Bruce tugged at the collar of his suit, his brow furrowed as he silently wondered when it had gotten warmer in the crowded but large ballroom he stood in. When he had been told that he was 'invited' to this party, he'd hoped that he would be surrounded by other socially-awkward scientists and such, not wealthy benefactors and their significant others. It was a scientific benefit event.

No one would meet his apprehensive gaze, they would simply look him up and down before returning to their own conversations as he maneuvered through the crowd. He was basically invisible, which usually would be a good thing to him, but strangely he felt even more uncomfortable and out of place than ever.

A few people had come to try and strike up a conversation, but they quickly grew tired of his short one-word responses and excused themselves to find more interesting company.

These were Tony's type of people, not his. He felt like he stuck out like a sore thumb, even though his unruly salt-and-pepper curls were kept hostage under the bald cap and dirty blonde wig he wore to blend in with the other dyed heads around him. The sky blue contacts he wore made his eyes ache, he'd had them in all day long. He knew they were just another measure to make sure he wasn't identified, but that didn't mean he had to like them. He could feel traces of the Other Guy brushing his subconscious, itching to make an unwelcome appearance. Bruce was almost tempted to let him out, feeling desperate for anything to get him out of this place.

Peeking over the crowd, he could see the front door only a few minutes of maneuvering away. He could easily slip out and no one would notice. So why hadn't he?

"Hey, you alright?"

Ah, there was the reason.

Despite how startled he initially was at the feeling of her hand wrapping around his wrist, Natasha's voice sent a calming wave over him. Even the Hulk seemed to be lulled into a kind of slumber for now. Bruce almost chuckled as he turned to her, realizing just how much his alter ego seemed to like Natasha. It was probably the only thing that he and the Hulk agreed on.

The gentle warmth in her smirk caused his palms to sweat at his side and he was silently glad she hadn't reached for his hand. He would never get used to seeing her so… out of uniform.

Despite the jet black wig and hazel contacts she wore, she was still a vision in black, the silky material of the simple knee-length dress she wore shimmering in the light. His fingers twitched as he ran his eyes over her quickly, his fingertips aching to simply touch her, as if to ground himself from the fight-or-flight response he was feeling. But he knew better, they weren't supposed to draw any unwanted attention to themselves here, simply gather intel for Steve on a potential threat to resurrect HYDRA. But that didn't stop the urge to suddenly ignore the rational part of his brain for once and yank her into his arms.

"Hello? Earth to Dr. B." she raised an eyebrow at him, shortening his name to the letter he shared with his cover. "Dr. Bantu…?"

Bruce blinked, coming out of his daze and rubbing the back of his neck nervously with his other hand.

"Yeah, I'm alright. Sorry, Nat- uh…" he furrowed his brow for a brief second before remembering. "Ms. Regis."

Natasha gave him a saucy smile, gesturing to the drink in her hand.

"I almost had to chase you down, you weren't where I left you." she glanced around for a moment, remembering their cover when a man in a group near them gave her an odd look. "Did you actually want your drink, Doctor?"

Bruce felt a dull blush creep up his neck, having forgotten that their cover story for her sudden disappearance from his side (in case anyone noticed) was that he had been feeling faint and she, posing as his doting girlfriend, was grabbing him something to drink. She had actually been using the scanner in the black bracelet around her wrist to check if any of the laughing bureaucrats had traces of the serum they were currently tracking down on them.

"Er… ah, no thank you. I'm feeling much better." he mumbled, moving his gaze to the crowd around them, who had suddenly ramped up the volume of their conversations and seemed to be closing the small spaces between each group. Bruce swallowed hard, his heartbeat increasing at the prospect of being trapped in a crowd. Great.

Natasha could read the rising anxiety all over him: the subtle twitch of his lip, the way his wrist tore from her grip as his hands made a hasty exit into his pockets. If she didn't do something soon, her nerdy partner would be waking up in the middle of the destroyed ballroom floor in ripped clothes, naked and trembling as he transformed back.

But that was what she was there for. When Steve had told her to bring Banner along, she'd immediately questioned the reason behind sending a socially anxious and claustrophobic man with a violent alter ego into a room full of stuck up rich idiots… but both she and Steve knew Banner was the only available man for the job. With Tony away for the next few months, only he would be able to analyze the readings from the scanner to ensure they would be following the right leads. That reason, along with the fact that Natasha seriously preferred Bruce's company over Tony's, was enough for Natasha to agree to try and win over the 'big guy'. She could never imagine being able to pose as Tony's girlfriend like she would need to for this mission, the man was too insufferable. Bruce on the other hand...

"I appreciate the compliment but...Do you really want me in a crowd? I mean, think about it. Me, surrounded by people whose sole goal in life is to look down on others. Did you forget about the Other Guy? I'm getting heated just thinking about it."

But she made him see reason, reminding him that 1. The Lullaby was working like a charm, and 2. Hulk listened to her. He wouldn't hurt anyone if she told him not to.

At least, she hoped so.

But he'd even tried backing out after they'd started walking into the venue. He'd taken one look at the large crowd of people flooding in behind and in front of them and turned to her, fear in his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Nat. I can't do this."

It was only when she stealthily reminded him of the importance of the mission, and let him know she would be at his side all night that he let out a shaky breath and followed her inside.

Bringing herself back to the present, Natasha reached out and took his trembling hand in hers, intertwining their fingers and pressing their palms together tightly. His eyes met hers and she heaved an inward sigh of relief. His taut muscles began to relax, a deep red blush crawling up his neck and into his face.

He watched her closely as she quickly downed the drink in her hand, the one 'meant for him'. She smiled, handing the empty glass to a waiter who passed by. She turned to the middle of the ballroom, where a few of the wealthy guests were trying to mingle while also trying to show off their ballroom dancing skills.

Natasha hummed softly, tossing an idea back and forth in her head. She glanced at Bruce, who wasn't looking at her. His eyes were all over the room, not settling on anything or anyone for very long. The apprehensive look on his face made the decision for her and she nudged him gently.

"Shall we dance, Dr. Bantu?"

Bruce's eyes widened as his frazzled mind realized what she'd asked him. Dance? Him? With her? Really? Wasn't this a mission? Was this part of it? Were all of her missions like this? Even with other members of the Avengers? Why did that bother him?

"Uh… Of course, Ms. Regis." he said sheepishly, following her out of the crowd of mingling guests.

Natasha weaved through the crowd, her grip on his hand tightening slightly, her heart beginning to beat a bit quicker at the realization that she was about to dance… with Bruce. For the first time. And while on a mission, no less. It wouldn't be an issue if she hadn't been getting closer to him over the past few months. Unsure of whether or not the playful flirting, secret glances, and silent alone time together meant something, Natasha found herself wondering if this mission was going to accelerate or decelerate whatever relationship they had going. She really did enjoy Bruce's company most out of all the Avengers. He didn't ask invasive questions, didn't make jokes at her expense or feel the need to elaborate on everything, he didn't try to insert pop culture references into every conversation or relate something she said to some kind of long-winded Asgardian tale from long ago… He was just Bruce. Nerdy, awkward, sweet, caring Bruce Banner.

XXXXXX

Bruce wasn't sure where to place his hands as she stood in front of him, his fingers hovering above her frame as he struggled to ask what exactly he was supposed to do. The last time he'd danced with a girl was in high school, many years before the...incident. He'd had almost no shame, as teenage boys tended to, and even then had been slightly uncomfortable palming the girl's backside the way she wanted him to.

He knew that with Natasha, it was different. He didn't want to offend her by moving too quickly... he thought too highly of her. Thankfully, she took pity on him and took his wrists in her hands, moving his hands to rest on her hips. She chuckled as the familiar blush exploded onto his cheeks, his eyes looking everywhere but at her.

"Relax, Bruce. You look like a 13-year-old who's about to have his first kiss. Breathe, big guy."

Bruce felt his pulse quicken at that, and all he could do was chuckle uneasily as she slid her hands up to his shoulders. He finally met her gaze and cleared his throat as they began swaying in time to the music, a slow tune that didn't sound familiar to him.

"Did you… did you find anything?" he asked in a low tone, averting his gaze from hers for a moment to make sure no one was close by. Thankfully, no one was, and even if they were, the music and conversation overlapping around them was enough noise to keep their own conversation under wraps.

"I might have, I'm not sure." she answered, leaning the slightest bit closer as she spoke. "I'll show you what the scanner picked up back at the Tower. Cap should be getting the info right now actually. For now, how about we enjoy ourselves for once?"

Bruce's brow furrowed, purposely ignoring her suggestion.

"Won't it be difficult to know who to go after if we leave?"

"Well, first of all, I'm not sure where we could slip off to in order to look at the results, where it wouldn't look like we were up to something…" she smirked. "The bathroom is private but I'm sure we would get a few suspicious looks if we went in together…."

Bruce couldn't stop himself from swallowing thickly at the idea of them sneaking into a cramped bathroom stall together. The idea was to not attract attention, and having security called on them because someone thought they were...well, you know… would complicate things.

"And second of all," she continued. "We know Steve can't decipher the data and let us know who we have to track. Especially with Tony gone and no comms. And third of all, I got DNA samples of each scan," she shrugged. "just gentle scrapes of my bracelet, accidental bumps that no one would take notice of, and poof. Like magic, I've got tiny blood samples, all categorized."

The corners of Bruce's lips lifted into a slight smile, his voice lowered as he subconsciously drew her closer so no one would hear him mentioning SHIELD.

"Sometimes the sophistication of the 'leftover SHIELD tech' makes me wonder just how advanced it was before it fell." he shrugged. "Makes me wonder what it might have been capable of."

Natasha watched his face for a moment, then realized he wasn't being suspicious, just stating a fact. And she had to admit that she saw Bruce's point. If technology as advanced as this was just the remnants of SHIELD, who knows what SHIELD could have accomplished if they had used their power correctly.

"Apparently not even the most tech savvy organization in the world could keep corruption out." she muttered, her disposition quickly souring at the thought of the betrayal that had caused SHIELD's downfall.

Bruce flinched. He didn't mean to make her upset.

"Tony would resent you not referring to Stark Industries as the most tech savvy organization."

"Stark Industries is just Tony's ego in its most physical form." Natasha chuckled, rolling her eyes. "It's barely a business. Hardly an organization."

"...True." Bruce smiled, taking a deep breath.

An awkwardly long pause passed between them, Natasha's attention on something behind him. Bruce wracked his brain, searching for something to say.

"You know why I never liked SHIELD much?" he nearly blurted but managed to keep quiet, noticing that others had joined them on the dance floor.

Natasha noticed as well, drawing herself closer to him and resting her head against his shoulder, partially because she knew that public displays of affection usually made people keep their distance, and partially because being this close to Bruce was comforting in a way she couldn't describe. His arms moved around her back to hold her close, and she felt his heart pounding in his chest, a small smile on her lips. He really was like a kid at his first school dance.

"Was it Fury's incapability to see reason? Or Coulson's obsession with Cap?"

"Neither," he smiled, silently relishing the way she seemed to be at complete and utter ease in his arms. He wondered if he would ever get to hold her this way again.

"What was it then?" her voice sounded serene in a way he had never heard before, and he felt the last of the tension in his body melt away.

"It actually started in Calcutta, when Fury sent you to find me." he felt her tense. The rest of his explanation tumbled from his lips. "I wondered how a so-called good guy organization could send someone like you to recruit someone like me."

Natasha lifted her head to meet his shy gaze, her head tilted in confusion.

"Meaning…?"

Her breath ghosted over his face and he struggled to keep his mind on the right track.

"I wondered how… how SHIELD, who promised to keep people out of harm's way… could send this," he chuckled uneasily. …"this fiery little redhead to recruit someone who could easily fly into a violent rage and snap her in half… it seemed like a stupid move. I didn't know if I wanted to be a part of an organization that would do that."

"Is that why you were so hesitant to come with me?" Natasha raised an eyebrow.

"Well, yes… that did have something to do with it. That and the fact that you immediately lied about it just being the two of us."

At her puzzled expression, he shrugged and smiled, averting his gaze from hers again.

"I heard the shuffling of the agents outside the hut while we were talking. They weren't that stealthy, not to me at least."

Natasha blinked, then nodded slowly in understanding.

"Huh. That answers that question." she chuckled, returning her head to his shoulder. "I just realized that I never asked you how you knew we weren't alone."

"I guess I'm just good like that," he murmured, his face burning as the tip of her nose brushed his neck.

They were quiet for a while, swaying gently to the music as the sound of the crowd around them faded away. Bruce felt a few hairs from Natasha's wig brush his nose, and he moved his face away to keep from sneezing on her. Not only would that draw attention, but would ruin the semi calm mood she had managed to put him in.

With nowhere to look but around them, Bruce felt the familiar tinge of anxiety in his chest. The scattered judgemental gazes that were trained on him and Natasha caused him to tense. He hated judgemental gazes. It reminded him that he had a raging monster inside him, just begging to be set free so he could show everyone just how dangerous he was… even if no one here knew who he really was. Or did they? Why else would they be staring? Could they see through his disguise? Or were they simply wondering how he managed to end up with someone like Natasha in his arms? Either way, he felt an all too familiar feeling of nausea in the pit of his stomach, the kind he felt when he felt trapped. And in a way, he was. Trapped under the power of what felt like a million judgemental eyes.

That was why he'd tried to stay in Calcutta all those years ago. No one knew him well enough there to judge him. To them, he was a kind and caring doctor who would never hesitate to help those in need. And once he'd done his job, he would retire to his shack on the outskirts of the village in peace. He knew what he would be stepping back into when he saw Natasha waiting for him that day she appeared, but thought that maybe all the peace and routine of the past years in Calcutta would make the Other Guy easier to handle. But he had been wrong, so very wrong.

Thinking back over all the awful things he had done over the past years… the things the Hulk had done… He couldn't stop the flood of guilt that threatened to consume him, and if he didn't get out of here soon, there would be another incident to add to the list of things he should feel guilty about. True, some of the lives he'd taken as the Hulk were necessary, such as HYDRA agents firing at his teammates… But some had been accidental. Innocents caught in the 'green line of fire' as he called it. People hurt by falling debris when the Hulk smashed into something, and even almost the content assassin he currently held in his arms when he'd unexpectedly changed on the Helicarrier. It was the accidental casualties that bothered him the most.

His breathing became slightly erratic as he unwillingly remembered the terrified look in her eyes as he'd transformed, and he shut his eyes against the wave of frustration he felt.

"Not here, not now… Not with her. Not with Natasha."

He tightened his arms around her, and felt himself relax enough from the mentioning of her name alone and the feel of her against him to speak barely above a whisper.

"Natasha…Potential Code Green..."

Natasha's eyes opened, her ear pressed against his shoulder. The warning in his tone worried her. He was really struggling this time. Even though it was on the other side of his chest, she could feel the thump of his pounding heart as he struggled to keep his cover. She moved her head away, glancing around them to notice the stares that were making him uncomfortable. She turned her eyes to his closed ones, saw the tense fear etched over his face. When he opened them, she was surprised to notice the absence of green. This wasn't the usual pre-Hulk fear, this was just regular Bruce fear that was being mistaken for pre-Hulk fear.

"Eyes on me, Banner. I'm right here. On me." she said softly, hoping no one would hear his real name.

His eyes still flickered to the people around them as he tried to do as she said, and she felt her heart melt at the frightened child-like look in his eyes.. She brought a hand to his cheek, smiling when he flinched and his gaze abruptly met hers, his face turning several shades of pink before settling on the crimson she was used to. She saw the tension melt out of his features, the vein in his neck that had been making an appearance slowly returning to below his skin.

"There we go, right here… It's me, big guy." she smiled, talking slowly as if she were talking to the Other Guy. "We're okay, right?"

She felt his taut shoulder muscles relax beneath her other hand as he gave an almost imperceptible nod. A slight shiver ran down his spine when her thumb gently stroked the stubble on his cheek. When he finally let out a soft sigh, she moved her hand from his cheek to behind his neck, where she toyed with the collar of his shirt. She wished she could rip that stupid wig off of his head so she could run her hands through those soft salt-and-pepper curls she liked so much.

"Thanks," he smiled, before his smile fell. "I'm sorry about that. I thought I had it under control but…"

"Don't be. I told you, it's why I'm here. Honestly, you're doing much better than I thought you would. I'm surprised that's the only real close call we've had tonight."

"Yeah, well," he blushed, reaching back to nervously rub his neck before realizing her hand was still there. He jerked his hand away slightly, blushing even harder. "Maybe the Other Guy really likes listening to you."

Natasha gave him another smile before returning her head to his shoulder, gingerly sliding one finger up underneath the rough wig and bald cap at the back of his neck, her fingertips lightly touching his curls.

"Maybe. Or maybe you both do. I can be very persuasive."

She was thankful that the wig was thick enough to hide her fingers so it looked like she was simply toying with his fake blond hair. They had enough suspicious stares as it was, the last thing they needed was for someone to think she was gently scalping him or something. She smirked at the slight hum she heard slip from him as he took a breath and spoke again.

"I've noticed." he murmured, sounding a little dazed due to what she was doing. "Is it… weird that I sort of wish we weren't undercover right now?"

"I was thinking the same thing, actually." she smirked.

Bruce shuddered, her cold fingers sending yet another chill down his spine. For someone who was supposedly trying not to draw attention, she sure was trying to evoke some kind of interesting reaction out of him. Even the Other Guy seemed to be fidgeting at the back of Bruce's mind. Simply posing as a couple was one thing, acting on it was another.

"...how much longer do we have to stick around?" Bruce nearly coughed out.

"Not much longer. Dr. Rogers said something about the senator over there," Natasha's voice turned serious again as she pulled her head from his shoulder and nodded towards a tall man standing in a corner off to their left, surrounded by a group of mostly women who were fake laughing so much that it was obvious they only wanted what the senator could offer. "I already got a sample from him, it's just taking longer to process."

"Does that mean he might be our guy?" Bruce asked softly, not even acknowledging the cover name they had for Steve.

"Honestly, I hope not. But yes."

"Why not?"

Natasha sighed, returning her gaze to his.

"If an elected official is involved in this, it makes our job that much harder."

"Hm. As if our job tonight isn't hard enough already."

Natasha smirked, sticking out her bottom lip in a mock pout, her hands returning to his shoulders.

"Aw, has it really been that bad? Is my company that insufferable?"

Bruce chuckled, his features softening slightly as he spoke.

"Tony's company is insufferable. Yours is… well, I'm not sure there's a good enough word for what your company is."

Natasha gave him a soft smile, those hazel contacts not doing justice to whatever enticing emotion she had hidden in her eyes. He felt his heart leap in his chest, nearly desperate for her to take off that wig and get rid of those contacts so he could take in the Natasha he knew so well. All he could do was stare at her, his eyes suddenly moving from her eyes to her lips, where her tongue darted out briefly to moisten them before she spoke.

"Bruce…?"

Her voice was soft, partially to keep anyone from hearing his name, and partially because the way he was looking at her had made it a little hard for her to breathe normally. He stared at her like she was something amazing that he wanted. Desperately. His eyes met hers, and all she could do was bite her lip at the intensity she saw there. It was strange, nothing like the intense thousand mile stare he got right before an unexpected Code Green. This look he had right now? It looked… intoxicated.

"Natasha... I…"

"Dr. Bantu!"

The pair jumped apart, both of them silently cursing whoever it was that had interrupted them. Needless to say they were more than surprised to see Tony barreling towards them, a brunette wig on his head, fake mustache glued to his lip, and thick-rimmed glasses on his face. If they had never seen this disguise before, neither of them would've known it was him.

"Good to see ya, Doc!" he said a little too enthusiastically, shaking Bruce's hand. He tugged Bruce towards him suddenly as he muttered into his ear.

"The senator is our guy." he turned to Natasha, keeping his voice low. "Cap sent me in for evac. Said he can't reach you any other way."

Natasha raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, no comms." she said in a lowered tone, before crossing her arms. "I highly doubt Dr. Rogers sent you in from Tahiti for evac."

"Is that what we're calling him? Huh, did he pick that out? Typical that he'd give himself a PhD." Tony huffed. "And yeah maybe he didn't send me in. Maybe I just so happened to be back early from Tahiti because Pepper was called back for some urgent Industries business. Maybe I was so bored out of my mind that I decided to crash the party. Maybe Dr. Rogers accidentally let it slip that he sent you and Dr. Bantu here on a special OP that I could have easily been a part of. Maybe I thought I'd check in on my favorite two people and see what they got themselves into."

"That's a lot of maybes, Mr…"

Tony grinned, handing Natasha a hastily put together business card. Bruce leaned over to read what it said.

"Mr. Stork?" he raised an eyebrow at Tony who was practically glowing with pride. "CEO of Stork & Co.? Really?"

"What do you specialize in, baby production?" Natasha snorted, handing the card back to Tony.

"Let's not go into my process, at least not in mixed company, Ms. Regis. It's not in good taste. Although, it looked like you two might've been looking into doing some research on the subject later." Tony narrowed his eyes."That wasn't intel gathering I saw when I walked up."

Bruce felt his face flush and cleared his throat to change the subject, but Natasha beat him to it.

"What does Dr. Rogers want us to do about the senator?"

"Smooth transition there." Tony rolled his eyes. "We're not done with this conversation. But anyway, Dr. Rogers wants us out, we'll make plans on how to extract the senator for questioning later. Wouldn't look good trying to 'power up' and drag him out of here right now. Let him enjoy his little party. JARVIS has the car right out front."

XXXXXX

Ironically, Bruce couldn't say he wasn't feeling a little reluctant to be leaving as he followed Natasha and Tony through the crowd. Tony just had to come at just the wrong moment, hadn't he? The moment when he finally felt enough courage to tell Natasha just how important she was to him and how much he appreciated her volunteering to help reign in the Hulk with the Lullaby… and maybe hint at the idea that maybe they could spend more time together than they already had been. You know, in case they needed to go undercover like this again.

The ride back to the Tower in the back of the limo was silent on Bruce's part. He didn't have much to add to Tony and Natasha's conversation, so he settled for watching Tony crack open a bottle of water across from them and kick his feet up across the leather seats as they talked. He wanted to look at Natasha, who was seated beside him, but couldn't bring himself to do more than glance at her. Her legs were crossed, her hands busy as she toyed with her bracelet, checking the gauges on each bead to make sure she had a decent amount of samples from each of the senator's known associates. Bruce had to admit, she was thorough.

It was only when Tony got a call from Pepper that Natasha felt she could talk to Bruce. She pulled off the itchy wig and removed the hazel contacts, sighing in relief. Bruce blinked and did the same with his own disguise, letting out a relieved sigh as well.

"You did really good in there," she smiled, nudging him with her elbow. "Not bad for your first undercover op."

"Heh, thanks." he shrugged. "But I'm not sure I'll be volunteering for many more ops like that."

"I'd be surprised if you did." she smiled, reaching up to run a hand through his hair. "But I have to admit, I like you much better as Dr. Banner. Blonde doesn't suit you."

"Yeah… I'm not sure I'll be having a midlife crisis and dying my hair anytime soon." he blushed, smiling as she returned her hand to her lap.

"Anyway, you and Tony can analyze the data I gathered tonight, and we'll have the senator booked in no time. I'm sure Steve is dying to know what the scientific mumbo-jumbo we sent him means."

"Can't wait to tell him."

XXXXXX

Natasha entered the lab, chuckling to herself as she watched Bruce and Tony maneuver around. They passed each other with ease as they tapped the holographic displays around them, neither of their eyes straying from their work as they went.

"Minimize the DNA matrix, pull out the unnecessary complexes."

"I just did that, it negates the calculations you were just running. I'm gonna amp up the amount it counts per second and see if that works."

"Don't forget to account for multiples. We don't want those."

"Right, right."

Natasha bit her lip, finding the way Bruce worked just the tiniest bit alluring. This truly was his element, this was where he did his best work.

She crossed her arms, leaning against the doorframe as she waited for them to notice her. She didn't have to wait long.

"JARVIS, buddy, I thought I told you no girls allowed in the lab." Tony quipped, eyes never moving from his work. "Distracts certain lab partners."

"Agent Romanoff has unlimited security clearance, sir."

"It was a joke, JARVIS. I have got to update your database." he waved a hand over his shoulder in Natasha's general direction. "Come in, Romanoff, see what the science bros have dug up."

Bruce had been so caught up in his calculations, that he only realized that Natasha was there when he felt her breath on the back of his neck as she peered over his hunched shoulders.

"Working hard?"

"Ah..." his head whipped to face her, his cheeks bright red. "Y-Yeah um…"

He straightened, taking a deep breath to calm his sudden erratic heartbeat. Was it possible to have a panic attack from liking someone too much?

"Brucey Boy here found some pretty significant connections to our dear senator." Tony grinned, clapping both of Bruce's shoulders and shaking him a little. "Looks like we might find the source of this super serum sooner than we thought."

"Super serum?" Natasha blinked, raising an eyebrow. "Super as in…"

"Yeah, that's the thing…"

"Captain America super." Bruce said, clearing his throat as he shook Tony's hands from his shoulders.

Natasha watched his face for a moment, before looking over at Tony who had suddenly gotten interested in the window behind him.

"So they're trying to… replicate Cap?"

"Looks like it." Tony shrugged, tossing a pen up in the air before swiping his hand over a hologram to bring up another screen. "Right here, it shows an almost identical structure to whatever they shot Cap with to make him Uncle Sam's golden child."

"We're not sure what HYDRA would do with another super soldier but… it can't be good." Bruce sighed, finally able to organize a decent thought. "They might try and create an entire army of them, take over the world with them… Or just enough to take Captain America out."

"Yeah, we know HYDRA wanted Cap dead. That's why they sent Bucky after him." Natasha shrugged. "So you really think this stuff might work?"

"In theory? Yes."

"Have you… told Steve yet?" Natasha raised an eyebrow, especially when Bruce turned away and Tony took a really long sip of his coffee. "...I'll take that as a no."

"We don't want him to feel guilty about it. He might say this is all because of him."

"Probably because, in a sense, it is." Tony stated nonchalantly. "I know it sounds mean, but think about it."

Neither Bruce nor Natasha wanted to. So of course Tony would point it all out.

"If young, scrawny, weakling Steve hadn't gone along with the super soldier experiment, the serum might not even be a thing."

"They could have found other volunteers."

"You don't remember?" Tony waved a hand and brought up articles from the year Captain America was introduced to the world. "There were other volunteers. No one survived the process but him. Everyone else died either that same day or a few days later."

"Something about his DNA was… different." Bruce mumbled, skimming the articles he saw. "Made him stand out from the rest of the volunteers."

"So what makes you think this serum will work on more than one person? You said it's identical."

"Almost identical. There are… slight differences." Bruce tugged at his collar before turning away.

"I wouldn't call DNA adaptivity slight, Bruce." Tony scoffed.

"DNA adaptivity? You mean this stuff can change itself to fit anyone?" Natasha's arms dropped to her side, the folder of paperwork in her hand threatening to spill its contents all over the floor.

"Again, in theory, yes."

"So you're telling me that we could end up with an entire army of-"

The door to the lab swished open, and all three of them spun to face the red, white, and blue clad figure staring them down.

"Of me?"