SOMEone's not happy being picked up

[welcome2level7]

Really?

No, I'm not going to try and talk you out of it. I'll just wait until you get bored, or decide I'm too difficult, and then we can both pretend this never happened.

Comments

[welcome2level7]

[Have a puzzled look, Bruce.]

Yes, Nick Fury, current director and chief of staff of SHIELD.

[mightiestgreen]

That's what I thought you said.

[What Bruce knows of Shield? Last time he ran into their agents, he ended up captured and strung up in a gamma monster prison. Not one of his favorite moments.

And that Widow's bite Natasha has? It hurts.]

[welcome2level7]

I'm going to take a wild guess that you're from an alternate timeline. Things happened differently.

[mightiestgreen]

[Bruce rolls a shoulder, trying not to look as nervous as he felt.]

Oh?

[Don't panic.]

No Hulk in a cage?

[welcome2level7]

Far from it, the doctor Banner I'm familiar with actually shares a lab with Stark. I'd even go so far as to say they're friends.

[mightiestgreen]

[That was slightly reassuring.]

Where I'm from, the Avengers Tower was built by Tony Stark.

You're...an agent? [As if the black suit didn't give it away.]

[welcome2level7]

[He glances down at himself before lifting one brow, just the minutest hitch, asking the obvious question without actually asking.]

Phil Coulson. Agent of SHIELD, and if my business card is to be believed 'Head Avenger Wrangler'.

[mightiestgreen]

[He should ask about Hawkeye. Where Bruce is from, he's got a whole purple archer uniform going on.]

Good luck with that. Not much of a team really...

[welcome2level7]

[He should! Phil will probably laugh at that, there were certain purple prototypes that were vetoed early on. Snipers and invisibility and all.]

Oh I don't know, they seem to have come together pretty well.

[mightiestgreen]

[Really?]

The Hulk too? [That may have been too revealing a question, but Bruce had to ask.] He's not exactly a team player.

[welcome2level7]

[Have another puzzled look.] Yes?

At least, as far as anyone can tell. There was a snag or two at the beginning, but that was with everyone.

[mightiestgreen]

That's...that's good.... [Bruce answers distractedly. Sounds awfully familiar.] Good that they worked it out in the end.

[bitter smirk] I should probably cherish not being recognized. [But he's getting prodded by the mun.]

Bruce Banner. [How do you do, Agent?]

[welcome2level7]

[Aaaand that's the 'yes I know' smile, just ignore it.]

I thought as much.

[mightiestgreen]

[His own attempt at a smile is weak and unconvincing.]

What gave it away? My charming personality? [sarcasm, have some]

So long as this doesn't mean snipers with tranquilizer guns aimed in my direction. [Because he knows how much Shield and the Hulkbusters love their weapons.]

[welcome2level7]

I don't usually travel with an entourage. And besides, from what I understand this place is a sort of universal neutral zone.

[mightiestgreen]

No? Don't Shield agents usually travel in pairs?

Something like that. [Bruce does like being neutral on all accounts. However, his mun rather likes getting him angry because it's more interesting that way.]

[welcome2level7]

Sometimes we do, safety in the buddy system. Considering that my mun also has a Clint rattling around, I guess that makes him my backup.

[mightiestgreen]

...Clint? [Bruce's ears just about perk up.] As in Hawkeye? [Strangely enough, Hawkeye was the only favorite Hulk had. Probably because the guy stood up to him and said he would take him down if he didn't listen.

Which got Hulk laughing so hard. Clint was a good egg in his book.]

He's a good one to have for backup.

[welcome2level7]

[Oh look, an actual smile. Apparently Clint being Good People™ was something everybody could agree on.]

That's the guy. And he'd be the first one to tell you that 'backup' is his third middle name, right after 'trouble' and 'danger'.

[mightiestgreen]

[If Coulson was a friend of Hawkeye, then that was good enough credentials for both Bruce and Hulk to trust him.]

Or 'daredevil'. [No Bruce, that one is already taken.]

[welcome2level7]

['Friend' might be stretching it, a little, but he and Clint trust each other. Kind of happens when working together for so long.]

Clint 'maybe has a deathwish' Barton, yeah, we're talking about the same guy.

[mightiestgreen]

That's him.

[Same in any universe really.]

[welcome2level7]

[A nod, and an almost-fond smile.]

I guess some things don't change much regardless of universe.

[mightiestgreen]

[Now Bruce is a little curious about this Coulson character.]

So...do you have some kind of odd skill too? Shooting arrows or...? [Throwing spears? Boomerangs? Sometimes Shield recruited the oddest types.]

[welcome2level7]

[He shakes his head.]

No, not besides a healthy dose of common sense, on top of a good layer of unflappability.