Heroes Assemble!

What Lies Beneath

"Hey, Big Guy. Sun's getting real low," Natasha said, her eyes never leaving Bruce's.

Noting that his eyes were focussed on her, she continued by raising her hand, palm out towards him. Slowly, Bruce's hand came up to mimic hers, their palms close but not touching. As soon as his hand was in the correct position, Natasha moved hers, slowly, deliberately. This time, her arm was down, her forearm pointing towards Bruce, her palm up.

Almost unconsciously, Bruce mimicked her, ending with the back of his hand resting on her palm. With his hand in that position, Natasha slowly moved her hand away and up to touch two points on his forearm before drawing her fingers along his palm and coming off with a flick from his middle finger.

Instantly, Bruce's face relaxed even more than it already was and he began swaying slightly. A small smile graced Natasha's face and she nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Alright, Bruce, I want you to focus on my finger," she said, holding one up in front of his face. As soon as she saw his eyes zeroing in on it, she continued. "When I snap my fingers, you'll wake up and remember everything."

She waited a count, two and then snapped.

Bruce blinked continuously for nearly half a minute even as he shook his head. It looked remarkedly like he was trying to wake himself up after a long sleep.

"Bruce?" Jennifer asked from where she was sitting a little apart from the two.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good. Just ... just give me a minute," Bruce replied.

"The Lullaby seems to be taking," Nat commented. "How do you feel?"

"Yeah, good. Kinda strange actually," Bruce said and Nat could tell that he was looking inwards. "The Hulk ... he's ... this is the quietest that I've ever felt him. It's as though he's ... distant? Asleep, maybe?"

Bruce finished with a shake of his head.

"That's good," Nat stated. "That is what we're going for here."

"True, but it's one thing to do it here," and Bruce gestured to the beach that they were sitting on, the soft, gentle lap of the waves not far away. Here, they were totally alone and there wasn't a threat for hundreds of miles at the very least. "And quite another out there."

"Which is why we're practicing here," Jennifer chimed in. "We've got to make sure that there's extra options for calming the Hulk down, especially if I'm not there or there isn't some of Harry's special juice on hand."

"Yeah, I know," Bruce replied. "It's just, the Hulk and I, we're still not used to relying on others. Don't get me wrong, we love being a part of the Avengers, this group but after so many years of being on the run, alone with everyone after me, us, it's still challenging to let others in."

"You let me in," Jennifer stated.

"You're my cousin," Bruce smiled. "Even the Hulk acknowledges you as family, as being safe, someone he can trust."

"So, now we've got to make sure that he and you trust me as well," Nat interjected. "I think it's time that we try the Lullaby with the Hulk directly."

A slight shifting of the sand was enough for Nat to know that Jennifer had just shifted into her She-Hulk form.

"Alright," Bruce sighed. "I did agree to this and it's not like I can hurt anyone here."

After unbuttoning his shirt, Bruce threw it over to where he'd left his shoes and socks earlier. She watched as he closed his eyes and took a couple of steps back. Great green veins emerged along the side of Bruce's neck and his head tipped back.