A/N: Fill for this prompt: "natasha and/or bruce realizing for the first time that they have feelings for one another (obviously doesn't have to be simultaneous if you end up doing both of them - they can fall in love at different times)"
I wanted to put a little twist on this one. Enjoy!
It takes a loud cough for him to realize that Natasha's been standing in the door to the lab for about ten minutes.
"Oh," he says. "Hi."
"Hi."
She doesn't say anything - just sort of stands there, staring at him like she's never seen him before. Normally his hackles would rise - he'd think it had something to do with the Hulk - but that's not what this is. If that were the case, then she'd put up the pretense of being relaxed. He pulls the slide off of his microscope, cleaning it off and placing it back into its slot, before swiveling to face her.
"…is everything alright?" he asks warily. What's gotten into her?
His words seem to shake her out of it.
"Oh." She gives him a little smirk (and oh boy, he has no idea what to think of that). "Nothing. Just wanted to say hi. I'll leave you to your microscope. You two have fun together."
"O…kay?" She leaves with something like a skip in her step, which warrants more staring from him. "I have no clue what just happened."
She's escorting him to a speaker panel of leading scientists when it happens.
The Hydra symbol on the cars attacking doesn't surprise her at all, although she would think they would know better than to mess with Bruce. She flings herself on top of him, covering him from gunfire and wincing when one of the bastards gets in a lucky shot and grazes her back. The pain doesn't stop her from whipping out her own sidearm and firing at four of the thugs who've gotten out of the car.
"Get in the alley!" she shouts. "Stay down!"
She doesn't check to see if Bruce is following her orders - just focuses on the attacking Hydra thugs. Civilians are running for cover, which saves her the trouble of making sure they're safe. Her priority is making sure Hydra doesn't get to Bruce.
There are about ten more Hydra grunts, all of whom are trying to get around her. She throws herself at them before they have the chance to fire, wrestling a semi-automatic from one and firing at three others. The fourth tries to use his weapon as a club, which is easy enough for her to duck beneath, and he cries out as she dislocates his kneecap. The others fall like flies, and the car flees as Hydra realizes that they bit off more than they can chew with her.
She's still panting, feeling mostly pissed off, when shuffling footsteps remind her that Banner's there.
"You okay?" she asks him. He seems unharmed.
Bruce nods. He's staring at her in a weird way, like he's never seen her before. It makes her feel a little self-conscious - not that she would ever show it.
"Yeah, just…" He shakes his head. "Yeah. It's nothing. Don't worry about it."
"Whatever you say, Doc."