Déjà vu.

That's all it was.

A similar shack in a rundown area. A similar door that twisted off its hinges and a brown lawn that confided in any passerbyers that then inhabitant clearly did not care about the appearance of his house.

Natasha scoffed. She thought Bruce said that they would run away to somewhere peaceful. To an island, where they could relax (if that was even possible). Instead he fell back into his typical routine.

She knocked on the door once. Then twice.

Her knuckles rasped against the wooden frame, the weak hinges allowing it to creak open. She took a step inside.

"Bruce?"

The shack was dark. Makeshift curtains composed from rages hung in tatters from the windows. A pile of unwashed dishes lay next to a bucket.

She took another step forward.

"Dr. Banner are you here?"

Around the corner was a desk. Papers were scattered across its surface, ink smeared in frustration, his hurried thoughts penned in messy handwriting.

A postcard lay on the edge of the desk, its corner propped up by the keyboard of Bruce's computer. The image of crystal water and golden sand caught Natasha's eye.

She picked up the card, flipping it over only to find her name scrawled across the top.

Natasha it read, but that was it.

Bruce didn't have the heart to apologize. He didn't know what to say, despite the fact that he knew he had hurt her. Betrayed her. Something he would never forgive himself for.

Natasha was placing the card back into its original position when she heard his footsteps.

They were careful, deliberate, yet unsure.

She turned around to meet his gaze.

"Bruce." She said

He nodded in response, brown eyes shifting to avoid meeting her own. He ran an uneasy hand through his hair, ruffling its already unkempt curls.

Natasha wanted to smile, to take his hand and pull it into hers. To run her fingers through his hair and whisper how sorry she was for forcing the Other Guy out. For taking advantage of his lack of control. But instead she found herself staring at Doctor Banner, mouth shut, stomach in a knot.

How had she ever thought this would be a good idea?

"Who's here with you?" he asked after a beat of silence.

"Just me and you."

The corners of his mouth twitched upward at the reference to their first meeting, allowing for a spark of hope to ignite in the back of Natasha's chest. She inhaled deeply, confidently, and took a step forward.

"Tony said he would've come, but he couldn't cancel another date with Pepper."

Tony had also said that he didn't want to interrupt the opportunity for a long, overdue game of hide the zucchini, but Natasha wasn't going to mention that. As much as she wanted it to be that way, as much as she craved for her and Bruce to have that relationship, she was aware that it could never be like that. Especially right now.

"How'd you find me?"

Natasha smiled. It had been difficult. His control was on point; no reports of the Other Guy getting loose and scaring pedestrians. But she had her ways. Carefully and quietly she waited for him to make one mistake, to give her one hint as to where he was.

"Women's intuition."

He quirked an eyebrow.

"Well, maybe more of an assassin's intuition."

The corners of his mouth pulled up again but fell just as quickly, "You weren't supposed to come after me."

"I was supposed to come with you, remember?"

Bruce visibly flinched, taking a step back and closing his eyes. He exhaled a breath through his nose before meeting her gaze again.

"I needed to make sure you would be alright." He admitted.

"I'm fine."

"You know what I mean, Natasha."

"And you know that I trust you Bruce."

"Well you shouldn't."

"When the hell did we become a cliché?" she asked, trying to diffuse the tension that was building around them. She didn't want to risk it. She needed Bruce to be calm. In control.

Bruce didn't respond. His brown gaze ran over her body briefly. He swallowed, forcing it down, as if it was too painful to do. "We haven't become anything."

That hurt. More than Natasha cared to admit. But it wasn't going to stop her. She knew that deep down he wanted the same thing. He wanted her just as much as she wanted him, but more importantly they needed each other. To show one another that monsters of their past couldn't affect their future.

She scoffed inwardly. God they really were a cliché.

"Tony misses you," she tried.

"He could've called, or stopped by."

"Didn't want to risk me following or tracking."

Another beat of silence.

"Are you ready to come home, Bruce?"

Bruce took another step back and leaned against the wall. "I can't do that. I'm a danger to everyone in that house. If you need me for a mission, let me know. I'll stop by. But until then I need to be here. Far away."

"Please, Bruce. We miss you."

"And the Other Guy?"

She nodded. The team was getting used to him; he was funny when he wasn't crushing everything in sight, and often, the team revolved around him. He was their secret weapon. The biggest surprise, and well, the biggest in general, much to Thor's dismay.

A flash of remorse crossed his features. He swallowed again, this time being bold enough to hold Natasha's gaze.

"If I hurt one of you I'd never forgive myself."

He didn't bother to emphasize the elephant in the room, because, God, if he hurt her, he wouldn't be able to live with himself.

Natasha gave him a small smile. "We'll just have to work on trust ok? Your controls improved so much over the past year and we're willing to help in any way possible."

Bruce's back straightened a bit. He pulled his lower lip between his teeth and chewed on it for a moment. Releasing it, he sighed.

"I don't like it."

"Well, honestly, Clint isn't the biggest fan of it either."

"Rightfully so. I've almost killed you more times than I can remember."

"Three times, but who's counting?"

The joke hung heavily in the air.

"I'm kidding, Bruce. It's a joke."

He didn't have the heart to tell her that he didn't find it funny.

Natasha took another step forward, hand coming to rest on her hip. "We need you." She neglected to say that it wasn't just the team who needed him. Natasha needed him. She wanted him with her, no matter what the possible consequences would be.

"Please."

The word fell from her lips in a half-whisper as her shoulders hunched forward. She didn't have to the decency to beg Bruce to come with her, Natasha Romanova was a person of immense pride after all. He had to make the decision for himself. But a little persuasion never killed anyone.

Bruce dropped his chin, tearing his eyes from hers. He couldn't think straight when she was standing there. He couldn't think with those green orbs boring into his, red curls accenting the sharp edges of her face. Despite the fact that he wasn't staring, Bruce's ears were highly aware of Natasha's breathing. It hitched every so often, the image of her chest heaving flooding his mind.

He shook his head, turning away from Natasha.

Her heart stilled as he began to walk away, running hands through his hair.

"What's wrong? Bruce? Talk to me."

Doctor Banner froze, right hand knotting in the curls at the base of his neck.

"I want to go," he mumbled. Natasha's heart sped up again. "I want to go so damn badly, Natasha, but you-you make it so difficult."

He let an exasperated breath escape from his nose.

"What do you mean?"

Bruce turned to face her again. He dropped his hand and gave her a half weary smile. "I can't control myself around you."

His face twisted in a mask of disgust as the words were uttered. A breath caught in the back of Natasha throat, but she forced it out.

"That makes two of us." She said it in attempt to reassure him that what he was feeling was natural, that despite his issues with control, despite his fear of losing composure, everything he felt she was feeling too. They both knew they were treading in deep water. Eventually one of them would get too tired to keep it up.

Eventually, one of them would have to give up.

One of them would have to drown.

Bruce looked at Natasha again, carefully examining her posture. She was relaxed. Her shoulders hunched in that slight way that let the team know, "I'm tired of fighting. Give me a second to breathe." Her left arm hung by her side, fingers drumming against her thigh in an absentminded fashion. She even had her weight shifted to one leg, her right hip popped out just enough that the fabric of her jeans stretched to enhance the curve of her ass.

Bruce tore his gaze away again. It wasn't good that she was this relaxed around him. She shouldn't trust him. But then again, who could she trust?

Tony, who had gone behind everyone's back time after time again? Or Thor, who abandoned the team to head home for God knows how long? Or even Clint, her supposed best friend? How long had he kept his family a secret from her?

Dr. Banner was more honest with Natasha than he was with anyone else in his life. He, as much as he hated to admit it, felt comfortable around her. And that's what was important to him. He needed that, he craved that as much as craved control.

"If I come… promise me one thing."

"Anything."

"We'll establish boundaries. Protection policies. Emergency plans. Everything that we would ever need, everything we could ever think of, to ensure your safety incase I slip up."

Natasha closed the distance between her and Bruce with two strides. She grabbed his chin between two fingers, carefully showing him each movement before she made it as to not to scare him, and pulled his face up.

"You won't mess this up. I have full faith in you."

"Glad that makes one of us."

Natasha smiled and pulled his face a little closer to hers. "You know," she whispered, hot breath dancing across the bridge of his nose, "I really do adore you."

Bruce gave her a small grin, one that didn't reach his eyes, but gently pressed his lips to hers as a sign of telling that it was alright. That he believed her.

It was only a moment after he stepped back, cheeks flushed from his exertion of control when the door of his shack flung open.

"Stay away from her!" a voice commanded, and suddenly Dr. Banner was being thrown backward. His head collided with the wall first, the blow causing a moan to escape his lips as the shack shivered from the weight of his body.

Natasha turned around, eyes wide as she groped for her gun, realizing that she had left it. She didn't think she needed one, no she knew she wouldn't need one with Bruce. Not until now.

Wanda stood in the door frame, hands ablaze with red sparks. Her eyes flashed the same color as she narrowed her gaze at a half-conscious Dr. Banner.

"Wanda! What are you doing?"

The witch's eyes didn't leave the scientists body.

"Go on, Natasha. I can hold him off. I know his weaknesses." The top of her lip curled.

"No, Wanda. You've been misinformed. I came here to find Bruce. Everything's alright!"

"He's dangerous, Natasha. Now get out!"

"Wanda!"

Bruce's body began to curl within itself, back arching. A vein on the top of his left hand pulsed as his fingers clawed at the dirt caked floor.

"Bruce…" Natasha warned.

He threw a glance over his shoulder, eyes flashing green in anger, and yet there was a hint of sadness behind them. Betrayal.

"Just me and you, huh?" he asked through gritted teeth.

Natasha took a step toward him, "Bruce, it was just me and you. I didn't know Wanda was coming. But it's alright, okay? You have to hold it in. We're going to go back to Stark tower and discuss it. Clear the confusion?"

Dr. Banner's head snapped backward, neck straining under the weight of the change. A strangled hiss fell through his clenched jaw as the shirt on his back began to tear.

Natasha barely had time to turn and grab Wanda's arm, pulling her out of the way, before Hulk was running after them.