A/N: Welcome back! If you're new please follow and fav if you're enjoying. I appreciate all of the reviews you guys! Shoutout to my dedicated readers, love ya!

Stay safe, stay home, stay smart. Sending you guys positive vibes and so much love as we get through the current situation.


Natasha waits in the silence, as the door closes behind to enclose the two-some. Fury's office in mid disarray as he argues over the intercom with a silent voice.

Barton leans a hand over the desk and curiously reads over the exposed documents while Natasha waits in place. She slips in and out of her zone, having already analyzed every corner of the room.

Romanoff has narrowed down the voice on the opposite end of the phone based purely on Fury's tone to one of 12. His visible discomfort proving it be a higher authority.

One of five...

She steps to the side, a chill rushing up each of her vertebra. From out the corner of one eye she spots the large window to the outside. With semi purposeful steps she moves closer to watch the clouds roll by in the the ships stagnant position. She crosses her arms, eyes narrowing onto the window pane.

The flicker of red catches her eye, eyebrows furrowing as she struggles to focus on the small dot. The red turns to black, exposing the small poisonous spider. Almost involuntarily she moves to smash the insect with the side of her fist. Heat pools over her forehead with hatred and her molars clench tightly over the sight.

Barton looks up from the documents over the sound, catching Natasha after the act.

He makes a face to express confusion, somewhat insulting as he jokingly narrows his focus as if to ask why.

Natasha glances over her shoulder after he mimics her and smashes the paper. She shrugs and looks back toward the window. Silently she lifts her fist to check the side of her hand, almost eager to find the carcass- or lack of. She extends her fingers, rotates her hand, and checks the window in search of her latest kill.

Nick's voice encourages a refocus as he aggressively clicks off his screen;

"Give me good news Widow."

She turns to face the director;

"You're in luck. With Crusher's dislocated broken arm and her lack of intelligence...I really don't see them as a threat. She's hardly making sense since the doctors prescribed her some medication."

"What did she say about the black hole-"

"-It's a distraction. Her plan wasn't fully enacted just yet. The goal was to blow up a bunch of Walter's more frequently visited locations; home, work. Their next target was New York. Not saying it can't happen again but it's unlikely with the two of them locked up."

Clint scoffs, "What for."

"To hit up the tower. Some previous psych centers that have gone and done her wrong. It's all about revenge for that one. Now that both Titania and her counterpart are behind bars, I think our time is better spent elsewhere."

Fury nods, "Any intel on Walter's mysterious missing weapon on the murder case?"

Natasha flexes her fingers, head down to check the back of her hand;

"The doctor was powered. He could take a shot to the head but not a couple of stabbings after the knife had been 'sterilized' in gamma and acid, funny enough. All supplied through her lover."

Nick shakes his head, "So Jen was wrong about Crusher's innocence."

Natasha tilts her head, eyes glazed over thoughtfully, "He's not the criminal mastermind here. Just a pawn. He's smarter then he looks but I don't see him doing much other then collecting his posse to turn on her."

Barton shifts from right to left, "And should we be worried about this posse."

Natasha shakes her head, "They're scattered. If they were in on this plan, the minions we encountered not the field are just a fraction of his connections and they're not the primaries. It's hard to pinpoint the pawns of a pawn."

"I think there's another Godfather." Clint reaches his hands up to his shoulder.

"Agreed but she's not the center of this operation, she couldn't give me a bigger purpose."

Fury folds his hands thoughtfully, "New York was next..."

He waits for a nonverbal response from the spy, stepping around the table as the door swings open to reveal Pepper and Jennifer who enter with a guilt grin;

"Sorry we're late." Pepper waves guiltily.

Fury sighs, his focus back on the assassin;

"This mission has gone as far as we can but I stay on high alert when you return. Check all of the normal hideouts. I'll see what my team can do in finding the pawns."

Jennifer bites her lip guiltily, hands over a chair;

"I missed a lot huh."

Pepper places her hands over her hip and chuckles;

"I told you she doesn't waste time."

Walter's pinches her forefinger to her thumb, "We just left the lab. Unless she arrives in stealth mode-"

Clint grins, egging on the lawyer as he points, "We took the same hallway."

Pepper tilts her head sarcastically, "We didn't just leave the lab, you had to grab your folder."

Jennifer untucks the documents from under her arm with a smile, lying the files onto the table;

"Ok! What's our next move."

Fury steps back around the table to lift a small tablet;

"Nothing. SHIELD will take her case from here."

Jennifer snaps her head around, hair falling over her shoulder as she lifts a hand to her cheek. The abrupt movement causing her molars to bite sharply on the inside;

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"It's done. She has no further relevant information. Everyone will be returning home this evening."

The lawyer forces a laugh, the slight taste of blood rolling over her tongue due to the clumsy act;

"You don't actually believe her..."

Natasha shrugs, hearing a familiar tension in Jen's tone of voice.

Nick mumbles as he slides Jennifer's folder in her direction;

"It's closed."

"Wait. No. Mary is a manipulator, she knows how to use her words. She's done this since day one you know this," Jen disputes.

Fury takes his steps toward the exit, "I trust Agent Romanoff-"

"She doesn't know Mary the way I do. She doesn't know what she's capable of."

"The case is closed Walters."

She grits her teeth as the door shuts between them, her hands running through her hair as she attempts to calm her heart rate. Silently she shakes her head in defeat. With thoughts on her daughter she refuses to look anyone in the eye, she steps back toward the table to take her papers.

Natasha reaches to push the papers toward the women;

"I know Mary concerns you but she can't hurt anyone else-"

"-Not right now." She shakes her head once more and leaves without another word.

Pepper jumps over the purposeful slam in the door, searching for direction from Clint or Natasha.

The proud American steps forward with a hand on the door, eyes following the abrupt exit of the lawyer. He turns toward the spies with a concerned expression;

"Maria just fainted, the medical team is headed in her direction. I just wanted you to know."

The two spies eyeball each other with Barton pushing through after mumbling something directed toward Natasha.

Pepper nods uncomfortably, pointing toward the door;

"I'm, gonna go...back to the lab."

Romanoff acknowledges Pepper with a side eye and steps to follow her friend;

"I'll meet you in a bit Pepper."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Banner swipes his screen, stepping back from the desk with his heart rate increasing steadily. The number irritate him. The stories haunt him. The empty room is enough to set the doctor into a panic.

The room spins, his fingers reaching up to tug at his curls. He circles in place. The sleeves of the slightly oversized sweatshirt triggering a distant childhood memory.

With his thoughts on Natasha, he sweeps the desk clean with the thrashing of every paper, document and piece of technology. In one swift motion each item comes crashing into the ground in a fit of unconscious rage.

He stands over his work breathing heavily. Through his lenses he stares vacantly over the mess of ideas, stories, concepts, hypothesis and medical documentation. The clash and the silence followed only by a soft voice full of childlike innocence;

"Vrach Banner?"

He cringes almost immediately over the sound of Izabella's voice. He reaches up with clasped fingers and tugs the back of his neck. Refusing to turn around until he shuts his eyes tightly.

Bruce knows he's on the edge; an emotion he frequently works hard to hide from everyone but even more so the children depending on him for stability.

She calls once more, the voice a tad closer then before;

"Vrach?"

Bravely she leans her head forward. He can feel her stepping closer. With a heart full of regret over what she could've seen he shoves his hands into his pockets and turns around with eyes lowered. Perhaps the glasses would shelter any remaining green. He grins. She's seen him green before;

"...how long have you been-,' he chuckles nervously, 'Doesn't matter."

Izabella lifts her eyebrows with a head tilt. She contorts her mouth over the mess in front of her. She points;

"Can I help, clean?"

He turns over his shoulder to look at the mess once more, lifting his hands from his pockets before crouching to the floor. He mumbles;

"I got it...' he turns back briefly, lifting a hand, 'Sorry, I'm sorry."

She crouches tentatively, eyeing her mentor with concern. Her bangs fall forward. She's trying to look into his eyes. Natasha has given her a tell tale sign about his transformations and he knows she's trying to find his eye color.

Bruce chuckles once more after sensing her concern;

"I'm not gonna blow up."

Izabella lifts her hand to brush her bangs behind her ear. Straight faced she refocuses on the papers she's lifting;

"I am not afraid of him."

He knows. Bruce nods to brush her off, choosing to focus on finding the shattered glass from the smashed tablet;

"I'm gonna need a broom."

Izabella stands immediately, leaving her neatly stacked papers on the table before moving toward the closet a few feet away.

The scientist exhales heavily over her eagerness to help. He stands as she returns with a broom;

"Spasibo."

He moves toward the mess with a curl falling forward over his lenses. Bruce glances over his shoulder as she moves back around him to continue lifting the folder and it's contents. He pauses momentarily;

"So, you're not, just here to help me clean my mess."

She smiles and makes brief eye contact. She shakes her head;

"No."

Izabella sits back on her heels with her toes tucked, staring down toward the corner as Bruce sweeps the debris away from her. She looks down contemplatively;

"How do you keep sane."

The physicist stays conscious of his movement so he can listen clearly. When she pauses he chuckles;

"What do you mean."

"Sumasshedshiy."

"Crazy...I got that."

She looks up, glancing toward the door;

"I am not sure about Lucy."

He pauses eyes focused on the pile as she continues;

"She um. She came to me with a problem. And I help as much as I can...I need help now."

Bruce pauses in his work, broom handle shifting between his right and left hands, set an inch apart.

"What kind of problem."

Izabella pauses in her cleaning, "She come to me with abilities. Her eyes, glowing bright. She was panicked about her mom finding..."

"So, you helped. How, what did you do."

She watches her mentor refocus on her expression. Guiltily she swallows hard;

"I, started training. We done things in dark. When she is angry, she can see in all blackness. Like Garrett."

Banner attempts to keep his tone soft as he pauses to collect his thoughts, the glass brushing against the floor;

"When- Why didn't you come to me earlier."

"She was scared. Afraid of her mom."

Izabella stands up with her papers and neatly lays them over the workbench. She sits at the edge with pure confidence that her mentor can help.

Bruce briefly leaves his broom over the neat pile to sit at the opposite end of the bench. He hides his face within his hands as he mumbles;

"Is she stable? Does she have episodes- if she's getting angry, is she in control-"

"It just that she can see far. It not out of control."

Bruce drops his hands, elbows over his knees as he tugs at his fingers. He inhales as if ready to speak only to exhale and change his mind.

Izabella lifts her knee over the bench and turns to face him with wide eyes;

"I am sorry Vrach Banner, I acted too fast."

"You could've hurt her if you gave her the wrong program."

"I know."

"You could've hurt yourself because you don't know what she's capable of."

He glances over his shoulder when she stays quiet, nodding only when she sees he's looking. Banner pauses, suddenly conscious of his nervous tugging she's subconscious begun to emulate. He watches her slender fingers clasp and pull at one another;

"Her mother is supposed to talk with her about it-"

Izabella sharply turns her head, "You knew?"

He shrugs, "That she had abilities? Yes. Her mom knows too. We just weren't sure what."

Bruce takes a breath, tucking his hands back into his pockets. The girl stares forward blankly.

"What else is on your mind. It's not just Lucy."

"What?"

He points to her hands, "You're doing my thing. What did your fingers do to you."

She stays focused on his soft expression, not wanting to cause anymore disappointment;

"Is it bad if I want to focus on, medical side of this?"

He turns, lifting a knee on the bench and tucks his ankle under the opposite knee. He lays the side of his hand on the bench in a gesture;

"Well. You don't have to use only your powers and you're definitely not stuck here,' he lifts a hand to remove his lenses, 'If you're, pulled elsewhere go explore it."

She lifts a shoulder, "I just want to help differently. My powers can hurt people."

His tongue twirls over his cheek, folding the glasses within his hand. With an arm over the table he holds his head;

"What makes you feel that way."

She shrugs, "What happened on last mission."

He nods thoughtfully, "...I get it."

Izabella grins after he does, "I not want to see that again. To know I can hurt, feels...overwhelming."

His fingers tug at his curls;

"When you offered to help Natasha, after we found you in Russia, what were you feeling."

She looks up contemplatively;

"Guilt. Knowing I send her away and- that I could help with my new powers. I wanted to do good out of something bad that happen to me."

"Did you think you were a threat in some way."

She shakes her head, "No."

He nods, "...And when we got Natasha back, did you feel...overwhelmed, about training and being a part of the team."

"No."

"You're not 'stuck' here. You don't have to use your powers if you don't want to. You can absolutely focus on being a surgeon if that's what you really want."

She tilts her head, "What do you believe."

He stands with a chuckle, "What I think is irrelevant."

"No."

"You really want to know."

She nods eagerly. He crosses his arms with a knee over the bench;

"I, think...you've been talking to your aunt. She thinks you should switch to medical because that's your primary dream...but I also don't think you see your powers as a bad thing. You see some importance in harnessing abilities for good or else you wouldn't have bothered with Lucy...how is my hypothesis?"

She grins, eyes lowered slightly;

"Pretty correct."

He nods, "You should talk to Natasha. You have her ambition for this stuff more then I do."

Izabella chuckles, "She never let me quit."

"But I will huh."

She holds her smile, "I wanted honesty."

"Honesty is that it's your choice. You do what you want."

She stands to head back toward the closet, retrieving a dust pan with a suspicious smile over her features;

"I want to help clean the angry mess."

"Thanks," he forces a laugh.

The door smashes open with a loud bang, causing the two-some to jump in unison. Banner's eyes flare with a brief shade of protective green as the determined lawyer steps into the room with a hand practically dragging her infuriated teenager behind;

"Robert Bruce Banner! I'm going to skin your wife and then smash that little Russian brat trainee!"

Tony steps in cautiously behind a half transformed Walter's. With a churro in hand his eyes widen slightly with his delayed return to the lab.

"Woah there! What'd I miss."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .