1.

She walked down the alley hesitantly, a man sat at the end, his face buried in his hands, his back towards her.

"Bruce...?" She called out, the voice echoed down to him and he looked up from the ground to the wall in front of him.

"Natasha, we're all monsters," he said emotionless. The women stopped, her heart pounding, something wasn't right. "Bruce please..." She called again. The man answered by standing up, and as he did this his body contorted forwards and then backwards. A flurry of green spurred in front of her and fear seeped through her cold exterior. But instead of a huge beast stood a tall thin man. Piercing green eye on a pale face. "You?" She questioned, as her head began to ring and pound against her skull. The pain sent her to her knees as the man walked to towards her and stood above her. "We're all monsters Natasha." A shriek was emitted from the crumpled women's body. The man raised his staff and sent it flying into her head...

Natasha woke with a shock, grabbed her gun hidden beside her bed, and aimed all in a matter of second. Sweat poured down her face . A dream, all it was was another goddamned dream. Ever since the Ultron incident her nightmares had started reoccuring...but this one was different. It felt more real. She took a deep breath and put down the gun , only then noticing a figure in her doorway. Steve stood there, his shield in his hand, half dressed.

"Are you okay?" He asked and Romanoff nodded her head.

" I'm sorry to wake you, I...it was a dream," was her reply. Steve didn't take the hint and walked in , sitting on her bed.

"Look, I know it's been hard for you..." Natasha glared at him, and was about to tell him to leave, or shut up, or go to hell, but she realized he was right. It had been, but she didn't want anyone else to know that. Clint was all but gone, Bruce disappeared, and now this dream, of another monster she had all but forgotten about. He was dead and when he was alive, he was simply a child with too much power

"Look Capt, I'm fine,besides you're the one we should be worried about. You and Tony"

"That's over, and dealt with." He replied, "Tasha, maybe you need a break, you've been working so hard" Natasha looked at the wall for a moment before standing and looking back at Steve. "Maybe that is what I need, but I don't get that luxury." She walked out of the room leaving Steve alone.

Natasha walked down the long hallway until she found one of the doors leading outside. She punched in her code and let it scan her hand to let the door open to the cool darkness. It was one of the fenced training facilities, there was many on site but this was most secluded. She leaned on the fence to her left, thankful to be alone in the cool air. Her thin sleepwear blew lazily in the wind. She let out a long sigh and ran her hand through her hair. So much had happened in such a short period of time. Sometimes she wanted it to stop, and disappear like she and Bruce had talked about, but that wasn't her life. She didn't get to decide that. She has been trained for this, and she couldn't figure out what was bringing out all these emotions. The woman took another deep breath and pushed herself off the fence. She wouldn't sleep that night, but she probably should head back to her room. As she walked back towards the door a dull pain began in her head, with every step it worsen until, just a few steps from the entrance, she fell over unconscious.

It was another dream, she knew it right away. Natasha tried to wake herself up but to no success. Again she found herself in a dark alleyway, at the end sat an older man, hunched and bedraggled. He looked up at her, a patched covered his one eye but his other struck her with a fierce intensity. The pallor of his face was a contrast to that eye. He stood and walked up to her, never breaking eye contact.

"Be careful of him. But you may trust him. He, who is not to be trusted. He will need as you will." Natasha tried to respond but was instead meeted with a bright green light. She awoke with a startle. The floor was cold and snow had started to fall. Her mind felt groggy and all she wanted was her bed With that the spy went back to her room, however she got little sleep the rest of the night. All she could think of was that lingering green light hovering in her memory.

So, I haven't posted in forever but have suddenly wanted to get back into this. This was originally going to be a sequel to this other story I made forever ago (Gold Crowns and Red Lips) however that was written when I was much younger and my style and abilities have changed as an author. This story may still elude to that one at times but will generally be stand alone. I've also rewritten this first chapter cause once again, I wrote this quite a bit ago.

Hope you all still enjoy

-Laura