Epilogue

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Arella stared at the strip of grey sky visible through the uncomfortably large hole in the roof.

"Still standing," Bruce said defensively.

"No bed," she pointed out. He blushed slightly and pushed his hair out of his eyes. "No roof. Bruce, there is snow outside and here!" He shrugged, looking sheepish.

"Yeah but the roof is intact in the bedroom so we won't be snowed on. Plus there's running water." She glared at the sink, less than impressed. With a long-suffering sigh she turned the tap. It squealed in protest but gave up a trickle of freezing cold water.

"You are lucky I had hide in mountains with no water," she told him.

"Very lucky," he answered and kissed the back of her head as he went outside to get their bags from the car. Left alone she began to clear the leaves from the sink into a pile to be swept up later. Upon finding a large spider's nest she decided that cleaning the sink would be one of Bruce's jobs.

Arella looked around for the source of the ringing noise that had suddenly started. She found Bruce's phone lying on the remains of what once would have been a table. It was now a lump of damp wood. She stared at the device for a moment before remembering how to answer it.

"Hello?" She yelled, not yet sure how loudly you were meant to talk on into it.

"Arella, thanks hell you answered. Is Bruce with you?" Tony's voice came crackling down the line with a strange note of panic she hadn't heard before.

"No, I can go get him." She began to walk towards the door.

"No! No, it's you I need to talk to. There's something important you need to know about. Do you know Betty Ross?" Arella shook her head before realising that Tony couldn't see her.

"No. Why?" She couldn't put a face to the name even though she was sure she'd heard it before. Overheard it actually, between Tony and Bruce. No other information presented itself in connection with the name.

"Before the accident Bruce was in love with her, they both worked at the research centre and all that. When the Hulk was created she was there, in the operating room and he put her in hospital. Later, when he came out of hiding he went back to her to try and find a cure for the other guy. Briefly they got back together and he can tell you about what happened with this crazed guy who also became a Hulk thing another time. He went on the run again and after about a year of them sending secret messages she told him she couldn't take anymore and left him. He got pretty low for a while. She was married, had kids and he's completely in love with you."

"Why tell me this, Tony? If Bruce want me know he can tell me," she interrupted crossly.

"Two days ago Betty Ross was killed in a fire." The line went silent for a long time.

"Okay," she said quietly.

"You're not going to tell him, are you?" Tony accused her. "Arella, if he finds out any other way he'll Hulk out or worse. He didn't say but I get the feeling he tried to end it all after she left him. Whilst he's head-over-heels for you this will hurt him so badly."

"I will. Bye, Tony." She cut him off before he could answer. Lost in her own thoughts she stopped noticing the damp, the leaves on the floor, the holes in the roof and the cracked windows. All she saw was Bruce feeding a curious squirrel a biscuit out of his hand, crouching in the snow. Between them was the only intact window in the house. She felt like she was holding a rock in her hand and had to choose whether to pass it to him, shattering the peacefulness and idyllic picture in the process.

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I'm sorry but that's it. There will be a sequel soon, I promise!

Yoshinator: The next one will have as much of them together as I can possibly work into it, thank you for routing for Bruce all the way!

Little-miss-randomness17: Thanks for your little comments

To everyone else: Thanks for reading and to you all for favouriting.

Okay, um, will you kill me if I just put this bit in?

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The Deamon And The Angel

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Arella stared up at the building, straight along the arrow shaft pointing at her. Eyes narrowed, bow taunt, ready to release. She didn't move. The smoke drifting around did nothing to mar his view of her.

"Fire, Hawkeye, just fire," she murmured although he couldn't hear her. She couldn't stop the tears flowing down her cheeks any more than she could stop the blood flowing from Steve's collar.

"Arella!" She turned to see Bruce running towards her except she didn't really see Bruce; it was Tchako again about to push her out of the way, about to take the arrow himself. He crashed into her, spinning into the path of the missile. She couldn't let it happen, not again. It happened every time she closed her eyes, every nightmare. This wasn't a nightmare, it was real. She sidestepped him, pushing him behind her and spreading her wings to cover him.

"No!" Natasha screamed over the link, deafening her partner. The Avengers turned to see Bruce doubled over, a mass of white wings in his arms. Cruel laughter echoed over the street. Thor charged at the figure dressed in black, hitting nothing but shadows.

"Are you ever not going to fall for that?"