It was mid-morning when Thor awoke, content to find the bed was not empty yet again. It had been several days of this routine now, waking up to find Bruce in the few hours before the morning, coaxing him back to bed after his vigil, and planting Mjolnir before the door while they caught some more hours of sleep.

Bruce was sitting up, leaning against his pillow on the headboard, a notepad in his hand, resting on his knees.

Thor curled closer to him, his head resting against the scientist's hip. Wordlessly, Bruce brought his left arm down and rested it on the warrior's shoulder.

"Good morning," he said warmly, brown eyes finding Thor's blue. The demigod noted happily that they were a little less purple, The man actually looked like he had slept a few hours.

"By this hour, you are usually already in your study, or with Stark." he said casually. Bruce looked back at his work with a sheepish smile, his hand absently stroking up and down Thor's arm .

"I figured it wouldn't hurt to work in here for a little while," Bruce shrugged, the motion jostling Thor's perch enough to get him to sit up.

"That is odd for someone like yourself. Do you still feel unsafe?"

Bruce laid the tablet down and caught Thor's hand as he cast the covers away. The demigod tightened their hold, and looked at the man with worry.

"No, Thor, not at all. I still… Well, I worry still, I guess. But with you? I feel safe,"

"Then why do you remain?"

Bruce huffed playfully, and Thor followed his gaze to the door.

Oh.

"Do I really need a reason to want to spend the morning with you?" the scientist said.

Thor grinned at him, sitting up fully and letting the sheets slide off his legs.

"And Mjolnir barricading the door?"

Bruce laughed mischievously.

"I didn't even notice."

Thor met the man's eyes with a softer, more suggestive smile.

"Well then, I suppose you wouldn't object if it were to remain a few moments longer."

Bruce's smile faded, and his hand tensed in Thor's. The thunderer didn't move, just held himself frozen and waited for his lover to look at him properly. After a second, he did. Upon seeing his face, Bruce's anxiety fled, and was replaced with a timid, understanding quirk of his lips.

"Well….."

The scientist's eyes fell hungrily on the warrior's naked form, temptation written in every line of his being.

"Alright, but you get to explain to Tony why we missed lunch."

Thor claimed his lips before he could finish the sentence, relishing the way Bruce fitted against him and the sound of his laugh in his ears.

"Somehow, I believe this is one tale he would rather not hear."

Bruce's smile was easy and real, a beaming glance up at the demigod initiated another bout of kissing, and distantly, Thor found himself grateful the surveillance in their room wasn't working.

This moment was only for them.

"Looks like you two finally decided to wake up," Clint commented as they exited the elevator, hands clasped between them.

"We have been up many hours," Thor said dryly, eliciting a snort out of Natasha.

"Ahh, gross Hercules, that's an image I did not need in my head!" Tony moaned from the kitchen, looking up from his plate on the counter to glare at them.

"You Midgardians have such a strange aversion to love-making," Thor said, "On Asgard, we…."

"Nope!" Tony barked, "Nope, that is where I draw the line! I really don't need to hear about any alien orgies while I'm eating."

Bruce chuckled, dropping Thor's hand reluctantly to go sit beside Natasha on the couch.

"How's the arm?" he asked, gesturing to her right arm which was resting in a sling.

The spy smiled, all sharp and vicious, a spark in her eye.

"Only a few days away from our rematch."

Bruce bit his lip, eyes still on her swollen wrist.

"I don't think that's a good idea…" he said softly, ducking his head to avoid the woman's eyes .

"I didn't take you for a coward, doc."

Bruce looked up to find Natasha's fist clenched and her jaw set, glaring at him intently. He just chuckled.

"Why do people keep saying that to me lately?"

He sighed, taking his glasses into his hands and cleaning them on his shirt, his voice soft and low.

"I wasn't careful last time and I hurt you, Natasha. Wanting to be safe is not being a coward."

"Actually, it kinda is, doc," Clint said from his perch at the counter. Huffing, Bruce placed returned his glasses to his face and shot a pointed look at the archer.

"I….."

"Bruce, don't insult me," Natasha interrupted, drawing the man's attention back to her.

"I'm…. sorry?"

"I'm not a battered woman. I'm no different from any of you. Soldier, spy, assassin, whatever you want to call us. We were sparring, I got hurt, life goes on. Treating me with kid gloves isn't going to help me when an enemy pulls the same move you did and I don't have a block for it. So put your big kid pants on, and find a way to deal with it. I'll see you in the gym in three days time."

With that, the redhead popped off the couch and strode away, leaving a dumb-founded Bruce blinking at the spot she had been sitting.

Thor's laughter boomed out a moment later, shaking the scientist from his stupor.

"Now that is a fierce woman, I would love to see her and the lady Sif do battle!"

Bruce turned to Thor with a grin, about to make a quip back, when Tony's phone started ringing.

"Really, Tony?" Bruce groaned, "Iron Man?"

"I did not know you had a song dedicated to your Man of Iron, Stark! How enthralling! You must tell me the name of the bard who wrote this!"

Tony held up a hand to them with only one finger up, earning a boyish giggle from Clint.

"Sorry Pepper, I couldn't hear you over the kids, what were you saying?"

Tony strode to the door, not closing it quite before Clint called out, "Speaking of fierce women, good luck, Stark!"

Bruce moved into the kitchen to heat up some water on the kettle, grabbing his mug and tea from his cupboard. Thor approached the scientist from behind, being sure to make a sound before wrapping his arms around Bruce and tucking the man's head under his chin. Bruce's hands came up to cover Thor's, and he turned his head to plant a kiss on the underside of the demigod's jaw. Thor hummed his approval, pulling the smaller man a little closer to him, holding him tightly.

He felt Banner jump when the tea kettle started whistling, and reluctantly let him go. He watched the man fill his mug and drop some tea into it. He pursed his lips in disapproval, but chose not to say anything about Bruce's lack of breakfast. Again.

"Hey, Thor, can I see you for a minute?"

Thor turned to see Tony peering at him from the door, and felt Bruce stiffen behind him.

"Aye," he replied, giving Bruce a quick kiss on his curls before joining the billionaire in the hallway.

Bruce plopped back down onto the sofa, trying to hide the shaking in his hands. It was about him, he knew it. He thought of Ross, of vivisection tables and biting metal restraints and total helplessness….

" Shit ," he swore as the tea in his mug spilled over onto his hands. Natasha was there in an instant, taking the cup from his grasp and calling to Clint to get her an ice pack. He wanted to tell her that ice was no longer the proper treatment for a burn, but found himself unable to speak. He could feel needles going into his spine, his breath catching in his throat like a misfiring engine, eyes hazy and unfocused. He saw Ross' eyes and felt hands on him. Heard his mother's screams.

"Bruce, hey, listen to me, you're fine," Natasha said in a surprisingly soothing voice. She was applying the ice to his palms and it felt so nice, so cooling. The sensation brought him back, and he saw her green eyes instead. Soft, concerned, looking directly into his own.

"Hey Bruce, I don't know where you went, but come back. We're right here."

He nodded, and she smiled.

"That's it, you okay?"

He never would have pegged Tasha for the reassuring type, but apparently she knew how to handle panic attacks. As he came back into himself, Bruce knew without a doubt that was what he'd had. He hadn't experienced one since before the Hulk's appearance, but he had never stayed when his gut told him to leave either.

"Good, Bruce, good. You stay here, I'm going to go get Thor."

She started to rise from where she had knelt in front of him, but he shook his head, taking her hand back in his own.

"No… no. It's okay. I'm okay. Thank you," he reassured her. She looked down at him as if decided for a moment, then nodded, sitting down on the couch beside him.

"It's going to be alright, you know," she said.

He glanced at her from the corner of his eye as he leaned down to grab his tea from the coffee table.

"You don't know that." She smiled, and now he saw the darkness creeping in, the assassin that lurked in the shadows of her smile.

"I do, actually, because there is no other acceptable outcome. We will make it happen, one way or another. So don't you worry."

He had no time to respond before he heard the door open again and felt Thor's hands fall onto his shoulders. He peered up at the demigod, who towered over him, and saw his eyes fall to the ice pack pressed against Bruce's other hand.

"What happened?" he demanded.

Bruce looked to Natasha, not daring to shake his head, but knowing she would understand anyways.

She smiled coyly, turning her gaze to Thor and shrugging.

"Bruce sat down a little too quickly and spilled some tea, they are barely even second degree. He'll be fine."

Leaning down to take Bruce's injured hand in his own, Thor brought his lips gently to the spot below the burn, where the kiss wouldn't hurt. Bruce blushed as Clint made kissy sounds from his perch in the kitchen. He threw a pillow at the archer, hitting him directly in the forehead. Barton made undignified noises of complaint while Natasha threw snide remarks at him, and Bruce felt the last of his panic edge away. He dragged Thor down for a kiss, and found himself at peace. They were right, no matter what, they were all on his ride together.

He smiled against Thor's lips and felt the demigod tilt his head in question.

"I love you," he said, half in explanation. Thor's smile lit up his entire face and he scooped Bruce up from the couch entirely, spilling more of the now-cooled tea onto the scientist's shirt. But neither of them found it within themselves to care. They only broke apart when Tony came in and made mock sounds of disgust, but Thor refused to put him down. Glancing over his shoulder, Bruce caught a knowing smirk from Natasha, and found that, for once, he was right where he wanted to be.