The next morning, Steve was in the kitchen when Bruce came in to get his first cup of coffee. The soldier nodded at the scientist before returning his attention to the files in front of him. Bruce poured his cup of coffee and turned back to the table where Steve was sitting. "Good reading?"

"If you call files describing the life of Qaseem Davar good reading, then yes." Steve answered, looking up at Bruce with tired eyes.

"What's in his file? 'Doctor refuses to help ailing wife'." Bruce scoffed.

"No. More like military man becomes weapons specialist, then mercenary." Steve slid the file over. "He was born in Afghanistan, joined the military, and served twenty years before relocating to Kolkata three years ago."

"He never told me he was in the military," replied Bruce as he looked over the file.

"It's not something we all like to share." Steve answered, crossing his arms over his chest. Bruce glanced at Steve remembering the younger man sitting next to him was actually years older. He returned his attention to the file and stared at the picture of Qaseem. The realization that his old friend had attacked them wasn't completely setting in. "I'm sorry I can't be more helpful." Bruce apologized.

"Actually, I think you can." Steve stood from the table. "Meet me in the lab in thirty minutes." Steve left the kitchen to rouse the other Avengers.

Bruce sipped his coffee as he pondered the situation and the meaning behind the captains words. Steve thought he could somehow help, but in Bruce's experience he made everything worse.

"What is my scientist over thinking now?" Natasha asked coming into the kitchen.

"I don't over think." Bruce complained.

"Ha! You make me laugh." Natasha placed a kiss on his cheek. "I hear we have another meeting." She browsed the contents of the fridge.

"Yeah, Steve seems to have a plan. I think it involves me." He replied.

"And you're trying to figure out which version of you." Natasha guessed. Bruce avoided her gaze, telling her she was correct. "Bruce, I can promise you that Steve's plan involves this you. He thinks you are a valuable asset."

"Yeah a building crushing asset."

"Don't you understand?" Natasha grabbed his hand. "We want you. Not just the Hulk, but you. The intelligent scientist, the cynical comic, the adorable dork I'm holding hands with right now." Natasha smiled and saw Bruce relax into a soft grin. Without warning, she hit him in the arm. "Now quit doubting yourself before I really hurt you."

"Is that a threat?" Bruce set down his mug to rub his arm.

"That's a promise, Banner." She turned around and sauntered out of the kitchen, leaving Bruce with his hurting arm.


In the lab, Steve stood at the front of the room waiting for his teammates. Bruce entered behind Natasha, and they stood in the back near the wall of windows. Thor was leaning on the table that Clint had propped his legs on from his spot in the chair. Tony was the last to arrive, a big yawn contorting his face as he entered. "It's a little early, Cap."

"Sorry for the inconvenience, Tony." Steve grumbled.

"Apology accepted. What's the big plan you came up with?" Tony asked taking a seat at the table.
"According to our files, Qaseem Davar was born in Afghanistan and joined the military. He served for twenty years specializing in large ammunition and explosives."

"Sounds about right." Clint muttered.

"He moved to Kolkata three years ago," continued Steve, "then, after what we know from Banner, he disappears. No records of any kind."

"That was a very interesting history lesson, but when do we get to the plan?" Tony asked.

"I believe Qaseem is still in New York. He came here to challenge us, and that tells me he can't be far away." Steve revealed. "How far did you chase him before he disappeared?" Steve turned to Tony.

"I chased him all the way to the East River. He disappeared somewhere in Harlem." Tony answered.

"Harlem?" Bruce wondered, becoming interested in the conversation.

"Yeah." Tony looked confused.

"That was the last time I was in the U.S. before I went on the run. I fought Emil Blonsky after General Ross turned him into a monster." Bruce explained.

"So when you said you broke Harlem, you actually broke Harlem?" Tony asked.

"Yes." Bruce said simply.

"Ha! I thought you were joking. I need to ask General Ross about that because he loves it when I visit." Tony rambled.

Steve ignored Tony and went back to the topic at hand. "Was there a place in Harlem you hid, or somewhere important you visited?"

"I had been corresponding with a scientist in Harlem, who thought he could create a cure for me. His lab was near the East River."

"We should check it out." Natasha spoke.

"I agree," said Steve, "we go check out the lab and if Qaseem is there, Banner can-"

"Transform into the Hulk and rip this man limb from limb!" Thor bellowed. Bruce stared at the demigod in shock.

"Uh, no. I was going to say Banner can talk to him, and try to dissolve the situation." Steve finished.

"Oh. Or that. That could work." Thor nodded.

"Banner? Do you feel like talking to an old friend?" Steve asked Bruce directly.

Bruce looked from the Captain, to Tony, to Natasha. The people he trusted the most were giving him the option. No one was forcing him to do something as the Hulk or as Bruce Banner: they were asking him. "I can try." He shrugged.

"Great. Clint, Natasha, and I will plan our entrance and possible escape routes. We will leave tomorrow." Steve informed.

The team dismissed except for Bruce and Natasha, and Steve and Clint. Natasha leaned in so she couldn't be overheard by the other two. "Are you sure you are up for this?" She asked Bruce.

"Yeah. I mean I think so." Bruce replied uncertain.

"And what if he attacks you and the other guy comes out to play?"

"That's why you are making the escape plans. Incase he does. I trust you to bring me back." He smiled.

"Good. Because you are not going to destroy Harlem twice in one lifetime." Natasha jested before kissing Bruce once on the lips. She walked away to join Steve and Clint while Bruce strolled through the halls trying to kill time and his anxiety.


"We are all clear from the northwest corner." Clint relayed over the coms.

"Copy that. Entering the building. Stand by for progress." Steve replied, leading Natasha, Bruce and Tony into the abandoned lab of Dr. Sterns. The plan was to find Qaseem and peacefully come to an understanding. If that wasn't an option, Thor and Clint were on a rooftop nearby and could easily join a potential fight.
Walking the halls of the building, Bruce was flashing back to the day he came here with Betty.

Betty.

Bruce hadn't thought about her in a long time. He always dreamed he would eventually come back and they would be together at last, but that dream was shattered when he learned she was married. Now, walking behind Natasha, he knew it had worked out for the best.

Staring at the old blood bags hanging in an open cabinet, Natasha asked, "Are those from you?"

"Yes. I was sending him blood, hoping he would find a cure, but he was replicating my DNA to use on people." Bruce answered with a sad look in his eyes.

"You didn't need a cure, Bruce." Natasha said, looking him in the eye.

"You didn't know me back then." Bruce smirked.

"SHIELD has ad eyes on you since you were blasted with gamma rays." Tony supplied.

"Okay. Maybe you did know me." Bruce watched Natasha's noncommittal shrug as they continued through the building.

Steve stopped at the end of the hallway alerting the others. His back stiffened and his head turned to listen for something. Natasha did the same. "I hear it, too." She whispered.

"Tony, is JARVIS picking up anything?" Steve asked in a low voice.

"He has a lock on a target in a room at the end of the hallway to the left. Tony replied.

"If we charge in, we may scare him off and lose him." Steve said, thinking out loud.

"I can disable him without him knowing I'm in there." Natasha concluded.

"If he sees you, he will shoot you." Steve argued.

"Let me go in there and talk to him. That's why I'm here." Bruce volunteered.

"You can't go in there alone." Natasha testified.

"He won't hurt me. He can't. And I'm not getting any of you hurt." Bruce claimed, looking straight at Natasha. "Besides, if I feel threatened, I turn and you guys will keep me from wrecking the place entirely. We planned for this."

"He has a point." Tony interjected.

"Just be careful," warned Natasha as she squeezed his arm.

Bruce brushed past Natasha and Steve, and continued down the hallway. As he grew closer, he could hear the buzz of electricity and smell smoke in the air. Bruce entered the room to find Qaseem standing at a table, altering the wiring in his hover board. "Dr. Banner." Qaseem acknowledged.

"Qaseem, it's good to see you."

"Is it? I cannot say the same. The last time I saw you, my wife was lying in your floor in pain." Qaseem walked around the table to be closer to Bruce.

"I did everything I could." Bruce insisted.

"No, doctor. I do not believe you did. After I had helped you, fed you, even found you a house, you let my wife die!" A scowl grew on Qaseem's face, making him look older in Bruce's eyes.

"I'm sorry, Qaseem. I apologized then and I'm apologizing now. Even if I had had the stronger medicines and the hospital equipment, she had a ten percent chance of living. She was too sick to be healed." Bruce explained.

"I lost everything when I lost her!" Qaseem yelled, slamming a fist on the table.

"I'm sorry." Bruce attempted a final apology.

"It is too late for that. Now you will lose everything, too." Qaseem pressed a button on his board and the open panel slid closed; the engine started pushing the blades into motion, raising the board from the table. A gun appeared from the deck of the board and aimed at Bruce. The bullets whirred past him as Bruce ran out of the room. "Run!" He warned.

Natasha stepped out into the hallway to see Bruce running toward her with the hover board firing bullets behind him. A bullet hit his leg and Bruce careened forward onto the ground. "Bruce!" She yelled as she started toward him.

"Stay back!" Bruce commanded, waving her away with his hand. He looked up and Natasha saw the green flashing in his eyes. "Remember the plan." Those three words came out in a growling version of his usually smooth voice.

Natasha ran back to Steve as Bruce began to transform. "We have to get him out of here." She said.

"And stop that hover board." Steve added.

"I think he's got it." Tony interrupted through the coms. "Greenbean just crushed the board into a frisbee.

"Now what?" Clint asked.

"We stick to the plan. Get the Hulk to the river without hurting bystanders." Steve commanded.

"I can calm him down." Natasha announced.

"Get Widow to the river. Tony, start rounding up Banner."

"Thor, I need a ride." Natasha said.

"With pleasure." Thor appeared a few seconds later and grabbed Natasha around the waist. They landed on a dock in the East River. "Help them get Bruce here." Natasha told Thor, and he disappeared from her sight. She could hear the growls and yells coming from Bruce. "Come and get me." Natasha said to no one.