Chapter Text
Stark Tower didn’t have as many holes in it then the last time Natasha had seen it. She supposed that was nicer. All though she always felt destruction had a sort of artistic, poetic feel to it.
Not many people agreed with her there. Only Cooper, who had tried to make a similar argument with his mother as to why it looked nicer when he didn’t clean his room. Natasha felt for him. She really did.
As they entered the private elevator, the bio-print actually accepting Clint and Natasha’s palm scans, JARVIS’ pleasant accented voice sent Natasha’s mind back to the Chitauri invasion.
It was eerie to be back here again. After shawarma, Tony had invited them all back to the Tower, saying there would be some rooms not destroyed, so, ‘feel free to trash ‘em. I never liked décor not matching’.
They’d all taken him up on the offer after securing Loki with SHIELD. For some reason, Natasha hadn’t wanted to go back and one look at Clint told her he felt the same.
It was that night, curled up on a couch underneath an Iron Man blanket (Really, Tony? Really?), but still wide awake, she had watched all the other … Avengers.
Despite Tony making it clear they could bunk practically anywhere, they didn’t leave each other and all settled in a casual conference room that more looked like a semi-formal lounge room, except for the large conference table smack damn in the middle.
Clint was lying on the soft grey carpet, parallel to the couch, a cushion underneath his head, blanket tossed haphazardly across his legs. She knew it was his way of wanting to be protective of her and she couldn’t begrudge him for that because she found she enjoyed his closeness for the same reason that she felt he could protect him.
Thor was actually strewn across the conference table, using his cape as a blanket, armour hardly bothering him. Steve was sideways in an lounge chair, long legs hanging over the arm rest, limbs wrapped around his chest like he was cold despite the thick quilt curling around his body like a cocoon, head twisted awkwardly to the side.
Tony was in a conference chair, legs propped up on the table next to Thor’s head. Curled up in his lap was Pepper, who had greeted them after they had returned from shawarma. Despite New York City meant to be closed to any civilians, Pepper had somehow found her way in, but having spent the little amount of time with her that Natasha did, the assassin wasn’t surprised in the slightest. The woman was formidable, which was a huge complement coming from the Black Widow.
Pepper had hardly let go of Tony once they were reunited and Tony practically melted at the sight of her, the cockiness and self-assuredness fading away to someone that just wanted to be held. His girlfriend happily complied, only leaving him once to wrap her arms around Bruce, who looked more scared at that moment than he had when an alien whale was coming straight at him.
As Pepper’s soft murmurs in Tony’s ear broke the silence that would border on eerie without it, Bruce had taken a conference chair and removed it to the corner of the room furthest from everyone else. Natasha had wondered why he didn’t leave and sleep in another room if he found it so awkward around all these people. It put her even more on edge at the thought that Dr. Banner obviously wasn’t comfortable, which could lead to him being not all together very happy.
Shifting at the table caught her attention and she watched as Tony easily lifted Pepper and placed her in another conference chair. Her hand lingered on his cheek and he turned his face to gently kiss her fingers.
Everyone’s heads subtly turned to watch the self-proclaimed billionaire, genius, playboy, philanthropist cross the room, pulling the conference chair he’d been sitting in over to Bruce.
Natasha could make out how Bruce tensed as Tony brought the chair right next to him and plopped down in it.
‘Do you buy into the theory that arc reactor technology is greener than hydro-electricity?’ At Bruce’s exhausted blank, but wary stare, he clapped his hands together. ‘Thatta a boy, I knew you would. Of course it is! Arc reactor technology is unique in that it creates its own energy through its own element unlike all the other greener options which always use an element found in nature. Also, you know, it’s designed by me so …’ here, Tony snorted, giving a ‘What can you do gesture?’ as though he couldn’t deny the truth of his brilliance before he pushed on, movements sluggish as he clicked, snapped and clapped his hands while he spoke.
Bruce continued to stare like he couldn’t figure out how or why this eccentric man was invading the space he had so blatantly put between him and his team. Natasha couldn’t quite figure it out either. Tony had left Pepper. Pepper.
With a glance back at the strawberry redhead, she could see through the darkness to make out Pepper’s fond smile as she watched Tony talk about some cat called Schrödinger. How the hell he got on to that subject Natasha really didn’t care to know
As she watched, she saw each of her teammates’ heads tilt down until even breathing began to fill the room. She found herself relaxing more and more as Tony’s voice continued to bounce along.
That’s when it hit her. She had trusted them all today with her life. And with that sort of trust came something else that hadn’t come for her with Clint until she had trusted him on their first mission to watch her back.
She was caring. She had cared whether Tony fell back through that portal. It would have affected her if he didn’t.
That’s why no one wanted to leave the team, filled with the crazy feeling to protect these people they had … bonded with.
That actually scared Natasha. She didn’t care deep about people like that outside of Clint and his family. Sure, she didn’t want civilian after civilian to die, but she didn’t have that attachment she was so quickly forming with this group of misfits.
How the hell it was happening was slightly beyond her.
The last thing she remembered seeing that night was Bruce slumping down in his sleep, chin dipping low until his body was completely loose. Tony’s talking petered off after that but it had been enough to reassure her that the narcissistic idiot was still alive and thriving despite everything. It made her sleep so much easier.
‘Welcome to the communal living room,’ JARVIS announced and the elevator doors eased open.
Natasha and Clint stepped onto a solid wooden floor then turned a left corner to see the living room opening out in front of them.
It was massive. A huge lounge suite, in a soft grey colour, that could easily fit up to five people formed an L around a gargantuan flat-screen television complete with a gentle apricot rug thrown in the centre with a glass coffee table. There were several lounge chairs strewn about so everyone didn’t have to sit on the suite. To the right of the screen, a person could turn right where it probably led to bathrooms.
To the right and up three steps was a large kitchen island, five stools on either side of it. Kitchen cabinets lined the top and bottom half of this side of the room with about every kitchen appliance one would ever need or not need embedded within them. A bar was to the right of the kitchen area, complete with shelves with about every brand of alcohol ever invented. A door led to an unknown location near where the bar ended.
At the far end of the area, floor-to-ceiling windows lined the whole length of the room. The destruction of New York was still visible in certain areas, skyscrapers with huge dents and shattered glass, sun illuminating the jagged edges cutting through the air. Heavy construction was strewn intermittently throughout the iconic city. In the dying sunlight, it looked beautiful, bleeding red and ethereal purple glimmering through the still broken buildings. It had a haunted element to it that was somehow touching as well as melancholy.
At the kitchen island, putting about five different types of chips into glass bowls was Pepper. She glanced up as Clint and Natasha rounded the corner.
‘Hello,’ she greeted pleasantly, smile cordial with still a hint of professionalism. She was in a black business jacket and skirt with a silk purple blouse. Her heels were abandoned next to the bar. A glass of what looked like alcohol was to her left, but Natasha’s sensitive nose could pick up the tart scent of apple juice.
‘Hey, Pepper,’ Clint grinned as Natasha returned a hello. He came up and put his hand out to her.
Despite most of the Avengers having hardly spent any time with Pepper, it was an unspoken agreement that they liked her. There was a solidness to her that made one feel like she could take care of any situation without breaking a sweat and still smiling warmly.
Pepper grasped his hand firmly, her smile growing a tad less professional. ‘Clint,’ she greeted again before giving a critical sweep of the two of them. ‘Forgive me for saying, but you both look a bit better than the last time I saw you.’
Natasha smiled as Clint barked a laugh. ‘I certainly hope so,’ he said, ‘I’m not covered in alien parts or plaster dust so, you know.’
Pepper chuckled but before she could say anything, the elevator dinged and in a few seconds, Steve Rogers rounded the corner.
He was in pressed slacks and a long-sleeved blue shirt, ironed to perfection.
‘Hello everyone,’ he greeted, a slight discolouration on his cheeks as three sets of eyes moved to him.
‘Steve,’ Pepper said pleasantly, holding out her hand to him, which he took, shaking it gingerly, looking like he wasn’t sure whether to be kissing it or not.
As all greetings were given, Pepper began handing out the bowls of chips. ‘Please help yourselves,’ she said. ‘Tony and Bruce should be up any moment.’
‘So Bruce is still staying here?’ Natasha couldn’t help but confirm as she took a bowl from the other woman.
Pepper’s smile became extremely fond. ‘Well, I don’t think he has much choice in the matter. I think Tony would tear the world apart looking for him if he left.’
‘Yeah, we kind of noticed that they,’ here, Clint shrugged, ‘got on kind of well.’
Pepper snorted, causing Natasha to crack a grin. ‘Understatement of the year,’ she said, but there was no heat behind her words as she settled on the suite while the rest found seats.
Amicable chatting continued that Natasha partook in, but her brain was elsewhere as she glanced at Steve, wondering what had gone on between him and the two scientists the other day.
‘Thor coming?’ Clint asked, breaking into her thoughts.
‘Goldilocks is kind of hard to get a hold of,’ Tony’s voice interrupted them all.
Natasha knew he and Bruce had been coming before he talked, hearing the footsteps from behind the door before it even opened.
Now, Tony swept in, a cup of coffee in his hand, insouciant smile adorning his face as he took in the people on his couch. Bruce was staying near the bar, hands in his pockets, face hidden by the shadows from the shelves.
‘So he’s not coming?’ Clint said, not at all surprised to see Tony as he had heard them coming too.
Tony’s grin turned exceptionally smug. ‘I didn’t say that,’ he almost sing-songed.
Steve suddenly looked tired, though it was an amused sort of strain.
Clint didn’t look greatly pleased, particularly when Natasha sent him a teasing smirk. Stark could be a horror to try to get a straight answer out of and beyond frustrating. Watching it being done to someone else was entertaining though.
‘I’m sure a genius like you could work out how to communicate through realms,’ Natasha drawled.
‘Do you really have to encourage him?’ Clint asked with a raised eyebrow.
Steve looked like he wanted to nod in agreement. Natasha saw the moment a flicker of mischievous went through his blue eyes, but he still kept his mouth shut.
So Steve had a teasing side, but just wasn’t showing it yet. Natasha found she was looking forward to seeing a bit of a different side to the sometimes one-track-minded soldier.
‘Makes no difference,’ Tony said. ‘I can’t turn,’ he pointed to his mind with his coffee cup, ‘this off. Too brilliant. Too busy.’
‘I can think of times when that,’ Pepper jabbed a finger at his head, ‘wasn’t working.’
That caused a ripple of laughter from all of them, Tony excluded, who just pouted.
‘Good help is so hard to buy these days,’ he huffed.
‘So are truthful opinions,’ Pepper said cheerily.
‘Damn.’ Clint grinned at Tony. ‘She’s good.’
‘Go try to fly off one of your perches, Tweety Bird,’ Tony said with no rancour whatsoever.
Clint rolled his eyes. ‘Do you even know my name?’
Tony didn’t respond as his eyes squinted, eyebrows furrowing deep. Then, before Clint could jump in with a triumphant, ‘I knew it’, Tony suddenly looked to both his sides then lifted his arms and checking again as though he was searching for something he lost underneath them. As his eyes landed on the figure in the shadows, it became apparent exactly what he lost or more precisely, who.
‘Brucie!’ he exclaimed, moving at a fast clip back from where he had come from. ‘You can’t appreciate my witty banter with Merida from way over there. Do you feel like coffee? I feel like coffee.’
Bruce’s reply was muffled as Tony wrapped an arm around his shoulders, practically dragging him to the kitchen. As light landed on his features, Natasha felt something funny in her stomach as she realised he was dressed in an over-large sweater, comfortable slacks that were extremely baggy and glasses perched on his sloping nose. He looked so … homey, but had the typical Banner fashion of always looking a bit rumpled. The clothes were obviously old, which was very much him, unlike how he looked the other day.
Also unlike the other day, he looked beyond nervous, eyes darting everywhere except to the faces of his teammates and his hands were out of his pockets, thumbs running over his knuckles. Despite obviously not wanting to move from where he had been, once pulled out in the open, he made no attempt to move from the engineer’s side.
‘Nonsense!’ Tony exclaimed to whatever he said.
He dumped his cup in the sink, started the coffee maker and slid two new mugs underneath it all with one hand because he refused to remove his arm from Bruce. It was like he was afraid Bruce might make a run for it. With the way Bruce eyed the door longingly, he was probably right.
‘Dr. Banner,’ Steve said pleasantly, standing to move over towards the two scientists.
Bruce eyed the hand offered to him just like last time before taking it in his own. ‘Captain,’ he said.
Natasha blinked. It hit her that she hadn’t actually heard him talk the other day. Thinking about it, he didn’t really interact with anyone besides Tony. Had they really all looked him over?
Tony and Clint had gone at it so quick that she didn’t even smile in greeting at him.
Taking a fortifying breath, she stood up and crossed the room as Steve took a step back to admire the kitchen.
‘Hi, Doc,’ she said softly.
Bruce turned his honeyed eyes on to her, blinking slowly from behind his spectacles.
‘Agent Romanov,’ he replied with what she realised was caution. She couldn’t really blame him. The last time they saw each other, she had been ready to launch herself at him with deadly accuracy.
She smiled disarmingly like she knew how to do when calming down a contact on a mission. However, she didn’t like it that she felt like she was treating him more like a target that she was manipulating rather than a teammate. How was she meant to do anything else though?
He smiled back, the wariness still as prominent, but at least he’d smiled. That was something right?
‘I would get up,’ Clint called from the couch, ‘but I’m too comfortable.’
This brought a bit more of a genuine grin to Bruce as he gave Clint a small wave.
‘Dinner has been ordered and will be here in about half an hour,’ Pepper said, getting up and straightening her skirt. She sent a smile around the room. ‘It was nice seeing you all again, but I have to head off. I have a flight to Malibu.’
Tony was by her side in a second, Bruce still in tow. The poor man blinked around in bewilderment as though he couldn’t figure out how one moment, he had been standing in the kitchen then the next minute he was in the lounge area.
The engineer finally let him go to wrap his girlfriend in his arms. ‘Call,’ he said simply and everyone could see how he forced himself to disentangle from her.
Pepper clasped his cheek, like she had those months ago and Natasha found she had to hold back a quirk of her lips. She quickly looked away as she realised of all people, Bruce’s eyes were on her.
That didn’t last long though as Pepper turned her attention to Bruce. He looked beyond uncomfortable, chewing his bottom lip viciously, while his eyes took on a type of scared fondness and he tried to smile, but it came out as more of a sad grimace.
Natasha didn’t know so many conflicting emotions could be on someone’s face at once. No wonder he was nearly damn impossible to read. What was a person meant to respond to? It made his emotions so much harder to predict, which was something Natasha was not used to.
It didn’t phase Pepper though. She just simply held out her arms to the physicist. He didn’t attempt to move closer, but he eased up on his lip while a petrified smile flickered across his face.
Pepper’s smile filled with warmth everyone thought was only reserved for Tony and she grabbed his shirtsleeves at the arm, easily tugging her to him.
He didn’t resist her. His hands fluttered around, afraid to touch her, but never did they push her away.
A piece fitted into Natasha’s jigsaw puzzle of why Bruce didn’t sleep somewhere else that night after shawarma. A sadness clenched in her stomach, making a heavy, hopeless feeling settle over her body. It would have been so hard to get up because the sensation was pushing down on her harder than gravity.
Pepper pulled back and gave his arms a bracing, friendly shake then quirked her head to Tony, who had been watching the exchange with that same softness present on the Helicarrier.
‘Think you can take care of him by yourself for a few days?’ she asked, her pretty blue eyes sparkling.
Bruce snorted then looked shocked that it happened while Tony slapped a hand on his chest.
‘Mwah?’ He said, attempting an innocent expression that could never fit with his eyes that were forever alive with mischievous and secret plans which made him vibrate with an energy and such pure life force that could never be dimmed. It made the heaviness blanketing Natasha lift. Sometimes, one couldn’t help but feel lighter around Tony.
It was Steve that laughed outright at that.
‘You,’ Tony snapped his fingers at him then succinctly said, ‘Shut it.’
Steve peeked up at him, amused smile quirking at his lips, eyes bright, the one he had given when Tony woke up after falling.
Pepper rolled her eyes, but stayed watching Bruce.
Realising she wanted a response, he nodded, ducking his head, but his voice came out surprisingly strong. ‘Can do.’
Pepper’s smile widened and she briefly squeezed his arms, causing a surprised expression to flash across Bruce’s countenance underneath his furious blush.
Turning, she called goodbyes to everyone else, which was returned, and she began making her way to the elevator, picking up her heels on the way. Tony followed her, stride not near as care-free as usual.
Natasha noted, with a kind of apprehensive interest that as soon as the engineer disappeared around the corner, Bruce tensed even more than he was before, shoulders hunching around his neck and his lip was back to being tortured again.
Steve saw it too.
‘So, Dr. Banner, how have you been settling in here?’
Bruce gave one of his grimaces that somehow looked like he was smiling at the same time. ‘Settling is a strong word.’
‘I heard that!’ Tony shouted from around the corner.
Bruce’s reaction to the genius’s voice was instantaneous. His shoulders slumped with pure relief and his face went slack as he took in a deep breath, as though breathing in a healing incense. A peaceful sensation just fell over him and with the tenseness whooshing from his body, it looked like he was about to melt into the floor.
If Natasha wasn’t an expert in schooling her expression, she would have grinned in amused confusion. What was with these two? A pleasant sensation prickled at the back of neck upon seeing the physicist actually relaxed.
Her body sunk back into the seat, adrenaline easing back and didn’t return to the usual tenseness that it was always at whenever near Dr. Banner. Standing there, looking a little like a toddler with his over-sized clothes that had just been calmed, her unique green eyes warmed at the sight.
Clint swiped a finger across the side of his nose like a secret signal. ‘Blink twice if you are being held here against your will,’ he stage-whispered.
Bruce silently chuckled at that, shoulders shaking.
The archer looked as surprised as Natasha felt, but a happiness settled in his grey eyes as he studied the doctor like he did with Tony the other day.
Said genius emerged from around the corner, looking decidedly satisfied. The goodbye had obviously been what he wanted or as Natasha more suspected, needed.
He wasted no time in reattaching himself to Bruce, jostling the physicist with the arm wrapped around the shorter man.
‘And Pepper thinks I’m the one that needs to be kept an eye on.’ He waggled an accusing finger at Bruce like he was scolding him while Bruce had his chin dipped, raising his eyes to Tony with affection evident in the honeyed colours. ‘You play innocent in front of her, but I’m on to you, bud.’
Natasha didn’t feel like suppressing the amused smile at Tony’s antics as well as Bruce’s bashful reaction, head ducking, looking equally parts mortified and entertained by Tony. He embodied the term of dork.
Tony’s eyes crinkled, giving him that soft edge that the group had glimpsed on the Helicarrier.
‘Now, where were we? Coffee! I need coffee, Bruce. Don’t tell me you don’t because I know you do. And blueberries! With cheese, crackers … ah hell, let’s just raid the cupboards. JARVIS! Order me one of everything in the snack section at the local supermarket. I feel like being surprised next time I raid the kitchen. Actually, make it six of everything. If I find something I like, I don’t want to have to wait for more to arrive. You know how I don’t like to wait.’
Tony’s hands talked as much as he did, swinging and gesturing everywhere, causing poor Bruce to stumble now and then as he was pulled alongside his fellow scientist. But not once did he complain though. In fact, he looked oddly pleased and happy.
‘I thought you didn’t like to be handed things?’ he said as JARVIS gave an affirmative.
‘I don’t like waiting or being handed things,’ Tony said with a roll of his eyes. ‘Keep up, Brucie, otherwise you’re going to miss out on some of my charming idiosyncrasies.’
‘Of course, Tony,’ Bruce soothed, eyes sparkling as he looked up at the engineer.
Next to her, Clint coughed and tapped his chin. ‘Six,’ he called across the room to where Tony was traversing with Bruce to the kitchen in a haphazard line. ‘A very particular number there, Stark.’
The look Tony threw over his shoulder was absolutely filthy. He didn’t dignify Clint’s sentence with a comment as he dragged Bruce to the coffee, launching into a theory he was working on that might be able to reduced fuel consumption by 20%, but he wanted Bruce’s help with the chemical make-up of what he was proposing.
Bruce nodded along, fixing the coffee, miraculously not spilling anything as Tony would throw out a hand as he talked about what he obviously thought was a particularly exciting part of the theory.
‘Six?’ Steve repeated softly, blonde eyebrows furrowing, making his forehead crinkle slightly. They rose as realisation crossed his face and he glanced over at the never-silent genius with a surprisingly warm smile. ‘Well, I’ll be.’
‘Careful,’ Natasha said with a grin of her own. ‘He might burn the world down if you point out he has feelings.’
Steve chuckled, deep and cheerful. ‘I’ll keep that in mind.’
The conversation was interrupted by a massive clap of thunder, causing the dim lights to flicker.
Steve, Clint and Natasha jumped to their feet, Clint and Natasha already reaching for their weapons while Steve simply repositioned himself into a fighting stance.
Tony treated them to a bored expression while his arm almost unnoticeably tightened around a wide-eyed Bruce. ‘You’re a paranoid bunch,’ he mused, more to himself than to anyone then suddenly grinned. ‘Could you imagine if we played Survivor together? It would be like paranoia on steroids!’
Steve looked perplexed while Clint sighed and Natasha growled. There was obviously no danger with how Tony was acting, but that didn’t make his nonchalance any less irritating.
‘Are you sure there is no danger, Stark?’ she confirmed, all though she was already forming a theory to who caused the disturbance.
Tony raised his eyebrows condescendingly at her. ‘If there was, JARVIS would have let me know.’
Her hands shook minutely at what could turn out to be very fatal system. ‘Don’t ever,’ she hissed, ‘just depend on that. Confirm with him. Do a perimeter search. Something!’
He cocked his head at her, more curious than condescending now. ‘You do realise it’s just Thor right?’
‘I’m talking about future incidents, Stark!’ she snapped. ‘If you don’t take the proper precautions, you can wind up dead all because you were non-vigilant.’
Beside him, Bruce perked up and looked straight at her again, but she was too busy glaring at Tony to acknowledge the oddly pleased sensation zapping through her chest at that.
The engineer held up a placating palm. ‘All right, all right, no need to go all Black Widow on me,’ he huffed, rolling his chestnut brown eyes. He was going for annoyance, but Natasha could see the confusion under the layers he used to create the ‘Tony Stark, Howard Stark’s prodigy son’ persona.
The elevator doors opening eased the tension that still slithered through the room.
‘My friends!’ Thor’s voice reached them before he did. ‘It is so good to reunite with you all under more pleasurable circumstances.’
He rounded the corner. His clothing was so casual, polo shirt and dark washed jeans while his hair pulled back in a loose bun. He was grinning widely as he casually swung Mjölnir in his hand like one would a shopping bag.
‘There’s my favourite beach blonde god,’ Tony exclaimed, tipping his mug to Thor before taking an exaggerated swig.
He promptly choked on the hot liquid. Bruce thumped his back as he coughed into his hand.
Natasha rolled her eyes, but kept glimpsing back at him as she joined the others to greet Thor. The third time she glanced back, she found herself meeting Bruce’s scrutinising gaze.
She froze, unable to think of the appropriate expression she was meant to bring up. They just stayed like that, staring at each other, both faces as equally blank as each other, neither giving a thing away.
‘Ah, the good doctor!’
Thor’s exclamation tore Bruce’s gaze from her and she felt like she could breathe again.
The demigod entered the kitchen, clasping Bruce’s arm in a sign of comradeship that Bruce bemusedly returned.
‘Tell me, how do you fair from the morn previous days ago?’ Thor asked, his genuine concern unable to be waved off.
Bruce cocked his head, face blank, but this time with confusion. ‘I’m … fine,’ he said slowly.
‘’Tis a great reason to gather and celebrate then. My apologies for the stoic director. I am most glad his callous words did not cause you too much distress,’ Thor grinned, turning his bright smile onto Tony, who was still painfully clearing his throat. ‘Many thanks, Man of Iron, for making this grand occasion come to take place.’
Tony gave one more hack before turning his watery gaze to Thor. ‘Don’t thank me, thank Pepper,’ he rasped, clutching at his throat, but judging by the one raised eyebrow from Bruce, it was obviously in exaggeration. ‘She did it, not me.’
Natasha’s head whipped around at that, eyes sharp.
She knew a lie. She was the queen of the deadly play on words, weaving them into such an intricate web that no one could tell when the lies became the truths or the truths became the lies, twisted seamlessly together to rip a person’s view of the world apart.
Tony’s words, without a doubt, contained the delicate thread of a lie.
However, unlike when she lithely wove together her threads to create a web to hurt or ruin, Tony’s lie obviously didn’t have that intention. It wasn’t just him simply not wanting anyone to know that he cared. It went a lot deeper than that. A lot, lot deeper.
Pursing her lips the slightest bit, she vowed to just sit back and study for tonight.
Around everyone, Clint shot her a look which she returned with a nod, indicating she was fine.
‘Excuse me,’ JARVIS politely interrupted, causing everyone in the room to jump except Tony and Bruce, ‘but dinner has arrived.’
Tony squeezed the back of Bruce’s neck, causing a warmth to seep into the smaller man’s eyes, making the colour look like melted caramel.
‘Come on, Mr. Hyde,’ he said cheerfully. ‘Blueberries are no longer hitting the spot so the situation is about to hit dire levels.’
‘I’ll prepare the klaxon,’ Bruce said wryly, but trotted beside the engineer without question.
As soon as they disappeared and the elevators closed with an almost imperceptible whoosh at the same time as Thor disappeared into the bathroom, Clint turned to the room in general.
‘I can’t be the only one noticing those two,’ he said. ‘When has Bruce been so clingy or kind of … shy? I mean, not like he was the life of the party, but still.’
Natasha rolled her eyes at his deadly serious tone that she knew held a playful element to it that many people didn’t notice.
‘No, you’re not the only one,’ she said thoughtfully, looking at the corner that hid where the two scientists disappeared to. She had a bit more understanding of Bruce’s clinginess.
He’d found a comfort zone with Tony, something he obviously hadn’t had for years. He wasn’t wanting to let go of that any time soon and was probably scared it would disappear any moment. The poor guy was making as much use of it as possible.
Still though, the shyness had been taken to another level after the meeting on the Helicarrier.
She glanced at Steve. ‘Did you catch up to them the other day?’
He nodded, absently rubbing the back of his neck. ‘Yeah. Had a bit of a chat with them. Apparently there were a few things that went down between Stark and Fury that we were unaware of.’
Natasha’s eyes sharpened. ‘What sort of things?’
Steve shrugged his massive shoulders. ‘Stark only said he wasn’t coming back if Fury kept interfering in his affairs.’ At the awkward way he was shifting, Natasha could tell Tony had used less polite words than that.
She didn’t like being out of the loop with these sort of things. Tony was up to something, but her instincts told her it was nothing uncouth. Her feelings said the same thing about Fury though. The director hadn’t been angry the other day when Tony stormed out. He’d been frustrated and even a few worried waves were permeating off him.
‘We’re getting off topic.’ Clint waved his hand, obviously not caring about the tension between Fury and Stark. ‘When did Stark become so buddy-buddy with … anybody before?’
‘I haven’t known the man that long, but I’m guessing this is a rarity,’ Steve said dryly.
‘You have no idea,’ Natasha responded.
The stranger thing to her though was that Bruce had latched onto Tony as much as Tony had to him. Sure, Tony was the one dragging him everywhere, but Bruce obviously didn’t want to be left behind. He’d run off after Tony to the elevators like an adoring …
Natasha couldn’t put her damn finger on it. She had a feeling as well that Bruce would have done the same thing even if they weren’t here. Pepper had indicated that as well. The two appeared practically inseparable.
She filed that away, thinking back to the increased viciousness in Tony’s countenance when he felt Fury had upset Bruce.
Thor entered the same time as Tony and Bruce did, ten boxes of pizza balanced between the two of them.
‘Youse better like pizza,’ Tony said, dumping the pizza on the coffee table. ‘If you don’t, you’re more than welcome to leave.’
‘Such a charming host,’ Natasha purred.
Tony turned a toothy grin on her. ‘I know.’
He headed to the kitchen.
Bruce’s eyes widened as he realised Tony was moving away and he put the boxes next to the others before promptly following him.
Thor grinned fondly after them, an understanding in his expression that Natasha still didn’t have. Still though, it didn’t make the whole strange thing any less endearing.
‘Coffee, Bruce,’ Tony was crowing from the kitchen as though he was just stumbling across the invention now.
‘Lord help us all, that man does not need any more caffeine,’ Steve mumbled, causing both Clint and Natasha to chuckle. He blinked in surprise as though he didn’t realise he said it out loud, but soon returned the smiles with one of his own.
‘You should see him on Red Bull,’ Bruce said softly as he followed Tony back to the couches, causing more laughter from both spies, but the joke was lost on Steve and Thor.
Tony turned a wounded look on Bruce as he plopped on to the couch, chucking plastic plates to everyone like a Frisbee. ‘You’re meant to be on my side, Jolly Green.’
Natasha’s fingers gripped into the couch coushion at the reference to the Hulk, but Bruce didn’t blink, appearing more comfortable now than he had been before he left. Natasha had a strong feeling that had to do with something Tony said when they’d gone to get the pizzas.
‘Not if your side includes destroying your health.’
‘Health,’ Tony snorted derisively before biting into a slice of pizza then promptly moaning. ‘You can’t tell me health is better than this.’
Clint bit into a slice and gave an exaggerated sigh. ‘I’m sorry, guys, but,’ he pretended to struggle with the next words, a tremble appearing in his voice, ‘I’m … I’m going to have to agree with Stark on this one.’
Thor laughed heartily and Steve’s face took on a more peaceful expression, some sadness that always was sitting there disappearing.
Tony grinned. ‘I knew I liked you, Clint.’
Clint’s smile was huge as he pointed his finger at Tony. ‘You do know my name!’
‘I know everything.’
‘Debatable,’ Steve cut in, the cheekiness staying in his eyes for longer this time.
Bruce’s shoulders shook at that and Tony turned his attention to Steve.
‘So you do have another mode than humming the National Anthem while baking apple pies?’
Steve looked bemused rather than offended. ‘I certainly hope so.’
‘Pie!’ Thor exclaimed, causing Bruce to jump and move slightly closer to Tony, who leaned against his side for a brief moment. ‘Friend Tony, the Hawk advised me to ask you how there a thousand numbers in a pie.’
Steve began to laugh as Clint groaned. ‘Thor, no! It was a joke! You want Tony to talk more than he already is?’
Tony’s smile became cheekily radiant. ‘Don’t be rude, Robin Hood, the good man asked.’
With that, he launched into an explanation of what pi was while Thor looked on in shock before he finally got into reciting the first thousand numbers in pi.
By the time he got to number 200, Steve, Clint and Natasha were starting to clutch at their hair while Thor was thoroughly fascinated like he was being regaled with the most fascinating tale. Bruce didn’t pause in munching on his pizza and sipping on his cup of coffee, oddly content as Tony continued to verbally torture them.
‘Excuse me, sir,’ JARVIS cut in, causing Tony to break off on number 325. Tony glared up at the ceiling, but before he could launch into how he was going to donate the AI to the closest community college, JARVIS continued. ‘But Miss Potts is placing a call to your cell phone that is currently on the kitchen island.’
‘Remind me to send Pepper some flowers for saving us from the most painful of deaths. And JARVIS some virtual ones as well,’ Clint murmured.
Natasha gave one emphatic nod.
Tony’s gaze immediately brightened at JARVIS’s words. As he went to get up, Bruce stiffened next to him, a small shiver making his hands shake.
The engineer paused in getting up from the couch. ‘Well, why didn’t you say so, J?’
‘I did, sir.’
‘Don’t think I won’t use you to make an intelligent washing machine, JARVIS, because I will.’
‘Very good, sir.’
‘Don’t “Very good” me, J, you piece of …’
The banter continued on and little by little, Bruce relaxed. Even when Tony began to ease off the couch, he stayed loose as Tony continued his prattle all the way to the kitchen, which then gave way to a mumbled conversation with Pepper. However, it seemed that just his tone filling the room was enough to put Bruce at ease.
It was too convenient to be a coincidence. Tony had known exactly what he was doing.
By the soft looks on Steve, Clint and Thor’s faces, they knew it too.
‘Dr. Banner,’ Steve said, gently drawing Bruce’s attention from the depths of his mug. ‘I’ve heard you’ve done some travels around the globe.’
Bruce’s grin was wry as he absently circled an index finger around the rim of the cup. ‘A few.’
Steve grinned. ‘I didn’t get to see France at its best, but I’ve heard it’s beautiful now. Did you get to see it?’
Bruce’s smile turned a bit embarrassed, as though he realised what Steve was trying to do. He was a genius as well after all.
Natasha couldn’t help but notice that Tony had sat himself as close to Steve’s arm chair as possible. He knew Bruce would follow closely too. Another element that was too convenient to be by accident. Steve had such an honesty about him that he would surely be the one to most put Bruce at ease other than Tony.
‘I … didn’t see much of France,’ he admitted but then continued on without being pushed. ‘I spent some time in Venice though.’
Steve shook his head. ‘I didn’t get to go there. What’s it like?’
Thor perked up too, sitting on a chair parallel to Bruce and to the right of Steve. ‘Please, good doctor, regale us of these Midgardian dwellings. Are they much different from here?’
The physicist grinned, getting caught up in the Asgardian’s enthusiasm. ‘They kind of are, yeah.’
‘Come on, Doc,’ Clint called from where he sat on the L of the lounge suite, next to Natasha and diagonal from Bruce. ‘Regale us here.’
Despite the teasing, Clint’s tone was gentle and drawing. Kind of like when he was coaxing Cooper into doing something he was afraid of.
Natasha took a bite of pizza to hide her smile. It looked like she wasn’t the only one being drawn in by Bruce.
The conversation got flowing after that, Steve not prompting as much, Thor listening attentively while Clint chipped in with an unhelpful, dumb comment that had most of them snorting with laughter, Bruce never making a noise, but always making the movement.
Somehow, Tony had masterfully woven this to happen. Who knew the guy could be so socially adept that he could get Bruce to relax without the engineer permanently by his side. When Tony did re-enter, he didn’t talk near as much, busying himself by eating slice after slice of pizza. When Natasha caught his gaze, his chestnut eyes were decidedly smug.
The man left every cat for dead with his level of smugness and self-assuredness.
After dinner, Tony proposed a movie.
‘How about we play a game?’ Steve suggested. At Tony’s raised eyebrow, he raised his hands peacefully. ‘This is meant to be a team bonding night and that is better to do with a game rather than movie,’ he hastened to explain.
‘We’re not playing baseball up here,’ Tony deadpanned.
He finally drew a glare from Steve. ‘I do know how to do other things than all-American past times.’
‘You mean like modelling a suit based of the American flag, Capsi …’ Tony broke off as Bruce once again tugged at his sleeve, honeyed eyes bright with worry. Tony quickly rejoined his sentence with a simple, ‘Cap.’
Beside him, Bruce relaxed, expression extremely grateful.
Steve blinked in surprise at the billionaire before a soft smile worked its way onto his face, showing off his dimples.
Tony must have sensed the impending onslaught of feelings because he jumped to his feet, clapping his hands. ‘Game it is then! Don’t worry, I’ll stay away from anything too much for the faint-hearted.’ He made a face over at Clint before jerking a thumb at Steve. ‘Could you imagine if we introduced him to Cards against Humanity?’
Clint cracked up as Thor and Steve looked on in confusion.
Natasha smirked. It softened into a smile as Bruce subtly got up and followed after Tony. With it now being dark and the lights bright in the common room, reflections were perceptible in the windows when at the right angle. Natasha could see the moment Tony spotted Bruce behind him because the skin around his eyes crinkled strongly and he allowed himself a fond smile that had a different kind of warmth than he had for Pepper. His gait subtly slowed so Bruce could easily catch up. He would have denied it to his dying day if he realised Natasha had seen it.
She wasn’t planning on broaching it with him though. She was just satisfied to have witnessed it, enjoying the warmth that had settled into her chest that usually only came from watching Cooper or Lila.
Once again, she couldn’t name what the hell was going on with those two, but it was strangely addicting to watch.
Coming back from around the corner next to the television, Tony returned with Bruce at his heels, holding Taboo in one hand and in the other, Cards against Humanity. Of course he did. Bruce was cuddling Pictionary to his chest.
Steve wasn’t up-to-date, but he wasn’t an idiot. He downright refused to play Cards against Humanity. Tony gave in and put up Pictionary, probably wanting to lull the soldier into a false sense of security with a game he would love because it involved drawing.
A white board was pulled out from somewhere as Clint and Bruce put the plastic plates in the rubbish while storing the leftover pizza. Clint looked like he wanted to make a comment about how it was Natasha’s job because she was a female and it had to do with the kitchen. With one eyebrow raise on her part, he wisely changed his mind.
They drew colours out of a container to pick teams. Natasha wound up with Thor, Bruce and Clint were teamed up and Steve was paired with Tony. Of course they were.
It soon became apparent that anything Natasha drew, Thor didn’t recognise and vice-versa. When she had drawn a tornado, but all Thor would come out with was a portal, she was tempted to throw her marker at him. She satisfied herself by smacking Clint upside the head as he unsuccessfully snorted back laughter. Thor wasn’t any better, going through card after card because he had no idea what any of them were.
Tony took great pleasure in calling out the dumbest answers imaginable when it was Steve drawing for their team. Steve drew a perfect tiger, teeth bared and all. Tony said it was a bald lion. Steve whipped out a lively sketch of a wolf baying at the moon in less than twenty seconds. Tony guessed it to be John Smith on all fours, crying for Pocahontas when she dumped him for John Ralph. Steve stroked out beautiful lines to create the crazy hair and tell-tale moustache of Albert Einstein. Tony threw his arms in the air, exclaiming with childish glee, ‘It’s me!’
Of course he did.
Beside him, Bruce playfully slumped into his side just like Tony had done to him that day on the Helicarrier, honeyed eyes shining with laughter. No amount of dirty looks Steve sent Tony could wipe the smile from the engineer’s face from that point forward.
On Natasha’s turn, she had actually come across a card with Tony Stark written on it. She had promptly put it at the back of the packet, despite it actually being something Thor would have a prayer of recognising. But she was not putting herself through what would be brought on if she drew Tony. His ego would swell that much that she would be forced to kill him then Pepper would never speak to her again. And she liked Pepper.
When it came to Tony’s turn to draw, Steve tried his hardest, but couldn’t make heads or tails of the engineer’s indecipherable scrawl.
‘That’s a rubber duck!’ Tony screeched, hands pulling at his hair before throwing his arms out wide then pointing at the mishmash of scribbles with both index fingers. ‘That’s Ernie playing with it in the bathtub. How could you not see that?’
Steve simply stared, mouth wide open, eyes beyond confused.
‘You know,’ Clint indicated to Tony’s hair, now standing on end because of him pulling at it, ‘you do kind of look like Einstein.’
Tony threw the marker at Clint’s head. His aim was pretty good if Natasha did say so herself.
Clint and Bruce were the only ones that actually worked together well. Clint’s drawing wasn’t half bad while Bruce studied it like he did anything he put his concentration into. Bruce’s artistic talent was quite good and Clint was sharp, able to guess some harder cards like parapet or waltz.
In the end, Clint and Bruce won by a landslide with Natasha and Thor having only moved about ten spaces while Tony and Steve were a dismal last.
‘Up top, Doc,’ Clint cheered.
There was no self-deprecation or nervousness in the smile Bruce gave as he enthusiastically gave the archer a high five.
Tony grabbed the corner of the board game then turned to Steve.
‘Tip the board with me?’
‘What?’ Steve asked with a hint of laughter, all annoyance fading with the billionaire.
‘Tip the board with me.’ Tony emphasised his point by indicating the object with a tilt of his head.
Steve raised his eyebrows, but moved forward anyway. Together, they both threw the board high, sending the pieces flying. The soldier laughed as the cheap plastics clattered down around them.
‘Down below, Cap,’ Tony grinned and Steve’s smile remained as he gave Tony a low five, a chuckle escaping him.
Cards against Humanity was enthusiastically campaigned for by both Clint and Tony. Steve actually looked like he was considering it, but Natasha said she wanted to play Taboo just to tick Clint off because he had been such a smug winner.
‘Taboo’s good,’ Bruce said softly.
Natasha blinked over at him. He looked back at her then smiled softly, unsurely. She cocked her head, strangely touched by his attempt at trying to do something nice for her. Her lips quirked.
Truthfully, it did sound interesting. It was game where one tried to describe a word on a card without using five taboo words specified on the card. If correct, a person could take another card and continue, but if a taboo word was said, that person’s turn was over.
Once Bruce said he wanted Taboo, Tony immediately switched sides with the only stipulation that Bruce had to be on his team. No one argued because no one wanted Tony on their team. Besides, Bruce looked thrilled, whether from being picked first or being on Tony’s team, Natasha wasn’t sure. She bemusedly hoped Bruce wasn’t so blinded by his obvious adoration of the engineer for it not to be the first choice but judging by the smile on the physicist’s face when Tony slung an arm around his shoulders, it was definitely the latter.
After teaching Thor paper, scissors, rocks, they used that to decide who else would choose their team. Natasha won against Steve then promptly picked him, causing Clint to poke his tongue out at her. Bruce’s shoulders began shaking again. Each time Tony noticed, he looked minutely sad and Natasha was figuring out why.
Bruce never laughed out loud. There were so many reasons as to why that would be, none of them pleasant at all.
Clint seemed to put it together the same time for he pushed the cards in the board game towards Bruce. When the physicist looked at him curiously, Clint just shrugged, moving to perch on Steve’s arm chair so he could make sure he didn’t say any of the taboo words when it was his turn.
It became apparent in the first thirty seconds why Tony had insisted him and Bruce be on the same team. It was like the two scientists shared the same damn brain. Bruce would simply say something like, ‘An Aerosmith song,’ in which Tony would happily proclaim, ‘Toys in the Attic.’
‘Last word.’
‘Attic.’
‘That’s it,’ Bruce declared, chucking the card aside and grabbing another one.
How the hell Bruce knew Aerosmith was a shock to Natasha as she watched the two work seamlessly together, Tony continuing to get the answer with just a few words.
By the end of their turn, they’d scored seven when the rules said that a good round was four, five maximum.
Clint kept saying one of the words that were taboo. Steve appeared to take great pleasure in pointing it out to him, in which Clint would curse and throw the card down without Thor even having a chance to guess.
Steve was solid, describing the word as best he could, getting Natasha to actually guess three cards.
When it came round to Tony, his words were so fast that it was hard to decipher him. Natasha was peering over his shoulder at the card, making sure he didn’t say any of the words he shouldn’t and she could only just tell.
However, Bruce didn’t have any trouble, calmly saying one word without saying half a dozen guesses previous. He was always correct.
The whole thing looked pretty funny. Tony, all manic energy and noise, talking madly and making Natasha continually dodge his gesticulating hand while Bruce, all peaceful Zen and quietness, making the most in-sync team there.
By the end of their turn, they’d scored eight.
‘A record,’ Tony cheered. ‘Air high five!’
Bruce chuckled from where he sat next to Thor and half-heartedly gave the air a swat.
‘Incredibly weak, sir,’ Tony snorted snootily, but he happily passed the cards on to Thor.
‘I can’t believe you’re the same person that I played with in the previous game,’ Steve grumbled blandly.
‘Don’t hate the player, hate the game,’ the billionaire retorted cheerfully.
‘No, I’m pretty sure I should hate the player.’
Before Tony could give a comeback, something he always had no matter what, Thor launched into his turn, not even waiting for the timer to be turned over.
He was incredibly cautious, always glancing at the taboo words to make sure he never said them, which caused his descriptions to be incredibly long-winded and stilted. Once again, he had to go through that many cards because he didn’t know what so many of the words were.
By the time his turn was through, Clint looked more harrowed then when Tony had been reciting the first thousand numbers of pi.
They scored one, making it turn to Natasha. She was as solid as Steve and he was fairly good at guessing because she modified her descriptions to aptly describe what he knew about. Tony looked like he wanted to hassle her if his flitting, glittering eyes were anything to go by, but she suspected he withheld himself more for Bruce’s sake than from fear of her.
Again, the man was an expert of walking the line between incredibly stupid or extremely brave.
Natasha and Steve scored five then the round began again, going back to Bruce.
It didn’t take a genius to know who was going to win this.
By the end, Tony and Bruce sat easily victorious at 56 points, Steve and Natasha on 29 while Clint and Thor had struggled to get their 8.
Tony stretched, looking so like a smug cat that Natasha felt like shoving him off the couch. ‘Well, I don’t know about you lot, but a movie sounds pretty good ‘round ‘bout now.’
‘Sure,’ Steve nodded.
Grinning, Tony got up, waving for the soldier to follow. ‘Come on, Cap,’ he said. ‘Let me introduce you to the modern way of creating popcorn.’
Steve shrugged amicably and stood up.
‘I, too, will watch how you make this creation,’ Thor said, following after the other two.
Clint jumped up as well. ‘Do you have any Pepsi?’
Before Natasha realised it, she was sitting on the lounges alone with Bruce. One glance at him told her he was just as bewildered as he ducked his head and fiddled with the end of his sweater.
Natasha watched him, keeping her face neutral, as she tried to figure out how to bridge the obvious gap between them. He reached out to her earlier though so it couldn’t be too bad. Right?
As the voices swelled in the kitchen, Tony swatting both Steve and Thor away from his precious coffee machine, saying, ‘That doesn’t make the popcorn, that’s what produces my life elixir!’, causing Thor to ask him if he was immortal, Natasha found herself softly chuckling.
Bruce glanced over at her, honeyed eyes cautious, but also curious.
She simply gestured to the right. ‘Just listening to the lunatics,’ she said then blinked at her sentence. She was so at ease that she hadn’t picked out her words as much as she usually did.
To her surprise and unexpected happiness, Bruce’s shoulders shook. ‘Yeah,’ he said, the fondness evident in his voice. ‘It’s never boring.’
She had a feeling he was referring to not just the time of them all being there. ‘Stark would be a constant entertainment, I could imagine.’
Bruce nodded, the upturn around his lips disappearing as he absently stared into the distance.
Natasha held back a frown, wondering what she’d said to change his mood. It was just so hard to predict at times.
However, Bruce surprised her again by speaking up in a quiet voice with something else hidden within the tone she couldn’t immediately identify.
‘Thanks, you know.’
She cocked her head, indicating for him to go on.
He must have seen it because he clarified himself. ‘For what you said to Tony. About making sure he’s safe. He is vigilant when anyone else is around, but when it’s just himself …’ Bruce trailed off, letting that hang in the air.
When it was just Tony, he either didn’t think himself important enough to properly ensure his own safety or he just thought he was that indestructible. Probably a bit of both. She didn’t like the sound of either.
‘It’s good that you’re here then,’ she found herself saying. She wondered if he heard her hidden meaning like she did his.
Bruce glanced sharply up at her. ‘What?’ he sounded a little bit breathless as though it had been knocked out of him from shock.
‘It’s good you’re here. I’m glad you are,’ she said.
One part of her was manipulating him. She wanted to bridge the gap, try to make him at ease with her and perhaps get him one step closer to forgiving her for not doing what she said. However, the other part of her, the one she kept safely locked within her heart in fear that someone would use those softer feelings to hurt the people that made up her entire world, showed her she once again meant the words. Despite them being the perfect ones to be used, they were also completely true.
She shifted uncomfortably, feeling like breaking off the intense eye contact, but it was ingrained in her to never do that. It was a weakness and she was anything but weak.
The honeyed brown softened with surprise and such extreme gratefulness that she felt guilty he could react so strongly to just words.
‘Thank you,’ he whispered, turning back to fiddling with his sleeve.
The words meant more to him than even she could have predicted. To elicit that strong reaction made something in her chest tighten. Because no human should ever be so grateful for a couple of kind words, particularly from someone like herself. But here he was, acting like he had been given a blessing by the Pope himself. It wasn’t right. It just wasn’t right. Someone like Bruce … and here, she glanced over him again, her features unwillingly softened with sadness as she took in how he tucked in around himself like he was giving himself his own comfort because he never expected anyone else nor thought he deserved it … someone like Bruce should never have to be so starved for some nice words. Someone that had come back even if it meant getting locked in a cage but just because it was the right thing. Someone who kept reaching out despite getting continually burned, but never cursed the world for it and instead accepted his treatment as something he deserved. Someone who had so much to give, not in being a superhero, scientist or doctor, but as a shy, kind, dry, terrible sense of humour, bashful dork if the world would only let him.
‘Hey,’ she said around the tightness in her throat out of practiced ease.
He glanced up at her, a still grateful smile poking at the corners of his mouth.
She wanted to say she was sorry for manipulating, but it was how she functioned for so long that she sometimes didn’t know another mode with people she didn’t know. She wanted to say that he shouldn’t let the world kick him down because he did not deserve it. She wanted to say so much. Instead, she simply said, ‘It was nice to get to know you a bit more, Doc.’
It wasn’t exactly what she wanted, but she decided that the way he turned his gaze down to hide his shy smile, blush working up his cheeks, that it was a good start. For both him and her.