Chapter Text
Sleep never came.
Halley stayed close to Natasha. Her body was sore with exhaustion, but her mind wouldn’t slow down. Whenever she closed her eyes, she saw Brandon’s face; the way he looked at her, the way he stood in Natasha’s apartment, acting as if he belonged there.
After a while, Natasha gave up pretending they were going to sleep.
She only pulled Halley closer and asked, very quietly, if she wanted to talk about it.
And Halley did.
She didn’t talk all at once. The words came slowly, then faster, then faded again. She told Natasha about the beginning, when Brandon was sweet, funny, and easy to love. The dates, the silly jokes, the games, the way he made her laugh. For a while, things were simple. There was a time she would have trusted him with anything.
Natasha listened through all of it.
She didn’t interrupt or try to fix anything. One hand remained in Halley’s hair, the other around her waist, holding her close. It felt like if she let go, the night might take something else away.
Morning came slowly.
The room turned brighter and brighter around them, and neither of them had slept. Halley’s eyes burned as she yawned deeply. When Natasha finally shifted next to her, Halley knew it was time to get up.
There was nothing left to wait for.
They packed the last of her things in silence. There wasn’t much, just what mattered, or what she had forgotten to pack the day before. Toast followed them from room to room with his ears down and eyes always on Halley.
When it was done, Halley stood in the middle of the living room and looked around.
She had thought it would hurt more.
She had thought she would stand there and feel something. Sadness, maybe. That strange little pain that came with leaving a place that once had been yours.
But there was nothing.
The couch was still there. So were the windows, the shelves, and the boxes by the door. All the small signs of the life she had built before it started to fall apart.
And still, she felt nothing.
Brandon had been here; that was all her mind could hold onto.
He had been here, in her space, near her things, near Toast, sharing the same air as parts of her life he shouldn’t have touched. Any sadness she might have felt disappeared before it began. She didn’t want to remember the apartment fondly. She didn’t even want to say goodbye.
She just wanted to leave.
Natasha seemed to understand without Halley having to say it. She picked up one of the bags, then glanced back at her. “Ready?”
Halley looked around one last time.
“Yeah,” she answered softly. “I’m ready.”
So they left.
The hallway looked the same as always. The elevator was slow, just like it always was. When they went outside, the city was already awake, with cars moving, people passing, the world going on like nothing had happened.
Halley held Toast’s leash tightly in one hand and Natasha’s fingers in the other.
Neither of them spoke much on the way to SHIELD.
By the time they reached headquarters, Halley felt like she hadn’t slept in days. Natasha stayed close, their shoulders touching whenever Halley slowed down.
They were led into a small room away from the main floors. There were no windows. There was a table, a few chairs, and an overhead light that made Halley feel even more tired.
Natasha sat next to her. Toast had been taken by one of the few agents Natasha trusted, with strict instructions that almost made Halley smile, even through the fog in her mind.
Then the door opened, and Fury walked in.
The room seemed to shrink around him.
He didn’t sit right away. He just looked at them, his one eye moving from Natasha to Halley, noticing the tired look on her face, her hands clenched together on the table, and how still Natasha had become beside her.
Then he pulled out the chair across from them and sat down.
“All right, Carlsen,” he sighed. “Tell me what happened.”
Halley swallowed.
For a second, she thought she might not be able to speak at all. But Natasha’s hand moved under the table and grabbed hers, and Halley held onto it.
So, she began. She told Fury what had happened, or at least she tried to.
Her story didn’t come out in order. Nothing in her mind felt clear anymore. The apartment, the window, Toast barking, Brandon’s voice in the living room, it all mixed together. Whenever she tried to start at the beginning, she ended up in the middle.
Natasha stayed silent beside her. Sometimes she added something when Halley’s voice went thin, filling in the parts Halley couldn’t quite reach. Sometimes Fury asked a question, and Halley answered because she knew she had to, even if the words sounded like they belonged to someone else.
She hated how calm her voice was as she told it.
Maybe that was the strangest part. She wasn’t crying or shaking like she thought she would. She just sat under the cold light, too tired for panic, and listened to herself describe one of the worst nights of her life in a flat voice.
“Did he touch you?” Fury raised an eyebrow.
Halley’s throat tensed, and Natasha went still beside her.
“Uh, yeah,” Halley nodded. “I had a scar that he reopened.”
Fury frowned slightly, but just waited for her to show him.
Halley looked down, then shifted in her chair. She didn’t want to do it. She didn’t want to show him any part of herself, especially not that. But the scar was part of the story now, whether she liked it or not.
So she pushed the fabric up to show the patched-up mark high on her thigh.
Fury’s face didn’t change much. It rarely did. But something in him tensed, then relaxed so quickly that Halley nearly missed it. His eye stayed on the scar a moment too long before he nodded and noted something on his paper. She quickly pulled the fabric back down.
Natasha’s hand found hers again under the table.
Fury leaned back in his chair, and when he spoke again, his voice was colder.
“He won’t be treated like a regular break-in.”
Halley looked at him.
“He entered an apartment under Avenger protection,” Fury continued. “That makes it bigger than trespassing, and it makes him our problem.”
His words should have made her feel better. Maybe they did, somewhere under her exhaustion. But mostly, they just passed through her. She nodded anyway.
Fury watched her for another moment, like he could tell she had barely heard him, then looked at Natasha.
“She needs medical.”
“I’m fine,” Halley said automatically.
Fury looked back at her. “That wasn’t a suggestion, Miss Carlsen.”
Halley closed her mouth and smiled a little. She knew that man didn’t care for her. But she also knew that, being under Natasha’s protection, he had no other choice but to respect her. At least a bit.
The meeting ended after that, though Halley couldn’t have said how. One moment she was still in the chair, and the next Natasha was helping her stand slowly, as if she knew Halley’s body might not keep up.
The blonde kept her eyes down and let Natasha guide her forward with a warm hand at her back.
Tony was waiting near the end of the hall.
He leaned against the wall with his arms crossed when they came out, trying to look like he hadn’t been waiting. But his face gave him away as soon as he saw her. His expression changed, the colour in his face shifting slightly.
His eyes moved over her too quickly, taking in the tiredness, the pale set of her mouth, and the way Natasha held her, as if she might disappear.
“Hey, sunshine,” he raised a brow. “You still with us?”
Halley nodded.
Tony looked like he wanted to say more. Something very Tony that would make the room tilt toward him. But he didn’t. He swallowed it and pushed himself off the wall.
“Medical’s this way,” he said.
Halley probably knew the way. She’d been in the building enough times to have a general idea. But she let him lead anyway. He kept glancing back, trying to make it look casual. Halley noticed the tension in his jaw and the way his hands opened and closed before he shoved them into his pockets.
He was worried.
He just didn’t know what to do with it when there was nothing to fix with a tool or a suit.
The medical wing was quieter than the rest of the building.
The doors opened quietly, and the smell struck her first. It smelled of antiseptic and chemicals she couldn't name for the life of her. Halley’s stomach tightened, but her face stayed calm.
A man was waiting near one of the exam rooms.
She tried to remember where she had seen that face before, but she had never been to the medical wing; she knew no doctors here. He looked nervous, with his hands loosely folded and shoulders slightly hunched, as if he didn’t want to take up too much space. His eyes went to Natasha first, then to Tony, and finally to Halley. When he looked at her, there was no curiosity or judgment, only concern.
“Halley,” Tony cleared his throat, “this is Bruce Banner.”
For a second, the name did not ring any bell.
Then it did.
Halley tried to look at him. Her mind was still crowded, but she finally remembered where she had seen him before. Of course. He had been displayed big on Natasha’s TV when the battle broke out.
Bruce nodded gently, walking up to her.
“Hi,” he said, shaking her hand. “I wish we were meeting under better circumstances.”
“It's nice to meet you anyway,” she said back, smiling lightly. She knew she looked constipated. Bruce didn’t seem bothered by that. He only stepped aside and opened the door to the exam room, giving her space to choose whether to walk in.
“We’ll go slow,” he said. “Nothing happens without you knowing first.”
Halley’s shoulder dropped, and those words meant a lot now. She looked at the open door, then at Bruce, then at Tony standing just behind him, trying so hard to look calm that it almost hurt.
And because there was nothing else to do, because the night was over and somehow still not over at all, she walked inside.
Bruce waited until Halley was in the room before he looked back at Natasha and Tony. “I need you both to wait outside.”
Natasha’s expression changed immediately. Her shoulders tightened, and her eyes moved to Halley at once.
Halley didn’t know if she wanted her to stay or not.
She wanted Natasha close, but she also wanted fewer eyes on her, fewer people in the room, fewer bodies around the table she was about to sit on. Everything in her felt too open already.
Tony opened his mouth, probably to argue, but Bruce looked at him before he could.
“I’ll call you when we’re over,” he said gently, but firmly enough that even Tony stayed quiet. “But for the report, it’s better if I speak to her alone.”
Natasha clenched her jaw before nodding. She looked at Halley and smiled slightly, “I’m right outside, okay?”
Halley nodded back, because that was all she could do.
When the door closed behind them, the room felt too quiet.
Bruce didn’t move right away. He gave her a moment, as if he understood that the silence needed to happen before anything else could take place. Then he pulled a rolling stool closer, but not too close, and sat down.
“Okay,” he said softly. “I’m going to ask you a few questions first. Some of them might feel repetitive. Some might feel uncomfortable. You can stop me whenever you need to.”
Halley nodded.
He wrote things down as he asked. Simple things at first. Her name. Her age. The time of the break-in. If she had lost consciousness. If Brandon had hit her, grabbed her, pushed her, threatened her. If anything hurt. If she felt dizzy, sick, or numb anywhere.
Halley answered as best as she could.
Sometimes it was only yes or no. Sometimes Bruce repeated the question more softly, and she realised she hadn’t answered at all.
But he never made her feel stupid for it.
He only waited.
He checked her pulse, then her blood pressure, then shone a small light into her eyes. He always told her before he touched her. And his voice stayed quiet the whole time, calm enough that she only listened to half of it.
Most of the words slipped past her.
“You’re doing fine.”
“Almost done with this part.”
“Tell me if that hurts.”
“Breathe normally for me.”
She tried.
Her body sat on the edge of the exam table, but her mind kept drifting somewhere else.
Then Bruce paused.
His eyes had dropped to her thigh, where the fabric had shifted and showed her reopened wound. Halley saw him notice it before he said anything, and her hand moved down on instinct, covering it too late.
Bruce looked away from the scar and back to her face.
“How did you get that?” He frowned. And it was not accusatory, far from it. She knew it was simply medical, that he wanted to help.
Halley swallowed.
“A few years ago,” she looked away. “Brandon did it to me with a knife. He opened it again last night, but it’s not that deep. I think it’s healing.”
“Is it still painful?” He put some gloves on.
“Yeah. I mean, usually it’s itchy and always hurts a bit when I stretch my hip. But since last night…you know,” she pursed her lips.
“Can I take a closer look?”
Halley hesitated, then nodded.
Bruce moved slowly. He gave her time to adjust the fabric herself, and when she had shown him enough, he leaned in only as much as he needed to. He gently took off the bandage Natasha had helped her with earlier and hummed.
“It’s healing,” he said. “But not as cleanly as I’d like. I can help with that, if you’re okay with it.”
Halley looked at the small machine he rolled over. It wasn’t big, and it reminded the woman of Dum-E in Tony’s lab. “What does it do?”
“It helps close the tissue properly. I can stitch you up, but it’ll take way longer than with this; trust me, I know, I’m the one who built it. It might sting a little and feel cold at first.”
That sounded awful. Still, Halley nodded.
Bruce waited until she gave him another small yes before he started.
Halley felt the cold first. She knew he hadn’t been lying, but her whole leg still tensed the second the machine touched her skin. Then the sting came after it, pulling along the scar until she had to suck in a breath through her teeth.
Bruce stopped right away. “Too much?”
Halley blinked hard, because her eyes had started burning again, and she hated that. “No,” she said quickly. “It’s okay, keep going.”
Halley kept her hands on the edge of the exam table and tried to think of anything else. She tried to count the tiles on the wall, but her mind kept slipping away from her.
It went to Brandon first.
No.
She didn’t want to think about him.
So her mind reached for something else, anything else, and somehow, out of everything in the room, it landed on Bruce.
Bruce Banner.
“You’re the Hulk,” she said out of the blue.
Bruce’s hand stilled for half a second before he looked up at her.
Halley blinked, realising what she had said only after it was already out. “I mean…” She swallowed. “Sorry. That was rude.”
He snorted and shook his head. “It’s okay. I’ve heard worse.”
“I didn’t mean it like that.”
“It’s okay.”
She looked at him properly then, or at least tried to. He didn’t sound annoyed. He didn’t look offended, either. If anything, he seemed a little surprised that she was worried about his feelings when her own life had just been cracked open and left all over the floor.
Then she looked back at the wall.
“It must be strange,” she said quietly. “Having everyone know that part before they know you.”
Bruce didn’t answer right away as he adjusted something on the machine.
“Yeah,” he said after a moment. “It is.”
Halley nodded, even though she wasn’t sure what to say after that.
Bruce started moving the device again, careful over the healing skin. It still hurt, but not as badly now. Or maybe it did, and she was only getting better at breathing through it.
“Most people don’t ask about me,” he added. “They ask about him.”
Halley glanced down at him. “Is he not you?”
Bruce cocked his head, smiling down at his hands. “That depends on the day.”
She hummed and looked up at the ceiling. She knew he meant it as a tease, but something awfully sad sat underneath. She had always admired him, admired the fact that, in a way, he had no control over his body. And still, he did his best to help as many people as possible.
“I think people do that when they’re scared,” she mused after a while. “They make you into the scariest, and most horrible part of you.”
“That’s a very generous way to put it,” he glanced up, not unkindly.
Halley huffed and rubbed her eyes. “Sorry, I’m too tired to get philosophical right now.”
“It does tend to make people honest,” he hummed back.
The sting sharpened again, and Halley’s fingers tightened around the edge of the table before she could stop herself.
“Almost done,” Bruce said softly.
Halley nodded and forced herself to breathe. In. Out. In again.
Neither of them spoke, but maybe because talking helped, or maybe because silence gave her mind too much room to wander, Halley looked back at him.
“You know,” she breathed out, “when I was in college, we had to read one of your essays.”
Bruce’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Really?”
“Mh,” she clenched her teeth.
“Which one?”
Halley opened her mouth, then stopped. For a second, she genuinely tried to remember. She could see the classroom, the printed pages, the bored faces around her, the teacher writing something on the board. She remembered underlining sentences she didn’t understand at all. But the title was gone.
She frowned.
“It was…” She waved one hand vaguely. “Something about atoms.”
Bruce looked at her. Halley looked back.
“Very specific. I think I have about ten of those,” he said.
“I’m sorry,” she chuckled, hiding her mouth behind her hand. “I sucked at physics.”
Bruce’s smile softened. “That’s okay. A lot of people do.”
“I mean, I really sucked at it,” she emphasised.
“That bad?”
“My teacher once wrote ‘please see me’ on one of my tests, and I pretended I didn’t see it, because I didn’t want to embarrass myself,” she pressed her lips together.
“Bold strategy,” Bruce chuckled.
“It did work for two days. I’m still surprised the teacher let me walk the school freely for that long, honestly.”
“Impressive.”
“Thank you.” She glanced down at the machine, then back at him. “Maybe you can teach me.”
He smiled softly and nodded.
“Sure,” he said. “I can teach you.”
“Good,” Halley murmured. “But slowly. Like, very slowly.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“And no essays.”
“No essays.”
“And no tests.”
Bruce nodded seriously. “No tests.”
Halley looked back at the wall, the corner of her mouth still lifted a little despite the exhaustion sitting behind her eyes. “Then maybe I’ll survive physics.”
Bruce moved the machine over the scar one last time. “I think you might.”
When he stopped, the silence felt even more pronounced without the machine's sound. Bruce pulled it away and checked the scar again.
“There,” he said. “That should help. It’ll still be sore, but it should heal better now.”
Halley looked down, but only briefly; she didn’t want to look at it for too long. “Thank you.”
“You did well,” he nodded kindly.
The words might have sounded childish from anyone else. But from him, they didn’t. They just made her drop her shoulders and breathe properly since she had entered the Tower.
—₊ᯓ⧗ᯓ⊹—
Bruce stepped out a few minutes later.
Natasha looked up first.
Tony had been standing farther down the hall, pretending to read something on his phone, but his head lifted almost at the same time. He had not been reading anything.
“You can come in,” Bruce said.
Natasha was already moving before he had finished the sentence.
Halley was still sitting on the edge of the exam table when they came back in. Her leg still stung under the bandage Bruce had put on, but her body felt lighter now.
Natasha’s eyes went over her face first, then down to her hands, then back up again.
She didn’t ask anything out loud, but she nodded once as if saying, ‘You okay?’
Halley smiled and nodded back. Natasha’s shoulders lowered by a breath.
Tony came in behind her, quieter than usual. He looked at Halley like he was trying to find a joke and failing badly.
“So,” he said loudly enough to make Halley pay attention. “We got an update.”
Natasha turned to him, as did Halley.
Tony looked up toward the ceiling, already annoyed with what he was about to say. “JARVIS?”
The polite voice filled the air. “Brandon Tyler has agreed to imprisonment without trial, sir.”
For a moment, no one moved.
Halley looked at Natasha.
Natasha looked at Tony.
Tony looked at Bruce.
And Bruce, looking as confused as ever, glanced towards the ceiling.
“He what?” Natasha asked.
“He accepted jail,” Tony said, still looking like he hated every word. “Without a trial or a fight. Nothing. Nada. Rien.”
Halley blinked rapidly. Her mind was slow, but not that slow.
“I’m not an expert,” she said, “but that is strange, right?”
Tony snorted quietly. “Yeah, sunshine. That’s strange.”
Bruce crossed his arms and looked down at the floor thoughtfully. “Most people don’t do that.”
“Most people don’t break into protected apartments either,” Tony said.
Natasha didn’t laugh.
She had gone still again. Halley knew that look by now. Natasha was already somewhere else, putting pieces together.
Brandon always wanted something. Even when he sounded calm, even when he acted like he had no plan, there was always something underneath.
And now he was giving up too easily.
That did not feel like guilt, nor did it feel like fear.
“JARVIS is pulling everything he can. Anything that moved around him in the last twenty-four hours, like calls and messages,” Tony scratched his chin.
“And if he’s doing this for a reason?” Bruce asked.
Tony shrugged, “Then I’d like to know what the hell the reason is.”
“He doesn’t do things for nothing,” Halley said quietly.
Everyone looked at her then, and she almost wished they hadn’t. She swallowed, suddenly aware of how small her voice had become. “I mean, I know him. Or I knew him. He wouldn’t just accept it because it was easier.”
Natasha’s hand came to rest beside hers on the exam table as Tony’s face hardened a little. “Then we assume it’s not over.”
The room went quiet again.
Halley wanted to be surprised by that. She wanted to feel anger, fear, or something strong enough to remind her she was still there.
But all she felt was tired.
So tired.
She looked at Natasha’s hand, then let her fingers move until they brushed against hers. Natasha took them immediately. And Halley held on, because whatever Brandon was doing, whatever he thought he had started by giving himself up, she couldn’t think about all of it at once.
Bruce had barely finished putting his things away when Halley looked at him again.
“Thank you,” she said.
He glanced up. “Of course.”
“No, really. Thank you.” She looked down at her thigh for a second, then away again. “For the scar. And for being like that.”
Bruce seemed to understand what she meant, but he also looked like he had no idea what to do with it. His hand stayed on the little metal tray, and his mouth opened once before closing again.
“Oh,” he said. “Well. I didn’t do much.”
“You did.”
Tony, still near the door, tilted his head a little. “Careful, Banner. You’re being appreciated. It’s terrifying.”
Bruce glared at him tiredly, but there was shyness in his eyes. It was sweet.
Natasha’s hand found the small of Halley’s back as she hopped off the table, and Halley let herself lean into it for a second before they left the room.
Tony walked with them through the medical wing and back toward the main floors. He kept his steps slow, as if he had decided no one was rushing Halley today. Natasha stayed on one side of her, Tony on the other, and for a while no one said anything important.
That was good.
Halley didn’t want important.
So she looked at Tony instead. “Are you building a new suit?”
Tony stared at her, then glanced at Natasha. “Did she just ask me a normal question?”
“I think so.” Natasha raised a brow.
Halley shrugged. “I want to talk about something else.”
Tony’s expression softened before he covered it with a nod. “Fair enough. Yes, I’m building a new suit.”
“Of course you are.” Halley shook her head.
“Don’t say it like that. This one is necessary.”
Natasha looked at him. Tony pointed at her. “I don’t need that face from someone who owns that many weapons.”
Halley smiled again. “Where do you even put all of them?”
“The suits or the weapons?”
“The suits.”
“Oh, everywhere,” Tony said, as if that was perfectly reasonable. “Workshop, storage, places Pepper specifically told me not to use.”
“Pepper?”
“My better half. Also my greatest enemy when it comes to home decoration.”
Halley smiled. How did she not know about Pepper? She had spent so much time with Tony, and she was even proud to call him a friend. But even as he spoke of her, she could hear an underlying tension, and she wondered if everything was good between them. “Why?”
“Because apparently, and I’m quoting very loosely here, she doesn’t want the house to look like a recycling centre. It’s insulting, really.”
Natasha hummed. “That sounds like Pepper.”
“She has no vision,” Tony went on. “She says things like, ‘Tony, the living room is not for armour,’ and ‘Tony, why is there a gauntlet in the kitchen?’ and ‘Tony, I don’t care if it can protect me, it cannot stay in the bedroom.’”
Halley stared at him.
Tony stared back. “It was clean.”
“That’s not the problem,” Natasha snorted.
Halley laughed softly and slipped her arms through Natasha’s and Tony’s. “Well, now I really need to meet her.”
“Pepper? Please no, she’ll love you, and you’ll steal her from me,” he groaned dramatically, but patted her hand.
“Yeah.” She glanced at him. “Anyone who can tell you no that many times and survive must be impressive. I’m already a huge fan.”
Tony placed a hand over his chest. “Sunshine, that woman doesn’t survive me. I survive her.”
Halley laughed, her eyes creasing at the edges.
They reached the entrance a few minutes later, without Toast because he was having much fun with one of the agents, and Natasha promised Halley to come and pick him up later.
The glass doors opened to the city’s noise, and Halley stopped before stepping out. Was she supposed to live a normal life now? Simply go back to work and act as if nothing had happened?
She crossed the threshold, and the cold morning hit her face.
Tony stayed just behind them. For once, he didn’t fill the silence. He only touched her shoulder lightly as he passed.
“Call if you need anything,” he said. Then, because he was Tony, he added, “Or if you want to hear more about my very interesting suit collection.”
Halley nodded seriously. “I do.”
“Good. Finally, someone with taste and who cares. You’re climbing the ladder of respect, miss.”
He left them there with a little wave, and then it was just her and Natasha on the sidewalk. The redhead turned to her, rubbing Halley’s arm against the cold. “How are you doing?”
Halley looked at the street ahead, at the people walking past, at the cars moving like the world hadn’t been awake all night with her.
“I’m extremely confused.” She frowned.
“Understandable,” Natasha sighed.
“He just gave up. Why did he do that? I mean, I was expecting at least, I don’t know, maybe one lawyer called or something.”
“Yeah.”
Halley clenched her jaw, but she was too tired for anger or fear. Everything was there, but distant, as if it were happening behind glass. She didn’t want to try and understand everything today.
Natasha slipped her hand into hers, and they started walking toward Halley’s new apartment.
For a while, Halley just focused on putting one foot in front of the other, and Natasha didn’t make her talk. Then, after a few streets, Halley looked over at her.
“So,” she said, because her brain had apparently chosen that moment to return to Bruce Banner of all people, “I just met the Hulk?”
Natasha glanced at her.
Halley frowned, still confused. “Why is he so sweet?”
Natasha hummed. “He usually is.”
“That feels unfair. I was prepared for, I don’t know. A terrifying science man? But he’s the most adorable and caring person on this planet.”
“Wait,” the redhead stopped and glared at her. “Am I not the most adorable and caring person on this planet?” She asked slowly.
Halley stopped and looked back at her, feigning a thoughtful look. “You definitely come second.”
Natasha gasped and started running, and Halley yelped as she tried to escape her. She laughed breathlessly as she ran past confused people, Natasha close on her tail.
And all she could think about was the absence of pain in her leg. She kept waiting for it to start again as she ran faster.
Last night, Natasha had patched the cut as well as she could, enough to stop the bleeding and keep it from getting worse. On the way to headquarters, Halley had still been limping.
But now there was nothing.
For years, the scar had always been there in some small way. If she moved too fast, it stretched. If she turned the wrong way, it itched. Sometimes, for no reason at all, it burned like the memory of the knife was still there.
But she couldn’t even feel it as her muscles burned pleasantly.
Science was insane.
Natasha finally grabbed Halley’s waist in front of the building. The blonde panted as she chuckled again, but Natasha just stared at her with her eyebrows raised.
“Alright,” Halley rolled her eyes. “You come first, you come first.”
Natasha nodded seriously and kissed her cheek. “Good,” she stood up straighter. “We need to start jogging again; your cardio isn’t it.”
Halley stuck out her tongue before looking up at the building. It was tall and grey, with wide glass doors that were twice her height. Halley had visited once before, so she knew a little about the inside. Still, standing there now with Natasha beside her, it felt more serious. More official.
More expensive than anything she had ever belonged to.
She took the card out of her pocket and held it for a second.
Fury had given it to her a few days ago, along with the keys, and had issued one very clear warning: not to ever hand it to anyone else. At the time, she had nodded and tried to look normal about it, as if being given access to a protected apartment building was a thing that happened to her every week.
Now, she passed the card over the reader. A small green light blinked, and the lock clicked open.
Natasha pushed the door gently, and they stepped into the lobby. Halley slowed almost at once.
It was quiet and very clean inside. The walls were a pale beige, and the front desk was polished and empty except for a small screen and a perfect vase of flowers.
It was almost too nice. A small part of her was excited, because this was her new home. She could call it hers. But it also scared her. She had never had anything this expensive, even if she could afford it.
“I forgot how fancy this was,” she murmured.
Natasha glanced at her. “You were here last week.”
“I know.” Halley looked at the marble floor, then at the elevator doors shining at the far end of the lobby. “I think I was in denial.”
Natasha smiled slightly and made them move forward.
The elevator doors opened quietly, and they stepped inside. It was as clean as the rest of the building, with mirrored walls and soft lights overhead. Halley caught her reflection and looked away. She looked exhausted, pale, and entirely not herself. She needed to sleep.
Natasha pressed the button for her floor, then glanced at her.
“Don’t worry about everything at once,” she said. “You start unpacking. I’ll bring Toast.”
Halley looked at her right away.
The thought of Natasha leaving, even just to go get him, made her chest tighten. It was stupid, maybe, because Natasha was right there. Toast needed to be brought up. They were safe.
But still.
“You’re staying for the night, right?”
Natasha turned her head, and the corner of her mouth lifted. She didn’t answer immediately. She only stepped closer and pressed a kiss to her temple. “Of course, sweetheart.”
Halley let out a breath she hadn’t realised she was holding. “Okay.”
The elevator rose without a sound.
When the doors opened again, they stepped into a spacious corridor. Halley followed Natasha down to the door, took out the key Fury had given her, and opened it.
The apartment was still mostly empty when they walked in.
The living room opened onto the balcony straight ahead, behind the glass. There was space for a couch, a table, maybe shelves along the wall if she ever cared about shelves again. The kitchen was off to the side, with smooth counters and wooden cabinets. Everything looked new. As if no one had ever burned toast, spilt coffee, or dropped a fork and left it under the fridge. She wondered if she were the first one to rent this apartment.
Halley stood there for a second, just looking.
The place wasn’t huge, but it felt strange because it had levels. Not just rooms. Levels. A downstairs that opened into the living room and kitchen, and then the stairs climbing up along the side, leading to the upper floor.
A real upper floor.
That still felt crazy to her.
She moved toward the stairs slowly, brushing her hand against the railing as she went up. Natasha stayed close behind her.
At the top, there was a small landing overlooking the living room below; a mezzanine, or a loft landing, or whatever the word was. Halley wasn’t sure. She only knew it made the apartment feel open in a way she wasn’t used to, like the rooms weren’t closed off from each other.
From there, a short corridor led to the bedroom.
It was simple, with enough space for a bed, a desk, maybe a chair by the wall. One side opened toward the closet, larger than she expected, almost a small dressing room in its own right. Farther along, the bathroom sat at the end, with a bathtub, a shower, and beautiful pale yellow tiles.
Halley looked around, trying to imagine her things inside it. Natasha came to stand beside her on the landing, looking down into the living room with her.
“It’s a good place,” she said quietly.
Halley nodded. “It is.”
And it was. It really was.
There were so many security cameras, lots of Stark technology, and the doors and windows couldn’t be opened from the outside, even with Herculean strength.
She looked over the railing, down at the empty living room, and tried to make herself feel something.
Gratitude, maybe. Or relief. Anything.
But her mind was still too loud. Brandon had given up. He had done something that made no sense, and because of that, none of this felt finished.
Natasha’s fingers brushed hers.
“I’ll get Toast,” She muttered. “Then we’ll unpack only what we need tonight.”
Halley nodded again. “And you’re coming back.”
Natasha looked at her, and this time, her smile was softer than the smirk had been in the elevator. “I’m coming back.”
Halley held her gaze for a second, then looked back down at the apartment.
“Okay,” she whispered.
Halley went back downstairs after Natasha left to get Toast.
The apartment was quiet without her. She crossed the living room slowly, past the empty space where a couch would be, past the kitchen, until she reached the glass doors at the back. She opened them and stepped onto the balcony.
She breathed in the cold air and held onto the railing with both hands, looking out at the city below.
Manhattan stretched out in front of her, impossibly wide from her point of view. Cars moved far below like streams of colour. People hurried along the sidewalks, too small from up here to recognise. Farther away, above the city, Avengers Tower caught the sun.
Halley stared at it.
It was strange to see it from here.
It was close and far at the same time. A piece of Natasha’s world in the middle of everything, impossible to ignore. It should have made her feel safer.
But she also thought about him sitting in this same tower, grinning as if he had won. But won what? What was his plan? Halley tightened her fingers around the railing.
She didn’t know how much time she had spent staring at the tower until the balcony door opened behind her. She heard Toast walk around the new surroundings, probably taking it all in.
She didn’t turn.
Natasha came up slowly, careful not to startle her, and then her arms slipped around Halley’s waist from behind. Her body was warm against Halley’s back, and Halley closed her eyes with a small sigh. Natasha held her gently at first, then a little tighter when Halley leaned into her.
“You’re safe now,” she whispered.
Halley kept her eyes closed.
She tried to believe it.
She tried to let the words calm her down. She tried to feel the balcony beneath her feet, the city moving below, the tower in the distance. She tried to remind herself that Brandon was locked away, that he couldn’t reach her here, that the door downstairs needed a card, the windows were too high, and Natasha was right behind her.
But the question came anyway.
Was she, really?