Chapter Four - (POV of Bruce Banner)
When he woke up, he was sore and miserable and nauseous - the telltale signs of a transformation. He forced his eyes open and saw he was in some sort of small medical room.
"Hi," someone said, and he looked around to see it was that spy-girl, Willa, leaning against the wall with a green backpack slung over one shoulder.
Bruce shot up in bed. "Did I hurt anyone?"
"You asked that already, when you first transformed back," she said, and he vaguely remembered something of that nature but he had been so tired. "But no one was hurt."
"You were there." He could see it clear as day in his mind's eye: his vision tinting green as The Other Guy rose to the surface, angry from the pain, and the blood dripping down his arm while Willa darted forward, looking for all the world she wanted to help stop the bleeding but didn't know how. "He… The Other Guy… He didn't attack you?"
"He didn't hurt me," she said, and Bruce noted that she hadn't actually answered the question.
"Where… Where are we?"
"On the way to headquarters, we're in a plane."
"Oh."
"Do you feel okay? Do you need an Advil or something?"
There is something wrong with this picture, he realized. He's not hooked up to a dozen different machines, all designed to take in any information they can get on the Other Guy. He's not strapped down. He's not being experimented on. He's just… laying on the bed, blanket thrown over him, being asked if he wants pain meds.
"Uh… I'm fine," he says.
"You sure?"
Bruce nodded. He was still achy, but he'd had worse before. This is nothing. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed, and she slowly dragged a chair from the corner of the room so she was facing him. For the first time, he noticed she looked awfully pale (not in a terrified sort of way, but in a I'm-so-nauseous -I'm-gonna-puke sort of way). Her hands were shaking quite noticeably and she was gripping the chair so tightly her knuckles were white.
"So I met the Hulk," she said, completely offhandedly, like how someone her age might say "So I met Mike." She pretty much collapsed into the chair, her breaths slow and precise, like she was putting her utmost effort into it.
"Did he destroy the village?" he asked worriedly.
"Nah, he was pretty chill, you know, for a guy who is supposed to be a mindless beast. He destroyed the house, but he may have had a little help from me. He even gave me a nickname afterward."
"A… A nickname?"
"Tiny Hulk."
"Tiny Hulk," he repeated.
"That's what the big guy said."
"For some reason, I don't believe you."
"Well, fine then. Wallow in your self-hatred and continue in your belief you destroyed everyone and everything even though I am sitting right here in front of you in one piece."
"Speaking of," Bruce said, "Why are you in one piece, though not exactly well?"
"I told you. You're not the only one to try to recreate the serum. Dr. Kyle Chips made a serum and gave it to his willing subject, a Milo Davis. Unfortunately for all involved it didn't work. Davis was indeed very… violently gifted after the serum, but then he killed three co-workers, friends, on a whim. They put down Davis and shut Dr. Chips down, and Dr. Chips became a pharmacist in a nowhere-town. But that was his life's work they shut down - he was angry, and he kept working. He made another serum and injected himself. It did not change his appearance or ability, but whatever morals he held were wiped out. Without human emotions to prevent him, he continued his experiments on kidnapped children. I was one of those children."
"Children?" he asked faintly.
"Yes. The only ones to survive were me and two others, who both died in the struggle to escape him."
"What did it do?" he finally asked. "Fully functioning tanks don't survive the Other Guy."
Instead of answering, she pulled out a pocket knife.
"What are you doing?"
She made to stab herself in the arm, and though Bruce yelled in panic, she ignored him. The sharp end of the weapon was thrust straight to her forearm.
Clang! It broke on contact. Chest heaving and heart racing in panic, Bruce stared dumbfounded at the blade which was in several pieces on the ground.
"The serum gave me an impenetrable shield over my skin." He heard her say.
He cursed. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack? Or are you just so eager to see The Other Guy again?"
She shrugged. "I wouldn't mind seeing him again. Nothing can hurt me, remember?"
"Even the 30000 foot drop when the plane is destroyed?"
"Even the 30000 foot drop," she said, nodding. Then she frowned. "The pilot probably wouldn't appreciate it though."
He gave her a stern look. "Exactly. Be careful, Willa." Wow, he sounded like a lecturing parent.
"You're a doctor," she said. "You're fine."
He shook his head. "So, ah, who shot me?"
"You're just now asking that?" She exhaled sharply through her nose. "That sounds like it'd be pretty high-priority to me."
"Who was it?"
"Apparently." She scowled. "Apparently, one of the newer recruits had a malfunctioning gun. He wasn't even supposed to be pointing his gun at anything but the ground. Idiot. I hope he gets fired."
"He didn't do it on purpose?" Bruce asked skeptically.
She shook her head. "I don't think so. He might've, but I don't think so. Then again, I'm rarely perseptive."
He nodded and wondered if Willa was being played by SHIELD. She was young and that made her more susceptible to manipulations… Then again, he failed to see how SHIELD could physically overpower her if she could take the Hulk.
"You look sick," he said.
"I am sick."
"Flu?"
She smiled weakly. "I wish."
She didn't offer any more information, and Bruce wasn't exactly sure how to ask, but he said, "Can I help?"
"I don't think so. Thank you though, Dr. Banner. Besides we have higher priorities." She pulled out a manila folder from her backpack and handed it to him. "Read up. We're three hours out, and they'll be expecting your help the minute we get there."
She stood up shakily and staggered toward the bed. Bruce helped her walk over, take off her backpack, and crawl into bed.
"Sorry, to… to steal your spot," she mumbled.
"It's fine. You sure I can't help?"
"Maybe later. Read. No worries, Dr. Banner. I'm jus' dizzy. I have a doctor at the base."
Bruce nodded, unsure, and sat in the chair. "You can call me Bruce, you know."
"Okay, Dr. Bruce."
For a few minutes, he read in silence. This stuff is crazy. Unbelievable. Norse gods?
"Bruce?" a soft voice asked and he looked over at Willa, worried.
"Yes?"
"One good thing came out of Hulk's visit."
"Oh?" He couldn't imagine what.
"While you were unconscious, I convinced SHIELD that you were angry about getting shot and wouldn't budge from your spot until someone sent doctors to Calcutta in your place."
"Really?"
"Yeah. S'not very fair of us to steal their doctor, is it?"
"Thank you, Willa. Go to sleep, you're ill. What was SHIELD thinking sending you while you're sick anyway?"
She shrugged a little and closed her eyes. Bruce went back to reading.
(POV of Willa Lumaban)
Willa woke up feeling a lot better and rather embarrassed that Bruce had practically tucked her in.
The subject of her thoughts was still reading in her previous spot, frowning as he examined the report and too absorbed to realize she was awake.
"Some crazy stuff, innit?" she said, making him jump.
"Yeah, yeah. Is this for real?"
She shrugged. "Well, I've actually met Loki's brother, Thor, so I have no reason to doubt."
"Your file doesn't have any medical conditions listed."
"I asked Fury to exclude it. I'm glad to know he respected that."
"He didn't do that for anyone else. Apparently I have a bit of a split personality disorder." His sarcasm made Willa laugh.
"I guess you have to know the right people," she said and sat up in bed. "How long was I out?"
"I don't know, but according to Agent Garcia we're about half an hour out."
"Hmm." She stretched and then pulled a notebook out of her backpack and started working on a character chart for her OC in her Harry Potter fanfiction.
"What's the rush?"" Bruce asked.
"Hmm?"
"You're writing like there's no tomorrow."
"Oh." So she was. It was one of her greatest fears, to die without leaving anything behind to be proud of. Ever since she had been given the news, she has been rushing to finish all her stories. "I have a deadline to meet."
Bruce didn't question her further, for which she was grateful.
Once they landed, Willa and Bruce got off the plane and found themselves on the helicarrier. Willa looked around feeling rather nostalgic all of a sudden. She used to spend so much of her time here before diagnosis. She had been so eager to use her new power to help people after the… horrific way they had come to be. So eager, so naive… So willing to help she allowed herself to be used by SHIELD once she was sure it'd save lives in the end. She knowingly let herself become a child soldier.
"Willa?"
She blinked and forced herself back to the present. "Mhmm?"
"Do… Do you know where we're supposed to go?"
"Um…Fury'll probably want you on the bridge… Oh, nevermind there's Natasha. She always knows what's going on, let's ask her."
Natasha Romanoff was making her way across the deck, hips swaying and short red hair floating gracefully in the breeze. Willa ran her fingers through her own hair, which was in terrible disarray from the wind. How the heck does Natasha always look perfect? Not fair. Not fair at all.
Willa and Bruce started walking in her direction but people kept getting in their way.
"Excuse me! Pardon me!" Willa said politely, smiling at the agents, who didn't do a thing to get out of the way, the bas- no, wait, cussing is bad - loblollies. And, yes, that is a real word. It means rude person.
Eventually, they made it to Natasha.
"Hello, Miss Agent Natasha," she said. Natasha looked at her in that analyzing way of her's, which has never failed to make Willa nervous, invincibility or no. But there was something slightly off about "the look" this time… a certain element of pity. Willa really shouldn't be surprised. Abruptly going into retirement before even reaching 20 is rather suspicious. The Black Widow would have made it her business to investigate.
"Hello, Agent Lumaban-"
"Ex-Agent."
"Right." She turned to Bruce and nodded. "Dr. banner."
"Uh… yeah, that's me."
Worryingly near them, a jet started to land.
"Shouldn't we move?" Willa asked.
"We're fine," Natasha said serenely.
The jet landed (dramatically close to them) and out came Agent Coulson and a blond man in plaid. Once Willa and Bruce took them in, they realized Natasha was already halfway to them. They scrambled to keep up.
"They need you on the bridge," Natasha told Agent Coulson.
"See you there." Agent Coulson left.
"Dr. Banner," the blond man greeted Bruce and shook his hand.
"Oh, yeah. Hi. They told me you'd be coming."
Willa frowned. "We did?"
Bruce looked at her worriedly. "Yeah, it was in the report. The one you gave me…"
"Oh, right." She grinned. "You're Captain America. Didn't recognize you without the suit. I like the jacket."
"Thanks. You must be Agent Lumaban. I imagined you… older."
She shrugged. "Most people do. It's just Willa - I'm retired."
"How old are you?" he asked, looking very confused.
"Didn't your mother ever tell you that it's rude to ask a lady that?"
"Sorry. I was just under the impression child labor was still illegal."
"You'll find that people like us - people with something a little extra - are often not subject to the same rules as everyone else."
"She's treated very humanely, Captain, I assure you," Natasha cut in. "Grown men would kill to have her paycheck."
"Isn't that what I do for my paycheck?"
He looked like he wanted to argue the morality of that, but instead he let it go (for now) and turned to Bruce.
"Word is you can find the cube."
"Is that the only word on me?" Bruce asked.
"The only one I care about."
Bruce said nothing for a moment, taking in the sentiment. "Must be strange for you, all of this."
"Well," he said, looking at the passing agents. "This is kind of familiar."
"Gentlemen," Natasha said, "you may wanna step inside in a minute. It's gonna get a little hard to breathe."
Willa pouted. "I feel left out. Don't you want me to be able to breathe, Nat? And I thought you cared."
"Don't call me that," she said with a frigid glare.
Willa put her hands up innocently. "Sure thing, ma'am."
The ground started shaking as the helicarrier prepares to move.
"Is this a submarine?" Captain America asked.
"Really?" Bruce asked. "They wanted me on a submerged pressurized metal container?"
"It's not a submarine, thank heaven," Willa said. "That would be terrifying. Hundreds of pounds of water hovering over our heads? Awful."
The helicarrier begins to ascend. Bruce smiles nervously. "Oh, no. This is way worse."
Willa failed to see how flying was worse but shrugged and followed the others inside. She groaned aloud at the familiar hallways.
"What?" Bruce asked.
"I always get lost on this stupid thing!"
Natasha smirked. Bit- er, jerk.