The Path to the Tower

8.1: The Lonely Witch

The heroes had all limped back to the tower after the defeat of Ultron. It was one of those wins that didn't exactly feel like a win at all. There was too much damage and too many lives lost and deep down at the root of it, it could have been completely avoided. Everyone on the team seemed to carry a level of blame for what happened and no one was quite sure what should happen now.

There were also two new members of the team. Vision the synthetic child of Ultron JARVIS, Bruce and Tony, and Wanda the HYDRA experiment who had defected to help defeat the machine that she bore some responsibility of creating.

There was now more responsibility. The team that had once just been seasoned veterans who knew how to hold their own in a fight now had people who had never really been in one before. People who had powers beyond comprehension and had to learn to control them.

Wanda was lost. Her twin brother's death at the hands of Ultron had torn out a piece of her very soul and she hurt. She didn't know her place in the Avengers or the world in general. All she felt was a constant deep-seated pain.

Of everyone, Tony blamed himself the most. With the blame over what had happened and the pressure from Pepper to retire after the incident with Extremis, he decided to take a back seat. He got to work improving the Tower and making it safer for the people of New York.

Thor had taken his leave again. Concerned about Asgard. To deal with the imbalance of the team Sam and Rhodey had decided to take a more active role. Rhodey was still time-sharing with the Airforce while Sam became a full-time Avenger.

Bruce wasn't sure about his role either anymore either. Coming back from the Hulk after the battle in Sokovia had been difficult. More difficult than ever before and he was facing the possibility that there might come a time that Hulk would take over and Bruce would not be able to get back at all. He tried to focus on work. It was becoming harder and harder to do though because there was a deep-down problem that he had been trying to ignore. He had a crush on Tony Stark. It had been there from the start. The way he'd never treated him like a freak. The way they connected intellectually. The fact he was never scared of him. Even the fact that the Hulk had saved his life once made him feel it. Tony was in a relationship though and so he tried to push the feelings aside.

Natasha and Clint were still pursuing him. More gently than before. Like now their concern wasn't to sleep with him, it was to make him feel wanted and safe. That had the effect of actually putting him more at ease than before. Having them just be with him when he felt vulnerable and not push him made him want them.

"I brought food," Natasha said letting herself into his apartment one night.

He looked up from the paper he was reading completely unsurprised that she was there. Her habit of just appearing places had now become expected. "No Clint?"

"Not tonight. He and Sam have gone out..." She paused and shook her head. "I can't believe they have gotten me to say this." She muttered before raising her head and looking Bruce in the eye. "They're going to be each other's wingman."

Bruce snorted. "Well then. I'm glad for the company."

Natasha relaxed back into the couch. "Mmm me too." She hummed. "Things keep changing. I don't like it."

Bruce put his arm behind her on the couch and Natasha moved in so she was cuddled up against him. He looked down at her with a soft smile. "No? No change at all?"

Natasha raised an eyebrow and smirked. "What are you suggesting, Doctor Banner?"

A soft blush crept up the back of Bruce's neck. "I - I just - I thought maybe... Maybe..."