Author's Note: Titanium, by David Guetta. Thank you all so much for the reviews last chapter, they meant a lot!

Sorry in advance for all Pepper lovers. She and I are seriously on the best of terms, but my loyalty is to the Avengers.

Titanium

"I'm bulletproof, nothing to lose."

"Fire away. Fire away."

Steve Rodgers was supposed to be on vacation. Fury had even assured him that no calls would reach him, unless the entire world was falling apart.

Of course, he was Captain America of the Avengers Initiative, so he should've known he would never get a break. Oh well, he liked to save people.

And with one call from a slightly frantic Clint Barton, he was on his way to save the least likely person he could think of.

Meanwhile, across an ocean, a few deserts, and a sea, Bruce Banner was having a serious case of deja vu.

A small, young girl ran into a hut on the edge of the village, and the scientist entered curiously behind her. He knew this was a ruse, but despite himself, he was seriously eager to see the Black Widow. The Hulk lurked silently under his skin.

"Doctor Banner?"

Bruce sighed in mock defeat, but in spite of himself, a small smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. "Agent Romanoff," he greeted smoothly, turning to face the redhead. "How... interesting to find you here. The world already in mortal peril again?"

Interestingly, the redhead's face held no hint of a smile, but instead her eyes glimmered slightly. Bruce started slightly, the Hulk taking a leap; was she actually upset?

"I suppose you haven't seen the headlines, then," she assumed, before laying a newspaper out on the table before her. Bruce, no longer afraid of close contact with the assassin like before, walked up and scanned it.

His mouth immediately curled into a frown. "Oh dear. Let's go now, shall we?"

The redhead nodded firmly, leading him quickly out the door. Though in a hurry, Bruce did notice that there were no men surrounding the area this time. Natasha trusted him?

"I suppose the Director authorized this mission?" Bruce yelled over the whirl of the helicopter as Natasha took the controls and brought them up into the air.

Though he could not see her face, the scientist observed the woman shaking her head. "Not at all, actually," she informed him seriously. "The idiot is our responsibility."

Bruce stared at her in shock. "Then what role am I to play in this?" he asked promptly, a bit frightened.

Natasha looked back at him, this time with a small smirk on her face. "You, with the help of Clint and Captain Rodgers, will be running Stark Industries."

AAA

"Tony, I'm with Happy now."

"Tony?"

"Tony, I'm so sorry."

"Tony, I'm just going to… going to give you some time."

"Goodbye, Tony."

Tony Stark woke up with a fevered gasp, sweat beading his forehead and a wild look in his eyes. He glanced at his clock: 10am. He frowned; Pepper should've been in to wake up him up earlier. She never let him sleep this late…

Suddenly, it all came back to him. Pepper.

Their breakup had been sudden, something he wasn't ready for at all. It had been a quiet affair, with only her pleading voice, detailing his faults and explaining why they weren't going to work. He had always known that her thorough nature would be the death of him one day.

It had been short, also; he was too astonished to even speak, until he calmly interrupted her and told her to get the fuck out of his house. Even then, she was silent, gathering her bags and just… just going.

Shaking himself free of his thoughts, he grabbed the bottle half empty of Scotch on his side table and stumbled out of his bedroom. He followed the enticing smell of bacon and eggs into his living room…

Then he paused. Wait a minute…

Bacon and eggs?

He dropped the bottle, letting it shatter on the floor, arriving quickly in his living area despite Jarvis' cautions to 'move more slowly in his inebriated state'. His mouth dropped open; sure enough, a full out breakfast was waiting for him on the bar, orange juice and whipped cream on the pancakes and all. A smile broke out on his face; Pepper must be back, and she was so sorry that she was actually using her terrible cooking skills to make him breakfast.

He made his way over to the bar, munching on a piece of delicious bacon and trying to decide how long he was going to take to forgive her.

But, again, he had to do a double take, realizing along the way that being hung-over really took away his ability to rationalize. This bacon was amazing. Pepper could not have made this bacon.

"Mr. Stark?"

Tony swiveled around to face a completely unexpected Natasha Romanoff coming out of the elevator, one with perfectly coiffed long red hair and a flattering business suit on. She had his dry cleaning in her right hand and a full planner in her left, and he simply watched her in shock as she spoke casually to Jarvis about the schedule before hanging his dry cleaning in the closet.

"R-romanoff?" He stuttered helplessly. What the hell was she doing here?

Natasha peered at him from behind the counter, where she was pouring him a cup of coffee. "It's Rushman for now," she corrected matter-of-factly. "You have to do some press tomorrow; Barton will be working on your statement, so you don't have to worry about that. You have a board meeting at two o'clock this afternoon, and in since you have gone to none for this past week, you will be there." Tony attempted to speak after this, but Natasha kept going. "And eat your breakfast," she commanded, and because he had a tendency to listen to women who could kill him in three seconds –and though he would never admit it, he was starving- he sat down and began to shove food into his mouth.

Natasha left the room, coming back seconds later with his phone and her bag. "We're leaving in five minutes for Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital," she informed him coolly. "I'll wait with Thor in the lobby."

She turned to leave, but Tony called her back. "Wait, Thor's here too?" She nodded. "Is everyone here?" He asked a few seconds later. She nodded again. "Why are you here?"

Natasha seemed to consider him for a minute, and her expression softened slightly before she dropped her bag on the floor and walked briskly toward him. She wrapped her cold, thin, yet muscular arms around him for exactly 3.2 seconds. He counted. It was over before Tony's shocked frame could register the touch, and by the time he was ready to wrap his arms around the comforting warmth of another body and never let go, she was already at a safe distance. He was glad; that would've been humiliating.

"You're… important to us, Stark," she answered carefully.

A thought suddenly came to Tony. "So all this… this is Fury's orders," he realized, slumping slightly.

Natasha picked up her bag, backing into the elevator. The doors had almost closed before a slim finger slammed down on the open door button. The redhead hesitated, before speaking quickly. "Fury thinks Barton and I are currently in Kyoto, and will think that until we leave this building and I show up as your rebound on a bunch of tabloids," she told him.

Tony nodded, surprised though he tried not to show it. "For the record," he mentioned, "I like your hair better long." After he said it, he couldn't believe the words came out of his mouth. He liked her hair? That was obviously not important right now!

But, in his defense, it was pretty.

The billionaire's mouth dropped open when she winked at him. "There's hangover relief in that coffee, by the way," she said, not responding to his slightly flirty comment, before the doors whisked shut.

Thor eyed her curiously when she stepped out of the elevator. "Lady Natasha, your hair…" he trailed off, instead cautiously reaching up and setting a lock back in its place. "It was out of place," he explained, blushing at Natasha's wide-eyed stare.

"It's okay," she told him calmly, sending the God of Thunder an awkward sideways glance. It had been a while since someone had touched her hair and it hadn't been of malicious intent.

"When the Man of Iron arrives, where is it that we are going?" Thor inquired, attempting to break the silence. Natasha smiled slightly at him, appreciative.

"The Children's Cancer Center," Natasha replied. At Thor's confused gaze, she explained further. "Cancer is a disease that kills a lot of people. Children can get it too."

Thor nodded. "Oh. That is sad."

"Very."

The elevator let out a resounding ding, and Tony appeared, looking only slightly better than he had before. He ran his fingers through his hair, almost unconsciously turning to Natasha for approval. Just as he used to turn to Pepper.

Pepper.

"Natas- Natalie?" He corrected immediately, knowing she had to keep somewhat of a cover. Natasha cocked her head, and Tony held out an arm to her. Normally she would've turned away, but she noticed his entire arm was shaking slightly, so she stepped closer and looped her arm through his, effectively holding him up. He grinned at her in thanks, glad she realized that he was still off-balance, in more ways than one.

Thor held open the door for them, and practically knocked reporters away, doing well at his whole 'bodyguard' routine. The hammer he held menacingly in his right hand helped quite a bit too.

However, when questioned later, one reporter commented that the only reason he stayed far away from Tony Stark was the icy glare from the redhead next to him.

And so 'Natalie Rushman's' bad rep with the press began.

AAA

Bruce Banner pulled up the front of the main New York offices for Stark Industries. Getting off his motorcycle, he looked around for a familiar face; Natasha had told him either Steve or Clint would greet him at the entrance.

"Hello there."

Bruce nearly jumped a mile. Behind him stood a very ragged-looking Clint Barton, looking at him with weary, but smug eyes. "At least I can still scare some people," he murmured.

Bruce chuckled nervously. "Yeah, but I'd be the wrong person to scare." He adjusted his glasses, and smiled tightly at the archer in front of him. He self-consciously ran a hand through his curly hair, picking up his suitcase, which included all the important things: his tools and a toothbrush.

Clint smiled back, leading him into the building and shoving some notes in his hands. "Okay, Doctor, all you'll be doing is running the science side of things, conferring with all of Stark's head scientist and staying ahead of Hammer Industries." Bruce grinned; that shouldn't be a problem… "Tasha's going to try to get some work out of him tonight, and after you, Steve, and I get things under control here, we'll hole up there."

Bruce, having looked over the notes, already had some ideas and urgent things of which to take care. They entered the elevator, and Clint pressed the button for the 50th floor. "How is he holding up?" Bruce finally asked, switching gears from work to personal.

"According to Natasha, decently," Clint answered, his expression turning protectively angry. "If I ever see that bitch-"

"Barton… Clint," Bruce interrupted, "Tony wouldn't want you to hurt her."

"Well she hurt him!" Clint yelled, and when Bruce tried to retort, he was stopped by the elevator opening on the 14th floor to let some employees in. The workers were quiet on the way up, reading the tension already present in the small contraption and not wanting to feed it.

When both men stepped off the elevator, Clint stopped Bruce by holding his arm back. The scientist turned back to him. "I don't have many friends," Clint began seriously, "but I'm starting to count you and Tony among them. I protect my friends."

Bruce backed away, a bit intimidated by the sudden change in the air. It had been a while since someone had declared themselves his friend, except for Tony, and that had been jokingly. Clint seemed to realize this, and changed directions immediately, motioning a young woman forward that had been patiently standing in the background. "This is Lana, she'll be your assistant."

Bruce smiled hesitantly at the young girl. "Hello, Lana." She returned his greeting softly. "Can you, um, set up a call to Doctor Neely in the conference room? I need to talk to him about his rate of production."

"Of course, Doctor Banner," she replied, beginning to walk down the long hallway to their right. Then she paused, turning back to the two men. "By the way, I think Mr. Stark has very remarkable friends, for you all to be doing this. Thank you."

Bruce barely managed a 'you're welcome', staring at the girl in shock as she blushed and turned around, walking away.

Clint grinned. "Someone has a crush," he sang under his breath. Bruce was pretty sure the young intern had heard it, judging by the way she had quickly ducked into a conference room

"Shut up," Bruce frowned lightly, punching the younger man on the arm.

Suddenly, Steve appeared, leaving a room about four doors down. He smiled softly at the pair, but he, like Clint, looked exhausted. "Doctor Banner, I'm glad you're here."

"Happy to be here, Captain," the scientist greeted, shaking the soldier's hand. "And Barton… I'm sure Tony would thank you for that," he added to the archer. The shorter man seemed to catch his reference, and nodded thankfully.

Steve smiled absently, unsure of what that was about. "Alrighty then. Agent, Doctor, let's get this show on the road.

Not one of the three men realized that, within the stress of the next hour, they would all be on first name basis in no time.

AAA

The next day…

Natasha and Thor stared down the man across from them.

"No," he said simply.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Stark, you're going in there, whether you like it or not."

"You don't understand," Tony pleaded. "I'm not ready, I can't face her."

The other two avengers shared a look. "Man of Iron, you must. Lady Pepper aids you in your company running, as you call it."

"This press conference…"

Tony lost it.

"Natasha, I can't! I never knew I could love before Pepper, and then she up and left. Do you know how that feels? Do you know how I felt? Thor over here has the perfect love life, and you… well, you kill men after you sleep with them."

He was interrupted by the slamming of the car door.

"That wasn't the best course of action, was it?" Tony asked rhetorically, staring at the place where Natasha had just disappeared.

"It was not," Thor replied gravely.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Well, we better go then," he said, resigned. Thor grinned at him happily, before leaving the car to open the door for the billionaire. Tony exited, only to find Natasha standing there with a smug grin on her face. Tony deflated; he had actually thought she had gotten hurt by his insult… no luck, he guessed.

The Cancer Center yesterday had been a strange experience. He had briefly forgotten people had it worse then a simple breakup, and the children were delighted to see that two members of the infamous Avengers –Natasha and Clint were still undercover- had come to visit them, of all people. Ironically, by the end of the visit, it was Natasha that got most of the awe, after she showed the children a few moves. Performed on Thor, of course.

The billionaire jerked back into the present. Thor led him inside, Natasha following silently. The second he entered the room, bright flashes ricocheted across his vision, and for a second he felt lost. But then, he felt a hand on his arm, and he looked over to see a calm Bruce smiling shyly, but encouragingly, at him. And then he saw Steve standing on the podium about ten feet away, and Clint keeping back eager reporters.

And for the first time since Pepper had left, Tony felt safe… content. Judging from the looks on the faces of his team members, if anyone dared even talk to him, they would be murdered.

However, seconds later, the feeling disappeared, for a certain strawberry-blonde caught his eye. He choked slightly, and there was a stutter in his step. Natasha placed a calming hand on his back, urging him forward. Swallowing hard, he moved.

Though it passed so quickly he barely understood what he was saying, apparently he gave a convincing explanation as to why he had disappeared for a week. Of course, everyone knew that Pepper and he had broken up, but they didn't have to know how weak he was, mourning her for so long. He bet she didn't even think about him now.

Sometimes he wished he were strong. That he was made of iron, like his suit. Titanium.

Sometimes he wished he were like Steve's shield, like the Hulk, like –seemingly- Natasha. Bulletproof.

One more note-worthy thing:

After the press left, Pepper attempted to speak with him, making her way across the room. Thor and Clint blocked her way.

"Tony, talk to me," she pleaded.

Steve frowned at her desperateness. "Mr. Stark does not wish to speak with you," he replied. "Please go." He nodded to the anxiously waiting Happy at the doorway, obviously not happy that his girlfriend was so pushy.

Pepper glared at him. "Excuse me, Captain Rodgers, but Mr. Stark is the owner of the company of which I am CEO. If he doesn't speak to me, then I can't do my job!"

In a move that Tony was pretty sure was just to piss Pepper off, Natasha snaked her arms around his waist, propping her chin up on his shoulder. "Then do it, Miss Potts. We have no need of you here."

Pepper's face grew red. "If he's going to be CEO again, he doesn't have anyone to help. He doesn't even have an assistant!" She shouted.

Natasha's face, in contrast, grew paler. Thor and Steve had stepped aside, more than a little frightened of the fiery redhead. "Yes, he does," she said shortly. "I am."

Pepper burst into laughter. "You?" she said disbelievingly, after she had caught her breath. "The assassin? You can't even keep your own life in order!"

Natasha moved with such speed that she seemed only a blur. She lunged at the strawberry-blonde, and Clint barely had the presence of mind to catch the assassin around the waist, hauling her back against him. Clint didn't stop her words, though, he didn't want to. "Well, at least I'm not a lying bitch," she hissed, straining against the archer's arms.

All it took was seeing Pepper putting down the woman who brought him back to his feet, and Tony finally spoke up. That was it. He was done.

"You're fired," he said simply, taking both Natasha and Clint by the arm, ignoring the astonished look on Pepper's face. "Get out of my life."

A completely renewed Tony Stark led his family out of the building, and this time, he was smiling for every single picture.

AAA

I will take suggestions for songs, if anyone wants to contribute. Also, if you want to see a character centered, I might be able to make that happen… Except maybe Thor…

Review, pretty please!