Welcome back to the final installment of my Bruce/Natasha trilogy. Wow, that's scary to say. Never thought I'd write a second story let alone a third. Big thanks to NonaReed and Black Victor Cachat for helping with all the ideas that made this story. Without Nona asking for it and giving the plot of what she wanted to happen and Black Victor Cachat helping me with an outline to make it all happen then In Ruins would have been the end. That being said, let's get on with the show, or rather, the story.

Welcome to Never Say Never.

Prologue:

"Never say never
because limits, like fears,
are often just an illusion."

"Bruce?"

The muffled response made Natasha roll her eyes as Bruce ignored her saying his name. It had been four months since Sri Lanka but while Helen Cho did most of her work from Tony's new favorite lab for nanotechnology, Tony and Bruce tended to do most of their work in the tower. She had also been more than thrilled that the Avengers returned to their own facility upstate given that it meant Steve stopped hovering over her like the giant big brother she never wanted, and although she would never admit it aloud, she had started to miss them after a few weeks of them not bothering her.

She huffed out a sigh as she prodded Bruce in the temple with her index finger before she said his name again, "Bruce."

The scientist was snoring loudly, unfazed by her calling of his name, and Natasha couldn't quite resist the smile that grew despite the fact she had been awake for an hour already. She shifted her eyes to the side, glancing down at him with a soft expression as his ear rested just over her heart.

There was a short moment where her heart sped up. Where she realized that she had grown complacent over the last few months, content to simply be with Bruce. It only took a few seconds to relax again; just a few moments of seeing the worry lines missing from his face while he slept was enough to do the job as she ran her fingers through his unruly hair with the smallest of smiles.

"Why're you awake?" came his mumbled voice.

Natasha chuckled in an instant when he rolled onto his back and she eased herself onto her side before she trailed a finger in a figure eight across his bare chest. "Maybe because it's almost noon," she told him with amusement etched into her tone.

"Really?" came his question. She gave him a sideways little smile when he opened one eye and squinted at her.

"Really, really," she assured him, chuckling against his lips when he sluggishly leaned forward and kissed her. "You realize, don't you, that right now you and Tony have a more meaningful relationship with each other rather than with myself and Pepper?" she questioned.

Both his eyes opened now and he gave her a somewhat wide-eyed look. "You finally figured it out?" he questioned in an all too serious tone.

Natasha scoffed as she sat up. "Bruce, please. People write stories about your bromance on the internet. Science bros are all the rage. You and I? We're practically science fiction," she told him with a chuckle and she smirked when he kissed her shoulder.

"I don't know about that," he offered up, kissing her collarbone next. "Seems real," he mumbled against her skin, kissing her neck shortly after.

She laughed when the scruff of his beard tickled her throat. "Yes, yes, sure," she agreed, "but he's practically your work wife."

"My work wife?" Bruce questioned, snorting out a laugh against her neck.

"If you keep spending more time with him in that lab than you do with me, I'm going to start getting jealous," she told him, prodding him in the chest with her index finger.

Bruce's chest was heaving in silent laughter and his eyes were lit up with amusement before he made the comment, "Do you actually know how to be jealous?"

Natasha narrowed her eyes at him playfully, "I'm learning." She smiled when his nose brushed against her own as he hovered his lips over hers. "One day," she stated as she curled her hand around the back of his neck and dragged her knuckles slowly over his cheekbone, "just take one day out of the lab—and spend it with me."

He looked torn about it and she knew it was just because what he worked on in the lab was for her. It bugged him that they hadn't figured out what was in the nanites yet, though Helen insisted she was close, that didn't mean that it made Bruce feel any better.

"Four months," she reminded him before she continued, "nothing is wrong with me. If there was then we would have noticed."

"Natasha—"

"One day," she stated again with more sternness in her voice, "otherwise Tony will be your only girlfriend."

Bruce gave her a contemplative look as he smirked at her, and it wasn't very often she saw Bruce actually smirk, then the words left his lips, "Well, juggling the two of you has been getting difficult."

She rolled onto her back and covered her mouth as she snorted out a laugh.

"What do you want to do?" he finally asked.

It gave her some relief and she shifted her face back towards him. "Strangers on a Train is playing at the theater," she offered up.

He quirked an eyebrow up at her, "I remember the theater ending badly last time."

She chuckled a little before she inclined her head slightly. "It went a little sideways but if you think about it logically, that was sort of how we got our start," she reminded him.

"You're getting sentimental," Bruce warned her playfully.

It was true but Natasha huffed out a laugh anyways. "Only with you," she assured him.

"And Barton."

She snickered. "You've got your work wife, I've got mine," she answered before giving him a sideways smile when he laughed.

"Alright," he finally agreed, "but if I get shot this time too, I'll never leave the tower again."

"I suppose that's a fair deal," Natasha assured him with a chuckle, "we'll just have to avoid that part this time." She scrunched up her nose slightly as she narrowed her eyes at him. "But you need to shower before you go anywhere, even if it's just out of this room. You smell," she informed him as she swung her legs over the side of the bed.

Bruce finally sat up himself and did the same as she just had. "I don't—" and she watched as he leaned down towards his arm and sniffed, "okay...I do sort of smell."

"I'll go put tea on for you," Natasha offered up as she stretched and got to her feet.

"You might want to put pants on this time," Bruce suggested, "last time you went to the kitchen wearing nothing but underwear and one of my shirts I think you aged Steve ten years."

Natasha snorted but she opened one of the drawers and pulled out a pair of jeans regardless. "It certainly got him to go back upstate," she reminded Bruce as she pulled them on, "I consider that a mission accomplished."

She heard Bruce chuckle all the way to the bathroom as he called through the doorway to her, "I knew you did that on purpose."

"Eventually you're going to learn that everything I do, I do on purpose," Natasha reminded him as she stripped off his shirt and changed into one of her own.

"Oh, I'm aware," he assured her.

Natasha smirked as she headed out of their shared apartment in Stark tower and made her way to the kitchen.

The moment she stepped inside she heard the grumbling of Tony who was staring intently at someone on his tablet. She ignored him at first, settling over at the stove as she put Bruce's favored teapot on top of the burner.

More grumbling and muttering came from the kitchen table and she rolled her eyes before she turned, leaning against the counter beside the stove and folding her arms. "Alright, Tony," she stated before asking the question, "who pissed in your Wheaties this morning?"

"This guy," Tony told her.

She quirked an eyebrow up as he pulled up an actual screen across the kitchen table and pulled up the image of a man with graying hair, far too circular glasses perched on his nose, who was donning a lab coat. "Okay, I'll bite. Who is he?" she dared to ask.

"Ulrich Klein," he answered, "and he's about to piss in yours too."

Natasha sighed as she moved to the kitchen table and took a seat beside him before she kicked her feet up on the table. "I'm retired, nobody pisses in my Wheaties anymore," she told him.

The billionaire eyed her bare feet distastefully as he spoke, "You realize we eat on this table?"

"You never eat on this table," she reminded him with another roll of her eyes, "none of us have ever eaten on this table."

"But I might've," he muttered before he moved his tablet a half an inch away from her bare feet, "although now I certainly won't."

"So, what's this guy's deal?" she finally asked.

Tony looked reluctant but finally he answered her question after a few heavy moments of silence, "Cap was trying not to involve you."

A sinking feeling that she hadn't gotten in months settled into the pit of her stomach the moment those words left Tony's lips but she kept her face neutral as she watched him, "But he is involving me?"

"Look, Red, you don't have to get involved—"

"Let me decide that," she cut him off as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Just tell me what's going on," she ordered him.

"Showing is easier," Tony finally agreed with a sigh, "and I'll skip to the important part because he rambles for a good twenty minutes beforehand."

Natasha turned her head towards the screen he motioned to and she watched the crappy homemade video going down a hallway. She wasn't at all interested and she almost stood up to get the teapot when the kettle whistled on the stove. She only paused when the camera stopped on metal bars, a dank and dark prison cell of some sort. Her feet removed themselves from the table of their own accord as she leaned forward, studying the dirty faces of children of varying ages as they turned to look at the camera.

"The deal is really quite simple, Avengers."

There had to be at least a dozen kids inside the cell and it brought back a few not so treasured memories from Red Room, something she imagined was likely this man's goal when she heard his next comment.

"Natasha Romanoff for the children."

She scoffed in an instant as she shook her head. She had been right to be angry with herself earlier over allowing herself to grow complacent with Bruce. To think that she could actually get out of the fight without being dragged back in. She couldn't look at the grimy and disheveled appearances of the children for another second and she swiped Tony's screen away with her hand without waiting to hear what else the man had to say. "Let me guess," she murmured, "If I don't go there alone and unarmed then he'll kill those kids?"

Tony sighed, "That's about the size of it."

"Fantastic," Natasha heaved out with a deep breath. "So where am I going?" she dared to ask.

"Nowhere," Tony told her in an instant, "you're not walking in there alone. Rogers wouldn't send anyone there alone and unarmed, even if it's a certain redhead whose more deadly with her legs than any weapon made by man."

She snorted at the semi-compliment he gave her. "But he would walk in there himself," she pointed out, "even if it was just one kid, Steve would go. My life isn't more important than the lives of those kids, Tony."

"I'm not saying it is," he told her, "I'm just saying that we need to meet with Rogers and come up with a plan."

"I'll meet with him," Natasha told him. "You're going to occupy Bruce," she ordered as she stood up.

Tony frowned in an instant, "Nat—"

"You can't tell him," she insisted, "he already has enough on his mind. If Bruce knows—"

"If Bruce knows what?"

Natasha turned and glanced at the scientist in the doorway, his hair still wet from the shower, and she watched him as he moved to the stove and turned the burner off.

"I heard this thing whistling all the way down the hall," Bruce informed them.

Tony was staring at the ceiling, his attempt to play clueless more than just a little obvious and Natasha smacked him in the shoulder for it. She knew the billionaire did it on purpose, that he meant to show his friend there was something important that he wasn't being told. "Nice, Tony. Real nice," she grumbled out, "remind me not to entrust you with any secrets I might ever want hidden."

"Just tell him," Tony told her.

She might as well tell him the truth. Lying to him now felt a lot harder than it had felt moments ago in her head when she was planning to lie to him. She was beginning to grow a rather large con list to this 'love' thing as she took the tablet from Tony's grip and began pressing a few buttons.

"Hey, hey!" the billionaire swiped the tablet back, "I'll play it for him, keep your ninja paws off it."

Natasha raised a single eyebrow up at him.

Tony cleared his throat uncomfortably, "I know that look. That's the 'never do that again' look. Consider the warning heeded."

Bruce looked minutely amused at the usual bantering between herself and Tony but that was wiped away the moment the video played.

It was silent save for the video for several minutes after it was over before Bruce finally spoke, "So you weren't going to tell me?" The fact that he seemed surprised by her plan to deceive him only made that feeling inside worse. "I thought we were past things like that," he bit out and she winced internally as he walked back out of the kitchen.

"Harder than it used to be, isn't it?" Tony questioned.

"Shut up and tell Rogers that we're coming," Natasha grumbled out as she stood up and followed Bruce.

"That's a yes," she heard him comment even though she was in the hall and she just shook her head in reaction to it.

She sighed for a moment before she spoke, "FRIDAY?"

"Doctor Banner is back in your room, Miss Romanoff."

"Thank you," Natasha offered up to the AI.

She made her way back to the room and pushed the door open. Bruce was nowhere to be seen which meant there was one of two places he could be. She wandered down the small hall and into the bedroom, then she watched as Bruce rummaged through the closet for something unknown.

She leaned against the doorframe and folded her arms as he continued without acknowledging her before she finally said his name, "Bruce?"

A moment later a remarkably beat up black duffelbag was thrown from the closet and landed near the bed causing her to arch both her eyebrows up in curiosity. Bruce finally moved back to the bed and he sat down on it looking more frustrated than she had seen him in months, though he had yet to say a single word to her.

"Was there a point to that?" she questioned, "it's not like I'm taking off because I want to, I'm going because it's the right thing to do."

Bruce let out a sad and exasperated little laugh before he answered, "I'm not mad because you want to go save a bunch of kids, Natasha. I'm mad because you thought lying to me would be better than telling me the truth." He rubbed at his face before he stood up and walked over to her, "I'm mad because we can't ever seem to catch a break. And I'm mad because not only do you still have that bag, but it's packed, why is it packed?" She opened her mouth to speak but he didn't give her the chance because he had an answer in his own mind, "In case you changed your mind about us? Or wanted an easy out?"

"Bruce, no," she told him, though he didn't seem to believe her as he walked past her and out of the bedroom. "Bruce!" she called after him, following behind him once again. He wasn't listening as he headed into the living room and she grasped his arm. She only let go when he turned around and instead of frustrated now he just looked angry. That gave her pause. Sure, he had been mad at her on a few occasions but not like this and she almost stepped back on instinct alone. He must have noticed because the anger seeped away and in place of it was fear of some sort. Then he stepped back. "Bruce..." she tried once more as she reached out to him but he only stepped away again.

"Don't," he mumbled out. "I saw that..." he told her, "I saw it in your eyes. That was fear..."

Natasha frowned in an instant and moved forward again, placing her hands on either side of his face. "That wasn't fear of you," she assured him, "that was fear that I'm already messing up everything. Bruce, I could never be afraid of you. You're not a threat to me." She released the adoring hold she had on his face and took a step back herself now before she moved to sit on the couch. "It's inevitable that I'd mess this up eventually, hence the bag, but I made the rather bold assumption that if Tony could hold a relationship together then I could too, at least for a while," she explained with a sigh, "but while I've pissed you off in the past, you've never looked that angry before."

"Of course I haven't," Bruce told her as he sat down beside her, "and you make it ridiculously hard to stay mad for more then five minutes when you seem to think that one argument is going to be the end of our relationship..." She glanced over at him and he seemed to be telling the truth. He didn't look angry anymore, instead he looked more understanding. "Natasha, I never looked that angry before because all the times we fought before...it was before this," he explained, "it was before I—before I was in love with you. Now when you do something that makes me mad, it really makes me mad."

"So, like how I've felt the last four months. Aside from the few days we spent at Clint's, I've only seen you during the hours of 4am to 10am because you spend the rest of the time in the lab," the comparison she gave him came out more harshly than she meant it to. He opened his mouth to give his usual reasoning, that it was for her, when he seemed to recognize the truth of her words. He snapped his mouth closed again in an instant and she wondered if he even realized before now how little time they actually spent together.

He rubbed at his eyes for the second time, his usual show up frustration, before he replied, "That's why you wanted to go to the movie..." She watched as he met her eyes once more and this time all the anger was gone and now he looked a little ashamed as he spoke, "It hasn't been much of a relationship...has it?"

Natasha gave him the smallest of smiles, "I guess we just aren't in the more...conventional of relationships. Look, as loathed as I am to admit this, and I'm going to wish I could take this back after I say it, Tony said something to me in the kitchen and he was right." She scrunched up her nose distastefully. "Yeah, I definitely regret that already," she tacked on and Bruce smiled in an instant. "Anyways, after you walked out he made a comment about how lying to you was harder than it used to be," she explained, "and truth is, the idea of it was easier before you were standing in the same room."

"Alright so...we both have a few things to work on in this department," Bruce admitted with a chuckle. His smile was more halfhearted with his next comment though, "And I suppose we're doing a raincheck on the movie..."

She gave the smallest nod, "Guess so. I need to go meet up with Rogers about this Ulrich Klein."

"We."

Natasha tilted her head to the side slightly before she gave him a smile, "We."

Admittedly I allowed myself to get super distracted playing the Marvel Heroes Omega game that just released on the PS4. Running around as Scarlet Witch and throwing chaos energy at Frost Giants? Totally epic. ;.

Anyways, this is sort of a prologue? It's longer than I intended a prologue to be but shorted than I intend for a chapter to be so... Chaplogue? Propter? Haha. Whatever. So begins the ride!