The first morning that he'd woken up and made a cup of coffee along with his tea, his hands had started shaking. He hadn't been able to think in the split second it took for Hulk to fold out of his flesh and curl around him, large hands pressed to their chest. The others had heard their wails and come running, unarmed and vulnerable, and pressed up close around him. Pepper was crying silently against their thigh, Natasha and Steve's trembling hands covering theirs, Clint coiled in the space between two bulging legs, Thor standing with tears streaming down his face and his forehead tucked up against theirs. Rhodey was the last to arrive, letting his suit fall away and wrapping himself around Pepper, laying his head next to hers.

The Avengers were cracked to their very foundation, Tony's absence a black hole at the center of their universe that threatened to suck them all in.

Pepper was prepared for it.

Bruce was hoping for it.

"I've tried."

They could all see it in Bruce's eyes, in Hulk's.

"We'll try again. We'll succeed this time."