Avengers Tower

The kid's screaming woke Tony up first. Any screams in the Tower got the same response these days, "JARVIS, PROTOCOL ONE, NOW!" he dove out of the way as a suit charged in, grabbed an incredulous Pepper, and before she had so much as time to start yelling at Tony the suit hurdled out a window. It wouldn't stop until it had Pepp secured in the D.C. offices. Then he'd be getting an earful.

A few seconds later though Tony was more than happy he'd responded so quickly- the floor shook and Hulk's spine-chilling roar nearly deafened him. He hit his comm, "EVERYBODY UP," as if he needed to say it after that, "JARVIS, deploy suits to collect Jane and Inessa, keep them in the air- as high as possible!" the last thing they needed was a civilian and a vegetable in the middle of a Hulk-out.

Thor didn't move until Jane was sealed in her suit and far out of Banner's reach. Bucky and Steve had no one to secure, so they were first to Bruce's door. Bucky intercepted Sam as he ran up the stairs, "Get in the air, guard the girls."

Steve and Bucky readied themselves, then pushed the door open. The lights flickered, and mighty bangs came from near the back. Bucky spun his metal arm, readying for a fight. Steve took point. They'd never tested it but the working theory was his shield should withstand a direct hit from Hulk. He'd absorbed the blow from Thor's hammer, why not one from a gigantic, pissed off, radioactive green creature?

Creeping towards a splintered, dislodged door with Steve at his side and the unmistakable thud of Thor running to join them made Bucky grin, "Stark," he whispered, "you might just get your three-on-one fight after all."

"Or not, I vote for not," Natasha and Clint were on the main balcony, guarding against Hulk. He could hurt a lot of people if he jumped out into the city.

"Fifty on Hulk."

"CLINT!"

"I don't think there will be a fight guys, get in there now." Tony's infrared scans of Banner's room showed- he didn't know what they were showing him, but it couldn't be good.

Bucky broke formation and quickly approached the door. He used his metal arm to rip it out of his way completely, then ducked to the side. Steve and Thor tensed, but only a strangled growling sounded.

"Holy-" Steve lowered his shield and walked in, mouth agape. He pulled off his goggles. The veins of silver that still remained from his brush with the Shadow glowed in the dim light.

Banner's place was totaled in that epic-destruction kind of way only the Hulk could be responsible for. The walls were torn apart right down to the extra-thick steel reinforcements Tony had lined the place in. Even the foot-thick bulletproof window was cracking. Hulk was writing on the floor, growing in a bizarre gurgle. Bucky walked around to see his face and slipped in a pool of green blood. Hulk had claw marks all over his torso- every one of them turning silvery gray. Thin streams of red mixed with the green- it had gotten Banner first, then he'd Hulked out.

Black smoke poured from Hulk's eyes and, when his mouth opened, wafted from within like demented steam. Bucky had a sudden idea- Steve said it felt like this thing was sentient, at least a little. He walked closer to Hulk, stared into those black eyes, and spoke, "Hello?"

There was a titanic roar and Hulk lurched at him, throwing Bucky into a wall and pinning him there. Hulk shook him, beating him against the wall again and again, until he couldn't see anymore.

"BUCKY!"

"JAMES!"

Thor and Steve ran over, but Hulk swept them aside then slammed his open hand over Bucky's face, breaking his nose. Darkness poured out from the Hulk and into Bucky's mind, and in an instant everything went black.

Neither Bucky nor Hulk died in the coming days, but like Steve and Inessa, they sure as hell came close. The shadow lost all momentum when it passed into Bucky, like whatever strength it had been building was spent subduing the Hulk. Bucky had burned with black flames for only a few minutes, unstable and unaware.

The damage to Hulk's body was severe, so much so that throughout the recovery he couldn't be stabilized long enough to turn back into Banner. After the shadow left him he'd merely whimpered and growled weakly, and continued to do so as the toxin spread throughout his body. At it's height, he was entirely gray.

They learned from the experience the shadow did not need to cut someone to inject them with venom. Bucky hadn't been swiped by the creature, only by Hulk, and yet his skin too turned gray. The silver scars were caused by the creature directly, but the gray skin seemed to be a result of the possession. It explained why Bucky never remembered Inessa turning gray- she was cut, but the beast never had time to enter her mind.

Once Hulk and Bucky were secure in the recovery area, Tony let Inessa and Jane return. He watched Nessa carefully for days, even put her in the room with Hulk (they covered Bucky with a sheet) but nothing happened. The child knew when the Shadow was there- even Steve could feel its presence, but only faintly. It bothered Tony- how could she be numb to everything- even Bucky's best efforts at the end of 'Project: Echo'- yet be so sensitive to something Steve barely noticed through the din of his own mind?

One night curiosity finally got the best of Tony. He went down to the recovery room under the guise of relieving Steve from guard duty (should Hulk decide to smash) and sent him upstairs to sleep. As soon as JARVIS verified he'd gone to bed he wheeled in a portable PET scan. Bucky was easy. Hulk? Not so much, but Tony kept moving the scanner around until he figured he had to have a 360 degree view of Hulk's brain. He turned off the lights and very quickly repeated the process, then had JARVIS pump them up to double strength.

While the images processed, he worked on his excuse for Natasha and Clint. It had to be cunning, plausible too- the master spies would be on the lookout for anything suspi-

"Nessa next?" Tony karate chopped thin air as he turned. Natasha was standing with the girl five feet away.

"Natasha, what brings you and the Loch Nessa Monster here at this hour?" he used his pet name for Inessa to sell the innocent act.

"We're thinking the same thing, do the scan." Tony inched backwards and pulled the sheet over Bucky's head, careful to keep him blocked from Inessa's eye line, if she could even see. "I'm getting nowhere with her, it isn't natural. I need to see how much her brain is even processing information."

Tony shrugged, relaxing, "I have specific tests in mind. You won't like them."

Natasha shook her head, "Doesn't matter. To help her we need to know if there's anyone left inside that body."

"Into the operating room then," Natasha held the door as he wheeled the PET scan inside. She instructed Inessa to follow and sit on the table. Tony had her lie down and began to fasten the straps around her arms, legs, and torso.

"Is all that really necessary? She won't move." Natasha protested as Tony added a thick collar and leather strap around her head, totally immobilizing her.

"Oh, I think she'll move a hell of a lot," Tony switched on the scanner over her and, after a few minutes, he turned out the light, "JARVIS, start scanning as soon as the screams begin."