On the cliff of Vormir stood Bruce Banner and Natasha Romanoff. Bruce was pacing back and forth while wringing his hands as Natasha watched. The duo was on a mission to the get the soul stone only to find out from a cloaked Red Skull that the deal was for a person to receive the stone they had to give up the one they loved.
The plan was to go home, create a gauntlet with the other five infinity stones and use it to snap everyone back. It had been five years since the first snap and this was the team's only chance to bring everyone back, provided the others got the stones they needed.
Bruce had spent five years fixing his issues with the Hulk in Mexico, while Natasha had been the team's leader. The scientist worked on his transformations and the best way to communicate with the other guy. Tony mentioned merging at one point, but Bruce dismissed it.
After the snap Bruce and Natasha had decided to stay friends and teammates since Bruce had been stuck in space for three years and they had lost too much time. It broke both of their hearts, but it was for the best, or so they thought.
Bruce sighed and looked at Natasha, who was already looking at him. He still loved her and had regretted not telling her as soon as he got back to Earth. He ran his hand through his hair as he thought through the best way to get the stone, but the reality was that there was only one.
Natasha walked up to him and he met her halfway. He could see her holding back tears as she said, "Never thought we'd get here when I was sent to recruit you."
Bruce smirked as he replied, "Me neither." His face turned serious as he continued, "Nat –"
"No," she interrupted. "You are not jumping. I can't lose you again."
"If this works you have a family that will be waiting for you."
"So will you, Bruce."
"They'll understand."
"So will my family," she rebutted.
Bruce paused for a few seconds then spoke while reminiscing, "Last time we were in this position you pushed me."
Natasha's tears streamed down her face as she said, "I never should have –"
Bruce hugged her to his chest and let his own tears fall as he told her, "I understood then and I understand now. You needed me to fight, and I wanted to run."
The redhead broke the hug to press her forehead to his and told him, "I still adore you."
"These last five years have been torture and the only thing that kept me going was knowing that you were alive," he confessed. "I never stopped loving you."
"You couldn't have told me that five years ago?" she joked with tears in her eyes and a small smile.
One of his hands cupped the side of her face as he told her, "I wanted to, but the world was in chaos and me being gone for three years didn't hel-"
He was interrupted when her lips met his for a few seconds until he broke the moment.
"We really pick bad times to confess feelings," she joked.
He chuckled and responded, "Yeah, we do."
Her face leaned into his hand and all he wanted was for time to stand still. Unfortunately, the Hulk chose that moment to begin pounding in Bruce's head, causing him to groan out in pain as he stumbled back and gripped his hair.
Natasha moved to stand in front of him and cupped his face in both of her hands, causing him to look up.
"Bruce, look at me. You're okay," she said then did the lullaby, causing the pounding to stop.
"Thank you," Bruce whispered.
Natasha nodded and brought their foreheads together. He wanted nothing more than to keep her safe and make sure she got home.
"One of us still has to jump," he said.
"I know," she replied softly.
"No gadgets. No wrestling. Let's just see who gets there first," he compromised, knowing that Natasha would fight as hard as she could to bring back her family, especially Yelena. She also would fight to keep him safe.
Natasha nodded and moved a few steps backwards, but they never took their eyes off each other. Time seemed to move in slow motion as they ran for the cliff. Natasha got there first, but Bruce took the opportunity to jump after her.
The Hulk forced a transformation and Bruce could feel that the other guy was protecting him. Then the world went dark as Hulk took over.
When Bruce woke up, he was in some orange sky looking place and lying in the water. He sat up and was holding the stone, but his head felt empty. For the first time in years, there was no other essence or pounding. Hulk was gone.
He didn't mean for this to happen. It was supposed to be him and not Hulk.
On one hand he should have known that he would transform, but he also had no way of knowing if it was possible since the place was some weird magic cliff with an infinity stone. Logically, Hulk should still be alive. No cliff should have killed him.
Natasha appeared in front of him, causing him to stand up. He walked to her and she hugged him when he was close enough.
"What happened," he asked.
"The Big Guy caught me and threw me back to the top. The Red Skull said because you were two sharing the same body that you could be spared, but since Hulk made the sacrifice..."
"Hulk is gone," he finished. "He sacrificed himself to protect us both. I could feel it as he took over."
She broke the moment and looked him in the eyes to say, "This wasn't your fault."
"I know," he answered while shaking his head. "And I'm not letting him die in vain. Our fight isn't over."
"Let's finish the job."
