Evermore

Chapter 12

Several days later Natasha woke up and went over the window, not expecting any change. To her surprise, the snow had stopped.

She quickly got ready, fed Fanny, and ran downstairs. When she made her way into the kitchen, she nearly collided with Bruce.

"Oh, sorry," she exclaimed.

"No, you're fine. I should have paid attention. You seem happy."

"How can you tell," Clint asked. "She has the same face as yesterday."

"Shut up, Barton," Natasha yelled, then addressed Bruce. "The snow stopped, so..."

"Right," Bruce smiled, but there was something in his voice that Natasha couldn't quite place.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, it's just... I- We're, going to miss having you around."

Before she could respond, a voice behind her shouted, "Uncle Bruuuuuuuce!"

Bruce's face lit up as he scooped down to catch a running Morgan, then picked her up. Natasha smiled at the pair as he tickled the girl and she squealed in laughter. She still found it hard to believe the man that stood in front of her was ever anything but kind.

They had been spending more time together since the day the wind picked up. She learned the hard way that Bruce was a human lie detector after an incident with a knife when she told him it was "just a scratch." They're both stubborn about medical procedures and he won that round.

Tony came up to Bruce taking Morgan, then looked at Natasha and whispered, "I can get you home later today if that's okay."

"That'll be great. Thanks, Tony," she said in a soft voice.

The man nodded, then Steve walked up with a plate and handed it to Natasha.

She looked at the food on the plate puzzled, "Um, thanks."

He walked off while replying, "You're welcome."

"He's in a mood," she said as she turned her attention to Bruce.

"He's like that sometimes. I think he's upset you're leaving. So is Tony, Pepper, Thor, Clint... me."

"Um, I should take Fanny out. Excuse me," she changed the subject while handing her plate to Bruce. She started jogging, trying to escape the feeling in her stomach when he said he would miss her.

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Natasha and Fanny ran outside for a while, then the woman avoided the boys for the remainder of the day. As much as she wanted to go home, it wasn't supposed to be this difficult to leave.

She let herself become close to the people in the castle. The men didn't judge her because she was a woman who fought, if anything they welcomed a sparring match. Pepper became someone she could trust and Morgan was easy to love. And Bruce, well, she wasn't sure. Whenever he was around, she felt different than she did with the other guys. She knew he was handsome, but so were other men she knows. What made him stand out?

She shook it off, not wanting to think about it, and went to her backpack that was lying on the bed, making sure everything was there. She had changed into the clothes she arrived in, which were washed, and tied her hair up.

"Fanny, you want to go out one more time?"

The dog's head and ears perked up from where she was lying on the bed, letting the woman know she did have to go out.

Natasha secured the bag on her back, then called the dog to her side and put the leash on. Once they were downstairs, she took her bag off and placed it near the door. She hoped Tony was ready to leave when she got back inside.

When the dog was done after a few minutes, Natasha noticed Fanny start to sniff the air as her eared perked up. Then the dog began to growl and bare her teeth. Natasha looked straight ahead and saw a wolf, mimicking Fanny.