The closest thing to a daughter

Season 4 Episode 16

Steve walked down the porch steps and to the car. Natasha was at his side, as usual. "He's scared." Nat had seen through her longtime friend's reaction. "Not quite. wrongly," Steve replied. He knew exactly what was going on inside Tony: After so much suffering, Tony had finally found some happiness. How could Steve have resented his words, either? "Yes, but what ... What ... what are we going to do?" asked Scott, nervously walking behind the two. "We need him. Or do we stop now?"

Abigail was aware that they definitely wouldn't stop but she also understood his concern. Abandoning all these people and for him, of course, his friend Hope came first and they would be gone forever. "No, but we have to do it right. We need a pretty big brain," Steve realized. Scott turned back to Tony's house. "Bigger than his?" incredulous, he climbed into the car next to Abigail and Rogers drove off.

The next time around breakfast time, Natasha, Steve, Abigail and Scott found themselves at a diner on the outskirts of town and sat down with - a half human half whatever the Hulk was - Bruce Banner. In greeting him, he and his tone seemed friendly and relaxed, and he even took the youngest of the bunch in his arms, but to the four of them the scene seemed somehow surreal. Nevertheless, they sat down at an empty table. Steve and Natasha on one with their backs to the entrance and Scott and Abigail on the other, while Bruce sat at the head of the table. Banner seemed to be a cross between Bruce's brain, Hulk's body. He wore glasses, a T-shirt and a cardigan over his massive green chest. Bruce looked like a college professor turned superhero.

On the table, huge bowls beckoned, and Bruce pushed one filled to the top with scrambled eggs over to Scott and Abigail. But neither of them was in a position to eat anything just then. The diner was well attended, but surprisingly, the large green guest attracted little attention. "What ... uh. And how did that happen?" asked Scott, referring to Bruce's new appearance. "Five years ago, we got our asses kicked," Bruce recalled, popping a massive bite of pancakes into his mouth. "For me, that was doubly bad because I lost twice. First as the Hulk and then as Banner, too. And then we all lost." For a moment, he looked thoughtful. "No one blamed you Bruce," Natasha tried to comfort him. For her, no one bore the blame too busy was she to attribute it to herself. "I did," Bruce confessed.

Their conversation was shortly seen by three young children who asked the Hulk for a photo. Astonished, Abigail eyed the procedure. A few years ago, humanity had been terrified of the Hulk, and now these little people kids even wanted a picture with him. Crazy world. "Bruce." Steve tried to get back to the real reason for this conversation. "Let's get back on topic," Steve demanded. They were here for a good reason, after all. "Oh, yes. The time machine plan. Well, folks, it's not exactly my area of expertise right now." Bruce shrugged. "You got this one right," Natasha remarked, referring to his new body. "I remember there were times when that seemed pretty much impossible. " Bruce couldn't say anything back to that for now. So he just sat there thinking while Steve visibly tensed up next to the reddish-blond haired one.

He was not only tense because of the question whether Bruce would help them, Abigail saw that directly. Steve just didn't like the way Natasha spoke to Banner. He, of all people, had been the one to encourage them to work together, because his fear had gotten in the way. But Abigail knew better than to attribute Nat's behavior to her romantic interest. She just knew how to talk to people to change their minds.