*Third Person*

Keiland lowered herself down onto the shag carpet of Natasha's room. She could only think of Bruce, questioning herself. How could she kiss him? How could she risk their friendship that she enjoyed so much? It was surprising that the only question she never asked was, did he feel the same way she did? This is partly because she didn't truly know how she felt either.

But, there was a man who knew exactly how she yearned for something more with Banner. He observed Keiland's every move as she got up, and sluggishly dragged herself along to the ensuite. He watched her as she cleansed her face, as if washing it would relieve her of all of her fears. He would make himself known to her, but not quite yet. He would do this when the he thought the time was right; he would do it when it was convenient and advantageous for him.

Meanwhile, Tony and Natasha collaborated in the lounge on a plan to get Bruce and Keiland together. For Natasha, it was a painstaking process; not only did she have to endure Tony's utterly ridiculous ideas, she also had to deal with the constant inquiry from Clint about what they were doing, and why she refused to go and train with him. She had never been so annoyed in her life, and it was taking all she had not to blow up on the two men.

Finally, after around twenty more agonizing minutes, Natasha shot up and rationalized, "Tony, how about we make this a little contest?" Tony looked at her with an eyebrow raised, and a face of intrigue. She read that as an invitation to proceed with her idea, "Whoever can get Keiland and Bruce together wins."

"I would like to participate in this as well." Thor said bluntly from somewhere in the other half of the lounge.

"Me too. I think that if we are on teams, it will be a little easier to do so." Steve said as he also made himself known.

"Damn, is everyone in the lounge right now, or did I miss the invitation to a party?" Natasha said scouring around the room. No remarks were made, and Natasha continued, "Clint is my partner, Thor and Steve will become a team, and Tony you can be paired with Willow."

"How do you know that Willow will want to do this?" Tony asked, in a shielded fashion.

"She would do anything you ask her to, she adores you. After all she is your girlfriend." Natasha refuted as she rolled her eyes.

"What is the reward for winning?" Tony asked ignoring Natasha rude remark.

"Well I don't need to be the leader here. Do you guys have any suggestions?" Natasha asked, looking at the participants.

"I suggest that the prize be something that could be of use to all of us." Thor suggested with look of confusion on his broad face.

"Thank you, Thor, I would have never thought of that, Point Break." Tony said sarcastically.

"Speaking of Keiland and Bruce, where are they? I haven't seen them in a while" Steve asked raising his eyebrows, ignoring the argument.

"I saw Bruce in the lab working on Keiland's lab results, and Keiland is in my room" Natasha said with a smirk.

"Not that I don't love the idea of competition, and we all know who would win, but why are we trying to get Keiland and Bruce together in the first place?" Clint asked dumbly. The Avengers turned to him and stared blankly as if to shame his remark.

"We know that the two want to hook up, but they obviously need some help. And I am all about helping the deprived. Even if they don't know that they need help" Tony deadpanned.

"I don't know how to respond to that Tony, but I think that I may understand what you're saying. It reminds me of a time when I was young, still on Asgard, where I believed my friend was in love with a young maiden, and he was unaware of the fact. So I had Heimdall spy on him to prove my theory" Thor said.

"Okay the competition starts now!" Natasha exclaimed, disregarding Thor's comment. Natasha shot up and trekked to Keiland's room and ordered Clint to retrieve Bruce.


An hour had passed and all of the teams assembled in the lounge once again. Keiland was absent from the room. Although the tower was inspected, she was unable to be found. The members searched in Natasha's room, the kitchen, and the roof. No traces or clues of Keiland's whereabouts were recovered. "Where could she be?" Clint inquired for the sixty-second time that night.

"If we knew, do you think we would all be sitting here and twiddling our thumbs?!" Steve blurted in an out of character fashion of frustration.

Before anyone had the chance to comment on Steve's snappy behavior, Bruce shot into the room. "Where is Keiland?!" he said in a panicked voice, his face ridden with solemn facial expressions. He was met with blank faces as he tried to slow his heart rate down as it steadily increased.

"Wouldn't you like to know, Romeo?" Tony said with a smirk.

"Tony, this is not the time to making jokes, I just got Keiland's blood tests back. If we don't find her soon, I fear that it may be too late." Bruce spoke in a slow tone, being sure to allow time for his listeners to comprehend his fear.

"Too late for what, Bruce?" Natasha asked rushed, with fear in her green eyes.

"Something I found just doesn't make sense; her blood tested for traces of CLL. This is consistent with a type of Leukemia, and because we don't know how long she could have had this, we need to get her to a hospital now!"

"We don't exactly know where the maiden is presently" Thor said sheepishly, as he did not understand the gravity of the situation.

"Well we need to find her. NOW! Bruce and I will go and look through the parks where she likes to take her walks. Clint and Thor, go check any of the stores that she usually shops at. Nat, you go check SHEILD, she may have gone into work for an unknown reason. Tony, you will stay here in the chance she returns." Steve shot off quickly. All at once, the Avengers charged to look for their lost companion, everyone except Tony, who sat on the couch and ran his hands down his face in disbelief.

*Tony's POV*

I didn't want to believe that Keiland had cancer, but it was a possibility. Reaching her was the only thing that mattered now. If we could get to her, the doctors could affirm that Keiland was perfectly healthy. If on the off chance she did have cancer, we would all be there for her while she got treated, and then we would all come back to live at the tower when she was cured. We can all look back on this day and remember it as a day of growing closer bonds. For now I'm not going to worry. Keiland is going to be fine, and I can get back with getting the love monkies together once and for all. She is a fighter, and a kick ass one at that.

Steve returned to me before heading out and said, "If she comes back here, you call all of us immediately. Don't wait for us, just take her to the hospital."

I nodded my head in assurance. "I'll see you all later! Good luck" I said as the other Avengers exited my home. I wasn't sure what I was going to do now that I would be alone for the first time in a couple of months. Maybe I'll schedule a date with Ms Downey, I haven't seen her bright smile and brown hair in a while now" I said to myself with a smile on my face, avoiding the constant worries that crossed my mind. I headed towards the bedroom, where I put on my black Sabbath shirt and black sweatpants. The shirt smelt like Keiland's perfume and I breathed deeply, to try and forget about the situation we were all in right now. "Jarvis" I said in a calmed voice, "open the curtains please."

"Yes sir." My curtains opened to reveal a black and purple landscape with perhaps a million stars that night. The moon was a crescent shape, not quite halfway to a full moon. Suddenly, at the left corner of my eye, I thought I saw a shooting star. At the time, I could not make a wish. I readied myself to wish for Keiland's safe return and healthiness, but I couldn't. Something outlandish occurred, it seemed as though the star was plotted on a course directly towards me.

"Jarvis, what…" I said, unable to utter any other words as the star grew brighter and brighter. I ran to my right, out of my bedroom, trying to reach the exit. I called for my suit, but there was not enough time for it to reach me; it was two stories down, in my lab. My vision could now only see white. Whatever that star really was had reached its destination.


"Darkness...everything is black! What is happening?! I can't see! Jarvis, Jarvis, are you there?! Natasha, this is no time to be playing pranks! Nat?!" I screamed, calling out the names of my companions. This isn't Loki with another invasion plan is it? What is happening to me? "Jarvis! What the hell is going on?!" Can anyone hear me?