The Girl Who Can't Be Moved

Chapter Five

Bruce and Tony entered the lab and quietly began to work. They had Loki's staff which they could use as a router to direct them to the cube, or at least give them a general direction to work towards. Well, Banner was quietly working while Tony snooped around, tweaking and tapping every available electronic device as he opened a small package of snacks. Brown eyes glanced over at the genius, tempted to ask about the video. He took a breath and held his tongue, busying himself. No, he shouldn't ask. He really shouldn't. He wouldn't like what he would see. That much was certain.

"You should swing by Stark Tower sometime," offered Stark, approaching his work table. Bruce quirked a brow at the suggestion, small smile forming. "Top ten floors all R and D. You'd love it, it's like candyland."

The doctor gave a small laugh, scanning the staff. "Thanks, but the last time I was in New York I kind of broke...Harlem," he mumbled. Tony didn't seem too put off by his statement, circling to his side of the table. Steve Rogers entered the lab as well, hands behind his back as he watched the two scientists. He was hoping that he could be of some assistance, despite his limitations with modern day technologies.

"Hey, I promise a totally stress free environment." There was a quick zap to Bruce's side, making him jump. The Captain was alarmed as well.

"Ow!" He looked at Tony incredulous and the Iron Man was peering at him closely, intensely studying. He made a small noise of interest.

"Nothing?" he asked. Bruce gave a short laugh as he rub the spot where Tony jabbed him. "You really got a lid on this haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz? Bongo drums? Huge bag of weed?"

"Are you nuts?" snapped Steve, advancing towards Tony. He shrugged.

"Jury's out."

Steve huffed, irritated with the man's antics. "Is everything a joke to you?"

"Funny things are."

"Don't worry, Captain," spoke up Banner. "I wouldn't've been brought aboard if I couldn't handle...pointy things." Tony clapped him on the arm, offering his package of treats.

"Blueberry?" he offered. Amused, the doctor accepted the treat. The Captain wasn't deterred from his dislike of Stark.

"Endangering the entire crew isn't something to be taken lightly. No offense, doc," he added. Bruce shrugged, not bothered. He knew he was a hazard as did everyone else. Tony rolled his eyes, his lack of concern evident.

"Keep your tights on Captain-" The blonde flushed, indignant. "-If anything happened, the kid could just come and save the day."

"The kid?" questioned Steve. Tony nodded, popping another berry into his mouth, catching it with a well tossed arch.

"Sure, she stopped him last time." Bruce tensed at the reference. He tried to remember their encounter, he really tried, but all he could recall was smashing a table and calling her a stupid girl. Everything after that was a dark fog.

"Bridgette." Short russet hair, glinting blue eyes, and a teasing smile. The girl who stopped the Hulk, the other guy. Stark tapped his nose, the charade cue for the correct answer.

"Bingo." Banner tapped his fingers for a moment, contemplating and curiosity becoming seriously overwhelming. Taking a deep breath, he placed his hands flat against the table.

"Do you...happen to have this video?" he asked slowly. "Of Bridgette and...the other guy?"

Captain and Tony both focused on him, curious. Stark raised a brow. "Yeah, I can have Jarvis pull it up," he said, tapping a screen. Steve appeared concerned.

"Why do you want to see it? You were there," he stated. Banner took a few slow breaths, maintaining a solid control over his body as he remained cool.

"I, um, don't really...have full recollection when...the other guy, makes an appearance," he answered slowly and with difficulty. He hated admitting, well really admitting anything about the Hulk. He hated the loss of control, the loss of memory, and the damages that always followed.

"No problem. Got it right here," answered Stark, pulling up a screen and enlarging it to be easily seen. Bruce had to take a few more deep breaths to keep his heart rate under control from anxiety, and he crossed his arms over his chest. Finally, he was going to see the full extent of Bridgette Smith's ability of how she conquered the Hulk.

The film began with the surroundings of his small Calcutta shack. The agents were stationed all around the perimeter, much like he had assumed that night. The camera showed two figures inside, the thermal vision giving their silhouettes an orange glow. They were talking but the agents didn't have access to that information as they apparently didn't bug the house. So it really was just her talking to him in there. Banner felt a twang of guilt for snapping at her.

A few short moments passed before the Banner figure moved aggressively, bringing his fists down onto the table, he remembered that. The Bridgette figure didn't move, holding her place. He remembered her keeping her cool, not impressed or fearful of the violence he just demonstrated. In fact, she made some smart remark about, returning to reading the file she had brought.

Then he started to hulk.

The figure doubled over and the heat of his body changed from orange to red, swirling within his form as he grew in size, expanding overall. Again the Bridgette didn't move, her size shrinking next to the other guy. Banner felt slightly nauseous, rehashing the memory. The hulk finished his transformation and his roar could be heard over the video, to the agents' soundpieces at the perimeter.

"Why doesn't she run?" mused Steve, studying the video intensely.

"She's a fool," answered Bruce solemnly.

"I think she's brilliant," defended Stark, arms crossed as well.

The Hulk swung his massive arm and struck the girl, making Banner flinch as her form was sent flying through the wall and out of the house. Her body bounced against the ground and as she was barreling through the air again, she rightened herself midflight and landed on all fours, feet and hands digging into the dirt, spraying up debris. Now that she was outside, she was in her natural color, thermal lenses discarded. Her jacket was dirtied from the fall, scarf falling to the ground and her tights were torn. Her glasses were knocked clean off (though Banner now knew that they were for decoration, not purpose).

She stood up slowly, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. The pale hand was stained red as it returned to her side.

The Hulk stomped through the rest of the house, advancing on the girl- Dr. Banner turned around, unable to keep watching. The Hulk was going to pummel her. He was going to slam her into the ground until she couldn't stand any longer. He was going to break her.

"I am not here to fight you!" came her voice.

Startled, Bruce faced the screen again. Bridgette was facing the Hulk but the green rage monster wasn't slowing down. He was going to run her over like a mac truck. Twin green fists came at her at an alarming rate to send her into the ground, but he was brought to an abrupt stand still. Blue eyes glinting, Bridgette matched his fists with her hands, holding them locked in place. Her feet were digging into the ground, heels of her shoes snapping under the pressure. But she was not pushed back.

"Bruce!" she called. The Hulk changed his stance with a growl, adjusting his fists so that they were open and he grabbed her arm in order to send her high into the air. Her form flipped as she gained incredible height. Nothing more than a rag doll to the gamma beast.

"I can't believe this," muttered America. "And she's not dead?"

"She's the product of another type of super soldier, Cap," answered Stark. "You certainly started a trend back in the day."

Her body was coming back from her free fall, but something looked off. Her form was collected, streamline even. Tony gave a laugh.

"Now would you look at that."

She struck the Hulk's chest like a bullet, sending him toppling over and falling flat on his back with a deafening crash. The girl held onto him as he shook his head, staggering back up to his feet. She held her grip, knees against his chest, gripping his shoulders. Hulk clearly didn't like the closeness and he let out a deafening roar, right in her face, forcing her hair back.

Taking a breath, Bridgette roared right back.

The Hulk stared at her, stunned. She kept herself level with him, looking him right in the eye, so small next to the massive monster. Her right hand slipped so to grasp the back of his neck the best she could. She even dared to bring her face closer to his. He could very well eat her if he so wanted to.

"I am here to talk to Bruce!" she shouted, slowly and clearly. "I am not here to fight you!"

The Hulk remained frozen, perhaps still dazed, and Bridgette was breathing hard as she maintained the contact though a little pale. "I need to talk to Bruce, please! I need his help-we all need his help!" she explained. A few heavy heartbeats passed and the Hulk still did not move, still did not hurt her. She took this as a good sign and she had to roll with it.

"I...I can talk to you too, if you want me to," she suggested, voice softer now. "I-I can tell you why we need your help..." The Hulk was not breathing as heavy as before, though his exhales still moved her bangs due to their distance. Bridgette looked about, judging her distance to the ground.

"I-I'm going to get down now," she told him. The Hulk's dark eyes remained focused on her as she released her hold and dropped onto the ground, if a little ungraceful. Huffing, she tugged off her broken shoes and tossed them aside, opting to the stand in her ruined tights.

They watched each other for a little while, the camera man's tension obvious as the screen shook slightly. Bridgette kept her hands on her hips where Hulk could clearly see them, stance steady. Slowly, he mimicked her, giant fists finding his own hips as he widened his own stance to match hers. Picking up the motion, Bridgette played a card that would sorely give her the disadvantaged if it went wrong.

She sat down. Legs crossed indian style easily enough as her skirt was ripped in random places, and she placed her hands in her lap so that he could clearly see that she was not up to anything.

Bruce couldn't help but feel his chest constrict out of fear. What was this stupid, stupid girl thinking? She should take her chance and run. Just run! he mentally begged.

The Hulk glared at her, not knowing to make of her move. Long seconds ticked by before he moved. At first it was slow and very cautious, because he still did not trust this new stranger. Yet, the ground shook in confirmation when the Hulk took a seat as well. The girl took a slow deep breath, being to speak evenly and as clearly as she could. Start from the beginning.

"His name is Loki, and he stole the Tesseract from SHIELD. It's like this blue, glowing cube of massive energy. Like, so much energy he can destroy the Earth, energy. And SHIELD can't track it because it gives off this gamma radiation that's so low, it doesn't even register to their high tech scales-"

Beep!

Beep!

Beep!

Low Battery...

"Oh, come on!" whined Tony as the video window displayed the message. The agent who had been filming the encounter with the most clarity had a dying battery, which left the three Avengers hanging at the end of the film with no proper ending. Jarvis tried pulling up another file, but to no avail.

"She reasoned with him," commented Captain Rogers, crossing his arms.

"So she's the Hulk Whisperer? After getting kicked around like a can for a bit," said Tony. Banner leaned against the table as the two others discussed her abilities, like her strength, endurance and possible speed. The doctor had to take a moment to compose himself, to steady his heartbeat and to try and straighten out his thoughts that were currently tangled.

Like, why didn't she run? Was she so confident in her strength that she was ignorant of what could have been her death? Perhaps she was suicidal and hoping that he would find some way to end her? Why did the other guy, the Hulk, stop? Why did he allow her to talk to him, to reason? The Hulk was product of uncontrolled rage, the green beast the pure personification of untethered anger.

Banner was pulled from his thoughts as the two other Avengers started to raise their voices. Another argument already?

"An intelligence agency that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome," said Tony, eating another berry.

"How can you not trust Fury?" exasperated the Captain. Of course Steve would have trouble doubting a higher up official, the man was a well trained soldier and did as instructed.

"He's a spy," said Tony, raising his arms in his own exasperation. "Captain, he is the spy! He's secrets have secrets. And once Jarvis finishes cracking SHIELD's protective codes, I'll know each and every one of their dirty little secrets." Steve looked to Banner for assistance, who held his hands up defensively.

"I'm just here to do my work," he deflected. "Just my work. That's all."

Bridgette peered from around the corner, curiousity getting the better of her. She couldn't help it, she was nosy and they were loud. Simple as that. The three men were inside the lab, Tony Stark, genius billionaire, Steve Rogers a.k.a Captain America, and Dr. Bruce Banner who doubled as the Hulk from time to time. At first they had been gathered around a screen and from the audio, the girl knew it was hers. They were watching her encounter with the Hulk which gave her the vague sensation of being studied, but she quickly shook it off. Though she had to fight a laugh when the film was cut short. Since the video feed was cut, they never heard what the Hulk himself told her at the end.

"Hulk...help...Bridgette..." She smiled at the memory, deciding that she would just keep that information to herself for now. No harm.

"We have orders. We should follow them," gritted Rogers, trying to keep his calm. Which was becoming increasingly difficult around Tony Stark.

"Following's not really my style," answered Stark. Blue eyes narrowed.

"Yeah, and you're all about style aren't you?" Sensing the tone, Bridgette took this as her cue to enter the room and work to diffuse the tension, the testosterone or whatever it was between the two. She hardly made two paces before Tony could get his next jab in.

"Of the people in this room, which one is A)-Wearing a spangly outfit and B)-not of use?" asked Stark. The Captain clenched his fists, wishing he could just sock the Iron Man in the mouth. That would shut him up for a bit. Not to mention, feel very satisfying.

"Just find the cube," he instructed. He turned heel and left, nearly plowing down the girl near the doorway but she managed to dodge. She glanced back at the Captain's back before looking over at the Iron Man who resumed his work like nothing had happened.

"Wow, you really know how to push his buttons don't you?" she asked.

"He'll get over it," deflected Stark, tapping away at another screen. He glanced back at her a gave a smirk. "Speaking of buttons, you really knew how to push Banner's. Just finished watching your debut with the Hulk."

"Oh, that," she gave a small smile. "Just got lucky, I guess."

Banner glanced up from his calculations, watching over the tops of his glasses, sure to keep his head down. Bridgette ran a hand through her fluffy russet hair, looking about.

"I know luck, Miss Smith, and I know a lot of the time, you've got to make it yourself." She blushed faintly at the compliment.

"Um, thanks, I guess so." She awkwardly cleared her throat. "Do you two need any help? Or am I just in the way?"

Banner started to speak up, appreciating the offer. "If you could just-"

"-Hey, kid, how come your files are hard to come by?" interrupted Stark. The girl tilted her head to the side, confused.

"E-excuse me?" she asked. Her pulse started to flutter. Tony pulled a computer screen around and pointed to a file that was titled Bridgette Smith: Confidential.

"I'm just curious as to why SHIELD takes the time to bury your information, rather than our own," he stated. It was becoming difficult to breathe as was evident by the rapid rising and falling of her chest, suddenly unable to draw enough air. Bruce removed his glasses as her complexion continued to pale.

"Bridgette?" he called. "Are you all right?" Wide and startled blue eyes flitted between the doctor and the genius.

"D-don't," she begged Stark. "At least wait, until after this trouble's over. U-until I'm gone, th-then you can read it, but please, don't...not now..." Banner slowly began to advance, concern evident.

"Bridgette, what's wrong?"

Shaking her head, she took a step back. "Y'know, I think I'll go see if the Captain needs help..." she excused before turning heel and running out of the lab, the new SHIELD weapon bouncing against her back.

If she could keep running from the past, then she would never stop. Never.

REVIEW! Please and thanks, your reviews so far have been very much loved! Thanks so much for taking the time to drop me a line, they always make me smile!

So we have some development in regards to Bridgette's history that she would much rather keep buried. What could it be? (wink) Not to mention that we now know how she defeated the Hulk!

I hope you enjoyed!