For better or worse, I do not own any Marvel franchise

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Many thanks to my wonderful Betas, Bobbie23 and MasterQwertster, who write some pretty cool stories. Go read them!

The fantastic cover image is courtesy of rickyryan. Just perfect!

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Avengers: The (Alien) Sun's Going Down

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Chapter 1: Beginnings

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~~Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there lived a beautiful maiden. Her hair was fiery red, with emeralds for eyes that could see right into a man's soul.

~~Then one day she came across a monster that was terrorizing people. While all the other villagers ran away in fear, she approached the monster and helped him, because she could see he was misunderstood. And the monster came to love her, and she loved him, breaking the curse that was on the monster. He became a handsome prince once more, and he took the beautiful maiden back to his castle where they ruled together, and everyone lived Happily Ever After~~

…This is not that type of story.

At all.

-Alien Sun-

Novi Grad,

Sokovia,

Earth

Climax of the War with Ultron

In the skies above Eastern Europe, a battle was being waged to determine who would see the next dawn: machine, or mankind.

On one side, Ultron, the mad, failed attempt to create an artificial intelligence intended to protect humanity. Now he had transitioned from claiming he 'only' wanted to cause a cataclysm to force their evolution, to finally admitting he just wanted to wipe them out. Particularly the Avengers, whom he hated above all else.

Scoffing at the very idea they were heroes, disparaging them as both monsters and the greatest threat to peace on Earth, Ultron had taken sadistic pleasure in luring them to the cornerstone of his grand design: a series of massive engines that were currently lifting a large piece of Sokovia's capital city of Novi Grad skyward, which was to soon reverse to accelerate back down the entire multi-ton mass of rock and homes.

Even by this point, the impact of its fall would murder billions, and both it and the projected death toll were rapidly rising. For Ultron's insane yet mathematical mind demanded nothing less than total annihilation.

Under the weight of this artificial meteor, man would go the way of the dinosaurs.

Fortunately, despite how grave the situation remained, the tide had turned in the Avenger's favour. For those who the robot had been intended to replace refused to give up and let innocents die; Ultron was on the retreat.

In large part thanks to Vision, an android possessing a synthetic vibranium body created by Ultron with the power to best any of the Avengers, until Tony Stark and Dr. Bruce Banner had repurposed him. Now a being who was part-Ultron, part-JARVIS (Tony's personal AI), and part of something else, Vision had of his free-will turned upon his creator, and burnt Ultron's electronic personality out of the internet. Leaving him with his remaining drones, still fighting throughout the city, as the only remaining copies of both his programming and personality; hence his desperation to get them to safety even while Earth's Mightiest hunted them down. If even a single one escaped, Ultron, and the threat he posed, would survive.

So even as Iron Man, a.k.a. Tony Stark, frantically worked to devise a (relatively) safe means to destroy the doomsday weapon, the rest of the Avengers were either evacuating civilians, or destroying the remaining Ultron drones. Thus saving the world from global genocide.

Keeping pace with the rising city was S.H.I.E.L.D's massive Helicarrier, under the command of ex(?)-Director of S.H.I.E.L.D, Nick Fury himself. The flying command ship was shepherding out the townspeople with smaller Lifeboats, so that the Avengers could safely demolish the city without killing anyone. For security, the sky itself acted as a moat as it hovered dozens of meters away.

A trivial obstacle for the strongest Avenger to conquer.

Leaping towards it was a muscular, green titan: the Hulk.

While reviled as a monster by most people, his fellow Avengers knew him as a stalwart teammate, the mighty alter-ego of their friend Dr. Bruce Banner. Unfortunately, when Wanda Maximoff had still been an enemy, she had used her mental powers to make the Hulk rampage through a populated city. As of yesterday, the Hulk was once more an object of hatred and fear.

For all of that, within his massive arms he delicately held one of his fellow Avengers. A beautiful human female, with red hair like fire, and emerald green eyes.

-Alien Sun-

Natasha Romanoff, a.k.a. Black Widow was still disorientated, even as she realized she was flying through the air, secure in the Hulk's arms.

Then down they went as the Hulk landed on a landing platform of the Helicarrier, yet despite the force with which they reached it, he still absorbed the impact so that she barely felt a tremor. Gently he laid her down on the ground, and promptly turned to run back the way he had come.

Struggling to sit upright, Black Widow watched his latest jump take him back into the city, quickly followed by another which took him unerringly towards the Avenger's own Quinjet, which she last remembered firing upon them. Clearly Ultron had hijacked it.

Perfectly timed, the Hulk touched down onto the open ramp, and ran into the jet.

About five seconds later, a dark figure that Black Widow recognized as Ultron's prime body –now even more battered— went flying back through the hatch. Flailing through the air, he impotently crashed down to the city below.

Wincing, Black Widow stood up. For all her formidable fighting skills, she remained primarily a covert operative. Moreover, she was just a regular human, so there was no way for her to rejoin the fight on Novi Grad. Her place now was getting to the Helicarrier command deck and helping coordinate the rest of the battle.

Then something flickered up her spine, and she spun around.

Hulk and the Quinjet were still flying away.

This was understandable, since for all the Hulk's incredible fighting instincts, he had never demonstrated the sophistication, nor the physical finesse to manipulate a control board with his oversized fingers. Doubtless Hulk was reluctant to return to being Bruce either, since Ultron had just attacked them when she had tried the Lullaby —That's probably why Hulk targeted the Quinjet—and not to mention that—

Black Widow went away as Natasha Romanoff stiffened in horror.

Flashes of memory flared like lightning through her mind

-Alien Sun-

[Flashback]

It was just yesterday and they were at Clint's farm, in the guest bedroom.

"The world just saw the Hulk," Bruce said as if it were final. "The real Hulk for the first time. You know I have to leave."

Yet Natasha was unmoved. "You assume I have to stay."

…

She's closed to him, lips nearly touching. "What're you doing?" he softly asked in confusion.

"I'm running with it," she whispered back. "With you. If running's the plan, as far as you want."

Bruce stepped away with a touch of horror. "Are you out of your mind?"

"I want you to understand that I'm—"

"Natasha," he cut her off. "Where can I go? Where in the world am I not a threat?"

"You're not a threat to me," she said as she stepped forward before he interrupted again, totally out of character for him.

"You sure? Even if I didn't just..." he stopped unable to say kill you. Trying another tack he said, "There's no future with me."

…

Less than an hour ago as the entire world seemed to shake and they both knew Ultron was putting his endgame into action.

"We've got to move," Bruce said, having rescued her from the robot's captivity.

"You're not going to turn green?" she incredulously asked.

"I've got a compelling reason not to lose my cool."

In a split-second Natasha made a decision, letting her eyes light up with desire. "I adore you." Grabbing his head, she pulled him into a passionate kiss. Then pushed him into the deep pit. "But I need the Other Guy," she said quietly in apology, despite how he could not hear her.

A second later the imposing figure of the Hulk leapt from below to tower over her and smirk. "Let's finish the job," she said.

-Alien Sun-

Present

He's going to run! Natasha realized as she took off running towards the Quinjet. The Quinjet outfitted with the most sophisticated and undetectable stealth capabilities known to man, and an opportunity unavailable when he had been more accepting of the Lullaby mere minutes ago.

"War Machine," she barked into her com. Flattering Rhodes by calling him his preferred call sign will help make him more receptive. "How are you doing dealing with the drones?"

"All clear," he radioed back. "I'm just hanging back to keep an eye out for any more."

Ruthlessly and remorselessly she weighed the risks of what she was proposing, forcing herself to put emotions aside and consider the cold, hard logic of the situation. She would not risk Armageddon. However there were no other flying vehicles in sight, none which could get her close enough in time, or without damaging the Quinjet anyway—Fury must not've had time to grab any for this— and Iron Man was too essential to saving the world right now. And at the end of the day, Bruce, including the combat potential of the Hulk, was not worth risking the possibility of Ultron's return for Round Two. Next time he might get it right.

"One moment," War Machine added on before seeming to talk to someone else. "That all of them? …Yeah? …Alright. Okay Widow, all accounted for. At least the flying guy in the cape seems to think so. Oh, says his name is Vision."
He must mean the new guy who Ultron was originally planning to be his ultimate body, Natasha knew. He was directly connected to Ultron's mind at that point, so he'd know best if we missed any. Plus, Ultron was cocky enough –Stark-like enough— to bring all his drones together like that, and to keep fighting until it was too late. If he had a back-up plan, we'd have either heard him boast about it already, or it's too far away to make a difference right now. And if it's the latter, then we need the Hulk to help stop it, she ruthlessly concluded. Good, that means I'm free to do what I really want.

"I need a pick-up. Triangulate on my signal, and take me to the Quinjet, as fast as you can safely go."

With that she leapt off the edge of the landing platform.

A second later, a figure in full-fitting metal armour was carrying her bridal style towards the fleeing craft.

And yes, Natasha had a dread sensation that 'fleeing' was the proper term.

Also: I really need to make Stark give me some way to fly. I'm tired of being carried around. Maybe something like Falcon's artificial wings so I don't seem like a Stark-groupie?

Distantly she listened to War Machine bragging about how well everything was going, with undertones of how awesome he himself had done. Not wanting him to get curious as to why she had not asked Vision for a lift, given how she neither knew him, had reason to seriously trust him beyond saving the Earth from Ultron, nor knew how truly pliable he was, Natasha gave words and sounds of affirmation where appropriate, working on autopilot.

She had a . . . friend, to catch.

-Alien Sun-

Grunting with pain from aches and pains of a non-stop battle, yet also from the sheer emotional toll of all he had endured, Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye, collapsed down onto his seat on one of S.H.I.E.L.D's Lifeboats. "No, no, I'm fine," he said as he waved off an agent offering to help. Trusting the Avenger's word, the man went off to help others as Clint laid down on his side across the row of chairs. "It's been a long day."

On the floor beside him, right where the master archer could see in full detail, was the corpse of Pietro Maximoff. A kid who had grown up since the age of ten hating Stark and then later the Avengers, and today had fought beside them to save the world. Had saved Clint and a child.

Ultron had hijacked their Quinjet and shot at them in one last act of petty defiance before taking off, and Clint had almost bought it because he was not fast enough. Except Pietro had given his life for a former enemy. "You didn't see that coming?" had been the kid's last words, a mocking taunt from their clashes turned into one last joke.

Too drained from everything, Clint just lay there with his eyes open, even as his brain just went to sleep.

-Alien Sun-

They were not going to make it.

"I'm not going to make it," War Machine said through his helmet radio. "I can't go any faster without killing you."

As it was, Natasha was wincing against the wind pressure battering them. Without a protective suit like his, there was only so much speed she could safely handle. As it was, the only reason they had gotten as close as they had was because the Quinjet had not been leaving at full velocity. Unfortunately, its acceleration was now slowly pulling it ahead.

What I wouldn't give for a grappling cord gun, she thought with consternation. Unfortunately, she had not equipped herself with one before heading out to confront Ultron in Korea.

Then she knew what to do.

Drawing a pistol, she fired into the open hatch of the Quinjet with unerring accuracy. Even as she leveled the weapon she was automatically calculating wind speeds and directions, effect of the air pushing against her and War Machine, the slightest shifts in the armoured hero's flight, angle of the plane, and overlaid a mental blueprint of the Quinjet itself. Hawkeye could do all of that within a second of leveling his arrow for a single shot. It took her three whole seconds, and emptied the clip on full auto.

Armour-piercing bullets threw up sparks as they struck a certain locker, to Natasha's lack of concern. She may not be a mechanic, but she had spent many hours poring over the blueprints while visualizing various potential scenarios. While she had not envisioned this, she had considered possible hostage situations, and knew that any missed shots around her target would only pierce the door, with a low probability of any ricochets. Moreover, there was nothing critical behind it, and Tony had built in triple redundancy to his creation.

(Although for some reason the man had forgotten to install a bathroom. Seriously, not even a little cubicle).

The important part was that the locker contained a cable meant to be lowered down to people while flying/hovering above ground. As a safety feature, Tony had also had it so that in a crisis, his teammates, the ones with both fantastic reflexes and ability to use a gun faster than they could hit a stationary emergency switch they were standing away from, could shoot at it to release the contents which would then be ejected towards the hatch. Freed, the coil went right into open air to trail behind, right into Natasha's waiting hand.

"Thanks for the lift," she said, shifting free of War Machine's grasp. "I'll take it from here." Without another word she started pulling herself towards the Quinjet.

Cutting his thrust, War Machine floated there on his rockets for a few seconds to watch her. "Wow."

Then turned around to get back to his other job. No sense in leaving the civilians alone too long.

-Alien Sun-

S.H.I.E.L.D Helicarrier

"Any word from Romanoff?" asked Fury.

"One moment," answered Maria Hill, his right-hand. "Tracking her signal…mid-air. War Machine's nearby." She placed a quick call to the suited man, and then turn to her boss. "Romanoff's getting onboard the Quinjet with the Hulk there. He says she's going to try and help him turn around."

Unfazed, Fury merely nodded. "Alright. What's the status with the evacuation?"

"Just the last stragglers left."

Touching his earpiece, Fury said, "You get that Stark?"

"I read you loud and clear," Iron Man answered. "Cap'll let us know when everyone's safe."

"Pietro's down," the man in question cut in, and they could hear the pain leaking through. "Hawkeye's aboard the Lifeboats. Hulk and Widow?"

"Accounted for," Fury simply said.

"I'm heading for the Trigger," Thor added over the radio.

Nothing more was said. They all knew what they had to do.

-Alien Sun-

Avenger's Quinjet

With a final low grunt, Natasha pulled herself safely onto the deck of the Quinjet. Once she was on firm ground, she could only lay there gasping for breath while sweat dripped onto the deck. Low air at high altitude, fighting against wind pressure while climbing up a swaying and bouncing rope . . . Even she had limits, and she had very nearly passed them. Right, I'll have to note that as a new training exercise. I'll have to make Steve wear weights though.

Collecting her thoughts as her body regained its composure, she looked up ahead.

Sitting down on the floor before the controls was the broad, green back of the Hulk.

I don't think I've ever seen him that passive. Plus there's no way he didn't hear me coming, and yet he neither came to help, nor try to stop me. The latter of which would inevitably involve killing her given the height they were at. A possibility that Natasha had never really considered until now. It was possible she trusted the Big Guy too much. Now what do I do?

This was not a scenario where she could mentally dominate a physically superior alpha male with force of personality alone. In a very real sense, the Hulk was a force of personality.

Audibly taking a deep breath, Natasha revaluated her situation.

She was in a confined space with arguably the most dangerous being on the planet, because intuitively she believed he had chosen to not turn the jet around.

The reason the Hulk was even up and about was because she had betrayed his alter ego. Except that Bruce was a part of the Hulk, and vice versa. Most people, including the Avengers, believed that the Hulk was the embodiment of the rage that the supposedly mild-mannered scientist claimed he always felt. However, Natasha was not so sure that was accurate, as she was starting to believe that perhaps the Hulk was slowly developing his own identity; except of course she might be projecting, given her own interactions with him. Either of them.

Regardless, there was still a deep connection between both halves. If Hulk was flying away, trying to disappear, then that meant on some level Bruce wanted to do so too. To get away from the Avengers. His friends. From her. From whatever it was that was between them.

"A lady doesn't appreciate being ignored," Natasha declared as she walked forward, heels deliberately clacking against the deck. "Except I get the feeling you're rather angry at me right now, and are just giving me the silent treatment."

The Hulk said nothing. Indeed, on the rare occasions he did speak, it was only one to three words.

Stopping an arms-length away, her razor-sharp mind considered the situation, and reminded herself that total and brutal honesty was the way to go here. She also suspected that the Hulk was too sensitive to the emotional tells of other people to be easily lied to. "As nervous as you can make me at times, I want to throw my arms around your neck and rub your chest and tell you it'll all be okay."

He twitched.

Clenching her jaw momentarily at how awkward this felt, Natasha plowed on. "Because I trust you not to hurt me, despite what Bruce thinks. Despite all the other people you've hurt. And I know you're not so angry that you didn't save me from Ultron, or get me someplace safe. For that matter, if you were that angry, you could have hurt me when you jumped out of the crater. Or been less of a gentleman, and not deal with the one who shot at me."

What may have hurt Bruce the most about the 'Other Guy' was how his body was used to kill. Not preemptively, no. Never that. If the Hulk had ever attacked for the sake of killing, nothing would have stopped Bruce, Tony, and the rest of the Avengers from finding a way to end the threat he posed.

Unfortunately, it was impossible to go smacking around all those Chitauri aliens, arms dealers, and H.Y.D.R.A. goons without killing people. While many of the humans Hulk fought did live to be healed and interrogated (the aliens had all died when Tony blew up their mothership), sadly many of them would live out the rest of their lives crippled from their injuries. In the worst case, well, anyone sent flying from a punch into a tree trunk by a fist that could smash tanks, could very easily end up as a corpse.

The point being, Hulk was as much a killer as the rest of the Avengers, and so was Bruce for letting him out. Except he was also not the bloodthirsty monster that Bruce seemed to think he was. Like the rest of the Avengers, he was as much a defender as he was a fighter.

Ignoring those concerns, Natasha continued. "Almost like our Lullaby, except we're not just feeling each other's pulses in our wrists while I say it, nor trying to get you change back right away. Just showing I care."

Silence fell as she let him process this, and then his back muscles stiffened.

"I'm not lying, and we both know it. I'm not sure you even can be lied to. This isn't some game where I'm trying to talk you into coming back to the Avengers just so you can punch people for us, and Bruce builds fancy stuff. I'm . . ." she broke off to take another look at her own feelings.

"I pushed Bruce off not just to save people," she slowly says aloud, "but also because he was going to run. He was too afraid of you to risk letting you out. Especially near civilians. After Johannesburg where he says people saw the 'real Hulk.'"

Now the Big Guy tensed even further than before.

"…You're upset about that too. Too bad. Bruce chose to refuse to trust you, to trust us to keep you away from any civilians if you were a danger. So he wanted to run. Except I know the truth. You're a hero, and you proved it today.

"Without you, people would've died. Everyone. Because we wouldn't have been able to stop Ultron from using his homemade meteor. You didn't even have a radio for us to call you on, and you still knew we needed you at the Trigger to stop him. Not to mention everyone in the city that you protected during the street fighting without hurting them. Even if we had somehow stopped Ultron without you, those people would've died, and just knowing that would've torn at him for the rest of his life once he got his head back on straight. Because he would have done nothing to try and help them."

Natasha was here because at the end of the day, she knew Bruce, flaws and all. And still held . . . feelings for him.

According to those ridiculous romance novels she had been forced to read as part of her spy covers at times, this was the part where she was supposed to be torn between kissing Bruce senseless, or shooting him.

Natasha was willing to settle for a civilized conversation that did not leave her remembering why she only willingly socialized with a handful of Humans. And of that handful, with the exception of Clint's wife Laura, and their children, they were all people who were considered abnormal by the rest of society. And, with the exception of all the Bartons, she could only handle them in measured doses. However there was one other exception; as she had come to really know him, talking with Bruce had started to feel weirdly pleasant.

Taking a deep breath, she stopped the pep talk, and got right to the main issue. "Now, everyone's as safe as they can be. Thor and Stark are going to work their magic, and there's nothing more people like you and I can do." She pauses. "You know, out of the two of you, I didn't think you'd be the one running away."

Back still turned to her, Hulk went still.

"And it isn't just that I betrayed his trust . . . you're afraid for him, aren't you?"

With a speed and grace that was absolutely terrifying for anyone that large, in such a confined space, Hulk was up and hunched over as he glared down at Natasha, barely any space between them as his dark green eyes burned into her light jade ones. "NOT BANNER!" he roared.

Clearly he thought she was treating him as if he were Bruce.

Refusing to react to the sheer volume and force of his words, Natasha still glanced to the side so as to not seem as if she were challenging Hulk. Then she steeled herself and looked at him head on. "You still care about him on some level," she flatly told him.

". . ."

"And when I pushed him over, it wasn't just a betrayal, it was a rejection. Both of you feel you don't belong, and Johannesburg only made it worse, and then I went and seemed to prove it to you both. So now you're helping him go off to wallow in self-pity, with you inviting yourself along."

Growling, Hulk barred his teeth, and Natasha knew Bruce would have a coronary if he ever found out she had spoken to the Hulk like this.

. . . If she ever saw him again.

That thought was like a sucker-punch to the gut, and she felt herself deflating. She turned to go sit on one of the aisle seats, giving him space without seeming to retreat, and looked up at Hulk with a sad and drained face. "I know he probably hates me now, but I still want to hear it from him. Talk to him. Otherwise the two of us are going to be left with nothing except regrets as we wonder 'what if?' forever.

"So please, let me talk to him. Please."

The Hulk stared at her, and then managed to softly rumble, "Like Hulk."

There was no childish curiosity, or need for belonging there, simply a flat statement devoid of emotion, which was scary, scary when he was supposed to be just Bruce's emotions with green fists.

No, he's something more.

"Yes, I like you both very much," and she smiled a sincere smile that lit up her eyes. His lips twitched up in happiness too. Then her grin grew a little sad. "It's just that I think I like Bruce a bit more, though that's just because you and I never seem to connect during calmer stuff."

Hulk stared at her in silence once more, and the seconds stretched into minutes, until Hulk spat one word as a curse. "Banner!"

Then he doubled over in agony.

-Alien Sun-

Twisting her hands and fingers in patterns that helped with her powers, even as they blazed with a crackling, red glow, Wanda Maximoff stalked towards the beaten, primary body of Ultron. The one the Hulk had thrown out of the Quinjet.

Pietro, her twin, was dead.

Killed by a monster that Wanda, playing upon Tony Stark's fears, had led the man to create. Knowing his own flaws would result in him creating his own worst enemy. And in her quest for vengeance, Wanda was responsible for countless deaths, and the endangerment of everyone.

So she had abandoned her post, and spent the next few minutes finding the robot amongst the rubble of what remained of her homeland's capital.

"Wanda," Ultron softly said, too damaged to move. "If you stay here, you'll die." Despite his half-melted face, it almost seemed like he was concerned for her. That he cared about the time they had been friends.

She was beyond caring about that.

"I just did," Wanda hoarsely told him. "Do you know how it felt?" Then a crimson light lashed out from her palm at Ultron's chest, and machine or no, he gasped in pain as even vibranium, the world's strongest substance, started to twist and tear before her will.

Until Ultron's reactor was ripped out and she held it in her hand like a human heart before his dimming eyes. "It felt like that," she informed him with dark satisfaction.

-Alien Sun-

"NOW!" ordered Iron Man as he used every scientific trick he had on the core of Ultron's engine as his artificial meteor burned down through the skies to destroy humanity.

And the God of Thunder answered with all his gathered power, bringing the full force of his hammer and lightning down upon the keystone of Ultron's design.

The entire piece of massive rock was vaporized, even as Thor and Iron Man barely escaped with their lives. Not that it mattered to the two heroes; only that they had succeeded.

The Earth was safe once more.

-Alien Sun-

Hulk was racked with pain as he stumbled around, while Natasha forced herself to look away during the arduous process. "Sun's going down," she whispered.

Green arms that could shred steel like a chainsaw through paper were barely managing to keep from breaking the close walls of the Quinjet as they flailed at the air. Except now his massive muscles were shrinking and condensing, turning into regular human flesh.

Despite being middle-aged, he was fit with hints of muscles surprising for a 'lab geek.' Honed body from years as a fugitive before becoming an Avenger, and then enhanced by regular and intense exercise driven by a concern —just short of active paranoia— that he had to be always ready to go on the run once more. Special pants courtesy of Stark also shrank with him, preserving his dignity.

Gasping, he collapsed to the deck as he struggled to breathe and remember who he was, where he was, and figure out what was happening.

Gritting his teeth in pain, he forced himself upright to look around, until a familiar voice spoke up. "Easy."

Head swiveling to face her, his first words were, "Nat! Are you alright?"

She felt like she had been kicked in the chest. Hard.

That was his first concern!? Her safety!?

"I'll live," she answered as calmly as she could manage.

"Sokovia!" he went on. "What happened?"

"Safe as can be. We got as many people as we could out, got all the versions of Ultron, and Tony and Thor have an idea to destroy the city." Natasha cleared her throat. "The Hulk was a big help for all that."

He frowned and got a distant look as he sorted through his memories, including the hazy flashes he got from the Hulk. "You . . ."

"Forcefully changed you by pushing you down a deep pit. Yes."

"After you kissed me," he added, seeming equally stunned by that.

". . . Yes." She hated that hesitation. Honestly, is this what people had felt all those times she had seduced them, toyed with their emotions, and then betrayed them? Sometimes even executing them herself? This vulnerability?

Right, this was why she had spent so many years precisely doing her best to avoid a . . . relationship.

"Because it was the Hulk you wanted," Bruce accused, struggling to keep calm to be sure he did not transform again, yet with a trickle of anger leaking through. "Is that it?"

"Bruce Banner couldn't have saved those people!" she reposted. "Not at that point. And at the end of the day, you want to save as many as you can. That's who you are."

"Fat lot of good that did Johannesburg," Bruce bitterly noted.

"That wasn't your fault!" she shot back. "Neither of you were in a sound state of mind! You're a scientist, be objective about that at least!"

His brow furled in growing anger, although there was no sign of green in his rich, brown eyes. "I trusted you."

Past tense.

"Yes," she managed, keeping her face from showing any reaction. "And I abused that. Something I never wanted to do. If nothing else, I hope you can believe that. But you didn't give me much of a choice."

"So I don't get to make my own choices?" snapped Bruce. His temper was truly raised if he was arguing as opposed to a more passive-aggressive route. "After Johannesburg—"

In response, she only shook her head. "I won't take away your right to choose. Unfortunately, at the time you weren't thinking clearly. Johannesburg was an anomaly. It was not a reason to never go Hulk again. And yes, you did trust me, and I treated you as less important than the Hulk during a crisis. I'm sorry, but there was no other way. And no time to convince you otherwise. Our mission was to save lives, and every second counted."

Bruce turned away from her, seeming to be trying to melt the hull with his glare alone. "What do you want?"

"Not forgiveness," she assured him. "Not for that. I want . . . I want for you to understand why. And to make sure you're okay. Even if you don't want me with you, I don't want you to go off on your own hating yourself. Hating yourself for not helping those people when they needed us the most and hating yourself for the Hulk."

"I helped create Ultron," Bruce quietly noted. "I tried to be Doctor Bruce Banner again, and I somehow created something even worse than the Hulk. I, I need to get away. From everything. Everyone."
"But I'm guessing you created Vision to stop him," Natasha argued. Honestly, she had still been locked up when all of that must have happened. Thankfully she had gotten a glimpse of the android while he was within the Cradle, and had put two and two together when she saw the newest Avenger. "The mistake you and Tony made was not talking to others about it. What matters though is that you learn from that."

Of course his brilliant mind easily understood she was saying that they all had to stick together. ". . . If I ask you to leave me, right now, will you?"

"Yes." Natasha's answer was firm and immediate. "Set me down, or give me a parachute even, and I'll leave." She sighed. "Just please don't go become a hermit and seal yourself away from the world. You deserve better." Cocking her head, she stayed sitting to wait for him to think it through, look over the angles with his genius intellect to decide if she was lying or not.

"Alright then, let's turn around," Bruce said without looking at her.

His response was just as instantaneous as hers.

"Huh?" she blinked.

Bruce got up and walked towards the First Aid kit, face set in a mask. "Civilians will still be hurt, so you'll have to fill me in as we head back. Can you get the controls?"

"Right," Natasha says, even as she realizes the truth. It was a test and I passed. He hasn't said anything about forgiving me or where we're going from here. What matters to him right now is that the people who need his medical expertise come first.

Then the entire Quinjet started to lurch. On cue every control panel started flashing red, while the radio spat static. Just as the alarm started blaring Bruce moved at Natasha.

-Alien Sun-

Instinctively Bruce threw himself at Nat, knowing it was the safest choice. Even if he was still furious with her, he knew she was more equipped mentally and physically to handle any surprises. One last parting gift from Ultron? Bruce wondered, as he tried to figure out the cause of the turbulence.

One of Natasha's strong arms wrapped around him, while the other fought to steady them both as the floor and walls shook. Suddenly they were accelerating at dangerous speeds towards a bright light. The sheer force of it was so intense that Natasha went from trying to keep them both upright, to desperately holding on as they both hung horizontally, while the Quinjet threatened to tear apart.

However even Natasha had her limits against such strain, as she lost her grip the last thing Bruce saw was the back hatch coming at them at an alarming speed…

-Alien Sun-

Pain was an old enemy of Bruce's. Not only did it suck, it told him he was still alive, which he had spent a good many years considering a downside.

Grunting, he forced himself up, and then spun around to realize he was laying on Natasha. Before he could say anything however, her eyes opened and she was fully awake. "Ow!" she hissed.

"Lie still," he ordered her. However bad he himself had been hurt, it could not have been too serious, or he would have already shifted, and the Hulk's bulk would have crushed her. In fact, the only reason that had probably not happened was because she had cushioned the impact for him. "You shouldn't have done that," he chastised.

"Saved you from going Green during an unstable situation," she shot back. "Besides, I wouldn't have you to check me out."

Fortunately, his quick examination indicated that there appeared nothing wrong with her. The First Aid kit had fallen back with them, and he used it to shine a light in her eye to check for a concussion. Miraculously she was fine. "You sure you don't have any super-solider serum in you?" he joked.

"Just a rumor the KGB spread to make my rep scarier," he told him matter-of-factly.

"Oh."

"What happened?"

"Uhm . . ." Slowly Bruce helped her up, and only then processed that they were still in the Quinjet, except it was dead and unmoving. In fact, it felt like they were resting on solid ground, although there was light pouring through the window.

But what're all those specks falling down in the distance? he wondered.

A metal blade cut through the side of the hull, and started to carve a hole. More appeared throughout the vehicle.
"Whaa—!" gasped Bruce.

Then a hand pulled him up as Natasha went full Black Widow. Grabbing one of the secured bags, she nonchalantly commented as she sorted through them, "Remind me to get a refund from Stark. Can openers can open this up!" Then she slapped down a shaped charge right were the first vandal was nearly finished. "Cover your ears," was the only warning Bruce got before she detonated it with merely a meter between herself and it.

Fortunately Tony made reliable stuff, and anticipated such near-suicidal behaviour from his teammates, so the carefully directed blast barely shook Bruce. Although the 'BOOM!' was nearly deafening.

He still dimly caught the screams of pain from outside.

"Wait!" Bruce began, except Black Widow had already gone through the hole.

Cautiously Bruce poked his head out to see she was fighting atop piles of what seemed like junk against strange people wrapped in rags and strange masks. They had to be a H.Y.D.R.A. cell though; no one else on Earth had the sort of advanced tech they were using to try –and fail—to stop her.

Although some of those weapons seem to be just pipes used as clubs.

Regardless, Black Widow was spinning, flipping, rolling, and staying constantly in motion to keep herself from being overwhelmed despite there being about fifteen of them. It was almost as if she were dancing as she tore them apart, bodies already littering the ground around them.

This was Bruce's first time truly seeing her fight. Oh, he had seen her in sparring matches where she dominated everyone besides Clint and Steve —and even the super-soldier had to keep on his toes with the super-spies, especially since their experience in life-and-death combat was actually greater than his own. Plus video recordings of her against H.Y.D.R.A. of course. Never in person though. And while a part of him was disturbed with the ease at which she dealt death, even if he conceded the necessity, he remained in awe at the grace and power she wielded. Of the surety behind each motion.

Fourteen as she shot one four times in the face.

Thirteen as she brought another to his knees with her stun baton, then used his body as a shield from high power energy blasts.

Then she kicked her human shield forward at them, with another explosive charge attached.

'BOOM!'

Once more, Bruce's ears rang as he tried to take stock of the situation as he peered through the smoke.

Three left, and Widow was using her stun batons to finish them off, doubtlessly wanting people alive for questioning. Of course. We need to know how H.Y.D.R.A. somehow abducted us. Some sort of matter transporter?

Finally, the last one fell.

They never stood a chance, Bruce knew. She's just that good.

Slowly, he inched out of the hole, trying to figure out what was so unnerving to him as he looked around. And then he saw the blood.

It was bright orange.

"What?" he whispered, before the sound of an engine snatched his attention.

A jet with more grace than anything Tony had ever built swooped down beside them. It was so advanced, it was almost like a spaceship. Then a ramp extended out of it, and a hatch opened to reveal one of the most beautiful woman Bruce had ever seen—which felt a little strange given how Natasha was right beside him, although he refused to feel guilty given how upset he still was with her. Clearly muscular, her complexion he would hesitantly place as an exotic mixture of South American and African heritage. Although her attire was a bit confusing, as she was wearing leather clothes, and what resembled silver tribal marks on her face.

She was also chugging back a large bottle of some liquid that Bruce assumed was alcohol. He hoped he was wrong. Tony would be envious of her if she is, but that can't be good for her liver. For crying out loud, even Thor would be impressed!

The stranger then tossed the empty container away, and dimly Bruce heard the sound of breaking glass.

With a confident swagger, if not slightly veering off a straight line, she sauntered down the ramp, and gave a slow clap, and Bruce could not tell if it was sarcastic or not. "That was pretty good," the woman smiled, her attention on the Avenger surrounded by bodies. "All on your own. You're a fighter, aren't you?"

"Yes," was all Black Widow said in response.

She's being cagey, Bruce realized as he shot the redhead a glance. She thinks it's going to go badly.

Then the brunette cocked her head. "Is he with you? Were you protecting him?"

Now Black Widow said nothing, so Bruce decided he should say something. Hopefully this could end without violence still. And none of this makes sense. Where did a human get a ship that advanced? They needed details. "Yes," he answered for them both. "We're—"

"Cute," the woman interrupted. "Well, I guess you can go together."

Then both her hands blurred and Bruce caught a glimpse of something small heading towards him before something bit into his neck.

And then PAIN.

~~To Be Continued…~~

Author Notes:

This story is actually a combination of various other story ideas that I never got around to writing, but was able to merge together for this :-) In fact, it was surprising how easily it all came together once I realized the ripple effect of Natasha not being on Earth for the events of Captain America: Civil War. So yes, this fic will cover not just Sakaar; that would just be cheapening the effect.

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No, I have not forgotten about Vision's little scene with the actual final copy of Ultron. That will still be coming up. Vision was just reassuring War Machine that the drones had all been accounted for, as in he was well aware where the final one was.

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Next Chapter: 'What a Dump'

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Please Review, and I will get back to you!