Okay ya'll, here's where things start to pick up. You find out exactly what happened to Liu, and you find out what HYDRA and HAMMER had planned for our Mrs. Banner all along. I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own any Marvel characters. I wish I was related to Stan Lee.

Two weeks went by, two weeks that were filled with me getting used to the whole morning debriefings, along with going over every project that was being worked on, I was reporting everything back to Nick Fury (Secretly) and getting a lot of help from both Agent Coulson, and Agent Hayes, who as I found out was one of the most devoted agents as well as being blind. She had been involved in what happened in New Mexico when Thor first came to Earth and had been injured pretty badly when the destroyer came down, during her surgery something went wrong and she was pronounced to be blind, however she did not let that slow her down.

Coulson once told me she was one of the more trustworthy agents working for us. Director Fury agreed with that and I kept her around as the second of the two people I trusted the most. Phil being the first person I trusted. Natasha and Clint were training me like I requested, and Amanda decided to get in on the training, as did Pepper sometimes, though not all of the time. Her reasoning was if she was going to miss Pilates, she was going to exercise somehow.

Stateside things weren't doing so well, Norman had activated the fifty State Initiative and pretty soon there were teams of superheroes 'protecting' the states, but from what I saw on Canadian Television, as well as the international Television Tony somehow got us connected to (I didn't ask, he didn't tell), it seemed like everything was being run as a police state. Amanda had been thrilled to find Piotr, her crush, had gotten out of the states, as he was over eighteen and refused to agree with the registration act, so Logan brought him to Canada.

"I wish Dallas was a mutant so he could be here today." I sighed one day as I worked on some paperwork at the kitchen table. Bruce was cleaning up dishes and he gave me an odd look, but continued to clean up.

"Kayla, bath time." Amanda reminded her.

"Yay!" she said before running to the bathroom. I smiled and Bruce walked over to me, he leaned down behind me, looking at the folder I had open in front of me and I looked up at him.

"What are you working on?"

"Government secrets." I said and he kissed the top of my head. I pouted and he leaned down again, catching my lips in a quick, sweet kiss. Things had been a little stressful, but we had made it work, even though our time together was really only nights, he was working with Tony and Dr. Selvig on some things, and spend most of his day with him, or with Kayla, but when we were together, I was happy.

"Well what is the government keeping secret from us now?" he asked and I rolled my eyes.

"What aren't they?" I asked with a sigh. "This folder is all about the habits and laws being enforced in each state." I said as I tapped it with my pen. "I've got to memorize them."

"Sounds fun." he said dryly and I smiled.

"Oh, I've never had so much fun." I sighed.

"Why do you need to memorize them?"

"Because there's a rumor floating around that Osborn wants war." I sighed. "And if he wants war, we've got to be prepared."

"We? We who?" Bruce asked and I raised an eyebrow.

"That's the sixty four thousand dollar question, isn't it?" I asked softly and he stared down at me for a moment before there was a knock on the door.

"Director Banner?" the person behind the door asked quickly.

"Coming." I called as I got up. Amanda opened the door and I was surprised to see Agent Sitwell, one of Phil's teammates standing there. "Agent Sitwell." I nodded to him and he nodded to me as he straightened his tie.

"Ma'am." he said and looked at Amanda.

"Honey, did you ever finish that report Bruce gave you to do?" I asked and she frowned.

"Yeah." she said and I sighed.

"Well how about the one Steve gave you?" I asked pointedly and she nodded.

"Right, I'll go finish that." she said as she walked away.

"Would you like to come in?" I asked Agent Sitwell who shook his head.

"I'm afraid not ma'am, I've been ordered by Agent Coulson to come collect you." he informed me and I frowned.

"What's going on?"

"They've discovered a man known to be working for HAMMER just outside of the perimeter. Agents Romanoff and Barton took him in, and he's demanded to speak to you." he informed me.

"Alright, let me get my shoes." I said as I slipped on a pair of shoes quickly. "I've got to go." I said to Bruce who walked over to the door quickly.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Banner." Agent Sitwell said quickly.

"If my team and my wife are going to be there, I'm going to be there as well." he said and Sitwell looked at me.

"He can watch the interrogation." I said and Sitwell sighed before nodding reluctantly. "Amanda, Honey!" I called into the house and she appeared (A little too quickly) in the doorway to the hallway. "We'll be back soon, okay?"

"Can I ask Piotr to come over?" she asked hopefully and I rolled my eyes.

"No." Bruce said as he looked at his watch.

"Minnie." she whined and I shook my head.

"It's too late sweetheart, you can see him tomorrow." I said and she sighed, Bruce turned away and I held my hand up to my ear like a phone. 'Call him.' I mouthed and she smiled before I lowered my hand quickly as Bruce looked back at me. "Make sure Kayla doesn't drown herself in the bath, and don't let her turn to a prune, okay?" I asked and she nodded as we walked out of the house.

We went to the detention level which was two levels underground and I walked into the room adjacent to the interrogation room the man that had been found was in where the entire team was.

"Oh my god he's twelve." I said as I looked through the glass. "We might as well have Amanda come in here, she might get more information out of him." I said with a small sigh as I looked over the young man His hands were placed on the table in front of him, a pair of handcuffs on his wrists, and he was leaning back in his chair, his eyes were closed, but I could see he was awake.

"Well, as much as I like the idea of manipulating information out of people, this guy isn't exactly keeping secrets." Clint informed me and I looked at him curiously. "He's very upfront, he says he works for Norman Osborn, he was experimented on and he's here to warn you." he said and I looked back at the two way glass.

"So what's his game?" Steve asked and Clint shrugged.

"Dunno."

"What do we know?" I asked and he looked at Natasha.

"We know he doesn't like being touched." Natasha said and I looked at her curiously. "He knocked out two agents just by touching them. They're in the Medical bay."

"Okay, no touching." I nodded before I took the file from Clint. "Keys?" I asked and they looked at me hesitantly.

"Perhaps the restraints shall serve a better purpose then we can anticipate." Thor said suddenly and Bruce nodded.

"I agree with Thor. Leave the cuffs on, for now." he added and I nodded after a moment.

"Fine." I said and moved to the door. Steve got up instantly and I looked at him. "Where are you going?"

"SHIELD regulation to have more than one active SHIELD agent in the room when conducting an interview." Natasha said and I shook my head.

"Oh, uh, okay." I nodded and Steve looked at Bruce as we walked out of the room. Bruce nodded to him and Steve nodded back before we walked into the interview room.

"Hi, I'm Director Banner, I hear you've been sent to find me?" I asked and the young man looked up. The first thing I got from him was how tired he must have been, he had dark circles under his eyes, and looked like he hadn't slept in days. The second thing I noticed was the pain in his eyes. He seemed to be suffering and I had no idea why. "Is there anything I can get you? A cup of water?" I offered and he shook his head. "Coffee?" I asked and he again shook his head, his eyes never leaving Steve's form. "This is Captain Rogers, he's here to sit in on this interview, and he will in no way intervene unless you prove to-"

"Unless I prove to be stronger than I look, I know." he said quickly. "Truth is, I am. A lot stronger, stronger than him even." he said, nodding to Steve who shifted in his chair.

"Now listen son-" Steve pointed at him.

"Captain Rogers, please," I said looking at him. He looked at me and I shook my head before looking back at the man in front of me. "What's your name?"

"It's John, John Liu." he said and I smiled lightly at him.

"Well Mr. Liu, I'm Simone Banner. My friends call me Minnie." I said and he frowned lightly. "Silly nickname." I shrugged.

"How are the other two agents?" he asked.

"I'm afraid I don't know. They're in medical last I heard." I said and he sighed. "What happened? Why do you need to talk to me?"

"I need to warn you," he said and Steve tensed up.

"Listen-"

"No, you listen Captain, she's in danger, and it's not me, I'm not here to threaten her, or anyone else in this whole damn place, I'm just stating facts, what happened to me will happen to her if she's not careful, and I don't want to see that happen!" he said and he looked back at me. "You've got a husband and two kids, one of which isn't yours." he said and I nodded.

"That's right." I said and he nodded. "What happened to you?" I asked and he licked his lips and swallowed before he held his hand out to me. I stared at it before I reached across the table.

"Minnie," Steve said quickly and I looked at him.

"Steve, trust me." I said softly and he sighed before I slipped my hand into John's. I instantly felt light headed and pulled my hand back. "Wow." I muttered and he leaned forward, looking concerned.

"Are you okay?" he asked and I nodded.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I said as I put a hand to my head. "So, uh, what, you take energy?"

"I take power, I absorb power." he explained.

"And how long have you been like this?" I asked and he thought, tapping his fingers lightly.

"I'd say about two weeks now." he said after a moment.

"And you weren't born like this?"

"No ma'am." he said gently. "I've got a girlfriend and a son who can attest to that."

"Do they know?"

"No ma'am." he shook his head looking down. "No I told them work was sending me to Istanbul."

"Clever." I said and he nodded. "How did it happen?"

"They injected me with this... I don't know what, some serum, and it hurt. God, it hurt so bad and I- I just remember this intense pain, and then blacking out. When I woke up I was strapped to a table and there was this guy talking to a woman."

"Tell me about the guy." I said and he thought for a moment.

"Well he was German." he said and I looked at him momentarily before I reached into my jacket pocket and pulled out the ID I had taken to carrying around with me.

"Is this him?" I asked showing it to him.

"Yeah, that's him." he nodded. "Hans Fleischer." he sighed. "He uh, the woman, she kept saying how proud she was of him."

"Must be Miss Hiss." Steve said to me and I nodded.

"She goes by Madame Hydra." I said as I held up a picture from the file I was holding. He nodded. "Why did they pick you?"

"Well, believe it or not, they didn't. I mean Dr. Fleischer and them, I was brought to them and introduced and they did this to me."

"Who picked you then?" Steve asked and John looked at him.

"Someone who I thought was a friend."

"So what's the plan?"

"The plan is to do this to you." he said and I stared at him blankly.

"You're serious?" I asked and he nodded.

"I'm afraid so." he said softly.

"And you're telling us this because?" Steve asked and John looked at him.

"I can never hold my son again. I can never be with my wife again. I don't want that to happen to anyone else." he said and I stood up.

"Excuse me for a moment," I said as Steve looked back at me and then stood up as well. "Do you need anything?"

"No ma'am." John answered.

"Steve bring him a glass of water please." I said and Steve nodded. We walked out of the room and I walked over to Bruce who put a hand on my arm.

"I won't let anything happen to you." he said softly and I smiled at him before I cleared my throat and looked at the rest of the team.

"What do we think?" I asked.

"I think he's telling the truth." Natasha said and I nodded.

"I agree with Nat," Clint spoke up. "So what do we do?"

"I want a sample of his blood." Tony said and Bruce nodded.

"If what he says is true, it's not impossible to believe that it's reversible."

"Someone turning him into that though?" Logan asked with a frown. "How does that work?"

"The same way it happened to me," Steve said as he returned with a bottle of water. "And how it happened to Dr. Banner." he continued. "It just takes someone smart enough to find a way, and someone who believes in him to test it out." Bruce nodded and I thought for a moment.

"Do you really think it could be reversed?" I asked and Bruce shrugged.

"There's no way to find out-"

"Without trying." Tony finished Bruce's sentence.

"Steve, you ready?" I asked and Steve nodded.

"So what do the other Avengers think?" John asked when we walked back into the room.

"Now who says we were talking to them?" Steve asked.

"They think you're telling the truth." I replied and John nodded. "Tony Stark and Dr. Banner would like to take a blood sample."

"Why?"

"They think whatever was done to you may be reversible." I replied honestly and a look of hope crossed John's face.

"Okay." he nodded. "But I want to stay here. I don't want my family finding out about this, not yet anyway."

"That can be arranged. In return you'll provide blood samples, assist Dr. Banner and Mr. Stark in what happened when you were turned and you will meet with Agents Romanoff and Barton as well as Captain Rogers and assist in whatever way possible on HAMMER's strategy." I replied and he nodded.

"I'll do anything I can Mrs. Banner." he said and I stood up. Steve handed him the water bottle and I watched as he struggled with the cap for a moment before I leaned over and untwisted it for him. He looked up at me and then to his handcuffs again. I paused and looked at Steve who put his hand on my shoulder.

"You'll understand if we don't take those off quite yet." he said before leading me out of the room. Phil was on his phone talking to someone, while two other agents came to escort John to a cell.

We were standing in the elevator while I went over everything that John had said in my head. It was troubling to say in the least. I felt someone touch me and I looked behind me to see it was Thor who put his hand on my shoulder.

"Worry not Maiden of Strong," he said and I smiled at the old nickname he had given me once before I was married. "We shall not let the threat of that son of Surtur be followed through. He must be as dense as an ice giant to believe it would be so easy to get to you."

"Thank you Thor." I said, knowing enough to know that was him reassuring me.

"What, are you worried?" Tony asked and I smiled. "I'm not, you know why?" he asked and I raised my eyebrow. "You've got something Nick Fury never had. The Avengers, voluntarily on your side." he nudged me with his elbow and I continued to smile.

When we got to the first level the doors of the elevator opened to a shrill beeping noise and a blue light flashing. I looked at the rest of the team, Natasha and Clint instantly ran to the area where some of the backup weapons were kept, Thor summoned his mighty hammer and I looked at Bruce.

"What's happening?" I asked him and he shrugged, obviously not knowing what to either say or what was happening.

"There's a security breach." Logan said, a set of long metal claws sliding out from between his knuckles. "Someone call the Tinman-"

"Right here Logan." Piotr's voice said.

"Get her back home!" Bruce shouted to the nineteen year old. "They've come for you." he said as he looked at me.

"Bruce I-" he kissed me quickly before he took off his glasses and watch and handed them to me.

"Get out of here, get to the girls, punch in code 11432 into the security system, and stay in the house until one of us comes for you, do you understand?" he asked and I nodded. "Take her!" he said to Piotr who took me by the arm.

I looked back as Bruce's skin took on a deep green hue; he let out a loud deep roar, before turning back. I caught his eye and I offered him a small smile before I was pulled out of the building. Piotr stopped me from moving as he looked around the land, Agents were running all over the place, there was a sound of gunshots, and a loud roar, the Hulk, I smiled at that before I could hear Steve barking out orders.

"Come on," Piotr ordered as he took my hand and pulled me along, we were running when someone started to fire at us. Piotr threw himself over me, his entire body turning to metal, making the bullets bounce off of him. The attacker moved forward and Piotr stood up, spun around and delivered a swift punch to the guy's face, knocking him out instantly.

"Are you okay?" I asked him and he nodded before he started to move, suddenly a feminine shriek for help filled the air, Piotr started to move toward it, and then looked back at me. "Go, I'll be fine, I'm almost there." I said and he seemed to pause.

"You're sure?" he asked and I nodded. "Run home, stop for nothing." he said before he ran off in the direction of the scream. I took off toward my house when my foot hit something, a trip wire probably and I landed face first on the ground. I groaned, and then jumped up, looking around. For once I cursed that our house was a little secluded compared to the rest of the compound, it was for privacy reasons, but at the time being I was suddenly wishing our place was on top of the jet hangar. I started to edge toward the house when someone stepped out of the shadows.

"Mrs. Banner, we meet at last." a voice said and I looked at her.

"You must be Leona," I said with a sigh. "I'd say nice to meet you, but I'm trying to teach my daughter that lying is bad."

"An admiral quality, though not a quality one would expect from the new Director of SHIELD." she said and I shrugged lightly.

"If you knew anything about having a family, you'd understand." I said simply.

"You know normally people beg."

"Those people haven't read your file." I said simply. "I know you're going to do what you came here to do no matter what I say, but I am curious, someone like you, why do you let Norman Osborn run the show? What does he hold over you, why is he in charge?"

"He's not in charge of me." she said and I shook my head with a small smile.

"That's not the way I hear it." I said and her eyes narrowed.

"Whatever you hear, I don't work for him." she said sharply and I shrugged. There was a loud roar and Leona looked away making me run, trying to dart past her.

She had me back on the ground in an instant, struggling as she tried to keep me still. I managed to elbow her and try to jump up, but she kicked me in the chest hardly, making it hard to catch my breath as she stood over me, I stumbled to my feet and she had me back on the ground before I knew it, my head was spinning as I felt something sharp in my neck, and then she was off of me.

"I didn't do this because of Norman," she said as she sat on me. "I did this for Hans." she smirked and stood up again.

"Am I going to be like John?" I asked and she looked back at me.

"Stronger." she replied easily. "The world is no longer your place," a gun landed on the ground next to me. "And your place is no longer in this world." she said coolly.

"At least," I said as I sat up, taking the gun in my hands. "I can make my own decisions, and not look to Norman Osborn to make them for me." she glared down at me for a moment, but then heard something and turned away. I lifted the gun and pointed it at her before pulling the trigger, only to hear the hollow click of an empty chamber. I dropped it to the ground, understanding the symbolism there before I jumped up and ran into the house, slamming the door behind me. She didn't try to stop me, the damage was done, what else could she do? I ran into Kayla and Amanda's room where they were hiding in the closet and I sat down on the ground with them, pulling Kayla into my lap I covered her face with kisses.

"I love you honey," I said as I kissed her, and held her tight. "Remember that forever, Mommy loves you." I whispered before I pulled Amanda into a tight hug. "I love you so much honey." I said as I kissed her face, but kept my hold on her tight, until I could feel pain creeping through my body. I got up, leaving Kayla with Amanda as I moved into the bedroom where my earpiece was, I had left it because we had run to the interrogation so quickly. "Has anyone got a twenty on Bruce?" I asked as I slipped it into my ear.

"Yeah, he just threw one of theirs over the perimeter, why? Where are you?" Clint asked.

"They're not putting up much of a fight anymore are they?" I asked.

"What happened?" Tony asked sharply.

"I'd say it's a mission accomplished for them." I said before letting out a groan, doubling over in pain. I could hear the voices of my friends and teammates shouting things at me in concern, it took them about three seconds to get to the house, Natasha was the first one into the bedroom, and she got me off of the floor, and helped me to the bed as I clutched at my stomach in pain.

I let out another groan, curling up in a ball, tears were rolling out of the corners of my eyes, but I wouldn't scream, I didn't want to scare the girls who were being kept in the other room. A moment later Bruce was in the room, holding up the shredded remains of his pants, he rushed forward and cupped my face as I took his hand.

"What happened?" he asked and I let out a groan.

"Same thing that happened to Liu." I groaned and bit my lip hardly. I let out a long, labored breath and tried to will the pain away.

"No no, this- This can't happen, it can't." he insisted and I smiled at him.

"I hope you guys were serious about that cure." I said before another wave of pain hit me. I let out a small shout of pain, before looking at him. "I love you." I said and he leaned down, quickly catching my lips with his. When he pulled away he wrapped his arms around me tightly holding me.

"Bruce, we need to knock her out." Tony, who was wearing the Iron Man suit, sans the helmet, said and Bruce let go of me slowly. "It's the best thing for her."

"I know." Bruce nodded. "In that drawer." he pointed to a drawer and Tony came back with a needle and a small bottle. He measured an amount and handed the needle to Bruce. "I love you." he said, his brown eyes were glazed over and I smiled softly as I reached out and cupped his face. He leaned forward and kissed me one last time; I let my lips linger against his for a moment, and then kissed his chin lightly before I nodded.

He slid the needle into my arm and injected me with enough of whatever drug Tony had chosen to knock me out.

As I felt my eyelids growing heavy I could feel the pain fading, my eyes never left Bruce's, because I knew when I woke up, nothing would be the same.

Okay, don't hate me for that! I had to do something to show they really are heartless!

Please don't forget to review!