because I have been woefully remiss on adding content for the Bruce-Natasha friendship, and because I like a challenge. I also tried to keep this one a little lighter, but some angst got in there too (as it always seems to...).

enjoy.

Bruce frowns as he blinks his eyes open. He's confused by the ringing sound that had woken him up from his impromptu nap until he realizes it sounds remarkably like a phone. It takes him another moment to remember that Tony had given him a phone on his first day in the afterlife, and then mother moment to realize it was that phone that was ringing.

He stumbles up off the couch toward the source of the ringing where his jacket is strewn haphazardly across a chair. He searches clumsily through the jacket's pockets until he finds the phone and sees Nat's photo and name lighting up the screen. He can't help the slight creasing of his brow because even though it's been decades, he knows Nat always used to text before calling.

How did she even get my number? Tony gave me the phone just a few days ago… he muses before dismissing the questions immediately because he'd long ago learned not to question Nat's ability to get these kinds of things.

"Hello?" he says after swiping to accept the call.

"Hi, Bruce." Her voice comes through so bright and cheerful he can't help a smile from spreading. Finding her at the lake by the Compound that first day had been a relief. Seeing her, talking with her, and hugging her had healed a part of his heart he'd long ago resigned to be perpetually scarred. But hearing her so happy and at peace? It warmed his soul, because while those years after their failure in Wakanda had been hard for everyone, they'd been arguably harder for Nat. She'd lost part of her family when she learned the Bartons had been snapped out of existence and Clint lost himself, and then she'd lost the rest of it when he, Tony, Thor, and Cap gave up.

"Hey, Nat."

There's a familiar chuckle on the other end. "You okay there, Bruce? You sound a little out of breath."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was asleep."

"I didn't mean to wake you."

"Don't worry about it," he assures her. "Probably good that I'm up now actually, otherwise I won't sleep later."

"Well in that case, you're welcome."

The delivery is so dry, and so Nat that Bruce can't help but chuckle.

"I'll never be able to repay you," he lobs back.

He'd missed their banter. It had taken a few years, a lot of trust being built between them, some uncomfortable conversations about their failed might-have-been-romance, and his merging with Hulk, but they'd reached a point where they could banter back and forth comfortably. Of course they'd both had the darkness of loss and grief hanging over them, and he'd left her behind eventually when he moved out of the Compound, but the time they did have trading quips had been a small light in their darkened world.

She laughs lightly. "Well actually, I have just the thing."

"You do?"

"Yeah. Lunch."

"Lunch?"

"Yeah, you know that meal in the middle of the day?"

He feels the corner of his mouth shift into a crooked grin. "Yes, I know what lunch is, Natasha."

"Don't you Natasha me," she warns playfully.

"My bad. You were saying?"

"Right - lunch. I started cooking but have clearly made too much. I figured you're probably still getting the hang of things here, so I thought I'd offer."

"And I could repay my debt," he points out cheekily.

She laughs lightly. "Yes, that too."

"Sure," he agrees readily. Anything's better than more takeout, he thinks. "Can I bring anything?"

"Just yourself. Come by whenever."

He glances at his watch. "11:30?" he offers. That would give him enough time to shower and get ready.

"Sure," she agrees. "I'll see you then."

Bruce shifts the flowers in his hands as he looks up at the house. It's got an older looking exterior, but with some modernized features like big, almost oversized windows. He wonders for a moment how a former spy is comfortable with such large sightlines into her house until he realizes it's a house in the afterlife. What was there to worry about? But the longer he looks, the more he thinks it fits Nat. She'd always seemed to have one step in the future with Tony, enjoying modern conveniences and technology, and one in the past with Steve, lamenting the bygone days of simplicity and slower daily lives.

Bruce takes a deep breath and walks up the driveway and short walkway to the front porch. He knocks on the door and is surprised when he hears her yell out in response. "Hey, Bruce! Come on in!"

He pauses for a moment because just barging into someone's home, even if they've given you permission, still feels a bit strange. But he does open the door slowly and let himself in. His gaze sweeps over the interior quickly, finding a mix of modern and rustic finishes that seem to match the feel of the exterior.

"Nat?" he calls out unsurely as his gaze roams over the room adjacent to the entryway, filled with a couple comfortable looking couches and some chairs. There's a bunch of pictures of the Avengers, the Bartons, a few of Pepper and Morgan, and a few of people he doesn't recognize.

"Back here," she answers.

He heads toward the sound of her voice and eventually finds himself in her kitchen, which is outfitted with modern finishes and expensive looking appliances. He can see a few pots on the stove and the counter is covered in dishes and ingredients, but what really hits him are the aromas. They're rich and full-bodied in a way none of his takeout food has been, and are absolutely mouth-watering.

"Hey," he offers with a crooked smile.

"Hey," she answers with a bright smile of her own. "Sorry I couldn't let you in, you caught me right in the middle of rolling these out."

His gaze drops down to find her rolling a thin dough of some kind. "No problem," he answers. "Smells delicious, whatever it is."

She chuckles. "Well that's good, otherwise this lunch would be really awkward."

He grins and then suddenly remembers the flowers in his hands. "Oh, uh, these are for you. I know you said not to bring anything, but I figured I should bring something."

Her smile widens. "Such a gentleman. They're beautiful, thank you. Could I ask you to put them into a vase for me? My hands are-"

"Yeah, yeah, of course," he says quickly.

"There should be an empty one in that cupboard over there," she says, nodding to her chin to the cupboards behind him.

He turns and opens the cupboard door and points to a slightly ornate looking vase. "This one?"

She glances up from her task. "Yeah, that's fine."

He nods as he grabs it carefully and then puts the flowers down onto the table before walking over to the sink to fill it with some water. He sniffs the simmering pans on the stove and then peeks over her shoulder as he heads back to the table. "What's for lunch?"

"Pelmeni."

"Pelmeni?" Bruce repeats, unfamiliar with the dish.

She nods. "It's a Russian dish. Like dumplings. I hope that's okay?"

"Definitely," he answers with an enthusiastic nod. Tony had shown him the so-called 'essential stop' for cheeseburgers and pointed out his personal favourite places for pizza, Chinese, and sushi on his tour of the afterlife, but Bruce had yet to try out home cooking in the afterlife. "It smells amazing."

"Thanks," she says with a warm smile before she looks back down to her hands where she's cutting out small circles in the dough.

"I had no idea you could cook," he admits apologetically. After they'd hung up, he'd wracked his brain to try and recall a time when she'd cooked but had come up empty. He couldn't even recall a vague reference to her cooking in any conversation before or after her death.

He turns his attention down to the flowers again as he begins to cut the stems according to the directions that came with the bouquet.

"Wasn't really much need to with Tony's binder of takeout menus and caterers," she explains.

He chuckles. "Yeah, I guess not. Still, I can't believe I didn't know."

"Well, no one else knew either, so don't feel too bad," she says with a smile. "Steve was as gobsmacked as you when he found out. And Tony flat out didn't believe me until I put a plate of these in front of him."

"And let me guess, now you're his favourite takeout place?"

"That's a very polite way of saying he raids my fridge."

"Of course he does," Bruce says with a shake of his head.

"At least he's consistent."

"True."

They're quiet for a beat, each focused on their individual task. "So...how are you doing?" she asks finally, glancing up from her task for just a moment.

"Still getting the hang of things here. It's nothing like I expected."

"What did you expect?"

"Well, not this," he answers while gesturing vaguely around them. "I never really considered the afterlife being a real thing, so this is all…very new."

"Not even after Thor told us about Valhalla?"

He blinks because no, he hadn't even considered that. Thor had come into their lives and all of a sudden aliens were a thing and they had proof of it. He hadn't stopped to think that Thor's stories of the Asgardian afterlife would have consequences on his own thoughts about life after death.

"You know," he begins, his own gaze tipping up to watch her hands deftly pinch together the dough and then up to her face where her brow is furrowed ever so slightly in concentration. "I probably should have reevaluated after that, but it didn't occur to me."

"Me neither," she replies as she glances up again. He grins a bit sheepishly at being caught staring, but she lets him off the hook with a little smile. "He asked me once about our afterlife. Not long after his mother died. He was completely confounded by the idea that we humans had conflicting theories for it with all the different religions."

"I wonder if we'll be able to see him when he dies," Bruce muses as he turns his gaze back down to the flowers.

"I hope so. I didn't exactly get to say goodbye."

Bruce looks up again to just catch a flicker of sadness in her eyes. He can't imagine the emotional rollercoaster she's been on after losing everyone she cared about in an act she had no way of knowing would even lead them to succeed. Still, she'd reassured him at the lake that she'd made peace with her death and that it was all behind them now.

But then he thinks about how torn up Thor was about her death and he wonders if she knows. "He went to Vormir you know," he says abruptly, before his mind can censor the thought.

She stops her motions and blinks several times before looking up and meeting his gaze. "What?"

Bruce coughs lightly to clear his throat, because suddenly the emotional charge of the moment is catching up to him. He hadn't meant to steer the conversation to a topic so gloomy, but if she had no idea what had gone on after her death, then she deserved to know that their friend misses her.

"He went to Vormir with Nebula. Wanted to see if there was something there of yours to retrieve. I think he wanted to properly send you off."

She frowns in confusion. "But the past can't change the-"

"I know," Bruce interrupts gently. "And I think he knew that too on some level. But he wanted to do right by you. It never sat right with him that we had nothing to bury or burn at your funeral. He was genuinely disheartened that he didn't find anything at all."

"I had no idea he cared so much."

Bruce frowns. "C'mon, Nat. You had to know."

"No, I really didn't. He was always so… I don't know...different." She pauses briefly before she seems to snap out of her reverie. "Guess it'll probably be awhile before we know if we'll see him. Asgardians live for thousands of years don't they?"

"Yeah," Bruce confirms, letting her direct the conversation away. He knows it's not an easy subject. "Sorry, I didn't mean to bring the mood down."

"Don't worry about it. Sort of comes with the territory of being dead. You get used to it."

He eyes her with a doubtful gaze. He's used to her deflecting the significance of things, but this seems like the mother of all deflections.

"Still…"

"Honestly, Bruce. It's fine. It's nice to talk about him, actually."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," she confirms. "Speaking of Thor...you want to tell me what happened while you were off planet with him? Because I never got to hear anything more than snippets…"

He recognizes the re-emphasis on a redirection, but he lets it slide. "On Sakaar? Weird place."

"Well, I got that much from the snippets," she teases.

He grins. "Okay, first thing's first - time passes very differently there…"

They'd chatted about his time on Sakaar through the rest of the food prep and then had sat down to lunch at the table once she'd finished cooking not long after.

"This looks amazing, Nat. Really. I've been living off takeout food since I got here."

"I assumed Tony had told you how food worked around here. Sorry, I should have explained when I gave you my tour."

"Just means I'm going to enjoy this that much more," he says as he gestures to his plate.

"Well, here's hoping it's everything you've dreamed of."

He takes a bite. "Oh, it definitely is," he says, eyes closing momentarily in pure joy. The flavours dance on his tongue and he can't believe she'd held out on ever making this for the team.

She chuckles as she begins to dig into her own plate.

"So, what about you?" he asks. "How've you been up here?"

"Up here?" she repeats as one brow arches teasingly.

"You know what I mean," he grumbles light-heartedly.

Her smile widens for a moment before she begins speaking. "I've been alright. Stayed at the Compound at first before I found this place and started fixing it up."

"You fix houses now? That's quite the career change."

She laughs. "No, no, just this one - I'm definitely not skilled enough to do it for a living. And thankfully there isn't much use for assassins, spies, or Avengers here, so I'm happily retired."

He realizes what a relief it must be for her to not have that weight of innocent people's lives on her shoulders. She seems genuinely grateful it's no longer required of her to be a hero.

"No, I wouldn't think so," he agrees.

"Tony, Phil, and Steve helped me with some stuff, but most of it I learned myself."

He looks around at the impressive finishes and wonders how long it took her to complete everything. "Was it in rough shape to begin with?"

She nods. "I believe Tony officially classified it as a dump."

He looks around again, unable to picture it as anything but impeccably finished. "Really?"

"Yep. The main structure was mostly intact, but most of the main plumbing and wiring was missing, as well all the drywall."

"And you took that on?"

She shrugs and smiles. "I hadn't realized until I walked in, but it felt like home in a way that nowhere ever had before."

"I'm glad you found it," he says as he holds her gaze. It's so much more than just the house. He knows it's peace and happiness she's found here too.

"Me too."

"Must've taken a long time to get it all finished."

"It did," she nods. "But I didn't have a deadline, so there was no rush. It was relaxing, actually. Made me understand why Clint kept picking projects to work on at the farm."

He chuckles.

"How's your place?" she asks.

"Perfect, like everything else here. It's throwing me off a little - no garbage, pollution, or decay... it's just weird.

"Yeah, it is. But there are pieces here and there that aren't perfect. You just have to look for them."

He nods as he considers her words.

"So...tell me more about your place," she prompts.

"It's a sort of loft in the city, but in a quieter part. Tall ceilings, and walls filled with books."

"A nerd's dream."

He shoots her a scolding look. "You want to hear the rest or not?"

"I'm sorry," she apologizes with a grin, "go on."

"It's a little messy, but not in an overwhelming way, and I somehow seem to know where everything is."

She nods, confirming his suspicions that it wasn't just a fluke - that was actually how things worked here.

"It's stocked with the tea I like, but not much in the way of actual food."

"Probably because you needed to get out of there and explore."

Bruce frowns and she tilts her head before beginning to explain. "This place has a way of knowing what you need. Sometimes food will stock up in your fridge and cupboards, and sometimes you have to go get it. When it's not there and you have to go get it, you usually realize after that getting out of your place was a good thing."

He rubs his chin thoughtfully. "Fascinating."

She chuckles. "Trust me, don't try to analyze it further. Just accept the magical explanation."

He laughs. "You know, I've just about had my fill of magical things."

"Then I guess it's a good thing this is a new life and therefore you start over with a fresh threshold for these things."

"I guess so," he agrees with a grin. "So has Tony driven you crazy yet?"

Nat smiles as she leans back in her chair. "We spent a lot of time together at first and I kept waiting for it to get on my nerves, but I was grateful for his company. Even with all his quirks, it was nice to have him around, you know?"

Bruce nods as he considers the fact that she hadn't really had anyone besides Tony. He figures maybe Phil Coulson had been here for her then too, but the bulk of the people she cared about and considered family she'd left behind. That can't have been easy, he thinks sadly.

"I was heartbroken when he showed up. I was supposed to be the only one here, and he was supposed to live out his life with Pepper and Morgan." She pauses for a beat, her expression thoughtful. "But...selfishly I was relieved to have a friend here."

He nods because he gets it. He'd spent enough time alone in his life to understand that even for a lone wolf like Natasha, having some people was important.

"And Tony was…" she trails off momentarily as she searches for the right description, "everything I didn't realize I'd needed."

"Yeah, he tends to be that," Bruce agrees, remembering how many times Tony had dragged him out of the lab for some takeout or coffee, or dragged him into the lab to get his mind off things. He'd been a good friend, even with their near constant arguing and his constant needling and quips.

"He's got a good heart that one, irritating as he may be most of the time."

Bruce laughs. "At least you can handle him. Some of us were left to the mercy of his whims."

She grins. "Perk of my training, I suppose. Though he cries foul now when he realizes I've handled him. Which, as you can imagine, is a bit much at times."

"Oh, yeah, I don't envy you that," he agrees with a nod. He hadn't forgotten how Tony could get.

"But believe it or not, not long after he got here he actually was keen to have some hard conversations."

Bruce's brows rise in surprise. "Tony? Tony Stark? Having a hard conversation by choice?"

She flashes a fleeting smile. "Yeah, I know. I was as surprised as you. But this place...it changes you. Or maybe it's dying that does that, I don't know."

He can't help but wonder what it changed about her.

"But whatever it is, it made him dredge up regrets and apologize for things I'd thought he had long since forgotten." She pauses thoughtfully for a beat. "He's been a really good friend."

"You both seem more relaxed," Bruce offers.

"Well, knowing you can go to bed without worrying that someone's going to try and kill you in your sleep does wonders for your stress levels."

He's stunned into silence momentarily. "Yeah," he croaks, shocked by her blasé reply, "I'd imagine it would."

"It took a little while to settle in here and sort through...things, but once I did...I really started sleeping well," she says thoughtfully, almost as though the thought was just occurring to her for the first time. "I didn't realize it right away, but that first night after I was settled in was the first time I could remember sleeping well."

"Ever?" he can't help the shock from seeping into his tone as the realization reverberates through him. It makes sense, of course. She'd lived through hell, made a lot of enemies, defected, made some more enemies, battled evil people and then monsters and aliens, and failed to save the earth from the most catastrophic event the universe had ever seen. You don't live that kind of life without things haunting you, people hunting you, and nightmares plaguing you.

She nods, and he's a little surprised to see no trace of embarrassment in her expression. Once upon a time she would've held that information close to her chest and locked it up tight.

"Well, " he says, realizing they've both lapsed into silence, "you look great. "

"You don't look too shabby yourself," she says with a smile. And just like that they're back into their easy, teasing banter.

"You want some more?" she offers.

He glances down in surprise because he hadn't even realized he'd finished his plate.

"I'll take that as a yes," she says, rising to her feet and grabbing his plate.

He watches her movements, noticing again how relaxed she is and he's struck by how this is something he'd never, ever considered for either of them. The circumstances are far from what he'd ever had wanted for them to achieve this peace, but if it's what they got, he'd take it.

She seems to feel his scrutiny and she pauses her action of refilling his plate to look up and meet his gaze. Her brow furrows for a brief second, as though she's trying to puzzle out why he's staring, before it relaxes and she flashes him a wide smile. It's genuine, relaxed, and as close to carefree as he supposes Nat will ever get. He returns the smile and she looks back down as she resumes her task.

Somehow, some way, after the life she'd lived, fraught with pain and nightmares, she was at peace. She was happy.

So yeah, if this was what they got, then he'd take it for sure.

I tried to have Bruce be less awkward and a bit more confident because I suspect the time after the successful merge with Hulk meant he had a bit more gravitas than before.

As always - your thoughts, feedback, and suggestions/ideas are welcomed.

I hope you all are staying safe and are well.