She lets out a breath and shakes her head, straightening up a little. "I was giving him... incentive to stick around. It backfired." Or at least leave before he took all those casualties. That part she'll take to her grave. "I care about him, Steve. I'm not saying... But you need to know that I used him."

That she never had romantic feelings for him at all. She didn't know how else to contain the problem that was Bruce fucking Banner. A part of her is relieved he's gone, and she knows that's fucked up. But now he's someone else's problem, isn't he? It's better if he's theirs. She knows how to bring him down.