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

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Slight spoilers for near the end of season 1 of Agents of SHIELD

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Chapter 2: With the Avengers

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Avengers HQ

Captain Steve Rogers looked up from his morning newspaper at the sound of an irritated young woman's voice, "Do we really have to do this nonsense?"

"Do you mean the talk later today with Maria Hill about public relations?"

Sighing at her glaring nod, Steve beckoned for Wanda Maximoff, a.k.a. the Scarlet Witch, and Vision, who had been with her a lot lately, to join him at the breakfast table.

"Alright, I get why you're upset about being asked to act like dancing monkeys, I really do."

She took the invitation readily, "'Dancing monkeys?'"

"It's how I referred to myself back during the war, back when I all I was doing to help was go around in a fancy uniform for propaganda. I went on stage a lot, but never fought, despite what all the comics and movies said. Mostly I worked to boost the sale of war bonds, and promote America fighting in the war. It wasn't until 1943 I actually I had my first real battle, and even then I went in against orders." Noting her surprised look, he added, "Yeah. That tends to get glossed over in the history books a little."

"Then why do you feel we have to do it? Surely our time between missions would be better used for further combat training?" Vision asked calmly, his curious expression making it clear he meant no offense. Of course, none of their missions thus far had been on the same scale as Ultron. Mostly they had just going after organized crime groups that had enough weaponry to be too dangerous for average SHIELD teams.

"Because of how the world is looking at us. In just a few short years, everyone's been thrown a lot of things that they are still trying to get used to. Loki and Asgard, the Chitauri invasion, the Mandarin, HYDRA, and now Ultron. Too many people are confused about what this all means, and are afraid."

Vision cocked his head and bluntly stated, "You and SHIELD are worried that instead of the majority calmly reconsidering the workings of their societies and their place in the universe, there will be a panicked response. And you are therefore working to alleviate this." Truthfully, Vision was also expecting the former, and the inevitable consequences for this world. Still, he would stay with the newest generation of Avengers and help them the best he could. Their efforts held the best hope for prolonging humanity's existence, and possibly providing some unforeseen variable that might tip the odds in their favour.

It was funny really: Steve and the rest of the Avengers knew what Ultron was trying to do, yet spent little time wondering about why. Why he had felt the need to speed up humanity's evolution, what had motivated him into believing such drastic, irrevocable steps were a necessary, until his pain drove him to madness. They had never wondered what Ultron, and thus Vision, had learned from the Mind Stone.

As for herself, Wanda was feeling uncomfortable now. While her role in it was classified, she was all too well aware of the consequences of her helping Ultron, and the world learning of an invasion of robots, and how the whole world was nearly killed by a falling city. She also knew how many people were still coming to grips with an alien invasion and living myths. When she had heard about the Mandarin, she had initially taken it as another example of American corruption. She had just assumed that Tony Stark was merely trying to dispose of a competitor, who also had the then-Vice-President as an accomplice. Like many others worldwide, she had believed that Iron Man was just working to maintain the status quo by preventing a rival from controlling the America's nuclear arsenal. After all, the Avengers were only the newest agents of American domination. For everyone else, they were concerned about how close a terrorist had come to controlling the nuclear codes. She blinked, and snapped her attention back as she heard Vision continue.

"And yet from what I understand, your decision to download both SHIELD and HYDRA's files onto the web has only worsened the decision. The revelation that the most advanced global intelligence network had been secretly working for a Nazis cult. And no, I know they weren't that anymore, but a rogue Nazis division that even Hitler feared is how most people understand HYDRA. That alone would have caused panic, but knowing how close they were to actually succeeding in conquering the world. Governments all around the globe have been arresting SHIELD agents after learning what the consequences of letting them have free reign are. They will not readily support the reformation of SHIELD, or the creation of an independent team of superheroes."

"I know, but I still had to do it. To help encourage everyone to be more politically active, to think about things, and speak out more. To prevent the kind of world HYDRA had been working to build. A society ruled by fear and force, all for the greater good." The last part was just dripping with sarcasm. "As for the governments, they may try to take control of us, but stopping Ultron reassured people enough to give us the time we need."

"Even though it may still lead to repercussions for you and your friends?"

"I wouldn't do anything differently a second time around. I don't really want you guys to act like dancing monkeys, but I do want you to be more than just fighters. To be also role models. So that when people look at us, it won't be with fear." And then he gave an awkward pause, and gave Wanda a sad look, "Like they're afraid of Bruce."

Flushing, Wanda looked down in shame, realizing just how much of the very drills she had earlier believed to be useless, were in fact a consequence of her actions. Feeling her cheeks returning to normal a little, she looked back up, "But didn't everyone already see him as a monster?"

"Yes, but only because they didn't have all the facts. And even now that all the details are available online, not enough people are reading them. Or if they are, they are only using it to reinforce their own biases and conclusions. Every rampage by the Hulk destroyed massive amounts of property, terrorized people, and lots of injuries. But nothing too serious, and no deaths. Not until he fought the Chitauri in New York. And not until South Africa."

Wanda was now just staring in disbelief now, "What!? How could-!? I've seen the news reports on his attacks! How could he cause that all that destruction without killing anybody!?"

Steve just stared impassively back at her, until his attention was diverted to Vision speaking up. "He's correct. I have just re-accessed all reports on the Hulk. Johannesburg was by far the worst attack in a civilian area, with far greater collateral damage, and far more indiscriminate injuries. I would hazard it is only thanks to the distraction posed by the local authorities, and Tony's intervention, that prevented any loss of life. And as we saw while fighting Ultron, the Hulk was perfectly capable of fighting Ultron's bodies without endangering any of the civilians he was fighting to protect."

Well, don't I feel wonderful? Wanda reflected bitterly. But that's why I'm here, isn't it? To make up for what I've done, and help people properly?

Looking back up, she stared right back into Captain America's eyes, "Alright, what do we have to do?"

Smiling with approval, Steve shows them both the front page of his newspaper, it was featuring an article about a new vigilante named Spider-Man. "We have to approach people like him, making sure that he knows what he's doing, that he has the help he needs. But more importantly, we have to make sure there is a strong precedent for people with unique abilities on what is acceptable behaviour." No reference was made towards Wanda and her brother, and Vision made no comment, Wanda still heard it even though she knew Steve would never do so.

"We have to make sure there're no further reasons for people to be afraid," he continued in that firm yet captivating voice of his, "to not give them any further reason to try and control our actions. We need to be more than just fighters taking on every new menace.

"The Avengers still work to keep the world safe, but it's important that the public trusts us. Not just for their cooperation, but so that we also know that we deserve it. At the same time, while we're protecting the freedoms of others, we need to keep our own, and to not let public opinion or politicians stop us from doing what's right."

Vision smiled, "A tall order, as we work through conflicting goals. Yet I suppose no one ever said being an Avenger was easy."

A part of Wanda wondered if the artificial man really understood what was being asked of them, what she even now was just beginning to grasp. Captain America, Steve, was asking them to be symbols of what mankind could become and accomplish. The Avengers had to become icons, men and woman who would help guide everyone into a new and better world, without sacrificing their ideals. All of this, while simultaneously taking on any threats to it all.

"And we'll do it," she vowed, upon her love for her dead brother, "we'll make the world a better place, and failing that, we'll know we did our best." After all, as Clint said, it was their job.

With Vision putting in his own support, Steve felt more of his burden lift. He had good people working with him on this, like the two extraordinary individuals in front of him. Speaking of which…he turned his head to see Natasha walking in, and gave a smile in greeting to his second-in-command.

XXX

Natasha's P.O.V.

The Black Widow gave a small smile in return to the three in the kitchen, before heading straight to the coffee maker. She suspected Steve knew she had been listening for a while, hearing him guide the two youths through his plans for the Avengers. The conviction he could channel into his voice was truly awe inspiring. Personally, she approved of Steve's desire for a more professional team, one that hopefully would lack the personal issues the last one had. While saving the world was still the priority, she could appreciate setting iron precedent for what was acceptable behaviour for those with special training, or were enhanced. And to do so, she freely put her trust in the leadership of the most moral man she knew, knowing he would help her continue to do what was right.

She was also happy having people like Wanda, or Steve's friend Sam, on board. They were individuals who were willing to defy authority if their consciences told them to, which would be essential in helping to keep any governments or other agencies from taking control of those with special abilities. Personally, after the KGB and especially HYDRA, she had serious concerns about taking orders from anyone she did not personally know and trust.

With the revelation of HYDRA's secret control over SHIELD, she had learned how little progress she actually made in reforming. If not for Steve pulling her out, she might have stayed lost. When Secretary Alexander Pierce had questioned whether or not she was ready to reveal herself to the world by dumping all of HYDRA and SHIELD's secrets onto the internet, he could not comprehend what a relief it was to her. He had thought she was conflicted about it. Did he really think she had not given it any thought whatsoever? When Fury had been looking for support in opposing Steve's plan to take down both SHIELD and HYRDA, she had not said a word. She had known by then that she could not hide in the shadows any more. Not if she truly wanted to break away from her past.

With the upload, there was no more hiding who she was, no backing out, and finally a chance to make a new life. And with Steve and Clint's support, she had found it with the Avengers. Walking beside them, she knew that she was on the right side.

Now though, life was great overall. Oh, sure, it was a risky, difficult, and dangerous job, but she was used to that. And more importantly, everything she was doing was far easier on her conscience than most things she had done over life. Now if only Bruce were here, if she could actually talk to the dork, she would be perfectly satisfied.

She loved the man, she truly did. Somehow, some way, they were simultaneously opposite people, and yet all too similar. And it had worked for the two of them.

There had been several reasons to first approach Bruce after Loki had been defeated. Overcoming her fear of the Hulk was a big reason of course, although she still feared the Big Guy to an extent, but who did not? Protecting Bruce, to prevent an unplanned Code: Green because the scientist had been shot, was another reason. And she was mildly ashamed that she had in the beginning wondered if she could find a way to control the Hulk. Ashamed, because that was overlooking Bruce as a person, and focusing only upon the power that he both wielded and despised.

Surprisingly, she had found herself enjoying her time with him immensely. He had also appreciated new company after his lonely self-exile, especially since he could tell she was working to no longer be afraid of his darker side. Granted, all of the original Avengers had been outsiders in some way to the rest of humanity, but for her and Bruce it had been especially true. Being with the group had helped fulfil their mutual need to 'belong' somewhere. They had been with people who made a point of being with them, understanding them, and if necessary, keep them in line. In the end though, it had been the two of them who kept waking up with nightmares, and stayed up late and night just talking with each other. Over time, they started doing it during the daytime too, and soon they had become nearly inseparable.

She had found herself revealing more of who she was to him, trusting him with more of her secrets and had stopped using her vast arsenal of deflections and distractions that kept people from seeing more than the surface of her.

At first glance, they seemed to be polar opposites. He was pacifistic and non-confrontational to the point of seeming like a pushover, while she was an infamous killer who always took the world and everyone in it head on. But it seemed what she liked about him so much was the ways he was so different from her. A dorky, good man, who even when in self-exile had worked to help people. Natasha hated her past and what it contained, and associated with people whose own violent lives constantly reminded her of it. And she was the out-spoken, free living person Bruce dared not be.

Of course, they had never disagreed on the fact that they were both monsters. His was the Hulk, and hers was how casually and effectively she could kill, and had been since she was a child. Moreover, despite whatever reassurances people might have tried to make, they were both well aware that their present lives were the consequences of their own personal choices. No one had forced him to conduct a dangerous experiment upon himself, costing him his future and endangering the world at large. Bruce's greatest relief was how he not killed a single innocent civilian. Of course, he had a tendency to end that with the word, "yet." And she knew that if he ever did, there would be no stopping his suicide attempts until he pulled it off.

As for her, Natasha had never really considered suicide, but knew that her continued living had come with its own price. People liked to lay the blame for her actions on the Red Room, saying that she had been too young, and the people at fault were the ones who had molded her into the ultimate spy. That she was a product of her environment. But that little girl, who had been known as Natalia Romanova, had been too intelligent to delude herself into not seeing how she was choosing to live by deliberately killing innocent people. And all of her crimes that she had committed afterwards had also been made by cold, logical calculation. The all too many good and decent people who had died at her hand, begging for mercy.

There were many reasons she was glad she had left the KGB. Saving bystanders was far easier on her battered and twisted soul than killing them.

Leaving had also led her to Bruce. And the pain she now felt.

Part of it was how he was no longer with them, with her. Unable to talk and let everything they both felt out. Yet a very strong part of this wrenching feeling was also guilt.

She did not feel guilty about pushing him off the cliff, for she felt she had been doing him a favour, but that she had been so unaware of what he was feeling. Back in Sokovia, when he had wanted to run away and leave the others to handle Ultron on their own, she had finally realized the true extent to which Wanda had unhinged him. Natasha's time in with Bruce at the Barton's farm had helped her start purging her own demons, and she had managed to finish it during her free time in Ultron's cell. But it had been enough to distract her from seeing the full extent to which Bruce was still suffering from his own experience.

For the first time, Bruce had been willing to run when innocents were endangered and he could have helped, when their friends, the closest people they had to family, were fighting a menace more dangerous than anything they had ever known. His self-loathing and fear had pushed him to the point that he believed the Hulk would only make things worse, and that running was the only thing he could think about, besides being with her. Claiming that he could not fight around civilians. And for an ever so brief moment, Natasha had failed to recognize him.

Kissing Bruce, telling she adored him, and then pushing him off the cliff to unleash his monster, had not just been to save the world, but also to save him. From something that would have haunted the dork forever when he realized what he had done. Worse, if they had failed, he might have become the last surviving human on earth.

That was why after the Hulk and her had gotten on top of the flying city, that she had told him to go be a hero.

It was not until afterwards that she realized how Bruce must have seen it, when the Hulk had turned off the communicator, stopping the Lullaby, shutting her out. Tony theorized that the Hulk was Bruce's most innermost nature. That the Hulk's rampages were his rage, and need to survive personified. So what did it mean when the Big Guy was helping Bruce to run?

For now, I need to give him some time. If the Hulk of all people wants to be left alone, then I will respect that. I'll give him (or is it both of them?) time to think on what happened in Sokovia. And he needs to figure it out on his own without me in his face. He does know me, and he'll figure out why I did what I did. But if I don't hear from him by a certain point, then I'll go after him.

"I need to give him time to himself to deal with what Wanda did to him, but not too much time alone. Otherwise, he'll sink back to the same levels of self-loathing as before. And he may need some more help fully exorcising his nightmare.

Also, I can't just leave Steve hanging. I'll go when I see that the Avengers are ready enough that they can handle things without me for a while. Or forever, if I do end up running with Bruce.

…Would it be for the rest of our lives? ...It could be, if whatever I'm doing is something that'll help wipe out the red in my ledger. And then she let a secret little smile slip out. Although keeping a traveling doctor safe would be a good start!

Unfortunately, she knew that in the end she would probably have to be the one to take the initiative. Of the two of them, she was the one most likely to take charge and get things moving. But for now, she felt free to procrastinate, unwilling to risk discovering whatever happiness she had imagined possible between her and Bruce was unreachable. That the two of them could never have some small piece of a normal life. Or worse, that she had ruined everything.

And before she left, she would have to confront Wanda about what she had shown Bruce, his deepest, most carefully hidden nightmare that had driven him so far off the edge. Natasha was afraid she knew what it was, but she was confident she could handle it. Assuming of course that Bruce was willing to listen, and that her forceful changing of him into the Hulk had not actually confirmed his worst fears.

So she kept her smirk in place, and joined in the banter while snagging some of the food off Steve's plate. "Hope you guys got a good rest, because we'll be training in twenty."

"But we're just eating breakfast!"

"Good! Gives you something to fight through!"

XXX

Gaining access to Avengers Facility was a little more difficult than usual for Clint and Tony. Primarily because they both agreed that they had to keep the baby a secret, and shoving her into a box to hide her was detrimental to their health. Fortunately, when they called ahead to Dr. Helen Cho, she agreed to meet them for picking up a "biological research sample" they had brought. Consequently, Clint was rocking the baby while sharing a large box with her and some special tech Tony kept around for such occasions, and they quickly passed through security. Although Tony did have to promise the female scientist to let the active Avengers know what was happening.

Wary of another confrontation, Iron Man walked off to find the Avengers, and was a little surprised to see them doing some sparring matches. With the original team, they had never really taken the time to do stuff like this.

Rodney was busy squaring off against Sam Wilson, the Falcon, with the former showing he had more combat experience than most might expect from the former liaison to Stark Industries.

'Cap!' he called out, which made Steve turn around in surprise. "Legolas and I are here to see Dr. Cho. And I am going to ask you to leave us alone be for a bit." Quickly raising his hands, and putting on as serious a face as possible, Tony kept his eyes locked on the super-soldier, "We're here to confirm something, and if it's nothing, we'll let you know. But if it is nothing and we tell you now, some people will be very upset if it's proven wrong. False hope and all. 'Sides, those other two are responsible enough for you, right?"

Steve stared back grimly, and nodded, while Natasha walked over with a smirk, "Nice to see you too, Tony! We're fine, hope you're doing good too! What've you been up?"

The two team leaders were surprised and worried at the brief hesitation Tony showed, but he quickly rallied with a small smirk, "Sorry. Hi guys, how're you doing? Me? Oh, you know, living the high life. And now, if you'll excuse me, Barton and Dr. Cho are hopefully already done."

On the way out, Tony encountered the Scarlet Witch, with whom he only exchanged a nod, before he continued on his way. Their first real civil discussion, after Ultron had been defeated, had been a bit strained, but they had made peace with each other. The two of them had begun to forge a tentatively respectful relationship while battling Stark's 'son' together had helped, but what had made their new relationship possible had been when Wanda learned how much he himself hated the Stark Industries' weapons legacy.

Nothing else of note happened for about half an hour, until Tony hurried back into the gym. Walking up to the sparing matches, he was glad to see it was now Black Widow versus Captain America. The fact that the Capsicle currently had her pinned showed how the man was getting increasingly dangerous as he sparred with her, learning more and more exotic combat moves. Using the distraction as she worked to get free, Tony quickly hurried up and yanked out a hair from her head. "Sorry! Gotta go!"

"O~kay," Rodney commented, "Hey, Tony! What're you up to!?"

"Sorry man!" the quickly retreating figure yelled back, "gotta run!"

"Alright," the Black Widow said lightly as Steve helped her up, "shall we go see what sort of mess the boys are making this time when mom and dad aren't around?"

With a frustrated grimace, Steve nodded and led the way, before rallying a small smile. "Mom and dad, huh? Is that how you see us?"

"Oh, we're divorced. You lied about your age when we got married, and I decided you're too old for me. Left you the kids, but I stay in touch."

"Appreciated. Now let's hope Tony's ego hasn't gotten out of control, again."

XXX

Author Notes:

I feel the need to comment on Wanda's oath, because while I believe that would be the strongest vow for her, it is entirely sibling love; I do not in any way ship them.

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Next chapter: 'Shredded Expectations'

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