A red, red rose

Chapter 28

As the women walked further, the roars from the hulk got louder and louder. Charlie got a little bit nervous round the green monster so she found trying to calm him down a little unnerving. Thank goodness for the redhead next to her. 

The hulk appeared in the distance, punching trees and different plants around him. Natasha and Charlie carefully approached Banner, making sure not to make him more angry.

"Hey big guy." Natasha spoke. 

Hulk turned around abruptly and stared at the two women. 

"Sun's getting real low." 

At Natasha's words the Hulk roared, growling as they tried to calm him down.

"Come on Bruce, same side remember." Charlie was stood behind Natasha as the redhead raised her hand towards Banner.

After Natasha had managed to calm him down, both of the women decided to give him some privacy. They threw him some clothes and walked a couple of meters away.

"What are you going to wear to Tony's party then?" Charlie asked the redhead.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Natasha teased as she placed her hands on the brunette's waist.

"Oh, so you are going to surprise me." Charlie put her arms on Natasha's shoulders and started to play with the hair near Natasha's neck.

"Yup." 

"I'm looking forward to it." Charlie kissed her and only stopped when they could hear footsteps getting closer to them. "You okay Bruce?" Charlie moved so that she was holding Natasha's hand.

"Yeah, I'm good."

-  

All of the Avengers had made it back to the jet, Steve managing to capture Strucker and Tony finding the sceptre. Clint was lying in the middle of the space, with an IV drip in his arm. Bruce was listening to classical music on his headphones, loudly enough that everyone on the jet could hear it. 

Charlie was sat opposite Bruce with her own music playing in her ears. She looked up when her girlfriend came over to speak to Banner, keeping her music on, not wanting to intrude on what looked like a private conversation.

"Hey, the lullaby worked better than ever." Bruce stopped the music and smiled at Natasha.

"Just wasn't expecting a code green."

"If you wouldn't have been there would have been double the casualties." Natasha smiled at Banner. "My best friend would've been a treasured memory and my girlfriend would have had a snowy funeral."

"You know, sometimes exactly what I want to hear isn't exactly what I want to hear."

"How long before you trust me?" Natasha pleaded with the man.

"It's not you I don't trust."

Natasha smiled at the man and then looked over towards where the rest of the group were standing.

"Thor, report on the Hulk." Natasha asked, hoping to help Bruce.

At the sudden raise of Natasha's voice, Charlie turned off her music and listened in on the conversation.

"The gates of Hel are filled with the screams of his victims." Thor seeing the look on Natasha and Bruce's faces tried to fix what he just said. "But not the screams of the dead, of course. No, no, wounded screams. Mainly whimpering, a great deal of complaining and tales of sprained deltoids and... gout."

Charlie got up and walked passed Natasha. "You asked." She whispered into her ear. "Come on Thor, lets not traumatise anyone else." Charlie started to ask the man about Asgard, which he quickly obliged. Natasha giving her a thankful look from where she was sat.

"Hey, Banner, Dr. Cho is on her way in from Seoul. Is it okay if she sets up in your lab?" Tony spoke up from the pilot seat.

"Uh, yeah, she knows her way around." Bruce said, thankful for the change in topics.

"Thanks." Tony shouted back.

Once Thor had finished his story about how once he almost set his cape on fire, Tony and Steve joined the pair to talk about the sceptre.

"Feels good, yeah? I mean, you've been after this thing since S.H.I.E.L.D collapsed. Not that I haven't enjoyed our little raiding parties, but..."

"No, but this... This brings it to a close." Thor interrupted Tony.

"As soon as we find out what else this has been used for. I don't just mean weapons. Since when is Strucker capable of human enhancement?" Steve added to the conversation. 

"Banner and I will give it the once over before it goes back to Asgard. Is that cool with you?" Tony questioned. "Just a few days till the farewell party that this one wanted me to plan." Tony slapped Charlie on the arm who grinned at him. "You're staying right?"

"Yes, yes, of course. A victory should be honoured with revels." Thor confirmed.

"Yeah, who doesn't like revels? Captain?"

"Of course Steve is going. We need to get him some action. Find him a nice girl at the party, or boy." Charlie raised a suggestive eyebrow.

Steve slapped Charlie on the other arm, "Hopefully this puts an end to the Chitauri and HYDRA. So, yes, revels."

Charlie cheered at the fact that everyone was coming to the party. "I love a good revel."

A/N - Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. And my lord, thank you for the 20k reads, it's unbelievable. Keep leaving comments on these chapters because they actually crack me up. Hope you have a good week and stay safe :)