Underlined text is translated conversation

In Calcutta, India

3rd Person POV with Bruce and Ash

“Ash?” Bruce called out softly through his house. 

From behind a small table in the corner of the living room, Ash with her scruffy red hair and dull mahogany skin, wearing a hooded cloak over a simple brown shirt and matching pants with brown closed-toed shoes popped her head up as she read a book on Thermodynamics for beginners.

“Yes…?”

“I think it’s safe for you to come out of hiding.” He chuckled a little at her antics of hiding even when inside, but stopped when he saw that Ash was shaking her head rapidly with genuine fear on her face.

“It’s safe, it’s been a while since you’ve been outside and everyone’s most likely forgotten about you by now.” He tried to assure her, but she looked down nervously, avoiding eye contact.

“No…” Ash whispered as she pulled her cloak hood down even more and went back to reading. Bruce came over and kneeled down next to her.

“Come on, why don’t you come with me to town, there’s been a sickness going around and they called me in, but I might need a helper.”

“Someone could see me and…” She trailed off thinking about the last time she went outside and almost got killed if Bruce hadn’t stepped in.

“Just for today? I think it might be good to get out of this place for a little bit, you haven’t been outside in almost a year. OK?”

“OK…” Ash gave in, stood up from her corner, put the book on the table, pulled her cloak hood up, picked up a strip of cloth to wrap around her wrist to keep her injector bracelet hidden, and put a scarf over her face to where only her red and copper eyes were barely visible. She made sure to grab and pocket her pendant as well before Bruce grabbed his medical bag and they headed to the house that he was called in to.

Short Time Skip

Later that evening, Ash was helping to apply a wet cloth to a child’s forehead to bring down the fever he had when she heard the woman who was the head of the house they were in scolding someone,

“What are doing here?! Get out! You shouldn't be here!” Ash turned to see that a little girl was at the entrance to the room and was rambling to the woman,

“I have to see the doctor! It's my father! He’s moaning but he won’t open his eyes-”

“Slow down.” Bruce told the girl putting a hand up to slow her down.

“My father…” The girl trailed off looking over at the people Ash was helping to treat. Bruce kneeled down to the girl's level and pointed to the people, asking her,

“Like them?”

The little girl holds out a couple of crumpled bills in her hand as her voice cracks in saying,

“Please.”

“Lead the way.” Bruce turns back to Ash, speaking in English, 

“Watch our backs.” To which she responds with a nod, placing one last wet cloth on another patient’s forehead before drying her hands and following Bruce and the little girl out of the house.

The girl led the two of them to a house that was at the edge of the town, but Bruce holds out his arm to stop the girl when a vehicle with people riding in the back passes by the three of them as Bruce turned his back to them and Ash pulled her hood further down over her eyes.

When the vehicle passes, they continue into the house where the girl runs ahead into another room and Ash looks in time to see the girl climb out a window and vanish into the night.

“Should have got paid up front, Banner.” Bruce told himself after he realized the girl was gone. Ash was about to nod in agreement when a new voice sounded,

“You know, for a man who's supposed to be avoiding stress, you picked a hell of a place to settle.” A woman with short red hair wearing a shawl over a long dress came out from behind some curtains, startling Bruce and Ash into stunned silence.

“Avoiding stress isn't the secret.” Bruce told the woman as he put his medical bag down.

“Then, what is it? Yoga?”

“You brought me to the edge of the city, smart.” Bruce observed as he looked out the house’s windows and Ash stayed in place watching the woman as Bruce continued, “I uh... assume the whole place is surrounded?

“Just you two and me.” She answered, dropping the shawl on a nearby chair and motioning to Ash to take off her hood, but she kept it on with a firm shake of her head.

“And your actress buddy, is she a spy too? Do they start that young?” Bruce asked pointedly, pointing to the window where the little girl had escaped through.

“I did.”

“Who are you?”

“Natasha Romanoff.” 

Bruce gently punched his hands together for a few seconds before asking Natasha,

“Are you here to kill us, Miss Romanoff? Because that's not gonna work out for everyone.”

“No. No. Of course not. I'm here on behalf of SHIELD.”

“SHIELD.” Ash looked up at Bruce in confusion, but he made a hand motion that signaled her to wait for the answer before he continued, “How did they find me?”

“We never lost you, doctor. We've kept our distance, even helped keep some other interested parties off your scent, especially after this one left a trail of radiation poisoning cases in 10 villages alone.” Natasha motioned her head to Ash and she further retreated into her cloak with guilt in her large eyes.

“Why?”

“Nick Fury seems to trust you. But now I need you two to come in.”

“What if I say no?”

“I'll persuade you.”

“And what if the... Other Guy says no?”

“You've been more than a year without an incident. I don't think you wanna break that streak.” Natasha walked over to a table pulling out a small electronic device as Bruce and Ash walked after her, Bruce stopping to rock a small cradle that was in the house as he told her,

“I don't every time get what I want.”

“Doctor, we're facing a potential global catastrophe.” Natasha continued as she typed away at the device in her hands.

“Well, those I actively try to avoid.”

Natasha pulls out a device that has an image of a blue, glowing cube on it.

“This,” Natasha put the device down on the table and slid it towards Bruce as he pulled out his glasses to examine the photo more closely, “is the Tesseract. It has the potential energy to wipe out the planet.”

“What does Fury want me to do? Swallow it?” He asks dubiously, looking back up in disbelief as Ash looks at the device to see the photo.

“Well, he wants you to find it. It's been taken. It emits a gamma signature that's too weak for us to trace. There's no one that knows gamma radiation like you do. If there was, that's where I'd be. And she might be able to help us considering her little… accident a year ago in Narora.” Natasha leaned back in her seat to look at Bruce and Ash.

“So Fury isn't after the monster?”

“Not that he's told me.”

“And he tells you everything?”

There was a brief pause before Natasha answered with,

“Talk to Fury, he needs you on this.”

“He needs me in a cage and Ash in a cell?”

“No one's gonna put you two in a-” Natasha was reaching over to the device when Bruce thumped the table with both hands yelling,

“STOP LYING TO ME!”

Shocking Ash and making Natasha pull out a gun that had been hidden under the table and aiming it at Bruce. Ash starts panicking until Bruce made another small motion with his hand that he was alright and she took deep breaths as she unwrapped and activated her injector bracelet to stop the build-up of radiation before it could even start.

“I'm sorry, that was mean. I just wanted to see what you'd do.” Bruce smiled a bit as he held out his hands motioning to himself as he told her, “Why don't we do this the easy way, where you don't use that, and the Other Guy doesn't make a mess? Okay? Natasha…”

Natasha lowered her gun after a few tense moments before touching her earpiece and telling the person on the other end,

“Stand down. We're good here.” 

When Ash looked outside, she silently gasped at all the soldiers in black uniforms with guns lowered to their side. She turned back to face Natasha as Bruce looked at her with a smirk saying,

“Just you and us?”

Natasha put the gun down and looked at Bruce uncomfortably before saying, 

“Jet leaves in 10 minutes.” She walked out the door to assure the troops that they were coming peacefully.

“You alright?” Bruce asked Ash as they walked out of the house following Natasha to a jet that was parked past some trees. Ash just nodded in reply as she put her hand in her pocket to grasp her pendant.

"Come on…" Bruce put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly as they both left the house.

"Jet's ready let's go."

Walking past the armed soldiers, they boarded the jet and she sat down next to a window and he and Natasha sat down across from her.

“You're gonna need to take off the mask, kid. Guys around here won't trust you otherwise.” Natasha told her and Bruce was about to argue, but Ash held up her hand to let him know it was OK. She pulled the scarf off her face first before pulling the hood down, but she continued to avoid eye contact.

“Y’know, for an alien, you’re not what I expected.”

“What were you expecting?” Bruce asked, but before Natasha could answer the jet started to take off. 

Gripping onto the armrests with an iron grip, Ash squeezed her eyes shut and began to breathe heavily as she saw her home planet being destroyed behind her came to mind; the one memory she remembers vividly.

“Kid?”

“Ash?”

Ash opened her eyes to see that Bruce and Natasha were looking at her worriedly.

“You OK?” Ash nodded again to Bruce’s question when Natasha asked, 

“Does she ever talk?”

“Yes, she does.” Ash replied pointedly, surprised at the amount of courage it took for her to say that.

“Well, I'll be damned.” Natasha smirked sounding semi impressed. Ash just turned away and looked out the window, eventually falling asleep to the sound of the engine.

1799 Words