Beauty and the Beast

Needy

"Another one?"

She raises an eyebrow over the following elongated pause. Banner's fingers are busy providing her gash with a second stitch, glasses over his cocoa stare. Natasha cringes as she holds the bottom of her top at her ribcage.

She tries again to get his attention, "Doc?"

He looks up, "Yeah?"

"Can you warn me before you just go in with the needle next time?"

He stutters upon realizing she awaits an answer;

"Sorry...are you okay?"

"Had worse."

"This looks like an old wound that you just reopened. Did anyone look at this the first time around?"

She wants to lift her shoulder. Romanoff quickly thinks better of it and vocalizes instead;

"If you didn't look at it, no one did."

He has nothing else to say. She's a stubborn patient. No matter her threat level, the wounds and injuries remind him of her humanity. He carefully maneuvers to lay a patch over her latest;

"Don't pull this off like you did the last one."

She rolls her eyes over the reminder of the gash he cared for on her shoulder last week, "It was hindering my movement."

"You have got to be the worst patient I've ever had."

She smirks trying not to pull away;

"Your hands are freezing."

Her distracting comment makes him briefly pull away. With a subtle smirk she takes matters into her own hands and lays the bandage herself.

For as stubborn as she is, he finds her independence is alluring;

"Is that all Miss, Romanoff?"

She nods abruptly. With a break in her focus she forces herself upright and off the edge of his living room table;

"Thank you Doctor."

He accepts her gratitude with a nod.

It is not unlike previous encounters. She returns from a mission with an injury and upon entering the tower searches for his aid. With blood gushing from her cuts and bruises she'll climb onto his table and request help with limited dialogue.

Bruce moves to the opposite end of the room and begins to sort through his papers. He's anxious for her to leave so that he can return to a previous project.

Natasha stands on the sidelines, replacing her jacket;

"I don't see a bill left out on the table."

"I should start charging you; That's not a bad idea."

She adjusts her collar, "Is it safe to assume that I'm free to go?"

He has questions. He pushes them away and offers her a quiet 'yes'.

The floors of his tiny living space creak as she heads for the door. She lingers, almost as if she expects his incoming question.

Bruce can't explain why she would entrust him with her care. After all, there were plenty of other more professional doctors used by SHIELD.

He closes his eyes with curiosity taking the wheel and gently tosses his files onto the table, "Natasha?"

She turns her head around in the doorway, hearing that soft-spoken voice. She shares a subtle sideways grin with her hazel green eyes looking up at his.

Bruce mumbles with a curiosity and takes the door from her hold;

"This isn't the first time you've come to me for help."

"Is there a question behind that remark?"

"Why me."

They haven't been in the tower together long enough to consider one another friends.

She tilts her head in avoidance, "Sorry Dr. Banner, I'd love to chat, but I've got to run."

His eyes narrow persistently, "You have trained medics who can tend to you, why me?"

"I'm not here to flirt if that's what you're asking..."

His reddened cheeks betray him, "No, no. I'm not-"

"Look, you fix me up nicely. Your stitches last the longest and hold the best so...Barton's waiting for me, I've got to run."

He bites his lip and surrenders. He's not getting a conversation out of her, not today. Maybe not ever knowing the unpredictability of the Russian spy with her bright red hair and stubborn attitude.

"Okay...stay out of trouble," he says in a weak voice.

She turns to leave. He tugs at his curls as he shuts the door behind her. With a twist in his jaw he reaches to remove the glasses from his face and pinched the bridge of his nose. She always leaves a bloody mess in his apartment.