Unholy (L. L.)

Chapter 1

2012 - Calcutta, India
Bonnie was back in her bedroom, when she heard a child begging for help in the main room. She immediately leapt up and rushed out to the main room. Bruce stood there talking to the girl, and Bonnie stood behind him, waiting to help.
"Bonnie, grab the kit." He told her in English and she did as he said. "We're following this kid, her father's sick." She nods and follows him and the girl through the small town they had made their home as recent. After weaving through crowds and exiting the town, they came upon a small hut. They went inside, and Bruce looked around.
"So where-" The girl leapt out the window, and the two stood there confused.
"Should have gotten paid up front Banner." Bruce said disappointedly.
Bonnie and Bruce turned around to see a woman dressed in all black with crimson red hair step out from behind a curtain. Bruce ushered Bonnie behind him protectively, and the young teen stood there dumbfounded.
"You know for a man who's supposed to be avoiding stress, you picked a hell of a place to settle." The woman said to Bruce, her eyes darting to Bonnie before she focused on Bruce again.
"Avoiding stress isn't the secret." He responds calmly, but his body language was tense.
"Then what is it? Yoga?" She throws back.
"For Bon it is." He said simply. "You brought us to the edge of the city, smart. I uh... assume the whole place is surrounded?"
"Just you two and me."
"And your actress buddy, is she a spy too? Do they start that young?"
"I did."
"Who are you?" Bruce finally asks, as Bonnie peeks around him to watch the interaction.
"Natasha Romanoff."
"Are you here to kill me Miss Romanoff? Because that's not gonna work out for everyone." He was right, Bonnie knew this.
"No. No. Of course not. I'm here on behalf of SHIELD." Natasha says, and Bonnie tenses, hiding behind Bruce more. He sets a comforting hand on her arm.
"SHIELD. How did they find us?"
"We never lost you, Doctor. We've kept our distance, let you train Bonnie, even helped keep some other interested parties off your scent."
"Why?"
"Nick Fury seems to trust you." She says, and Bonnie relaxes slightly. Nick. "But now I need you to come in."
"What if I said no?"
"I'll persuade you."
"And what if the... other guy says no?"
"You've been more than a year without an incident." She points out. "I don't think you wan't to break that streak."
Bonnie fades out of the conversation, lost in thought over the fact that she might be returning to SHIELD.
Has it changed? It's been two years. I couldn't have changed that much.
"STOP LYING TO ME!" Bonnie jumps at Bruce's tone, and Natasha pulls her gun on the two, but doesn't shoot. Bonnie steps back, but Bruce stops her, relaxing again. "I'm sorry, that was mean. I just wanted to see what you would do. Why don't we do this the easy way, where you don't use that, and the other guy doesn't make a mess? Okay? Natasha..." Bonnie relaxes as she realizes Bruce isn't actually mad. Natasha speaks into an earpiece.
"We're good here. Stand down."
"Just us?" Bruce questions. He sighs. "Fine, we'll go. But we have to be allowed to leave afterwards."
"I can't promise you that." Natasha says simply.
"I'm not putting Bonnie into a potentially dangerous situation without knowing she'll get out." He insists. "She's just a kid."
"Bonnibelle will be free to go." Bonnie winced at the use of her full name. "I've been assured of that. From her time with us, and your training, she hasn't had an incident in years." Bruce nodded as Natasha spoke, seeming to calm down significantly.
"Alright. We're in."
-
Bonnie sat next to Bruce on the jet that they were talking to the SHIELD base. She picked nervously at the skin on her thighs, growing more and more anxious as the flight went on. Eventually, Bruce took her hand.
"It's gonna be okay, don't worry." He assures. She sends him a strained smile.
"Thanks Dad." She responds softly, and he smiles down at her in return.
The jet landed an hour later, and Natasha left the craft immediately after landing. Bonnie looked up at Bruce, and he sent her a reassuring smile, before leading her off the carrier. Bruce stumbled off first, running into a few people as he looked around. Bonnie giggled at his clear awkwardness as they made their way to Natasha, who was talking to a tall, muscular, blonde man that she immediately recognized.
"You're- you-" She sputtered out, and Natasha smirks.
"You got some words out of her Captain." She jokes, and Bonnie goes red. Steve laughs and walks up to Bruce, holding a hand out to him.
"Doctor Banner." He said professionally.
"Oh yeah, hi. They told me you'd be here." Bruce responds.
"Is this your kid?" Steve questions, and Bruce nods without a thought.
"This is Bonnie." He introduces, and she waves shyly.
"Word is you can find the cube." Steve tells him.
"Is that the only word on me?"
"It's the only word I care about." Bonnie smiles at Steve's words, immediately taking a liking to him. Bruce seems to share her feelings as well, and sends him a curt smile.
"Must be strange for you, all of this." Bruce says, trying to strike up a conversation.
"Well, this is actually kind of familiar." Steve responds, referring to the militaristic training taking place around them.
"Gentlemen, and Bonnie, you all may wanna step inside in a minute. It's gonna get a little hard to breathe." The ship they were on started to shake as she said this, and Bonnie grabbed onto Bruce impulsively.
"Is this a submarine?" Steve questions.
"Really? They wanted us in a pressurized metal container?" The three of them step closer to the edge of the ship, and they suddenly start to lift into the air. As they rise, Bruce laughs nervously.
"Oh, no. This is much worse."
-
Bonnie followed Bruce, Steve, and Natasha into the control room. She looked around, cautiously eying everyone in the room. There were some familiar faces, and a few she didn't recognize, but she stayed close to Bruce the entire time. Nick Fury walked up to the two of them, extending a hand to Bruce.
"Doctor, thank you for coming." He said curtly, before looking to Bonnie. "It's nice to see you too Bonnibelle." She grimaced once again at her name.
"Thanks for asking so nicely, and Bonnie hates that name." Bruce corrects. Nick nods, acknowledging the information. "So how long are we staying?"
"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the clear." Nick assures, and Bonnie immediately relaxes.
"Where are you with that?" Bruce asks, and Nick leads him over to a console. Bonnie stays where she was, next to Steve. She felt oddly safe with him, almost like another fatherly figure as he had an older eire to him that made her feel protected.
"Agent Romanoff, would you show Dr. Banner and Bonnie to the lab please?" Nick orders and Natasha nods curtly, starting to lead Bruce away, with Bonnie following behind them.
"You're gonna love it Doc. We got all the toys."