Hey guys, here's chapter 2, thanks for the feedback. Remember, I live off of reviews, so please leave me some! – Nova.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Avengers.

Chapter 2: A Rose of A Different Color

Natasha POV

I fell in and out of consciousness and caught parts of conversations as I was taken somewhere. Then I woke up completely. I heard the steady beeping of a heart rate monitor and opened my eyes. The light was harsh and I squinted until my eyes adjusted. The first thing I noticed was a medium sized table full of presents, balloons, flowers and cards.

I thought about the events that led up to me being in the hospital, all I could recall was the necklace that Bruce had given me and then how he had stood with me at breakfast.

There was something about him that caught my attention whenever he entered a room. Just watching him work gave me goose bumps, but in a good way.

From the way he absentmindedly swept his hair back, to how he spoke in his gentle yet pained tone, to his kind brown eyes that were so full of emotion.

I reached up with a bandaged hand to touch the spider pendant. I was starting to feel something different towards Bruce, though I had no clue what it was. Some instinct told me it was sentiment.

"No, it can't be that.", my conscience argued, "Sentiment is for the weak. It is a mere stepping stone on the dangerous path towards affection and love, which is for children and is just as deadly as poison."

Pushing the internal battle I was having into the back of my mind; I tried to swallow, then panicked when I noticed there was a thick tube down my throat.

I pressed the call button on the side of my bed and a pair of nurses ran into my room, followed by Pepper and Serena. Pepper held my bandaged hand as Serena told me that I had to stay calm. The nurses removed the tube from my throat and then they took my vitals. One of them introduced herself as Lydia and the other nurse introduced himself as Mark. Lydia proceeded to tell me what had happened,

"Miss Romanoff, you have several broken ribs and a broken femur. The muscles in your left thigh will take some time to heal. You are also suffering from a punctured lung. Thank the powers that be for quick thinking on the part of Mr. Barton, otherwise you wouldn't be here."

I glanced over at Serena who nodded. Then Pepper pulled up a chair as the nurses left and said,

"When Clint and Serena got the distress call from you, they rushed to base and almost stole a jet just to get to you ASAP."

She patted my hand as Serena sat down and spoke,

"You were in pretty bad shape when we got to you. The Ripper got away in the end, but Fury isn't going to blame you for any of this. This was your first slip up and you didn't give them any information other than the fact that SHEILD is hunting them down, so he isn't too pissed off at you. Clint saved your life. If he hadn't performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, you would've died."

She sat back and said,

"Phew, your guardian angel must have one hell of a time saving your ass."

The door to my room opened and Bruce walked in carrying a dozen lavender roses in a simple vase. He looked up upon seeing that I was awake and gestured toward the stack of gifts.

"It's good to see that you're awake. You may have been in a medically-induced coma for the past five days, but we visited you every day in shifts. Since you never truly got to celebrate your birthday, we brought the celebration to you."

I went to speak but all I could manage to say was, " Nurghh."

Tony walked in just in time to hear my epic fail. He smirked at me and asked,

"Romanoff, are you always that articulate?"

I cleared my throat and asked him in a raspy whisper,

"Are you always this self-absorbed?"

"Touché Carrot top."

"Piss off, Stark."

"Could you two please not start an argument?" Pepper scolded lightly as Tony stuck his tongue out at me.

He grabbed the TV remote, flopped down in a chair and flipped through the channels until he started watching Spongebob. His voice dripped with sarcasm as he said,

"This hospital food is just the greatest thing in the world." Then his face lit up like he got a good idea.

"Hey Pepper, let's go and get some shawarma after Squidward finds his clarinet in that maze of lockers."

Pepper rolled her eyes at him.

Bruce pulled his chair up to my bedside and said,

"You gave us all a scare, especially when we heard about your condition. I'm so glad to see that you're healing well." He went slightly pink in the face before adding, "We all are."

I couldn't help but notice the look of concern in his eyes as he gazed at my visible injuries.

"DEAR FRIENDS!"

I jumped painfully as Thor came into my room, a huge smile on his face. I whispered,

"Hey, Thor?"

"YES, LADY ROMANOFF?"

"Do you think you could please speak in an softer tone? I have a bit of a headache."

"Of course, Lady Romanoff, would you like to see Lady Jane? She says she has been dying to see you." He said softly.

I nodded as he left with Serena who said she needed to find Clint. Pepper, noticing the tension in the air, left to go take care of some paperwork and she practically dragged Tony away from the TV as he complained how Squidward didn't find his clarinet yet. This left Bruce and I in an awkward silence, which he broke by saying,

"Um, Natasha? The Hulk seems to have this notion…uh…" he trailed off

I glanced over at him.

"When did you stop referring to the Hulk as the Other Guy?" I asked in pure amazement.

"When I realized that fear of a name only increases a fear of the thing itself." He said bravely.

"Oh, then what is this notion that the Hulk has?"

Bruce looked away from me and said,

"The Hulk seems to think that you belong to him, that you're there for him to protect and that nobody should ever be allowed to hurt you." He let out a breath that he was holding.

I couldn't believe my ears. The Hulk, the terror of my dreams, had feelings for me?

Bruce looked at me like he was horrified at what he had just let himself say.

"Uh Bruce?"

"Yeah?"

"Does this mean that the Hulk has those type of feelings for me?"

Bruce POV

Wow. I can't believe I just said that to Natasha. She must think I'm some sort of idiot for just openly admitting that the Hulk had feelings for her. Or at least saying that the Hulk felt more than just anger. Come to think of it, I'm sure the Hulk must have some sort of feelings, otherwise he wouldn't have caught Tony as he fell from the sky.

"Bruce?"

I realized that I must have been spacing out and responded to her question.

"I guess he does. I wasn't even aware that the Hulk possessed the capacity to feel anything more than rage until now, when I realized he saved Tony from falling to his death last year."

She looked at me with a worried expression and said,

"Do you think that if you have another…incident…that the Hulk will try to claim me?"

I thought about this for a second before deciding to lie,

"I don't know if he will or not, but I suggest that if you're ever around me when I Hulk out that you run as fast as you can in the opposite direction."

She rolled her eyes and muttered something that sounded like,

"…don't need to tell me twice."

She looked over and seemed to notice how my roses somehow stood out from all the rest. She absentmindedly gazed at them before speaking again.

"Everyone says that the color of a rose symbolizes an emotion, though I never took the time to figure out what those corresponding emotions were."

"I honestly don't know what emotions lavender colored roses symbolize, but they just seemed to suit you somehow."

I was dying to tell her that I knew about the symbolism behind lavender roses, that they symbolize enchantment. I wanted to tell her that there were a lot of things about her that caught my attention. The way she fought with such precision, how her tone of voice gave no sign as to her emotions yet how her body language would tell the whole story, and how her intelligent green eyes were almost hungry for understanding. I wanted to tell her how I truly felt about her and how worried I got whenever she went on a mission, but I kept to myself instead.

Natasha grimaced as she pushed the call button on the side of her bed.

One of the nurses came into the room with Thor and Jane behind him and asked Natasha if she was ready to have her next dose of painkillers. Natasha nodded as Jane came over to her bedside, took Natasha's hand and placed it on her stomach. Natasha looked up in wonder as she felt their 'little warrior' kick.

I looked over at Jane and asked her when she was due.

"It'll be a week this Friday. I'm starting to feel so jittery and the baby feels like it's playing soccer in there." She replied with a smile.

Thor grinned widely and kissed his wife on the cheek before adding,

"We have thought of some names for the little one when they arrive. Do you wish to hear them?"

Natasha and I nodded.

"If Jane bears a son, we shall name him Edward or Phillip with the definite middle name being Loki, for even if he was beyond reason, he was still my adopted brother." Thor explained

"And if it's a girl, we're going to name her either Celeste or Elizabeth with the middle name Bergthora, which means 'the spirit of Thor'." Jane added.

Jane placed Thor's hand over her belly and they felt the baby kick again as Jane cooed to her unborn child,

"You must want to meet your father and I a lot because you feel like you're trying to kick your way out of me!"

"The baby is just shifting into birth position right now, it won't be much longer until you find out if you have a boy or a girl." I said.

Natasha gasped as she felt the baby kick her hand.

I don't think she was aware of it, but she grabbed my hand in surprise. I started to feel the Hulk roar from the back of my head, he obviously enjoyed the feel of her petite hand gently squeezing my large one. To be quite honest, I was enjoying that too.

Thor and Jane got up to leave and the nurse returned with the painkillers along with a new IV bag, hooking it up to Natasha's IV lines, informing us that the painkillers would take ten minutes at the most to set in before leaving us in another awkward silence.

"I know this sounds very strange but the other night I had a nightmare and you were in it." Natasha blurted out suddenly.

My mind jumped back to the terror I felt and the mental image of Natasha's broken body came to mind. The Hulk fought to gain control once more, clawing at the edges of my mind, begging to be released. I stood abruptly, my hand slipping away from hers, as I struggled to gain some control over my emotions. I exhaled deeply before asking,

"Uh, do you mind if I ask what happened in this nightmare?"

"Oh, um… no. It had to do with the Helicarrier incident. You were chasing me and I yelled out that I swore on my life that you would be okay. You yelled out something like 'YOUR LIFE?' and killed me. Then you woke up, saw my body and started to cry. It was the most horrifying things I had ever witnessed. My death, that is. I was so afraid. Isn't that strange?" she asked.

"Not as strange as what you're about to be told.", I said, turning back towards her.

"I had the same dream." I said in a low voice.

Natasha gave me a look that oozed disbelief.

"You're kidding?" she asked incredulously.

I shook my head and sat down.

"I only wish I was kidding. You saw the same events as I did, only from your perspective. I can't begin to imagine why, or how, we somehow had the same dream,"

I pulled my glasses off and swept my unruly hair off my forehead,

"all I know is that it scared me just as much as it scared you."

I watched as her eyelids began to droop, the painkillers finally setting in, and I went to leave but Natasha called out to me softly.

"Bruce, please don't go yet. What if the nightmare happens again?"

The look on her face made me sit down by her side again, it was a look of genuine fear, one that I recognized from the Helicarrier incident. She didn't pull away as I placed my hand over hers. Her eyelids drooped even further as her fingers intertwined with mine and she whispered,

"I'm not so afraid anymore." before she fell asleep.

I sighed as I brushed a stray lock of red hair off her forehead and leaned in, planting a light kiss on her cheek.

Natasha POV

I picked my head up and looked about. I was in the living area of Stark Tower and the only one around was me. A noise from the formal dining room caused me to crouch down behind the bar and pull my knife out of its leg holster, ready to attack whoever tried to hurt me. Bruce's voice called out,

"Natasha?"

My fears evaporated and I sheathed my knife before walking out from behind the bar. Bruce was standing there, dressed in a full tuxedo, and I looked down at what I was wearing.

I gasped when I found myself in the most beautiful gown I had ever seen. It was sleek grey, hugged my curves and had a slit that ran from my mid-thigh to my high heeled shoes. Bruce held out his arm to me before remembering something as he pulled a single lavender rose out of thin air and gave it to me with a smile as he said,

"Come on, we're going to be late for the New Year's Eve Ball over at SHIELD headquarters."

I took his arm and we were walking out when I noticed Bruce's eyes flash green.

I went to run but he was holding my arm too tight and I couldn't move. He didn't Hulk out but he did speak in the Hulk's voice, which scared me more than anything,

"HULK WANT SPIDER FOREVER! NOBODY ELSE! OR HULK DECIDE THAT NOONE CAN HAVE PRETTY SPIDER!"

I screamed and pulled my knife out of its holster, plunged it into Bruce's chest and hauled ass as he released me momentarily to Hulk out.

I heard the Hulk roar out behind me,

"YOU SWORE ON LIFE THAT BRUCE BE OKAY THEN TRY TO KILL BRUCE! YOU MAKE HULK MAD! HULK SMASH LYING SPIDER!"

The Hulk grabbed my leg and threw me out of the huge window, off the side of Stark Tower. I screamed as I fell, waiting to hit the pavement.

"Natasha! Please wake up!" I heard Bruce yell.

I woke suddenly, the hospital lights blinding me momentarily, before Bruce shielded my eyes with one hand and squeezed my hand with the other.

"Are you okay?" He asked, looking down on me.

I shook my head and then closed my eyes again, trying in vain to hide the tears that I was too proud to let flow freely. One tear leaked out and then there was no stopping the flow. Bruce must have been horrified to see me, of all people, cry for the first time in nearly eight years.

He just brushed the hair off of my face gently and said,

"We all have bad dreams, Nat, but please don't cry, you're so strong."

That's when I snapped at him,

"No Bruce, I'm the Black Widow, I'm not allowed to show weakness, I'm not allowed to feel like everyone else! I'm different, and you wouldn't understand! So stop pretending like you do!"

I instantly regretted what I said and went to apologize, the tears running freely down my face,

"Bruce, I'm-"

But he cut me off.

"No you listen to me for once, okay!"

I opened my eyes in fear as Bruce walked over to the roses on the table and picked one out of the bouquet, holding it with his back to me. He turned around with the most pained look on his face. He glared at me and said in a harsh tone,

"Natasha, listen to me. You are a human, just like everyone else here! Stop being so hard on yourself! You say you're not allowed to show weakness, yet you make yourself weak by cutting everyone else out of your life, you pay for it when you get injured! You say you're not allowed to feel, yet you're so full of raging emotions that it's hard to guess what's always bothering you! You say you're different? And that I wouldn't understand? Well here's a news flash for you, I am different! Okay! I do understand! And don't you ever say that I don't care, because that's a damn lie and you know it!"

He sank to the floor and began to take deep breaths to keep himself from Hulking out. I was crying harder now, and my ribs were hurting.

"B-Bruce?" I whispered through my tears.

Then I noticed he was holding the lavender rose and he was shaking. He was crying too. He whispered without looking up at me,

"You want to know the symbolism behind the lavender rose?"

I nodded, drying my tears, as he stood.

"The lavender rose is symbolic of enchantment. It suited you because the first time we met in Calcutta I was enchanted by your courage to face what may had ended up being your death, and I wasn't enchanted just by your looks. No, I was offered a glimpse of your fears in the second it took you to point that gun at me, and you had a lot of them. I was enchanted by your ability to carry on."

As this message sunk in, Bruce walked over to my bedside and sank down into a chair.

"That is why the lavender rose suits you. You feel the need to hide behind a strong façade in front of your friends, and you never open up to anyone. I want to remain enchanted in this great mystery that is you."

I sat there in stunned silence for what seemed like an eternity as his confession registered in my brain, before I chose my words carefully,

" I'm sorry. That was a really inconsiderate thing for me to say. Please forgive me."

"Natasha, I already have."

He handed me the lavender rose. I thought about the confession he had just made and figured that I was going to try something new, call it a change of heart.

"Bruce?"

"Yes?"

I reached out and held his hand.

"If it's okay with you, I'd like to say that you've always enchanted me too. How about I try out this whole 'being human' thing?"

The smile on Bruce's face was all the answer I needed.

A/N: How was that? Leave me a review. I may start adding in more character POV's as the relationship between Bruce and Natasha begins to bloom.