I stood on the deck of the Helicarrier, bashed and bruised. The voice in my head reminded me that I was favouring my left leg still, that I was still injured and probably should still be in hospital, but screw that; I had work to do. I looked round, hoping to see either of the men I was waiting on. Tasha had asked me to meet Steve Rogers and Bruce Banner and make sure they get in alright. Steve Rogers, Captain America, a man I'd grown up hearing about, and Bruce Banner, 'the Hulk' - I'd been in Harlem after he was, cleaning up. I'd been looking forward to meeting both in person.

I rubbed my eyes, I should definitely have caught up on more sleep before discharging myself, but when had I even been known to err on the side of caution. As I turned, I spotted an anxious looking man glancing around at every agent who passed, he stuck out like a sore thumb. Dr Bruce Banner.

Sticking my hands in my pockets, I crossed the deck to him. "Doctor Banner?" His head snapped up. I smiled as I walked closer, "Agent Amanda West" I offered him a handshake, which he hesitantly returned.

"Um, hello"

I smiled, "We're just waiting on Captain Rogers getting here, then I'll see you both inside and show you to your lab"

At that he perked up, "I have a lab?"

"From what I understand you wouldn't be much use without one. It's nice to meet you, Doctor, I would have been picking you up in India, but plans changed"

He looked awkward, but he was curious none the less, "How come?"

"I was under house arrest in intensive care after having the majority of an underground base fall on my head"

"Oh"

"No, it's okay – I've had worse. It was really just concusion and a few hairline fractures, nothing to worry about"

He looked at me as if I had just said losing an arm was little more than a flesh wound. "But you're… better now?"

"I'm fine - a couple of bruises here and there, but it just adds to the aesthetic appeal" I gave him a playful wink, laughing.

He blushed to the tips of his ears, "Well, that's good I guess"

I grinned. Right now, I had to stay positive - the man before me was a genius, we had Stark joining us, and the full weight of SHIELD behind us. We'd get Clint back, and save the day. "So" Bruce mused "The 'Avengers Initiative'? Do you know who else is stuck with me in that or is it all classified and red tape?"

"Avengers?" I looked up at him with a smile, "Well, there's Agent Romanoff, another Agent – Barton – he's… he's not here right now. Captain Rogers, Tony Stark's on his way; and then there's you and me"

"Oh," he smiled "sorry, I didn't realise you were part of the personality cocktail" he joked. He was loosening up a bit.

"You're not the only one. Um, let's just say there's been debate over who should and shouldn't be mixed in"

He looked at me, a cautious curiosity in his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something more, but he was interrupted by:

"Agent West?"

I turned to see Steve Rogers advancing across the deck towards us. Wow, he was taller in real life… and much more attractive "Captain Rogers, Sir; it's an honour. Good to see you awake." I'd spend my life in SHIELD being raised on stories of Captain America from Phil Coulson – I was literally meeting the character from my childhood bedtime stories. He gave me a (very charming) smile, and shook my hand - I couldn't keep the smile off my face.

"Thanks" he smiled (charmingly) before looking to Bruce "Steve Rogers" he introduced himself.

"Bruce Banner"

"Word is you can find the Cube"

"That the only word on me?" Bruce looked nervous.

"Only word I care about. Agent West, I was told you would be showing us inside?"

I nodded "Yes, and, uh, just Amanda please, Captain"

"Amanda, alright" he nodded and smiled, "It's just Steve for me too"

I nodded, still smiling. The Helicarrier started up, the water getting forced violently out of the way of the propellers. Steve and Bruce stepped back on instinct, "What's going on?" Steve yelled over the sound of the propellers.

"You might want to come inside," I called over the noise, "it's going to get a little hard to breathe out here"

"Is this a submarine?" Steve asked.

Bruce stared over the edge with concern, sarcastically commenting "Oh, great, they want me in a submerged, pressurised metal container"

As the Helicarrier began to lift slightly, the two men stepped forward a tad to look over the edge. Quickly Bruce realised what the Helicarrier was, "Oh no, this is much worse"

I turned back in the direction of the door with a smile on my face, "Come on boys, this way" I called.

xxxxx

I directed Steve to Director Fury, them led Bruce to the lab. "In here" I held the door open for the quiet scientist. Looking around, he walked in then I followed. "Director Fury's just informed me that you'll be sharing with Tony Stark"

"Oh well" Bruce muttered "how bad can it be?"

I laughed, "I'm not going to answer that"

He raised an eyebrow, "That bad?"

"Just wait and see what he's like today – Stark can be a bit full on. Not exactly one I'd recommend to keep the blood pressure down, if he's having one of his… phases."

"Oh, alright then..." he said, trailing behind me slightly.

"Ah, just show him that you've got as much authority here as he does and he should be fine"

He nodded. Bruce wandered around the lab looking at the different toys that SHIELD had so generously left for him to play with. I watched him for a while as he inspected the computers and gadgets, but decided that I'd best go.

"I'll show Stark in when I find him" I called to Bruce as I went to leave.

"Oh" he said looking up, "Are you going? Sorry, I didn't mean to ignore you, I just…" he gestured vaguely around the room.

"No it's fine" I smiled, the scientist had become embarrassed and he didn't know what he was supposed to do.

"You can stay, I mean, if you want to- if you're not busy with, eh, spy stuff..." he stumbled over the words.

I found myself grinning, "I'm not a spy, I'm an agent - if anyone's a spy it's Nat... sorry, Natasha, Agent Romanoff" I explained as I saw the look of confusion on his face.

Bruce nodded, "She seems the type"

"She's good at it" I laughed, sitting up on a work bench.

Bruce leant back against another, "From what she was saying you two are good friends?"

"Oh she was taking about me again was she?" I laughed, "Yeah, we grew up here- I remember her first day"

"Grew up here?"

I nodded, "Yeah, I was adopted into SHIELD when I was four, was doing field work by the time I was eight"

His eyes went wide, "Really? Is that... is that even legal?"

I laughed quietly and shrugged, "I have a specialized skill set"

"And do I get to find out what that means?"

"Maybe later" I laughed.

He nodded, smiling, "So, how long am I being kept here?"

"As soon as we have the Tesseract, we'll get you on a jet and send you home"

Bruce nodded, about to speak when he was interrupted again, this time by the doors opening behind us and Tony Stark walking in.

I hopped down off the desk. He smirked, "Amanda isn't it?"

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" I teased before grinning at him, "Just kidding, it's good to see you again Tony"

He pulled me in for a quick hug. "Looks like the calculations are complete. Should I watch my ass or are you past that?"

"That entirely depends on whether you deserve getting your ass set on fire, Mr Stark" I said, warningly.

He laughed, "The Director's looking for you" he smirked. I hadn't seen Tony since I'd helped him with the creation of the element that he now used for his arc reactor. He was odd, a little big headed but good.

"Good to know. Later boys" I smiled and left, only glancing back to offer Bruce a kind smile.