A/N: This chapter was fun to write. I have the next two prepared still and I was going to wait, but I really like having people read what I write so hear y'all go.

I don't own Avengers, Marvel, or any of the other stuff.


"No!" Natasha shouted, sitting upright in bed. Her heart was racing and she was breathing quickly. A cold sweat broke out on her forehead. She felt nauseous. Some nights were far worse than the others. Tonight was one of those nights.

"Fuck," she muttered, tossing her sheets aside and practically stumbling out of bed. She couldn't stay in her room, she felt like she was suffocating. Her skin crawled and she felt so disgusted with herself. She needed fresh air and badly. On her way out, she grabbed her robe and threw it on over her pajamas.

Natasha made her way quickly to the living room. It was filled with flashing lights, which didn't help. Clint sat on the couch, awake and playing his game. She had to walk past him to get to the elevator and she was a mess.

"Hey," he said, not looking away from his game, "wanna go a few rounds?" It was habit for them to not address what was wrong unless someone mentioned their issues themselves.

"No thanks," she said quietly, residing pain lingering in her voice.

Clint looked up as she made her way behind the large couch. "Nat, wait," he said as a splash of red appeared on the television screen, signaling his character's death. "You're pale as hell. Do you wanna talk?"

"No, I really don't." She patted his shoulder as she walked behind him, but never stopped walking. She smiled at him from the elevator as the doors closed.

The moment she stepped outside, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She understood truly why Bruce chose outside for his nightmare-recovery spot. The night air did wonders. Slowly, she let her breath out and opened her eyes. Watching her from the bench was Bruce, holding his own mug. He threw Natasha a small smile as she made her way over to him. Once she sat down, he offered her his mug and she accepted it with a nod.

"Thanks," she murmured and took a sip. She held onto the mug for a long moment, eyes closed as she focused on the feeling of the hot liquid running down her throat. Tea had become a steady staple for the Avengers. Most of them didn't want caffeine; they waited desperately to get tired. The only one still drinking coffee was Tony, but his solution to the nightmares was to never sleep.

"Couldn't sleep?" he asked after she handed him the mug back. He took it as a signal that she was more together. Tonight he was the one facing her and she was avoiding eye contact.

"Yeah," was all she said.

"Nightmares?" Bruce asked. He was genuinely concerned. Natasha nodded. "Do you want to talk about it?" She shook her head. "Alright, but if you want to talk, we can. I'm all ears."

Natasha continued to stare out into the night. The cold air was bringing some color to her cheeks and she looked less frightened. "Please distract me," she whispered a few moments later.

"I…um…" Bruce looked away, thinking. "So, earlier today," he started, smiling at Natasha, "I was in the lab with Tony. We're working on a robot that can fight me—we don't have a name for it yet, but Tony has a board dedicated to awful, pun-filled names. This robot will distract me if the Other Guy loses control." He paused to make sure Natasha was following along. She nodded, signaling for him to continue.

"The thing releases spare suit pieces out to fix whatever the Other Guy damages on Tony's suit. Tony needed to test it, right? So he stands in the center of the testing area and throws his arm out, palm opened and reaching out expectantly. He waits for the hand piece to fly and latch onto his arm, but it doesn't. He goes and adjusts a few things on the machine before returning to stand. He throws his arm out yet ago and straight out of the machine launches the suit part he wanted. Only, it isn't stopping. If anything, it's going way too fast. It smashes right into Tony's jaw and sends him to the ground. You won't see him out of the labs for the next few days because he has the ugliest bruise he's hiding. He keeps complaining to Jarvis."

Bruce was smiling at Natasha. It was obvious he really wanted to cheer her up. A smile broke onto her lips and she shook her head.

"That man really is an idiot." She was amused by the men on her team. They always managed to do something stupid.

"You're telling me. I spend most my waking hours with him." It was Bruce's turn to shake his head in disbelief. "You should've been there though. It was great."

"I bet it was." Natasha took the mug from him again and sipped on more tea.

"Why are you out here tonight, Bruce?" she asked softly.

"I thought we weren't discussing this," he said lightly, almost teasing. Bruce Banner didn't tease, though. Natasha didn't think it was possible.

She shrugged. "I had to ask," she replied before handing him his mug back.

"If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?" Bruce asked suddenly.

"What?" Natasha asked, blinking in surprise at him.

"I'm distracting both of us now," he explained and she nodded.

"Hmm…" she started, looking off into the night again. "I've traveled a lot already. There are no sights in particular I want to see. I'd just like to go somewhere peaceful. I'd like the find the nonexistent place where there are no villains to fight and no world to save and no people to kill; somewhere where I could be just a person."

Bruce watched Natasha as she spoke. "Calcutta was a lot like what you're describing," he finally said. "I mean, there were still people to save, but I got to be a doctor. I took care of people and made them better. The only villain was sickness and that's much easier to cope with."

"That sounds nice." Her voice was so soft. She was making eye contact with him now and smiling slightly. "Tell me about it."

"It was nice. There were so many people that I blended in. No one knew who I was or that the Other Guy existed and it was wonderful. The city itself was overwhelming at times, but then I'd just leave for a while. It was so nice, the freedom of being able to just leave and…be."

"Let's go back sometime," she said suddenly and so quietly he barely heard. This was Natasha in her vulnerable state. Natasha didn't share feelings or have late night talks about faraway places, or when she did they were with Clint and that was it. Bruce's eyes widened. "Come on, why not? Someday, let's leave all this behind and go back to Calcutta. You can show me around and we can escape into the crowd." Her voice and eyes made it clear she meant it, but Bruce couldn't accept it to be anything but part of the distraction.

"Alright, we can go sometime."

"Promise me that you'll show me around," she insisted.

"I promise," Bruce replied seriously. "I'll take you to find the best Indian food you can get. We'll explore the markets and wander the outskirts."

Natasha smiled and closed her eyes. She leaned the side of her head against his shoulder, startling him. "Thank you, Bruce," she murmured quietly.

"Anytime, Natasha," he replied.


A/N: I really like the idea of them planning their escape as a distraction. It's definitely how I cope with things and it just seemed so sweet. Hope y'all liked it! Please review! It helps motivate me :)