Avengers: Altruism [N. Romanoff]

35. A SBanner in the works

Chapter 35
A SBanner in the Works

For the first time in a long time, Claire had no path to follow.
The parameters of her initial mission were focused on one thing- "Keep Banner, Banner" as Fury had so politely entrusted her with. The importance of Banner's presence was to aide with the location of the Tesseract, which was now safely in SHIELDs possession, so mission accomplished right?
The elevator dinged on cue to reveal the enraged alter ego of Bruce Banner stomping past. His surroundings shaking, dust rising in his wake.
New mission- dehulk the Hulk to avoid further damage to their already precarious predicament.
Natasha watched the distressed blonde hastily exit the elevator in pursuit of her new victim.
"Oh boy," she muttered to herself. She opted to follow the reckless therapist who couldn't throw a punch without breaking her thumb.
"Hulk, Hulk, excuse me, Hulk," she tried to grab his attention whilst trying to peak her head around the rush hour traffic that had broken out in Stark's lobby.
He turned back to her briefly and threw dust into her face with an irritated grunt.
"Hey!" Claire shouted back at his impoliteness, all the while Natasha amusedly followed.
Now that she had somewhat caught his attention, she was too stunned to plan her next move.
"So, the, uh.... Great weather today," she attempted small talk, cutting him off around the corner and promptly placing herself in his way.
He grunted again.
The Hulk realised he would have to entertain her in order to move past. He commented in his deep voice, "Sunny."
She looked at the direction of the sunset, not expecting him to play along, "oh... yeah, yeah," she sung, "Sun's getting real low."
His pupils dilated, for a second she noticed a flicker of hazel within the black of his irises.
"Sunny," he nodded in agreement to the puny human.
The Russian observed from a shorter distance, refraining from stepping in to help, and wondering where exactly Claire's small talk plan was headed.
The therapist knew she needed to expose some vulnerability, so with an outstretched hand she silently requested him to mimic the gesture.
He outstretched a fist, shockingly opening it as his trust grew, and directed the palm of his hand to hers. She knew she needed to make contact, that it was important she trusted him as much as he was trusting her in this moment.
It was an interesting technique. Her hand raised as his dipped, and she ran her fingertips along the most vulnerable part of his wrist. The sensitivity sent a tingle through both of them, and his eyes permanently remained hazel.
For a split second she saw fear in them, and the giant doubled back in pain as his body began to resize itself.
His skin, previously tinged green began taking on an angry red hue. Blisters seared down his back as he doubled over, his body trying to compensate for the sudden change in size. He acquainted himself with a nearby pot-plant, the final effects of the change racking through him, causing him to throw up. He collapsed onto his hands and knees, and with the last of his energy he gathered the now eighteen sizes too big trousers around himself and curled into the foetal position.
A shell-shocked Nat gingerly approached Claire who was completely stunned at what she had just instigated.
"Is he-"
"Dead? No," Claire finished for her, "I don't think so."
"Was that suppose to happen?" Nat was bewildered that Claire had thought this all up on her own.
"Lets just say," she huffed a breath of relief, "that's not how I planned it, but it turned out better than I'd hoped so, so lets just... leave it and let it play out."
She faced Natasha, who had a horrified look, after having encountered a face to face interaction with the hulk herself- which wasn't too pleasant might she add.
"Are you flying by the seat of your pants?"
The amber eyes avoided her green.
"Maybe."
"But you just-"
"Dehulked him," she nodded along.
"Yes," Nat agreed to her second interruption.
"Well, I couldn't let him..." she motioned to the footprints embedded into the ground left in his wake.
"You think you could teach me that?" Natasha quipped.
"Oh yeah sure, I'll lend you the 'DID for Dummies handbook'," the therapist replied.
"Is that your official diagnosis doctor?" The redhead smirked, getting her comfort back realising that the Hulk was no longer a threat.
"It's a working theory," she smiled back, easing the tension further.
The moment was short lived as realisation came crashing down, as she recalled the events of earlier. Specifically, the decision made by the agent that stood before her.
Natasha immediately read the state of Claire's change in body language. She licked her lips to remove her smile, head darted in a different direction and arms crossed tightly over her chest.
She looked betrayed.
Nat wanted to reach out and unfold the arms, pull her into a hug. But she read the room and knew better.
"Claire, about the-"
"No," she shook her head, "no I don't want to listen to this. Its been a long day, I have dirt and gravel where I shouldn't. I just want a new change of clothes."
"Claire," she attempted to reason once more.
"No," a raised hand silenced her, "really, Rushman. No."
That was the final nail in the coffin. She was back to square one with Claire, back to being strangers. It seemed like she couldn't help but be an agent first before being friend.