About an hour later, Natasha, Steve and Scott sat crammed in a large diner booth. Across from them, Bruce rolled up a pizza slice and began to eat it like a burrito.

Scott simply stared at the large green man. "I'm confused."

"These are confusing times," Bruce shrugged. The scientist / superhero was now a slightly bulkier green man wearing clothes and glasses, a perfect balance between his two conflicting sides.

Scott shook his head. "No, that's not what I'm-"

Bruce laughed. "I'm kidding, I get it. It's crazy! I wear shirts now!"

Scott squinted at him. "But why?"

"Five years ago, we got our asses kicked, right?" Bruce asked, eating an entire pancake in one bite.

"He's heard," Steve replied.

Bruce sighed. "It was worse for me. Because I lost twice. First Hulk lost. Then Banner lost. Then we all lost." 

Natasha gave him a comforting smile. "No one blames you, Bruce."

"I did- I feel like I'm the only one eating. Here, try some." Bruce pushed the plate of pizza towards the three of them, but the three shook their heads.

"Thing is, I kept thinking, it didn't have to be that way. That the best of Banner, and the best of Thanos, if they'd worked together, maybe they could have stopped Thanos."

Scott nodded slowly. "Okay... but how did this happen?"

"For years, I treated the Hulk like a disease, like something I should be getting rid of. But then I started treating him like the cure." Bruce smashed his fingers together. "Boom. Eighteen months in the gamma lab. I put the brains and the brawn together. And now look at me! Best of both worlds."

Two kids shuffled up to their booth and Bruce turned around.

 "Mr. Hulk? Can we get a picture?" one of them asked shyly.

Bruce smiled. "100%, little lady."

The girl handed the phone to Steve, who took the picture, confused.

"What, no picture with Ant Man?" Scott joked. The two kids stared at him blankly.

Steve handed the phone back to the kids, and they left the booth awkwardly.

"No one knows Ant Man," Scott grimaced.

"So Bruce, about what we said," Steve changed the subject.

"The time travel do over? I don't know, that's kind of outside my area of expertise..." Bruce trailed off.

Natasha nodded at him encouragingly. "You pulled this off. I remember a time when this seemed impossible too."

Bruce thought for a moment before giving in. "I'm supposed to be on Oprah next week, but I suppose we could move things around."

———

Back at the compound, Clint and Nico were playing truth or dare, and Clint was having too much fun with it. A cute pink tinge had spread across Nico's cheeks, and his face was set in an embarrassed scowl.

"In the weapons shed?" Clint laughed, unable to contain his disbelief. "You made out in the weapons shed!?"

"How were we supposed to know everyone was getting ready for Capture the Flag?" Nico huffed. "Chiron banned us from dessert for a week."

"Sounds like Chiron," Clint sighed.

"If Will was here, he would literally kill you right now," Nico murmured. "I mean, seven years, Clint. Eleven if you count the time you were away from camp. Will resented you for that. You practically raised him, and you left right before he watched half of his siblings die in front of his eyes, with nothing he could possibly do to save them."

"I didn't know," Clint said quietly.

"Where were you during the Battle of Manhattan?" Nico asked furiously. "Seems to me like most of your Avengers shit happens in New York. Why didn't you come help?"

"I was in Budapest at the time, on a mission with Natasha. When I came back and heard of the chaos, I was too scared. I was angry. Will's siblings were mine too. I was blinded by rage, and by sorrow, and I didn't try to come back." Clint looked at the ground, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm so sorry, Nico."

Nico's eyes darkened. "I'm sorry for taking this out on you. It's been five years, but I still miss him."

"I know how you feel," Clint looked up at him and engulfed him in a hug.

Nico groaned. "And now we're hugging. Great. Why are we always hugging?"

A door slamming open resounded around the compound.

"We're back!" Nat called. 

Clint got up immediately and walked towards Scott, Steve, Nat, and Bruce, who was lugging a large metal crate full of unknown materials. Bruce set it down and wrapped Clint in a tight embrace.

"Hey, man," Clint said softly.

"Clint, God, it's just like old times," Bruce chuckled.

Steve thought of Thor, who was living out his life in New Asgard, and of Tony, who finally had a stable life. "Not really," he grimaced.

Nico got up from the couch and walked up to the newly banded Avengers.

"So, can you do it?" he asked, the shadows collecting around him.

Bruce backed away slowly. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, it's the kid!"

"Yup," Nico replied. "Who are you?"

"Hey," Nat interjected before it got out of hand. "Bruce, the kid's with us now. Nico, this is Bruce, the scientist who's going to help us fix this. He's also the Hulk."

Nico's face remained blank. Bruce smiled at him, but Nico's eyes only narrowed.

"Get Will back," he whispered intensely. "Please."

Clint laughed nervously, grabbing Nico's jacket sleeve and yanking it towards the couch. "O-kay, let's not scare Bruce before we even start doing anything."

Nico simply huffed.

"Let's get this show on the road," Scott rubbed his hands together in anticipation.

Nico sneered at him.