Never Give Up On You

Chapter One: The Past Haunts

"Lia! Lia! Come on!" A small hand reached out and grabbed hers, pulling her along.
"Alexi! Slow down!" A voice that she vaugely remembered as her own.
"Nah! We've got to go now!" His voice came back to her, he was determined. They were running, she didn't know where to, but they were running, they had to.
Then she fell forward, losing grip on his hand.
"Natalia!" He screamed, turning back and starting to run to her.
"No Alexi! Run!" She shouted, she couldn't move, he needed to go.
"Natalia!" Two people came out of nowhere and grabbed him, picking up his small body and dragging him away...

A shrill beeping jolted her from her dream, causing her to sit up, panting for breath.

"Aleksandr." She whispered, running a hand through her auburn hair.

"Are you alright Miss Romanoff?" A robotic, yet human voice asked her. Then Natasha remembered where she was.

"I'm fine JARVIS, just a nightmare." She spoke into the darkness, her voice coming under control. She was in her room in Stark Tower.

"Your heartrate suddenly accelerated, I took the liberty of waking you. " JARVIS explained, sounding almost apologetic.

"Thanks." Was all she said. She could almost tell he wanted to say something else but remained silent. For a moment Natasha just sat there, her hands on her knees. going over the dream, well memory she had relived.

Aleksandr Romanoff was three years her junior, they had been recruited together. But early in life a patten had been set. Where Natasha was excel, Aleksandr, or as she called him, Alexi, would falter. It had come to the point where they were going to seperate the sibilings, their attempt at a duo assassin team failing for a time being. So they had tried to run.

And she had failed him...

Natasha sighed and kicked off the covers. grabbing a rob to throw on over her tank top she walked out of the room, wandering down the halls of the Tower.

She looked out at the rest of the team with a small smile. Steve was there again, he had fallen asleep watching tv, it looked like it was one of the Star Wars movies.

Tony was in his lab, several diffent screens all up at once, he seemed to be arguing with JARVIS, and enjoying it. Clint was actually sitting in a corner, enjoying the scene without Tony even realizing it.

Thor was even here, instead of in New Mexico with his girlfriend he was in the kitchen, eating heavens on knew what.

At last she wandered around the corner to where the last member of the team was.

Bruce was working on some sort of thing quietly, his back to her, as he worked over computers and formulas, his glasses perched on the bridge of his nose.

"So this is what you do for late night fun." She commented, leaning against the doorjamb, a smirk on her face. He turned and regarded her with a small smile.

He took in her appearance, her red hair was in slight disarry, the robe that hung loosely around her body. More importantly, the haunted look in her eyes that she was trying to mask with her dry humor.

"Trouble sleeping Natasha?" He asked simply. turning around fully and leaning his left hand on the desk behind him, his right moving to take the glasses off his face.

She didn't answer him, instead she walked over to where he was leaning, looking over at the screens.

"What are you working on?"

"Some old equations Tony and I worked up." He answered, turning around to point out a few lines. Knowing she would understand at least half of what the displays spoke of.

"You mind if I help?" She asked, her eyes still on the numbers in front of her, but Bruce could see the tension in her shoulders.

Bruce's expression went soft and he shook his head.

"Not at all." He pulled out a stool for her sit on and handed her a stack of papers along with one of the portable screens. She gave him a smile and squeezed his hand as he passed her the supplies. Conveying without words her thanks.

After that Bruce mostly left her alone, figuring whatever past demon had driven her from her bed needed to be worked out in her mind. He was just there to offer her company and comfort if she wanted it.

About an hour later he glanced over at her and had to smile at the sight. Natasha had passed out, her head pillowed on her arms, the papers scatter and crumpled beneath her. A pen still clutched in one of her hands.

"Natasha?" He whispered, his hand coming to shake her shoulder slightly. She shifted and groaned slightly, but didn't open her eyes. Bruce chuckled and shook his head. He leaned down and used his hands to gently grip her shoulders and pull her into a sitting position. Before she could slump backwards onto the grond his one arm snaked around her shoulders, while the other went under her knees. Lifting her up and carrying her bridal style back to her room.

Natasha positioned herself better in his arms but remained asleep. Bruce made it half way to her room when a voice spoke up behind him.

"Having a late night run huh Big Man?" Tony asked, leaning against the wall with a smirk.

"Tony, quiet." Bruce answered, with a small roll of his eyes, his grip shifting on Natasha. Tony gave him a innocent smirk and pushed off against the wall.

"Yeah, yeah. You need a better stealth mode Banner." He called over his shoulder before disappearing down another corridor. Bruce watched his friend for a moment before he turned and continued on his way.

'JARVIS?" He asked softly, and the door opened with a silent hiss. Bruce genlty laid Natasha down on the bed, pulling the robe away from her, and hanging it up on the hook nearby. He pulled the blanket over her and turned the light down.

"Goodnight Spy Woman." He whispered, kissing the side of her head softly before getting up and walking out of the room.

He glanced back before he shut the door. Maybe tomorrow he could get her to open up about what parts of her past had resurfaced this time...