xx LuxCorde

Please don't go.

Such strange words, vibrated through the air. Reaching for him, calling on his soul.

Please don't go.

A simple row of words. So silently spoken, he'd almost missed it.

A catch of a breath, but not his own.

The hallway of Stark Tower was too small for the heavy air. His feet wanted to run, but his mind was stuck. His voice thick in his throat. He did nothing.

His suitcase was clenched in his hand, ready to go. But he stood still.

"I have to," he whispered.

Closing his eyes tightly he tried not to cry. When did he become so broken a man?

Please don't go.

A breath. No more than that. It sounded too loud for his ears.

He had to. He had to.

"It's not safe." He shook his head, forcing back a crack in his words.

It's not safe.

Light footsteps echoed behind him in the empty space.

Body heat closed the remaining distance.

He could hear her breathing so close behind him. Barely audible, but breathing nonetheless.

She was there. Natasha was there. And she asked him to stay.

Natasha asked him to stay.

Natasha who was so scared of him. Natasha who had nearly died at the hands of the Hulk. Natasha who, out of all of them, had felt the wrath of his curse most. Natasha.

Please don't go.

She came to halt him. She came for him. And in her book, she had begged him.

She had come, and she had begged him to stay.

Natasha.

Tears prickled behind his eyes, a sob dying in his throat.

"I… I can't." His voice didn't sound like him. It felt painful. It hurt like a scrape after falling down. Raw and exposed.

His knees buckled. But he didn't fall.

Two soft arms wrapped themselves around his body and lowered him slowly the ground. And he cried. Without any barrier to hold him back, he dissolved into tears, and Natasha stayed with him.

Everything he had pent up for so long, every single longing, hope, fear came crumbling down around him. And he quietly shook until he made no more sound and only few tears traced his cheeks. And Natasha held him.

Not like mother. Not like a sister or friend. Just like Natasha. And that was okay. Because Natasha, Natasha, she knew he understood. And he knew. He knew. And it had been more then he could handle.

And when he found himself in a bed, a few hours later, he felt at peace. She was gone. But he knew. And he understood.

And as long as they wanted him here…

He'd be here.