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“Evening, Dr. Banner,” a woman’s voice said from behind him.
“Evening,” Bruce greeted. He turned to see a red-headed woman. “I assume if you know my name, then you know it’s not a good idea to get me angry.”
The woman smiled, “If I wanted to get you angry, I’d have shot you.”
“It wouldn’t work. I tried. I-“
“Ate a bullet, and the other guy spit it back out,” the woman said. “I know. I was watching. I’m Natasha, by the way. Took us a month and a half to track you back down again after that.”
“Why?”
“The organization I work for likes to control the chaos in the world.”
Bruce laughed, “The other guy isn’t controllable. You can’t point him somewhere and hope he attacks just there. He’ll attack everything.”
“The organization I work for agrees. The other guy is a problem, a very aggressive problem. Which is why they sent me.”
“You?”
“I don’t look like much of a threat, so I could get close enough to you to talk. We would like to help you, either gain control over the other guy, or get rid of him completely.”
“I’ve been trying for years.”
“With half-assed equipment made from junk and notes you leave behind every time you turn mean and green. We can provide you with state of the art labs and equipment, helpers who know what they’re doing, anything you need.”
“And you’ll help me get rid of the other guy.”
“Or control him, whichever is possible.”
“And if I do get control, I suppose you want the other guy as a weapon?”
“Only if he’s perfectly under control and not you.”
“Why?”
“Dr. Banner, you are the premiere scientist in gamma radiation. We want your mind, not your rage. Should you manage to find a way to control the rage, well, we have others we can do the same with, who already act as our weapons.”
“This sounds almost too good to be true,” Bruce said. “What’s the catch?”
“No catch. You get rid of the other guy, you come to work for us. You manage to control the other guy, give us a few more controllable other guys, and then still come to work for us. You’ll be paid quite well.”
“And who exactly will be paying me?”
“Hydra, of course.”
“Hydra? Didn’t they get their asses handed to them by Captain America?”
“Quite a lot, but management and goals have changed since then, or so I’ve been told.”
“You don’t know for sure?”
“I didn’t join Hydra for their ideals. I joined because someone had me dead to rights and chose to spare my life and give me a family.”
“What happens if I find a way to control the other guy, and don’t give you a couple more of him as weapons?”
Natasha blinked, “I’m not sure. I assume they’ll still want you working for them, but they’ll probably harass you about it regularly.”
“Then I guess I better get rid of him completely,” Bruce said, holding out his hand. He’d sign up for Hydra, but he wasn’t going to let the other guy become a weapon.
Natasha smiled again, and shook his hand, “Welcome to Hydra, Dr. Banner.”