Natasha returns to the house, car pulling up into the drive with her list half checked off. Olga climbs out of the vehicle first, closing the door behind her. Natasha waits in the vehicle an extra minute, eyes closing shut tight.

Time was wasting. With each hour that passes Olga continues to forget what's happening. With multiple mentions of her old life and wanting to remember a loved one's name.

Romanoff angrily kicks at the steering wheel before climbing out of the car herself. Olga gives her a look;

"Ok?"

Natasha presses forward. There wasn't enough time. Of the small list Ross provided, only half remembered they were spies or even cared.

She pushes through the door, tossing Alexei's keys onto the table before falling head first into the sofa. Olga briefly mentions heading to sleep. With the gust of wind from golfers tossed onto the table Natasha takes a deep inhale.

Time. Would she have enough time to figure out how to get home?

She waits an extra moment before taking up a phone left on the table. Sitting upright she adjusts the screen to face herself. She presses record with a somber tone, exhausted and full of frustration from the days activities. If memories were fleeting she would need to remember the facts;

"My name is Natasha Banner-Romanoff. I was on a mission in Russia to find over 50 missing spies when I took a wrong turn and ended up here...wherever here is...apparently memories fade so I wanted to leave this video hopefully of codes only I, as myself, would recognize in case things go south-"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Be bait...to drag out Blonsky,' Jennifer nods, 'Yeah sure. I'm down."

Bruce lifts his eyebrows, slightly concerned for his cousin, "You're serious..."

She shrugs, "What? Your afraid?"

"He blasted us with virbranium bombs last time we tried to get close."

"So you're afraid."

He turns to eye her directly, "I don't care what happens to me but you have a kid at home."

"What? You don't think I can handle this?"

"No it's not that-"

"Then shush. I'm fine. Are you down? Cause I'm ready for this to be over so that I can go home. A thing that can't happen until we kick his ass."

Bruce lifts a hand in surrender. Jennifer was stubborn and she'd do what she wanted to do. All he could do to ease worry was promise himself he'd always protect her, no matter what;

"Okay! Alright. I just don't trust him but it's your choice."

"Thanks! Glad you understand."

Fury stands opposite the table eyes wide with a bit of shock;

"Alright. We'll drop you two in full form over the rendezvous point where we first found he and his minions."

Bruce bites at his cheek, shoving a hand into his pocket, "What if he doesn't care."

Jennifer crosses her arms almost sarcastically, "Oh he'll care. He wants you dead remember?"

"Thanks Jen."

Fury points in their direction, "If there's anyway you two can communicate a distress signal while in form, now is the time to share."

The two stare blankly, glancing toward each other. Bruce shrugs, Jennifer crosses her arms and shifts in her stance;

"Just don't let us bleed to death. That shouldn't be too hard."

"Don't- Jen."

Fury stands upright, "We're scheduled to arrive soon. Suit up- Er...get angry."

She gives a sarcastic salute, addressing Fury before turning to exit the room. Bruce lingers, biting at his cheek with stronger eye contact;

"I'd feel better if you weren't out there-"

"Tough."

Clint looks up with the rest of the team, all of them leaning forward with anticipation as Jen and Bruce step out into the room with the door closing behind. She shrugs;

"You know the plan."

"So you agreed?" Jane's eyes widen slightly.

Jen scoffs, "Obviously. We do what's necessary."

Bruce snarls, "Don't you all have something else to do."

Steve leads the group, all standing as they nod toward the back of the craft;

"We should get moving team."

Stark picks up his pace in order to walk bedside Bruce and drops an arm around his shoulder. The scientist accepts the contact though hardly acknowledging.

Walters nudges her shoulder into her cousin's, soft smile on her face;

"We got this."

Jane reaches to take Thor's hand and answers in close proximity;

"Yeah we do."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Mommy!"

Natasha's eyes flash open and after receiving a touch to her shoulder she thrashes her attacker lightly to the ground. Jason falls with an extra bounce, hitting the living room carpet as she sits upright. Natasha's eyes widen slightly, observing the boy standing up on his own;

"Geez kid. You can't be jumping on people to wake them up. Are you ok?"

"Yeah."

Alexei steps into the room, glancing over the two-some;

"Well. Good morning."

The boy spins, engulfed in his next game as Natasha let's her head fall back on the armrest of the sofa. She has a blanket, eyes groggy and she snarls;

"What time is it. Where's Olga."

"Still asleep. It's morning so...pancakes?"

She sits up on her elbows, giving a subtle glare, "Who has time for pancakes- where's Bruce?"

Alexei huffs, "Yesterday didn't end well. Lots of screaming- I'd really rather we don't have them back."

"Betty?"

"Yeah..."

"Alexei, I need them. You really couldn't keep them calm,' she stands up, adjusting her hair, 'Betty has interacted with the spies. Put them on medications- whatever. Yesterday was a disappointment for me too but the more time goes by the more we have problems and I want to go home so I'm going to find them."

Alexei waits in silence, observing the red head pacing the room as if she's lost something. Natasha makes a point to avoid Jason, nudging him gently to the side at one point before she heads down the hall;

"Please get Betty on the phone at least. I'm going to Banner's office and you better pray he's there."

"I have to feed the horse-"

"He can starve."

"She. Actually. You named her Clarice..."

Alexei waits, hearing the door slam behind her once she's entered the bedroom. He shakes his head, watching Jason find a toy plane to toss around the room. He steps forward, leaning over the table to find his phone. His fingers open the screen and press play to observe the footage recorded.

Alexei allows seconds to pass as his heart pounds, teeth grinding over the subconscious anger. With a quick swipe left, after a glance over his shoulder, it no longer exists.

He tosses the device back into the table, eyes refocused upward as Natasha renters the room;

"Told Olga what I was doing. You know, I don't have to stay here. I know this is weird-"

She steps forward, tripping slightly over Jason's toys;

"Jason Ruslan Shoshtakov! I swear-"

"No swear!" The child points his finger, adamant about following the rules.

She grits her teeth with an eye roll. She sighs when Alexei stares with a wider gaze. They share the silence as the realization sinks in. Natasha's heart pounds- he didn't tell her Jason's middle name. It wasn't on any photo, card, or decor.

Romanoff grabs her coat and dashed outside without an acknowledgment. The cool air glazing over her skin as she climbs into the vehicle and speeds toward the main st. She storms into the building upon arrival and pushes her way through the doors.

Locked.

She clenches as fist and pounds on the door that reads 'Banner.' She knocks a second time;

"It's me-It's Natasha I need to talk to you."

The doors cracks open, light peering from the office into the darker space. Bruce grins, dramatically inviting her inside;

"Good morning Mrs. Shosh. You're just in time for break."

He takes up his glass, pouring a bottle of rum inside of it. With a swift snatch Natasha grabs the glass and chugs herself. She extends it forward with a nod. He scoffs;

"I'm not complaining about having a drinking buddy at 10:30am but you good?"

"I 'remembered' Jason's middle name."

He shrugs, "So?"

"So I'm remembering things that don't exist. Memory lapse- the thing Olga is struggling with and warned me about. I'm running out of time."

Natasha does a double take, noticing a familiar black jacket near the sofa in the corner of the room. Her eyebrows lower, snapping toward the doctor;

"Who do that belong to?!"

He points guiltily, "Ah! Yes those...That is Elizabeth's."

"Why..."

"You know. We ended up here last night. Must've forgot it."

Her eyes close, brushing him off with a wave of her hand. She shakes her head, rubbing at her temples;

"I can not."

He points toward her with a sudden realization, snatching another glass from under the counter;

"Yes! That! That is why you're really here..."

"I might punch you in the face."

"No! Look."

He turns with a slight hop in his step, pointing toward a vast display sprawled over the table. She follows;

"What's this."

"This, my dear! Is what I call...actually I haven't named it yet."

She sighs, limited patience coming through her tone;

"What am I looking at."

"A bunch of calculations that could-possibly, in theory, get you home."

Natasha steps forward eagerly and takes in the information sprawled over the desk. She circles the area, lightly touching the pages and a small display;

"So what. You're going to just stir up the same emotions at the lake and hope my mysterious friend shows up again?"

"And! If there's really something in the lake I can stir it up with my science."

She shakes her head with thoughts of her own Vrach who would've explained every detail in perfect organization;

"Whatever. Just do what you need to do to get me home."

He crosses an arm, drinking with the other;

"What are you gonna do about your spies. How many did you draft to go with you to return to Wonderland."

She pivots on her heel, leaning against the desk beside him;

"I think you meant to tell me, what YOU are going to do about the spies. Because they're here due to each of whatever came up into their minds. Get the picture? So unless your current 'science' can blast 50 people back to 'wonderland', I'd go easy on the rum and hope to get into the minds of each and every one of those people."

"Uh huh,' he bites the glass, taking through his teeth, 'Why am I helping you again...why am I roped into this..."

She shrugs, "Cause you said you believed me."

He shakes his head, standing more upright, "Why me."

Natasha stares ahead blankly, shoving her hands into her pockets, "Look. I know I practically fell from the sky here, but it's not like you were busy living this magnificent productive life. Hell, you're sad, single and about to drop from liver failure-"

He snaps, eyes sharp as he focuses on her defensive demeanor;

"You're the only running from your old life whether it's this one or the one in 'Wonderland.' You're either hiding or you're running from something- so which one is it."

"Don't analyze me. I was on a mission, I got lost."

He shrugs, "Just asking."

She watches him intently, secretly enjoying his lingering eye contact. He holds her gaze as he paces and looks away only to collect his papers. Natasha guiltily rolls her eyes;

"I'm just doing my mission. Maybe I'm prideful about being successful. I don't want to fail."

He nods, waiting until she's finished her statement before continuing. He lifts a pencil, noting something on the blank page in front of him. Natasha turns slightly, leaning her elbows on the table. For a brief moment she saw Banner. Running her fingers through her hair she inhales;

"I didn't expect to find you here but you're the only, doppelgänger, I currently trust at all. And I'm sorry for dumping this on you, I really am, but I don't know what else to do. You're the only team member here, in this world, that I've seen. So I'm sorry this interrupts court wars with Betty and vodka shots from morning til 2am but...I need the part of your brain- that has to be in there somewhere- to analyze this situation and make sense of it in order to get me, and my spies, home safely."

He nods, barely looking up. His expression unchanged as she explains. Natasha scoffs over his lack of a response;

"Really. That's it."

He looks up, tucking his hand under his chin, "Is what it."

"You really have nothing to say..."

Bruce shrugs smirking with pride over his impending comment, "Just that I noticed you had to shoot some remarks my way. Is that how you treat all your friends?"

"For real,' She rolls her eyes, chugging the rest of her glass, 'You're something."

"Something. What does something mean. You asked me to respond." He sketches his thought, turning the page under his pencil.

"You're just someone I can't read and it frustrates me."

He grins and looks up to bat his eyelashes, "Do I though? So you do care-"

"Yes, no. No I don't care."

"Ouch,' he turns the page to share it with her, 'Look at this."

Natasha reaches a hand to her warm cheek. She sighs over disappointment over her lack of composure around him. The doctor makes her blush over the anger. She snarls and with an eye roll hides her head in her hands;

"I don't know what I'm looking at."

"It's a pressure band. Speed up the heart rate and cause more intense emotions. Harness the tears. Sell them on the black market...obviously. Gamble the earnings away, ever been to Vegas?"

Her hand falls over her mouth ignoring his remarks. Her eyes look over the sketch as she mumbles;

"You started so well and then went off...The concept would help each of us reach whatever point we were at when encountering the lake?"

Bruce nods, proud of his work even if his tangents made no sense. Natasha keeps a hand over her cheek and holds her gaze;

"What do you need to make these?"

He taps his pencil, lifting his foot to place it on the chair in front, "A couple of hours, a guinea pig, and a some cash. So, is your blood is blue?"

Natasha tosses her head back, twirling the empty glass in her hand;

"Ok. No, it's not blue. But it is empowered with certain, chemicals-"

"Can you explode-"

"Why are you- ugh, no."

She simmers on the verge of slapping him with patience slipping. Bruce nods, waiting in the silence for an extra moment;

"What if you're normal now."

She laughs, "I'm not normal."

"What if. You said when you got here things felt different-"

"I don't know who I am if I'm normal...I mean I do. I think. It doesn't matter."

Bruce bites his lip, nodding in contentment over her response that she's let slip. He shifts his stance;

"And there it is."

"What,' She exhales heavily before laughing, 'Oh I asked you not to analyze. Try it again and I'll break your arm."

"I didn't say you were crazy, I only meant that you admitted some heavy stuff-"

"I didn't admit anything. So stop."

He steps back, returning to his papers, "No promises. It's fun to bother you."

Before she can utter a reply he nudged her slightly to walk around to the other end of the room. Opening a cabinet he removes his keys and tosses a small box that Natasha catches;

"What are you doing now."

"We are going to test you for defects- I mean chemicals."

She scoffs, "Why do you even have this supplies in your office?"

He shakes his head, "I don't. That's my breaking in and entering kit."

Natasha looks down to study the box, turning in within her palms. She can't help but be intrigued by his lunacy. She shakes her head; "It says 'medical'... though I'm really tempted to ask about previous arrests."

He smiles as if that should be enough of an answer. He snatches back his box and removed the lid. Natasha accepts the heart rate monitor;

"That's it?"

"Ultimately just need to know what's normal for you and ways to increase it."

She glances downward, observing a device she's seen a million times, "No, other, reason this is in your possession, right?"

He shakes his head, "Not for what you're thinking...do you get along with the rage monster?"

"Most of the time,' she grins coyly, 'We've had our battles."

He observes his machine, gentle fingers holding her wrist;

"After all of the stirring you up, your heart rate's not that crazy. Looks like I'm going to have fire a gun in your direction next time. So much for making your heart skip a beat."

Natasha rolls her eyes and pulls away from his hold;

"Can you make this work or not?"

"Don't rush me,' he steps away, 'I got this."

"How do we test it."

"I don't know if there's a test. Either it works or it doesn't. But it ultimately depends on the lake now doesn't it?"

"I'll gather the spies and we'll all meet by the lake tomorrow night. Can you finish these by then? Come up with a way to heighten responses?"

He nods. She stands up to exit and takes up her jacket;

"Side question but can Olga and I crash here tonight? I'm worried about Alexei and I just don't think I should be under the same roof."

He nods. Natasha rolls her eyes. Either he asks invasive questions or is impossible to read. She adjusts her coat. She crosses her arms;

"Can I help you at all? Do you want Olga to aid in the creative process."

He grins, "Yeah, you can go buy me a beer."

Natasha waits in her position. She's one more remark away from throwing something in his direction;

"Ugh. I'll see you tonight."

"It's a date."

"It's not a date."

. . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Natasha paces the room late in the evening. In a vague fog she shoves her hands into the pockets of the jacket she's yet to remove.

Olga had stepped out with a purpose...she was focused on a purpose- if she could remember what the purpose was. Her fingers brush her hair behind her ear before reaching for the phone left on the table. In a fog she checks the contents, swiping forward to search for something she thought was there...

Natasha inhales, calling out toward Alexei with a soft tone. She steps toward the office, head foggy as she peers inside. Alexei sits at his computer, filing papers for work. She lifts the device once he looks over his shoulder;

"Did I. Did you delete anything on here?"

He shrugs casually. Romanoff touches her forehead with her frustration coming to the forefront;

"I need to know Alex-"

"I didn't touch anything."

Her hand catches his forearm as he stands and passes through the doorway. Natasha pushes him lightly with more of a realization;

"You did! Why?! Why would you do that?"

He snaps, "I didn't!"

"You did! Alexei I need this! I can't remember what I was going to do right now I just knew there was something on here-"

"I didn't- Calm down. Jason is sleeping."

"I did a video so that I'd remember...I need to remember!"

His eyes narrow as he passes through back into the living room;

"Need or want to."

Her voice stays loud, eyes huge as her hand falls to her side, "Both!"

His hands follow his movement, voice raising to meet her own;

"So what! We just mean nothing now?! You'd leave Jay and I just like that! Don't you care about us?!"

Natasha swallows struggling to keep her focus and fists in check. She clenches her jaw;

"I don't even know you. I don't know this you."

"It's like we don't matter anymore. We love you Natasha and you treat us both like we don't exist."

"I'm not her!"

He sits at the table. With a heavy sigh of surrender he leans an elbow on the table.

Natasha steps forward and tosses the device onto the table before forcing eye contact. With a sense of understanding she sits across from him;

"Everything was normal in your life up to a few days ago."

"I know."

"I can't explain what's happened. I just know that I'm out of place. And my memory is slipping with every hour I stay here. I'm shocked I haven't forgotten my name yet after looking at Olga."

He leans back, eyes focused on the tap as his nails tap over the wood;

"Do you remember when we built this place."

"No."

"Do you remember why we named our son Jason?"

"I have no connection to that name."

"How did we meet."

She huffs out a laugh, he wouldn't believe her even if she tried;

"On duty. After my first run through the Academy. Your turn."

He nods as if to recognize the difference, "Your aunt's coffee shop."

She bites her cheek, "I never met any aunt. Didn't know I had one."

They share a glance. He sighs as of to consent to her statements;

"You could. If you stay."

She automatically dismissed the thought. Her heart pounds over the brief fantasy of connecting with a family she never knew.

Natasha's mouth curves upward;

"When I was on the lake I saw this, reflection. This image that portrayed happiness and family. It looked perfect and honestly, I was jealous. I wanted so badly to be a part of that family and so I inadvertently somehow became her. I became whoever the version of me is here. But ultimately it's not me..."

He continues to tap at the table. His face remains emotionless in the brief silence before he even attempts to answer;

"You're a spy. Assassin. Part of this team of specials. Who am I in this universe? Where do we stand?"

Her chest falls slightly. With a head told she leans her elbows on the table;

"Honestly, you were my first love. And you will always be a part of what makes me, me."

"But?"

"But...at the moment you're teamed up with my psycho adoptive dad hurting people I care about,' she sighs, 'Soon after we got married, I was told you were dead- and honestly, as selfish as it sounds, it's been easier to think of you that way. I think there's good in you still. All I can do is hope that, somehow, I can draw it out of you."

He nods. With a slightly softer gaze he folds his hands;

"You really think things will go back to normal after you leave?"

"I hope,' she crosses her leg, 'I only want you and, Jason, to be happy."

He stays focused downward, voice hinting at concern;

"And you're happy? With 'work' and with, him? The doctor,' he can't help but laugh, 'Really? You and Banner..."

She smiles, "He's not the same pain the ass in my world."

He laughs, "I figured as much."

"He's kind and smart. We always seem to find our way back to each other even though there have been a few detours."

Alexei uses her name which forces her to focus on his eye contact and sincerity;

"I'm sorry. For whatever I, the other me, put you through in your world. And I'm sorry about the footage. I have it memorized so I won't let you forget where you belong. We'll get you home. Me, Olga and your pain in the ass."

She scoffs, "Please don't tell Banner. I'd rather this guy doesn't know about my Vrach."

"Deal,' Alexei gently lifts a hand, taking hers in a gentle handshake, 'Let's get you home."

. . . . . . . . . . . . .