Author's Note: Alright, MushySnugglybits was right indeed. It's been over five chapters without anything too drastic! Ho'snap. Must be a miracle, right? Right?
Keep telling yourself that.
Chapter 18:
Natasha couldn't figure out who was avoiding who at the moment. She didn't put any effort into hiding from Bruce, but she also hadn't searched him out since her escape from his bed two mornings ago, and from what she could tell he was doing much the same thing. It was only the fact that Tony was having a party for the sake of throwing a party that she saw Bruce peering through the crowd. She shifted her eyes elsewhere until she came across Steve's friend, and her replacement as his partner, Sam Wilson.
The poor guy looked hilariously uncomfortable against the wall by the bar when Pepper pulled Steve off to mingle. Natasha sauntered her way to him and she had to smile a little when his face switched from discomfort to relieved. "You look a little stiff, Wilson. Need a drink to loosen up?" she purred. He went from relieved to flustered, almost as much as Steve would get when she flirted aimlessly, so she grinned, "No wonder you and Steve are such good friends."
"Why?" Sam questioned, giving her a wary look.
"You both flounder when I flirt," she explained with a wink.
Sam smirked at her, "Ohh... is that what you were doing?" His tone held a teasing manner now and she chuckled, "You need to work on your flirting skills, that was a terrible pick-up line."
Natasha couldn't resist a laugh as she pulled a bottle of beer off a passing tray and handed it to him. Then she clicked her tongue at him, "Please, if I was picking you up then you wouldn't be teasing me, you'd be asking when and where."
"You're a dangerous woman..." Sam muttered with wide eyes.
She shrugged at the comment, "How's the hunt?"
He looked a little uncertain about the question, "Eh...just a bunch of dead ends. That guy knows how to cover his tracks right up until he makes his move. Then... he just up and disappears ago."
Natasha nodded a little at that, "Welcome to the spy games."
"Not a very fun game," Sam commented with a sigh.
"Not typically," she agreed, "And the stakes are high."
Sam gave a dark little laugh at that, "Yeah—life or death high, I learned that from you and Steve during that whole DC fiasco." He gave a small shake of his head a moment later, "At least you're out of the game, right? Steve said you've been staying here."
Natasha arched an eyebrow up at him slightly, "People on my side of the board don't escape the game. It catches up sooner or later."
Sam took a sip of his beer, "You really know how to lighten the mood don't you?"
"Well," she gave him her sauciest little smile, "I could lighten yours."
He blew out a breathy laugh and she chuckled when he shifted uncomfortably against the wall. "Alright, I'll take pity on you, Wilson," she offered with an easier smile.
"Oh good, then maybe you can tell me if I'm supposed to call you Natasha or Romanoff," Sam joked. "I hear you're more last name oriented, but I never got a memo on what to call you."
She smirked a little at the comment but was stopped from answering when Bruce appeared beside her with a drink held in her direction. She supposed it was a peace offering for their two days of avoidance and figured it was as much her fault as it was his, so she took it with a smile, "Thanks, Bruce."
"I stand corrected, you do use first names. How come you don't give him a predatory smile?" came Sam's teasing question.
Natasha inclined her head to the side slightly before she gave Steve's friend a catlike grin, "I like him better than you."
She watched Bruce chuckle when Sam held his hand to his chest in mock-pain, "Oh, just ouch, my aching heart... You've hurt my feelings, Romanoff."
Admittedly, she probably did what she did next because she was still a little unsettled by waking up the other morning to Bruce making her the little spoon in his bed, and also the unforgettable feeling of sort of enjoying it. Natasha leaned in closer to Sam so her lips were next to his ear, "I could make that all better for you," she purred.
She pulled back so that she only left the bare minimum of space between them and smirked when she saw Sam's adams apple bob with a gulp. Steve didn't give her the chance to prey on his friend any longer because he pulled Sam out of her web by the arm.
"Don't torment my new partner, Natasha," Steve gave the teasing warning, "I still need his help."
Natasha gave him her most innocent smile as he dragged away a very flustered Sam Wilson.
"But she was—"
"Messing with you," Steve's voice insisted from a distance.
She chuckled a little at that as she shifted her eyes to where Bruce had been. He was gone and she had to admit to feeling a little bad when she glanced back at the drink in her hand. At least she had given Bruce the insight into her that he clearly needed.
She was a flirt, not something to be taken seriously, so that was one goal thoroughly accomplished.
"Why does my science bro look like a kicked puppy?" Tony's voice rang out from beside her. Natasha hated the thought that she sincerely missed SHIELD parties where most people never dared to come up to her. Socializing was a bitch.
She glanced to her left where Tony had taken up residence in Bruce's former position, then gave him a meager little shrug.
Tony narrowed his eyes slightly in disbelief, "I know you know something."
She still said nothing as she sipped the drink. She hadn't a damn clue what it was, but Bruce had good taste, it was bitter and sweet in the best ways.
"I know you know I know you know something."
Oh hell, really? Natasha rolled her eyes slightly at his childish statement and sipped the drink again before she finally spoke, "Put it this way, Stark. He's over it."
Tony's hand was on his forehead as he shook his head, "You two—it's like being on a damned seesaw. I thought you picked a side of the fence. Guess it's a little more in your nature to keep switching sides?"
That stung a little and though she wasn't going to show it, she was going to prove a point, especially because she saw Bruce look up when he heard the words. She grabbed the lapels of Tony's dress shirt, yanked him down to her level and gave him a look that could kill as she lowered her voice for only him to hear, "I did choose and you don't get to question my choices. But so you know, I chose the friendship side of this particular fence, I'm not capable of...whatever it is he's looking to add on to this."
The abundant smell of alcohol on him told her that he had enough in him to have gone to jerk-mode rather than the cuddle-mode of the night before. She released Tony and his shirt, smoothed down the ruffles she left behind, then put her drink in his hand and left the party.
She bated her time quietly on the railing of the roof for a while, sitting effortlessly with her feet hanging over the edge as she glanced at the city around her. Natasha stayed there well into the end of the party when she heard the footsteps behind her. They were familiar, but not familiar enough to be sure of who they belonged to, so she glanced back and watched as Sam emerged on the roof. He looked a little surprised to see her and she supposed he was just trying to make the same escape she had done an hour ago.
Her eyes followed him as he walked up next to where she was perched and he leaned on the railing beside her, "You have no fear. My ass would not be sitting on that railing unless my wings were on."
She gave him a smile at that, "I like the view."
"You alright?" came his concerned question.
"Why wouldn't I be?"
He gave a small shrug at that, "No one was really paying attention, but you looked like you were about to murder Stark before. Just thought I'd ask."
Natasha gave a small sideways nod at that, "Well, murdering him has crossed my mind on many occasions, that was just the closest I ever came to actually acting on it." She supposed her voice was neutral enough that Sam looked a cross between amused and horrified; he likely wasn't sure if it was a joke or not. "You and Steve staying for a while?" she questioned with a change of subject.
"For a few days," he answered. "I'm not complaining, I could use a break."
She didn't react much to that as she stared out at the city again, "Well...I'll never say it to him, but Barnes won't be found until he wants to be."
She felt Sam's eyes studying her though she knew he couldn't read her, "Speaking from experience?"
"Perhaps," she answered with a small smile. Something in her gut twisted a little and she shifted herself around and planted her feet on the roof as she glanced around.
"Something the matter?" Sam questioned worriedly.
Her eyes finally landed on the same set of stairs that Sam had used before. That's where she swore she heard footsteps, ones she didn't recognize as belonging to anyone in the tower, but she did recognize them. "You could say that..." she said quietly as she narrowed her eyes, "We're being watched." Sam's eyes moved to the stairwell just as she figured out where she knew those footsteps from. Her throat dried a little, "Down!" she growled out just before Jarvis blared the alarms for an intruder in the tower.
She shoved Sam a few feet to the floor of the roof as the bullet whizzed past where he had been standing. The footsteps pounded against the cement roof towards her and she turned in time for Niko Constantin to get a grip on her hair and shove her back into the railing. Natasha didn't give him more than a second with the upper hand before she slammed her elbow into his jaw and slammed her foot square into his chest. He fell back easily enough and she slipped the knives from her sleeves to her hands as she pounced.
He grabbed her wrists just as she landed on him and she grunted when he turned the tables and her back slammed into the cement. Fortunately she didn't have to think of a counter measure for this one because Sam planted his boot into Niko's temple and sent the man sailing off her. Sam's hand grabbed her elbow and yanked her back to her feet and she gave him a grateful look.
"Who the hell is this guy?"
"Spy games," she reminded him of their earlier conversation. "Stairs, go!" she growled as she dragged him by the arm and yanked him towards their only exit. Natasha couldn't fight Niko fairly when she was busy worrying about someone else, especially not when it was Steve's best friend.
She never even got Sam close to the door before she felt Niko's presence behind her. She let go of Sam and turned in time to block the punch Niko threw with her arm. It seemed that he had expected that because his other arm snatched her blocking one and she hit the railing of the roof again with enough force to knock the wind out of her.
Niko didn't seem to expect her apprehension of his next move because when he lifted the gun towards her and side-stepped the knife she threw, she nicked the hand that wielded it with her second knife causing the gun to drop and skid to the side. It didn't stop the attack, but it certainly pissed him off because he was in front of her at the railing in a second, twisting her arm behind her back and trying to force her over the edge.
Natasha supposed that it might have actually worked if Sam hadn't interfered yet again. The other man pulled Niko off only to be shoved, quite literally, over the rails. "Sam!" she growled out. She reached over in time to snatch his hand with both of hers and the only reason she didn't slide over too was because she grounded herself with the railing. She got one leg curled around one of the metal posts as she took a deep breath. That same breath got caught in her throat when she heard the click of the gun several feet away.
There was no good choice in this moment. The wailing speed of the alarm matched the velocity of her beating heart and she shifted her eyes from Sam hanging from her hands to the gun about to put a bullet in her. She couldn't just let him go and let Sam die and she supposed it was better if they both died, because if she dropped him it was almost like murdering him herself.
"I thought you might be willing to die for the puny little scientist, maybe even the archer, Natalia. I never imagined you would do it for someone as invaluable as whoever he is." She shifted her eyes to stare at Niko as he circled a little more into her peripheral vision with the gun, "Let's see how far you'll go."
The shot rang out and hit the railing just next to her. She grimaced a little when the sparks flew off it and hit her right hand. It was just hot enough that her hand slipped a little and she had to tighten her grip, "Hang on, Sam..."
"Next one goes in your leg, then your arm, then your back, and finally your head."
Natasha didn't doubt any of that for a second and she saw Sam giving her that look. The one that said to let go. "Not a chance," she told him before he ever got the words out. Someone had to be coming up here, right?
The person who did show up, was not who she expected.
The second shot rang out and she just barely shifted enough to avoid the bullet to her thigh. Niko seemed too focused on her to focus on anything else.
She was wrong. "Looks like the puny scientist has arrived. Three is company Doctor Banner," Niko called out. "But four is a crowd, say goodbye to Natalia."
Natasha shifted her gaze to Bruce and she saw him running, it just wasn't where she expected. The gun fired, the bullet flew through the air towards her chest and there was no way to shift out of it's path.
She expected death but instead an unexpected feral growl sounded out. She hadn't even realized she closed her eyes until she opened them and stared at The Hulk. His arm yanked her further behind him as he turned in Niko's direction, which was at least useful in the endeavor of yanking Sam over the railing and back onto the roof. She heard him grunt and move forward, but it was a slow pace and his head shifted from left to right. When she peered around him, Niko was nowhere in sight. "You good?" she questioned to Sam.
"I'm alive...thanks for that."
She nodded a little and pushed herself to walk towards where Niko had been, passing the Hulk and moving towards the railing. She still had that clenching feeling in her gut.
Cautious or not, it didn't help because before she could react his hand came from under the railing, grabbed her ankle and pulled. Natasha's back hit the cement along with the back of her head and suddenly there was nothing underneath her. She was flying or falling or something. The growling came just a second later and she felt pressure as she was pulled roughly against something, or someone. She got her senses back enough to realize it was The Hulk as his free arm dug groves into the building until they swung through one of the building's windows at least a dozen floors down.
She hit the floor rolling and it was a painful effort to catch her breath and even crawl onto her hands and knees. It took her a few more moments to hear the gasp from someone in the room over the blood rushing through her head and she took a dizzying look in the direction she deemed it stemmed from.
Pepper.
The other woman was wide-eyed and terrified as The Hulk snarled and reared towards her and Natasha barely managed to get to her feet and stumble between the two. Her breaths were a little haggard and she felt Pepper's hands grip and clench onto the back of her shirt when Natasha backed into her a little.
"It's alright..." she whispered as she shifted her head a little to Pepper. She saw the uncertain nod the other woman gave her in return before Natasha turned her gaze back to The Hulk, "Hey, Big Guy..." she offered the usual greeting.
She sincerely prayed that he wasn't still pissed about her sneezing on him right about now as she cautiously raised her hand up. Natasha shifted her other hand behind her towards Pepper and pulled the woman into a crouch with her, "Sun's gettin' real low..."
He looked pissed for a moment as he grunted and glanced around for any potential threats. Then he turned away and took a few heaving steps around the room. She waited until he turned back towards her with his enraged eyes before she turned her hand palm up for him to show that it was his move next. Natasha supposed the fear radiating off of Pepper wasn't exactly helpful, but telling her to run for the hills was likely a worse idea than keeping her crouched down behind her.
"Banner puny. Not Hulk."
Natasha quirked an eyebrow up in surprise when he spoke the gruff sounding words, mostly because she had never once heard him speak. "No... you're definitely not puny, Big Guy," she agreed with an apprehensive smile.
"Spider puny."
She was pretty sure the spider was her and she had definitely never been called puny before.
"But strong."
Coming from a giant green rage monster, that was probably the best compliment she would ever receive, "Thanks, Big Guy."
He huffed and gave a rather angry looking grin, "Spider scares puny Banner."
Natasha actually chuckled a little at that as he heaved a few steps towards her and studied her outstretched hand. Ten words from him, that was practically a full-on monologue when it came to the Bruce's gamma radiated other half. "Mind bringing back puny Banner so I can scare him some more?" she questioned with a teasing tone.
His giant eyes squinted at her a little before he snorted with something that she associated with his idea of amusement, then he looked around the room again, his eyes landing unhappily on Pepper behind her.
"She's alright," Natasha insisted, "Bruce knows that, so you must too, am I right?"
The Hulk seemed like he didn't much care what Bruce knew or thought and she supposed he really didn't.
"Alright well... I know she is, is that enough?"
He huffed again and then relented as he plopped his hand upside down in her palm. She gave him an appreciative smile before she shifted her palm to his arm. He watched carefully as she repeated the motion from the street in New York, trailing her fingertips down as she slowly traced a path down to his hand. That was when he finally looked at her again. She stared into big brown eyes as her fingertips finally trailed across his own and he grunted, pulled his hand away with his hands on his head and took disoriented steps backwards.
Natasha took a second to remind herself to breath before she pulled Pepper to her feet, "You alright?"
"Y-yeah...that was—that was..."
"Terrifying?" Natasha supplied with a bleak smile.
"Completely...but it was amazing too," Pepper insisted. "I thought Tony was kidding when he said you could do that."
She shifted her eyes over to Bruce writhing on the ground and glanced around the room they were in. A living room, that fortunately, had a blanket draped over the back of a couch. Natasha quickly moved over to grab it before she moved next to Bruce and slung it over him, "Jarvis, is Niko gone?"
"Yes, Miss Romanoff. He used The Hulk's rescue of you as a distraction to make his escape."
"Scan the tower. We just got a bug problem."
"I'll locate and inform you of any audio and visual devices that may have been placed," Jarvis assured her.
Natasha gave a small nod at that, "Thanks." She glanced down at Bruce as she tugged the blanket around him more tightly. She never actually got a good look at him when he de-hulked and he looked like he was freezing and in pain. He was shivering, clutching the blanket and her eyes softened in an instant as she pulled him into a sitting position and put her arms around him. The guy took a bullet for her and then his angrier alter ego jumped off a building for her, a little semblance of warmth was the least she could do.
"I'll get Tony..." Pepper offered quickly.
"Okay..."
She glanced back down at Bruce and he had his eyes closed, forehead resting under her chin. He was making it ridiculously hard to stay on the friendship side of the fence, but Tony's biting words from earlier still stung, and Bruce deserved a lot more than whatever feeble attempt at more that someone like her could manage. She sat there silently until Pepper arrived with Tony in tow who was still shedding his armor.
The pieces of the suit flew off to places she couldn't even fathom and disappeared as he made his way over. "You might want to get checked out, Natasha," he told her quietly as he crouched down beside herself and Bruce. "You're bleeding," Tony added as he reached his hand out to her face.
She narrowed her eyes and shoved his hand away, "I don't need you to worry about me, Stark."
He grimaced a little and she assumed he was probably angry enough with himself by his own comment before.
Unfortunately for him, she wasn't in a mood to placate him and make him feel better, "You can shove your suddenly bleeding heart up your ass and help me bring him to his room." It was probably equally as uncalled for as his comment to her had been earlier, but he didn't say anything as he nodded and helped her get Bruce to his feet.
Natasha could feel Pepper's eyes darting between the two of them with worry but she ignored it as she and Tony led Bruce to the elevator and past Sam and Steve who were waiting outside it.
"Natasha?"
She glanced over at Sam.
"Thanks again..."
Steve cut in before she could tell the other man to stop thanking her, "You don't look that great, Nat... let me help Stark with Banner. You should—"
Natasha gave him a look that made his star-spangled ass shut up in a fraction of a second, "People need to stop telling me what I should or shouldn't do. It's making me volatile, Rogers."
To Tony's credit, he kept unbelievably silent as the elevator doors closed and they stood in the uncomfortable silence until they opened back up again. It only took a few more minutes for them to drag Bruce into his room and get him onto his bed. The awkward and tense silence between them was enough for her to finally take a little pity on Tony and his drunken comment. She pulled the blanket over Bruce and then looked over at the quiet billionaire, "You owe me fifty bucks."
"What?" came his disbelieving response.
Natasha smirked, "His ass isn't nearly as bad as you kept saying it was."
Tony guffawed, "Are you saying you like Bruce's ass?"
She quirked an eyebrow up, "Jarvis, did I say that?"
"You did not, Miss Romanoff."
Tony gave a huff of a sigh, "Well, if Jarvis says so, it must be true." She watched him eye her suspiciously as she sat on the edge of the bed, "Natasha?" She glanced back over at him. "For what it's worth, I didn't mean that—whole switching sides thing earlier."
"Yes, you did," she disagreed with a shake of her head, "But it's fine."
"It's really not."
Natasha released a small sigh, "Alright, it's not. But we're fine, okay?"
He seemed a little uncertain but he finally nodded, "Okay..." She could see him eyeing her warily again, "Are you sure that you're okay? You got banged up."
"I'm fine."
"What I said earlier 'fine' or me and you 'fine'?" he questioned. She gave him a dirty look. "Right, forget I asked. You're staying in here with him then?"
"Yes."
"Right-o. Buzz if you need me, Jarvis has me on extermination duty, so...don't worry about that," he assured her.
She only gave a small nod in response.
The second he was gone she blew out a breath of frustration and winced as she lifted her shirt to glimpse at the formation of a splotch of deep blues and purples and reds on her stomach. She shook her head, dropped her shirt back down and scooted under the covers next to Bruce. Cuts and bruises were better than being a pancake on the sidewalk afterall.
When Natasha woke up she expected it to be much like last time. She figured Bruce would have once again made her into the little spoon.
He hadn't.
Her cheek was pressed against his shoulder, her arm was draped over his waist and her one leg was draped over him and tucked dangerously between both of his legs.
That wasn't why she woke up though.
Natasha woke up because Bruce's heart was pounding rapidly in her ear and for a moment she felt like he stopped breathing altogether. It was one of the few times in her life where she quite literally didn't want to open her eyes, at least she didn't, until that racing heart slowed a few beats and fingertips gently pushed some hair from her face to behind her ear. That was the moment she blinked her eyes open and looked at him.
He looked a little mortified to be caught after such an intimate gesture when he thought she was asleep, and now his heart was going a mile a minute again. It was actually endearing to realize that she wasn't the only one to find herself in an embarrassing position, because his hand was practically frozen in place just on her cheek, and she kept her eyes glued to his. Her next reaction was unexpected by both him and herself, because she saw his eyes flicker just briefly to her lips that were only an inch away, and her breath hitched just slightly.
All her training at regulating her breathing and her heart rate went out the window in one foul swoop. This time Bruce was the one who could feel her heart beat a little faster, and she couldn't get it under control, not in time to pass it off for something else.
Her chances of making it happen dwindled to nothing the second that Bruce stopped staring, and instead, he acted. His face moved that fraction of an inch towards hers.
All coherent thought left her the second his lips pressed against hers. Natasha was by no means innocent and she had been kissed many times for many different reasons. The fact was, no one had kissed her in such a chaste and simple way before, and it was an entirely new experience. She should have put an end to it, or moved away, or just done nothing at all to provoke it further.
That was what her brain told her, but it told her far too late. Her body reacted before her mind could tell her it was the worst possible thing that she could think to do, and that in itself was yet another new experience. Without thought, she coaxed the simple kiss into something more until his lips parted and granted her tongue the access it craved.
At some point during the kiss, she was no longer the one pressed onto him. By the time she really had a grip on what was happening, her back was pressed into the mattress and Bruce had one hand on her waist and the other tangled in her hair.
Natasha would be damned, but he was quite literally kissing her senseless and it would seem that she should have put much more stock into that two-percent chance that Bruce would be bold enough to act on his attraction for her. Right now, she wasn't entirely sure she cared that she had been wrong, in fact, her body was quite glad she wasn't right.
She had only just gotten one hand around his head and into his muss of dark hair when suddenly he pulled away and stared at her with a mixed expression between being ashamed and being absolutely terrified. And his eyes were green.
And then he was gone before she could think to stop him. Bruce took off like a bullet and she was left to lay there and attempt to catch her breath.
But she couldn't.
He left and that look of regret on his face left her a little uncertain.
As swiftly as she could, she dragged herself to her feet and left his room as well, but she only made it to the elevators before she was caught at three in the morning by none other than Tony Stark. She watched Tony's eyes glance from her and then to Bruce's room with concern, clearly having witnessed her escape, and looking as though he thought she might have just gone and done something horrible to Bruce in his sleep.
Something must have shown on her face though, because Tony stepped aside and allowed her to make her escape, and she was gratefully behind her own door within seconds. This had become a rather epic mistake, and she never should have kept used Bruce for comfort, she definitely shouldn't have climbed back into his bed with him after the first time she did it the other night.
Natasha should have stopped the kiss before it started, or at the very least, she should have never kissed him back. She pressed her back to the door of her room and closed her eyes.
She wasn't supposed to feel an attraction back for him. She certainly wasn't supposed to provoke it into something more than that, but somewhere along the line, both of those things had happened without her control.
She took a deep breath, took the last three days, and shoved them as far back into the box in the back of her head as she could. She could pretend it never happened.
After all...
Pretending was what she did best.
Hope that was a good enough update for all of you for now. :) We have runners on our hands here, ho'snap!
Shout out to Black Victors' Cachat for the idea in this chapter that Niko would force a Hulk transformation as a distraction to escape his balked tower infiltration!