09 | take me as i am

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Bruce Banner had one hand on the wheel, the other on his thigh as he drove down the long stretch of Mississippi highway

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Bruce Banner had one hand on the wheel, the other on his thigh as he drove down the long stretch of Mississippi highway. Golden fields and thick forests stretched for miles as far as the eye could see, the morning sunlight reflecting off the road and his sunglasses. The radio played music in the car, an artist even he knew - Lady Gaga - belting out songs he could probably sing from the bottom of his heart.

He had never taken Natasha Romanoff as a fan, but she had surprised him in more ways than one. If he listened closely, he could hear her humming softly as she scrolled through her phone, her knees pulled up to her chest and a pillow tucked under her lower back. He was surprised she hadn't fallen asleep from how annoyed she seemed when he stopped by her apartment to pick her up for their mission. Her eyes were still heavy with exhaustion, and her sweater was big and bulky even though it was already 70 degrees out and the temperature was still rising. They were a few hours out from the base where they were meeting Steve Rogers and Wanda Maximoff, but he didn't mind their flight to Mississippi or the drive, and it wasn't awkward. He had come to know Natasha as a friend from how much time she had spent in the hospital with Steve and their conversations during the unplanned flight and road trip. She wasn't supposed to have been assigned a mission after she just returned from one last night, but he knew Fury wouldn't have put her back out in the field if the mission wasn't significantly important.

"Do you have any song requests?" Natasha asked, glancing away from her phone to look at him.

He shook his head with a soft chuckle. He doubted that she would like any of the music he listened to.

She switched songs a few times before deciding on one and settling back in her seat. Just as comfortable silence settled between them, her phone began to ring shrilly. She scrambled to turn off the ringtone and quickly answered the call.

"You look terrible."

Steve Rogers said to her over FaceTime. She rolled her eyes, balancing the phone on her knees in front of her. "I'm going to kick your ass when we get there. How far out are we, Bruce?" She smirked.

"Probably three hours." He was still surprised at how close Captain America and the Russian assassin had become. It was always Steve and Natasha, an augmented friendship forged through hardships; two, entirely different people who had come together to save lives - and maybe even one another. He knew they weren't anything more than friends because as far as he knew, Steve had taken the opportunity to get to know twenty-first-century women without any strings attached. Despite all the time Natasha had spent in the hospital with him, he'd never seen them do anything more than hold hands and share a bed with plenty of space between them. As far as Bruce was concerned, she was single, and he didn't have to feel guilty about the feelings he was developing for her.

"You have time to prepare for the ass-kicking of the century then." She teased him.

"I'll make sure I get you coffee first so you'll have the energy to punch me," Steve replied over the phone.

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