Author's Note: Anyone else feel like these chapters are becoming longer? Haha. Just checking.

Throwing this chapter out for Black' Victor Cachat. Thanks for the support!

Chapter 4:

It wasn't often Natasha actually enjoyed being around other people, especially not normal people. Although admittedly Clint, Laura and the kids weren't exactly normal. Normal enough, yes, but given that they were a secret family on a secret farm out in the middle of nowhere, still not normal in the exact definition of the word. Unfortunately, a week and a half was too long and she knew better than to think it was wise to stay any longer. Regardless, she sat on the floor of the living room with Lila on her lap, coloring away in a ridiculous princess coloring book. A flash had herself and the little girl in her lap glancing up to see Clint grinning like a fool, camera in hand. She narrowed her eyes and her pride grew a little when Lila gave her father an equally perturbed expression.

He didn't look at all bothered, he was just snickering as he snapped another photo of the two of them making the exact same face. "You sure you need to leave, Nat?" and it was the question she had expected. "You can stay as long as you want. The kids have missed you," the fact that he did too remained unspoken, but it never needed to be said between them.

Natasha smiled at that and rested her chin on top of Lila's head while the girl colored. "I miss them too," she told him softly. "But you know I'm not good at being in one place for too long," she added and she heard Clint chuckle in response.

"Might be an understatement," he tacked on with an amused shake of his head. "Where to next? Not that I'm even sure where you've been for almost three months now."

She stayed quiet for a few seconds with his question as she rolled it around in her head. "Stark offered me a room," she finally told him. "So you know, maybe that will go over better than India with Banner."

Clint laughed at that, "I still can't get the weird little picture out of my head of you and Banner being domestic."

"I'd hardly call that domestic," she scoffed with a roll of her eyes. "I basically beat him up in his own home, then ignored him for a week and then after that," with that her eyes gazed down at the little girl in her lap and she thought better of finishing the end of her stay in India with the murdering of a drug lord and putting his second-in-command in charge after his agreement to stay out of the doctor's business. She hadn't lied to Bruce when she told him she didn't cause a bloodbath. She simply neglected to tell him the details.

Her partner just shrugged as he plopped onto the couch, "Didn't sound like it ended all that bad."

"Maybe not," she agreed with a small incline of her head. "But I'm not exactly known for my exceptional social skills and Banner isn't really my biggest fan, especially now," she reminded him. "Then again, I don't have a lot of fans these days."

"I'm your fan, Auntie Nat."

It was said without thought and Natasha found her lips curving upward of their own volition. She wrapped her arms around Lila a little tighter, pressing her lips to the little girl's temple, "Thank you, Lila."

Clint couldn't remove the smile from his face and he never could when she let down her walls around Cooper and Lila. "You really think Stark is your best option here?" he finally dared to ask. "I thought you didn't like him."

She pursed her lips for a moment as she thought about it. "I didn't," she admitted with a sigh. "Stark may be a—" she covered Lila's ears with her hands, "Narcissistic douchenozzle—but he has a certain endearing quality to him when he's trying to be nice. Even if his idea of nice is ridiculously annoying and not completely obvious."

She uncovered the little girl's ears and watched as she angled her head up to give her something akin to a stink-eye, "I heard that, Auntie Nat. That's another dollar for the swear jar."

Natasha gave a mock-scowl at Clint's daughter before making an exaggerated show of pulling a dollar bill from her pocket. After a minute she held it out to the child and looked over at her friend, "See? That's the other reason I can't stay here."

Clint was snickering.

"A week and a half and your evil-spawns have milked me for twenty dollars."

"Twenty-two, Auntie Nat."

And Natasha released a soft laugh at that, hugging her closer and pressing her cheek to Lila's. "I'm going to miss you, kiddo," she told her.

Lila nodded her head, her tongue sticking out slightly as she concentrated on finishing the picture in front of her. "But you'll come back soon, right?"

She hesitated with that and saw the forlorn expression cross Clint's face as well. It seemed that the kids had gotten used to having their father back and the assumption was being made that Natasha would also show up more often. "If I can," she finally answered. She usually spent at least birthdays and holidays in the Barton house, but she missed Christmas with them five months ago for the first time and both of their last birthdays.

It seemed to appease Lila and the little girl stood, taking the page out of her coloring book and handing it to her. Apparently while herself and Clint had been talking, Lila had colored a new picture of Tinkerbell, making the hair red, the eyes green and the dress black. Her lips once more quirked up until Lila's next words hit her like a sack of bricks, "Are you allowed to take this one with you?"

Any answer she could think to give was lost in the back of her throat. How did you tell a six-year-old that you couldn't take the things she made you? Finally she shrugged and took the picture from Lila's hands, "I think it'll be okay, just this once."

"C'mon, Li," Clint told his daughter. "Get your shoes on so we can take Aunt Nat to the bus stop."

An hour an a half later they waited with her at the bus stop and just as she was about to take her bag and get on, she felt a tug at her shirt. She glanced down at the big eyes of the little girl who called her 'Auntie Nat' and saw the beaten up, tan colored lamb being held up to her. "You should take Sir Lambs-a-lot. He always makes my bad dreams go away," Lila offered softly.

Natasha could help but to look to Clint for help but he was offering nothing. Instead he did something worse, "It's true. Sir Lambs-a-lot does help. She won't let you leave without him."

Lila was nodding her affirmation of Clint's statement and she sighed before squatting down to get on eye level with the little girl. She gently took the stuffed lamb into her hands and studied it before drawing her into an embrace, "Don't know what I'd do without you keeping the bad dreams away, malyshka." The grin on the little girl's face made it worth it and she gave Clint a hug as well before she climbed onto the bus, Sir Lambs-a-lot in hand.

When Natasha entered Stark's newly renovated 'Avengers' tower she was instantly greeted by Pepper Potts. If she was honest with herself, she wasn't sure how the other woman would feel about her officially coming to stay. If it bothered her, she was doing one hell of a job to hide it. "Ms. Potts, it's nice to see you again."

Pepper just heaved out a soft sigh, "Please, call me Pepper." The woman gave her a friendly smile and it was just comforting enough that she managed to give the tiniest smile in return, "You know, even back when you were Natalie I couldn't convince you to do that."

She couldn't think to do anything but shrug a little indifferently. "Force of habit, I suppose," she finally admitted.

"You look like you could use a drink," Pepper added with another smile. It she was trying to put her more at ease, she was certainly doing a good job, "Or five. You look like crap."

Now Natasha laughed lightly in appreciation of the honesty, "That's a fairly accurate assessment." She saw her eyes travel to her hand, the old beaten up lamb still grasped in her fingertips. To Pepper's credit, she didn't say a word or change her facial expression. She simply acted like it wasn't anything out of the ordinary, though she supposed that when you lived with Tony Stark, a lot of things weren't out of the ordinary.

"I'll show you your room and then we'll hit the bar," she offered up. She kept quiet as they entered the elevator together but Pepper seemed keen to keep the conversation going, "You know, you were the best personal assistant I've ever had." She glanced to the side to see the other woman grinning, "Maybe Tony should make espionage a requirement on the application."

It was so ridiculous that she couldn't resist another chuckle before settling the other woman with a coy look, "Mmm—but then you'd have to worry about them switching sides. I hear corporate espionage is an even bigger bitch than my particular field of expertise."

The attempt at levity was successful because Pepper let out a bubbling laugh in response. "Well, I suppose we each can only attain to having the knowledge of one or the other, Natasha," she agreed with a grin as they exited the elevator. "Most of the time you'll have the floor to yourself. Bruce's room is on this floor as well, at the opposite end of the hall, but when he is actually here he still hardly ever goes in it. You probably won't see much of him except for when I man-handle Jarvis into locking those two idiots out of the lab."

Natasha felt a single eyebrow raise in reaction to that, "You can man-handle an AI?"

"Miss Potts has complete access to all of my functions but she only uses them for that specific purpose, Miss Romanoff," came Jarvis' response. "A pleasure to see you again, by the way."

She snickered at that and noticed that Pepper was chuckling too. "Room is right here," came the other woman's voice and Natasha glanced over as she pushed open the door. Stepping inside it was like walking into an apartment. It didn't just have a bedroom, it had a bathroom and a small living room area. It was hard to decide if Tony had all the rooms as simple and elegant as this one was. The curtains over the window were a pale green, almost sea foam in color. The blanket of the bed blended perfectly with a forest green tone while the sheets and pillows shared the sea foam green of the curtains. Even the carpet held the darkness of the blanket, also forest green in color while the walls were a basic and neutral tan. "I hope this is alright, if there's anything you need, I can get it—"

Natasha could see Pepper pause and stare at her, obviously she realized that she didn't need to offer anything more, "It's uh..." she hesitated, placing her bag on the couch and feeling like she might be soiling the perfection of it all by doing so, "It's more than I need..." She could see the strange look on the other woman's face, "It's perfect. I take it you do the decorating, otherwise I'd be lavished in red and gold with Black Sabbath and Iron Man posters everywhere."

Pepper was grinning now, "Sounds like my bedroom."

"That really doesn't surprise me," she admitted, shaking her head in amusement. It took a moment to realize why Pepper hadn't led her out of the room yet until she saw her blue eyes shift quickly to the stuffed lamb in her hand and then back to her face. "Right..." she muttered, placing Sir Lambs-a-lot on the couch with her bag. "It's um..."

Pepper just waved her off. "Hey, none of my business," she stated with a nonchalant shrug. "Just wait until you see the bar. Fully stocked, all the time."

The corners of her lips curled upward before she could stop them and she was smirking, "You never should have told me that, I'm Russian, after all."

But Pepper simply winked as she locked her arm around Natasha's elbow and led her out into the hall and back onto the elevator, "I'll have Tony make sure there's a surplus of vodka then." If she was really being honest with herself, she actually enjoyed being around Tony's girlfriend. There was something completely simple and fundamentally friendly about the redhead that put her at ease in her presence.

It was when she was being led off the elevator and into the bar that Pepper leaned over and whispered the likely 'forbidden' secret, "Tony has an Iron Man plushy doll." Then she had a devilish smile and Natasha gave an unbidden and unladylike snort of laughter before she could cover her mouth.

Entering into the bar was like walking into the twilight zone. In fact, it wasn't just a bar. It was practically a two-story lounge, clearly equipped to hold one serious party if it had to. Tony Stark spared no expense when it came to his comfort. The grin, however, faded from her face when she saw the defeated posture of someone sitting at the actual bar of the lounge. She recognized the largely muscled frame instantly and she felt her eyes soften almost instantaneously. She looked over to Pepper who just gave a small nod and quickly left the room to them both. Natasha found herself padding over to the stool next to him as she sidled onto the seat. A second later she nudged his arm with her shoulder, "Hey, soldier." Steve's eyes shifted to her immediately and she gave him a tight-lipped smile that didn't quite reach her eyes, "You don't look so good."

"Always the flatterer, Natasha," came his sad chuckle. It was amazing how almost instantly she had gone from thinking about none of her problems with Pepper yanking her around and they all came swarming back now that she looked at Steve's melancholic disposition.

His wistful gaze made her feel as depressed as he looked and the fake smile on her lips faded away quickly, "Brooding despondence is supposed to be my forte, Rogers." She leaned over the bar when she caught sight of a half-empty vodka bottle and she pulled it over to her along with a shot glass, "So what has my stoic Captain looking so glum?" she questioned, filling her glass and taking a sip. She made a mental note to tip her hat to Tony later. He had great taste.

"Bucky," Natasha didn't need him to say more than that. It was obvious it hadn't gone the way that he had planned for it to go, if he had found his friend at all. "Do you think that when someone is as far gone as he is—do you think they can come back from that? I mean—I know he's in there. Somewhere..."

It was a fair question; one that she asked herself everyday. Now with Steve asking, she quickly found herself draining the clear liquid in her glass, feeling the delightful burn in her throat before she refilled it. "Honestly?"

"I typically prefer honesty," came his dry response. Somehow hearing Steve use a sharp-tongued tone like she typically did was a lot less inspiring, "I don't expect him to just bounce back into the Bucky I knew. I just need to know that he can come back, at least a little bit..."

She met his pale blue eyes with her teal ones, "I'm not sure." Clearly it wasn't the answer he had been hoping for, but he had expected honesty and that was the most honest answer she could give. "I used to be like him. Though—I'm not sure that's comforting at all," she added and she kept her face neutral as she said it. "I don't know if people like myself and Barnes can ever fully come back from—that." He looked even more defeated then before and she knitted her brows together. A second later she reached her hand out, her slender and soft fingers clasping his jaw gently between them as she turned his face back to her, "Not if someone like you starts questioning our ability to."

It had become unspoken between them since the fall of SHIELD. He had trusted her when he should have trusted no one. Steve had taken a leap of faith and allowed her to attempt at least some form of making amends; of clearing something out of her ledger. It was an unspoken faith he had garnered within her to keep going, to keep pulling herself back out of the abyss that had become her life. Natasha was afraid that if he gave up, she would lose that last thread to cling to. "If Captain freakin' America can't see an end to our darkness, how can you expect us to?" It was brief, but she saw someone linger in the doorway to the lounge. Her eyes barely flickered toward them in time to see Bruce Banner quickly shuffling back out, clearly having realized he was intruding on something personal. Pepper had never mentioned Bruce was already here.

Now that she thought about it, her current position with Steve probably looked strangely intimate to anyone else with her fingers still clasped on his jawline like she might devour his mouth at any moment. The thought never once crossed her mind other than their fake kiss to avoid detection months back. She barely managed not to recoil when Steve's forehead leaned forward and rested against her own, didn't tell him she disliked when others initiated physical contact without her permission. He just needed a friend and for whatever strange reason, he had chosen her. She wasn't the only one on the team who was broken; they were all slowly becoming fractured versions of their former selves, especially with all the recent events unfolding. Natasha released a halfhearted sigh before she slipped off her bar stool and she tried her best not to stiffen when his arms wrapped around her and his cheekbone found it's home atop her crimson hair. Instead she just stayed there, her ear against his chest as she raised a hesitant hand to his back. "People like myself and Barnes, our lives were taken from us. Clint gave me a chance to take it back and that's what you need to be for Barnes. And even when you find him, you'll still have to do a lot of searching to find your friend in him."

"I'm hugging you and you're not running, Romanoff," came Steve's sudden teasing tone. It felt good to have him back. "And when did you become the reasonable one here?"

She huffed out a chuckle and pulled out of his embrace before she gave him an amused glare, "Tell me about it. How unsettling is that?" she questioned before she lifted her glass and poured the entire shot down her throat. "Just so you know. I think Banner now thinks we're sleeping together." The comment had the desired effect because a rosy tint covered Steve's entire face. Natasha could only grin at that as she tapped his cheek playfully and refilled her glass, "Your reputation just got soiled, Spangles." She tipped the glass in his direction and winked, "Apologies in advance for being the devilish woman to take away your old-school values and have her way with you." Yet again, she had the desired effect on him because the blush turned to a grin and then a laugh that actually caused his shoulders to shake. "Now you be honest with me."

"I always am," he reminded her and she felt him studying her carefully.

She made sure to keep her face indifferent before she let the question escape her lips, "Did you really come here to brood, get my less than stellar advice and a rather awkward hug, or are you just checking up on me?" Steve looked almost ashamed and she knew that she was right. Clearly he was multitasking by coming to the Avengers tower. He got a morale boost and he could check on her after nearly four months of not talking, "I suppose I could have called."

"That would have been nice," now he looked a little hurt with the reminder that she had ignored him and she quickly downed the third shot. She narrowed her eyes at him when he pushed the bottle away in a not-so-subtle gesture to stop her from drinking, "A fourth in ten minutes is a little over the top, Natasha, even for you."

Averting her eyes would only say she knew he was right, so instead she just stared him right in the eye. "And?"

There it was. The sigh of disappointment. Somehow in two weeks she had gotten The Hulk's approval in her methods of removing threats to Bruce, caused a six-year-old girl to give her a beloved stuffed animal to keep nightmares away, and disappointed Steve. Natasha quickly snatched the bottle from him and she didn't bother with the glass, instead she made it a point to take a long swig from the bottle.

"The answer isn't at the bottom of a bottle."

"If it was, I wouldn't have a whole lot of questions left, Rogers."

It was disrespectful, of course. She knew that he was just trying to help and it only became clearer with his next words, "When was the last time you slept, Nat? Really slept?" She twisted the cap back on the bottle and placed it back behind the bar. "I take it you haven't."

"That's what the vodka is for, Captain."

Another sigh and this time she actually did avert her gaze from his, "You want to talk about it?"

"Not particularly."

Now his rougher and longer fingers lightly rested on her chin this time, forcing her gaze back to his, "Natasha... you can't do this to yourself forever." She swore she heard shuffling feet again in the door to the lounge, but this time she didn't hear them leave. "You can't just drink yourself through everything and stay awake forever. Eventually the demons are going to come out while you're awake." It was true enough. She saw one in the mirror every day. "Do you talk to anyone? Barton?"

As if Clint needed her packing her darkness onto his life. "No." It was funny now, realizing that Steve was trying to convince her to do the exact same thing that she had tried to do to Bruce a week and a half ago. The footsteps quickly shuffled away again and now that she thought about it, she had given a snippet of her past to the scientist, even if it hadn't been much. She had actually talked to him about the fall of SHIELD, even if she hadn't actually said much at all. Finally she removed herself from Steve's close proximity, "Just leave it alone, Steve."

"This isn't living, Natasha."

"No, it's not," she agreed, inclining her head slightly. "Like I said... it's not always easy for people like me to come back." She gave him a somber smile, "Go back to finding your friend. He needs you."

"So do you."

It shattered her attempts to remain indifferent to the conversation, "Take a few steps off that high horse, Rogers. I don't need anybody." There it was. She effectively distanced herself and pushed him away. "You shouldn't put so much trust in me—in darkness. Take it from someone who knows..." She didn't dare look back as she left because she knew Steve would have that wounded look that would force her to apologize. "It'll swallow you hole," she called out. She didn't have it in her, not today. Probably not for a while.

It had been several hours since she had dismissed Steve in the most unsettling of ways. His feelings were probably hurt from her words and her actions. Her inability to actually open up to him even when he had just done so with her was probably the worst part of all. For now, Natasha just needed something to keep her busy and Tony seemed like a man who had a lot of things for people to do. It seemed now though, that Steve's feelings were the least of her problems. The problems now at hand were the odd noises that were being emitted from inside the lab and she could actually feel the vibrations on the floor beneath her feet, "Jarvis?"

"Yes, Ms. Romanoff?"

"Stark is doing something idiotic and dangerous in his lab again, isn't he?" she dared to ask the AI.

There was silence for a moment before the Jarvis answered, "As per usual, of course."

She arched an eyebrow up at the answer. "I'm not going to like this, am I?" she mumbled out, heading over to the door.

"Most likely not. Although, might I mention that you tend to find most things that Mr. Stark does unsatisfactory?"

Natasha chuckled, "Don't get cheeky, Jarvis."

"I wouldn't dream of it, madam."

She shook her head at that as Jarvis opened the door and allowed her entry but she never made it more than two steps in before she froze in place. Her mouth hung open in shock for a moment before her statement came out of its own accord. "You son of a bitch..."

"Hello to you too, Romanoff," Tony replied without turning around. She ran her fingers through her hair, finally taking a few steps further into the lab and listening to the snarling and growling of The Hulk. The giant green beast was inside some glass cage, stomping around and ramming into the sides of it. She saw Tony's eyes flicker her way, "Thought Bruce was going to mention this to you hours ago. Guess he didn't." His eyes went back to the cage.

"What the hell is wrong with the two of you?! What are you doing?" she muttered, coming up a few feet behind Tony. If The Hulk cared she was there, it didn't show. He seemed as pissed as he had before she showed up.

She watched him roll his eyes. "We're practicing party tricks, Romanoff. But I don't recall giving you an invitation." All she could do was narrow her eyes at him for that. "So, with all due respect," he waved his hands to the door, still not looking at her, "Shoo." Natasha frowned, looking back over at the glass. For a second she stayed silent and Tony didn't actually attempt to kick her out, not that he could. "Something you want to say?"

"A question, actually," she decided, folding her arms across her chest as the big guy sailed from one end of the tank to the other. "You're trying to bond with him? Get control of him, right?" She grimaced slightly as she watched him hit the glass in front of them and the roaring snarl he bellowed out as he looked back and forth between her and Tony.

She watched him shrug and then nod, "That's about the size of it."

It was all she could do now to keep herself from strangling the man beside her. She settled for running her fingers through her hair, keep her eyes on the cage. "You know what?" and she watched as he finally turned to look at her. "For two people who are supposed to be geniuses, you're both incredibly stupid." Now she rubbed her eyes. "You sit here and you joke and you call this a party trick. But you're not bothering to acknowledge the problem."

"I don't see a problem."

"Of course you don't, Stark. You never do."

Natasha watched as he gave her something akin to a stink-eye. "Are you bringing up my textbook narcissism again?" And maybe it was that she was still reeling from her conversation with Steve, the near five shots of vodka and the sleep deprivation, but this entire scene bothered her a lot more than she thought it should.

She huffed out a groan. "You really can't see it, can you?" she asked in disbelief. "You think that you can get control of him because you're friends with Banner and because the big guy saved you in New York?" and she watched him nod just barely in response. "Well I have news for you, Tony. He's never going to stop being a monster," she could see that he was about to interrupt and she raised her hand up, effectively stopping him. Now she vehemently tried to ignore the guttural growl that came from the glass cage, though it still didn't stop her from flinching, "The thing is, that's not even his fault. It's yours. And Bruce's. And everyone like you."

"Excuse me?" Apparently that was all the billionaire could think to reply with. He was to stunned to come up with anything else.

"You want him to be something you can depend on. A weapon to fight with you. So you stick him inside a cage and expect that he'll grow to trust you." She could see Tony staring at her. "You want him to stop acting like a monster? Then maybe you should stop treating him like one."

"Natasha..."

She narrowed her eyes slightly at him. "Don't—just..." she blew out a frustrated breath and closed her eyes for a second. "The thing is, Stark. Take it from me, being caged in only makes you worse. You're not helping him. You're not making him better, or forming a bond, or earning his trust. You're making things worse."

"I-"

"Stop interrupting-"

"Natasha!" She stared at him with wide eyes. "Just turn around."

She angled her head to the side and stared behind her. She didn't remember reaching back and putting her hand on the safety glass, but at some point she must have. The Hulk was standing right there on the other side, his giant green palm on the opposite side of the glass from hers. There was still a scowl on his face, but he was eerily silent for once as he stared directly at her. Natasha didn't know what to do, or how to react to the scene before her and it looked like the big guy didn't quite know either. She turned the rest of her body to fully face him as slowly as possible, her eyes never leaving his. "No wonder you're always so angry..." she whispered, tilting her head to the side slightly as her eyes drifted to where his palm rested. She allowed her gaze to go back to his scowling face, but there was still something else there layered under all the anger. It looked almost like understanding. She watched as the glass gained little layers of fog where his heavy breaths hit it, "It's hard to be something else when all they can see is all the bad, isn't it Big Guy?" Even through the angry features he presented there was a sudden softness lurking behind his dark eyes. "Open it," she ordered softly.

"What?!" came Tony's disbelieving voice.

"Just do it." He hesitated briefly, but after a moment he must have accepted that she wasn't really offering a choice in the matter and he hit the button. Both of them watched silently as the glass moved agonizingly slow to the side. For a second Natasha actually felt herself stop breathing as it made its way past where her hand and the larger green hand were, leaving nothing but a microscopic patch of air between them. It took another moment for her to release all the air she was holding in and The Hulk seemed to have a multitude of different emotions splaying across his face. The anger that was always settled on in the form of a scowl. The confusion at whatever it was that was currently happening. But most of all it was that small glimpse of understanding that flashed in his eyes; as though he could suddenly understand her just as she suddenly understood him.

The stand-off lasted about two minutes before she dared to do anything further. Finally she moved her fingertips just slightly, causing them to graze his palm. The noise that came from him was almost feral as he flinched back from her and suddenly his former tirade of jumping around the glass prison was beginning again. She fell backwards from the tremor of his jump and she watched Tony hit the button to close the glass panel once more. Just before it finished, she slid through to be on the inside of the cage.

"Natasha!"

But she ignored him. She took a few quick breaths, finding herself in as much disbelief as Tony at what she had just done. Then the Big Guy turned to her, looking alarmingly more pissed than he had before. She slowly slid across the glass, doing her best to seem as nonthreatening towards him as possible. "Monsters are real, Big Guy..." she said softly, lurking across the cage towards him as slowly as possible. "They're inside of everyone. Not just you. Or me. But there's something good inside everyone, too," staying calm was harder then she thought it would be with him growling a few feet away. "It's just that—you and I can't seem to figure out how to slay one and nurture the other..." She heard the snort, but his angered face was tilted sideways as he watched her approach him. "When I was little, maybe five or six, I used to look for monsters under the bed..." he almost looked amused in a pissed off sort of way. "When I was ten, I stopped looking..." she added, "There's no reason to look for the monster under your bed when you realize it's actually inside you."

Natasha held out her hand with her palm up towards him, saw him snarl at the offering. "Next move is all yours, Big Guy..." she told him quietly, shrinking to the ground with her hand still out. She hovered in a crouch, using her other hand to keep herself steady and watched as he heaved out angry and heavy breaths. He never made the next move. Instead he bellowed out a howl that made her grimace and his large hand swiped in her direction. She recoiled back to avoid it, landing on her back and sucking in a desperate breath as she crawled backwards and away. Surprisingly, he didn't give chase. He stayed on the opposite side of the glass cage, snarling and growling and thrashing around. She didn't even notice that Tony had opened the glass just slightly until his arms wrapped around her from behind and yanked her forcefully out before he once again hit the button to close it.

When Tony slowly pulled her up to her feet she figured she must have still been visibly shaking, because he left an arm across her shoulders and kept her closer than either of them were probably comfortable with. "You're insane..." came his worried voice near her ear. "But—that was actually pretty amazing. And utterly terrifying. I'd be more in awe if I weren't currently wondering if I may have wet my pants."

She had to a blink a few times and convince herself to breathe again. After another second she wrenched herself away from Tony and stalked towards the door.

"Where are you going?" she heard him call out. The worry was still evident in his voice.

"Five shots of vodka wasn't nearly enough to deal with this shit."

Just when Natasha calms down a little, whooosh! She gets whiplash. Guess we'll see how Bruce feels about this little incident in the next chapter. Remember if there's anything you want to see, just let me know and I can make my best attempts to work it into the story.