Disclaimer: The characters, as well as some situations and places presented here are owned by Marvel. I only take credit for the direction and focus of the story.

Note: This story is located in the future, some situations are going to be a bit different. I hope this story will please you.

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November, 2022

New York city

Three years earlier…

"Tony, don't you think of taking another step!"

Pepper's desperate voice paralyzed everyone present, she was not supposed to be there, they had asked her to stay in the northern part of the city to let them know if any of them made an appearance. Dressed in a rescue armor with the best Stark technology, clearly designed by Tony, Virginia approached them.

"No, Pepper! Don't come near!" Tony's voice was weak, but it could not be otherwise "You promised me Tony, you said you were always going to be for me, remember?" by the time Pepper finished saying these words, thick tears ran down her cheeks "I'm doing this for you, Pepper" the others around them watched the scene in silence, there was nothing to say, they knew the seriousness of the situation and that inevitably was about to happen "Tony, don't do this please, I can't lose you" the heartbreaking way she pronounced that, made the heart of more than one of those present hurt, if they did not cry, was because they could not afford a moment of weakness, not when they had him in front of them.

Natasha watched the scene with great pain. She knew what Pepper was referring to. When all this happened, they thought that she would not remember it, but they had made a mistake, although they managed to alter certain events in the past, change several things and return to life in one or another deceased, they had not managed to avoid the consequences of those modifications will affect the present. They tried, they really did, but the key to undoing everything that had happened five years ago was a soul for a soul. And it had been Morgan Stark, the soul that in the beginning, had to be sacrificed, Tony wanted to prevent that from happening, he tried everything, but that had been the price to pay. After this happened, and the time line in which Morgan existed was modified, they had managed to obtain the long-awaited soul stone, but they were not even close to overcoming him. Unfortunately, something happened, which meant that even if all things changed, they could still remember everything that happened. Therefore, Pepper could still remember her son.

A roar caught everyone's attention, they took their eyes off of Tony to try to discover where it came from. A second roar was heard and this time, everyone recognized who belonged. Natasha's heart skipped a beat, she knew what that meant. They no longer had time, he had reached the last barrier and was getting closer to them. There was a moment of silence until a third roar was heard, it had sounded worse than the previous ones, had a lament, like the cry of pain of someone who had been mortally wounded.

"Nobody move!" Steve's unmistakable voice reached everyone's ears. Against their will, Natasha and Pepper were forced to stay where they were, each with her heart in her throat. "Everyone already knows what we have to do, no impulses" he said, staring at Stark "A bad move and nothing will have been worth it"

All agreed with the head and waited to take action. Every second that passes becomes more difficult, the expectation of what is going to happen only intensifies as time passes. It is then, when the environment becomes heavier, that they know that the time for the final battle has arrived. This time there will be no second chances, it is now or never. They look at each other one last time before everything starts, what is about to happen will change the lives of all the heroes, what they didn't know was how much.

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"I need someone to tell me how he is"

"They are still checking on him, the doctor said it was going to be complicated"

"I can't stay here quiet without knowing how he is"

"You don't have another option"

Clint's comment causes Natasha an annoyance, as if he did not know her, she is not one of those who remains without doing something when she is about to lose the people she loves. No, she has never been like that and she will not be now. She doesn't answer to avoid a fight, they have had enough of that. She decides to go to the cafeteria for a bit of water, she is not hungry so it will not take long. While walking, memories of the last few hours are repeated over and over again in her mind.

*Flashback*

The body of one day was one of herbbest friends lies on the cold floor lifeless, with clear signs of war on his face, his suit has spots of blood spilled and his body temperature is increasingly cold. He is not the only one who lost his life in this battle, Thor, Okoye, Nebula, Wanda, Vision and Wong had also run with the same fate. On the other hand, Valkyrie, Rhodey, Sam, Hope and Scott were seriously injured.

"Natasha" Pepper's disconsolate and sad voice makes her look up "They found him, but the situation is delicate" those words are enough to make the spy's heart stop beating "What do you mean with delicate?" the fear of the response runs through every part of her body, she doesn't want to lose him too, she can't "He's very hurt, not only hulk but Bruce, the other guy did not want to let him out, they think that strangely, it's a way to protect Banner, once the transformation is done, it will be the body of him that suffers the consequences, but neither can he stay in that form, the forces of the hulk are running out and that would be dangerous "

The agent remains silent for several minutes, trying to process what Virginia has told her. She doesn't know what to do, her mind is divided, her heart has no strength to fight and her body feels out of combat. "What's going to happen then? We can not leave him like that" she didn't know where she found a voice to speak but by now, everyone was getting strength from where they could "The best option is to make him return to his human form, but the transformation has to be calm, there must be nothing unknown to him, you need to do it, Natasha. I think the time for a lullaby has come"

Wow! She didn't expect that. They hadn't done the lullaby in a long time, they had discovered that if Bruce didn't trust her, the hulk didn't either, so after several unsuccessful attempts they had stopped trying. Although it had not been necessary, there were very few times when Bruce had to give way to his green friend. When this happened, Natasha was only approaching slowly and leave some clothes in sight, what happened after nobody knew, but in a matter of minutes Bruce was with them.

"I can't do it, Pepper, the lullaby hasn't worked again for us"

"You must do it, Natasha, he doesn't have enough strength to make the transformation for himself, the longer we delay, the more painful it becomes for him"

It was all she needed to hear to decide that she would try. She didn't want him to suffer and if she could somehow avoid it, she would do it "Ok, I'll try, but I need you to keep a safe distance, if I want it to work, I need him to trust me."

After a slight nod, Pepper indicated the path. When they got there, Natasha could clearly hear how her heart was breaking. Hulk was really hurt, he had cuts and punches all over his face and body. The eyes closed and a very slow breathing, almost nonexistent. Virginia and other people there were a little behind to give them their space. Natasha sighed and cleared her throat a bit to start talking.

"Hey big guy"

Nothing. There was no answer. She began to doubt if this was a good idea or if it was going to work, but she was already there, she could not surrender at this point. She moved a little closer to the injured body in front of her and took another breath.

"The sun is getting real low"

Holding her breath, she notice how a slight spasm ran through the hulk's body, she did not want to make false hopes, but something inside her told her that the effect was coming. It was then that the body of the hulk began to move with greater force than she realized that it had worked. Not only was she happy because she had been able to stop the suffering that he had, but because the fact that the lullaby had worked, meant that the big guy trusted her again. A small smile settled on her face as she watched Bruce emerge from what was once a badly wounded green body.

*End of Flashback*

"Natasha!" a shout echoed throughout the cafeteria "Natasha wait!" She recognised Clint's voice and forced herself to stop, trying to regulate her breathing, she turned slowly to face him.

"What happens?"

"The doctor just left to give us news"

"What did he say about Bruce? How is he?"

"He just woke up, he's a little more stable than when he arrived, he still has pain but the important thing is that he hasn't had any incident"

"Can I see him?"

"Why do you think I came looking for you? The doctor said that the first thing he did when he woke up was to ask for you"

"You're freaking me out Barton, take me with him"

Unable to hide the happiness she felt, she followed Clint towards the scientist's room, in her mind were forming a thousand scenarios, from the most beautiful to the most terrible. Trying not to think about that, she concentrated only on keeping her nerves out of her body. She took big puffs of air and rubbed her hands together.

They arrived at Bruce's room and neither of them made any movement, they just stared at the door in front of them. "Don't you think to come in? I thought you died to see your beloved" Clint realized that what he had said did not please his friend at all as soon as he saw her look, so, for his own sake, he turned and left.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, Natasha was encouraged to enter. She wished she could remove the image that hit her when she opened the door, Bruce was in bed with several cables and devices around him, he had several band-aids on his face and bandages on most of his body. His breathing was quiet and slow, his eyes closed and his pale aspect made her heart find. It hurt to see him like that, it was something that killed her inside, she understood then that it was because she had never stopped loving him, he always stayed alive in her heart, even though they spent a lot of time without seeing each other, she was still willing to do everything with him.

She approached very carefully until she was standing beside the bed, her hands were burning to touch Bruce's cheek, her lips wanted to come in contact with his. But none of that happened. She just stared at him, without making no noise, watching him until a movement in his hand alerted her, saw him slowly open his eyes and blink several times trying to focus. He tried to move a little and let out a moan of pain.

"Don't move, the wounds are recent"

Bruce opened his eyes suddenly recognizing that voice, so many times he had heard it in dreams that he thought he was being tricked again by his subconscious, so he forced himself to remain silent, wanting to prevent someone from entering and discovering him talking only.

"Do not you plan to say anything?"

This was definitely not a dream, she was there, with him.

"Is it really you"

"That's right, I'm here, how do you feel?"

"My whole body hurts but…" he paused, thinking about the next words that were going to come out of his mouth "...having you here makes me feel good inside"

"Too romantic, Banner, but I'm also happy to have you with me, I had a very bad time believing that something could happen to you"

"Let's not waste time anymore, Natasha. Just imagining a world that you're not in, is something that kills me. Lets try, run with it"

The room was completely silent. Both mired in their thoughts. Natasha was still trying to process what Bruce had told her. She wanted to play hard with him, but the truth was that she couldn't, couldn't keep giving to what she wanted, to what her life needed and what her heart longed for. There was nothing more she could lose if he tried.

"If running is the plan, as far as you want"

And with those words they both felt that, this time, it was forever.

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A/N): Ta - da!!! Here's a new chapter. This chapter is a kind of an explanation or flashback, we'll see how some things happened. Thanks to all of you for the support and sweet comments. Love y'all. Hope you like this one.

I don't have any idea about what it's going to happen in avengers 4, this is just from my imagination.

See y'all the next chapter and tomorrow with an update for 'As Far As You Want'

Att. Agus