Make You Feel My Love
~Book III~

Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers nor do I own the plot of Age of Ultron. All rights go to Marvel.
All I do own are my own characters and their stories.

~Chapter 21~
The Dark Knight

The Quinjet landed back at the Avengers Tower again after a flight that felt shorter than it was. Tony was on his way to Norway on his own and Steve's small group was only supposed to deliver Bruce to safety again. Though as Bruce made his way off the Quinjet and inside of the Tower, the Quinjet didn't take off.

Maria glanced over at Natasha with a confused look on her face; not understanding anything. Clint and Steve hadn't moved from their positions, so who were they waiting for?

With a sigh, Natasha stood up and walked over to Maria.

"I think it's better if you stay here too."

Her words repeated in Maria's head over and over again as she stared at the assassin next to her. Not only had Steve rejected her, but the team was going to start rejecting her now too?

"Why?" she asked quietly.

"You can't concentrate when you're in this state. And your sword's gone; you have no weapon to attack Ultron with," explained Natasha. "We all figured it would be better if you stayed."

"You all had a conversation about this?" asked Maria, beginning to feel more and more upset by the second. "About me and the state I'm in?"

"Maria, please," said Steve from where he was seated, looking over at her; saying the first words ever since their break-up two days ago. "Don't make this any worse than it already is."

"Yeah, you going behind my back and talking about me and my feelings is pretty bad. But what's worse is that you all think you can make decisions for me. I'm not leaving this Quinjet. Period."

With slouched shoulders and a defeated look on her face, Maria watched as the Quinjet took off from inside the Avengers Tower. How had they convinced her, you ask?

Well, they hadn't. But when Maria felt the anger rise more and more between her and her fellow teammates Clint, Nat and Steve; she figured the best thing to do was cooperate as she knew the last thing she needed was another fight. They had a point when it came to her lack of a weapon seeing as she doubted daggers were going to do much against a metal man. Then again, she could fight Ultron in other ways. Or at least help Helen Cho in whatever way she could.

But anger was, and always would be, the emotion she feared the most and seeing as she had felt anger quite a lot lately and let herself be influenced by it (her hateful comments towards Steve after Wanda's little tricks), she wanted nothing more but do as they told her to guarantee no more anger would be a part of her week.

Bruce walked up to her quietly, his hands in his pockets. It wasn't until the Quinjet was a little, black dot far off in the horizon, that either of them walked away from the window. They walked together, in silence, to the trashed living room. Plastic sheets had been put up over the holes in the wall to ensure that no rain would enter the building, but apart from that, the place was untouched.

"Now you know what I feel like most of the time," said Bruce, dusting off some of the sofa before sitting down.

"We don't leave you behind because of your emotions though," replied Maria as she joined Bruce on the sofa. "Well, technically we do, but it's still not the same."

"I know," replied Bruce with a sigh. "Just so you know, I was against the meeting."

"You had a formal meeting about me?" asked Maria, looking at Bruce with an unsettled look in her eyes. "Do I seem that unstable to you all?"

"Maria… Last night you stayed away from us all. Barely spoke a word. Not to mention you look pale and tired," said Bruce with a troubled look on his face. "And just now on the Quinjet, you stared at the same spot on the floor the entire journey. I think giving you a break from the mission was nothing but a loving action. They didn't say anything bad about you behind your back. Steve was just worried."

"Oh, Steve was worried, was he?" asked Maria sarcastically, though her sarcasm was left hanging in the air awkwardly as a longing pain took over her entire body. "Of course he was… This break-up is stupid."

"You said it," agreed Bruce.

"But we can't just take it back, can we?" asked Maria, more to herself than to Bruce. "Besides, if we did… Would it be the right choice? I've never heard of any relationship that was healthy when it came to two people in our line of business."

"I don't think there's been a couple like that," added Bruce quietly.

"The only relationships that work, are the relationships between the good guys and the bad guys," she said, lifting her feet up on the couch and wrapping her arms around her legs.

"It's not much more healthy than the one you're in now, trust me."

"Feels like it is…"

Bruce didn't say anything else, a comfortable silence hanging over the two of them as they both contemplated what they had just been talking about. Maria hadn't really thought about it like that before. She had been too high over heels with Steve to realize that maybe, even though they passionately loved each other, them being in the same business was what was keeping them from being able to move forward. Then again, maybe she hadn't been thinking about it like that because it never had been a problem. And it still wasn't; all that was a problem was the insecurities that Wanda had made come up to the surface of their minds.

It was a confusing problem and Maria doubted it would ever get fixed again too.

"You know what helps when you feel down?" asked Bruce, breaking the comfortable silence that had been hanging over them like a cosy little sheet. "Watching ones' favorite movie."

"I'm not going to watch a movie while the rest of the team work on defeating Ultron," stated Maria, shaking her head.

"Well, what else are you going to do? Sit and wait for them to arrive? That can take hours, maybe even a day," said Bruce.

"I'll wait then," mumbled Maria, resting her head on her knees as she continued to stare ahead at nothing in particular.

"Maria," pressed Bruce. "This is what the team wanted for you. To take some time off and I'm here to ensure that you do so."

Maria glanced over at Bruce, biting down the snappy comment of the actual reason behind why Bruce had been left behind as the mere thought of hearing herself say something awful like that to Bruce hurt her heart. Instead, she sighed, looking away from Bruce though not replying; much to his dismay.

"Maria, come on," urged Bruce as he stood up, grabbing her hand and pulling her up from the sofa.

"You're stronger than you look," commented Maria with a smile before she sighed again. "I can't do this. It feels wrong."

"I'm gonna say exactly what Tony would say in this sorta situation," said Bruce, turning to her and putting on a pout as he began his Tony impression. "'Think of it as doing something wrong as a teenager. You do it, you feel guilty, you feel happy and you don't tell anyone. That last part being the thing I want you to remember.'"

"That was the most awkward thing I've ever seen," said Maria before they both chuckled.

"Batman, the Dark Knight, right?" asked Bruce as he began walking up to lab.

"Uh… Yeah - how did you know?"

"Steve told me."

With a cozy jumper wrapped around her suit, Maria sat down next to Bruce on the sofa they had managed to move up the stairs and into the lab. It had taken them an hour to get the sofa to where they wanted it to be; and it had successfully managed to get Maria to think of anything but her pain. In fact, for at least an hour, she had felt as though everything was back to normal again. Though once the movie started, the flashy sight of Gotham appearing on the big screen, Maria realized once more that it was indeed not okay. Her heart longed to have Steve next to her (she knew this wasn't a kind thought) instead of Bruce just like it was the last time she watched this movie. She wanted to lean her head against Steve's shoulder, feel happy again and never have to worry about anything again.

Though life wasn't easy.

"Is that the Joker?" asked Bruce.

"Yeah," she replied quietly. "He'd never let his goons do it for him. He likes the stuff too much."

"You feeling any better?"

"Bruce, we've seen like… five minutes of the movie."

"Yeah… right."

.

"He reminds me of you."

"How?" asked Maria amused.

"The dark suit… The bad-ass fighting-"

"Well, I'm not Batman," chuckled Maria.

"-The dark voice."

"Hilarious."

The end-credits rolled. Once the action had begun, neither of the two had talked at all. Although Bruce hadn't seen any Batman movie ever, he still enjoyed it thoroughly. He was a bit annoyed with how the life of a superhero was portrayed. As though they were above everyone else and had a sour life. Though he agreed with the fact that, probably, some superheroes actually lived like that.

His eyes travelled over to Maria when this thought occurred to him. She was sound asleep. Her face, paler than ever, looked calm and stress-free. The land of dreams was probably the only place she felt at home at the moment.

Bruce didn't have a stable home either. He lived with Tony at the moment, though where was he supposed to go after that didn't work anymore? Live somewhere on his own? Doing what?

He shook his head, shaking those thoughts away from him. He'd deal with that, when the problem would turn into reality. Placing a blanket over her sleeping form, Bruce left Maria alone in the lab, glancing back only once to see her stir in her sleep slightly before drifting off again.

"Maria."

She had been walking down the street to where she and Steve used to live before, two bags of groceries in her hands and a smile on her face. Her idea had been to make a nice dinner for him when he returned back home; though that plan was soon crushed.

Taking her away from the dream (she hadn't been aware that she had been dreaming until this happened) was a red hand grasping her shoulder. She didn't wake up, though she was pulled away from her dream and put into a strange place. Her surroundings were red and foggy and although she knew she was standing up, she could feel that she was lying, curled up in the sofa; probably looking sound asleep to whoever saw her body.

A figure appeared suddenly, sitting down in a chair a few feet away from her. It was clouded due to the fog around her though she was drawn to it.

"Maria."

Whoever was sitting in the fog was calling her name and she slowly started to move towards him or her. Whether she was walking or not was hard for her to figure out seeing as she could see her feet move underneath of her, though also still feel her legs curled underneath of her from where she was sleeping on the couch. Whatever way she was moving, she was moving fast and soon she could see the figure clearly and was standing in front of him.

She realized the figure hadn't been sitting down by choice as he, an elderly man, was sitting down in a wheelchair. Over his head, which was shaven clean from any hair, sat a strange helmet with several wires attached to it and Maria kept staring at him. His eyes were still closed, though the moment he opened them, everything around her became clearer and less red. Maria deduced that she was seeing everything through his eyes, in some strange way.

"Who are you?" she asked, her voice sounding distant and strange to her, though the man understood him.

"I am a friend. Professor Charles Xavier of the Xavier school for Gifted Youngsters."

Maria watched him, tilting her head slightly to the left.

"I have been watching you, as I have watched many other young mutants like yourself."

"Why?"

"You have powers you are not yet aware of. If they are discovered too late, they may not be controllable. I want to help you."

"I don't understand. What powers? My healing powers? 'Cause I can't do much with them."

"No, my dear. I think you know, deep down, what powers I am talking about. You're father has them. And you inherited all of his powers if not even more."

Maria was about to ask him again what he was talking about; when the Professor cut her off.

"We cannot talk like this for too long. It drains me. Besides, someone is looking for you. You have to wake up soon. But I want you visit me out after your mission is over."

"You know of Ultron?" asked Maria quietly. "If you have these powers – Where is he?"

"Ultron is everywhere. But I cannot help you with your mission. Your path is your own."

"But, sir-"

"We will talk after your mission. I'll send someone to seek you out. I think you may have quite a lot of questions for me. Good day, Miss Dalton."

The fog took over again, the Professor disappearing from her view. Though this time, the fog became so intense, it nearly frightened her. There was nothing but the color red that could be seen and had it not been for the soothing knowledge that the Professor didn't want her dead, seeing as he wanted her to seek him out after the missions, Maria would've become quite terrified.

Though after a couple of moments in the silent redness, Maria awoke with a start. Her entire body tensed and she threw herself up into a sitting position, gasping at what she had just been through. Questions swiveled through her mind; What was this school he had talked about? Did he know her father? How long had he been watching her? How was he watching her?

"Maria?"

She gasped again, turning around with a start and seeing Bruce standing in the doorway to the lab, his hands up to calm her down.

"Sorry, didn't mean to startle you," he said awkwardly. "But, Tony's back and the Quinjet's back soon too."

"How long have I been asleep?"

"Twelve hours," replied Bruce and, upon seeing Maria's confused and startled face, raised his hands again. "Relax, you didn't miss anything. Besides, you probably needed the sleep."

"Oh, I feel like a complete jack-ass!" exclaimed Maria, standing up and beginning to move over to Bruce, deciding to worry about her strange 'dream' a bit later. "My friends have all been doing everything and I've been here, sleeping and dreaming away."

"It's okay. They wanted you to do this, remember?" asked Bruce, placing a hand on her shoulder as she passed him on her way down to the trashed living room. "Did you at least sleep well?"

"Yeah, but I had a weird dream."

It's a little filler chapter with Maria coping with everything, some bonding with Bruce and stuff. But things will go down from here on now. And I'm so excited to let you guys read it! (sorry this filler chapter sucked, but it's the small things I wrote while away on a mini vacation so it might not make much sense XD)