For better or worse, I do not own any of the Avengers franchise.

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Talking: 'Avengers Assemble!'

Thinking: 'Where are the Avengers!?'

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Little breather from my main Avengers fic while I wait to watch season 2 of Marvel Agents of SHIELD.

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Avengers: Love and Civil War

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Two figures briskly walked through a brightly lit underground facility. The first was a handsome man in a rumpled business suit, with a bruised and bloody face, and some sort of blinking electronic device attached to his head.

Behind him was beautiful young woman in a tight, black uniform, with her red hair framing eyes that held something that was beyond rage. It was this, more than the weapons that she had trained upon him, that made the leading individual obey her orders.

'And here I thought you'd gotten together with Rogers,' Tony Stark snarked, trying to hide the bitterness in his voice, straining to use his implants to summon his armour despite the jammer he was now wearing.

'Hah!' Natasha Romanoff barked, 'He's just a good friend, but more importantly he's someone I trust to lead me on the right path. A path that I won't regret. Besides, he's still got a thing for Peggy Carter. He agreed to play that charade, so you wouldn't think I was coming after Bruce.'

'Romanoff! Natasha! Think about this! Think about what you're doing! We have to do this, or—'

'You really don't know a thing about me, do you Stark?' Natasha cut in with tired disgust. 'What you're planning is too close to what I've been doing my whole life, either with the KGB, or with SHIELD. Or more accurately, with HYDRA. So, basically, it's time for something new.

'And more importantly, even if I did believe in the Superhero Registration Act, even if I thought it was the only way we could get through this threat Vision is hinting at, this is where I draw the line. Even if it was Steve, I wouldn't follow him or forgive him if he planned to lock Bruce up.'

'Natasha! This is what he wants! He's safe here!'

'You and I both know how that he's not a monster. He's fought beside us countless times without hurting us. Except for when he was mind raped, he's become safe around civilians. Everyone saw him helping people escape from Ultron. He's a hero, and we both know it. Because you and me? We aren't.'

Tony wanted to protest that, defend himself, prove that he had become more than the man that had been dragged into a terrorist's cave in Afghanistan, but a quick, sharp jab from a gun barrel between his should blades changed his mind.

Security deactivated by the Black Widow's computer hacking, they quickly proceeded through the unoccupied facility. 'Sort of says something if you have to rely on machines and robots to do everything, because there's not enough people you trust,' Natasha said in a casual sounding voice, yet Tony suspected it was bait for him to say something and give her an excuse to strike out at him again, either verbally or physically. Or both of course.

Eventually they came to a room, essentially a bigger version of the metal cage deployed by the Veronica satellite against the Hulk when Wanda Maximoff had used her powers to make him attack an African town. The young lady in question was probably busy at Steve's side now, making another strike against Stark's government organization.

Doctor Bruce Banner looked up from his book, he was not permitted any electronics, and gaped in surprise as a certain redhead that he kept thinking about prodded Tony inside at gunpoint. The Black Widow quickly stepped around so that she could keep Tony covered yet look Bruce right in the eye.

'I'm getting you out of here, and I'm not taking no for an answer. We have a lot to talk about, and there are some things you need to know about what's going on in the world. Oh, and I've been faking a relationship with Steve. Saying that now because otherwise someone will try and use that against us.'

'Natasha! Nat! Please, listen to me, I'm—'

'And did Stark tell you about his plans to ship you into space?'

'…Tony?'

Iron Man tried to hide it, but Bruce knew the inventor too well, and saw the small tell on the man's face that told him it was true.

Before despair could overtake her boyfriend, Natasha quickly tasered Stark with one of her forearm weapons, letting the man fall down onto the hard cell floor, and turned back to Bruce and locked eyes with him. 'You should've by now figured out why I pushed you down that cliff, did I do the wrong thing?' she demanded in a tone he could not refuse, and he gives a dejected shake of his head which for some reason seems to make her angrier. 'Then why? Why did you keep running!? Why did the Hulk keep piloting the plane away!'

Morosely, and pulling his body even tighter into itself, Bruce averted his eyes and answered, 'Because of how I felt. That we had to get away from you, because we both knew how much the Other Guy—'

'Don't even finish that sentence,' Natasha snapped, bringing Bruce's eyes up in surprise. 'Do you really think so little of me that I never gave any thought to spending my life with him looming in the background! That I would let that interfere with spending every waking moment with you!? Yes, the Big Guy still scares me, but I can deal with that! I have been!'

'Look at where I am now, Natasha,' Bruce said sadly. 'When you pushed me down, when you told me about how SHIELD had been able to find me before, I realized how the world would continue to see me. A weapon.' And now a single tear fell from his right eye, 'You pushed me down to save those people, and the Hulk forgave you because he knew that I would never have forgiven myself if I had run and left all those people at Ultron's mercy. But that's all it takes to use me as a weapon, like that %^&* from HYDRA did in Africa, just drop me down into the middle of the mess.' Natasha decided to mention as soon as they were out of this facility how Wanda Maximoff was still an ally, yet definitely not before. 'I wouldn't hurt you,' Bruce continued, 'but who would I hurt to keep you safe?'

Now Natasha understood, and she grew pale in horror. 'You ran away so that no one would think we had anything, so that they wouldn't try and use me to get to you!'

She stared at him for a few moments, knowing that this man would not reach such a decision because he thought she was weak, but because of something else. And then she realized what was happening, the same truth that she had not realized until after her adventures with Steve against the unveiled HYDRA. Gently, she said, 'Bruce, are you really so afraid of having a future? Of being happy with someone? Have you really given up on hope like I once had?

'Because whatever happens, I'm not leaving. If you choose to stay in this cell, I'll stay. Stark will make a good hostage for that,' she clarified, giving a kick to the unconcious man in question. 'Or we can go to space, although it appears you didn't expect the ^&*() to go such extremes. But I hope you will follow me out of here.'

'To where?' Bruce breathed.

'Wherever you want to run.'

XXX

Just off some beach that is far away, isolated, and warm and sunny

Two months later

'And in breaking news, Steve Roger's terrorist organization was able to destroy Stark Industries tracking satellites, and all the company's mainframes. According to our sources, these so-called "freedom fighters" also destroyed all related government databases. Rumours continue to abound on the present location of Iron Man, especially since Rogers has made numerous public challenges for Iron Man to come out and fight in person.'

Bruce muted the TV in their beach house, 'Uh, Nat?'

'Don't worry. I made sure to program the housekeeping machines so that he would still get regular food supplies down there. You also had all those books, magazines, and pads of paper and pencil that he can occupy himself with for now.'

'Oh, okay.' With that off his mind, Bruce settled back down into bed and embraced Natasha Romanoff.

XXX

Author Notes:

This is sort of how I hope that Civil War plays out. If they are going to be registering people, Tony will want Bruce on his side and controlled, yet Natasha will be fighting alongside Steve. Really hoping (obviously) that they continue this pairing in the movie!

That said, I really prefer my reconciliation in "Avengers: The Impossible Child" a lot more than this, but that was spread out over several chapters.

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Please Review and I will get back to you!