The heroes gathered in front of the screen provided by Tony. The holographic screen stretched from the floor to the ceiling, and was just as wide as it was tall. At the moment it showed only a black screen, but Tony promised that it would work, though he himself had not seen the video yet. Bruce was among the most nervous, since he could only imagine what a video of the Hulk could consist of. He trusted Naomi enough to know she wouldn't film the green giant's more destructive tendencies, but Bruce had a difficult time imagining the Hulk doing anything else. Next to him sat Loki, equally anxious though he maintained a stony appearance.

Loki had not spoken since his earlier outburst, sticking closely to Thor, Bruce and Valkyrie- although he ignored them. It saddened Thor to see such a drastic change in his brother, a change Thor knew that he himself couldn't solve. His brother had always been very particular, so Thor knew that only one person could ease the constant glare from his eyes.

"Alright. Grab your popcorn." Tony mumbled, calling the heroes focuses onto him. "Let's see what Naomi has for us, huh?" He glanced at Loki. Loki did not respond, though his expression tightened at the name. Tony pressed play.

The heroes watched in anticipation as the video loaded, waiting with bated breath.

Without warning, the Hulk's face appeared, taking up almost the entire shot. Bruce sucked in a breath, but the Hulk did not yell, or throw anything. The camera was slightly shaky, indicating that it was being held by a person- Naomi. They all watched as the Hulk stared up, past the phone at Naomi holding it, then down to the camera. They waited for him to move, or even speak, but the Hulk simply stared at the camera for several seconds, his face flickering with conflicting emotions.

Bruce watched in awe, having never realized that the Hulk was capable of complex emotion, or even staying still for so long. The Hulk shifted in his seated position, clearly readying himself to speak. The heroes collectively leaned in toward the screen.

"Hulk is Hulk. Hulk not Banner, Banner not Hulk."

Bruce frowned, listening closely to the simplistic words. On the other side of the room, Steve's brows drew together in concentration.

"Banner trap Hulk. Years. So Hulk trap Banner. Trap, trap, trap. Again, again. Hulk tired." Hulk peered deeply into the camera, waving his hands as he attempted to articulate his thoughts. Though his vocabulary was limited, the giant managed to get his point across with surprising success. "Hulk want to be Hulk, but Banner want Banner."

Bruce laced his hands together, pressing them tightly to his lips. The man felt as though the Hulk was in the room, speaking directly to him. It was a historic moment for him, as Bruce's outlook on the Hulk began to change rapidly. Onscreen, the Hulk shook his head, and stared at the ground.

Stood next to Steve, Natasha let out a shaky breath. She had only seen that level of calmness on the Hulk a few select times, and it had only been with her. If Naomi had gained the trust of the giant so quickly, Natasha felt that it was time she re-evaluate her opinion of the woman.

When the Hulk looked back into the camera, his gaze was intense, sharply focused onto the phone as if it was Banner himself. The complexity in his eyes sent Bruce's mind reeling, along with the preconceived notions that the other heroes had of the Hulk. This was not the destructive, hot-headed monster they had seen on the news. Naomi's video revealed an intelligent being with a full emotional range, and a thought process separate from Bruce Banner's.

"Hulk fight. Hulk like fight, Hulk want to fight. Bruce no fight, Bruce no want." He shrugged. "Bruce no want Hulk. Hulk know. Bruce want Hulk for fight, but Bruce no want Hulk."

The reality of Hulk's words struck deeply, forcing the original avengers to evaluate how they had treated the Hulk- as a weapon. He was used for fights only, and influenced to shift back to Banner once the battle was won. They had never treated him as a person, a realization hitting Bruce especially hard. The man resolved to reach out to the Hulk once all of this was over, and ask Naomi to film a new video of Bruce for the Hulk to watch. They just had to get Naomi back first.

"But Bruce and Hulk want same thing. Want body, want control. Can't both have at same time," the Hulk spoke. His expression softened, falling from his stern demeanor into a calm tranquility. Staring straight into the camera, the heroes watched as the Hulk's skin slowly faded from its green. He was de-transforming, willingly, and without prompt from Naomi.

"My God." Steve whispered under his breath, taking a step toward the screen.

The Hulk's voice began to morph as well, growing higher as his stature shrunk. "Hulk will give Banner Banner. So Banner need to give Hulk Hulk." His skin paled into a pale peach, his voice seamlessly blending into Bruce's as he uttered the last words. The Avengers stared in unparalleled awe as they witnessed the calmest, most fluid Hulk de-transformation they had ever seen. And it had been at the hands of what Steve and Natasha knew a stranger, no less. Tony, on the other hand, seemed proud as he watched the film.

The video continued, the camera panning down to allocate the Hulk's shrinking stature until the shot consisted of Bruce Banner- shirtless with the Hulk's shorts covering his lap, staring above the camera with a confused gaze. The room was silent with anticipation as Bruce looked between the camera and the person holding it, bewildered but unalarmed.

A voice from behind the phone whispered, "Bruce..."

Loki flinched. The video ended, screen shifting to black. Bruce put his face in his hands, and Thor placed a comforting hand on the mans shoulder.

Across the room, Tony turned to Steve with an expectant look. "I think this just about proves she's the real deal, hm?"

Steve nodded once, exchanging glances with the rest of his team before turning back to Tony. "Alright. We'll trust her."

Tony smiled, and Steve returned it. The others quietly observed the lessened tension, and allowed themselves to bask in the more relaxed atmosphere. Tony moved toward Bruce as quiet, excited conversation sprang up around the room, everyone hotly discussing the video.

After a few moments, the room was interrupted by the door, swinging open to reveal the teenagers returned. The guardians took special note of Groot's excited expression, while across from them T'Challa and Okoye noticed Shuri's new earpiece. Though Peter still had his suit on, a small bump at his ear under the mask revealed that he was wearing a matching earpiece.

"I am Groot?"

"I don't know, looks like we missed something." Shuri shrugged in reply. The guardians collectively did a double take, peering at the girl that may or may not have responded to Groot's question as though she understood it.

"Aw man, I think we missed Dr. Banner's video-thing!" Peter groaned, mentally kicking himself.

"I am Groot." He huffed, ignoring his family's gaze. He was still peeved at them for forcing him to socialize, even if it had turned out better than Groot would ever admit.

"Yeah, I wanted to watch too, but maybe I can ask Mr. Stark to show us!" Peter said, running off toward Tony with Shuri and Groot following close behind.

The guardians openly stared at the kids with incredulous gazes as they passed.

"These children have learned the tree language in a matter of minutes!" Drax proclaimed loudly.

"No they didn't." Nebula corrected in a grumble. "The girl is wearing a translator." Drax stared at her blankly, but didn't make any attempts to instigate a fight.

"They still made it in like, 20 minutes. I guess thats impressive." Rocket admitted, before grinning wickedly. "They did better than you lot, though. How long did it take for you to learn Groot? Huh?"

"Shut up, trash panda."

"HEY!"