"Dr. Banner, thank you so much for coming to help." Fury stepped forward to greet him, his tone sincere.
Banner adjusted his glasses and gave an awkward smile. "I should be thanking S.H.I.E.L.D. Last time... you let me off the hook."
"We're not like those people in the military." Fury waved a hand.
Tony chimed in from the side. "Honestly, I thought you looked freaking awesome when you turned into Hulk!"
Banner merely smiled politely and said nothing.
Fury immediately added, "Dr. Banner is here primarily to help us locate the Tesseract. As for anything else..." He glanced at Tony, signaling him to shut up.
"Oh? What a shame." Tony shrugged, looking disappointed.
"Crunch... crunch..."
As they were talking, Tony suddenly heard a familiar sound behind him.
He whipped around and immediately spotted Hermione sitting in a swivel chair, munching on an apple.
"Damn it! Nick Fury, didn't you promise not to drag her into this?!" Tony blew up on the spot.
Since when did you start calling me that too...? Fury thought.
"Well..." Fury looked a little awkward too. "Miss Wizard volunteered to come, and she'll only be offering advice. She won't take part in any actual combat."
"Advice?" Tony snorted, clearly unconvinced.
He knew Hermione all too well. That little girl was far too crafty to be here just to "offer advice."
There had to be something in it for her again.
Steve stood nearby, utterly baffled as he listened to their exchange.
He walked over to Fury and asked in a low voice, "Fury, since when did S.H.I.E.L.D. start hiring child labor? Who is this kid?"
"Captain, I'll tell you what you need to know when you need to know it," Fury answered evasively.
The message was clear: don't ask.
Steve was about to say something else