Guess who's back!! Back again.... with another chapter! This is a bit fillery, but pay close attention, because there are some important details in here!!! Have fun! - Spathi.

Bruce's P.O.V.

Natasha was pissed.

That actually have been the understatement of the century. She was literally radiating rage; the ground was starting to crack under her feet, and the air was heating up. Her eyes were starting to glow a toxic green, and her fists were clenched so hard, blood was starting to run from her hands. On top of all of that, she was flickering. Every couple of seconds, red light would burst from her form while she herself dissolved partially. And then, she would stabilize.

Bruce was understandably freaked out. He wasn't sure that even his alter ego could compete with her rage. He knew that there were five stages of grief, and it seemed like she'd skipped straight over the first stage (denial) and proceeded to stage two (anger).

As he stood there watching her, it occured to him that she kind of looked like someone about to explode from Extremis. So, he did the most impulsive thing he could have possibly done in that situation: he ran and tackled her off of the bridge.

They landed in the water with a flaboom!, bubbles streaking upwards as they descended. Natasha turned to glare at him, and then, she screamed in fury.

They were underwater, so to him, there was just a slightly high-pitched sound while she looked as if she were trying to inhale the ocean, but a second later, something responded to her wrath.

Rippling dark red energy intermixed with shadowy trails of smeared black expanded outwards from her body, vaporizing the water around her. Bruce found himself lying on the bed of the river, with skin and hair dry but burnt, clothes in tatters, and mouth open in shock. Natasha was hovering about a hundred feet away. Then, the water crashed back inwards again, and Bruce was spun around as if he was a tube in a centrifuge chamber suspended in space. However, he was more focused on the fact that Natasha had literally made a couple of tons of water evaporate to the point that there wasn't even a trace of it left.

"If I didn't have the Other Guy, and if I wasn't fireproof, I would have been a pile of ash. As it was, I'm glad I shoved her into the water." he thought as he regained his bearings. He swam over to Natasha, who still looked furious. She was still emanating heat, to the point that she had a layer of air around her and bubbles were constantly rising to the surface.

"Wow. She can breathe underwater by means of creating her own air bubble." he thought. It was at this point that he realized he himself couldn't breathe.

Natasha finally noticed him, and grabbed him by the wrist. Bruce gulped slightly as her glowing green eyes focused on him. She then brought out a coin. Bruce was confused for about half a second before he found himself feeling like he was being sucked through a tunnel and spat out.

Somehow no longer dripping wet, he looked around, finding himself standing in Katerina's house. Natasha was slumped on the floor next to him, her eyes glowing less. She looked miserable as she fidgeted with a small statue of a scorpion with a trident engraved on its back. She slipped it into her pocket before he could take a closer look.

"If I'd just realized sooner..." she mumbled, and Bruce knew they were on stage three: imagining a different scenario that would have ended better, also known for some reason as bargaining. He knew stage four was depression, and stage five was acceptance. But knowing Natasha, she'd never accept it, not while Peter could still be alive. He knew he'd probably do the same thing. But he didn't know how Natasha handled being depressed, so he braced himself for anything.

A couple hours later, he'd pretty much figured out that depressed for some people meant angry and determined for the Russian spy. She'd led him on a crusade around the city to find information on the Red Room and the Red Guardian, and a lot of tough, shady informants had been left in a state of absolute fear.

As Natasha stalked away from her latest victim, Bruce moved to follow, and tripped over a newspaper that had been blown into his feet. He bent to remove it, and froze at the headline on the front cover.

"Natasha!" he hissed, and she turned, eyes as cold as ice.

"What is it?" she snarled. He handed her the newspaper and watched as her eyes narrowed.

"I know him." she said. He glanced at the headline, which read: Black Widow suspected in murder of  Alexei Shostakov, with a picture of a man in his 30s below. He was slightly worried.

"Not because-" he gestured at the paper. Natasha shot him an annoyed look.

"I didn't murder him. Gods, Bruce. I can meet people outside of my job, you know." she retorted. Bruce winced.

"Sorry." Natasha waved it off.

"It's fine. I just can't remember where I know him from." Then, a lightbulb went off in his head.

"Wait... didn't Dottie say something about you being married?" he blurted. Natasha stared at him.

"By the gods, you might be right." she realized, turning and walking down the road.

"Why do you sound so surprised?" Bruce wondered, following. There was no reply.

They went back to Katerina's house, and sat in the living room. Natasha collapsed on the couch, and Bruce sat down next to her.

"So, you never told me what the real reason for you staying in Russia was." he mentioned. Natasha sighed.

"My memories of my childhood are really screwed up. I wanted to find out the truth of my past, especially after running into someone I knew at the Hydra base." she explained. Bruce thought about this for a while. He had another random thought go through his head, and voiced it.

"Um... so if Dottie gave Peggy Carter so much trouble, why did she look like she was in her thirties?" Natasha froze.

"Dammit, I'm slipping. I should have asked. Why didn't I ask?" she exclaimed, throwing her hands up into the air. She started pacing, muttering expletives in Russian. Then, she paused.

"Wait..." She ran to her room. Bruce waited.

She reappeared barely a minute later, holding a bottle of mist, a prism, and a drachma. Bruce watched in considerable confusion as she created a rainbow, and chucked the coin in. She must have said the prayer in her head, because the mist condensed suddenly and formed an image of a guy with curly brown hair, brown eyes, and a wispy goatee. The most striking thing about the guy was the two horns sprouting from his head.

"Grover Underwood." Natasha called.

"Hi. You're Peter's Avenger friends, right?" Natasha sighed in relief for some reason, and responded.

"Yeah. This is going to sound weird, but are there female satyrs?" she questioned.

"No... females are born as nymphs." came the confused reply.

"Right. Do you have an aunt?" was Natasha's next question.

"Well, Uncle Ferdinand used to tell me about my Aunt Dorothy, but she went missing when she was pretty young." Grover said.

"Okay, thank you. We've got to go. Bye." Natasha replied briskly, cutting the call.

"Wait, so Dottie's a nymph?" Bruce summed up. Natasha sighed.

"Apparently."

"Well that's one question answered. Now we just have to answer the rest." he said optimistically. Natasha nodded.

"Give me an hour to go to a contact." she proposed.

"Um, Natasha, I'm not doubting your skills, but you're wanted." Bruce pointed out. She smiled.

"Don't worry. Just stay right here." she said. And then, she disappeared into thin air.

Percy's P.O.V.

He woke up strapped to a chair, shirtless and in pain. His first thought?

"Where in Hades is my shirt?"

He glanced down and noticed that someone had bandaged his bullet wound, which was probably why the shirt was missing. He wanted it back. It was cold. He tried contacting Natasha through their mind link, but it wasn't working for some reason. So, he sat back, and waited for someone to walk in.

The first person to enter the room was the dude from the bridge, followed by three other masked people and a lady in her 40s. Naturally, Percy had to say something to Bridge Dude.

"I understand that my body is a work of true art, but I don't appreciate being put on display without consent. No means no, you know? And abducting me isn't going to score you any points either. You should have bought me dinner first. Or at least a drink or two." he said. The man growled while some of the people accompanying me snickered.

"Well, Mr. Johnson, you've got quite the tongue, haven't you." Bridge Dude snarled. Percy decided to do what his sister would do in this situation. Flirt.

"I sure do. You want me to show you what else I can do with it, mister?" he replied, winking. Bridge Dude growled and smacked him across the face. Percy spit out blood, and then turned his face back to the man.

"Oh, I see. Someone likes to play a little rough, doesn't he? I'll warn you, I'm not the most submissive guy." the son of the sea purred.

"No, this is all for my ex-wife's benefit. After all, she'll come to get you, eventually." Bridge Dude retorted. Percy realized that this guy was Natasha's ex. The one that Dottie mentioned. Percy burst out laughing. These guys were so screwed. Natasha was going to eviscerate them.

The man's face twisted into one of rage, and socked him in the stomach. Percy kept laughing.

"Enough, Alexei." the woman in her 40s commanded.

"Put him under. " And suddenly, electricity arced through his body, and Percy clenched his teeth together to keep from screaming. Memories flashed through his head, and started to slip away. Percy mentally dragged them back. He would not lose them. He would not give in.

"Increase the voltage." The pain increased, but Percy kept struggling. He would never let them have the satisfaction of breaking him. They could break his bones, burn his skin, torture him until he was on Thanatos's doorstep, but they would never shatter his spirit.

And so, the mental battle began.

Natasha's P.O.V.

She'd run a search for the name Alexei Shostakov through C.H.A.O.S.'s servers, and dug up some meager information on him. The biggest thing that she learned was that the man had been a test pilot for the KGB. She also found a couple of photos from security cameras of him with three other people. Running a search on the three, she found that their names were Mikhail Ursus, Laynia Krylova, and Yuri Petrovich. The latter was the son of Ivan, and biologically her half-brother. Her face contorted in disgust.

She went to one of the armories on the Manta, and grabbed a duffel bag. She filled it with supplies: Greek fire bombs, a bulletproof vest, several highly advanced firearms, a couple of special bullets, nectar, and ambrosia. She also got Bruce a set of armor that looked like a button down shirt, a tweed jacket, and jeans, and resized to fit anybody who wore it.

She returned to Katerina's house, and told Bruce what she'd found.

"I feel like I'm in a spy movie." he grumbled.

"Really?" she questioned.

"Seriously. It would be called Black Widow: Web of Lies. And I've already come up with the plot synopsis: In the aftermath of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s fall, Natasha Romanoff finds herself questioning everything she knows about herself. As she begins to unravel the twisted story of her childhood, Natasha encounters a man from her past and a dangerous enemy who calls himself the Red Guardian. Soon afterwards, she is accused of murdering a well known test pilot. Now, she must enlist the help of fellow Avenger Bruce Banner to finally uncover the truth and rescue an important hostage: her brother. But several new players have joined the game, and this time, the Black Widow might be in over her head." he joked. Natasha chuckled slightly.

"That's pretty good. I'll give you that." she allowed. Then, a determined expression formed on her face.

"What are we still doing here? We need to hurry. Suit up." she said, chucking the magical shirt, jacket, and jeans at him. She disappeared into her room to don the bulletproof vest, and pulled a bomber jacket on over it. She then started concealing as many of the weapons on her as possible. She left Bruce two handguns and three firebombs, tucking the rest into her outfit. She checked her cuffs to make sure that they were in good condition, and sat and waited. A minute later, Bruce appeared wearing the outfit she gave him. He glanced at the weapons, and picked them up, hiding them inside of his jacket. Then he turned to her.

"Where to?" he asked. Natasha grinned ferally.

"Well, we're going to have to find Mr. Shostakov. Fortunately, I ran into the father of one of his friends. And I shot him with a bullet that could inject a tracker into his bloodstream." she said as she looked at her phone, locating Ivan Petrovich.

"It appears that we're off to Siberia. Just let me get us a ride." she commented.

30 minutes later, a C.H.A.O.S. agent arrived at the door, disguised as a civilian. He held up a set of keys.

"Your vehicle is waiting at Chkalovsky Airport. I'll take you there." he said shortly. The car ride was surprisingly quick, and Natasha soon found herself stepping onto the runway of the airport. The agent pointed at a nearby aircraft, and drove away.

"It's a Quinjet." Bruce commented.

"Yes. But it's been upgraded. Come on!" she responded, climbing on board. She set the autopilot to Ivan's location, and got the plane into the air. She then turned to Bruce.

"Now, we wait." They passed the time by simply chatting about random topics. Two hours later, Natasha heard beeping coming from the cockpit. She glanced at the radar, and realized that something was approaching. She turned on stealth mode, and glanced back at Bruce.

"I'd strap yourself in." she suggested, before switching off autopilot. Then, she steered the plane into a steep dive. Just before they hit the snow, Natasha pulled out of it, flying barely 20 feet off of the ground. She maneuvered the plane into a canyon, and landed it.

"We need to get out of here." she hissed to Bruce, who nodded. They exited the plane, and made their way out of the canyon. Soon, Natasha caught sight of a suit not unlike the Iron Man suit circling in the sky above them. It was red and silver, and a bit bulkier then Tony's was, but it was still not a good sign. The armored man was accompanied by a woman wearing a black suit with what seemed to be a diamond shaped star emblazoned on her chest. She was flying without any visible use of technology. A black jet appeared in the sky next. Natasha looked over at Bruce.

"What do you think we should do?" she questioned.

"It would be best to take down the jet first. It's less maneuverable, and wouldn't be able to recover. The other two could easily fly out of the way." he reasoned.

"Good idea."She pulled out the package of special bullets, and chose a magazine marked with a green flame.

"Explosive Greek fire bullet." she explained. She summoned the sniper rifle Percy had brought her in DC, and loaded the magazine in. Then, she took careful aim at one of the wings. She squeezed the trigger.

She watched in satisfaction as the plane lost control, the right wing blown clear off. However, she was shocked to see a gigantic black hand reach into the plane and pull two people out. She noticed that the woman seemed to be controlling the hand. Natasha quickly took out the explosive bullet magazine, and looked through the other special bullets. The woman was slowly lowering the two people to the ground. She grabbed a package marked with a blue lightning bolt, and put the magazine in, taking aim at the armored man, who was turned in the opposite direction, scanning the ground.

Upon impact, the EMP bullet caused the man to jolt, electricity running through him. The suit shorted out, and he started to fall towards the ground. Suddenly, a gigantic thing jumped up and grabbed him. Natasha wasn't sure what to call it. It looked like a cross between a bear and a man. A werebear? Ursaman? Anyhow, Natasha was instantly reminded of the Hulk saving Tony when he fell from the sky in New York.

"What the Hades?" Bruce wondered. Natasha put the rifle away, and pulled out her knife and one of her advanced firearms. These were self reloading, and shot beams of energy instead of bullets. They could switch between lethal and concussive with the flick of a switch. She tensed, ready to spring into action.

A minute later, the Red Guardian appeared at the top of the hill. Just as he threw his shield, Natasha stepped into Bruce's shadow and shadow-traveled behind him. Bruce caught the shield easily, and threw it back. Just as her ex-husband moved to catch it, Natasha shot him in the back of the knee while also thrusting her knife into his lower back. She retracted the knife and stepped to the side, watching as the shield slammed into the Red Guardian's chest. He toppled backwards with a cry of pain. She stomped on his rib cage.

"Hey, Alexei. How have you been?" she asked cheerfully as he gasped for air. Alexei choked, blood coming out of his mouth.

"Great? That's good to hear." she mocked, pushing down harder with her feet. She was forced to dive to the side as a spike made of dark energy appeared where she'd just been standing. The woman picked Alexei up, and vanished in a swirl of black. Natasha suspected that she'd taken Alexei back to their base to be patched up. Now, she just had to deal with the other two. The bear man charged towards her, but Bruce tackled him out of the way, becoming larger and turning a greenish gray. Natasha blinked. The Hulk was slightly shorter as he usually was, and he didn't look as angry either. His face was more human, too.

"I'll deal with this guy. Go find the one in the armor." Bruce snarled, and Natasha realized that he and the Hulk must have been working in tandem for once. She nodded and scrambled over the hill, finding Yuri Petrovich getting to his feet. He turned his masked face towards her, the metal faceplate not giving anything away about his emotions.

"Hello, brother. You've got some fancy armor there. What's it called? The Aluminium Man suit?" she called.

"No, sister. I am Crimson Dynamo." he announced proudly. Natasha rolled her eyes.

"Well, I'll give you bonus points for the creative name, but I'll take them away for the uncreative suit." she retorted, charging at him. He raised an arm and fired a repulsor. Natasha raised her hands and activated the energy shield, redirecting it into the air. Just as she reached her opponent, he flew into the air, releasing a couple of badly aimed missiles. She used her grappling hook to latch onto his boot and pull herself out of range of the explosives, and then yanked down as hard as she could, sending Yuri crashing into the ground.

Just as she landed, Yuri activated his thrusters, startling her as she was dragged along. Before she could even think about retracting her grappling hook, Yuri had started flying straight upwards. Within a couple of seconds, they were hundreds of feet off of the ground, and getting higher. If she let go now, she'd fall to her death. Worse, she could easily pass out from the lack of oxygen at such a high altitude. And even if she didn't pass out, she couldn't shadow travel, because the sun was directly overhead. Her blessing from her father was useless, unless she had a layer of protection between her and the ground.

As they rose higher and higher, Natasha realized that she was facing terrible odds.

What could she possibly do about it?

Bruce's P.O.V.

Once Natasha had disappeared over the hill, Bruce turned his attention to the bear man. Two of his personalities were simultaneously in control at the moment:  Hulk, and himself, creating what Bruce decided to call Merged Hulk, or the Professor as a joke. He definitely wouldn't be able to do this all the time, but the urge to help Natasha defeat these people and retrieve someone she really cared about was something all of his personalities seemed to share.

Bruce sized up his opponent, noting that they were about the same height at the moment. He decided to go on the offensive. He quickly scooped up some snow and hurled it at the werebear's face as hard as he could, causing the man's head to snap back with considerable force. He then took the opportunity to leap forward and tackle him around the middle. The werebear roared as they plowed into the snow.

"Get off me, you mindless beast. I am Ursa Major, and I will be known as the man who defeated the Hulk!" his enemy snarled.

"Mindless, you say? We'll see about that." Bruce snapped, and immediately wished he could take a picture of Ursa Major's comically surprised face. Instead, he threw an uppercut into the Russian man's jaw, sending him upwards, and then a well-timed Spartan kick into his chest as he came down, causing him to fly backwards. Ursa Major rolled to his feet and charged. Bruce side-stepped and smashed his face into the ground. His opponent groaned in pain, but stood up anyways, throwing wild punches. Bruce blocked them all easily, and backhanded the other man, causing him to stumble backwards.

A missile whizzed by, striking the canyon where the plane was hidden and causing it to collapse.

"That's not good." Bruce thought, and was rewarded for his being distracted by receiving a hefty punch to the face. He growled and threw himself back into the fight. Eventually, Bruce managed to get around Ursa Major, and used his elbow to strike at the base of his neck, causing something to fracture. The man collapsed to the ground.

Bruce picked him up and threw him into a nearby mountain.

He stomped the ground, causing a crack to appear, and the Russian man slipped into it. Then, Bruce slammed his hands together in a massive thunderclap, causing an avalanche. He waited a few minutes, but the man did not reappear.

Shaking his head, Bruce dove into the snow after him.

Natasha's P.O.V.

She thought furiously, trying to figure out how to get out of her situation alive. Suddenly, she remembered something Ivan had said.

"I'd hoped you would see reason, Natalia, but if you will not join me right now, I'll just have to approach you again at another time."

Ivan wanted her alive. There was no way he would send Yuri out here without telling him that. And Yuri hadn't been trying to kill her, so far. The missiles had been terribly aimed. So, she came up with a stupid plan.

She retracted her grappling hook, and began to freefall towards the ground. For a couple of heart-stopping seconds, she was afraid the man in the Crimson Dynamo armor wouldn't notice.

Luckily for her, Yuri definitely noticed. He stopped and turned around. Natasha did her best to appear unconscious. Her biological half-brother caught her, and started to fly towards the ground. As soon as they were about 50 feet above the ground, Natasha climbed on top of Yuri so that he was closest to the ground and quickly created an EMP wave with her bracelets, causing Yuri to be unable to slow down. Natasha activated Mars' blessing just as they crashed into the ground. Natasha stepped off Yuri, who then fired up his thrusters and flew off towards where Natasha knew Bruce and Mikhail Ursus were fighting. She ran after him, arriving in time to see Yuri fly off with an unconscious humanized Ursus, and Bruce looking after them, no longer green. The doctor turned towards her as she approached.

"Hey." he said. And then he collapsed.

Percy's P.O.V.

When the only female on the Russian Avengers suddenly appeared in the room he was strapped down in, he took one look at her, and burst out laughing again. In her arms was Alexei Shostakov, who looked like someone had beaten the absolute crap out of him. The woman who was constantly electrocuting him, who he'd learned was called Madame B, stared impassively at the duo. Percy kept laughing. The powered lady growled, and stomped past him, kicking open the door and dragging Alexei out with her.

About two hours later, while Percy was on break from being tortured, the four costumed Russians filed into the room. The biggest guy looked like someone had pulverized him, Alexei still looked like hell, and the other two just looked tired.

"Oh, she totally kicked your ass, didn't she." he commented, cackling like a hyena. The woman flicked her wrist, and pain worse than the torture he'd just received arced through his body. He barely managed not to scream.

"This is what Dottie mentioned. The Darkforce." he thought.

"Stop this, Laynia." Madame B ordered, and the torture abruptly stopped, although he still trembled.

"We evidently underestimated you greatly, Mr. Johnson. To not emit a sound under that kind of torture... even one of our best operatives broke immediately under that, although she was a traitor." she mused out loud.

"Dottie Underwood?" he questioned, because gods damn it, he knew he couldn't escape, so he might as well gain some information out of this terrible situation.

"Ah, so you've heard of her. Nevertheless, I must know what makes you so strong." Percy grinned.

"Something you can never comprehend, Lady Voldemort." he teased, which wasn't his brightest idea. Seconds later, he was wincing as his arm was hyper-extended violently.

"Tell me." she demanded.

"The answer is simple. It's love." he replied.

"Love? Love is for children." Percy shook his head.

"That's where you are wrong. Love is the one thing you will never be able to comprehend, yet it is also the greatest driving force in the universe. It can move mountains, defy terrifying odds, even stand tall in the face of great danger. It is the strength of the Avengers. It is Natasha's strength too, although she doesn't know it yet. And you, who will not love, will crumble under her onslaught." Madame B looked infuriated, and Percy felt a wide smile stretch across his face. For a while, he and the woman had a stare off. Then, she turned away.

"Break him." she ordered the Russian Avengers, before walking out. They stepped forwards. Percy had a grim smile on his face.

"Nothing you can do to me will ever break me." he told them, thinking on his time in Tartarus and mentally shuddering. That had been terrible. At least, they'd returned his shirt this time, although it wasn't exactly in the best condition anymore. He rather liked the shirt he was wearing. It was blue.

"We'll see about that." Alexei said.

"No. I am the roiling tides, crashing endlessly upon the seashore. I am the current that takes you by surprise, dragging you to your doom. I am the sea, wild and untamed. And the sea does not like to be restrained. So break my bones, leave my skin raw, bloody my face. I will never submit. For it matters not how strait the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll. I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul." Percy hissed in defiance, quoting the famous poem Invictus. He was already bracing himself for the first blow.

As it came, Percy kept a smirk on his face and his chin held up high. He would not scream. He would not flinch. He would not give them an inch. He'd held up the sky. He'd been blown out of a volcano. He'd struggled alone through the depths of hell. He'd never broken before, and he wasn't about to start now. So he stared straight ahead, and did what he'd done his entire life. He endured.

He would always endure.

Natasha's P.O.V.

She dragged Bruce into the canyon, stopping short once she realized what had happened.

"Damn it. Yuri's missiles weren't so badly aimed after all." she thought as she surveyed the wreckage of what had been a Quinjet liberated from an old military base. She sighed, dropping Bruce carefully, and moving closer to the remains of the Quinjet, hoping to find something useful.

She quickly ran into a problem: she had no idea what she was looking at. All Natasha really knew about technology was how to hack into systems. Rebuilding a jet? She didn't even know where to start.

"At least we didn't leave anything important on the jet." she mused, sitting down next to Bruce. She reviewed her options.

If she stayed where she was, she would freeze to death. She could shadow travel, but she wouldn't be able to go far, especially while carrying Bruce. Walking was also out of the question.

Then, Natasha heard growling. She stood, and looked around. She noticed a pack of white-furred tundra wolves staring at her, and had an idea.

"The wolf is one of Mars' sacred animals, and Lupa, the wolf goddess, supposedly watched over Romulus and Remus, the twin sons of Mars. Maybe they can help me." She slowly approached the wolves, who didn't move from their position. As she got closer, the largest of them stepped forwards, padding over to her and nuzzling into her hand.

"Well, I guess I was right." she said out loud. The wolf barked, and the rest of the pack sprung forth, startling Natasha a little. But they ran around her and swarmed the Quinjet, pulling pieces of it out, until she had a large collection of flat sheets of metal.

"Uh..." She looked around at the wolves, confused. The large one, presumably the alpha, barked, and pawed at the snow. It looked like he was drawing something. Curious, Natasha walked over and inspected the wolf's picture. And then, she frowned.

"Why did you draw a santa hat?" she wondered. The wolf howled, and the other wolves lined up in two straight lines. Natasha blinked.

"Wait a second...."

"You want me to build a sled?" she questioned. The alpha yipped happily, and began to run around her, bounding through the snow playfully. The rest did the same. Natasha smiled at the sight. It was really adorable.

She felt something sniffing at her feet, and looked down. There, she found a small white wolf pup with pale green eyes staring up at her. She glanced around, noticing that all of the other wolf pups ran around with their parents. But this one was sitting in front of her, with wide eyes that were a color that none of the other wolves had, and looking very cute-

"Gods damn it." she muttered, bending over to pick the little wolf up. He whined a little, and Natasha stroked his fur.

"I think I'll name you Remus." she decided. She'd really liked the character in the Harry Potter books. Not to mention the fact that Remus was one of the twin sons of Mars that were apparently nursed by Lupa. The little wolf wagged his tail, and she put him down, turning towards the sheets of metal.

"Now, how are we going to do this?" she wondered out loud. Remus barked, and dashed over to the jet. He dug around for a little while before reappearing with what appeared to be a torch. Natasha shrugged.

"Looks like we're welding, then." she mused, picking up the torch.

About 2 hours of creative cursing, a ton of hammering, and hard work later, Natasha had a sled. Granted, it was ugly as Tartarus, but Natasha had never claimed to be an artist. She looked at the metal abomination and sighed.

"Glad I'm finally done with that." she said to Remus, who wagged his tail. Suddenly, her eyes widened.

"Shit! I forgot about Bruce!" she exclaimed. She sprinted over to where she had left Bruce, and dropped to her knees next to him. He was pale, and shivering slightly, but he seemed fine otherwise. Natasha felt relieved. Then, she felt his forehead.

She hissed at the heat emnating from his skin.

"Damn it, Natasha. You just gave the Hulk hypothermia by leaving him to lie in the snow for several hours. Great job. And you call yourself observant." she scolded herself. She dragged him over to the sled, and laid him down on top.

"At least I can't get sick. So one of us is in good health." she consoled herself bitterly. Remus yipped, and dragged the ripped up remains of the jet's parachutes to her feet. She looked around at the wolves.

"Alright, who wants to be in front?" A little while later, she'd used the parachutes to harness all of the adult wolves and arrange them in a line in front of the sled. The wolf pups were all on board the sled, cuddling into Bruce and keeping him warm. Natasha used more parachutes to tie the wolves and Bruce down, making sure they didn't fly off the sled. She'd also strapped down as many supplies as she could salvage from the plane, which was just some food, water, and a couple of blankets, one of which Bruce was wrapped in. Then, she stepped on.

"Yip yip!" she called, and the alpha howled. All of the harnessed wolves glowed red, and Natasha instinctively tightened her grip on the sled.

It was a good thing that she had. As soon as the wolves started running, Natasha's lower body ended up flying off the sled, so that she was literally hanging onto the sled for dear life with her hands. The rest of her was suspended in the air. She yelled some very rude words into the wind, wishing desperately that she had tied herself down as well.

Unfortunately for her, the wolves weren't slowing down any time soon. That meant that she was going to have to do something very, very stupid.

She gritted her teeth, and adjusted her grip slightly, shuffling to the right a little. She repeated the process until she was hanging on to the rightmost edge of the front railing. Then, she took a deep breath, and let go with her left hand. She bit back a scream as she was violently thrown sideways, her right shoulder dislocating with a nasty grinding sound. For several minutes, she just breathed deeply through the pain. Then, she slowly reached out with her free hand, managing to snag the edge of one of the blankets. She pulled it out, simultaneously pulling her legs towards her chest. She locked her legs around the railing, her muscles shaking with the effort. Natasha tucked the blanket under her arm, and activated her grappling hook, which happened to be on her right wrist. It wrapped around the railing. She ignored the pain in her shoulder as she gripped two opposite edges of the blanket as tightly as she could. She squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself. This was the most dangerous (and painful) part.

She held her arms straight over her head. She could already feel the air pushing against the blanket, trying to rip it out of her hands. Agonizing pain tore through her shoulder as it protested the movement. She steeled herself, and unlocked her legs from the railing, moving her arms away from each other.

Amazingly, it worked. The blanket acted as a parachute, and the air resistance provided enough drag for her to be lifted up, until she was effectively parasailing behind the sled. Her arm still hurt like Hades, but it was infinitely better than attempting to keep a grip on the slippery cold metal of the railing.

Eventually, the dogs started to slow, and so Natasha's altitude lowered significantly. They came to a stop just outside of a wooden cabin on the edge of a forest. Natasha landed lightly on the snow, and retracted her grappling hook, moving to free Bruce and the wolf pups from the sled.

She glanced at the cabin, noticing that it had the letters SPQR engraved above the doorway. She suspected that this was some sort of outpost from a long time ago. She briefly wondered how it hadn't fallen into disrepair, and shrugged, dismissing the thought. Then, she winced, regretting moving her shoulder, involuntarily or not.

The alpha wolf grabbed Bruce's collar, and began dragging him towards the cabin. The other wolves quickly caught hold of Bruce's loose clothing, helping their alpha along. Natasha smiled, and started moving the supplies into the little wooden house.

Upon entering the living room, she looked around, inspecting her surroundings. She smirked. She felt as if she was standing in the Gryffindor common room, with all of its red and gold furniture. Sure, red was a very Roman color. But this? This was a bit much. However, Natasha wasn't complaining. She turned, and walked down a nearby hallway. There, she found two bedrooms, furnished in purple, each having their own en suite. She also found a room full of demigod weapons and armor. She also found a kitchen.

From what she'd seen, she'd decided that this was not an outpost, but a vacation home for the Roman Praetors that had been long forgotten. She brought her stuff into the bedroom that, judging by the obviously feminine clothing in the closet, was for the female praetor. She slammed her shoulder back into its socket, which sucked. Then, she took a quick shower, which relaxed her muscles a lot. The cabin was rather toasty, so she just put on a tank top and grey sweatpants, walking into the living room to check on Bruce.

The scientist was still in his wet clothes, and shivering. The wolves sat around him, nuzzling into his side worriedly. Natasha sighed, feeling Bruce's head. It was ice-cold. She swore.

"Okay, step one of treating severe hypothermia. Get the person indoors. Check. Step two. Remove wet clothing." She glanced at Bruce, and bit her lip. She proceeded to drag him right next to the roaring fire. Then, she propped the man's limp body up, and started peeling off his jacket, shirt and undershirt. She pulled his shoes and socks off as well. She ended up cutting off his jeans as well, leaving the man in his boxers. She grabbed several blankets, and draped them over Bruce, hoping that it would help.

Unfortunately, his skin remained cold to the touch. Natasha grimaced, realizing what the next step was. She was going to have to "share body heat" with him. In other words, lay down as close to him as possible.

Had Natasha been any other person, she would have been unable to stop thinking about how awkward the situation was. Here she was, tending to a guy that she rather liked, who had gotten sick because of her. And now, she had to cuddle with him. Cuddle with a man who only had his boxers on, and also just so happened to be the guy she had a crush on. But she couldn't afford to stop and think about how crazy the entire thing was.

"Damn you, Fates." she said out loud as she lifted up the blankets and stretched out next to the unconscious doctor. She gingerly scooted closer, so that she was pressed into his side. She wasn't quite ready to hug him. Natasha figured that this would suffice. She shivered at how cold he was. It was like trying to lie down next to an icicle.

Naturally, the Fates decided that the entire situation needed to be more awkward. Bruce muttered something under his breath, and turned on his side, pulling Natasha closer to him. Seconds later, Bruce had both of his arms wrapped around her, her back to his chest. Natasha froze.

"Uh, Bruce?" she tried, but there was no reply. Natasha glanced around at the wolves, who looked- was she imagining it, or did they all look amused? She realized her suspicions were right when Remus bounded up to her, barked, and rolled onto his back, starting to make a series of noises that sounded kind of like laughing.

"Sod off." she said, scowling playfully at the little wolf. Remus snorted, and rolled back over, flopping down next to her head. He licked her cheek. Natasha laughed and moved to wipe her face. Bruce chose that moment to shift so that he was lying on his other side, somehow managing to flip Natasha over in the process. His arms were still wrapped around her, but she was now facing Bruce.

Remus whined from behind her, and climbed over her back, nestling himself in between her and Bruce. The little wolf turned his head towards her, his large green eyes starting to droop. The rest of the wolf pups started curling up around them, snuggling as closely together as possible. The adult wolves proceeded to lie down around them, until Natasha and Bruce were literally surrounded by white fur.

A part of her wanted to get up and go after her brother, so that he wouldn't have to stay with those accursed idiots any longer. But she knew that it wasn't realistic. Bruce was sick, she was injured, and the wolves needed rest. Natasha felt her eyes starting to close of their own accord.

"Maybe a quick nap wouldn't hurt." she thought sleepily. And so, she drifted off to sleep, lulled by the rhythmic breathing of the animals around her, as well as the comfortable warmth of the room.

Bruce's P.O.V.

His dreams were full of shadows and shapes, all unclear. The place that he was standing was familiar to him, but it was like looking at a picture on the other side of a steamed up window through the wrong prescription of glasses. Vague was the best way to describe it.

"Robbie, put your stuff in the car. Quickly. He's coming..." a feminine voice whispered to him. Bruce went from feeling nothing to completely alert, fearing this unknown person that haunted his dreams.

"Robbie, why don't you go sit in the car. I'll talk to him." the same voice said soothingly, but Bruce was not calmed in any way. If anything, he felt more nervous. He didn't move. Instead, he waited for the ball to drop.

The scene blurred more, and Bruce was confused. Someone was yelling. Yelling at him?

"Robert, stop! Stop this, please! You aren't yourself! Stop!" the voice screamed and Bruce trembled. What was he doing? What was happening?

"Robert!" And then there was a sickening crack. For half a second, Bruce could see what was going on.  He saw something red on the ground and saw a gigantic figure turn his way. But he had no time to take everything in, because he was waking up.

He stirred, feeling groggy and confused. Something felt...furry.

"Where are we?" he wondered. The last thing he remembered was seeing Natasha run towards him after his battle with the man-bear. He opened his eyes, and froze. The redheaded assassin was curled up against his chest, sleeping peacefully. Around him lay a pack of wolves. There was also a wolf pup snuggled in Natasha's arms. He had to admit; the picture was absolutely adorable. But he was slightly concerned about the wolves. Were they supposed to be inside the house? And weren't they usually a bit more hostile?

Bruce sat up carefully, and suddenly realized he wasn't exactly... decent. His cheeks flamed red, and he stood quickly, taking in his surroundings. They were in a cozy cabin, with wolves lying all around them. He'd been lying right next to a fireplace that was set into a pillar of stacked stones.Natasha looked fine, although if she hadn't woken up due to his movement, she must be exhausted. There was slight swelling around her right shoulder though, which Bruce decided to look at later.

He himself felt a bit cold, which didn't make any sense, seeing as he'd been surrounded by wolves and the fire was roaring. Bruce suspected that he'd gotten hypothermia. That explained the circumstances in which he'd woken up. He also had the suspicion that he'd gotten sick, as he felt a little congested and tired, even though he'd spent an unknown amount of time sleeping.

"Now how do I get out of this circle of wolves?" he thought. He surveyed his surroundings once more, and then had an idea. He leaped upwards in the direction of the fireplace, grabbing the wall above it as best as he could. Then, he edged around the side of the pillar and climbed down, touching down just outside of the wolf circle. He walked off in search of clothes.

He found a bedroom with male clothes that actually fit him down the hallway, and put on a t-shirt and sweatpants, also finding a comfortable hoodie, which he wore as well. He walked back down the hall, and found the kitchen. Upon opening the refrigerator, he was surprised to find food. Lots of it, actually.

"Whose house is this?" he asked out loud.

"I'm pretty sure this is a praetor retreat house. The wolves brought us here." Natasha replied from behind him, startling him into whipping around, raising the closest thing he could grab as a weapon. She burst out laughing.

"Behold, the terrible might of the loaf of bread!" she joked, and Bruce glanced at his hand. Indeed, he had grabbed a package of bread.

"Wonder Bread." he read, and Natasha snickered.

"What?" he wondered.

"Nothing. Just reminds of me of a trip to the Colosseum that Peter told me about." she dismissed, and Bruce had to wonder what Wonder Bread had to do with Rome. Natasha opened up a nearby cabinet, and started laughing again.

"What is it this time?" he questioned. Natasha held up a bag.

"Fonzies! Great for flashbangs, I hear!" she cackled. Bruce stared.

"Are you feeling feverish?" Natasha looked at him oddly.

"No. You are. You're the one who's sick, remember?" she deadpanned. Bruce blinked.

"Um.. okay?" he responded. Natasha beamed, and turned back to the cupboards. Then, she suddenly started pulling ingredients out of the cabinet. Bruce watched in confusion as she pulled out blue food dye, flour, eggs, milk, and baking powder. Shaking his head, he walked back to the living room.

A few minutes later, Natasha appeared with a ridiculous amount of pancakes. Interestingly enough, they were blue. Natasha looked really sad as she passed them out.

"Does the blue mean something?" he asked gently.

"It's something Peter always does. Eat blue food." she explained morosely. Bruce reached out and gripped her wrist.

"We'll rescue him. And when we do, we'll beat the crap out of those idiots that kidnapped him." he reassured. Natasha nodded slightly, and Bruce carefully brought her into a hug. They stayed like that for a few minutes, before Natasha pulled away, turning to the pack of wolves.

"Remus?" she called, and Bruce was confused, until a wolf pup came bounding up, wide green eyes playful and happy.

"Lupin. I understood that reference." he said, nodding sagely. Natasha laughed.

"Alright, Bruce. Glad to see that you've gotten with the times." she teased.

"Well, duh. I'm not Steve, you know." he retorted.

"You've got the super soldier serum for it." she responded. Bruce frowned.

"What?" he asked. Natasha stilled, looking at him carefully.

"You didn't know." It was a statement, not a question.

"What do you mean?" he pressed.

"The serum. You got it right. But when it meshed with your DID, it latched onto each of your personalities, and manifested in different ways." she revealed, and Bruce felt... well, he didn't know how he felt.

"Manifested?" he choked out hoarsely.

"As Bruce Banner, you were able to pick up your half-brother Leo, and toss him as if he weighed nothing. And that boy eats a lot. Trust me. You caught Frank's swipe, even though he was in the form of a grizzly bear. You didn't even move when Leo socked you in the ribs with a fiery fist. The thing is, Robbie told me that you had four personalities. There's you, Hulk, Robbie, and Joe Fixit. Out of those four, I think Joe Fixit is the most like you. He's the son of Hephaestus personality? I'm pretty sure that he's mostly merged with you. Otherwise, that fire punch would have burned you. And when I got mad earlier? That would have vaporized you. Not to mention your knack for tinkering."

"So, the fire resistance isn't part of the other guy." Natasha looked at him steadily.

"I don't think so. The Hulk is tough, but that brand of fireproof? There wasn't even a shade of green in your eyes. Anyways, the Hulk is the most dissociated personality. I think you won't be able to absorb him, exactly, but you can work with him, like you did earlier today. Robbie will be a little harder to absorb, but I think that finding the memories that caused him to be so scared and coming to terms with them will help. And Joe Fixit? I haven't really talked to him yet, but I think he's in there." Bruce bit his lip, taking in the new information. It made a lot of sense, but...

"I-  I need some time to think about this." he said. Natasha nodded, guiding him to the bedroom designated for the male praetor.

"You need to rest, anyways. We're leaving as soon as you're healthy and the wolves are rested." she called over her shoulder as she left. Bruce stretched out on the comfortable mattress. Within a few minutes, he'd drifted off to sleep.

Percy's P.O.V.

His situation had gone to Hades in a handbasket. His torturers had decided to move from physical torture to mental torture. So, they were forcing him to relive his most painful memories. Three guesses as to where those took place.

Tartarus hadn't been very pleasant when he'd visited. Naturally, it wasn't any better in his memories. He gritted his teeth, repeating a mantra in his head.

"I survived the pit before, I'll survive the pain once more. I survived the pit before, I'll survive the pain once more. I survived the pit before, I'll survive the pain once more." he thought over and over again, trying his best to ignore the nightmare playing out in front of him.

Unfortunately for him, he'd dropped directly into the Cocytus River upon entering the literal hellhole. So, he'd instantly felt miserable.

What's the use of a hero if they can't save everybody?

You're a murderer. You don't deserve to have friends, because you can't keep them safe.

You are a terrible son. Your mother should have a son who cares about her, who isn't a burden, who doesn't cause her so much stress.

The voices whispered things to him that made him wonder if there was even a point to his existence, ponder if he was a danger to those he loved, and generally think really depressing thoughts. Luckily, or unluckily, he stepped on a piece of really sharp glass, and the sharp pain was extreme enough to break through the fog of unhappiness. He'd stumbled sideways out of the river, and landed on the banks, squeezing his eyes tightly shut as more pieces of glass embedded themselves into his back.

After a while, he'd managed to get up. He wandered around Tartarus for a while, before eventualy finding the Phlegethon. He hadn't known that the fiery waters had healing properties. No, he'd been walking along the river when an hellhound suddenly tackled him, causing him to fall into the waters. He'd been very confused when the waters felt both hot and cold, and gasped at the sensation, causing water to rush into his mouth unexpectedly. He'd choked, naturally, and then proceeded to flail around, panicking. But once his injuries started healing, he had enough presence of mind to remember that he could breathe underwater, and calmed down.

The hellhound had disappeared, so he'd elected to just stay in the river and float along. But things could never be that easy. He was scooped out of the river by some winged demons, who proceeded to fly him to the mansion of Nyx.

Apparently, he wasn't on the list of honored guests, because most of Nyx's children did not treat him well. He didn't like thinking about what had gone on inside that mansion. The worst part was probably the escape. Akhlys, the goddess of Misery, showed up and joined the fun. After she'd played around with her extensive list of poisons, with the children of Nyx looking on in glee, Percy had gotten mad enough to direct her poisons back at them. He'd used their tears, blood, and saliva against them, causing them all to flee.

Once the anger had faded, he was horrified. He never wanted to use that ability again. But before he'd even had a chance to fully process his emotions, Nyx had appeared. That conversation had been an interesting one.

"So, you are the demigod that my sister Gaea so dearly wants captured." Percy turned and gulped slightly.

"Oh, hi. Uh, you must be Nyx, the great primordial of the night." he replied.

"Yes, I am Nyx." Her eyes narrowed.

"Before this moment, Perseus Jackson, I wondered why Gaea wants your blood so badly. But I can sense your aura, demigod. It is quite strong. I would respect you for that, but you have attacked my children, and for that you must pay." she commented.

"Lady Nyx, I am very sorry about using that horrific ability against your children. I don't ever plan on using that ability again, unless it's a life or death situation. However, I cannot apologize for attacking your children, as I had been held prisoner by them for some time, and was at the end of my rope. Once Akhlys began using her poisons, I couldn't help but go spare." he said sincerely. Nyx sighed.

"Be as that might, Perseus, an attack on any of my children is an attack on myself. The only thing that I can promise you is that your blood will not end up in the hands of my sister." she intoned, forming a large dark spear in her hands. Percy thought quickly, trying to find a way out of the situation. Then, he remembered something.

"But I've helped several of your children in the past, my lady. Would that by chance cancel out a single fit of rage?" he asked.

"How have you done that?" Nyx wondered curiously.

"I made sure cabins was built for your son Hypnos and your daughter Nemesis at Camp Half-Blood. I arranged for Charon to get a pay raise from Hades. I take very good care of the hellhound Ms. O'Leary. I entrusted your daughter Elpis, the spirit of Hope, to Lady Hestia during the Titan war. And I was one of the three members of the quest to free Thanatos from his chains. The chains that Alcyoneus, son of Gaea, put on him, I might add. And now, I aim to return your son's doors to his control." Percy listed. Nyx tilted her head, thinking about it.

"Very well." she said finally. Then, a dark expression formed on her face.

"Perhaps I should keep a closer eye on my sister's movements. To chain up my son is absolutely unacceptable. And to take away such a large part of his control. I sincerely hope that my daughters have ordained her downfall to you and the rest of the Seven." Percy had an inkling of who those daughters were, but he asked anyways.

"Your daughters?" Nyx smiled thinly.

"Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. The Moirai. Their English name is familiar to most. They are the goddesses you know as the Fates." Percy sucked in a breath and dipped his head in acknowledgements.

"Yes, I definitely know them." he muttered.

"Of course you would. It is by their design that you find yourself mixed up in everything, is it not? But it is a common misconception that they control every choice that you make. That isn't true. They only decide on the major events of your life, such as being born to Poseidon, or meeting your adoptive sister. Yes, they decide the moment of your death, but how you get to that point is up to you." Nyx defended. Percy stared, mouth slightly agape.

"What, did you think that they planned out every detail of your life? There are seven billion humans on this planet, Perseus. They might only be responsible for a certain portion of those seven billion people, but nobody has the time to pay that much attention to such small things." Nyx said, amusement evident in her tone.

"What about me falling into this place? Do you think that was planned?" he wanted to know. Nyx laughed.

"Oh, I'm sure that at least one of the Seven was always going to end up in Tartarus. It just so happened that it was most likely to be you. Your reputation precedes you, Perseus. While I might not have known how powerful you were, even I know that you would have never let anybody else fall in. And even if you were unable to prevent it, you wouldn't have let them fall alone." Percy shrugged.

"Okay, yeah. I guess that's true." he allowed, grinning sheepishly. Nyx rolled her eyes, and then looked into the distance.

"You must return to your labors, Perseus. Just remember that as long as you stay true to yourself, you will always make the right decision. Keep that in mind." the goddess said cryptically.

"Thank you, Lady Nyx. Goodbye." he responded.

"Good luck, young hero. And brace yourself." With that statement, she disappeared into the shadows. There was a backpack with some supplies left in her place. Percy stood there for another moment.

"What is it with gods and telling me to brace myself?" he wondered. Then, he slung the backpack over his shoulder, and ran deeper into the pit.

That had probably been the best part of his trip to Tartarus. The supplies were extremely helpful, because he ended up fighting many more monsters and a couple of titans before he managed to escape. Along the way, he'd run into Iapetus (although he answered to Bob) and Damasen, who helped him escape. He still felt terrible about leaving them to press the button for him, although as the doors of the elevator had closed, he'd noticed a layer of shadows form around the both of them. He'd thought it was Nyx that had helped them out, and he really hoped he was right.

Nevertheless, the first thing he did upon getting out was deliver Bob's hello to the stars.

He sighed as he thought about it. Then, he grunted as he was slapped harshly.

"How imbecilic are you, you pathetic creatures? You fruitlessly attempt to break me with my own memories. Don't you know that the things that don't kill you make you stronger? Every single time I see these things, I come to terms with it a little more. This is practically a therapy session, teaching me to accept what happened and move on. How fatuous are you to think that a bloody therapy session would cause me pain. Granted, such sessions seem an inane idea, as no normal person could hope to empathize with someone who has seen too much. But you incorrigible morons are helping me, not hurting me. I wonder what Madame B would think of that." he spat in English, stretching his vocabulary to the maximum.

His only answer was a bolt of black energy, and then pain.

So.... yeah. Hope you liked the chapter! See you next month with the next one! - Spathi