It takes less than an hour in conversation with some of the community and Elizabeth's team for the digital pen to end up in Banner's hand. He outlines a plan with some calculated explanations of his own on the holographic white board.

A family insists they don't belong; a mother, father and son. In their broken communication they recognized Banner's SHIELD logo sketch and a bunch of other familiar events in time and history that Elizabeth and her team do not.

After years of being here, their son has adapted- or at least Bruce is receiving that impression.

When asked to describe exactly how they've arrived, 'a green energy' is all they can offer. It's simple enough so Bruce returns to his theory of an alternate dimension and sketches out his lines, circles and a brief calculation on the side.

"What if…"

Ross is already shaking her head, "You're talking about breaking the rule of time."

"…not quite. I'm talking about a parallel universe."

"How?"

"What if some sort of energy were strong enough to contract the billions of cells, the mass of a human being and re-emerge them into another world."

Elizabeth scoffs, "That's impossible."

"Is it?"

"We can't shrink and expand a being. The amount of power it would take- I can't shrink one human let alone transfer them- With their memories...I can't fathom."

Bruce twists his jaw in front of the scientists and the family, "I take it there's, no, 'hulk' in this world, is there? Pym Tech?"

The translator is on a delay as he addresses the nearby family who nod with recognition. The translator looks terrified as she explains;

"Yes, they know a hulk."

Banner puts an abrupt end to the translating and steps purposely in between the family to grab a purple inked digital marker, "Moving on!"

Elizabeth tugs at her white lab coat and scans over his numbers, "This energy, what is it? If we can't explain it we can't replicate it. If we can't replicate it, we can't do anything about it. I can't even shrink a cell- Ugh what are we supposed to do with this-?"

He smirks, "Oh, just wait."

Bruce is in his element as he flips the board and goes on an elongated rant, avoiding the fact of it being his own DNA and the way his body expands and shrinks with every action taken by his alter ego. It's detailed research that the infamous 'Betty' once sat in the lab and worked with him for months on. With every explanation he adds an additional theory. Immersed in his discussion of space, time, physics.

Much to his surprise, he is in heaven, not some sort of hell.

The sleeves of his borrowed sweatshirt are rolled up to his elbows by the end of the 8 hour discussion, Elizabeth's reading glasses on the tip of his nose.

Even Bruce doesn't remember how he managed to get those but they're currently on his face, sharing them with the biologist every few minutes.

He bites at the pen, now left alone with Ross and two other scientists as the hours pass.

Without completely dissecting the poor Izabella Mikhailov, he can only guess where half of her abilities would've come from. He avoids dropping a name or a person at all, referring to her power simply as an 'energy.'

Ross stands with a coy expression as she snatches her lenses back from off of his face to scan over the countless numbers, equations and theories he's scribbled on the board. She leans to examine a portion and reaches to take the pen in his hand. He complies.

She uncaps the holographic purple and erases his 2 for a 3, "There we go. Better."

"This is all insane," one man notes with his thick accent coming through.

Elizabeth tugs her coat up to check the delicate watch on her wrist, "We've been here for almost twelve hours and quite frankly this is the best explanation I've seen in two years. If anyone else wants to take a stab at it I'm all ears."

The rest of her team look amongst themselves, stammering into their own language before one addresses the doctor, "We don't want to."

"Okay,' she nods, 'then, I think it would be in our best interests to bring Dr. Romanoff back tomorrow in order to test some theories, yes?"

"Yes," they seem to nod in agreement, talking with each other.

She grins, "I feel good about this. I think it's the most logical of explanations I've seen."

Bruce stops paying attention to the dialogue and focuses on the numbers and the lines.

An alternate dimension. One that has been around for almost Mikhailov's whole life? If Izabella is truly the source, he has more questions than answers.

His eyes narrow over a certain equation toward the top. He bites the pen.

"Are you coming?"

Bruce looks up over Elizabeth's question, having not heard a word she's said. Even the hulk snarls in the back of his head- Bruce touches the back of his neck.

She smiles and exchanges her lab coat for a black wool, flipping her hair outside the collar, "We're going out for drinks. Do you want to come? Or I can drop you home?"

"I…" he sighs.

Elizabeth tilts her head, "It's your choice doc. But I'm certainly not letting you go off to find a map and a public phone- not after today. So what do you think? Drinks or back to my place?"

He stammers, his eyes analyzing her every move as she steps closer, "Actually! Would it be a problem if I stayed? A little longer? I have a theory."

She offers a smile and reaches into her bag for her I.D and a key, "Here you go. I can pick you up on my way back. Don't loose my key?"

"Understood."

"And don't work too hard. Good luck."

She's sincere and he knows it. Bruce bites his lip as he watches her walk away, their contact brief but enough to stir up an emotional response.

He's truly missed her. Even if she isn't the Betty he knows.

She's soft. Even her perfume smells familiar. Maybe letting her alone would be a stupid idea with
Blonsky still loose somewhere...?

He turns back to the holographic board and strokes his chin in an attempt to refocus on the project at hand. He forces an exhale and moves to try a breathing technique to calm a racing heartbeat.

Elizabeth is not his problem, though Hulk seems to disagree in an inner protest.

Turning green is not an option even if there's a pull at the back of his neck. Banner pulls at his flesh.

He mumbles, "Shut up you big green jerk, we'll be home soon as long as you don't screw it up. I need to think."

Hulk growls.

"Chill out already," Bruce realizes he's talking to himself all too late, badly playing it off and waving to another scientist as she passes.

Izabella stands and chews quietly at Stark's side, watching the engineer struggle on his files. The meal from her aunt tastes like home to Izabella and momentarily distracts from the task at hand.

Tony's grumbling and what she assumes are swear words remain interesting enough to merit complete focus.

Izabella is fascinated by the way he messes with the wires, crouching to see them herself.

Tony sits up frustratedly, ready to scream when he sees the ten year old staring back at him with her wide green eyes, "Hermione! It would truly be in your best interest to go play with the other kids for a minute. Go mess with Wednesday Adams, go mess with Linda's gloves- I don't care! But! This billionaire philanthropist needs a break from all things children before I slip with a few words I guarantee your aunt doesn't want you to hear. I'm not ready to keep testing and you're on a lunch break so go, run a long small, creepy child."

"Creepy," she's taking offense.

He sighs and makes a face, "Yeah! You're creepy, you're weird- sue me. I'm weird, I used to get sued all the time. It's a compliment."

She looks down at her food and toys with a piece between her fingertips, "Weird."

"What's weird?"

She shrugs, "Us. Like Natasha?"

"You don't wanna be like her. She's. Evil. Deceptive. If you're looking for a role model just pick someone else. Anyone but her. What about Jane Foster? Good old Janey Foster is cool; minus her taste in men. But not Red. Anyone but her."

She looks sad, refusing to make eye contact. She's slightly angry someone would speak bad about the woman she genuinely looks up to as a second mom.

In Izabella's eyes, Natasha is good; She doesn't make mistakes.

Tony sighs, dropping his screwdriver on top of the desk, "Hey! Girlio? Girlie? Chic! Does your aunt have any of those tacos left? Can you grab one for your Uncle Tony?"

"Why not you?" Svetlana's makeshift kitchen is in the other room.

Why he can't grab one himself is beyond her.

"Because I'm busy!" He whines.

Natasha, Clint and Steve enter the lab on a mission, cleaned up from their recent battle. Romanoff leads with her question;

"What do you have for me?"

He groans, "Nothing! I have nothing! I'm stuck with a baby who can wipe us all out if I piss her off. Have you seen Linda yet?! The kid is a literal bomb."

Steve panics, "A bomb?!"

Natasha crosses her arms, she'll visit Linda later.

"Are you any closer to bringing back our guy or should I be putting out a call for Earth's most brilliant minds to come to a SHIELD base to help?" She tilts her head and pauses in the doorframe, "I've given you two days to work with Izabella. If you can't figure it out then we need to find someone else who can. It's not a shot at you."

"Red,' Tony runs to circle her, his hands on her arms, 'Listen to me, for Brucie's sake. Two days of working with a kid who barely speaks English isn't long enough. This stuff is going to take some time! And I'm busy, scrambling to create random emergency 'fix its' for the other kids. Just give me a minute to breathe and I swear I will get you an answer. But don't give me a lab partner 'cause I will not work with another human being. Unless it's Rhodey."

She holds her torso, dressed in Banner's black sweater with a sleeve falling over her shoulder. She grits her teeth and takes a breath. "I'll transfer him from the front."

Stark takes a shameless bite from Izabella's meal, lifting his finger to address the kid, "Alright Izzy! Stop fooling around and get back to work!- I mean it this time!"

Steve offers an empathetic thumbs up to the girl, "You got this!"

Izabella returns the action with a smile. Clint rolls his eyes and turns to leave first, already bored with the lack of progress in the lab.

He taps Natasha's shoulder, "I'm going to hang with the other kids and video chat Laura. She wants to meet Garrett."

"Knock yourself out," Natasha steps further inside the lab and takes a seat beside Izabella across from Tony, eager to watch this process unfold.

She tilts her head, a memory of something her 'father' shared currently haunting her mind;

"I have a question for you Izabella; Have you ever done something like this before? Sending people away- otoslat' lyudey ?"

"No."

The spy bites her fingernail and pivots a few degrees in the chair that spins, Not at all? Ne spetsial'no -."

Izabella shakes her head honestly.

"You haven't moved all night."

Bruce looks up over her voice, immersed in his work as Elizabeth arrives. She expands on her statement;

"I know, I've checked the security footage to make sure you weren't trying to steal information."

"Wow,' he can't help it, 'you don't trust me."

"I do," She shrugs and leans back against a nearby table in the conference room that he's made his own for the past few hours, "I'd like to go home now. And I wouldn't feel like a good host unless I made you get some rest tonight."

Bruce is fixating on the board though he grins. She reaches to shut the light and force him out, "I promise we can be back here bright and early tomorrow."

He tosses the pen onto the table and follows her out, "I'm so close to a breakthrough, I can feel it. I mean it's crazy that there could be strands of a multiverse, parallel systems with the same rules as my earth- I'm the one rambling now."

She bites her lip, "I have to say, everyone was impressed with your hypothesis today."

"Yeah?"

"Where did you learn about all of that information on radiation? It seemed extremely detailed."

He shrugs as they climb into her car with a half truth, "After 7 PhDs, I know radiation."

She shrugs and starts the engine, "What else do you know?"

He scoffs and tugs at his curls, "I'd either bore you or sound like a know-it-all."

"Is that what your friends say,' she turns with a thought, 'Dr. Lebedev loaned me some clothes for you to borrow. He, we, figured you'd like the purple and I thought the red would look good on you- I mean- we."

Bruce turns with a grin over the color of the button down she addresses in the backseat, "Well. I'll be sure to thank him tomorrow…Thank you Dr. Ross."

She refocuses forward with a whisper, her hands gripping at the wheel, "Right."

Elizabeth seems suddenly distracted. He could read Betty well and assumes he can do the same for her.

Bruce offers cautiously, "Do you need me to drive?"

"What? Oh no, I'm fine. I only had one. Drink. I've only had one drink- maybe two?"

She blushes. He smirks, nervous for her safety since she seems so off all of a sudden, "If you don't mind, I'd rather be safe than sorry."

Elizabeth stops fighting and nods. If she's being honest with herself she's very dizzy, "Alright."

She waits until he gets out of the vehicle to trade places with her, scooting to the opposite side. She hits her head with a groan- He panics, "Oh geez! I heard that thud- are you okay."

Elizabeth nods with a laugh, pausing when she feels his hand is on her shoulder, "...Yeah. I'm fine."

He is quick to remove it, refocusing on adjusting the rear view mirror, "As long as you can navigate me back to your place and I'm not pulled over for the lack of a Russian license, we should be fine."

She's staring. His eyes were soft and his hand felt so gentle.

Elizabeth stammers, "Yes. Navigation. I can do that."