The Ultimate Fix-It Fic

3| Discussion

Natasha entered the lab that Bruce took Peter and MJ to.

"Yeah, Bruce?" she asked, crossing over to her scientist. She hooked her arm around Bruce's.

"I just wanted to know how it was going with Yelena," he answered. "Is she going to stay?"

Nat shrugged. "It depends. We might go try and kill our mutual torturer."

"'We'?" Bruce asked. "You're going?"

"I can't let her go it alone, Bruce," Natasha said quietly. "Whether I'd like to admit it to her face or not, she is my sister."

"I know. I... yeah." Her scientist sat down. "If you're going, would you consider letting me come with you?"

Natasha stared at him.

He quickly backtracked. "Or I could just stay here. With the kids. That works too."

Natasha shook herself out of her state. "No." She hugged his arm. "You can come if you want. It's just–" she hesitated– "here's the thing. You weren't in this at the start. If we get to Dreykov, I don't want you in the fallout. Especially since Ross hates you more than he hates me."

Bruce chuckled. "I'll be there for moral support. And I won't get involved in the last fight unless you're out of commission."

"No, even if I'm out of commission," Nat said. "If I'm not there, you don't have a reason to be, either." She sighed. "And you might have to meet Alexei."

"Your adoptive father?"

"Yep." Natasha shook her head. "We'll see. I'll talk about it with Yelena. Yeah." She kissed Bruce on the cheek before going back to Yelena.

The younger woman was eating a piece of bread. "Oh, hi." She dusted off her hands. "You're back."

"Yeah." Nat sat down in her seat. She noticed Yelena's jacket, and Yelena noticed that she noticed.

She plucked at a button and smiled at her vest. "You know, this is the first piece of clothing I've ever bought for myself," she said.

"That?" Natasha asked.

"Yeah." Yelena frowned. "You don't like it?"

"Is that like a... Is it army surplus, or...?" Nat grinned at the face Yelena was making.

"Okay, it has a lot of pockets!"

Natasha chuckled.

"But I use them all the time, and I made some of my own modifications. Which reminds me–" Yelena stuck a hand in a pocket and drew out a hair pin/stick from an unseen pocket— "this is for you."

Natasha took it and looked it over. "Thank you."

"It's from this metal called adamantium or something," Yelena said. "I thought you'd like it."

Nat did like it. It was a thin metal stick, about the shape and width of a pencil. The end was a sharpish blunt, not sharp enough to cut or stab practically but enough to cause blunt force trauma in certain circumstances. Natasha smiled and tucked it into her pocket. "Back to your vest, though..."

Yelena pouted. "Whatever. Shut up. The point is, I've never... I've never had control over my own life before, and now I do. I want to do things."

Nat grinned softly. "Oh yeah?" She sighed. "Hmm... I like your vest."

Yelena nodded excitedly. "I knew it. I knew you did. It's so cool, right?" She tugged at a strap.

"It's good. Yes. I like it." Natasha watched her sister as she babbled happily.

"And you can put so much stuff in there. You wouldn't even know." Yelena paused in her revelling and a brief unsettled look crossed her features. "I really don't know where the Red Room is, though. I'm sorry."

Nat sighed. "I know. But I think I know somebody who does."

Yelena perked up. "Oh, yeah? Who?" She buttered a piece of bread.

Natasha hesitated. "Before I tell you, would you be okay if Bruce came with us to get the guy?"

Yelena wrinkled her nose. "Bruce? Why?" She took a bite and said, with her mouth full, "He has nothing to do with Dreykov."

Nat sighed again. "He... he wants to be... some moral support. He didn't like it much when I went on high-risk, no-contact, no-extraction missions back when we worked with SHIELD, even when we weren't dating." She met Yelena's eyes. "Bruce... he's protective, even though he knows I can protect myself. It's sweet. He just cares."

Her sister went on alert. "Is he controlling?"

Natasha rolled her eyes. "God, no. He just blames himself for majority of the world's problems and me getting hurt adds to that." She reached for her necklace. "He– I can imagine being with him for the rest of my life, Yelena. That–" she chuckled dryly– "that is definitely weird. So... maybe... he can come with us?"

Yelena thought it over and shrugged. "Sure. As long as you promise he isn't actually a mudak."

Nat laughed. "He isn't." She sighed and sobered up. "Let's go grab Bruce and your stuff from security and Tony's out of commission helicopter. We'll get going by 9."

-

"Ms. Romanoff! Dr. Banner!"

Natasha turned as Yelena climbed into the helicopter. "MJ, Spiderling," she greeted with a smile. "You made it."

MJ lifted a duffel bag. "We also made these," she said.

Peter looked to his friend. "Did you just–"

"Shut up." MJ sent him a glare and shook her head. She smiled up at Natasha. "These are our prototype nano-suits. It's like Peter's spidersuit but it's default setting is the standard SHIELD uniform. You can reprogram it if you want. There's one for you, Dr. Banner, and Yelena."

She haned the bag to Nat.

"They're made of a vibranium nano-weave," Peter said. "Which makes it really hard to effectively hurt you. Since it's robotic, it can accomadate Dr. Banner if he turns into the Hulk. He'll still be shirtless, but he'll have nicer-looking pants. And he'll have a shirt when he turns back."

MJ tapped her finger to her palm. "Oh, don't forget about the homing program," she reminded.

Peter nodded. "If you take it off somewhere and it's sensors acknowledge that none of you are there or conscious and able, it'll automatically turn into a drone and fly back to home base, which we've made this place." He grinned. "It's super cool."

Natasha smiled. "It sounds cool." She hefted the bag on her shoulder. "Thank you two," she said. She held her arms out for a moment and Peter and MJ hugged her tightly. "You know what to do if I don't come back?"

MJ stepped back first, then Peter. "Yeah," she nodded.

Peter bit his lip and echoed his friend.

Natasha's smile tried not to waver. "Good." She sighed. "You two stay out of trouble, okay?"

"Okay," Peter said quietly.

MJ smiled, grabbing Peter's arm casually. "I'll make sure he makes good decisions, Ms. Romanoff," she promised.

"Good." Nat nodded once and boarded the helicopter. She watched as Bruce said goodbye to the two teenagers and as he followed her into the vehicle. "Hey," she said quietly.

Bruce smoothed his hand over her shoulders behind the back of her seat at the helm. "Hi," he replied softly.

"They'll be okay, right?" Natasha said, twisting around to look at him. "They'll be fine. Yeah?"

Her scientist smiled slightly. "They'll be okay, Tasha," he said, leaning down. He kissed her lightly, and when he pulled away, he stared into her eyes. "We'll be okay."