Girl All the Bad Guys Want (pt. 1)
Bruce and Tony made it down the escalator just as Bucky Barnes lunged at Steve Rogers.
"Buck! Stop!" Steve shouted, but the fire in Bucky's eyes burned with a fierce determination; he had no intention of stopping.
Until Natasha blocked his path, that is.
Bucky recoiled when Natasha stepped in between him and Steve, effectively quelling his murderous rage. His gaze bounced from Natasha's face to Steve's and then back again before falling in defeat.
"I can't believe that you would…" Bucky murmured, pointing at Steve. "With her…" he added, gesturing to Natasha. "After everything you and I…after everything we…"
"It's not what you think," Steve insisted.
"Then what is it?" Tony interjected.
Bruce, along Steve and Bucky, turned to look at him. Out of the corner of his eye, Bruce noticed that Natasha was the only one not looking at Tony. In fact, she was pointedly avoiding any eye contact whatsoever with him.
Steve opened and closed his mouth a few times, evidently searching for an answer. "Well," he began, but Tony cut him off.
"Not interested, Golden Boy. I was talking to Miss Romanoff."
Everyone redirected their attention toward the redhead trying to hide behind Steve's massive frame.
"Oh, um," Natasha stammered under the pressure of everyone's eyes on her. "I, well, I was… Here's the thing…" she trailed off.
"Natasha?" Steve spoke softly, laying a large hand on her shoulder. In comfort, in solidarity, in affection—Bruce wasn't sure.
"Please," Steve pleaded, his eyes conveying some secret message to Natasha. "You have to tell him."
Him. Who was "him"?
"It wasn't a real kiss," Natasha finally said, keeping her head down and eyes averted. She spoke so quietly that they could barely hear her. "I was trying to hide, so I made it look like we were kissing. I thought that would work, but…" she trailed off.
"Hide? What were you hiding from?" Bucky asked, his temper easing by the second.
Natasha's eyes flickered toward Tony.
"I made a mistake last night," she continued, still avoiding direct eye contact with any of them. "I wasn't ready to deal with it, so…"
"A mistake?" Bucky choked.
"Mistake?" Tony echoed.
They both looked at one another, then Natasha. The unspoken tension rose, threatening to suffocate them. Passersby paid them no attention and were forgotten in return. For a moment, they were the only six people in the mall.
Then, Natasha bolted.
Bruce and the others watched as Natasha disappeared into the crowd, leaving the rest of them to deal with the fallout.
"I made a mistake last night."
A mistake… Natasha had said this right after looking at Tony.
Bruce eyed his tightlipped best friend. Tony hadn't spoken a word since Natasha left. Instead, he'd kept his thoughts to himself and allowed Bruce to lead the way back to the car. Tony drove wordlessly back to his house, leaving Bruce to envision an infinite onslaught of unpleasant things that Natasha might've meant.
A mistake…
Then again, Bucky had looked like he was moments away from an aneurysm of his own when Natasha said that. Maybe the mistake had something to do with him.
A mistake…
Bruce snuck another glance at Tony as they pulled into his driveway. Tony's face was drained of all color.
A mistake…
As they unloaded their purchases in the workshop, Tony's silence persisted. For a while, Bruce tried to work in this emotionally altered environment, only speaking to Tony out of necessity. Sometimes he got a monosyllabic reply; sometimes he received no reply at all. The entire time, images flashed through his subconscious on an endless loop.
A mistake…
Tony knew something, that was for sure. He wouldn't be so quiet otherwise. Could the mistake have been "mistakes"? Natasha had been very careful to explain the situation to the floor instead of them, but maybe that was on purpose. She knew at least some of the history between Tony and Bucky.
A mistake or mistakes?
A single in place of a plural to avoid further complications?
Something started to bubble in the pit of Bruce's gut. Something dark and ugly. Something strangely similar to jealously.
A mistake…
Between Natasha and Tony?
Bruce froze.
"I gotta go," he muttered.
Tony nodded mindlessly. Bruce wasn't even sure Tony had heard him.
As he walked home, that something continued to bubble and hiss and spit inside him, threatening to rise to the surface.
On Monday morning, Bruce accepted Tony's usual offer of a ride to school. This Tony was noticeably different from the one he'd left on Saturday afternoon. He was chatting animatedly about his usual nonsense as if nothing had happened. Bruce tried to smile and nod along, but he kept waiting for an explanation. It was only when they pulled into the parking lot at school that he finally got one.
Like every day before this one, Happy's car was parked in its customary spot while its owner waited inside. When Tony and Bruce pulled into the adjacent spot, Happy hopped out and rushed around to the passenger side to help Pepper out of the car. This, too, was a common occurrence. On this day, however, Happy didn't let go of Pepper's hand—a not-too-common occurrence. In fact, it'd never happened before.
Bruce looked to Tony and then to Rhodey, who'd been leaning against his own car, to gauge their reactions to this new development. As far as he knew, Pepper and Tony had gotten back together the second week of school. And while Tony wasn't an inherently jealous person, he knew Happy always had a thing for Pepper. Bruce wouldn't put it past Tony to take issue with his friend's overt friendliness with his girlfriend.
But Tony had noticed, and he didn't seem to care.
Not one bit.
Instead, Tony was searching the parking lot for something else… Or someone else. When his eyes landed on a now-familiar set of red curls, Tony's entire face lit up like a kid on Christmas.
Bruce quickly put two and two together.
Tony and Pepper were over.
Tony still liked Natasha.
Tony had given him more than enough time to make a move per their gentleman's agreement.
Something (A mistake…?) had happened between Tony and Natasha.
And if Bruce didn't make a move soon (unless he was already too late), it'd be over for him.
And he had no one to blame but himself.
With a mumbled farewell, Bruce took off in the direction of his first class with a fiercely renewed sense of purpose.
No matter how early Bruce arrived each morning. Loki always managed to beat him to the science lab. Their partner projects ended the week before, but Loki refused to give up his stolen seat and lovely lab partner. To make matters worse, he seemed to enjoy rubbing his thievery in Bruce's face every morning with a smug smirk and a wink or two.
Dr. Pym's class was incredibly difficult, and several students had put in for class transfers during the first few weeks, freeing up the table behind Natasha's usual seat. Bruce settled in and started rereading his homework, hoping the distraction would take his mind off the possible (probable?) development between Natasha and Tony, as well as Loki's stupid face.
As the minute hand on the clock ticked toward the top of the hour, students began reluctantly filing into class. Even though he didn't look up, Bruce was keenly aware of Natasha as she entered the room and took her customary seat next to Loki.
"Ah, Miss Romanoff, how was your weekend?"
Bruce held his breath, waiting for her reply.
"Hey, Loki," she replied in that velvety voice of hers. "It was okay. Yours?"
"Can't complain." A pause. "Well, I could, but it'd be awfully unattractive, if I do say so myself."
Natasha chuckled softly.
"Have you thought any more on my proposition?"
Bruce froze.
Proposition?
Natasha was quiet. Then, "I'm not sure I'm going to go." A pause. "But I'll let you know if I do."
"Not waiting for a better offer, are you?" Loki's tone was teasing but there was an edge to it.
"Of course not. It's just…after everything that's happened over the last few weeks, I'm not sure if the dance is a good idea right now."
"I understand completely," Loki assured her. "If you're not interested in going to the dance next Saturday, I would be more than happy to treat you to dinner. Perhaps a movie, maybe?"
"Like…a date?"
"No, Miss Romanoff," Loki countered with a dark chuckle. "Not 'like a date.' I am proposing an honest, old fashioned, no guessing needed date in which I pick you up—flowers and all—and steal you away for a night of romantic intent."
The world's longest pause. Bruce's jaw hurt from the pressure of grinding his teeth together as he waited for Natasha's reply.
"Romantic intent?" Natasha snorted. "That has to be one of the cheesiest things I've ever heard."
"I aim to please," Loki replied nonchalantly.
"I'm sure you do," Natasha agreed. "But it's like I said, I'm not sure what I'm going to do. I'll let you know. Give me the week to think about it?"
"Anything for you, Miss Romanoff."
The bell rang, effectively putting a stop to their conversation as Dr. Pym strode into class and plunged headfirst into his lecture. Bruce couldn't focus on a word the teacher said. Instead, he dissected every word, every pause, and every piece of subtext he'd heard during his recent episode of eavesdropping.
When the bell rang again, signaling the end of class, Natasha was out of her seat and gone before either Bruce or Loki could blink. Bruce made a mental note of that as well.
Lunch confirmed Bruce's suspicions about the new Tony-Pepper-Happy development. Pepper spent the entire hour perched on Happy's lap without so much as a peep from Tony, although, to be fair, he might not have noticed this time. Tony's sole interest was in watching the door, blinking only when he absolutely had to. When the hour ended without so much as a glimpse of red hair, Tony's crestfallen face provided yet another clue to Bruce's growing suspicions.
Several other people were absent from lunch, as well. The most notable of these included Steve Rogers. Regardless of Natasha's excuse on Saturday, Bruce couldn't stop the doubt that settled on his chest like a slab of lead. Loki and Bucky Barnes were also missing from the crowded cafeteria, doing nothing to quell Bruce's concerns.
After school, Bruce joined Tony and a few others on the bleachers to watch football practice. Natasha was there, of course, but she spent the entire time interacting with as few people as possible. She spoke only to the team captain, Steve Rogers, when she had to, and spent the rest of the time chatting exclusively with a trio of sophomore girls.
When practice ended, Tony tried to follow Natasha off the field, but she disappeared into the girls' locker room with the trio before he could catch up to her. Bruce stayed behind, seizing the opportunity to catch an interesting exchange between Bucky Barnes and Steve Rogers.
Although he couldn't hear much, it seemed like everything between the life-long friends had been settled since the disastrous meeting at the mall. But when Bucky left him to go get changed, Steve's attention strayed toward the girl's locker room instead of following his best friend to the boy's, his expression inscrutable.
Bruce was notating the events of the day later that night when he heard the unmistakable ding! of his M3 account. He was pleasantly surprised to see the incoming message alert icon affixed to Natasha's profile picture. For a moment, Bruce allowed the mouse to hover over her avatar as he briefly considered waiting. It'd been ages since they'd last spoken one-on-one, even electronically, so her message was certainly out of the blue. Maybe if he waited before checking it, he could gain the upper hand. Or he could check it and leave it on "read." That would serve her right for all but flat-out ignoring him for the last two weeks.
Bruce sighed.
He hated when other people played those kind of games, and petty thoughts and actions wouldn't exactly endear him to Natasha.
Bruce sighed again and opened the message.
N. Romanoff: Hey, Bruce. It's been a minute. I dipped out of biochem so quick that I forgot to write down the assignment. Help a friend out?
If Bruce continued clenching his jaw so tightly, he'd end up grinding his teeth down to the gums.
Friend? Hah.
He was debating between sending a passive-aggressive message that he could always explain away and just giving her the information and being done with it when another message popped up.
N. Romanoff: I also wanted to apologize for Saturday. Not my best moment, I know, but I've been going through some stuff. It's been a whole thing. So, sorry.
Dammit! Bruce thought, groaning inwardly. Her apology and his partial knowledge of her circumstances made it really difficult to stay annoyed with Natasha.
B. Banner: Sorry to hear that. Glad it wasn't something I'd done. I was concerned since we haven't spoken in a while.
B. Banner: Of course, I have the assignment.
[User B. Banner sent PDF attachment to N. Romanoff].
N. Romanoff: Thanks, Bruce! You're the best.
N. Romanoff: But why would I be mad at you?
"Gah!" Bruce exclaimed aloud. He hadn't thought that one through. Of course, he knew she wasn't mad at him. Her attentions had been elsewhere. "How can I fix this, so she won't know I'm some kind of jealous weirdo?" Bruce dropped his head down, letting it fall on the desk with a heavy thud.
Ding!
N. Romanoff: Hello?
With an agonizing groan, Bruce sent the best thing he could think of: the truth.
B. Banner: Not mad, I guess. Just not interested, you know?
B. Banner: Tony mentioned that he talked to you about me. When I didn't hear from you, I figured you weren't interested, so I wanted to give you your space.
The time between hitting "send" on those two messages and Natasha's reply popping up was excruciatingly long.
Finally,
N. Romanoff: I understand.
"'I understand?' What the hell does that mean?" Bruce demanded of the empty room.
N. Romanoff: Although, how am I supposed to get to know you if you're never around? Makes it kinda hard, don't you think?
"Huh," Bruce huffed, leaning back in his chair.
B. Banner: It's official. I'm an idiot.
N. Romanoff: -_-
N. Romanoff: No, you're not. We have two classes together, remember?
B. Banner: There are different types of intelligence. I might be book smart, but when it comes to social interaction, I am woefully lacking in both experience and knowledge.
N. Romanoff: Hmm. Fair enough, I'll give you that one.
N. Romanoff: Can I make a recommendation?
B. Banner: Sure. Anything helps.
N. Romanoff: Practice.
N. Romanoff: It's not like you don't have friends or haven't had a girlfriend, so I know you have some practice.
N. Romanoff: But you gotta keep going. Keep putting yourself out there, or you'll miss out on everything life has to offer.
Bruce read and reread her message again and again. Was she hinting at something? Were her words innocent?
B. Banner: Natasha Romanoff, ladies and gentlemen, the real genius.
N. Romanoff: ?
N. Romanoff: Oh, you…
Were they flirting?
For the first time in a long time, Bruce felt something like hope flicker in his chest.
*A/N: This chapter was split into two parts because I wanted to give y'all something sooner rather than later. I'm playing with perspective for the second half, and it's taking some time.
I also really want to get feedback on this chapter (direction, style, etc.,), so I know how best to proceed with part 2 and the subsequent story line.
