Evermore

Chapter 8

Natasha looked around and saw that the curly-haired man was gone. She figured he must have left to tend to the other guy's wound at some point.

"I can show you and the dog to your room. I'm Steve, by the way." She turned her head toward him as he continued to speak, "We don't care about animal hair on the furniture. So she can sleep in the bed."

"Thank you," Natasha said as she nodded, and Steve gave her a small smile.

He took the lead down the stairs, then a loud noise caught her attention, and she could hear swearing.

"Tony, language," Steve yelled.

"I'll say what I want, old man," Tony yelled back, then swore louder.

She heard another voice shout in the distance, "Did she get back okay?"

"Yeah," the man answered.

Natasha took the time to memorize the castle while going down the stairs. She could see multiple hallways on the other side of the building.

"What's over there," she asked.

Steve turned back to look at her, then at the direction she was facing.

"Oh, that's Bruce's private chambers. He's the only one allowed in that area."

Natasha did not ask why figuring it was for when he transformed.

Steve stopped and turned to a hallway that looked like the fourth floor, judging from what Natasha could tell from looking at the other side of the castle. There were several doors on each side of the walls in the hall.

Steve turned to the third door on the right and opened it.

"Here you go," Steve said. "Let us know if you need anything."

"Thanks," she told him as she stepped into the room, then he closed the door behind her and the dog.

She was shocked. It was more than half the size of her bedroom at home, not including the adjourned bathroom. She leaned down to let Fanny off her leash, then the dog jumped on the bed and lay down.

As she put her bag on the floor, there was a knock at the door, and it opened.

"Hello," a blonde woman and a brown-haired little girl entered with a cart that had wheels. "Sorry to barge in. I'm Pepper. This is my daughter, Morgan. I thought you might be hungry, and the dog would want some water and food."

"That would be great, thank you. I'm Natasha," she stuck out her hand to shake Pepper's, and the woman shook back. "Hi, Morgan."

Hi," the girl answered shyly and pointed to Fanny. "Puppy."

"You want to pet her? Is that okay," she directed the last question to Pepper.

Pepper nodded and nudged Morgan a bit as she said, "Go ahead."

"Her name is Fanny," Natasha whistled then the dog came running toward them. "Fanny, sit."

The dog obeyed then Natasha scratched her behind the ears, gesturing for Morgan to go ahead. Fanny licked Morgan's arm, making the girl giggle as the animal lay down to roll over and beg for belly rubs.

While Morgan was occupied, Natasha watched Pepper put a bowl of water next to the food on the floor.

"So, how old is Morgan?"

"Four," Pepper smiled. "And you already met my husband, Tony, who acts like a four-year-old."

Natasha stifled a laugh.

"Well, Morgan is more than welcome to come and play with Fanny while I'm here."

"Thank you. I heard about your sister and the storm. I'm so sorry about that. We should have checked the cells. After a full moon, Bruce and the others are so knocked out they can't see straight, and Morgan and I stay in our room. Not that, that's an excuse."

"The only thing that matters is Yelena is okay and safe at home now. It's just... I promised myself that I would protect her."

"Tony feels awful about the whole thing. He puts on a strong front, but he wishes he could have done a lot of things differently."

"It's not completely his fault. I should have checked on her last night or before I left the house this morning. So, this Bruce guy. Who is he?"

Pepper hesitated before she replied, "Bruce once ruled over the kingdom. He wasn't born a monster. He was cursed. I know he seems odd, but he's a good man."

Natasha nodded thanks, even though she was more confused than when she arrived.

After Pepper and Morgan left, Natasha wondered what was going on. She was too preoccupied with Yelena before to think about the snow in the middle of the forest, Bruce turning into a monster, and a castle she had never heard of or seen.

"Fanny, what did we just get ourselves into?"