Natasha wanted to call herself a fool for doubting that she wouldn't be able to find Bruce amongst the hundreds of people chatting and perusing Tony's yacht. Finding the doctor was much easier than imagined-it was hardly a challenge.
He chose to keep to himself rather than mingle with the strangers surrounding him. Bruce was never one for crowds, and when Tony mentioned a party, Bruce assumed that only a handful of people would show up. Despite arriving early with the star host, a mob had already gathered on the yacht with drinks in hand. Tony disappeared the second Bruce looked away, leaving him to wander off on his own. He strategically maneuvered through the flow of people until he found the end of the boat. The sun had just set, but pale lights fixed to the yacht's sides were busy working to fight the incoming night. Bruce admired the cityscape before him, amazed at how quickly the construction was piecing everything back together. Tony's money played a big role in that despite the billionaire's choice to keep quiet on the matter. Bruce took a moment to glance behind him, wondering if he could spot at least one familiar face, but there was no one. He returned his attention to the water below and closely examined the way the striations of the lights playing amongst the waves.
"All these people and no one to talk to?" Steve chuckled as he neared his fellow Avenger.
A smile formed on Bruce's face as he felt his inner awkwardness dissipate. "When Tony mentioned a party, I never imagined something to this scale."
Steve nodded in agreement. "Quite the gathering."
Bruce awkwardly fidgeted with his hands. "Tony has more friends than I knew." He observed Steve as he longingly watched the water below. "So, uh, how have you been, Steve?"
"I've been better, Doctor." Steve's expression softened. "And you?"
Bruce knew that what Steve really meant was "how are you doing without Betty?" He could read the guilt in the soldier's eyes. "I'm well. Keeping busy."
"That's good to hear," he smiled. "Are you and Stark working together?"
"We are, yes," Bruce nodded. "New suits to go against my, uh, better half," he uneasily joked.
Steve answered with half of a grin before staring past Bruce with surprise in his eyes.
"Of all the people here, you boys choose to talk to each other," Natasha drawled as her heels clacked against a polished floor.
Bruce couldn't help but stare longer than necessary at the black cocktail dress that ended right above her knees. He forced his eyes to meet her face before replying. "And here you are, chatting with us."
"For celebrities, you're not getting much attention." Natasha flashed Steve a smirk. "There were two ladies back there admiring you, Cap."
Steve lowered his head with a shy smile. "I suppose it's only polite to mingle. This party is for us…Or is this a 'Tony' ordeal."
"My invite mentioned honouring the Avengers," Natasha replied. "Think we're too intimidating to talk to?"
"Tony certainly isn't," Bruce chimed in. "Have you seen Clint?" he wondered while Steve slipped away.
"He's running late," she answered. "But I'm sure we'll find him wherever the food is."
Bruce chuckled and looked from Natasha to the water, then back up at the party goers.
"Think we should get ourselves out there?" Natasha wondered as she slumped against the support railing.
"We should," he uneasily agreed. "I suppose engaging in conversation is the best way to learn who's pro-Hulk."
Natasha began to walk towards a group and Bruce followed. "I'm sure everyone'll be all for the big guy just so you don't get pissed off."
"This will be an awful place for an incident…" Bruce replied with pursed lips. He remained by Natasha's side as she approached the bar and grabbed a red cocktail with an orange and strawberry decorating the glass' rim. Bruce happened to notice several green mixed drinks sitting beside a dozen frozen red, white, and blue concoctions. He opted for a red one, same as Natasha.
"And then I received an unnamed donation," an older man boasted as Natasha worked her way into the group of listeners. "For seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars! I was in shock!"
Bruce smiled into his drink as he took a sip from the glass' wide rim. He had caught Tony in the act of authorizing checks multiple times, but he said nothing to maintain the billionaire's anonymity.
Natasha kept an eye on her partner in her peripheral vision. "Good deeds make you that happy?" She took a small sip of her strawberry cocktail.
"More than you know," he hummed, amused at his own private joke.
A woman to Bruce's left acknowledged him with a smile. "Sounds like a modern day Robin Hood," she commented.
Bruce grinned at the blonde. "Well, Robin Hood stole from the rich. I don't think this person's a criminal in any way."
The faint wrinkles along the woman's lips became more pronounced as she smiled. "You seem very familiar. Have we met?"
Now it was Natasha's turn to smirk into her glass.
"No," Bruce chuckled. "I, uh, don't believe we have…" He lowered his eyes, fearful that if she looked too closely she would recall the two minute interview he did for the news, or the group photo of the Avengers featured in the morning paper following the alien attack.
The woman held out her hand. "Sherri."
Bruce accepted the handshake but his brain wasn't quick enough to think of an alias. "Bruce." He politely made eye contact and that was when he saw recognition enter the stranger's eyes.
"The Hulk?" She was far more surprised than frightened.
Bruce was mentally taking a deep sigh of relief as he nodded with a "yes."
"Oh, my son loves him-do you mind if I get an autograph?" she beamed.
Natasha took Bruce's drink from him as Sherri presented him with a napkin.
"I would ask for a picture, but he would scold me 'Hulk's green, mommy!'" Sherri found a pen in her clutch and offered it to the celebrity. "He's four," she added.
Bruce led the woman over to the bar to take advantage of the flat surface. "I'm sure the Hulk would scribble…Or rip the paper up," Bruce joked, making the woman laugh with him. He wrote "HULK" in a crooked scrawled that took over every bit of space the napkin had to offer. "Tell your son he says 'hi,'" Bruce smiled as he passed over the pen and autograph.
"He'll be thrilled, thank you! You haven't seen Captain America, have you?'
"He disappeared on me, but Black Widow's over here," he grinned. Bruce looked to his right, but the assassin managed to disappear on him. "Or not," he added with a disappointed chuckle.
"That's alright-as long as he hears from Hulk, he's happy." She gave Bruce one last smile and a "thank you" before she left his side.
Bruce needed a moment to replay the stranger's words. To know that a child preferred the Hulk over Captain America floored him. There was a little boy who looked up to the Hulk. The other guy was his hero. His big, green hero who smashed aliens and took on a god… Bruce's body was still. His mind was lost in thought over "Hulk the hero."
"Having fun?" Natasha tapped the side of his glass against the back of his hand.
Bruce unlaced his fingers to accept his drink. "It's bizarre… Kids really look up to the other guy."
"Told you so," she snorted. "We're celebrities now. All of us."
Bruce warily nodded. "To see kids putting us on pedestals feels more stressful than gratifying," he admitted, leading Natasha towards the ship's edge. "One slip up on my part and everyone will know how dangerous the other guy is."
"The kids will be your reason to keep your cool, then," she offered.
Bruce stared out at the black waves below. "In addition to you and Tony… Though I'm not sure who I feel more disappointed about letting down…"
Natasha kept a fair distance apart from him, but she was just close enough to slip her hand into his. "We'll get through this," she murmured.
He quietly held her hand while sipping his drink.
"So does the other guy know how to write? I don't even think he can hold a pen," she joked.
"I think he'd eat the pen," Bruce laughed in agreement.
Their private joke was cut short as Tony's voice echoed over a loud speaker. "Ladies and gents!"
"God," Natasha muttered. She turned around and looked up the yacht's top floor to find Tony teetering against the railing with a microphone in hand.
"I'd like to say that we're here to honour me," Tony began, his jest receiving a moment of laughter. "But we're not, unfortunately." He paused to let his eyes scan the crowd below him. Steve's blond hair was easy to pick out as he stood a head taller than the older crowd he was chatting with. "Today we're here about the Avengers." Cheers ensued. "And I know Thor couldn't be here, but he's here in spirit," Tony promised. "So if you're out there, M.C. Hammer, we're thinking of you!" Tony barked at the sky. He hoped for a clap of thunder or a flash of lightning, but the sky remained as it was, a deep midnight blue. Tony lowered his head and spotted Clint in front of a buffet table. "Now let it be my honour to reveal a little something for my Avengers out there." He turned around and extended a hand. "Ready, Jarv," he whispered, gesturing in the direction of the city where Stark Tower stood higher than any of its neighboring skyscrapers.
The building began to illuminate from the bottom up, and near the tower's pinnacle where Stark's name once proudly overlooked the city was a shining letter "A." "Let's hear it for Avengers Tower!" Cheers and applause erupted the moment the new Avengers logo lit up the night sky.
Bruce winced at the deafening roar while Natasha rolled her eyes at Tony's spectacle. "I'm still not living there!" she shouted.
"What?" Bruce yelled back. The cheering failed to die down.
Natasha shook her head at him with a laugh as the commotion began to calm. She grabbed his arm and brought her lips close to his ear. "It'll be quieter inside," she loudly commented.
He heard "quiet" and gladly followed her to a vacant cabin.
Natasha set her empty glass down on a coffee table before plopping down on a leather arm chair. She turned around, staring out the window towards the gleaming "A" in the distance. "The A can still stand for Stark, you know."
Bruce took a seat beside her and sat at her side. "Really?"
"'A' for asshole," she snorted. "It fits perfectly."
"That's mean," Bruce teased with a laugh.
Natasha hummed and turned her face to align with his. "You laughed, so you agree."
"I know you're joking," he shrugged. "But I did find it fun—" His voice left him as Natasha's lips pressed against his.
She moaned into his mouth and let her hands seize his jacket lapels.
Bruce was afraid of pushing her away. He really didn't want to, but as she forced herself onto his lap, he had to draw the line. Bruce turned his head, allowing Natasha to kiss his jaw. "This isn't the place…" His eyes instinctively flickered to the door.
Natasha relaxed and let her body rest on his lap. "So there is a place?"
"No," Bruce stammered, watching her from the corner of his eye. He could feel her heat against his crotch and knew that dangerous territory was fast approaching.
"You seem to be keeping your cool," she murmured, resting her hands on his shoulders.
Bruce shook his head with a derisive laugh. "Believe me, I'm not."
She lifted her hips in preparation to leave him be, but she paused when she swore she heard a hesitant "don't" from Bruce.
He let his hands rub her sides in an effort to hold her in place. "I'm not keeping my cool." Bruce caught himself eying her spread legs and forced himself to look at her face. "But I think I'm okay. With this," he timidly added.
Natasha was worried about pressing her luck, but his eyes retained every bit of Bruce's warm gaze. "So more than kissing's okay?"
Bruce's gaze flickered to the door. "Maybe not here…"
"My place?" Natasha offered.
He clenched his jaw as an uncomfortable heat in his pants stirred. "Maybe not." He cocked his head to the side, ashamed of himself for his body's needs.
Natasha stood up and made herself comfortable on the cushion beside him. "How about for coffee?"
Bruce abruptly left the couch, shaking his head as he hurried for the exit. "I-I can't!" he choked out before fleeing the cabin.
Natasha was tempted to run after him, but she didn't want to set him off, especially with several hundred people floating above the ocean.
He needed his space.
Bruce spent the remainder of the evening near the buffet table. That was where Clint approached him and began making small talk.
"Stark told me he's got an archery range at his place," Clint began. "That true?" he laughed as he swiped a roll of ham and cheese from the nearest platter.
Bruce was more pre-occupied with twirling a toothpick between his thumb and forefinger. "I'm, uh, not sure. But I can ask." He knew he wasn't going to remember to ask Tony.
Clint kept a close eye on the doctor as he stole a finger sandwich. "Everything okay?"
"Fine. Fine!" Bruce forced the most sincere smile he could muster. "And you, Clint? I haven't seen you in a while!"
"Doing good, Doc," he replied. "You see Nat around?"
Bruce kept up his happy façade to not strike up any concern. "I think I saw her with Steve a while ago," he confessed.
Clint grinned as he swallowed a mouthful of food. "All these people and we pal around with each other.
Bruce chuckled. "It's a small world, I suppose…"
Clint grabbed a second sandwich and flashed the doctor a weak grin. "Think I'll go look for Nat. Take care, Doc!"
"You, too, Clint," he breathed. That was the last he saw of any Avengers for the night, even after the yacht pulled up to the dock and everyone proceeded to leave. Bruce trudged over to Tony's car where the driver Happy was waiting with the back door open. "Hello," he smiled. The empty back seat told him that Tony was still bidding goodbyes to his guests. "Looks like we'll be waiting on Tony," Bruce commented. "He has lots of people to see off," he added with a laugh.
Happy shook his head with a kind grin. "Mr. Stark said he didn't need me tonight. Just wants to get you home safely."
"Oh." Bruce blinked before sliding into the car's leather seat. As the car veered off, Bruce felt a need to send Natasha one final text for the night. "I'm sorry."
She was quick to reply with "Another time. Night, Banner."