Here's my update. Thanks for reading and sorry for the delays. I am really trying to get back into writing now that school's over. Thanks for all of your well wishes and reviews and patients with my slow to almost nonexistent updates. Side note anything spoke in "…" denotes Russian from now on.
Natasha's P.O.V.:
Natasha held Bruce's gaze for a few seconds. She needed to get her story straight. She needed to make sure that she kept her promise to Steve. She had to make sure she tired to make this work with Bruce. God it was going to be so difficult.
"Bruce, honey, you are up so early. Everything okay?"
"No, no it is not."
"Hon, what's going on?"
"You tell me you are the one sneaking back in here at 6 in the morning."
"Bruce, I couldn't sleep last night. I spent the night mulling things over with some vodka then I was in the gym working out. You know how those PTSD dreams get to me from time to time."
"Why are you lying to me?" He stepped towards her, backing her against the wall.
"I'm not, I'm telling you the truth babe." She looked at him, holding his gaze. It's not like it had been a complete lie, but then again it's not the whole truth. She needed this to work. She hated lying to him, but she couldn't help it.
"I don't believe you."
"What can I do to make you believe me? I'm telling you the truth."
"I…I…I'm sorry Natasha. I don't think I can do this." He backed away from her towards the bed and stumbled down.
"Bruce? Bruce honey, what, what is going on? What do you mean you can't do this? Do what?"
"This, us, I can't keep playing jealous husband. I mean I can't keep doing this with you."
"Hon, relax you don't know what you are talking about."
"I do Natasha. You don't honestly think that I, that I don't see the way Steve has been staring at you."
"That doesn't mean anything to me because you are the one I married."
"And if you had known Steve loved you, was willing to give you and him a shot at a relationship, would you still have married me?"
"I care for you of course I would have still been with you."
"Care? I'm your husband."
"Bruce please. I want what we have to last."
"I can't do this. I need space." Just like that Bruce got up grabbed a coat and left. Natasha fell onto the bed. She was in essence being released. Isn't this exactly what she wanted? She wanted Steve, and now she was being released, free to go to him. Is this what is meant to happen. She couldn't think straight anymore.
"FRIDAY?"
"Yes Agent Banner."
"FRIDAY I didn't change my name, stop that, it's Romanoff."
"Sorry Agent Romanoff. What can I help you with?"
"Where is Agent Rogers?"
"He is currently out of the building, didn't say where he was going." She needed help; she needed to talk to a friend.
"Clint is he here?"
"Yes Agent Barton is currently in the training rooms working on archery."
"Thank you FRIDAY." She changed into work out clothes and made her way down stairs via the elevator. She saw him through the glass and made her way there. She picked up a bow and walked over to the lane next to him. She knocked her arrow and lined up her shot. She released and exhaled.
"Nat?"
"Clint."
"What's going on Natasha, come on we both know you never knock arrows without something serious going on."
"Am I really losing my touch, or are you just that good?"
"Nat I've known you for years, I am just that good."
"Clint I don't know what to do anymore."
"What happened?"
"Bruce, he, uh, he walked out just now. He said he couldn't do this anymore, be with me and he, he left."
"Jesus." He stared at me carefully for a while. "What else happened?"
"Nothing."
"Come on Nat, I know you, what aren't you telling me."
"I, last night I wasn't feeling good. I was scared and lost and seeing Steve alive stirred up old feelings. And the nightmares, I was in the lounge and he showed up and we started talking and then I…we…"
"Nat what happened?"
"We, we slept together."
"What?" she was breaking down, her eyes closed and she felt so spaced out.
"I slept with him, I took him and the one thing that was precious to him."
"Nat, I'm sure it wasn't exactly like that. I know Steve, he wouldn't have unless he was sure that this was something you both wanted."
"I'm a married woman, so not only did I take that from him, I made him do that with a married woman, a good catholic man like him, he must be devastated. How horrible am I do have done this to him? Clint what's wrong with me?" Clint pulled her into a hug and held her close. He rubbed her back slowly and softly.
"Natasha you are going to be fine, Steve is going to be fine, your marriage with Bruce will not suffer because of this."
"But Clint, Steve, he confessed to me how much he loves me and wants me. He has it all set, one week the empire state building. And Bruce when I got there its like he knew, and he was questioning me and he walked out. I don't know what to do."
"Natasha, its okay to be scared, to feel lost."
"I feel so conflicted Clint. I feel like maybe this is a sign to try and be with Steve but at the same time I feel like if I give up now, I'm not honoring my promise to Steve."
"I think you need to think this over, maybe come with me to the farm for the week. Really take things slow, get some clarity and follow your heart. I'm headed out later today. Come with me Natasha."
"Yeah, you know what that sounds great Clint. Thank you for always being there for me."
"It's what friends do." She nodded into Clint and started to relax for the first time in a week. She left him a few minutes later to go to her rooms. She needed to pack up.
She grabbed her bags and went to the departing bay. As she made her way there she saw Bruce and Steve. Crist she was in trouble. She saw them talking and didn't need to get involved for now, she wanted to be discrete and disappear. Of course plans never go as planned.
"Natasha!" She turned begrudgingly. It was Bruce.
"Bruce?"
"Where are you going? I'm leaving with Clint, time for a family visit. I'd ask you to come with me but I have a feeling that you are still a little on edge from this morning."
"No, no, I'm fine. We are fine right?"
"Honestly?"
"Yeah." He grabbed her shoulder and started to pat her.
"I don't know. You really hurt me this morning. I, I was really worried when you left and said you can't do this anymore."
"You know I didn't mean any of it, come on you know me babe?"
"I'm not sure that I do."
"This is bull, you have got to be kidding me."
"I want this to work, hon really but right now I think I need to take some time to think things over."
"Let me come with you, we can bond and restart make sure we are where we are." She looked to Clint, who was watching from the cockpit and he nodded slightly. And she nodded at Bruce. "Great let me just get a few things from the room and we can leave. 5 minutes tops."
"Okay." Bruce leaned forward and kissed her cheek. As Bruce walked away she made her way to the jet but not before she caught Steve out of the corner of her eye.
"Natasha?" She knew it was coming.
"What happened to our deal Steve?"
"I know this is about work actually."
"Yeah? What's going on?"
"Fury has a mission for us a.s.a.p. we need to meet him go over some stuff and plan it out, do some training for our covers."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah." Steve was refusing to make eye contact, which was something that threw her.
"I suppose it's not urgent because he would be banging down the door if it were urgent."
"Yeah, that's true. Listen I just wanted to apologize for putting you, us, in a compromising position."
"It's, it's, uh okay Steve. Listen I'm going to take a few personal days, try to work things out. Ill be back to give you your answer and uh, then we will start training."
"Yeah, sounds good. Hey Nat, whatever happens, whatever you choose, you are my friend first, and I really want what we had as partners and co-leaders to be preserved at all costs."
"Of course Steve." She reached to touch his forearm. He shrugged back and looked sad.
Bruce showed up as soon as Steve walked away. He looked at me and gave me a small stare before kissing my cheek. I grimaced and we boarded the jet. Clint took the pilot shift and then started to program the Quinjet. He was clearly focused on more then the jet when his eyes kept drifting to me. Bruce was meditating in the back of the jet.
"Hey guys sit tight we should be there in an hour." Clint announced from the front. He put the jet on autopilot before moving away from the seat towards me.
"Thank you Clint for bringing me."
"Of course…do you think its wise to bring Bruce?"
"Yes. If things are going to crash and burn it should happen with us together, not with small ifs and unanswered questions."
"Okay…so what are you guys going to do?"
"Well, I am here for the kids, but maybe we can try and bond and repair the damage from our latest fight."
"As you wish, I'll try to kept Laura out of it as much as possible."
"Thank you."
Natasha had one goal for the next seven days. Repair her marriage as best as possible and make a choice: Steve or Bruce. Once they landed Bruce grabbed the bags and walked closely to her. They made there way to the house and were quickly bombarded by Cooper and Lila.
"You brought auntie Nat and uncle Bruce?"
"Why yes he did." Natasha dropped down to pick up the kids in a hug.
They made there way inside and entertained the kids for a few hours, had dinner then they got settled upstairs in the guest room that was really Natasha's room. They came back down to join Laura and Clint for a few drinks by the fireplace. They kept casual conversations and kept it light and airy.
"Alright it think its time we call it a night what about you?" Clint stated.
"Yeah sleep sounds good." Natasha confirmed. The two pairs made their ways upstairs to their respective rooms. Natasha crashed immediately and curled up into bed. She felt the bed depressed and Bruce got in. But he stayed on his side and never made a move to pull Natasha closer. 'So much for getting closer right?' she thought.
When she came to the next morning she found Bruce was already out of bed, clearly for a while because it was cold next to her. She felt around for her phone and looked at the time: 7:00 am. 'Great…Five days. She had five days to decide.' Just then Bruce walked out of the shower.
"Hey."
"Hey Nat. I didn't know you were awake. Sorry I used all of the hot water."
"Guess I should have joined you."
"Yeah, guess we missed our chance."
"Did we?"
"Natasha, why were you coming here without me?"
"Bruce you said you needed space that you couldn't do us anymore. So I took your words to heart as your wife and I sought out Clint. I needed a friend to talk to. Clint, he said come out here for a few days clear my head and figure out what I want."
"Then why let me come at the last minute?"
"Because part of me wanted to believe that you were sorry that you wanted to still be us."
"I did."
"And now?"
"I..uhh…spending the night with you reminded me of how cold this relationship has become. Its both of us and we are no longer the same people we were when we started this relationship. I have hurt you so much, and you have hurt me back and I just don't think this is a relationship worth saving anymore." She reached up and cupped his face and gave him a soft kiss to lips. She needed to just see if there was anything emotionally there anymore. When they parted she just knew. These two monsters just weren't good for each other anymore.
"So this is good bye?"
"Yeah, I mean we are still teammates and I hope we can still work together to save the world but ill be moving into the tower fulltime and working in the labs."
"Bruce…for what its worth, I did love you and want this, I really did think this was my shot at a future."
"I know, I am sorry to break your heart Natasha." With that she got up to give Bruce his space and made her way downstairs. She was free; she could be with Steve after honestly trying to be with Bruce. She saw Clint and went to him immediately.
"Its over Clint."
"What is?"
"My marriage. I…we came to the collective decision that there was nothing left worth saving. We had done so much damage to each other now that we should just part ways and try to be friends."
"Wow. And how do you feel about that?"
"Free."
"Free?"
"Yeah."
"Wow."
"Free to choose someone that maybe I have been so in love with deep down for so long that I was just running from it."
"You mean?"
"Yeah. Five days from now I get to tell him so."
"Wow."
"I know. Can you do me one more favor?"
"Yeah?"
"Don't tell anyone and take Bruce home for me."
"Yeah. Anything for you." Clint went to get ready and got dressed. He returned a few minutes later with Bruce in tow. Clint went to the jet to get set and Bruce had his final goodbye with Natasha.
"Bruce here." Natasha removed her rings and handed them to Bruce.
"Yeah?"
"Yeah, they were a great momenta to our time, but it would hurt to much to keep them, maybe one day you will find another girl to give them to."
"To be honest they were from my first attempt at a proposal and when it never happened I figured I'd give them to the woman I marry." With that he left. Natasha continued to drink her coffee until Laura came down, the kids still in bed.
"Hey."
"Morning Laura."
"Where are Clint and Bruce?"
"Gone. He's flying home."
"Why? I thought it was, that this was your great escape to be a couple?"
"It was a last ditch effort, we were having troubles for a while."
"And are you okay?"
"Honestly yeah. I…I mean we haven't been intimate in over a year and for the past year it was just so forced and now with Steve back Bruce seems jealous and more aggravated and ultimately he said it was time to let it go."
"Wow."
"Yeah." They sat in comfortable silence for a while now.
"So Steve?"
"Yeah and?"
"I understand enough of Russian now to know what you were talking about the man you love and going home to him in a few days."
"You heard?"
"Yeah and to be honest, thank god it took you long enough Natasha to find out that you were in love with Steve. You know when I found out about Steve telling you at your wedding it was him that I felt bad for. He watched you walk down the isle to another man to get married and if it were up to him he wouldn't have been there. I don't mean to guilt you or be rude and down on just now following everything but he was pretty obvious about his feelings and it was heart wrenching to see everything that has happened to him."
"I understand where you are coming from, and to be honest that is what I feel too. Given everything that has happened yeah, I do feel bad for him and that's why I am so happy to go to him on Friday and just finally have him as mine."
"I'm so happy for you."
"Thank you."
"So since you are not here with Bruce like you originally planned then what are you going to do?"
"Well originally I was going to ask for your advice spend time with the kids and see what to do about my situation but since that has cleared up, I guess just decompress and spend time with Lila and Cooper."
"Well, you are welcome to spend time with us. But uhh one question; how are you going to go to Steve?"
"Well in all honesty, he was the one who asked it."
"Okay spill."
"Well I was up with PTSD and just mulling over the fact that he was alive. Then we started talking and we ended up confessing to some unresolved emotions and that well that…resulted in us spending the night together."
"Ooo la la."
"Yeah it was something, something so pure and innocent and full of emotion, something I never shared with Bruce. When we woke up the next morning we realized the gravity of our decision and then we well really he came to the choice to give me a week to salvage my marriage with Bruce. He said he would wait at the empire state building at 7:00 if I showed well of course that meant I wanted him and if I didn't he understood that I was still married to Bruce that I was staying loyal to my marriage that I was surrendering my chance with him."
"Natasha that is so romantic." Laura squealed.
"I know. I know and I am so happy that we was willing to let me figure things out and save my marriage first."
"So enough guy talk, I here feet moving upstairs. What do you want for breakfast?"
"How about I help make pancakes."
"Sounds good." And for that morning and the following days it was peaceful and it was domestic for Natasha. She was ready for the next chapter of her life and for once it felt good. She was quick pack on Friday morning. Her and Clint were packing to return for the next few months. She had work to do, Steve to see and SHIELD stuff to settle.
As she boarded the jet Clint grabbed her bags and moved to store them. Christ she was so nervous. And at the same time she was so happy and almost school girl like in her giddiness.
"So are you ready for this?"
"Yeah, yeah I am Clint."
"I'm happy for you Natasha." They took off quickly and before she knew it they were landing on the roof of the Avengers facility. She had five hours before she had to meet Steve. Of course she didn't mean to go looking for him but ended up looking for him, only for Sam to tell her he was gone, had been for three days.
Natasha moved to her room and put he stuff away. She felt her fingers and the missing weight of the rings didn't seem to bother her. She searched her closet for something elegant and simple at the same time. She found it finally. It was a knee length dress, black with side cuts and a deep neckline. She donned a simple single diamond necklace and earrings. She grabbed her stilettos and flats. Five o'clock she had to get going to get to the Empire State building on time.
She was stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic and it was killing her patients she didn't want to be late to meet Steve. Everything was riding on this. As she finally got into the city and saw the Empire on the horizon her phone started buzzing. She saw it was Tony. What did he need right now?
"Tony?"
"Natasha thank god that you picked up."
"What happened Tony?"
"Bruce…he uhh he's in critical condition."
"What happened?"
"We were doing some experiments and then he went to do something and I found him bleeding out on the floor of the labs."
"Natasha he needs you."
"I have…"
"Natasha you need to be there. He needs you. He may not make it. We're at NYU Langone." With that the line went dead. She was half way across the city from NYU and Steve at the Empire at the same. It was a choice she had to make, be the dotting ex-wife, friend, teammate, and ex-lover or be the free woman and choose the man she loved. Surely Steve would be on his way to Bruce as well. She had to be there. But what if Steve wasn't going to be there and she missed him.
Steve's P.O.V.:
Steve had donned his classic Black suit and tie with his white shirt. He had left the Avengers compound on Wednesday to avoid running into Bruce who had picked a small fight with him a day a go. He seemed lost and distraught and he accused him of stealing Natasha from him. Steve didn't say anything and left Bruce alone. He packed a few things and made his way to his apartment in Brooklyn. He just needed to get ready for a few days and be ready for this moment with Natasha. He needed to have it planned out. At an hour to he left for the Empire State Building.
Steve had it all set up; he had it arranged with the guards. He picked up a bouquet of roses and took the elevator to the top. It was 6:50 and the next ten minutes where going to be agonizingly slow. He couldn't resist checking his phone every few seconds. He had to see the time, see if Natasha was running late maybe. He was so anxious.
Natasha's P.O.V.:
She pulled up at the hospital and raced up to the sixth floor. She prayed Steve was already here. She found Tony pacing outside of a room and assumed that Bruce was in there.
"Tony how is he?"
"Out cold but stable-ish."
"Do you know what happened?"
"Just I know that he was experimenting with radiation, Friday wouldn't let me into the lab due to the explosion. I uhh I used a suit on auto to get him in it and to the hospital."
"What have the doctors said?"
"They put him through surgery. Tried to sew him up, but they don't know what the radiation has done to him if anything. Helen Cho is on her way here."
"And Steve?"
"What about him?"
"You called him and the rest of the team right? They are on their way right?"
"No. I didn't call anyone."
"Why?"
"I needed to get him here and that's what I focused on. I called you because you are his wife."
"Tony…we're not…he didn't tell you did he?"
"What? Tell me what?"
"We went to the Barton's farm tried to patch things up. But there were too far-gone. We officially ended it. I gave him back the rings and everything. We left on amicable terms."
"Christ he must have been heart broken. Why did you have to do that to him Romanoff?"
"Why do you presume it was my fault? He was the one who wanted to walk away, not me."
"And you don't think you did anything wrong. All of this time pinning after Steve. And now that he's back, you don't think that pushed and rubbed Bruce the wrong way, how could you let him walk away?"
"Tony you are grief stricken and don't take the anger out on me. We left amicably. I'm sorry that he didn't tell you." Tony stared at her a for a few more minutes before finally nodding and accepting that he was wrong that he didn't need to have an outburst right then.
"I'm sorry Romanoff. I just with things with Pepper a little rocky lately I just…really wanted someone besides Clint to have someone you know."
"I get it." He looked in her direction and they sat there in silence and somewhat praying to some force in the universe that Banner would be fine that everything would be okay. And then a swarm of white coats and yellow suits came to them.
"Mr. Stark, you are here for Mr. Banner correct?"
"Yes."
"And you are?" the lead doctor asked Natasha.
"His ex-wife, as of five days ago, technically still his wife on paper and next of kin."
"I see. Well I would like to explain to you what we know so far. It might be best you take a seat."
"Okay." They both said as they took a seat.
"Well I'm afraid that we don't have too many answers. But we do know that he is recovering slowly from the wounds and abrasions caused by the explosion. Internally we still don't know what is happening. The radiation has changed him in ways we are too clear about. But I understand you have an expert that has knowledge of Mr. Banner's health and past coming in."
"Yes Dr. Cho, Helen Cho."
"Well as soon as she gets here we can get to work on getting more answers. In the mean time we are moving Mr. Banner to an isolated room for radiation protocols. I'm afraid that both of you will need to be swept and detoxed to make sure that you were not over exposed to the radiation. And Mr. Stark we need to send CDC and hazard materials control into the tower to verify clean up and sweep the place for radiation levels."
"Of course anything you need. I just need to make sure that my friend wakes up. We need him." The both of them were shuffled off to a different series of rooms and curtains and they were poked and stuck with needles and wands were waved in the air. Then they were stuck in isolation until reports came back on their blood and bio-scans.
Steve's P.O.V.:
It was getting late it was almost 8:00 and Natasha still hadn't shown. He kept rationalizing that she was just stuck in traffic that maybe she was still coming that she felt what he did that she would choose him. He called her several times each going to voice mail. Suddenly as his watched beeped 8:00 and sun finished setting he lost hope. He realized that he was wrong and that he had her answer. Christ how could he be so stupid. He was just the other guy after all. She was a married woman, supposedly happily and what did he think, that he could just waltz back into her life and sweep her off her feet take her when she didn't even belong to him. Bruce was right he did try to steal Natasha and he was stupid to think that maybe he won. It was clear now though. He had lost and it was time he moved on. He called her one last time in a last ditch effort. When her voicemail picked up he had his answer and his resolve broke.
"Well Steve there is your answer." He said out loud. He picked up the roses off of the perch on the side and threw them into the trashcan rather violently. He wasn't alone; a dozen or so tourists were up there and stared at him with longing and sadness. Even if they didn't know he was Captain America it still was a sad moment when a man was stood up at this romantic place.
"God how could I be so stupid. I mean the man out time, why would she even think about choosing me. So stupid." Steve repeated it a hundred times he tried to make sense of their night together, maybe he was wrong and he read the situation wrong. He just, he needed to get away for a while, clear his head, mend his shattered heart. Steve arrived at his apartment and began to pack up.
See you next time on Parallel Lines. Thanks for reading R&R.
