"Another time" turned into noon the following morning. Tony suddenly felt generous enough to host an after party specifically for the Avengers. For a last minute gathering, Bruce was impressed that Tony managed to wrangle up the team on a particularly sunny Saturday.

"This won't be another light show, will it?" Steve wondered as he sipped his coffee.

"Call it 'show and tell,'" Tony boasted. "AKA, Avengers Tower has everything each of you could possibly want."

Natasha rested a half-eaten donut on a napkin. "Figured there was a catch to this. You can't force us to stay against our will, Stark," she warned.

"Whole floor to yourself, Romanoff," Tony lectured. "Three times the size of one floor of your ratty apartment complex."

"It's cozy," she corrected.

"What about rent?" Steve asked.

"Nothing," Tony promised, smirking when he saw the disbelief in the Captain's eyes. "It's not cheap living in the city, is it, Rogers?"

"It's certainly not," the blond admitted.

"Not to mention access to the latest and greatest in exercise technology." Tony looked between Steve and Natasha.

"I'll take you up on the gym offer," Natasha mused.

"I'll second that," Clint agreed. "That is if the shooting range is legit."

"It's as real as your arrows, Barton."

Bruce turned to Natasha with a smile. "Looks like he's suckering you in."

"I'd hardly call it that," she droned. "But it'd make our little date nights more convenient," she whispered.

Bruce's grin spread behind his cup of coffee.

"You've told, now let's see!" Clint eagerly hopped off of the couch and made Tony follow suit.

Steve followed after the men. Natasha was tempted to join, but Bruce continued to sit in his armchair whilst poking at his tablet's screen. "Is the gym unimpressive?" she teased.

Bruce set his device aside and chuckled. "It's not for me, but you would enjoy it."

Natasha leaned forward to rest her donut on the coffee table before her. "Last night was fun."

Bruce stared into the black puddle at the bottom of his mug. "It was," he agreed without the same enthusiasm Natasha offered. "Though it was cut a bit short…"

"I offered you coffee," Natasha reminded him with a smirk.

Bruce rubbed the back of his neck. "I think that would've been too much."

"Maybe tonight?" she softly wondered. "Coffee. Maybe I can throw in some dessert…"

"I'd like that," he warmly agreed.

She watched him and the brief silence grew uncomfortable for her. "I pushed you last night, didn't I?"

Bruce lowered his gaze. "We stopped at the right point."

"Sorry," she breathed.

"It's fine," he quickly promised. "Betty had a way of testing my limits when it came to those things…" His tongue was quicker than his brain as the words left his mouth. His face turned a deep shade of red as he processed the innuendo. "God-Sorry! Sorry!" he groaned.

Natasha began to laugh. "Didn't know you got frisky like that, Doc!"

His ears began to feel hot as he forced an awkward grin. "J-Just slipped out."

Natasha let his comment slide, though she continued to give him her slyest smirk. She was happy to see him flustered over Betty as opposed to depressed. It was a big step forward for him. "How about seven?" She received a slow nod. Good." She rose from her seat and purposefully brushed past Bruce on her way to the entryway. "I think I'm gonna check out the gym."

Bruce dumbly nodded to himself as he reached for his tablet.

Natasha checked her phone the moment the doorbell rang. He was two minutes early. She went to greet him at the door with Liho at her heels. "Hey," she smiled.

"Hi." He felt something rub against his ankle that forced him to immediately look down. A black blur darted past him before slowing towards the middle of the hall. "Hello, Liho." The feline ignored him as she trotted down a carpeted path. Bruce continued to stare until Natasha beckoned him inside.

"She's fine," Natasha said as she closed the door behind him. "Always finds her way back."

"That's a very loyal cat."

Natasha shrugged as she made her way into the kitchen to get a pot of coffee brewing. "I give her food. That's all she really wants."

"How shallow," he teased.

Natasha led him to the couch and sat with her legs pulled close to her body. "Spotted a coffee cake that looked pretty damn good," she began. "Cherry."

"Sounds delicious," Bruce agreed.

"Should go great with coffee."

Bruce couldn't help but feel that their stinted conversation was going nowhere. He wondered if it had to do with the party. "What did you, uh, think of the gym?" he abruptly asked to keep his brain focused on the present.

She laughed to herself as Bruce shifted in the cushion one spot over from hers. "I wouldn't mind training there. Besides, he's got a shooting range and that's a hell of a lot closer than S.H.I.E.L.D.'s."

"Good," he nodded.

"You're acting awkward, Banner," Natasha flatly stated. "What happened?"

"Nothing!" He was quick to answer, but he knew Natasha could see right through him. "Last night had me thinking, is all," he carefully admitted.

"Regretting not staying for coffee?"

Bruce gave her a solemn stare. "I am," he stated.

Natasha raised a brow. "You're here now…"

He fidgeted with his hands in his lap. "I am."

They sat in silence, hardly blinking as their gazes locked. "It's up to you to make a move, Doc," she breathed. "I don't wanna overstep my limits."

"I know." His hands drifted to his sides as he scooted towards her. "I know…" His hand blindly found hers and gripped her slender digits. Bruce couldn't look away from her emerald orbs until the tips of their noses touched and he carefully tilted his head at an angle as Natasha shut her eyes. Their lips met with a gentle caress that became more desperate in a matter of seconds. At that point, Natasha's hand was gripping his thigh and he felt the couch's weight shift. "You're okay," he murmured, watching as she winked in reply.

She perched on his lap and let her hands rest on his shoulders. "You sure?" She smoothed his jacket at the shoulders with her palms.

He sucked in a deep breath through his nose. "Fine," he nearly squeaked out.

There was a warning look in Natasha's eyes. "I won't push you."

His features softened as his hands rested comfortably on her hips. "I'm fine, Natasha."

She lowered herself onto his lap and gave him a smile. "Do you even want coffee, Banner?"

He chuckled. "Yes, coffee wou—" Her lips cut him off before he could finish.

"Such a dork," she playfully groaned in between kisses.

Bruce smiled and eagerly pulled her body close to his. Natasha purposefully rubbed her crotch against his and Bruce knew their fun needed to stop. "O-one minute," he exhaled. Or a moment to compose himself…

Natasha smirked as she crawled off of his lap. "I think the coffee's ready."

"Good," he choked out. "Good…" Bruce straightened his back as he took in deep, even breaths. His heart pounding against his ribcage forced him to go back to the Lamaze class. In through the nose, two, three, four… The other guy wasn't welcome tonight. He needed him to stay away. Out through the mouth, two, three, four…

Natasha came over with a bottle of cream and some packets of sugar. Glancing down at Bruce, she saw that the man looked as if he had seen a ghost, and that wasn't a good sign. "Bruce?"

He visibly straightened as he breathed in. "I'm okay," he exhaled. His heart began to calm and he occupied himself by reading the nutritional facts on the creamer placed before him. "No need to worry," he reassured her with a calm smile.

"You really weren't kidding about getting riled up." She left his side to go fetch their drinks.

"I've learned that, uh… excitement is easier to control than anger." He sheepishly laughed as Natasha returned with a small aluminum pan balanced atop a stack of plates in one hand and two cups of coffee skillfully carried by their handles in the other. Bruce rose to accept the mugs of coffee from between her fingers. "Let me help you with those."

Natasha set their dessert on the coffee table while Bruce handled the drinks. "You don't think things are gonna get complicated if we keep doing what we were doing?" she wondered.

Bruce kept his head low as he was handed a plate and fork. There was a nagging heat in his pants that was hard to ignore. "For me they will," he divulged. "I can be a bit of a fuse…"

The cake tray's plastic lid popped open. "Emotionally," Natasha corrected. "I'm concerned. For both of us," she admitted. "Love isn't meant to come between this kind of work. Trust me, I know."

Her voice drifted and Bruce wondered if she missed her chance with love due to a job. He was tempted to ask, but it was none of his business. For all he knew, she had lost someone the same way he lost Betty, and it pained him to think that. "I do care about you, Natasha."

She offered him the first slice of cherry cake. "I know," she told him softly. Natasha cut herself a decent piece and wiped an excess of cherry preserves onto the vanilla sponge.

Bruce broke the awkward silence as he took a bite of his cake. "Delicious."

Natasha slowly chewed her first bite and watched Bruce out of the corner of her eye. "You're okay with messing around?"

His flushed cheeks made it hard for him to lie to her. "I…A-As long as you're alright with it…But then there's the matter of me controlling myself." That reply didn't feel right to him-it made him feel like a sex-addict. "The other guy, I mean," he quickly corrected.

Natasha began to laugh. "I know, Banner."

He watched her for a silent moment before forcing himself to resume eating. He had just calmed down and didn't want to raise his heart rate again.

"So anger's not the only thing that gets him going, huh?" Natasha challenged.

Bruce swallowed. "Well, anger triggers him the easiest, but I can feel him coming whenever my heart rate elevates."

"Has excitement ever triggered him?"

He shook his head. "No, but the possibility terrifies me. I can't put someone at risk over intimacy…"

"Has fear ever made you turn?"

Bruce grew quiet.

"Sorry," she breathed.

Bruce's fork sliced off a bite-sized portion of coffee cake. "Maybe, uh…kissing you will help with…control…"

Natasha wrinkled her nose and smiled. "Think so?"

"Well, it's something," he pondered. "You had my heart going crazy...Took some breathing to even out, but-"

Natasha interrupted him with a rude snort. "That sounds like a cheesy greeting card one-liner, Doc."

He began laughing in agreement. "Sorry. Sorry, that was really bad."

Natasha shrugged. "Bad, but kinda sweet." She set aside her plate for a moment to place a kiss on his cheek.

Bruce let his plate sit on the vacant cushion beside him so he could allow the kiss to deepen.

"You know…" Natasha pressed her forehead to his. "If you want to, and only if you're up to it…" Her eyes focused on his deep, dark orbs. "You can touch me," she murmured in a husky voice. Bruce's hand gingerly reached for her side and the corner of Natasha's lip curled upward. She waited as both hands found her hips, but they remained there until Natasha slowly strayed from his side. Any other man would've had one hand up her shirt and the other in her underwear, but not Bruce. She wasn't sure if he was being polite, or if he was a grown man with a childish innocence. Natasha resumed eating her dessert and noticed Bruce do the same. Maybe a bit of both…

"Thank you for this evening," Bruce announced after finishing his coffee.

"Gonna leave me so soon?" She took his plate away from him and stacked it on hers before setting the dishes aside.

Bruce smiled with a small nod. "We should do this again soon."

"The kissing or dessert?" she winked.

He hesitated, his cheeks taking on a pink hue. "Dessert."

"Thought so," she playfully finished.

"Will I be seeing you at the tower tomorrow?"

"You just might," she replied.

"We should have breakfast."

"Even if it turns into a group ordeal?" she countered. "I doubt you and Stark have that place all to yourselves anymore."

"I have no objections to an Avengers breakfast. That could be fun."

"I'll let Barton know, then," she grinned. Natasha leaned in to give him a final kiss. "Get home safely, Doc."

He nodded as he rose from the couch. "I will, thank you." Natasha got up after him and he surprised her with another kiss. "Goodnight, Natasha."