Apologies for not posting sooner- I've been battling a little bit of writer's block the last little while. Luckily, it seems that with the right music, anything is possible.

Warning: Character Death, Angst, Darker Themes.

Disclaimer: Yeah. I don't own the Avengers.

-;-

The next morning, Natasha woke to find herself drenched in a cold sweat with no memory of what she'd been dreaming of. That didn't surprise her- it wasn't an uncommon occurrence in the past, and it continued to happen now. It was just one of the many things that added to the baggage that she carried on her shoulders every day.

She slowly pushed herself up into a sitting position, running a hand through her damp red hair as she breathed deeply and fell into a breathing exercise that she hadn't found a need to use for quite some time.

She was losing it.

For so long, she had been the prize of SHIELD's eye. Ruthless, emotionless. She'd barely even managed to get along with…. Before all of the emotional crap that had inevitably happened, anyway. Before she'd learned how to laugh. How to feel emotion. And it was all because of him that she was sitting here, feeling utterly helpless because of those goddamn emotions that were stirring in her chest. She tried to hate him for making her feel, but found that she simply couldn't. Natasha simply could not pin the blame for all of this on Clint.

"Miss Romanoff?" Jarvis inquired, jolting the woman out of her thoughts.

"Yes, Jarvis." She returned quietly, no inflection whatsoever in her voice. That was partially due to the sheer exhaustion that was coursing through her veins- not entirely because she was shutting herself down and operating with minimal everything else.

"Would you have me send food to your room, or would you like to go to the kitchen and retrieve it yourself?" the AI returned politely. "I can send one of the others up with something-"

"No, I'll go myself." The redhead interrupted. "Is there anyone else up?"

"Just Mister Stark, but he has been in his lab for the last several hours and will most likely remain there for several more. Would you like me to direct you to a different floor as a precaution?"

As much as Natasha would have liked to say that she wasn't avoiding anyone, she found herself agreeing to go to a different floor to find food. She just didn't have the energy to confront anyone, seeing as what had happened the day before.

So as a light-footed assassin made her way to the seventy-third floor kitchen to retrieve something small to eat, it was the same time that another member of the tower was moving around- something that Jarvis had purposefully neglected to mention. After all, Bruce Banner was more than capable to hold his own against the emotionally compromised woman who was being redirected to 'his' personal favorite kitchen for breakfast.

-;-

Bruce was something of an early riser. He didn't like to admit it, but that was just the way that it was. Living on the run tended to do that to him, and nowadays wasn't exactly an exception. Half the time he expected to be ripped out of this small piece of happiness that he'd managed to find himself possessing and thrown back to the wolves, but he knew that Tony had long since taken care of that little problem. Turns out that having friends in high places (sometimes literally) had its occasional benefits.

Like being permitted to stake out any floor as their own was one such benefit.

As he stood in the elevator, still wearing his baggy dark purple lounging pants and a matching loose t-shirt and wiping the sleep out of his eyes, Bruce couldn't help but feel that there was something going to happen. Now as to what, he couldn't exactly put his finger on, but he would find out soon enough.

Jarvis had ensured that.

The doors opened, revealing the dimly lit kitchen and the dark, rainy sky out of the windows surrounding the space, and the curly haired scientist sighed in contentment.

"Good morning, Doctor Banner. Would you care for some tea this morning?" the AI inquired politely.

"The usual please, Jarvis." Bruce yawned, running a hand through his hair as he did so.

"Right away, sir." The AI replied.

"Thanks Jarvis." Bruce thanked again before making his way over to the comfortable armchairs that he'd ordered from one of the catalogues Pepper had bombarded him with. (Something about needing someone else's input in what went into the tower, but he couldn't be sure considering that it was Pepper).

A prickle on the back of his neck was what alerted him to the fact that he wasn't alone. And considering he rarely got this feeling…

"Natasha."

The redheaded woman stared back at him emotionlessly from her place at the elevator, not moving an inch despite the fact that she'd been noticed. One of the unfortunate side-effects of living with someone with highly attuned senses, she supposed.

"You're welcome to stay." Bruce encouraged softly. "I promise I don't bite."

"It's not you I'm afraid of." She replied automatically before stiffening. She half expected the man to begin demanding answers, but instead, the scientist graced her with a lopsided smirk.

"Well, you've come to the right place if you've got demons." He replied dryly. "Feel free to leave if you'd like, I'm not going to stop you."

To further prove that point, he stood and moved away from her, going to retrieve his freshly brewed tea that smelled strongly of lemon and something else she couldn't quite identify.

On the one hand, she could run, flee, hide and be the coward she knew she was being. But on the other hand, this was Banner. He was, for the most part, completely harmless and probably the least judgemental of everyone currently residing in Stark Tower. Because on some deep level, he understood exactly what she was going through.

Warily, she took a step away from the elevator, waiting until Bruce had vacated the kitchen before stepping into it and resuming her search for food.

Bruce, on the other hand, was keeping an eye on the redheaded assassin. To be honest, he hadn't really expected her to stay- more of a flight situation than anything else- and he couldn't blame her one bit. He knew plenty about loss to grasp what she was enduring in that highly barred mind, and knew enough not to push the matter. Which was probably why he'd argued so strongly with Tony and Steve. Those two were the ones who were a more upfront tactic team- they didn't really know how to act other than charge headfirst into this situation and try to bully Natasha into cooperating- which was not exactly the best idea on their part. He preferred the tried and true method of waiting and seeing what would happen- sure, sometimes it had it's less than appealing consequences, but the benefits greatly outweighed the risk.

Natasha didn't end up coming any closer than the barstools at the counter, but personally, Bruce thought that it was a huge step considering the short time period that she'd had to deal with her grief. Perhaps he was simply the lesser of two evils, but either way he was preferring this to the near bloody scene he'd come back to witness the aftermath of the day before.

"Thank you, Banner."

Bruce smiled faintly behind his mug of tea.

"You're welcome, Natasha." He returned. "Feel free to join me whenever you like."

Somehow, he had a feeling she just might take him up on that offer.

-;-

By the time that everyone else was up- or in Tony Stark's case- going to bed, Steve had almost worked himself up into another fit as Natasha once again avoided everyone.

Bruce didn't even find himself peace in the workshop, as the blond continued to follow him there to finish his 'discussion' that was more of a rant than anything else. The fact that it was mostly centered on the fact that Natasha had moved herself into the floor that Stark had customised for her and then proceeded to block everyone out of it almost had the good Captain frothing at the mouth, and Bruce couldn't fathom why on earth the man was working himself so far up from this. One theory was that this was his way of dealing with grief, but then again, he could be wrong. But that was all that Bruce had, so for the moment it would have to do.

"Steve, as much as I appreciate you telling me your concerns about Natasha, she needs her space. She doesn't need us butting into her every move- it will do nothing but provoke her into retreating further away from us in the end. I also believe that we mentioned leaving her be yesterday- something that you seem to be having difficulties comprehending. If Natasha wants to join us, I have no illusions to say that that is exactly what she'll do. Until then, be patient. Now if you don't mind, I have work to do." Bruce broke in, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

Steve said nothing, although Bruce thought he might have heard something extremely unpleasant leave Steve's lips as he closed the door behind him.

Bruce rolled his eyes. He'd learned a long time ago to simply ignore the things that the others would speak about him. It meant he had a lot less negativity to deal with in the long run.