It's Not The Same For Us

By NukaCola101

DISCLAIMER: All characters are copyrighted by Disney/Marvel. I own nothing.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is a sequel to my first Bruce/Natasha story "I Only Want to Know What True Happiness Is" (story ID #10006187); you don't have to read it to appreciate this one, but it helps for an overall understanding of how I portray this pairing. Read and Review!

She charged through the woods like a bounding deer. The trees and brush whipped past her, smacking gently against her black cat suit. Her breathing was hard and deep as she continued to flee from the enemy.

I can't believe we botched the mission! Fuck!

Natasha had no time to reflect on the failure of the mission on hand. Her main priority was to find shelter from not only her adversary, but from the rain. Normally for the Black Widow, missions like their current one where a piece of cake. The Avengers would surround the compound, let the Hulk and Thor do their thing (pummel the foe into submission), have Tony and Steve lead the way (if the two of them decided to put their squabbling aside) and have Natasha and Clint perform offense and defense, plus some grab and go for good measure. But something happened. She wasn't sure herself, but somehow an alarm was tripped and more reinforcements came. With the team clearly outnumbered, the group decided to split up and meet at their destined rondevu points.

Alas, as Natasha was en route, the enemy jumped her and tried to slow her down. With ease she took them down, but in doing so caused Natasha to make a wrong turn along her path. Now lost in the night, Natasha had to think fast. With what little supplies she had (and stole), her main priority was to find shelter. It did her no good just running blindly in the dark and rain. As luck would have it, Natasha noticed a cave up ahead.

Perfect!

She sprinted toward the cave, quite relieved. Upon slinking into the opening, she stopped to catch her breathe. Now to make sure there wasn't anything living in here. Quickly opening up her backpack, Natasha pulled out her flashlight and clicked it on. The light hit the walls of the rock and she scanned the area.

Good, nothing's in here.

She did see that there were some dried branches, twigs and leaves scattered about on the floor. It was mostly likely from some type of bedding the cave's former inhabitants had made prior to her coming here. There was just enough to get a small fire going. It was quite damp and cold in the cave and the rain outside wasn't helping either. Once she had a fire going, Natasha was warming herself up when she heard a low growl. She stood extremely still, careful not to make even a peep and bother whatever it was that made the noise.

Oh shit. Cautiously reaching for her flashlight, Natasha placed it on her lap. Maybe she was hearing things; the mind does play funny tricks on you when you are cold and tired. Another growl came. Please let it not be a bear…or a wolf…or anything that might want to kill me in general! With a deep breathe, Natasha turned on her flashlight and shown it straight ahead of her.

Well, the good news was that it wasn't any wild animal. The bad news…it was the Hulk. A not-too-happy-to-have-a-flashlight-in-my-face Hulk. While Natasha was glad to have found one of her team mates, she was also hoping it wasn't the Hulk. Despite he had warmed up to her recently, the mutual feeling between the two quickly faded and now the Hulk had some sort of bone to pick with her. With the limited ability to retain most of Bruce Banner's memories, Natasha knew that the Hulk was aware of her relationship with Bruce (the two had only just started dating)…and it made the Hulk resent her.

OK, I've got to keep this civil until the morning. She thought to herself as she dimmed the flashlight's beam.

"Hulk, am I ever so glad to have found you!" she called out to him. An angered grunt was his only response.

"We'll have to wait until the morning to find the others. If you want, you can sit by the fire and warm yourself up."

Stupid! You know he's got the skin of an ox! The cold means nothing to him.

The Hulk was silent. He only glared at Natasha, his eyes squinting in hate. She felt a ping of disappointment and turned away from the wet behemoth and slumped by the fire. Natasha rung the excess water from wet head and peaked into her bag. There wasn't much for supplies. A few energy bars, the flashlight, an emergency battery pack for a walkie (too bad it didn't match the model the Avengers used) and the lighter Natasha used to get the fire going. It was water-logged and just getting it to light up was a chore. Whatever else she had on her didn't matter. At least Natasha had shelter from the rain, which only seemed to come down even harder outside.

She turned over to the Hulk, who was still in the back of the cave. Why bother even trying to talk to him? Natasha stared at the flames, trying to warm herself up, but to no avail. She wished that there was an emergency blanket in the backpack; at least it would help keep her warm. A rustle came from the darkened part of the cave and another backpack slide across the floor toward her. Natasha looked up and saw the Hulk, who nodded toward it. She opened the bag up and to her joy was an emergency blanket! The Hulk must have grabbed it in a blind rage from earlier.

Quickly wrapping the blanket around her, Natasha felt more comfortable. She gave the Hulk a smile, but he only huffed in annoyance. Brushing this aside, she began to inspect the contents of the newly acquired backpack in hopes of finding anything useful. It was pretty much empty except for a survival knife and a compass (but no map, damn!). Natasha tried to radio her team mates, but realized that the battery was almost dead and the rain kept blocking the signal. She reluctantly shut it off to conserve whatever battery life was left and returned to her spot by the fire. There was an awkward silence between her and the Hulk. He was still irritable, so it was pointless to try and make small talk. And even if he did want to talk, why would the Hulk want to start a conversation with Natasha? He saw her as not only a threat to Bruce, but to himself.

"He's a pain to control, as we are total opposites. The both of us have to share this body and in doing so it's similar to a scale. I control one end, he the other. And if one side is just slightly off, the most dominant personality takes over; throwing the whole system out of balance…I still have a hard time distinguishing what triggers me into becoming The Other Guy, but at least Anger and Pain are the most noted of them." Bruce told Natasha one day when she questioned him about how he and the Hulk could co-exist.

"So I see why you haven't had a lot of relationships."

"Hmm, you're right." He said, not taking his eyes off the scribbles in his notebook. Bruce lifted his head up and looked at her. "But I think this time it will be different, Natasha…at least, I hope it will."

"Bruce…we can make this work…I promise." She said as she took Bruce's hand into hers. He smiled and drew Natasha closer for a kiss.

"I promise too."

The fire was starting to grow low. Wrapping the blanket tighter around her body, Natasha debated getting up to look for more wood in the cave. But that would incur the Hulk, who had his back now turned away from her.

"Hulk…is there any more wood or brush further in the cave?" she asked, hesitant to upset him any further. Silence, but then a stir from the beast.

"Yes." The Hulk grumbled. With a large hand he plopped down some more kindling near Natasha.

Scooping it up, she threw them into the pit and stirred the coals until the flame grew slightly. It seemed the Hulk was trying to make an attempt to talk to Natasha and this eased her worry about the situation slightly. A gurgle came from her stomach, letting Natasha realize just how hungry she was. Thank god for those energy bars! She grabbed one of the bars from the backpack and unwrapped its foil covering. As she began to chew on the bar, an idea came to her. Holding up another bar, Natasha address the Hulk.

"I know it's not much, but if you're hungry you can have this. It should be able to hold you over until tomorrow." She really hoped that the energy bar would act like some sort of peace offering and would make the monster be more receptive of her good will.

Apparently it worked like a charm. With a grunt the Hulk stood. Due to the low ceiling of the cave and his massive frame, the Hulk had to crouch down and shuffle over to Natasha. Once he got closer, he was even more intimidating; leaning forward just to get a good look at the petite red-headed Russian. He took the energy bar from her hand and sat on the other side of the fire pit. With one gulp the Hulk ate the energy bar. "More?" he asked Natasha.

She checked the bags and pulled out three more bars. Natasha handed two to the Hulk and kept the last one for her. As with the previous bar, the green creature devoured them with ease. Natasha wished he would have rationed them.

"Good, but Hulk still hungry."

"I only have one bar left and I know I'll need it later on."

The Hulk gave Natasha a quick nod. The two where quit again, staring at the fire. Finally, Natasha sighed and looked up at the Hulk.

"Hulk…there is something I need to tell you. You don't have to even look at me, but I'd appreciate it if you would listen." Or even slightly listen to what I have to say.

"Uh-huh. Hulk will listen to Tasha."

Taking a deep breathe, Natasha spoke.

"Look, I understand why you and I are not on the best terms right now. You know about Bruce's relationship with me. At first, to me at least, you seemed to be OK with it Hulk. But then things changed. The way you've been acting around me was not the Hulk I had come to know. And yes, I know you are always angry, but this anger…I feel like it's not justified. Why use that energy on me and not on anything else? Am I really that much of a martyr for your anger?"

The Hulk, while not fully understanding what Natasha was saying, did notice the frustration in her voice.

"Hulk angry with Tasha because Tasha no love Hulk. Tasha only love Puny Bruce. Hulk scare Tasha."

It made sense that the Hulk would be jealous of Bruce's affections for Natasha, but for him to call her out on her still-present fear of him was new for the Russian.

"Yes, you are correct. I am still frightened of you. But that's OK."

"Why?"

"Hulk…the only why I'll be over to get my fear is to face it head on. So far, I'd say I'm doing very well. The person I was months ago and now are two vastly different people. And for your comment about how I don't love you…I do."

The green behemoth was shocked. "Tasha love Hulk?" She nodded.

"But it's a different kind of love. I love you for the fact that you will always be there to protect me, to make sure that no harm will ever come upon me. And not just only to me, but for the rest of our teammates as well. You are willing to give up your life for us…and that's something not everyone is able to do."

Whether or not he understood this, Natasha wasn't sure but the Hulk's grumpy demeanor softened slightly.

"I made a promise to myself that not only I would love and accept all of Bruce's faults, I also would love and accept the Hulk as well. You may be a part of Bruce, but you are your own being and I accept you as you are."

For the normally introverted Russian, it was a little awkward to be this open. Natasha hoped that the Hulk was able to understand her feelings about their current situation with one another. She couldn't read his face; he was still stern and somewhat annoyed.

"Hulk understands…some things, not all things. Hulk knows Tasha loves him…different, but still loves Hulk. Hulk OK with Tasha." She let out a satisfied smile.

"I'm glad." She managed to say before a sneeze escaped. Natasha wasn't going to catch a cold out here in the wilderness. Tiredness was also starting to creep in; Natasha yawned as she stirred the fire once more. With a renewed vigor, the Hulk pulled her close to him. Surprised by this sudden action, Natasha looked up at him as the giant comfortably repositioned himself Indian-style on the cold ground.

"Hulk?!"

"Tasha cold, tired. Hulk keep Tasha warm…and safe."

Oh. Sleeping in the Hulk's arms was better than sleeping on the cold, wet ground. Nestled in his arms like a newborn baby, Natasha shifted slightly and as soon as she was content, sleep overcame her.

The morning light crept into the cave and woke Natasha up. Once her eyes adjusted to the bright light, she noticed he was alone. Still wrapped in her blanket, Natasha glances around the cave, wondering where the Hulk was.

Maybe he turned back into Bruce.

Natasha arose and walked to the edge of the entrance of the cave. She did a sweep and saw no one.

Where the hell is he?

"Mornin' sleepy head." A voice called out. Thinking it was Bruce, Natasha quickly turned and saw it was only Clint. He gave her a boyish smile as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Clint!" she exclaimed in joy.

"Glad to see you are still in one piece, Nat."

"How did you find me? My walkie was pretty much dead and the rain blocked out any signal."

"Well, it pays to have Rodgers and his Boy Scout lessons on hand. Followed the trail left by you and the Hulk and stumbled upon the cave here. Say, where is the big guy anyway?"

"Don't know. I awoke alone."

"Maybe he went someplace quiet to be Bruce once more. Still, I'll radio Rodgers and Stark, let'em know to bring the jet."

"I'll go see if I can find Bruce."

"You got twenty minutes, Nat then we gotta hightail it outta here."

As Clint placed the call, Natasha walked a foot or so from the cave, wondering which direction the Hulk went. Heavy footsteps soon filled the air and where coming closer to Natasha. The brush rustled and the Hulk appeared. Natasha was secretly hoping it was a de-hulked Bruce, but she gave a friendly hello to him.

"Hulk, Clint is here. He's calling Steve and Tony and they'll be here with the jet pretty soon."

"Good. Breakfast for Tasha and Clint." Clint had just come to get Natasha when the Hulk dropped a massive blueberry bush in front of them.

"Whoa! Uh, thanks big guy." Clint said, and then whispered to Natasha "He pulled up the entire bush from the roots!"

"Thank you Hulk, that was very nice of you." She told him. He then beamed with pride. "Hulk happy!"

"Oh boy…" Clint muttered to himself as he began to pluck berries from the bush; he didn't want to be on the receiving end of a punch from a disgruntled green monster.

Within the window Clint had said, Steve and Tony arrived with the jet. Since it wasn't equipped to carry the Hulk, they had to figure out how get the green giant to calm down. And in typical Hulk fashion, he grew stubborn and was about to put up a fight when Natasha intervened. She quietly and calmly asked the Hulk if Bruce could come back. After some reassurance, the Hulk agreed.

"Take care." Natasha said and gave the Hulk a gentle, loving squeeze of his hand. The Hulk nodded and walked away to have some privacy.

"At least we remembered to bring an extra set of clothes. I'm not in the mood to see a naked Banner this early in the morning." Tony quipped before seeing the blueberry bush. He thumbed it in question.

"The green guy brought us some breakfast. And I think he's in love with Nat now too!" Clint explained.

"That's great news!" Steve said, happy to see that his team mates getting along once more.

"But you know what that means now, don't you Cap?" "No, what Tony?"

With an impish grin to Clint, Tony and Clint started to purposely sing off key.

"Tale as old as time/True as it can be…"

Natasha quickly gave the two jokers a glare that would normally put fear into the hearts in just about anyone who would come across the international spy. But not Tony and Clint. Sensing her annoyance, they quickly stopped their impromptu song-along, although they snickered to one another when Natasha wasn't looking.

"Really guys, you couldn't come up with anything more creative?" Bruce was back, holding his too-big shorts over his waist. "It was bound to happen." Was the only retort Tony had; Clint couldn't help but let out a chuckle. And poor Steve was clueless as always; Tony reassured him that they would watch the Disney movie as soon as they got back to help Steve understand the song's context in the given situation.

Once Bruce was in some clean clothes, everyone climbed into the jet and began their flight back to the tower. While everyone else was up in the cockpit, Bruce and Natasha had the rear of the jet to themselves.

"So, how was the Other Guy?"

"A grump like always, but I had a chat with him last night." Natasha said.

"About his behavior toward you? I bet he didn't take it well."

"You'd be surprised Bruce. I think he finally understands where he fits into this relationship."

Bruce smiled. He grasped his hand into Natasha's and gently leaned against her. She smiled back, glad to have both Bruce and the Hulk love her, regardless who was present.

Please don't reject me

In anger or in sorrow

You've got to accept me

If we're to make a better tomorrow

It's Not The Same For Us—Level 42