That was a beautiful poem 123flywithme. Thank you.
The sickness will be revealed on the seventh chapter. It'll come quick, don't worry.
Bruce and Natasha will share this chapter so it is longer.
Chapter 4: Nightmares
Selfish. Ignorant. Uncaring. Cold. That's how many always think of Tony. That is how many think of Natasha. But she is human. She cares. She gives. She loves. She worries. And right now, she was worrying about Tony. He had hidden away for days. Yes, this was normal for him, very normal actually. But every time he vanished into the depths of his mind, she worried more. She worried if he would come out. She worried if he even remembered their names sometimes, even if it was a childish thought.
'Love is for children' her mind would hiss to her sometimes.
"Than I am a child." She would think back.
One day, she found herself going to Tony's lab. She didn't know why, but she kept walking when she wondered. She stepped into the small confines of the elevator, pressing the button. She stood silently, looking at her reflection in the metal doors. It was distorted and hard to see, just outlines of color. It reminded her of how she felt sometimes. When she was tired of people thinking of her as a cold hearted, mindless murderer. The doors opened, and her reflection vanished. She quickly but silently stepped into the dimly lit room, lit aglow by holograms. The floated past her, and down the hall, leading her to their master. She followed the blue lights, and opened the glass door. She saw him, slumped over the table listlessly. He was snoring softly. She smiled, thankful for that. He hardly slept any more. She glanced at the holograms halfheartly, eyeing the blueprints and calculations carelessly. Her gaze wondered the room, dancing over the shadows and chemicals and machines hidden in the deep grip of the shadows. She turned towards him again. But this time he was shaking, jerking violently. Natasha found herself grabbing him, trying to shake him out of whatever horror he was reseeing. She opened her mouth to scream at him to wake up but nothing came out of her gaping mouth. Bruce was suddenly there, whispering in their ears. Natasha was scared. Bruce finally awoke him, and his eyes where red with tears. He yelled at them to leave. This was all a blur to Natasha. Bruce frowned, but Tony yelled again, and Bruce grabbed Natasha by the arm and dragged her away from the scared man. He had a surprisingly strong grip. She glanced back once before the left. He was hunched over with his head in his hands. Praying. Tony never prayed. But Bruce kept dragging her away. Back past the holograms, back through the door, back through the silent hallway with the shadows following them mercilessly as the two went away from the engineer. Natasha looked at Bruce, concern chiseled on her face.
"Bruce?" Natasha asked quietly, growing uncomfortable with her not being the strong person she was used to being.
"Yeah Natasha?" Bruce said, looking at her.
"Is he going to be ok?"
"I honestly have no idea. The man has mysteries Nat. Hank told us yesterday, and what we just saw is making that a bigger picture."
Natasha fingered the pieces in her mind, making them fall together in a picture she was afraid she wouldn't like.
"I'm scared for him."
"He would never leave you alone of he heard you say that."
"Really Bruce. There is somethin very wrong with him. He's hiding something. I could see it in the way he looked at me. There was pain in those eyes of his Bruce."
Bruce fiddled with this thought for a moment. Natasha was right. There was something wrong with Tony.
"I agree Natasha. Let's just wait and see if things cool down."
The two steeped out of the elevator, and where about to sit on the couch when the phone rang.
"Hello?" Natasha asked into the phone.
"Agent Romanoff." Fury's voice echoed through the phone. "Assemble my Avengers."
Sue me for the short chapter guys, sorry. I am working hard, this was supposed to be a one shot, so that's the mode I'm in whenever I write this.