AN: I've been wanting to write this AU for a while now, the idea had crept into my brain last summer and I went back to it when I saw the prompt for this day of our BruceNat Week.
The room was grand, but she had expected nothing less from an Odinson and Stark collaboration, especially the Stark part. Security had been a challenge to hack, but Natasha had always liked a challenge, and there was nothing like breaking though one of Tony Stark's firewalls to boost her ego a little bit, especially on a night like that one.
It wasn't the first time she was alone on a mission, definitely not the first time she had to play chameleon and dissolve a topnotch security system; but, it was her first time without backup. Even on her last venture into the world of crime, she had counted on Clint to have her back. But Barton, as herself now, was a free man. He followed no one's orders and Nat had been lucky enough to have found him when she did. The man had owed her a favor and if there was something which characterized Barton within the con circle, it was his odd sense of honor. Natasha would have been lying if she didn't admit she had found that particular aspect of the man annoying at first, but it had saved her life more than once, and for that she would be eternally grateful –even if she still ended up giving black eyes every time they crossed paths with each other.
She entered through the front doors like everyone else, having already infiltrated the Tower where the gala was being held. She had changed from her spandex uniform to a black, tailored gown. A custom-made gift from one of her former employers. Sure, the Red Room was a corrupt organization, and she was more than glad to have finally escaped them –but she did admit, as she looked at her reflection in one of the grand mirrors lining the main hall, working for them had had its perks.
A free agent she now was, and while she did feel lighter -she also felt far more fragile. But the added tension her current state created only added excitement, and so Natasha smiled at the usher and passed him without even having to give her name.
Amateur.
Fitzgerald had had one thing right, large parties were always far more intimate than smaller ones. Everyone was talking and aweing and trying to make friends with the billionaires of the moment. The intimacy each group created gave her perfect leave to examine the entire room, her eyes always amused and awed, and never securitizing or observant. It was the key to being a perfect spy, she thought. It all came down to the way you controlled every muscle o your body and every emotion in your brain.
"Natalia, Natalia Rushmore."
Like at that moment, as someone recognized one of her aliases and her response was one of surprise, but not of shock. She greeted the woman with a kind smile which was half lie and half true.
"Pepper!"
Pepper Potts, the head of Organic Light; a brilliant woman and a fair friend. Natasha had almost felt bad for helping the Red Room make way with some of her profits. Now free of the Room's shadow, Natasha found herself realizing she felt even worse about having conned the woman.
"I had no idea you would be here. Tony mentioned your name a couple of days ago, he was looking for a good PR agent and your name come up in one of my old files."
Tony?
"I got invited last minute, you know Stark and Odinson."
The woman gave a breathy laugh, her blue eyes shining with genuine pleasantness.
"How is it you are here, though? Are you representing someone? I hope it's not more competition."
With a few sentences and a few glances, Natasha built the story inside her mind. From her previous encounters with Potts and her knowledge of Stark; she knew the two were brilliant, the two worked in the same company and both were pleasantly attractive. It didn't take for Natasha to be a genius to understand what was happening between the coworkers.
Her answer was also being processed when a voice interrupted her already half opened mouth. She knew the voice instantly and the husk and oak-like smell confirmed her theory as she turned to look at the man.
"Don't worry Pepper, she's not working for any other energy house. I have Ms. Rushmore working under my wing for the time being." He winked at Natasha as he finished explaining her story.
Dr. Bruce Banner.
Bruce Banner, a man she had never thought she would have to be in the same room with again. They both played a similar game, but he defied anything Natasha was ever trained or worked to do. He was emotional, he was loud and he was very -very irritable. The man had deeply disturbing anger issues which threatened every operation he planned. He was also the only man who had made Natasha stumble while on the job.
"I didn't know you were getting into the public eye, Bruce. Last thing Tony told me was that you were very happy with consulting privately for the whole of Stark enterprises." Potts teased while also testing the waters. It as an amateur rouse, but one they had to appear to fall for, if both were to maintain their cover -because Natasha could tell, he was also pretending to be something else. His name hadn't changed, but his eyes were oozing a social confidence Natasha knew him to not have.
"Well, I think you better than anyone know to not trust everything Tony says."
The three of them laughed, airy and fun and the atmosphere was suddenly turning too soft and sugary for Natasha to be comfortable in.
With apologizing eyes, which had Bruce raising an eyebrow at, Natasha managed to detach herself from both of them.
Bruce Banner.
If she had already been thinking that getting what she needed from that room tonight was going to be difficult –Bruce Banner had just made things worse. Not that she didn't appreciate the challenge. But her mind told her to be weary and careful, because if there was one variable she had trouble controlling –it was Dr. Banner.
Her target arrived an hour after she had, and she was glad in not having to have missed his arrival. Bruce had gone out of her sight –a fact which put her on edge. She enjoyed having everything under her eye and control.
Loki Odinson entered making a fuss, exactly like she had expected him to do so. The younger of the Odinson brothers and true to all clichés, the more irresponsible and bitter of the two. Oh, but the secrets families kept from each other were always juicy and a gold mine for people like her. And the secrets Loki Odinson kept were exactly what Natasha wanted.
He then came unto her line of sight, Bruce Banner leisurely making his way towards her target, his eyes filled with that which she knew to be a conman's weapon.
But she wasn't one to be defeated, not before and most definitely not now, when she was at full liberty to work as she pleased. Holding her own leash meant more than not having to sacrifice the morals she had grown to have; it also meant she could take risks her previous handlers wouldn't have approved of.
"Babe, I had been looking for you." She took Bruce by the hand, stopping him just inches away from Loki, and planted a quick kiss to his lips, the act as familiar as she could make it seem.
Bruce startled just enough for her to feel it, but not for their audience to take notice.
"Sorry, Mr. Odinson but I have to borrow him for a second."
The thin and tall man didn't even blink, just gave a courtesy nod and a hint of a smirk as she whisked Bruce away by the hand.
"What the hell are you doing here, Romanoff?" He asked her as soon as they were near one of doors leading to one of the outside balconies.
"From what I just saw, same as you." She smugly replied, letting him go but using her body as a shield between him and the door, her way of letting him know he wasn't escaping her.
Bruce huffed, both in annoyance and amusement.
Natasha Romanoff, the redheaded spider of a woman. She crafted a good web, had almost made him fall and get trapped in it once. Bruce was smart, a fact that was more than proved, and there weren't many people who could outsmart him in a battle of wits; Natasha Romanoff was one of the few who had gotten close. The fact had both scared him and attracted him –a dangerous combination in his line of work. He was already teased and avoided by others of the trade for his fame of allowing his emotions to drive his responses –mainly anger. He couldn't expose himself to other types of feelings to guide his instincts.
"I didn't know the Room had interests in new technology, I thought you were more of a direct deal kind of organization. Taking money by bunches."
It was impressive, though she would never admit it to him, because that would be her end, how his mask was perfectly constructed. Just for a second, he had her forgetting who he truly was; a sullen and angry man, with almost no social skills of his own and -with one of the most incredible minds she had ever met.
"I left the Room." Was her simple response, but it got out of him the most sincere reaction she had ever received.
"Out? I thought that was impossible."
She couldn't help it, she smirked in pride. She would probably end up regretting it later, but his genuine surprise and even sudden admiration in her made her want to feel something for her merits, if even for a second.
"It was."
There was silence after that. Bruce's mind tried to make sense of the woman in front of him; dressed in black, true to her street name, with red hair and mischief filled eyes. She was entrancing. And if he wasn't so adept at reading through her, if she weren't trying to figure out a way of getting him away so she could tackle Loki all by herself -
But he wasn't a normal man, and she wasn't a normal woman. And even if they had been, Bruce wasn't sure he would have ever had the courage to even speak to such a radiant presence.
"Who are you tonight, Miss Romanoff? What do you want?" His voice was calm and thoughtful, deep in a way which made Natasha's back shiver and made her take a second longer to answer.
"Natalia Rushmore, PR agent, working with Dr. Bruce Banner, trying to launch his new line of technology within the Stark Corporation and trying to see if I can get a word in with the younger Odinson, see if he has something to offer him."
Banner listened to her with raised eyebrows, taking the information in, making sure she wasn't playing him. Natasha could sense his analyzing stare and wondered to what conclusion he arrived, for she still didn't have a clear idea herself.
He gave a slight nod.
"Oh, and I've also been sleeping with Dr. Banner for the last six months."
And the conman was back as Bruce gave her a wicked smirk as he lit a cigarette following her comment.
"But we're not a dependent type of couple, we like our space. Working together all day just makes us anxious to spend a little time away from the other. It makes sex all the more fun if we don't see each other for a couple of hours."
"A lot more fun that way." He replied, accepting her rules.
The circumstances of the night had forced them into a joined story, the fact did not mean they were working together. They each wanted what Loki possessed, and neither was giving up in obtaining it.
"Precisely." She answered, invading his personal space, enjoying how she could make him nervous by simply being near him. It was minimal, a slight off-putting of his foot and a slight increase in his heart rate –it would have been oblivious to anyone else.
She took his cigarette and left him there, her mind set on finding Loki as quickly as she could and getting the location of the prized Tesseract out of him before Bruce Banner did.
Rumors stated that the Tesseract was a new form of weapon, a rifle that matched any military grade technology with a hint of something extra. Others stated it was a new power source, more than a weapon. Some thought it was a formula and not a tangible artifact. Whatever it was, there were people who wanted it and who would pay top money for it.
"Mr. Odinson," she called as Loki Odinson came unto her line of sight. "Natalia Rushmore, I'm a PR agent. I worked with Stark's part of the business a couple of years back." She put on her best smile, a sweet and sensual grin she had perfected long before, her body a combination of embarrassed and inviting –the perfect combination to have the man in question pause to take a look at her before giving any type of answer.
"Worked. You talk in past tense. I've got to admit that's a favorable point in your repertoire, it means you've got opportunity to improve. We've met before haven't we?" He gave her a cattish grin, his white teeth accentuated by the darkness of his long and perfectly combed hair. There was trickery behind his eyes, an urge to deceive and triumph at life. Natasha could read him as easily as she saw the blue color of his eyes.
"Yes, I interrupted Dr. Banner from speaking to you. I am sorry about that." She gave a breathy laugh, lowering her gaze in apparent embarrassment, using her line of view to scan the room –but Banner was nowhere in sight.
"I am sure Dr. Banner didn't mind the interruption."
Ridiculous, but his accent and his odd charm made it bearable.
"Oh he did. But it had been necessary." It was a cliché, but it usually gave pleasant results. Sticking to a partial truth was a tactic Natasha enjoyed using and it still had not failed her.
He walked her towards one of the windows and she followed, her eyes never leaving him but seeing far beyond his grin. Still no sign of Banner. More than pleasing, she found it worrying.
He asked her about Bruce and she gave him the answer she had already rehearsed with the given pauses and chuckles to make it seem natural and real. He paused at one of the windows, she remained behind, her presence near enough so he could tell she was still there.
"Talk to me about Stark, it's not every day I meet with someone who strangely leaves his office to end up retuning to it by the means of one of his dogs."
He spat the last word and he didn't need to turn around for her to know his whole charming persona had changed.
Loki Odinson had shown his colors.
She had known he was a trickster, that he played the games she did, so his sudden mistrust didn't really take her by surprise. There was only one man who had been able to surprise her, and he was -
"Now I am the one interrupting, sorry."
She fought to not react.
"Sir." Bruce greeted.
"Dr. Banner." Loki responded, his voice cold and hard.
This was the Loki which the underground community talked about; the suspicious, trickster everyone felt annoyed by.
"Has Nat told you about our new project? She's brilliant, but I'm sure you've already figured this out."
She would kill him someday. She so easily could.
Loki stared at them with inquisitive eyes. He hadn't been tricky to figure out, Natasha had seen his real persona: the angry and repressed younger son of a great business man, with a weakness for attention. It was why he had fallen under her trap, why he had been well on his way of cracking under her –if not for Bruce and his spectacular timing.
"Yes, it doesn't take much mind to see your friend has special qualities about her which would make her brilliant if given the chance, but I'm afraid –the chance has passed."
"Stark got you on a leash, huh?" Bruce snapped.
Natasha internally sighed.
There was a subtle way of cracking an angered, repressed younger son -and then there was Bruce's way.
Loki turned. No more masks, no more fake gallantry; but pure and unaltered rage upon hearing Stark's name.
"I'm no one's dog, Banner! Unlike you, I have no moral obligations towards either Stark or my brother! So I suggest you watch your tongue if value your words and your power of speech." With a great huff and a dramatic turn, he left; his pace quick and sharp, his breathing a bit shallow as he tried to return to a more controlled state.
Bruce watched him go through the sea of people in the middle of the ballroom, no one paying much attention to the sullen younger Odinson. Bruce followed his actions until he watched the slim man disappear from the room, heading into one of west wing rooms.
When he turned to comment with Romanoff, he found the space next to him empty.
"Oh, great."
Natasha hadn't wasted any time. As soon as the younger Odinson had very dramatically strutted away, she had slipped from Banner, her anger towards him momentarily forgotten -there was a bigger thing at play here, there was no time for unrequired grudges.
With an efficiency and skill she was more than proud of, she managed to go by unnoticed by the crowd, especially by ones Pepper Potts and Tony Stark, both which had taken to the dance floor and were currently swaying quite amusingly to the soft jazzy music being played. She didn't stop to look for Thor or for Bruce, but continued on, surveying Loki's movements from the corner of her eyes. She sipped champagne and even managed to rearrange her dress before the man got to his destination.
Loki was in possession of the Tesseract and if her assessment of the man was true -which there was a high probability of it being valid, he hadn't counted on anyone else knowing about it. He was self-absorbed and arrogant, thinking he was smarter than everyone else in the room. But he wasn't, Natasha wasn't even sure if she was the smartest in those particular quarters.
It was almost too easy of a connection to make when she had seen the rage coming out of the man's eyes.
He was in possession it, but he didn't protect it.
"Get me Thanos, now!"
"Sir, we haven't the time with-"
"Are you people deaf or simply idiots? Get me the Titan, now! I don't care if you have to drag him down him by his soggy, abnormally large feet! Get me the bastard!"
"It's not-"
"God! I'm surrounded by idiots!"
"That's insulting, not long ago you called me brilliant -well potentially brilliant, but who's keeping record."
She smirked as she saw the man look stunned by her sudden presence. She had the poor boy he had been shouting to under her foot, knocked unconscious, and a gun aimed at him. She was the picture of calmness, a confidence in her posture which would make even the toughest of men tremble in doubt. And that's exactly what Loki did as he saw her.
"Don't bother with security. One odd sound and I pull the trigger. Don't think I won't."
He remained silent and still, his blue eyes widen, taking the situation in.
"Now, people don't usually call to Thanos to say hello to him. Nasty little bastard if you ask my opinion on him. He once had an order out to kill me. It took some time but I finally convinced him I was worth more to him alive. He still sent a bounty hunter after me. Big mistake. The poor guy was just a kid."
That last comment made him grin and it was too late to realize her mistake. Because he knew Thanos. And that meant he probably knew exactly who she was and a lot of the things she had while working under the Room. It didn't jeopardize her mission, but it did complicate things. Nothing she couldn't handle, but something she could have avoided.
"The infamous Black Widow, risen from the dead."
"What I don't understand though is why you're keeping a deal with him. Last I heard he really hated your family's guts. Oh wait! So you think you can get back at your family for the little Aasgard business by befriending -if one can even call it that- Thanos?"
The Aasgard name hit another nerve, and just as Bruce had done -in a much ruder manner- she woke up the beast inside of Loki once again.
"Aasgard was mine by right! Thor got Organic, I was supposed to get Aasgard, not him!"
"Don't you think it's a bit dramatic, though? Thanos, the mad titan? You do know he could kill you as easily as he could kiss you."
"Speaking from experience?" He tried to level the playing field, a beginner's tactic and one Natasha would not fall for.
"Something like that."
"Now see, this doesn't surprise me."
It didn't surprise Natasha either, but she had been hoping for a little more time before Banner got to them.
"Get out, Banner."
"Not a chance, doll."
She huffed in annoyance.
"A little tension in paradise, I see." Loki gloated, as if he had just figured something incredibly useful out. Natasha hid her amusement, but not her annoyance.
"Mind your own business Odinson, which I can see is not exactly a light day in the park." Bruce grunted, his voice displaying the anger he was so famous for. Because it was an unspoken law, if Bruce Banner was planning something, it was always for a reason, most of them being personal.
"Bruce, you're not helping."
"If I recall correctly, it was my doing which brought you here."
"Banner, I mean it." She insisted, because the more he stayed inside that room, the smugger Loki got and the odder Natasha felt. Something was wrong. Something had gone terribly wrong the second Bruce had appeared inside that bloody room.
"This is fantastic! Two of earth's most disgusting vermin, fighting with each other over who gets to perish first."
Smugness in her enemies meant one of two things: either she was in real trouble and she would have to change her plans so she could get the job done; or two, they were about to commit a great mistake by trusting their superior genius and underestimating her abilities.
Bruce didn't know Loki's plan, he assumed he knew Natasha's and he barely remembered his own. But as soon as Loki had started looking smug he had known everything had been reorganized in everyone's mind.
For some strange reason, one that long ago he had decided to stop looking too much into, he had been able to read Natasha Romanoff better than anyone, had understood her body and her mind while at the same time falling prey to her. It gave him an advantage over every other man alive. He knew both how it felt to be the spider and the prey.
So as soon as Loki moved his hand over his odd looking walking stick and Natasha's unoccupied hand moved over her cleavage, he knew what he was supposed to do.
It then became a mess of smoke and bullets and red hair.
Natasha fired as Loki detonated the small bombs lined within the doorframe, half impressed with how Bruce managed to cover her back so she could not miss her firing opportunity.
It was almost instinct, to watch her back and to watch his as each tried to get ahold of the trickster.
She shot, he ducked and got his own piece out, shooting after her in perfect sync with her movements.
"Bruce!"
"Got it!" He reached over and pulled the fire alarm.
They both saw the head of black hair running away, before anything else happened.
"I'm going to kill you, you know." She spat, a statement she both fully believed to be true but couldn't fathom completing.
"I've no doubt about it." Bruce answered, following her out, behind Loki.
The room led to a corridor which led to various smaller rooms, all filled with knocked out people, two or three in total.
"You know, I knew he was tricky and deceptive, no one mentioned he would be a nasty little bastard." Bruce commented as they came across a corner.
"I knew he would be a bastard, did not think he would be this much of a coward though."
"Good thing though. He hasn't left the Tower." Bruce commented as they came out to the ballroom -they had traveled in a circle, returning to the gala.
Everything was exactly as they had left it, the people happily oblivious to everything which was occurring, with the alarm having only gone off in the west wing rooms.
"How?" She asked, a question referring both to Loki's disappearance and Bruce's knowledge.
"I wired the security's alerts to my phone, so if Tony, Thor or Loki leave or arrive I get beeped. Same as any other security guard."
Natasha raised her eyebrows. She had forgotten how resourceful the man was. "Gotta say I'm impressed, doc."
"I'm impressed. I managed to impress you. You're a very difficult woman to get the attention of."
The comment was honest, and it was mostly meant in an official professional way, but there was something in the way he lost a couple of words and the way his eyes diverted to the ground for a fraction of a second which made Natasha think it had been the real Bruce Banner the one who had uttered those words. Just when she thought her night couldn't get any worse -the reminder of why she had avoided bumping into this man came back to the front of her mind: she had actually liked him the last time she had seen him.
Oh, hell.
"Banner! Pepper has got me trying to explain our latest project to her but I-" Stark started shouting from across the floor.
"Get to Loki." Bruce muttered near her ear and his warm breath and wooden smell didn't help her sudden memory. She was in trouble.
"You owe me." He finished off, giving her a taste of her own medicine by planting a small and quick kiss to her lips as he slipped his watch to her hand.
"God, you two look like hell. If you're gonna go and play hide the Zucchini in my place at least have the decency to look -decent afterwards."
Natasha slipped pass Tony with a hurried excuse, her eyes watering a bit. Damn, Bruce Banner.
She checked the watch and opened it, the monitoring device inside it. True to Bruce's word -the trickster was still in the building.
She could have stopped and pondered over what had just occurred, and she didn't mean the brief kiss, but the trusting of one of his possessions to her. They didn't do that, no one in their line of business did that. And it made her question the device, was it real, or a fake? Had he meant it?
Her instincts told her yes, it was real, he was giving her a chance. Her brain tried to tell her no, that she should dump it and start from the bottom. That's what the Red Room had taught her; that was what it would have had her do.
Maybe it was childish and unprofessional, but it was that thought which had her take a chance on the doctor. She could always get out of whatever mess it was he had tricked her into.
She rounded the floor again. Her eyes sharp, her ears alert. She heard him give an order. The silky and deep voice of her target unmistakable. But was it a rouse?
She listened as clearly as she could. He moved and the floor inside the room he was in creaked, the smallest of noises, but that was what she was trained to do, what made her the best.
She waited, her breathing and heart rate controlled.
"Tell him to deliver it to me, now! Tell him we had a deal and that the deal broke off the second someone mentioned having knowledge of its existence! He will bring the Tesseract to the Hydra building. If not, he can kiss Aasgard and everything it represents goodbye!"
Hydra. It would be brought to the Hydra building.
But she couldn't leave her future to chance and games played by immature adults trying to out-win their enemies in their quest for economic dominance.
She stormed the room and didn't even hesitate as she shot the man, a clean shot, through and through the shoulder. He hissed in pain but fired back. She avoided the bullets with an envious ability.
"You mewling quim!" He fired again.
She retaliated, another bullet landing on his leg, making the man stumble and curse at her again.
"Give it up, Loki. The Tesseract -"
"The Tesseract belongs to Margaret Carter, and that's where it should be."
Natasha shot Loki again for good measure as she came out of hiding and into Bruce's line of view, where he had his own gun pointed at the trickster; anger in his eyes, a frown on his lips. His breathing was rough and it came out in almost pants.
"Margaret Carter is-"
"Peggy." Natasha breathed out, Loki ignored on the floor, his blood seeping from his leg unto the floor and unto her shoes.
"You know-"
She interrupted him.
"She was a -friend." Was all Natasha felt comfortable saying, but her mask had already fallen and Bruce had seen the pain and melancholy in her eyes.
"She designed it, Tony built it for her and she kept it safe and out of sight until it got stolen along with the SHIELD documents which leaked last year. She has been looking for it ever since."
Bruce explained, mostly to Loki, but Natasha could tell -he was also explaining it to herself. Because she knew -he had no intentions of letting her walk away with the information on the Tesseract by herself.
"So," Bruce kneeled. Loki's face constricted in pain, but still trying to look intimidating. "You're gonna tell me where Thanos is and how the hell he got a hold of that thing, or my friend over there will have to put another round in your leg -or I'll put one in your head. I still haven't quite decided what would be best."
Natasha observed, carefully and methodically. Peggy Carter, the one target she had not killed, the one woman who had seen a little more than an assassin in her. "You'd make a hell of a spy, you know." She had been the one who had introduced her to Barton and to Hill and to Fury and to the people who had managed to build up a moral code within her. It had all been because of that woman.
"You are all inferior! All tiny in comparison! Your threats mean-"
Bruce eyed Natasha. She fired again -this time the bullet only grazed his arm; another hole in him and he would probably bleed out. They needed him alive.
They?
"Fuck you, you little whore!"
"Brilliant whore, remember?" Natasha added and it made Bruce chuckle.
"Thanos. Location."
"You have no idea what you're-"
Loki' speech was interrupted by the sound of two guns clicking, prepping for a shot. Both Natasha and Bruce pointing their weapons at his head, both guns barely touching the man's skull.
"Midgard! Midgard Pub under the Groundhogs' billiard place. But good luck getting inside."
They had him.
Natasha turned to look at Bruce, eyeing him and hoping he understood.
Bruce knocked the man out with a single blow.
"We better call an ambulance, we don't want him to bleed to death in here." Bruce commented as he took notice of the amount of blood on the floor and on her.
"Are you-?" He couldn't stop himself from asking, for once in his life cursing his emotions and his inability to properly control them when in the presence of Natasha Romanoff.
"Not of it mine, doc."
It was odd, having someone ask her about the blood on her garments. Even when accompanied, most agents didn't bother with each other aside from the tactical support. But Bruce wasn't an agent with the Red Room and neither was she.
The silence following his call for an ambulance was awkward, both having no idea of how to proceed. Natasha fought every urge she had to simply disappear from his view and continue with her mission. But every time she was about to, Peggy's face came up and his own concerned look appeared beside it, along with a quick kiss and an upgraded watch.
What had he done to her?
What had she done to him? He should have been gone from there, made sure no one else would get their hands on the Tesseract aside from Peg. But she wasn't leaving him stranded either and that must have meant something; because Natasha Romanoff was many things, but not one of them was doubtful. And yet, there she was, looking at him with doubt and -bewilderment.
"I've come to a conclusion." It was she who broke their silence as they walked back towards the ballroom, Loki's blood safely hidden beneath her dress.
Bruce simply raised his eyebrows as he took out another cigarette.
"You're doing this for Carter, I'm doing this so I can take a much needed vacation in Antigua and then buy me a nice apartment on top of one of those new indie cafes. You get what you want by retrieving the Tesseract, I can get what I want by doing a number of many things. Selling the Tesseract, selling out Thanos."
"So, are you proposing we work to-together in this? I help you, you help me, that sort of thing?"
"Not together. But towards a common goal." She clarified, because together meant she would have to learn to trust him, and she feared the task would result in one too easily made and too easily broken. She didn't have time or patience for unnecessary dramas.
He gave a sarcastic chuckle as he rubbed his eyes, Bruce Banner back from wherever he hid himself every time he went to work.
"Towards a common goal. And yet I don't trust you and you don't trust me."
"No, but I trust you want the Tesseract and that's enough for me." She added, her eyes fixed on his, a gaze she was not fully prepared to stare into, for what she found in those brown eyes was something she had not felt in a long time -or maybe ever.
The feeling of wanting -wanting to work with him, wanting to get to know him, wanting to find out what made him tick and what made him squirm, wanting to make him go just as crazy as she felt when she was near him.
"And what about me, what's -what's my insurance?"
"I owe Peggy Carter a debt."
Maybe she trusted him more than she was willing to admit.
Bruce took a breath, his eyes never leaving her, scrutinizing eyes which lost all warmth as he assessed who he was about to entrust his work to. Natasha returned the same intense stare.
Bruce gulped under her green eyes. She was gorgeously haunting and wickedly smart and if he wasn't careful his thoughts could keep on slipping without his permission. But she good at her job and it had been easier to understand her and work with her unintentionally than it had been with a lot of other people.
And she owed Peggy a favor. Peggy Carter, who was his mentor and friend.
"This is going to be my end."
"Such a wonderful spirit, doc." She teased, a sly grin on her face as she took his arm, guiding him inside the room where everything looked just as she had left it an hour ago.
"You better start getting used to it."
There was no point in telling him that she was already starting to.