Chapter Text
[Nat’s sitting on Bruce’s bed, flashbacks to the Red Room, Nat closes her eyes. Flashback to hulk’s destruction, Bruce opens his eyes. He’s shaving. Cut to Bruce opening the door with his towel wrapped around his waist. He jumps slightly when he sees Nat, and she lets out a small chuckle]
Bruce: I didn’t realise you were waiting
Nat: Yeah, didn’t realise you frightened that easily
Bruce: I’m a little preoccupied right now… if you came for a shower, I used up all the hot water
Nat: Guess you deserved to be scared after all
Bruce: I think I’m better at scaring people than you are
Nat: What-
Bruce: The world just saw the hulk. The real hulk for the first time. Now i have to leave
Nat: Bruce if you leave, I can’t exactly stay either
[They are both silent for a beat, Bruce doesn’t know what Nat is getting at]
Nat: I had this um dream, the kind so vivid it seems you’re not even dreaming but eventually you’ve gotta wake up…
Bruce: What dream?
Nat: That i was an avenger. That i was anything more than the assassin they made me. That anyone would ever see me as such.
Bruce: I think you’re being hard on yourself
Nat: You’re one to talk. All I’m asking is for you to just let me leave with you…
Bruce: Are you out of your mind?
Nat: I want you to understand that-
Bruce: Natasha. Where can i go? Where in the world am i not a threat?
Nat: I scared you literally just by sitting still, you’re not a threat to me
Bruce: You sure? Even if I just…. I mean you don’t know what’ll happen to me in the future. I don’t know how my body will react to the Hulk in a few years there’s so many factors to-
Nat: So? I’ll help you figure it out. And I’ll be a good ally, my body’s had to endure a fair bit as well… in the Red Room where I was trained, where I was raised um they have a graduation ceremony. They sterilise you. It’s efficient. One less thing to worry about. One less factor to compromise a mission. Makes everything easier. Even killing. And they do it to kids. I’m not gonna sit here and pity myself when I’ve picked myself up from it, when I know that’s not the life I wanted anyway. But I still lost the ability to have a choice, and that’s not even the tip of the iceberg… you still gonna try and convince me you’re a monster when I’ve had to deal with them?
Bruce: So what, we just disappear? Run anywhere?
Nat: I know places. Places we can both be happy. Where people will accept who we are. ALL of who we are. Places where we can see people, make lives for ourselves. And we’ll do it together.
Bruce: I think I can get on board with that…