A/N: A short reaction to the Hulk/Widow in Avengers 2: Age of Ultron.
As she looks, stares into empty space, her mind flies back to when she first knew of fragility.
It was a long time ago, her third mission, when she realised that things asides from necks do break.
She remembers this, because when she'd clenched the glass a bit too hard, it shattered, the pieces scattering all over the floor, some of it scraping her skin.
The small lines of blood were nothing compared to the deep scars she received when she got back to base.
Pain was no stranger to her.
What struck into her heart was the shatter.
The sound of absolute weakness, the point of no return.
The glass would never be whole or useful again.
The pieces were weak. Incomplete. Broken. Would be swept away and thrown into the trash.
And that was what she recalled when she heard the shatter come from deep within.
After all, she had just given her heart, a large gamble, away.
And away it went, with a person, if you could call him one, when he pushed that button.
She had nearly gasped, but she did stagger backwards.
Oh well, she thought. After all these years I should have gotten used to disappointment…
But this time, it wasn't the same.
As she put on a steel resolve, she told the broken pieces of her heart, one she only recently realised she had, life goes on.
And hey, tomorrow, is another day…