Phoenix Rising *Captain America/The Avengers Fanfic*

[P R O L O G U E]

Romanoff

 “You know, for a man who's supposed to be avoiding stress, you picked a hell of a place to settle.” I smirk.

“Avoiding stress isn't the secret,” Dr Banner says.

“Then, what is it? Yoga?” I ask with snark.

“You brought me to the edge of the city, smart. I uh... assume the whole place is surrounded?” Banner marvels.

“Just you and me,” I lie.

“And your actress buddy is she a spy too? Do they start that young?” Bruce asks disbelievingly.

“I did,” I reply.

“Who are you?” he ponders.

“Natasha Romanoff,” Your worst nightmare I think to myself and smirk.

“Are you here to kill Miss Romanoff? Because that’s not gonna work out for everyone,” he mutters.

“No. No. Of course not. I’m here on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D,” I reply feeling a little sorry for the Doctor.

“S.H.I.E.L.D. How did they find me?” He asks looking agitated.

“We never lost you, doctor. We've kept our distance, even helped keep some other interested parties off your scent,” I say.

“Why?” Banner asks in disbelief.

“Nick Fury seems to trust you. But now I need you to come in,” I announce.

“What if I said no?” Dr Banner almost taunts.

“I'll persuade you,” I say and smirk, knowing exactly what I would do.

“And what if the... other guy says no?” He asks cautiously.

“You've been more than a year without an incident. I don't think you wanna break that streak,” I say in triumph.

“I don't get always what I want,” He sighs.

“Doctor, we're facing a potential global catastrophe.” I say getting annoyed.

“Well, those I actively try to avoid,” He says with sass.

“This is the Tesseract. It has the potential energy to wipe out the planet,” I speak.

I grab my phone and flick to the picture of the Tesseract and show Dr Banner, his face show curiosity and he takes a closer look at it.

“What does Fury want me to do? Swallow it?” He says with snark.

“Well, he wants you to find it. It's been taken. It omits a gamma signature that's too weak for us to trace. There's no one that knows gamma radiation like you do. If there was, that’s where I'd be,” I say trying to butter him up.

“So Fury isn't after the monster?” Banner asks with confusion.

“Not that he's told me…” I trail off.

“And he tells you everything?” He bites back.

“Talk to Fury, he needs you on this.” I say trying to divert the subject.

“He needs me in a cage?” he asks, I sense his temper is rising and so I try to calm him.

“No one's gonna put you in a...” I start but I am cut off by Dr Banner.

“STOP LYING TO ME!” He roars thunderously.

I quickly grab my gun and take my stance pointing at him but something doesn’t feel right. To my confusion Bruce stands up straight and just smiles at me.