Bruce returns

[wearebothangry]

 Bruce wasn't big of mea culpas, asking for forgiveness was stressful and in the early days any kind of stress was dangerous. He hadn't wanted to return to the tower, but Tony had made it clear that he wasn't going to do this mission without his science friend and so Fury had tracked him down and basically laid out the terms. So here he was in the main room nervously looking around and trying not to remember the last time he was here and what had happened after. He embraced the hurt because it kept him focused on the mission and not his fears. 

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[wearebothangry]

Bruce was glad he had much better control over the other guy then he did a few years ago. It allowed him to stand there and take the punches like a champ without a shade of green. "Do I look happy," he asks softly, "Do you think I wanted to leave without saying goodbye. I didn't. If there had been any other choice we would have taken it. But we both knew the second that plane landed and we stopped being useful we would have been locked in a cage."

"Natasha...I love you....I tried not to, thought it I denied that you were interested nothing would happen. I was wrong and leaving you was the hardest thing I've ever done. And yes that includes leaving Betty."

[msromanoff]

I love you is what pulls Natasha out of her grief filled stupor. She pushed away from him then, putting distance between them.

"No, No NO! You do not get to say that to me right now. You do not get to come in here, tell me you love me, and everything will be okay."

She sat down hard on the floor. "You really fucked me up. I was more honest with you than anyone ever. You know things, even Clint doesn't know, and you burned me."

"We are not alright now. Do you get that?"

[wearebothangry]

He nods, the sadness in his eyes seeming to deepen slightly. "I understand," he says his voice soft and even, "and I never said everything was going to be okay. I know it isn't. I left all of you and it hurt. I'm amazed Fury even cared enough to hunt me down for this mission. There are a dozen scientists who can do what I can do. I know what they need is the Hulk not me."

[msromanoff]

"So what? You're giving up on me?" She spat out looking up at him. She could see the sadness in his eyes, but it mirrored her own so she wasn't going to give in to it.

These Kids need Bruce Banner not the Hulk."

[wearebothangry]

"I'm not giving up, just giving you space," he says, "the next move in this little dance of ours is yours Nat not mine."

[msromanoff]

Natasha looked up at Bruce, her eyes glassy, but she was trying so hard not to break down.

"I should kick your ass from here, back to where you came from," She said softly, and somewhat defiantly. "Did I mean anything to you?" She asked standing up.

"You are not putting it back on me. You left. I made my choice. The choice is yours. Am I worth fighting for?"

[wearebothangry]

"You meant so much to me," Bruce says softly, "I let myself feel for the first time in years. Since Harlem actually. You are worth fighting for I just needed to figure that out." He gives her a hard look. "I wasn't about to do that thinking in a cage Natasha. I have a right to my freedom."

[msromanoff]

"Meant?" She repeated looking up at him. "Does that mean that I don't mean anything to you anymore?"

"I agree," She said, looking away from him now, because it hurt to much to think about what she lost.

[wearebothangry]

"You mean just as much to me as you ever did," Bruce says, "but like I said the next move is yours. I love you but do you still love me after what I've done."

[msromanoff]

"Did you want to leave?" She asked, still looking up at him. "No, the next move my dear, adorable doctor is yours. You owe me. I want to be wooed," She said as she gracefully jumped up, sauntering his way.

"Check and Mate"

[wearebothangry]

He raises an eyebrow at her with a slight smile in place. "How does one woo the great Black Widow," he asks warmly, "you don't seem like the flowers and candy type of girl."