A/N; Happy Quarantine Day 2,568! Make the most of it. Stay positive folks. Sending plenty of virtual hugs. I'm working hard to pump these chapters out to give ya'll something fun. Thank you RFK22 and AnaLuizaMatos0 for your reviews on the previous chapter. It's super encouraging to hear your input as I work on this. Your reviews mean the world to me and encourage me to keep typing away on our favorite couple/team.
Meanwhile! In the writer's room! We have about 8 scrapped notes so far of 'deleted scenes.'
**This is rated T but just FYI we got some gambling & language.**
The elder of the two girls waits on the sofa with her feet lifted up off the ledge, teeth busy gnawing on her cheek.
Izabella waits at the opposite end of the sofa, pulled far into the corner. She barely turns her head when Lucy opens her mouth;
"What do we do if they end up killing each other."
The Russian contorts her mouth, twisting her torso slightly after a brief pause. She lifts her hand with a sense of frustration in her tone;
"Then you are dead. It was all your idea-"
Lucy smiles as she throws her head back;
"Oh my gosh. Izzy! Woman up! You are so terrified of the repercussions. You can live a little, that's allowed."
Izabella snaps over the intrusive tap to her shoulder;
"I will warp you toward Director Fury's office if you touch again!"
Lucy bites her lip and slowly reaches for her friend with a teasing pointer finger. She proudly vocalizes her actions, "Touch."
With a rush Izabella acts on her threat and motions her hands with their tinted green circle to push Lucy from the couch. The Jameson girl flicks the brushed bangs from her forehead and looks up with a forced chuckle;
"Ow! Girl!"
"I will do it again!"
"Got it! Thanks Chic,' she crawls dramatically toward the edge and rests her elbows over the seat, 'Seriously though, if the adults can't figure it out you realize you'll never see me again."
Izabella forced a smile, "Perfect. You trouble anyways."
Lucy nods, "Okay. Alright. Personally I was about to suggest you stowing away with me and mom because I secretly really always wanted a sister, but okay. Didn't know you hated me."
She tilts her head, "I not mean I hate you-"
"-Cool. Mom's coming you should go."
Izabella feels the older girl pull her from her place, leading her forward toward the door. With an abrupt turn she pulls her around the opposite direction;
"Um...! Quick warp yourself!"
She panics, "I can not do that!"
"Hi ma! I mean traitor. I mean secret murder."
Jennifer enters into her quarters with her eyes narrowed on her frantic daughter and her friend;
"Hi, girls. What are you doing."
Lucy shrugs, "Oh you know, hiding my best friend so you don't murder her. Just the typical daughter of an empowered type stuff."
Walters nods, shifting in her stance to focus on Izabella;
"Honey I owe you an apology. I am so sorry for losing my temper. It was not okay to put a target on you."
The girl shakes her head, "It is okay."
Jennifer lifts her eyes, "It's not. But I promise I'll make it up to you, somehow...can I, talk to my daughter hon?"
Lucy releases her friend and crosses her arms with her sass level rising steadily;
"Oh! Ooh! Now you wanna talk. After 15 years of 'oh you're just diabetic honey'..."
Jennifer clenches her jaw;
"Do you really want to piss me off right now."
"So I should just trust anything you say from this point going forward...why."
Izabella bites her lip and points toward the door;
"I'm going to go now."
Jen waits for the girl to leave before closing the door to her room. She lowers her volume;
"Please, give me ten minutes to speak freely and then you can make your judgments."
Lucy holds her forced grin, fist clenched at her side;
"Or! You can answer my questions, because I have about 12,700 things on my mind right now."
Jen nods, slowly sinking into the sofa. She crosses her knee and taps the space beside her;
"Ok. What do you want to know."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"We got 3 hours here, don't worry! I've brought the entertainment."
The team members each turn to view Stark's dramatic entry into the conference room. Natasha nods with a chuckle, Steve shakes his head over the box and the deck of cards;
"Really? This was your emergency?"
Tony slips into the chair and invites the others to join around the table as he shuffles his deck;
"Let's go people. Team bonding."
Banner shrugs eager for a distraction and takes a seat next to Stark;
"I'm in."
Rogers caves, "I guess, deal me too."
He points to the bystanders; stacking the two piles for another shuffle;
"Red? Point break? Robin Hood?"
Natasha nods and settles beside Bruce;
"I'm in but I want stakes."
Clint quietly takes the chair beside Romanoff and taps the table.
Maria lifts a shoulder and settles next to Pepper who has quietly sit beside Tony opposite Bruce;
"Yeah sure."
Thor leans over Clint's shoulder;
"I choose to observe."
Tony smirks agreeably;
"Pep?"
"I'll watch."
"Nice. No Director?"
Steve shakes his head, Natasha lifts an elbow onto the table and focuses on the engineer;
"He must've seen through your bullshit."
"Oh and you didn't? Miss 'I'll bring a beer to the emergency.'"
Natasha sharpens her glare, shoving the bottle between her feet underneath the table.
Pepper lifts her shoulders and leans back in her chair over the crew;
"I don't know about you all but I'm anxious to get home."
"I as well." Thor interjects.
Rogers takes a hold on his cards and sorts the two evenly as Tony completes the dealing;
"I'm surprised Jennifer wanted to come along to New York just to drop off Lucy."
Barton shrugs, "None of our business is it."
He sighs in agreement, "Guess not. What's the buy in?"
"20."
The table turns to look at Barton to grumbles;
"What?!"
"Are you kidding me-"
"There's no way."
"No!"
Romanoff shoves her chips into the middle and leads the group;
"5."
Steve nods and places his followed by Bruce and the rest of the team.
The engineer lifts a thumb to point toward Banner who stutters after being caught in a daydream;
"Uh...I'll check."
Natasha stays focused on the table after only glancing at her cards, "Check."
Clint twists his jaw, tempted to raise;
"Check."
Steve taps the table in a 'check.' Maria studies her cards, receiving a glance from Thor who invites himself to look at her hand. She moves away slightly to hide her cards;
"Check."
Tony nods and makes his decision to 'check' before flipping the cards.
Maria sighs heavily over the reveal receiving a look from Thor;
"Is that not favorable?"
She shifts her cards once more with a sharp glare. Clint covers his mouth after slipping out a chuckle over the scene.
Natasha uses her peripheral to study Banner who doesn't flinch as he checks. She holds a stern expression and does the same.
On the her opposite end Clint adds three chips to his pool;
"I'm raising 10."
Steve shrugs and adds his chips;
"Call."
Maria slips her cards back onto the table;
"Fold."
Tony adds his chips;
"I'll raise you 12."
Pepper crosses her arms;
"You're bluffing."
"15," Bruce adds his collection receiving a chuckle from Barton.
Clint shakes his head and looks up toward the doctor;
"There's no way man."
Natasha adds hers without breaking her focus, "Call."
Clint lifts a shoulder and matches with a smirk, followed by Clint and Stark.
Tony taps the table, narrowing his focus;
"I trust Robin Hood, I think Banner's bluffing."
Bruce shrugs, clumsily causing his small stack of chips to tumble. Natasha can't help but let the corners of her mouth curl upward, trying not to chuckle and break her focus.
Tony points;
"She knows."
Natasha shakes her head, subtly elbowing her husband. Clint taps the side of his cards confidently into the table;
"Alright come on. Deal."
Maria sits back with a sly expression;
"If you spend all of your check from this mission on one game..."
Natasha raises on her turn and calmly sips her drink.
Bruce shakes his head and glances toward Stark;
"You think I'm suspicious, are we going to call out Tasha here?"
"I raise you 20,' Clint interjects, 'You in Cap?"
Steve shakes his head, "I'm folding guys."
Natasha calls out;
"25."
Tony shakes his head, "I wanna be wild but I don't have it...I fold."
Bruce waits silently as he stares down Natasha. She reciprocates with an ultimate poker face. He nods after a moment to contemplate his decision;
"35."
Barton tosses his cards, "Nope. I fold...their confidence is scaring me."
Natasha moves her elbow when she senses Barton's attempt at viewing her hand. She refuses to break her stare down on Bruce;
"What do you have."
He smirks, "What do you have."
She purses her lips in a thoughtful stare down, "I wanna raise the stakes..."
"Sure, 45-"
"No, I mean actual stakes."
"Uh huh...like?"
She smiles, leaning forward in her chair;
"If you lose, I get a weeks worth of massages...and next time we all go out you take a shot."
He twists his tongue over his cheek, hearing Tony cheer in the background. The team's obnoxious 'oohs' and 'ahhs' are enough to flush his cheeks with a hint of red;
"...and if you lose?"
She rests her elbows on the table. With a seductive lowering of her voice she shifts her chin downward;
"Well, what do you want."
Bruce bites his lip. What does he want...he wants her home for more then a week. He wants to cure her nightmares, to know she'll be okay. Impossible stakes for a simple game of poker.
Banner glances at his cards with a soft half smile and lays them face down onto the table;
"...guess I fold."
Natasha tosses her cards face up with a flick of her wrist and wrinkles her nose playfully;
"Full house."
Pepper claps while Stark begins to stack his cards. Clint nudges his friend and shares his hand with her.
Rogers leans forward, eager for a reset;
"Are we playing again?"
Stark gives a firm 'yes' and reaches to stack the remaining cards;
"Who's still in?"
Clint raises his hand, "Me. And I'm betting your Ferrari."
Tony grumbles, "Just go buy your own. Do you need help with the investment? Speaking of investments- Banner; Next time Nat's asking for stakes ask for a Shark FBR-2512."
"A wha- oh! Actually depending on the project you could probably create your own, making a few modifications."
Natasha reaches while he's distracted to lift the cards accidentally left in front of her loot. She peers underneath to reveal his winning hand. She contorts her mouth and stacks the remaining cards left on the opposite end of the table. Natasha reaches to hand over the small stack with her mind drifting. With an elbow nudge she whispers to regain his attention;
"What did you fold?', Bruce shrugs. She narrows her focus with a laugh, 'You always do that..."
"I don't know what you mean. You seemed excited about your week of massages."
She shakes her head, waiting for her newly dealt cards;
"That's not the point. We both knew you had the better hand..."
"Alright. Prepare to lose this round,' he glances at his currently dealt hand, 'Maybe..."
With a soft smile she rolls her eyes and moves to look at her cards facedown on the table;
"Oh I'm raising."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Thor come through with eagerness, making his way from the nearby window as he marches through the hallway;
"The Empire State Building has been spotted."
Maria glues herself the nearby wall with wide eyes and quickens her pace to push through hall quicker. A shield agent comes through the opposite direction, pausing to look out the window beside the Demi god.
Bruce comes pacing down the opposite direction hand over his mouth and paper in the other. His rolled up uneven sleeves are caught by the demigod who excitedly points out the window toward the storm cloud;
"Look Dr. Banner! My son is embracing his abilities."
Bruce chooses to focus on the pride in Thor's voice rather then the window. His body tenses over the firm hold on his arm as he forces a grin;
"That's great Thor, I'm happy for you-"
The demigod clenches a fist as he admires the storm;
"The pure strength in this cloud is evident. Look at the wind as it flows about."
"Yeah, it's great,' he glances over his shoulder toward his previous heading, 'I have to um-"
Thor taps the window;
"Look! A streak of lightening. He must be really quite angry today."
"I should-"
Thor releases his hold with a steady grin;
"Ah yes. Go on. Don't let me keep you."
"Thanks. And that's great about Agnundar- you must be proud."
Thor nods, crossing his arms, "Agmundr yes, indeed."
Bruce nods awkwardly before proceeding down the hall. He exhales heavily once he approaches a safe zone and opens the door to his and Natasha's temporary quarters.
She waits near the bed, folding her uniform beside her shoes. She glances over her shoulder upon his entrance and moves to adjust the holster at her hip;
"Hi Bruce."
He pivots and sits at the foot of the bed, her eyes following his every flustered movement. He leaves the paper on the bed and stacks a pencil over the middle;
"I have a project for you."
She turns her head curiously, "Alright, I'm not drawing..."
Natasha turns to sit where she was previously working, sliding one of her pistols from the space.
Bruce shifts slightly;
"I was doing research into Imaginary Rehearsal Therapy. It's a process for reprogramming nightmares-"
Natasha tentatively takes the pencil under his urging;
"What do I do."
"You change the ending to a consistent nightmare. You write a detailed different outcome."
She pauses, closing her mouth tightly as she rotates the pencil in her hand. He folds his arms and presses his elbows into the bed;
"The idea is to remove any and all emotion from the nightmare so that it doesn't haunt you during your waking hours."
She stares blankly for a moment, her thumb rubbing over the eraser. With a chuckle she looks up;
"I could fill a notebook Vrach..."
"I know but, I figured you could start with something."
Natasha fixates on his eyes, trying to peer into his soul through the lenses over his cocoa gaze. She places the paper on the opposite side of her hip and reaches to remove the glasses from his face. He caves and helps her in the process. With a flick of his curl she takes the lenses into her lap and tilts her head understandingly;
"You read the files I left."
He changes his focus sideways and then downward. His throat tightens steadily. She leans forward, her eyes soft;
"We'll figure it out."
He nods with a forced grin. Natasha forces his chin upward with a hand on his cheek;
"Vrach?"
Bruce lifts his hand to incase hers within his larger hold. His thumbs brushes over her delicate fingers, calloused from her missions. Natasha lifts her left hand to brush his curls and hold the side of his face;
"What is it."
He contorts his mouth with a forced laugh and a heavy swallow;
"I, want you to be okay."
She tilts her head in the opposite direction to hold eye contact he consistently works to break;
"Bruce-"
Natasha feels him plant a kiss over her hand, interrupted by a knock at the door. She releases her hold over his cheek and sighs when he addresses the knock;
"You can come in."
Izabella creaks the door open slightly, greeting the two-some with a friendly smile;
"Director send me to say we're landing."
Natasha returns her smile;
"We'll be right out."
She lowers her eyebrows once the door closes and narrows her focus;
"So...Fury sends Izabella, to come knocking on our closed door..."
Banner smirks in reply;
"He knows you'd shoot at an adult."
"You're not wrong."
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Izabella turns from the room to head to her next mission, room 652. She glances over her shoulder as she walks down the hallway full of open windows to the left. The loud gasp insights a head tilt as she watches her friend walk toward the glass. For the first time since she's met Lucy the girl is completely speechless though her mouth is agape. Izabella bites her lower lip and withdraws momentarily from her mission to peer over the city beside Lucy;
"Wait until you see at night."
The girl nods and takes in the moment, leaving a hand on the window;
"Somehow this makes all my recent family drama worth it."
Izabella releases a chuckle and wraps her arms around Lucy's neck to give her friend a hug. The Jameson girl returns the display of affection with a laugh of her own;
"I'm so glad we didn't have to switch places parent trap style..."
