2012

Solenski Plaza, Russia

S.H.I.E.L.D Jump Jet

A Few Minutes Later

 

(Black Widow POV)

"Why did the enemy take Barton?" I questioned Coulson over the phone.

"We don't know."

"But he's alive?"

"We think so. We'll brief you on everything when you get back. But first... we need you to talk to the big guy."

"Coulson, you know that Stark trusts me about as far as he can throw me."

"Oh, I've got Stark! You get the BIG guy."

I stopped in my tracks at his words, fear and anxiety rearing up as I thought about the big green giant.

"Coulson....are you sure about this? The guy isn't exactly the most stable person to be around."

"We don't have much of a choice. Something's coming and we need all hands on deck. Take the S.T.R.I.K.E team with you for backup."

Letting out a tired sigh, I agree to the mission and close the phone.

"[In Russian] My God," I mutter under my breath as I move inside the warehouse to tell Captain Rumlow about the new mission.

Moving back through the warehouse, I passed the soldiers who were moving crates of weapons around amongst the dead bodies that littered the floor.

I move up to the second floor and reach the room where I last saw Brock. But before my hand could reach the doorknob, the door swung open and the Captain stepped out of the room.

Behind him, I caught a glimpse of the bloody mess inside. The Captain also had blood splattered over his S.H.I.E.L.D military uniform.

Whatever happened inside, I could be sure that the disgusting old man didn't die peacefully.

"Agent Romanoff?" Brock questioned as he closed the door behind him.

Taking my mind off the dead pig, I debriefed the young man on the current situation and our new mission.

"So we're going after the Hulk?" Brock asked as an unreadable look passed through his hazel eyes.

"Yes. But we are just going to talk to him, this is a recruitment mission. If you have worries or if you are still worn out from this assignment I could ask Coulson to-"

"Sounds fun." Brock interrupted me as a small barbaric smile came to his face

***************

Solenski Plaza, Russia

 

(Omniscient POV)

As Brock and his men packed up what they could of the stolen weapons and took off in the S.H.I.E.L.D Jump Jet.

A wavy translucent figure phased through the walls of the warehouse.

The figure examined the bodies on the first floor for a second before moving to the ones on the second.

Once it reached the room where Brock killed Geogori, the figure faded into existence in front of the body.

They were wearing an all-white skin-tight tactical armored suit with a hood covering the helmeted face.

Five glowing red eyes lined the face plate as the person bent down to examine Geogori's mutilated body.

They stayed there for a long moment, mentally going over what happened in their head before taking out an incendiary grenade from their suit and throwing it on top of the carcass.

As the body and the surrounding room caught flame the figure faded out of sight and phased back through the warehouse walls it came in from.

**************

S.H.I.E.L.D Jump Jet

Five Hours Later

 

(Brock POV)

"So what's our plan of action?" I asked the woman seated next to me as I pulled off the bloody uniform top and replaced it.

Natasha didn't answer me at first but as I glanced over at her she quickly turned her head toward the window and answered, "Just let me do the talking."

Was she just checking me out?

No way right?

As I continued to change into a fresh uniform on the Jet, I dismissed the stray thought as wishful thinking and reflected on my past encounters with the hulk.

It would be bullshit to say I wasn't still afraid, I mean the guy knew how to leave a lasting impression on someone. But with that fear also came excitement.

Since gaining these powers, I never really had a challenging fight, granted I always planned beforehand to end the fights quickly.

But still, I wanted something more.

I wanted to test how strong I've become.

I wanted to see how I fared against someone formidable.

My heart pumped and my blood began running hot at just the thought of the fight.

I knew this mission would probably end peacefully, but a guy can hope, right?

***************

West Bengal, India

Kolkata

 

Six Hours later

 

(Omniscient POV)

A young girl sprints across the busy street of Kolkata. She runs through a crowd of people before rushing down a busy alleyway and runs up the stairs inside a small rundown house.

Opening the door, the young girl passes cots of sleeping sick people as she moves closer to a middle-aged man who is acting as their doctor.

Before she could reach the man, a stern-looking woman appears in front of her and grabs her by the arm.

"[In Hindi] Who are you? Get out! There is a sickness here!"

The girl tries to break away from the woman but found no luck. She then turns and calls out toward the man treating patients.

"[In Hindi] Are you a doctor? I need a doctor! My father....my father's not waking up! He has a fever and he's groaning, but his eyes won't open!"

The man hears the girl's desperate calls and turns around to move over to her. He waves the stern woman off and bends down in front of the small girl.

"[In Hindi] Slow down. Can you tell me what kind of symptoms your father is showing?"

The girl tries to calm down and catch her breath before speaking.

"[In Hindi]My father...he's..." Not finding the words the young girl points around toward the people lying in the cots that are sick.

"[In Hindi] Like them?" The man questions as the girl nods. She then holds up a small wad of cash.

"[In Hindi] Please!! Help him!" She cries desperately.

The man looks at the girl with a sad expression on his face before he pushes her hand filled with money back toward her and grabs his bag from a nearby desk.

"[In Hindi] Take me to your father."

The little girl smiles brightly and the two move out of the house and onto the busy streets.

The girl leads them towards a small shack in an abandoned part of the city. As they rush across the dirt road, the little girl runs into the shack and the Doctor follows behind her slowly.

Unease filled the man as he enters the rundown shack, just in time to see the little girl escape through a window.

He's been ditched and he realizes he's been set up.

"Should have taken the money upfront, Banner." The Doctor muttered quietly to himself.

"You know, for a man who's supposed to be...avoiding stress, you picked a hell of a place to settle." A soft voice calls out from the shadows as Natasha reveals herself to Bruce.

Bruce looks at the beautiful woman and tosses his bag to the floor.

"Avoiding stress isn't the secret." He states simply.

"Then what is it? Yoga?" Natasha Jokes.

Bruce doesn't answer her as he moves toward the window the girl jumped out of and peeps through the curtains.

"You had her lead me to the end of the city. Smart. I assume the whole place is surrounded?"

Natasha doesn't answer him this time and takes a seat at the lone table in the shack.

"And your actress friend, She a spy too? They start that young?" Bruce continues questioning as he moves toward the table.

"You'd be surprised," Natasha states simply, a little nervous at seeing Bruce coming closer toward her.

"Who are you?" Bruce asks while standing in front of the table.

"Natasha Romanoff."

"Are you here to kill me, Ms. Romanoff? Cause that's not going to work out for anyone."

"No, no. Of course not. I'm here on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D."

A small spark of anger comes to Bruce's eyes at hearing who she works for.

"S.H.I.E.L.D? How'd they find me?"

"We never lost you, Doctor. We've kept our distance, and even helped keep some other interested parties off your scent."

"Why?"

"Nick Fury seems to trust you. But now we need you to come in."

"What if I say no?"

Natasha gives him a seductive smile.

"I'll persuade you."

"And what if the...Other Guy says no?"

The smile fades from Natasha's face and a nervous look comes to her eyes.

"You've been more than a year without an incident. I don't think you want to break that streak."

"Well, I don't always get what I want."

"Doctor, we're facing a potential global catastrophe."

Bruce chuckles at her words.

"Oh, those I actively try to avoid."

Natasha pulls out a cell phone and slides it along the table. On it is an image of the Tesseract.

"This is the Tesseract. It has the potential energy to wipe out the entire planet."

Bruce puts on his glasses and picks up the touch-screen cell phone. Examining the picture closely.

"What does Fury want me to do? Swallow it?" He jokes but the serious look never leaves his face.

"He wants you to find it. It's been taken. It emits a Gamma signature that's too weak for us to trace and no one knows Gamma radiation like you do. If there was, that's where I'd be."

Bruce takes a moment to comprehend her words.

"So Fury isn't after the monster?" He asks.

"Not that he's told me."

"And he tells you everything?"

A soft smile comes to Natasha's lips at that.

"Talk to Fury, he needs you on this."

An angry look takes hold of Bruce's face and he moves to loom over the seated Natasha.

"You mean he needs me in a cage?"

Natasha's hand slowly creeps down to the gun hidden underneath the table.

"No one's going to put you in a-"

"STOP LYING TO ME!" Bruce yells and moves to crash his hands down on the table but stops once he feels the cold barrel of a gun pressed firmly against his temple.

"Make another move and we see how killable you really are." A cold voice whispers from behind him.

Bruce raises his hand in surrender as Natasha stands, pulls a gun, and aims at him.

A worried smile comes to Bruce's face.

"I'm sorry. That was mean. I just wanted to see what you'd do. It was just a joke." Bruce explains but the two weapons aimed at him don't lower.

"You're not fucking funny." The cold voice states as Natasha just stares at Bruce, her heart beating like crazy at the sudden outburst.

"Noted. Look why don't we do this the easy way where you guys don't shoot me and the Other Guy doesn't make a mess? Okay?....Natasha." Bruce offers.

Natasha takes a moment to consider their next move before she sighs and lowers her weapon. She nods toward Brock standing behind Bruce and the young man lowers his gun and steps back, away from the Doctor. His hazel eyes still on alert for any sudden moves.

"Stand down. We're good here." Brock speaks into an earpiece and the horde of armed guards surrounding the shack outside lower their weapons.

"Thought it was just you and me?" Bruce questions Natasha but the woman just gives him a wary look.

"I never said I was alone."

*************

A/n: Hey guys as always hope you're enjoying the story and thanks for reading!