Chapter Two
Natasha and Alice stepped out of the military Jeep and over to the wooden house in the dark. Alice dressed in her usual agent suit and Natasha in a casual black dress having come from another mission.
They watched as a small brunette girl ran through the house and through an open window before a man followed her into the house.
He gave a small, sarcastic chuckle. "Should've got paid up front, Banner." He told himself just as Natasha came out from behind the wall her and Alice were standing by.
"You know, for a man who's supposed to be avoiding stress.. you picked a hell of a place to settle." She smirked and raised her eyebrows at the man.
"Avoiding stress isn't the secret." He replied hesitantly as he set down his bag. Alice then stepped out beside Natasha.
"Then what is it? Yoga?" She said, smiling up at the Doctor. He looked at both of them uneasily before looking around.
"You brought me to the edge of the city...smart." He looked out the window before continuing. "I, uh, assume the whole place is surrounded." Alice smiled down as Natasha threw her shawl on a chair before stepping forward.
"Just you and me." The red head said easily, Alice looked up knowing that wasn't the truth at all.
We want his trust, Alice. Play along. Natasha thought so that Alice could understand.
"And you're actress buddy? Is she a spy too? They start that young?" Bruce asked looking over at the hesitant Alice.
"I did." The two woman said in unison looking at each other, then to the Doctor. He gave them both another uneasy look.
"Who are you two?" Alice stepped up next to Natasha and introduced them.
"Natasha Romanoff and Alice Bianco." Pointing to the older woman, then herself. Bruce looked down before taking a deep breath.
"Are you here to kill me, because that's not gonna work out...for everyone." He said forlorn, Alice immediately stepped forward with her hands out in peace offering.
"No, no, no. Of course not, we're here on behalf of S.H.I.E.L.D." She said calmly and the Doctor looked skeptical for a minute.
"S.H.I.E.L.D …How'd they find me?" Alice felt empathy for the Doctor, wanting to just be left in solitude; she knew what it was like.
Natasha answered first, "We never lost you, Doctor. We've kept our distance. Even help keep some other interested parties off your scent." Alice took a seat at the small wooden table, the Doctor's eyes following her movements.
"Why?" He asked simply, Alice replied this time.
"Nick Fury seems to trust you. But now we need you to come in." She gave a reassuring smile to the Doctor. He studied them both for a few seconds before responding,
"What if I say no?"
"I'll persuade you." Natasha replied.
"And what if the, Other Guy, says no?"
"You've been more than a year without an incident. I don't think you want to break that streak." Alice quietly said looking out the window. She was frustrated, she couldn't get anything from his mind. She had no clue how close he was for trusting them. There was a mental wall between Doctor Banner's mind and her abilities.
"Well, I don't every time get what I want." He lightly pushed on a small rocking cradle, to his right.
Natasha was tired of small talk at this point and pulled out a phone. Replacing her soft voice for a more business tone, she walked over to the table.
"Doctor, we're facing a potential global catastrophe." Bruce scoffed at the agent.
"Oh those I actively try to avoid." Alice smirked lightly as Natasha made eye contact with the man, she showed him the phone screen before sliding it across the table to him.
"This is the Tesseract." She continued, Alice taking over.
"It has the potential energy to wipe out the planet." Bruce situated his glasses to study the image before looking at Alice.
"What does Fury want me to do? Swallow it?" He asked unsure, Alice held in a small chuckle as Natasha stood behind her chair.
"He wants you to find it. It's been taken." This caught the Doctor's attention as he looked up suddenly urging her to go on. Alice continued,
"It admits a gamma signature to weak for us to trace. There's no one that knows gamma radiation like you do. If there was, that's where we'd be." She leaned back towards Natasha and studied the doctor as he removed his glasses.
"So Fury isn't after the monster?" He asked her, Alice bit the inside of her cheek.
"Not that he's told me." She said starting to get nervous. On the outside the emotionless mask she wore never wavered.
"And he tells you everything.." Bruce replied quickly. Alice didn't reply, the three of them already knew the answer to that one.
Natasha took over during the silence. "Talk to Fury, he needs you on this."
"He needs me in a cage."
"No ones gonna put you in a-" Bruce slammed his fist on the table, as his voice took on a deeper tone.
"Stop lying to me!" Natasha automatically straightened up and aimed a gun at him as Alice held a hand out in front of herself. Bruce stumbled back as he felt himself being pushed away from the two women. He looked up in surprise at Alice, then a flash of regret ran across his face.
"I'm sorry, that was mean." His gaze lingered on Alice and then to Natasha. "I just wanted to see what you would do." Alice slowly lowered her arm but Natasha still held her weapon out in front of herself.
"Why don't we do this the easy way where; you don't use that," Bruce gestured to the gun in the Natasha's hands. "she doesn't push me.. again," Alice smiled sheepishly at him and looked away as he continued. "And the, Other Guy, doesn't make a mess. Okay, Natasha?" He finished quietly looking over at the red haired agent, Alice put her hand on the older woman's arm before talking into her earpiece.
"Stand down. We're good here." Alice said quietly, Bruce looked out the window to see men lowering weapons that were previously trained on the house.
"Just you and me.." The Doctor looked at Natasha who still looked shaken up. Alice was more than confused. She should have been able to tell if he was trusting them or not. That was half the reason she was on this mission, Fury thought it would be easier on all of them if he knew exactly how to persuade the Doctor.
"Go out to the truck, we'll be right there." Alice said to Natasha before turning to Bruce.
"Doctor, I'd appreciate it if you didn't scare my friends for the hell of it. Let's get going." Alice said as she held her arm out to the direction of the truck.
"So.. am I the only person who's had a lab accident that left them genetically altered or...?" He asked interested, Alice smiled slightly as they began to walk outside. Watching the Doctor get into the truck she took a deep breath,
"Yes, some people are just born burdened." She smiled before closing his door. She walked around to the other side before hopping in, making their way to the jet waiting for them.