Dr. Bruce Banner hung up his lab coat that he was required to wear inside the cryogenics room and stuck his id tag to his shirt pocket. He looked regretfully over to the main cryogenics tube. Though he couldn’t currently see inside he knew that in it lay the greatest hero that America had ever known. He wished the man could be awake now, with the war going on and the nation needing hope during the recession. They needed a man of standards like the Captain now more than ever.

He glanced about to make sure no one could see him then opened his small personal locker. Inside were several tubes of blood and a few other tubes of a cloudy white liquid. He took out one blood sample and both of the adapter tubes of the white serum and put them into some syringes that were waiting on a nearby shelf.

Dr. Banner took a small glass plate and carefully placed a small drop of blood on its surface. He laid the syringe of blood down and repeated the process with a syringe of the cloudy serum onto the same glass plate. He looked at the plate and took a deep breath, and placed it under a microscope. He peered into the eye pieces of the microscope and turned the dials until everything came into focus. Then he smiled, showing his large white teeth and quickly removed the plate.

“Just one last test!” he told himself, a large grin still spread across his thin face.

“Hey Bruce,” a voice suddenly interrupted his self-praise. He jumped, spinning around to see who had come in the lab.

“Hey, Betty,” the smile returned to his face, this one a bit more nervous. He made an ill-fated attempt at straightening his mousy brown hair. “What are you doing here so early today?”

“You know the rumor is that they’re going to shut us down,” Betty reminded him. “Well, I figured that showing a little more enthusiasm for the project might help them change their mind. What are you doing here so early?”

“Same thing,” Bruce told her after a slight pause. He gathered up the materials he had been using and headed back to his personal locker.

“What are those?” Betty asked as she sat down in front of the main computer in the lab.

“Just some samples for the project, but they’re not going well either,” Bruce told her.

“I wish we knew what the key was,” Betty frowned as she logged into the system on the computer. “Why was Steve Rogers the only one that took to the serum? Why did all the other test subjects die?”

“If we knew the answer then we would have had this solved long ago,” Bruce stuffed his personal stash back into his locker.

Later that Day...

“I’ve tapped into the building’s security cameras,” Betty Ross told the scientists. It was now noon and everyone had arrived. There were about eighteen scientists assigned to the project, sixteen were currently active. One was on maternal leave and Doctor Scott Lang was on vacation. They all gave her their attention, this project paid well and let them work close to one of the greatest heroes to ever exist.

“Let me see,” Bruce came and peered over Betty’s shoulder at the large computer screen. “That’s more guards than usual.”

“Do you think it’s going to happen today?”

“I’m not sure,” Bruce responded, still staring at the computer monitor. “Keep an eye out for any changes.”

“Alright”

“I heard that they’re going to just send us all e-mails or give us calls on the weekend so that we don’t cause a scene,” one scientist added.

“I don’t think they’ll ever give up on Captain America,” said another.

Bruce went to his personal locker and palmed a syringe of the cloudy serum he had been experimenting with that morning. He slipped into a large inner pocket he had sewn into his lab coat. “I’m headed out for lunch.”

“I’ll let you know if anything changes when you get back,” Betty told him, turning her attention back on her computer.

Bruce straightened his lab coat and went to his other personal locker near the men’s bathroom. He extracted a paper bag and then looked around to see if anyone was nearby, there was no one. He reached into the paper bag and removed a rubber band that he stretched up onto his arm and then he took the syringe and inserted it into his forearm. He winced for a second then finished injected the serum into his veins. Removing the syringe, he wrapped it up in napkins and threw it into a nearby trash can.

“Back from lunch already?” Betty asked Bruce when he walked in.

“Yeah, I didn’t really feel like eating much,” he told her.

“You don’t look well,” Betty agreed with him.

“So, what’s the status?” Dr. Banner changed the subject. He rubbed his arm and then wiped some sweat from his forehead.

“They’ve brought in more soldiers,” Betty turned back to the monitor. “Some of them were armed to the teeth!”

“That’s it,” Bruce Banner grimaced, leaning in to take a look at the soldiers that were now in the expansive main lobby. “They must be ending the Super Soldier program tonight.”

“What will they do with Captain America?” Betty Ross turned from her monitor and looked over to the cryogenic tube containing the hero.

“Soon he won’t be able to reawaken, the technology back then was new and inefficient,” Banner frowned deeply.

“What can we do?”

“I’m trying to think,” Banner told her. “Just promise me you’ll do whatever it is I ask of you.”

“Sure.” She trusted him implicitly. Bruce just hoped that he wasn’t leading her into danger.

It was only a couple hours later when the announcement came, “Attention S.H.I.E.L.D. employees,” it came over the loud speakers. “We have to do some updates on the computers and certain pieces of equipment, we’d like for all of you working on the Super Soldier Program and the cleaning staff over management area 4 Echo to take the rest of the day off, paid.”

“Oh no,” Bruce hit his clenched fist on the steel lab counter. “I haven’t had enough time, yet!

“What do you want me to do?” Betty quickly rushed to his side, her question nearly drowned out by the cries of happiness coming from some of the other scientists, they were far too trusting.

“Here,” Dr. Banner removed the clip holding his id. “Make sure you scan this on your way out so they think I’ve gone for the day.”

“What are you going to do?” Betty asked. She looked up at him, her untamed black hair obscuring her vision.

“I think I have a plan, just go so they don’t suspect anything.”

Betty Ross spared one last glance at her co-worker and friend before donning her lab coat and leaving the room.

Bruce went to the computer and shut off the status alert. He then looked at the security cameras that Betty had left up for him to see. Some of the first scientists were leaving the main exit now, obviously confused by the presence of so many armed men in their sector of the Triskelion compound despite Betty’s earlier warning.

He then ran over to Captain America’s tube and quickly keyed in a code that began the “thawing” process. With that done he raced over to his own personal locker and opened it up, grabbing the remaining syringes and slamming the locker doors close in his rush. He raced to the computer screen and saw Betty leaving hesitantly, glancing back several times. Leaving her good looks to distract the normal guard and scan his card as well. Then she quickly glanced at the camera and made a cutting gesture with her hand. There were no more scientists.

“Oh boy,” was all Bruce could manage as he saw the soldiers heading through the security gate behind Betty. He tore his eyes away from the computer screen and raced back over to Captain America’s tube and lifted the cover to reveal the soldier’s inert body. Without any hesitation he took the remaining syringe filled with the cloudy serum and stuck it into his hero’s veins. He emptied the syringe and tossed it aside, no time to be anal-retentive now.

Surprising himself with his own strength he lifted Captain America in his scrawny arms. He dragged the half-thawed man out of the tube and into the hallway. He knew of a closet where he had access to the ducts. Captain America was very heavy but Banner had an easier time of it with every second that passed. He hypothesized it was all the adrenaline pumping through his veins from fear and excitement. Then suddenly he stopped. There were about eight rapid fire gun barrels pointed directly at him.

“Put the Captain down,” a serious looking soldier growled at him.

“Why? So you can ‘dispose’ of him? He was the greatest American hero and we are just going to quit trying to save him in favor of finishing Bush’s private oil war! The man isn’t even president anymore.”

“I won’t repeat myself again,” the soldier sneered at him. “Put Captain America down!”

But Banner didn’t feel like putting Steve Rogers down, the longer the men pointed guns at him the angrier he became. “No! You people mindlessly follow orders from a corrupt government that only truly cares for expanding its power!”

“What the . . .” one of the soldiers began, looking up at Banner. Wait why was the man looking up at him? Bruce had never been very tall and these soldiers were all over six foot.

Why were all of them looking up at him now? Why was the hall getting so small?

That was the last coherent thought that Bruce Banner remembered thinking. He roared at the guards and leapt forward, holding Captain America with one arm. His shirt and lab coat began ripping in several places. Small shreds of clothing fell to the floor.

Bruce, or at least the hulking man that had been Bruce Banner, roared at the guards balefully. The scared guards fired off several rounds, but all it seemed to do was make him angrier. Bullets and shells fell to the floor ringing like miniature bells. The mutated scientist struck out with a foot, a SHIELD agent went flying. As he grabbed another soldier by the face all conscious thought fled his mind and he became someone else entirely. The screams of the soldiers echoed down the white tiled hallway.