A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews, especially to ANimATion ImAgInAtIoN, RKF22, Irishbrneyes, Wittmann the Tiger Ace, and to my guest reviewers; You guys make my day! Thanks to everyone who voted, as promised, I have the results! A HUGE shout out to my Beta; Nkcandygirl! Thank you for proofreading my chapters!

Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel or the Avengers, I own my imagination.

Chapter 11: Memories

Bruce POV

It was Thursday night, AKA family game night, so we were all sitting in the living room, and it was Serena's turn to pick the game. She said,

"Ooh let's play 'Spin the Bottle: Truth or Dare', I haven't played that since high school!"

Clint quirked an eyebrow at his girlfriend and asked her,

"This isn't going to be like normal 'Spin the Bottle' where you have to kiss someone, is it?"

Serena shook her head and explained,

"No kissing, we just get in a circle, pick someone to spin the bottle first, whoever the bottle lands on, the victim, has to choose between truth or dare, then the question or dare will be given by the spinner. After the victim completes the dare, or answers with the truth, they automatically become the new spinner. Simple and surprisingly fun."

I looked at Natasha who shrugged and said,

"Hey at least it's not 'Twister'. I hate not being able to play the game I always beat everyone at."

"Yeah," I smirked at her, "except that one time that you lost to Tony, and he didn't let you live it down."

She rolled her eyes playfully at me,

"Really Bruce? I forfeited because Tony's feet were in my face, and that guy has some horrible foot odor!"

We burst out laughing as Serena called to us,

"You lovebirds gonna join the circle so we can get started?"

We nodded, and joined the circle which consisted of everyone who lived in the tower except for the twins and Fury, who was visiting his parents in Fort Lauderdale, and wouldn't be back until next week.

Serena spun the bottle, and it landed on Phil.

"Truth or Dare, Agent Coulson?"

"Truth."

"Is it true that you have a tattoo of Captain America's shield on your back?"

"Yes, it is."

Phil looked at Steve and said, "I'm a huge fan of yours," as Steve nodded awkwardly.

Phil spun the bottle, and it landed on Darcy.

"Truth or Dare?"

"Dare."

"I dare you to kiss Loki, full contact, one minute."

Loki looked at Phil before asking,

"What? Why me?"

Phil shrugged,

"I thought it would be funny. Besides, you did stab me in the back last year, and I see the way you two look at each other. Consider it payback and a favor."

Darcy glanced at the stunned demigod next to her and said,

"Might as well get this over with."

Loki backed away, wide eyed, and blushing.

"Now, now," He squeaked, "Let's not be too hasty."

Darcy grabbed him by the collar of his polo shirt, and kissed the squirming demigod on the lips. He stopped wriggling around after four seconds. I glanced over at Natasha, who was snickering behind her hand at the demigod's reaction.

"Time!" Phil called out.

Darcy released Loki, who now had a stupid grin on his face, and spun the bottle. It landed on Pepper.

"Truth!", Pepper squeaked before Darcy could ask.

Darcy leaned forward and asked Pepper,

"How is Tony in the sack?", a snarky grin on her face.

"Um… He's okay.", Pepper replied awkwardly.

Tony looked offended.

"What's this Pepper? I'm just 'okay' in bed?"

Pepper rolled her eyes.

"Fine, you're amazing in bed!"

Tony smirked,

"Now that's more like it!", as Pepper swatted him on the shoulder.

Pepper spun, and it landed on me.

"Truth or Dare, Bruce?"

I weighed my options,

"Truth."

"Are you and Natasha going to have a double wedding with Tony and I?"

My mind went blank.

"Uhhhh….."

Natasha and I hadn't actually sat down and discussed that yet. I glanced at Natasha who jerked her head towards the formal dining room.

"Um, I'll get back to you in a second. You guys keep playing, have Clint take my turn and Natasha and I will talk. Okay?"

Pepper nodded as Natasha lifted herself up on her crutches. We went into the formal dining room, and closed the doors behind us so we could have a bit of privacy. I turned to her.

"Natasha, we need to make a decision and fast. Halloween is two weeks away, their wedding is New Year's Eve, we're running out of time to decide whether or not to be married with them. What do you think we should do?"

She placed her hand on my cheek, and fixed me with her intelligent green eyes.

"I want to have a separate ceremony, that way we can look back on our lives one day, and realize that we had a day where we didn't have to share the spotlight with anyone, just a day where we were the ones at the center of attention. Besides," She brushed that pesky curl off of my forehead gently, "I look at Tony and Pepper, and I see a big, flashy event with a ton of glitz and attention. When I think of us, I picture a more personal, quiet, and romantic event with all our friends."

I thought for a second, and decided that she was right, we didn't have the press hounding us like Pepper and Tony always did, and I would hate for our wedding photos to end up in a bunch of tabloids worldwide. That could compromise Natasha's identity, and, if the paparazzi was constantly chasing us around, the Hulk would get anxious more often, and I didn't want to hurt anyone.

I cupped her face with my hands, tipped her head upwards, and kissed her slowly, putting every ounce of emotion that I had into the kiss. I wanted her to know just how much she meant to me. I broke away from her, and looked into her eyes.

"Natasha, I couldn't agree more. In fact, I'll be here to collaborate with you on the main points of interest in this wedding, but for the most part, I'll let you do what you want to do. Dream about your wedding day now to make up for lost times during your early years. Make your dreams come true."

She smiled and said "Thank you.", before asking me,

"But what about your dreams?"

I pulled her close and whispered, looking into her eyes,

"My dreams are coming true. You're going to be my wife, and you want to settle down, and raise a family just as much as I do. You love me for who I am, even if it means loving the Hulk. I can't ask for much more than you by my side as long as we both shall live."

I kissed her softly, and murmured,

"I love you, Natasha."

I pulled her into a hug as she whispered,

"I love you too, Bruce."

I held her until she pulled away, readjusting her crutches.

"I think we should go in there, and tell Pepper."

I nodded, opening the doors to the living room just as Tony started his dare, by the looks of it, he had been dared by Steve to do 50 pushups.

"Pepper?"

She looked up at me, and asked,

"Did you talk it over?"

"Yes, we did."

"And?"

I grabbed Natasha's hand, and squeezed for support.

"We've decided to have our own wedding."

Serena jumped up and yelled, "Yes! I knew it!", as everyone but Tony, Pepper, Beth, Jane, Natasha, and myself groaned, and pulled out their wallets.

Serena held out her hand and said,

"All of you had better pay up. I told you they would have their own wedding!"

I couldn't help but laugh as Serena triumphantly collected five dollars from everyone.

Natasha leaned over, and whispered,

"I didn't know people were betting on us, did you?"

I shook my head 'no', and looked down at her cast, I had kept it on her for two weeks longer than I should have because I had re-studied the x-rays, and noticed that it wasn't one, single, clean break in Natasha's ankle as I had originally thought; but many, small, hairline fractures that had been in the same area. That could take longer to heal than one single break.

I nudged Natasha's arm before deciding to tell her my plans. She glanced over at me, and raised her eyebrows, as if she were asking a question.

"Natasha, meet me in the Medical Wing, tomorrow at 1:00."

"What for?", she asked in confusion.

"Well, I think you've had that,", I motioned towards her cast, "for far too long and I need to take it off, and see how your ankle is healing."

She smiled, and kissed me as Tony spun the bottle.

"Thor, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Is it true that you got wasted with Dr. Selvig?"

"That is the truth, Sir Stark."

Thor spun the bottle, and it landed on me.

"Sir Bruce? Shall you choose the truth, or shall you have a dare?"

"I think I'll have a dare."

Thor thought for a second and shrugged.

"Sir Bruce, sing us a song, any song you wish."

The light bulb went off in my head as I glanced over at Tony's grand piano.

"I haven't played in years, I wonder if I still remember the song I always sang, and played back before my accident."

As I sat down on the bench, and my fingers slid over the ivory colored keys, the memories of the song rushed into my mind. The Hulk had nothing to say as I began to play.

I hadn't forgotten.

Natasha POV

Bruce chose to take Thor's dare: to sing a song.

I watched in a sort of trance as he got up, and walked over to the sleek, grand piano in the corner of the room, sat down, and began to play 'Hallelujah' by Rufus Wainwright (A/N: this song was originally written and sung by Leonard Cohen) .

His skilled fingers seemed to draw the notes out of the piano, and his warm, tenor voice made my heart flutter. When I saw Bruce singing, and playing the piano for what was most likely the first time since his accident, I was sure that this was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen, or heard in all my life.

He ended the song, and gazed up at all of us, blushing as he stood.

"I do believe it's my turn to spin."

I found my voice and said,

"Bruce. That…That was amazing.", as everyone else started applauding.

"Thank you."

He sat back down, and spun the bottle. It landed on Loki, who was staring absentmindedly at Darcy.

He snapped out of his trance as Bruce asked,

"Loki, truth or dare?"

"Truth."

"Okay then. Is it true that you really have a bunch of children?"

Loki shook his head.

"No. That is all Midgardian legend, and none of it is true. I have never fathered a child in my life."

The grandfather clock in the hall struck eleven, and we decided to turn in for the night. I waved goodnight as Clint and Serena opened up an air vent, and crawled off to bed. I followed Bruce to the elevator, and we rode to our floor.

I opened the door, and Bruce closed it behind us. I sat down on the bed and said,

"I didn't know you could play the piano."

Bruce sat down on the bed with me and said,

"Well, it's been years since I've played or sang."

"I thought you sounded amazing.", I said, changing into my pajama pants and a plain t shirt.

"Thanks."

I brushed my teeth beside Bruce, and took care of my nighttime routine before lifting up the plush comforter, and sliding into bed. Bruce slid in next to me and said,

"I'm not tired just yet. How about you?"

I rolled over, and shook my head.

"Do you want to just talk?", I asked.

He nodded and I asked,

"You said you wanted to have children, how many do you want?"

He thought for a moment and said,

"Three or four at most. I don't want things to get too crazy."

I nodded, three or four was pretty reasonable. He asked me,

"I know you've gone undercover a lot of times, what was your most horrific mission?"

"Definitely the time when I went undercover as a college art student with Clint. I'll never forget the time when I came out of my photography class just as Clint came out of his drawing class with a horrified look on his face. I asked him what was wrong, and he said, and I quote, "I didn't know we would have to draw naked people! My eyes… what I have seen cannot be unseen!", I laughed at Clint, until I had to take that class.", I shuddered at the thought.

"Wow, that just sounds terrible.", Bruce said sympathetically.

I nodded.

"When you were a kid, what was a fun thing you liked to do?"

He replied,

"Well, I liked playing with my older sister. We would go play normal games with the other kids in the neighborhood."

"Um, could you tell me more?", I asked. Since I spent my childhood in training, I had no idea what types of games kids played.

"Oh, yeah. We played hide and seek, cops and robbers, tag, and just games where we would use our imaginations, and be whatever we wanted."

"It sounds amazing.", I marveled at the thought, and wondered what it would be like to play games like that.

Bruce scooted closer to me and asked,

"Do you remember anything about your parents, or even about your life, before you were taken by the Red Room?"

I nodded and spoke,

"I only remember three things. I remember that my mother had brown hair and green eyes, and that my father had red hair and green eyes, I remember having a porcelain doll that was named Tatiana, and I remember watching my parents as they were shot."

"I'm sorry I asked. Are you going to be okay?", Bruce looked me in my eyes, and pulled me into his embrace.

"I'll be okay. I didn't cry when I saw them killed, and I'm not crying about them now. You said that you had an older sister? Why aren't we inviting her to the wedding?"

Bruce pinched the bridge of his nose and murmured a name,

"Grace."

Bruce POV

Tears welled behind my eyes, and I blinked them back as I remembered the day when I came home from school, and found Grace's suicide note sitting on the kitchen table with my mother crying beside it. The Hulk was straining to be free of his mental prison.

Natasha noticed my expression and asked,

"Bruce, are you okay? Did I say something to upset you?"

She was only fifteen, she had her whole life ahead of her, she was the top of her class, and had a bunch of friends. I still didn't know exactly why she did it. I nodded, and wiped my eyes.

"What happened?"

I took a deep breath. I felt the Hulk struggling harder in the back of my mind.

"Grace was my older sister by three years. When I was twelve, I remember coming home from school, and seeing a bunch of cars around my house. I ran inside, and saw my mom sitting at the kitchen table, crying her eyes out. There was a note laying open on the table, and I read it. Grace had hung herself, and she said in her note that she didn't want to live anymore. No reason other than that. I was crushed. She had been one of the only people I could talk to, and then she was gone, just like that."

Natasha handed me a box of tissues because I was actually crying now.

Keep it together, Bruce!

The Hulk was getting more and more restless as a wave of bad memories came flooding back. My breathing got heavier, and Natasha placed a hand on my shoulder.

"Bruce! You have to fight this! Try to stay calm!"

I would not let the Hulk take over!

The Hulk roared from his mental prison, cutting away at my self-control.

"Bruce!", Natasha cried, her voice edged in fear.

I looked at her and she said,

"We have to get you to the unit! Now! You're starting to turn!" She pushed herself out of bed, didn't bother with her crutches, and pulled me out of bed, supporting me as she awkwardly dragged me to the unit. I couldn't fight it.

All that I had lost, all those bad memories.

Grace, Mom, all the innocent people I had killed, the miscarriage.

Dad beating me up after he came home from the bar.

Grace's suicide note.

All of those thoughts, surging through my veins like poison. Natasha pushed me into the unit, and locked the door behind me. I was safe now. I felt myself expanding, the roaring in my head growing louder, my vision turning green.

"HULK SMASH!"

~blackout~

"Bruce, can you hear me?", Natasha's voice sounded so distant.

I felt Natasha's delicate hands lift my head onto what felt like her lap. She placed one hand on my cheek as she ran her other hand through my hair. I opened my eyes as she called my name again.

"Bruce?"

I opened my eyes, and looked up at Natasha who was leaning over me with a concerned look on her face.

"How long was I out for?"

"I dragged you in here at about midnight and it's," she glanced at her watch, "about four AM now."

I went to sit up, but she placed a hand on my chest, and pushed me back down gently.

"Take it easy there."

I leaned back onto her lap, and she continued to run her fingers through my hair.

"Did I hurt you?"

"No."

"Did I scare you?"

"A bit, but I'm over it."

Well at least my mind was put at ease for now. I might as well talk while I'm calm.

"Natasha?"

"Hmm?"

"What month do you want to be married in?"

"Actually, if you don't mind, I want to be married on the Spring Equinox, to symbolize a new beginning."

I shrugged.

"That's actually not such a bad idea. You, my dear, are actually a very poetic person."

She raised an eyebrow quizzically.

"I am?"

"Yes."

"How so?"

"Everything about the wedding symbolizes something different."

She thought as I sat up slowly, stretching my aching muscles.

"Hmm I never thought of myself as 'poetic', but I suppose everyone has a personality trait that they can't see, yet it's obvious to everyone else."

I stood up, silently thanking the Hulk for never shredding my pants when I was around my teammates. We walked back to bed, and I didn't bother changing, I just tumbled into bed, and was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

Natasha POV

I woke up the next morning, and went about my business. I let Bruce sleep, he had a rough night and needed his rest. I had an early meeting at SHIELD, and I would be getting a ride from Maria and Phil. I glanced at Bruce and wrote him a note, placing it under his glasses on his nightstand before kissing him on the forehead and leaving.

In the car ride over to SHIELD HQ, Maria told me that as soon as I was done with my physical therapy, I could get sent out on missions. I looked at Maria and Phil as they held hands in the front seat. Those two were perfect for each other. I realized that they had been together since the winter before the battle of New York. When Phil told me about his relationship with the cellist, I didn't think twice about who he was seeing.

When Phil had been stabbed by Loki, and 'died', I felt sorry for the cellist from Portland, whoever she was. Maria had told me after the battle that she was moving back to Portland, and needed a bit of help with cleaning out her apartment. I figured out that Maria was Phil's girlfriend when I saw her putting a cello in the back seat of her car. Then I realized how perfect they were for each other.

When we found out that Phil had survived, and that Fury had lied, the look of anger on Maria's face was enough to kill, but the look of relief on her face when she saw Phil for the first time since his 'death' was absolutely priceless. When Phil proposed a week later, I not only won $20 in a bet against Fury, I was happy for the couple.

"We're here.", said Phil, snapping me out of my thoughts.

Several hours later…

My meetings had gone well, and I was taking a taxi back to the tower. I glanced at my watch. 12:45. I hoped I wouldn't be late for my own cast removal.

The cab driver pulled over in front of the tower, I paid him, and ran inside as fast as I could on crutches. Happy nodded to me as I came in, and I showed him my ID badge, getting on the elevator and taking it up to the 100th floor.

When the elevator doors opened, Bruce came walking out of a room, dressed in his favorite purple button up shirt, khakis, sneakers, and his pristine white lab coat with his name stitched onto the left pocket.

"Good afternoon, Natasha. I got your note, how did the meetings go?"

He led me into a room, and I got up on the bed, rolling up the leg of my jeans.

"They were boring, as usual."

He started up the cast cutting saw, and began to cut the cast off of my right ankle before powering the saw down, and prying the cast open.

I couldn't help but cry, "Freedom!", as the cast was tossed in the trash with a resounding thud.

"You know," Bruce looked at me, "after last night, I realized that bad memories should stay in the past, but that we shouldn't deny that those events took place. Like when I put those crutches back in the closet, they may be symbolic of a bad memory, but that doesn't mean you should forget about using them completely."

I tilted my head to one side.

"You're starting to sound like me."

He laughed,

"What?"

"You said that I was a poetic person last night. You're starting to sound a little like me with the 'bad memories and crutches' analogy."

"Oh."

Bruce carried me into the x-ray room, and took a few shots of my ankle, gave me an ankle brace (one that I didn't have to use crutches with), and took my crutches away.

He smiled at me as I walked around without the crutches.

"Feeling better sweetheart?"

"Yes I am.", I hugged him and he said,

"C'mon, Halloween is in two weeks, and we need to go find costumes before all the good ones get cleaned out."

I laughed softly, and nodded as we left the hospital wing hand in hand, leaving the bad memories where they should always stay: behind us.

A/N: Well what did you think? Review = Update!