Wow! This must be a new record, that´s the fastest I´ve ever updated a story, I hope it doesn´t have too many mistakes! Enjoy it!

CHAPTER 7

Natasha arrived at the laboratory floor of the Avengers Tower. She slowly walked in and saw Bruce, in his lab coat, messing with some chemicals. He looked busy, he had his back to Natasha and didn´t noticed her in the room, her feet were too light and didn´t make a sound as she came closer. She stopped when she was close enough and said softly: "Hi Bruce. I´m glad to see you."

Bruce suddenly turned around and adjusted his glasses up his nose, meeting Natasha´s eyes. He said in surprise: "Natasha! Hi! What are you doing here?"

Natasha narrowed her eyes suspiciously and replied: "Tony called me…he said that you wanted to talk to me?"

Bruce gave her a shy smile, thinking how Tony always messed things up by trying to help. He said awkwardly: "Ah…Tony called you. I´m sorry I didn´t ask him to do that…"

Natasha couldn´t hide the disappointment on her face: "I see." She looked away for a moment, silent cursing Tony Stark for tricking her.

Bruce noticed the disappointment on her face and replied, feeling a little guilty: "Please, don´t get me wrong Natasha. It´s not that I didn´t want to see you…I just…wasn´t ready. I don´t know what to say to you, safe that I´m sorry. I´m sorry for the way I left and for not being who you wanted me to be. I guess that we were just two troubled people looking for a way out back then and…as much I admire you, I don´t love, not like that. I´m so sorry. I hope we can still be friends?" He looked at her with pleading eyes.

Natasha met Bruce´s eyes and smiled a little: "Yes, sure we can be friends Bruce. I think you´re right. We´re just two lost people trying to find a place on this world and…I´m sorry too, for pushing you away from everyone else."

Bruce replied seriously: "Don´t be sorry for that!" He stepped closer and hugged Natasha for a moment and she hugged him back, both feeling a little relieved that they were on the same page.

Bruce let go and looked at Natasha again: "I didn´t run from you, I was running from myself. I didn´t say anything to you because I was afraid that you would follow me. And I think you can´t run from this…" He waved his hand around, like he was showing the place that there were on, then he continued meeting her eyes again: "You belong here, you make a good Avenger and that´s what you should be doing. You´re exactly where you're supposed to be."

Natasha gave a bright smiled at Bruce: "Thank you Bruce. That really means a lot to me, hearing you say that."

Bruce smiled back at her: "You´re welcome. Besides, Tony told me that you and the Captain are doing a great job training the new members of the team. You two work very well together. I guess you´re both meant for this."

Natasha replied proudly: "Yes, that´s true, but Rogers is the better one. He´s a great leader because he knows how to inspire the team without being too soft. And he´s a good person, I really like working with him. Sometimes we have a few disagreements because Rogers and I are completely opposites…Captain America and Black Widow…but in the end, it always works out."

"That´s precisely why you two are such good partners, you complement each other. And you have worked together as partners for some time now, you´ve learned to respect and trust each other, and that is the key for a good relationship." Bruce said and then just looked at Natasha for a moment, wondering if he should say what he was thinking or not.

Natasha noticed that he was staring at her, raised an eyebrow and asked: "What?"

Bruce looked away shyly: "Hum…I don´t if should say this, but…"he met her eyes again: "I think Steve likes you more than just a partner. And he´s just afraid to lose what you two have if he says anything."

Of course that now Natasha knew that Steve liked her, but she looked puzzled at Bruce because she was wondering how did he noticed that: "What makes you say that?" She asked.

Bruce smiled a little: "I had my suspicions, but it became obvious to me at the party that Tony gave here, the one that Ultron crashed…"

Natasha looked at him and nodded, acknowledging that she remembered that day. How could she forget, how could any of them forget the day that Ultron came to life.

Bruce continued: "Do you remember that you and me were talking at the bar, and you´re flirting with me, which at the time I thought you were just being Natasha Romanoff, always with the flirty jokes, but…just as you left, Steve came to the bar and talked to me. At first I even thought that he was going to tell me to stay away from you or something…"

Natasha was listening intently and couldn´t believe what she was hearing, Steve was watching her that day?

Bruce continued: "But he said that we both deserved to win and for me not to wait too long like he did. He encouraged me to be with you, but his eyes looked sad. I guess he just wanted you to be happy and he thought that I was the one that could do that, despite the way he feels about you."

Natasha disagreed, saying seriously: "No Bruce, I think he was probably thinking about Peggy, the woman he loved when he was at the World War II. They never got the chance to be together. He told me about her once."

Bruce shook his head: "No Natasha, the way he talked to me that day, he was sad because he was losing you. Think! Why in a party with that much people, would he be listening to our conversation? I know he has super hearing, but that party was loud, he would have to be really concentrated on what we were saying. Why would he do that, unless he really likes you?"

Natasha was shocked with what Bruce told her. She didn´t even know what else to say. She couldn´t believe that Steve cared about her so much that he was prepared to let her go if it was for her to be happy. The Ultron episode replayed in her mind and she realized that maybe that´s why he seemed to be a little colder toward her at that time, because he was hurt. Because he thought that she was with Bruce. And when the team was down, after the Scarlet Witch played with their minds, he had to deal with his vision alone. She wasn´t there for him, she was with Bruce. Then, when Bruce left and she was alone again, he started to get close to her, and she thought it was all because they were working together. But she was wrong. All this time he suffered in silence. And now, when he finally got the chance to be with her, Bruce came back, and she pushed him away on their way here. She had to tell him that story but, not now, not in the way she did, offering a way out when all he ever wanted was to be with her. And even after all that, he was still there, ready to fight for her. "How could I´ve been so blind?" She thought. She felt dazed with the story Bruce told her as realization hit Natasha like a rock would hit her head.

Natasha was looking right through Bruce when she spoke without much thinking, in a low voice: "He came here with me today…"

Bruce raised his eyebrows in surprise: "Wow! Really?" he chuckled before he continued: "Come on Natasha. You´re better at reading people than me, do you still think I´m wrong?"

Natasha now looked at Bruce, her eyes glassy with tears, and just shook her head in response.

Bruce gently put a hand on her shoulder and said: "Natasha, I know you think you don´t deserve to be happy because of your past, but you´re wrong. You have to let go of all that. Yes it made you who you are today, but it´s not necessarily a part of you anymore. You´re free now. You can do whatever you want and I think you should give him a chance. Maybe he can be what you´re looking for. A partner for life."

Natasha blinked her tears away and hugged Bruce, whispering: "Thank you Bruce."

Bruce replied feeling satisfied for helping her: "That´s what friends are for."

Natasha and Bruce made their way back to the common room to find Steve and Tony talking to each other. Steve sat in an armchair next to the couch that Tony was sitting. Steve saw them entering the room and immediately stood up, but Tony´s mouth was faster than his and he spoke first: "Ah, finally! There is our favorite couple!"

Steve tensed his jaws in anger and glared at Tony, who met his eyes and just smirked at the Captain.

When Bruce and Natasha stopped in front of their friends, Bruce replied shyly: "Hum…not couple no, just good friends." Bruce looked at Natasha, she meet his eyes and nodded at him with a smile on her face.

Tony spoke enthusiastically: "Well that´s good news too! Right Capsicle?" He slapped Steve´s back with a playful smile on his face and Steve didn´t seem to care. He just released a breath that he didn´t even realized that he was holding and a smile appeared on his face too as he looked from Bruce to Natasha. He added: "Yeah, I´m glad to hear that. By the way, nice to see you Dr. Banner." He extended his hand to shake Bruce´s.

Bruce shook Steve´s hands: "Thanks Captain. It´s good to see you too!"

Natasha noticed the small orange stain on Steve´s white t-shirt and said: "What happened there?" She pointed at Steve´s t-shirt.

Steve felt the heat on his cheeks rise as he tried to explain without delivering too much information: "Hum...orange juice accident." He said glancing at Tony.

Tony looked at Natasha: "Yeap! That one was my fault!" He looked back at Steve: "Sorry Cap, do you want me to get you a new t-shirt?"

"No, there no need, Tony. Thanks" Steve met Natasha´s questioning look, but just shook his head lightly, signaling her to keep quiet about it. And she got the message.

Tony said: "Okay! Well, since we´re all here, why don´t we have lunch together and catch up a little. I´m calling my new chef to cook us something special, we´ve gotta celebrate our friendship while we can, before some bad ass super alien guy decides to destroy the world or something, right?"

Natasha was in a good mood, knowing that she could move on from Bruce now that their situation was resolved in good terms. So she felt like an afternoon hanging out with her fellows Avengers would be nice, so she replied: "Yeah, sure. It´s our day off anyways…" She looked at Steve and gave him a half-smile.

Steve met her eyes and couldn´t help but to smile back at her, because he felt happy and relieved that Natasha and Bruce had agreed in staying friend.

Steve´s smile was a sweet and genuine smile that made Natasha´s heart melt. She just wanted to run to him and kiss him, but she contained herself for later.

Natasha played cool during the lunch and through the rest of the afternoon at the Avengers Tower, and just exchange a few looks with Steve now and then, keeping her distance from him because she noticed that Steve was having a hard time being near her without being able to touch her. He looked like a cat on cage, he was restless. So she always sat as far as she could from him, just to make sure that he wouldn´t ruin their cover.

Of course she didn´t know that Steve sort of told Tony about them earlier and Tony caught up to their game at some point. He tried really hard not to say anything about it because he was afraid that he would ruin the Captain´s chance with the spy and he was his friend, he wanted the old man to be happy. Also, he was sure that Steve would punch his face as soon as he spoke up. Getting punched in the face by Captain America without his armor on would not be pretty. So, as hard as it was for him, Tony just observed the couple in silence.

When Steve announced that it was getting late and they should be going, they all said their goodbyes and as soon as Natasha and Steve got into the elevator, Tony jumped out from the armchair he was sitting and ran like crazy for his tablet that was on the kitchen´s counter. He quickly picked it up and strode back to Bruce.

Bruce was sitting at the sofa, watching Tony with a confused look on his face: "What the hell are you doing Tony?" He asked.

Tony sat beside him, lifting his tablet on his hand so that Bruce could see the screen too, and replied eagerly: "I just want to show you something."

Meanwhile, Steve and Natasha got out of the elevator in the garage level and were heading to Natasha´s corvette, walking side by side. Natasha was about to go around her car to get to the driver´s side, but before she could go any further, Steve grabbed her wrist and pulled her to him, spinning her around and holding her small frame against his.

Natasha´s gasped in surprise with his sudden move, but didn´t hold him back, she just lightly leaned her head against Steve´s broad chest, whispering: "Steve…do you know that Stark probably has cameras everywhere in this Tower, including the garage…"

Steve kept his tight embrace on Natasha as he replied: "I know…and I don´t care. I just couldn´t wait anymore to tell you that…I love you Natasha. And I don´t care about what you did in your past, I don´t care about having a nice wife or a house on the suburbs, the kids part…we can always figure that out later. I´m not asking you to marry me, but…all I know is that you´re the woman I want to be with…for the rest of my life if I can."

Natasha pulled away a little to look up at him in surprise. Tears were threatening to fall from her eyes, she couldn´t believe how lucky she was to have someone like Steve in her life, but she was a little mad too because she couldn´t believe that he was saying all those things to her now. She said shocked: "Damn it Steve! I told you I wanted to take things slow! You could´ve waited until later to tell me all that!"

Steve couldn´t help it, he didn´t want to wait anymore. At this moment, he wore his heart on his sleeve because he promised to himself that once he knew he had a chance with Natasha, he would go all the way. He met Natasha´s eyes and said seriously: "Don´t blame me! You were the one that brought this up on our way here. And yesterday, you were the one that said that if we ever get to be old people, you wanted me to be by your side! I´m just saying that...I want that too." He gave her a shy smile.

Natasha knew he was right, so she just smiled back at him and continued playfully: "You know that I´ll probably be a very grumpy old lady."

Steve said with a full smile on his face now: "Yeah, but you´ll be MY grumpy old lady…" he gently took a strand of red hair away from her face.

Natasha melted again because Steve was so sweet: "Oh Steve...If there is one thing that I´m grateful for in my life, it´s you. You know what? To hell with Stark and his cameras!" Natasha put her hands on both sides of his face and closed the gap between them, kissing Steve´s lips with all her passion.

Steve tightened his embrace on Natasha, he smiled against her lips for a moment and then kissed her back, pulling her up a little to better access her mouth and deepening the kiss.

After a couple of minutes, when they finally broke the kiss, Natasha said breathless: "For the record…" she got on the tip of her toes and whispered in his ear: "I love you too, soldier."

Steve laughed full of joy and when their eyes met again, he said: "Let´s get out of here!"

Natasha nodded at Steve, they both got inside her corvette and left.

At the common room, Tony Stark, was watching the whole thing on his tablet with Bruce, and when Steve and Natasha finally kissed, he said: "I knew it! The soldier and the spy are together!" He suddenly became aware that Bruce might be hurt by that scene and glanced at his friend. But instead of looking sad, Bruce was smiling.

Bruce added looking at Tony: "Yeah, I guess they finally admitted they had feelings for each other. I´m happy for them."

Tony let out a breath, feeling relieved that his friend was happy too, and replied: "Oh, good! Because I do think they make a nice couple. Just like me and Pepper!"

Bruce rolled his eyes at Tony: "Yeah, well, you and Pepper have been a couple for a long time, maybe you should consider asking her to marry you before she dumps you and kicks you out from your own company. You know she can do that by now, right?"

Tony looked away in thought for a moment and realized that Bruce was right. Being the CEO of Stark Industries, Pepper Potts had enough power to do that. He didn´t think that Pepper would ever do that to him, but the though of him being thrown out from his own company scared him because he wouldn´t be a billionaire anymore, maybe just a millionaire? He couldn´t have that, and he couldn´t lose Pepper of course! Tony shook those thoughts away and suddenly dropped the tablet on the coffee table. He looked worried at Bruce and said: "We are going out right now! I gotta buy a nice engagement ring for Pepper!"

"What? Now?" Bruce replied in surprise.

Tony stood up: "Yeah now! And I want you to be my best man, by the way, so you gotta help me! Come on Brucie!" He looked at Bruce with puppies eyes.

Bruce chuckled and replied as he stood up too: "Sure Tony! It will be an honor to be your best man."

Tony tapped Bruce´s shoulder happily: "Great! You´ve always been a good friend Bruce, we sort of speak the same language, with the science stuff...but do you know what I like about you the most? You were always a good listener. I know I tend to talk too much sometimes, but you´ve always seems to listen to me more than everyone else. That´s probably a doctor thing, right?"

"I told you before Tony…I´m not that kind of doctor, that´s called a psychiatrist." Bruce replied nonchalant.

"Yeah, but…I hate those kind of doctor, they ask me too many personal questions." Tony said as he made his way to the elevator with Bruce following him.

Once inside the elevator, Bruce answered: "That´s kind of their job Tony, they have to ask personal questions."

Tony looked at Bruce and said: "Pfff…Nonsense. I think you´re better at that because you just listen." He got out of the elevator: "Except when you fall asleep, that´s just rude!" He walked toward his Audi and got in the driver´s seat.

Bruce followed him, shaking his head at his eccentric friend. He got in the passenger´s seat: "Well, some parts of your life are not as interesting as you think."

Tony frowned at Bruce: "Oh come on! There is nothing more interesting than Tony Stark´s life!" He then started the car and said enthusiastically: "For instance, right now, I´m buying Pepper the most expensive engagement ring ever! And you can witness that! And then we´ll have an awesome party to celebrate!"

Bruce chuckled at how Tony´s mind worked and replied: "You know Tony, you´ve got issues…"

Tony smirked at Bruce: "I know! That´s why I´ve got you! My best man, Dr. Bruce Banner!" He drove out of the garage, to the busy streets of New York City.

THE END?

Maybe another chapter with Tony´s engagement party if I get inspired enough to write about it! Writing about Tony is so much fun, I love him, after Steve of course, which leads me to a question: TeamCap or TeamIronman? Tough call, especially because Black Widow is on TeamIronman. I´m so torned! I´ve already bought my ticket! 04/28 at 21:00 I´ll be at the theater in my city to watch Captain America: Civil War! Counting the day for that! I just love MARVEL! Thank you MARVEL for the awesome movies! Also, thank you readers for the support! Bye!