Let it Snow (B. Banner)

Chapter Twelve

Steve likes to think he is a creative person, he draws, and paints and he has some talent to it, but carpentry is new. But he wants to try. And it is for a good cause. He looks at Neva as she supervises, she smiles a little.

"You don't have to be so gentle with it" she offers. "It's a tough piece of mother nature" she assures him, he nods a little and tries another stroke.

"Like this?" Steve asks trying to copy Neva's instructions, she nods and smiles at him.

"That's great" She assures him as she touches his arm. "They're going to love it" he smiles at her and goes back to his work, she moves on to Natasha and Clint who are arguing over glitter. Neva raises an eyebrow watching them a moment before they realize that she is there. Natasha clears her throat and holds up the doll in her hand.

"Purple or red hair?" Natasha asks, Clint raises an eyebrow. Neva looks between them and takes the doll from Natasha, Neva places her hand over the doll's hair and smirks at them, there is a twinkle in the air and when she pulls her hand back, the doll has ginger hair with purple highlights. Clint and Natasha share a look.

"Both" Clint points out.

"Both is good" Natasha agrees as Neva holds the doll back to her. Neva walks through the others, all engrossed in their own little projects. Thor is covered in silver glitter himself, more on his arms and hands than the toys he's working on. He's making toy hammers, just like his. Neva smiles warmly and chuckles a little before looking at Bruce who isn't enjoying himself as much as the others seem to be. Her features soften slightly as she moves towards him.

"What's wrong?" Neva asks Bruce who sighs a little and looks at her.

"I don't know what to make" he admits. "I..haven't been around children that much..." She takes a seat at his side and touches his arm.

"Bruce, it doesn't have to be this big elaborate thing" she assures him. "It can be...a ball, or...a teddy bear, or a picture, all they will see is the sentiment behind the gift, these children have nothing, now more than ever they have nothing, just anything, something to make sure they know there are people out there thinking of them..." he smiles at her and nods.

"Okay" she squeezes his arm and stands before pausing, she looks back down at him.

"You know, one of the first gifts I ever gave was this wooden duck with wheels to a little girl, she was only five, and her mom was on her own, working all hours to give her daughter the best life she could...." Bruce nods a little. "I saw her again, 70 years later" She admits. "And she still had that duck, the paint had gone and the wheels were broken....but she kept it, she gave it to her children to play with, and her grandchildren" Bruce smiles softly. "She told me that whenever she had a bad day, she'd take out that duck, she'd just look at it, and she'd know that there was someone out there that believed in her, that gave her the strength to keep going, to keep fighting....that's what these toys are to them, that is what they mean to children that have little"

"How old are you?" He asks her, she chuckles.

"Let's just say I have seen many a Christmas" she offers with a wink and then walks away humming a Christmas jingle to herself.

"You're an amazing woman, Neva" Bruce admits, she turns to him and stops humming. "All those children are very lucky to have you believing in them"

"I believe in every child" She assures him. "That meant even you once" Bruce is surprised by that. "All of you" she adds nodding to the Avengers. "Except Thor, he's older than me...but yeah, I believed in all of you, I still do" she smiles at him and nods before this time she does walk away, leaving Bruce to stare after her.

.................

Bruce wraps his fingers around a mug of hot chocolate. Natasha drops into the seat next to him and lets out a breath as she pulls her own drink closer. They're taking a break, just for a moment. Natasha glances at Bruce and then away again.

"I remember when I was seven or eight" Natasha starts, Bruce glances at her. "I had stolen some bread from the Red Room kitchen for one of the younger girls, and as punishment, they stripped me down to my underwear and locked me outside. It was the middle of winter and it was freezing. I honestly thought I was going to die out there...I saw something" She looks at Bruce. "I thought it was some...Hypothermic shock hallucination but now I know it was real" Bruce raises an eyebrow, Natasha nods at Jackie who is laughing with Tony. "Jackie Frost was there, she saw me crying, and she stayed with me, gave me a cloak, and socks, and a long jumper dress, she made sure I was warm, and she spoke with me, played with me, sang Russian songs with me...I went to bed that night, smiling, that was....that night was the only night I went to be smiling, because of her. But I remember something else about that day...Jackie told me, she told me that her daughter had seen me crying and didn't know how to help me"

"Neva" Bruce offers, Natasha nods.

"Neva told her mother that I was upset, and Jackie came to me and made sure that I survived that day, she told me that she believed in me. I fought harder after that, pushed myself to become the best, because knowing that there was one person out there that believed in me, even if it was all in my head, made me stronger, and it stuck with me, even in my darkest hours, I thought about that day, about her, and it brought a light with it...but it wasn't just Jackie that believed in me...she wouldn't have even been there if it wasn't for Neva" Natasha looks at him. "You've picked an amazing woman to have the hots for, Bruce" Bruce shoots her a look, she smirks. "A woman that brings out the best in those around her, look..." she nods to Tony who's quiet and concentrating on the toy in his hand. "Look at how hard he's working, how serious he's taking this. And us, when we were talking about what to do, none of us doubted her or her reasoning behind why she wanted our help." She lets out a breath. "We are a suspicious bunch" She teases, Bruce smirks and nods in agreement. "But none of us even questioned her, except for Tony, but I think it wasn't suspicion with him, it was genuine curiosity, it was a mystery for him to solve," Bruce glances at Tony who is now watching two elves fight over a paintbrush. "She's a good woman, she's good for you" Bruce glances at Natasha. "I can see it, when you're around her, that constant fear in your eyes....vanishes and you look...younger, you look...happy."

"I feel it" Bruce admits. "Around her, it's like...."

"Everything bad disappears" Natasha offers, he nods. "She's a creature of joy, everything about her is...happy, I don't think it's possible to feel bad around her...I think, if we could manage it, she would be a good addition to our....little team"