"On your right Natasha."

The Black Widow dodges on the field, swinging her weapon into her enemy out of self defense. She sensed him coming but clutches her com to give Banner the credit;

"Thanks. Any update on those readings? How long until the city explodes?"

Barton complains when he's fired at, a few feet from Romanoff as he moves to evade an attack. He snarls;

"Hey Banner? I just want to thank you for always having my back! I was almost shot!"

Bruce mumbles guiltily, "Sorry Clint, I was watching elsewhere."

Tony interjects has he flies over the fields to fire toward Clint's enemies;

"Yeah, yeah. We all know where you were looking."

Steve's voice comes in cold, "Could use Thor's lightning right about now."

The demigod lands in the middle of the field and sends out his blast to silence any remaining enemies.

Barton eyes one of the outposts, "I can take our last one out pretty quickly."

Banner's voice comes in from their headquarters as he swipes one of the eight screens in front of him;

"I'm about to disable it."

Natasha turns her head, back against a tree as she narrows her focus toward Barton;

"I told you having a techy would help on this mission."

Tony interjects, "I could've done it too, but you didn't ask me, did you Red?"

Bruce chuckles and shoves his glasses further up his nose over the incoming voice of his science bro, "Look out Cap, I'm about to have those two posts target each other and you're in the middle. Tell me when."

Rogers rolls forward toward the archer and the redhead, defending his section with the raising of his shield;

"Now!"

The group turn away as their outposts explode, finishing the job out on the field upstate New York. Natasha looks over her shoulder first, watching Thor land nearby with a wide grin;

"Yes!"

Stark lands soon after, "Not a bad finish. Thanks Doc."

Bruce scoffs over their communication, "Does that mean we don't need the hulk anymore?"

Steve shakes his head as he catches his breath. Natasha smirks with a focus downward. Barton answers abruptly, "Frick no! Having the big green would've ended this four hours ago."

Natasha rolls her eyes and intervenes, "I'm sure we can talk about a 50/50."

"Hey; Anything to save a little money on clothes."

Romanoff smirks and dodges his remark, "We're heading back to the jet."

Tony reaches for his own to remove it, walking alongside the crew;

"Up for a drink?"

Thor nods excitedly, "I am in need of such a thing!"

Barton tosses his arrow over his shoulder, following behind beside Romanoff. He points;

"Your shoulder's cut. Looks nasty, you good?"

She shrugs, "Nothing he can't fix."

"Do you like taking over while Fury's away?"

Natasha shrugs, "I'm fine sharing the mission assignments, taking charge. But I'm always amused when Steve and Tony fight for the credit."

Barton shakes his head and releases a pity laugh.

Bruce waits onboard the craft by the entrance, there to greet his teammates as they return.

Natasha shrugs when she makes contact with the doctor. In true substitute Director fashion, she's waited for her teammates to enter first. Her uniform is torn at the shoulder, dirt over her face. He waits with his arms crossed, a light gray plaid button down with his lenses over his eyes.

Bruce raises his eyebrows, glasses lowering when she comes onboard. She rotates to show off her gash, removing her gloves;

"Got an opening for a quick patch job?"

He nods toward the back, "I've got 20 minutes."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

She can't grip that sink hard enough, white knuckled as she feels him digging in her wounds; Natasha put on that strapless top for reasons she wasn't exactly looking forward to.

He cringes with a zeroed in focus, unsure if her comment is sarcastic or not as he extracts the debris from her open cuts. The blood is running, damp towels hovering over her reddened upper back. He hates to ask, eyeing a larger piece of shrapnel;

"Got a question?"

She swears under her breath, "Yeah what."

He leans to search her her focus she refuses to provide;

"How much pain can you handle?"

She snickers coldly and prepares for the worst, "The hell doc- just do it and do it quick."

Bruce hesitates, moving the cloth gently over her bleeding injury;

"I'm gonna ask again; no shot of getting you into medical?"

"Frick no. If I'm gonna cry it'll be in front of someone who won't judge me with a closed door and no one else present-."

"How many vodka shots did you chug last Sunday during game night?"

"Uh,' she stutters over her thoughts, suddenly aware of why he asked when she feels him digging into her skin, 'Shit!"

She shuts her eyes abruptly, breathing through her teeth. She's about ready to scream again when that irritating friction on her back suddenly disappears;

"You're all good Miss Romanoff."

Natasha breathes, an aggressive stinging pain subsiding as time progresses. She runs a hand through her hair;

"No sutures?"

Bruce lifts a hand to her shoulder blade and adds pressure with his towel. He mumbles above a whisper;

"I'm not putting you through that. Gonna just wrap it if you'll let me."

She reaches a hand to hold her towel, eyes shutting tight, "It didn't feel this bad in the moment."

"It looked bad."

She looks up into the mirror above the sink, a hand upright and against the wall when she looks up into his reflection;

"And why, pray tell, were your eyes on me instead of the weaponry?"

He just smirks to himself and moves closer with his bandage;

"Move your hand, the towel is in my way."

She raises an eyebrow with a smirk and gives into his request while he finishes her patch job.

Natasha keeps her focus, "You can be a little softer, Vrach Banner."

His head raises with his eyes focused on her injury, "I thought you didn't like sympathy?"

Her eyes roll, turning to pin her back against the sink once he finishes his work. Her head tilts;

"Thanks."

"How far did you get with that book I loaned you?"

She laughs and drops the towel over the sink, "Barely touched it. Fury's been keeping me busy. Joining the team for dinner tonight?"

"Are you cooking?"

"I was planning on it."

"Then no."

She swats his shoulder, "Thor enjoys my cooking."

"Uh huh, high praise," he returns to sort his makeshift medical bag and gives her a playful smirk. For the past year she's been the only one he keeps it around for.

Natasha moves to open the door of the small bathroom they've occupied for the past half hour;

"Who's handling the gossip?"

He glares, "Stop dragging me into the bathroom for your injuries and we won't have drama to address."

Natasha pouts, "Oh but it's so fun…"

"I hate you sometimes."

"No you don't."

Romanoff rolls her tongue over her teeth with a thought. She tugs the door closed on her way out and locks it shut with a snicker.

She's smiles, satisfied with herself when he kicks the bottom of the door;

"You have got to be kidding me...Romanoff?!"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Natasha offers a closed mouth smile at Fury's desk in the conference room, laughing to herself when Banner arrives late. She bites her lip and lowers her head over his stare down.

The Captain folds his hands in all seriousness, "You're late."

"What'd I miss?" Bruce focuses downward, refusing to acknowledge or look up.

Tony shares the file as the physicist settles, "Absolutely nothing at all. We're just closing the case and shipping this off to Fury in case you're interested."

He gives the paper a glance, lowering the lenses onto his eyes from off his head, "Looks fine."

Tony stands and addresses the team, "Great! Let's get home."

Rogers raises a hand to calm the abrupt call made by Stark. He looks in Romanoff's direction;

"Are we good to go?"

She lifts a shoulder, seated at the head. Twisting her jaw she scans the hologram, "Guess so. Clock out folks."

Steve complies and the team stands when he does, filing out from the room.

Bruce shakes his head and lifts his hands in a surrender over having just arrived to everyone getting up to leave. Natasha makes eye contact with a smirk. She brushes his shoulder and rests her elbow over one;

"So, I could use some time in that dance studio. Could use a pianist."

He grits his teeth, slight curve in the corner of his mouth no matter how hard he tries to be serious;

"You make me, an untrained Doctor, tear shrapnel from your back, lock me in the room, and then ask me to play piano for you...also it's not even five o'clock yet, just to clarify."

"It was also my call to give the Hulk a rest, 'just to clarify'."

He sighs and shakes his head. Natasha's voice softens almost sympathetically with a head tilt;

"Are you actually mad or just biting back?"

"You're the spy, you tell me."

Tony Stark lingers at the entryway to the conference room, making his presence known;

"Well? What's the lingering about?"

Natasha rolls her eyes. Banner answers, "We're coming."

Tony drums the wall and eyes the doctor, "Late night science and drinks?"

Bruce raises an eyebrow, "You know I don't drink."

"Just one?"

Natasha drops her hand over Banner's shoulder and gives Tony a bit of sass;

"He said 'no'. No means no."

Stark crosses his arms, "Since when are you his keeper?!"

She crosses her own, "I am not, I just listen."

Banner tilts his head over the file left on the table. He reaches to pull it closer and rotates the image. He's far too focused on locating the small name on the side of the pictured weaponry to listen to the banter behind him. In analyzing the diagram, the smaller parts seem to have been combined with two other components...he mumbles;

"Hey Tony? Does anything look familiar about these parts?"

Stark leans forward, irritated over being stopped from his antagonizing. His expression changes dramatically, snatching up the paper;

"Eerily…"

Natasha steps forward curiously, "What is it?"

"It's my own weapon," Tony retorts blankly.

Natasha's eyes widen as she snatches the paper to see for herself.

Bruce lifts a hand to his face, "Who are you selling those to? Who needs a radioactive bomb?"

The engineer lays his hands on his table, supporting his weight while he bites at his lip thoughtfully;

"Pepper would know exactly when that particular part left the factory and where…I don't like this, it feels slimy. Like an under the table deal that's made from a buyer..."

Natasha leaves the image on the table and holds her focus to analyze every twitch and movement the engineer makes. She's searching for a lie or some kind of coverup as she scans him.

Bruce holds his head with a nervous smirk, "Okay so we agree that it's a group...or an individual, I guess, that doesn't play by the rules but has the legal and monetary means to purchase this kind of item with malicious intent…Sorry but, even putting aside my personal distrust of the government, I still fall toward the army."

Natasha bites her cheek, "Give me two days and I'll get you a name."

Tony nods and moves to stand straighter with his brow furrowed thoughtfully. He nudged his friend;

"You couldn't just close the file."

Bruce shrugs innocently, "If your product is getting used for something horrible, don't you want to know?"

Stark pouts with a heavy sigh and swings his arms, "You, I..mm…"

Natasha crosses her arms and waits, half prepared to arrest her teammate. Tony nods;

"Okay. Fine. We'll research it. Can we go home now?"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Do you know what I am most proud of you all for today?"

Tony groans from the floor and Clint hides his face in a pillow over Steve's sappy remark. Thor accepts the bait with a wide grin as he props his foot on the nearby table in the communal space;

"I will never understand why we require these team chats and motivational moments but please, indulge us."

Pepper reaches across the demigod for a hand full of her snack mix;

"You guys are awful! What were you going to say Steve?"

Clint reaches for the remote and clicks on the widescreen. He raises the volume as Rogers tries to speak, receiving a cheer and interruption from Thor and Stark who shout over what to watch.

The Captain smiles absentmindedly to himself and releases a heavy sigh, "Anyways."

Bruce looks up from his book seated behind the rest at the island. He tucks a hand under his head and addresses the blonde;

"What are you sketching over there?"

Natasha curiously looks at Steve's art as he holds it up to share with the couple who seem more open to sharing. Romanoff crosses her knee while she sits beside Banner and adjusts the bottom of her sweatshirt;

"Looks like Asgard."

Rogers turns to look at his sketch, "It's an interesting concept; drawing a place I've never seen."

Thor leans forward from his position, suddenly curious, "I wish to see this portrayal."

Tony looks up, "Yeah me too."

Natasha smirks over Banner's shrug. She nudges him and nods toward Barton's movie selection.

The doctor shakes his head and refocuses down on the book he's closed;

"Now it's just haunting us."

She chuckles, "It was on the other night too. I would've told you but your light was off."

Clint shouts from the sofa over the visual on their screen;

"Nat! Your movie's on!"

She leans back on her bar stool, "Oh I'm watching."

Pepper looks over her shoulder;

"Wait! You like 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'?"

Natasha nods, regretting her acknowledging when Pepper makes her way over toward the island. Banner offers a knowing smirk when they make eye contact. He shakes his head when he senses Natasha's tension over an impending conversation;

"That one's on Clint."

"He won't be living it down anytime soon,' she mumbles when he moves to stand, 'You're leaving?"

He checks his watch, "Got some work to do before bed. Enjoy your movie Natasha."

Natasha sips her drink with an eye roll, "Night Bruce."

Tony waves obnoxiously from the floor, "Are you going to the lab? I'll come."

He mumbles, "You don't have to."

Stark runs to catch up, wrapping an arm around his friend's shoulder, "Nah I want to. I have something to show you."

Romanoff raises an eyebrow as Pepper takes Banner's place. She swings her legs with a sly smirk;

"No label yet?"

"Label?"

"You and the doc?"

Natasha sighs, leaning her elbows up on the island bar. She shifts slightly in her spinning stool and rolls her ankle until it pops;

"Still no ring from Tony? How long have you been dating again…?"

Pepper coughs and refocuses on their screen. She stares into her wine with a whisper over Natasha's comeback;

"Nevermind."

The redhead reaches into the small pocket of her leggings to reveal a crumpled paper;

"Actually, I have a question for you."

Pepper nods, her soft eyes looking toward the crumpled note Natasha hands over.

"I need to know who the buyer for order number 2181701D was. If you remember."

Pepper holds her focus. She squints;

"If I remember correctly...this was bound for New Mexico. Air Force. Why?"

She runs a hair through her red hair thoughtfully, hesitant to answer Pepper while she makes the connections;

"Fascinating...have they placed another order?"

Potts nods as she sips her drink, "Once a month. It's a steady check. But I think it's safe to assume you're not actually interested in the sales…"

Natasha offers a sideways glance and refocuses on the screen. Her thoughts shift to the Air General with a tightening jaw;

"Just the buyer."