Natasha

"Doctor Banner, please wake up. Mr. Stark insists. You'll find clean clothes ready for you, and he asks that you join him in the kitchen in fifteen minutes. Doctor Banner, I'm terribly sorry to disturb you, but Mr. Stark insists you must wake up now. You'll find clean clothes on the dresser and he asks that you join him in the kitchen in fifteen minutes. He promises coffee. Doctor Banner, it's urgent that you join Mr. Stark-"

"M'wake." Bruce tumbled out of bed and stretched.

The disembodied voice sounded cultured, with a British inflection. Tony's AI. He'd read articles about Tony Stark's innovative work and JARVIS. His demon curiosity flared up, and he had to clamp down hard on it. He wasn't sticking around for more than another day or two, he didn't have the time to probe and read research and ask Tony questions about his advances in robotics and artificial intelligence.

"Ah... I slept how long?"

"You slept twenty hours, seventeen minutes and fifty-five seconds. You awoke once, drank 1.75 liters of water, and spent four minutes in the facilities. I've informed Mr. Stark that you're awake, and he apologizes, but Director Fury is insisting on your attendance."

"Is he now? Ummm... JARVIS, are there any S.H.I.E.L.D agents on the premises?"

"Yes, sir. However, Mr. Stark requests that you not worry about it. I quote, 'Everything is cool.'"

Bruce picked up the black jeans and button-down green shirt, boxers and socks, and went into the bathroom.

"Tell him, he'd better be right."

x x x

He'd closed his eyes briefly before trying to open his door, calming his fear that he'd been locked into this room. Tony wouldn't do that. He knew that and still he had this gut reaction. It was ridiculous. Tony had been honest with him, there was no deep game being played here.

Tony delighted in bouncing ideas off him, and had been as open about wanting to play together in a science wonderland as two campers meeting each other and hitting it off for a summer chock full of fun. And he was okay with that for the time being. Camp ended though, and everybody went home, taking with them some swell memories. Maybe a few souvenirs, and promises to write each other that were forgotten when they returned to their normal routine.

He didn't expect to keep in touch with Tony after he moved on. Tony would be distracted by newer, shinier things than one guy on the run.

The door opened easily, and JARVIS gave him directions to a kitchen, where Tony was pouring coffee into a travel mug.

"Hey, sorry, but Fury's snit is approaching DEFCON 1." He thrust the mug into Bruce's hands. "We'll get you something to eat at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters. Or maybe send out for pizza. I bet the rest of the team would go for a pizza. Did I mention that Fury preferred you go to the Times Square office and not the helicarrier? Can't imagine why."

"Snit?" Bruce asked, ignoring Tony's alluding to the destruction the other guy had done on the helicarrier. He sipped his coffee, following Tony as they headed towards an elevator.

"That we let you sleep. He'll get over it." Tony talked about everything and nothing as they made their way to the garage level. Natasha was waiting for them when they exited the elevator.

"Bruce." She smiled slightly at him, and her voice warmed a bit. "Did you forget to brush your hair?"

He shrugged. He hadn't forgotten, but with no brush or comb in the bathroom he'd just finger combed it after his shower. At least there'd been a toothbrush and a razor.

Tony, with no regard for personal space or dignity, tugged at Bruce's curls and ran his hand through Bruce's hair. A memory of the night before surfaced, this same hand touching his hair as he fell asleep.

Tony said, "Now this just fascinates me. Your hair grows a lot faster after you've hulked out, doesn't it? I noticed it last night, and I referenced your appearance on the helicarrier for comparison. Your metabolism is a thing of beauty. I'm right, aren't I?"

He shrugged again and gently removed Tony's curious fingers from his hair. Tony made an impatient gesture with his hands and Bruce caved. He mumbled, "Yeah, it grows faster, but my hair always was curly."

He glanced at Natasha. There was a hint of a larger smile playing at one corner of her mouth.

Bruce muttered, "So this is what you superheroes talk about when you're not saving the world? Hair?"

Natasha answered, "Stark's probably in it for the science. I just think your tousled look is cute."

"Not just for science," Tony objected. He took Bruce's coffee from him, sipped it, then handed it back. He shot Bruce a playful look. "The Avengers took a vote on sexiest hair style of team members while you were sleeping. Cap abstained. You and Thor tied. Flowing locks versus wild sexy bedhead curls. I voted for you, Doctor Banner."

Bruce felt himself flushing, flustered by the two of them teasing him. This wasn't fair. He was allowed to appreciate Natasha's whole leather jumpsuit and sex style of dressing, her bright red hair, and Tony's confident sexiness, his energy and charm, his wit, because Bruce was keeping it to himself. It was just for him, and didn't impinge on them at all. None of the Avengers could read minds, could they? He didn't think so, so nobody would know he was attracted to some of his team members.

They shouldn't tell him he was cute or run fingers through his hair because they thought his curls were sexy. It was just hair and... "I vote for Thor. Can we go now?" Well, that sounded more plaintive then he'd intended. Tony grinned the whole way to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Manhattan office.

x x x

Bruce decided that since she'd stayed after the other agents had left this interrogation room, Natasha must still be assigned as his handler. Or more accurately, his keeper. Lucky Natasha. He wondered if she had nightmares about the Hulk trying to rip her in two. Would she stop him from leaving?

He stood up and stretched. He was still tired, despite practically sleeping for a day. He'd worked hard as the other guy, and there was a corresponding downtime afterwards. He glanced at the door and drifted closer to it, arms low and tucked close to his body, a hand on his other wrist.

Natasha didn't say anything, but he felt the weight of her eyes on him. She had been standing near the door since ushering the other agents out of the room, her stance relaxed but alert.

It was still unclear what S.H.I.E.L.D. wanted from him. It wasn't like the world needed to be saved from an alien invasion every day.

He'd answered all the questions he deemed might be useful in case of further attacks by aliens, and deflected the ones he thought were dangerous to his continued freedom and well-being. He wasn't about to hand over insights into how the Hulk might be controlled, or unleashed.

Unfortunately, the effects of the increase in gamma radiation from Loki's scepter were well documented by now.

It made him feel queasy to know that he could be forced to transform again, that he might fail at controlling himself as he'd failed on the helicarrier.

He frowned, and Natasha noticed. He couldn't read her, not really. Was he making her nervous when he seemed to not be a happy camper, or was that just what she wanted him to think?

Maybe she was playing him, seeing if he'd try to intimidate her again, give him enough rope to hang himself and show that he was a loose cannon, to prove that he needed to be controlled for everyone else's safety.

Maybe he was being a dick, thinking about frightening another human being because it made him feel powerful, emsafe/em to know she'd step back from him, keep away and not attack him. Hopefully just leave him alone.

Maybe he'd traumatized her, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent trained to withstand torture, and he could chalk that up on the loss side of his score card.

He'd been in control for over a year, with no incidents, and then she had come to Kolkata. He'd felt trapped and he'd wanted to share that feeling with her.

Yeah, he was a dick. He couldn't control her actions, but he could damn well control his own. He swallowed down his discomfort and made eye contact with her.

"Natasha, I can control it, as long as nobody tries to torture me too badly, or exposes me to gamma radiation. I've been beaten up. I've had everything I owned stolen from me, and I stayed me. I've learned how to let the anger simmer, but not boil over. I'm not going to hurt you."

She gave him one of those steely-eyed looks. Threat assessing, maybe. He made himself go and sit down and laid his hands palm up, open, not clenched, on his knees. Maybe she'd believe him, probably not. But he had concerns and they weren't about himself.

"Steven Rogers, he has to be protected from being turned into a lab experiment. It's important, his blood, his cells, Ross would love to get his hands on Captain America. He doesn't deserve that, so, uh... can the Avengers protect him? Ross lies. He lied to me, and he was responsible for Blonski becoming the Abomination. S.H.I.E.L.D.? I don't know how ruthless your science guys are, but the same goes for them."

He crossed his arms around himself and looked away. Did he trust Natasha to tell Captain America what he'd told her, to warn him? Maybe he'd have a chance to talk to Steve himself. Maybe, now that his debriefing was over, S.H.I.E.L.D. would get rough with him. He wondered if there was another supposedly Hulk proof room in this facility. He really didn't want to leave a mess when he left, but he wasn't going in a cage.

Natasha sighed. Without really wanting to, his eyes found hers. "Bozhe moi. Bruce... Steven Rogers is safe. So are you. I swear to it. You're thinking, are you not, that you might have to escape from S.H.I.E.L.D.? Maybe it's time to stop running. What is it children say on the playground? If you can't beat them, join them? The Avengers want you, Bruce."

"What does S.H.I.E.L.D. want from me? Is that promise you made that I could walk away once the tesseract was found going to be kept?"

She walked over to him. "I'll keep my word. Right now, you're still needed in case there are more problems with the tesseract. But you are an incredible asset, Bruce. S.H.I.E.L.D. doesn't want to fight you, even if you don't come to some agreement with Fury."

Bruce didn't say anything. The silence between them grew heavy.

Natasha broke first and said, "No secrets, okay? Would you like to read your file? And Agent Barton, he was one of your watchers. He said he'd talk with you about your surveillance. I'll set it up, if you like." She waited, patient, till he nodded.

"I'm hungry, and we were promised pizza. Let's call in an order to Patzeria's and tell the others to pick it up and join us." She came close and extended a hand.

She was beautiful and he wasn't immune to her. He stifled an impulse to take her hand and kiss each finger, run his hands along her arms and caress her breasts, kiss her mouth and see if she tasted of fear or desire. He wouldn't do any of those things. He wouldn't hand her a key to twisting him around any more than she already was capable of doing or muddy things between them.

"Bruce. You trusted me when we fought against Loki. Trust me now. It's going to be all right."

He took her hand and she pulled him up. She was strong and he knew she'd been instrumental in stopping the invasion. And he owed her something. He'd stay a little longer. He'd read his file. Maybe at least it would point out to him what he should do differently if he left.

He smiled at her, a little diffidently, and said, "Make one of the pizzas vegetarian, please?"

x x x