The first time she met the nuclear physicist they shared playful banter like a tennis match. Using the small hut on the outskirts of Calcutta to lure him in by a young spy, as part of recruiting him for the Avengers Initiative. Whilst she used her persuasive techniques, the thought of the raging monster still lingering in the back of her mind. Playing it cool she got her message across resulting in pulling her gun on him, as he tested her trust like a fool. On the helicarrier, the beast transformed before her eyes; her fear becoming real. Witnessing the pain and suffering this man went through as he transformed, as his small brown orbs flooded with green and his mind was over controlled.
The whole experience was traumatic for Natasha she was chased and thrown by this beast; the monster. Not someone who was another human being, a 10 foot tall mountain triple the size of her. Throughout the battle of New York she and the hulk fought side by side, learning to trust each other slowly, once Bruce apologised and she got her shit together that she couldn't let him know her fear. They went their separate ways for a few years, after Shield fell and her little hiatus back in Russia, the spy moved into the avengers tower and the team reformed once again. A new experience for her sharing a tower with 5 other guys, a demigod, a war veteran, a tech genius, her bestfriend and a bipolar scientist. they was the good times. The point in life were the team could be a team, learn to trust and depend on one another.
Weeks had past since the events of Thanos. Everyone still had that gapping hole in their hearts from the traumatic experience. Watching their closest friends, loved ones and who they considered as family, evaporate before their own eyes. It just all seemed too far fetched to be true, but it was. The team who remained unharmed took refuge back at the Avengers facility in Upstate New York.
They stayed there to keep each other close, crime on the radar was non existent. It seemed like there was barely anyone out there to cause a threat to the world, that's because there wasn't. Half of humanity was erased from existence. "May I join?" The gentle voice was a familiar sound to her ears. Something she hadn't heard in a while, something she tend to long for, for comfort. The motion of looking back was pointless, she identified his ways instantly. "It's a free country."
Bruce perched himself close next to her, as they now sat upon the roof terrace of the Avengers facility. On the edge of the building to be exact. Every night around 1am, Natasha would sneak off from the common room where everyone was still hanging around, announcing her departure to go to bed. Bruce would wait for it like clock work, he started to notice a week before he finally acknowledged her. She had been distant with him ever since their awkward reunion. Now they sat in silence, gazing up at the stars.
One of the rare hobbies that actually calmed Natasha. She would think of life on other planets, wonder how many stars are in the galaxy and dream of running far away. "Was it true? You thought I was dead for 3 years?" Natasha's body froze at his words, yes she had that thought go through her mind a thousand times for all these years, but never once did she believe it.
She used to drive herself mad at night wondering what she had done wrong for him to leave. Was she too needy for the relationship? Was she the one who pushed him away? Why didn't he take her with him? All unanswered questions that haunted her during her late night drunken thoughts. "We all did. You didn't exactly send a postcard." Bruce frowned for a moment, surly someone had told her his story of where he had been all these years "I wasn't the one in control at the time, Natasha."
He told her more clearly, following her glaze and looks to the night sky. "The last thing I remember was saving you and the events of Sokovia. Your words... Natasha, what we had-" As much as she wanted to resolve their issues, she couldn't open herself up to him for it too all crumble before her like last time, not again. "We missed our window..." Love wasn't something she could proceed in so easily.
To her it was a comfort zone, somewhere she could be herself instead of trying to mask her identity. An uncharted territory for her and now it was teared apart. There was no use sticking it back together with tape or super glue, because surly their trust would collapse once again. "I'm sorry..." He pronounced as a mumble, more quietly. She turned to face him and look him in the eye for the first time since he arrived. "Don't ever blame yourself. It wasn't your fault- Bruce that's the last thing I want. What you've been through with the other guy- it's traumatic-"
She tried to explain the best she could before his short temper got the better of him. Natasha wasn't going to overlook the fact of how he was still resolving some insides with the big guy. "I don't want to talk about it, Nat. So please leave it." She did leave it for a moment, although her gaze turned more serious. "You know I can handle him." By one look, they both knew what she meant.
"He still listens to you..." Bruce implied remembering how he changed back into himself after 3 years. Natasha didn't know the full story of what happened on Sakaar, but Thor boosted about his lullaby to the hulk at dinner the other night. "I have an effect on him..." The conversation continued between the two throughout the night as they gazed up, looking beyond the stars. "We've always dreamed about travelling into space together, I can't believe you went with out me..."
He wanted to run away with her and start their life together, but he was a constant threat to her, just like he was too everyone else, at least that's what he thought. Too Natasha it was different, she was willing to fight for him and take that risk because she desired it so deeply like nothing she ever had before. "It's beautiful.. I'll take you sometime..." His lips tugging into a small smile, imagining them running away in space together. It wasn't love they had formed for each other; it was adoration.
