Natasha would not leave Bruce's side.
No.
She.
Would.
NOT!
So after three days of no eating, drinking, or sleeping, the other Avengers were forced to sedate her.
It was a long process, which ended in a sleeping Natasha, as well as a bruised Clint.
Natasha rested in the medbay, in a bed next to Bruce's.
Tony had been running tests on Bruce for days to see why he randomly hulked out, as the only times Bruce hulked out un-voluntarily were when he was extremely angry, and Tony doubted he would find such a rage-inducing thing on Asgard.
He also wanted to find out why his friend decided to try to freakin commit suicide!
Tony was glad for the work, as it provided a distraction from all the thoughts that maybe it was Tony's fault Bruce wanted to kill himself, maybe Tony made him go to the lab with him too often, maybe he stressed him out too much...
Tony knew deep down that such thoughts were ridiculous, but while he was a genius with technology, human minds were more complicated.
If only humans could be fixed like robots...
Tony's thoughts stopped as he found something very alarming in one of Bruce's brain scans.
He called the Avengers up, minus Natasha, who had resumed sitting by Bruce's side after waking up and screaming at Clint for an hour or two, which was very amusing to watch.
Tony wondered why Natasha was so worried about Bruce. They never seemed to be very close...
Anyway,
Thor, Steve, and Clint entered the lab, and sat around Tony's main work table.
"Did you find something?" Steve asked, with a worried face.
"Yes." Tony answered. "And...It doesn't look good."
"What is it?" Clint demanded.
"JARVIS, pull up Bruce's brain scan." Tony ordered.
JARVIS complied at once.
The group stared at the scan.
"What's wrong with it?" Thor asked.
Tony pointed to an area of the brain. "This is the ligitory system."
"What's that?" Clint asked.
"The part of the brain that controls emotion. If you look at it, you'll see its tinted green."
The men squinted at it, and could see the green tinting it.
"That's off." Tony stated, face grave.
"Couldn't it just be because of Hulk?" Clint asked.
"That is why it's there. But I took a scan of Bruce's brain when we first became an official team, and there wasn't this much green."
"What does it mean?" Steve asked.
"I think...let's back up. The human mind is built to hold one presence. When Bruce took the serum that created Hulk, his mind was forced to stretch to give room for another presence. This wasn't good, because Bruce's mind couldn't take two presences. So a sort of...disease formed. The disease started to grow. Did any of you notice how it became easier for Bruce to hulk out over time?"
The three thought about it, and nodded.
"That's because the disease was growing. Bruce hulked out un-voluntarily today, without anything making him angry. That's because the disease has grown enough that is no longer takes large amounts of anger to bring Hulk out. Bruce's mind has become more sensitive to anger. I think we all have noticed that Bruce has been looking sick?"
The three nodded again.
"That's because Bruce's mind and body are linked. If his mind is sick, so is his body. It makes sense. When Hulk is the main presence in the mind, Hulk takes over the body. Bruce's mind and body are connected through Hulk. Our bodies aren't, at least not in the same way, because we only have one presence in our minds, so it isn't necessary for our minds and bodies to be linked that way. But with Bruce, they have to be, otherwise there might be a risk of the minds and bodies swapping, with Hulk's mind in Bruce's body, and Bruce's mind in Hulk's body.
"Wait, you said the disease is growing." Steve said. "Is there a limit to how big it can get?"
Tony rubbed a hand over his face wearily. "Eventually, Bruce's mind would be able to take the pressure of two beings inside it. It would deteriorate, and eventually collapse."
"What can we do?" Clint asked, starting to pace frantically.
"There might be something." Tony said, a light appearing in his eyes. "Like I said before, human minds are built to hold one presence. But what if you could stretch your mind, and make room for another presence? Then Bruce's mind would have room for Hulk!"
"But Tony..." Steve said. "You can't stretch a mind. Humans don't have that power, that's the whole reason this has never been done before."
Tony laughed. "Steve, have you forgotten we're on another planet? A planet literally full of magic?"
Tony turned to Thor. "Thor is there anything we can use to help Bruce?"
Thor hesitated, thinking. "There...may be something. A book I came across as a youngling. I was never much of a reader, so I didn't look through it, but I think I know where it is. Its called Magic of the Mind.
Magic of the Mind
By Silene GarensDottir
Asgard is one of the few planets in the universe to truly understand and harness the magic of the mind. It is the only world in the Nine Realms to have this power, the only other to come close being Midgard, who haven't yet but likely will someday using their magic that they call science.
The magic of the mind is the ability to expand the mind. The magic comes from a very important part of the brain called the limbic system, the place that controls emotion.
In order to harness the magic of the mind, the owner of the mind must truly feel and understand what many beings in the universe agree to be the most important and powerful emotion in the limbic system.
Love.
The owner must truly know this feeling, in order to stretch their mind.
I know many people reading this book will ask: If you just need to feel love to expand your mind, why don't billions of people have the ability to expand their minds? After all, billions of people have fallen in love.
The truth is, when you fall in love, you do expand your mind.
You just don't realise it in the moment...When you love someone, you are devoted to them. You trust them completely, you give them a place in your mind.
You stretch your mind to give them a place in it.
And you do this through the love you have for them.
Before you fell in love with them, your mind was smaller.
It had less space in it, because you hadn't fallen in love and gained the ability to expand your mind.
In conclusion, Love is what gives you the ability to expand your mind and be able to have two presences inside it.
Hoping this helps you understand,
-Silene GarensDottir
Tony closed the book with a snap, looking up.
"Great! So now, we have to make Bruce fall in love with someone! This is going to be impossible!"
Clint blinked slowly, staring at the genius.
"Tony..." Steve asked incredulously. "Are you blind?"
"Noooot that I know of, why?"
"Have you really not noticed the way Bruce and Natasha look at each other? Or the fact Natasha hasn't left his side for six days?"
Tony thought back to all the recent times Bruce and Natasha had been in the same room as him.
Oh...there was something going on with them...
"OH! HAHAHAHAHA JOLLY GREEN AND RED DEATH SITTING IN A TREE, K.I.S.S-"
Thor clamped hand over Tony's mouth, and only took it away when he stopped shaking of laughter.
"Are you dont acting like a five year old?" Steve asked.
Tony nodded, not trusting himself to speak.
He mentally chuckled. Who would have thought it?
"So we need to get them to admit their feelings for each other." Thor said.
"Wait, why?" Tony asked. "If they already love each other why can't Bruce expand his mind already?"
"Because, right now they are too afraid to admit they love each other." Thor explained. "The book said the owner of the mind must truly understand and truly feel love. If the two are afraid to admit their feelings, that isn't true love."
"Well, knowing Natasha and Bruce they won't admit their feelings easily, even if it's blatantly obvious to us that they love each other." Clint stated.
"You're right." Steve said, sighing. "Bruce should wake up in a couple of days. We can let Natasha take care of him, and hopefully in that time they will get close enough to admit their feelings for each other. If they do that, Bruce's mind can expand to fit him and hulk."
Tony knew Steve made lots of plans as a Captain, and they almost always worked.
But they sometimes, rarely, failed.
Tony really hoped this one wouldn't.