((General disclaimer: Of course the characters within this Fanfic do not belong to me they belong to Marvel.))

Chapter 1

The Request

It was always dark during those memories but the voices were always there. They started off as yelling that he couldn't understand but he knew those voices somewhere in the back of his mind. He always tried to look around only to see nothing as the yelling continued. All at once the voice would grow softer, they were still close just hushed whispers near him that he couldn't make out. He tried to hear what was going on with not luck. He wanted to ask what was happening but each time he tried nothing came out. Soon what sounded like a hushed question was asked and there was a long pause. He could hear his heart pound as the pause lasted only to have the silence broken by one clear, "No." That's when he started to fall and realized he was completely alone.

Bruce sat up on the couch causing the book on his chest to fall to the ground; he looked around his eyes wide with panic after waking up from that nightmare. He wasn't used to anything waking him up out here he generally woke himself up when he felt like it but could never plan for someone knocking on the door. He had moved to a cabin in Alaska and people didn't really visit him or know where he lived for that matter. He had some connections in the town but they rarely came up here unannounced, he was two hours away from the town after all. Generally he wouldn't mind a knock on the door waking him up as this one had; he'd deal with whatever came and it would help him forget his nightmare. For all he knew it could have been someone sick that needed his attention since there weren't any other nearby doctors, but this was different. If someone was dying then some folks from the town would come up but they'd be yelling for his help not knocking on the door. While the knocking was rushed there was no voice asking for his help, just the quick and powerful knocks on the wood and a pause in between.

He started to move towards the door slowly, it was generally a good rule for him not to open the door unless the person announced who they were but this was a special case. Outside was a blizzard, an extremely nasty one at that. Bruce Banner is many things, but he is not the type to leave anyone outside in a blizzard like this. However that doesn't mean he wasn't going to be cautious. The banging continued and started to become frantic, he couldn't blame whoever it was after all it was freezing and at the point where being outside too long could kill. He knew full well that if he opened the door and left himself in the open it'd be easy for someone to hit him with a tranquilizer, this was something he didn't intend on letting happen, at least not that easily. He opened the door just a crack to see who was out there, keeping himself positioned so as not to give anyone a good chance at attacking him. His foot tight against the door in case the person tried to force their way in once the door opened a bit. The crack was just enough for him to see out and that if someone tried anything he could back off. He figured he knew the forest well enough he could probably get around someone and get away, he knew this cabin better than anyone as well. He stared out into the wall of white snow that had become the outside world looking at the person who was knocking. The face he saw outside made his heart stop for a moment and caused him to move his foot away. He opened the door to get a better look and once he had that look his entire body froze. He wasn't sure if it was shock or fear that caused him to freeze like that but he was now standing there, door open staring at the last person he expected to see.

"Bruce," Natasha gave a weak smile to the man, "it's been a while." Bruce continued to stand there frozen expecting this all to be just some sort of illusion caused by the blizzard. "Bruce?"

He shook his head to snap himself out of it, if only for a moment. "Quickly come in," as the shock passed his confusion started to outweigh his rage of seeing her out here like this. He stepped to the side to allow her into the cabin that was being kept warm by his fireplace.

"I know I'm the last person you want to see right now," Natasha commented taking the words right of Bruce's head which was buzzing with question over this. "But, I need your help. I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important."

"No," Bruce stated firmly he didn't care what it was there was nothing that could make him listen at this point as far as he knew and cared.

"Clint's in trouble," Natasha replied watching the man tense at that.

Bruce didn't answer at first allowing what had been said to go around in his head a few times as he walked over to the fireplace. He tended to the fire, adding another log to it until it became a bit larger to keep the cabin warm. "What's S.H.I.E.L.D. doing about it?" He had never trusted S.H.I.E.L.D. it always seemed like every time they needed him they just needed his other half and then just discarded him. He figured that Clint was their agent they had to be trying to do something their answer couldn't be: go get Hulk.

"They're the ones who arrested him," Natasha replied, "They said he's a terrorist or something. Fury's gone somewhere without telling anyone and the new guy… I swear he's nuts. He's been making changes, dangerous ones. Our security is being lowered, good agents are going missing, everything is a mess."

"So why are you here instead of talking to anyone else? I'm not exactly the go to guy for breaking someone out of prison," Bruce replied, "Last time I checked you're good at that all on your own."

"They're after me too Bruce," Natasha moved closer to the fire constantly aware of the distance between herself and the man. She knew if she wasn't careful he could go over the edge easily and then it was over for both of them. "Steve and Tony are easy for them to find, and they're constantly being watched. They're basically under S.H.I.E.L.D. house arrest. Thor went off somewhere so finding him is a bit hard for me."

"That doesn't explain why you came to me," Bruce replied simply, "Still not the guy to really go to for this type of stuff. You've got to have connections better suited to helping you with your problems."

"They brought Ross in," Natasha watched Bruce stiffen again this time at just the name. "They'll be coming for you sooner or later, and I'd say probably sooner."

"Did you lead them here?" Bruce hissed starting to get very angry, very quickly. He had been tricked more than once before, he let himself help others including Natasha only to be lied to. He didn't want to let it happen again.

"No, only a few agents knew about this place, none of them have said anything to anyone. I made sure of that," Natasha replied, "They were the most trusted members of S.H.I.E.L.D. all of them are loyal to Fury. However it won't take them long to find us, not with the resources they have. We were all close before that entire incident, I had to at least warn you and hope that maybe you could forget about that incident, at least to help your friend."

"Forget about it?" Bruce suddenly yelled right on the edge of letting his other half out, "Forget about what happened? That must be really easy for you to do but for me it's not going to happen."

"I know what happened was wrong," Natasha replied, "I regret it, Clint regrets it, everyone involved with that mess regrets it but are you really going to abandon us to S.H.I.E.L.D. and whatever Ross is up to?"

"Don't see why I shouldn't," Bruce replied crossing his arms over his chest, "Because you have a really funny way of showing regret about all of that. I can look after myself."

"That's not the Bruce Banner I stood beside," Natasha replied, "the one I remember would have done the right thing. He would have known there's something really wrong about this entire situation and he would come to help. The one I remember would let the past be, if it meant saving people who needed him."

Bruce didn't reply, he personally disagreed but at the same time he couldn't help but stare at the fire and think over everything that had been said: Clint in trouble with S.H.I.E.L.D., Tony and Steve basically under house arrest, Thor gone, Fury gone, some new guy in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D. that was also friends with Ross and his own history with everyone. He forced his anger back down, keeping it away from him as he went over his options. He turned his head towards Natasha noticing how shaken she was about all of this, that was a very bad sign and he knew it. "Do you have a plan?"

"Not in the least," Natasha shook her head, "they'll know that I'm coming and they'll be prepared for me."

"Let me guess, they're not prepared for Hulk?" Bruce asked rolling his eyes figuring where this was going.

"No, they're ready for the Hulk. If they weren't then I'd have a plan," Natasha replied, "They're not ready for Bruce Banner though. I figured the two of us can come up with something. I have the tricks and I'm fairly sure you can top them if you put your mind to it. But it will take both of us to pull this off."

Bruce shook his head and sat down on his couch with a sigh. He looked at the floor, "This isn't anything I'm good at. I can't plan a way to get Clint out of there."

Natasha sat down beside him watching his reactions carefully, "It'll take both of us to plan it, but without you I don't have a chance."

Bruce took a deep breath and looked at her, the rage he felt before melted away completely as he did so, he knew that face. Fear, sadness, anger, betrayal, tiredness, everything Bruce had ever felt was right there. Everything he was used to was shown in her eyes and he knew how much that hurt. "Alright, what do we have to work with?"

"I only have my basic equipment, I had to leave in a hurry," Natasha replied and Bruce gave a nod since it was understandable. "However there's a large S.H.I.E.L.D. warehouse I know about, but it's well known so unless we're going to rob it and hope we don't get caught I don't have much. It would contain a lot of helpful equipment and have any tools we need."

"I don't have really anything helpful," Bruce replied, "Other than some camping and fishing gear. Where is the warehouse?"

"New Mexico, there are a few smaller ones with less gear scattered around but it's taking a risk on what equipment we'd fine there. I suppose taking a chance is better than going across the country," Natasha replied.

"We'll go to New Mexico," Bruce stated simply, "Once the blizzard calms down of course. For now you look like you could use some rest. There's a bed room upstairs, second door on the left. Go make yourself comfortable."

"Thanks," Natasha replied softly, "Do you have a plan to get us to New Mexico?"

"Yes," Bruce nodded, "We'll work out the details in the morning. Go get some sleep, you need it. Leave your jacket here so it can dry."

Natasha nodded taking off the jacket that had become damp from the snow melting she set it down off to the side. She walked up the stairs with each step relief started to wash over her. Bruce had agreed to help despite everything that had happened between them. For one night at least she'd be safe away from the entire mess until morning. She followed Bruce's instructions to the bedroom. Opening the door she could tell instantly that it was Bruce's bedroom, due to the books scattered around, rather than a spare. It made sense; he probably was never expecting visitors to stay over for the night. She turned back heading to the living room of the cabin again. The top the stairs overlooked everything and from there she could see Bruce laying on the couch with a blanket pulled over himself. Natasha wanted to wake him and tell him that she'd take the couch since she was the one asking for his help but at the same time it was rather clear Bruce was stubborn about these things. She shook her head with a slight smile and returned to the bedroom lying down on the bed. She stared at the wooden ceiling wondering how the others were holding up. Hang in there, we're coming. She rolled onto her side and let sleep quickly overtake her. Her body was worn out from the journey and her mind exhausted from covering her tracks in every way she knew how to keep them safe and despite how hard it was to get here, it was only going to get harder.