14 Hours Ago
She was in the middle of cleaning her weapon. Again. She hated stakeouts. Still, it was a nice break from dealing with her current employer. It had been quite a while since she visited Germany last. And the target had picked a quaint little corner of it to hide in.
The crackle of her parabolic microphone signaled that the show was about to start. She dropped prone and aimed her rifle at the house. Through the scope she saw a man, olive skin somewhat paled by time spent indoors and hair streaked with occasional grey. A little old by her tastes, but kind of a cutie. Could only be...
Gotcha.
She sat up and reached for her phone. On to Phase Two.
You can do this, Bruce, he thought as he locked up. Just a quick trip for milk and eggs and you're home free.
He tried not to leave the house without Natasha. It was easier to keep a low profile when a real spy was around. But he was running low on supplies. It wasn't that he wasn't allowed out by himself, more that he thought it was safer that way. He and Nat had picked this safehouse out together last year, a nice little cottage away from the city center.
He only made it about halfway down the street when a police car surged around the corner cut him off. Against his better judgment he hoped it was an unrelated incident, but then the driver got out and pointed a gun at him! Before long two more cars appeared, carrying more police demanding his surrender. As his heart pounded with fear a familiar urge fell over him. His roommate was stirring. But he couldn't make a scene. Better to go along with it for now.
10 Hours Ago
"Is it done?"
"Check the evening news tonight," she said cooly. "I always deliver. Especially when the job is this easy." She ended the call.
8 Hours Ago
Jen was having dinner, a quick bowl of cereal. Late nights at the office mean no time to cook, and she couldn't live off of pizza and ramen. She turned on the television to catch the beginning of the news. That was when everything changed.
"Our top story tonight: Bruce Banner, under arrest in Germany. The former scientist and alter ego of the Incredible Hulk has been in hiding since the attack on Sokovia four years ago. Reports that he surfaced during the alien invasions last year are so far unsubstantiated, as no sightings of the Hulk were reported during the course of the attacks..."
Her cereal forgotten, Jen now sat on the floor at the base of her bookshelf, poring over a thick textbook in her lap and a small pamphlet in her hand. After around 45 minutes of intense concentration she pulled out her phone and booked the next flight to Germany.
6 Hours Ago
"Doctor Banner, so nice to finally meet you."
"I'm afraid I can't agree," Bruce managed a small smile. The man speaking to him was not German. He was American. In Bruce's experience that was worse news.
"Our task force has been looking for you for a long time, Banner. Who would have thought you were living the domestic life in Munich this whole time? We've searched the house. Who is the woman you've been staying with?"
"First off, that's a very personal question I'm not sure I need to answer. Second, I've only been in Germany for a year. I was… in space, for quite a while."
The officer laughed, then slammed the table. "Maybe you don't get it. This isn't a room you can sympathize your way out of. It won't work."
"This is an awfully small room to be willfully antagonizing me in," Bruce's voice rose, and for a brief moment his interrogator thought he saw a shade of green flash across the doctor's eyes.
"Okay," the officer backed off. "You want to tell stories, that's fine. But storytime won't fly when Secretary Ross gets here."
"Ross?"
"I hear you two have a history. He'll be here in about 6 hours. Get comfy. And think very carefully about whose secrets you're willing to keep."
Now
Natasha flicked off the news feed in the Quinjet's cabin and began selecting her loadout. C-4 would help if there were any walls, smoke grenades, an extra long grappling line. She briefly considered swapping her pistols for an assault rifle.
Bucky Barnes looked over her shoulder at her arsenal. "You know, you can't bust Banner out if you bring the whole building down on top of you."
"If you're going cowboy on this we should come too," Sam called back from the pilot's seat.
"No. Stay in the air for now. We need to do this quickly and quietly," Natasha thought about it and put away the explosives for a smaller breaching charge. "I need to know what we're facing down there."
"What are you thinking, Nat?" Sam asked.
"Bruce is no spy but he's an old pro at lying low. I'm thinking he was found because someone was looking for him."
Bruce had been detained for hours. At this point he almost would prefer dealing with Ross to the hum of the fluorescent light in his holding cell.
Banner doesn't have to take this. Banner let Hulk smash, Banner free.
"No chance buddy," Bruce murmured. "Right now we can say we haven't done anything wrong. Might not work but it's true. If we hurt anyone on our way out then that's gone."
Hulk not hurt puny men. Smash walls. Make door. Banner happy.
"I'll think of something. They have to move us to whichever hole Ross wants to throw me in. Maybe then we can do something."
"Sir, there's a lawyer here to see you. Says she's here for Banner."
The police captain raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "Did you tell her she's crazy?"
The officer nodded. "She insists that you're violating his rights, and that she's going to go to the chief if we don't let her in to see you."
"The chief is trusting me to handle this until Ross and the Americans come back. Better let me send her off myself."
Jen adjusted her glasses and stood up as straight and tall as the petite brunette could manage. The policeman lead her into the captain's office.
"How can I help you, Ms…"
"Walters, Jennifer Walters. Defense Attorney. You are unlawfully holding my client."
He smiled. "You are a long way from New York, Ms. Walters."
Jen fished the pamphlet from her bag, opened it to a bookmarked page, and laid it on his desk. Her personal copy of the Sokovia Accords.
"The Accords state that all noncompliant enhanced individuals are barred from unsanctioned law enforcement or vigilante activity. Doctor Banner has engaged in no relevant activity since the Accords were ratified."
"We cannot let the Hulk run free without complying with the Accords. On this at least I agree with the American agents."
Jen shook her head. "Even less relevant. My client has not become the Hulk in over four years, not since before the Accords were ratified! There has not been any actionable threat to hold him for!"
"I don't have the authority to make that decision."
"Yes, you do," Jen looked him in the eye. "Because if you don't, I go to the papers and create an international incident. With your precinct in the center."
The door swung open, and before Bruce could react she spoke quickly.
"Doctor Banner, you're free to go. Come with me please," she gestured for him to follow her with a degree of urgency. Once they were outside the precinct she exhaled sharply.
"I don't know how you fight robots and aliens on a regular basis, cuz. That was the scariest thing I've had to do since law school."
"Jen, what are you doing here?" Bruce hissed. He hadn't spoken to his cousin in five years, though more out of a desire to keep her away from his problems than any lack of desire. She was probably the smartest person in their family, even if Bruce had more paperwork behind it. She certainly hadn't tested experimental serums on herself…
"You're arrest was international news. I hopped the first flight out of La Guardia when I saw you were in trouble."
"Well thank you, but they're not going to be happy that I'm out on the streets."
"That's why we need to get you off the streets sooner than later. The American agents will be back any second. But Bruce, you shouldn't even be in jail, you haven't violated the Sokovia Accords."
"I've told you about Thaddeus Ross. He doesn't need a specific law to want to throw me in a cell."
"Then he's a corrupt ass," Jen sniffed. "Now let's go, I booked a hotel room, then a flight for two back to New York tomorrow morning."
Bruce stopped in the middle of a roadway. The two had been moving through the streets in the small hours of the night, there was no traffic.
"Jen, I can't."
"No, no. This isn't the time to be worried about me. You need to get out of country."
"It's not that," Bruce looked down. "There's someone here in Munich who I can't just leave without telling."
"Like… a girl someone?" Jen smiled and jabbed Bruce in the ribs. "That's so nice! You deserve it. Hiding out in Europe with a pretty little fraulein, how very Bond of you."
"It's not exactly like that, but we need to get word out to her before we go anywhere."
"Then let's get back and you can use my phone-"
And as she turned to point him towards her hotel, a loud whistle pierced the night. Barely second later an RPG struck the ground between the cousins, sending them flying in a burst of fire.
Bruce coughed as he pulled himself off, a familiar dull pain enveloping his body. Car alarms across the block were wailing and shrieking.
"Jen?"
Through the smoke he could see Jen lying motionless on the cobblestone. He tried to crawl over to her but he couldn't move.
You not listen to Hulk. Now someone kill She-Banner. Puny Banner rest, Hulk go find. Hulk go smash.
And as Banner collapsed in the smoking crater, the car alarms were overpowered by a tremendous Bellow of rage.
