The lack of communication from Fury leaves Natasha concerned but a relapse early August knocks her down for a week. As soon as the medicine kicks in again, she feels like she can conquer the world, which is a problem for Bruce and Clint who have to constantly remind her to rest and take it easy.

She's far more injury prone and she doesn't listen, bruises trailing down her arm from losing her footing. Anything Bruce urges her not to do, she has to try at least once more and prove to herself that it's still possible.

Lucy and Clint are getting closer out on the field, which Garrett doesn't seem to mind as long as he's a part of their adventures. Clint gifts her a white custom bow he's carved from scratch in the hopes that he's found his prodigy. So far, Lucy hits every target during archery, she's athletic and up for any challenge.

Laura remains the only steady voice of reason who Natasha respects. So when Laura says to 'go rest', Natasha will head upstairs, curl up in her bed with Alex and watch 'Breakfast at Tiffany's.'

Once Pepper is brought up to speed, suddenly Natasha's friend is encouraging much calmer activities and less alcohol- much to Natasha's dismay.

Natasha likes it when she can drag Bruce into the studio for ten minutes and play the piano in the, even if dancing isn't her top choice of activity as of late. And he is too focused on finding a 'cure'.

Lucy enjoys dance time, trying to teach the Mikhailov siblings a few moves that neither one can figure out. Brody however, does have more rhythm than Izabella.

Alex never leaves Natasha's side, so much so that he's begun to accompany her on more missions. Clint always comes running over Alex's call, a secure bond between the three of them whenever she's on a mission.

Alex chose to get the Hulk on their most recent team mission, sensing his 'dad' underneath the big green exterior and the fact that Natasha needed him. Hulk responded quickly to him and let Bruce take over after giving her cheek a gentle brush.

The excuse for Fury's absence continues to be 'vacation' and Natasha doesn't have the energy to dig deeper. Clint is too focused on Natasha and his pregnant wife to block twice on the topic of a missing Fury.

The kids are all much kinder to each other and less wild when Natasha and Alex are around, all of them trying to keep her happy. As per Dr. Banner, he would 'send the hulk' if they didn't.

Thor and Jane would help, if it weren't off-world most of the time. The chaotic twins hardly give them time to breathe let alone converse with the team.

Bruce and Tony lock themselves in the lab for hours on end regardless, staying until the early morning hours to come up with solutions for her. Stark remains close to Bruce at all times, no matter how many times he's been pushed away. Tony will never leave his best friend unsupervised...even if it means crashing on the floor beside the physically and emotionally exhausted physicist at 3am.

Over in the lab, the boys are tired, currently running test number 99,999, not that he's counting. Tony is getting hangry and a little restless from lack of sleep while Bruce is insistent on trying a project they've already run 1,876 times...at least according to Stark's notes. He lifts his tablet with a sigh and jumps up onto the desk, bags under his eyes while Bruce darts around the lab;

"Brucie, I don't know what to tell you. We've run this a thousand times. Literally."

"Run it again," he is relentless. His curls are a mess from constant tugging and his top is officially missing a button. There are dark circles around eyes, stubble on his cheeks and a scratch on the last pair of glasses he hasn't thrown against the wall in a fit of rage. He holds a smile for Natasha but quickly breaks down when he's alone, resulting in a new hole in the wall from a half transformation.

Tony usually complies with the requests to keep the Hulk at bay. Today he feels like pushing back, "We're geniuses here but I'm starting to wonder if we're missing a component. It's almost- never mind."

"What?"

He laughs over the thought, careful with a vial of Natasha's blood, "It's a cellular problem. A break in her DNA. You read through your hulk binders?"

"There's nothing worth mentioning-."

"It's almost like what you need is someone more specialized in that…"

"Like who."

"Like a cellular biologist."

"You don't think I've looked?"

"Someone who is at least aware of the weird and quirky."

He mutters under his breath as if a lightbulb has just gone off, "Quirky…"

"I know a couple. I'm just not sure you'd like them very much. Okay! I'm starving. If I don't get food I might Hulk out Iron Man style and nobody wants to see that. Want a cup of tea, Brucie boy? Some weed? What's going to make you zen out for an hour?"

Bruce's gears are turning, wagging his finger, "Tony! You're a genius!"

"I know. A little louder please, so Pep can hear you…"

He runs his program again, trying to recall a bunch of tests Betty would run on his blood and DNA. He stops short, fists clenching as he stands frozen in front of the screen…

"Buddy?" Tony waves in front of his face, 'You alive?"

His jaw twists, a throbbing pain in the back of his neck from Hulk's agitation. Bruce pushes away the hesitation and digs through his file. He takes a deep breath when he taps Betty's notes and starts to skim through emotionlessly;

"She did research, she analyzed every component that made the Hulk, every single step we took…"

"Who 'she', 'she' who?"

"Betty," he moves to type.

Tony leans over the workbench to fiddle with Natasha's broken Stark Phone and removes the back cover to give a quick look at the battery- a project so far down on his list.

"Look at this Tony."

"I'm looking,' shifts to Bruce, abandoning the device, 'That's all her research on one 'test?' It's like 8,000 pages...no wonder you two got along so well. Small problem, you trust yourself to create the cure? The 'it'? Whenever you find the 'it'?"

For Natasha, the woman he adores, nothing is good enough. And he's not inclined to test something he doesn't entirely understand on her. Bruce slumps over the desk and sinks into the chair behind him. There are millions of files, documents and research. The scientist sits back upright and starts to skim again; he'll go through each page if he needs to;

"Sterns told me the cure for cancer, disease could be found in my blood."

Tony frowns, "So, you'd give her what...a blood fraction-."

"No! No. Maybe? I would have to…" he trails off, lost in thought.

"It doesn't matter what you make, it'll take time to run and test and sample," Tony sighs over the lack of a response.

"I have 437,999.04 minutes…"

"Okay, THAT, needs to stop. We're not counting down a bomb."

"What do you want me to do? I'm doing everything I possibly can; I'm meeting with professionals, I'm meeting with doctors, surgeons, I'm looking through my ex wife's folder with a million questions-I can't exactly make a call to ask Betty for help!"

Tony pushes his friend to start typing himself, "…Maybe you could."

Banner scoffs coldly, his mind in the meta who can supposedly contact the dead, "Kat is a kid. And. I'm not asking her to contact a dead ghost...pretty sure it's just a party trick anyways-."

"I wasn't talking about Betty, I was talking about Betty 2.0."

He's still confused, "And do what? Mail her a letter across dimensions via Izabella…?"

"Take Red to someone you trust. Someone who has top of the line tech. A place where, let's be real, if things are as advanced as you told me they are- Betty 2.0 could probably figure it out in a week."

Bruce's jaw twists. His hand over his mouth, a thoughtful look across his face, when Tony steps back from the screen to reveal all of the notes they've taken from the alternate dimension research and discussion. The two men analyze it quietly.

Bruce is the first one to break the silence, somewhat more hopeful. When it comes to saving Natasha he's desperate for answers. He pulls up Izabella's file next;

"We're still assuming a kid could…send us to the same spot- two adults- one?"

"Izzy can handle it," Tony crosses his arms and props a foot on a stool.

"It's a big ask based on a lot of assumptions."

Tony pushes his friend once again to skim through Izabella's private folder to prove him wrong, "She warped a car last week according to your private notes- don't ask me how I got that password."

He shakes his head, eyes wide, -"I didn't leave Elizabeth on the best note...Hulk, you know, did what Hulk does."

The big green fights back, revealing himself through a growl and a spark of green on Banner's neck. Bruce slaps the side of it and curses him under his breath.

"If Bella Beast doesn't want to help we'll find somebody else. Somebody with experience, technology- Red deserves the best and let's be real, the best isn't here. You're not going to trust my friends so let's think about this over food because I'm about to punch something and I'd rather not smack you around- unless you'd like that? You did marry woman with an alter ego named after a murderous female."

"Stop talking."

"Mmkay,' he pivots, flipping the skylight open to calm his friend, 'Would Red go for this? Going to see your ex for help?"

"She's not my ex," Bruce mumbles back, focused on the screen.

"You kissed her and she's in the documents under 'Betty 2.0'."

"-That was your idea."

"If you do this, this specific endeavor was not my idea. Just for the record. I think you should call my pal in Georgia…"

Tony takes his nonverbal signal for silence and space. Stark lifts a fist and punches his shoulder;

"I'm getting dinner with Pep, it's date night."

"Antonia?"

"Don't worry about it. She's coming with us. Go talk it over with your wife. Beat it…get out of here."

"I need to check-."

Tony sighs and stands in front of him, flipping the screen off, "We've checked everything important, it's break time. I said go, so go. Or you're grounded; no lab for a week."

"..okay. It's Izabella's turn," Natasha takes her fancy glass of sparkling cider, enjoying time with the girls as she indulges them in a round of two truths and a lie. Svetlana and Brody are off at his baseball practice so Natasha is entertaining Izabella for the evening. Over on the video cam is a live stream for the center girls to participate as well and everyone is loving it.

Lucy shifts in her plaid pajama bottoms and black tank, tucking a pillow under her chin, eager to continue her winning streak.

The younger Russian smiles kindly on her round;

"I been to Peru. I allergic to how you say... lesnyye orekhi ."

"Tree nuts,"Natasha translates.

"Spasiba-."

"That's true!," Amelia offers from the screen.

Izabella's cheeks turn red over the spotlight on her, "I play violin."

Lucy drops her fist on the throw rug, "Violin is the lie! You have no musicality, I've seen you dance."

Natasha looks ready to spit her drink with a chuckle when Izabella nods and accepts Lucy's criticism with grace. Her her hands fold when she talks above a whisper;

"Lucy is right."

"Okay friends!,' Lucy rubs her hands together and sits upright energetically, 'I have a 6-octave vocal range…"

"Translation please?," Amelia interjects.

Riley pushes her from the camera, "It's a music thing. Continue, Lucy."

"Oh my gosh; Thank you,' the Jameson girl nods gratefully, 'I'm shocked you didn't have a nasty remark for me, I'm like-."

"Don't bait me."

Lucy clears her throat and moves on, "Number 2! My favorite musical is Wicked. And number 3…' she takes a breath and comes out with it, her secret reserved for friends she believes they are, 'I like both girls…and boys."

Lucy is grateful when no one seems to bat an eye over her confession.

Izabella contorts her mouth thoughtfully, "You love Wicked."

Riley rolls her eyes, her snap rooted in a little jealousy for how close she believes Lucy and the Barton boy are becoming, "It's the last one! You've been flirting with Garrett since you got here!"

Natasha frowns, "That doesn't mean she doesn't also like girls, Riley."

Izabella checks in on her friend who lifts a thumb. Apparently befriending the most popular boy at the center equals flirting to the mean girls; Riley and Amelia.

"Yep...you got it. Good job."

Riley Proctor feels a little guilty for picking on Lucy, so she snaps to hide her emotions;

"My turn, you idiots…"

"You not have to lie. Love is good thing. Love whoever," Izabella tries to quietly reassure Lucy on the sidelines.

Lucy shrugs, "Mom and dad know. I guess you and I are total besties now though, because like, you care you know? And you are actually so nice…"

"I am nice."

"Don't worry we won't celebrate our BFF status with peanuts."

"Beef status?"

"No, like best friend forever, BFF," Lucy nudges her friend. Izabella laughs and adjusts her hair.

"Are you two even listening?!" Riley retorts from the screen.

Natasha watches the girl's interaction, clutching her ribcage over a new pain when she tries to talk. Alex shifts in his position with his tail thumping, nosing his mother with a lick. Natasha closes her eyes to breathe deeply, nauseas out of nowhere when she politely dismisses herself from the group with a whisper;

"I'll be right back, you girls can keep playing."

She stumbles to the bathroom, aided back onto her feet by Alex's quick action to circle her. She locks Alex out and turns to the sink to dry heave.

Alex barks, so Izabella moves to soothe him, giving Lucy a glance with a concerned whisper for her mentor;

"Should um…we call Vrach ?"

Lucy bites her cheek, glass in her hand, "She's throwing up like, all the time,' she gasps excitedly, 'Is she pregnant?! Am I going to have a baby cousin?! Question for you; does that mean you're getting a baby sister? 'Cause you're like, practically half Uncle B and Aunt Nat's daughter?"

Izabella is relieved to see Bruce. He has a quick nod for Izabella and caters to Lucy's request for a hug in passing and half-heartedly. Alex greets his dad with a jump and abruptly leads him to the restroom where Natasha is.

The physicist knocks with a tired sigh;

"Tasha?"

The door unlocks to let him inside, quickly closing after he's entered.

She's sitting on the floor, stray hair over her cheek. Bruce sits on the ground beside her and brushes it behind her ear.

With an empathetic gaze he whispers;

"Are you okay?"

She nods.

"Pointless questions,' he mumbles, 'We might have an answer."

"Oh,' she mumbles dryly, a drop of blood on her lip when she closes her eyes momentarily, '…hurts to talk."

"I know, gosh I know," Bruce wants to hold her and take away her pain, reaching to rub her shoulder and help clean her lip.

Natasha taps above her hip, "Can you…"

He takes her signal and carefully lifts her shirt to check her for an injury she's reopened, "Geez! Don't move!"

"I can't," she's trying to joke.

"I'll get the kit," Bruce scrambles, accidentally leaving the door open for Lucy and Izabella to peek through the opened crack.

The Jameson girl bites her cheek uncomfortably and shared a glance with Mikhailov who bravely moves toward the door;

"Natasha? Can we help?"

Alex sneaks inside to licks his mother's face. Romanoff shuts her tired eyes and shakes her head, not wanting them to see her falling apart, "No, thanks Izzy. I'm fine."

"I braid you hair," Izabella offers kindly, not taking no for an answer when she enters and settles behind Natasha.

The redhead scoffs, "You don't have to."

"Yes."

Lucy points toward the living room, "I'll tell the girls game night is over? Yeah? Cool!"

Bruce returns and prepares to give Natasha some replacement stitches post latest mission injury.

Izabella watches with intrigue and stays quiet so as not to trigger the couple. She carefully braids Natasha's hair, gentle yet firm in her Russian focus.

Lucy returns with one glass of water and another with ice cubes;

"My mom likes water and ice when she, like, you know, throws up, so! I brought you some!"

"Thanks Lucy," Natasha manages a small smile.

Bruce threads his needle, "Okay, it's going to get a little nasty; you girls might wanna leave now."

Lucy cringes over what her Uncle's about to do with the needle, "Oof! What in the name of the greenest hulk is that for?!"

"Sutures," Izabella states matter-of-factly.

Natasha cringes and addresses the bloodied patch above her hip due to her fall only moments ago, "I tore…ow."

"Here,' Izabella offers her hand, 'You grab fingers?"

Natasha laughs and takes her hand gratefully, "I've had worse Izzy."

"Last chance, Lucy," Bruce reaches to sterilize.

The girl waves her hand and leans on the doorframe trying to appear collected, "I'm good I got this! I can stomach it."

Not seconds later she's dizzy, holding her gut, "Okay nope! No I can't! Nope!"

Natasha taps Izabella's arm, "Can you please go stop your friend from hurling on my carpet?"

The girl obliges and dashes to help Lucy with Alex chasing behind them.

Bruce kicks the door closed and Natasha smirks, sinking back on her elbows over his coaching;

"Breathe."

She nods and closes her eyes, "I'm fine. Just do it. So cure? More pills?"

He focuses on her injury, "The bandaids leave you feeling like an invincible risk taker."

"So what's the cure."

"It's... this is going to sound a little crazy."

"..okay?"

He's purposely waiting until her stitches are done, carefully cleaning up the area;

"Tony and I can only do so much."

She nods, sitting upright as they whisper, "Which is why you've been meeting with all those specialists."

"Right...um. Look, there's no great cure for this particular radioactive ...thing...It's something no one in this, dimension's even dealt with- or heard of."

Natasha's eyes narrow, "..okay."

His eyes stay low, carefully dabbing her rib cage clean, "It's- with the exception of people who have, you know, worked with the Hulk...with me."

"Okay."

"There might be an answer to cure you in my blood."

She nods slowly, confused why he won't blurt out what's on his mind.

"It's. A...risky..hypothesis...that, well, someone was working on."

"Someone."

"Someone I knew…"

"Betty," her chin tilts downward as she fills in the blanks.

He makes eye contact almost shyly, "Yeah."

"In your blood, that you won't let anyone touch, or even stare at..-god forbid you get a papercut in the near vicinity of people...is my cure…"

"Sort of."

"'Sort of'...?"

"It could be. Maybe."

"Okay."

"We don't know for sure but I…"

He scratches the back of his head. The last time he brought 'her' up it ended in a fight.

Bruce sits back in his heels and takes an inhale;

"So, Tony and I were thinking…"

If he's going to die, he's taking Tony with him. Natasha tilts her head and hugs a knee;

"Well, that sounds dangerous."

"Funny,' he sighs, putting his 'weapon' away, 'Anyways, we were checking if someone with...upgraded tech and the same expertise would be able to translate her notes into a cure."

"Someone like…"

He bites his cheek and holds eye contact, "..Well. Elizabeth. Elizabeth Ross. From..you know, the other world…?"

Natasha's quiet first, then she laughs, the laugh that makes Bruce want to hide under the bed and never come out again.

She's the loudest she's been all evening, "You've got to be kidding me."

"Natasha…"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Just no,' She's struggling to stand and begrudgingly takes his help after two more attempts, 'You're not putting this on Izabella."

"She moved a car-."

"I said no."

He cringes thoughtfully, "I think it's worth talking about-."

"I've made my decision."

"Natasha…please, honey, let's talk-."

"Don't 'honey' me!"

"Nat wait-."

She slams the door behind her to lock him inside.

He sits alone with his thoughts for the next few minutes, his head on his hands and eyes closed, trying to decide how to better approach the topic and get her to agree...

Frustratedly he moves to hit the door, stopping his hand the second it's opened.

Lucy grins, proudly holding a bobby pin in her hand;

"Need some help Uncle B?"

He sighs with a scoff, "Thanks."

She nods towards a quiet Izabella who stands behind her and tosses back the pin previously in Izabella's hair;

"It was her idea. I just executed it like a boss-."

"Where is she?"

Izabella points, "Her room. She lock the door."

"Great! Awesome!"

Lucy crosses her arms, "I think that's sarcasm…?"

He snaps, "You think?!"

"Sooo, she's not pregnant? Sorry I was eavesdropping...maybe…"

Bruce shakes his head with an aggressive kick in the side of the kitchen cabinets and moves quickly to his office, locking himself inside his own space.

Izabella clasps her hands and looks at her friend with concern, "What we do."

Lucy puffs her chest proudly, "Don't worry! I force my mom and dad to make up ALLL the time. I got this! They're going to write letters to each other but! We're going to write them."

"We lie?!" Izabella looks mortified

"No, we write things they would say but are just too scared to."

The young girl finds the solution unethical but tries her best to cooperate.

Lucy sits at the table, "Aunt Nat isn't wordy so, like, write four words. That's not a big deal- ugh come on don't look at me like that. We're not lying! They love each other. Listen, I'll write Uncle B's because you like, know Aunt Nat better."

"No," Izabella laughs with her arms crossed.

"Duh…right. Of course…Vrach-the science stuff and your weird purple outfits- sorry bestie-cousin. I'll do Aunt Nat then…"

"I not…so good with writing English."

"Fine, I'll write both just help me come up with what to say," Lucy clicks her pen so harshly a spring goes flying into the kitchen cabinets, landing by a curious Alex who finally stops barking.

"Oops," Lucy freezes while Izabella covers her mouth and tries to muffle a laugh.