I closed the door gently behind me and looked at Phil. I gave him a forced enthusiastic smile, complete by raising both shoulders to show that I was trying to be excited. The thin haired man smirked at me and I let my shoulders slump back to rest. "Nervous?" he asked as we started walking down the hall.
"For what? Meeting your childhood hero, the love of your life?" I teased. "Why would I be nervous? I mean, you only showed me all of your trading cards, pictures, the videos, and gave me a more than detailed profile of him. If anything, I'm dreading being introduced to him" I couldn't help but laugh and so did he. I was awful at keeping a straight face when I was joking and if anyone knew that better, it was Phil.
Phil and I had become friends over the last year. We often met for lunch at least once a month and kept contact through phone or e-mail otherwise. He would tell me about his various missions and talk of the people he met, even if he technically wasn't allowed to. Clint Barton had also become a close brother-like figure to me. He would stop by my place or work, or really anywhere for that matter, unannounced and expect me to drop everything so we could get some ice cream. He would help train me for combat and even gave me a few pointers at shooting a bow. Clint introduced me to Agent Natasha Romanoff, his dear partner, who would also help with training. Nat cared for me too, even if it didn't seem like it. I knew she would have my back if I asked her to and I had hers. She rarely showed her emotions; she was good at hiding them. In fact, I think she hid them so well she would hide them from herself. But I've been around her long enough to know that Clint missing was killing her.
Clint was gone, taken, and this was partially the reason why I was on this ship. A couple of days ago at one of SHIELD's bases, a man named Loki showed up and before the base was destroyed, he took Clint, a few other agents, and this item called the Tesseract. From what Phil told me, the Tesseract is a cube of self-sustaining energy SHIELD was studying, trying to unlock its power; for what, he never said. But from what scientists did find was that it emitted gamma radiation. So naturally, SHIELD wanted to bring in an expert on gamma radiation in hopes of tracking the cube.
I was briefed on this specialist. His name is Bruce Banner (I had recognized the name from somewhere and eventually remembered that my actual brainiac brother studied the doctor's work religiously). I was ready to be impressed but I wasn't prepared for what the video showed; a huge green man with bulging muscles was destroying military aircrafts and flinging vehicles around like they were children's toys, heavily armed soldiers being tossed aside with the mere flick of its hand, and bullets bouncing off the creature's skin. I couldn't tell how or why everything seemed to explode, but none of it actually hurt the green beast. If anything, it enraged him, guessing his deafening roars. Next to the running video on the screen was a picture of Doctor Banner; a gentle looking man with short, shaggy black hair and fear in his brown eyes. I had a hard time believing he meant to harm anybody. But he was the actual reason for me being on SHIELD's home base. I was here to contain him if he turned into the monster.
Phil and I continued our way through the base, passing various persons along the way. I couldn't deny it, I was anxious. Not only was I going to be introduced to the Incredible Hulk (aka Bruce Banner), one of the brightest minds alive, but also to Phil's favorite person in the world, Captain America. I thought I knew all about him, thanks to Phil's obsession with the guy. The Captain became a super soldier during a science experiment in the 40s. He fought against a secret Nazis agency and was then frozen for the last 70 years. He didn't seem like that big of a deal to me, but Phil made him sound like he was the hottest thing since toast. Captain America had experience with the Tesseract, so he was called in on this mission as well.
We were nearing the bridge when Phil stopped and turned to me. With my 2 inch heels on, I was at eye level with Phil (I was 5'7"). "Relax and be you. You'll do great" he reassured me. I gave a short smile and tugged on my sleeves. Phil softly grabbed my arms and looked me in the eyes, "You don't have to be around them if you don't want to. They'll be busy working anyway, you probably won't even notice they're here."
I grinned at him. "Whatever you say, Phil," I mused. "Alright, let's do this…" and we continued down the corridor.
As we were reaching the bridge, I could hear Director Fury's booming voice as he conversed with someone, "Doctor, thank you for coming."
A gentler male's voice replied "Thanks for asking nicely. So, um, how long am I staying?" Phil and I were in the doorway and I could see the voice belonged to a decent sized guy wearing a greyish brown suit. He had thick, dark hair; it was short and tidy. He turned slightly and I saw that his undershirt was a deep purple. Immediately, I knew it was Bruce Banner. A wave of disbelief swept over me. Dr. Banner was insecure; his arms were crossed, body slightly hunched over, and he seemed afraid to touch anything. How was anybody scared of this man? I felt like I had to protect him from everyone else, not the other way around.
Honestly, the dark, bald man with an eye patch over his left eye and sporting a long black trench coat frightened me. Director Nick Fury was that kind of man, demanding and intimidating, and by standing in the same room as him made me want to confess all the wrong I've done, curl up in a ball and cry.
Fury answered Banner, "Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the wind."
"Where are you with that?" he walked nervously towards the railing, overlooking the massive room. I have such a hard time describing this place, it was just too incredible. There are top notch computers everywhere with a SHIELD agent almost at every one working on something. I loved the front of the room because it was essentially a giant window wall that looked out to the sky.
"We're sweeping every accessible wireless camera on the planet. Cell phones, laptops…if it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us" Phil stepped up. Doctor Banner turned to Phil, then casted his eyes to me. I gave a weak smile as I walked up to the long table the two men were standing at.
"Doctor, I believe you've met Agent Coulson." Fury announced and Banner nodded. Pointing his arm towards me, he continued "This is Emma Blaser. Miss Blaser, this is Doctor Bruce Banner."
"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm, um, a little embarrassed to say this but I'm pretty sure my brother has your publishing's memorized" I chuckled nervously and held out my hand to him. He looked at my hand before taking it in his.
"Well, I wish I could say something about you but meeting you is a surprise for me," he replied while glancing at Fury.
"Miss Blaser," Director Fury went on," this is Captain Steve Rogers." I looked over Doctor Banner's shoulder and saw a handsome, tall, broad shouldered man walking towards us. His blonde hair was swept to the left on the top of his head. He was wearing a brown leather jacket and dark khakis. He looked like he came straight out of a vintage photograph. He was now at Banner's side. He was much taller than I thought he was. I noticed he had beautiful, kind blue eyes. His face was so…young. The profile and ridiculous trading cards Phil owned were so different compared to the gorgeous man in front of me.
"Ma'am" Steve nodded, extending his hand to me. My breath caught for a second as I took his hand. His grip was strong but gentle. My hand seemed so tiny in his sculpted one. I think my heart stopped beating.
"Hi…"I finally managed to breathe out as I stared into his eyes. He gaped right back into mine with his bright ones. His gaze was so sweet and innocent. I felt so…calm. I had no idea what was happening but it felt like we stayed like that for hours. Fury cleared his throat and Steve dropped my hand and reached up to grab the back of his neck, looking a bit embarrassed. I felt myself beginning to blush and I clutched my upper left arm, looking back to the Director. He sneered at me.
Fury spoke up "Miss Blaser is here temporarily and is ordered not to do anything other than to supervise any strenuous up doings that may arise during your stay. She is here only as a precautionary measure." He said that last line while peeping at Banner. I took an interest in the floor, turning my head from the two men next to me. Clearly, this was the first that either of them have heard of me. The doctor watched Fury as he said this, crossed his arms and tensed up as he realized what the Director meant.
"So you're telling me that she's here to babysit me." Banner accused. I closed my eyes and bit my lip. Oh boy…. "Is she another agent? No offense, but I don't think she's going to be able to do anything to stop the other guy if he does make an appearance."
"Doctor Banner, please. I don't mean to pose a threat to you," I pleaded. He looked at me with skepticism in his face. I really did mean it. I hoped my sympathetic expression showed it.
"She may not look like it, Doctor, but she can take down a whole army just by raising her hands" praised Fury. Holy balls, was he saying that he trusted me? Does he actually hold that much confidence in my abilities? I stood up straighter and clasped my hands behind my back. Banner didn't look that convinced as he eyed me up and down. "Trust me, there's more to her than what you see. Like I said, she's here as a safety measure. If you want to view her as your babysitter, that's up to you. But I suggest you two get comfortable together. She can do more damage to you than you can do to her."
I'm sure I could damage him, but it didn't mean I want to. I gave a sheepish shrug to Banner in which he returned with a more than dubious expression. But I saw his shoulders relax a bit which made me feel much better. I moved my gaze up to see Steve's puzzled face as he quickly turned to Fury. "Now, what Agent Coulson was saying-"
I noticed Natasha crouching next to a computer screen, swiping through it. She looked over at us with a sad expression and simply said "It's still not going to find him in time." She glanced quickly at the screen before she stood up. I saw the computer had Clint's profile on it. Now I worried and hugged myself.
Banner watched Natasha for a second. "A familiar feel. How many spectrometers do you have access to?" he asked Fury.
Director Fury crossed his arms, leaned back on the railing, and asked "How many are there?"
"Call every lab you know." Banner stated, pulling off his jacket. "Tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm, basic cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places." Fury nodded at him. "You have somewhere for me to work?"
Fury looked over at Natasha, "Agent Romanoff, can you show Dr. Banner to his laboratory, please.
Natasha started towards us, her short, red hair bouncing with each step in her black combat boots, red tank top and black leather jacket. "You're going to love it, Doc. We got all the toys." She shot me a small smile as she passed. She and Banner left down the hallway to his new room.
Phil was next to me now, "See? That couldn't have gone better."
"Oh, right. That was just super" I muttered as I scratched my head. He smiled and I lightly shook my head at him. To be honest, I didn't know how I felt about what happened. I was overwhelmed with everything. I just hoped Banner didn't hate me too much. I would have to go see him later, even if I really didn't want to. I just want some coffee, I finally thought. I placed my hands on my hips and sighed.
"Captain, how about I show you around?" Phil eagerly looked at Steve. I totally forgot he was there and quickly moved my eyes to his face. He nodded at Phil with a grin. Phil was ecstatic. He looked like a child in Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. He turned to me, "Emma, would you like to accompany us?" Steve also glanced at me with hope in his eyes.
"Oh, um…you know, maybe next time." I gave a smile. I wasn't prepared to spend the afternoon with Wonder Boy here. "I um, I was going to go… do…something…" I stammered. That wasn't even convincing, idiot, I mentally slapped myself. "But you kids have fun!" I coaxed and with that, turned and headed down the hall quickly.