Choose your poison

[redledgerdays]

01. I DON'T LOVE YOU ANYMORE Unfortunately, you can't keep lying to your partner/friend/family anymore. You just don't feel the same for them anymore.
02. I WOULD KILL YOU The person who means so much to you has done something completely unforgivable and now it's time to make sure they know where they stand. You would kill them if you ever got the chance.
03. I LOVE YOU, BUT... A bittersweet love confession. You know you love this person more than anything, but you're not sure you can give them what they need.
04. I DON'T TRUST YOU No matter how you feel about this person, you really can't trust them anymore.
05. SACRIFICE You're going to sacrifice yourself, for the person you're talking with or for the good of all humanity. You want them to know the reasons and that there's no stopping you.
06. TROUBLE You're in trouble and you might not make it through. You need to let at least one person know how you feel before it's too late though.
07. BETRAYAL You've betrayed this person and you have to tell them the truth, no more running from it
08. CHEATED You've been unfaithful and it's time to tell your lover.
09. BROKEN That's it. You've had it. You are entirely broken and tired of everything.
10. AFRAID Something has you deathly afraid and you need to talk about it.
11. HELP ME You need someone to help you, bad. You can't do it alone anymore, you've tried.
12. I'M SORRY You said something or did something horrible and now it's time to ask for forgiveness.
13. YOU WERE A MISTAKE Sorry, but whoever you're talking to was the biggest mistake of your life or maybe it was just something you did together.
14. LET'S RUN AWAY You want to just get out, leave everything behind and be with this one person for the rest of your life.
15. ASHAMED Either you're ashamed of something they have done or something you did, either way you need to bring it up.
16. CAN'T REMEMBER The person standing in front of you looks so happy to see you, so relieved, but how do you tell them you can't remember a thing about them?
17. YOUR CHOICE Either choose an option from above, mix and match, or make up your own idea.

Comments

[tiptoeing]

Bruce shook his head. "I don't think anything's actually damaged...nothing I can feel, anyway. It just...hurts, from the force of the blast. Like I've been beaten up on the inside."

He didn't push anymore about what she was feeling; he knew what he needed to know.

[redledgerdays]

"I don't care; you still need your evals." She sighed and turned toward him. "S.H.I.E.L.D. policy. You're going to need to get used to it."

[tiptoeing]

Bruce smiled again; less wry, and more genuine. "There are a lot of things about S.H.I.E.L.D. I'm going to have to get used to, I think." Because she wanted him to stay, despite everything. Because she thought he was important.

[redledgerdays]

It was a start. To soothing her anger, to moving on, to accepting that Bruce was here and that he mattered enough for that to be important in the first place. Her expression softened, just the faintest bit, and she nodded, starting toward the jet in the distance.

"Is it worth it?"

[tiptoeing]

"Yes," Bruce replied, after considering it for a moment. He had just saved the world, and that felt pretty good. He knew not every assignment would be like that, but it was nice to know he could still help people.

And then there was Natasha. It was worth it for her, too.

Bruce started to follow her toward the jet (after picking up the piece of metal he'd coughed up, since he was pretty sure Fury would want it), and stumbled a bit, his body protesting the idea of any more movement.

[redledgerdays]

His response gave her a smile -- just a tug at the corner of her lips. Natasha brushed at her hair, turning back to answer, and stopped when Bruce stumbled. The idiot, he wasn't well enough yet. Why didn't he just say so?

She was beside him a moment later, bracing him against her shoulder. "Can you make it?"

[tiptoeing]

Bruce nodded, catching his breath for a moment while he leaned against her. It was a bit awkward because...well, he was still very naked. But it wasn't anything she hadn't seen before.

"I think so. I just need to go a little slower." He focused all of his concentration on walking, as Natasha supported him. It was exhausting, and he was already worn out, but he made it to the jet without falling.

[redledgerdays]

The moment they were inside, Natasha grabbed a blanket to wrap around his waist before telling the pilot to head back to HQ. She also told him not to interrupt them until they'd landed as she headed back to where Bruce was waiting, taking a seat beside him.

"I have some rations, if you need them."

[tiptoeing]

Bruce relaxed a little when Natasha found him a blanket to cover himself with, and leaned back against the wall, just closing his eyes for a moment.

"Water? I don't think I can eat anything right now."

[redledgerdays]

She got up to retrieve him a drink, bringing it back a moment later, setting the glass down beside him and resting her hands between her knees. There was a comfortable silence between them, at least from Natasha's perspective, and she took the time to mull things over, to work out what had happened -- what was happening. It occurred to her no one even knew where she'd gone, at least not officially.

If nothing else, it gave them a little breathing room.

"They won't be happy with you when they learn what you did," she said, glancing at him. "You know that, don't you?"

[tiptoeing]

Bruce appreciated the silence, too. He focused on his water, coughing a bit before draining the glass, slowly and carefully.

He didn't have to ask who she meant by they. "You weren't exactly a ray of sunshine about it either," he pointed out, lightly. "I'll explain myself to the others when I have to."

[redledgerdays]

The last time Natasha could be described as a "ray of sunshine" she'd been undercover as a particularly bubbly linguist in a banking establishment. She didn't relish returning to that sort of sentiment.

"They'll be at the base," she noted. "You can't expect them to have just waited at Stark Tower with a note that said I'm sorry."

[tiptoeing]

"I know," he replied, running a hand through his hair. "But I'll tell them everything. Even if it only makes them angrier." He just hoped none of them would actually physically kick his ass. Verbal abuse he could take. And he deserved it.

[redledgerdays]

"Why?" She frowned, watching him intently. "Why tell them everything? You're with S.H.I.E.L.D. now. You're allowed your secrets, Bruce."

[tiptoeing]

"Remember what happened the last time S.H.I.E.L.D. tried to keep information from Iron Man and Captain America?" Bruce pointed out. He'd been on the other end of that too, and hadn't enjoyed it at all.

"But they deserve to know, anyway. If they really want to know."

[redledgerdays]

She didn't buy it, crossing her arms and giving him a look that said as much. "I'm not a computer; Stark can't just download what I saw."

As to their deserving the knowledge, that was debatable. But Natasha was used to a life where the only people who ever deserved anything were those she still withheld information from -- and from whom she had information withheld.

[tiptoeing]

"Trust me, he has more annoying methods of finding out what he wants to know," Bruce replied, smiling fondly. "I don't think I'm up for being poked in the side five hundred times before I spill the beans. And I'm not really up for the argument that would come from keeping details from them, either, to be honest."

[redledgerdays]

"I'd like to see them." She was only half serious, because Tony Stark was a force to be reckoned with and she had no real desire to take that on, but she wasn't exactly an open book. It might have been fun to see which of them broke first.

Natasha leaned back against the wall, tucking a strand of hair back and staring at the ceiling. "Then maybe you should have been upfront from the beginning."

[tiptoeing]

Bruce sighed. "There wasn't time. And even if there was, they would have stopped me, too. I couldn't let that happen."

He glanced over at her. "I don't want them placing the blame on you, Natasha. Or even on Fury. It was my choice to do what I did."

[redledgerdays]

That was almost insulting, if attempting to be sweet. "I don't need you to protect me, Banner." She set her jaw. "I don't care if they blame me."

[tiptoeing]

He shrugged. "I'm not protecting you, it's just the truth. Besides, they're probably going to be angry with you anyway."

She was responsible for recruiting him in the first place, he couldn't argue that. But he would argue if they blamed her for the risk he took.

[redledgerdays]

That wasn't the same thing and he knew it. Natasha glared. "You can leave if you want. No one's making you stay."

[tiptoeing]

"I didn't say I was angry with you," Bruce countered, rolling his eyes. "I'm not. And their opinions about me being at S.H.I.E.L.D. wouldn't change mine. I'll only leave when you really don't want me to be here."

[redledgerdays]

That was vaguely uncomfortable and Natasha stood, not knowing how to answer. She wasn't used to caring about others -- and certainly not about them realising it when she wasn't willing to voice it. She wanted Bruce to stay -- hell, she'd been terrified when she learned what had happened -- but to hear him say it like that left her feeling exposed. Vulnerable. She didn't know how to react.

And so she didn't.

"Get some rest, Banner. We've got a few hours yet before landing."

[tiptoeing]

Bruce smirked a little bit, considering that a victory point. He was learning a lot about how Natasha worked, and mentally taking notes.

He shook his head though, when she suggested sleep. "I'm not sure that's a good idea," he admitted, even though he was on the verge of passing out anyway.