The bare tree branches bent in the bitter wind as I walked along the pavement. Frost decorated the ground like little diamonds embedded in the concrete jungle. I shivered as I drew my bright yellow coat tighter around my torso. The material didn't seem to protect against the way the wind would cut through my entire body. I wasn't sure I had ever felt such a cold in my entire life.
"Tunnel…tunnel…" I muttered to myself as I looked around. I supposed the reason I was having trouble finding the place is the same reason the guy had killed someone there in the first place. Remote, quiet, dirty…everything a killer could possibly want.
After a half hour of wandering around the city that never sleeps and stopping to buy some hot popcorn, in order to warm my hands, I told myself as I ate every last piece, I finally found the location.
I glanced around, eyeing the tunnel that began before me. It seemed so dark…I grimaced a little as I thought of everything that might lurk down below. Rats, cockroaches, worms, diseases, murderers, bats, spiders, snakes…the list went on. Unfortunately, I could already a sort of scrabbling usually attributed to rats or mice. I took a deep breath before I began walking in, stepping over the yellow caution tape that marked the place off. There, of course, was no reason that anyone shouldn't commit a crime down there. It seemed to be the perfect place to hide the evidence.
I grabbed a flashlight from within my purse and hurriedly slid the plastic switch to give my surroundings a dim light. I squealed as I suddenly realized I was standing on the shells of dead cockroaches. I did a funny little dance, or so it must have appeared, as I rushed to the bare ground.
"Ew…gross," I groaned before starting down once more. I could faintly hear the bustling of others. Must be the police or some other. I instantly felt a little more at ease and began to walk a little more comfortably, even though I knew that there were all sorts of dead things down here. I could see light in the distance, but from what, I wasn't sure. I suddenly felt the need for a gun, but I tried to rationalize with myself. There was no reason the killer would return now.
"Dr. Cliff?!" a voice suddenly thundered. I screamed and dropped my flashlight, the absolute worst thing to do in case of being in a dark tunnel with an unknown human along with you.
"FBI!" I managed to cry out, but the voice simply chuckled. To my surprise, my flashlight moved and then was handed back to me. I shined the light on the giver and found a tall man wearing an eyepatch and clothed in a dark coat. He held his hands out in front of him, palm up, and had a cautious expression.
"How did you know my name? You don't look like police…or a government agent," I said and I suddenly hated how trembling and weak my little voice sounded, especially bouncing off of the tunnel stone and back to my eardrums.
"I'm not, actually," he answered dryly and my lip trembled slightly. Oh, not good. Alarms rang in my head as loud as they possibly could. However, if he was concealing a weapon, however fast I could run would not beat the 1,500 meters per second of a bullet.
"T-Then…why are you here? Are you aware that this is a crime scene? I could arrest you for obstruction of justice." I tried this time and unfortunately, the man smirked. This was not working. I couldn't trick someone if I didn't actually know anything. I had never even been here before.
"That might work…except this isn't actually a crime scene," the guy began and I instantly started to panic. Okay, heels could function as a weapon if I stomped really hard on his foot, as long as his shoes aren't too thick. Elbows to the groin and nose for maximum chance of a getaway. I had no way of knowing how much of a shot this guy was, so I couldn't run for it without risking a gunshot wound and who knows what other consequences of getting caught. "Dr. Cliff…my name is Nick Fury. I'd like to speak with you about something," he finished.
"How the hell do you know my name? I am in a tunnel in New York City and some stranger knows my name and what's happening around here. That's not a good sign, if you were not aware of this previously." I tried to sound a little tougher. Unfortunately, I had never been too great under pressure or in confrontational situations. I had never been the bad cop type.
"I'm sorry we couldn't meet anywhere else. I'd rather not have your buddies at the FBI know about me or why you're here. I'm not here to hurt you. I'm from SHIELD. The Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division."
"I've never heard of that division. You expect me to believe you're from the government?" I frowned. It sounded official, but some of these guys could be really good liars.
"We're a special branch…sort of underground at the moment. I know this all might be too far-fetched to believe, but it's true. I made sure you were on this case. I made it up. I knew you'd be assigned to a place like this," Fury explained. His hands were still held up in the surrender position and I was sure he was just ready to wrap them around my neck.
"How do you know all this stuff about me?"
"Man inside, of course. Woman, I should say. She's watched you and kept me updated. We've been on the lookout for someone like you for a long while, Dr. Cliff."
I frowned even deeper and stared into his eyes, trying to gauge if he was lying to me or not. As I stared, he pulled out a file from his coat, stamped with a big red CONFIDENTIAL over the front. "See this? This is why I brought you here," Fury held it out to me. If he could carry it around in his coat, then it couldn't be dangerous. I hesitantly took the file and opened it up, finding that my flashlight illuminated the area enough for me to read. A photo was paperclipped to the top of the documents. A man stared up at me with dark eyes, yet they weren't sinister. I glanced at the name.
"A Bruce Banner? What do you want me to do with this?" I asked as I flipped through the contents of the folder. I found a few more photos here and there, but I couldn't find anything from childhood. He looked around forty-ish. The few words in the file weren't much. "You guys really don't know anything about him…you've got his house number and information, sure, but you've got nothing on his psyche, his mental state, anything," I raised an eyebrow.
"Exactly. That's why we need you, Dr. Cliff," Fury nodded. My eyes widened slightly.
"Me? Why me?"
"We need you to analyze him without letting him know you're analyzing him. Dr. Banner…does not take kindly to being watched. A criminal profiler is usually the best for the job, as they perform extremely well under pressure. However, we needed someone less uniform. We needed someone that Dr. Banner would trust and learn to grow fond of. And then I found you. Graduated with honors, yet no clubs, activities, hobbies, nothing. My agent told me you don't talk much in the workplace, but that you're not well-adjusted to protocols yet and you don't seem to be fond of being impersonal in your investigations. It's only your second year on the force, it's only to be expected," Fury explained. I was shocked that he knew so much about me.
"You're telling me you want me to go spy on a…a nuclear physicist?" I pointed to the information in the files. "You want me to go snoop on someone for…for money? Why do you even want his profile?" I asked in confusion.
"Dr. Banner is involved with our investigation. However…well, look for yourself," he turned the page for me and I stared down at a picture of what looked to be a spring green King Kong. "The Incredible Hulk. Huge and stronger than everything he's come across so far. Banner insists that he can control it and only let the beast out when he wants it to…but I want to make sure," Fury stated. I felt the blood drain from my face as I stared at the picture. Fury reached into his pocket and then handed me a thick envelope. "This is only half of your weekly sum for doing this for us."
I peered into the envelope and instantly considered fainting dead to the floor. That was a lot of money. However, I slowly shook my head.
"I really don't need the money. I'd rather not spend my time spying on someone for someone else," I insisted and Fury raised the eyebrow.
"Maybe you don't need the money…but your mother does," He informed me.
In that moment, I was positive that I felt my heart stop. My gaze instantly hardened and I tightened my grip on the file, flashlight, and the money.
"What the hell do you know about my mother?!" I demanded.
"In the hospital, huh? Yeah, ovarian cancer is pretty tough…pretty expensive, too," Fury shrugged and I swore that I could feel my hands shake.
"If I take this job…will I have time to visit her? And will you swear never to come within a hundred yards of her?" I hissed low in my throat. Fury nodded.
"That money will more than cover her bills."
I thought for a few moments, but it seemed much longer than it probably actually was.
"Fine. I'm in."