AN: Slowly getting to the end...

P.S. As I haven't written this earlier, I'll add a little disclaimer underlining how I own nothing of Marvel, of these amazing characters or whatever…This must be such a disappointing and shocking discovery, eh? ;)

Bruce felt a dozen contrasting feelings bubble inside of him - not surprisingly, rage was the strongest.

"I -", he was going to say it out loud, " - my dad killed my mother. That's the image of love I grew up seeing, okay? I don't believe in it!"

She stared at him for a moment, wondering what to let her features show. Then, as she always did with him, she decided for honesty. And he could see pity, and anger, in her eyes.

"I don't remember much of the time I lived with my family - that was also a part of the training of the Red Room.", she said softly. "But I remember being happy", she added with a tiny, crooked smile. "And I am old enough that I have seen glimpses of love and to know that it is possible for some who are lucky enough."

She was staring at him intently.

"We are given a shot here, Bruce. You are an intelligent man" (he blushed at the compliment, bowing his head) "and as you know that maybe it won't work out, you have to give in and admit that it could", she said, accompanying her words with a gentle touch of her fingers to his left arm.

"As much as I care for you and as much as it pains me to say this, it takes two people's commitment to build a relationship…You know how I feel and what you feel. Now you should decide if you want to try and make something from that."

She pecked him on the cheek, holding to that gesture for just a second longer, and left.

.

Earlier

Bruce wakes up with a groan. His muscles feel a little sore from sparring with Steve yesterday, he has slept for just a few hours, sombre thoughts keeping him awake, and, worst of all, his next training session is…in half an hour.

As he takes a quick and cold shower to force his brain to wake up completely, his thoughts go back to something he busied himself with last night, trying to distract himself from his bad mood and finally get some sleep. But he needs to speak with Tony about that, so he scribbles a note before leaving his room.

Steve is already in the gym, jumping all around a boxing bag, sweating.

Bruce would rather be in the lab, letting his mind be completely absorbed into work, discussing theories with Tony on the phone, than here, but he has said he would do this and after what Steve has said…he doesn't want to be the one who runs away - nor to prove that he is by skipping his second training.

For the umpteenth time the words "why have I said yes" form in the back of his mind, but he pushes them back and greets Steve.

Steve smiles his good boy smile at him and approaches him. "Hey, Bruce! I've got good news for you, Natasha's coming back today!", he says.

Bruce's eyes widen in surprise and he quickly moves them to the ground, trying to hide his embarrassment and mixed feelings. Luckily for him, Steve sees that as the doctor's typical shyness (which, as far as women are concerned, he can relate to) and says nothing.

"Oh and, Bruce, before we start", the supersoldier says grasping Bruce's shoulder - with a little more force than either he meant to or than the scientist would have expected - "I wanted to apologize if I have scared you somehow yesterday. I'm afraid my words have been too hard, I hope you understand what I meant."

If it wasn't for his present uneasiness, Bruce would suppress a laugh and think of some jokes to share with Tony in a later moment at the sight of a puppy-eyed Captain America. If there was something to forgive, that look would have convinced him.

"Hmm- No, it's okay. I mean, you're right - about what you said, not about being too hard." And that's why people say I'm a dork. "I- That is something I need to work on", he blurted finally.

Needless to say, he is glad when they get to start the training. At least the first ten minutes of it.

.

After his training, which left his muscles tight and his mind pleasantly clear, and a much needed shower, he can finally get to the lab.

He turns on his computer and calls Tony.

"Hey, you grinchy friend of mine!", is today's greeting.

A low chuckle. "Hi. I've been thinking…what would you do if you wanted to have a backup for everything that is Internet based, without having it connected in any way to the Internet?", Bruce asks.

"Is it a riddle?"

"Nope."

Then Tony is silent for a few seconds and Bruce knows he is interested in the matter.

"It's because of the work I am doing on Ultron. I was thinking…with access to the Internet and the right knowledge, you can hack anything. And nowadays, everything is connected to the Internet, not just those missiles we hid from him. In a way we were lucky he was a megalomaniac and aimed big, but if he had attacked more daily stuff, he might have made a bigger mess - he wouldn't even have needed your drones, that was because he was obsessed with you!", he explains.

"So you want to get the Internet off the Internet?"

"Yeah, something inaccessible from it, completely off-line, so that it would be safe in case the remnants of Ultron I'm working on were to come back to life somehow. And this means there should be no hint of it on the web, so we could work on some alert system so that-" he continues, but Tony cuts him off.

"What is it exactly you have found?"

"He has left…footprints. They are like strings of code, so far I have focussed more on deleting them than on analysis, but I think that collecting and activating them might lead to re-creating his original program - or trigger something he has left behind him."

"So you want to create a safety net?"

"Yes."

"And if Ultron should attack, it would activate and replace systems that are run through the Internet?" Tony finishes for him.

"Exactly", Bruce says with a smile.

"Well, that is an ambitious idea, so count me in. I'd be devastated if someone else's invention replaced the Internet - other than you, man, obviously." Bruce laughs. "Also, that might end up all nineteen-eighty-four-ish and HYDRA-style, either the government will be against us or they'll try to control it. The gov or Google, you know, it'll be a huge amount of data and so, power."

"Yes, I'm afraid s-" Bruce starts to answer, but he is interrupted by a quite familiar and slight cough behind him. He turns to see a stunning woman smiling slyly at him, leaning on the doorframe in her catsuit as if it was the most ordinary thing to do. His breath catches.

"Uhmm, Tony? Can I call you back?" he manages to say as he realizes he has been staring.

"Let me guess, not-so-Little Red Riding Hood has come out to play?" Bruce wants to roll his eyes, but refrains from doing so, so that Natasha doesn't see him. It might sound childish, be he really wants her and Tony to be friends. "Okay, buddy, but don't forget your friends", the billionaire says in a mock-offended tone.

They say good-bye and hang up.

Natasha straightens, taking her shoulder off the doorframe, uncrossing her arms.

"You know," she says in her silken voice, "I love it when you go on scientist-mode and get so talkative."