Body and Soul: The Endgame Fix

Part 4: Ongoing Relationship

Summary: It's still Monday, Oct. 30, 2023. Finally, Bruce and Natasha have some alone time. We make it to the parking lot and the Hummer HX. Natasha and Bruce have a lot to discuss and feelings to work through.

Notes: We finally earn our mature rating. In case you didn't notice the title (yah, I changed it), I'm playing around with tropes and things Mark and Scarlett have said about the OTP. If you're not familiar with Anita Baker's version of "Body and Soul," (written by Ellen Shipley and Rick Nowels, 1994) you might want to have a listen first on YouTube. You might also want to play "I Can't Get Started" for good measure. If you've forgotten why that's Bruce and Nat's song, go watch the bar scene in Age of Ultron and listen to the background music. Joss Whedon knows his stuff! I'll recommend the Chet Baker version.

Part 4: Ongoing Relationship

[Monday, Oct. 30, 2023]

"What is this exactly?" Natasha asked as Bruce helped her into the front passenger seat of his very large dark gray vehicle.

"Tony called it 'Hummerstein' but it's a custom extension build on a prototype HX for which I probably paid too much. That was before we switched out the gas engine for a modified arc reactor." He sighed contemplatively. It still felt odd to think of his Science Bro and good friend in the past tense.

Bruce got in on his side and settled behind the wheel, buckled up, and pushed the ignition button on the dash with his right thumb. It took a little effort, but he was managing to shift smoothly with his right arm again. Helen had given him the okay to drive a few days ago since the Vibranium-enhanced grafts were bonding so well. He supposed he could have just jumped about twenty times and made the commute under his own power, but it generally messed up his civilian clothes and did a little damage to the landscape. Besides, he enjoyed driving, so why not?

The introduction to "Body and Soul" by Anita Baker began to play over the impressive sound system. Nat simply raised a questioning eyebrow at him. Bruce looked a little embarrassed, but only switched the volume down a bit. "I like this one too much to torture you with my singing," he said. They both sat and listened for minute.

What have you done to me?
I can't eat, I cannot sleep,
And I'm not the same anymore, no, no.

I don't know what to do
'Cause all of me wants all of you.
Do I stand alone at the shore now?

Once I could turn away
From everything I feel today,
But now I wanna walk through your door.

But I've got to know, oh, body and soul,
That you've got no doubt, inside and out
We are whole, ho, body and soul.

Don't leave me out in the cold
Just love me body and soul
Do you hear me, baby?

Bruce finally turned to Natasha, "I want you to be honest with me, okay? If anything makes you uncomfortable for whatever reason, please tell me, and I will back off. The last thing I want you to do is feel pressured or . . ." Natasha unbuckled her seatbelt, and he fell silent, looking as if the world had dropped out from under him, but she didn't unlock her car door. Instead, she closed the distance between them and ducked under his right arm, so she was sitting in his lap, facing him with her back mostly to the wheel.

He sighed with relief and Natasha took off his glasses and laid them on the dashboard. She reached out for him and took Bruce's face in both her hands and pressed her forehead to his. They slowly rubbed their faces together and touched, silently reintroducing themselves. She'd always had this lovely citrus and floral smell like no one else, and he thought back to the last morning they'd spent together, before the alarm clock had gone off and he'd had to leave for Virginia and his sessions with Lee Samson.