A/N: It's been forever, I'm sorry. Here's the next part. School and family life have been crazy. I promise to work harder, especially now that I have so many ideas!

Chapter 8: The First Publication

Lilliana Hudson had spent nearly three hours in the shooting range today, her arms were sore, she was pretty sure she'd broken one gun beyond repair, and gone through more shells than the range did in a day. She still couldn't hit the center of the target, or even the same spot twice; she was frustrated, dirty, and had the worst headache, despite the ear protection she'd been using. Nick Fury had been watching her all day, her determination puzzling him. Did she really not see that she didn't matter in the grand scheme of this project? He watched on as Bruce entered the room, the scientist had little to offer her in terms of shooting, but Fury had noticed he took special interest in this young writer, perhaps because she was so accepting of him, despite his condition.

"You know, if you're tired, it's going to make it worse." Bruce said, raising his voice so she'd hear him over her ear protection. She pulled the odd headphones off and shook her head at him.

"I just want to hit the same spot consistently, I want to do something right." Lilly vented to him.

"You're not aiming right if you're not hitting the same area regularly."

"Tell me about it, but no one seems to know what I'm doing wrong, either that or they're too busy to help the worthless reporter."

"You're not worthless."

"That's not what Peter hears."

"Do you listen to everything Peter says?"

"Pretty much, I've known him for years."

"He's been Spiderman for years. Maybe he's trying to push you by telling you that people doubt you. I know you've been working twice as hard since he got here."

"I don't want him to worry about me. When an attack comes, I want to be ready. I want to take care of myself; I don't want to be a liability. I'm getting the hang of the fighting, just not this."

"Well, maybe you could show me how you fight?"

"No, that's okay. I'd end up sparring with someone that would beat me flat on my butt. Peter's not here today, and he takes it easy on me for sure."

"So we'll ask Steve. He's on your side." It was with those words that Bruce Banner changed the course of the Avengers, because no one would ever look at Lilly the same. As he and Lilly headed to find Steve, joking around a little as they walked, they found him, in her room with Stark, leafing through her notebook.

"What are you doing? That's not edited!" Lilly panicked, running up and ripping the notebook away, hugging it close to her chest.

"Curiosity killed the cat?" Tony offered. Steve sighed and shook his head.

"We just wanted to see how it was coming, when you're not training, you're in here writing, but no one's seen anything from you yet. It's amazing though." He explained.

"Look, you guys can watch me from any camera you want and ask me anything and beat the tar out of me in training, but do NOT go through my stuff. It's not ready."

"It needs to be." Fury's voice came from the doorway, "the president wants a copy on his desk tomorrow morning, and he wants to use it as a briefing at the World Summit next week."

"Yes Sir. I will just need absolute peace while I finish, you'll have it by 5am." Lilly pleaded. "Hey Bruce, could I bug you to proofread some things for me?" He nodded and the others scurried out, Stark and Steve looking guilty as she glared at them. Once the door closed Lilly promptly sat on the floor and grunted with frustration.

"Hey, it will be okay." Bruce said, kneeling next to her and placing a hand on her shoulder. She leaned her head on to it, pulled her notebook away from her chest and opened it, revealing to him the fruit of her labor. He took the book into his hands and began reading it carefully while she got up, pulled out her laptop, sat at her desk, and started typing away.

After about twenty minutes he closed the well-worn and almost full notebook, astonished at what he had read. He looked over at Lilly, whose brow was furrowed, she was fully enveloped in whatever she was doing, the young girl before him may not have been a strong fighter, or by any means competent with a gun, but if they really wanted a report about the Avengers, she was the best choice. The piece he had just finished not only glorified the Initiative, but each individual Avenger, and included two different biographical summaries for each, the truth, and a plainer version to please the public. She was a remarkable writer, and now, more than ever he couldn't understand why this wasn't her profession. It was hard for him, after reading the care she put in to flattering the choices he made that caused his accident, the events that made him in to a monster, not to feel enamored with her, and she must have felt his stare because she looked up at him.

"Something wrong?" She asked, concern overwhelming her tone.

"Lilly, this is amazing." He said simply, handing her the notebook. "You're an amazing writer."

"Thank you?" She seemed puzzled by the compliment. "Any notes?"

"No."

"You sure? No errors?"

"Maybe, and it's a big maybe, some grammatical issues your computer would pick up. What are you typing away at?"

"It's just a simple cover letter for the president and world summit. I've already typed both versions up; I'm just not sure which one Fury wants."

"I would go with the truth."

"Even for yours?"

"You made it sound like a tragedy."

"Wasn't it? You had a wonderful career, and a mistake changed your life forever. People need to give you the second chance you deserve Bruce, you're a wonderful man."

"Thank you Lilly." He looked into her overwhelmingly kind amber eyes, and heard a voice in the back of his head telling him 'no' as he kissed the top of her head. She smiled warmly and he watched as she scanned the typed version of her writing, overly critical on herself as she reread and reworded statements he found flawless. He noted her meticulous process, as he grew weary of standing by her and sat on her bed. As he drifted off to sleep to her rhythmic clicking, he couldn't help but feel she pushed herself in writing the way he had at his work before his mistake.