I picked up the last of the toasted triangles of my club sandwich and took a bite, savouring the flavours as I chewed. Placing the rest back down on my plate, I looked at it and nodded. “This is a really good sandwich,” I announced, looking over at Pietro. “How’s your food?”

“Eh, it’s fine,” he said, picking absently at what was on his plate.

Pietro’s response to my text last night have been fairly noncommittal, so—once Natasha and I had managed to drag ourselves out of bed—I’d suggested we catch up for a late lunch and maybe do some sightseeing. He’d seemed unenthusiastic, but agreed anyway. We’d met up at a small café sandwiched between a CVS and a Hawaiian poke place, two streets away from Avengers’ Tower.

“So, I’ve checked and there are Blue Man Group tickets still available for this evening’s show,” I said, looking at him seriously. “Can we go? I really, really think you’ll like them.”

Pietro grimaced. “The music guys with the blue paint on their faces? I dunno, it doesn’t seem—”

“Please?” I wheedled, drawing the word out for almost two full seconds.

“You wouldn’t prefer to go with someone else?” he said testily.

“Not at all. I want to go with you. Besides, Nat’s probably already seen them before.”

“…Fine, okay.” He heaved a sigh. “I guess it might be fun.”

I shot him a grateful smile. “Thanks.”

“What did you get up to yesterday, anyway?” he asked with a bit of forced casualness, pushing the food around on his plate without much enthusiasm.

“Well, Jessica Jones came looking for me,” I said, a little smugly. “Told you I hadn’t scared her off completely. I just wish I could recall more about her situation… that part of things is all so fuzzy. I told her what I remembered, then we went for a walk and I introduced her to Matt Murdock.”

“He’s…” Pietro hesitated, thinking back to the conversation we’d had back in Kathmandu when I’d first started looking things up on the internet. Being on the run… it felt like it was almost a lifetime ago. “The blind guy. The Daredevil?”

“Yeah,” I said, glancing around. No one was paying us any attention, but I still didn’t feel super comfortable discussing people’s secret identities in public. “No idea if they’ll keep in contact, but they at least know each other now. I was actually planning on going and visiting Peter Parker tomorrow, if you wanted to come?”

It hadn’t been very difficult to track Peter down. I knew he went to the Midtown School of Science and Technology and, from there, it had been a pretty simple matter of watching the school like a creep until I spotted him and Ned leaving so I could follow them back to Peter’s place. He was young and only just starting out his career as a vigilante. I thought it’d be really good for his development if he got introduced to the Avengers right from the beginning, rather than leaving him to fend for himself.

I hadn’t actually broached the subject with anyone yet, but I kind of wanted to pitch a ‘Young Avengers’ style thing to the rest of the group—a support program for youths with powers, to help lay the groundwork for future generations of heroes—and Peter would be the ideal first candidate.

“The spider boy? Eh… maybe.”

My phone vibrated with a silent alert. As I pulled it out, Pietro sighed, his lips drawing together in a moue of annoyance. I ignored him—the message was from Natasha. You and Pietro around? Got something we need to talk about.

I glanced back up for a moment, considering the semi-eaten food in front of us, before tapping out a brief reply. We can be. Lounge in 15?

“That your girlfriend?” Pietro asked reproachfully.

“She’s not…” I sighed. “Yes. Something’s come up, looks like. She wants to see both of us.” My phone vibrated again as Natasha responded with a thumbs-up.

“Both of us? What something?”

“I don’t know.” I shook my head, then gestured to our nearly-finished plates. “We’ll finish this up, then go meet her at the Tower, if that’s okay?”

“Sure, whatever.” There was an exasperated edge to his tone. I took another bite of my food. “…You didn’t stay in the Tower again last night,” he said after a few moments.

I blinked. “Were you looking for me? You can just text me, you know.”

“I wouldn’t want to interrupt anything.”

“You wouldn’t have. We watched some Netflix. You could have joined us.”

“Oh, yeah, sure,” Pietro snorted derisively. “That would have been fun.”

“Pietro…”

“Forget about it. Just eat. Don’t want to keep your girlfriend waiting.”

I sighed and we finished our lunch in tense silence. I really wasn’t sure what to do about this. Pietro was obviously uncomfortable with my relationship with Natasha, but he refused to talk about it at all and it was mixed up with the whole problem he had with the Avengers in the first place, plus whatever was going on with me.

It was funny—the entire time we’d been together, despite each other being basically all we had, there’d always been a gulf between us. I’d never been able to talk openly with him before now, not completely… I’d been terrified that if he found out about my memories, he’d abandon me and I’d be alone. Now that the cat was out of the bag, he was still here, but somehow that distance between us seemed larger than ever and I just didn’t know how to bridge it.

Once we were done, we left the café and stepped discreetly into an alley to spin up a portal. I wasn’t too worried about creating portals in public spaces, but I really didn’t like how much attention it drew from rubberneckers. Stepping through the gateway to the Tower, I made my way over to one of the couches and sat down, pulling out my phone to double-check I hadn’t missed any further messages.

Pietro glanced around at the empty lounge as I dismissed the portal. “No one’s here?”

“Shouldn’t be long. I said fifteen minutes.”

“Okay, well, I need to take a leak,” he announced. “Back in a sec.”

The moment he started to walk away, however, Natasha’s head appeared as she ascended the steps from the Quinjet level below us. He faltered a little, then resumed his unrushed pace, acknowledging her briefly with a nod as he walked past her toward the restrooms.

Nat paused briefly, watching him leave, then walked over to me with a questioning look on her face. “He’ll be back in a minute,” I said, patting the couch cushion beside me.

There must have been something in my tone of voice that tipped her off. “Everything okay with you two?” she asked quietly, sitting down in the indicated spot and nudging me gently with her shoulder.

“I don’t know,” I said with a frustrated sigh. Leaning into her, I tilted my head to rest it on her shoulder. “Things are awkward. He’s been avoiding me more and more. I don’t really know what to do about it.”

She nodded, putting her hand over mine comfortingly. “I could try talking to him?” she ventured. “It might be tricky, but he’s feeling isolated. He doesn’t have an external support network. There’s not really anyone he can talk to about things except for you, which obviously isn’t going to work. This sort of stuff is… well. It’s difficult to work through on your own. I should know.”

I snorted, lifting my head from her shoulder so I could look at her. “You are kind of one of the reasons he’s annoyed with me at the moment. Do you really think he’d talk to you?”

“Hey, I’m pretty good at this stuff. Super spy, remember?” she said, a small smile lifting the corner of her mouth. “If not me, I think he might open up to Steve or Bucky. He seems to get along pretty well with them. Between the three of us, I’m sure we can sort something out.”

I shrugged helplessly. “Sure, if you think it’ll help. I honestly don’t have any better ideas.” I turned my hand over, threading our fingers together, then lifted her hand to my lips and kissed her knuckles lightly. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

We sat like that for a few minutes, quietly enjoying each other’s company, before Pietro returned from the restroom. When he did, Natasha disentangled her hand from mine and stood up, turning to face the both of us. “I won’t keep you too long, just wanted to talk this through in person,” she said. “Two things, first: Wakanda.”

“Ugh. I swear to God, Nat…”

Natasha held up her hands in a gesture of mock surrender. “Easy. We’ve reached out about your situation and Wakanda are… well. Let’s just say they’re not feeling particularly charitable.”

Pietro snorted in amusement. “How unexpected.”

“I was hoped maybe you had some extra information we might be able to use as a bargaining chip. You said you’d tried to warn them about a guy trying to take the throne?”

“Erik Stevens,” I said, shaking my head. “I already told them everything I knew about him. They won’t want the Avengers interfering in that, it’s the royal family’s personal business.”

“There’s nothing else?”

Slumping forward, I rested my elbows on my knees, massaging my temples with my fingers as I thought about it. I’d actually done a lot for Wakanda already, not that they would ever know or care, even beyond warning them of Killmonger. King T’Chaka wouldn’t be killed in a bombing, thanks to me. Prince T’Challa wouldn’t die of a degenerative disease, thanks to me. What else even was there? Wakanda Forever had them in conflict with Talokan and Namor, but that wasn’t remotely relevant right now and might never be.

After a while, I looked back up at Natasha and shook my head again. “Sorry, I really can’t think of anything.”

She shot me a sympathetic look. “Fair enough. We’ll think of something.”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

“What was the other thing?”

“We’ve had a request come through for a meeting with the Sokovian ambassador, for tomorrow. They’ve specifically asked for you two to attend.”

I pulled a face. “Ugh, who organises these things for a Saturday?”

“Technically, you and Pietro are in the country illegally.” Natasha shrugged, glancing between the two of us. “Homeland Security has been asking questions, but we’ve got a good working relationship with them so that shouldn’t be an issue. On the other side of things, though, Sokovia could complicate things with the UN a little if they start making complaints, especially given that Wakanda is already determined to be a problem. It’d be a lot smoother if we just cooperate with the embassy and see what they want, head off any issues before they develop.”

“Fine, fine,” I sighed. “What time? I have things I wanted to do tomorrow.”

“Three o’clock.”

“That’s… that should be fine. I can be back for that, easy.” I glanced over at Pietro, my expression hopeful. “Did you want to come along?”

“You’re just going to go talk to that kid, right?” he asked, brow creased slightly. I nodded and he responded with a half-hearted, noncommittal shrug.

Natasha perked up, as if she’d suddenly had an idea. “Actually, Pietro, if you’re available tomorrow, how would you feel about joining a sparring session? Steve and Bucky have been slacking off lately and it might be fun to watch you knock them around for a bit,” she shot him one of her infectious, mischievous grins.

He blinked, surprised by the request, a slight frown ghosting across his features. “I dunno.”

I smiled encouragingly. “That sounds like it could be fun. You might have to slow yourself down and go easy on them, though—I mean, they’re only super soldiers, after all.” I wasn’t great at the whole manipulation thing, but if there was one thing I knew Pietro liked to do, more than anything else, it was be a massive show off.

He snorted, considering it for a moment, then nodded. “Alright, fine. What time?”

“Let’s say ten? That should give us enough time to work up a sweat, have lunch, and clean ourselves up for the meeting.”

Pietro nodded. “Sure.”

Nat shot me an encouraging look and I inclined my head in a brief nod. I had no idea if they would be able to get through to Pietro, but it had to be worth a shot.

--

I tapped the access panel for the laboratory door. There was a negative beep, the LED trim around the panel flashing red for a moment. Frowning, I tapped at it again, slightly more forcefully.

“I’m dreadfully sorry, Ms Maximoff, but you don’t have authorisation to enter the lab unescorted.” The smooth, artificial voice filtered down from somewhere above me, almost seeming to come from everywhere at once.

I looked up. There were panels of dark, smoked glass inset into the ceiling that I imagined hid whatever sensors JARVIS used to monitor the Tower, so I couldn’t actually glare directly at whatever camera he was using to look at me. I addressed the empty air in front of me instead. “Are you serious? I’m not unescorted, JARVIS,” I said, pointing through the door to where Bruce sat facing away from me, poring over the readouts on a monitor, utterly oblivious to my presence through the soundproof glass barrier. “Bruce is in there. He’s literally right there.”

“Very serious, Ms Maximoff,” JARVIS said mildly. “Dr Banner is currently working. Would you like me to request authorisation for your entry from him?”

“Yes, please,” I ground out.

A moment later, inside the lab I saw Bruce tear his eyes away from the screen, perking up as he listened to JARVIS, then glance my way. He gave me a lopsided grin and said something, and a moment later the door slid open.

“Thanks, JARVIS,” Bruce said.

I heaved an annoyed sigh as I picked my way through the room toward him. The workbenches here were covered in computers and scientific instruments, with several seeming to be dedicated assembly areas for Tony to tinker with small electronic engineering projects. “Honestly,” I said as I came up beside him. “I’m getting a little bit fed up with this ‘mother may I’ crap every time I try to move around here.”

Bruce’s expression turned awkward and he shrugged apologetically. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologise—can’t you do something about it?”

He made a face. “Ah, I don’t… it’s not my decision. You’re still on probation.” He waved his hand in a scrubbing motion. “Tony takes security pretty seriously.”

“Yeah, but he knows I could just… right?” I mimed spinning up a portal and Bruce flinched, the expression on his face getting even more awkward. I paused. “Don’t tell me…” Retrieving my sling ring from my jacket pocket, I quickly spun up a small portal connecting the inside of the lab to just outside the door.

Bruce slumped forward slightly in his chair as the lighting in the lab flicked over to a harsh red emergency glare and an alert started to beep. “Unauthorised portal detected,” JARVIS’s voice rang out above us. “Ms Maximoff, dismiss your portal immediately.”

I stared at Bruce as I dismissed the portal, eyes wide in disbelief, before tucking the ring back into my pocket.

“Thank you for your cooperation, Ms Maximoff. Please do not attempt to create further portals in secured areas.”

Bruce scratched at the back of his neck nervously as he scrunched up his face. “Yeah, Tony’s got the whole Tower set up like that. I think just the lounge and your quarters are cleared for portals.”

I took a deep breath. “Are you freaking kidding me? He should at least tell me if he’s doing stuff like that.”

“Like I said, he takes security seriously. Sorry.”

“Stop saying sorry.”

“Sor—” He paused when he saw my murderous expression, closing his mouth halfway through the word and just looking at me apologetically instead.

I pressed the heel of my hand to my temple, closing my eyes and taking another breath. It was fine. I’d talk to Natasha and Steve about it. The two of them together had to be enough to push past Tony’s ego. “Okay,” I said, opening my eyes again and glancing toward his readouts. “How goes your research? Any gamma-related insights?”

“You don’t already know?” he asked wryly.

“Nope,” I said, honestly.

I stepped over to the containment chamber that the Mind Stone was currently resting in—a tall vertical cylinder of reinforced glass, the bottom of which was magnetically locked to the workbench it rested on. The Stone was held in place on a thin robotic arm, with several other sensors and instruments on or around it, connecting to devices at the top and bottom of the tube. It glimmered slightly with golden energy and I placed my hand on the glass, tapping it with my fingernail.

“In the version of events I saw, you never really got a chance to examine one of the Infinity Stones properly, so I have no idea if you’ll find anything,” I said, looking at the Stone. “If I already knew, I’d have told you. Speaking of… there is something I did want to talk to you about.”

He suddenly pushed away from me, rolling his chair backwards until it hit the desk. “Oh. Oh, no.” I glanced over at him, puzzled, and he shook his head rapidly, looking alarmed. “Not me. I’m fine. No, thank you.”

“…What?”

Bruce seemed to deflate, slumping forward in his chair slightly, his wrists resting on his knees as he restlessly flexed his fingers, his expression caught halfway between a grimace and an awkward smile. “We have a little bit of a betting pool going on about who you’re going to emotionally traumatise next.”

I shot him an annoyed look. “That’s not fair.”

“Nat won the last pool yesterday because of Tony. I put fifty dollars on Clint being next.”

“You guys suck,” I said, folding my arms and turning back to glare impotently at the Mind Stone.

“Are you, or are you not, planning on emotionally traumatising me?” he asked, eyeing me sceptically.

“…I’m not trying to traumatise anyone deliberately,” I hedged.

Bruce pointed at me with a finger, looking triumphant. “Aha! See? I knew it. None of that for me, thanks,” he waved his hand again to ward me off. “I have enough problems as it is, I don’t need whatever it is you’re going to dump on me.”

“Bruce…”

“Ugh. What?”

“You’re being incredibly dramatic,” I said testily. “I only want to tell you because I think it’ll help you.”

“I know, I know,” he said, heaving a heavy sigh. Reaching up, he covered his face with his hands for a moment, pressing the heels of his palms over his eyes. “Okay. I’m ready. Hit me.”

“…Okay. So, I know you’re not going to want to hear this, but—”

“Oh, God. That was not a good start.” He winced. “I’ve changed my mind, I’m not ready.”

“Are you seriously going to do this the entire time?”

“…No. Sorry, I just don’t like being nervous.”

I sighed. “Okay, so, the Hulk.” I paused to glare at Bruce when he pulled another face, but he gestured silently for me to continue. “I don’t know the specific details of how exactly it happened, but you eventually worked out how to handle it.”

“…I got rid of him?”

“Not quite. The Hulk isn’t some separate thing living inside you, Bruce. You’ve been treating the Hulk like he’s some sort of disease, something to get rid of, but he’s not. You’re the same person, effectively, just split in two because of your trauma and anger issues.”

Bruce shook his head slowly. “No… You don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m not him.”

“You are, though. I’ve seen it. You successfully integrate the Hulk-Banner identities and are just… you. The whole split personality, dual identities thing isn’t a ‘Hulk’ thing, it’s a Banner thing.”

“Nuh uh,” he said, shaking his head more vehemently, a bit of anger leaking into his tone. “I was just Banner, perfectly fine, for years before I had that thing in me.”

“You weren’t fine, Bruce, and you know it. As for the Hulk… well, there’s also your cousin, Jen.”

“Jen?” he asked, his anger slightly derailed and replaced by confusion. “What about her?”

“At one point, you’re in a car accident with her and she gets infected with your blood, including what should be a lethal dose of gamma radiation. Thankfully, she’s got the same rare combination of genetic factors that you have, so she survives and becomes a Hulk, too.”

“Jesus.” Bruce slumped forward, cradling his head in his hands.

“But she never gets an alter ego. She never needs to take the long, painful road to integration that you did. Honestly, you’re a bit miffed by the whole thing.” I paused for a moment, then nudged his leg with my foot. “Actually, speaking of… would you, uh, mind introducing me to Jen? I mean, she’s… and I mean…” Bruce lifted his head enough to glare up at me. “You’re right, sorry, not appropriate right now. Sorry for asking.”

“Apology not accepted.”

I exhaled sharply in frustration. “Bruce, what I’m trying to say is I might be able to fix you.”

“What, you want to go poking around in my head? Do you have any idea how dangerous that could be?”

“I do, but that doesn’t mean—”

“No, I don’t think you do,” he said. “Bucky almost killed you—what do you think will happen if you cross the wrong neuron and suddenly there’s a pissed-off Hulk in your face? Nuh uh. Nope. Too risky. Worst idea I’ve ever heard.”

“But—”

“Just stop.”

“…Okay, fine. Have it your way. All I wanted to do was let you know that you can get through this. There is a way to just be Banner, but you need to acknowledge that the Hulk is a part of you and do the work to accept him back into yourself.”

“I don’t… okay.” He took a deep breath and let it out in a long, drawn-out sigh as he clenched his hands into fists and released them several times. “Fine. You’ve given me a lot to think about. Just… that’s enough for now. Please.”

“That’s all I wanted to do,” I said, trying to sound sympathetic. “See? That wasn’t that traumatising, was it?”

Bruce glared at me again, jaw set, and pointed toward the door. “Out.”

--

“You’re going to wear a hole in the floor,” Nat said mildly. She was sitting on one of the Lounge’s couches, positioned in such a way to take advantage of the sightlines through the glass walls so that she had a bit of a view into the briefing room, where Pepper had just led Tony.

“I can’t help it,” Bruce said as he anxiously paced back and forth. “I hate this.”

In the end, they’d decided to limit the number of people in the room. Pepper would be there as Tony’s key support—Natasha had already had a difficult conversation with her where she’d laid everything out ahead of time. Steve would be the one to break the news and talk it through. Finally, after much debate, they’d all agreed that it would be better for Bucky to be there so that Tony wouldn’t feel like they were hiding him. Nat and Bruce would stay nearby, just in case, but they didn’t want to crowd Tony when he was going to be at his most vulnerable.

From where she was sitting, Nat could see that Tony was clearly on guard right from the start. They tried to get him to sit, but he refused. Pepper hovered at his left shoulder, not quite sure what to do with herself. Bucky was sitting at the far side of the table, looking small, while Steve walked over and spoke to Tony face-to-face, his expression gentle.

Tony’s face fell and Pepper stepped closer, trying to put his arm around his shoulder, but he shrugged it off, staring at Steve and Bucky. His mouth moved, but it was too fast and too far away for Nat to lipread properly. He took an angry step forward and Steve reached out to place a hand on his shoulder. He yelled something, face red, and tried to push Steve away, but the super soldier held firm.

In the corner of her vision, she saw Bruce fidgeting, not sure what to do with his hands. “Should we go up?” he asked, his voice laden with anxiety.

Nat shook her head. “Not yet.”

Tony was really shouting now, trying to get past Steve to Bucky, but he just wasn’t able to shift the other man. Pepper was crying, grabbing at his shoulder in a weak attempt to stop him. Suddenly, Tony pulled back and tried to take an actual swing at Steve. Steve took the hit on the jaw—barely flinching back—then pulled the other man into a hug, wrapping both his arms around Tony, holding him still even he continued to shout and struggle. Pepper darted in to join them, her mouth moving as she tried to talk to Tony, her arms closing around him as well. Nat held her breath. It could go either way from here.

After several long seconds, Tony’s body crumpled, slumping into Steve like a marionette with its strings cut. The super soldier shifted, bringing one arm up to hold the back of Tony’s head while Pepper leant her forehead against his temple, her face red, tears streaming freely down her cheeks. Tony’s shoulders heaved and shook as huge, wracking sobs tore through his body. Nat exhaled.

“Okay,” she said softly, glancing at Bruce. “Now we go up.”