"As far as I know, blood work came back normal," Nick Fury announced as he stood in between the brains of the Avengers.
"How reliable are your sources?" Tony wondered. He was busy performing background checks on every worker at Ross' hospital.
"I can't trust anything I hear. Do you think I imagined something like this would happen, Stark?" Fury grumbled.
"They're hiding something from you," Tony warned.
"I'm more concerned with who slipped Ross the blood," Natasha noted. "Our guys were the only ones checking up on him when he was in that cell. This job started on the inside…" She watched her boss' frown harden. Natasha knew this information had been eating away at him since Tony's red alert call.
Bruce hunched over in his chair with his face buried in his hands. "I could've been imagining it," he interrupted in a muffled voice.
"Don't think so," Tony assured.
"I've had cameras on Ross every second of the day. Someone would've spoke up if something fishy was going on."
"Well." Tony arched a brow. "There's a way to smuggle in a little something. No one gave him a full pat down?"
Nick shot his employee a glare. "Again, cameras. We would've seen him inject himself."
"Unless he did it beforehand," Natasha chimed in. "He could've done it before entering our custody."
Bruce glanced up in her direction. "He would've been killed right away."
"What if he worked something out to have your blood lie dormant?" Tony wondered.
"That seems impossible," Bruce answered.
"You wouldn't hold it against him to be conducting private research?" Tony pressed.
Natasha wished there was something she could say to lessen the evident pain Bruce was in. His curls were a mess from his hands constantly running through them, and the prominent wrinkles on his brow weren't likely to go away anytime soon. "I can get a blood sample from Ross." She recalled what Bruce had told her about his blood being corruptive. "If he injected himself, it would've spread through his whole system, right?"
Bruce answered with a weak nod. "I'm just amazed he's still alive…"
"Must've developed something," Tony muttered. "And I'll bet anything one of his doctors is helping him out with this."
Bruce lowered his head. "I can't help but feel that he intentionally poisoned himself to frame me…"
"I'll see to it that you face no charges, Doctor," Fury promised.
"Maybe try getting some rest," Natasha added. "I'll go pay Ross a visit."
Nick nodded in approval. "Double check for any funny business in the hospital. I was told he has a heart condition. But if that's not the case…"
Natasha nodded before leaving the lab. She was surprised to hear awkward, slow footsteps follow her out the door. Bruce. She stopped and turned around to find him fidgeting with his hands.
"Be careful," he murmured, his dark eyes watering with concern.
"I will," she promised.
"I mean it, Natasha." His hand reached for hers. "He deliberately poisoned himself. That man has nothing left to lose."
She knew Bruce wouldn't be at ease until her mission was over and done with. "I'll call you on my way out. Then I'll come straight back," she vowed. Bruce watched her with tightly pursed lips. She pulled her hand out of his grasp and as she began to walk away, she swore she heard a hushed "come back safely."
Getting into the hospital was easy for Natasha. She entered the facility with no wigs, no false names-she was Natasha Romanoff, an Avenger from S.H.I.E.L.D. performing Nick Fury's bidding. Convincing a nurse on duty that she wished to personally deliver a get well card to the General was another story.
"He's been asleep all day. And he already had an Avenger visit. The Hulk."
"I'm aware," Natasha informed the nurse in her nicest tone possible. "He forgot to give this to him." She carefully reached into her purse for a generic get well card signed with false love from S.H.I.E.L.D. "And I have a message to relay," Natasha continued, eying a ring on the older woman's left ring finger. "There's a voice recording from his daughter on my friend's phone. I was hoping it would help wake him up." Natasha knew she had the nurse hook, line, and sinker in that moment. "I heard this kind of thing helps." She reached for her phone and held it tightly in her hand. "Thaddeus isn't the nicest guy on the surface, but he's got a heart of gold for his daughter." The nurse's willingness to allow Natasha a private moment with the General led her to assume that she had children of her own. Some people were too easy to manipulate…
Natasha approached the older man's bedside and pulled up a chair so her back faced the door. She rested her card on the nightstand before fishing for an empty syringe she obtained from headquarters. "Still sleeping, General?" she quietly asked. Natasha could hardly hear his breathing, but the monitor he was attached to proved he was alive. As she brought the needle close to his arm, she observed the pronounced red veins running up his bony arms. Bruce wasn't seeing things. "Sorry, Ross," she smarmily drawled as she pricked the underside of his upper arm. She didn't need much blood, so she only stole half a syringe full. Natasha grabbed a band aid she had stashed and patched up the General before housing the syringe in a small plastic case. "Try messing with Bruce one more time," she added in a low growl before walking off.
"D…Don't side…"
Natasha whipped her head back around at the voice. "Good to know you're still living," she muttered before leaving.
"So he's still kicking?" Tony assumed as he slipped a vial of Ross' blood into a tube-like machine.
"Disregards the whole 'they're making it look like he's alive' theory, huh?" Natasha droned. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Bruce with his arms desperately hugging his sides.
"Let's match this with what we've got on Banner," Tony announced to his computer screen.
Natasha drifted to Bruce's side but he acknowledged her with nothing but a frantic face. "I made it back," she reassured him.
He exhaled with a nod. "You did."
"'Don't side'" Natasha stated. "Sounds like he's scheming…"
"Isn't he always..?"
Natasha gave Bruce a gentle pat on the back. "It's gonna get better from here on out, okay?" He remained quiet. "Maybe we can have those croissants later."
"I'm not hungry."
Natasha tiredly rubbed his back while eying Tony's monitor. She had no clue what she was supposed to be looking for-she could only pick up a zigzagging graph-but she knew answers were coming when she heard Bruce mutter under his breath.
"Close match," Tony announced. "Sixty-seven percent…"
Bruce strayed from Natasha's side and over to Tony's for a better look at the statistics appearing before them. "A replica. He replicated my blood…"
"So this is what the government's up to…" Tony saved the data gathered and had it sent off to Nick.
"The group doing this must be small. I doubt Ross did this on his own," Bruce commented, rubbing the side of his finger against his lip. "But to use himself as a test subject…"
"Is there a chance he'll go Hulk on us?" Natasha prodded as she joined the scientists.
"I wouldn't call it impossible," Bruce warned in a low voice. "We need him out of that hospital. If something happens, if he becomes fully conscious…"
"God forbid he gets pissy," Tony finished.
Natasha crossed her arms. "Do we hold enough power to get a sick man out of the hospital?"
"With this data, yes," Tony confirmed. "That, and money talks, Romanoff."
"Can we keep him in the medical wing at HQ?" Bruce asked.
"I'll call Fury," Natasha said before walking away.
Tony nodded and lightly smacked his partner's back. "More like back to his cell. We'll get a bed rolled in, make him comfortable."
Bruce's mind could only fixate on the worst case scenarios: making the General angry. If rage fueled the possible Hulk inside of him, Bruce knew they were in trouble. "He'll break out."
A grin spread across Tony's lips. "Not if I fight him off."
That thought hardly put Bruce at ease as he imagined a bulkier, angrier Hulk grabbing Tony's helmet and twisting it an unnatural three hundred and sixty degrees. "Easier said than done, Tony," he gravely warned.
Tony smirked. "Then you can help me. Get big and mean, and beat the shit out of him."
Bruce wanted to think that his other half would cooperate like he did for New York, but hopeful thinking wasn't his strongest area. With his luck, his hatred towards the General would drive the Hulk into a smashing frenzy.
Natasha's heels clicking against the linoleum interrupted Tony's battle plan. "Fury's on it right now. Just received the data.
"It's in his hands now," Tony decided. "Who wants a drink?"
Bruce kept his head low as he brushed past his partner. "I'm going to bed."
Tony wanted to stop him, but he respected Bruce's need for space. Natasha, however, chose to follow after the doctor. She easily caught up with him and walked alongside him to the elevator. "I'm staying until I know you're gonna be okay." He was quiet as they stepped into the lift as had Jarvis take them to his floor. "Or until you eat something."
"I'm really not hungry, Natasha."
His voice was tense, something foreign to her. "Don't brush me off, Bruce," Natasha warned, her harsh tone leveling his.
Bruce's eyes flickered to her face. "I don't mean to," he breathed.
Natasha inched closer and his hand quickly found hers. "This must be hell for you."
"I feel like a wreck," he admitted. The elevator's doors parted but Bruce didn't budge. After standing still for a brief moment, he stepped forward and Natasha did the same.
"Just gotta keep breathing," Natasha said as they reached Bruce's front door. "That's pry bullshit you don't wanna hear now, but it's all I've got."
He shook his head as he opened the door to allow her in first. "It's true. The trick is to keep breathing," he added, remembering the words she had written on his CD. "First the battle, now this…It's all happening too soon." He led Natasha over to the couch where they sat in a darkened room. "Can you imagine two Hulks fighting it out right now? They'll destroy everything until one ends up dead. Who knows if the chaos will even stop there…"
Natasha didn't feel that the room's dark ambiance was aiding to Bruce's sour mood. "Lights," she called out. The soft glow of the overhead lights brightened the living room, but that failed to perk up Bruce. "At least try to imagine the possibility that Ross won't turn green on us."
"It's hard to not think about it." Bruce stared into the TV's blank screen and saw he and Natasha reflected in the pitch black void.
"Can I distract you?" Natasha playfully wondered. Bruce's solemn expression remained unchanged much to her dismay. She didn't wish to pester him with getting handsy or kissing. That was likely to anger him.
"I appreciate the offer, but no… Sorry, I just need this day to be over with…"
Natasha watched him with a smile. "Will you at least go with me to grab some dinner?" She received a nod. "How about that burger you said you'd get me?" she smirked.
A small smile crossed his lips. "I did promise you one, didn't I?"
"I'll drive if you pay."
Bruce agreed despite the anxious knots in his stomach. Worrying was getting him nowhere, but that didn't stop his thoughts from playing out his Hulk-Ross nightmares.
Natasha allowed Bruce his peace and quiet during the drive, but the second she pulled up to her nearest favourite burger joint, she wanted him to speak up. "You sure you're not even up for fries?" she asked as she parked the car.
"I'm fine," Bruce clarified. "If anything, I think they'd make me sick…" Even the thought of eating made his stomach ache.
"Want me to get it to go?"
"We can eat inside," he replied as he unbuckled himself. "Order anything. It's on me tonight."
Natasha took up his offer in the form of a cheeseburger and fries with a soda. The couple found a booth near the back of the restaurant, away from a majority of the diners. Natasha overturned her cup of fries onto a paper placemat in between her and Bruce, but he didn't bother to even steal the tiniest of fries. "I'm pretty sure you'll never want to come near me again after this," she joked while unwrapping her burger.
Bruce smiled at her, glancing from the hands holding her greasy dinner to her face. "That's not true."
She breathed a fake sigh of relief. "You sure?"
"There's no rule against vegetarians befriending carnivores."
"And if they made one?" she wondered before taking a bite.
"I don't exactly know anyone else with my dietary choices." He caught her smirking. "I would choose you." He lowered his head and wondered why that had to sound so corny. "You, Tony, Clint…"
Natasha was relieved to see that her flustered Bruce was back. She chewed in silence and nudged her mountain of fries towards him.
He smiled and accepted a fry, though he hardly felt hungry. That added a bit more cheer to Natasha's grin which always made him happy.
"You know, I was never in India before we met."
"Is that so?"
She nodded as she wiped her fingers clean on a napkin. "I might add it to my list of 'places I'd like to spend more than three hours in.'"
Bruce's brows rose in disbelief. "That's all the time you had?"
She flashed him a sly grin. "I was working. Had to track down the town doctor."
"Sounds awful," he chuckled.
"It was," she agreed. "The guy was a dork."
Bruce's smile widened. "Am I really that big of a dork?"
"You've made number one in my book."
"Number one, huh?" he asked with interest.
"No offense, Doc, but you're the kid I'd shove in a locker every day if we went to the same high school."
Bruce was no stranger to being tossed into a dark, cramped space, but that was a memory he didn't wish to bring up. "Thank God S.H.I.E.L.D. has no lockers."
"You might be speaking too soon, Banner."
Bruce laughed and helped himself to another fry.
Natasha was finishing up the last of her burger when her phone started buzzing in her pocket. She wiped off her fingers before grabbing it. Nick's name was displayed across the screen. "Sir?" She caught Bruce quickly lowering his head. Natasha knew he knew what the call was about.
Nick replied to his agent in a stern tone. "We have Ross checking into our medical wing. He's still unconscious, but we've given him a little something extra to help keep him knocked out."
"So it's all good news." Natasha watched as Bruce perked up, his eyes slowly meeting hers. "I'll let you go, then," she softly finished.
Her calming tone accompanied with a smile told Bruce that he was worrying over nothing. But things had a way of changing.
Natasha set her phone aside as she watched Bruce's face. His jaw looked tight and the wrinkles on his brow seemed permanent. "No trouble with him."
Yet… "Alright," Bruce answered.
"Think you'll sleep well tonight?"
"No," he admitted with a defeated laugh.
Natasha crumbled up her burger's wrapper into a tight ball. "Want me to stay? We can watch a movie, take your mind off things…"
Bruce shook his head. "I think I'll work in the lab for a bit."
"Will that turn into an all nighter?" she playfully wondered.
"It might," he admitted with a weak laugh.
The sincerity of Natasha's smile faded. "Mind if I watch you work?"
Bruce hated seeing her upset on his behalf. "I'll be fine, Natasha," he promised. "Thank you, but I'll be fine."
His eyes didn't mean it-Natasha could easily pick up on that. "Okay."
"Maybe another time," he offered.
"I really am interested in what you and Stark have going on."
"I'm sure it would bore you to sleep."
"I could use the help." Bruce grew quiet. "This Ross deal has us all on edge. You're not alone in this, Bruce."
He solemnly nodded. "I know. Thank you…"
She popped the last two fries into her mouth. "Wanna get going?"
"Sure," he smiled.
Natasha threw out her trash and drew close to Bruce's side as they left the restaurant. "Thanks for that."
He chuckled. "You've earned it."
As they settled into her car, Natasha checked to ensure there weren't any onlookers before giving Bruce a quick peck on the cheek. His seatbelt clicked as he accepted the surprise kiss. "Back to the lab, then?"
Bruce rubbed the back of his neck with a nervous grin. "Yes, thank you."
The ride home was quiet as the A/C blew and faint music played from the speakers. "Let me know if there's anything you need."
"I will," Bruce agreed. "Drive safely, Natasha," he added before leaving the car.
"I'll see you tomorrow? Morning yoga?" she smirked. That got a laugh out of him.
"I really should do some yoga tomorrow. It must be obvious that I need to relax more."
"Maybe look up some relaxation methods aside from yoga, Doc," Natasha winked.
"Tony mentioned drugs once before," he lightly replied.
"I can't help you on that one."
Bruce smiled as he watched her from the lowered passenger's window. "Goodnight, Natasha."
"Night, Bruce."
He took a step back and watched her black car disappear from view. Bruce knew he wasn't going to sleep tonight. He knowingly stepped into his lab with the intentions of working nonstop. With any luck, he would fall asleep during morning meditation…