[Banner looked at her sadly. "We missed our window."]
[Natasha responded noncommittally. "Did we?"]
[Banner didn't know how to respond to her words. He wiped his face and walked away. "The world saw the Hulk. The real Hulk, for the first time. You know I have to leave."]
[Hearing this, Natasha expressed her own perspective. "You assume that I have to stay?"]
[She continued softly. "I had this, um... dream. The kind that seems normal at the time, but when you wake..."]
[Banner slowly walked toward her. "What did you dream?"]
[Natasha blinked. "That I was an Avenger. That I was anything more than the assassin they made me."]
["I think you're being hard on yourself."]
[Natasha smiled and moved closer to him. "Here I was hoping that was your job."]
[The two looked at each other, and Banner shook his head slightly. "What are you doing?"]
["I'm running with it. With you." She reached out and stroked Banner's cheek. "If running's the plan, as far as you want."]
[Banner grabbed her hand, moved it away, and looked at her in disbelief. "Are you out of your mind?"]
[Then he covered his face and walked aside.]
["I want you to understand that I—"]
[Before she could finish, Banner interrupted. "Natasha, where can I go? Where in the world am I not a threat?"]
[Natasha looked at Banner very seriously. "You're not a threat to me."]
["You sure? Even if I didn't... I can't ever... I can't have this, kids. Do the math. I physically can't."]
[Natasha pursed her lips and looked at him with a hint of sadness. "Neither can I."]
[Banner frowned and stared at her in confusion.]
[She slowly revealed her painful truth. "In the Red Room, where I was trained, where I was raised... they have a graduation ceremony. They sterilize you."]
[Natasha's eyes glistened as she spoke, feigning indifference. "It's efficient. One less thing to worry about."]
["The one thing that might matter more than a mission. It makes everything easier. Even killing." Her voice softened. "You still think you're the only monster on the team?"]
[Banner was silent for a long time before he finally said, "So we disappear?"]
"Oh my God! Natasha... those people deserve to die!" The first Aunt May covered her mouth, horrified at what Natasha had endured.
"They're monsters, all of them," Uncle Ben sighed. Although he didn't know the full extent of what Banner and Natasha had experienced, their tone made it clear they had both suffered tremendously.
Dr. Helen Cho, who had been invited by Tony, looked at Natasha and offered comfort. "It's okay. Once the Regeneration Cradle technology is perfected, I might be able to help you recover."
Natasha forced a smile at this. She had been feeling low since being affected by Wanda's magic during the battle.
"Everyone has a past they'd rather not revisit," Captain America said calmly. "I missed my dance with Peggy, but I won't waste what life I have left."
"Yeah, that's right," Tony nodded. This was one of those rare moments when he agreed with Cap's perspective.
"If something's troubling you, you can share it with the team. We're in this together," Rhodey suggested, looking around at everyone.
"Great idea! Let's start with you," Tony grinned at Rhodey, whose smile instantly froze.
After a long pause, Rhodey said, "You all already know about me! He's the one who—" He glared at Tony.
"Hahahahahaha!" Rhodey's reaction made everyone laugh. They all remembered the embarrassing stories Tony had shared about him in Iron Man 1.
[Outside the house, Tony and Captain America were chopping wood.]
["Thor didn't say where he was going for answers?"]
[Captain America picked up another log. "Sometimes my teammates don't tell me things. I was kind of hoping Thor would be the exception."]
[Tony acknowledged that after what they'd experienced, tensions were high. "Yeah, give him time. We don't know what the Maximoff kid showed him."]
[Captain America split a log in half with his axe and said calmly, "'Earth's Mightiest Heroes.' Pulled us apart like cotton candy."]
[Tony didn't understand Cap's apparent composure. "Seems like you walked away all right."]
[Captain America looked at him. "Is that a problem?"]
[Tony narrowed his eyes. "I don't trust a guy without a dark side. Call me old-fashioned." He chopped his log in half with a swing of the axe.]
["Well, let's just say you haven't seen it yet."]
["You know Ultron is trying to tear us apart, right?" Tony took two steps toward Captain America.]
["Well, I guess you'd know. Whether you'd tell us is a bit of a question." The friction between Captain America and Tony was always simmering below the surface.]
["Banner and I were doing research—"]
[Captain America cut him off. "That would affect the team."]
[Tony corrected him. "That would end the team. Isn't that the mission? Isn't that the 'why we fight'? So we can end the fight. So we get to go home!"]
[Captain America picked up a log and tore it apart with his bare hands as Tony watched in shock.]
[Then he looked at Tony with barely contained anger. "Every time someone tries to win a war before it happens, innocent people die. Every time."]
"Oh, it seems there's serious conflict between those two... What a fractured team! No wonder a civil war breaks out later!" Captain George Stacy frowned. A team with such internal divisions was bound to fail eventually.
"Yeah, fortunately I don't have that problem at the moment," 2nd Gen Spiderman nodded, then looked at the second generation Gwen with gratitude.
"Haha! So when will we have our next quarrel? Another fight?" Gwen covered her mouth and laughed at his expression.
"Oh no! I don't want to fight with you anymore!" 2nd Gen Spiderman protested repeatedly. They had often sparred during training sessions, but ever since 2nd Gen Peter accidentally hurt Gwen once, he had refused to fight against her.
Since then, he had focused on practicing cooperation with her, developing all kinds of impressive combo techniques—on the ground, in the air, utilizing spider webs, and more.