Sadly I don't own the Incredible Hulk.

Plague.

The Factory.

One of the good things about my life on the run is I know how to break into a place without drawing much suspicion, David mused to himself as he sat on a lab stool, staring at the screen of the electronic-scanning microscope, examining the sample of the cure he had taken from the Clive house before the laboratory in the house was wrecked when his creature and Del's smashed the lab, according to what Elizabeth had told him when she had managed to catch up with him while McGee and the Sheriff of that town were busy with the revelation there had been two Creatures who were green, and both possessed incredible strength.

He was just relieved he had managed to save the jar, otherwise, the cure would be lost to him. As he sat on the stool, and he made notes of what he saw from the electron microscope which was linked to a calibrated computer that would study the chemical makeup of the sample, and give him an idea of the chemical makeup of Clive's cure, so he could concentrate it and create enough of the serum to cure himself.

David had known about the laboratory and the equipment contained inside it for some time, ever since he had walked into the factory for his job, and he had been keeping watch over the place for a short time to get an idea of the security around the laboratory ever since - if there was one thing that mess in California with that earthquake had taught him, it was he was willing to use whatever means he could find in order to get what he wanted; however in comparison, the security around the lab was far less difficult for him to break into, and as long as he kept the lights off and listened out for any sounds, like footsteps, nobody would even know he was here.

David had been in the lab for half an hour already, studying the chemical composition of the small sprinkling of the fine white-beige powder Del had given to him, mixed with water while he silently noted down the chemical formula on the computer screen. A lot of it conformed to what Clive had written in those notebooks (David still wondered why Clive hadn't noted down the entire formula, but he was just relieved he had taken all of the notebooks with him when he had the chance; the formula might be incomplete, but as an experienced scientist himself, he knew it would only be a matter of time before he discovered the full formula through experimentation), so he knew he was on the right tracks.

He just…found it rather hard not to get his hopes up, like he had done in the past, many times when something new came along to offer him some degree of hope; it was not a good idea to become too hopeful. He knew that. But right now, he felt the same type of hope he had felt when he had met Elizabeth and Del, and he discovered there was a cure. If he could discover what Clive had used to make the cure, he could keep note of it until he could concentrate it and make enough of it to cure himself. At the same time, David could keep the word out for any other sufferers of the same affliction he suffered, so they would not have to live the kind of life he had lived for so long now; while there would be those who found some sort of power, as Del had, David had no doubt there would be quite a few people out there who would find their lives ruined by the transformations as his life had been.

Only as long as he did not transform into the Creature. Tonight was the first night he had been able to pull off his plan and examine the cure, and he made sure to make the best of it.

While he waited for the computer to finish with its analysis of the chemical composition, David allowed himself a brief moment where he could think about what he would do if he was cured.

He had learnt to keep his hopes down ever since his discovery X-ray reversal as he and Elaina had talked about back at the Culver Institute before that damn fire signalled what he was destined to become, a man on the run, forced to take new identities just to keep himself anonymous, to say nothing of the other disappointments further down the line.

But right now, David thought about it, just for a moment.

He was unsure if he should walk into a police station or a scientific institute, give his name as David Banner. In the past, the very first year he had been wandering the country looking for some way of curing or at least giving him some form of control over the Creature because there had been moments in his search for a cure where he had doubted such a thing actually existed, so he had opted to settle for a means of controlling the Creature he metamorphosed into when he got really angry, David had mentally composed a few scenarios where he could return to his original life.

One of his ideas was to simply say he had lost all memory of his identity besides, of course, his first name. That was plausible; it was well-documented amnesiacs could lose a lot of their memory, barring one or two. David had no idea if he would be believed or not, but it was a possibility. Unfortunately, as the years had passed, David had begun wondering if he should just let David Banner die, and be someone else. That would not be hard since he regularly came up with new identities every time he went on the move, but he just wanted to get his life back. In the town before Del's creature threw that hypodermic against the wall - he wondered if a subconscious thought of Del buried deep in the Creature's savage mind had made him throw it, but David didn't want to guess - and shatter his hopes of curing himself and getting his life back, David had hoped to tell the Sheriff, perhaps with McGee there, who he was and what had happened.

David just sat in the lab patiently, not taking his eyes away from the screen except once or twice when he thought he had heard something outside, but otherwise, he didn't leave his seat while he took his notes.

"Why are you in here?"

David reacted quickly at the unexpected interruption. He leapt to his feet and he switched on the light. A young woman was standing in the doorway of the laboratory, dressed in light and loose clothes for better freedom of movement. She had clearly expected a chance where she would be running. The woman was tall, and David estimated if she was standing really close, she would come to his face. She long dark hair tied back in a ponytail to stop its length from going into her face, and she had emerald green eyes filled with intelligence. Everything about her body language in fact told David she was someone to be reckoned with. She stepped into the lab, making David move between her and his work protectively; he doubted she would do anything since he knew she wasn't here because of him and what he wanted to do here, but he wasn't going to take any chances.

"Who are you?" He countered.

The woman licked her lips. "I asked the question first. Why are you in here? If you were with the team working on the anthrax experiments, you wouldn't be working in the dark."

David's eyes widened ins horror as he processed what the young woman had said. Anthrax experiments, here? That made no sense to him, but the implications there was a secret study into anthrax here worried him. "It's a long story," David said while privately thinking to himself it was going to be a long, cold day in hell before he told her what he was here for. Reassured the woman was not here to sabotage his work, David walked around the table and picked up his things.

David had only brought with him the jar containing the only remaining amount of Clive's precious cure and a notebook and pen, he had already gathered enough of the missing pieces of the formula for the cure he had pieced together with Clive's missing notebooks for him to begin the basic experiments, but he hoped to return to this laboratory at some point and carry on with finding out more about the chemical formula to see if he was missing something, but he could worry about that later. Right now he was wondering about these anthrax experiments.

"You're not going to tell me, are you?" The woman said in frustration while she looked over her shoulder; David mentally sighed at her persistence while he was more concerned by how much time they had before a guard came, and he regretted having turned on the light, but it was the only way to see her face properly regardless of the risks.

"No, not until you show me proof the factory is involved with anthrax experiments," David replied as he finished putting his things in the small bag he clipped to his belt at the back. If he transformed, he did not want the bag attracting the Creature's attention although with it tied to his belt with two clips that should not happen. David had no intention of losing his chance of being freed of the Creature for good.

"Why should I trust you?" The woman asked, making David sigh although he accepted she had a point, given how he hadn't given her a good reason to trust him, he trusted her less. But there was only one way he could shift that around.

"How about we trade?" He suggested, at last, making her look at him with interest. "You tell me who you are and what you want, and I'll tell you a bit about myself, and we'll take it from there?"

David knew the suggestion was a dangerous one given how he could utter some clues to someone who knew of the work he had done prior to the fire at the Culver Institute lab, but he couldn't think of any decent way that he could make her trust him. As a scientist himself, David knew how dangerous anthrax was; bacteria wasn't his speciality, but he knew enough of the dangers. And besides, if that mess at the army base where a good friend had been rendered blind by a biological warfare experiment which had been carelessly handled was anything to go by, David was not going to let anyone kill others in the name of a new superweapon.

The woman bit her lip as if weighing the pros and the cons of the suggestion. "Okay, I'll tell you what you want to know," she said, casting a curious glance aimed at the small bag the man had clipped to his belt. She knew something important was there. For a moment she took a good look into his face, and she was surprised by how he seemed familiar as well as how good looking he was. It was like looking into the face of a long lost stranger in an old photograph, but she couldn't place him after a long time. But a bell had rung in her distant memory.

Still, she felt it was fair.