AN: Disclaimer: I do not own anything from the Marvel universe. Sadly. *sighs and wishes she could own Bruce Banner* I do, however, own my OC's, mainly: Penny Masters.

Enjoy!

Xxx

~Fen~

Prologue: The One-Eyed Man

Penny Masters walked through the large doors of the Helicarrier lab and had to stop herself.

Everywhere there was science. Everywhere. The computerised screens that covered every available surface, the engineering of the placement of the room, right by a large window overlooking the sky…the toys! Penny could barely contained her excitement as her gaze wandered over the many, many, many gadgets and doodads that were scattered about the room. It was a scientist's haven.

Pushing her dark-rimmed glasses up her nose, she glanced down at the clipboard in her hand, scanning over the file. Perhaps they'd sent her to the wrong room? Surely, she wasn't in the right room?

'You are indeed in the right room, Dr Masters.' At a deep voice, Penny glanced up from her folder, spinning to find a tall, broad-shouldered, black man with an eye patch standing before her.

What on earth? 'Did you just…?' her English accented voice inquired.

'Read your mind?' the man finished, shaking his head. 'Afraid not. SHIELD hasn't developed that kind of technology. Yet.' He strode over to her, his long, black leather jacket flapping slightly. 'I just took an educated guess. I'm Director Fury, and I'm the reason you're here.' His tone was formal, contained, and above all else – authoritative.

'Dr Masters – er Penny Masters. Well, you already knew that – obviously. Haha…' she laughed nervously. 'You're the boss.' Penny found herself stuttering, and offered her free hand to the imposing man in an effort to redeem herself. He stared at it suspiciously for a moment before wrapping his large hand around her much smaller one, shaking it firmly.

'That I am. It's a pleasure to meet you at last. I've heard good things about you, Doctor.'

'Oh!' He had? That wasn't concerning at all… 'Well, the feeling's mutual. About the pleasure, I mean. I know nothing about you. I'm afraid I don't have the same resources as you do…' Penny had no doubt that the man before her would have delved deep into her past before offering her a job here on the Helicarrier. She wondered worriedly just how deep. And what her job was, hadn't been entirely clear…

'Well, now you do,' Fury said with a glance around the room. 'This space is free for your use – although you'll be sharing the space with another…scientist.'

Well. Doesn't that sound a bit ominous? Penny didn't entirely trust the way Fury had said the word "scientist". Like there was something more there.

'You'll have unlimited access to all that the lab has to offer when we need your assistance. Which we undoubtedly will…' the Director said, almost bitterly.

Ah. 'Speaking of which…' Penny clicked a pen, and hovered it over a clean sheet of paper. 'What is it, exactly, that you want me to do?'

'I want you to develop a cure.'

Uh… 'A…cure?' Penny asked, unsure as to what he was asking for. She gave a hesitant laugh. 'A cure for what? Cancer, Parkinsons? I'm afraid you'll have to be a tad more specific.' She was glad her voice didn't shake. She might find Fury incredibly intimidating, but he certainly didn't need to know to what extent.

Fury crossed his arms. 'How much do you know about gamma radiation?'

AN: Alright. I'm breaking one of my biggest rules here, but I've decided to start another fic in the middle of writing a different one. What can I say? – inspiration commands, I follow. I won't be updating this one as often as the other, but I promise to work on it whenever inspiration hits/I find the time :D

Bruce Banner is probably my favourite Avenger. Aside from Tony, who is just adorable with his cocky attitude and awesome sense of humour, but I reckon Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner is just about my favourite thing in the Marvel-verse. Ever. Aside from maybe Sebastian Stan as Bucky. And Chris Evans as Captain America. And Robert Downey Jr. And Tom Hiddleston. Well. I have a lot of favourite things…

I also don't/haven't read the comics, so I apologise if I get things wrong/screw things up. This is just a fic based on the movies.

This chapter is also super, duper short. I promise they'll be quite a lot more substantial in the future. I'm just setting things up.

If you liked it, Follow/Review. I'd appreciate it a lot, and I hope you enjoyed! (next chapter will be coming soon, since this was so short)

Xxx

~Fen~