infrastructure. If not a monster, a criminal." He let out a shaky breath. "I deserve it. Don't– don't bother with going to DC–"

Natasha didn't even know what she could do to stop him from his self-deprecating spiral, but she went with her instinct and she kissed him, effectively shutting him up. She could feel his frown still, but as she pulled away, she swore she saw that he had the faintest hint of a smile. "I will bother, Bruce, because despite what you might think, you matter too much to me for you to be under government control. You–" she broke off, hesitating– "You– godammit–"

"I what?" Bruce smiled dryly. "Deserve it?"

Natasha glared at him. "I am trying to accurately tell you how I feel about you and you are not helping. So shut up."

"I'd say make me, but–"

Nat kissed him again, frustrated and amused at the same time, even though amused wasn't the thing to be in the current situation. She separated from him, hands pulling away from his hair. "Bruce," she mumbled. "You make me go crazy. And I... I love you." Natasha closed her eyes, regretting everything and her last sentence.

"Tasha," Bruce said softly, and she opened her eyes slowly. He was smiling at her faintly. "Tash. This is a shit situation to tell me. I mean, at any moment, I could be incarcerated and put in a prison in the middle of the ocean."

"I know." Natasha's gaze flicked down to where their hands were and slowly back up to his face. "I wanted to tell you. If I– if I don't get to say it soon." She sighed. "And if you do get stuck in a prison, breaking you out will only make it worse, so, uh, here it is. I... love you. If you go, there's something for you to hold on to." She swallowed,

Bruce's eyes were relentlessly finding hers, even as she tried not to feel embarrassed, even if it's just the two of them. "Tash–"

The jet suddenly pitched forwards, making Nat lose her balance and fall onto Bruce.

Alarms were blaring, lights were flashing, and disoriented, Natasha climbed off her scientist in an effort to get to the helm. Gravity did most of the work for her, and she had to stop herself from falling into the windows above the controls.

"Natasha?" She heard Bruce call, voice panicked, and she hated the way she had to focus, and she didn't say a word.

She glanced at the monitors, alarmed to see a flashing screen on every single one of them, saying the words: This vehicle is commandeered by and on the behalf of the United States government, remote towing activated. Natasha tried to access Quinn, but when she checked the panel, she found the chip smoking hazily from its slot.

Natasha could've screamed in frustration at that moment, but she stayed quiet, trying to figure out a way to get out of the situation when the controls were in the hands of the government.

They were descending at the same speed as they were cruising, but they seemed to be speeding up, and Nat could see a helicarrier-type base hovering there in the ocean. Another minute, and they'd be levelling out and landing on the runway, where the only place to run to would be right into the enemy's arms.

"Natasha?" Bruce called again, desperately, and she half-climbed to him, breath shaky from suppressed tears because she couldn't think, couldn't figure out how she went wrong, or how to escape. He saw her like this, and he put a comforting arm around her. "Tash..." Nat felt him bury his head in her hair as she brushed away her ever-spilling tears. "Tasha, it's okay. It's okay. I can go through whatever they put me through, I promise. And when I get out, whether that's days, or months, or years, or even a decade or two, I'll still be the same as I ever was, and if you'd take me back then, I would find you and I would love you as much as I love you now, if not more."

Nat swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Because I love you too, Natasha," Bruce whispered into her hair. "I love you so much it hurts. It's only been a few months but I know. I love you, so, so, much."

Natasha looked up at him and felt the plane slow in its decline. She gazed into Bruce's eyes like they could save them now, brushing back a stray curl, and as the plane touched down, she leaned in for a kiss, one last, desperate kiss, knowing it will have to last them years, maybe even a lifetime.

She breathed in the faint scent of him, trying to forge a memory of this, the last time she would see him, because there was no escape now. The ball was in the other court, and all she could do was wait for it to come back.

Nat tangled up her fingers in Bruce's hair, feeling his warmth, the movement of his chest rising and falling, the feeling as she felt him murmur something against her lips: I love you. A bubble of distressed laughter burst from her and then she was laughing in their kiss, tears drying already, heart bursting like someone was squeezing the life out of her.

The restraints locked in below the floor, and Natasha knew they were going to board within seconds. She pulled away from Bruce and found his eyes.

Go, they said. "Go," he whispered. "You were just trying to go home. You didn't even know I stowed away here until the jet was commandeered."

Natasha nodded and headed back to the helm, composing herself to be the person she needed to be. Heartaches aside, there was nothing she could do for him if she was stuck in the inside of a prison cell, even if they were next to each other and saw each other every day.

'Don't ever lose your heart,' her mother said.

Nat brushed off her last tear and tucked her broken heart away, deep inside where no one could see, where no one could use her love against her.