AN: I've never written anything, ever, so I'm hoping to get some reviews.
All of the characters belong to Marvel and MCU
Natasha opened her eyes and sighed. No chance of sleep again tonight, so why pretend? She got up but decided against getting dressed. No one to see me walking around in my PJs anyways, she thought. She left her little apartment unit in the new Avengers facility and randomly picked a direction. After wandering aimlessly, she stopped at a bank of windows and stared out into the night. Dawn was hours away and Natasha wondered what she could do to make the time go by a little faster.
The former assassin sat and thought about when the facility had been full to capacity, back before Thanos. There had been so many people living here full time that even at 3am in the residential wings, you could hear faint sounds of people talking and moving about. Now…so many Avengers gone. So many of everyone. Of course, they had lost lots of staff to the dissolving. Some of the remaining staff left to find family and try to start over. A few had brought their remaining family here, figuring if anywhere was safe now, it would be the Avengers Facility. The few children they now had living here went a long way to filling the place with noise during the day, but at night? It might as well be abandoned.
I miss the days when we were all at Avengers Tower together, Natasha thinks. Although it didn't seem so at the time, how small their problems were then. Hydra bases? What fun! The camaraderie between the team members was the best it's ever been. And Bruce working with them in the field. Bruce… Natasha is quick to turn that thought away. In the 6 months since Thanos snapped his fingers and changed everything, all the Avengers have done is grieve and work to preserve civilization from the inevitable looters and power-grabbers. All of the heroes have jobs, and they come together periodically for a meal or to talk about progress on certain projects, but they all seem caught up in their own thoughts most of the time. Everyone has trouble sleeping, and everyone has been isolating themselves.
She and Bruce Banner never got around to talking about their – well, relationship, if you could call it that. Nat wishes she could figure out a way to apologize for taking away Bruce's choice by pushing him into that pit. No wonder he left. It just seemed a petty and unimportant waste of time talking about feelings when half of the people in the universe were gone. At least, that's how she felt. Maybe Bruce felt the same, or maybe he just felt awkward like always to start an intimate conversation. God I love when he gets all dorky and uncomfortable, she starts to think with a smile. Before she can finish the thought, she scowls and says "Enough!" to the empty hallway. Can't think about that now. Maybe she needs some tea. Or vodka. Either way, her steps turn toward the kitchen.
The kitchen on this floor is mostly dark, with a few dim safety lights providing a little illumination. Enough light for Natasha to move around by, considering she ends up in the kitchen at least 3 nights a week. The other winners for nighttime rambles are the gym and the roof. She opens a cabinet and stares at a selection of teas. "I'm so fucking tired" she says to the tea. "You can't sleep either?" a voice says from the floor on the far side of the room. Feeling pissed that she didn't even notice a presence, Natasha looks over and sees Bruce sitting on the floor, back to the wall. Her heart jumps for a moment, but then she notices how exhausted and sad he looks. We're all suffering right now, she remembers, and walks over to him.
Bruce looks up, wishing he hadn't said anything. Maybe she would have gotten what she came for and left without ever noticing him there. In the past few months he has wanted so badly to offer some words of comfort to her, even a hug, but his self-loathing is worse than ever after his inability to help as the Hulk against Thanos. All she knows is I was gone for 2 years and then I came back and let the team down, he thinks, his facing grimacing in frustration as she walks over. All I know is I miss her and I still want what we had back. Whatever it was.