Bruce looked out the window as the small truck he was hitching a ride in approached the city of Sendai. Convincing the farmer to give him a ride was a lot easier than Bruce had anticipated, however he knew the hard part would be finding the docks without getting lost since the signs would more than likely be in Japanese. Once they entered the city he became nervous, being surrounded by lots of people always got to him know given all the damage he could do if he lost focus or worse his temper. The farmer stopped the truck just outside a market and Bruce asked him to point him towards the water using his own brand of sign language. He shook the man's hand and started heading in the direction the man had pointed too. He walked as quickly as he could making sure to keep his heart beat as steady as he could keep it, Rick had failed to mention when the ship he was supposed to board was leaving but figured the sooner he got there the better off he would be. He had borrowed a raggedy hoodie that he assumed belonged to the son of the farmer and pulled up the hood in order to keep himself as inconspicuous as he could, he didn't know where Ross was and how close he was behind him. He found the shore line and could see the harbor from where he was standing.
Clint and Natasha had made the shore early in the morning and spent the better part of their time after that scanning the crowds for Banner. They got a room at a hotel close to the harbor since his best bet for escape was a ship. They had been checking in every two hours but he was getting tired of giving Fury the same boring "Still no sign of him yet" report. Clint was hoping that hunting a giant green monster would have been a lot more adventurous, he was starting to wish he was still in New Mexico. Natasha had tapped into all the local electronic traffic figuring that Banner would need to use it to figure out which ship he wanted to get on. She had combed over the briefing with a fine tooth comb and had come to the conclusion that Banner was definitely smart enough to hack into a shipyard manifest and get himself out of here. Natasha turned and looked at the T.V screen noticing them talking about the most recent mutant terrorist attack, this one had been in Norway. Shield had been cleaning up the damage of the attacks but Fury refused to get overly involved since the issue was too political for Shield to get involved with.
Bruce found a pay phone just outside the harbor and dialed Rick Jones, the phone rang three times before an answer "Bruce?" he said with a certain level of expectation.
"I'm at the harbor. What am I looking for?" asked Bruce looking around himself nervously.
Rick pulled up the ship manifests for the harbor, thanks to him working over night to have it ready for when Bruce called, "Okay, you are looking for the fourth dock, I assume by my tracking gear that your are at the center entrance. When you go in turn left and go three docks down, once there you should see a tanker with raw materials being loaded on board, jump into one of the boxes and voila you are on board a ship bound for San Diego" said Rick in a triumphant voice as he spun his chair in celebration.
Bruce nodded throughout the instructions, "Okay, what do I do when I reach San Diego?" asked Bruce knowing that he might not have a chance to call Rick once he arrives.
Rick pulled up a piece of paper "I got a hold of a pilot named Jebediah Fate, he is going to meet you in the harbor in San Diego and fly you to the Adirondacks, everything is already taken care of for that part of the journey so just get to Fate and its smooth sailing from there."
"Do you trust him?" asked Bruce.
Rick crinkled his nose at the question, "More or less, he owes me one but keep an eye on him at all times, he fancies himself a pirate" explained Rick throwing a bottle of Mountain Dew into the trash can next to his laptop.
Bruce shook his head, "Did you just say pirate?"
"Yeah, I met him on a weekend in Bermuda, I got him out of a tight spot so he owes me one, he'll get you here but I can't guarantee that he won't try and take your stuff" explained Rick.
Bruce sighed, "Talk to you later" he said hanging up the phone and starting the walk into the harbor.
Natasha got a ping on her scan and pulled up a pay phone signal that Banner's voice had been picked up on. She got the location, "Clint let's move" she said walking out the door with Clint following close behind. They left the hotel dropping a large amount of money on the front desk, they walked quickly to the harbor where the call originated from. They found the pay phone and scanned the surrounding area for Banner.
"Natasha get inside the main building and see if they have security camera's that pin point him. I'll take the ground and see if I can spot him running around" suggested Clint prompting Natasha to jog her way into the main building. Clint moved quickly but even he knew that he stood out like a sore thumb in the harbor. "I have a feeling that Banner is going to be smart enough to figure out we don't work here if he sees us" he said into the radio looking around and seeing anybody standing out.
Bruce had watched the two agents approach the pay phone as he entered the harbor, he managed to get himself into a locker room area and found a spare uniform. He put on the gray and blue coveralls and moved with the crowds knowing that unless you looked right at him. He watched the man scan the group of people, he learned to keep moving with the crowd a long time ago. He made his way to the dock he needed to get to and turned to enter the dock area, he had lucked out as the ship workers were wearing the same uniform that he was. He looked back and saw that the agent was approaching the dock, Bruce grabbed a tool box and climbed on board of the ship and made himself scarce.
Natasha had spotted someone that looked like Banner heading for the dock but Clint didn't see anyone when it occurred to him that Banner could be blending in with a ship yard worker uniform. He looked at the ship, "Natasha, find out where this ship is headed. I'm pretty sure our boy is on board." Clint pulled out his phone and dialed Fury who answered after one ring "It's Barton, I believe that Banner is hold up on a tanker, Natasha is checking where it is headed. Do you want me to get on board and get him?" asked Barton growing a little tired of playing cat and mouse with Banner.
"No, if we capture him we are going to have to hand him over to Ross, and if you try to take him on that ship he might transform I would not want to be in that small of a space with his other half. Find out where the ship is headed and we will send you there next" explained Fury motioning for a transport be prepped to move Clint and Natasha as soon as they had a destination.
Natasha met Clint outside the dock and watched as the ship began to depart "It's headed for San Diego" she said prompting a nod from Clint who looked as the ship left the harbor.
"At least the weather will be nice" remarked Clint as they received the coordinates of their transport.
Ross was looking over a roster of soldiers that were up for consideration on his hunting party. Blonsky was on board which gave him a leader and an experienced soldier he could rely on in the field. The list of soldiers was a treasure trove of talent and Ross could have his pick of the litter, Blonsky could also help pick out the options since he had worked with several men on the list on joint operations in the past. "Ben Tibbits is a Special Forces soldier who I worked with in Africa, he follows orders even if he is a little bit on the stupid grunt side of the spectrum" explained Blonsky handing Ross the folder.
"I don't mind the stupid grunt type" replied Ross with a smile.
"Tony Masterson, the best tech guy I have ever worked with, he was able to knock the power out of an entire military base in Turkey allowing my team to get a VIP out without even being spotted. He also is one hell of a marksmen with a rifle" said Blonsky putting another folder on the table for Ross to look at.
"Banner is smart we will need someone who can reduce his options technology wise and a good sniper is never a bad thing. Anyone else in mind?" replied Ross.
"Michael Twoyougmen, Canadian agent, he is a little out there but he is the best medic I have ever seen. Also Shang-Chi, he works for the Chinese government, he's young but he is fantastic in hand to hand combat" finished Blonsky sitting down across from Ross.
Ross smiled, "Looks like we got a team to go hunting with" said Ross standing up and handing the folders to his underling. "I'll make the calls and get them in house for the briefing."
Blonsky nodded and was surprised when a young private entered the room, "Sir, we just got a tip from someone who claims he has been hired to move Banner, he wants some form of payment for providing information."
Ross nodded and sent the young man away, "Looks like you may need to send us all home" said Blonsky not seeing the point of a manhunt when the man was about to be brought into custody. Blonsky was frustrated, all this hoopla about Banner and he is going to get caught with little to no real work, "So much for a challenge" he said to himself.
"No, prepare yourself. I need to get a hold of that tipper and get a plan" ordered Ross as Blonsky left the room. The door closed behind him and Blonsky's mind began to turn as excitement built in his stomach, if Ross was going through this much trouble than Banner must be really good at what he does and that is what Blonsky wanted, one more trophy to put on his mantle.