A/N-I do not own any of these Marvel characters. My characterization is my own and that I do claim. This idea came to me in how so many of the Avengers are similar in ways that aren't always as obvious. The title of the story is borrowed from the Merlin BBC fandom and I do not own that either. So thus the plot bunny was born of a look at the Avengers and their fears about relationships.

Bruce Banner

He was scared. He could barely admit it inside of his head but he was scared, terrified actually a snarky voice piped in, which sounded suspiciously like Tony Stark. What he was scared of wasn't that big or necessarily that scary to look at... But Bruce still couldn't help but want to hide and protect himself from the pain to come. He hadn't been that great at relationships when he'd been merely Bruce Banner though his exes had sworn if he could keep those mood swings under control... Now that his mood swings were a lot more extreme, he doubts many women would be interested after they met the other guy. Of course, that was assuming they survived meeting him, he sighed.

When he'd been little, he was the guy that the girls pleaded to play house with them on the playground. Now, when they found out who he was most wanted to run screaming. The few that remained had a million questions about how he'd done this to himself. He enjoyed the scientific discussion but there was more to life than science, despite some's claim to the contrary.

He had tried to convince himself that he wasn't scared, he was just busy and being an Avenger just took up to much of his time. Then his brain so helpfully pointed out Tony and Pepper and Thor and Jane. Steve went and visited Peggy when he could. Clint had a wife and a family. When he realized that the one Avenger who didn't have someone they spent time with was the Black Widow...That was a frightening realization. He also as a result didn't have much ground to stand on with being too busy.

So he was back to being scared, scared of a relationship. Scared of letting someone in and then they run away screaming about the monster he truly is. Bruce had no illusions about himself, he was a monster. He was always angry and every psychology book he'd read to help keep the other guy under control insisted that that much anger couldn't be healthy in a relationship. He knew how easily a woman or really anyone for that matter could be hurt or killed if they got to in his face. He had a good hold of the other guy but he wasn't perfect. Unfortunately, his flaw could destroy Harlem while a normal guy's temper driven fist could at most hurt a wall. Yes, Bruce knew what he was, a monster. And he wasn't going to let anyone try to lie and say otherwise.

Thor

He knew from the looks that Jane and Darcy exchanged if nothing else that in this world he was considered naive. In fact, people seemed to think his responses somewhat simplistic and naive. He was not the greatest scholar of the Nine Realms but he was not as naive as people seemed to think. He didn't respond the way that most people in this world did but that didn't mean there was anything wrong with him. This world was so much more fragile than his own in both terms of physical endurance and the emotional endurance of its people.

It made him worry at times when he thought about it. Sure, he was a god from another realm but that didn't mean that Jane would want to be with him forever. In fact, he almost expected that at some point the realization of what he was would finally hit her. Then she would go running in the opposite direction screaming all the while. Or even worse realizing what he was truly and staying but only because of pity or to try to figure out the differences between him and a normal man.

Thor was a warrior. He had seen things that no one should have seen. After the change in Loki, his trust in those close to him was lessened. He still loved them, that never paused for a second. But Thor knew that he was a lot more cautious than he had been a few centuries ago.

His mind kept pointing out other potential problems that lay ahead. More worries for him to consider. More weight for him to bear. There always seemed to be more worries that he couldn't fight, ones that he couldn't swing his hammer at. The world wasn't as simple as it had been when he was younger when his father seemed invincible or when he had thought that there was nothing he couldn't fight. Now he knew that not everything could be fought and some battles might be lost and that frightened him most of all.