Marvel Imagines: Book One

Never Had A Friend Like You

Characters: Natasha Romanoff x Reader (platonic), Natasha x Bruce

Warnings: just fluff

Summary: Knowing how hard Natasha works, you decide to give her the night off.

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With being an Avenger, there wasn't much time to just hang around and do whatever you wanted. It's always fighting, monsters, and injuries, only to do it all over again the next day. It's been exactly 2 years since you've joined the team, and there was one person who always caught your eye: Natasha Romanoff.

You first met her when she was sent to kill you by S.H.I.E.L.D because word got out you worked for HYDRA. It's not like you wanted to do it by choice, you were forced into it when HYDRA captured you and threatened to kill your family if you didn't do what they said. In the end, they killed them anyway but that's beside the point.

She was sent to kill you but decided against it much like Clint did with her. She saw the potential you had after HYDRA forced you to undergo their experiments. Tattoo Manipulation was your power, and your body was covered in them. HYDRA wanted to do something new, something they've never thought of before and gave you a bunch of different tattoos before injecting you with a special serum they never told you about.

That serum, along with the many tattoos they gave you, allowed you to make your tattoos come to life. For example, if you had a hawk on your body, you are able to do two things with that: gain its abilities like flight, or make it appear to attack your enemies with razor-sharp talons. There wasn't a hawk on your body, but because HYDRA wanted to see what you could do with it, they put many different animals on you, including a dragon which was badass. It covered your entire back, and it's one of the few you absolutely loved.

Natasha, when she saw this, knew you'd be better as an ally than an enemy. So, she took you in and Nick Fury helped change your ways, making you see the world through a different lens. She didn't know it, but Natasha was the only one who could make all the bad things HYDRA did to you, go away.

You two became fast friends since you joined the good guys, and she became your best friend. There was a lot you had to learn about Natasha to understand the kind of person she was. She opened up to you about what she went through in the Red Room, and you listened with a compassionate ear. She told you things the other Avengers didn't know, besides Clint (he knew everything about her).

Out of those 2 years you've known her, you've never seen her do the one thing that everyone else has done: take some time for herself. It's always work with her, and she's in a constant state of worry, always looking over her shoulder because there might be someone there to attack her. Because of this, you declared to help her get her mind off things, even if it's for a few hours.

Grabbing all the face masks you owned, you went in search of Natasha in hopes of making her feel normal for once. Walking into the main room at Stark Towers, you watched everyone have a good time as they mingled. Tony decided to host a small party, but from where you were standing, it didn't look like much of a party. Spotting Natasha and Bruce by the bar, you walked to her.

The closer you got, the easier it became to understand what was going on between them. Much like downtime, there wasn't a lot of time for romance either, but there was something happening between Bruce and Natasha. She was laughing and listening to what he was saying, which was rare for her. She didn't usually open up to people often. Bruce was staring at her like the way your father stared at your mother. He was absolutely in love with her.

"Mind if I cut in?" you asked, approaching the two.

"Not at all," Bruce smiled, taking the drink that Natasha made for him. "You two enjoy."

"So," you said in a low voice, watching Bruce leave the bar to talk to other people, "it seems like you're getting along great."

"What, with him?" Natasha shook her head, obviously denying the chemistry they had together.

"Come on Nat. It's me, you don't have to hide. You like him?" you asked with a smile, glad she was having some fun.

"He's not like anybody I've ever known," she admitted, looking at Bruce in an adoring way.

"Yeah?" you asked with a huge smile.

"All my friends are fighters," she started to say, taking a huge pause before speaking again. "And here comes this guy who spends his whole life avoiding the fight because he knows he'll win. But he's also a huge dork, which I dig a lot."

"Sounds like you got it bad," you giggled.

"It's nothing," she waved her hand, dismissing you.

"The real reason I came over here isn't to tease you about your crush on Banner, but to ask you if you wanted to do some facials with me?" you asked, holding up the many masks.

"Really?"

"Nat, out of the two years I've known you, there is not one moment where you take time for yourself. I know how you grew up, you deserve a chance at normalcy even if it's for a few hours. Look, I got some magazines, nail polish, and other relaxing things we can do while we wait for these masks to dry. What do you say? Want to get away from these people?"

"That sounds like a good time, actually," she admitted, downing the rest of her drink.

"Good! Come on! I'll let JARVIS know not to let anyone bother us," you grinned, linking your arm with hers once she joined you.

"Thanks for doing this. I've never had a friend like you before."

"No one has."