It didn't take her long to travel to Cape Canaveral. Upon arriving, she immediately scanned the docks for the transportation she was promised. The boy, Percy, had said that she would recognize it on sight. Natasha's eyes continued panning the docks until they reached the far end. She blinked in surprise. There, attached by a rope to the end of a dock, was a strange creature. She could clearly see her name emblazoned on a sign on the dock. The creature itself appeared to be a fish and horse hybrid. She got off her motorcycle, and hefted her two duffel bags. Then, she cautiously approached the creature, checking her surrounding to see if anybody had noticed it. Strangely enough, nobody batted an eye at the hybrid. 

"I'm probably going insane," she thought with a sigh. Natasha quickened her pace, hurrying over to the creature. She grabbed the sign and ripped it to pieces. The creature knickered, and swam closer to the dock, making it easier for her to get on. She untied the creature, and then hopped on its back, holding on for dear life.

Neighing loudly, the creature shot forwards, keeping her above the water. 

"Bruce Banner, here I come," she thought determinedly. Back at Cape Canaveral, an army vehicle pulled up next to Natasha's abandoned motorcycle.

"The target has vanished, sir." a soldier said, hopping out of the vehicle.

"Well, don't just stand there. Find her!" Thaddeus Ross yelled back in frustration, his voice crackling though the comm unit.

"Affirmative, sir." More soldiers got out of the vehicle, and they began combing the docks, looking for a trace of the Black Widow. But no one had seen anybody. The soldiers did not notice the red-headed woman that appeared to be water skiing away from the harbor in normal clothing.

Natasha realized very quickly that the hybrid creature moved fast. It didn't take long for Cape Canaveral to completely disappear from her vision. She realized that she was probably somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle, a fact which made Natasha slightly nervous. But the journey only got stranger. The creature slowed near an apparently deserted island with a raft on the beach. The raft had a sign with her name on it. Natasha found this a bit concerning, as it was literally some wooden planks with a sail, but she steeled herself and dismounted. She pushed the raft into the water, and stepped on. To her surprise, it started moving by itself, and she soon found herself sailing smoothly in the middle of the ocean in a freaking raft. In a couple of minutes, she was fast approaching another island, where she could see a waving Percy Jackson, and a very confused looking Bruce Banner.

"How did you even get here?" Bruce asked as he helped her off the raft. She handed him his duffel bag, and he raised an eyebrow, taking a look inside. Then, he nodded in thanks.

"I went to the docks of Cape Canaveral, and then took Percy's strange choices of transportation to get here." Bruce glanced at Percy, shocked, and then looked at her oddly.

"How long did that even take you?" he asked incredulously.

"Oh, about an hour, tops." she replied, slightly confused.

"But we're in Greece! There is no way you made it from Cape Canaveral to Greece in an hour! And you were in a raft!" Bruce responded disbelievingly. Natasha felt her eyes widen in shock.

"I thought we were somewhere in the Bermuda Triangle!" she said, turning to Percy and glaring slightly. He just shrugged.

"It's a magic raft. And a magic messaging system." That didn't explain anything, but Natasha elected to ignore it, instead turning towards Bruce.

"Bruce, I can't exactly say I'm sorry for shoving you off the cliff. We needed the other guy. But I am sorry about the way I went about it. I probably shouldn't have kissed you first, and I hope that you don't think I was manipulating you the whole time. I'd understand if you hate me for doing that, but I just - " Bruce stepped forward and cut her off by capturing her lips in a kiss. Natasha froze in shock, feeling as if she had just been electrocuted by one of her Widow's Bites. Bruce pulled back, blushing slightly.

"Um, sorry. It's just that I could never hate you, Tasha. And I don't think you manipulated me at all. Sorry for cutting you off, and uh, kissing you, but I just wanted to make that clear." the scientist said, stammering slightly. Natasha smiled softly at him.

"Dork." she said, pulling him closer to her by the front of his shirt. Their lips met again, and Natasha moved her hands to the back of his head. She had been so afraid that Bruce would think she had only wanted to manipulate him, that she was playing with his feelings like Tony had thought she was. She had never been so glad that Tony was wrong.

The two continued kissing, and Natasha could hear Percy shifting uncomfortably. After a couple of minutes, Percy coughed awkwardly.

"I'm just gonna be by the shelter." he said. Natasha heard him walk away, whistling loudly. She would have laughed, but at that moment, she couldn't care less. What had her attention was the nerd in front of her, who she absolutely adored.

Once the two finally broke apart, Natasha remained pressed to Bruce's chest, his hands on her hips and her arms looped around his neck.

"So you forgive me? Just like that?" she asked him breathlessly. He chuckled slightly, a sound that brought a small smile to her face.

"There's nothing for me to forgive, Tasha. I'm the one who should apologize. I didn't mean to leave you behind, but I didn't have time to get you. Ross wants to capture me. He wants to make more Hulks, so that he can simply cause unstoppable destruction wherever he wishes. I found a government file on it." he explained. Natasha was equal parts relieved and angry. She was relieved to learn Bruce's reasoning behind his leaving, and angry at Ross. The man seemed to ruin everything for Bruce, and now he was making her life harder than it already was.

Natasha kissed Bruce on the cheek and stepped back as Percy walked back over to them. He looked at  her, and she raised an eyebrow challengingly in return.

"I think we're going to have to fake your death. But in a way that will motivate the Avengers to work together again." he said.

"Like Coulson." Natasha remarked to Bruce, who nodded in agreement.

"I don't know who that is, but if he died fighting for something he believed in and a team was formed in his honor, then yeah. That's the idea." Percy said.

"Yeah, Coulson died single-handedly taking on the Norse god Loki. The Avengers really hated each other back then, and they couldn't unite against a common goal. But we had all met Coulson, and we wanted to avenge him. So that's how the Avengers truly formed." Natasha explained. Percy nodded in understanding.

"That's exactly it. General Ross is bad, right? So he'll be the Loki. You'll need to get the entire team in one place, and have them watch as he kills you, but you'll need to expose him first."

"Most of the team is being held in the Raft, right? I'm sure we can get Tony there somehow. And if we can bring Steve and Bucky there, then that will do the rest." Bruce offered.

"We need to land Bucky in the Raft somehow, causing Steve to come after him. Then, we need a way to break the team out of the Raft, which is when I will 'die' in front of everyone." Natasha said next. Percy nodded.

"We'll need to do more research on the facility. Maybe you can pull a Bucky, and fall off something high." he responded.

"Well, I could fall into the sea somehow." At Natasha's words, Percy's eyes lit up.

"That could work. I'll need to think on that a bit more. But we'll need to focus on the rest of the plan first. Let's rest up for a couple days. The team can wait a little longer, right?" Percy said, snapping his fingers.

"Yeah, probably." Bruce replied.

"Then let's take a couple days to relax. You've got a beach, a nice ocean view, and each other, the only things you two love birds need to have a nice break. So, enjoy! I'll be in the shelter for a bit, figuring out some things." Percy smiled crookedly at Natasha and Bruce, walking off. Natasha glanced at Bruce, who was blushing a bit.

"Alright Big Guy, the sun's getting real low. We should head down to the beach before it sets. Come on!" Natasha parodied the lullaby, grabbing Bruce's hand and dragging him along. The couple laughed, feeling as if everything was alright with the world, if only for a short time.

Like it? Hate it? See ya soon with the next chapter! - Spathi