Ellie Bishop: Yeah, Caitlin and Bruce need to go out for drink and vent to each other about Killer Frost and Hulk. Oh no kidding, WestAllen is the most toxic relationship in the entire Arrowverse and how anyone supports it, especially after 5x19, I will never understand. Yep, Cisco does. I miss that about him, they kind of removed the fanboy aspect of Cisco's character after reason one. Yep, say what you will about Tony but he puts his daughter above all else.

Green Hal37: Glad it makes sense. I wouldn't call it yikes. It's easy for us to say Tony should just do it because we've seen Barry time travel before. But time travel is new and rather daunting territory for Tony, who has, for maybe the first time, something to lose. In Tony's shoes, I can't say I wouldn't be a little hesitant either. Yeah, I can see Mark doing it as well, a shame we'll never get to see it. Yeah, I'll play that game.

Guest 2.0: It will be explained in the chapter.

Avengers Compound

Afternoon

Bruce was lying on a bed in the med bay, unresponsive as Barry, Steve, Natasha, Oliver, Nyssa, Cisco, Caitlin, Scott, Slade, Harry and Jay stood in the room.

"So let me get this straight. Doctor Banner and Hulk are ducking it out in Banner's - Hulk's, whatever – mind?" Cisco asked confused and Barry nodded "…are you magic now?"

"Hardly," Barry said with an amused smile. "I'm perfectly in tune with The Speed Force Cisco. I can harness its power to do things we could never have imagined. This is one of them."

"Will Bruce be okay?" Natasha asked and Barry shrugged.

"That's up to him and Hulk. They need to resolve the conflict between them or else we will fail. They won't wake up until they work out whatever issues they have," Barry explained.

"And if they don't?" Steve asked wearily and Barry was silent for a moment.

"Then Dr. Banner will slip into a coma he will never wake up from," Barry said grimly and everyone stared, horrified.

"Why on earth would you do this if that was even a possibility?" Natasha asked angrily.

"Because I have faith that the two of them will work it out," Barry said simply.

Inside Bruce's mind, he and Hulk had stopped fighting. They now stood on opposite ends of the cage. While Hulk was staring at the green bars of energy, Bruce was deep in thought. He reached out hesitantly, trying to slide his hands between the bars. However, Bruce yelped, jumping back as he felt his hand get shocked. This seemed to amuse Hulk, who let out a bellowing laugh.

"Banner stuck with Hulk," Hulk said smugly.

"Well at least I'm doing something!" Bruce snapped annoyed.

Hulk sneered at him before turning away, beginning to pout. Bruce sighed in exasperation, taking a deep breath. This wasn't helping, he told himself. According to Barry, he and Hulk were needed to undo what Thanos did. That was enough to make him swallow his pride.

"Look, we've got a lot of things to sort out. But our friends, they need us," Bruce almost pleaded.

"No," Hulk said stubbornly and Bruce stared at him in disbelief for a moment.

"What do you mean 'no'?" Bruce asked incredulously.

"Banner like Ross," Hulk argued. "Just wants to use Hulk."

Banner was more than insulted by the comparison. So why did it cause him a pang of guilt?

"We don't have time for this, our friends need us!" Bruce snapped angrily.

"No!"

"Oh screw you, you big green asshole!" Bruce snapped.

"Screw you, asshole father!"

Their argument ended in stunned silence. Hulk turned his back in hurt and frustration. His outburst had left Bruce reeling. He assumed Hulk saw their relationship like he did, as an all-or-nothing fight for control. Bruce had long been estranged from his now deceased father because of physical and mental abuse. The young Bruce wanted nothing more than his father's approval. But no matter how hard his son tried; Brian Banner was never impressed and instead used to hit and berate him for what he did 'wrong'. And now the ugly truth had hit Bruce at last.

Hulk had a name; Bruce referred to him as 'The Other Guy'. Hulk had saved millions of lives as an Avenger; Bruce never stopped perceiving him as a threat. Hulk was equally a victim of Wanda's mind games; Bruce did not show him any understanding. Hulk had found acceptance in the most unlikely of places – but not from the individual he most wanted it from. It ultimately led to Hulk becoming estranged from him. Bruce had been just like…his father. For a sensitive person like himself, it was a horrific realization.

"You're right," Bruce said remorsefully, looking physically pained at the admission. "I'm sorry."

An unmoved Hulk kept shunning him. Bruce kept persisting though. His fateful accident prevented him from having children. But that same accident had also given birth to one. Hulk effectively was Bruce's child. The latter willed himself to break a toxic cycle of emotional neglect and abuse.

"It wasn't your fault," Bruce's voice began to quiver. "I can't change the past. But I'm not going to hurt you anymore." He decided to redefine their relationship. "From now on, I'm going to look after you."

Hulk slowly turned around. Normally, he would have dismissed the very notion that 'puny Banner' could look after him. Did Banner finally understand what he wanted?

"How?" Hulk dared to hope.

Bruce flung his arms around him.

"I just wished Dad could've held us like this," Bruce told his inner child.

Hulk sniffled as he embraced him in return. Banner had finally accepted him for who he was. And for the first time in his existence, Hulk loved himself. The cage around them started to glow brighter. Hulk and Banner sensed a change in the very fiber of their being.

"Hulk scared," the former said quietly, for him at least.

The light became incandescent.

"Me too," Bruce admitted. "But we no longer have to be scared of each other."

The pair hugged tightly as they were surrounded by green light.

In the real world, Bruce started as his eyes snapped open. He breathed heavily as he realized he was in the med-bay. Aside from him, there were two people there. The red haired woman who Cisco had called Caitlin and the guy who had touched his forehead before it had all gone black. Barry, he thought Cap had called him.

"Welcome back Dr. Banner," Barry greeted as Caitlin moved to check his vitals.

"Are you alright? Do you feel any differently?" Caitlin asked and Bruce blinked.

"I - I feel fine actually, better than I have in…I don't know how long. How long was I out for?" Bruce asked, a little overwhelmed.

"About two hours, give or take," Barry said as got to his feet, stepping out of the chair he had been sitting in. "Did you two work out whatever issues you had?"

"Banner and Hulk not scared," Bruce said in Hulk's voice, startling Caitlin before he said in his own voice. "Yeah, we did."

"Good. I'm sorry I had to do it that way," Barry apologized but Bruce waved him off.

"You took a calculated risk, I respect that. And I'm not sure it could have happened any other way. So thank you," Bruce said gratefully.

"Thank me by helping us bring everyone back," Barry told him.

Outside the Compound, Steve stood outside the front door, needing to get some air. Not long after Barry had explained everything, both Nat and Oliver had gotten a phone call. Nat had taken a Quinjet while Oliver had gone with Slade and Nyssa to his private plane, saying he'd be back with help. And from the look on Natasha's face, it was clear to Steve that she finally had a promising lead on Clint's location. The others had all decided to take a breather.

Steve was brought out of his musings by the sound of a race car. He looked over as a car rolled onto the compound. It drove passed him before stopping, backing up until the driver's side window was level with Steve. The window rolled down to reveal Tony in the driver's seat.

"Why the long face?" Tony asked.

"Long story," Steve said and Tony nodded.

"I gotta say, as much I hope we can get the stones, my priorities, get back what I lost, I hope. Keep what I found, have to, all costs," Tony said as he got out of the car. "And hopefully not die trying, would be nice."

"Sounds like a plan," Steve said with a smile.

Steve held out a hand to Tony and, after a moment, Tony took it in a handshake. Then, Tony dropped Steve's hand and went to the truck. Opening it up, he pulled out Steve's old shield.

"Tony, I don't know," Steve hedged as Tony brought it over.

"Why, he made it for you? Besides, I gotta get it out of the garage before Pepper throws it in storage," Tony joked as he held it out to Steve.

After a moment, Steve took it. Staring down at it again, it was a feeling Steve couldn't even begin to describe.

"Thank you Tony," Steve said gratefully.

"Could you try and keep that quiet? I didn't bring one for the whole team," Tony joked as he closed the trunk. "We are getting the whole team, right?"

"We're working on that right now," Steve assured him.

Norway, New Asgard

Same time

Thor was sparing with Valkyrie, the only person who could even come close to giving him a challenge. She pulled out a dagger but Thor caught her hand and managed to disarm her, the dagger hitting the ground.

"I thought we agreed no weapons," Thor said.

"And you think someone trying to kill you is going to fight with only hand to hand?" she asked sarcastically and Thor grimaced.

"I do not think that will be a concern," Thor muttered and a tense silence descended on them.

The silence was broken by the sounds of rockets. The two Asgardians looked up as something descended from the sky. War Machine landed a few feet from them before the armor opened up and James Rhodes stepped out.

"Thor," Rhodey greeted as he walked over.

"Rhodes, it is good to see you my friend. What brings you here?" Thor greeted his former teammate.

"You. We need your help Thor. We have a way to bring them all back," Rhodey said and Thor stared at him in shock.

Mexico

Night

Natasha walked down a long hallway in a hotel in Mexico. Hearing a scream from the end of the hall, she sighed before reaching the door. Natasha kicked the door open and stared sadly at the sight that greeted her.

In a small room, Ronin stood in front of a man who had obviously been tortured that was tied to a chair, various injuries on his bare chest, blood dripping down his mouth. Ignoring Natasha, Ronin drew his sword and shoved it through the man's chest. Natasha showed no reaction as Ronin withdrew his sword, cleaning the blade.

"You shouldn't be here," he said as he began removing his mask.

"Neither should you," Natasha countered as he turned around to face her, her heart breaking as she saw the broken look on his face.

"I have a job to do," Clint said gruffly.

"Is that what you're calling this? Killing all these people won't bring your family back," Natasha pointed out before softening. "We found something. A chance, maybe."

"Don't," Clint said shakily as she approached him.

"Don't what?" she asked confused.

"Don't give me hope," Clint said brokenly as she stared at him with compassion.

"I'm sorry I couldn't give it to you sooner," Natasha said softly.

She took his hand as he closed his eye, crying silently.

Russia

Same time

In the current hideout of the Bratva, the Russian gang was running wildly as they were under attack. A red arrow flew out and pierced one in the shoulder as another picked up a gun, firing wildly into the darkness. However, a red flechette hit his hand, knocking the gun out of his hand. An arrow with a line then pierced him in the shoulder and before he could cry out, the archer yanked on the line, propelling him into the air. With a swing, the man was sent crashing into two of his fellow Bratva members, knocking them both out.

Arsenal moved through the room, firing arrows and taking out Bratva members, although he was always careful to make sure the shots weren't fatal. Pretty soon, all that was left was his original target. As his target tried to flee, Arsenal fired an arrow that hit the wall, mere inches from his target's head, freezing him in his tracks.

"Anatoly Knyazev, you have failed this city!" Roy sneered.

"You think because you were trained by Oliver, you scare me? I was one who helped train him," Anatoly said as he pulled out a gun, taking aim at Roy. "Unlike him, you will not kill."

"You sure about that?" Roy asked, aiming at Anatoly's chest.

"As sure as I am that I am not burdened by such weakness," Anatoly said as they stood at a standoff. "Out of respect for Oliver, I ask that you leave. I will not be held responsible for what happens if you don't."

"Go on then, flip that coin," Roy sneered.

Before either side could make a move, a green arrow with a metallic tip hit the floor between them. Almost immediately after, there was an explosion that sent them both flying back. In the chaos, Anatoly was grabbed and forcibly taken out of the room.

Outside the room, Nyssa had Anatoly against the wall, a knife at his throat. But it was who was behind her that made him pale.

"It's funny, when we first met, I was the lunatic who had lost his way and was planning on targeting the people closest to Oliver. It seems we've switched roles," Slade noted.

"We are here to pass along a warning to you from Oliver," Nyssa said.

"Out of respect for the man you once were and the hope you can become that man again, he will allow you to keep your life," Slade said.

"But if you target Roy or anyone Oliver cares about, he will make you long for the days of the Amazo," Nyssa said as she lowered the kind and let Anatoly go.

"If I were you, I'd leave before I get…impatient," Slade said with a savage grin and Anatoly took off running.

Back inside the room, Roy grabbed his bow and got to his feet, looking up. He was unsurprised to see who stood on the opposite side of the room.

"What are you doing here Oliver?" Roy asked annoyed.

"Stopping you from crossing a line you can't come back from," Oliver said simply.

"You can't protect Knyazev from me," Roy almost growled.

"I'm not, I'm protecting you from you," Oliver said, taking Roy back. "I know you Roy. If you ever took a life again…it would destroy you. Taking a life, it changes you. I don't want that for you."

"Well that's my decision," Roy snarled, attempting to stalk passed Oliver but Oliver stopped him.

"Do you think you're the only one who lost her?" Oliver said angrily. "I miss Thea to, every day. But I'm not on a rampage because of it, every day I have the urge to make people suffer like I am. And every day I rein it in."

"Well, I have nothing to rein me in. Thea is gone Oliver, and I-I can't live without her," Roy said, finally allowing his pain to show.

"We may not have to," Oliver said, taking Roy back. "Barry, he found something. A way to bring her back, to bring everyone back."

"You must think I'm stupid if you think I'm gonna fall for that," Roy said with a humorless laugh.

"I would never try to use this on you if it wasn't true, you know I wouldn't," Oliver said firmly and Roy reluctantly had to agree. "I know after Thanos, what he did…to hope that we can bring her back seems too good to be true. But I wouldn't be here, telling you this if I didn't believe it. If there's even a small chance we can do this…don't we owe it to Thea and all our friends to try? We need you Roy. Please."

Oliver held out his hand to Roy and, after several moments, Roy took Oliver's hand in a firm grip.

"I'll hear what Barry has to say," Roy agreed and Oliver nodded.

The Bruce/Hulk scene was taken from Aragorn II Elessar's story 'A beautiful journey', who in turn got it from Dr. Matthattan's 'Avengers: Dagor Arnediad'. Though I tweaked it a bit to better suit my story.

I immensely dislike what was done to Thor in Endgame, so I didn't do that here. Instead, Thor has been training for the last year.

And next chapter, the team will all be together and they can start trying to get everyone back.