The North Atlantic was calm and placid. The Quinjet flew at full speed just above the water, its wake stirring rings of ripples and leaving behind two distinct trails.
Its cabin carried two passengers of crucial importance. To put it bluntly, they might bear the vital task of saving the world.
One was a war hero who had slept for seventy years, while the other was a green giant capable of destroying half of New York when angered.
"We'll reach headquarters in about forty minutes. Dr. Banner and Captain Rogers are both here."
Coulson ended his communication with headquarters, casually removed his headset, and turned to look at the two men talking.
"I always thought you were a character from the comics. When I was little, schools often organized trips to World War II museums. Every patriotic education class played footage of you..."
Banner, seated in his chair, was quite interested. Ever since he had chosen to remain with S.H.I.E.L.D., he had not lost control and transformed for a long time. The Hulk inside him seemed as though it had never existed.
Fury had kept his original promise as well. He only had Banner participate in the Tesseract's secret research as a scientist and made no excessive demands of him otherwise. This gradually eased Banner's initial wariness.
"I heard you once planned to replicate the serum used on me?"
Steve clearly was not good at conversation. With one sentence, he plunged the atmosphere into an awkward silence.
The Gamma Rays experiment accident was a scar in Banner's heart. He had been fortunate enough to survive, but he had also been forced to share this human shell with another beast.
"That was an accident. Dr. Banner was a victim too." Coulson smoothed things over and continued, "You were the first successful